Since he had already decided to go out, Li Huowang obviously had to suppress his Huan Jue from flaring up again; otherwise, he'd keep slipping between illusion and reality and fail at whatever he tried to do.
To keep his Huan Jue in check, Master Danyang's Black Taisui was the key.
When the group arrived at the cavern, they stopped. They saw, to their surprise, that the Black Taisui had crawled out of the black cauldron. It was their first time seeing the Black Taisui's true form.
It was a huge, slimy, black mass covered in mucus. At first glance, its covering looked like fur, but on closer inspection, one would find it was a dense growth of dark, slender tentacles, or perhaps undeveloped fine filaments. The entire body expanded and contracted freely like a giant maggot. The bloated body was also studded with several orifices, and with every squirm, a nauseating stench spewed from within.
This scene scared everyone stiff. Their limbs grew weak, and they were on the verge of turning and fleeing.
However, Li Huowang sharply picked up on something being wrong. The Black Taisui was much smaller than before, and black liquid was continuously seeping from beneath it.
What's going on? Could its life be tied to Master Danyang's? Li Huowang's heart sank steadily.
Thinking this, he ran out quickly. When he returned, he was clutching some of Master Danyang's remains. Li Huowang rushed to the Black Taisui, dropped to one knee, and, straining, gathered the writhing pile of rotten flesh into his arms, stuffing the remains into some of the gaps in its body.
Li Huowang's attempts only made things worse. As he stuffed the remains inside, even more black water oozed from its body, causing it to shrink further.
At that moment, Li Huowang's face was filled with anxiety, as if the writhing, twisted black monster in his arms was not a monster at all, but his own sick child. Desperately, he grabbed both sides of the Black Taisui and gently shook it. "Hey, hey, hey, don't scare me! If you die, what am I supposed to do?!"
The Black Taisui gave no response; not a single organ on its body showed any sign of movement.
Seeing the Black Taisui getting smaller and smaller, Li Huowang snapped. He opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on it.
This wild performance left Bai Lingmiao and the others utterly stunned. They could only stand there, watching their blood-soaked Senior Li gnaw huge chunks from the writhing monster. To them, compared to the Black Taisui, Li Huowang now seemed more monstrous.
Goudan shuffled over to Zhao Wu and whispered, "How about... we split up? If we keep traveling with him, I'm scared he'll eat me in my sleep."
Everyone's gaze toward Li Huowang was now tinged with dread.
The condensed Black Taisui's flesh was noticeably tougher. Chewing it felt like gnawing on a tire. But Li Huowang couldn't be bothered with that; he was too busy swallowing it down in great gulps. No matter how fast he ate, he couldn't keep up with the rate at which the Black Taisui dissolved itself. In no time, only a thin layer of blackened skin was left in his arms.
"Um, Senior Li, are you full now? If you are, can we get going?" Gouwa asked cautiously.
Li Huowang regretfully tossed the foul, stinking skin to the ground. He wasn't sure how long this would last. He could only hope to find another Black Taisui, or some other solution, before his Huan Jue struck again.
"I'm going to change my clothes." The remaining items were basically worthless. As for things like Technique Secret Manuals, they could forget it. Master Danyang was illiterate.
Li Huowang peeled off his sticky Daoist Robe, changed into a brand-new cyan one, and immediately felt refreshed.
Freshly changed, Li Huowang led the others toward the exit, explaining along the way why he had done what he did. Once they understood that Li Huowang was trying to use the flesh of the Black Taisui to suppress his Huan Jue, the heavy weight in their hearts finally lifted.
"Oh, so that's what it was. I thought Senior Li was just hungry!" Gouwa joked from the side, his laughter lightening the atmosphere.
As they walked, a new side passage emerged from the tunnel. Li Huowang stopped, as if guided by some unseen force. The passage led to Master Danyang's room. Should we go check on how the three senior brothers' fight went?
Although he didn't want to get involved in their dog-eat-dog mess, he didn't want a new Master Danyang to appear if he could help it.
"Let's go take a look." Li Huowang led his group of the old, weak, sick, and injured toward the room.
Arriving at the door, Li Huowang saw that the door he had shut earlier hadn't been opened, proving no one had come out.
"Senior brothers, are you done fighting? We're leaving now!" Li Huowang called out loudly into the room.
After waiting for a while with no reply, Li Huowang pushed the door open. The pungent stench of blood hit them in the face, and a blood-drenched hand lay right there for all to see.
Their eyes moved upward, only to be met with an even bloodier spectacle. Xuan Yuan was dead, and he had died horribly. His body was nearly split in two by a sword.
Changren was dead too, run through from behind with a sword. Xuan Yuan practiced Talisman Cultivation, not Sword Cultivation. The only one who could have done this was his brother, Changming.
Changming, the last survivor, wasn't in much better shape. His body had been pierced through by black threads strung with Copper Coins, sewing him completely to the wall. It seemed he had triggered one of Master Danyang's traps.
Changming wasn't dead yet. His desire-filled eyes were still locked onto the so-called Immortality Scripture.
"Cough... cough..." Seeing Li Huowang come in, Changming on the wall seemed to want to say something, but the Copper Coin embedded in his neck had completely severed his windpipe, preventing him from speaking.
Li Huowang walked over to him, smiled, bent down, and picked up his sword.
It was a Longsword, about 1.2 meters in length. Under the lamplight, the blade reflected a cold gleam, looking exceptionally sharp.
He struggled to swing it a few times single-handedly, then said to Changming, "Nice sword. Senior, you don't seem to have a use for this sword for now, so your junior will borrow it."
"Although I'm not a Sword Cultivator, it's better to have an iron weapon in hand than to be bare-fisted when traveling. Don't you agree, senior?"
Changming tried to signal something with his eyes, but it was obvious Li Huowang didn't understand at all.
Li Huowang took the Sword Sheath from the deceased Changren, slid the Longsword into it, and slung it across his back.
Next was the main event: the Heavenly Book.
Li Huowang turned toward the Heavenly Book, which was now completely unguarded.
Just then, Changming began to struggle violently. With his struggles, the Copper Coins on the black threads dug even deeper into his flesh. After just a few twitches, the light in his eyes rapidly faded.
"Senior Li, Senior Brother Changming is dead!" Gouwa exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.
Li Huowang gazed at the so-called Heavenly Book and sighed softly. To think that so many people had died for this thing of unknown origin.
Li Huowang leaned in closer again to scrutinize it, this time even more intently than when he was under Master Danyang's duress. Yet, after repeated examination, he still felt it was just a scripture. Making a rough guess, it seemed to be a text exhorting people to do good.
Li Huowang stepped back, then reached a hand behind him and slowly drew his sword. "CLANG!" With a heavy blow, the Longsword, sharp enough to cut through iron, came down hard on the scripture-covered stone tablet.