Under the gazes of the twelve Demon Gods and four Demon Kings, Li Qingshan propped up his head with one arm and laid on his side within the surging demon qi, closing his eyes as if he was actually sleeping away soundly.
“You fools! How long do you want to make me wait?”
But a while later, Qiongqi’s bellow rang out in the Demon Kings’ seas of consciousness. The four Demon Kings all shuddered and returned to their senses. They could afford to wait, but Qiongqi could not. When he made his consciousness descend upon this world, every single second came at a price. He had not come to watch Li Qingshan sleep.
“Prepare to die! Li Qingshan!” The four Demon Kings dared not hesitate, striking together.
The nine colossal, vicious snake heads sprayed with surging torrents at the same time, sweeping over with rock, sand, and soil like nine flash floods. However, this was no regular flash flood. Instead, it was poisonous fluid that could corrupt souls and wash away the powers in weapons.
The Flying Zombie King pulled in his wings and dove down from the sky, like a black vulture on the hunt. The nails on his fingers jutted out like sharp, curved claws, pitch-black like ink and dripping with corpse poison.
The Kings of Yin and Yang opened their two mouths and emitted a sharp cry that resembled an infant’s sobs. The male and female voice chased after one another, merging together and actually arriving instantly. It enveloped Li Qingshan and entered him through every single pore, piercing his mind like the sounds of demons and ripping him apart.
Li Qingshan frowned slightly as if he had been stunned by the sound and immobilised. There was a black flash, and the Flying Zombie King’s pitch-black claws grabbed his head.
We’ve won! The Flying Zombie King beamed with joy inside. The might of his talons were no weaker than demonic treasures, and they became even more powerful within the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous. Let alone a body of flesh, they could even rip apart flying swords forged from metal.
Soon afterwards, the surging torrents swallowed Li Qingshan. The demonic sound continued to echo about.
“It’s over.”
Ye Weiyang looked away. She never expected him to die in such a miserable manner, where he did not even put up a fight. However, with some further thought, even she would probably just accept her death calmly if she fell into the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous. No matter how powerful her techniques were, she would not be able to use any of them.
“Not yet!” the Great Banyan Tree King said sternly.
The formation was preventing the Great Banyan Tree King from seeing Li Qingshan clearly, but he believed he was not the type to simply roll over and die!
Within the surging torrents, the Flying Zombie King let out an exclamation of surprise. When his claws landed on Li Qingshan’s head, he actually encountered an extremely tough obstacle, preventing him from piercing it even when he used his full strength.
Before he knew it, Li Qingshan’s skin had darkened. The pair of curved ox horns on his head lay there, like a winding mountain range, yet also like a crouching black ox. He allowed the torrents to slam against him, but he did not budge.
This was his first innate ability—the Ox Demon Forges its Hide!
That’s right! It was a move he had once practised!
Innate abilities were all derived from the natural abilities of daemons themselves. Aquatic creatures could control water and unleash a few water techniques, but the power and effects would often be nothing special. Only when they truly converted it into an innate ability could it be considered as a truly powerful trump card.
His ox hide had always been tough, but as the level of battle increased, its function became less and less significant. Any opponent he encountered could rip apart his ox hide, often forcing him to rely on his tiger bones to hold on. However, once he lost his flesh, it would actually have a relatively large impact on his strength.
After all those years of battle, he had finally turned his ox hide into a true innate ability, the Ox Demon Forges its Hide. It was as simple and ordinary as the Iron Shirt technique that was popular in the jianghu, but it was an absolute defence.
Note: The Iron Shirt is actually one of the seventy-two arts from the Shaolin Temple. You can read more about it here.
Right as the Flying Zombie King used his full strength, Li Qingshan suddenly snapped open his eyes, which twinkled like two scarlet stars. Then he reached towards the Flying Zombie King.
The Flying Zombie King only felt his eyes darken. The immeasurably large, black hand actually gave him the impression that the sky was obscured. He immediately realised that the suppression Li Qingshan was under was nowhere near as great as he had imagined it to be.
The Flying Zombie King refused to become entangled in battle. He flapped his wings and pulled back hurriedly. He had been extremely fast in the first place, which was why he managed to escape from Li Qingshan’s hands last time, so he was even more confident in his speed now. Otherwise, why would he still launch a short-ranged sneak attack after witnessing how the Meditative Brain King had died?
“Stay right here!” Li Qingshan said sternly.
Li Qingshan’s huge, black hand was like a black cloud, directly blanketing the Flying Zombie King. He constantly adjusted the posture of his hand. The Gravity of the Earth was not an inflexible tug and pull anymore. Instead, it fluctuated about, destroying the Flying Zombie King’s momentum.
The Flying Zombie King widened his eyes and erupted with demon qi as his black hair stood on end. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, but he could not escape from the shadow of the huge hand. He cried out, “Help me out!”
A torrent rushed over like a surging river, separating the Flying Zombie King and Li Qingshan. This was not a duel, but an encirclement.
The Flying Zombie King felt his body lighten up. The terrifying, invisible suction immediately vanished, but he was still shaken. He never expected to almost fall into Li Qingshan’s hands from a single clash.
If he were up against anyone else, he would have been never afraid of a close-ranged battle. His body could be regarded as tough even among Demon Kings, and his black fur could block the attacks of arcane treasures. Whether it was defence, offence, or speed, he had no shortcomings.
However, upon the thought of Li Qingshan’s fists that could even shatter space, he lost all interest in confronting him. He decided to stick to a strategy of endurance first.
Boom! The torrent shattered, and a scarlet tiger with a blade in its mouth leapt out. The surging malice agitated the torrents.
The Flying Zombie King shuddered, having been stunned by the tiger eyes. Only when he returned to his senses did he realise that the scarlet tiger was Li Qingshan. He raised the blade high into the air with both hands, and a blood-red blade aura slashed down like a bolt of furious lightning. It was unstoppable.
How can he be so fast!? The Flying Zombie King extended both hands to block. The moment that thought flashed through his head, his ten sharp talons all split apart, and the blood-red blade aura cleaved through him!
“If you had even half of the Martial Chief King’s courage, you’d be an opponent!”
Li Qingshan’s appearance had changed drastically. His scarlet hair flickered like fire, and his blood boiled throughout his body. He had gone from being calm and composed to vicious and furious. His body was no longer a dark colour either. Instead, it was riddled with scarlet stripes, just like the stripes of a tiger. It formed a “王” shape on his forehead.
This was his second innate ability—Frenzy of the Tiger Demon!
It sapped his physical strength, mental strength, and even lifespan, casting aside all of his defences, to instantly erupt with startling battle prowess. Butchering a Demon King that had no intentions of fighting was no different from butchering a dog.
The Flying Zombie King was split into two. He did everything he could to keep his two halves glued together, trying to escape.
“Obliterate!” Li Qingshan stood with his sword and bellowed furiously.
The might of the Tiger Demon’s Breath was completely merged into the bellow. The fierce gales were sharp like the atmospheric winds, slicing and dispersing the Flying Zombie King!
With a great rumble, the world shook, and violent energy flooded out in all directions. The Flying Zombie King had detonated his demon heart. After witnessing the fate of the Meditative Brain King and the Black Thorn King, he was no longer hopeful enough to think that Li Qingshan would spare him, and even if Li Qingshan wanted to spare him, Demon God Qiongqi would not. All he could do was pour all of his hatred into the explosion.
Li Qingshan flapped his wings and retreated in a hurry. In his current state, he could not use the Ox Demon Forges its Hide. In a state of frenzy, his speed had reached a new peak, but he was still slower than this terrifying shockwave. The black demon qi filled with potent corpse poison swallowed him.
“A Demon King blew themself up!” Ye Weiyang was surprised.
Because of the formation and demon qi, all of their observation techniques had been rendered useless. They could only look over with their eyes, so the kings in the Silver Dragon King had only noticed that now.
The King of Southern Yue and Ye Duanhai exchanged glances. Their eyes were filled with disbelief. Demon Kings would never blow themselves up unless they were in dire straits. Despite the horrible circumstances, Li Qingshan still managed to kill a Demon King!?
Li Qingshan had already demonstrated startling battle prowess before he even underwent the third heavenly tribulation, but he was still a major realm of cultivation away from them after all, so he was still not enough to threaten the king of the Mist province or a great sword cultivator of the South sea. He had been working together with the Merfolk Queen the entire time when they fought on Fire Melt mountain and purged demons, so it was very easy for him to give people the false impression that he only served as assistance on the side.
Only now did they feel tremendous shock! He faced the four great Demon Kings alone and was suppressed by the tremendous demonic formation, yet he still managed to kill one of them in direct confrontation. What kind of a concept was that!? Ye Duanhai personally believed he could not achieve that unless he chose to perish together with the enemy.
The King of Southern Yue did have that confidence, but it was built off of his millennium-long cultivation and the wealth that the Kingdom of Yue had accumulated over ten thousand years. Just how old was Li Qingshan? Fifty?
Gazing at the Great Banyan Tree King’s figure, he said from the bottom of his heart, “I cannot help but admire fellow’s wisdom and insight. If he’s given another fifty years, just who among the nine provinces can still be his opponent? A pity! A pity!”
He was not on any good terms with Li Qingshan. As a matter of fact, they could even be considered as lurking enemies. However, he still could not help but lament and sigh when he saw a genius die like this. He had caught the attention of an evil god. No one could do anything about that.
The Great Banyan Tree King stared at the battlefield in the distance and said nothing.
Actually, when he referred to Li Qingshan as “fellow” in the past, most of it originated from his mild and natural personality. Of course, he also gave him this recognition because he admired Li Qingshan’s potential, but never did he expect him to rise up so quickly. He shone in such a dazzling manner, yet he would also die in such a powerless manner, like a meteor shooting across the sky.
If Li Qingshan’s opponents were only the four Demon Kings, then he would not mind clinging onto hope, hoping that he could kill his way out of peril. However, a Demon God was involved. A victory like this was useless. It would only make his death a little more solemn and stirring!
The aftermath of the explosion settled down, and the battlefield came to a momentary halt. The Nine-headed King and the Kings of Yin and Yang struggled to accept the reality that the Flying Zombie King had fallen in battle. They had also been stunned by Li Qingshan’s bearing, forgetting to attack him for a moment.
Li Qingshan stood in the sky. Traces of the corpse poison eating away at him covered large parts of his robust body, but it did not diminish his surging murderousness. He was in high spirits, without any of the grief and indignation of someone at the end of his path. There was only the heartiness to challenge everything. He looked at the Nine-headed King and the Kings of Yin and Yang from above like a tiger staring at sheep that were waiting for him to lunge over and feast.
Ye Weiyang shook her head gently and sighed inside. It’s no wonder that ice woman would also have a moment when she falls in love. My heart is basically stirring over his current demeanour too!
“Obliterate!” Li Qingshan bellowed out like a clap of thunder, restarting the battle. One of the Nine-headed King’s huge snake heads ruptured with a great boom.
