Chapter 1435: Pure Land
Li Qingshan projected out his Yin Soul and dove into the ground, passing through the mountains and landing on the snowy-white tundra gently. It was truly an icebound land filled with snow as far as he could see. There was no end to it, which gave him a sense of insignificance. Even with all of his abilities, he was like a splash in the ocean compared to the world.
Thinking up to there, he began to sing loudly, “Snow-clad mountains like silver snakes dancing through them, putting a challenge in with the heavens!”
Clap, clap, clap!
A series of applause suddenly rang out, surprising Li Qingshan. He did not sense any aura at all. “Who is it!?”
A woman made her way over from a snowy hill nearby. She was dressed in black armour and carried a long, asura blade—cold and sharp. In this world of white, her black clothes were particularly dazzling, yet she happened to have a “black rabbit” sitting on her shoulder. She was the first senior sister, Chao Tianjiao.
As if she had just been through a bloody slaughter, her presence was much more powerful than back then in the Myriad sect, yet Li Qingshan had failed to notice her despite being so close. The intense contrast was very difficult to adjust to.
“What a ‘putting a challenge in with the heavens’, but I think it’s more like a tiger having left his place of safety, now harassed by a dog!”
“Have you been especially waiting for me here, senior sister?”
Li Qingshan laughed. Chao Tianjiao really did have a grudge with Li Liehuo. She would rather acknowledge him as a tiger just so she could degrade Li Liehuo as a dog.
“You’re not afraid that I’ve come to kill you?” Chao Tianjiao smiled murderously, gently sweeping her fringe.
“Don’t tell me you plan on taking advantage of me while I’m vulnerable?”
“Hmph, you’re on your own. You better not die so easily. We still have a duel to the death in thirty years’ time!”
The cold snort shook up Li Qingshan’s Yin Soul. The words “you’re on your own” still echoed through the tundra, but she had already shot over his head, vanishing into the mountains.
Li Qingshan did not dare to be careless. He had not undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation after all. Compared to Human Sovereigns and Demon Sovereigns, there was still a gap in strength, especially when he was just a Yin Soul. He basically could not offer any resistance at all.
His Yin Soul was a Yin Demon in nature and could be refined against if it was destroyed, but that was equivalent to losing all of his progress with a transformation of the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine. It would take a lot of time and energy to recover, so it would be best if he avoided any losses.
As a result, he used the Divine Movement of the Five Elements and the Illusionary Demon Movement Technique, turning invisible and making his way in secretively.
A while later, an invisible power appeared out of thin air and “weighed” down on Li Qingshan’s body, almost interrupting his movement technique. He had been prepared for this, so he knew it was not some technique from any enemies.
This is the boundary between the Human realm and the Demon domain. The laws of the world are overlapped and chaotic, not only limiting the power of techniques, but even making them difficult to control too! It really is quite troublesome!
If it was only limiting the power, then all he had to do was adjust. The issue was the “chaos”. For example, a technique could vary in power depending on where and when it was cast. The power behind a punch differed drastically as well. Sometimes, it could be too much and cost him his balance, yet it was also possible to be too little and pose no threat at all.
The stronger the physique and the higher the cultivation, the more obvious it was.
In particular, movement techniques that needed to be maintained or cast repetitively were most affected, so Li Qingshan was forced to carefully adjust. However, he discovered very soon that the laws of the Demon domain did not seem to reject him. This situation was very different from the records.
It was extremely dangerous for a cultivator to enter the Demon domain, not just because the demonfolk and demonic beasts were diabolical, but because they faced the rejection of the laws of the Demon domain as well. Under these circumstances, they could not even rival demonfolk of similar cultivation. As time went on, it was even possible to develop inner demons and suffer from cultivation deviation.
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If regular soldiers were contaminated with demon qi, they would be gradually converted into demonfolk, so even armies struggled to advance too deeply. That left cultivators even more helpless, forced to face the endless demonfolk army with a small minority of people, so the situation was obviously extremely dangerous.
However, Li Qingshan did not experience any rejection from the Demon domain. He had no idea why either. It was probably related to the Heavenly Tome of Liberty. Was the Yin Demon a demonfolk as well?
His inner demons did become rather restless. His various emotions and desires intensified, but they were all resources for practising the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, so it was instead joyous news.
As a result, he only needed to adjust to the strange laws of the world here—that was enough. If he passed through the boundary and entered the Demon domain, perhaps it would be a form of release instead.
Heh, I’ve really made the correct decision to come this time! Hmm? What’s that?
There was a flash of light on the horizon. A while later, there was another flash. It was slow and steady.
Li Qingshan thought of a good idea. He held his breath and gathered his focus, approaching the light slowly. All he saw was a monk walking through the snowy tundra with bare feet in the wind. His red face was filled with devotion as he chanted “Namo Amitābha”, bowing with every three steps and prostrating on the ground. A halo of buddhist light surged from behind his head, shooting through the surroundings rapidly and dispersing the demon qi slightly. The laws of the world from the Human realm gained a slight upper hand over the Demon domain.
Li Qingshan understood what was going on. So it’s a monk of the pure land school, and one who has attained the second fruit of Sakridāgāmi too!
The Demon domain was different from the Hungry Ghost realm. It did not expand through its own powers but through the accumulation of power and remains of several generations of demonfolk. If land contaminated by demon qi was not handled appropriately, the Demon domain would expand and the laws of the world would extend. If it reached Black Wind city, then it was only a matter of time before the city fell.
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As a result, there was a monk from the Pure Land temple in every city responsible for purifying the land. Black Wind city had one, and it was even a sizable Pure Land temple. The people who watched over the temples as abbots were usually monks that had undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation and attained the second fruit of Sakridāgāmi. Their status was equal to the army captains or even higher. The one right in front of him was clearly one.
Li Qingshan glanced at him from afar and felt like monks were unlucky, so he wanted to continue on his way. Suddenly, a streak of light struck his body. It was not harmful, but it did make his back heat up. Killing intent erupted in his heart, tempting him to butcher this monk.
He was surprised. What was going on? Even when he faced Chao Tianjiao earlier, he did not feel that, let alone a monk he had no grievances with. He probably stood no chance either!
The monk currently prostrated on the ground. He sensed something and abruptly raised his hand, calling out, “Which demon is spying on me? Show yourself immediately!”
Li Qingshan shuddered; his movement technique collapsed, revealing his figure. The sense of malice grew heavier.
The monk’s face was sunken. He brought his palms together and uttered the buddha’s name loudly, “Namo Amitābha!”
Li Qingshan was very tempted to ask him, Is this really all you monks do? The towering figure of a buddha appeared behind the monk, sitting high up on glowing clouds and gazing down on him compassionately.
Li Qingshan could not help but recall the feeling he had when he faced the great buddha from the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga many years ago. His entire body grew numb, becoming powerless. He felt the urge to drop to his knees and prostrate on the ground.
His back grew even hotter, scorching like fire. He was filled with killing intent. A thought flashed through his head, Damn it, this is probably still because of the Heavenly Tome of Liberty. Sure enough, nothing good can come out of monks!
At the same time, in Black Cloud city, the image of Maheśvara on Li Qingshan’s back grew clearer.
