The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-600

On the 28th of April, the army of the Heavenly God Palace successfully breached an important checkpoint, Lifeng County City. In this battle, the Mani Temple had two hundred thousand casualties, while the Heavenly God Palace only lost about ten thousand men.

On the 11th of May, the Heavenly God Palace successfully broke through the defense line on the route to the Tiangu Mountain. In this battle, three hundred thousand soldiers of the Mani Temple died and over a hundred thousand soldiers were injured. The remaining survivors in that fight fled. On the other hand, the Heavenly God Palace only suffered casualties of thirty thousand men.

On the 21st of May...

...

The Heavenly God Palace destroyed everything that obstructed its path…

With over 1,500,000 soldiers, the army of the Heavenly God Palace was formed by elite cultivators, who were specially chosen from among the one billion citizens of Qingzhou, Youzhou, and the Great Prairie, as well as the elite cultivators from the Western Regions. Pei San, the God of Heaven Su Mengte, Li Chao of the Sword Sect, the King of Beasts Wu Hou, Pei Hao, the King of the Western Regions Tu Zanke, and many other Emptiness Realm Experts led this army and charged towards the Mani Temple through the quickest route!

The army of the Heavenly God Palace had no intention of conquering the cities!

They did not demand the obedience of the people!

The army of the Heavenly God Palace was ordered to proceed by the shortest route and kill anything that obstructed their way. The army successfully progressed through six checkpoints. Even though they managed to seize the checkpoints, they did not leave any troops behind for garrison purposes.

On the 12th of June, the army of the Heavenly God Palace arrived at the bottom of the mountain where the Mani Temple was located.

It was a hot summer night.

"Little Jun, the 1,500,000 soldiers of the Heavenly God Palace did not conquer any cities. The army attacked anything that obstructed their way and continued advancing towards the Mani Temple. This does not seem like a conquest." Teng Qingshan commented emotionally as he read the letter in his hand. Li Jun, who stayed by his side, smiled and said, "It looks more like revenge."

"Yeah." Teng Qingshan nodded.

If the purpose of this battle was for more territory, the Heavenly God Palace would dispatch troops to garrison the newly conquered areas.

If they had not stationed any troops to secure the new conquests, the fights would be considered a waste of time and resources.

"Qingshan, 1,400,000 soldiers of the Heavenly God Palace have arrived at the gates of the Mani Temple. The Mani Temple has about one million monks, six hundred thousand elite monk warriors, and over one million powerful experts. This is a battle between an army with over one million elite cultivators and another army with over one million elite cultivators. This battle will be intense and extremely tragic." Li Jun said and could not help but sigh.

Teng Qingshan nodded in agreement.

In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, without the support of a third party, no other sects would be able to send out an army as great as the army of the Heavenly God Palace or the army of the Mani Temple. The Blood Wolf Army of the Xing Yi Sect might have better elite soldiers. Because the army of the Heavenly God Palace and the army of the Mani Temple had much more soldiers, the Blood Wolf Army was still considered weaker.

"Back then, when Hong Tian City was destroyed, eighty thousand cavalrymen survived."

"However, the Mani Temple is much stronger than the Hong Tian City. Moreover, the monks of the Mani Temple are very confident fighters. This battle is different. We knew that the Hong Tian City would lose even before the battle started. But currently, no one can predict the end of this battle." Teng Qingshan said with a smile, "Little Jun, tomorrow, the Undying Phoenix and I will be going to the mountains where the Mani Temple is located…to witness this great battle. Moreover, it is very likely that the Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert of the Mani Temple will appear. I can't miss out on a fight between two Insightful Emptiness Realm Experts."

Teng Qingshan was intrigued by the war between the two supreme sects, the battle between the two powerful armies, and the fight between the two Insightful Emptiness Realm Experts.

"When you come back, you have to tell me everything." Li Jun said with a smile. She knew that the battle between millions of people would bring unprecedented chaos to the battlefield. If she had followed along, Teng Qingshan would be distracted as he would have to take care of her.

"No problem!" Teng Qingshan replied with a grin.

...

On the morning of the 13th of June, Teng Qingshan rode on the Undying Phoenix and left the Great Yan Mountain in Yangzhou. He flew westward and passed by the region of Yanzhou and Rongzhou. Soon, a mountain range could be seen extending continuously between the borders of Liangzhou and Rongzhou. The Mani Temple was located in the mountain range.

Since the Omnipotent Expert Martial Ancestor Shiga established the Mani Temple, the Mani Temple had thrived and prospered. It became the biggest temple in the Land of the Nine Prefectures and about one million monks stayed in this temple. And now, a great number of elite disciples and elite soldiers could be seen in the temple. The six hundred thousand elite monk warriors and almost one million monks, who had been practicing the Buddhist cultivation somewhere else, gathered in the Mani Temple.

All these people formed the foundation of the Mani Temple.

Whew~~ Whew~~

As the hot summer wind blew, the soldiers of the Heavenly God Palace proceeded to form encircling rings around the mountains. The noises of the grandiose movements could be heard. This massive army with numerous iron-suited soldiers gave the vibe of an endless sea. Currently being the most powerful army in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, the vast elite army of the Heavenly God Palace made the atmosphere feel suffocating.

On the top of the hills and mountains, many monks with weapons in their hands could be seen. There seemed to be an infinite number of people as well.

Both sides just stood opposite each other. No one moved yet.

"Good Lord. There are so many people. This fight will be interesting." A silver-haired man, dressed in a purple cloak, said to himself as he stood far away from the battlefield. He occasionally watched the numerous people on the ground and occasionally watched the numerous people on the mountains. "I, Li Hang, have never in my life seen a fight with this many elite cultivators. Interesting…"

"Brother Li Hang." A voice sounded in his ear.

Li Hang turned and saw a beam of light flying towards him from afar and then landing on the ground. It was an elder with a fat head and big ears. Seeing this, Li Hang smiled and said, "Brother Jiang, you came as well. Is it not busy in the Wan Xiang Sect?"

"Even if it's busy, I have to come." The chubby old man laughed as he replied.

"Members of the Emperor Yu's Hall are here too?" The chubby old man muttered as he saw two guys flying over together. The two guys were Huang Tianqin and Liu Xia.

After a while—

Emptiness Realm Experts from different sects and a few Emptiness Realm Experts, who were not part of any sects, had all arrived. The powerful forces, such as the Ying Family and the Emperor Yu's Hall, and the weaker forces, such as the Snow Hawk Hall and the Gui Yuan Sect, all sent members over to watch this battle. Among the people who came, there were three Emptiness Realm Experts who were not part of a sect; Li Hang was one of the three. The group of Emptiness Realm Experts gathered together and began chatting.

"Another Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert!"

"Look!"

The group of Emptiness Realm Experts turned and looked over and was shocked by what they saw. They saw Teng Qingshan, wearing a white cloak and holding the Reincarnation Spear, on the back of the Undying Phoenix. They were not only shocked by the fact that Teng Qingshan had become an Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert, but were also horrified at the sight of the huge demonic dragon that came with Teng Qingshan.

The demonic dragon's body was protected by these purple and black scales and each scale was the size of a human's palm. It also had golden eyes as big as a wheel.

"Demonic Dragon Violet Rain!" Many people gasped.

"Teng Qingshan reached the Insightful Emptiness Realm?" Huang Tianqin's smile froze as he stared at Teng Qingshan. Previously, he had lost against Teng Qingshan and proceeded to focus on strengthening his state of cultivation. Finally, his body became stronger and he achieved a small success in the Insightful Emptiness Realm. This time, he had come to intimidate Teng Qingshan and crush Teng Qingshan's ego.

"Martial Uncle." Liu Xia stared at Huang Tianqin as he commented, "Teng Qingshan is actually…"

"Hmph." Huang Tianqin humphed. The expression on his face looked very horrible.

Many Emptiness Realm Experts quickly went to greet Teng Qingshan, who had just arrived.

"Haha, Brother Teng. In the blink of an eye, you reached the Insightful Emptiness Realm. I really admire you." The silver-haired expert Li Hang said with a smile.

"Brother Li Hang." Teng Qingshan landed on the ground and grinned as he walked over.

Seeing that Teng Qingshan had responded with such a good attitude, Li Hang felt respected. After all, Teng Qingshan was the Sovereign of the Xing Yi Sect, a powerful force in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, and was now an Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert. When Teng Qingshan arrived with the Undying Phoenix and the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain, even the Emperor Yu's Hall and the Ying Family felt a lot of pressure. Indeed, Teng Qingshan's status had become much higher.

However, even though Teng Qingshan held such a high position and status, he was still very polite. Thus, Li Hang was very happy.

"Sovereign Teng." A chubby elder cupped his hands and greeted.

"Elder Jiang." Teng Qingshan greeted with a smile.

"Brother Teng." A cold-looking man, wearing a golden cloak and carrying a godly sword, could be seen. He also had a red mole between his eyebrows. This man was Qin Shiqi of the Ying Family, the one who fought against Pei San a long time ago. Qin Shiqi cupped his hands and said, "Brother Teng, congratulations to you for attaining the Insightful Emptiness Realm. I see that the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain have come as well. It is such a rare sight."

Teng Qingshan smiled and said, "Brother Violet Rain found out through me about the battle between the Mani Temple and the Heavenly God Palace. And so, it asked to come watch the battle."

...

The members of the Emperor Yu's Hall stood nearby. Huang Tianqin and Liu Xia felt very angry as they saw the group of people chatting with Teng Qingshan and the Undying Phoenix as well as the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain hovering in the sky.

"Teng Qingshan is so lucky. I can't believe the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain became friends with him." Liu Xia could not help but say.

"He will rise to the top and fall hard. Let's see how long he can maintain his pride!" Huang Tianqin was still mad about what happened last time. He wanted to crush Teng Qingshan's ego today. However, when he saw that Teng Qingshan had attained the Insightful Emptiness Realm and had arrived with the Undying Phoenix and the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain, he realized that it was the Emperor Yu's Hall that had been intimidated.

Moreover, Teng Qingshan had better relations with people than the Emperor Yu's Hall.

As the sun rose, its rays glowed fervently.

The vast army on the land and the many monks on the mountains continued facing each other in silence, while the Emptiness Realm Experts were chatting and laughing as they watched the battle from the side.

"Look." Li Hang said as he pointed towards the Heavenly God Palace.

Everyone turned and saw several figures flew up and hovered above the army of the Heavenly God Palace. The first figure was Pei San, who wore a light yellow long cloak and stood on the Godly Thunderbolt Hawk. The God of Heaven Su Mengte, the lone-armed Li Chao, Pei Hao, the King of Beasts Wu Hou, and the King of the Western Region Tu Zanke were all riding a Golden Dan flying demonic beast and hovering beside Pei San.

This group of people hovered high up in the sky.

Simultaneously, a cold-sounding voice blasted. "After this battle, the Mani Temple will no longer exist in the Land of the Nine Prefectures." The voice resounded throughout the heavens and besides everyone's ears.

"Listen to my command!" Pei San said with an indifferent tone, "Attack and destroy the Mani Temple!"

Immediately, the vast army of iron-suited soldiers responded in agreement, creating noises as loud as the rumbling thunder.

"Pei San, the Mani Temple has done nothing wrong to you. Why don't we talk things out first?" Five monks, dressed in purple monastic robes, flew out and hovered in mid-air. The one who spoke was the young monk named Fan Kong. At this moment, the members of the Mani Temple felt bitter. They had no idea why the Heavenly God Palace attacked. And now, the leader of the Heavenly God Palace had issued the order to attack without even providing any explanation.

The members of the Mani Temple were just confused.

"Hmph!"

Pei San humphed coldly.

The troops of the Heavenly God Palace had responded obediently and had begun advancing towards the Mani Temple. The great number of soldiers charged forward! It was as though the floodgates had been opened and a great amount of water was flowing towards the Mani Temple.

"Everyone, attack!" Pei San said coldly.

He then stood on the back of the Godly Thunderbolt Hawk and soared towards the Mani Temple. The other Emptiness Realm Experts of the Heavenly God Palace had already begun attacking.

...

Teng Qingshan could continuously hear the shouts and cries coming from the battlefield. It felt like the earth was shaking. The soldiers of the Heavenly God Palace charged forward on the pathway to the mountaintop. Soon, they started fighting with the monks and Buddhist warriors, causing blood to splash everywhere. The terrifying bloodshed had begun!

"Sovereign Pei, this is the sacred land of the Buddhist Sect. Stop acting impudently" A magnificent-sounding voice suddenly resonated beside everyone's ears.

On a faraway mountaintop, a huge flying Emptiness Realm Demonic Beast swooped down rapidly. It was a huge roc with golden-colored wings. On its back stood a bare-footed monk with ordinary-looking yellow monastic robes. The bare-footed monk's entire body was surrounded by these golden rays of light. The moment he emerged, the chanting of mantras could be heard.

"Haha…" Pei San responded with such horrendous laugh. With his feet on the Godly Thunderbolt Hawk, he proceeded to approach the monk dressed in the yellow monastic robes.

Almost instantly, Pei San and the bare-footed monk, dressed in the yellow monastic robes, leaped up together

Roar~~"

"Rumble~~"

As they clashed together, a soft golden light radiated all around. A blurred golden palm sent Pei San flying towards the ground. On the other hand, the monk dressed in the yellow monastic robes fell onto the back of the roc with golden-colored wings. "Screech~~" The Godly Thunderbolt Hawk immediately darted out and caught Pei San in the air. As Pei San fell on the hawk's back, he looked miserable.