He wanted it.
Through the heavy rain he dispelled, scenes appeared in Uncle Rain's mind.
In his eyes, there was no Taotie, only the individual cultivators of the Li Clan.
As the people of the Li Clan began to cast their techniques, he remained motionless in his Body Integration realm, simultaneously peering into everything the Li Clan possessed.
A Tree Venerable capable of seeing through Dao paths, a girl possessing divine arts exclusive to ancient divine races, Li Zhiheng, who possessed the heart of a god...
He had pursued this Heavenly Dao Divine Heart for a long time back then, but unfortunately, the Human Emperor had beaten him to it.
There was also that chain, tainted with the karma of the Mahayana realm.
He wanted all of it.
Uncle Rain suppressed the greed in his heart.
The Li Clan's Old Ancestor was still staring at him, as if gazing at a god from an ancient tale.
Uncle Rain was thoroughly disgusted by this look.
He guided patiently,
"I only want Taotie. Since you knew the actions of everyone this time, you must have eyes and ears that even I couldn't uncover.
In that case, you definitely know my identity. I heard you have an enemy in the Western Frontier; perhaps in the future, I might even stand on your side."
Dao Seed.
Atop the tall pagoda, Li Wei raised an eyebrow.
He had been staring at Uncle Rain.
After cultivating in the tall pagoda for many years, this was his first time confronting a Body Integration expert for so long.
Uncle Rain was right; over the years, he had also been keeping an eye on everyone's status, as if planting a camera within Perfected Qiuyue's so-called 'secret alliance'—and that camera was naturally Li Chuyuan.
He was merely curious as to how Uncle Rain, who was hailed as a god, could end up in such a state, having a Dao Seed planted in him by Min Tiange.
Could they really turn enemies into friends?
"You've seen it. Several hours have passed since I arrived in Azure Cloud Prefecture.
If I wanted to, I could have taken Taotie away at any time, or even helped them deal with your Li Clan. You should be able to see my sincerity."
For the first time, Uncle Rain frowned in front of Li Wei.
"..."
The black-mist figure before him remained silent, and Uncle Rain's frown deepened.
"An extra friend is better than an extra enemy."
At this, the black-mist figure finally responded, but his words made Uncle Rain's face turn cold.
"My Li Clan is far away in the Southern Frontier and has no grudges or enmity with you. Why must you treat us like fools?"
"What did you say?"
The heavy rain in Azure Cloud Prefecture became even more intense.
Li Wei wore a strange expression.
"If you truly wanted to cooperate with my Li Clan, why didn't you come to my Li Clan earlier? Why did you insist on waiting until my Li Clan's enemies attacked before joining them?"
An altar gradually materialized in front of Li Wei, and a bronze furnace came into view.
Catching sight of the bizarre altar and bronze furnace, a trace of suspicion flashed across Uncle Rain's face.
He couldn't comprehend these items.
Inside the pagoda, Li Yaotie slowly opened his eyes.
The Dao of Fire he had cultivated for years inside the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda was erupting.
Li Wei continued,
"You want to capture Taotie, but Taotie might not necessarily know how to break the Dao Seed.
Relying on your methods and the abilities of your Peerless Hall, you should have been able to deduce that the reason Holy Monk Yidian broke the Dao Seed might lie within my Li Clan's hands.
If that is the case, Holy Monk Yidian is very likely hiding in the Azure Cloud Prefecture."
Hearing this, Uncle Rain's face grew colder and colder.
This person's scheming was meticulous to an extreme degree.
No.
It was the spirit tablet beside this person, engraved with the character 'Wen'.
Uncle Rain's voice was like frost and snow, chilling to the bone.
"Help me. The enemy of my enemy is my friend—this is a universally known truth. Even if it is Holy Monk Yidian, he is not my match."
Li Wei grinned.
The god from the stories was actually no different from a mortal.
Uncle Rain had gone from his initial haughty indifference to a state of desperate impatience.
This time it was Li Wei talking to himself. He said indifferently,
"You were waiting from the very beginning. Waiting for our Azure Cloud Prefecture's enemies to fight us to the death, only you didn't expect them to end up in such a state."
"I've heard your story. It was a secret passed down from a village."
Uncle Rain's expression darkened, and thunder roared in the cloudy sky.
"You have always stayed hidden and bided your time; once you achieve your goal, you plunder everything.
You wanted Perfected Qiuyue, Zishu Ling, and the others to fight us to the bitter end, and then ultimately seize the method to lift the Dao Seed from my Li Clan.
But now that their defeat is certain, and you don't want to fall under siege, you are impatiently seeking to break the Dao Seed to finally swallow our Li Clan whole."
"You're overthinking it." Uncle Rain's face remained calm, and the Li Clan Old Ancestor before him was also frighteningly calm.
"To be honest, I do have it."
Li Wei grinned, and then, as Uncle Rain's expression eased, he made a funny face.
"I'm just not going to give it to you."
"You're courting death!!!"
Heaven and earth erupted in fury; heavenly thunder roared!
"For these past few hours, you were waiting for us to mutually wound each other, waiting for us to give you the method to lift the Dao Seed. Do you know what I was waiting for?"
Li Wei placed his hand on the altar.
The bronze furnace spewed clusters of flames, illuminating the entire sky.
Inside the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda, Li Yaotie suddenly opened his eyes.
Clusters of boxes emanating Heavenly Fire rules emerged from the bronze furnace, radiating the aura of the Divine Bird Totem, and flew toward Li Yaotie.
Inside the Divine Bell Pagoda, the Heavenly Fire Divine Tree merged into Li Yaotie's body.
Those boxes shattered, and the power of the Heavenly Fire rules was swallowed into his stomach mouthful by mouthful.
Hum!
A resonant chime of the Great Dao, accompanied by the scorching Dao rhythm of flames, birthed from the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda.
The fireworks formed a pillar of light that shot straight into the cloudy sky.
Above the cloudy sky was an ancient, unadorned gate burning with flames!
"The Great Dao... of Heavenly Fire," Uncle Rain murmured.
"These past few hours, I was waiting for the Heavenly Fire Great Dao. What were you waiting for?"
From the altar, the firelight reflected upon Li Wei's black mist, making him look like a demon god stepping out of the flames.
On the panel before his eyes, the words were clear.
[Your descendants Li Yaozu, Li Yunbing, Li Tianqi, and others took advantage of the chaos to charge into the Divine Bird Tribe, securing the karmic opportunity sufficient for Li Yaotie to push open his Dao Gate.]
[Your descendant Li Dalong, together with Huan Gui and others, tracked the Nirvana Sage Elder for years... Your clansmen have slain him!]
"Boom!"
The gates on the first floor of the Myriad Dao Divine Bell Pagoda were pushed open.
A bare-chested, bald, burly man spread his hands open, flames dancing wildly upon them.
Li Yaotie looked at Uncle Rain and grinned.
"Just you? The so-called god who governs the rain and water?"
He didn't maintain this appearance of a descending Fire God for long before Li Yaotie flew into the sky with a pained expression.
"Bang!"
It was Li Wei, his face dark, who had kicked him flying toward the Dao Gate.
"Hurry up and break through!"
"Yes, Old Ancestor!"
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