“Slut! Bitch! Whore!” A furious man cursed with the most vicious words he could find.

  “My small fool.” The woman’s voice was gentle and doting, like she was gently stroking the man’s cheek. “Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking? I am the worm in your belly. You want to cross through the boundary of the Demon domain and return to the Human realm, hopefully through that Black Cloud city. With that, perhaps you can directly return to the Myriad sect.”
“Let me return, or I’ll make you perish with me!” The man’s voice turned cold all of a sudden. This was definitely not just a threat.

  “Alright, alright, alright! If you want to go back, then go back! We’re joined together and inseparable. Am I still supposed to make things difficult for you?” the woman said obediently before she continued, “I can kill a few Myriad sect disciples in the meantime, so you’ll finally give up on that thought.”
“I’ll never let you succeed!” The man’s voice was firm, but there was a hint of fear.

  “Do you think you can stop me?”
“Slut! Bitch! Whore!”
“Hahahaha! Huhuhuhu! Hehehehe!”
On the black wasteland buffeted by winds, a figure slowly appeared on the horizon. The ragged cloaks woven from coarse cloth danced madly in the wind with only half a face exposed under their hat, constantly muttering to themselves with two different voices and two different expressions, one woman and one man.

  Just like playing chess against himself, all plans and schemes would constantly compound against each other, continuing until it formed a dead knot, descending into complete chaos, turning into hysterical swearing.

  The man was furious. The woman took pleasure in all of this.

  I definitely, definitely have to separate from her, even if it’s just a Yang Soul, even if I leave this body of a dragon to this bitch!

  The man’s thoughts made him seem like a husband who had been almost driven mad by his wife, wanting a divorce even if he was left with nothing. Even his thoughts of revenge had basically been worn away.

  “You can’t escape, you can’t escape, you can’t escape…”
The woman repeated again and again, like a resentful wife, enjoying the revenge to her heart’s content, finding unprecedented delight.

  This was not just for the sake of power. The man had once proposed countless methods of compromise that would be beneficial to both of them, and there really had not been any schemes either. After all, they could not deceive each other. An extremely great risk existed in this twisted state, even to her.

  However, she could not even bring herself to agree just to fool with him. This was the only guest in her hell, so how could she let him go? Even if they perished together.

  They suddenly stopped and raised their heads, revealing a handsome, androgynous face. A rhombus was embedded in their forehead, shining with seven colours and reflecting the streak of black light that descended from the sky and vanished into the horizon.

  “That seems… to be in the direction of Black Cloud city!” The man was extremely shocked. He seemed to have heard of a legend similar to this in one of the demonfolk settlements.

  “Will she be there?” the woman murmured. Perhaps that was the true reason why she allowed him to move off in the direction of Black Wind city.

  “You bitch, do you want to die that badly?”
“Hehe, if I die, you won’t be able to live either.”
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  And another argument followed.

  Hanging from their waist was the Immortal Relinquished sword that had witnessed all of this. Never had he felt so normal before.

  He could not help but miss its past master slightly, even when she had abandoned him as well. However, he did not blame her at all, as he knew she had not done so out of disgust, but purely because it was a logical decision to make.

  However, leaving him with a madman like this was still her fault.

  ……
Li Qingshan was still unaware of just how great of a disturbance he had caused. He had studied a lot of information in the past, so he knew there were many demonic seeds in the Demon domain, but most of them perished as soon as they were born. He fiddled around with the black glass marble again before placing it in his sumeru ring.

  “It’s no wonder why demonfolk would fight madly over something like this. The benefits are far too great. Heh, I won’t let anyone steal this Black Sun Demon Heart! This is perfect. I’ll kill whatever that comes my way and feed them to Xiao An.”
He was completely ignorant about the legend of the Demon domain, but he still ended up calling it the Black Sun according to the phenomenon when the demon heart condensed, or perhaps it was due to the intangible will of the heavens. However, he never expected the entire expanse of the Demon domain to witness the fall of the black sun and that the demonfolk that wanted the Black Sun Demon Heart even included the twelve Demon Gods.

  One of the reasons why the Demon Gods did not make their way over immediately was to fend off the Desireless Heavenly palace, so they could not act recklessly. More importantly, they were afraid of internal strife. Their chaotic and wicked natures made it very difficult for them to come to an agreement. They had only resorted to an alliance under their mutual interests and threats.

  If they truly believed the Black Sun Demon Heart could allow them to become the lord of the Demon domain, then they would be no different from the regular demonfolk that fought over demonic seeds. An extremely horrific struggle would definitely erupt, and the entire Demon domain would fracture.

  If the Desireless Heavenly Palace launched a full-scale assault then, they would have to regurgitate everything they had swallowed. They would not recover even in ten thousand years. Once the Demon domain shrank in overall size, it would not be able to sustain twelve Demon Gods anymore. Someone would have to go.

  After all, a legend was just a legend. There were many, many legends in the Demon domain. Even if a small fraction of them came true every now and then, it was not worth forsaking the bigger picture. They would even have to risk their lives in the process, so it was far too foolish.

  However, if they could get their hands on it secretly somehow, they would never let the opportunity slip by. The Demon domain only needed to shift its expanding momentum in a different direction. Regardless of whether they could find the Black Sun Demon Heart, they needed to eliminate Black Cloud city anyway, so it was merely bringing their plans forward a little.

  Secretly, several dozen Demon Sovereigns and an army of millions had been mobilised.

  Right before a storm, it would always be unusually calm.

  Li Qingshan’s Yin Soul roamed through the Demon domain easily. Perhaps because he had rejected the Black Sun Demon Heart, the Heavenly Tome of Liberty circulated even more smoothly. It was not a direct conversion into power, but the path ahead of him had become clearer.

  As it seemed, this heavenly tome was truly suited for him. He basically encountered no bottlenecks as he practised it.

  However, it was not completely devoid of downsides either. The figure of Maheśvara on his back had become even more life-like and vivid. He wondered whether it would actually turn into a moving image at this rate. He traversed through the tundra as he contemplated how he would deal with this problem. He could not help but think of the glowing monk from the pure land school.

  He asked Xiao An, “The figure of Maheśvara seemed to have a very violent response to that monk’s techniques. I wonder why. Maheśvara was subdued by the buddha. Can I borrow his power as well to use the buddha to subdue the demon?”
Xiao An nodded. “It’s worth a try. The method of cultivation of the Pure Land sect is to utter the buddha’s name. They hope to venture to the western pure land Sukhāvatī after death, which is why they’re called the Pure Land sect. They use chanting as their inner driving force and the power of belief of the buddha as the external driving force, complementing each other and extending to the pure land…”
Li Qingshan scratched his head. “Can you put it in simpler terms?”
Xiao An smiled. “The buddha swore a compassionate vow to bring salvation to all living things through the buddhist dharma. That wasn’t just for say. Even for common people, as long as they sincerely chant the buddha’s name, they can avoid the cycle of rebirth and end up in the western pure land of bliss. That is probably the teachings of the Pure Land sect.”
Li Qingshan expressed his doubt, “Is the western pure land Sukhāvatī really that great?” He was suspicious about everything that came too easily. There was no free lunch. The only thing that would fall into your lap was a mess.

  Xiao An smiled. “Ascetics are forbidden from lying. Do you really think the buddha lies? The promise of paradise is definitely not an empty one.”
Li Qingshan sighed. “If you can find paradise just by uttering a few words, then why would you still go to such great lengths to cultivate? Even the schools of chan require understanding your true self, while the schools of esoteric buddhism require constant rebirth, which cannot be achieved without great wisdom and great willpower. None of them have it as easy as the Pure Land sect, where they can become buddhas even without hard work!”
“That’s the exact reason why the Pure Land sect is the greatest sect of buddhism in the world. Their followers surpass all other schools and sects, and their abilities and techniques don’t pale in comparison either. They’re most skilled in borrowing power from the buddha, which possesses wonders that other sects aren’t capable of.”
Li Qingshan curled his lip. The buddha has prepared everything for you. You just need to strike the pose. Of course, kneeling will be necessary as well. Though, just kneeling definitely won’t be enough to undergo the fifth heavenly tribulation and attain the fruit of Sakridāgāmi. Even at minimum, you gotta know a good few forms, maybe some fancy ways to bow and kneel as well.

  It was no wonder Maheśvara hated the Pure Land sect so much. They were a group of mindless bastards, so they were very worth testing. What he loathed was what he feared, and the enemy of an enemy was a friend. Once he returned, he could pay a visit to the Pure Land sect and get rid of the image of Maheśvara.

  As someone who practised the path of great liberty, he utterly hated someone strutting around on his back.