Chapter 24

Houtu still did not speak, but her silvery, crisp, and melodious laughter had already explained everything.

As soon as these words came out, the mouthful of rebellious blood that Yuanshi had been holding back through repeated forbearance could no longer be contained!

This scene truly gave Li Hao a start.

This was vomiting blood!

As a modern man, where had he ever seen such a spectacle?

"Huh? What do you mean? Are you shaking me down?"

"Don't pull this stunt, with so many people watching. I didn't even touch you once!"

Li Hao was stating a fact, yet heard in Yuanshi's ears, these words took on a rather different meaning.

Sarcasm or mockery.

In short, nothing good.

Yuanshi was instantly so enraged that his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Seeing this, Li Hao spoke again: "Are you cold? It's not that I won't help you, but mainly I'm afraid you'll extort me. Wait here, I'll go call someone for you."

After saying this, he thought for a moment and added: "Find that young brother of yours. The old one won't do; he looks even more frail than you, with hair and beard all white!"

Yuanshi spat out another mouthful of rebellious blood.

Killing and condemning! This was killing and condemning!

At this moment, how he wished he could just pass out.

He had already lost face, so at least let him be spared this subsequent humiliation.

Although Li Hao said he was going to call someone, he showed not the slightest intention of moving.

Nor could it be said he made no move; it was simply that he wasn't going to call someone.

Instead, he walked toward Creation Green Lotus.

He looked at Qinglian, reached out, and directly snapped off the red lotus flower.

The dazzling light of the charming lotus burst forth, transforming into a Coiled Dragon Walking Stick.

Li Hao looked at the walking stick in his hand and grinned.

This Innate Spiritual Treasure was just a flattened wooden stump.

Oh, it was just a piece of flat wood, even though it had dragon-shaped reliefs and was inlaid with pearls and gemstones.

Yet that could never change the fact that it was just a piece of wood.

To be honest, it was truly somewhat disappointing.

He handed the Coiled Dragon Walking Stick to Houtu, raised his hand, and reached into the water to grope around.

Then, with a gentle exertion of force, he pulled out the white lotus root.

After a flash of light just the same, the white lotus root transformed into the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi.

Grasping the Ruyi in his hand, Li Hao's eyes lit up.

That's right! This is how it should be!

This was what an Innate Spiritual Treasure was supposed to look like.

At the very least, it had to be a bit bejeweled and glittering to set off the preciousness of an Innate Spiritual Treasure.

At this moment, Li Hao desperately wanted to grip the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi and shout at the top of his lungs: Ruyi, Ruyi, follow my heart and will, manifest your spirit quickly!

Cough... getting off topic!

He put away the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, and then harvested the Qinglian leaves.

As with the previous two, after a burst of light flashed across the lotus leaves, they transformed into the Green Duckweed Sword.

With this, Creation Green Lotus—this entity equal in seniority to Pangu and uncle to all the Ancestor Witches—had not enjoyed a single day of fortune before being dismembered.

Yuanshi suffered rather severe internal injuries; wanting to stop this, he was powerless to do so and could only watch helplessly as it all happened.

His entire face was exceptionally ferocious, his eyes splitting at the corners.

His heart was filled with a degree of astonishment that knew no bounds.

Yuanshi sensed in his heart that these three treasures should have belonged to their trio of brothers.

They were decreed by destiny, and outsiders ought to have been unable to take them away.

Yet that shameless scoundrel possessed who-knew-what demonic arts, actually managing to defy the heavens and change fate, forcibly seizing a magic treasure.

Li Hao stowed the three treasures safely away and looked at Yuanshi, who was glaring at him.

"What are you looking at? I already said this was the legacy left to the Witch Tribe by Father God. If not for that, how could I have collected them so easily?"

Yuanshi raised his hand slightly, his trembling finger pointing at Li Hao.

His lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something.

Yet after waiting for a long time, no sound ever came out, only the sound of heavy breathing.

Li Hao rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to make it? Weren't you doing fine just a moment ago? How is it that after a little while, you're this frail?"

"Holy crap! You're not going to die, are you? I'm telling you right now, this is territory belonging to my Witch Tribe. If you're going to die, go die a bit further away; I'm afraid you'll dirty my ground!"

Yuanshi spat out yet another mouthful of fresh blood, rolled his eyes, and actually passed out cold on the spot.

Seeing Yuanshi vomit blood and collapse to the ground, Zhu Rong hoisted his voice and bellowed: "Thirteenth Brother, take this opportunity to finish him off!"

Locked in close combat with Zhu Rong and overwhelmed with too much to handle, Laozi and Tongtian finally noticed Yuanshi's condition and grew extremely alarmed.

Laozi exchanged a glance with Tongtian, seized an opening, batted away Zhu Rong's massive hand, and sprinted toward Li Hao instead.

Zhu Rong was not in a hurry either. Since you ran off, isn't your Third Brother still here?

They had been fighting endlessly before; though he could take on two at once, he had never been able to achieve a decisive victory.

Now that one had left, wouldn't it be even better? It would be even more convenient for him to capture the person before him.

As for Li Hao's safety?

Zhu Rong wasn't worried. It was true that his temperament was very straightforward!

But having watched this much by now, if he still didn't know that Thirteenth Brother was playing possum, wouldn't he be a fool?

Besides, even if Thirteenth Brother couldn't hack it, Little Sister Houtu would definitely have no problem at all.

There was certainly no danger to speak of.

On the other side, after listening to Zhu Rong's words, Li Hao cupped his chin and thought it over.

It was indeed possible to finish off Yuanshi right now, but it wouldn't do.

If he finished him off now, wouldn't there be no show left to watch in the future?

The most crucial point was that the Three Pure Ones were also the Chosen Ones. Who knew what kind of trouble would be stirred up by casually killing them off.

For instance, attracting the attention of the Heavenly Dao.

Even though the Witch Tribe was very powerful nowadays, they were still ultimately no match for the Heavenly Dao.

Mn... Now was not the time to stick their necks out; they still had to develop quietly for the time being without drawing too much attention.

His thoughts clearing up, Li Hao shook his head and shouted to Zhu Rong: "Third Brother, we can't make a move yet. The waters run deep here, and we can't handle it for now!"

Zhu Rong didn't understand what this phrase meant, but it traditionally conveyed that these three individuals could not be killed for the time being.

Watching Tongtian, who kept dodging yet was constantly being injured, a thought surfaced in Zhu Rong's mind.

Can't kill them, right?

Fine, then he would give them a vicious beating.

As long as he didn't beat them to death, wouldn't that be fine?

Thinking of this, the corners of Zhu Rong's mouth curled into a sneer as a flash of ferocity swept across his pupils.

Tongtian felt his whole body inexplicably turn cold, and immediately afterward, he discovered that the opponent's frequency of attacks had become even fiercer.

Furthermore, every strike targeted the places that hurt him most and caused him the greatest loss of face.

He wanted to cry out for help, but didn't have the opportunity at all.

On the other side, Laozi, who had sprinted all the way, arrived close to Li Hao.

"Shameless wretch, release my second brother at once! Otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless!"

Hearing these words, Li Hao curled his lip.

"Merciless again? Do you Three Pure Ones all lack any shred of mercy?"

As he spoke, he pointed at Yuanshi, who had collapsed on the ground, and continued: "The last person who told me not to blame him for being merciless is lying right over there! How much stronger do you think you can be than him?"

"I reckon you probably can't be much stronger. You look even older than him, and you probably estimate yourself to be pretty frail too!"

Upon hearing this, Laozi completely shed his previous appearance of serene non-action and following the natural flow of the Dao.

He displayed an irrepressibly furious posture, his entire person bristling with rage.

Mn... that was truly the literal meaning: his beard and hair stood on end, just like a startled cat with puffed-up fur.

"Talk is pointless; let's settle this with real skill under our hands!"

Li Hao curled his lip and waved his hands repeatedly.

"Forget it! Forget it!"

"I'm unwilling to bully an old man. Judging by your appearance, I'm afraid you couldn't withstand a single punch from me!"