The blackwater salamander circled through the water nimbly and mocked, “Milliped? Are you talking about that idiot? Only an idiot would follow his commands. You’re an idiot. I’m not.”
Li Qingshan raised his claw. “What if I say that you must submit?”
“If you can catch me, I’ll listen to you!”
“Alright!” Li Qingshan actually roared that out, and the Tiger Demon’s Killing Roar followed. It blasted the water apart as it shot towards the blackwater salamander.
The blackwater salamander did not try to dodge. He just let the Tiger Demon’s Killing Blow land on his body, which ended up being deflected to the bottom of the lake, creating a great hole. However, it was completely unscathed. It mocked again with daemon qi, “Doesn’t even scratch my itch!”
Li Qingshan was slightly surprised. He had seen with great clarity that a layer of light had flowed over its body earlier. Its innate ability seemed to be able to deflect attacks. It was no wonder it wanted Li Qingshan to try and catch it.
The blackwater salamander twisted its body and unleashed a water arrow, which produced a strange, sharp whistle. The arrow arrived before Li Qingshan in the blink of an eye. It did not create the same disturbance as earlier, but it was truly a killing strike. It could easily pierce rock and metal.
Li Qingshan did not dodge either. The water arrow arrived before him, but a barrier of blue light stopped it. It was the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell.
“Doesn’t scratch an itch either!” He relaxed slightly. Its attacks were powerful, but they were all water-elemented, so they would struggle to get through his Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell that happened to be of the same element.
However, if four or five ninth layer Qi Practitioners like the West Gate Granny were battling the blackwater salamander in deep water instead, only death would await them. While the blackwater salamander was not a Daemon General, it was very difficult to deal with once it possessed a geographical advantage.
The blackwater salamander was surprised by how its attack was useless. It sucked in deeply and produced thousands of water arrows, creating a series of straight, white tracks within the black water.
Like the rain of a thunderstorm peppering a window, the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell shook slightly as if it could shatter at any moment. However, it actually managed to remain firmly intact in the face of the wave of water arrows. There was not even a crack.
However, Li Qingshan felt his daemon qi rapidly deplete. He knew that while it was difficult to destroy the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, it was costly to maintain it as well. If this continued, there would be no benefit at all. He kicked off the bottom of the lake and shot off.
The blackwater salamander saw Li Qingshan charge over and prepared itself. It opened its huge mouth and revealed its shiny, white teeth, waiting for Li Qingshan to come to it as it bit down.
Li Qingshan butted his head. He seemed to be delivering his head into the opponent’s mouth, but his two sharp ox horns prevented the blackwater salamander from biting down. It twisted its head and bit Li Qingshan’s shoulder.
The two colossal creatures immediately became entangled with each other. Black water surged as daemon qi filled the entire place.
Li Qingshan felt his shoulder ache. The sharp teeth of the blackwater salamander had already pierced his hide, but he did not mind it. He wrapped his hands around the blackwater salamander and pulled it towards the bottom of the lake.
Although he was also technically an aquatic daemon, he was accustomed to his lifestyle on land, so he was not as agile as the blackwater salamander in water. However, as long as his feet were planted on the ground, he would be able to draw strength from the ground. He would be able to use his tremendous strength to overwhelm the blackwater salamander.
Originally, the blackwater salamander wanted to bite off a part of Li Qingshan’s shoulder, but it felt like it had bit into the tough hide of an ox. It tried to tear away with its teeth, but Li Qingshan had grabbed onto it firmly now, such that it was unable to break free. It became even more surprised now. The opponent’s daemon qi was nowhere near as great as its, so why was the opponent’s strength greater?
The lake was deep, but it was not the sea. Li Qingshan was tall enough to be able to wade through most of the water. Immediately, his pair of hooves landed on the bottom of the lake again, and he let out a great roar, throwing the blackwater salamander against the bottom. He thought he had succeeded. I’ve won!
The blackwater salamander’s pitch-black skin flashed with a slick light. Li Qingshan only felt it sliding out of his grasp. The blackwater salamander slid away like a ghost. Even his barb-like claws were unable to keep it trapped.
“You can’t catch me!” The blackwater salamander mocked as it vanished from the range of Li Qingshan’s vision with lightning speed.
Li Qingshan thought, This guy’s innate ability is so difficult to deal with. No wonder he doesn’t take a Daemon General like Milliped seriously. Although its attacks aren’t exactly powerful, fighting it in water is extremely difficult.
However, this was his first battle, so how could he give up? He shot off in pursuit of the daemon qi.
The daemon qi suddenly vanished, and the ripples in the surroundings grew more and more violent. White waves swept through the black water. This place underground descended into a world of black and white.
Without any prior signs, without any ripples in the water that he could sense, a black shadow suddenly appeared behind Li Qingshan, colliding against his waist viciously.
Li Qingshan’s waist ached, and he lost his balance. All he managed to see from the corner of his eye was the blackwater salamander disappearing into the water again. Before he could even stabilise himself, the blackwater salamander had changed its direction and collided with him again.
The blackwater salamander produced countless, pitch-black traces in the water, which criss-crossed Li Qingshan.
In a single moment, even Li Qingshan himself had no idea how many times he had been hit. The world spun around him in a dizzying manner, like he was the blackwater salamander’s toy.
His body was in pain. He only remained alive because of his tough body. The strongest daemons truly were difficult to deal with! However, he did not become dejected. Instead, his battle spirit was ignited.
He did not use the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, as his daemon qi was not as great as the blackwater salamander’s. If he continued to use the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, his daemon qi would probably run out very soon, so he could only temporarily retreat for now.
But how was he supposed to retreat? He did not get Xiao An to help him, not because he wanted Xiao An to hide and launch a sneak attack, but because he treated this as a test for himself.
This was not a battle to the death where he needed to fight tooth-and-nail. Instead, he was trying to make a daemon submit to him as a soldier. As a result, not only did he have to win this battle, but he also had to achieve an overwhelming victory.
Their difference in strength was not particularly big. Apart from being slightly weaker in terms of daemon qi, his strength and abilities actually surpassed the salamander. He must be doing something wrong seeing how he failed to gain the upper hand!
Li Qingshan closed his eyes, and he was slammed viciously a few more times by the blackwater salamander. Despite the raging waves, there was peace at the bottom of his heart.
A droplet of water seemed to land at the bottom of his heart and produce a ripple. Li Qingshan suddenly understood. It was water!
Although he was an aquatic daemon, he was not accustomed to battle in water. The way he controlled water was extremely clumsy as well. He had failed to make proper use of the environment, allowing the blackwater salamander to claim the geographic advantage all for itself!
He floated freely in the water, no longer trying to control his body anymore. He no longer forced himself to remain at the bottom. He was like a creature that lived in the water, treating the water like his home.
His daemon qi spread out into the surroundings and established a connection with the surrounding water. It was no longer as clumsy as when he tried to pick up that great ball of water and throw it at his opponent. Instead, it was like sonar, surveilling the surrounding waters with great sensitivity.
The blackwater salamander rushed over once again like a black, ghostly bolt of lightning. Although it did not kick up any ripples, it did come into contact with the water that Li Qingshan controlled.
“Behind!” Li Qingshan suddenly turned around, but he was not as agile as the blackwater salamander. At such a close distance, even if he managed to sense it, he was unable to dodge.
The blackwater salamander was complacent. It was ready to slam into Li Qingshan again and throw him into confusion, yet Li Qingshan’s huge figure moved to the left without any prior signs at all.
Li Qingshan controlled the water to push himself aside. He dodged the blackwater salamander’s attack for the first time.
Now, he finally felt like he resembled an aquatic daemon slightly.
When he sensed the blackwater salamander’s direction, he clenched a fist and threw it at the salamander’s head viciously the moment it brushed past him.
With a bang, a sound wave spread through the entire body of water.
Li Qingshan’s long-prepared strike of fury was no joke. It could even crush rock and steel. He just happened to be wondering whether he had been too heavy-handed.
“Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” The blackwater salamander clutched its head with its two front limbs and swam far away with a swing of its tail. In that instant, it had used its ability that could deflect attacks again, deflecting most of the force. That was why it had not entered a daze after suffering the attack.
Li Qingshan bobbed up and down in the water as he looked at the blackwater salamander. His daemon qi pulsed. “Why don’t you admit defeat?”
“Have you caught me?” The blackwater salamander was infuriated. It actually just swam away. “Even if I can’t beat you, don’t even think about capturing me and making me listen to your command!”
Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows. He adjusted his posture and leaned forwards in a freestyle position. His limbs swept backwards, and then he controlled the water to rush at the blackwater salamander.
How could the blackwater salamander lose to Li Qingshan when it came to swimming? With a swing of its tail, it darted over ten meters to the side. No matter what swimming style Li Qingshan used, he would never be able to match its natural agility.
Just when it wanted to mock Li Qingshan, it suddenly felt something tighten around its tail. Li Qingshan had grabbed its tail, but the tail was the slipperiest part of its body. With a flash, it immediately swam into the distance, and it no longer stopped this time round.
Two colossal creatures dwelled within this expansive, underground lake, one chasing desperately and one fleeing madly.
Even though the blackwater salamander had nowhere to hide, Li Qingshan was clearly too slow. He could not even touch its tail.
After three whole days and nights, they slowed down to the speed of regular fish. Both of them were utterly exhausted, but they both refused to admit defeat.
Li Qingshan felt like he had become an actual fish. He had gained a completely new understanding of how to swim and how to control the water flow. Battles in water were no longer a weakness to him anymore.
Even though he was exhausted, he managed to tail behind the blackwater salamander the entire time with his ox-like endurance, giving it no time to rest.
The blackwater salamander was utterly infuriated and called Li Qingshan all sorts of things. Suddenly, the space before it lit up, and a ball of fire burned quietly in the water. Within the fire was a tiny skeleton.
Just like daemons, she used her aura to communicate. “We might as well kill it and eat its daemon core.” Two large skulls resided beside her, opening and closing their mouths like they were waiting for a meal.
“I admit defeat, I admit defeat! Don’t eat me! Or I’ll blow up my daemon core!” The blackwater salamander’s instincts warned it of danger. It knew that this was the end of the rope now. It felt dejected inside, but it also admired Li Qingshan’s endurance a little.
“I’ll submit to you as the leader. What kind of thing are you supposed to be?”
