As the crowd spoke, their gazes were suddenly drawn into the distance.
They saw Huan Gui radiating murderous intent.
Li Tianyi lay on the ground, clinging tightly to Huan Gui's thigh, his face covered in cold sweat.
"Master, don't... don't be impulsive. Let's talk this over calmly."
He Hao sat cross-legged on the ground nearby.
The killing intent in Huan Gui's eyes did not wane; she had witnessed with her own eyes how He Hao and Zhen Wu had joined forces to kill Ling Xu!
Even though she knew He Hao had been manipulated by the Dao Seed, Huan Gui still hated him enough to want to tear out his tendons and skin him alive.
He Hao remained silent and raised no defense; his eyes held only grief.
He had not only killed Ling Xu but also his fellow sect elders and disciples.
Among those elders was a junior brother with whom he had spent his days and nights.
"Let go of me!" Huan Gui glared furiously at Li Tianyi, who was gripping her thigh.
"You deceived me, used my Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, and plotted for my Three Corpses. Do not think that I dare not kill you!!"
Scarcely had her voice faded when blood flowed like water, gradually coalescing into a human shape before Huan Gui.
Li Dalong stood with his hands clasped behind his back, blocking the way in front of He Hao.
Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Your Excellency had best behave. We were able to capture you and release you; naturally, we can also kill you."
"You..." Huan Gui was furious.
Li Tianyi hurriedly shouted,
"Master, please listen to reason! Martial Uncle's fate is still unknown.
It was us who saved you! Our enemy now is Min Tiange. If he learns of our affairs, he will not spare a single one of us.
Let's focus on what to do next. Just look at him—he is already living a life worse than death. What is the use of killing him?"
Huan Gui suddenly calmed down. He Hao, standing behind Li Dalong, was like the living dead.
In killing his fellow sect members, his Dao Heart had also been thrown into chaos; he no longer possessed the cultivation of the Void Refining Limit.
"Crippled waste!" Huan Gui paid him no further mind.
She kicked Li Tianyi aside, leaving him to sit helplessly on the ground and shrug, then walked toward Li Yaoqing.
During this trip to the Thunder-Fire Devil Cave, she had already witnessed Li Yaoqing's medical expertise.
She did not know what technique Li Yaoqing cultivated, but for injuries on ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, Li Yaoqing needed only to channel her Spiritual power, and they would be alleviated within 20 minutes.
That vibrant life force was truly astonishing.
"Medicine Master, please help treat my younger brother." Huan Gui's tone softened.
Li Yaoqing was healing a member of the Grand Tower when she glanced at Taotie.
She had already examined Taotie's injuries; in her vision, she could see his true form—a colossus standing a thousand meters tall, its indescribable body riddled with wounds.
The sight made her frown repeatedly.
"Fellow Daoist, I am a Medicine Master. I can heal Spirit Beasts, and I can even heal Spirit Plants. But this younger brother of yours..."
As she hesitated, Huan Gui—one of the Four Great Titans of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, a woman who had taken countless lives and could dissect living bodies without her expression changing—was already kneeling before Li Yaoqing.
Li Yaoqing felt no pity. Spending time to save Taotie seemed wasteful; it would be better to let him turn into a corpse so her father could refine him into a zombie.
However, seeing the watery, pleading eyes of the three brothers—Li Tianyi, Li Tianqi, and Li Tianming—Li Yaoqing waved her hand. "He won't die anytime soon. I'll give it a try."
Huan Gui breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Tianyi walked up to her, grinning. "Master, rest assured. The people my Grand-Aunt treats all come out alive and kicking."
"Hmph!"
Huan Gui abruptly turned her head away, angry at the thought that this disciple had deceived her for so many years.
Seeing that Huan Gui was not throwing a tantrum, Li Dalong frowned.
He truly disliked Huan Gui. It was simply that, having witnessed too many bizarre entities in the Underworld, he could not set his mind at ease regarding her nature.
Xu Cuihua, standing nearby, discerned Li Dalong's thoughts.
She smiled gently and said, "Husband, since Tianyi saved her, he must have his reasons.
If you are truly uneasy, the abyss within the Devil Cave, where the Devil Lord once hid, is an excellent place to isolate one's aura.
While Yaoqing treats Taotie, let Huan Gui hide in there. It will also allow us to observe them for a few years."
"In that case, very well."
Li Dalong said no more. After all, he could not very well kill Huan Gui right in front of his great-grandson.
He then turned his gaze to He Hao.
Seeing the Sect Master of the Eternal Immortal Sect so heartbroken and his Dao Heart damaged, Li Dalong let out a long sigh.
"Brother He, the Dao Seed has been removed. Why must you torment yourself so?"
"I killed my fellow sect members for no other reason than the cowardice in my heart—I feared losing my own life."
He Hao's eyes were listless.
"Now, I have no face to return to the sect, and no face to face Ancestor Lan."
The Dao Seed had been removed, yet the knot in his heart remained.
Li Dalong looked at Li Tianqi and Li Tianming.
"Tianqi, Tianming, you two are to stop running around outside. From now on, cultivate here in the Devil Cave.
If you have any questions regarding Talismans or Formations, consult Sect Master He often."
"Yes, Great-Grandfather."
Li Tianqi and Li Tianming hurriedly nodded. This journey had been incredibly fruitful, and they needed to practice and consolidate their Daoist techniques further.
Li Dalong walked over to Holy Monk Yidian.
Although his Heaven-Piercing Coffin contained the corpse of a mighty figure at the Body Integration realm, standing face-to-face with Holy Monk Yidian, Li Dalong could still feel the immense gap between himself and a living Body Integration cultivator.
It was truly like comparing the light of a firefly to the bright moon.
"Holy Monk, may I ask how much you know about the Peerless Hall and Min Tiange?"
Unexpectedly, Holy Monk Yidian shook his head.
"What you know from the Immortal Suppression Department is the extent of this poor monk's knowledge as well.
However, this poor monk is certain that Min Tiange harbors hidden malice and has his sights set on the Imperial Court.
In his eyes, the entire world is nothing more than a resource for his own advancement."
Li Dalong took a deep breath. The Li clan had seen plenty of such people.
Whether it was Tianxing, Baimei, Prince Qian, or the Zhao Clan, they were all brimming with ambition, confident that they were the chosen ones of destiny, while regarding the common people as nothing more than ants.
He asked the Holy Monk, "Holy Monk, what are your plans for the future?"
Holy Monk Yidian glanced at the members of the Grand Tower behind him.
Over three hundred cultivators—it was indeed a formidable force. Yet, not a single one of them dared to show their face in the world again; Min Tiange would never allow them to survive.
Holy Monk Yidian said gravely,
"We can only survive in the shadows. Everyone in the Grand Tower is just like this poor monk—our past actions were not of our own volition. I ask that the Benefactor take us in."
"Min Tiange is no longer the man he was when he planted the Dao Seed within me. As long as he remains alive..."
Holy Monk Yidian let out a long sigh. "This poor monk dares not show his face in the world again."
"Is this man truly such a monstrous existence?" Li Dalong's heart grew heavy.
Holy Monk Yidian closed his eyes and nodded, his dread plainly visible.
In the distance.
Li Xinnian gazed at the members of the Grand Tower and the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems—people so terrified by Min Tiange that they dared not reappear in the world.
A figure slowly walked up to his side.
Sensing the arrival's aura, Li Xinnian let out a long breath.
"Big Brother, look at us now... we are already over three hundred years old."
"Mn."
Su Chen slowly lowered the hood of his black robe, revealing a face weathered by long years of wandering.
"Xinnian, there are some things I cannot explain to you in detail. I have a life-and-death feud with that Min Tiange. No matter what realm of cultivation he reaches, I must kill him."
"We are the same."
Under the dim, cloudy sky of the Thunder-Fire Devil Cave, stood cultivator after cultivator who bore a sea of blood and deep hatred against Min Tiange.
They gradually found shadowy corners to sit cross-legged in cultivation, waiting only for the day they could break through the gloom of the Thunder-Fire Devil Cave and stand once more beneath the sunlight.
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