“Wretched daemon, today is actually the day you die!”
The Green Vine staff pointed down, shattering the attack.
“Greenwood as a Dragon, the Dragon Battles in the Wilderness!”
The Green Vine Elder slammed his hand and stood up. He erupted with green light that extended and swelled around him, turning him into a green dragon complete with horns and scales. The dragon’s roars boomed as it soared out of the main hall.
A bolt of lightning shot across the sky, and a great, black curtain had already pulled over the starry night sky at a certain moment. Rain crashed down as the wild gales swept through the surroundings.
A dragon moved through the world, accompanied with rain and wind.
The green dragon stared down from above, shining with green light. It brandished its claws and fangs, scattering Li Qingshan’s daemon qi. It was imposing, just like a real god.
“An arcane artifact!”
Li Qingshan’s eyes narrowed. Only arcane artifacts possessed such power. The essence of greenwood lay in the east. Upon being condensed to the limit, it could transform into a dragon. This was not just the power of an arcane artifact, but the materialisation of the Green Vine Elder’s entire life of cultivation.
Li Qingshan’s vision darkened. Under the roaring surge of the dragon, it seemed like rolling, green waves, sweeping up the clouds and rain in an unstoppable manner.
“Die, wretched daemon!”
Boom!
Millions of rain droplets shot off in all directions, piercing countless trees and branches.
Li Qingshan gave up on his blade and directly used his fist, smashing it against the top of the green dragon’s head! Power surged through his entire body through his feet, but even with that, he still struggled against the dragon slightly. He was pushed down the mountain, leaving behind two deep trails with his feet.
Li Qingshan stopped looking down on him. He really was the leader of the three elders, a Foundation Establishment cultivator who had cultivated for centuries. When he used his ultimate technique, its power really was something else. Li Qingshan grinned through his teeth,
“If you hadn’t played dead that day, it actually wouldn’t have been so easy for me to kill them if the three of your worked together!”
“Shut up, wretched daemon! The Green Dragon Slays the Daemon!” The Green Vine Elder was driven mad from anger. He had completely lost his composure. He unfurled his arms and green light flowed out of them like a flood.
The green dragon shone brightly. It coiled over, entangling with Li Qingshan while digging its four dragon claws deeply into the ground. Thousands of vines sprouted from its body, anchoring deeply into the mountain. Even with Li Qingshan’s startling physical strength, he struggled to unleash it. The dragon wanted to rip Li Qingshan apart then and there.
Boom! There was another clap of thunder in the air, but it was unable to drown out Li Qingshan bellow, “Tremor!”
The shockwaves expanded, kicking up visible ripples on the green dragon and making it growl.
The disciples who watched on from afar all felt themselves shake. Looking over, the Green Vine mountain was actually shaking slightly, as if it was trembling before the great power of the daemon.
Li Qingshan shook off the dragon before rushing into the air.
But just a few seconds later, another dragon’s roar rang out, rising up from below his feet. The green dragon coiled up and pursued him once more, completely unscathed. It opened its mouth and unleashed a great blast.
Li Qingshan frowned and used the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell. The green light suddenly turned into thousands of vines after arriving near him, entangling him and pulling him down; it was like a frog preying on an insect, extending its tongue.
With a flash of his blade, Li Qingshan cut through the tongue, but even more vines immediately extended over, like an endless, green tidal wave.
He swung the ice blade madly like a sharp wheel that spun at high speeds, tearing through wave after wave, but it was endless.
He wants to waste away my strength! I need to get the person behind all of this! Li Qingshan guessed the Green Vine Elder’s plan. Taking in a deep breath, he shot towards the green dragon and let out a great roar.
The Tiger Demon’s Killing Roar!
Wild winds surged as the thunder became negligible.
A black pillar of wind spun rapidly, rushing into the green dragon’s mouth and immediately expanding to twice its size. Thousands of wind blades cut through the green dragon, tearing its body to pieces.
At the same time, a pair of half-transparent wings of wind unfurled on Li Qingshan’s back. With a flap, he vanished from the sky.
In the next moment, he appeared in the main hall, wielding his blade with both hands above the Green Vine Elder’s head and swinging down!
The second innate ability of the tiger demon—Like Giving Wings to a Tiger!
Using the wild wind as wings, he reined in the fierce gales and soared through the sky.
Li Qingshan’s scarlet hair danced like fire as his pupils had constricted to the size of needles. Murderousness surged out, which he channeled into his blade. I don’t care what your trap is. As long as I cut you down, all of it is futile!
“Die!”
“Talisman Formation of Protection!”
The Green Vine Elder was surprised, but not flustered. With a great swing of his hand, seven talismans lined up in a single row, shining brightly and turning into seven layers of light.
One layer, two layers, three layers! The ice blade cut through three layers of light easily before slowing down drastically. The swing rang out of power.
“You wretched daemon!” The Green Vine Elder stared at Li Qingshan in hatred and fear. His hands formed several seals consecutively, and the green dragon that had been ripped apart outside the hall actually reassembled, flying towards the hall.
“You just keep pulling tricks from your sleeves, don’t you?” Li Qingshan made up his mind. Ignoring the threatening green dragon from behind, he released the power of the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell and the wings of wind. He roared out as he channelled all of his daemon qi, power, and killing intent into the blade.
Four layers, five layers, six layers! The layers of light were cut through one by one, such that only one thin layer remained.
The Green Vine Elder immediately recalled the cold feeling of being cut through by the blade last time. He did not want to experience it a second time. He summoned the green dragon desperately, which rammed into Li Qingshan’s back heavily.
Bang! There was a grunt, followed by the faint cracking of bones.
“Thank you!” Li Qingshan spurted with blood. Completely ignoring his wounds, he used the force to swing down harder.
The last layer of light shattered!
“Save me, sir!” The Green Vine Elder cried out. If he lost his head, even he could not recover.
The main hall that stood still even within the storm twisted, changed, and vanished. It was actually just an illusion.
A green sword appeared out of nowhere. Green light flowed through its edge, slowly drawing an arc before returning to its sheathe, like it was all just a dream.
The shattered blade spiraled into the air and planted into the ground.
A thin, red mark appeared on Li Qingshan’s throat. He remained calm, glancing at the broken blade in his hand before glancing at Fu Qingjin beside him. Only then did he radiate with chilling anger.
So this was the true form of the trap—Fu Qingjin!
“You wretched daemon! You’ll suffer a horrible death now!” The Green Vine Elder was overjoyed, like a great burden had just been lifted from his shoulders, but he still felt slightly uneasy for some reason. He had a feeling that Li Qingshan was not as powerful or terrifying as last time. Looking at Li Qingshan’s calm expression, his unease intensified.
No, impossible!
“I hope you can keep protecting him. There will be a day when I personally cut him down, when I personally cut you down. Oh right, my name’s Northmoon.” Li Qingshan straightened himself out, and he gradually faded away.
“He’s just a clone?” Luminescence flowed through Fu Qingjin’s eyes. If just a clone possessed so much strength, it truly would be startling. He could vaguely sense that failing to kill him last time might have been a very great mistake.
On the distant lake, Li Qingshan opened his eyes as he sat on the surface of the water. He rubbed his neck subconsciously.
“How’d it go?” Xiao An asked.
“I almost killed that old bastard, but someone interfered in the end, and the clone died. He’s also an old friend, by the name of Fu Qingjin.” Li Qingshan’s eyes shone with cold light. He was the one who had lured out Milliped and forced Milliped into blowing up his daemon core. His grievances with him ran even deeper than his grievances with the three elders.
If he worked with Xiao An and climbed up the Green Vine mountain again, could they kill him?
“Do you want to do it?” Xiao An’s eyes flashed with firelight.
“No. The sword is just too sharp. Probably even the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell can’t block a few strokes from it. He probably didn’t fight seriously last time.”
Li Qingshan was interested, but after a moment of thought, he shook his head in the end. From their clash this time, he had gained a deeper understanding of Fu Qingjin’s strength instead. He was powerful as a person, and his sword was even more powerful. If they merged as one, he could unleash extraordinarily terrifying power.
The sword might have already surpassed the level of arcane artifacts and reached the level of arcane treasures. He had to properly investigate the Ten Renowned Swords of the Sword Collection palace once he got back.
When he was struck by the sword, Li Qingshan felt like not even a tenth of the sword’s power had been unleashed.
Originally, it should have been completely impossible for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to wield an arcane treasure. However, this impossibility became a possibility with the Sword Collection palace’s cultivation methods and legacies.
During those two years, Li Qingshan was not the only one improving. Fu Qingjin, a great genius who wielded a renowned sword, was improving too, at a similarly startling rate. The more he coalesced with the Green Ruins sword, the more powerful he would become.
“Fair enough. We can take him on once I refine a string of Skull Prayer Beads.”
Xiao An expressed her agreement. Li Qingshan was still a slight bit away from reaching the third layer of the tiger demon. By then, both of them would take a step forward with their strength.
“It’s best if you refine your bone sword too. Regular weapons won’t be enough when you clash with him. I also need to get my hands on a suitable weapon.”
The ice blade forged from the Whale’s Ingestion of Water was just barely satisfactory. Neither its toughness nor sharpness was even close to what Li Qingshan required. It was fine against weaker opponents, but against an opponent like Fu Qingjin, who was already extremely strong even without a weapon, he would suffer far too great of an disadvantage.
However, Li Qingshan was still in a good mood. Through this process, he had verified that he was not a lamb to the slaughter like before at the very least. Even if there was nothing he could do about Fu Qingjin right now, there was nothing Fu Qingjin could do about him either.
“Fuck it. It’s not like I have anything better to do. I’ll send my clone every day to try to assassinate him. I’d like to see just how many times you’ll be able to protect that old bastard!”
Xiao An smiled.
……
“Fellow Fu, how is this going to work out? If that wretched daemon sends his clone over daily to assassinate me, what am I supposed to do?” The Green Vine Elder was filled with worry. He truly lived up to his title as the wisest among the three elders. He immediately thought of this.
“I’ll help you set up a Duality Formation of Disintegration on your Green Vine mountain. If a Daemon General becomes trapped in it, all that’ll await it is death. You don’t have to worry.”
“Sigh, looks like that’s all we can do then. Though, if I, a mighty sect master. become so frightened by a Daemon General that I’m afraid to even go out, will I still have any dignity left? Will the Daemon Suppression alliance have any dignity left?”
“The master of the palace has already begun negotiating with the Dragon King of Ink Sea. This matter won’t just end like this. If the Daemon race refuses to explain themselves, then war is all there’ll be.”
The Green Vine Elder thought to himself, Now that’s what you really want. If that really happens, it’ll probably become even more impossible for me to stroll around freely outside the sect.
“Sect master.” Diao Fei presented himself before the Green Vine Elder with the disciples. He did his best to suppress his fear and ignore the mess on top of the Green Vine mountain.
Yu Shukuang was at the very back. He made up his mind. No, I need to find an excuse to leave the Green Vine mountain and seek shelter under Li Qingshan.
……
“… I feel like that, yep, is very wrong. We should follow the Treaty of Kings. Humans and daemons should cohabit in peace…” Wang Pushi clutched the report in his hand as his brows crumpled into a mess. In the end, he erupted with rage and flung the report of just a few measly pages in front of Li Qingshan.
“What the hell did you write? Why don’t you open your sh*tty eyes and count for me? Is that ten thousand characters?”
