"Ancestor," Li Kuanghua's voice was low and dangerous.
"Shall we eliminate him (Lai Teng)?" She was confident because now, the true identities of all those Tian Xing avatars who had converged on Qingcheng Mountain that day had all been exposed to the Ancestor.
If the Ancestor so willed it, every last one of them could be hunted down and utterly destroyed!
[NO]
Li Wei's Spirit Tablet trembled once in response.
His reasoning was clear: To attempt an assassination within the very walls of the Imperial Capital? The potential fallout, the risks involved were simply far too great.
Through his omnipresent senses, Li Wei had, just moments before, peered into the Lai Residence and witnessed Lai Teng's current deranged state.
He had seen it clearly: Tian Xing's avatars could experience agony. And towards the end of Gu Donglai's torment, Lai Teng had clearly taken steps to sever his own five senses from the shared network, which would, by extension, also have blocked the sensory input for other similarly connected avatars!
It confirmed what the Li family had already deduced: these avatars of Tian Xing, in the absence of overriding directives from the central mind, largely operated according to their own individual wills.
Each one harbored the ambition to outlast all others, to eventually become the true, primary vessel for Tian Xing's consciousness.
"Which means," Li Wei thought, "no matter how overwhelmingly, preternaturally powerful Tian Xing may be, he is not without his vulnerabilities."
Li Wei exhaled slowly. "Tian Xing... It's as if he suffers from a fractured consciousness, a multitude of selves. All these avatars are vying to become the dominant one, the true body.
Regarding those other Imperial Capital avatars, we cannot allow them all to perish. If that entire group were wiped out, Lai Teng would almost certainly ascend to the Divinity Transformation stage, and Tian Xing's other scattered avatars would also see a massive surge in their power."
A sudden calm settled over Li Wei; he was no longer frantic. As long as vulnerabilities existed, as long as their enemy could be made to bleed, then Li Wei was convinced that even a divinity, if confronted by his clan standing united as one, could ultimately be brought down!
The thought had even crossed Li Wei's mind – to seize control of one of Tian Xing's avatars and then aid that avatar in its bid to become the primary consciousness. But the notion, once it surfaced, was just as quickly dismissed; such a path was too fraught with peril.
Tian Xing's central mind would still issue its directives. And while individual avatars might, under duress, feign compromise – much like Lin Wudao had hesitated when Li Wei sent the puppet to Qilin Mountain – Li Wei was convinced that no avatar of Tian Xing could ever be truly subjugated or controlled by an external power.
"But they can be made to compromise, to hesitate..." Li Wei mused. "And for now, that is enough."
With this resolved, Li Wei's consciousness manifested once more within the Ancestor Space. Almost immediately, Li Kuanghua's Spirit Tablet flared, and her own spiritual form appeared before him.
"Ancestor!"
Li Kuanghua hastened to offer a deep, respectful bow to Li Wei.
Motioning for Li Kuanghua to rise, Li Wei spoke, his voice deep and resonant.
"Proceed with your primary objective: extract Yaotie from Heavenly Light Sect. As a secondary matter, ensure Gu Donglai is kept alive. Have those allies who journeyed from Azure Cloud region assist in capturing any weaker Tian Xing avatars within the Imperial Capital – capture them, bind them!"
"Yes, Ancestor!" Li Kuanghua inclined her head in acknowledgement.
A faint smile touched Li Wei's lips. "And while you're at it," he added, his voice soft but edged with steel, "make sure to collect a little... interest."
......
[Year 228]
Two more years slipped by; Li Kuanghua remained active within the Imperial Capital.
Meanwhile, somewhere outside the Imperial Capital's borders, another figure was constantly on the move, day and night without cease, shifting locations, tracing unpredictable, circuitous routes – his movements utterly untraceable. This was— Daoist Shanchen!
Just then, this long-time confidant of the Li family shimmered and disappeared from his current spot once more.
The Communication Stone on his belt was pulsing with light.
He gave an exasperated roll of his eyes. "Another one bagged, is it?"
He grumbled. "They sure know how to keep an old fellow like me on his toes. And bloody dangerous work it is too! They always send me to play these high-stakes games of cat and mouse with those freaks of nature!"
A short while later, Daoist Shanchen materialized inside a teahouse in the Imperial Capital.
The Heavenly Star Sword Saint was there, calmly sipping tea. Upon Shanchen's arrival, the Sword Saint, wasting no time, gave a flick of his storage ring, and a rolled-up scroll appeared in his grasp.
The moment the Sword Saint unfurled his scroll, the image of a cage became visible upon its surface.
Confined within this painted cage was a woman. Then, startlingly, the woman within the cage began to pound against its confines, thrashing about as if desperate to break free from the scroll itself – the depiction was utterly, unnervingly lifelike!
Daoist Shanchen, in turn, produced a similar scroll.
Depicted on its surface were identical cages – more than a hundred of them in all, each holding a captive!
Then, as Daoist Shanchen began to channel his spiritual energy, the cage depicted on the Heavenly Star Sword Saint's scroll faded from view.
Simultaneously, a thin trail of smoke snaked from the first scroll to the second, and a new captive materialized within one of the empty cages in Shanchen's painting.
"Just one this time?" Daoist Shanchen's brow furrowed.
"Your capture rate for Tian Xing's avatars has been decelerating of late."
"It can't be helped, Senior." In Daoist Shanchen's presence, even the normally haughty Heavenly Star Sword Saint couldn't help but adopt a more deferential tone.
A wry smile touched his lips. "We began by targeting the weaker ones, Senior. Naturally, the avatars that now remain are progressively more formidable. Moreover, their public personas within the Capital are far from insignificant; taking action against them inevitably risks drawing unwanted official attention. On top of that,"
The Sword Saint continued, "Tian Xing has deployed a Divinity Transformation stage avatar to oversee matters in Eternal Sun Prefecture. Frankly, if it weren't for your capabilities, Senior, we wouldn't even presume to detain any of Tian Xing's avatars whatsoever."
"We are indeed walking a path paved with blades and fire," Daoist Shanchen remarked with a resigned smile.
"Truly, it's hard to fathom how an entity of such appalling power can even exist. You should make your departure swiftly; I sense that Divinity Transformation stage avatar of theirs is already closing in on us again."
"Yes, Senior."
Instantly, both the Heavenly Star Sword Saint and Daoist Shanchen disappeared from that spot.
Scarcely a breath later, an elderly figure materialized in the exact same place.
Sensing the faint, residual auras where the Heavenly Star Sword Saint and Daoist Shanchen had stood moments before, a spark of vexation ignited in the old man's eyes.
"What a piece of work, this Li family!" he sneered. "Do they genuinely believe they are like ants capable of toppling a giant tree? Absurd! Utterly absurd!" The final word was practically a low roar!
Two years! For two whole years, he had endured this!
He, the mighty Venerable Tian Xing, with his countless avatars, for eons, it had always been he who toyed with others, he who dictated their fates!
Yet now, this time, he had been thoroughly, utterly sickened by these damnable Lis, and by those insignificant Ants, Daoist Shanchen, the Heavenly Star Sword Saint, and their ilk!
These curses! They had exhausted every trick imaginable to seize his avatars, to ensnare them, yet they refused to deliver a killing blow.
No, instead, day and night without respite, they subjected his captured manifestations to endless torment.
This forced every other avatar in his network to experience a symphony of distinct agonies, to endure the ceaseless, telepathic screams of their tortured brethren.
As a result, many of his other avatars now existed in a state of perpetual terror, living each day with the gnawing dread of potentially falling into the clutches of the Li family.
It had always been them hunting the Li family. But now, the tables had turned!
Now it was their own weaker avatars that were forced into hiding, constantly evading pursuit by the Lis.
What's worse, to block out the unending agony and shrieks broadcast from their imprisoned brethren, they were frequently compelled to sever their own senses, leaving them dangerously exposed!
And if any avatar was captured by these new Li tactics, they found themselves utterly incapable of even self-detonating to prevent further suffering or information leakage!
And on top of it all...
"Not again! You dare show your faces again?!!"
The old man's features contorted, his face darkening with rage. He tasted the bitter sting of humiliation!
---
Donate on Ko-fi ➡️ [https://ko-fi.com/darktea] ⬅️
Get Early Access to 40 Chapters: Search for "Dark Tea" on Ko-fi (Explore tab) and join my membership to read ahead!