Boom! The ground sank by three hundred metres.
Within the mad laughter, Kuang Tianyou rose up, rushing through the haze until he reached the end of the sky.
The rolling atmospheric winds slashed against his body, but it failed to even leave a mark.
He overlooked the nine provinces. Even under the gazes of the countless eyes, he felt no fear. He murmured to himself, “This is my territory!”
Whether it was the Great Banyan Tree King in the south or the imperial court of Great Xia in the north, neither of them were worth his attention. As a matter of fact, even his main target for his trip, the successor of white bone, he could kill with ease.
That was not arrogance or conceit, but absolute confidence.
He had undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation a long time ago. According to the standard for regular undead, he was a Corpse Emperor, but he did not find this to be a term of respect, at least to a true zombie.
Even the strongest cultivators in the World of the Nine Provinces had only reached the peak of the third heavenly tribulation, an entire realm of cultivation away from him, so the difference in strength was worlds apart too. On top of that, a tremendous gulf in power existed between the third heavenly tribulation and the fourth heavenly tribulation in the first place.
Buddhist cultivators that had undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation were known to have attained the fruit of Srotāpanna, which meant “entering the ranks”. It was not called that without a reason. On the path to becoming an immortal or a god, they basically had not entered the ranks if they had not undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation.
Even if thousands of great cultivators banded together, they definitely would not be his opponent. Even to any Corpse Emperor from the Hungry Ghost realm that happened to be slightly stronger, this mission would be of no difficulty. His only opponent was the world itself.
However, the corpse gods and ghost immortals that ruled the Hungry Ghost realm were absolutely determined to emerge victoriously in this battle. Even if there was an insignificant amount of risk, they wanted to nip it in the bud.
As a matter of fact, they did not even wait until the Hungry Ghost realm had completely devoured the nine provinces, directly sending in a “zombie” that had undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation. Even with the might and influence of the Hungry Ghost realm, they had paid quite a large price to construct this black coffin that could fool the heavens. They were truly determined.
Kuang Tianyou sucked in a deep breath. His fangs protruded; his aura rose up, pushing away the endless atmospheric winds. For a moment, the wind and clouds surged like an unstoppable, vicious fiend had descended on the world. However, his pupils shone dimly with a golden light, giving off the aura of a divine nature.
“What is that?”
The Great Banyan Tree King sensed him. He had never experienced such a terrifying aura in the nine provinces before. That was not something Corpse Kings and Ghost Kings possessed. With a thought, the invisible laws of the world swept towards the source of the aura like a huge net.
But as soon as they approached it, the laws of the world lost their effectiveness as well, like it was a blindspot.
Kuang Tianyou immediately sensed it. He glanced towards the south. “You’re not even the god of the world, yet you’re trying to lay your hands on me? You’re asking to die!”
Anger flashed across his face. The backlash from the world was not a joke. If he did not handle it properly, then that would be certain death. Even when true gods and true immortals descended, they could not directly contend against a world. Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to send him here.
However, his mood immediately recovered again. Even the laws of the world could not do anything to him right now, so what was he supposed to be afraid of? This was basically an outing to him, and a territory would fall into his lap for free too.
He parted his lips and said without a single sound, “Once I kill the successor of white bone, I’ll come and kill you if the Hungry Ghost realm still hasn’t devoured your consciousness!”
His voice erupted like thunder above Towering city. The pressure it contained even made the Daemon Kings tremble, sweeping across the entire sea of trees as turbulent waves.
The Great Banyan Tree King sighed. As it seemed now, becoming one with the world was actually a great mistake. He would have been better off ascending a long time ago.
Once the Hungry Ghost realm completely devoured the nine provinces, perhaps the others could still turn into undead and eke out a living, but he would definitely die. His opponent was the will of the entire Hungry Ghost realm. Even now, he could feel that his consciousness was already being gnawed away.
Kuang Tianyou burst through the atmospheric winds, actually moving even faster than the light he gave off, crossing through the Green province in the blink of an eye and entering the Dragon province. He directly flew over Dragonshead mountain and glanced at the golden dragon coiled around the mountain, but it only made him sneer in disdain.
This is probably the toughest bone to chew in this world, but bones are still just bones at the end of the day! Once I complete the mission, I’ll come back and take my time with you! I’ll widen the horizons of you aborigines and have you witness what a true emperor is.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed through the Dragon province and arrived in the Cool province.
However, the place where the eyes in the sky were all staring at was a great empty grassland.
Kuang Tianyou understood what was going on with a slight thought. As it turned out, it was a zone attached to his world, something akin to a secret realm.
“To think that someone is actually capable of something like this in this world! How surprising! But if you think you can stop me with these tricks, you’re getting a little too ahead of yourself!”
As he said that, he drew the blade on his waist.
……
Curtains upon curtains draped through the palace.
A woman in dark-green palace attire sat peacefully and played the zither. Her fingers were slender as they plucked the strings leisurely. The music lingered in the air like the songs of nature.
Her appearance behind the curtain was blurred, but she was definitely an absolute beauty. Suddenly, she furrowed her brows gently. The music changed, becoming as cold as ice, thrumming with the sound of weapons.
“Who are you!?”
A slash ripped through the thick curtains. Xiao An stood on the cold, white jade railing outside the palace, but she did not look at the woman playing the zither. She only gazed at the dark-green zither under her hands. That was her true body.
“You’re… Deviance!”
The woman originally wanted to ask Xiao An, but she suddenly noticed the sword in her hand. Her face changed, and she immediately called the Immortal Relinquished sword’s original name—Deviance!
As objects that the Five Absolutes Immortal once treasured, they were basically as familiar as they could be with one another.
She picked up the zither, turning to leave. With a casual swing of her hand, zither strings criss-crossed through the curtains. The strings were sharp and sensitive, poised to erupt with violent sounds.
Before Xiao An could say anything, the Immortal Relinquished sword leapt out, twisting and flying around, cutting through countless strings. Then he assumed a human form too, blocking the woman’s path. “Green Ripple, long time no see!”
One of his eyes was wide open, while the other squinted. His left shoulder was raised high, with his right shoulder as a slump. He resembled a young man in appearance, and he was not exactly ugly, but he reeked with a strange, twisted aura. Even his clothes did not suit him at all.
Even the words he spoke reeked of a pervert’s tone.
The woman called “Green Ripple” behaved like she had just been harassed by a pervert too. Her face was filled with fright, clearly very afraid of him.
The Immortal Relinquished sword pointed at Xiao An. “This is my new master. Hurry up and accept her as your master as well! If you don’t, I’ll hack apart your sh*tty zither immediately!” When he said that, he even smacked his lips. “I’ve been wanting to do this for a very long time!”
Without even waiting for a reply from Green Ripple, he raised his sword and gestured at the zither in a threatening manner.
“Don’t!” the woman cried out. Her voice was extraordinarily enchanting.
Xiao An said nothing. The Zither Tomb was clearly based around this Green Ripple zither. If she could make it submit, it would be of great benefit to her.
Before she could even think of something appropriate to say, the Zither Spirit of Green Ripple had yielded, dragged over by the sleeve by the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished with a face of resentment. She held the zither in her hands as she said with great reluctance, “Master!”
The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished was complacent yet filled with disappointment, behaving as if it was a great pity that he could not hack apart the zither.
Out of the five treasured items of the Five Absolutes Immortal, it was indisputable that the Immortal Relinquished sword ranked first in terms of destructive power.
Unlike the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, only the sword was a tool for slaughter. No matter how ugly or twisted he was, he was a treasured sword as long as he could kill the enemy. Very clearly, the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished had threatened these “companions” of his many times in the past. He really had built up an infamous reputation with them already.
If it had been anyone else, even if they possessed supreme strength, they would struggle to make the Zither Spirit of Green Ripple submit to them if they could not obtain her recognition. If they tried to use force, she would probably rather perish than be sullied.
However, against an “old friend” like the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished, the Zither Spirit of Green Ripple was not bold enough to do that. She possessed a heart of the zither, so she was very clever. She understood that arguing with a madman would get her nowhere. At a time like this, she was better off holding back with her pride of rather perishing than being sullied!
However, she still could not help but ask Xiao An, “Do you know how to play the zither?” She had no idea how she had managed to make the Deviance sword submit to her. Even the Five Absolutes Immortal back then could not make the Sword Spirit of Deviance behave so obediently. Of course, the Five Absolutes Immortal had never taken a sword that he was destined to relinquish seriously either, so he did not spend too much effort keeping him in check.
“I don’t.” Xiao An placed her hand on the zither, and the Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged forth.
“Alright then!” The Zither Spirit of Green Ripple accepted this helplessly.
As soon as Xiao An refined the Green Ripple zither, one of the great buildings within the cluster of structures was cut in half in a single slash.
If it were not for the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished who had served as a traitorous guide, that would have been the main entrance of the Zither Tomb.
Blade aura surged and whistled, cutting through several dozen buildings before coming to a halt. The fierce winds lifted Xiao An’s clothes, making her look back.
Kung Tianyou stood above the missing ruins and met her gaze from afar as she stood on the top of the buildings.
“The successor of white bone! You sure are a beauty. A pity!”
He took a step forward before suddenly halting again. A zither string caught his foot.
Before he knew it, the entire space had been filled with criss-crossing zither strings.
Xiao An pressed down on the Green Ripple zither with both hands and plucked it forcefully, without any proper technique for zithers. She only used a single move to push the destructive power of the Zither Tomb to the limit.
She also understood that she only had a single chance.
All of the strings thrummed together, producing a chaotic reverie.
The strings entwined around Kuang Tianyou layer by layer as if it was trying to weave a great cocoon.
With a slash of his blade, the countless buildings were reduced to dust, and the strings all snapped together.
The building where Xiao An stood bore the full brunt of the attack, reduced to empty land. A gully appeared in the building’s original location, where the sights of the nine provinces were actually visible within the gully. As it turned out, the slash from earlier was only the collateral damage left after he forced open this place.
However, Xiao An had vanished. Kuang Tianyou said, “How sly! You think you can exhaust my strength and buy time?”
He could deceive the laws of the world, but he could not use even a wisp of spiritual qi from the World of the Nine Provinces to replenish his strength. He had to return to the Gate of Hungry Ghosts for that. He could return here in a short while with his speed, but there were so many eyes watching in the sky right now. He definitely could not humiliate himself like that.
“I’d like to see where else you’ll flee to once you leave this place.” But after leaving the Zither Tomb, he followed the guide of the gazes in the sky and arrived at another empty place. “More?”
Within a thatched hut, a scholar with a great beard clutched a brush and wrote a couplet. There was the flash of a sword before him, and the brush in his hand trembled. He cried out, “Deviance!”
“Call me granddaddy Deviance!” The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished snatched his beard.
A while later, Xiao An refined a brush. She twirled it around at the tip of her fingers and looked down. The couplet detailed, “Smooth sailing from year to year, may all things go as planned!” There was a horizontal scroll as well, “Shine bright, the stars of fortune!” However, the last stroke in “fortune” was dragged out dramatically.
With a rumble, the Calligraphy Tomb had been breached!
With a swing of the brush, all of the works of calligraphy in the Calligraphy Tomb, including the couplet on the table, rushed out through the gap.
In an instant, a figure rushed through the storm of calligraphy strokes and forced his way into the thatched hut.
The thatched hut was already empty by now.
Kuang Tianyou raised an eyebrow and became angered. He never thought a trifle like this would actually take him so much effort!
The entire Chess Tomb was a colossal chessboard. Black and white pieces scattered across the place, forming a series of endgames. Every single game was like a formation, constantly changing and evolving.
The chess spirit had a long, black-and-white hat and long white robes. His facial features were delicate like a woman’s. He tried to wait for his master here, for a genius chess player that could solve all of his endgames. However, right now, he had already yielded to the Immortal Relinquished sword’s blade with a pale face.
The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said, “These three guys are all easy to deal with. If it were that fake dragon instead, I’d be forced to hack him to pieces!”
Perhaps they were all bound by their inherent dispositions. The zither, chess, brush, and sword were all for people to use. Apart from the mad, traitorous Immortal Relinquished sword, the zither spirit, chess spirit, and brush spirit had all been waiting for a suitable master, so they were relatively easy to force into submission.
Paintings were different. They could only be admired and not used, so they had a disposition of their own, not to mention the fact that the Five Absolutes Immortal had painted a dragon. As such, he would have never accepted the Immortal Relinquished sword’s threats.
“Once this place falls as well, we will have nowhere left to go!”
Xiao An planted the Blood Sea Banner in the chess board silently and assembled the Skeleton Demon Formation. She made the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished control the sword formation and placed the zither and brush beside her so that they could also assist her.
Yes, there were no more paths of retreat!
Her chances at survival were extremely slim, but there was no fear, only a deep sense of apology.
I’m sorry, Qingshan. I’m going to break our promise. I might not be able to accompany you to beyond the Nine Heavens!
The chessboard shuddered. The Chess Tomb had been breached!
Kuang Tianyou’s eyebrows were firmly furrowed. Stars glimmered within his eyes. The entire night sky formed a chessboard, and the glittering stars were chess pieces.
Unfortunately, compared to solving these puzzles slowly, he preferred crushing them with absolute strength. He cut apart the night sky with a single slash, but another board replaced it.
In the blink of an eye, he had overcome several dozen endgames. He became even more impatient as he yelled out, “Successor of white bone, stop dragging out a feeble existence and just come and die!”
The chess spirit called out, “I’m almost running out of endgames! Master, just who is your enemy? How are they so powerful!?”
Xiao An said nothing as she tightened her grip around the Buddha Slaying sword!
Kuang Tianyou destroyed the last “night sky”. Suddenly, his feet touched solid ground. He stood on a colossal chessboard.
On the board, the two sides clashed like an ancient battlefield between armies of thousands. He was caught in it immediately.
The zither music was chaotic, launching an ambush from all sides. The almost indiscernible rings of a bell stirred up his soul too.
The boundless sea of blood surged turbulently as an army of skeletons, a million strong, rode the waves and tried to swallow him.
Thirty-six prayer beads spun and descended from above. A hundred and thirty nine bone swords criss-crossed and wove together.
The endless slaughter of billions of lives was just for this battle!
Kuang Tianyou finally became cautious. He could not afford to mess up such a simple task!
Golden light flashed in his eyes, stabilising his soul. With a forceful stamp, the entire chessboard shuddered, and the chess pieces were thrown into the air. He allowed the tiny bone swords to hit his body, resulting in a series of clangs. The sword formation that could butcher Demon Kings actually failed to harm him at all.
With a swing of his sword, the sea of blood parted. He suddenly felt his neck tighten. The Skull Prayer Beads wrapped firmly around him, turning into tiny skeletons that bit down on him viciously, dragging him into the air.
With a flash, the Immortal Relinquished sword pierced through the air, slashing down right over him.
He gripped the prayer beads with his left hand and ripped them off forcefully as he swung his blade with his right hand and repelled the Immortal Relinquished sword.
At this moment, a white figure silently emerged from the sea of blood, arriving behind him. The sword pierced through the air!
The multiple ambushes and layers upon layers of formations were just for this strike.
The Buddha Slaying Sword!
