Chapter 1951 - 1951: 1950 Betrayal

His eyelids were twitching non-stop, almost as if he wanted to cut off his eyes to see if there was something dirty on them.

Meanwhile, in the room next door, as soon as Li Qi entered, he saw a phantom standing right in front of him.

The phantom seemed a bit unhappy, it was clear just from the expression.

"You betrayed me?"

He should have expected that Li Qi would betray him. If he had nipped this possibility in the bud earlier, perhaps Li Qi wouldn't have had the chance to be honest with Tang Rao.

"Master, what are you talking about? I don't understand!"

Li Qi didn't expect the Heavenly Dao hadn't left at all; it moved like a ghost, disappearing and appearing at will.

Two hands pulled Li Qi towards it, squeezing Li Qi's throat, preventing him from speaking, and aiming to take Li Qi's life.

"The wounds on you were healed by him."

Just this alone was enough to confirm that Li Qi had definitely told Tang Rao something.

"I didn't expect you to dare to betray even me. Well, very well!"

Even though it was just a phantom, when it came to killing, it was quite decisive.

Its hands tightened, until Li Qi rolled his eyes and lost consciousness.

Tang Rao heard the same commotion as last time. He hadn't looked into it deeply before, which led to Li Qi getting hurt, and he didn't realize until much later. Now there was noise again next door, could Li Qi be in trouble?

Tang Rao didn't even bother with the door. He dismissed the barrier he'd set up in the room and went straight through the wall. Unfortunately, when he got there, all he found was Li Qi's lifeless body on the floor, the ground just as clean as before, with nothing around, and no other lingering presence in the room.

Li Qi's death must be related to the Heavenly Dao.

Tang Rao didn't have time to grieve; he still remembered what Li Qi had said before. If he betrayed the Heavenly Dao, he would be condemned to the path of reincarnation, never to be reborn.

Seeing Li Qi's soul gradually leaving his body and slowly rising, Tang Rao reached out and collected Li Qi's soul.

"If I can reach the pinnacle, your next life will be better than anyone's."

By closing the lid, Tang Rao gave Li Qi a promise.

Or, it could be seen as a form of repayment for Li Qi.

Tang Rao knew that the Heavenly Dao was in the Peach Blossom Land; it hated Tang Rao just as Tang Rao hated it. The only reason it hadn't acted against Tang Rao was that Tang Rao possessed the Divine Stone, which the Heavenly Dao desperately needed.

The Heavenly Dao was seeking the Divine Stone, and when Tang Rao left the Tang Family, the old master had repeated several times that if he encountered a life-threatening problem, he should smash the Divine Stone. Only then would he be able to save his life.

Everyone pointed towards a common object; it was imaginable that there must be a big secret about the Divine Stone.

He didn't linger in the Peach Blossom Land and returned directly to Central Island to recount everything he had encountered in the Peach Blossom Land to Tang Lei. The more he spoke, the darker Tang Lei's face became, until even 'dark' couldn't describe it anymore.

"How could this happen?"

Tang Lei muttered to himself. Tang Rao didn't understand a word of what he said.

"What are you talking about?"

He waited for Tang Lei to organize his words, but after a long while, Tang Lei still didn't speak.

"Nothing, nothing at all."

The less Tang Lei said, the bigger the issue seemed to be. Tang Lei definitely was hiding something from Tang Rao.

Even if he didn't say, Tang Rao could still guess a bit of it.

"Really nothing?"

Tang Rao pulled out a mirror and placed it in front of Tang Lei, letting Tang Lei see his own expression.

"Look at your expression, does it really look like nothing?"

Alright, Tang Lei had nothing more to say.

"It's as difficult for you to tell the truth as it is for me to get your opinion now. If you have no opinion, I'll take everyone from the Kao Shan Sect and attack the Heavenly Dao's lair!"

After all, the Heavenly Dao had nearly destroyed Zijing City for Tang Rao, so it wouldn't be too much for Tang Rao to ruin the Peach Blossom Land for the Heavenly Dao, would it?

"You mustn't go; with your current strength, trying to fight the Heavenly Dao is definitely difficult. Going now would be courting death!"

If you wanted to die, that was one thing, but if something happened to Tang Rao, Tang Lei and Fang Fang would be the most heartbroken.

"Unless you tell me now exactly what the relationship between the Divine Stone and the Heavenly Dao is, if you don't, I'll go now and even give the Divine Stone to the Heavenly Dao as a greeting gift."

Tang Yue got more and more excited, almost causing Tang Lei to be infuriated to death.

"I'll tell you, just for the sake of your life, never take out the Divine Stone—it's actually the true form of the Heavenly Dao. He was once hit by you, causing his soul to stay intact while his corporeal body became stone. This Divine Stone originally belonged to you; otherwise, it wouldn't recognize you as its master."

The Divine Stone is the true form of the Heavenly Dao? This means that if Tang Rao broke the Divine Stone, the Heavenly Dao could never use its true form again; it would only forever exist as a phantom.

No wonder, instead of finishing off Tang Rao at any time, it waited until Li Qi got the Divine Stone from Tang Rao before acting. Was it worried that hurting Tang Rao would also damage the Divine Stone?

"It's clearly the Heavenly Dao's flesh, yet it only acknowledges me as its master; this Divine Stone is really adorable."

"Don't be happy too soon. The Divine Stone acknowledges you because of fate and luck. The Heavenly Dao is just waiting for the right moment to seize the Divine Stone and restore its true form. If not just you, we'll all be doomed."

Without its true form, the Heavenly Dao's power is greatly weakened; it's no longer the force of nature it once was. But if its strength were restored, and its former dominance regained, who could challenge it?

"Hearing you say this, I'm almost tempted to smash the Divine Stone so the Heavenly Dao won't always be after me."

Tang Rao, having the Divine Stone, seemed like he had a boost. Talking about smashing it was just a joke; how could he bear to destroy such a treasure?

"You can't smash it; it's beneficial for your future. As I said, unless it's a life-threatening situation, don't smash it!"

He didn't know how many times he had heard those words; Tang Rao's ears were worn out.

"Alright, alright, alright, I won't smash it. I was just saying it; don't take it seriously."

Tang Rao took out the Divine Stone and for the first time seriously examined it.

Just from the outside, there was no way to tell what was inside, or what about it resembled the Heavenly Dao.

"Father, from what you said, the Heavenly Dao isn't very strong now. Yet I'm still not its opponent?"

At least look at Tang Rao's appearance in case he's still a match for the Heavenly Dao?

"You want to be its opponent? You'd have to restore yourself to your peak state, but your memory's never fully restored, reaching the peak isn't as easy as imagined."