Chapter 302: New Gadgets

Li Yunxin and the Wolf Daoist walked through the wind and rain for an hour. By now, the streets were nearly deserted.

The refugees in the city who had lost their homes gathered in places they deemed safe to seek shelter from the storm. Only broken bricks and shattered tiles remained on the streets.

Just a few hours ago, Rong City had been a place that, while not exactly flourishing, was at least quiet and harmonious. A few hours later, it had been turned into a ruin. As Li Yunxin walked through these streets and looked at the Wolf Daoist beside him, a thought suddenly occurred to him—

Though the Wolf Daoist was the de facto master of the city, his cultivation was mediocre, appearing to be only at the Intent Realm or perhaps just entering the Illusory Realm. Yet, a demon with such low cultivation had turned a city inhabited by tens of thousands into this state. Could humans and demons truly "get along well"?

But such thoughts were fleeting. The two demons soon reached the banks of the Rong River. Li Yunxin was used to the surging majesty of the Wei River, so he felt a bit disappointed upon seeing the Rong River. The Rong River flowed westward to join the Wei River, and the section in Rong City was already in the middle-lower reaches. Yet, this river was actually narrower than the Willow River in Weicheng. The water surface was only a few dozen feet wide, and the current was slow and shallow. Even with the heavy rain falling from the sky, the river lacked momentum; one could only imagine what it looked like on ordinary days.

Li Yunxin stopped by the river, looked toward the northeast, and asked the Wolf Daoist, "Are they over there?"

The Wolf Daoist hurriedly replied, "Yes... by the time, they should be arriving soon. Dragon King... um, how do you plan to deal with them?"

Li Yunxin pulled a transparent jade slip from his sleeve while glancing at the Wolf Daoist. "Me? It’s you. Didn't you think about how to deal with this before you did it?"

The Wolf Daoist froze, blinking uneasily. "Ah, well... this humble Daoist originally intended to flee this place of trouble and then..."

He had mentioned this plan to Li Yunxin before. At this point, he trailed off. He saw Li Yunxin find a large Bluestone by the river, sit down, and begin staring intently at the jade slip in his hand. The jade slip emitted a hazy white light, with characters flowing across it. The Wolf Daoist took one glance and didn't dare look again—because he actually saw moving pictures on it as well.

As this Wei River Dragon King watched, he gently swiped his finger across it. With every swipe, the text and graphics moved... Though the Wolf Daoist didn't know the specifics, how could he not know that this must be a supreme treasure of the Daoist sects?

Consequently, he didn't dare stare directly at it. He quickly lowered his gaze and fell silent. Only after Li Yunxin had looked for a short while and stopped to contemplate did the Wolf Daoist pluck up the courage to ask, "Dragon King... what are you doing?"

Li Yunxin didn't look at him, keeping his eyes fixed on the jade slip, and briefly uttered two words: "Learning."

Seeing this attitude, the Wolf Daoist found it even harder to speak. He could only stare toward the northeast with a heart full of worry, wondering what he would do if the Dragon King really made him face the enemy alone and forbade him from fleeing—just to see what he was made of.

And so, fifteen minutes passed.

Li Yunxin finally seemed to find what he was looking for on the jade slip.

And then...

He started swearing again—just as he had when he was with Old Daoist Liu in the Ziwei Palace on Jun Mountain.

First, he muttered a bunch of things through gritted teeth, nothing more than "This is supposed to be human language?", "How the hell am I supposed to know where to open the spiritual apertures?", or "That's it?"

Once he vented his anger, he quieted down, staring blankly at the wind and rain in the distance, his eyes unblinking, as if he were internalizing something.

This repeated for another fifteen minutes. The Wolf Daoist listened from the side, trembling with fear, not knowing why this eccentric Wei River Dragon King was so angry. Finally, Li Yunxin tapped the jade slip and put it away.

He stood up and let out a frustrated sigh.

The Wolf Daoist waited cautiously to one side. Sensing that Li Yunxin’s anger had subsided slightly, he whispered, "Uh... Dragon King was just contemplating the Great Dao... was it unsuccessful?"

Normally, one shouldn't bring such things up. However, his heart was anxious, not knowing what Li Yunxin intended for him. He could only bite the bullet and continue, "I see the Dragon King's frustration remains... um... did you encounter some difficulty?"

After a moment, Li Yunxin glanced at him. "I'm just unhappy that someone is smarter than me."

Having said that, he flipped his palm and took out his Folding Fan.

With a crisp shua sound, he opened the fan, revealing the landscape of Weicheng on the surface—he was looking at a figure within the scenery. If one looked closely, they would see the figure had a long, five-strand beard and wore a wave-like blue-gray Daoist robe, looking every bit like an otherworldly Immortal. But his face had not a shred of immortal air—fury was written all over it, eyes glaring and teeth gnashing, as if he were utterly unreconciled.

This was the soul of Enlightened Master Yue Yunzi, the Head Seat of the Discipline Hall from the Langya Grotto-Heaven of the Daoist Orthodoxy. During the battle of Weicheng, Li Yunxin had "painted" him onto this fan using the power of a Million Yin Spirits.

Now, Li Yunxin stared at him for a while, frowning slightly—as if recalling some content.

Then, he pressed two fingers together, tapped the painting, and drew several mysterious runes in the air. Once the runes were formed, they immediately emitted a pale golden glow, illuminating his and the Wolf Daoist's faces. After a moment, the runes shattered, turning into countless tiny streaks of light—all of which merged into the body of Yue Yunzi’s portrait on the fan.

The person in the painting suddenly became more three-dimensional and full; he even moved. However, he was like a string puppet, his joints not very flexible. He spun around on the spot, facing Li Yunxin, and soon became still again.

Li Yunxin frowned, closed his eyes to ponder for a moment, and then drew a few more runes.

After a long while, the Wolf Daoist finally understood what Li Yunxin was doing.

It seemed he was... practicing a newly learned spell. He likely learned it from that treasure just now. He was currently testing it.

This fact left the Wolf Daoist in a daze.

He knew Li Yunxin’s cultivation was profound; he might have already broken through the Manifestation Realm and entered the True Realm. For a great demon of the True Realm to learn a new spell and seemingly fail a few times during attempts meant that the spell was clearly no common trick.

But the problem was... an Illusory Realm cultivator usually required a long time to study and comprehend a new method. Then they would need an even longer time to master it. This Wei River Dragon King had just stared at the jade slip for fifteen minutes and then tried a few times...

What exactly was he trying to do?!

But before he could think for long, Li Yunxin’s spell actually succeeded. A mass of drifting black mist suddenly emerged from the fan. The black mist swayed in mid-air for a moment, then suddenly hit the ground, quickly gathering into a human shape—it was the exact likeness of Yue Yunzi from the fan.

Li Yunxin finally let out a soft sigh of relief and looked up at him. "The sword I gave you originally belonged to him. Since you probably don't know how to use it, I'll have him help you use it later. This man was formerly a True Realm cultivator of the Daoist Orthodoxy. Even though only his soul remains, he still has the cultivation of the peak Manifestation Realm. You can rest easy in a bit."

—The Wolf Daoist would be a ghost if he could rest easy.

He stared at the manifested Yue Yunzi for a while, finding that the fellow stared with wide eyes and open hands, neither speaking nor showing any expression, as if he were a clay statue. Recalling Li Yunxin’s actions just now, his heart surged with turmoil, and he couldn't help but ask, "This... method, did the Dragon King just realize it now?"

Li Yunxin thought for a moment and said seriously, "Oh. You should know this too. What I practice is the Dao of Painting—have you heard of the Painting Saint?"

The Wolf Daoist shook his head blankly.

"It doesn't matter if you haven't." Li Yunxin paced a few steps. "I practice the Dao of Painting. Previously, my cultivation in the Dao of Painting was only at the Manifestation Realm; I never had the time to go further. Tonight, as it happens, the time is right. This person is sealed in my fan—controlling his soul on the fan requires the cultivation of the True Realm of the Dao of Painting. So I tried it just now, and now I suppose I am in the True Realm."

"It’s not convenient for me to show my face when we meet the enemy later, so I’ll have him go with you. I imagine there won't be any big problems. I only just advanced, so my technique wasn't very refined, but it’s about right now... yes, just about right. Go on, don't worry."

The Wolf Daoist didn't know what to say anymore.

He felt a chill all over his body, even feeling a cold wind howling in his ears, and felt that he was likely going to suffer tonight.

At first, he thought the Dragon King was testing a new spell—that behavior alone had terrified him, not knowing if the spell could even be used.

Who had ever heard of someone muttering complaints like "I don't understand" or "I can't grasp it" fifteen minutes ago, and then claiming to have mastered it fifteen minutes later?!

And now he was saying nonsense like "I was at the Manifestation Realm of the Dao of Painting fifteen minutes ago, but the time was right, so I took a look and made it to the True Realm"!

...And he told him to "go on, don't worry"!

The Wolf Daoist froze for a moment, then fell to his knees with a thud. "Dragon King—!!"

Li Yunxin frowned. "What’s wrong with you?"

The Wolf Daoist bowed again, his voice filled with sorrow and terror. "Dragon King, this humble Daoist truly, sincerely follows you! My heart is clear for the heavens to see... I have no ill intentions! If I have offended the Dragon King in any way before, please tell me plainly—leave me a life, and in the future, I will surely—"

"Ha, because of this." Li Yunxin interrupted him. He went silent for a moment, staring at him. "You don't believe me?"

The Wolf Daoist whispered, "Well..."

"Don't dare to bet again?"

As those words were spoken, the Wolf Daoist froze. He stared at Li Yunxin for a moment before saying, "This is..."

He stopped there. After a moment of contemplation, he stood up, the sorrow and terror on his face vanishing. Hearing that phrase "don't dare to bet again," he suddenly realized this might be another test from the Wei River Dragon King—a test of his courage and methods.

...Probably as long as his performance was satisfactory enough, at the critical moment, this Dragon King would still step in to save him... right?

Li Yunxin smiled and repeated, "Go on, don't worry."

Standing in the night rain, the Wolf Daoist looked at Li Yunxin, then at the statue-like remnant soul of Yue Yunzi, and a look of tragic heroism suddenly appeared on his face.