A light shining with blue within the green rushed out of the Xuanming dwelling and made a sharp turn, flying towards the Myriad sect.
The great waves crashed down above the ocean as the fierce winds whistled past his ears. Pi Yangqiu was extremely nervous. He glanced back at the Xuanming dwelling that resembled a gaping mouth. But fortunately, the Xuanming dwelling was silent. Li Qingshan did not seem to want to hunt him down, which made him let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve made the right gamble!”
Pi Yangqiu realised it was only a clone, and the clone’s cultivation was at least a heavenly tribulation lower than his body. As such, the Li Qingshan in the Xuanming dwelling was a Yang Soul cultivator at most, but the pressure that he emanated was far too great. It was basically like a sky full of dark clouds pressing down on him, making it difficult for him to be completely convinced by his own judgement.
If he were wrong, then there would only be death. He had even prepared himself to abandon his body and flee with his Yang Soul. Even if he would be forced to reconstruct his body, that was still better than ending up in the Demon domain and becoming some kind of Demon Sovereign!
Now that he had managed to escape, with the sea wind blowing in his face, he immediately felt like he was unstoppable, like the world was in his reach. He could not help but smile self-deprecatingly. I’ve actually almost been frightened by a single clone! Though, what exactly has he gone through? How has he become so terrifying? Do Heretic Gods all have such great might?
However, upon further thought, he realised that it was Li Qingshan after all. Even if he became a Heretic God, he would not be any regular Heretic God. Before he could think too much about it, his heart began to surge like the ocean. His priority right now was to return to the Myriad sect and report everything he had seen and experienced in the Xuanming dwelling.
The Asura Battle God seemed to possess impressive origins, able to leave him immobilised with a single glance. What he saw and heard was even more shocking too. Incinerated by the flames of karma, a request of surrender from the heavenly emperor…
He was astounded and uncertain. What gives a Heretic God the right to be requested to surrender by the heavenly emperor?
The heavenly emperor was the paramount existence among the myriad worlds, basically equivalent to the embodiment of the heavens. The mortals referred to him as “the old heavens”, and even the buddha had to refer to him as “your majesty” out of respect.
Even the grand sect master of the Myriad sect was only his subject in charge of his study. To a Yang Soul cultivator like Pi Yangqiu, his life objective was basically to make it beyond the Nine Heavens and earn the right to call him “your majesty”.
Yet, the two had mentioned someone like him extremely naturally, even giving off a slight sensation that they were opposing him.
No matter how clever Pi Yangqiu was, he was unable to understand what was going on. A certain answer seemed to be screaming out at him inside, but a membrane also separated him from it, leaving him uneasy and in disbelief.
Very soon, the Myriad sect appeared over the ocean, and Pi Yangqiu accelerated. He rushed right into the defensive formation of the Myriad sect, and only then did he relax slightly.
He was skilled with formations, so he understood the might of the “All Encompassing Formation of the Myriad” beneath him. No one understood it better than him. Who knew how many times more powerful it was compared to the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder around Black Cloud city. A natural spirit that had undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation presided over it, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance. Let alone a mere clone, even if Li Qingshan came here in person, he would be walking to his death.
There were countless disciples in the sect too. They had all the advantages on their side, whether it was the geography or their numbers, so even ten Heretic Gods could forget about breaching the formation.
With an extremely great sense of safety, Pi Yangqiu entered the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, planning on reporting directly to the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance.
However, even direct disciples could not fly through the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, so he could only climb up the levels one by one. But strangely enough, he was unable to settle down completely inside.
Step by step, he made it to the top of the pavilion. The rows upon rows of bookshelves stretched on endlessly as the smell of books filled the air. Pi Yangqiu found the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance behind a certain bookshelf. He currently stood with his back to him, his head buried in the book.
Pi Yangqiu clasped his hands. “Spirit Reverend, I have something to report!”
“Is it regarding Li Qingshan?” The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance turned around slowly.
“It is,” Pi Yangqiu answered before suddenly discovering the voice to be so familiar. He raised his head and saw Li Qingshan’s face with a slight smile, which made him stagger backwards in shock. He pointed at him. “L- Li Qingshan! How are you here!?”
“Where else am I supposed to go?” Li Qingshan turned around slowly.
As he turned around, the landscape of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes changed drastically. Darkness rushed in from all sides, swallowing the bookshelves like water. A beam of light pierced the ceiling, falling down from above and illuminating a certain region, like a stage illuminated by a spotlight.
Li Qingshan stood right in the centre of the stage, together with Pi Yangqiu.
Pi Yangqiu’s consciousness blurred. He discovered that he was still standing in the Xuanming dwelling, above the water surface that resembled a black mirror. He immediately felt like he had been plunged into ice.
Li Qingshan shook his head. Pi Yangqiu was far weaker than he imagined him to be, not in terms of strength, but in terms of will.
A clone was only a clone, but it still did possess the lord of the Demon domain’s will. In terms of strength, his clone was nowhere close to Pi Yangqiu, but in terms of will, Pi Yangqiu basically could not offer up any resistance at all.
From his greed in the beginning to the fear after running into Li Qingshan, followed by his ecstatic joy from escaping, his emotions fluctuated with so much intensity. As such, how could he not be taken advantage of by his inner demons? At the same time, from beginning to end, he never developed any thought of battle. He was either fearing or thinking about escaping, so how could he stand a chance against Li Qingshan who bore the will of the living creatures of the Demon domain?
If strength was a country, then will was the ruler and inner demons were the assassins that infiltrated the palace, only revealing their true colours in the very end, making them unpredictable.
Pi Yangqiu was clearly the lord of a destroyed country. He was easily controlled, so easy that it even became a little boring.
If it were not for the fact that Li Qingshan was after the Myriad sect and needed Pi Yangqiu to help him breach the formation, he basically did not even want to acknowledge him.
Though, all help is welcome. A Yang Soul cultivator who’s familiar with formations can be useful.
Li Qingshan stepped forward. “Pi Yangqiu, I receive you under the lord of the Demon domain!” Without any regard for his opinion, he placed his hand on his head.
Having realised the limited strength of the clone, Pi Yangqiu wanted to put up some more resistance, but when he heard that, he shuddered. “The lord of the Demon domain!”
A thought pierced the membrane, Li Qingshan is not a Heretic God, Li Qingshan is not a Heretic God, Li Qingshan is not a Heretic God…
“You’re… the daemon star of misfortune?” Everything was clear now. He still struggled to believe it, but it made perfect sense.
If he was not a true god, how did he possess such pressure? If he was not the daemon star of misfortune, why would the heavenly emperor ask for his surrender? 4887
Li Qingshan’s pitch-black eyes became extremely deep, like a pair of bottomless chasms. Pi Yangqiu could not help but gaze into them. He felt like his entire mind had been sucked away.
In the chasm, he heard those whisperings again, both male and female, both young and old, all mixed together. They were still as gentle as a mosquito’s buzz, but they were no longer filled with pain and sorrow. Instead, they were filled with fervent worship.
Li Qingshan had conquered the twelve demon dominions, stripped the twelve Demon Gods of their paramount status and reduced them to his subordinate gods. He gathered all the faith and beliefs of the living creatures of the Demon domain on him. These voices were their worship towards their supreme ruler.
In the beginning, it was still as gentle as a mosquito’s buzz, but it turned into loud chanting in the blink of an eye before surging and roaring thunderously in the next instant.
However, Pi Yangqiu refused to resist. If he resisted, there would only be madness. Just how many people in the world could resist the will of a god? And just how many people were willing to stay true to themselves even if it meant death?
At that instant, the voices drowned out Pi Yangqiu, becoming a part of his will. When he looked at Li Qingshan again, endless admiration and worship rose up in his heart, willing to lay down his life for him. He immediately prostrated on the ground and cried out, “My king, you are the lord of the Demon domain! You are the only true god!”