Chapter 1441: Counterattack
Li Qingshan’s mad laughter made Li Liehuo erupt into flames again, tempted to burn him to ash then and there.
Chao Tianjiao took half a step forward and blocked the waves of heat for Li Qingshan, gazing at Li Liehuo with a smile.
Li Liehuo suddenly calmed down. He thought, Why can this kid anger me so easily?
With Li Qingshan’s mockery at full strength, he had yet to meet a person who was immune to it. It was truly the greatest innate ability.
Li Liehuo said to the Upraised Light abbot, “Master, please forgive me for saying this, but this kid has definitely used some sort of trick.”
The officers of the Scorching Fire army all agreed. “Yeah, there has to be a trick! This kid is a crook!”
Li Qingshan curled his lip in disdain. They really would never give up until they were staring despair in the face.
“This…” The Upraised Light abbot was certain he had been correct. He had already connected with the western paradise Sukhāvatī and borrowed the power of the buddha. Despite all that, he was still unable to detect any lies, so the only answer was Li Qingshan was telling the truth.
Li Liehuo recovered some confidence. At the very least, there had yet to be any direct evidence so far that proved Li Qingshan’s words.
“He practises the Heavenly Tome of Liberty, a heavenly tome that the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance has produced recently. He walks the path of Maheśvara, so he’s probably capable of many strange and unexpected techniques.”
The Upraised Light abbot was not particularly convinced by that. No matter what Li Qingshan was capable of, it was still based on his cultivation, so it was not very likely for him to deceive someone like him at the fifth heavenly tribulation. However, given the importance of the matter, he could only sigh and say, “… perhaps!”
Li Liehuo loosened up inside. As long as the Upraised Light abbot took back what he said, then there would still be room for manoeuvre. He said proudly, “Li Qingshan, do you think you can take my position as captain through your schemes? You’re dreaming. I’ll send someone over to Cold Blood pass right now to check!”
Li Qingshan laughed. “You’ll send someone over? Doesn’t that mean I’m dead for sure then?”
Li Liehuo sneered. “What other tricks are you capable of?”
Chao Tianjiao made a suggestion. “Why don’t I pay a visit instead?”
Li Qingshan and Li Liehuo glanced at her at the same time. Neither of them followed her up.
Chao Tianjiao fumed. “Oi, what’s the meaning of this? You don’t trust me?”
“Yeah, we don’t trust you.”
Chao Tianjiao ground her teeth. These two damned men.
The Upraised Light abbot sighed. “Given the significance of the matter, why don’t I pay a visit instead?”
“That won’t be necessary!” Li Qingshan raised his hand and made his way out. “Please come with me. I have other evidence. Sigh, I didn’t want to make it so troublesome originally.”
In front of the Scorching Fire hall was an empty training ground. Basically all the officers of the Scorching Fire army and Xuanwu army had gathered there now. Even a few monks from the Pure Land temple had come to watch.
They formed a total of three groups, led by three different people. Those were the three factions within Black Cloud city.
Li Liehuo stood with his arms crossed and face stern.
The Upraised Light abbot uttered the buddha’s name, never neglecting his cultivation.
Chao Tianjiao stood boldly with her hands on her hips, waiting for someone’s misfortune to arrive.
All of their eyes were locked onto Li Qingshan who made his way into the centre of the training grounds. He stopped in the glistening white snow and smiled before rising up into the air and opening his sumeru ring.
At that instant, countless corpses poured down from above like a storm, hitting the ground heavily. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Everyone was dumbstruck. In the blink of an eye, a mountain of corpses piled up on the training grounds. The heavy reeking of blood filled their mouths and noses.
The pile formed from the corpse of two to three hundred thousand demonfolk was a particularly imposing sight. Even when everyone present was well-versed with the battlefield, they still felt pressured, forced to take half a step back.
Li Qingshan simply stood on the top of the corpse mountain and laughed. “Li Liehuo, is there anything else you want to say?”
There was no reply. Li Liehuo, Chao Tianjiao, and the Upraised Light abbot had already arrived before the corpse mountain to inspect it.
Li Liehuo became more and more stern. These demonfolk were indeed part of the army stationed at Cold Blood pass. Whether it was their armour, weapons, or aura, all of it matched.
The Upraised Light abbot’s eyes lit up, and he scanned around. “They’ve all died recently, and by the look of things, they haven’t died to the hands of humans.” For some reason, it reminded him of the scene he had seen at the boundary of the two worlds, the colossal demonic figure that stood on the horizon.
Chao Tianjiao touched her chin, also puzzled. These demonfolk all seemed to have been killed by Tu Wancheng after he demonified.
Li Liehuo noticed this as well. He looked over and said furiously, “Chao Tianjiao, you’ve screwed me over!”
That was basically the most logical explanation. Under Chao Tianjiao’s threat, Tu Wancheng had turned into a demonic beast and slaughtered Cold Blood pass.
Chao Tianjiao rolled her eyes. “How have I screwed you over? When I left, Tu Wancheng was still alive and kicking. He didn’t turn into a demonic beast.”
“Mighty be senior sister!” The officers of the Xuanwu army cheered.
Li Liehuo said, “I didn’t expect you to be so under-handed!”
“Say that again.” Chao Tianjiao squinted her eyes.
The two captains were on the verge of fighting. Li Qingshan watched from the top of the mountain as he thought inside, Fight! Fight! Fight! If you kill each other, that’s less trouble for me!
The Upraised Light abbot said, “Amitābha. Please calm down. There are a lot of doubtful points involved. Did Tu Wancheng really kill so many demonfolk alone? These wounds don’t resemble anything left behind by a frenzied demonic beast either.”
Li Liehuo sank into his thoughts as well. Demonic beasts were bloodthirsty and frenzied, but they would not kill without any reason like this. On top of that, demonic beasts lacked rationality, so they were even easier to deal with than demonfolk. Let alone a demonic beast, it was impossible even for Demon Sovereign Tu Wancheng to massacre an elite army of demonfolk like this.
Similarly, Chao Tianjiao did not have that ability either. Otherwise, with the merit she would have achieved with this, it would basically guarantee her the position of first senior sister. Why would she still be scheming against him?
Chao Tianjiao split open the pile of corpses with a swing of her blade. “That’s strange. There are no Demon Kings or Demon Emperors in here, not even a finger!”
On the top of the mountain, Li Qingshan dodged the black aura in a hurry and waved his fist. “Oi, be careful!”
Everyone’s gazes gathered on him once again. They wanted to understand exactly what was going on.
Li Qingshan shrugged. “What’re you looking at me for? I just happened to come across it, yet someone refused to believe me. What else could I do?”
Li Liehuo’s chest heaved as he clenched his hands. He seemed like he wanted to swallow Li Qingshan whole.
Suddenly, he shut his eyes and pacified his anger. He clasped his hands at Li Qingshan. “Junior brother Li, I’ve been wrong! You ventured deep within the Demon domain and discovered this upheaval of Cold Blood pass in time, not only completing the mission, but even making a great contribution to the sect as well. I will resign from the position of captain and recommend you to take over.”
The officers of the Scorching Fire army all paled in fright. “Senior brother, you mustn’t do that!”
The Upraised Light monk urged him in a hurry. “Fellow Li, this is an extremely important matter, so please reconsider!”
Chao Tianjiao also felt like everything had gotten a little out of hand. The loss of two to three hundred thousand demonfolk was absolutely nothing to the Demon domain. There would definitely be more battles in the coming year, and they would still require the combined efforts of both armies to hold them off.
She furrowed her brows and said, “Li Liehuo, this is a battlefield, not a place for you to play games. Just let that kid punch you a few times to make up for the punch you hit him with, and that’ll be that.”
“I have already made up my mind. There is no need to say anything else!” Li Liehuo said firmly.
For the sake of practising the Heavenly Tome of Scorching Fire, he had specially changed his name to Li Liehuo in the past just so he could realise the true essence, so his will could burn like fire. If he was wrong, then he was wrong. If he was right, then he was right! Making him bicker or deny this, or stoop to a compromise, was all impossible.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows. He never expected him to admit his mistake so easily either. He clapped and smiled. “Li Liehuo, that’s a clever scheme.”
“What scheme?”
Li Qingshan leapt down from the corpse mountain. “I’m just an inner disciple. I don’t have the right to serve as the captain of an army. When you put in your resignation with the sect, the sect may not necessarily allow it. At the end of the day, you’ll still be the captain!”
“You better not take it too far with these accusations! Since I’m resigning, I definitely won’t be regretting it.”
“Haha, I’ve been taking it too far? Who was the one who forced me to hand over the Xuanming dwelling? Who was the one who punched me the moment we saw each other? Upraised Light master, I’m not talking about you. Who was the one who tried to overwhelm me right from the beginning?”
Li Qingshan’s three questions were very dignified. From beginning to end, he had never proactively provoked Li Liehuo. However, since he had gotten his way now, if he still bickered over these small matters, refusing to let them go, then he would seem a little petty.
“Senior brother Li, I don’t want your Scorching Fire army, nor do I have any interest in it. Just keep it for yourself! If I want to be an army captain, I’ll form one myself once I become a direct disciple. When you threw that punch, you did it right in my face, so I’ll be throwing that punch back right in your face too!”
Li Liehuo gazed at him deeply as if this was the first time he had met him. “Alright, I’ll be waiting!”
Li Liehuo led his officers away, and Li Qingshan stowed the corpses away.
Chao Tianjiao said, “Kid, given the situation, it’s no longer suitable for you to remain in the Scorching Fire army. I’ll transfer you to the Xuanwu army. No one should object to that.”
Li Qingshan gasped. “You’re not out to screw with me, are you?”
“Of course not.” Chao Tianjiao brought her arm around his shoulder. She was definitely up to no good.
