Chapter 1019

The Myriad Spirit Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship hovered above a great city.

The Glazed Buddha Kingdom had no division into provinces or prefectures.

The vast Buddha Kingdom, aside from the central Glazed Pure Land of the capital, was divided into four great regions, each of which further subdivided into several pure lands, and within each pure land a series of Chan monasteries were established to educate and protect the populace.

The great city beneath the massive ship is the Glazed Buddha Kingdom, the location of the headquarters of the Golden Light Chan Monastery in the Stone Pure Land of the Southern Separation Region.

A Chan monastery is a city.

Just like the Glazed Pure Land, this Golden Light Chan Monastery—or Golden Light City—has already become a place where demons run rampant, countless common folk as if fallen into hell, having tasted the utmost cruelty and brutality of the world.

Now, the one presiding over the core of the amplifying divine formation on the great ship is the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable who defected to Wu Tie, originally from the Southern Ghost Kingdom.

Its true form is a mass of grayish-white mist, roughly condensed into a humanoid shape, with the head region a crystal-clear black crystal skull; the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable, exuding a chilling cold, laughed 'keke'.

In the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable's hand, he pinched two long, lustrous black strands of hair.

These are the two strands of hair taken from the heads of two young, strong, healthy male and female youths selected from the humans rescued from the dungeon after the Wuguo army captured the Golden Light Chan Monastery.

"This venerable's divine ability's cleverness lies right here…… If it's an enemy, this venerable holding a single hair of theirs, no matter how far away—even billions of miles—just a single call, tsk, can summon their living soul and do as this venerable pleases."

"Of course, this venerable's divine ability is clever not only in this…… These two hairs come from one male and one female; when this venerable uses the divine ability, besides humans of similar bloodline to these two hairs, the souls of all other beings will be summoned by this venerable."

"Now, on the land of the Glazed Buddha Kingdom, aside from humans, there are only demons…… hehe."

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable was blabbering on about his own divine ability's variations, while Huang Lang standing beside the amplifying divine formation said coldly: "Soul-Summoner, if you keep chattering, at every moment humans are being harmed by those demons…… these lives are all on your head."

"Your Majesty is magnanimous and benevolent; even you, this group of demons and monsters who have taken refuge, are treated extremely well."

"But you should also know Your Majesty's temper; if you ruin His affairs…… hehe."

A flash of cold light passed through Huang Lang's eyes: "Anyone who dares to ruin His Majesty's affairs, even if His Majesty does not pursue it, we, the old officials who have followed His Majesty for many years, will tear you to pieces!"

Huang Lang formerly began from the Da Jin Da Ze Prefecture, starting as a minor border official who followed Wu Tie; as Wu Tie developed, he rose steadily, always overseeing Wu Tie's governmental affairs, his power being formidable.

Nowadays, Huang Lang, simply standing there silent day after day, naturally exudes an aura of dignity; ordinary people, even his own grandson, dare not speak recklessly to him.

At this moment, Huang Lang's stern rebuke caused the temperature in the vast cabin to drop noticeably; even the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable, insensitive to temperature, shivered and hastily began chanting the incantation.

The two strands of hair floated, swirling rapidly around the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable.

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable channeled his soul-summoning ability into the amplifying divine formation, while 1,080 Venerable-level experts sat at the formation's nodes, gradually infusing their own power into the formation.

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable, in his usual practice of soul-summoning, can seize a person's living soul from a distance of hundreds of millions of li.

Now, bolstered by the amplifying divine formation, the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable felt his divine ability's power surge suddenly to an inconceivable level; the teeth of his black crystal skull clacked 'kekeke' rapidly, the two points of profound gloom in his eye sockets blazed bright, then transformed into two clusters of fierce yin fire spraying out over one zhang long.

"Little demons, come to this old ancestor…… come play!"

A piercing, harsh, bizarre, twisting howl rose to the heavens, making hearts and souls tremble, with waves of sour, stabbing pain in the chest.

Outside the chamber housing the main control hub of the amplifying divine formation, countless Heavenly Martial Army elite guards staggered, vomiting with a 'wa' sound; although this divine ability was not aimed at them, they were still affected by the residual ripple of that strange summons, suffering great discomfort from body to soul.

Throughout the Southern Separation Region of the Glazed Buddha Kingdom, within dozens of pure lands and tens of millions of great and small Chan monasteries, countless demons—big and small—who were happily feasting on prey, even hunting humans for sport, suddenly stiffened.

Within this range, countless humans screamed simultaneously, their eardrums in agony, as if someone had stabbed a needle into their ears.

They all crouched on the ground, hands tightly covering their ears.

Then one saw their heads of hair moving without wind, strands emitting a faint phosphorescent light; as the hairs rubbed together, the phosphorescent fire crackled 'papapa', scattering countless tiny sparks.

Those demons—big and small—who were abusing them, chasing them, or grabbing their limbs to gnaw on alive, had their movements stiffen simultaneously.

With a 'papapapa' sound, countless explosions rang out; from the seventh to eighth heavenly levels of the Divine Manifest Realm down to the Sensing Mystery Realm where just a thread of power had arisen, countless big and small demons' skulls burst open, strands of demon souls emitting mournful wails, involuntarily soaring into the air.

Throughout the Southern Separation Region, heaven knows how many trillions of demons there are.

After their skulls exploded, countless demon souls turned into glows of various sizes, shooting skyward, carrying faint demon winds that flew toward the Myriad Spirit Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship.

A demon cloud is a wisp of clear wind; ten demon souls make a gentle breeze; a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand demon souls together stir up a mighty wind in heaven and earth.

Heaven knows how many trillions of demons exploded their heads and died; their demon souls rose into the air, instantly stirring up wind and sand across heaven and earth, as many places simultaneously raised black vortex whirlwinds that swept up countless trees big and small.

Many citizens of the Glazed Buddha Kingdom had already come to the brink of life and death.

The demons' claws and weapons had already reached their vital spots; some people had been stripped clean, waiting to be thrown into the pot; some had been smeared all over with spices, waiting to be placed over the bonfire……

Furthermore, many people, having been wantonly humiliated by those demons, had already prepared to die by suicide……

Then these demons died instantly.

Countless human citizens trembled as they knelt on the ground, simultaneously reciting the scriptures they had learned before, and prostrated themselves fully toward the direction the demon souls flew.

In the void, visible strands of golden-purple qi poured downward.

Fifty percent of the golden-purple qi entered the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable's body; forty percent was divided into 1,080 portions, each poured into the bodies of the Venerable-level experts at the nodes of the amplifying divine formation; the remaining ten percent merged into the bodies of the Mohists and several other great clans who participated in casting the Myriad Spirit Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship.

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable, stiff all over, watched his body gradually emanate silken golden light; the grayish-white ghostly aura vanished, that chilling, bone-piercing sensation disappeared, his form became radiant with golden light, a near-substantial body slowly taking shape.

"This…… I also have today?" the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable shouted hoarsely, at a loss: "I also have today!"

"Ha, ha, ha, Sharira Bone Venerable, Yellow Spring Corpse Venerable, you old ghosts…… come look, come look…… this is, this is defying heaven's creation, this is to condense…… to condense a new body of flesh and blood!"

"Does this mean I, I, I am to become human again? Hehe, hehe, but this venerable's essence is still…… still……"

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable flailed his arms and legs, nearly rolling all over the ground.

With a 'dong' sound, a heavy, powerful heartbeat came from the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable's chest; he suddenly stiffened and fell to the ground, his hands over his heart, and two streams of tears suddenly burst from his eyes.

How many years has it been?

Heartbeat…… blood flow…… tears……

The Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable thought he had grown accustomed to mountains of corpses and seas of blood, to ghostly fire filling the sky, to the 'jiji' cries of his underlings, and to being cold-hearted, ruthless, and decisive……

"As it turns out, having flesh and blood is good." the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable chuckled: "I don't even know if I count as human now or what…… but this feeling is not bad…… to piss off you old ghosts, hehe, to make you old ghosts envious!"

Throughout the Southern Separation Region, demons below the seventh to eighth heavenly levels of the Divine Manifest Realm died instantly.

Those demons of the ninth and tenth heavenly levels of the Divine Manifest Realm, whose cultivation was formidable or who wielded powerful demonic artifacts for protection, found the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable's lethal power somewhat weakened due to the vast area over which he exerted his ability.

These great demons merely bled from the seven orifices, their souls and spirits gravely wounded, each dazed and unconscious, unable to recover for half a day.

When they finally came to their senses from that strange, eerie howl, these great demons cried out in unison, each losing their souls and fleeing toward the Glazed Pure Land at top speed, escaping the Southern Separation Region as fast as possible.

Huang Lang's command rang through the heavens: "Let those stray dogs go; we have no time to hunt them down."

"Convey my order: the Myriad Spirit Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship shall head to the Western Separation Region of the Glazed Buddha Kingdom; trouble the Soul-Summoning Ghost Venerable to act again, first exterminating those harmful little demons before anything else." Lao Tie's voice followed.

Issue my orders; all other warships will be personally commanded by me, and we will rush at full speed to the East Zhen Department Continent, successively recovering the great Zen monasteries and rescuing the innocent commoners. Xiahou Wuming's voice also sounded: "Old Tie Sir, the Myriad Spirit Void-Crushing God-Slaying Vessel is faster; after recovering the West Dui Department Continent, the North Gen Department Continent will also be placed under your charge……Our great army, let us go to the Glazed Pure Land and meet with His Majesty."

Lao Tie responded with an assent: "Good……Leave a detachment; the corpses of all the demon beasts of the Divine Manifestation Realm that were slain must be gathered completely, and must not be wasted at all."

A fleet of ten thousand warships was left behind to collect demon beast corpses in the South Li Department Continent; the enormous Myriad Spirit Void-Crushing God-Slaying Vessel tore through the void and sped at full speed toward the West Dui Department Continent of the Glazed Buddha Kingdom.

Xiahou Wuming boarded a flagship a thousand zhang in length, commanding all the standard warships in his entourage, and flew at full speed toward the East Zhen Department Continent.

In the Glazed Buddha Kingdom, at every moment, countless commoners are being massacred and devoured by the demons; they must split their forces into two routes and rush to rescue, otherwise they cannot save more innocent commoners.

Just as Lao Tie and Xiahou Wuming were dividing their forces, in the northeastern part of the continent where the Glazed Buddha Kingdom lies, amid the extreme deep sea, a bolt of purple thunder roared downward.

A giant whale that had been spouting water jets on the sea surface, lazily yawning, was struck by that thunder; its huge head exploded, and the lightning ravaged the whale's body stretching nearly a hundred li, reducing the whale completely to a mist of blood.

The sea surface was stained red over a wide area, and a cold voice came from high above: "You've smashed it to pieces—how are we supposed to eat it?"

Another voice, somewhat frivolous, sounded: "Hey, why not just switch to another big one? Goodness, how many years has it been since you last made a move? You've always been cooped up in the camp, afraid of being discovered by that bunch of old fussbudgets……Can't you even tell the difference in strength for a moment?"

Upon a mass of clouds in the high sky, banners entwined with spiritual light fluttered in the wind, and clearly on their faces was the character for "Thunder" formed of condensed lightning.

Vast numbers of stalwart, domineering elite soldiers clad in thunder‑light heavy armor sat cross‑legged on the cloud mass, their eyes tightly shut, deeply inhaling and exhaling the heavenly and earthly primordial energy around them.

Several dozen men wearing even more splendid armor, whose auras were greater and whose eyes occasionally flickered with specks of lightning, stood at the edge of the cloud mass, looking down upon the boundless sea below.

On the right index finger of one of the youths, a strand of purple electricity kept jumping; clearly he was the one who had just struck and slain that giant whale.

At the foremost part of the Flowing Cloud, upon a great chair condensed from thunder‑light, a burly bearded man with a vertical eye in his brow spoke coldly: "Enough—why do you still want to eat these flesh‑and‑blood things now?"

"Furthermore, keep your mouths shut……The old women on Wa Island, though stubbornly old‑fashioned, possess strength not to be trifled with; even the Great Heavenly Venerable must defer to them in person, and you few little Thunder Division war commanders dare to be disrespectful to them?"

"Certainly, they really are a bunch of old fussbudgets……Everyone knows this, so you are not allowed to say it again."

The bearded burly man gave a cold snort, waved his right hand forward, and said: "Advance at full speed—this time the demons have thrown the world into chaos, and humanity lies in dire straits……We, the Heavenly Court, are mobilizing for the first time in countless years; we must rescue the commoners from fire and water, and establish the glorious reputation of our Heavenly Court."

"Hehe, when the time comes that all of humanity has only the Great Heavenly Venerable in their hearts and no one follows Wa Island anymore……"

Several dozen heavily armored men laughed out loud in unison.

They all shouted loudly at once, lightning flickering across their bodies; the entire Flowing Cloud, stretching a hundred li, was suddenly enveloped by thunderbolts, and with a deafening thunderclap the Flowing Cloud reappeared tens of thousands of li away.

The tens of millions of soldiers sitting motionless on the Flowing Cloud—being able to convey such a multitude of immobile troops and instantaneously shift them tens of thousands of li in an instant—shows the profundity of those heavily armored men's cultivation.

Inside the Glazed Pure Land, Wu Tie suddenly felt his heart race.

He stared, extended his right hand, and rapidly moved his fingers: "What is this? Someone's coming to cause trouble for me again?"

A low, deep voice came from afar: "Trouble? Indeed, you have trouble……"

Over a hundred venerable‑level auras shot up from all directions, surrounding Wu Tie and the others.