Li Tongya held his sword in his left hand, angling the blade toward the ground. Puddles on the stone tiles reflected a bluish-white glow. The pale scraps of flesh strewn across paving stones and broken tiles surged toward the center of their own accord. The words spilling from that mouth dissolved Li Tongya's calm demeanor into an unsettled, agonizing hatred.
The leaping flesh had already coalesced into Fahui's head. As the Wrathful Mahasattva steadily possessed him, his features grew increasingly handsome, and the golden sheen in his eyes deepened. His fair face became smooth and delicate, and those deep golden eyes stared unblinkingly straight into Li Tongya's as he roared in fury:
"To avoid suspicion!
"You were avoiding suspicion! You felt indebted to your father and elder brothers, so you exalted your deceased elder brother above and promoted his orphaned descendants below—yet you forced me to pay the price! Li Tongya, how am I to blame?"
"Shut your mouth!"
Li Tongya's voice erupted like a clap of thunder. His lips were pale and quivering slightly. The longsword in his hand unleashed a shrill screech like the howl of a flood-dragon, silencing all the chirping insects and calling birds throughout Mount Bianyan, bringing a sudden, profound hush over heaven and earth.
*Hum—*
A bluish-white sword-light surged forth, crystalline and translucent. Hundreds upon thousands of sword qi leaped from the Green Ruler Sword in Li Tongya's hand, crashing down like a torrential waterfall. The puppet of clay and wood dissolved into flying ash in an instant, and the entire mountaintop trembled violently, booming with resounding roars.
*Rumble...*
The blinding bluish-white sword ray flared for five full breaths. Sword qi crisscrossed the ruins, riddling them with holes. The rainwater across the entire terrace was driven backward, vaporizing into a haze of pale white mist that drifted in an ethereal, fairy-tale veil.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The downpour was too fierce, and grey puddles quickly gathered in the great crater at the center. Across the fair-skinned head opened countless bright red wounds like tiny infants' mouths, baring the dark gold bones beneath. Fahui's deep golden eyes seemed on the verge of falling out, yet they remained brimming with fury, fixed on Li Tongya.
"Nothing more than wasted effort. My Wrathful Four-Demon Kshatriya Aspect is returning from the Great Void. Just now you could hack me to pieces, but now you can barely reach my bones. Wait just a moment longer, and you won't even be able to breach my skin!"
Fahui's two arms had already regrown. Lifting his shoulders and head all on his own, he took two tentative steps across the ground—a deeply unsettling sight. The lacerations across his face rapidly knitted together, and he twisted his neck, smiling.
"Father, isn't that right?"
Li Tongya merely stared at him in silence, magical glows kindling along the sword in his hand, his eyes burning with wrath. Seeing that Tongya's mind was affected by the spell yet still showed no intention of fleeing, Fahui gave a furious, twisted smile. Tears actually spilled from his two eyes as he gritted his teeth and said:
"When you wanted me to look after the younger generation, I cast aside my cultivation and descended the mountain to watch over them. When you wanted me to guard the ore vein, I left the immortal mountain to oversee that barren wasteland. After I finally attained Qi Refinement with great difficulty, I had to escort spiritual goods. And in the end, you wanted me to die!
"Mother cultivated for so many years, yet you refused to spare even a single copper's worth of resources for her—giving everything to Li Xuanfeng and the Yuan-Qing generation! The only medicinal pills she ever took were presented by myself and Lady Liu! And when she lay dying, all you said was: 'Let it be...'"
Fahui's features had transformed completely into Li Xuanling's likeness, and his voice was an exact match. Glaring with blazing fury, he forced Li Tongya to look away slightly. The old man felt dazed, the longsword in his hand flickering dim and bright. His consistently sharp gaze grew feeble, yet he still uttered not a single word.
Seeing that he kept silent, Fahui pulled his legs from the earth, picked up the two patterned bronze cudgels, and boldly stepped forward, swinging them directly down toward Li Tongya's head.
*Clang...*
The intricate patterns on the dark-gold cudgels lit up with streaks of golden light. When the bluish-white sword-light clashed against them, showers of sparks burst forth. The iridescent halo behind Fahui's head swirled, growing thicker and richer. Drawing his sword, Li Tongya exchanged several blows with him, forcing him back half a step by sheer might.
"Heh..."
The gold in Fahui's eyes deepened further. The facial features shifted continuously—from Li Xuanling to a bearded brute, from the bearded brute to a young child, then a middle-aged woman, then a sallow-haired girl. Nine faces rotated in endless succession. Li Tongya withdrew his sword to stay on guard, yet his expression grew increasingly bewildered.
Golden radiance flooded the surroundings once more, so dense that it resembled long silken banners wound around Fahui's body. A buzzing drone of solemn Zen chants also echoed aloud, majestic and vast.
"Ha!"
Fahui's body was densely covered with golden markings, his brass-colored skin mirroring the rain falling between heaven and earth. His face shifted ceaselessly among the nine visages, every one of them contorted in rage. With golden light gleaming from the short cudgels, he brought them crashing down toward Li Tongya's head.
A Shakya Master was inherently a notch stronger than a Foundation Establishment cultivator, not to mention that Fahui was the reincarnation of a Maha. Now that he had awakened the aspect of wrath, his aura was already comparable to a Lianmin. When the short cudgel struck the Green Ruler Sword, an ear-piercing screech of grinding metal rang out. Li Tongya grunted, knocked flying backward like an arrow through the curtain of rain before coming to a halt far off.
"Just as well! Eating you will restore me to my seat of Maha!"
Terrified that Li Tongya might flee, the Wrathful Mahasattva stomped heavily on the ground, closing the distance in an instant and trailing a blur of dark-gold afterimages. Swinging out his golden arm like a bronze statue, his five fingers clawed straight for Li Tongya.
Naturally, Li Tongya swung the Green Ruler Sword to parry. With the hand hidden inside his sleeve, he formed an incantation hand-seal to cast a spell. The immortal foundation Vast Sea surged wildly within him, gathering the rainwater. Pale-green flood-dragons rose behind him in a swarm, lunging to bite at his foe.
*Screeech...*
The Wrathful Mahasattva closed his five fingers together, catching Li Tongya's magical sword with an ear-grating screech of friction. The Green Ruler Sword was a peak Foundation Establishment magical sword, and its blade instantly flared with dazzling brilliance.
"Jing Dragon King."
Having lived through nine lifetimes, the Wrathful Mahasattva possessed vast experience; he identified the ancient name of Vast Sea in a single breath. Chuckling, he fixed his deep golden eyes on Li Tongya and spoke in resonant Sanskrit tones:
"Your swordsmanship passes muster, but your immortal arts fall far too short!"
The Li family had only risen for some sixty years. They relied entirely on swordsmanship to hold up appearances; where would they acquire exquisite divine arts? The Wrathful Mahasattva let go of the sword and backhandedly tore the flood-dragons to shreds. The golden ribbons on his body sprang up like serpents, coiling toward Li Tongya, while the Mahasattva threw his massive fists forward, hammering blow after blow into him.
*Bang, bang-bang, bang...*
In the span of a few breaths, the Wrathful Mahasattva unleashed a hundred punches. Li Tongya defended with his sword, trying to put distance between them, but the golden ribbons had already wound around his feet, binding them fast.
*Pfft.*
Li Tongya took a hundred blows of Lianmin-level power head-on. Blood vessels large and small burst across his skin, his internal organs ruptured, and he spat up a mouthful of blood. Drenched in crimson, he slumped down limply.
"Destiny is sealed! I shall return to my throne!"
The Wrathful Mahasattva bellowed with laughter, golden radiance erupting from his whole body. He drove a fist into Li Tongya's abdomen, eyes blazing bright. Supporting Li Tongya, he breathed heavily a mere three inches away. The golden talismans across his palms lit up one by one, and the last traces of white in his eyes vanished entirely into deep gold. A roar of laughter burst from his throat:
"Hahahahahahahahaha!"
"Cough, cough... Hahahaha... Hahaha."
The Wrathful Mahasattva's booming laughter echoed between heaven and earth. Yet the Li Tongya before him coughed twice, a faint smile surfacing on his blood-soaked face. Curled up, he too began to laugh weakly.
The Wrathful Mahasattva froze, his handsome smile stiffening on his face. Shock and fury erupted from his heart. Slowly, he raised his head and looked into the distance.
The rain poured down in torrents, the realm plunged in murky gloom. Yet the puddles on the ground reflected bands of iridescent light slowly surfacing one by one across the sky.
"One, two, three... seven, eight, nine."
Chapter 299