On the fourth day, Xiao Meng and Xue Nu simply stayed awake, waiting to see what new antics he might pull off.
"I am the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal Li Taibai!" Li Haimo appeared in a flowing white robe, the Lingxu sword in hand.
"Oh no, I forgot to put away the Lingxu Sword," Xue Nu said.
"That's not the worst of it—his cultivation seems to have recovered. This is going to be bad." Xiao Meng was stunned too, because Li Haimo had emerged using the Harmonizing with Light and Dust technique.
"A Zhao guest with his wild Hu-style tassels, Wu hook gleaming like frost and snow; silver saddle on a white steed, galloping like a shooting star." Li Haimo drew the Lingxu Sword and began his sword dance, his figure flickering unpredictably across the courtyard.
"Get back—this might be more than I can handle right now," Xiao Meng warned. He could even sense a thick aura of killing intent gathering on Li Haimo's blade.
"One strike per ten steps, a thousand li without leaving a trace." With a single thrust, the willows by the hot spring pool were sliced clean through, split neatly in two.
"When the deed is done, I brush my robes and leave, hiding my merits and name deep within." Li Haimo vanished from the courtyard.
"It's over—we have no idea where he went." Xiao Meng sighed. Li Haimo's version of Harmonizing with Light and Dust was no ordinary technique; it blended the Dream Butterfly Escape with the Yin-Yang School's Soul Whispering Dragon Wander, making it impossible to track.
Boom! A massive whale came crashing toward Ji Yang City's walls. And there was Li Haimo, perched atop the city's gate tower.
"Three cups of wine, and I spit out my solemn vow; the Five Mountains would topple to make it light." He chanted the words as the whale hurtled toward the tower.
The guard general atop Ji Yang City's gate tower froze in shock. What in the world? An enemy assault? But why was a gigantic whale flying straight at them?
A thunderous crash echoed as half the gate tower crumbled, rousing the gate guards and half the city in an instant.
Xiao Meng and Xue Nu sensed it too and hurried over. This was a disaster—they'd outright demolished Ji Yang City's gate tower.
The Mohist leader, Six-Fingered Black Knight, picked up on the Daoist Northern Dipper's "There Be Fish" aura right away. He leaped into the air just in time to witness the gate tower shattering. He was utterly baffled—why would the Daoists show up here and attack Ji Yang's defenses?
"I am Xiao Meng, head of the Daoist Tian Sect. Generals of Yan, hold your fire! Our Daoist Ren Sect leader, Wu Chenzi, has lost his mind to cultivation deviation. If you strike, he'll see you as foes and retaliate." Xiao Meng didn't hesitate, projecting his voice across a thousand li to blanket the entire tower.
The Ji Yang guard general stared down at the white-robed youth below, unsure whether to order an attack. Then he spotted Xiao Meng and Xue Nu approaching from afar, along with the Hundred Schools' scholars rushing from within the city—including the Mohist leader, Six-Fingered Black Knight.
"Master Xiao Meng, what's going on here?" the Mohist leader demanded.
"My senior brother delved too deep into the Daoist Scripture and fell into qi deviation. He escaped Mount Taiyi, and I tracked him here." Xiao Meng couldn't exactly admit they'd been holed up in the city for ages.
"Eyes dazzled, ears buzzing, then spirit surges like a rainbow." Li Haimo was still dancing his sword forms, but to everyone's astonishment, the entire sky lit up. Vast, rolling purple qi flooded the heavens, centered on him and spanning dozens of li in a majestic wave.
"Purple Qi from the East?" Six-Fingered Black Knight blurted out in disbelief. Only in legends had Laozi stirred such a spectacle when leaving Hangu Pass—purple qi stretching three thousand li. This was just dozens of li, but it was terrifying enough to lend credence to the idea that Wu Chenzi had truly gone mad.
"Watch out!" Xiao Meng and Six-Fingered Black Knight both sensed an ambush launching at Li Haimo from among the Hundred Schools' scholars outside the city. They rushed forward.
But Li Haimo reacted even faster.
"To save Zhao, I swing the golden mallet—Handan City quakes first!" Man, sword, and a streak of golden light slashed through the air. The cluster of attackers parted like tofu under a knife, cleaved in one stroke. The sword qi didn't stop there—it slammed into Ji Yang's walls, carving a gash tens of meters long.
"This..." Six-Fingered Black Knight swallowed hard. Even at his peak, he wouldn't dare take a hit like that. Those few assailants were bisected on the spot, frozen in their pre-attack stances because the blade had been too swift.
"Two heroes of a thousand autumns, their fame resounding through Great Liang's city." Li Haimo vanished again—but this time, Xiao Meng was prepared. He'd marked him with a Dream Butterfly Guide, allowing him to pursue via the Dream Butterfly Escape.
"Farewell." Xiao Meng offered Six-Fingered Black Knight a Daoist salute, then pulled Xue Nu along and dissolved into dream butterflies, vanishing from the scene.
"Who can pen the words below the tower? With white hair, I compose the Supreme Profound Scripture." A voice transmission echoed across the entire city of Ji Yang.
"Who can pen the words below the tower? With white hair, I compose the Supreme Profound Scripture?" Six-Fingered Black Knight stood there, dazed. Had Wu Chenzi truly comprehended the Daoist Scripture and begun authoring a new Daoist canon? Who but myself can write it? So with hair turned white, I'll forge the Supreme Profound Scripture?
What were the Daoists up to? Sealed away on their mountains for ages, and now they unleashed a royal flush—straight out of the gate with a founder-level sage?
The Hundred Schools' scholars were all dumbfounded, staring at the collapsed gate tower, the roiling purple qi overhead, the massive sword scar on the walls, and those corpses still locked in their striking poses. The words lingered in the air between heaven and earth:
Who can pen the words below the tower? With white hair, I compose the Supreme Profound Scripture.
Who indeed could write such verses from the tower's base? No one but himself, so with locks turned silver, he'd craft the Supreme Profound Scripture. Was he proclaiming his own genius? Were the Daoists about to birth another dragon? No one could forget the years under Zhuangzi's shadow—the Hundred Schools had all fallen silent as mice. No help for it: Zhuangzi's Three Swords—slaying men, rending earth, cleaving the heavens. Mere killing no longer sufficed; he turned to battling the cosmos itself, birthing the Daoist ultimate art that made heaven pale and all things bloom anew.
"What even is this Supreme Profound Scripture? Another sword manual?" Six-Fingered Black Knight wondered aloud. That strike—Mohism's vaunted top defense, Unyielding to Convention, might not hold against it. Even Guiguzi's Hundred-Pace Flying Sword fused with the Zongheng school's Piercing All Directions couldn't match that power. And the speed... far quicker than Hundred-Pace, akin to Mohism's Ten Steps, One Kill—but that felled only a single foe, while this shattered a wall.
No doubt about it: if Ji Yang's walls hadn't been so thick and sturdy, it might've punched right through. And this was just a casual aftershock. Had the wall been the true target? Could it have withstood? The guard general broke out in cold sweat. Good thing he'd heeded Xiao Meng—no attack ordered, or those corpses below would've been his men. This was a one-man siege.
By the time Xiao Meng and Xue Nu caught up to Li Haimo, they found the man back in the little courtyard, lying in his room and sleeping soundly.
"What the hell? He causes all that chaos, then slinks home once he's had his fun?" Xiao Meng fumed, though a spark of relief warmed him all the same. No matter what, he'd remembered to return to their side.
"Did Master used to go this wild when his cultivation flared up?" Xue Nu was genuinely shaken. If "madness" meant stunts like this, wasn't Mount Taiyi a powder keg? And they had two such live wires.
"Not this intense before. He must've broken through," Xiao Meng replied.
Li Haimo stirred awake, gazing at Xiao Meng curled beside him. He leaned in for a soft kiss—then the memories of his qi-deviated escapades these past days crashed over him. A silent holy shit echoed in his mind. This was me?
Rooftop karaoke? Cross-dressing diva? Azure Lotus Sword Immortal Li Taibai? And screwing over Xiao Meng in the process?
I'm screwed—total disaster! Li Haimo knew he was done for. Best play dumb, pretend he remembered nothing. Yeah, that'd work.
_
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