Rāhu Xiaoming was unsure whether to admire his courage or lament over the fact that the ignorant knew no fear. He was only at the third heavenly tribulation right now. An immeasurable gulf existed between him and the seventh heavenly tribulation true demon Qiongqi.
When an ant fought against a human, they would always get the opportunity to get in a vicious bite even if they were crushed in the next second. However, even if Li Qingshan threw his life away, it would be impossible for him to get in a bite with Qiongqi.
However, he was not surprised at all about Qiongqi showing Li Qingshan “good graces”, as from a regular perspective of the cultivation community, this guy was far too strange. All of his words and actions differed from others.
“You have a way to remove the Blood Oath of the Nether River?”
That was the only explanation. After all, even if Rāhu Xiaoming could return to the Asura realm right now and cultivate arduously, he definitely could not defeat Qiongqi in such a short amount of time. However, while it might not be impossible to remove a Blood Oath of the Nether River, that definitely was not something she was capable of.
Su Mirao sneered. “If I knew a way to change the Blood Oath of the Nether River, why would I still be here dilly-dallying with you?”
She used her fingers to fiddle around with her hair. “But I do have a way. It doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s better than dying, and it touches on a great secret too. Li Qingshan, with the way you act, you probably won’t even be able to make it to Qingqi mountain once you go to the Demon domain, let alone defeating Qiongqi. Let me ask you again. Are you going to kneel or not?”
Li Qingshan dropped his head and shut his eyes slightly, standing there without budging like he was in deep thought.
Su Mirao stood with her umbrella as her clothes drifted in the air. Within the surging demon qi, she was like a goddess that radiated with light, while Li Qingshan was a lowly man waiting to be saved by her.
Time trickled by. Su Mirao became slightly impatient and twisted her neck slightly. “Oi, have you thought it through or not? I don’t have the time to waste here with you!”
Xiao An said, “Don’t disturb him. He’s fallen asleep.”
“What!?”
Su Mirao took a close look. Li Qingshan’s eyes were closed, and his breaths were long and steady. Sure enough, he had fallen asleep.
Li Qingshan had basically crossed through two major realms of cultivation in the battle this time. That was basically unbelievable in the cultivation community.
No matter how fast Gu Yanying was, no matter how powerful Rāhu Xiaoming’s bloodline was, no matter how many arcane treasures Xiao An had, no matter how cunning and crafty Qian Rongzi was, none of it would have been of any use if Li Qingshan was not there to confront him directly.
Before absolute strength, all schemes and strategies were futile. Li Qingshan was like a great mountain, silently enduring most of the pressure, maintaining the offence against Si Long in terms of strategy.
Of course, as someone who practised the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine, he was far more than a Daemon King. Si Long was bound by the laws of the world too, so he could not unleash his powers as a Human Sovereign either. This offset was the only reason why such a miracle could occur.
But despite that, this battle had still been difficult and dangerous to the extreme. The bewitchment of the nine-tailed daemon fox, the undefeatable opponent, and the threat from the intangible will of the heavens all required him to gather his focus and fight to the very end.
It was like walking on a tightrope stretched between two peaks. One wrong step and would fall to his death. He had run out of vigour a long time ago, so as soon as the outcome had been determined, exhaustion surged through him immediately like the tides. His body completely relied on the Strength of the Earth to remain standing, truly “standing until the last moment”.
As for the condition that Su Mirao had put forward, he had not even spent a second considering it, as someone had once said to him, “Don’t lower your head to anyone.” He agreed with it deeply too. He even refused to lower his head, let alone dropping down to his knees.
Perhaps the battle at Qingqi mountain would be his inescapable doom, but people were killed, not frightened to death. If he needed to eat and sleep, he still had to eat and sleep!
“Mirao, you’ve made another miscalculation.” Gu Yanying opened her fan and smiled.
Rāhu Xiaoming said proudly, “That’s just a difficult opponent, that’s all. He’s still not enough for Li Qingshan to lose sleep!”
A sliver of anger flashed through Su Mirao’s eyes. She felt like her behaviour earlier basically made her seem like a fool. She tightened her grip around the umbrella handle, tempted to butcher Li Qingshan right now.
She did not actually plan on making Li Qingshan kneel. She only could not help but try to find a way to restore her pride. As long as Li Qingshan yielded slightly and gave her a way out without embarrassing herself, she would logically uphold her oath and provide him with aid. She never expected him to be so unrelenting and disrespectful.
However, if Li Qingshan really did yield, then perhaps she would take it a step further. The art of bewitchment had always been about giving an inch and taking a mile, and she loved benefitting at the expense of others too.
She was about to leave when she saw a silent, rippleless river in a daze, meandering through the air. It had surpassed time and space, unable to be determined through the regular concepts of length or width. It was the legendary Nether river.
She gritted her teeth and was forced to stop where she was. Since they had already met, the oath had formally begun. She had to live up to her identity as the “guide” and give Li Qingshan correct guidance. Otherwise, she would be breaking the oath, and she would fall into the Nether river forever.
In a daze, she seemed to see a gentle smile and a pair of green eyes that could see through everything, gazing down on her from above. Mirao, just accept your fate!
“Can I kneel down and beg you instead?” Xiao An asked.
Her face was devoid of any emotion. Her eyes were clear and deep as if she could see Su Mirao’s internal struggle.
Stare…
Su Mirao felt like the gaze on her was basically no different from staring at a piece of wood. What other benefit could come out of a bow from her apart from irritating Li Qingshan? Even when she had no concept of shame or humiliation, Li Qingshan would definitely fly into a rage, making it even less likely for him to be bewitched. It might even affect the process of upholding the vow. This must have been one of her damned schemes too.
She stressed with a single word. “No!”
“Okay.”
Su Mirao sucked in a deep breath. Only then did she suppress her anger. “Have this bastard come and find me once he wakes up!” With that, she turned around and vanished.
“Looks like she actually knows something.”
Rāhu Xiaoming’s eyes shone brightly. Just what exactly would the method to defeat a god be? As long as he stood on this guy’s side, he would never have to worry about not having enough battles.
“Hey, wake up!”
Gu Yanying prodded Li Qingshan’s forehead with her fan, and he collapsed on the ground. Gazing at his sleeping face, she shook her head with a smile. “Let’s leave everything for when he wakes up!”
When the kunpeng took flight again, Xiao An looked back at the depths of the demon cavern.
Hopefully, you can tell me one day that this path of white bone of mine is wrong, that even those who suffer in the sea of bitterness and the dwelling of fire, those who wish they had never existed, had a value and reason for existing.
The Demon domain.
Under the glow of the black sun, the military camp stretched for hundreds of kilometres on the black, barren land. The ruckus filled the air. Among them were plenty of wicked, twisted demonfolk and colossal, vicious demonic beasts, but from their appearances, there was no difference between them most of the time.
The sky was riddled with demon caverns, like hollow eye sockets. Every single one of them led to the same world, the nine provinces.
However, they had already given up on this target. The army was about to retreat from this region and make way to a new battlefield for the invasion of a new world.
“What’s that?”
Suddenly, a demonfolk looked up and noticed a tiny figure fall out from the largest demon cavern in the sky. If he could see more clearly, he would have discovered that the figure was tearing and pulling at itself, constantly twisting and distorting.
The black sun seemed to light up. At that instant, the surroundings responded.The demon qi surged and whistled, forming demonic clouds that spiralled to form a great whirl. In the centre of the spiral was the twisted figure.
Everywhere within several hundred kilometres of the place fell quiet. All of the demonfolk held their breaths and gazed at the phenomenon in the sky. The same word filled all of their minds. Demonic seed!
That was what demonfolk called the blessed children of the heavens that received the good graces of the Demon domain. It represented unmatched talent and power.
The fervent atmosphere swept through the entire region like furious winds, making every single demonfolk’s eyes light up with greed. Even the chaotic and foolish demonic beasts began to breathe heavily, instinctively wanting to devour the demonic seed that was about to take shape.
In any world, being “chosen by the heavens” meant receiving the protection of the heavens. Anyone who killed a chosen child of the heavens would face an intense backlash. In worlds with sufficiently powerful wills, the backlash could even be fatal.
That was equivalent to having their children killed, so of course, the heavens would be furious, desiring revenge!
However, the Demon domain was different. Not only would killing a demonic seed result in no backlash, but they could even take the blessing for themselves and obtain tremendous benefits. Demonic seeds themselves had always been the finest medicine the Demon domain had to offer. Even devouring the weakest, most ordinary demonic seed could lead to a drastic change in their demon hearts.
As a result, the birth of every single demonic seed would lead to an intense battle and slaughter. Many demonic seeds died soon after they were born.
It was like a vicious stepmother, intentionally giving the best toys to the children she loathed the most so that the other children would fight with them.
This was the Demon domain. Even the intangible will of the heavens was completely twisted and wicked.
