The morning light landed on Qian Rongzhi’s white clothes. She had abandoned the arts of charm a long time ago, but she gave off a brand-new glow, much greater than any instances of her in the past.
“What are you trying to do?” Li Qingshan was slightly surprised.
“What do you think I can do?” Qian Rongzhi countered with a question. She had a clear objective no matter what she did, but right now, she was a little confused. She only wanted to see her. She did not know why.
“Do you understand what kind of opportunity you are wasting? Why don’t you just make it simpler for yourself? Tell me what you want,” said Li Qingshan.
“I don’t lack an opportunity like this. If you decline, then forget that I mentioned it,” said Qian Rongzhi.
“You want to see her, but she might not necessarily want to see you.”
“Then please let her know. Whether she wants to see me or not, we don’t owe each other anything anymore.”
Li Qingshan glanced at Qian Rongzhi deeply and nodded. “Alright, I will let her know.”
“Thanks. I’ll be waiting in the Academy of the Hundred Schools. I will keep an eye on your woman in the process.”
In order to prevent the Soaring Locust King from striking again, she was to remain in Clear River city for a period of time, waiting until the new protective formation was constructed.
“Since that’s what you said, you better not blame me for punishing you if anything happens to her.”
After Li Qingshan said that, he sailed off into the air, returning to the Qing Xiao dwelling in the Chain mountains. Xiao An was wondering why he had returned so quickly. When she heard about everything that had happened from him, she said, “The Soaring Locust King is among the very best both in terms of strength and strategy. It’s no wonder the locust plague would last for so long.”
“I’ll definitely butcher him!” Li Qingshan was still furious, radiating with killing intent. His hatred for the Soaring Locust King almost surpassed his hatred for the Dragon King of Ink Sea. The Dragon King of Ink Sea did kill him once, but that was only a regular struggle among cultivators. It did not make his actions repulsive.
“Father, I’ll come and help you! Ouch!” the little phoenix called out, only for the Skeleton Demon to viciously bite him again, making his feathers flutter.
“Kid, you better finish your training first!” Li Qingshan smiled before telling Xiao An, “Help me vent a little first. Butcher this Daemon Commander clone of his and then butcher the rest. Show him what I’m capable of!”
He summoned the Demon Suppression Tower and said to the locust Daemon Commander inside, “How’s that? You’ve lost again! You really think you can take me on?”
“Li Qingshan, you got lucky this time. You won’t be so lucky next time,” the Soaring Locust King replied immediately in a threatening manner.
“Cut the bullsh*t. Your hour of doom is here!”
“Hour of doom? You’re merely killing one of my clones. I have thousands more. There will be a day when they tear you apart bite by bite!” The Soaring Locust King laughed madly.
Xiao An slashed down, and the shiny, white sword pierced the locust Daemon Commander’s body.
It was said that the buddha assumed a myriad of incarnations to bring salvation to all. He was both a myriad, as well as one. Meanwhile, this sword was the Buddha Slaying sword. It could slay a myriad, as well as one.
In that instant, thousands of kilometers away, an identical slash appeared on the back of the Soaring Locust King who was hidden away. The heavy aura of death lurked within the wound, not only preventing it from closing up, but also making it rapidly spread elsewhere.
“What is this sword?” The Soaring Locust King was astounded. In the past, even if his clones were obliterated, it would not even touch a hair on him. Now, not only was his main body injured, but the wounds were relatively severe too.
“The sword that kills you! Do you really think we’re powerless against you just because you have a lot of doppelgangers?” Li Qingshan laughed aloud, venting much of his frustration and anger.
After killing the locust Daemon Commander, Xiao An continued with the attacks, killing the locust Daemon Generals one by one.
Wounds split open on the Soaring Locust King’s main body. He ground his teeth. “Li Qingshan, you’re really something. Let’s just wait and see!”
The locust clones wrapped in chains immediately stopped budging.
“He’s severed his connection with these clones.” Xiao An lowered the Buddha Slaying sword.
“What a pity. If only we could finish him off like this!” Li Qingshan said, but he knew he was being wishful. Even if Xiao An landed a stroke on the Soaring Locust King’s main body, she would struggle to claim his life.
“We’ll get our opportunities. The slashes on him won’t heal so quickly. I can try and divine his location.”
However, when Xiao An tried divining his location, the results were extremely vague. Her divination could no longer keep up with her current cultivation, and her target was still a powerful Daemon King after all.
“There’s no hurry. We’ll kill him sooner or later.”
Li Qingshan kept some locusts for Ru Xin and her experiments before letting Xiao An refine the rest.
The locusts were weak, but their numbers were far too great. They formed mountainous piles in the Asura Field. The second assault only had a tenth of the locusts from the first time, but almost a million people died in the mouths of the insects, which Li Qingshan gathered as well, indirectly becoming Xiao An’s resources. It resulted in no less than the first assault.
It was rather strange now that it was mentioned, but Li Qingshan did not care too much about them. Instead, Xiao An brought her palms together and recited a few scriptures before summoning the Samādhi Flames of White Bone and devouring the piles of corpses.
This was basically timely assistance to her right now. Ever since she underwent the third heavenly tribulation, only the Buddha Slaying sword had grown stronger. The Skull Prayer Beads and Blood Sea Banner that should have grown stronger as well were in a state of half-ruin. These resources were perfect for her to repair them, so her strength returned to its peak.
However, under her quick estimations, there was a tremendous amount of resources, but they could probably repair only a single white bone arcane treasure completely. After a slight consideration, she decided to start with the Skull Prayer Beads first.
The Blood Sea Banner possessed a space of its own, which could trap enemies inside, but this overlapped somewhat with the Asura Field’s function. It was not as sturdy as the Skeleton Demon Formation assembled by the Skull Prayer Beads either.
As a result, with a swing of her hand, the Skull Prayer Beads scattered, turning into skulls in the air that flew around and cackled about. The Skeleton Demon that battled the little phoenix turned into a rolling skull too, joining the mix. However, apart from it, the other skulls were all cracked. Some had their jaws chipped, while others had teeth missing.
Under the lead of the Buddha Slaying sword, the Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged out, and the skeletons gulped it down. The cracks gradually repaired themselves.
The little phoenix retreated to the lower part of the dwelling. Gazing at the blazing Samādhi Flames of White Bone, he instinctively felt fear.
“I’ll take you out to play very soon!” Li Qingshan patted the little phoenix on the shoulder and arrived in a corner of the dwelling, beginning to cultivate too. He did not practise the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine, but the Demon Suppression Statuary.
The Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine had reached a new bottleneck, so he would struggle to make any more breakthroughs quickly. On the other hand, a new opportunity had presented itself with the Demon Suppression Statuary. After becoming a Daemon King, his demonic nature had strengthened yet again, giving him a firm foundation for refining the demon heart. On top of that, he had the demon hearts of several Demon Kings in his possession. He basically had everything prepared, and he only lacked one last critical element.
He only knew the first eight layers of the Demon Suppression Statuary, but as the greatest cultivation method of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, he only needed to master the first eight layers to reach the realm of Demon King.
Once he returned to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, reached the ninth floor of the Demon Suppression hall, and comprehended the last layer, his human cultivation would reach a whole new level. It would be able to rival one transformation of the demonic and divine at the very least. His overall strength would reach a new peak!
