“Really?”
Li Qingshan gazed at Rāhu Xiaoming deeply. He understood that the latter was not just referring to the endless, bloody battles of the Asura realm, but also the battle of gods.
“What, you afraid? Given your current strength, you really would be pushing your luck.”
For once, Rāhu Xiaoming formed a smile on his face—a sneer.
“Hehe, a little.” Li Qingshan’s answer took Rāhu Xiaoming by surprise. Instead, he stopped sneering. “Very good.”
Those who did not know fear could not be regarded as courageous.
Far too many asura had forgotten about this, including Li Qingshan himself in the past. Because they possessed an undying body, because they did not want this fighting spirit to diminish, they threw themselves into battle after battle fearlessly, killing and being killed in a crazy manner until they lost themselves in the end.
“No wonder you could gain its recognition. I hope you will never forget about the fear you feel right now.”
“By it, are you referring to the Asura realm?”
“Yes and no.”
Gu Yanying interrupted them. “I have a question. If you are currently being hunted down by a certain god from the Asura realm, Xiaoming, wouldn’t we be done for if they come for you through the Asura Field? In simpler words, I don’t think this small world can keep a god at bay.”
As soon as she said that, a powerful figure leapt out of the Asura Field, tripping over violently. If Li Qingshan had not extended his hand and caught her, she almost would have been decapitated by the circular blade she wielded.
Yin Qing straightened herself out in a rather sorry shape. “Is this… a small world?”
“How is it inside?” Rāhu Xiaoming asked.
“Most of the cracks have closed up. The tunnel will open again very soon. The aura has already begun seeping in.”
Yin Qing’s face changed. She immediately forgot about the numerous restraints from the world.
Originally, she was not too worried, but she had obtained a droplet of divine blood from Rāhu Xiaoming, which was equivalent to branding herself as a part of the Rāhu clan. Once the owner of the huge eye forced their way in, there definitely would not be a good fate awaiting her. Rebirthing in the Asura realm would basically become a dream.
“We need to destroy the Asura Field,” said Rāhu Xiaoming.
“Hey, why do I feel like I’m going to be losing out heaps here?”
Li Qingshan was very unhappy. He had stolen the Asura Field after so much difficulty. Only after all those battles did it evolve to its current level.
Rāhu Xiaoming said lazily, “You best give up on it. You once helped me obstruct her. Just from that alone, she won’t spare you.”
“Don’t worry. I said I would protect you, so of course, I’ll protect you!”
Li Qingshan was not a hesitant, indecisive person. He tossed the Asura Field to Rāhu Xiaoming.
Rāhu Xiaoming fiddled around with the Asura Field for a while, but he was not in a hurry to destroy it. Li Qingshan admired his patience. “What are you waiting for?”
“I can use the Asura Field to turn your army into an army of asura.”
Gu Yanying’s eyes lit up. The battle today had exposed the fatal flaw of this army as well.
As it was entirely composed of mortals, they could only overwhelm regular martial arts practitioners even if they used the battle formations of the school of the Military. They would still require her to deal with innate masters, or in other words, Qi Practitioners. However, she was not that powerful most of the time. If she did not have Li Qingshan’s protection, she would struggle to fend off assassinations from masters.
Even if Li Qingshan could protect her, there was nothing he could do about the regular soldiers. If their camp was constantly assaulted with sneak attacks, their morale would plummet before long. An army truly possessed far too many flaws in a world where personal strength completely overwhelmed the strength of groups.
“Hmph, you sure are lucky!” Li Qingshan said.
“I used my horse to trade for this.” Gu Yanying smiled. Then she asked Rāhu Xiaoming, “When can we start?”
“There’s no hurry. The flow of time here is very slow. Go make some preparations first!”
……
The next morning, Gu Yanying gathered the army outside the city. The thousands of corpses from the enemy army piled up into a terrifying mountain.
Li Qingshan and the others stood on the top of the corpse mountain, gazing at the black mass of people below.
Feihong tried her best to avoid looking at the mountain of corpses beneath her feet. She asked Li Qingshan carefully, “My king, what are you doing with this?”
“Don’t worry. It’s something fantastic. Today, I’ll be taking out my treasure to share with everyone. However, how much of it you can collect will be up to your own luck.”
Li Qingshan had already understood from Rāhu Xiaoming. While this ceremony could convert many people into asura, they were still fakes. Just their strength alone was nowhere close to true asura, and if they did not possess the heart of an asura, they would revert back to normal humans very soon. They could not even remain as fakes.
Then he asked Yin Qing beside him, “Feel a bit better?”
“I feel much better, my king.”
Li Qingshan smiled. “That’s good then. I will find ways to help you recover your strength.”
“As long as there’s battle and slaughter, it’ll be enough.”
“I almost forgot that you’re a true asura.”
“I’ve rested for so long, so it’s about time I set off again.”
Yin Qing gazed out. Within the thin morning mist, the silhouettes of mountains rose and fell, which reminded her of her homeland, which was also so small. She had once been as delicate as that woman called Feihong, but now, she possessed the divine blood of the Rāhu clan. Even though it was only a single droplet, it had led to a qualitative change.
Feihong glanced at her in admiration. There was even some envy.
“Qingshan, they’re waiting for you to say something,” said Gu Yanying.
Li Qingshan took a step forward and said loudly, “You’ve all received the rewards, haven’t you?”
Everyone answered loudly, booming through the air.
“Very good, but all of that is nothing. I’m going to give you far more than that. Pegasus city behind you is just an appetiser. We’re going to take the entire world and send those aristocratic clans that stand so high and those conceited masters of the martial arts community to their deaths! We’re going to pile up corpse mountains after corpse mountains and stand on top of those people who have always been strutting over your heads!”
“Long live the hero king!”
With Li Qingshan’s speech, everyone gradually forgot about their fear and sorrow, the fighting spirit within them set alight. Sound waves quaked through the ground and sky.
“You all know about the arrival of the daemon star. Right now, all the masters of the world are searching for it in the north, but they’ll never find it, as the daemon star is in my possession. I’m going to share its power with all of you now so that you also have the opportunity to become a supreme master like the Demon Lord of Seven Slaughters!”
Li Qingshan’s words made the crowd fall silent. Soon, they erupted with cheers as if they were trying to burst the very skies with their voices.
Even the two protectors were stunned. They had received an answer to all of their questions. Sure enough, he was connected to the daemon star. Their eyes became filled with fervour soon afterwards too.
Li Qingshan looked back and signalled at Rāhu Xiaoming. “Let’s begin!”
Rāhu Xiaoming bit into his index finger and brought it to the Asura Field gently.
In that instant, the inscriptions and formations hidden within the Asura Field suddenly expanded, turning into complicated, blood-red lines. A thin, bloody mist enveloped a region of five kilometers, filled with a violent killing intent, except its effects were vastly different from the Rock of Slaughter.
At this moment, Ma Xingkong rushed towards Pegasus city with a great group of people around him, only to see that the sky had turned blood-red.
“Something has happened to Pegasus city. Everyone, move faster!”
After issuing an order, Ma Xingkong whipped his horse as hard as he could before telling the innate masters under Zhang Yuntian’s lead, “Please lend me a hand with this, everyone. The Ma family will not forget about your kindness!”
Zhang Yuntian said, “You have nothing to worry about, brother Ma. Gathering the heroes of the world and purging heretics and evil is my responsibility as the leader of the martial arts alliance!”
