“ROAR!!”
Witnessing the Supervisor transform into clear light and merge into Xu Qi’an’s body, both Huang’s black hole and the chaotic mountain of flesh writhing in the sky let out furious, anxious roars simultaneously.
The sound waves rolled across the sky above the Isle of Gods and Demons.
They crashed against the pillar of light like madmen, their Transcendent might stirring up fierce winds and triggering celestial phenomena.
The island, comparable to a small continent, trembled slightly. The tremors conducted through the tectonic plates, caused violent waves in the surrounding waters.
Fortunately, all life had long since vanished within several hundred li; otherwise, there would have been “hundreds of thousands of corpses” and “rivers of blood” once again.
Xu Qi’an ignored the two Transcendents’ frenzy, closing his eyes to observe the changes within his body. When he had died from exhaustion, his life force and divine soul had completely extinguished, with only the “Immortal Runes” remaining in his body.
They hadn’t been destroyed.
This had saved Xu Qi’an’s life—the Supervisor had activated the Immortal Runes’ properties, bringing him back from death.
Within his body, the clear light that was the Supervisor’s essence merged into every cell, activating those Immortal Runes that had fallen dormant when he died from exhaustion.
In an instant, Xu Qi’an’s presence began to soar. Within seconds, he returned to his peak, his blood essence flourishing, magnificent power filling his muscles and flowing through every cell.
But it wasn’t over. The clear light didn’t dissipate, instead merging into the Immortal Runes.
In the next moment, the Immortal Runes that had existed independently within each cell, not interfering with each other, began to connect and piece. An “earth-shattering formation” was taking shape.
Shen Shu’s guess had been correct—the key to ascending to Martial God was assembling the Immortal Runes within a half-step of Martial God’s body into a whole, letting them merge.
As for what enhancement the half-step Martial God would receive after the merger, and what divine properties this grand formation would have, Xu Qi’an wasn’t yet clear. He could only wait patiently.
When the Immortal Runes had assembled and merged to one-third completion, Xu Qi’an’s presence, which had already reached its peak, broke through the threshold. His energy and power officially surpassed the half-step Martial God realm, ascending to a height that no predecessor had ever reached.
It exceeded his earlier explosive state when using Jade Shatter, and even surpassed Gu Shen’s power when using the Blood Sacrifice technique.
And it was still growing.
When the Immortal Runes were half assembled, Xu Qi’an gained an innate divine ability. This ability was a sublimated version of the half-step Martial God domain—he could establish a domain of his own where any rules would lose their effect.
He was the god, he was the ruler.
Xu Qi’an couldn’t help but think of the martial artist system’s special characteristic—becoming a world unto oneself!
The “earth-shattering formation” continued to take shape and perfect itself. As it neared completion, the Heavenly Gate in the firmament slowly closed, and the pillar of light dispersed.
Xu Qi’an was no longer under any protection.
Seeing this, the black hole’s vortexes spun to their limit, carrying terrifying suction force as they crashed toward Xu Qi’an.
The chaotic mountain of flesh in the sky expelled blood mist from its pores and suddenly smashed downward. During this process, it employed confusion techniques, stirring up carnal desires, spewing out dense swarms of offspring parasites like black smoke, and coordinating with Huang to interfere with the half-step Martial God.
“Snap!”
Xu Qi’an raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
An invisible energy boundary suddenly expanded, repelling the black hole, blocking the thick smoke outside, and isolating the power of the dark parasites and desire parasites.
Gu Shen, using the Blood Sacrifice technique, crashed down from high in the sky and heavily struck the energy boundary. Not only did it fail to shake the Martial God’s barrier, but its flesh was mangled from the impact, bouncing away like a mass of rotten meat.
At this moment, the final stroke of the Immortal Runes was completed, and the earth-shattering formation was assembled.
The Martial God was born!
“BOOM!”
The sky, wreathed in faint red and green clouds, was suddenly overtaken by heavy black clouds that stretched to the horizon, seemingly covering all of the Nine States.
Thunder roared as terrifying pressure descended from the heavens—Heaven’s Tribulation was brewing.
At this moment, both Huang and Gu Shen were filled with unprecedented fear.
This fear came half from the Heaven’s Tribulation and half from the Martial God standing proudly before them.
Though they had lived long lives, born at the world’s creation, in all their endless years they had never seen such terrible Heaven’s Tribulation.
…
In the capital.
A sudden crack of thunder exploded, startling horses on the street into either charging wildly or falling to their knees.
Pedestrians instinctively crouched down, covering their ears, their hearts rising with an indescribable, instinctive fear that left them trembling.
Under this terrible pressure from Heaven and Earth, there was no difference between officials and common people.
At the Night Watchmen’s Office, Haogi Tower, Wei Yuan stood on the observation platform, both hands gripping the railing. His body trembled uncontrollably, his expression showing uncontainable excitement.
In the tea room, Nangong Qianrou’s pretty face turned pale as she stammered:
“Foster father, this, this is…”
Wei Yuan didn’t turn around, gazing southward, his breathing unconsciously quickening.
A Martial God has been born… Nangong Qianrou’s expression was wooden, unable to distinguish between shock, wild joy, amazement, or fear.
Meanwhile, at the Star-Observing Tower.
Chu Caiwei and Song Qing stood on the Eight Trigrams Platform, gazing at the infinitely distant vault of heaven. To mortal eyes, the sky was azure blue, showing nothing unusual, but they could sense that above the Nine Heavens, terrible divine wrath was accumulating and brewing.
“Senior Brother Song, why is there sudden thunder?”
Chu Caiwei fearfully raised her head to look at the sky, thinking that with the Star-Observing Tower being so high, what if lightning struck and injured her?
She turned and hid behind Song Qing.
Song Qing said softly:
“Master Supervisor…”
…
In Lei Province!
Li Miaozheng stood on her flying sword, gazing westward, her eyes unable to hide her grief.
Not long ago, a city with a considerable population had been swallowed by a tsunami-like mass of flesh and blood. Tens of thousands of citizens in the city and surrounding villages had silently perished, becoming nourishment for the Buddha’s Mountain-River Seal.
She couldn’t help but turn to look at her companions—Kou Yangzhou, Asura, the Nine-Tailed Fox, and the Gu Tribe leaders—each silent, their expressions heavy.
Shen Shu sat cross-legged in the void, with the dismembered remains of Guangxian Bodhisattva floating beside him. By now the remains had withered and shriveled, their flesh essence becoming nourishment for the half-step Martial God’s recovery.
Though they had saved Shen Shu and preserved their fighting strength, the long battle had also severely depleted this half-step Martial God. He would be unable to fight again for some time.
Therefore, the Great Feng side’s strategy was to temporarily abandon Lei Province, waiting until Shen Shu had partially recovered before engaging in a death battle with the Buddha.
“It’s like cutting flesh with a dull knife—who knows how long we can delay?”
The Desire Parasite Tribe’s leader, Luan Yu, said softly:
“We’ve lost two main forces in Golden Lotus Daoist and Chancellor Zhao. Next time we clash, won’t Master Shen Shu be defeated even faster?”
Li Miaozheng, with her fierce temperament, turned and angrily rebuked upon hearing this:
“We’ll delay as long as we can. If you’re afraid of death, crawl back to the Southern Borderlands. Stop undermining morale here.”
Having witnessed countless civilians die tragically, powerless to help, she was already agitated. Moreover, knowing this alluring Gu Tribe woman had an ambiguous relationship with Xu Qi’an, she naturally wouldn’t give her a pleasant face.
Luan Yu gave a cold laugh, about to retort, when suddenly Asura said gravely:
“He’s forging the Mountain River Seal.”
In the distance, the Buddha statue standing in the “quagmire” joined its twelve pairs of arms together. Between the layers of palms, a point of clear light condensed, with more clear light seeping out from the void in all directions, merging into his palms.
Before long, the clear light formed the outline of a small seal.
Once the Mountain-River Seal was forged, the Buddha, having devoured Lei Province’s living beings, would become the province’s ruler.
Subsequently, as long as he obtained fortune, he could truly refine Lei Province just as he had replaced the Western Regions.
Although they had mentally prepared to abandon Lei Province, seeing it truly fall into enemy hands, strengthening the enemy while weakening themselves, all the transcendent experts’ hearts were filled with anxiety.
More torturous than the anxiety was the inability to see hope, and the deep sense of powerlessness.
“I wonder how Night Watchman Xu is doing overseas…”
Long Tu said in his muffled voice.
The scene instantly fell silent, the transcendent experts’ expressions becoming strange—some stiff, some gloomy, some agitated…
They had been avoiding this topic, not wanting to add frost to snow by making the already heavy atmosphere worse.
Xu Qi’an was their only hope. Fighting while holding onto this hope, they had faith in their hearts, had hope, even if it was self-deception.
Once you broke it down and analyzed it, the reality was that a half-step Martial God was facing two Transcendents overseas.
Was there any chance of victory?
The battle between Shen Shu and the Buddha was an example—one Transcendent could suppress a half-step Martial God, let alone two Transcendents.
Even if Xu Qi’an was stronger than Shen Shu, but at the same rank, how much stronger could he be?
That fool Long Tu… the Gu Tribe leaders cursed in their hearts.
On the other side, the Mountain-River Seal in the Buddha statue’s hands became increasingly substantial. After a moment, a small seal with a jet-black base, inlaid with blue gems and carved with complex patterns, took shape.
The Buddha’s twelve pairs of arms raised the Mountain River Seal high.
At this moment, thunder exploded in the sky, and magnificent, terrifying pressure descended. Every transcendent expert present felt bone-chilling fear in their hearts, not even daring to fly in the void.
What’s happening? Another Heaven’s Tribulation? All the transcendent experts’ hearts tightened. Without needing words, instinctively and tacitly, they descended.
In the distance, the Buddha’s posture of holding up the Mountain River Seal suddenly froze.
…
Outside Yuyang Pass.
Broken city walls, desolate earth—looking around, all life had vanished.
Huaiqing stood alone on the city wall, gazing northeast. At the horizon, clouds like thick ink were gathering, rolling layer upon layer.
The Shaman God had been severely injured in that battle.
Though the Confucian Saint had repelled the Shaman God, this could only stop him temporarily. Once the Shaman God dispelled the Confucian Saint’s influence and recovered, disaster would descend again.
“You can block for a time, but not forever. Only a Martial God can settle this catastrophe. Ning Yan, are you well…”
Huaiqing turned to look south.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder exploded in the sky. Though there was neither wind nor cloud, that magnificent and terrible pressure from Heaven and Earth poured down from the Nine Heavens.
The empress’s heart trembled, not knowing what had happened, feeling only instinctive terror.
And in the distance, those rolling black clouds stagnated for a moment, then came an earth-shaking roar.
Following this, the black clouds began to contract, contracting toward the vault of heaven.
Huaiqing heard a trace of exasperation in it.
What’s happening?
…
Isle of Gods and Demons.
The tribulation clouds covering the sky ultimately didn’t strike down. After the thunder exploded, they began to dissipate. Before long, the azure sky reappeared.
The tribulation clouds had formed because the Martial God’s existence violated the Heavenly Dao, violated the rules.
At last today, Xu Qi’an finally understood exactly what a Martial God was. A Martial God existed in the world yet was unbound by any rules of Heaven and Earth, was an independent entity, indestructible by all tribulations, impervious to all laws.
To use an analogy, within the Nine States world, an independent small world had appeared.
Once a Martial God established their domain, within that domain, the laws of the Nine States would become ineffective.
The Nine States world didn’t allow such a forbidden existence in the world, thus it would send down Heaven’s Tribulation.
But it was precisely because of these characteristics that a Martial God couldn’t replace the Heavenly Dao like a Transcendent could, couldn’t become the Heavenly Dao, making them the best candidate for Gatekeeper.
The Heaven’s Tribulation hadn’t descended because he had gained the recognition of all living beings, gained the recognition of Heaven and Earth, and condensed sufficient fortune.
In other words, Xu Qi’an, such a forbidden existence, had gained the recognition of the Nine States world.
“How powerful is a Martial God?”
Huang transmitted his voice to ask, his tone unprecedentedly heavy and serious.
“A Martial God has never appeared before.”
Gu Shen’s answer was concise and to the point.
As these words fell, His body suddenly expanded, transforming into a curtain that blotted out the heavens and covered Huang, who offered no resistance.
The curtain wrapped around Huang and vanished from the devastated Isle of Gods and Demons.
They had retreated.
There were two reasons: First, the two ancient god-demons had experienced a long period of intense battle, their conditions severely deteriorated, requiring time to recover.
Second, not knowing exactly how powerful a Martial God was, cautious retreat was the best choice.
Xu Qi’an didn’t stop them, standing at a distance, waiting for something.
After a while.
“Whoosh!”
Under the firmament, a beam of light plunged straight to earth, transforming into a narrow-bladed long saber of dark gold. Its blade was slightly curved, neither quite sword nor saber.
The Blade of Great Peace stuck into the ground before Xu Qi’an, transmitting excited, thrilled thoughts, roughly meaning:
Master, I’m super powerful now!
“Stop talking nonsense, come with me to kill enemies.”
Xu Qi’an gripped the Blade of Great Peace and took a step forward. He didn’t use the big eyeball’s teleportation—ignoring rules, he simply vanished from the spot.
…
The Buddha statue standing in the quagmire slowly turned its body to look south, its magnificent and august voice roaring:
“MARTIAL GOD!”
The next moment, He collapsed into dark red flesh matter, returning to the quagmire. Then, the vast and boundless quagmire like an ocean began to “ebb,” retreating toward the Western Regions.
After a long while, Luan Yu said with a trembling voice:
“M-Martial God?”
“Did He just say Martial God?! Where did a Martial God come from, who is the Martial God!”
She held her breath, though her heart already had the answer, she still looked with seeking eyes at the dumbstruck transcendent experts who were likewise absorbed in those two words “Martial God,” trying to get confirmation.
Luan Yu’s words broke the frozen atmosphere, awakening the gathered transcendent experts as if from a dream.
Li Miaozheng, Asura, and others suddenly began breathing rapidly—at this crucial moment, who else could have become a Martial God?
But no one answered Luan Yu, fearing this was all just an illusion.
After a long silence, Luo Yuhen’s eyes sparkled as she said:
“Let’s follow and see.”
She meant to go to the Western Regions border to witness for themselves.
Having spoken, without waiting for others’ responses, she stepped onto her flying sword, transforming into a brilliant streak of light as she flew toward the Western Regions.
The transcendent experts looked back at Shen Shu, seeing him still sitting cross-legged, not stopping them. Their hearts settled, and they followed.
Much later, when they reached the Western Regions border, from far away they saw a Buddha statue dozens of zhang tall, standing lonely in the Western Regions wilderness, His face constantly turned toward the south.
South, overseas… Seeing this, Luo Yuhen and the others no longer had any doubts.
Xu Ning Yan had successfully ascended to Martial God, forcing the Buddha to retreat warily to the Western Regions and prepare for battle, because in the Western Regions, He was invincible.
At this moment, above the Buddha’s head in the sky, in the firmament, a patch of ink-black clouds suddenly condensed, rolling layer upon layer, and a blurry face peered down from the cloud layer.
The Shaman God!
He had abandoned his own territory, given up on sweeping through the Central Plains and refining the Mountain-River Seal, coming to the Western Regions as an “unencumbered” Transcendent.
As long as they weren’t refining the Mountain-River Seal and devouring the rules of Heaven and Earth, Transcendents themselves weren’t restricted in their comings and goings.
When the Shaman God descended on the Nine States now, the Buddha didn’t stop him.
The blurry face in the sky and the Buddha statue on the ground didn’t communicate, didn’t conflict, but were unexpectedly harmonious.
Luo Yuhen’s heart stirred as she understood the Transcendents’ plan.
The Shaman God and Buddha meeting in the Western Regions meant they wanted to use the Buddha’s status as the Western Regions’ rules to face the Martial God, to have their final battle with him.
As for why they chose the Western Regions rather than Jingshan City, it was probably because the Buddha’s power was greater than the Shaman God’s.
Time passed minute by minute, second by second, when suddenly, terrible pressure descended again, and two figures as huge as mountains appeared on the desolate plains of the Western Regions, appearing before the transcendent experts’ eyes.
This shattered the joy that had just welled up in their eyes.
It wasn’t Xu Qi’an.
“All four Transcendents gathered…” Long Tu swallowed. “What do they want to do?”
Asura said gravely:
“Of course, to deal with Xu Qi’an.”
Everyone’s face showed gravity and unease.
Though they knew only a Martial God could defeat a Transcendent, in their imagination, that was in one-on-one combat.
However, they weren’t clear about a Martial God’s combat power, so although their hearts were uneasy, they hadn’t lost their composure.
“Xu Qi’an has ascended to Martial God.”
As soon as they appeared, Huang spoke urgently, his voice deep.
The face in the black clouds clearly became more serious.
The Buddha’s face was blurry, expressionless, but eight great dharma bodies suddenly appeared behind him, ready for battle.
Gu Shen spoke:
“Huang and I are greatly depleted.”
The Buddha nodded slightly, his joined hands waving gently. Though there was no divine wonder, no light, Gu Shen and Huang’s presence suddenly surged, returning to peak condition.
In the Western Regions, the Buddha was the rules of Heaven and Earth.
Having done this, the Buddha no longer looked at the two ancient god-demons, turning again to look south, where a figure in tattered clothes appeared in the air.
His features were handsome, his figure tall and well-proportioned, holding a narrow-bladed long saber.
Besides this, there was nothing else.
A Martial God fighting didn’t need too many magical tools or brilliant spells.
“Xu Qi’an…”
Though they were very far away, the transcendent experts’ eyesight was powerful. Seeing him appear, Li Miaozheng and the others finally truly settled their hearts.
Xu Qi’an glanced at the gathered four Transcendents and took a step forward.
Behind the Buddha, the Great Samsara dharma body’s wheel clicked and turned, the “person” character written in Buddhist script lighting up; the Great Compassion dharma body joined its hands and chanted, Buddhist music filling Heaven and Earth; the Great Samsara dharma body’s wheel of light reversed.
These spells, sufficient to interfere with a half-step Martial God and make them lose fighting spirit, all poured onto Xu Qi’an at once.
But it was useless—he ignored all control and slashed a blade toward the Buddha.
A Martial God was impervious to all laws, inherently unbound by any rules. Power originating from the Nine States world couldn’t shake him in the slightest.
The Buddha’s head silently rolled off, smashing to the ground, reverting to flesh matter.
It wasn’t that He hadn’t resisted and interfered—in the instant Xu Qi’an swung his blade, the Buddha modified the Western Regions’ rules.
Prohibited drawing blades.
Prohibited anyone from attacking himself in any way.
After discovering the rules were ineffective, He then changed the blade energy’s trajectory, making it slash toward the sky.
But it was still ineffective.
Seeing this, the six horn vortexes atop Huang’s head expanded, evolving into a black hole that violently crashed toward Xu Qi’an.
Xu Qi’an thrust one blade into the black hole. Overwhelming blade light shattered the black hole—with a “boom,” the black hole collapsed, and Huang with his sheep body and human face was torn to pieces.
The Buddha immediately granted Huang the ability to regenerate.
“No regeneration permitted here!”
Xu Qi’an chanted softly, slashing down with one blade.
This was the Blade of Great Peace’s ability. This Gatekeeper’s weapon had only one power—to sever rules!
This had the same origin as the Confucian school’s “words become law.”
When a Gatekeeper unbound by Heaven and Earth grasped this blade, he would truly become invincible.
What meaning would there be in guarding the Heavenly Gate if one weren’t invincible in the mortal realm?
Huang’s flesh frantically writhed, trying to reassemble, but had no way to regenerate. His divine soul let out an angry roar, never imagining that before a Martial God, being one of the strongest existences since the world’s creation would prove so utterly helpless.
The Buddha opened the Colorless Crystal Domain, enveloping Xu Qi’an in a world without color, while modifying the rules.
Unable to regenerate didn’t mean unable to be born anew, unable to give birth.
Huang’s remnant body suddenly swelled, all his flesh essence and spiritual essence collapsing inward, nurturing new life.
Dense shadows flowed from beneath Gu Shen’s body, covering Huang’s remnants, while launching confusion at Xu Qi’an, stirring carnal desires.
In the sky, the blurry face stared at Xu Qi’an, launching a death curse.
At the same time, the souls of nine First Rank martial artists appeared, charging suicidally toward the Martial God, coordinating with Gu Shen’s attack to buy time for Huang.
But in the next moment, the Colorless Crystal Domain collapsed. The nine First Rank martial artists’ souls crashed into an invisible energy boundary, collapsing into black smoke and returning to the Shaman God.
While the death curse, confusion, and stirring of desires disappeared like a clay ox entering the sea, having no effect whatsoever.
The Martial God before them was clearly within the world, yet seemed to exist in another space entirely.
After neutralizing the Transcendents’ attacks, he reached out his hand, lifting it slightly. Huang’s remnants rose into the air, enveloped by a sphere of energy.
Xu Qi’an clenched his fist with all his might.
Boom!
The remnants and divine soul together exploded into blood mist, vanishing into ash and smoke.
Only six horns containing spiritual essence remained.
Huang had fallen.
The peak expert who had survived since ancient times had thoroughly perished.
The black clouds in the sky shook violently, as if receiving an extreme shock.
In Gu Shen’s wise, clear eyes appeared emotion like a rabbit mourning a fox’s death.
The Buddha slowly said:
“Martial God… the Heavenly Dao actually allows someone like you to exist.”
Evidently, such developments were hard for the Transcendents to accept. Even they didn’t know how terrifying a Martial God truly was.
From ancient times until now, the Nine States world had never had a Martial God, never.
Xu Qi’an took a step forward, already appearing before Gu Shen. The latter’s body shook, giving a violent start, then thick blood mist sprayed from his pores as the mountain of flesh collapsed into pieces.
He didn’t choose to clash head-on with Xu Qi’an, instead using shadow jumping to try to pull away from the Martial God.
“No teleportation permitted!”
Xu Qi’an slashed down with one blade, severing the rules.
The shadows under Gu Shen’s body surged and flowed, but nothing happened.
“ROAR…”
Gu Shen let out a despairing howl.
The seven parasite arts were the manifestation of His spiritual essence, and all His methods, but these powerful parasite arts couldn’t threaten the Martial God at all.
What could He do?
There was no way at all.
At this moment, what Gu Shen felt was despair, powerlessness, absolute suppression from a higher-level expert.
He had seen such powerlessness in weak god-demons and humans—when they faced Him, they had no power to resist at all, death was these insects’ only destiny.
And now, He had become such an insect.
The next moment, the despairing howl became an agonized roar.
Xu Qi’an thrust one blade into Gu Shen’s iron-hard body. The blade energy instantly penetrated this mountain of flesh, spurting out the other side, shattering mountains dozens of li away.
The mountains collapsed, and what rolled down wasn’t boulders and earth, but chunks of dark red flesh matter—they belonged to part of the Buddha.
As the blade light flashed, Gu Shen’s flesh body suddenly scattered, falling in pieces.
After the rule “no regeneration permitted here” was severed, Gu Shen’s flesh frantically writhed, extending spider web-like white threads, but no matter how hard He tried, He couldn’t reassemble Himself.
At this moment the Buddha didn’t help Him, because after recognizing how terrifying the Martial God was, this Transcendent was preparing to stake everything on one throw.
Wheel after wheel of golden suns rose up, emerging from distant mountains, rivers, and wastelands. They ascended toward the firmament, gathering above the Buddha’s head.
“Retreat quickly!”
Asura’s expression changed drastically as he swiftly fled this place of conflict.
The other transcendent experts weren’t slow to react, scrambling to escape.
The Tathagata of the Great Sun was overbearing and fierce—its radiance purified everything in its path. Staying here served no purpose except to court death.
But compared to their previous anxiety and unease, every transcendent expert’s heart was now incomparably calm. Xu Qi’an’s clean dispatch of Huang and severe injury of Gu Shen had given them unparalleled confidence.
Using the same method, Xu Qi’an extinguished Gu Shen’s will and physical form, leaving behind only a sphere of chaos.
This was Gu Shen’s spiritual essence.
The black clouds wreathing the sky quickly dispersed—the Shaman God had retreated.
“The Tathagata of the Great Sun manifestation is forbidden here!”
Xu Qi’an slashed down with one blade.
But this time, the power to sever rules failed. The great suns continued to rise and gather as normal.
“Your blade possesses power from the same source as the Confucian Saint, but the Tathagata of the Great Sun manifestation represents me. This blade can sever rules, but it cannot cut me.”
The Buddha’s voice was vast and distant, coming from the void, from all directions.
“You cannot kill me, because in the Western Regions, I am the Heavenly Dao. Even if you are a Martial God, unbound by rules, you still cannot destroy me.”
Xu Qi’an smiled mockingly:
“Is that so!”
As he spoke, he thrust the Blade of Great Peace into the ground. Then, this Martial God’s muscles rippled all over his body as an invisible energy boundary expanded from within him, spreading in all directions.
Where the energy boundary extended, the dark red flesh matter quickly vanished and dispersed.
When the Tathagata of the Great Sun manifestation touched the energy boundary, it violently exploded, dispersing into dazzling streams of light that made even the sun seem dim.
Where the streams of light fell, everything was imbued with Buddha-nature, accompanied by the sound of sutras being chanted.
“This is impossible…”
The Buddha’s distant, majestic voice came from the void, carrying a trace of human-like shock.
Because as the energy boundary expanded, the Buddha found himself gradually losing dominion over the Western Regions. The rules He controlled were being mercilessly stripped away by the energy boundary.
This Martial God had established his domain, tyrannically and unreasonably invading His territory, gradually forcing Him out of the Western Regions.
Finally, the Western Regions’ territory of several hundred thousand li was completely covered by the Martial God’s domain.
In the void, streams of golden light gathered, forming the image of a young monk.
His features were handsome, his brows and eyes clear, his pupils containing the vicissitudes of ages, his face showing neither joy nor sorrow.
The Buddha’s true form!
He had been forced back to his original form. After losing control of the rules, He had resumed his original appearance.
A Transcendent’s body.
Xu Qi’an appeared before Him and said quietly:
“Do you know who the Supervisor was?”
The young monk was silent for a moment, then sighed:
“I had my suspicions.”
Xu Qi’an asked:
“As a Transcendent, you were already immortal and indestructible. Why did you seek to ascend to the Heavenly Dao?”
The Buddha joined his hands:
“Desire is a fundamental flaw that living beings cannot eliminate.”
“Don’t you want to know about the worlds beyond the Nine States? Only by breaking through the barriers of Heaven and Earth can one qualify to roam the myriad realms.”
Xu Qi’an was silent for a moment, then said:
“You all took the wrong path.”
Having spoken, he gripped the Blade of Great Peace and thrust it into the Buddha’s chest.
The Buddha didn’t dodge, didn’t resist, calmly accepting the blade.
“Amitabha!”
His body dispersed in the wind, vanishing into ash and smoke.
…
Jingshan City.
The sky was azure, the sunlight brilliant.
On the altar outside the city stood a youth wearing a crown of thorns. He wore a black robe and stood with his hands behind his back, gazing southwest.
In the trembling void, a youth in cyan robes holding a dark gold long blade walked out.
“I was born in ancient times, when humanity mainly lived in tribes, depending on powerful god-demons for survival. The god-demons never suppressed their nature—whether brutal, bloodthirsty, or lustful. I saw too much suffering and injustice, living numbly for many years.”
The black-robed youth spoke slowly:
“Until the end of ancient times, when catastrophe came, I saw god-demons desperately trying to enter the Heavenly Gate. That’s when I determined to replace the Heavenly Dao, to thoroughly transcend the mortal realm.”
“To let future people neither age nor die, suffer neither oppression nor hardship.”
Xu Qi’an didn’t mock the Shaman God, only saying quietly:
“Even if Transcendents are detached from desires, they are still living beings. Where there is thought, there is desire. The Heavenly Dao should not have desire or thought. The joys and sorrows of the mortal realm, its oppression and hardships, have their own causes and reasons.”
The Shaman God nodded, saying nothing.
Xu Qi’an continued:
“The Buddha said that beyond the Nine States, there are three thousand realms.”
The Shaman God looked over with a smile:
“You should know best.”
…Xu Qi’an nodded:
“I will let the Shaman system continue, but from now on, there will be no more Transcendents in the world.”
The Shaman God said contentedly:
“Thank you!”
Having spoken, His divine soul and physical form vanished like flying ash.
The Shaman God had chosen self-destruction.
He chose to disperse in a more dignified way.
…
Historical records state: In the first year of Huaiqing’s reign, on the twelfth day of the eleventh month.
The four Transcendents joined forces to unleash catastrophe, slaughtering the world’s living beings.
Night Watchman Xu slew the Buddha, Shaman God, Gu Shen, and the ancient god-demon Huang in a single day, settling the catastrophe.
Achieving unprecedented glory, becoming a peerless Martial God!
…
First year of Huaiqing’s reign, twentieth day of the eleventh month.
Morning court.
Wearing her crown and black dragon-embroidered imperial robe, Huaiqing sat high on the imperial throne.
The head palace eunuch unfolded the imperial edict and read aloud:
“The Buddha, Shaman God, Gu Shen, and the ancient god-demon Huang have all fallen to Night Watchman Xu’s blade, and the catastrophe is settled. The Grand Secretary of the Huagai Hall, Zhao Shou, died heroically to stop the Shaman God, sacrificing himself for the country—he is posthumously titled Wenzheng!”
“The Vice Minister of Revenue Yang Gong fought the Buddha in Lei Province with great merit, and is promoted to Grand Secretary of the Huagai Hall.”
“Now the four seas are settled, with the territories of the Shaman Religion, Buddhist domains, and Southern Borderlands all returning to Great Feng. In the northeast, the three provinces of Jing, Xiang, and Yu, as well as Lei Province in the Western Regions, nine out of ten homes are empty, with refugees everywhere and everything needing rebuilding.”
“The people’s livelihood is paramount—you must serve with all your dedication to help the common people rebuild their homes, without slacking.”
“By imperial command!”
Inside and outside the hall, the civil and military officials all knelt down, their voices rising in waves:
“Long live Her Majesty! Long live! Long, long live!”
After this campaign, the Nine States were unified, and Great Feng would begin an unprecedented new chapter, giving birth to the most powerful and vast dynasty in Nine States history.
…
In the capital, in a small courtyard in the inner city.
A brilliant sea of flowers swayed in the gentle breeze, their fragrance attracting passersby to stop and look.
“Knock knock!”
The previously unvisited courtyard gate was knocked upon, and a plain-looking woman ran over joyfully to open it.
Outside stood a middle-aged woman who exclaimed happily:
“Lady Mu, you’re back?”
It was the neighboring woman who had been close to Mu Nanchi before.
The plain-featured woman was slightly disappointed but smiled politely:
“My husband’s business failed, so he had to go work as a guard for a wealthy family. I’ve moved back here.”
The neighbor sighed:
“Times were troubled recently, so losses were unavoidable. But I hear things will get better and better from now on. Our Great Feng has conquered the Western Regions and the northeast—all thanks to Night Watchman Xu.”
The two chatted about domestic matters in the courtyard for half an hour.
Only when a fluffy white fox darted out of the house and chirped urgently at the woman did she remember the chicken soup simmering on the stove. She hurriedly sent the neighbor away and ran back to the kitchen.
A burnt smell filled her nostrils—a perfectly good pot of chicken soup was ruined.
The woman stamped her foot in anger.
“After leaving the Xu mansion, I have to do everything myself.”
Baiji complained chirpily: “Why not just go back? Having people serve you every day would be so nice.”
The woman picked her up and kept poking her:
“Then you go back! Then you go back!”
A month had passed since the catastrophe, during which Mu Nanchi had found an excuse to move out of the Xu mansion.
Though Auntie was reluctant to let her go, you can keep someone’s body but not their heart, so she agreed.
She had thought that man would know the rules—visit every three days, right?
But he hadn’t contacted her at all, ignoring her for a whole month.
Mu Nanchi was so angry she secretly vowed to break with him completely.
“Knock knock!”
The courtyard gate sounded again.
She instantly became angry, stomping out to the courtyard and opening the gate, saying:
“Auntie, let me tell you, I have chicken soup simmering in the kitchen…”
She suddenly fell silent.
Outside stood a plain-looking man, leading a spirited little mare.
“I’m going to travel the world,” the man said.
Mu Nanchi raised her chin proudly:
“What for!”
The man smiled:
“Would you like to come with me?”
“I don’t want to!” She turned away.
Xu Qi’an sighed: “I’ve been busy lately, but I finally got everything settled, so I came to find you right away.”
She thought for a moment, then asked: “Just us?”
Xu Qi’an glanced at Baiji who had followed her out and said with a smile:
“And your little fox, and my little mare.”
Mu Nanchi snorted, taking the opportunity to climb down, saying:
“Since you’re abandoning your wives and children, I’ll agree.”
Baiji corrected:
“Abandoning wives, he has no children.”
“Who asked you!” Mu Nanchi glared at her fiercely, then looked at him, probing: “What have you been doing this month?”
This month… Xu Qi’an said seriously: “Naturally, all important matters.”
…
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, fourteenth day of the eleventh month.”
“Catastrophe settled, nothing to do today, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, sixteenth day of the eleventh month.”
“Miaozheng left the capital to do good deeds and accumulate virtue. Very sad, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, seventeenth day of the eleventh month.”
“Drank tea with Duke Wei, discussed governance plans for the Western Regions and northeast. What were we even talking about? Better to go to the theater and listen to music.”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, twentieth day of the eleventh month.”
“Dual cultivated with Luo Yuhen until dusk. At sunset, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, twenty-third day of the eleventh month.”
“Asura returned to the Western Regions to rebuild the Asura tribe. Very sad, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, twenty-sixth day of the eleventh month.”
“Chu Yuanzhen went wandering the Nine States. The jianghu road is long, we’ll meet again if fate allows. Very sad, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“…”
“First year of Huaiqing’s reign, fourteenth day of the twelfth month.”
“Nothing to do today, went to the theater to listen to music.”
“…”