Mutated Tao

“An Zhen Guang Zi Ling Li Da She!” Lu Xiucai swung his bronze coin sword to the left. The red threads elongated as the bronze coin turned into a whip and hit something to the left of the darkness.

Lu Xiucai heard the sound of something being torn apart and pulled his sword back. The tip of his blade revealed a strange, semi-transparent sphere with six eyes.

As Lu Xiucai looked at the strange eyeball, he realized it was still going to hit him despite being impaled on the bronze coin sword. He quickly turned and ripped the skin off his shoulder with his mouth. He no longer had teeth, but he had embedded nails where his teeth once were.

The Profound Records opened, and the piece of skin flew and wrapped around the eyeball with ease. The impact sent the eyeball crashing back into the darkness.

Sensing that he was surrounded by danger and strong enemies, Lu Xiucai dared not let his guard down. He sheathedhis bronze coin sword and took out his serrated sword instead. He chanted as he hit his forehead with the serrated sword.

“I call for the round heaven and square earth. Please summon the deities to descend upon the altar and support the shaman. Heaven urges, earth urges; the Tiger Lord flies and rides the clouds back. My master flies and rides the horse here. Arriving at the altar, we assist the shaman. The shaman’s left eye transforms into the sun and the right eye into the moon, manifesting the clear illumination of the sun and moon. The disciple prays sincerely…”

Seeing that Lu Xiucai attacked them, something surged like water in the darkness. The few oil lamps in the cave began to flicker ominously.

Lu Xiucai finished his chant and bit on his serrated sword. His eyes opened wide, and a tiger’s growl came from his throat.

A strong wind blew around the cave, causing the flickering lamp to turn still and the darkness to retreat a little.

Lu Xiucai’s single hand curled into a claw as he stomped on the ground like a tiger. Despite his injuries, he propped himself up with his single arm and two peg legs.

He looked around before quickly shifting around to look towards his back. He saw a strange arm extending out from the darkness to attack him. The strange arm had three abnormally long fingers.

When Lu Xiucai was on the verge of using the tiger spirit he had summoned to stop them, the situation took a sudden turn. The ground beneath him abruptly split open, and a massive centipede charged upward. It sank its fangs into Lu Xiucai's only arm, preventing him from moving.

At the same time, another centipede charged out from the darkness and used its mandible to chomp down on Lu Xiucai’s lower back. The centipede on the lotus was gone, leaving only a single hole at the base of the lotus.

The two centipedes pulled in different directions to dismember him!

However, with the tiger spirit in his body, Lu Xiucai’s body was as tough as steel. The centipede could not pull him apart at all.

“GROOOAR!” A tiger’s roar came again, and Lu Xiucai used his clawed hands to crush the head of the centipede beneath him.

As the dying centipede screeched in pain, the second centipede that had been clamping onto his back screeched out too.

Lu XIucai realized that the centipedes were linked together! They weren’t regular centipedes that had grown and turned into monsters—they were evil entities that had learned secret techniques!

Lu Xiucai shook off the dead centipede and prepared to kill the second one. At that moment, another centipede erupted from the ground and bit into his arm. This time, the attack was clever—instead of coiling and biting Lu Xiucai’s arm, the centipede bit his wrist.

It wasn’t over yet. More centipedes broke out from the ground and bit into Lu Xiucai.

Lu Xiucai was completely covered in centipedes before the sound of intense tearing could be heard. He was completely torn apart by the centipedes.

Lu Xiucai found himself completely engulfed in centipedes. Then, a sound of intense tearing filled the air. The centipedes completely tore him apart, making his organs rain down the hall and splatter across the entire cave.

The centipedes were about to eat the bits of flesh and organs when one of Lu Xiucai’s lungs splattered down. A mysterious doll crawled out from his lung.

The doll grew when it came into contact with the air and soon reached the size of an adult. It was the Strayed One’s skin doll that Li Huowang had given him!

The flattened Lu Xiucai sucked in the shadows of his dismembered body on the ground. Lu Xiucai's body remained flat despite consuming the shadow, but there was no time to think about it. If he didn’t figure out a way to escape right away, he would die again.

Lu Xiucai realized that he was no longer crippled and smiled. With a swift motion, he cut off his entire left arm.

His broken left arm turned a purplish-black color as his bones grew. Meanwhile, the dismembered left arm burrowed into the ground to find the centipede’s main body. ɽ

The nine centipedes above ground trembled and fell limp while the ground turned white from the centipede's blood.

Lu Xiucai smiled—his arm had hurt the beast underground.

He placed his serrated sword into his mouth. He was ready to tear off all of his teeth again.

Suddenly, the centipede on the ground trembled violently and released a low rumble. Several pairs of eyes lit up in the cave—Lu Xiucai was surrounded.

They were all evil entities. This was their dwelling, their nest!

Whoosh! The light in the cave vanished completely as all of the eyes lunged at him.

“You think I’m afraid of you? I will exact justice for the people even if I have to die today! I shall avenge the people you’ve killed!”

Lu Xiucai placed the sword onto his chest to prepare for his fight to the death.

Just then, a strange scene occurred. A soft white light glowed and illuminated the entire cave. The evil entities revealed by the white light fell onto the ground and stopped moving.

To Lu Xiucai’s surprise, the white light came from the white donkey on his back. He excitedly and sincerely kowtowed toward the lotus seat in front of him.

“The almighty Heavenly Mater! I knew you were kind and would not let chaos take over the world!”

Lu Xiucai stood up and held his sword. He swung it towards one of the cowering centipedes and said, “You beast! I will kill you and stop your deceit!”

Just as he was about to chop off the centipede's head, a sudden, searing pain came from his back.

The white donkey flashed brightly, and Lu Xiucai fell to the ground. He could not get up.