The Clear River prefecture.

  The column of lightning pierced the world as the clouds and seas of insects dove into the light wave after wave like moths to a flame, endlessly, unceasingly.

  Gu Yanying swung her folding fan, and a hundred tornadoes swept towards the insects, but she could no longer kill the locusts with ease. Suddenly, she shivered inside. The Soaring Locust King had disappeared from view. She swung her fan backwards, and the sharp atmospheric winds mixed with the hot winds of hell, whistling out together.

  “You sure are quite sharp, but those who stand in my way will die! Possession of the Battle Demon!”


  The Soaring Locust King abruptly appeared, buzzing his wings as he suddenly erupted with startling demon qi. He became clad in demonic armour with war banners on his back written with “Battle Demon”. He moved a little faster, advancing in the face of the attack and moving against the wind, lunging towards Gu Yanying.

  Gu Yanying raised an eyebrow. A pair of powerful, white hawk wings unfurled behind her back, assuming a half-daemon form as she retreated backwards. She called out, “Li Qingshan!”


  “Coming!” Li Qingshan shot over and threw a punch at the Soaring Locust King. His main body was currently focusing on fending off the Sword Collection peak, so his control over his mirror clone was much weaker. Seeing how the Soaring Locust King actually used the Possession of the Battle Demon, he was startled inside.

  Sure enough, he’s comprehended it!

  Even without the deductive calculations of the spirit turtle, the Soaring Locust King still managed to comprehend the true form of the Demon Suppression Statuary over so much time through his cultivation as a great Daemon King, making up for his greatest flaw. However, this was the worst piece of news possible to Li Qingshan. It meant that killing him on the spot was no longer possible.

  “Die!” The Soaring Locust King flapped his wings, and razor-sharp light shot out.

  A huge gash was ripped open in Li Qingshan’s chest, but there was no flesh or blood. There was only shimmering, flowing water.

  There was another flash across his eyes soon after, so he could only pull back as well, focusing on recovery. It was all thanks to Gu Yanying’s assistance that his mirror clone had not completely collapsed.

  Scarlet, white, black—three wings of different colours mixed and parted, dancing around together for a good moment.

  Li Qingshan glanced down, only to see that no one was controlling the tornadoes anymore, so they collapsed in the blink of an eye within the surging swarms of insects. The insects surged into the lightning without any obstruction, making the tribulation even more violent.

  No, it can’t continue like this! The strength of the mirror clone is still too weak. It’s more than enough to deal with regular Daemon Kings, but it’s not enough against a great Daemon King. If this continues, all I’ll be able to do is watch helplessly as the Golden Cicada Spirit King is electrocuted to death. Dammit, why’re both sides so hard to deal with?

  “Useless! Useless!”


  The Soaring Locust King laughed madly, zipping through the surroundings like a streak of black lightning as he fended off both of them. He would mobilise the swarms to come and assist him from time to time. Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying could only protect themselves. They could not obstruct him at all.

  “The source of the locust plague, the Soaring Locust King, is right here. Do the two of you plan on continuing to watch on?” Gu Yanying called out.

  Yue Wuyang and Jin Fugui exchanged glances. They had been coming up with plans and schemes to kill the Soaring Locust King the entire time. Now was indeed the best opportunity. Originally, they planned on swooping in after the Soaring Locust King and the Golden Cicada Spirit King had exhausted each other.

  However, after witnessing the Soaring Locust King’s strength after demonifying, they could not help but admit that they could not prevent him from leaving at all as long as the Soaring Locust King tried to flee. As a result, they no longer hesitated.

  “Black Sand hell!” “Sweeping Away All!”


  With a phoenix's cry, a phoenix flew over and called out, “First father, I’ve come to help you!”


  Lolth stood on the little phoenix’s back, spitting out countless strands of silk.

  ……


  Great Buddha mountain.

  Demon qi rushed into the air like thick, black smoke.

  The situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Their enemy was no longer a single person and a single sword, but the boundless Demon domain. Behind the several dozen Demon Kings were probably an even larger demonfolk army.

  During all of the invasions in the past, they had to gather the strength of the entire world to fend off the Demon domain. This was a war between two worlds. The effect of individuals had greatly diminished. Even when the three of them were supreme cultivators, they struggled to prevent a war from happening.

  The Unraging monk clenched his fist firmly and gazed at Great Buddha mountain in the distance as it was swallowed by demon qi. He seemed to see the murals and the statue dim and fade away as the scriptures engraved in the tablets gradually blurred. His eyes became slightly moist.

  The buddhist nature and glow hidden within the rock and vegetation was completely washed away. Even if they suppressed the demon cavern again, returning to its former shape would probably still take a millennium, and before long, even the spiritual vein would be contaminated.

  “The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga has been destroyed!”


  A monk wailed, and all of the monks began to weep, even sobbing out loudly. For a moment, wails and despair filled the air.

  To them, the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was no different from a homeland to mortals. No matter how great their mental composure and cultivation was, they could not help but experience emotional upheaval at a time like this, overcome by their feelings.

  “As the abbot, Dauntless has failed to protect the monastery, bringing disgrace to the predecessors. Even ten thousand deaths cannot atone for this!”


  The Dauntless monk kneeled on the ground in the direction of Great Buddha mountain. The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga had actually been destroyed in his hands.

  “You don’t have to blame yourself, senior brother. Since the Demon domain is determined to invade this world, then no one can do anything about it!”


  The Unraging monk consoled him. Although he was filled with sorrow and fury, he had mentally prepared himself a long time ago as someone who watched the Demon Suppression hall for all these years. He had even anticipated all of this, as the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was built on the mouth of a volcano in the first place!

  The world had been at peace for several thousand years. Demonfolk had just become tools for training the disciples of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. It was very easy for them to neglect the strength of the Demon domain, as well as the fact that demon caverns were originally tunnels dug for the sake of invasion. The demon cavern behind Great Buddha mountain was so large. Even with the Demon Suppression hall, it was much easier to break through there than opening up a new demon cavern.

  It was like the war between two kingdoms. The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was only akin to a stronghold on the frontier. Even without the Sword Collection peak to open them up from within, they would still struggle to fend off a large-scale attack from the Demon domain in the past. After all, just how many prosperous, divine kingdoms of otherfolk had been destroyed by demon plagues throughout the wars of the past? When it came to both history and strength, probably none of these “divine kingdoms” were any weaker than the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga.

  Let alone the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, but probably the entire World of Nine Provinces could only be regarded as a stronghold to the Demon domain.

  “Fellows, please assist me in killing the demonfolk and suppressing the demon cavern as much as possible. I will definitely thank you in the future!”


  The Fierce King of Chu was so sincere that he almost came off as humble. Given the situation, anyone could retreat, but as the King of Chu, he had inherited the will of the past kings, so he had a responsibility to protect the land, which left him with nowhere to go. Even if he knew it would result in nothing, he still had to try his best.

  Neither the Dragon King of Ink Sea nor Li Qingshan gave him a reply, and the Fierce King of Chu’s heart sank. Without their help, there was no point trying at all!

  The Dragon King of Ink Sea turned to dragon form again. He circled around the demon cavern, drawing in the inky clouds to converge around the demon domain. They restrained the demon qi and assisted the Fierce King of Chu in suppressing the demon cavern.

  Li Qingshan turned back to his regular form and uttered softly, “Possession of the Battle Demon.” He stepped into the surging demon qi, swinging the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End; he was ready for the upcoming battle.

  At the same time, he saw what was going on in the Clear River prefecture through his mirror clone, which made his heart weigh even heavier.

  Although their combined effort had mostly contained the Soaring Locust King, they still could not stop his furious revenge, just like how they struggled to stop the Immortal Relinquished sword from destroying the Demon Suppression hall. The situation on both sides only became worse.

  At this moment, he missed Xiao An very much. He was also extremely worried. Just what had happened to her?