“Xuanyue! Xuanyue!”
The Dark Queen called out frantically, trying to rush into the Myriad Ghosts abyss without any regard. However, no matter what she tried, she was unable to break through the invisible barrier.
A resplendent streak of silver light appeared on the southern horizon, like a sharp sword flying over.
The Dark Queen suddenly looked back. “The Silver Dragon King!”
The King of Southern Yue stood on the bridge of the ship and gazed at the land of the Green province. He felt slightly excited inside. Behind him were a group of honoured guests. He had gathered all the strength that the Kingdom of Yue had to offer to declare war against the Kingdom of Chu.
“Hmm?” Suddenly, he noticed something and sensed the Dark Queen’s aura.
The honoured guests behind him sensed it too and spoke up.
“It’s the Dark Queen! And she’s alone. This is a good sign. Let’s capture her quickly!”
“Killing her is easy, but her identity is something else!”
“We’re already declaring war against the Kingdom of Chu, so what, are we supposed to fear the Fierce King of Chu?”
“I’m not talking about her man, but her daughter.”
“Her daughter…”
The honoured guests all fell silent. They already knew about how the Umbral Yin sect had been destroyed. It was rumored to be the handiwork of the Dark Queen’s daughter, princess Xuanyue. Originally, they still had some doubts, but before they set out, the King of Southern Yue had specially brought this up to them. He said they should do all that they could to avoid conflict with two people. One was Li Qingshan, while the other was this “princess Xuanyue”.
The Silver Dragon King pulled closer rapidly. The Dark Queen gritted her teeth, but she refused to abandon Xiao An.
“Then what do we do? Are we supposed to just spare her? That’s strange, why isn’t she fleeing?”
“Something seems to have happened to the Umbral Yin sect!”
“Don’t tell me it’s the Gate of Hungry Ghosts!”
The King of Southern Yue had noticed the abnormalities with the Myriad Ghosts abyss a long time ago through the mechanisms of the Silver Dragon King. He had guessed it was connected to the Gate of Hungry Ghosts. On top of that, according to his intelligence, Xiao An was currently cultivating in the Myriad Ghosts abyss. The Dark Queen’s abnormal behaviour proved this too.
The head caretaker mister Ram stood forward and bowed. He said softly, “Your majesty, the heavens are smiling upon us!”
The King of Southern Yue said nothing. Given the current Green province, the only two people he feared were Li Qingshan and Xiao An—even the Fierce King of Chu had already entered a decline in his eyes, definitely unable to stop his army. He feared Xiao An even more than him. After all, she was princess Xuanyue, the only successor to the Kingdom of Chu right now. Once she took action, Li Qingshan definitely would not just stand by either.
Letting Xiao An be devoured by the Hungry Ghost realm was equivalent to eliminating his greatest threat. The heavens truly were smiling upon him.
However, he had a much greater concern. If Li Qingshan found out he had simply stood by and watched, who knew how he would respond!
He could not help but smile in a self-deprecating manner. As the lord of a kingdom, he could even brush aside the destruction of a kingdom as insignificant, yet he had to be so concerned about a single person right now. However, as soon as he thought of Li Qingshan’s frenzied manner, he could not help but handle this cautiously.
With a thought, he seemed to remember something, and he made his decision. He swung his arm, and the main cannon of the Silver Dragon King began to gather specks of silver light.
The silver light in the Dark Queen’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. With a sudden flash, the silver light whistled out, but it shot over her head and slammed against the invisible barrier around the Myriad Ghosts abyss, producing thousands of silver ripples.
“Your majesty?” Mister Ram was taken aback.
“She’s already severed her relationship with the Fierce King of Chu, so she’s not our enemy. She even helped us take down the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga and destroy the Umbral Yin sect, so of course, I should help her break free. You don’t have to say anything more!” the King of Southern Yue said righteously.
The honoured guests behind him exchanged glances. That was not a particularly widely-accepted principle in the Mist province. The strong preying on the weak was.
However, since the King of Southern Yue had said that, they could only accept this explanation. In the past, perhaps there would still be people who would speak up or object, but ever since the King of Southern Yue gained the Great Banyan Tree King’s support, his influence had become as prominent as the midday sun in the Mist province. No one could defy him.
“Yes. It’s me who’s been short in knowledge,” mister Ram said in thought.
The King of Southern Yue piloted the Silver Dragon King, and the silver light bombarded against the invisible barrier endlessly. As the greatest class of siege weapons the world had to offer, even the invisible domain created by the Gate of Hungry Ghosts could not fend it off entirely. It began showing signs of melting apart.
The reason for this decision was because he remembered the Great Banyan Tree King’s warning before he had set out. “If Li Qingshan insists on stopping you from destroying the Kingdom of Chu, do not use force. You only ever want to befriend him, not oppose him!”
He had always admired the Great Banyan Tree King’s wisdom. Now that the Great Banyan Tree King had become the god of the Mist province, his plans and schemes reached even further. As a result, he suddenly realised that saving or not saving her was exactly a decision of whether to befriend or to oppose. As a result, he chose “befriend” resolutely.
At this moment, the Gate of Hungry Ghosts accelerated with its shrinking, which made the King of Southern Yue frown. He said to the honoured guests on the side, “Everyone, this is the first battle in the Green province. Let me witness your ability!”
The guests all accepted the order, turning into streaks of light and flying out of the Silver Dragon King. They bombarded the Myriad Ghosts abyss with everything they were capable of.
“I’m doing all that I can. Whether you can break free is up to you.”
The King of Southern Yue made his decision and also relaxed inside. Having come this far, even if Li Qingshan refused to assist him, he would not go as far as to insist on stopping him at the very least given Li Qingshan’s personality for never forgetting his debts!
Xiao An suddenly raised her head, only to see a silver star growing brighter and brighter. A stream of silver light shot in. She let go of the transmission talisman in her hand. “Yeah, I don’t think I need to use it anymore.” She smiled. “This works too!”
The surrounding domain rapidly shrank. The Hungry Ghost realm was already right before her eyes. She stood up gently and flew into the air.
“You think you can leave?” With a roar, the death qi that resembled thick mist suddenly began to surge, turning into Sovereign Li’s face and lunging towards her.
The Buddha Slaying sword struck out conveniently. Xiao An had been waiting for this exact moment. If you don’t show yourself, then so be it, but you actually condensed a form? You better not blame my sword for being merciless then!
“Argh!” With a painful cry, the face condensed from death qi collapsed and dispersed.
With a swing of the Buddha Slaying sword, just who could stop it? You might be some “Sovereign Li” in the Hungry Ghost realm, but this is the nine provinces!
Xiao An looked back and smiled. She said loudly, “Sovereign Li, I’ve given you the legacy of white bone, so thank you for sparing my life. I’m sure we’ll meet again!” With that, she swung the Blood Sea Banner to receive the resplendent silver light!
“You actually…”
……
“Who are you?”
The Fierce King of Chu flew into a rage and launched a palm strike towards the golden vine, but the power behind the palm strike was absorbed without achieving much effect. The golden vines rapidly began to spread, covering the entire Green Province cauldron.
“Madam Vine, you want to steal the cauldron, but now’s not the time!”
Li Qingshan understood that madam Vine possessed extraordinary abilities. She could devour spiritual qi, and she possessed supreme vitality and defence. Striking at a time like this was basically the final “brick” that broke the camel’s back.
“Hmph, now’s not the time? Then when’s the time? You’re not going to help me, but don’t even think about getting in my way!” madam Vine said.
Ever since she came to the Green province, she had been searching for an opportunity to steal the Green Province cauldron, but the Green Province cauldron was not that easy to steal. She stood even less of a chance if she tried to do so overtly. Now that such a heaven-sent opportunity had fallen into her lap, she was not just going to let it slip by.
The Green Province cauldron shook violently. As the golden vines spread and tightened, the illusion of the Green province rapidly shrank and collapsed, allowing the demon qi to surge up.
The Fierce King of Chu had already become exhausted from his battle with the Immortal Relinquished sword, and he had to suppress the demon cavern now. Caught between two fronts, he immediately felt like he could not maintain a grasp over the Green Province cauldron.
“Alright, whatever then!”
Li Qingshan glanced into the demon cavern. The spatial cracks gradually closed together as demon qi surged within the depths of the demon cavern. Who knew how many demonfolk were lurking in there, ready to go. The demon cavern was far too large. The power of tremors was great, but they could not seal up such a large gap.
At a time like this, even if he chased madam Vine away, he could not stop the Demon domain from invading.
Letting out a sigh, he shrugged and was about to apologise when the transmission talisman in his clothes suddenly lit up. Xiao An’s voice rang out, “Qingshan, I’m fine now. I’m heading to Great Buddha mountain right now!”
Li Qingshan let out a laugh and pointed at madam Vine in the sky. “Let go of the cauldron right now!”
……
Xiao An passed through the silver light and glanced back at the rapidly-receding Myriad Ghosts abyss. She also rejoiced inside. That Sovereign Li had been conserving his strength.
“Xuanyue!” The Dark Queen rejoiced.
“I’m fine, mother. I’ve made you worry. Come with me!” Xiao An comforted the Dark Queen before clasping her hands towards the Silver Dragon King in the sky. “Thank you, your majesty. This is not a good place to linger around!” Afterwards, she turned into a white flash and flew off north. The Dark Queen followed close behind.
“Not a good place to linger around…”
The King of Southern Yue glanced down. The Gate of Hungry Ghosts had shrunken to just a few kilometers across, but the entire Myriad Ghosts abyss was inside, which made it seem extremely twisted and strange. However, it expanded once again very soon, swallowing several hundred kilometers of land in the blink of an eye.
He said nothing at all, immediately flying away on the Silver Dragon King.
Xiao An flew several hundred kilometers away and looked back, only to see the surging yin qi blotting out the sky. She thought, Sure enough!
Sovereign Li had been conserving his strength to kill two birds with one stone, to both capture her and invade the nine provinces through the Gate of Hungry Ghosts. After all, forcefully restraining the Hungry Ghost realm’s will to devour was essentially a deed that went against heaven. He would definitely endure a backlash for that.
