Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk…
In the Pure Land temple, the Upraised Light abbot struck the wooden fish hurried as he chanted away constantly. It seemed as if he was praying for blessings yet also redeeming the souls of the dead.
Suddenly, the sound of the wooden fish came to a halt.
The monks were surprised. “Abbot?”
The Upraised Light abbot raised his hand to silence the monks’ questions. He turned his head and listened closely.
Crackle. The flickering flames in the fire basket projected Li Qingshan’s figure on the stone wall. It reached the high ceiling, gazing down from above.
The soldiers murmured among themselves, leading to a buzz in the cavern.
Everyone in Black Cloud city had heard of him before. Just recently, in the army-wide martial arts competition, he had stood invincible among the millions of soldiers, sweeping aside all of the generals. Now, there was another explanation to the name of “crawling general”, which was a habit of beating people until they crawled away from him.
The officers of the Xuanwu army all rushed over and took the front row. They gazed at Li Qingshan with varying expressions.
“The city is about to fall!” Li Qingshan said sternly. The cavern immediately fell quiet.
Even the regular soldiers had all realised this vaguely, but no one dared to say it so directly. Spreading rumours and damaging morale was a crime punishable by death. They were five simple words, but they opened the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind.
The expressions of the officers all changed drastically. They understood the situation better than the soldiers, but normally, they would only comfort them, or once the army descended into chaos, no one would be able to take responsibility for that.
“Senior brother, please speak carefully…” A general tried to stop him from continuing.
“Shut your mouth!” Li Qingshan glanced over, and the officers fell dead-silent. Basically all of them had suffered a beating at his hand before.
Li Qingshan pointed outside and said fiercely, “The walls, the formation, are all fucking useless. They’re completely incapable of stopping the demonfolk’s advance!”
Everyone feared that. The cavern immediately began to stir.
Li Qingshan was unfazed. He continued, “Those cultivators standing high above might still be able to escape with their lives, or downright just dive into the teleportation hall and run back to the Myriad sect. What are you going to do about it?”
They stirred even more violently, igniting everyone’s fury, like thunder rumbling in the centre of the mountain.
Someone shouted out, “Are you going to abandon us, general?”
Someone wailed out and pleaded, “Save us, general!”
There were also others that asked themselves, What should we do?
All of their doubts, fears, anger, and hopes were directed towards Li Qingshan on the platform.
The tremendous pressure was enough to make the mind of a regular collapse. Even cultivators would falter. The officers below all became restless too. The soldiers beside them looked at that in suspicion.
“Haha!”
However, Li Qingshan laughed. He laughed extremely delightfully. It turned into roaring laughter, drowning out the stirring that resembled thunder. He pointed down and said firmly, “I can’t save you. All of you will die!”
Afterwards, he vanished from the platform. Everyone had been infuriated. The people surged, shoving and squeezing. Someone shouted out, “It’s a rebellion! A rebellion!” Another called out, “Let’s kill our way out!”
But most of it were howls of despair, each wave towering over the last as if they wanted to overturn the entire city. However, they were trapped in the middle of the mountain no matter where they went with no way out.
This was a cultivation world where gods and buddhas could descend at any moment. All of them understood one thing. They were just mortals. Perhaps they were much stronger than regular people and were capable of some Qi Practitioner techniques, but they were still ants compared to true cultivators.
Without the lead of a cultivator, just the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder over their heads could reduce them to dust.
The Upraised Light abbot sighed emotionally. “Suffering to all living creatures!”
Even with their mighty strength, the officers felt like flimsy boats in the surging sea of people. They grumbled loudly inside. Had this bastard specially come to mock them? But what were they supposed to do? The demonfolk soldiers had arrived right beneath the city. Did they have to suppress this army by force? But once they were suppressed, would there still be a Xuanwu army left in the world?
Boom!
With a great rumble, the cavern rocked violently. The booms echoed endlessly and broken rocks scattered down from the ceiling. Everyone looked up in shock, thinking the cavern was about to collapse.
When they lowered their heads again, they discovered that Li Qingshan had returned to the platform. He announced, “I’ve already smashed the teleportation hall!”
Everyone was stunned.
Li Qingshan grinned and asked loudly, “Who do you think I am?”
“Everyone will die! You will die, and so will I! Even with the gods and buddhas in the heavens, I refuse to believe they’re actually immune to death. However, we shouldn’t drag out a pointless existence like mice and die in a damned place like this. That’s not a way for men to die!” He smiled towards the female generals. “That’s not a way for women to die either.”
“Oh right, I forgot to tell you. I’ve already become the captain of the Xuanwu army. Tomorrow, we’ll be leaving the city to face the demonfolk in a battle to the death! As for that teleportation hall or whatever…”
“Hmph, I want a battle to the death, so who’ll be fleeing first?”
He glanced past the officers of the Xuanwu army. They were the backbone of the army, important points where the army qi gathered. However, it was exactly because they possessed some status that they probably still clung onto the hopes of being teleported back to the Myriad sect.
If he could not cut off all means of retreat and completely get rid of this thought, how was he supposed to gather the army together? How could regular soldiers not complain? If he could not actually take any action, was it all for say? As for whether he offended those direct disciples or not, that was the last of his worries.
“General!”
Pairs of eyes suddenly lit up in the surging sea of people like twinkling stars, all gathering on Li Qingshan.
They were warriors chosen after careful selection. None of them feared death. What they feared was going out in such a dissatisfying way, without any hope, cast aside like a chess piece.
FInally, someone was willing to look at them directly to trust them, to fight alongside them, to die with them. They saw a sliver of hope in despair.
The cheers went from low to high, growing louder and louder.
“Li Qingshan! Li Qingshan! Li Qingshan!”
Their morale soared, and their wills united together like a fortress.
Without any military formation at all, the swelling army qi actually gathered on him, condensing into a giant. It was blurry and indistinct, but it left all of the officers astounded. Even Chao Tianjiao did not possess such charms. Li Qingshan had cast them aside and communicated with all of the soldiers, while the soldiers had cast them aside too, offering up their loyalty.
Li Qingshan felt his blood boil. The giant condensed from army qi waved its hand at the people below the platform.
At that instant, cheers rumbled like thunder!
In the Pure Land temple, the Upraised Light abbot smiled. Only those who truly had the concept of universal equality at heart could obtain the protection of all. However, he furrowed his brows again. There was something he said that made him feel extremely uneasy. “Even with the gods and buddhas in the heavens, I refuse to believe they’re actually immune to death!”
Even mortals would begin to cherish their lives once they possessed a certain level of status. Which cultivator did not pursue longevity? Who didn’t want to become a god or buddha? A mentality like that, thoughts like that, were truly terrifying.
Li Qingshan smiled and gazed at the ordinary faces below. His thoughts deepened at this moment, I’m just a mortal too. I’m neither a god nor a demon. If I forget about this someday, I’m no longer me.
Reaching there, many bottlenecks in his heart suddenly opened up. He felt extremely free and liberated.
The Heavenly Tome of Liberty began to circulate. A new Yin Soul, no, Yang Soul began to condense in the small world.
He swung his hand. “I will be at the very front in the battle tomorrow. Those who are afraid of dying, just stay right here! Those who are unafraid of dying, fight alongside me!”
The officers lowered their heads and cupped their hands, answering loudly, “We’re willing to fight to the death with the general!”
The army answered as well, “We’re willing to fight to the death with the general!”
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