Legend of the Great Sage

the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished had threatened these “companions” of his many times in the past.
He really had built up an infamous reputation with them already.

If it had been anyone else, even if they possessed supreme strength, they would struggle to make the Zither Spirit of Green Ripple submit to them if they could not obtain her recognition.
If they tried to use force, she would probably rather perish than be sullied.

However, against an “old friend” like the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished, the Zither Spirit of Green Ripple was not bold enough to do that.
She possessed a heart of the zither, so she was very clever.
She understood that arguing with a madman would get her nowhere.
At a time like this, she was better off holding back with her pride of rather perishing than being sullied!

However, she still could not help but ask Xiao An, “Do you know how to play the zither?” She had no idea how she had managed to make the Deviance sword submit to her.
Even the Five Absolutes Immortal back then could not make the Sword Spirit of Deviance behave so obediently.
Of course, the Five Absolutes Immortal had never taken a sword that he was destined to relinquish seriously either, so he did not spend too much effort keeping him in check.

“I don’t.” Xiao An placed her hand on the zither, and the Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged forth.

“Alright then!” The Zither Spirit of Green Ripple accepted this helplessly.

As soon as Xiao An refined the Green Ripple zither, one of the great buildings within the cluster of structures was cut in half in a single slash.

If it were not for the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished who had served as a traitorous guide, that would have been the main entrance of the Zither Tomb.

Blade aura surged and whistled, cutting through several dozen buildings before coming to a halt.
The fierce winds lifted Xiao An’s clothes, making her look back.

Kung Tianyou stood above the missing ruins and met her gaze from afar as she stood on the top of the buildings.

“The successor of white bone! You sure are a beauty.
A pity!”

He took a step forward before suddenly halting again.
A zither string caught his foot.

Before he knew it, the entire space had been filled with criss-crossing zither strings.

Xiao An pressed down on the Green Ripple zither with both hands and plucked it forcefully, without any proper technique for zithers.
She only used a single move to push the destructive power of the Zither Tomb to the limit.

She also understood that she only had a single chance.

All of the strings thrummed together, producing a chaotic reverie.

The strings entwined around Kuang Tianyou layer by layer as if it was trying to weave a great cocoon.

With a slash of his blade, the countless buildings were reduced to dust, and the strings all snapped together.

The building where Xiao An stood bore the full brunt of the attack, reduced to empty land.
A gully appeared in the building’s original location, where the sights of the nine provinces were actually visible within the gully.
As it turned out, the slash from earlier was only the collateral damage left after he forced open this place.

However, Xiao An had vanished.
Kuang Tianyou said, “How sly! You think you can exhaust my strength and buy time?”

He could deceive the laws of the world, but he could not use even a wisp of spiritual qi from the World of the Nine Provinces to replenish his strength.
He had to return to the Gate of Hungry Ghosts for that.
He could return here in a short while with his speed, but there were so many eyes watching in the sky right now.
He definitely could not humiliate himself like that.

“I’d like to see where else you’ll flee to once you leave this place.” But after leaving the Zither Tomb, he followed the guide of the gazes in the sky and arrived at another empty place.
“More?”

Within a thatched hut, a scholar with a great beard clutched a brush and wrote a couplet.
There was the flash of a sword before him, and the brush in his hand trembled.
He cried out, “Deviance!”

“Call me granddaddy Deviance!” The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished snatched his beard.

A while later, Xiao An refined a brush.
She twirled it around at the tip of her fingers and looked down.
The couplet detailed, “Smooth sailing from year to year, may all things go as planned!” There was a horizontal scroll as well, “Shine bright, the stars of fortune!” However, the last stroke in “fortune” was dragged out dramatically.

With a rumble, the Calligraphy Tomb had been breached!

With a swing of the brush, all of the works of calligraphy in the Calligraphy Tomb, including the couplet on the table, rushed out through the gap.

In an instant, a figure rushed through the storm of calligraphy strokes and forced his way into the thatched hut.

The thatched hut was already empty by now.

Kuang Tianyou raised an eyebrow and became angered.
He never thought a trifle like this would actually take him so much effort!

The entire Chess Tomb was a colossal chessboard.
Black and white pieces scattered across the place, forming a series of endgames.
Every single game was like a formation, constantly changing and evolving.

The chess spirit had a long, black-and-white hat and long white robes.
His facial features were delicate like a woman’s.
He tried to wait for his master here, for a genius chess player that could solve all of his endgames.
However, right now, he had already yielded to the Immortal Relinquished sword’s blade with a pale face.

The Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished said, “These three guys are all easy to deal with.
If it were that fake dragon instead, I’d be forced to hack him to pieces!”

Perhaps they were all bound by their inherent dispositions.
The zither, chess, brush, and sword were all for people to use.
Apart from the mad, traitorous Immortal Relinquished sword, the zither spirit, chess spirit, and brush spirit had all been waiting for a suitable master, so they were relatively easy to force into submission.

Paintings were different.
They could only be admired and not used, so they had a disposition of their own, not to mention the fact that the Five Absolutes Immortal had painted a dragon.
As such, he would have never accepted the Immortal Relinquished sword’s threats.

“Once this place falls as well, we will have nowhere left to go!”

Xiao An planted the Blood Sea Banner in the chess board silently and assembled the Skeleton Demon Formation.
She made the Sword Spirit of Immortal Relinquished control the sword formation and placed the zither and brush beside her so that they could also assist her.

Yes, there were no more paths of retreat!

Her chances at survival were extremely slim, but there was no fear, only a deep sense of apology.

I’m sorry, Qingshan.
I’m going to break our promise.
I might not be able to accompany you to beyond the Nine Heavens!

The chessboard shuddered.
The Chess Tomb had been breached!

Kuang Tianyou’s eyebrows were firmly furrowed.
Stars glimmered within his eyes.
The entire night sky formed a chessboard, and the glittering stars were chess pieces.

Unfortunately, compared to solving these puzzles slowly, he preferred crushing them with absolute strength.
He cut apart the night sky with a single slash, but another board replaced it.

In the blink of an eye, he had overcome several dozen endgames.
He became even more impatient as he yelled out, “Successor of white bone, stop dragging out a feeble existence and just come and die!”

The chess spirit called out, “I’m almost running out of endgames! Master, just who is your enemy? How are they so powerful!?”

Xiao An said nothing as she tightened her grip around the Buddha Slaying sword!

Kuang Tianyou destroyed the last “night sky”.
Suddenly, his feet touched solid ground.
He stood on a colossal chessboard.

On the board, the two sides clashed like an ancient battlefield between armies of thousands.
He was caught in it immediately.

The zither music was chaotic, launching an ambush from all sides.
The almost indiscernible rings of a bell stirred up his soul too.

The boundless sea of blood surged turbulently as an army of skeletons, a million strong, rode the waves and tried to swallow him.

Thirty-six prayer beads spun and descended from above.
A hundred and thirty nine bone swords criss-crossed and wove together.

The endless slaughter of billions of lives was just for this battle!

Kuang Tianyou finally became cautious.
He could not afford to mess up such a simple task!

Golden light flashed in his eyes, stabilising his soul.
With a forceful stamp, the entire chessboard shuddered, and the chess pieces were thrown into the air.
He allowed the tiny bone swords to hit his body, resulting in a series of clangs.
The sword formation that could butcher Demon Kings actually failed to harm him at all.

With a swing of his sword, the sea of blood parted.
He suddenly felt his neck tighten.
The Skull Prayer Beads wrapped firmly around him, turning into tiny skeletons that bit down on him viciously, dragging him into the air.

With a flash, the Immortal Relinquished sword pierced through the air, slashing down right over him.

He gripped the prayer beads with his left hand and ripped them off forcefully as he swung his blade with his right hand and repelled the Immortal Relinquished sword.

At this moment, a white figure silently emerged from the sea of blood, arriving behind him.
The sword pierced through the air!

The multiple ambushes and layers upon layers of formations were just for this strike.

The Buddha Slaying Sword!