Dragonshead mountain was deathly silent. What authority? What schemes? Before absolute power like that, they were all a child’s game. They still found it difficult to understand how he possessed such power despite clearly being just a Daemon King.
The Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens was exceptionally precious, yet also ordinary in appearance, clearly not something that these “country bumpkins” could learn about. They had not even heard about it before. Even Kuang Tianyou from the Hungry Ghost realm had only ever heard of its name.
Even among the eyes in the sky, only an extremely small number of them could identify the true name of this lump of earth with a single glance, but that only made them more puzzled. They had never heard that the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens possessed an effect like this.
When Li Qingshan arrived before Dragonshead mountain again, he had gone from human form to the ox demon’s form. “Release him, or I’ll butcher these bald asses first and then you bastards!”
It was like a hostage situation between kidnappers and the police. The police neither spoke to them or tried to negotiate with them, directly kidnapping their entire families instead. They even grabbed the family dog that the kidnappers had raised for a decade, threatening to kill them one by one if they did not release the hostages.
Of course, Li Qingshan was neither the police nor a great hero. Even you, a buddhist monk who openly embraces benevolence, is bold enough to take things so far and pull something like this on me. In that case, let’s play to the very end. I’m already shouldering an endless amount of sins, so I don’t mind adding a few more souls to the list.
“You- you- you-” The religious preceptor of the left pointed straight at Li Qingshan, trembling from anger.
The fellow cultivators beside him all stared at the wooden fish mallet in his hand nervously, afraid that he would execute the Unraging monk out of exasperation. By then, everything would be past the point of no return, and Li Qingshan would probably directly hurl the Spirit K?etra temple at them.
Like the religious preceptor of the left, the emperor of Great Xia was originally quite confident in the Formation of Gathering Dragons. He believed stopping Li Qingshan would not be too difficult. He only did not want to interfere with the offerings to heaven. But as he gazed at the mountain hovering in the air, this confidence immediately vanished.
There was absolutely no need for Li Qingshan to put himself in any danger and throw himself at the protective formation of the imperial court. As long as he uprooted mountains and threw them over, all they could do was take it all on. The altar would definitely be destroyed as well, so they could forget about some offerings to heaven.
Gu Yanying said, “Your majesty, looks like this Li Qingshan won’t be satisfied with the mere status that comes with the Ten Daemon Kings.”
The emperor of Great Xia furrowed his brows. Only now did he realise how hilarious his earlier words were. He said coldly, “The you of right now probably won’t be satisfied with that either!”
“That would have never been enough.”
The religious preceptor of the left said, “Unraging, oh Unraging. You sure have raised a fine disciple. First, the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga produces a buddha nemesis, and then you produce a wretched daemon like this who’s trying to destroy my Spirit K?etra temple! What a prosperous land to foster so many talents!”
The Unraging monk straightened himself out and sighed. “Qingshan, just stop! I’m only a monk who drinks alcohol and eats meat. I’m not worth this. From today onwards, I expel you as my disciple. You and I no longer have anything to do with each other. As a disciple of buddhism, I’m willing to face the punishments of buddhism. Please release my fellow colleagues of the Spirit K?etra temple!”
Risking the lives of tens of thousand monks to save him was something he never wanted to see.
Li Qingshan furrowed his brows before laughing again. “You and I no longer have anything to do with each other, so why should I listen to you? If you want to live or die, that’s up to you, but even if you commit suicide right now, I’ll send the Spirit K?etra temple to the grave with you.”
There was nothing that the Unraging monk could say. He let out a great sigh. This damned disciple already had an unshakeable mind of his own, so how could his master still influence him? Perhaps his master had never influenced him at all.
“I’m counting down from ten!”
Li Qingshan used the Force Field of the Earth and made the Spirit K?etra temple rise up in the air. When he reached “five”, the Spirit K?etra temple had already reached the same altitude as Dragonshead mountain, about to enter the atmospheric wind layer.
Even the featherfolk’s Clouded city could not remain in the atmospheric wind layer for prolonged periods of time, let alone the Spirit K?etra temple that did not possess this function at all. Once the formation gave in, just how many monks could resist the atmospheric winds?
Why did Li Qingshan have to risk his life to open the formation? Just using the might of the world was enough. When he reached “three”, atmospheric winds had already begun bombarding the formation around the Spirit K?etra temple, making it pulse with golden light.
Before the religious preceptor of the left could say anything, the emperor of Great Xia ran out of patience instead. “Religious preceptor, I think the buddha nemesis is quite adherent to what Li Qingshan has said. She shouldn’t carry out massacres anymore. The deceased are already deceased. They can’t be revived. We are contending against the Hungry Ghost realm right now, so we’re in need of their strength.”
The various officials all spoke up as well. Apart from buddhist disciples, the others did not really understand the concept of buddha nemesis. Xiao An’s actions were heinous, but it was not like she had gone after them. Since they lacked sufficient strength, there was no point in stirring up any more trouble. Cultivation was for the sake of longevity, not for ensuring that justice was upheld at all times. Even with the might of the gods and buddhas, it was not like they managed to destroy the Demon domain.
There would always be someone who focused on the bigger picture, and the so-called bigger picture had never been about world peace or widespread justice, but the “strong”. Often, the “strong” was not a reference to a certain individual. When a group of ordinary people gathered together, they could judge a genius to be a madman only because they had an advantage in numbers. If they did not want to bear the wonderful title of madman, then they had to hold back. They had to focus on the bigger picture.
Yet right now, Li Qingshan alone was in control of the bigger picture. He bellowed out, “One!”
“Stop!” The religious preceptor of the left raised his hand and removed the restraints on the Unraging monk. He sucked in a deep breath. “Unraging, you can go. You are no longer a disciple of buddhism.”
The Unraging monk stood up. He showed neither joy nor anger. He bowed. “The religious preceptor can beat me and kill me, but you are unable to strip me of my identity as a disciple of buddhism. As long as they have the buddha inside their heart, all living creatures are disciples of buddhism, even if they are a buddha nemesis.”
All living creatures were equal and could attain buddhahood. That was the teachings of mahāyāna buddhism. However, just like everything else in the world that was regarded to be “right”, if someone actually followed these principles and wandered the world, it would leave them bloodied or even abandoned by their own kind.
The religious preceptor of the left bellowed, “You… can piss off!”
As soon as the Unraging monk left Dragonshead mountain, an ugly monk flew over from afar. He called out, “Master!”
The Unraging monk said in surprise, “Duoge!”
He was the little demonfolk that Li Qingshan had met beneath the Demon Suppression hall, as well as his second junior brother.
After learning that the Unraging monk had been captured, Duoge hurried over to the Spirit K?etra temple, but he had no idea how to rescue him. He did not even know the religious preceptor of the left had taken the Unraging monk to the imperial court with him. When Li Qingshan uprooted Spirit K?etra temple, he followed along and immediately saw the Unraging monk being released. He was filled with great joy, singing praises involuntarily.
“First senior brother, you really are a demon of great viciousness and ferocity!”
Li Qingshan’s eye twitched. Only then did Duoge realise he had mispoken, leading to a dry laugh. However, that was not his nature as a demonfolk at work again. Instead, the way Li Qingshan had saved the Unraging Monk truly was very vicious.
Seeing Duoge, the Unraging monk could not help but smile as well. Even if it had taken everything in him to convert this measly demonfolk, it had all been worth it.
However, just how many people in the world would think a lofty, awe-inspiring Monk King who upheld justice would treat a lowly, twisted little demonfolk as an equal?
Seeing how the formation had almost fallen to the atmospheric winds, the religious preceptor of the left called out, “Li Qingshan, lower the Spirit K?etra temple!”
Li Qingshan smiled. “Alright, whatever you want, religious preceptor!” As a result, he released the Force Field of the Earth.
Seeing Li Qingshan’s smile, the religious preceptor of the left’s heart lurched. Something was amiss. The Spirit K?etra temple directly plummeted down.
The religious preceptor of the left paled in fright. “Stop, wretched daemon!”
“I’ve already stopped!” Li Qingshan stretched and yawned before shaking his hand.
A great mountain weighed at least a billion tonnes. Apart from Li Qingshan who possessed the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens, no one in the world could lift it up or stop its fall.
Boom!
With a devastating rumble, the mountain was tossed heavily into the earth’s embrace. A ring of dust swept out in all directions. The earth cracked, and the mountain shattered, but it was merely returning to its original form.
The pagodas, halls, and statues on the mountain were no different. Whether it was the holy land of buddhism, the bodhisattvas, or the arhats, they were all reduced to dust and earth again.
The Spirit K?etra temple was destroyed!
Spurt! Blood sprayed out from the religious preceptor’s mouth. He glared at Li Qingshan. His eyes seemed like they were about to erupt in flames. “You’ve broken your word!”
“I remember exactly what I promised you, which was just the lives of the monks. Look, aren’t they all unscathed?”
Li Qingshan pointed at the sky. As the Spirit K?etra temple fell, there were enough Monk Kings to save the entire temple of monks. Apart from a few Qi Practitioners, most of them did not even need saving. They could levitate in the air by themselves.
“You destroyed my dwelling. I smashed up your temple. Tit for tat. However, you launched a sneak attack at Xiao An using underhanded methods, so that’s a debt I’ll settle with you slowly in the future. I don’t want much either. Just eating a punch of mine is enough!”
The religious preceptor of the left said, “Wretched daemon, you will die a horrible death! All I regret is failing to kill the buddha nemesis back then, letting down the living creatures of the world!”
Li Qingshan was furious. “Buddha nemesis this! Buddha nemesis that! When she fought against the Hungry Ghost realm, where were you, bald ass? I will pay for all of her sins, so I don’t need a bald ass like you berating me when you have the moral high ground. I don’t have the time to deal with you, so just be ready to die!”
“Yanying, come with me!”
Li Qingshan turned his back on the people on Dragonshead mountain and strode off towards the south. That was the direction of the great ghost tower.
“What’re you doing?”
“Saving the world!”
