The direct disciples were all silent. No one dared to step forward and assist him. Even Wan Jianfeng who did not fear death let go of his sword. A fear that surpassed death halted his footsteps.

  It was like facing a bottomless abyss. Even the bravest of warriors would halt before it. It had nothing to do with cowardice. It was completely a matter of instincts, as the abyss could not be conquered. They could not gaze into it for long, or it would lead to the sensation of falling. The abyss also gazed back at them.

  After losing their enemy, the soldiers of the Xuanwu army also sank into confusion. They had finally killed their way through the enemy ranks and arrived before the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous, but what were they supposed to do next?

  There were no new orders, just towering stone pillars. There was absolutely nothing that they could do.

  As the blood-red swirl in the sky shrank, the powers bestowed upon them by the Asura realm receded like the tide as well. It filled them with deep exhaustion, such that they could not remain standing under the weight of their armour or even just the weight of their bodies. If it were not for their combined wills, holding on through their stubborn willpower, they probably would have collapsed on the ground like the demonfolk as well.

  The sense of despair spread like a plague. They had already followed the military order, fighting to the very end with their general, but were they still unable to achieve victory?

  The man that they had placed all of their hopes in seemed to have lost the ability to fight back. In the vast sea of people, someone cried out bleakly, “General!”


  The hilt of the blade slid out from Li Qingshan’s hand. At that moment, he was just that lonely.

  He still did not give up on the battle, but his arm had been completely twisted already, which came with unprecedentedly excruciating pain.

  It even surpassed the bit of the pain of hell he had experienced in the past. Whenever he thought his pain had reached the limit, the forked wood would split further. Their amount multiplied endlessly, piercing and tearing apart every single bone and blood vessel.

  The undying body of asura seemed to become the source of the pain. Regular people definitely would have gone insane already. Even strong-willed cultivators probably would welcome death with open arms at a time like this.

  There were great terrors between life and death. Li Qingshan was no exception. He was frightened out of his wits. He was in so much pain that he wanted to die.

  Ironically, whenever that happened, the flow of time would always be exceptionally slow, such that he could clearly distinguish every shred of fear and pain. It would also make him grumble,

  It would also make him feel regret.

  However, whenever those thoughts flashed through his head, he could not help but smile, smiling and laughing at how he was still a mortal at the end of the day.

  However, when that smile appeared on his face, only the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

  Taowu’s eye narrowed. He was rather stunned.

  Within the scarlet eyes, there was neither hatred nor fury, silently enduring the pain in the abyss of fear. He continued to draw wisps of power from the ground, channelling it into his broken body before using his flesh to crush the pieces of wood and the countless branches.

  Pop… crack… The endless noise sent chills down spines. The direct disciples all widened their eyes as if they were looking at a monster.

  Earlier, when he gave up on defence and launched a furious attack, they had already become extremely shocked. What they felt right now basically could not be put into words.

  Ying Zhe shivered as well. Suddenly, he felt like Tu Wancheng’s failure was not a coincidence. An opponent like this simply could not be defeated by anyone.

  Li Qingshan continued to put up an ugly struggle. Even if he died here, even if he could not make it beyond the Nine Heavens, he did not want to let this life go to waste. As long as he was still alive, even if he merely had a split second remaining, he would continue onwards.

  A thought flashed through Taowu’s head.

  Then he became even more vicious.

  “Release him!” A furious voice rang out. The pale-white sea of flames incinerated the corpses of the million demonfolk and gathered together on a shiny skeleton in the centre of the sky.

  The flames that were originally silent became turbulent now, like the flames of anger.

  “You’re still bold enough to show yourself?” Taowu was rather surprised. Since when did the path of white bone involve so much affection and sentiment?

  Xiao An said nothing. She condensed a pale-white bone claw from the flames and reached towards Taowu viciously.

  It dyed the surroundings a pale-white. The bone claw had gathered all the Samādhi Flames of White Bone from the several million demonfolk corpses. It was even larger than Taowu himself. The strike was basically startling.

  “If you had undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation, perhaps it might still pose a threat.” Taowu was unfazed. With a swing of his hand, the bone claw collapsed, dispersing and turning back into regular Samādhi Flames of White Bone.

  Her situation was similar to Tu Wancheng. Xiao An had yet to achieve the fruit of Sakridāgāmi, so she struggled to control the Samādhi Flames of White Bone from several million demonfolk corpses. If she were against a regular Demon Sovereign, then a single strike would have been enough to kill them, but it was rather insufficient against an embodiment of Taowu.

  “Hmm?” The flames dispersed. Taowu was just about to kill her in a single strike when he suddenly noticed the several dozen vicious Skeleton Demons charge towards the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous, the totem pole that belonged to him.

  As it turned out, she was also aware that she posed no threat to Taowu. The bone claw was merely a distraction. What she was actually after was destroying the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous.

  “An impressive idea. Unfortunately, it’s useless.” Taowu pressed down with his hand again, and huge, black logs jutted up into the air, smashing apart every single Skeleton Demon. She dodged again and again, but she was still struck by a log. Her rib cage shattered, and she fell out of the air.

  The Upraised Light abbot had finally found the successor of white bone that he had been searching for desperately, but he was astounded by how furious she was. He gazed at the skeleton in the air before gazing at Li Qingshan. Suddenly, he realised something and stood up. He chanted the six-worded mantra, imbuing himself with the wisdom king. He charged into the air and swung his sword at Taowu. “Demon subduement!”


  Taowu squinted his eyes slightly. “Alright, bald ass. You’ve come to die too. You want to go to paradise? I’ll shatter your soul so you never reincarnate!”


  He grabbed him in a single stroke to crush him. Right when he waited for his existence to be completely erased, a beam of buddhist light descended from above and enveloped Taowu’s hand, silently reducing it to sand and exposing the Upraised Light abbot’s soul. It shone with a gentle glow.

  Auspicious clouds surged in the air. The hymns and chanting seemed within arm’s reach, yet also well beyond reach, inspiring the hearts of people.

  Taowu jolted. “The receiving light of the buddha!”


  The light of the buddha came from the Western Paradise Sukhāvatī. It was the buddha himself welcoming and receiving him, a treatment that no regular monk could enjoy.

  He came to a realisation. He was not the only observer.

  The Upraised Light abbot’s expression was peaceful. He brought his palms together. “Qingshan, I can only help you up to here. You have a heart of benevolence and a destiny with the buddha. You will definitely achieve extraordinary things.” A smear of sorrow then appeared. “Form is no other than emptiness, and emptiness is no other than form. That is not something I do not understand. The world is not a pure land, and many of the living creatures are foolish too, but they are worth our sacrifices. Namo Amitābha!”