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Table of Contents
Li Qingshan closed his fingers together slowly with his eyebrows furrowed. Ever since he set off on this path to the Nine Heavens and arrived in the Primordial World, the lustrous sun and moon and the expansive world filled with him numerous sentiments. However, there was only one experience that gave him the deepest impression without ever changing, like a golden thread weaving through all of his feelings, which was a sense of “reality”.
Looking back from beyond the Nine Heavens, Crouching Ox village was like a dream. What Zombie Daoist? What Dragon King of Ink Sea? They were only monsters from a dream, nothing to worry about once he woke up.
But at this moment, the sensation of “reality” came crumbling down, like someone had kicked him back into the dream.
That was because in that dream of death within the permeating mist, he felt a sense of reality that was no less than the Primordial World.
The cars, the highway, the advertisements, the elevator… No matter how ordinary and dull they were, they were all real. To a transmigrator like him, they were even more real than the Primordial World. After all, that was his true homeland. He was not Li Qingshan, nor was he Li Er. Even his surname was not Li…
Perhaps all of this was due to the Soul-controlling Great Sage, dragging him into an illusion so that he could convey some kind of message, even if he was not particularly successful.
In the past, he had also been dragged into an illusion unknowingly by the Clam King of Mirage Sea in the South sea. He saw many things from his former life.
However, Li Qingshan could not help but suspect that even a mighty Great Sage probably did not have that kind of ability!
After all, he was no longer the same Li Qingshan from back then, but the lord of the Demon domain who had Forged his Soul back into the Void. His cultivation was higher than regular True Immortals and he possessed multiple demonic and divine bloodlines. Both the spirit turtle and the ape demon could easily see through illusions.
Dragging him into an illusion probably was not difficult, but making it so that he still could not sense anything wrong with it even after he had left it was virtually impossible.
And, this sixth brother of his also seemed to be trapped like the other Great Sages, trapped in Li Qingshan’s “past life”.
If he did not possess certain bizarre tastes, there was clearly no need for him to create his own illusions to murder himself.
Li Qingshan had seen his fair share of Great Sages. The Mountain-moving Great Sage was trapped in Ruin’s End that the primordial spirit turtle had turned into, while the Wind-coursing Great Sage was trapped in the lowest level of the Hell realm, Avīci. They were firmly confined and in great pain, but it was nowhere near as horrific.
At this moment, he recalled his lament again from many years ago, back when he was trapped in the Mirage sea.
Perhaps this life was merely a dream.
“Little bro, we’ve reached the heavenly palace,” the Elder of Heavenly Tomes suddenly said.
Li Qingshan looked up. All he saw was a glorious palace at the end of the starry sky and sea of clouds.
“What exactly did you see just then?” the Elder of Heavenly Tomes could not help but ask.
Anyone who sought knowledge was bound to possess an extremely strong sense of curiosity, and the Elder of Heavenly Tomes was basically the embodiment of this. Li Qingshan’s behaviour just now left him puzzled.
The emotions that flashed past Li Qingshan’s face during that moment included shock, doubt, confusion… and if the Elder of Heavenly Tomes had seen correctly, a hint of reminiscence.
After all, even when he directly faced the might of the heavenly emperor, the glow of the sun and the moon, Li Qingshan had not been shaken like that.
Something extremely unbelievable must have happened, which made him lose his composure to such a degree.
Li Qingshan laughed and patted the Elder of Heavenly Tomes’ shoulder. “Looks like the Elder of Heavenly Tomes doesn’t know everything either! Old bro, there are also sights in the world that you’ve never seen before!”
If everything was a dream, then he would venture to the depths of the dream!
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes was exasperated, but there was nothing he could do about Li Qingshan. All he could do was control the seven-coloured cloud and fly towards the glorious heavenly palace at the end of the sky of stars.
The Zhenwu Emperor’s abode was called the Desireless Heavenly Palace, while the Longevity Emperor’s abode was called the Heavenly Palace of Divine Clouds, but this heavenly palace did not have a name. It was simply called the heavenly palace.
It was a palace of the heavens, the heavenly emperor’s abode, enjoying the embrace and protection of the other heavenly palaces.
Where it resided was the “centre”. Only then did the four other heavenly palaces have their respective positions.
From here, the heavenly emperor ruled over all of life and the gods and buddhas in the heavens, from the distant past to the obscure future, for all of eternity.
At that moment, Li Qingshan temporarily cast aside all of his fears and worries and forgot about all of his fury and hatred, gazing at the palace in the clouds purely out of admiration.
The clouds rose and fell like mountains. The seven-coloured cloud was like a tiny cotton ball, while the people on the clouds were as small as ants.
With the auspicious cloud’s approach, the heavenly palace seemed even more daunting, like a giant gazing down from the distant sky.
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes said to Li Qingshan, “Now you haven’t seen something like this, have you?”
“Heh!” Li Qingshan admitted to it calmly and smiled. His eyes shone with a childish light.
He was like a mountaineer, braving the wind and rain, the thorns and thistles, facing countless hardships and dangers. Now that he finally saw the mountain peak, how could he not feel any joy?
Even if it was possible for him to die here, he no longer had any regrets.
The Elder of Heavenly Tomes suddenly thought of the buddha’s Flower Sermon, but it was also slightly different. That was the realisation of the wise, while this was the fearlessness of the bold. However, they were just as innocent and clear, pure and undefiled.
“Sigh.” The Elder of Heavenly Tomes let out a sigh and pointed down. “Look at what that is.”
Li Qingshan’s attention had been completely absorbed by the heavenly palace, such that he failed to notice that there was another heavenly palace on the land directly beneath the heavenly palace.
Not only was it identical in scale, but even its shape and structure was almost the same. It was similarly magnificent and daunting, towering into the sky.
However, the heavenly palace on the land was extremely destroyed. Countless buildings had collapsed with bridges broken. Some of the palaces had virtually been flattened, hidden under the glow of the palace in the sky, sinking into the endless darkness.
If the heavenly palace above the sea of clouds was a glorious giant, then the heavenly palace on the ground was like a giant’s corpse, riddled with wounds.
Li Qingshan looked closely and discovered that these “wounds” also differed—some seemed like they had been smashed apart by water, while others seemed like they had been cut down by metal…
The position that belonged to the main hall was replaced by a miniature volcano, crushing a large part of the palace to pieces. The rocks were covered in moss and vines.
Many of the buildings seemed like a large part had vanished into thin air, only leaving behind various spherical holes of differing sizes. The faces of the cuts were exceptionally smooth.
The most startling part of it all were the cracks that criss-crossed the land, reaching deep into the earth.
The largest crack spread through the land like a bolt of lightning, tearing apart everything in its path, almost reaching across the “giant’s” chest and almost splitting the entire heavenly palace into two.
If he were to identify the cause of death, then that was probably the lethal wound.
Li Qingshan could not be any more familiar with that kind of power.
“Brother ox!”
It was as if a boulder had been thrown into Li Qingshan’s heart. It immediately surged away vigorously. After all these years, he had finally caught up to the tracks he left behind in his advance. The stalwart figure seemed to be right before his eyes.
See y’all in 2 years’ time.
Many people say LGS is dropped by the author. This is not true. The author simply writes very slowly. The first chapter for this volume (chapter 1606) was released on March 12, 2017. This chapter (chapter 1685) was released two weeks ago at the time of writing this, October 26, 2022. People see that the novel hasn’t released any chapters for a year or two and assume it’s dropped, but that is just the pace the author writes at.
The author is clearly approaching the end of the novel as well. I believe he’s written enough author’s words to communicate his devotion to the novel, so I am certain that he will complete the novel sooner or later.
The bad news is that the previous extended break that the author took was between chapters 1662 and 1663, which went from May 7, 2020 to May 9, 2022, so a break of 2 years. This was the longest break that he took so far, so mentally prepare yourself for a break just as long before the next chapter comes out.
