#91 - Chapter 91: Samsara Palace, Nichang Conversation

The setting sun cast long shadows across the battlefield, littered with corpses and punctuated by the cries of the wounded.

The enforcement teams of Blackwater Market City Lord's Mansion silently retreated towards the market entrance. For them, this was another crushing defeat. Although they had prevented the demonic forces from entering, the heavy casualties left no one in a joyful mood.

Li Er and Er Hei walked at the very end of a squad, both bearing injuries. They were members of the City Lord's Mansion's Ninth Squad, led by Daoist Kong Jian, an old cultivator at the ninth level of Qi training.

"Ah, I wonder when this will ever end. We started with a full complement of two hundred brothers, and in just these past few days, half have been killed or wounded," Li Er said, shaking his head in silence.

Er Hei, beside him, wore a similarly somber expression. With people dying every day, Er Hei also found these days unbearable.

Witnessing the daily deaths and injuries caused by the demonic forces' attacks, Er Hei was suddenly reminded of a saying: 'Unordered chaos is far more terrifying and limitless than ordered oppression.'

In truth, Er Hei had never really distinguished between the righteous and the demonic paths. Blackwater County had previously been under the control of the righteous path.

Yet, oppressive deaths still occurred daily. Back then, Er Hei would curse the righteous path as hypocrites.

But after the demonic forces attacked, he realized that things were not so simple.

Could you imagine an entire city of millions of lives vanishing overnight, as demonic cultivators leeringly refined them into Ten Thousand Souls Banners?

From this, Er Hei concluded that what the demonic path brought was a form of unordered chaos.

The former righteous path, it was true, had its share of fame-seeking individuals and those who only considered their own interests, and they would oppress others.

But at least there was some semblance of order suppressing them from above.

Order meant that the moral bottom line wouldn't slide endlessly.

The results of a lack of order were clearly demonstrated by the cities that had vanished, refined by the demonic path.

"I wonder how much longer the order in Azure Province can last," Er Hei thought pessimistically. Although he was just a small Qi training cultivator, he could see that the righteous path in Blackwater County, and even the entire Azure Province, was in a dire situation. Perhaps in another decade or two, the order of the entire Azure Province would completely collapse, and it would be occupied by the demonic path.

"They say a sage appears every five hundred years. Will such a person appear in Azure Province to drive out the demonic path and maintain order?" Er Hei suddenly thought hopefully. He was just an ordinary person, and of course he hoped to live in an orderly and stable environment. But then he laughed, laughing at his own fanciful ideas. This wasn't a storybook novel; where would so many divinely appointed figures come from?

Boom!

Just as Er Hei was thinking this, a tremendous boom echoed across the battlefield. Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound, including Er Hei and Li Er.

Then, to their surprise, they saw a young cultivator in green robes descend onto the battlefield, standing before Seven Fiends True Lord, Thousand Ghosts Daoist, and the others.

"Who is that person?" Er Hei was extremely surprised that someone dared to block the four Core Formation demonic cultivators, who had just defeated the City Lord. Who was this green-robed cultivator? For some reason, he seemed vaguely familiar.

"He must also be a Core Formation grand cultivator, perhaps a righteous path senior who came from another county," Li Er excitedly added. If a righteous path senior came to help, perhaps Blackwater County could be saved from this demonic siege.

[Your arrival has sparked much discussion among the cultivators of Blackwater Market, including Fairy Rainbow Skirt and True Lord Wu Bai. They are puzzled about who you are. In this life, you did not stay at the City Lord's Mansion, so they do not recognize you.]

[Seeing you dare to block Seven Fiends and Thousand Ghosts, Rainbow Skirt and Wu Bai speculate that you might be a righteous path senior who has come to resolve the siege of Blackwater Market.]

"Rainbow Skirt, do you recognize that green-robed senior? Which county is he from? Could this senior be here to rescue our Blackwater Market?"

Wu Bai asked Rainbow Skirt, who was standing beside him. Fairy Rainbow Skirt shook her head. She only felt that the person was familiar, but she really didn't recognize who he was.

...

"Who is Your Excellency? Why are you blocking us? This is a matter between my Blackwater demonic path and Blackwater Market. I advise Your Excellency not to meddle in other people's affairs."

Seven Fiends True Lord said coldly, seeing the unfamiliar green-robed cultivator blocking his path. Thousand Ghosts and the other two Core Formation demonic cultivators also took out their demonic path magical artifacts, aiming them at Lin Changqing, exuding murderous intent.

Since Lin Changqing had not yet revealed his cultivation level, these four Core Formation demonic cultivators assumed that Lin Changqing was an ordinary Core Formation cultivator, so they were not polite in their speech.

"Oh? What if I do meddle in other people's affairs?" Lin Changqing said indifferently. As soon as he finished speaking, his ninth-level Core Formation cultivation instantly erupted, and overwhelming pressure filled the entire battlefield!

The first to bear the brunt were Seven Fiends and Thousand Ghosts, these Core Formation demonic cultivators!

"What!? It's actually the ninth level of Core Formation! A late-stage Core Formation grand cultivator has descended upon Blackwater County?"

Seven Fiends and Thousand Ghosts were greatly shocked. They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with horror. No one had expected a late-stage Core Formation grand cultivator to descend upon Blackwater County.

Strange, the late-stage Core Formation grand cultivators of the righteous path are all in Heavenly Capital County, Profound Heaven County... these large counties. Moreover, they know all the late-stage Core Formation grand cultivators of the Azure Province righteous path. After all, there are only so many of them...

Who is this green-robed, late-stage Core Formation grand cultivator who suddenly appeared?

The four Core Formation demonic cultivators were filled with doubts, but they could only suppress their doubts in their hearts.

Seven Fiends and Thousand Ghosts exchanged glances, both wondering how to deal with this suddenly appearing late-stage Core Formation grand cultivator.

After a moment, Thousand Ghosts swallowed hard and said, "Senior seems to be unfamiliar, presumably not from Azure Province. Senior may not be aware of the situation in Azure Province. Under the leadership of Sect Master Autumn Moon of my Golden Core tenth level, my demonic path is comprehensively suppressing the Azure Province righteous path."

"My demonic path has no shortage of Core Formation ninth level cultivators, and even more Core Formation tenth level cultivators such as Elder Demon Overlord, Sect Master of the Myriad Demons Sect, Ghost Swordsman, and not to mention Sect Master Autumn Moon."

This time, Qian Gui was much more respectful, even addressing Lin Changqing as 'senior.' However, his tone still carried an undercurrent of threat, subtly implying that the demonic forces in Qingzhou were very powerful, essentially advising Lin Changqing not to interfere.

"Oh, are you threatening me? What if I do interfere?" As he spoke, a cold glint flashed in Lin Changqing's eyes. He directly pressed his left hand on the Seven Kill Saber and then unleashed a strike!

This strike instantly cleaved Qian Gui in two. Before his death, Qian Gui's face was filled with astonishment, clearly not expecting Lin Changqing to attack so suddenly!

"Senior… you!" The remaining Seven Fiends and the other two Core Formation demonic cultivators were shocked, equally surprised that Lin Changqing had directly killed Qian Gui with a single strike!

"You actually killed Qian Gui! So what if you are at the ninth level of Core Formation? Our demonic path has no shortage of tenth-level cultivators. How could you act in such a way today? Have you considered the consequences you will face in the coming days!"

"The tenth level Core Formation experts of our demonic path will descend and kill you one day!" After Lin Changqing killed the man, the other two demonic Core Formation cultivators no longer held back, their words becoming impolite. Lin Changqing remained silent and unleashed another strike, killing both of them instantly.

In the blink of an eye, only the Seven Fiends remained.

Looking at the corpses of his three companions, the Seven Fiends swallowed hard. After a moment, he shakily pulled out an invitation from his storage bag. He suppressed his fear and said, "You cannot kill me! I have a connection with Elder Mo Batian. Do you see this invitation? This is for his grandson's Nine-Pattern Golden Core banquet, which will be held in Tiandu County in five days, and Elder Mo Batian invited me."

"You cannot kill me! Elder Mo Batian is at the tenth level of Core Formation. If you kill me, the Elder will not let you go! I have a connection with him!"

The Seven Fiends hoped that invoking the name of Mo Batian, a tenth-level Core Formation expert, would make the young man in azure robes fear him.

However, he was disappointed. After hearing this, the azure-robed cultivator opposite him stood with his hands behind his back, sneering repeatedly.

"Good, very good. You have provided me with some useful information. So, Mo Batian wants to hold some kind of Golden Core banquet in a few days. This seat will storm Tiandu County tomorrow and send both him and his grandson on their way together!"

"I will turn their joyous celebration into a funeral!" Lin Changqing said with a cold laugh.

Hearing this, the Seven Fiends looked stunned. This person knew what he was saying. A ninth-level Core Formation cultivator actually dared to say he would kill Mo Batian?

The Seven Fiends wanted to say that he was spouting nonsense, but before he could speak, Lin Changqing attacked, directly shattering his head with a single strike.

[You have killed four demonic Core Formation cultivators. A deathly silence descends. All the demonic cultivators are plunged into fear. The cultivators on the Blackwater Market side also have a dreamlike feeling. No one expected that the demonic Core Formation cultivators besieging Blackwater Market would be so easily killed by you.]

"A true saint has descended…" Er Hei at the end of the crowd swallowed. He was very excited, after all, the four demonic Core Formation cultivators besieging Blackwater Market had been killed, but in an instant, this excitement diminished.

Er Hei heard the words of those demonic Core Formation cultivators before their deaths. This senior was at the ninth level of Core Formation, capable of resolving the siege of their Blackwater Market, but not the siege of the entire Qingzhou. After all, the demonic path in Qingzhou had tenth-level Core Formation experts.

But no matter what, Blackwater Market was currently safe. Thinking of this, Er Hei breathed a sigh of relief and began to celebrate with his surrounding companions. Regardless of what the future held, at least they would no longer have to die.

[After killing the Seven Fiends, you stand in place, pondering something.]

[You are considering the matter of establishing a sect. You have tentatively decided to name this sect the Hall of Reincarnation. This return to overturn the demonic path is only your first step. The second step is to establish a new order in Qingzhou, an order created by you.]

[The demonic path's order is not what you want. They are too chaotic and disorderly, or rather, they have no order at all.]

[The righteous path's order is also not what you want. Under the righteous path's order, although it can ensure that people live to the greatest extent possible.]

[But it is not enough for a person to merely live.]

[The righteous path's order also has oppression, with very narrow channels for advancement. When you were a rogue cultivator, the righteous path sects controlled resources, and rogue cultivators like you had very few opportunities. Only cultivators with kind hearts like Ni Chang were willing to give rogue cultivators some opportunities, but overall, people like Ni Chang were rare. You are also dissatisfied with the righteous path's order in Qingzhou.]

[Therefore, you want to create your own order, an order based on good and evil, an order that will give everyone hope to climb upwards.]

[In your vision, you will first start building the Hall of Reincarnation from Qingzhou, and in the future, expand it to the myriad realms. After establishing the Underworld, the ten Yama Kings of the Underworld will be held by the disciples of the Hall of Reincarnation. After people from the myriad realms die, the disciples of the Hall of Reincarnation will detain these ghosts and send them to reincarnation based on their good and evil deeds.]

[This is a great vision. You are slowly realizing the grand aspiration you made that day. You decide to start with Qingzhou first.]

[Just as you are thinking about how to build the Hall of Reincarnation, Ni Chang and Wu Bai fly towards you, obviously wanting to thank you for resolving the siege.]

[Seeing Ni Chang arrive, you look up. Just right, you also have something you want to ask her.]

[That is about the Mermaid Pearl and the Mermaid Kingdom in the deep sea. You want to understand the secrets about the Mermaid Pearl, what exactly is the use of this thing, and why did Qiu Yue steal it?]

[In addition, you also want to know how Ni Chang escaped from Qiu Yue's hands.]