The sky was dazzlingly blue as the winds whistled by. It seemed like the sighs and sobs of the person chosen by the heavens reaching the end of his path.
A hawk’s cry tore through the air, having appeared before anyone had noticed it. A hawk circled under the sunlight.
Si Long was dejected. He did not even continue to struggle against Qian Rongzhi. That would only make his defeat even more unbearable. His pride prevented him from doing that.
However, was it just over like this?
He refused to accept this! He was simply unable to accept this no matter what! In terms of actual strength, not a single one here could survive even a single strike of his. Even with all the people here combined, they would not be his opponent.
Yet, he had been defeated. He even suffered a miserable defeat, like a nightmare he could not wake up from.
Unifying the world and standing supreme in the nine provinces also seemed like a dream.
The hatred fermented from thousands of negative emotions gnawed away at his heart like a venomous snake. The person he hated the most was not Li Qingshan, not Xiao An, and not even Qian Rongzhi. Instead, it was Su Mirao, the most beautiful woman he had seen in his life.
If she had not driven him insane and made him suffer from cultivation deviation, would he have ended up like this? This should have been one of his peaks in life, yet he had fallen into a bottomless abyss, even dooming him eternally.
His hatred arose from love—being defeated by the enemy, being killed by the enemy, was all because he was not skilled enough. He could accept this outcome very calmly. Perhaps right from the moment he set off on the path of cultivation, he was already ready for that. Yet, being sold out by the woman he loved most and being defeated by an opponent weaker than himself was something he could not accept no matter what.
His aura became abnormally chaotic, almost losing control and going insane. Cultivation deviation made him hallucinate, seeing the fragments of his distant past, basically reflecting on his entire life. If he had not been chosen by the heavens, perhaps he would have blown up already even without someone to kill him.
The sword stopped mid-air without falling any further.
“Why?” Qian Rongzhi opened her eyes.
“Because you’re chosen by the heavens. There will be consequences if I kill you.”
Xiao An stowed the Buddha Slaying sword away and stated her reason. With a wave, the Immortal Relinquished sword flew into her hand. She touched its edge gently. Si Long had almost completely refined it, completely overwhelming the sword spirit.
“Really?” Qian Rongzhi murmured.
A will for survival suddenly rose up in her heart. She wondered very much if this was due to Si Long’s influence.
But what other path was still available for her? She was both Qian Rongzhi, as well as the Human Sovereign Si Long.
“Xiao An!”
Li Qingshan lunged over, pulling her into his arms tightly. As he sniffed the faint fragrance of sandalwood from her hair, he experienced a surreal feeling like he had just been reborn, like he had returned to the time when he had first arrived in this world.
“Qingshan.” Xiao An smiled, like the ripples in a tranquil lake.
Li Qingshan calmed down and scolded her. “Who let you do this!?”
“Not you anyway.” Xiao An stuck out her tongue.
Li Qingshan was left speechless at first before becoming absolutely pained. His expression made him seem like all of his wounds had acted up at the same time.
Suddenly, he sensed Qian Rongzhi’s—or perhaps Si Long’s—gaze. It was uncomfortable like being entwined by a venomous snake. If it were not for the fact that he refused to be an ingrate, he was tempted to finish them off right now. However, he trusted that Xiao An always thoroughly considered everything whenever she did something, so he cast a questioning gaze towards her.
Xiao An said, ‘Qingshan, I want to go to a place.”
“Where?”
“The Spirit K?etra temple.”
……
The Spirit K?etra temple of the past had already become the largest demon cavern in the nine provinces now. Black demon qi rushed into the air like a beacon that burned forever. Black clouds shrouded the sky as all the earth within several hundred kilometres had been corrupted. All of the living creatures there had been demonified, becoming abnormally twisted and violent.
However, the demon cavern was surprisingly quiet. All of the demon caverns across the world had been opened. The nine provinces were completely unguarded, so it was an unprecedented opportunity for the Demon domain to launch an invasion. However, Xiao An had carried out a massacre whenever she opened a demon cavern back then, fighting and killing until not a single demonfolk dared to crawl out of the opened demon caverns anymore.
Only after quite a while did they muster the courage to send in a scout, quietly investigating the situation of the nine provinces. However, the great ghost tower also swayed the demonfolk’s determination to invade the nine provinces. The Demon domain was enormous, but they were still not powerful enough to steal from the mouth of the Hungry Ghost realm.
If the invading Demon domain were herbivores, constantly chewing, regurgitating, and chewing before they could finally digest it, then the Hungry Ghost realm were downright carnivores, ripping away at the flesh and wolfing away at the meat.
And afterwards, Si Long climbed down from the Heaven Climbing Vine, which made the situation in the nine provinces even more complicated and confusing. The terrifying aura that erupted from the battles that surpassed the limits of the third heavenly tribulation left the scouting Demon King trembling in fear. They advised the Demon Emperor several times to give up on the invasion of this world.
However, the Demon Emperor only sank into his thoughts. He had other plans.
By the time Li Qingshan’s group had arrived before the demon cavern, the investigating Demon King had already fled back to the Demon domain a long time ago.
Gazing at the immeasurably deep Demon cavern, Li Qingshan recalled what Rāhu Xiaoming had said. He already understood what Xiao An was trying to do.
“Why?” Qian Rongzhi gazed at the Immortal Relinquished sword in her hand and asked again.
Xiao An did not answer her question. She only said, “Go!”
Qian Rongzhi stared at her face before turning around and approaching the demon cavern. Her figure gradually blurred. When she arrived at the edge, she glanced back again before leaping and throwing herself into the demon cavern, vanishing into the surging demon qi.
She fell freely into the dark abyss. The will of the living creatures and the intangible will of the heavens were gradually stripped from her body. He, or perhaps her, would not be the person chosen by the heavens in the nine provinces anymore. Even if they wanted to turn back, it was no longer possible.
Afterwards, the Skull Prayer Beads flew away, only leaving the Trisepultural Robes, which was also gradually peeled from her body.
Right as they were about to leave, a hysterical dragon cry suddenly rang out from the demon domain. It was not just to express his bone-deep hatred, but also to display his ravishing joy of escaping alive. Or perhaps it was merely a result of cultivation deviation.
Xiao An asked with uncertainty, “I haven’t made a mistake, have I?”
Li Qingshan shrugged. “Who cares!”
The nine cauldrons had already been shattered. Once he left the nine provinces, Si Long would no longer be chosen by the heavens. It was impossible for him to return again. He even hoped that Si Long would be able to devour Qian Rongzhi, such that they would meet again some day.
He exchanged glances with Rāhu Xiaoming; their eyes shone with the same light. Despite being two major realms of cultivation away, hacking him to pieces simply did not feel that great. If an opportunity arose for him to get his revenge, that would be for the best.
“Who do you think will win?”
“That’s difficult to say. You’ve witnessed the power of Yang Souls, but that woman will probably become chosen by the heavens in the Demon domain. Will man prevail over the heavens? Or will heaven prevail over man? The heavens sure do leave a way out for man all the time!”
“Chosen by the heavens? Will it really be that easy? Aren’t those demonfolk all extremely violent and wicked?”
“They’re just a group of pitiful insects controlled by their demon hearts. They’ll completely demonify from the slightest carelessness and be reduced to wild beasts. They constantly suck up to the heavens, hoping to receive even more charity from them. That’s all just false evil. They’re all just shams.”
Rāhu Xiaoming bore great contempt towards demonfolk. The Asura realm was one of the three greater realms in the six realms of sa?sāra after all. However, probably only the twelve Demon Gods could rival the sins he had committed.
“False evil!”
This was the first time Li Qingshan had heard a phrase like that, but when he recalled the customs of a place like the Demon domain, he could not help but grin. Calling someone false evil in the Demon domain must have been an insult! When he visited the Demon domain in the future, he could try and use it. He still had a gamble to settle in the Demon domain!
Abiding by the ancient, bloody oath, venturing to the very depths of the wicked Demon domain and challenging the undefeatable Demon God. Just the thought of it made his blood bubble!
At this moment, a charming, enchanting, and unpredictable voice suddenly rang out. “Oh my, I didn’t expect you to make it through this! Let me calculate just how many days you have left in you then!”
Li Qingshan frowned. “Su Mirao!”
Su Mirao raised her chin and smiled. “If you want to survive against Qiongqi, get down to your knees and beg me!”
In the past, when Demon God Qiongqi descended upon the nine provinces, how could she have not sensed it? As for the details of the Blood Oath of the Nether River, she had found out everything about it too.
Rāhu Xiaoming was surprised. “Demon God Qiongqi?”
Li Qingshan stared at Su Mirao closely as he explained everything to this important ally of his.
Rāhu Xiaoming widened his eyes and exclaimed uncontrollably, “Blood Oath of the Nether River! And an oath of five centuries! Are you aware that the five centuries is a trap? In a world like this, it’s completely impossible for your cultivation to advance any further. Even if you stay here for five millennia, it’s useless.”
“And even if you actually have five centuries, Qiongqi is a true demon that’s undergone the seventh heavenly tribulation. Even across the entire six realms of sa?sāra, the entirety of the trichiliocosm, there are only a handful of existences like that. And you’re even going to Qingqi mountain in the Demon domain to challenge him! There, even the Demon Purging Grandmaster of Zhenwu from the Desireless Heavenly palace is helpless against him!”
Li Qingshan laid out his hands. “What can I do about that? Who can help the fact that I’m just so charming? Qiongqi insisted on making me his second-in-command on Qingqi mountain. If I go to the Demon domain, I might become some shitty person chosen by the heavens or whatever that is too. I would have led an army and conquered the nine provinces a long time ago. Would I still have to fight such a bitter battle against Si Long?”
