As Li Qingshan drove the religious preceptor of the left to the limits of his anger, Xiao An had searched through the ruins of the Spirit K?etra temple and collected all the ?arīra left behind by the past monks in the pagodas.

  It truly was the greatest holy land of buddhism in the world. The quality and quantity of the ?arīra far surpassed the ones from the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga and the Bhik?u Mountain temple, so her collection became even more bountiful. Even after the fourth heavenly tribulation, they would be able to support her cultivation for a very long period of time.

  Then she found a few great buddhas covered in cracks. Large amounts of power of belief and buddhist light gathered on them. Even after falling from such a great height, their fundamental powers remained unharmed.

  Xiao An drifted over and finished them off, completely desecrating the buddhist nature within. The buddha statues immediately collapsed.

  A thread of golden light flashed by. The Buddha Slaying sword shone brightly before gradually dimming again, having grown even stronger. Only then did she return to Li Qingshan’s shoulder in satisfaction.

  The religious preceptor of the left was absolutely fuming. He had not activated the great buddhas in the Spirit K?etra temple because he was trying to preserve their strength, which they could use to rebuild the Spirit K?etra temple. He never expected that they would not be spared in the end either.

  Just the act of destroying buddha statues in front of monks was a great crime, let alone destroying buddha statues that had gathered over ten thousand years of power of belief. That was basically unforgivable.

  The Monk Kings basically wanted to charge over without any regard. Even the Unraging monk almost stood forward to intervene, but the mountainous ox demon that confronted the imperial court made all of them discard such thoughts. Before his unbelievable strength, any form of resistance or struggle was fruitless and just asking to be humiliated.

  Reaching the limits of his anger, the religious preceptor of the left instead calmed down. He coldly watched as Li Qingshan made his way off into the distance and said to the emperor of Great Xia, “Your majesty, please begin the offerings to heaven quickly!”


  “Offerings to heaven?” Li Qingshan asked Gu Yanying, “What are the offerings to heaven?”


  “That’s the greatest secret of the imperial court of Great Xia. I’ve only heard some rumours about it. It should be connected to the Human realm and the founding emperor.”


  “Interesting. No wonder these guys were so indifferent when they attacked the ghost tower. Are they thinking of using the Human realm’s power to contend against the Hungry Ghost realm?”


  Li Qingshan slowed down. The Strength of the Earth flowed into his body endlessly, washing away his exhaustion.

  Earlier, when he dropped the Spirit K?etra temple from the sky, it was not just for the sake of avenging the Qing Xiao dwelling’s destruction, but also because he could not hold on for much longer either. The Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens possessed some divine properties, but it only served as a lever, drastically strengthening the powers of the ox demon’s abilities. It was still his strength that pried the lever.

  Gu Yanying said, “You don’t plan on stopping them?”


  Li Qingshan shook his head. “The priority right now is still the Hungry Ghost realm. The guys in the sky are Xiao An and my greatest enemies.”


  Gu Yanying could not help but look towards Xiao An, who looked back at her indifferently. Gu Yanying nodded towards her, and Xiao An turned her head away from her, focusing on healing the damage to her white bones.

  “That’s right. The Human realm and the Hungry Ghost realm are intrinsically different. It doesn’t have the natural ability to devour worlds. Even if they’re after the nine provinces, it’s probably just a certain sect’s selfish schemes. It’s definitely not as great of a threat as the guys in the sky.”


  Rāhu Xiaoming had been a god of the Asura realm. His knowledge of the six realms of sa?sāra was unmatched in the nine provinces.

  “What’re you coming along for instead of finding somewhere to cultivate?”


  “To help you save the world,” Rāhu Xiaoming said calmly as his eyes shone.

  “I think I understand how you feel a little now. Once I deal with the Hungry Ghost realm, I’ll help you find a few more Asura fields, and then I’ll settle my debts in the nine provinces. Let’s ascend after that!”


  Li Qingshan smiled. After raising a great fuss in the Dragon province, he could sense the Ape Demon Transformation budging again, almost breaking through to the fourth layer. The Ape Demon Transformation matched his nature far too well. He basically felt like he was having fun when he cultivated. It put him in a good mood too.

  At this moment, the cold wind blew over with the aura of death.

  The dark clouds sealed up the sky, obscuring the watching eyes.

  Before they knew it, the land was already devoid of all life.

  Li Qingshan frowned. This was only the boundary between the Green province and the Dragon province. As he continued along the barren earth, the aura of death became heavier, which made him feel like he had left the nine provinces and entered the Hungry Ghost realm.

  When the ghost tower appeared on the horizon, Rāhu Xiaoming frowned. “Stop!”


  “What’s wrong?”


  There was a flash of black at the top of the ghost tower. A ray of black light pierced several thousand kilometres, brushing past Li Qingshan’s right shoulder. That was where Xiao An had been standing.

  From beginning to end, it had not even produced a sound.

  “Xiao An!”


  Li Qingshan’s eyes narrowed violently. He actually completely failed to respond to it. His shoulder withered and cracked rapidly, covering a good portion of his body in the blink of an eye, extinguishing all of his vitality.

  Looking back, all he saw was Gu Yanying with her kunpeng wings unfurled, holding Xiao An in her arms. In that critical moment, she had used the speed of the kunpeng to save Xiao An.

  Li Qingshan eased up and immediately fell backwards.

  With a rumble, he shattered into pieces. Flames rose up, and he underwent rebirth.

  However, Li Qingshan still felt extremely feeble, completely lacking the usual sense of joy when he made a complete recovery on the spot. He punched the ground, and a mountain rose up, blocking right in front of him. Only then did the fear hit him.

  If that strike had managed to hit Xiao An, she would have no chance of surviving. Just brushing his body had forced him to rebirth. He had not obtained any warning from the spirit turtle either. Unless the heavenly secrets had been obscured, his reactions should not have been that sluggish even if he was not the target.

  Only now did he truly realise how terrifying of an existence he was facing, the Hungry Ghost realm of the six realms of sa?sāra.

  Xiao An broke free from Gu Yanying’s arms. Li Qingshan smiled. “Fortunately, you came along.”


  Gu Yanying smiled. “If we were another fifteen hundred kilometres closer, probably even I wouldn’t have been able to respond in time.”


  They were still nowhere close to the ghost tower.

  A thin crack ran through space, refusing to close even after all this time, serving as evidence of the power behind the strike.

  Rāhu Xiaoming said, “It’s the death ray from the Fang of the Hungry Ghost. They’ve been building up power and waiting for us to approach it the entire time. These undead sure are crafty! This part of your world has already been devoured and assimilated into the Hungry Ghost realm. Breaking off the fang probably won’t be that easy.”


  If the strike from earlier had even brushed a hair on him, he would have been dead. All he could do was rebirth in the Asura realm and face his savage mother. However, despite facing such danger, he was still unfazed, without the slightest fear or panic at all.

  Kuang Tianyou said, “You’re dreaming if you think you can destroy the Fang of the Hungry Ghost! Just watch as your world is devoured!”


  However, to his gloom, no one paid any attention to his threat.

  Rāhu Xiaoming said, “How’s Li’l Fatty doing?”


  “Still adjusting to the laws of the world. He’s actually far more lively here. Let’s exchange hostages first.”


  Li Qingshan obviously would not attack the ghost tower in such a reckless and abrupt manner. He still had an important trump card that he had yet to play, which was the space-devouring beast, Navy Li’l Fatty.

  Unlike the interior of the large space-devouring beast’s body, the World of the Nine Provinces was already in possession of a complete set of laws of the world, which served as a restraint for all foreign intruders. That was why Navy Li’l Fatty had vanished soon after entering the nine provinces. Currently, it was hidden in the space beside Li Qingshan, ready for a feast at any moment.