Countless barbarians deemed the Bone Eating tribe as a place of death, but it seemed no different from a regular fort. It did not give off an evil aura or a reeking of blood. The buildings constructed from verdant bamboo made Li Qingshan think of Cloudwisp island.
However, the people who emerged from the bamboo buildings were all inhuman Bone Eating shamans. There were men and women, both young and old, but all of their faces were twisted. Bone Eating shamans began eating people and growing their strength in their youth, and the children who were unable to practise cannibalism and practise the shaman arts would become the food of other shamans.
There were many children like that, so while they were not under any survival pressure, the Bone Eating tribe was not particularly large either. They were not like other shaman tribes that used shamans as their very core and mortals as their foundations for development.
The jungle behind them rustled, and another several dozen shamans emerged, surrounding the two of them on the pack animal.
“Xianghua Man, you actually came here. Do you really think I’m afraid to eat you just because you have the White Lotus cult?”
The Bone Eating chieftain gazed at Xianghua Man on the pack animal resentfully. He extended his long, red tongue and licked his claws. He could still clearly recall the losses he had suffered in Fragrant Flower market.
Xianghua Man trembled inside, subconsciously tightening her embrace around Li Qingshan. She sneered. “I’ve come today to claim your lives!”
The Bone Eating chieftain laughed out loudly, and the Bone Eating shamans all laughed along in a strange manner too. Only the Bone Eating shaman priest who had arrived a little later furrowed his brows, his gaze locked onto Li Qingshan.
“Hey, so you’re their leader!”
Li Qingshan broke free from Xianghua Man’s embrace and stood on the head of the pack animal, pointing at the Bone Eating chieftain and calling out.
The Bone Eating chieftain said, “How bold of you, kiddo, to speak to me like that. Your flesh seems very tender, so it’ll go perfectly with some alcohol a little later!”
Li Qingshan smiled. “You’ve chased me for so long, yet you don’t even recognise me?”
“I chased you?” The Bone Eating chieftain was filled with doubt.
“Chief, he’s the baby!” The Bone Eating shaman priest leaned on his staff and arrived beside the Bone Eating chieftain, saying with his deep, hoarse voice.
“It’s you!” The Bone Eating chieftain was mildly surprised. His laughter became even more intense. “Alright. Our ancestors have been watching over me. I’ve looked for you for so long, yet you’ve delivered yourself to me today. I didn’t think such a great thing could happen in this world! Do you know that the Bone Eating tribe lost several dozen tribesmen because of you?” Bone-grating hatred filled his voice as if Li Qingshan had committed some kind of crime by not feeding himself to them obediently.
Li Qingshan sneered slightly and shook his head. “No, no, no, not just forty!” He paused before saying, “All of them!”
“Capture him!” The Bone Eating chieftain roared furiously.
Several hundred Bone Eating shamans lunged over together, roaring and howling away like ghosts. It was a shocking sight to behold.
Xianghua Man paled, and Li Qingshan leapt up gently, flying over the Bone Eating shamans and landing on a bamboo building. He turned around and extended a finger, pointing it towards an incoming shaman perfectly. The power of tremors erupted with that.
With a crack, the shaman’s spine broke, and he fell to the ground powerlessly. Li Qingshan could control the power of tremors like it was a part of his body now. Originally, he could have shattered the Bone Eating shaman’s heart, but he spared his life because he still had a use for him.
Over a dozen claws reached towards him during this time. The vicious smiles that had just stretched over their faces stiffened.
A series of cracks rang out, and seven or eight fell off the bamboo building together. No one actually managed to see how Li Qingshan had attacked them.
Li Qingshan leapt off the building and landed in the densest region of Bone Eating shamans. He maneuvered around, and the power of tremors radiated out from him. He only needed to touch a Bone Eating shaman gently, and their fate would be shattered bones. In the blink of an eye, an entire swathe of Bone Eating shamans collapsed. Once his ingenuity reached a certain level, it turned into crushing strength.
“Be careful! He knows daemon arts! Don’t touch him!”
But how were they supposed to capture him without touching him?! The Bone Eating shamans all pulled back. All of them were valiant, unafraid of death, but even they had no idea what to do momentarily before such an opponent.
“He really is strong enough!”
Xianghua Man was overjoyed. The Bone Eating shamans who had originally surrounded her and were about to jump her were all distracted by him, so how could she let an opportunity like that slip away? With a bellow, she launched a series of palm strikes and powered the Fragrant Flower gu, sending fragrant winds off into the surroundings.
The pack animal below her directly collapsed, and the shamans near her all began to totter about.
The Bone Eating shaman priest raised his staff, and the shrivelled head on top opened its empty eye sockets. Two wisps of black smoke turned into a two-headed snake that bit towards Xianghua Man.
Xianghua Man dispersed the snake with a palm strike and did not fight back. She leapt backwards.
“Kill him! Kill him! Don’t hold back!”
The Bone Eating chieftain bellowed out, taking the lead and charging towards Li Qingshan. His huge body was like a speeding war chariot. He threw out a punch, which kicked up a gust of whistling wind, like a cannonball that had just been fired.
Li Qingshan stood exactly where he was without budging. The gust of wind from the punch swept into his face, ruffling his scarlet hair. He smiled and turned to the side, throwing a punch too.
“Die!”
The Bone Eating chieftain ravished with joy. He was more than ten times his size, and his fist was even larger than his head. The punch would crush him to a pulp.
Bang!
The two punches collided, and Li Qingshan’s pudgy fist sank deeply into the Bone Eating chieftain’s large, black-haired hand.
Li Qingshan did not budge at all, and the colossal Bone Eating chieftain was sent flying instead. His arm swung back, now as limp as a noodle. Even his entire right shoulder had collapsed as he collided into a group of Bone Eating shamans.
Li Qingshan snickered. “You foolish barbarian, you actually tried to compete with me in terms of strength! You really are looking to die!”
Although he seemed like a tiny boy, he stood several meters tall at the very least if he reverted to his true form, so the proportion of their sizes would be reversed inside.
Unfortunately, the Bone Eating chieftain’s body was much tougher than regular Bone Eating shamans. Li Qingshan had failed to shatter his spine with that strike.
Li Qingshan was about to go after him when he suddenly stopped and looked back. He saw a two-headed snake composed of black smoke slither behind him silently, opening its mouth and biting at him.
“Tiger Demon’s Breath!”
Li Qingshan’s breath shredded the two-headed snake. Then, it followed the black smoke and directly pierced the Bone Eating shaman priest who had launched the sneak attack.
“Chief, go to the altar and summon the strength of the ancestor!” The Bone Eating shaman priest coughed up blood and bellowed loudly, “This is a catastrophic disaster!”
The Bone Eating chieftain ordered loudly, “Stop him!”
Clutching his crippled arm, the Bone Eating chieftain rushed into the fort. He was filled with regret and resentment. The losses in Fragrant Flower market had already caused him great pain and pity. He never thought he had actually provoked such a terrifying being. However, as long as he could summon the strength of the ancestor, he would definitely be able to kill him, devour his flesh, and undergo the heavenly tribulation.
The Bone Eating shamans rushed over without any fear of death, using their lives to buy time for the Bone Eating chieftain.
Li Qingshan kicked off his right foot and leapt up. The shamans leapt up towards him and swung their claws, but they could not reach him. They all raised their heads and extended their arms, waiting for him to fall down.
“Be careful!” Xianghua Man cried out. Her voice was filled with concern. If it were not for the fact that she was hiding on a tree in the distance, as if she was ready to retreat at any time, perhaps Li Qingshan might have even felt a little touched!
Gazing down, Li Qingshan saw hideous faces as well as huge, gaping mouths filled with sharp teeth!
Li Qingshan smiled. A pair of glorious wings suddenly unfolded behind him, and he pulled several meters higher. His scarlet eyes locked onto the Bone Eating chieftain, and he swooped down like an eagle with a trail of scarlet firelight.
He did not have the leisure to see what the trump card of these barbarians was, nor did he have the leisure to pose around and look down on others just because he was strong enough. Even a lion would use its full strength to catch a rabbit. He had come here with a single objective—complete extermination!
And, the simpler and easier it was, the better!
A gust of wind swept over from behind, and the Bone Eating chieftain suddenly looked back. Before he could even respond, Li Qingshan planted a foot on his back.
With a series of cracks, his spine fractured, and he collapsed on the ground, unable to move. He howled out in despair!
The chieftain and the priest had both been defeated, so the morale of the Bone Eating shamans plummeted. Li Qingshan did not linger around, using the kick to fly back. Through his wings, he moved even faster, gliding about with a streak of firelight. Wherever he passed by, the shamans all collapsed on the ground.
“A’yue, let me assist you!”
Xianghua Man cried out and leapt off the tree, channeling the Fragrant Flower gu with everything that she had. Fragrant winds drifted around, which was extremely effective against the regular Bone Eating shamans. Li Qingshan specially targeted the stronger shamans, defeating them all in a single stroke.
A while later, not a single Bone Eating shaman remained standing anymore. None of them had managed to escape.
Xianghua Man’s face was completely red with excitement. She also felt a sense of disbelief. The powerful Bone Eating tribe had met its end like this. It had been unimaginably easy. She raised her hand, prepared to carry out a massacre.
“Hold on!” Li Qingshan barked.
“Why?”
“I said I have a gift for you!”
Under Xianghua Man’s surprised gaze, Li Qingshan unfurled his wings and made his way past the shamans. Balls of blood-red flames flew out of their bodies, and they withered away like they had been sucked dry.
The Bone Eating chieftain was utterly devastated. “Stop! If you want to kill, then just kill me! Spare my tribesmen!”
Li Qingshan laughed. “I couldn’t tell, but you have quite the sense of loyalty. Don’t worry, none of you can escape.”
The Bone Eating shaman priest said, “Spare my life. I’m willing to serve you and tell you where the wealth of the Bone Eating tribe is all hidden. I can even help you obtain the power of our predecessors.”
The Bone Eating chieftain roared, “You traitor!” The Bone Eating shamans roared as well, “Traitor!”
“You sure are clever!” Li Qingshan made his way over to the Bone Eating shaman priest and picked up his staff, twirling it about. “But I already have a servant, so you can forget about it.”
An extremely dim ball of fire flew out. A while later, all of the Bone Eating shamans had been drained of their life force, reduced to withered corpses.
Li Qingshan held a ball of fire of life around the same size as his head and smiled at Xianghua Man. “Come, Man’er, why don’t you take the meal I’ve prepared for you?” Although they had gotten along quite well over the past few days, this was taking precautions. He did not want someone to secretly report everything about his existence and everything he was capable of to the White Lotus cult.
“No!” Xianghua Man remembered the monster that the merchant had turned into and retreated in fright.
Li Qingshan smiled. “You have to be a good daughter!”
“Please, A’yue, just spare me. I definitely won’t betray you!” Xianghua Man knelt down and pleaded.
