After leaving them, Dai Mengfan brought Yang Miaozhen to a pavilion surrounded by water to watch the battle. Surrounded by smoke and fire, it was only a matter of time before it swallowed the waterside pavilion.
She obviously did not care about this bit of smoke and fire. She was well aware that what truly decided their fates as master and disciple was the outcome of that man’s battle! Indeed, Yang Miaozhen had already agreed to take her as her master.
When she watched Li Qingshan get blown away by the wind, her heart tensed up as well, but when she saw him kill his way back over to the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes with the wings of wind, she let out a sigh of relief again. However, all traces of him soon vanished.
The eastern gate of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes had turned into a mirror-smooth surface of black water, except even the sunlight did not reflect off it as if it absorbed all the light.
Li Qingshan had vanished in there, with no more signs of him.
Dai Mengfan’s heart gradually sank again. Her beautiful face flickered under the firelight. She had considered fleeing. The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was currently devoting himself to fending off Li Qingshan, so he probably could not spare any effort to deal with her.
But where would I flee to?
Li Qingshan and the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance—one was a Demon God’s clone and the other was a powerful spirit immortal. Their clash was extremely intense, and they used their full strength right from the beginning. The outcome would be decided in a split second too.
If Li Qingshan won, then there was no need for her to flee. If Li Qingshan lost, she would not be able to flee.
She definitely could not be forgiven for deserting the battle this time. If the Desireless Heavenly Palace captured her, she would definitely pay a trip to the Hell realm before her soul was shattered so that she could experience all the tortures available.
When it really came to that point, she was better off detonating her Yang Soul. However, she also happened to be the type who refused to die, so she would simply stomach all of the pain.
Sigh, I really would be better off dead than alive by then!
Dai Mengfan happened to be worried and conflicted when a hand gently held her hand.
“Master, can he win?” Yang Miaozhen noticed how Dai Mengfan’s complexion was horrible and knew this master of hers was extremely afraid of death, so she could not help but give her some comfort.
“What do you think?” Dai Mengfan answered with a question.
“How would I know with my lowly cultivation? However…”
“However what?”
“I’ve never seen him lose!”
That made Dai Mengfan think before smiling. She was just about to say something when she suddenly turned towards the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes again, murmuring, “The gate is open…”
Li Qingshan stepped through the gate. A while later, a column of white light burst out of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, piercing the sky such that it was visible from thousands of kilometres away!
“The formation has been destroyed!” Dai Mengfan shuddered inside and clapped her hands together. “Sure enough, that kid is impressive!”
Li Qingshan had won. Her life had basically been preserved. There was no need for her to pay a trip to the Hell realm anymore.
Then she felt like she had misspoken. From now onwards, Li Qingshan was her protective talisman, so how could she still call him a brat? She turned to Yang Miaozhen and instructed her. “Don’t tell him this!”
Yang Miaozhen held back her smile. “Yes, master.”
……
Beyond the Nine Heavens, silver light sped through the sky as a skyhorse trod in the air.
A woman in silver armour currently pressed down on the hilt of her blade, standing valitantly on the top of the carriage. She was the former first senior sister of the Myriad sect and a Divine General of the Six Ding now, Chao Tianjiao.
Wisps of clouds rose up from the skyhorse’s hooves as its silvery mane drifted in the air, but there were no reins. It did not require driving. Not only was it far more intelligent than most mortals, it had run this route plenty of times already too.
This was a routine patrol organised by the Desireless Heavenly Palace, demonstrating the Desireless Heavenly Palace’s protection over the Human realm, but there was no practical significance to it.
Apart from dealing with invasions of demonfolk, the Human realm had always been at peace, nowhere near as chaotic as the Daemonic Beast realm or the Hungry Ghost realm. The Asura realm did fight on endlessly, but that was a special form of stability. As for the Heaven realm and Hell realm, that was under the administration of buddhism, which did not require the patrolling of a divine general from the heavenly palace.
“Even if something happens down there, you can’t see it from up here!”
Chao Tianjiao peered down as hard as she could. Those mountain ranges that towered into the clouds and extended for thousands of kilometres were only wrinkles in the earth now. The broad and mighty rivers that ran for tens of thousand kilometres were only thin, curved lines. If she had not become a Human Immortal and developed astonishingly-sharp eyesight, she basically would not be able to distinguish them at all.
The only sight worthy of mention were the changing clouds. Because the flow of time was faster in the Human realm, the clouds changed at an extremely rapid pace too. Whenever she came out patrolling, she would often be able to witness the growth and death of a storm.
When she saw that for the first time, she had basically been left shocked beyond words. She realised countless things and her mental cultivation progressed even further.
But after seeing it for all those times, they were merely clouds now.
Life in the heavens was much more boring than she imagined. The daemon star of misfortune, Yinghuo, had clearly emerged. The crisis of the world was already imminent, yet there was nothing for her to do despite being a divine general of the heavenly palace, which was truly strange.
“If I had known earlier, I would have just presided over Black Cloud city instead! Even if all the demonfolk have retreated, I can still bully that kid Li Qingshan! Speaking of which, it’s been a very long time since I’ve shown him some ‘love’!” Chao Tianjiao chuckled.
Right as she was thinking about paying a visit to the Human realm the next time she had a break, she suddenly saw a beam of white light rise up from the ocean and rush into the sky.
Now that was not common. She became serious and gazed over, only to see a wisp of black smoke billowing at the bottom of the white beam, as well as some flickering firelight.
“That… seems to be… Myriad city!?”
……
Fifteen hundred kilometres south of Myriad city was a volcanic island, but unlike the Xuanming dwelling, this was an active volcano. It currently rolled with black smoke as lava surged at the crater.
A man with a simple and dignified appearance sat within the lava. He was the former first senior brother of the Myriad sect, Li Liehuo.
After the battle of Black Cloud city, he entered secluded cultivation for good, hoping to undergo the sixth heavenly tribulation and make the step that separated immortals from mortals.
During the morning, he also received the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s order to gather, but he did not answer the call and head to Myriad city.
He had benefitted quite a lot from the battle of Black Cloud city. He had already emerged from secluded cultivation several months ago, becoming a Human Immortal. He could no longer be regarded as a direct disciple of the Myriad sect now. He was currently recovering his strength and consolidating his cultivation, so he naturally refused to answer the call.
However, the Myriad sect was his origins, so he could not help but be somewhat attached to it.
I wonder what’s happened to the Myriad sect. The spirit reverend would never gather the disciples so spontaneously. Don’t tell me demonfolk have assaulted Black Cloud city again?
Li Liehuo constantly thought about it and felt slightly uneasy. At this moment, he suddenly sensed a pulse of spiritual qi. It was not particularly intense, but it left him tense for some reason.
He immediately rushed out of the volcano, taking to the air. He gazed northwards in the air, only to see a thin, white line in the spacious and distant horizon between the sea and sky.
……
At the same time, who knew how many cultivators in the Human realm gazed in the direction of the Myriad sect.
Le Tian was amongst them. As a direct disciple of the Myriad sect, he had also received the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s order to gather.
However, he did not gather in Myriad city, nor did he remain in his dwelling. Instead, he arrived fifty kilometres away from the city and lay in hiding, waiting to see what would happen.
A very ill omen loomed over the city with an aura of death everywhere. If he rushed in there blindly, it would probably be certain doom. At the same time, he had also vaguely guessed the origins of this ill omen.
In the past, he had suffered a tremendous defeat against Ox-headed A’pang in his gamble on the Road to the Yellow Springs, yet he had somehow survived. Ever since then, he saw a wisp of hope.
Le Tian’s unconcerned smile faded away.
He said to the three-legged golden toad under his feet, “My dark horse has won again! Now, it’s our turn to take a wager!” Then he smiled wryly. “It’s basically like he’s on a roll, winning several dozen high-stakes gambles consecutively! He leaves me both excited and frantic!”
