Mutated Tao

The Qi Kingdom requires a Dragon Vein and an emperor. Only then will the people be unified. With the Dragon Vein, the wheels of the world will turn on their own. The birds, flowers, and animals would return soon after that.”

Chan Du explained as he gently patted Miao Guihua’s head.

Li Huowang stared at the skies that were doomed to be forever bright as he listened to Chan Du. “What will happen if there’s no flow of time? How long will it take to affect everyone?”

“Amitabha. I’m afraid I do not know.” Chan Du shook his head. “Divination is not the specialty of the Righteous Monastery.”

“Is there anyone skilled in divination here in the Qi Kingdom?”

“There is. I pray that the Gan family has not died off. They are the best when it comes to divination.”

Li Huowang looked at the skies and frowned. “Then find a way to locate them! Find them!”

“Daoist Li, this low-ranked general has sent his men to go and find them.” A boisterous voice suddenly came from Li Huowang’s side.

Li Huowang turned and saw an eight-foot-tall burly man walking out from the gates of the Righteous Monastery. He was muscular and had a large beard.

Even though he wasn’t holding a weapon and was wearing civilian attire, the faint murderous aura emanating from his body proved that he was a soldier.

His facial appearance also differed significantly from that of the civilians. The muscles on his cheeks hadn’t shrunk even though he was starving.

The man clasped his fists together to greet Li Huowang. “Low-ranked General Chen Yurong greets Daoist Li!”

“A soldier of the Qi Kingdom? How many of you are left?”

“Vanguard, thirty-six. Cavalry, twenty-four. Spear-users, one hundred seventy-one. Foot soldiers, three hundred ninety-eight. Chariots, seventy-five. Elite soldiers, four. All of them are yours to command!”

Li Huowang frowned. “Is that all? Is no one else working as an official in the Palace of the Great Qi?”

“There are more people, but at this moment in time, none of them can compare to you. As the Qi Kingdom’s soldiers, we would swear our loyalty to our kingdom’s savior!”

Li Huowang realized that the soldiers were much more intelligent and adaptable than he had expected.

Li Huowang did need people to help him, even though they would only work for him for the sake of food.

“An order? Fine. Summon all of the officials to come find me. Tell them I won’t let them starve if they work for me. Also, continue your search for the Gan family. Find them as soon as possible!”

“Low-ranked General Chen heeds your command!” Chen Yurong turned and left the Righteous Monastery.

Li Huowang stood there, pondering before saying, “Wait for them to come back and we will see what we can do. Right now, we need to address the food crisis. We don’t want anyone to starve to death, even after this crisis is over. Also, the Qi Kingdom must be saved by someone from the Qi Kingdom. You cannot rely on an outsider like me.”

Chan Du replied, “Amitabha. I must now ponder whether the Qi Kingdom's destiny will be shaped by an Emperor from within, or... if it will be shaped by Benefactor Li. The choice of what to do next is in your hands.”

Li Huowang understood what Chan Du implied. “What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

Chan Du was trying to use power to sway Li Huowang over. However, Li Huowang said, “I’m just a Daoist who wishes to become an Immortal. I have no use for the Qi Kingdom. Did you think I wanted something from you all by helping you?”

The Qi Kingdom was massive—as large as the Liang Kingdom, Qing Qiu, Si Qi, Hou Shu, and Nan Ping combined.

Li Huowang had told Gao Zhijian that he would become the Emperor of the Qi Kingdom, but he had said it out of spite. He just didn’t want to see so many people starve to death.

He wasn’t even from the Qi Kingdom and had to return one day. It would become a burden for him to rule over the Qi Kingdom.

However, Chan Du didn’t want him to return. He decided to reveal something else to persuade Li Huowang to help them.

Chan Du looked up at the skies. “Benefactor Li, the decision is yours. Don’t look down on the Qi Kingdom just because our current population is small. If the Qi Kingdom becomes prosperous again, it could easily overshadow the Liang Kingdom. And by then, you would have the power to determine the official religion of the Qi Kingdom with just a single sentence.”

Li Huowang followed his gaze, and a question popped into his mind. Does Ji Zai need followers?

Li Huowang was confused about his future self. It was as if Ji Zai was the only Siming without followers.

There were even devotees who worshiped Death. Why weren’t there any for Bewilderment?

It wasn’t as if Ji Zai had zero followers. Li Huowang was technically one, and Sui Sui was the other.

Li Huowang decided to ask the crucial question. “Would a Siming’s strength increase as its worshipers increase?”

Li Huowang was interested in possible methods to strengthen his future self.

If nothing else, a beefed-up Ji Zai would be more helpful if there was another threat like the Dharma Sect.

Also, compared to the other Simings, Ji Zai was still too weak.

Chan Du shook his head. “Amitabha. We monks cannot lie or make assumptions. I do not know.”

“Old monk, you have become quite cunning.” Li Huowang looked at Chan Du, who looked the same as the old monk. “Don’t worry. I will still help the Qi Kingdom, regardless of whether it benefits me. I just don’t want to see people starve for no reason.”

Li Huowang unsheathed his spine sword and swung out another rift before diving into it.

Li Huowang continued to send food around You Capital for a period of time. At the very least, the monks weren’t serving human flesh anymore. That meant that there were no longer people who starved to death around the You Capital.

Li Huowang was sending food and resources to help the people of the Qi Kingdom stand on their own feet again. He sent them some lambs from Qing Qiu since there was an abundance of grass in the Qi Kingdom. While the lambs would take some time to mature, the people should at least be able to drink their milk.

***

Li Huowang sat on a rock in a remote forest around Shangjing and looked at a buried corpse in front of him. He reached into it and pulled out the spine.

He couldn’t sell it right now, but the spine of a Strayed One would still make a good weapon.

He swung it to his left, and the trees were all distorted and pulled apart.

Even so, they didn’t break. It was clear that they would continue to grow like this.

Li Huowang placed the spine behind his back before he wrapped the remaining pieces of his body to exchange them for Lifespan Pills, which he would later exchange for money.

He was busy working on the corpse when he suddenly stopped. Someone was coming.