The soul nascence flew away, and the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower flew towards Li Qingshan. She smiled complacently. “Kid, I’ll show you what’s called bladesmanship!”
The soul nascence only managed to fly a few kilometers away before suddenly splitting into two and exploding loudly. Blinding light illuminated a region of several hundred kilometers as waves of air swept out violently.
“Demon blade!” The grandmaster of the school of Daoism could not help but retreat. Another grandmaster had died on Great Buddha mountain, and he had died to a blade. The brutality of this battle completely surpassed his imagination. His determination to purge daemons was gradually replaced by fear, and the figure of the Lord of Thunder behind him dispersed slowly too.
There were no cultivators who did not cherish their lives, and the school of Daoism placed particular emphasis on longevity. He did not have any direct grievances with Li Qingshan. If it was only helping out the Fierce King of Chu, then so be it, but it really would be a bad deal if it cost him his life. Seeing how Jin Fugui and Yue Wuyang had both backed out of the battle, he no longer hesitated anymore. Suddenly, he turned into a bolt of lightning and whistled away. He did not even notify the Fierce King of Chu before he did that.
The Fierce King of Chu’s face was frigid. Now, even if he killed Li Qingshan, the prestige that the King of Chu’s estate possessed would have fallen apart. Coupled with the honoured guests that had died in the process, his losses were immeasurable. It only made him hate Li Qingshan even more.
The master of the Umbral Yin sect continued to watch on from the side. His expression changed again and again with a mix of joy and worry. Who knew what he was thinking about.
The Dark Queen thought, It’s not without reason that Xuanyue is doing everything she can to support this Li Qingshan.
The palace master wanted to retreat as well. Given the situation, killing Li Qingshan had already become almost impossible. Instead, he faced the danger of dying now. He thought, This kid has developed a great feud with my Sword Collection palace. It’s already reached a point where he will never relent unless one of us dies. If I can’t kill him here, he’ll definitely become a tremendous issue for the entire Sword Collection palace. The entire plan will be affected too.
“We finally have some peace and quiet, don’t we? The two of you, it’s time for us to settle our grievances and disputes.” Li Qingshan could not be bothered with going after him. He casually grabbed the incoming Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End by the hilt and planted it in the ground beside him. He did not use it.
“Kid, what are you doing?” The Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower was perplexed.
“Just watch.” Li Qingshan smiled. Whenever he underwent the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a, it would always meld together all the powers within him, making him feel like he had been reborn. The nirvā?a rebirth this time made him come to a slight realisation as well. He gained a completely new understanding over his entire way of combat and his entire self.
“You have a powerful weapon, and you’re not even using it. Are you an idiot? Pick up the blade and hack them to death!” the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower called out in dissatisfaction.
“Even if I pick up the blade right now, I don’t have the killing intent that you’d want. Speaking of which, I’m not actually lacking in killing intent. It’s not like I’m an asura. I never needed to maintain killing intent at all times in the first place!”
Li Qingshan shook his head. If he let his killing intent surge, killing everyone in his path and slashing through everything in his way, it could push the violent and battle-hungry nature of the tiger demon, as well as the bladesmanship of the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End, to the limit, allowing him to easily slay Zhu Fuzi and everyone else. However, if he really ended up like that, that would not be him anymore!
And, that was nowhere close to being his strongest form, as the Tiger Demon Transformation was only one of the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine. Because it was well-versed for battle and also because it possessed powerful abilities like the Frenzy of the Tiger Demon, he had instead become overly dependent on it.
During all this time, he had let his demonic nature overwhelm his divine nature, to endure, to slaughter, but the true him also knew how to forbear, hesitate, and sympathise. That did not come from his various transformations, but from his own conscience.
He did not work so hard in pursuit of power to become someone else, nor was it possible for him to become someone else.
He was him, Li Qingshan!
In that moment, the incompatible powers of the spirit turtle and phoenix gradually merged together. Fire and water aided one another, growing and thriving together. This was not just a balance between the two transformations, but also his demonic nature receding and his divine nature growing.
The various powers in him merged as one, no longer possessing any element of conflict. Immediately, his strength had reached a whole new level.
The Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower originally wanted to rebuke him, but sensing the change in his aura, she could not help but remain silent. Perhaps the principles of the Asura realm could not be applied to everything in the world.
Very soon, Li Qingshan comprehended the fourth innate ability of the phoenix. A powerful vitality spread through his body, right through his soul. Without any surprise, it was still the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a!
He bent his fingers and counted. This way, I can rebirth four times. If I set aside the time when I turn into an egg, that’s three times. I just died once, so in other words, I can still undergo rebirth twice. He could not help but smile.
If the palace master knew about this, he probably would have fled on his sword immediately. He would not even dare to consider killing Li Qingshan another two times.
The Fierce King of Chu powered the golden seal again, which slammed down heavily. The palace master swung the Heaven Leaning sword again too.
“It’s all the same old stuff!”
Li Qingshan stood with his hands behind his back and watched the attacks without dodging. He was not in dire straits, so there was no need to use something like A Madman at Path’s End, and he did not exactly hold much fury towards a dead person, so he could set the Frenzy of the Tiger Demon aside too. Since you want to overwhelm me with strength, I’ll show you real strength!
The bellow of an ox seemed to ring out from the depths of Great Buddha mountain. Li Qingshan’s body expanded rapidly. Thirty meters, three hundred meters, fifteen hundred meters…
Everything seemed to be a repeat of the past…
But this time, he did not transform into his usual body of the demonic and divine. Instead, he turned into a colossal ox demon, standing on Great Buddha mountain.
Ox Demon Transformation, daemonification!
He had become much smaller and shorter compared to before, only around fifteen hundred meters tall, but he seemed even more firm and impregnable than before, becoming a part of the earth itself.
Boom!
Great Buddha mountain shook violently, and a pair of hooves sank deeply into the ground. However, no matter how hard the Fierce King of Chu tried, the golden seal was unable to advance another inch, which left him stunned. He understood exactly how powerful the golden seal was. Even when the detonation of the soul nascence from earlier had shaved away some of its power, it could still easily crush a mountain.
Li Qingshan raised his left arm high in the air, using a single hand to stop the King of Chu’s Seal. His ox eyes were silent and calm, without any fury, without any killing intent, just persistence that would never bend even until death.
The four innate abilities of the ox demon had become like instinct. They had become as normal as eating and drinking.
The Strength of the Earth provided him with the greatest support, and he could use the gravity of the Earth as he pleased now, turning it into a great repulsive force that served as great assistance in holding off the King of Chu’s Seal. The Ox Demon Forges its Hide made it such that the sword slashes only left behind white marks on his body when they landed on him, vanishing in the blink of an eye like small scratches.
The palace master wheezed slightly. The prolonged battle made him feel exhausted too. He had already become rather weary when he faced the endless innate abilities, even feeling a hint of despair. Just what else was Li Qingshan capable of!?
“Tremors of the Ox Demon!”
With a deep bellow, the earth shook and rumbled like thunder. Waves of the power of tremors rose up from his feet, gathering in his right hand. He slowly curled his fingers into a fist as he threw a punch at the King of Chu’s Seal.
With a great boom, the King of Chu’s Seal was lifted upwards, and an entire layer of the golden light was shaved away. The destructive power behind the punch was actually no less than the detonation of a soul nascence.
