The bell stirred, and souls quivered near collapse. White bone turned to great beauty.
With jade-white skin and black, sleek hair, lotuses bloomed from the flesh and blood.
All of the eyes on the towering tree and great tower took that in. She already understood both life and death, but an obsession prevented her from discarding her original self.
Suddenly, she shivered inside, making her glance at the distant sky. Was he in danger again?
Cing clang!
The urgings of the bell on her waist returned her to her senses. She could not think too much about it. With a few steps through the air with her bare feet, she landed on the branch of the tree and said softly, “Thank you, senior.”
The Great Banyan Tree King sighed slightly inside. It had already been a very long time since he had seen her so polite, but he was aware she only did this for the battle, as she refused to let any details influence the overall situation. However, if the battle ended in defeat, this politeness would probably turn into terrifying hostility.
“This battle is not for you or me, or for anyone present, but for the nine provinces, for all living creatures in the world. Fellows, please follow my command temporarily. Only by pouring our strength together through unity can we defeat the enemy!”
The humans and the daemons all said, “Your wish is our command, fellow!”
The Great Banyan Tree King knew that this was already as far as they could go to demonstrate their obligation, but that was enough. “I don’t need to elaborate on the dangers involved. The laws of the world in this region have already been contaminated by the Hungry Ghost realm. Please use the Silver Dragon King to probe them out first, your majesty the King of Yue.”
“Alright!” the King of Southern Yue said.
The main cannon at the front of the Silver Dragon King opened up. Specks of silver light gathered together, condensing to its utmost limit in the form of a ball of light.
With a thrum, a glorious beam of silver light shot towards the ghost tower.
The attack was enough to split open mountains, but as soon as it entered the land of death, the resplendent silver light became covered in a layer of grey haze, rapidly weakening the attack.
A Ghost King supervisor swung his whip, splitting the silver light into pieces. The scattered light was rapidly swallowed by the grey haze as if it never existed in the first place.
“Hehe, foolish living creatures. All you know are tricks like that.”
The undead let out roars of laughter.
The King of Southern Yue’s expression changed slightly. Even pure energy attacks were affected like that. If he personally set foot in there, he would definitely face extremely great suppression. The surroundings of the ghost tower were basically a forbidden zone for the living. He glanced at Xiao An. Probably only she was an exception. However, with that, their morale would definitely plummet. He had no idea what the Great Banyan Tree King was planning.
The Great Banyan Tree King said sternly, “You’ve all seen it, fellows. We cannot approach the ghost tower without good reason. We must maintain a safe distance and attack it from here.”
“Tree king, but how are we supposed to attack the ghost tower if we can’t get near it?” a Giant Lumberfolk King asked.
The Silver Dragon King’s attack range and destructive power had completely exceeded any regular Daemon King or great cultivator. From several hundred kilometres away, regular abilities and techniques would come nowhere close, let alone the fact that they still had to face the weakening and suppression.
“Don’t worry. We have a powerful support.”
“A powerful support? Don’t tell me it’s the Daemon King Northmoon, Li Qingshan?”
Many people were not aware that Li Qingshan was no longer in this world. Li Fengyuan resided high up in Clouded city. When he heard that, his heart ached. He murmured, “First father.”
Qingshan! The Unraging monk also sighed inside. He had specially asked Xiao An about Li Qingshan’s whereabouts, but he never expected this great disciple of his to leave the world in such a way.
Xiao An’s clothes fluttered in the air as she stared at the ghost tower in the distance as if she had heard nothing at all.
“If Qingshan were here, our chances at victory would increase drastically!” The Great Banyan Tree King sighed heavily inside. That kid would always surpass his expectations and turn the impossible into the possible. “Unfortunately, he can’t come. The powerful support I am talking about is not someone like us, but this world!”
His voice was mighty, echoing through the world. Countless branches and aerial roots condensed into a pair of arms, extending high into the air and plunging into the whistling atmospheric winds, truly upholding the heavens. At the same time, it was like their ancestors who pleaded with the heavens for rain in the ancient times, filled with sincerity and reverence.
The heavens seemed to be touched by this sincerity. The winds whistled down, blowing away the thick clouds.
Instantly, the entire region cleared up, shining with sunlight.
Shortly afterwards, the Great Banyan Tree King’s body pulled higher once again. The roots firmly embedded in the ground were split into two bunches, forming a pair of powerful legs. Afterwards, he pulled out his legs and strode forwards, setting foot in that land of death.
Boom! The ground shook, splitting open with crevasses. The invisible underground magnetic field surged, purging the ghostly aura of death.
Even the ghost tower seemed to shake before this might of the world, even when it was not built from the ground up.
Gazing at the indomitable tree person, the undead could not laugh any longer. He definitely had not come to simply die. On top of that, they could sense the hostility from the entire world.
The Great Banyan Tree King’s power shocked everyone. Perhaps he could not even be called the Great Banyan Tree King. The moniker of a Daemon King was not enough to describe such power.
Even for the Great Banyan Tree King himself, this was the first time he had used such might. It was no longer just his own power. The world refused to let the Hungry Ghost realm devour it, so it viewed all foreign invaders with hostility. The World of the Nine Provinces was much vaster than the small world, so the will of the world was much stronger and mightier too.
This was exactly what the Great Banyan Tree King was borrowing, the wrath of the world. He wielded the might of the world to destroy the geographic advantage the ghost tower created.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Great Banyan Tree King strode towards the ghost tower. He covered thousands of metres with each step, and vegetation would sprout and bloom vigorously where he had stepped. The twisted laws of the world returned to normal too.
No, not just normal Everyone could clearly sense the existence of the intangible will of the heavens. Surging spiritual qi gathered in him, flowing much more smoothly than it had ever flowed. The abilities and techniques that originally required their full concentration to unleash could now be cast on a whim.
When the time came, the world lent them its powers!
They had received the blessing of the heavens in this battle. If they could emerge victoriously, the heavens would definitely reward them!
Even the White Camel Sand King was slightly fazed. One of the critical components to the ascension was the intangible will of the heavens. The World of the Nine Heavens did not possess such an extreme expression of will like the six realms of sa?sāra. Obtaining its recognition and support was almost impossible. This truly was a rare opportunity.
Their morale immediately skyrocketed, following the Great Banyan Tree King’s advance towards the ghost tower.
The King of Southern Yue nodded gently. He truly was the Great Banyan Tree King. With that, all of the conditions, whether it was the timing, the geography, or the numbers, were favourable. They could attack the enemy!
Xiao An was slightly affected as well. The Great Banyan Tree King truly was a powerful support. When Li Qingshan promised to gather the nine cauldrons for him back then, he had only done so out of their friendship in the heat of the moment. She never expected it to play such an important role.
All creatures were sentient to a certain degree. Advantages and disadvantages could not be calculated that easily. However, the path she took disagreed with the living and even more so with the dead. It was impossible for her to establish any ties with others. She had to remain vigilant at all times.
“Xuanyue!”
A familiar name, yet one she had not heard in a very long time, rang out by her ear. The Dark Queen drifted over. At this moment, there was some gladness on her chilly, pale face. “Thankfully, I made it in time!”
Many people secretly frowned. The ghost tower had only appeared because of the Umbral Yin sect, and they were renowned for their crazy declaration of mutual destruction with the entire world. On top of that, she had almost become the master of the Umbral Yin sect.
She ignored them. Only Xiao An existed in her eyes. She made her way over, but she also stopped again.
“Mother.” Xiao An noticed that she was alone.
The Dark Queen explained, “Your father is in secluded cultivation…”
No matter what, this battle would be extremely dangerous. The Fierce King of Chu was already approaching ascension. Since even the Great Xia empire had not made a response, there was even less reason for him to become involved with this mess.
For some reason, Xiao An recalled something that Li Qingshan had said, Mothers are the best in the world.
“Be careful.” The Dark Queen reminded her.
“Yes,. Xiao An nodded indifferently.
By now, the Great Banyan Tree King had already approached the ghost tower. Looking over, the tower seemed like it was about to collapse. The faces of the Corpse Kings and Ghost Kings were all twisted, but they were enormous.
Xiao An wielded two swords in hand, Buddha Slaying in the left and Immortal Relinquished in the right. She extended both of them towards the ghost tower!
