Li Qingshan suddenly looked back and smiled, just like in the dreams.
The thundering lightning was unable to harm him at all. It was as if he had specially come to save her, just like in the dreams.
Chao Tianjiao’s heart ached. She shook her head. No, this is impossible. His Yin Soul has already been destroyed. He’s completely dead. Even if he’s still alive, it’s impossible for him to just stand in the tribulation lightning unharmed.
Don’t tell me… A thought flashed through her head, and her heart directly sank. Kle?a-māra!
Kle?a-māra, or a demon of afflictions, as the name suggested, was afflictions. Living in the world, people had seven emotions and six desires. They possessed greed, hatred, ignorance, and jealousy, which were all afflictions.
If the skandha-māra was just a result of inner demons, purely an internal demon, then kle?a-māra was a result of both internal and external factors, arising from within and materialising externally.
In other words, kle?a-māra were demons under Mahe?vara that possessed wills of their own, specially to get in the way of cultivators as they faced the tribulation.
The former was only a split personality at most. As long as their temperaments and cultivations were powerful enough, they could suppress it. However, the latter was having a scoundrel making trouble, and this scoundrel was immune to weapons and techniques. Even if the minds of cultivators were without openings, it would create openings.
As a result, it was far more dangerous than skandha-māra.
Chao Tianjiao’s seven emotions and six desires all existed because of Li Qingshan, and her greed, hatred, ignorance, and jealousy also arose because of him. As a result, the kle?a-māra was influenced by these factors, obviously taking the form of Li Qingshan.
Even if the kle?a-māra only stood there without doing anything, it already caused her tremendous pressure.
“The records in the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes are true. Practising the Heavenly Tome of Xuanwu will lead to kle?a-māra during the sixth heavenly tribulation!”
Because of differing cultivation methods and personal strength, the heavenly tribulations encountered varied drastically from one another as well. In short, it would always be more powerful than the cultivator, no matter how powerful the cultivator was.
No matter how powerful Li Qingshan was, no matter how hardy he was with the Nirvā?a Rebirth, he had still almost been slain by the armaments of tribulation lightning. Meanwhile, there were no reports that the Heavenly Tome of Nature that Ruan Yaozhu practised would lead to kle?a-māra during the sixth heavenly tribulation.
Perhaps it was because practitioners of the Heavenly Tome of Xuanwu had cold personalities and could not be easily shaken by skandha-māra, or perhaps Mahe?vara who was known as the lord of the māra was very dissatisfied with the Demon Purging Grandmaster of Zhenwu who had “Demon Purging” in his name.
As a result, in order to increase the difficulty, there was the kle?a-māra.
Fortunately, it was just one. The legends said that when ascending to immortality, three thousand afflictions would spring forth as obstacles.
However, the one kle?a-māra had already made it nightmarishly difficult.
The thunder rumbled, ringing through the world.
The skandha-māra continued to stir as the armaments of tribulation lightning grew stronger and stronger. The might of the tribulation continued to climb.
Once the kle?a-māra struck, that would be when she perished.
In dire straits, she furrowed her brows firmly and raised her blade high in the air. “I have no other choice! I have to liberate myself through arms!”
Destroying the body using a weapon was known as “liberation through arms”, while destroying the body with fire was known as “liberation through fire”.
They were many other similar methods, like “liberation through water”, “liberation through earth”, “liberation through sword”, and “liberation through staff”. There were as many methods of liberation as methods of suicide. They all fell under the category of “corpse liberation”.
There was only one objective behind this, which was to cast aside the “body of form”. Not only would it deal with the issues of the five skandha set ablaze, but her emotions and desires would drastically diminish, weakening the affiliations and kle?a.
Living in the world, the many sources of pain and affiliations arose from the vile skin-bag—the body.
Only death awaited any mortal that lost the vile skin-bag. They would have to undergo reincarnation obediently and collect a new vile skin-bag.
Even to cultivators, this vile skin-bag was an extremely important tool. It was equivalent to a small vessel. Before the vessel had docked at shore, it was extremely difficult to not drown without it, let alone continuing with cultivation.
Only when they refined an Origin Soul could they break free from the body and live independently. That was equivalent to developing the ability to breathe underwater. No matter what they did, they would not drown to death.
As a result, when the situation during the tribulation became too dangerous, such as when the body had sustained wounds that were too severe or when the five skandha blazed beyond control, many cultivators would downright discard their bodies.
If they succeeded with the tribulation, they would not be Human Immortals, only Corpse Liberated Immortals, but they were still immortals. Both their lifespans and strength would far surpass Human Sovereigns, which was countless times better than dying.
With no other choice, Chao Tianjiao decided to undergo corpse liberation.
But at this moment, she saw Li Qingshan again. She knew that was only the kle?a-māra, but she still could not help but shudder inside.
“If I do this, wouldn’t I just return to my own path, and all of his sacrifices would be in vain? Even if I survive somehow, my personality will only become colder and harsher. I definitely won’t remember him anymore.”
Thinking up to there, Chao Tianjiao made up her mind. So be it! Since I said I would not forget him, I definitely won’t forget him! At most, it’s just dying. I can just die a lover’s death with him!
With a swing of her blade, she cut through the lightning and called out, “Come, lightning!”
Setting aside the thought of death, she engaged the armaments of tribulation lightning with courage and determination.
At that moment, great delight flooded her heart. She experienced a sense of courage and excitement she had not experienced in a very long time.
Those who were truly courageous were not without fear. Instead, they could defeat fear and advance resolutely.
At that moment, her newly-formed Origin Soul stabilised, and power became available to her.
The path of cultivation was never only a clash of strength. It was also a contention of wills.
Trying to eliminate her fears and hesitation to become “courageous”, trying to cast aside her emotions and desires to become “determined”, was all the act of a coward. It was like a deserter of the battlefield.
A cultivator like that would either become a slave to the power of others, or a slave to their own power.
She gazed at the kle?a-māra, and her lips curled into a smile. She said quietly, “Thanks, kid! Come now!”
Even if she died, she definitely would not regret it.
However, for some reason, the kle?a-māra was instead slightly hesitant. It never brought her death.
Was it because it had transformed into Li Qingshan that it had also become a “saint of love”, reluctant to sully a flower?
However, she instead heard the kle?a-māra mutter, “That’s strange… why does this woman… possess the aura of the lord?”
Chao Tianjiao realised what was going on. She almost wanted to laugh aloud.
Li Qingshan practised the Heavenly Tome of Liberty. The exact path he walked was Mahe?vara’s.
Different paths received different treatment. The path of xuanwu faced additional opposition, while the path of nature received no opposition, nor any special treatment. His path of great liberty just happened to earn him special treatment in a place like this.
This could be explained as some sort of favouritism. It could also be explained by the fact that cultivators who practised the path of great liberty usually faced more tests; as their usual performance was exceptional, they received bonus marks in the final exam.
Through dual cultivation, Li Qingshan truly witnessed the path of great liberty. When it came to annihilation, he had achieved the Divine Fire of World Destruction. When it came to creation, he had sacrificed himself to save Chao Tianjiao.
When he gave his Yin Soul to Chao Tianjiao, his aura lingered on her body, which was also the aura of Mahe?vara. The kle?a-māra obviously developed qualms as a result.
And these qualms were not just respect towards its “great leader”, but also worries for its own safety.
Kle?a-māra were an extremely special existence. They were neither human or daemon, neither god nor ghost. They did not even fear heavenly tribulations.
No matter how powerful Chao Tianjiao’s xuanwu blade aura was, she would struggle to slay it.
However, if Li Qingshan had been undergoing the tribulation here instead with his Yang Soul refined into a Origin Soul, not only would the kle?a-māra be completely incapable of shaking him, but it would instead be twisted by his will. If it dared to make a ruckus, a blast of the Divine Fire of World Destruction would be enough to reduce it to ashes.
Even māra feared death. It was just that very few things could threaten them, which was why they seemed fearless and reckless. Once they encountered a power that could overwhelm them, they would instead become particularly cautious.
