A golden star lit up on the horizon before soon turning into a golden thread that shot across the sky.
“What is that?” “What speed!”
The Unraging monk and the Dauntless monk were both surprised. Never had they seen such a swift streak of light, and even more confusingly, the golden light bore some resemblance to the holy light of buddhism. Had a fellow from another Buddhist sect come to provide support?
In the next moment, they also heard the cries of cicadas!
They exchanged glances. Was it perhaps…
“The Golden Cicada Spirit King!”
The first one who mentioned the name was actually Battle Demon Hun, which only demonstrated just how well he understood the nine provinces. He was rather stern, but he said in disdain, “What a joke. Do you really think you can reverse the situation with just a measly Daemon King?”
“Just try him, and you’ll know!” Li Qingshan said.
The golden light halted, stopping above Great Buddha mountain. He overlooked Great Buddha mountain with its golden eyes, but there was no delight from spreading his wings and soaring through the air. The cries of the cicadas only became even louder and clearer, almost shrill.
The battle demon’s roar suddenly halted. The cries of the cicada were almost tangible, entering through its mouth and silencing all other sounds. Golden light began to spill out from its body.
The ringing of the bell immediately became clear again. For a moment, the demon army sank into chaos and began turning against one another again. Blood began to flow like rivers, splashing into the sky.
The colossal Battle Demon Hun shuddered and immediately blurred, accelerating its collapse within the cries of the cicada.
“Attack! If anyone hesitates or dawdles, they’ll be executed without mercy!”
Under Battle Demon Hun’s order, the Demon Kings no longer cared about the power of the laws of the world. Facing the lightning, thunder, hail, and storms, they charged towards the Green Province cauldron menacingly.
The contamination of demon qi on the Green Province cauldron became even worse, now struggling to keep the demon qi at bay. Instead, it was pushed upwards. Even the Fierce King of Chu struggled to keep his control over it.
With a flash of golden light, a handsome, young monk, brimming with spirit, descended from above, landing on the Green Province cauldron. His kasaya drifted through the air with a sense of nobility that far exceeded the entire Green province.
He brought his palms together and uttered the buddha’s name, “Amitābha!”
His clear voice turned into a golden ring of light, sending a dozen or so Demon Kings flying and stabilising the corruption of the demon qi.
The cries of the cicadas had never stopped during all of that.
Battle Demon Hun also charged over with the other Demon Kings. The horse underneath him galloped away like it was unstoppable!
Li Qingshan stopped them with his blade. He could not allow them to set foot in the illusion of the Green province. The Golden Cicada Spirit King’s cultivation was high, but he had already used up much of his strength when he faced the tribulation earlier. He could not outlast so many Demon Kings.
Suddenly, an inky figure bobbed up and down beside him, turning into human form and standing beside Li Qingshan with a sword in hand.
Li Qingshan glanced at him. “You still well?”
He was not expecting a reply from the Dragon King of Ink Sea, but what he received was, “I’m very well.”
“That’s good then!” Li Qingshan let out a hearty laugh.
The two great Daemon Kings lifted their weapons at the same time, receiving the demons!
“Force Field of the Earth!”
Li Qingshan’s vision darkened and brightened. With him as the centre, the surrounding force field constantly fluctuated, shrinking and expanding, making the Demon Kings advance and retreat uncontrollably. He could not concentrate his powers on a single Demon King, so he could not completely stop them, but he immediately ripped apart their encirclement and broke the rhythm of their combined attacks.
The fastest was still Battle Demon Hun. His legs had already vanished, merging with the demon horse underneath him to a certain degree. He became one with the horse, slashing over with his sword. “Die!”
If Li Qingshan let go of his control of the force field and allowed the Demon Kings to unleash their advantage in numbers, then the outcome of the battle would be determined immediately. However, if he brushed this slash aside, it definitely was not something he could take on forcefully.
The inky figure drifted about. Mo Wuhen turned around and swung his sword to receive Battle Demon Hun. His sword seemed puny compared to Battle Demon Hun’s colossal sword, but in the moment they clashed, the inky-black spread, reaching Battle Demon Hun through the sword and dragging him into the painting.
This was the Dragon King of Ink Sea’s special technique, A Thousand Autumns in a Painting!
The Demon Kings all responded extremely quickly. In the moment they faced the interference from the Force Field of the Earth, they used their strongest attacks, splitting open with several hundred eyes, condensing a dark-purple ball of light between the three horns on their heads, and so on. The terrifying, demonic light that was enough to destroy an entire mountain hurtled over!
The Dragon King of Ink Sea dragged Battle Demon Hun into the painting, giving him an absolute geographic advantage, but he could not move about freely anymore. And even if he could move, the Green Province cauldron could not.
The Fierce King of Chu had reached his limit already. Xiao An had to focus on the Soul Stirring Bell, while the Golden Cicada Spirit King used his cries to suppress the colossal battle demon while holding off over a dozen Demon Kings himself. Such a feat was already extremely impressive. If these dozen or so Demon Kings were thrown into the mix, the illusion of the Green province would definitely shatter.
After demonifying, none of these Demon Kings really resembled humans anymore. Instead, they seemed more like daemons. However, when it came to their scheming and cunning, they were far more powerful than any regular human cultivator.
Their combined strike basically guaranteed success. If anyone tried to block it forcefully, it did not matter if they had bones forged from metal or a thousand autumns in a painting. It would all be annihilated before the crushing strength!
The Force Field of the Earth had a great effect on anything tangible, but the effects were not so obvious anymore when it came to waves of light and streams of air.
However, Li Qingshan’s abilities had always been very comprehensive, covering all bases. He stood before the illusion of the Green province without cowering at all. His eyes suddenly became calm and rippleless, deep like the ocean. The terrifying light was reflected in them. He spread his arms and unfurled a smooth mirror surface before him.
“Last Reflection of the Setting Sun!”
However, when the terrifying attack landed on the mirror, the mirror twisted and warped, also struggling to endure such a vicious attack. It began to crack violently.
Li Qingshan frowned and launched a palm strike. “Return!”
Boom!
With a great rumble, the mirror shattered, and the demonic light exploded. A wave of air swept hundreds of kilometers away, cleaning up the surroundings.
Even the gushing demon qi had been pressed back, a good portion of Great Buddha mountain was swallowed by the light, and the Green Province cauldron was hurled high into the air by the collateral damage. However, at least it had avoided the full brunt of the attack, allowing the Green province illusion to remain intact.
The Thousand Autumns in a Painting shattered, and Battle Demon Hun broke free. He had completely merged with his war horse by now, swinging his sword without any hesitation as he charged over.
Half of Li Qingshan’s bones were exposed. He swung his blade and cut through the light. “Again!”
The cries of cicadas, the ringing of bells, the cries of battle, the howls… the various sounds gathered together, merging together and filling the surroundings!
The buddhist glow, the demon qi, the blade aura, the sword slashes… the various colours criss-crossed, sometimes dim and sometimes bright, clashing together and dispersing one another!
This was the conflict between two worlds, but under the ringing of the Soul Stirring Bell, the demonfolk army approached the brink of collapse very soon.
The Soul Stirring Bell was actually more suited for dealing with the undead. They were either walking dead or lacking a body, which made it easy for them to fall into chaos. Against regular cultivators, the effects would greatly diminish.
However, the warped, absurd way of thinking that demonfolk were born with made them intrinsically possess a part of the distortion and chaos, which was why she could achieve such an effect. Xiao An had also tried combining it with the special technique of buddhism, the Chant of Deva-Nāga, which made it even more effective.
The first to collapse was the colossal battle demon. As the demonfolk army sank into a chaotic battle between themselves, it could not maintain its form anymore, collapsing loudly into surging demon qi.
The cries of the cicadas suddenly became even louder and clearer. A coil of golden light appeared from the demon qi, flying around like a dragon and splitting into over a dozen streaks of light. It moved between the demons, such that even the Demon Kings could not respond in time. They all shuddered and were immobilised.
At this moment, Li Qingshan’s mirror clone arrived with the string of Skull Prayer Beads, immediately entering the fray!
