Dao of the Bizarre Immortal-Chapter 441 - Past

Li Huowang had never turned an illusion into a real human being; he had only ever done the other way around. In other words, he had no idea how long it would take him to transform an illusion into a real human being.

However, he had succeeded in transforming Zhuge Yuan into an illusion, so there was a sliver of hope. Zhuge Yuan just had to stay alive, and Li Huowang would surely resurrect him in the future.

Li Huowang unconsciously reached out for Zhuge Yuan, but his hands passed by Zhuge Yuan's figure. Even though he couldn't touch Zhuge Yuan, the fact that he was here still gave Li Huowang a motivation boost.

The past few hours had been extremely stressful for Li Huowang to the point that he almost collapsed from exhaustion. In fact, his face was red and covered in beaded sweat at the moment.

“Hong Zhong, what are you doing? Are you not going to leave? If you're not going to leave with me, then I'm leaving first,” Bei Feng said, staring at the chaotic battlefield; she was excited to jump back into the fray.

Li Huowang took a moment to compose himself. Then, he looked up at Bei Feng before looking around the battlefield. Doulao had vanished, but the Sitting Oblivion Dao and the Surveillance Bureau had no intention of stopping the fight.

In fact, they fought even fiercer. Li Huowang saw a pair of dragon horns protruding from behind the veil of the emperor. Meanwhile, the four Shai Zis were sitting cross-legged on the ground, setting up another array.

Li Huowang retracted his gaze and sank his body illusion into the ground to become invisible. Then, he retreated slowly out of the ruined palace.

“Daoist, why are you leaving? Are you not interested in the cultivation method to cultivate the ‘Truth’?”

Li Huowang smiled coldly and said, “She doesn’t have it. It was just a rumor to lure in unsuspecting Strayed Ones.”

The entire Shangjing had been devastated by Doulao's appearance. The sight reminded Li Huowang of a violent earthquake's aftermath. Li Huowang grabbed a horse that belonged to no one and traveled to his own home.

His house had tilted, but Bun was outside the house and was sitting next to the crooked tree in the courtyard.

Li Huowang entered the house, gathered his belongings, and ran out of the city with Bun. They ran nonstop, running for tens of Lis before stopping in front of a waterfall somewhere in the deep forest.

Zhuge Yuan couldn't admire the scenery as he frowned. “Sigh. I wonder if the people of the Great Qi have succeeded even without my lead.”

“Leave it be, Zhuge Yuan. You should have prioritized yourself more than others. I’m not sure if you managed to hear my plan before you died, so let me tell you my plan again.”

Li Huowang explained his plan to revive Zhuge Yuan.

Zhuge Yuan pondered over it before sighing and shaking his head. “Junior Li, I think it's impossible.”

“Why not?”

“A Strayed One can indeed turn truths into reality, but I am a living being. I’m not just a normal human being but a Twisted One as well.

"I have certain unique properties that are going to be difficult to reproduce, and it's all because I'm a Twisted One. I don’t think your primordial breath has enough power to do such a thing.”

“I can do it!” Li Huowang roared, attracting the attention of the other illusions.

“You have no idea just how powerful the Strayed Ones are, Brother Zhuge!

"Bei Feng had not told me everything. Indeed, the primordial breath of the Strayed Ones does come from Doulao Taiyang, but what she didn’t say was that the Heavenly Daos under Doulao's control wasn't innate to it!”

Li Huowang clenched his fist and continued, “The Heavenly Daos are stronger than the Siming! I reckon that I can create even a whole new universe once I'm strong enough, much less give you a mortal body."

Zhuge Yuan was worried about Li Huowang, and he couldn't help but ask, “Where did you hear that from?”

Zhuge Yuan was certain that Li Huowang didn't learn that information when he was on Xing Island.

Li Huowang was taken aback by the question, and he calmed down slowly as he replied, “I just recalled my past. I remembered my life as Hong Zhong.”

“Hm?” Zhuge Yuan was surprised.

Li Huowang smiled bitterly and said, “I don’t want to accept it, but it's the truth. I am Hong Zhong. It was one thing to be tricked by Bei Feng, but how could I explain my memories? How can I explain my powers as Hong Zhong?”

Li Huowang’s face changed rapidly, transforming into the Hong Zhong mahjong tile.

Indeed, he was Hong Zhong, and the fact made Li Huowang's head hurt. After all, it meant that he had never been a high school student. The other side was indeed just a mere hallucination.

The Abbess of the Benevolent Nunnery was right—Li Huowang was from this world, and the random scenes in his mind were fake memories that he had implanted in himself when he was still Hong Zhong.

Li Huowang felt like someone had stabbed a knife into his heart when he realized that Yang Na and his mother on the other side were fake all this while.

“Wait, Junior Li. Something’s not right. Let me think about this,” Zhuge Yuan said, placing his hands behind his back and pacing back and forth. After some time, Zhuge Yuan looked at Li Huowang and said, “Junior Li, let’s not speak in absolutes and say that you're Hong Zhong.”

Li Huowang frowned and replied, “Setting aside the memories, how do I explain my Sitting Oblivion Dao powers? Also...”

Li Huowang looked around to get his bearings. Then, he got on the horse and traveled again until he saw a roadside restaurant selling noodles. He walked inside and revealed his mahjong tile face without talking to the owner.

The owner’s smiling demeanor shifted when he saw the Hong Zhong mahjong tile on Li Huowang's face. He immediately took out a small mahjong tile with the Hong Zhong pattern on it and presented it to Li Huowang.

Li Huowang placed his palm together and split it in half. He presented the top part to Zhuge Yuan and showed him the five words the size of flies inside of the tile, “Hong Zhong, Li Huowang.”

“See that? This was one of the verifications I made for myself six years ago. I know that this is a hard-to-accept truth, but this is the truth. I am Hong Zhong, and I cannot run away from my true identity.”

“No, that’s not right.” Zhuge Yuan shook his head and said, “You're not Hong Zhong... your identity was swapped with someone else.

"It's just like the Qi Kingdom and the Liang Kingdom.

"At first, the Qi Kingdom ruled over the lands, while the Liang Kingdom was the fake one. However, just like how they got swapped, your timeline and past have been swapped as well.”