“Xiao An… Come to… Great Buddha… mountain for… help!”
Li Qingshan’s broken-up voice rang out from the transmission talisman. Xiao An sank into her thoughts for a moment before stowing it away. She did not crush it.
The surroundings were filled with mist, deathly-grey in colour and extremely thick. It pressed against her body like it possessed weight, seeping into her body and mind through every single pore, filled with a sense of repression and despair.
Xiao An was quiet, without any emotions at all. She peered through the thick mist with her clear eyes, but an invisible membrane blocked her vision. This place no longer seemed to belong to the nine provinces. She had been brought to the boundary of the world.
Looking from extremely high above, the Myriad Ghosts abyss was enveloped by a sphere. Thick mist surged through there like an invisible beast, swallowing the entire abyss in a single gulp before digesting it slowly.
This all began when she placed the key inside the Gate of Hungry Ghosts. When she twisted the key to draw in some corpses and ghosts as resources for cultivation, the Gate of Hungry Ghosts instead expanded suddenly, turning into a sphere and swallowing the entire Myriad Ghosts abyss.
Having been through the battle on Burial Mound mountain, she understood this region was currently being devoured by the Hungry Ghost realm, and the enemy was much, much more powerful than the Corpse King. That was why he could expand the Gate of Hungry Ghosts to such a degree in a single instant, to the point where she could not react in time.
After enveloping the entire Myriad Ghosts abyss, the Gate of Hungry Ghosts stopped growing larger, gradually shrinking instead, which only demonstrated the strength of the “person” behind this. They must have come for her.
The basic laws of the Hungry Ghost realm was to devour. With the power behind this Gate of Hungry Ghosts, it was completely possible to devour a region a hundred times the size of this, or let countless corpses and ghosts flood this world, but none of that happened!
Until now, she had not even seen a small ghost, just silent, surging mist. Even though she had no idea who was behind this, she knew she had fallen into a trap. It must have been connected to that elder Ming who managed to get away.
Once this region was completely devoured, then she would end up in the Hungry Ghost realm. As a white bone successor, what awaited her would definitely be an extremely warm “welcome”.
The situation was enough to drive people crazy, except she only paced around the mist in her white clothes before sitting back down where she was before. She fiddled around with the Skull Prayer Beads and chanted softly with the Blood Sea Banner standing behind her.
Suddenly, a sense of coldness attacked her, and a voice interrupted the chanting, “You’re not going to try and escape?”
Xiao An said, “I can’t escape!”
The owner of the voice seemed to be dumbstruck by how composed she responded, uncertain about how to continue the conversation.
“Interesting. You really are a successor of white bone. Sure enough, you’re extremely interesting. The Umbral Yin sect hadn’t been destroyed by your hand for nothing!”
Xiao An listened silently.
“Don’t you want to know who I am and what relationship I have with the Umbral Yin sect? Don’t you know what the fate awaiting you will be once you arrive in the Hungry Ghost realm?”
A face appeared in the mist, circling around Xiao An, sometimes a man’s, sometimes a woman’s, sometimes an old man’s, and sometimes a child’s. Its expression was sinister and eerie, enough for people to shiver.
Xiao An sat without budging and shook her head.
“Very good. Looks like you’ve already accepted your fate.” The face in the mist gazed at her from above.
Xiao An agreed to that softly, except she was so calm in expression and in emotion that she did not seem despaired.
“I am sovereign Li, a past master of the Umbral Yin sect…”
“Me too!” Xiao An interrupted.
“You’re also what?”
“A past master of the Umbral Yin sect.”
Xiao An smiled. The previous sect master had already agreed to retire and pass the position to her, so she could be regarded as the last master of the Umbral Yin sect.
“Hahahaha, how funny. I can consider sparing your life. Why don’t we make a deal? As long as you give me the white bone legacy, I’ll…”
“Liar.” Xiao An shot him a glance.
“Don’t interrupt me!!”
The voice that drifted around her ears suddenly turned into a furious roar, filling the valley. The whistling winds swept up Xiao An’s long hair, as well as the bright-red Blood Sea Banner, making it ripple.
Xiao An sat where she was. As the Myriad Ghosts abyss was devoured by the Hungry Ghost realm, the power that the enemy could unleash would grow stronger and stronger too. Once she ended up in the Hungry Ghost realm, she would probably have to face an existence two major cultivation realms above her. No matter how effective the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty was against the undead, she would stand no chance.
Sorry, Qingshan. I won’t be able to go to Great Buddha mountain to help you out!
She clutched the transmission talisman firmly. I’ll wait just a little longer. I need to grasp the timing.
The Gate of Hungry Ghosts gradually shrank, and the aura from the Hungry Ghost realm grew heavier and heavier. She could vaguely make out the wails of a myriad ghosts.
……
The surging demon qi flooded their faces as the battle formation composed of several dozen Demon Kings rapidly drew closer. Li Qingshan could already make out their strange, bizarre faces.
Li Qingshan shut his eyes, and his blade danced gently in his hand. Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, and they shone with scarlet light. He slashed out like the furious bloom of an orchid, turning into a thousand streaks of light that shot towards the demons!
The Dragon King of Ink Sea was slightly surprised. The attack was fierce, but he had struck a little too early. An error like that was not befitting of him!
The Demon Kings laughed even more madly. Had this guy been frightened out of his wits? However, some of the Demon Kings gazed at his scarlet-haired, scarlet-eyed figure and seemed to realise something. They could not help but shrink backwards.
The light left behind criss-crossing black slashes wherever it passed by, shattering the space instantly. The laughter came to a halt.
The Demon Kings were unable to respond in time, running head-first into the region. The first dozen or so Demon Kings were immediately carved into several hundred pieces, while the others used their various abilities to dodge. The formation immediately sank into disorder. Some of them cried out, “It’s Northmoon!”
Before they set out, they had heard this name being mentioned many times. That was one of the many powerful cultivators from the World of the Nine Provinces. He was even more dangerous than the Ten Daemon Kings and the nobles of the eight provinces exactly because of his powerful ability to shatter space, which was extremely destructive to demon caverns.
“Good work!” Even the Dragon King of Ink Sea could not help but let out a praise. He flew into the demon cavern, shrinking from several thousand meters long to just a meter or two and navigating between the spatial cracks.
The dozen or so unlucky Demon Kings had been diced to pieces, but none of them actually died through their bizarre vitality as demonfolk. They desperately tried to assemble their bodies back together. A streak of ink flew over along a curved and winded trajectory, piercing the heart of a Demon King.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The power from seven or eight demon hearts exploding immediately swept through the entire demon cavern, and the gushing demon qi was also severed. The Fierce King of Chu used this opportunity to slam down with the Green Province cauldron.
Li Qingshan exhaled. They were not as great as Xiao An, but at least these two allies were of help. However, he also felt great exhaustion. It had already taken him quite the effort to clash with the Immortal Relinquished sword earlier, and producing a slash like that was not easy either. If he had to keep fighting, then he would have to consider rebirth.
However, he was already thinking of retreating. The chances of stopping the invasion were not big, so he was better off returning to the Clear River prefecture and dealing with the Soaring Locust King. He was very worried about Xiao An’s safety as well, so he was quite eager to pay a visit to the Myriad Ghosts abyss.
Just as he hesitated over what to do, a golden thread shot across the sky, turning into a vine and wrapping around the Green Province cauldron in the blink of an eye, about to drag it away by force.
Li Qingshan was taken aback. “Madam Vine!”
