Legend of the Great Sage

Under the watch of the gods and demons, the lightning and fire surged forth endlessly.

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens was wreathed in lightning. He shook violently before regaining his footing, standing in the air. A fire dragon curled around his body, constantly gnawing away at him, but it served him at the same time.

Meanwhile, Li Qingshan had vanished.

The Heavenly Dragon of Dao immediately overwhelmed the laws of the Demon domain he controlled before completely tearing him to pieces, almost wiping him from existence.

Under that situation, all techniques and abilities were useless, including the Nirvāṇa Rebirth. The lightning immediately washed over him thousands of times. Even if he was reborn a hundred times, he would be destroyed a hundred times.

However, the Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens showed no joy. Instead, his eyebrows were furrowed together firmly. He was well aware that the daemon star would not die so easily, but he was still greatly surprised by just how difficult he was to deal with.

The scarlet star in the sky continued to shine. After being erased, Li Qingshan had instead become omnipresent, scattering his specks of consciousness deep into the ground.

“Hmph, you want to run away from this? You’re dreaming!”

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens suddenly dropped down on one knee, wielding the lightning swordbreaker in a reverse grip with both hands and plunging it heavily into the ground.

Boom!

The volcano erupted, lightning surged through the air, and lava flowed vigorously. The ground shook like it was about to shatter. Volcanoes rose one after another, flowing with thousands of rivers of fire.

The sky full of tribulation clouds swirled, illuminated by the lava and fire, such that the sky seemed like it was burning. At the end of the horizon, the fiery clouds and fiery sea merged together, such that the boundary between the sky and the ground could no longer be distinguished.

The apocalyptic sight even made the spectating gods and demons tremble slightly.

Demon God Qiongqi was so excited that he shook all over. Was this the prelude to the crisis of the world?

The colossal god of lightning that the Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens had turned into knelt on one knee in the sea of fire. Waves of electricity rushed out through the ground from his giant swordbreaker, eliminating the specks of Li Qingshan’s consciousness in an attempt to completely annihilate him, but even more consciousness rose up from the endless depths.

However, in the shaking sea of fire, scattered pieces of land that had not been swallowed by the lava or burned by the fire remained.

As a result, his specks of consciousness rose up from the depths of the ground, turning into seeds that burst through the crust, blooming as sprouts.

A sprout grew and strengthened at a visible rate, blooming with a small, yellow flower and producing a green fruit in the blink of an eye.

The flower wilted, and the fruit swelled up like it was inflated with air. Black patterns appeared on its green skin. As it turned out, it was a great watermelon.

With a crack, the watermelon split open and a small Li Qingshan walked out naked. He said, “Don’t be in such a rush. It’ll always take some time for the glorious flowers to bloom in spring and the fruit to yield in autumn, until the time is right.”

Before he could even finish that, a streak of lightning whistled over, erasing him along with the melon vine.

But at the same time, even more little Li Qingshans walked out from all sorts of melons like watermelons, winter melons, pumpkins, sponge gourds, and squashes.

As soon as he clashed with the Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens, Li Qingshan knew he could not confront him directly. Without the support of the laws of the Demon domain, the Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens could overwhelm him with his divine powers alone. Coupled with the Heavenly Dragon of Dao, it basically was not a battle at all, but a one-sided massacre.

If that’s the case, then I’ll let you kill me!

As a result, he scattered his consciousness on the ground. This was not some clone technique. Each flower was one of him and each seed contained all of him, possessing an independent will of its own.

Bang! A pomegranate exploded and several hundred tiny Li Qingshans leapt out, around the size of pomegranate seeds, enough to ride on ants like they were horses.

These tiny Li Qingshans did not have time to grow, and they were much weaker than regular clones. That was as clear as day from their size alone.

In comparison, even when the colossal god of lightning knelt on the ground, he was like an unscalable mountain. The tiny Li Qingshans basically had to look up vertically to barely see the top of the mountain, but they were still proud, raising their voices at the colossal god of lightning. “Come and kill me, dumbass!”

“Smite!”

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens roared furiously. Thousands of bolts of lightning swept through the land, killing all of the Li Qingshans and reducing all of the plants to ash.

But in the blink of an eye, specks of green sprouted again, growing and strengthening, blooming and bearing fruit. Li Qingshans leapt out one by one and challenged the god with their tiny voices.

Every single one of them only had a lifespan that lasted for a short instant, even more fleeting than mayflies that died in a single day. They flashed like sparks before falling into silence.

However, there would always be new life born from the earth.

The wildfire was unable to burn them all, reborn again in the spring breeze.

The qilin’s path, the cycle of life.

The colossal god of lightning let out a furious roar. He did not show any mercy at all, carrying out a mad slaughter.

The nine Heretic Gods were mentally linked. They lost just a few siblings and their wills collapsed, yet at this moment, Li Qingshan went through death billions of times, and it was all his own death. No one could replace him, nor could he avoid this. He just endured it silently, enduring the endless horror and pain, just like this Demon domain, just like this demonic land.

Death was unavoidable. Pain was unending.

The newly-born little Li Qingshans gradually stopped raising their voices. They came into existence silently and passed away silently. They did not even look towards the colossal god of lightning, dropping their heads gloomily. Even their expressions had become much more haggard, but their gazes remained just as determined as before. Even if they only lived for an instant, they would die with a flash, illuminating a smear of the darkness with that spark.

Before he knew it, the colossal god of lightning stopped roaring furiously, only killing away numbly.

Life and death revolved through the world, between the lightning and the fire. It was clearly extremely clamorous, yet there was a strange silence to it, like a solemn offering to the heavens or a respectful funeral, enough for the world to pale.

Li Qingshan used himself as the offering, sacrificing his body and soul endlessly to the heavens, while the colossal god of lightning was the main offeror.

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens had sealed himself into the coffin, gradually being enveloped by the depths and silence of the earth, while the little Li Qingshans were the mourners.

The gods and demons all fell silent. Even the spectating Demon God Qiongqi widened his eyes like he had blanked out. He even wavered slightly inside. If even the prelude is so shocking and frightening, do I really want to witness the crisis of the world?

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens suddenly felt a hint of weariness. The Heavenly Dragon of Dao that had been drawn into his body became more and more difficult to control.

A sensation he had not experienced in a very long time welled up in his heart. He realised this was the approach of death. A long, long time ago, he endured this sensation day and night, but ever since he reached True Immortal, ever since he became a true god, he did not have to face this threat anymore.

Overlooking the countless Li Qingshans, he suddenly questioned him. “Mad and foolish! Do you have any idea what you’re doing represents?”

The countless Li Qingshans raised their heads and answered calmly, “Chaos, war, death, and destruction. In short, everything that leads to misfortune.”

“No one will benefit from this, not even you.”

“No one will benefit from this, not even me.”

“But you’re still going to do it.”

“But I’m still going to do it.”

The birth of the “demon king” had never been for bringing people good fortune.

The Thunder Lord General of the Nine Heavens smiled wryly. “Looks like this holds much greater meaning to you.”

“Meaning?” The Li Qingshans looked up at the sky.

With a boom, the Heavenly Dragon of Dao burst out of his body, returning to the sky.

The tribulation clouds parted; the bright moon emerged.

The seventh heavenly tribulation came to an end there.

Greenery rapidly spread, enveloping the sea of fire and climbing up the colossal god of lightning. He did not move, like a statue, letting out a deep sigh. “A long, long time ago, I too was a mortal!”

Beyond the Nine Heavens, a star suddenly fell. The myriad worlds all saw the flaming tail it left behind.

At the same time, they saw a scarlet star rise up slowly.

Its glowing light shone like fire.