The slumbering Rāhu Xiaoming opened his eyes. These were asura he had personally converted. Back then, over ten thousand people attended the ceremony. Through these sixteen years of selection and elimination, less than a thousand of them still maintained the heart of an asura. Most of them had turned back to mortal humans, gaining the opportunity to learn martial arts.
However, this had already left him surprised enough. The heart of an asura required tempering through the flames of battle. It had been over a decade since any battles had happened, so even if they could preserve a few dozen of them, they would have been doing wonderfully.
Li Qingshan had given a speech many years ago. “Fighting against the heavens is better than fighting against people. Man will conquer the heavens!”
He led these people to fight all sorts of natural disasters, from floods and fires to earthquakes, droughts, and locust plagues. The intangible will of the heavens basically unleashed all the natural disasters it could on this land.
That was even more brutal than war. Under the vast might of the heavens, even standing in unity became extremely difficult. It was like they were facing an undefeatable opponent. Most of the time, they were completely at the whim of the heavens, watching it leave behind destruction powerlessly.
Some died in the fight, dying to the seas of fire or vanishing in the floods.
Many gave up, choosing to get married and start a family, to spend their days in a more comfortable manner.
However, these people managed to persevere, fighting the heavens arduously and becoming true asura!
The battle spirit they had condensed was extremely special. They were not bloodthirsty or battle-hungry like regular asura. Instead, they possessed a sense of breadth where they wanted to change the world, even leaving the child of an asura god amazed.
If it were not for this small world, if it were not for the leadership of someone like this, leading them to fend off the natural disasters, it was completely impossible for asura like them to appear.
He was very curious whether these asura would receive “its” commendations or setbacks in the Asura realm.
A group of warriors battled arduously, not to obtain its graces, but to carry out a spirit. They were even willing to go as far as to oppose the heavens.
However, he was confident they would be spoiled by the Asura realm, as they were true warriors.
Li Qingshan did not mistreat them either. He provided them with cultivation resources to the best of his ability, as well as all the amusements that the world could offer. Whether it was wealth or women, he bestowed it to them generously, basically a small compensation for their sacrifices.
However, that was only a small adjustment between the battles to these true warriors. That had stopped being their true interests a long time ago.
Of course, every single one of them were innate masters, or they could not be called asura. It no longer had anything to do with the inner force or true qi within their bodies. Instead, it was an intrinsic change to their bloodlines and bodies. It was possible to say that they had reached the innate realm through willpower alone.
Before an existence like that, how could Wu Huan stand a chance mentally? His willpower had already been quite tough considering the fact that his mind had not collapsed immediately.
Right when he felt like he could not last any longer, Li Qingshan waved his hand. “Give us a moment. We’re almost going to let the water in! Alright, stop looking at him. What’s there to look at? Let’s get to work so that we don’t make him wait.”
The specks of red light vanished as everyone returned to normal, continuing to toil about in the soil. They spoke and joked around like nothing was going to happen. It was as if they were not worried that the rising waters were about to breach the barrier, let alone the avenger who had been frightened out of his wits.
They seemed ordinary yet fearless, humble and lowly yet filled with lofty sentiments.
Rāhu Xiaoming closed his eyes again. He sure was tempted to lead an army like this into battle!
Wu Huan collapsed on the ground, gasping for air like a person close to drowning that had just been rescued. He poured with sweat as if he had just been scooped out of the water. Suddenly, he did not want revenge anymore. All he wanted to do was make a scramble and get as far away from these people as possible. However, as soon as he remembered she was currently watching him, he was unable to move. He only lay on the banks like a statue.
“Mum, that person is so strange!” a child said.
“Don’t go over there. That’s your father’s enemy. He might eat you in a gulp if you’re not careful! Though, why does he seem so familiar? I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.”
The rain fell even harder, leaving the world miserable. The banks of the river became covered with cracks, and the largest crack happened to “coincide” with the direction of Beiping city. From high above, the river seemed like a restless dragon, twisting its body and brandishing its claws, wanting to break out of the banks and devour the city.
A great howl rang through the air.
The giant turtle in the distance heard the howl. It spread its limbs and shifted its body.
With a boom, the waters rushed in. Even with his size, he could only bob around in the water.
The water level in the river rapidly fell as the flood rushed into the canal like a pack of horses. All of the asura began to roar, filled with delight.
They had won this battle.
Li Qingshan stopped howling, also smiling in delight.
“Give me a hand, my king!” the giant turtle Old Patience called out from the waters.
“Go take three days’ break and have some fun!”
“But I…”
Li Qingshan watched as the giant turtle was washed away by the flood before making his way over to Wu Huan. “C’mon! Tell me what kind of grievance we have.”
“A grievance of a taken wife! I will never forgive you!” Wu Huan suddenly raised his head. His eyes were completely bloodshot.
“Can you be a little more precise?” Li Qingshan felt a little troubled. Back then, every single one of the ten great beauties had a great group of admirers.
“Do you still remember how you kidnapped my soon-to-be wife fifteen years ago in the southern region, Nangong Wan’er of the Nangong clan?” Wu Huan said as he slowly took out the Bone of Killing.
“Ah! You’re that- that Wu whatchamacallit!” Nangong Wan’er stood beneath a tree in the distance to shelter from the rain. When she heard her name being mentioned, she hurried over and studied Wu Huan. “It really is you. You’ve changed so much. I almost couldn’t recognise you!”
Wu Huan lowered his head. She was still as beautiful as back then, but he had already changed. When he saw the three children, he felt like a blade had just sliced him three times. His hatred immediately overwhelmed his fear, which made him grip the Bone of Killing firmly.
“So we do have a grievance of a taken wife, but you can’t completely blame me! Back then, I asked her if she wanted to leave with me, and she agreed!” Li Qinghan shrugged, without any interest in taking responsibility.
“That’s impossible!” Wu Huan was overcome with fury as he roared out.
Nangong Wan’er was angered too. “You’re lying!”
Before Wu Huan could even feel a tinge of relief, Nangong Wan’er added, “You clearly said ‘Come with me!’ back then!”
“I just said it casually. I absolutely regret it now.” Li Qingshan shook his head.
“You clearly came specially for me!” Tears pooled up in Nangong Wan’er’s eyes. “Li Qingshan, you heartless bastard! I gave birth to children for you, one after another, and you actually treat me like this!”
However, she was unable to forget that sight fifteen years ago. In the gloomy jungle, the broken sunlight scattered on the ground when he descended from above like a god, standing on the white elephant that was taking her to her marriage. His golden hair drifted like the fierce winds as his golden eyes shone like stars. He extended his hand towards her. “Come with me!”
As a result, she grabbed the hand without any hesitation.
“You can take them back then!” Li Qingshan barked.
He could still remember how she had angered him to the point where he flew into a rage as he brought her back to the northern region, dragging her off the elephant and teaching her a vicious lesson.
It was not that he did not know how to cherish women, but she had been asking for a beating far too much. Out of the Ten Great Beauties of the World, she was the most stubborn and unruly one. Her personality was basically as horrible as it could get. If she wanted the stars, then the moon would not suffice. Weeping, tantrums, and threats to hang herself occurred every second day. Despite being a madam of the hero king, her face was always twisted with displeasure for some reason. Her sharp mouth was vicious and absolutely horrific too. It had taken him a tremendous amount of effort to teach her how to behave.
The others had their own matters to tend to. Only she loafed around every single day, following him everywhere on the sh*tty elephant, and that was the result of teaching her how to behave after all these years. Of course, the three children were also one of the results.
In the past, they basically had a big argument every three days and a small bickering every single day. It only became slightly better after she had children.
Now, she took her children with her wherever she went, basically using them as a protective charm. She showed signs of slipping back into her old habits again.
“Li Qingshan, you’re not human!”
“You’re more than welcome to leave with anyone who’s a human. Look, there’s one right here, and he’s your old fiance! It’s perfect!”
The asura gazed over, laughing. Even the three monkey children giggled about, clearly having grown accustomed to this already.
Wu Huan blanked out. He murmured, “Wan’er, tell me this isn’t true. Tell me this isn’t true…”
“Hey, Wu Huan, stop calling out randomly. There’s absolutely nothing between us. We only met a handful of times. You’re so weird!”
Wu Huan cried out hysterically, “We were husband and wife with an engagement, to be married in a formal manner! What do you mean there’s absolutely nothing between us!?”
Nangong Wan’er said in contempt, “If it weren’t for the fact that my father wanted to bring those barbarians of the seventy-two caves under his control, would I have been married off to such a sh*tty place? Why don’t you check yourself in the mirror? In what way are you worthy of me? Speaking of which, you were an absolutely abhorrent sight to look at back then.”
Li Qingshan shook his head in disbelief. He could not stand it any longer. “Enough of you. He went as far as to come here to die, just for revenge. Don’t you have a bit of human decency?”
“Ah, so you’re siding with him now? If I slept with every single man who’s willing to die for me, a decade would not be enough to get up to a bastard like you!” Nangong Wan’er stood with her hands on her hips and her face bright red. She felt like it had been a very long time since she felt so satisfied.
Veins bulged on Li Qingshan’s forehead as he ground his teeth. Nangong Wan’er, just you wait for tonight!
Nangong Wan’er glared back at him. Who’s afraid of who? It’s not like you can kill me!
Wu Huan’s face was completely ashen. He felt like something in his heart had shattered.
Li Qingshan said, “It’s getting late, so if you want to fight, let’s do this! However, do you really love her that much and hate me so much? Or have you been toyed with by the heavens?”
The curtain of night fell. Wu Huan listened to the sounds of the waves as he slowly raised the Bone of Killing in his hand.
By now, Li Qingshan had already led everyone back to the city. He was currently deep within the hero king’s manor, teaching miss Nangong how to “behave”. He did not show any mercy no matter how she moaned or pleaded with him.
Wu Huan adjusted the Bone of Killing, pointing it towards his forehead. He shut his eyes and activated the vicious curse he had spent fourteen years building up.
A while later, he opened his eyes and discovered himself unscathed.
The Bone of Killing could kill without any person noticing, such that even supreme masters would struggle to block it, but it happened to be useless against the person who created it. No one had ever known about this, as no one had ever tried to commit suicide like this.
The will of the heavens toyed with men!
The next morning, smoke rose up from the village. The woman rose from bed to make breakfast and saw a man collapsed at the entrance, making her leap in fright. She made her way over carefully. “Guest?”
At the same time, a letter of challenge was spread through the world. The leader of the martial arts alliance, Zhang Yuntian, had challenged Li Qingshan to a decisive battle outside Xuanwu city to determine the possession of the world!
