Fahui stood up, looking down at Li Xuanling with a cold smile. His sharp white teeth gleamed and blood dripped from the intestines hanging from his body. He sneered coldly.
"Wretched beast, I chased you all the way and gradually awakened memories of my past life. I knew you would come to this small temple, so I waited here..."
"Wretched beast...?"
Li Xuanling, already frustrated from being forced north by the Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, was further offended by the monk's insult. All these emotions turned into a blazing fury, burning within him as he spat, "You keep calling me a wretched beast, a sinner... Look at the corpses under your feet! Why don't you open your eyes and take a good look at the blood on your body? You'll see who the real beast is!"
"Hahaha!"
Fahui laughed in a crazed rage as golden intricate patterns appeared on his body. He clasped his hands together, causing the blood and flesh on the ground to melt like red wax, transforming into a thin golden mist that spread throughout the courtyard.
"You were the black serpent I caught in my left hand. If you are not the wretched beast, then who is? I never thought you would escape to the south for decades, acting all high and mighty... Now that I am about to reclaim my Maha status, you shall complete my path."
Before he had even finished speaking, his body shot forward like a cannonball, his fist aimed directly at Li Xuanling's face. Li Xuanling placed his left hand on his sword. The Celestial Moon Slash technique had been gathering power for a long time, and he drew it out, unleashing a white sword light that illuminated the hall brilliantly.
Clang!
Fahui caught the sword light with his bare hands, which glowed with a golden radiance, and crushed it into fragments between his palms. His inhuman eyes, shimmering with a golden hue, followed Li Xuanling as he pulled back. Laughing, he said, "As for the Daoists in this temple... the fact that they got killed by me is proof that their sins were indeed too great."
"You!" Li Xuanling was momentarily stunned by his words, then sneered, dismissing them.
Fahui raised an eyebrow and said angrily, "You do not believe me?"
His strong arm slowly rose, causing the golden mist on the ground to swirl like serpent dragons and converge into a radiant golden light in his palm. Within this light, various scenes materialized.
A wolf demon of the Foundation Establishment Realm appeared, riding the wind and enveloped in black mist, with demonic qi swirling around it. The wolf demon devoured the temple master, forcing the old Daoist to gather infants for its consumption. The light revealed a harrowing sequence of crying infants and grieving Daoists, one scene after another.
Li Xuanling knew these Daoists had committed misdeeds, but he understood the circumstances and was not easily swayed. He sneered, "Offering infants was a desperate measure. If they hadn't done it, the wolf demon would have devoured all the villagers. It was a lesser evil. How can you judge so easily?"
"Judge?"
The temple roof had been pierced through, allowing the drizzle to fall through. The dim sunlight filtered through the thick rain clouds, casting a pale light on half of Fahui's face. His eyes shone gold as he solemnly said, "Evil is evil. Evil must be punished, no matter the excuse. Everyone in this world faces difficulties, but that cannot be used to justify evil deeds. This group deserves to be killed!"
"Once I have eradicated all evil, the world shall be pure again."
With that, he leaped forward, his palms glowing with golden light. Li Xuanling was momentarily speechless, and the golden light in the temple grew even more intense. He felt dizzy, his mind overwhelmed with anger and irritation. As he clashed with Fahui several times, his hand ached from the impact, leaving him in a difficult position.
"Hah!"
Fahui's fists were powerful and relentless, each strike fiercer than the last, far beyond what an ordinary monk without mana should possess.
Li Xuanling felt increasingly desperate, thinking to himself, They must want me to die by his hands to complete this person's destiny. A Maha reincarnate, huh...? My death shouldn't be a huge impact but the Li Family must rely on Father to survive...
At that moment, the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed in Li Xuanling's Shenyang Mansion suddenly activated, releasing a stream of cool energy that swirled through his mind.
His mind cleared instantly as if he had eaten a large piece of ice on a scorching summer day. His previously faltering defense stabilized, and Li Xuanling's spirits lifted. He heard a calm, gentle voice in his ear. "Remain calm and hold out for the duration of an incense stick."
Li Xuanling now realized that the previous illusions were all due to Fahui's spell, which was strange and hard to defend against. Someone had intervened to dispel his spell, filling him with both joy and doubt as he thought quietly to himself, Who could it be... Xiao Chuting? But it doesn't sound like him...
————
Under the dark and somber mist, the mountain was desolate, with moon-white buildings scattered throughout. On the uppermost platform, fallen leaves landed on the jade-like table.
"Fate..."
Lu Jiangxian sat before the jade-like table, holding a thin, pure white thread in his hand that extended into the boundless void, swaying gently. In his other hand, he held a silver glow that floated up and down as if it was alive, exuding a mystical aura.
"When I bestowed the Deep Ocean Long Whale Talisman on Li Tongya, this Maha has long locked onto Li Tongya from afar and began his plans... The Wrathful Maha has cultivated for nine lifetimes, gathering various fates, and in this life, he intends to kill Li Tongya to achieve enlightenment... The southern Purple Mansion Realm and Golden Core Realm cultivators are scheming against each other, using divine abilities to protect Li Tongya, using him as bait to kill this Maha..."
Lu Jiangxian frowned slowly, feeling puzzled, "What exactly is the relationship between talisman qi and fate? Everyone receives different talismans. Is it because the talisman qi manifests their fate, or does it bestow a certain fate?"
As he pondered this, Lu Jiangxian suddenly had a moment of clarity.
"Li Tongya is bait, not a sacrifice. If managed properly, he may not necessarily die... As long as he can hold out until the Wrathful Maha fully awakens in Fahui, and the Purple Mansion Realms intervene, he can survive..."
Lu Jiangxian had not yet recovered his strength to the point of contending with Purple Mansion Realms or Mahas, nor the Golden Core Realms or Dharma Masters, but he was no longer the confused and powerless novice he once was. Though cautious, he refused to sit idly by and watch Li Tongya be used as a pawn.
"Even if I cannot intervene directly, I will not let others manipulate us..."
He carefully considered, "Back then, both Minghui and Maha Jinlian were powerless against the mirror. This proves that the mirror has a high inherent rank, likely at the level of an immortal... As long as this matter does not involve an immortal, I can make a move without risking being detected."
Lu Jiangxian activated the power of deduction he had obtained from Liu Changdie. The silver light shrank by a third and then formed a single word— Auspicious .
"Not bad."
Although it was already a scheme among the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators and Mahas, Lu Jiangxian felt more at ease now that he had done a reading. The thread in his hand shimmered with white light as he set a limit for himself.
"I will only act through the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed as a medium. This way, even if those Purple Mansion Realm cultivators go crazy and capture Li Xuanling or Li Tongya, they won't detect anything!"
The Profound Pearl Talisman Seed was one of the roots of the mirror. Even an immortal might not notice it. If not for this, Li Chejing and Li Tongya would have been captured long ago by the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators.
After considering every detail, Lu Jiangxian was confident that nothing could go wrong. A slight smile appeared on his lips as he murmured, "I will play along with these people for now, treating it as gaining experience! After all, I have been benefiting from their incense and sacrifices year after year, so it is time to repay them!"