The scorching heat from the giant god of fire rapidly evaporated all the water in the Asura Field, which turned into vast clouds in the sky, dyed bright-red by the firelight. The vegetation burned and the rolling, black smoke merged with the clouds.
Roar!
The giant god of fire howled at the “ant” that blocked its way.
Without a formation separating them, Li Qingshan truly experienced the might of the howl. It felt like a passing typhoon, blowing the rock and soil around him away, which melted into lava mid-air.
The giant god of fire turned around, about to break out of this place. It did not have any intelligence, but it did have the most basic battle instinct. With that ant’s strength and cultivation, it should have turned to ashes with just a direct howl.
But immediately, the giant god of fire turned around again. If its blurry, fiery face had an expression, then it would definitely show surprise and doubt.
Within the smoke and surging lava, Li Qingshan stood exactly where he was, his scarlet hair drifting through the air and his scarlet eyes like burning fire. He stared straight at the giant god of fire and suddenly spread his arms. His body rapidly swelled, reaching almost three hundred meters tall before stopping. His hair was like flames and his skin was like black iron, just like a demon!
He took a step forward with his ox hoof, and the ground cracked. He roared at the sky, and the fierce winds surged.
A breath twisted and swept over like a wind dragon, rushing through the clouds and bursting through the flames, smashing the giant god of fire right in the face and sending sparks flying!
The giant god of fire tilted its head back slightly, but that was it. The Tiger Demon’s Breath that Li QIngshan had unleashed at full strength actually failed to harm it at all. Though, it definitely achieved its objective of provocation.
Roar!
The giant god of fire was infuriated. Its flames surged, rushing towards Li Qingshan on the dragons.
Even when Li Qingshan’s physique had reached an unprecedented height, equivalent to a hundred-storey skyscraper in his previous life, it was still like a child to a grown adult compared to the giant god of fire.
As the giant god of fire pushed closer, his body rapidly heated up, scorching, melting, bubbling!
I stand no chance in a direct confrontation!
Li Qingshan made a decision and suddenly unfurled his magnificent phoenix wings. At the same time, he unleashed his wings of wind, and his colossal body rushed straight into the clouds, about to unleash the same falling palm strike that had devastated the Myriad Poison cult. A scorching heat rapidly drew closer, and the giant god of fire’s colossal figure protruded from the clouds, flying over on the twin dragons. It actually moved even faster than Li Qingshan.
A huge hand of fire blotted out the sky and whistled over. Li Qingshan raised his scarlet eyebrows, unable to dodge in time at all. He only felt his right leg tighten and heat up.
The giant god of fire grabbed Li Qingshan and leapt off the fire dragons, throwing him onto a small mountain violently.
Boom!
The mountain immediately turned into a basin, and Li Qingshan’s body ached. The two dragons rushed over, coiling around his arms firmly like chains and spraying with scorching dragonfire. They tried to forcefully reduce him to ashes.
Is this the difference of absolute strength? Not only is it undefeatable, but I can’t even maneuver around. Even escaping is impossible! Though, that’s the exact kind of opponent I’d want. If there isn’t even danger to my life, how am I supposed to break through to the fifth layer of the tiger demon?
“Tremors of the Ox Demon!”
Li Qingshan roared furiously, and black cracks ripped apart the flames around him. He spread his arms and grabbed the two dragons by their heads, smashing them together violently. Only then did he break free.
The giant god of fire’s hand shuddered and froze mid-air, but it still clutched onto him firmly. Even Li Qingshan’s strongest, all-conquering innate ability could not crush a powerful opponent like that in a direct confrontation.
Li Qingshan used the strength of the ox demon and threw a full-powered punch at the giant god of fire’s wrist. The powers of tremors whistled out.
The giant god of fire finally let go, allowing him to pull back his leg. His flesh had already been incinerated away, only leaving behind his glowing bones. However, he did not even glance at it, advancing instead of retreating and pouncing at the giant god of fire, planting a fist in its face.
The flames surged and scattered. The giant god of fire’s blurry face had been forcefully dispersed as well, but Li Qingshan did not become proud of himself at all. It was not because of how fast or vicious his punch was, but because the giant god of fire had absolutely no intentions of dodging, directly receiving his attacks with attacks of its own. Before he could even enjoy the pleasure of punching someone in the face, a scorching, violent force struck him in the chest. His ribs produced a cacophony of cracks.
Li Qingshan was knocked several dozen kilometers away, slamming violently into the great snow mountain before coming to a halt. The tough ice and rock collapsed, almost burying him. Before he could even stand up, the heat filled his face again.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant god of fire swung its fists furiously, and they landed on Li Qingshan like a storm. Not a regular storm, but a meteor storm. The force behind every single punch rivalled a collision from a Meteor of the Blazing Heavens.
The snow mountain shook violently. Perhaps it could not be called a snow mountain anymore, as the ice and snow had already evaporated away. The thousands of tonnes of falling rock all melted into lava.
Li Qingshan was unable to fight back at all. He was hammered into the mountain punch after punch.
At a time like this, what innate ability should he use? What innate ability could he use?
The power of tremors? Useless! The Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell? Useless! The Nightmare Tiger’s Demonic Eye? Useless!
Useless, useless, useless! It was all useless!
Faced with crushing strength, even if he was capable of a thousand different things, it was all useless! His attacks posed no threat, and his defence was as fragile as paper. It was as if all he could do was accept fate and die!
However, Li Qingshan refused. Even though his flesh had been burned to ash and the tiger bones that he took pride in were covered in cracks, his battle spirit continued to surge.
Even if he wanted to leave the Asura Field, it was already too late at a time like this. The heat from the giant god of fire had distorted even space itself, preventing the Asura Field from sending him anywhere. If he could not defeat it, only death awaited him.
But even until now, he still had absolutely no chance at victory. Instead, he was in life-threatening danger.
The Ox Demon, with its Great Strength, Sinks in the Mud. Enduring and immovable, just like the earth. Strength of the Earth!
Li Qingshan simply gave up on all of his efforts of offence and defence. He poured all of his concentration into the boundless earth and used the Strength of the Earth.
Suddenly, he entered a world he had never seen before, as if he had actually become a part of the earth, silently enduring the beating of wind, frost, rain, and snow since time immemorial, holding up the seas and the sky.
The violent fists of fire constantly struck his body before being drawn into the mountain and earth. The rate at which his body collapsed suddenly slowed down.
I see! Li Qingshan understood something. No matter when in the past, no matter who he faced, he had never been like this, giving up on everything and enduring all the attacks.
He had gained a deeper understanding of the Strength of the Earth.
Though, this move sure is a little useless in battle! I can’t attack and I can’t defend. I can’t even run away! Aren’t I just a “plus-sized sand bag”? It’s not like I can divert all the attacks into the earth. If I just withstand it, there’ll be a time when I can’t withstand it any longer!
But at the very least, he still served a certain function right now as a “plus-sized sand bag”—he had made the giant god of fire throw a lot of punches.
Cracks riddled the snow mountain. As Li Qingshan diverted the damage into the ground, the mountain rapidly collapsed, and Li Qingshan’s body approached the brink of collapse too.
The giant god of fire’s attacks suddenly paused. It crossed its fists and raised them high into the air. The flames on its body dimmed, all condensing into its fists. He held them up high like torches as they scorched like the sun, burning the sky before he swung down viciously. They struck the ground like meteors.
Li Qingshan’s tiger bones shattered violently, and a wave of air swept through the entire Asura Field. The snow mountain shook violently and collapsed with a rumble, burying him like his new grave.
The giant god of fire stumbled a few steps back as if it was rather exhausted before suddenly turning around!
At this moment, an Asura Commander wielding a pair of huge axes descended from the blood-red swirl in the sky.
The intense battle between the giant god of fire and Li Qingshan, or perhaps better described as the giant god of fire’s one-sided slaughter of Li Qingshan, had roused unprecedented fighting spirit and killing intent, which was absorbed by the Asura Field to summon another Asura Commander.
The Asura Commander saw the giant god of fire and suddenly widened his eyes. “Fire god Zhurong!”
Roar!
The giant god of fire let out a furious roar, and the Asura Commander raised his axes instinctively to block. An irresistible force blew him away. He turned to ash in the air, unable to regenerate no matter how powerful his vitality was. The axes melted into a clump of metal.
Having casually dealt with a fly, the giant god of fire was just about to break out of here when it suddenly turned around and gazed at the collapsed mountain. The aura that it had personally crushed seeped out from the rocks once again.
Boom!
The rocks burst open, and Li Qingshan leapt out. With the phoenix’s nirvā?a, he had undergone rebirth in fire. He was completely unscathed now, saying to the giant god of fire, “Don’t be in such a hurry. There’s still round two!”
Before he had even finished, flames surged over.
“Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, block it!”
Li Qingshan waved his hand and pieces of the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell formed a smooth mirror wall. It only lasted for a split second under the giant god of fire’s attack before shattering loudly!
Li Qingshan crossed his arms and assumed a defensive posture before being blasted away once again.
He adjusted his posture mid-air, stabilising himself, but he showed a hint of joy. He finally saw a sliver of hope of victory!
If it had been before the rebirth, the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell would not serve much purpose at all. It could only distract him and waste his daemon qi. Once the difference in strength reached a certain level, even the most wondrous techniques were only a pointless trick.
But it was different now. After a series of furious attacks, the giant god of fire’s flames were slightly dimmer compared to the beginning. It had shrunken slightly too. Although it was still much taller than Li Qingshan, its strength had clearly decreased.
This was the greatest weakness of the giant god of fire. Although it could rival the Dragon King of Ink Sea during its peak condition, it was not a living existence after all. Its power would be consumed.
Originally, this could not be considered as a weakness. On Giant Ship island that flowed with lava and burned with flames, the giant god of fire could fight for a very long time. It could basically crush and destroy all existences.
But in the Asura Field, it had no opportunity to replenish its powers. Every bit it used up was gone for good.
It was exactly because of this observation that Li Qingshan was bold enough to drag it into the Asura Field for a battle to the death. He had gone as far as to rebirth once just to waste away the giant god of fire’s power. Otherwise, while he did like fighting, he did not like digging his own grave!
However, while the giant god of fire had become a little weaker, it could still crush Li Qingshan. He did not even have a ten percent chance at victory!
