Adjudicator Lu was overcome with a multitude of emotions. Sometimes, he felt miserable, tempted to sob away painfully. Other times, he was overcome with great joy, almost to a point where he danced around.
His mind spun like a merry-go-round. At one instant, he felt like he had risen beyond the Nine Heavens, achieving enlightenment and true immortality. In the next moment, he felt like he had been sent to the lowest level of hell again, never to be reborn, facing all the tortures there were in the world.
Suddenly, he realised the situation. Oh no, a demon!
Before he could even consider how a demon had managed to invade his mind, he had already raised his fear and caution to the limit.
He understood exactly how terrifying mental demons were, or he would not have been reduced to a Ghost Immortal. Unlike regular enemies, powerful arcane treasures or wondrous techniques were all ineffective.
Fighting against people was like a war between two kingdoms. It seemed like a mighty disturbance where both sides surged with killing intent, but it was not actually dangerous. With his cultivation, it would be very difficult for his kingdom to be destroyed no matter what kind of defeat he suffered.
The invasion of a demon was equivalent to a treacherous official appearing in the imperial court. Even if he had an entire army, he would struggle to mobilise it. Once his position was usurped, destruction would only take an instant.
He immediately guarded his mind, sealing off his heart to resist the invasion. Demons were dangerous, but as long as he preserved his heart, then everything would be fine.
It’s not like I’m facing a tribulation. I don’t need to fend off any tribulation lightning. As long as I hold my ground firmly, what can you do to me?
However, the demon was even more mysterious and unpredictable than the ones he had encountered when he faced the tribulations. It did not seem to be in a hurry to “usurp” him.
Li Qingshan smiled. Alright. You defend, so I’ll attack. Let’s go for a farmer’s siege on the city!
With the convenience of his sneak attack, he originally could have directly taken his heart and usurped him, yet he purposefully raised his attention, allowing adjudicator Lu to raise his guard.
Only now were his intentions revealed. He used his many powers to incite adjudicator Lu’s demonic thoughts. With each bit of growth, his demonic powers grew slightly as well.
This was no longer just the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, but the true path of great liberty, as well as the path of the heavenly demon, the path of the māra.
The demons would always tower over cultivation, no matter how great your attainments were.
In the blink of an eye, the demonic thoughts began to spread like fire. This was no longer usurping but a revolution.
The old empire was dead. The new emperor ascended to the throne.
This was far more difficult than directly “usurping the throne”. Just how complicated and unpredictable was the will of the people? So-called “demonic thoughts” did not follow an absolute standard. Not all so-called wicked thoughts were demonic thoughts. They required extremely delicate control, as any mistake would result in them being suppressed, resulting in a board-wide loss.
However, the experiences that came with practising the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine provided Li Qingshan with tremendous assistance. To him, demonic thoughts were internal conflicts that people were unable to mediate—good and evil, true and false, right and wrong… They were like the yin and yang diagram of daoism, destroying and supporting one another.
Perhaps normally, they would just lay latent, but once he faced trouble, they would erupt, disturbing what they did arbitrarily.
It was impossible to eliminate this conflict too. Chao Tianjian’s experiences had proven that upon losing this conflict and losing the heart of a human, they would suffer a backlash from their powers and assimilate with it.
When Nüwa created humanity, humans were born without meaning. This presented them with an opportunity to do everything, but it was also an intrinsic flaw.
As a result, what mattered was reaching a balance, while so-called “demons” in this sense were also “external demons”. They broke this balance primarily through two ways.
One way was to stimulate repressed thoughts—You want to be a good person? Alright, I’ll have you know just how wicked you are.
The other was to feed certain thoughts that were already very powerful, making the greedy die for wealth and the lustful die for sex.
In order to bring forth destruction, it brought forth madness at first. All madness were inner demons at work.
Hehehehe, just as I had suspected!
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Li Qingshan might have just undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation, but he was without a doubt an old, experienced player when it came to this game. The reason why he had chosen this exact way to play was because he could tell that adjudicator Lu’s demonic thoughts were ablaze.
In particular, there were two thoughts that were particularly intense. One was his desire to become an immortal. The other was his fear of death.
Li Qingshan fiddled around in between, triggering them together. The more he wanted to become an immortal, the more he was afraid of dying. The more he was afraid of dying, the more he wanted to become an immortal. The demonic thoughts swelled up like a snowball.
Hehehehe, how fun!
He was no regular demon that could be found on the streets, but an authentic successor of devaputra-māra. The demonic thoughts unleashed by regular demons were just a chaotic army of farmers. They were very destructive and menacing, but they also ran out of force quickly. Under his command, they turned into an organised and disciplined liberation army.
Hehehehe! Wait, why am I laughing?
Very soon, adjudicator Lu lost control. His heart that he guarded diligently became a lone city. All he saw was the flames of war raging around him as banners filled the air. His mind shook. This… I… Impossible…
He wailed out in despair. How can such a terrifying demon exist in the world!?
With a rumble, the army breached the city. His heart was open!
The scene before his eyes blurred, and he actually returned to the Office of Reckoning Mirror. However, he had now become the criminal, kneeling in the hall in shackles. A familiar figure sat in the seat that originally belonged to him!
The long-toothed, vicious-looking ghost guards wielded staves of water and fire, growling, “Justice!”
These ghosts were similar in appearance and all extremely familiar. Suddenly, he remembered and pointed at the “judge” behind the desk. “It’s you!”
With a thump, woodblock gavel slammed against the table!
Li Qingshan was dressed in the great red robes of an official with a silken hat on his head. He leaned over and smiled. “Yeah, it’s me!”
Everything was under his control.
If he directly possessed him, it would take tremendous effort in the intense struggle even if he gained the upper hand and succeeded. He had only just undergone the tribulation, so this was when he was weakest.
Even if he succeeded, he would only be in a position of power through coercion. He would not be in proper control. It would be impossible to control him without alarming anyone like this. Even if he could kill him, that was not his objective.
Li Qingshan asked, “Let me ask you, Lu. Do you know your crimes?”
Adjudicator Lu cursed aloud. “You damned demon! Release me right now and I might still spare your life! Otherwise, I’ll send you to the eighteenth layer of hell, where you’ll never be reborn!”
“Hehehehe!” The guards that resembled Li Qingshan snickered away as “adjudicator Li” dug at his ear with his little finger. “Alright, then let’s pay a visit to the eighteenth layer of hell!”
Adjudicator Lu cried out, “What do you have in plan for the eighteenth layer of hell?”
“The fuck’s it got to do with you?”
Adjudicator Lu responded very quickly. He recalled Ox-headed A’pang’s identity and origins, as well as the Great Sage suppressed in Avīci. He trembled all over and immediately began to suck up to him. “Sir, are you perhaps a righteous rebel of the heavens?”
Li Qingshan was taken aback. He understood where “rebel of the heavens” came from, but what was this “righteous” part about?
Adjudicator Lu confirmed his guess and became even more panicked. “Actually, this judge, I mean, I’m also one!”
Adjudicator Li and the ghost guards were all dumbstruck. They said together, “You’re one too!?”
Adjudicator Lu said righteously, “The heavenly palace has been unfair. I’ve been wanting to rebel a long time ago. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to come across someone like you. Please give me an opportunity right now. I’m willing to join your side, no, follow you as a retainer, to charge into battle against the heavens together!”
Li Qingshan was basically dumbfounded. He shook his head with a smile. “If our side were filled with bastards like you, then we could forget about rebelling against the heavens! You haven’t answered my question yet! Do you know your crimes?”
“I…”
“It’s fine if you don’t want to answer me. I- No, this judge has his ways!”
At this moment, in the actual Office of Reckoning Mirror, the ghost guards just saw adjudicator Lu blank out for a good moment before suddenly sneering away. He began to move again, making his way towards the Mirror of Retribution outside the hall dramatically.
