Li Qingshan shrugged. He did not care.
Xiao An smiled. He was not a blessed son of heaven in the Hungry Ghost realm. Instead, his luck was terrible here. He was a cursed son of heaven.
If they had not undertaken meticulous investigation, how was it possible for them to launch such a great assault?
From the opening of the Gate of Hungry Ghosts, when they first entered this place and developed their forces, they had almost been discovered by passing Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals several times. They faced constant danger.
Perhaps it was because of the White Bone Bodhisattva, but the greater possibility was the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty was competing against the Hungry Ghost realm for food. Being incinerated by the Samādhi Flames of White Bone was different from being devoured by other undead. They were “converted” completely, with nothing left behind.
Just the frail will of a regular, small world possessed the instincts to maintain its own existence, where the heavenly tribulation of ascension became extremely difficult, let alone the Hungry Ghost realm that was primarily centered around hunger and devouring. It had always been the one eating others. Since when did others eat it?
As a result, trying to get by in the Hungry Ghost realm truly was difficult. Even when Xiao An had already digested her fruits of the battle from the Demon domain, undergoing the fifth heavenly tribulation, she could not directly confront Ghost and Corpse Immortals.
And among the six realms of sa?sāra, they also had the most sixth heavenly tribulation existences—or in other words, Ghost and Corpse Immortals. They even surpassed the total sum of the other realms.
The sixth heavenly tribulation was a threshold. Many Human Immortals and Daemon Immortals would choose to embark on the journey leading beyond the Nine heavens in hopes of a greater opportunity at becoming a True Immortal.
More importantly, whether they were Human Immortals or Daemon Immortals, they were all limited by their lifespans. Their names were listed in the Book of Life and Death. If they could not undergo the seventh heavenly tribulation and become True Immortals, then unfortunately, they still had to pay a visit to the afterlife and reincarnate like everyone else.
They would receive a certain amount of special treatment, not having to drink from the River of Forgetfulness and relinquish their current memories. It was said that they could even bargain against the Ten Courts of Yanluo and choose their own reincarnation circumstances, whether they were born into the families of noblemen or clans of monarchs, and even their race and gender.
(Note: The most frequent choice of reincarnation for both humans and daemons are human males.)
However, recultivating from scratch after reincarnation was destined to be extremely dangerous. The amount of information an infant could hold was limited. It was impossible for them to pour all of their memories inside one, let alone a fetus that had not even taken shape. They had to go through the “confusions of the womb”. They were completely incapable of protecting themselves.
Even as a member of an imperial clan, they stood no chance against a glass of poisonous wine. If they were not careful, they could die in the womb.
Even if they made many preparations and survived all the dangers, making it through the “confusions of the womb”, there was still an issue. Were you still you?
Li Qingshan had already gained a clear understanding now. The Chu Tian he had met in the past, even the Chu Tian after his memories had been awakened, was not the true Lin Xuan.
The original first senior brother Lin Xuan’s cultivation was Yang Soul. It was completely impossible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to contain the memories of his entire life. At most, he would preserve some memory fragments. The primary content was still based around the heavenly tomes.
He was not a weakened version of Lin Xuan, only a strengthened version of Chu Tian. Eventually, he still ended up walking to his death because he was unable to cast aside his resentment and fury, wanting to redeem himself. Meanwhile, the first senior brother of the Myriad sect who once presided over Black Cloud city and slew Demon Sovereigns definitely was not like that.
From a certain perspective, you only lived once. If you did not become a True Immortal, then you would be reduced to dust in the end.
That was why countless Human Immortals and Daemon Immortals would reject rebirth. Then only two paths lay in front of them. The first was to defect to the Demon domain and fall as a Heretic God, while the second was to flee to the Hungry Ghost realm and become a Ghost Immortal or Corpse Immortal.
They had to twist their own concepts of self to become a Heretic God, and they had to follow the orders of the twelve Demon Gods to wage war in the Human realm against the Desireless Heavenly Palace. If they were not careful, they would be slain by True Immortals, doomed for all of eternity.
As a result, the Hungry Ghost realm became the best choice, which led to something like this in the very end.
But to Li Qingshan and Xiao An, that was the greatest advantage of this place. Apart from Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals, they were the apex predators. Regular Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns were completely at their whim. Even if ten of them banded together, they were not their opponent.
The Hungry Ghost realm was particularly enormous too. No matter how many Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals they had, there could not be one around every single corner. They still ended up ruling over their own territories, remaining within their own ranges of influence.
At the end of the day, the Hungry Ghost realm only possessed a will, not a consciousness. It could not directly tell a certain Ghost Immortal, “The successor of white bone is currently hiding here. Go and kill her for me!” At most, it could suddenly give them the urge to go out and take a look, and it had to provide them with a sufficient reason too.
There was no such thing as destined fortune or misfortune. It was all a consequence of actions. Whether it was good luck or bad luck, it required certain opportunities and circumstances for it to manifest, with an urge rising internally, leading to actions externally.
And up until now, Xiao An had yet to use the Samādhi Flames of White Bone, and it was exactly to hold off this circumstance. Otherwise, taking Unadorned city would be much easier. She had to avoid conflicts with any Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals as much as possible. Once everyone found out who she was, then all of her efforts would go to waste.
But fortunately, she only had to lie down in a pile of bones to seem no different from a regular skeleton. Even Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals would struggle to notice her.
After a series of detailed “social investigations”, Li Qingshan and her possessed an abundant understanding of the Hungry Ghost realm. They made a large number of preparations, which was why they began establishing their base on the Unadorned Ghost Immortal’s territory.
The old ghost was a great habit. He spent a century sleeping and a century awake.
To an existence that possessed almost eternal life, time did not hold much meaning at all. Even cultivation did not hold any meaning. No one could become a True Immortal in the Hungry Ghost realm. Perhaps there had been people in the past, but how could the order of the six realms of sa?sāra accept such blasphemy. The immortals and buddhas beyond the Nine Heavens were not that gentle. Such a feat that defied the heavens would definitely result in wrath from the heavens.
As a result, it all boiled down to a single concept—getting by.
Many Ghost Immortals and Corpse Immortals had the habit of sleeping. They were roughly the same as mortals, recovering and resting through sleep. They reduced their energy consumption to maintain their existence. It was also to avoid going insane within the endless void.
Only this old ghost had a particularly regular sleeping pattern. The city was called Unadorned city, but the Unadorned Ghost Immortal did not sleep here. He only presided over this place when he was awake.
As a result, no matter how much of a fuss these Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns kicked up, Li Qingshan was not afraid at all.
Xiao An had sent a Skeleton Demon to watch the place where the Unadorned Ghost Immortal slept. If something happened to the situation there, they could hide their tracks in time or retreat to the Human realm.
A Ghost Sovereign feigned ignorance. “Sir, with how capable at warfare you are, why don’t you wage war in the Asura realm instead? Why must you make things difficult for us?” Meanwhile, he communicated to the other Corpse and Ghost Sovereigns. “I’ll buy some time. One of you ring the alarm bell and wake up the Unadorned Immortal!”
The Corpse and Ghost Sovereigns looked at one another. The Unadorned Ghost Immortal hated being woken up while he was sleeping, and whenever the old man woke up, it would be when he was “hungriest”.
“All of the territories are lost. Unadorned city is about to fall too. The old man must be capable of dealing with this!”
The alarm bell was located in the very depths of Unadorned city. It only needed the slightest touch to set off a warning and wake up the Unadorned Ghost Immortal.
However, they only looked at one another. None of them had any intentions of doing that. They felt like their chances of dying were larger if they did that than letting the city fall, so they were better off scattering when the city fell, fleeing to other places.
Li Qingshan laughed. “Can’t you tell? I’m recruiting for a great battle right now! Stop wasting time. If any of you were bold enough to wake up that old ghost, you would have done so a long time ago.”
With a leap, he arrived several thousand metres in the air and directly plunged towards Unadorned city.
Several million undead raised their heads at the same time. The icy army qi brimming with the aura of death gathered on him. His cheeks sank and his lips lost their colour. His skin became pale-white as well with his bones poking out. Only his eyes continued to blaze like scarlet fire.
Even though it was only a mirror clone, the destructive power he currently possessed was no less than his main body.
A deathly grey meteor pierced through the formation, landing between the Corpse Sovereign and Ghost Sovereigns and standing up as an Army God of Death.
Boom!
A wave of air swept out. Under the gushing fierce winds and death qi, all of the Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns lost their footing. Their faces paled in fright. Since when did they ever witness an existence like him in the Hungry Ghost realm? Let alone attacking him, they did not even have the courage to flee.
The violent army qi was so powerful that he struggled to control it, rising up around the Army God of Death like fire, except it was deathly grey. The Army God of Death gazed down upon the Ghost Sovereigns and Corpse Sovereigns. “Submit to me, or die! Oh, I forgot, you’re already dead. Hahahaha!”
No one was unable to laugh. They only felt chills run down their spines.
“You really have no sense of humour. My time is limited. One, two, three!”
The Army God of Death raised its hand slowly.
“I’ll submit to you, sir!” “Me too, I’m willing to wage war everywhere under your command, sir.”
“Very good!”
Li Qingshan was not surprised at all. This was not the first time that something like this had occurred. Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns clearly lacked the virtue of loyalty. To them, “surviving” was most important. Heh, how ironic!
At this moment, the pale dragon flew over, gripping the rock with its sharp claws and coiling around Unadorned city. Xiao An sat on the dragon’s head with the kasaya draped around her, chanting away with her eyes shut.
The Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns under Li Qingshan’s command gathered over too, sealing off all of their paths of retreat.
The kasaya on Xiao An drifted through the air like a white bird. It flew towards a Corpse Sovereign and wrapped around him.
Against opponents of such cultivation, Li Qingshan’s Nightmare Tiger’s Demonic Eye could only stun them temporarily, while Xiao An’s Trisepultural Robes were most accustomed to “converting” these dead ghosts.
That was where his undead army came from. Otherwise, just obtaining the loyalty of the most basic of haunts was pointless. He would not have the different officers to lead them, making it impossible to gather army qi.
The Corpse Sovereign’s expression was twisted, trying to resist.
Li Qingshan glanced at him. “You can choose your own dog leash!”
The Corpse Sovereign had no idea what a dog leash was, but under the pressing gaze of the giant, terrifying Army God of Death, how could he put up any resistance? He allowed the kasaya to wrap around him.
His expression changed, sometimes grinding his teeth and sometimes struggling furiously, but gradually, his expression settled down as if all of his pain had been erased. Even the hunger that tormented him had completely vanished. He became satisfied, peaceful, and comfortable.
Find the original at Hosted Novel.
By the time the kasaya slid off his body, he turned around and gazed at the colleagues that he had always wanted to devour. It was like he was an entirely different person. There was actually a hint of pity on his face. “Trust me, you definitely have to try it.”
Hiss! The Corpse Sovereigns and Ghost Sovereigns all gasped together. They felt unprecedented horror.
But very soon, their fears all vanished, becoming peaceful, quiet, and pitiful.
In the end, only a Ghost Sovereign remained. He turned towards Xiao An on the dragon head. “Don’t tell me you’re a successor of white bone!?”
Xiao An opened an eye and brought her index finger to her lips. “Shh.”
