Legend of the Great Sage

Unadorned city fell, the sovereigns yielded, and the army marched into the city.

Li Qingshan’s figure faded in and out, twisting and changing like a bubble. Imbued with such tremendous army qi, his mirror clone had basically reached its limit.

He smiled towards Xiao An. The smile was like a moon in the water, rippling and dispersing in the light. He vanished.

Xiao An draped the Trisepultural Robes on herself again and cast down the formation which she had prepared beforehand. A black shadow draped down. She was not after defence, but disguise.

After all these years of preparation, it was time to begin a new round of cultivation.

With a wave of her hand, the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty incinerated the undead. There was no struggle or howls, much less any resistance. Even the sunken faces of zombies seemed to warm up slightly, receiving liberation in the flames.

A white lotus bloomed in the sea of fire, opening slowly without any fragrance.

Clap! Li Qingshan closed a book, and his gaze blanked out for a moment. The rows and rows of bookshelves around him extended off into the distance, confirming that he was still inside the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes.

Everything that occurred in the Daemonic Beast realm, Asura realm, and Hungry Ghost realm was far too dazzling, such that the silent sea of books instead seemed surreal, like he had been submerged in three novels of different styles.

Like reflections in the water, like a dream.

Li Qingshan could not help but chuckle to himself. He gave off an aura of quietness as if his youthful hotheadedness had faded away with time, replaced by a faint, bookish vibe, bearing some similarity to the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance.

He placed the book in his hand back on the bookshelf. With that, he had read all the books in the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes.

That was his cultivation.

Since entering Ruin’s End required the identity of a spirit turtle, he had to strengthen the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression as much as possible. If he could reach the ninth layer and assume the Spirit Turtle Transformation perfectly, he believed it was enough to fool the primordial spirit turtle’s will.

However, there would always be a difference between reality and imagination. He reached the eighth layer with the Spirit Turtle Transformation and became stuck on the verge of the ninth layer. He was unable to budge from there anymore.

The path of the spirit turtle was not about hard work and effort, but accumulation or even luck.

He murmured to himself, “Perhaps I haven’t truly carried out the true spirit turtle’s path!” However, time waited for no one. No matter what, he had to prepare to enter Ruin’s End.

An old voice rang out from above his head. “Because you’re still unable to let go of your heart as a human. That is your fatal flaw.”

Li Qingshan rolled his eyes. “Just how much do spirit turtles like to spy on others? Sigh, how sickening!”

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance fell silent. Over the years, he had personally witnessed Li Qingshan’s powers grow day by day. By now, he no longer had the confidence to take him down.

To cultivators, especially to a creation of nature that possessed an extremely long lifespan like him, it really was just the blink of an eye.

He let out a sigh. “This is probably what makes humans terrifying! This child is born for a crisis. Now, he’s no longer a fledgling. Just who can stop him now?”

Li Qingshan emerged from the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes. The brilliant sunlight lit up his face. He stretched comfortably and tossed all of the random knowledge and rambling principles from the books to the back of his head.

A disciple hurried over. “First senior brother, senior brother Le is inviting you over!”

Li Qingshan’s eyes lit up, and his lethargy immediately vanished. Le Tian was finally going to die!

“Where have I seen you before?”

“First senior brother, you’ve many things to deal with, so it makes sense that you’re forgetful. My brother and I joined the Myriad sect together back then, and we even received a vicious beating from you.”

“I remember now. So it’s you. Time sure flies. I’ll be leaving first. I’ll see you later!”

“Farewell!” The disciple watched him sail off into the air, vanishing between the rows upon rows of buildings. Suddenly, he shook his head and made his way down the stone steps slowly, heading towards the Heaven Perturbing casino.

In a quiet room within the depths of the Heaven Perturbing casino, a bamboo mat was laid out with a table, a single, flickering lamp, and a censer curling with smoke. A twisted word, “gamble” was hung on the wall. Apart from that, there was nothing else.

Le Tian sat there and waited respectfully. He had just showered and changed into fresh clothes, such that even his hair was still rather moist. He sat there peacefully.

That was until a shadow appeared at the entrance. With a whoosh, he flung open the door and walked in with a gust of wind. He asked, “Is it time?”

Le Tian nodded. “There’s still an hour. You should sit down and wait for a bit!”

Li Qingshan sensed the special atmosphere within the quiet room, and he became solemn, turning around and closing the door behind him.

At that instant, many formations were activated, sealing the room. It was only possible to leave the place, not enter.

Today might be the end of a Human Sovereign, when they fell back to hell and entered rebirth.

Le Tian continued to wait with his eyes shut.

However, Li Qingshan did not sit down as Le Tian asked. Instead, he strolled around the room with his hands behind his back. After strolling around for a while, he stopped in front of the only ornament. “What kind of word is this? It looks like a dog wrote it.”

Le Tian’s eyebrow twitched. “I thought you read a lot of books over the years, and you already know everything, first senior brother!”

Li Qingshan scratched his head. “Hehe, I forget it as soon as I read it. If I have to walk around with so much knowledge and principles, how could I still move?”

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance seemed like he dwelled at the top of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, but in reality, he carried the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes on his shoulders, which was why he was unable to move, trapped in the pavilion. Li Qingshan would never want a life like that. That was probably the reason why he was just unable to reach the ninth layer of the Spirit Turtle Transformation.

However, he had not read those books for nothing. He copied them all into the small Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes in the World of the Five Continents.

In the beginning, he made it such that others had to offer up novels for access, but towards the end, Li Qingshan no longer needed the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s paltry sum of bookmarks, so he gave everyone free access. He turned the World of the Five Continent into a perfect new world where everyone could practise martial arts. Unfortunately, there were still many that remained unconvinced.

Le Tian smiled. “There are many people throughout the world who read books, but there are very few that understand this principle. Senior brother, you play the fool despite your great wisdom. No ordinary person can match you.”

Li Qingshan looked back and smiled. “No matter how much you suck up to me, I’m not going to help you against that ox-head!”

“A gamble is a gamble. Ox-headed A’pang might just be a Hell Guard, a Ghost Immortal, but he represents the order of the six realms of sa?sāra. You definitely don’t stand a chance against him.”

“Who set the rules and order of the six realms of sa?sāra?” Li Qingshan muttered to himself before suddenly asking, “Oh right, where’s your three-legged golden toad?”

“He’s staying in the dwelling. He’s packing his luggage to return to the Daemonic Beast realm.”

“Heh, you sure do treat him like a brother!”

“We trust each other with our lives. It’s not a matter of brotherhood or not. If I end up in rebirth, I’ll rely on him to deliver and guide my next life.”

“Even if you succeed, will you still be you?”

“So what if I will? So what if I won’t?”

“You sure are optimistic.”

“So what if I am? So what if I’m not?”

“If you’re not, then you could put up a fight against the Ox-headed A’pang. If you win, you can run, and if you lose, then your soul will just be destroyed. You don’t even have to go to the lengths of rebirthing anymore.”

“I can’t win.”

“You only know once you’ve tried!” Li Qingshan’s eyes shone brightly. His youthful aspirations had never died down.

“Well said!”

A deep bellow boomed through the quiet room. A towering gate appeared out of nowhere, passing through the formations and standing in the room. Two large words were inscribed on there—Death’s Door!

With a boom, Death’s Door swung open.The chilly winds swept through the surroundings as the ghostly mist hung gloomily. The single lamp was extinguished, and the incense stopped burning.

The huge head of an ox poked through the ghostly mist. His eyes shone with red light, directly staring at Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan looked around. “Look, none of this has anything to do with me. I was just saying!”

The ox-head droned, “Come in!”

Le Tian was very surprised. The figures of the underworld had always been known for their timeliness. If the King of Hell wanted you dead in the middle of the night, you definitely could not last until dawn. They would neither be late nor early, yet he was surprisingly early by an entire hour this time.