The blue sky was clear, without a cloud in sight. The sea surged with waves.
Myriad city shook and swayed, like a lone boat on the ocean.
The simultaneous explosion of two Yang Souls lingered without fading. In particular, the great coldness accumulated within Leng Yuan over several thousand years of cultivation had been completely released at that moment, immediately throwing Myriad city into winter. All of the buildings, pavilions, and trees became covered in a layer of frost, turning into a silvery world.
Who would have thought that Li Qingshan’s counterattack would be so intense!
He struck out a total of three times, a roar, a grab, and a flick! In the blink of an eye, two direct disciples perished, a Daemon Sovereign lost its life, and several hundred cultivators were buried with them.
As the leader of the direct disciples, Dai Mengfan hovered in the air. Her violet dress danced in the wind, making her seem like a fairy visiting the domain of humans. Even when her lifebound arcane artifact had been destroyed, the glow she gave off did not weaken at all under the effects of the Calamity Survival pill, instead growing even brighter than before.
However, her charming face was sheet-white. Down below was the fury of Li Qingshan’s revenge and up above was the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance’s cold pressure. She did not have the courage to fight or flee, so all she felt was despair.
But now, no one mocked her cowardice anymore. All of the direct disciples felt chills inside. This was the might of a god. Even if he was only a clone, he could still butcher Yang Soul cultivators like butchering pigs.
The current situation bore great resemblance to the battle of Black Cloud city. A Demon God’s clone had also appeared back then, annihilating everyone. But this time, there was not a second Li Qingshan to stand up for them. The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance would never risk his life to confront a Demon God either, instead choosing to watch from the top of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes.
Under the great shock and impact, no one had any idea what to do. They were all dumbfounded.
Outside Myriad city, the sweeping winds lifted up the seawater layer by layer, revealing the head of a large, stone statue. It was Li Qingshan’s statue that had been destroyed under Leng Yuan’s personal orders just recently. Its shattered body had already been cleaned up, leaving behind the head that sank into the ocean.
Now that it was exposed from the water, a gust of cold wind immediately formed a thin layer of ice on it, but its expression seemed to become even more determined and resolute.
The soldiers had all fallen in battle, leaving behind the general to fight on, but he had already become a “monster” in everyone’s eyes, his antlers standing tall and his eyes shining scarlet. He laid beneath the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, wrapped in black demon qi and snorting out hot white air.
After killing Leng Yuan, the “monster” seemed to smile, making it seem even more frightening, almost like a living nightmare. However, no one sensed the melancholy that flashed through its scarlet eyes—slaughter also led to hesitation.
Only the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes was unaffected by the coldness, remaining the same as before with its colourful bricks and tiles, towering over everything. It formed an especially clear contrast with this frosty world.
The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance stood at the top of the building, his expression indifferent like the clouds and his eyes deep like the ocean. After destroying Pi Yangqiu who deserted and deterring the other direct disciples from trying something similar, he shifted his gaze back onto Li Qingshan.
His lifespan was calculated in the tens of thousands of years. Even when he had never undergone the seventh heavenly tribulation and become a True Immortal, the power and wisdom he accumulated was already oceanic.
At this moment, he powered the All-encompassing Formation of the Myriad silently, merging his body with the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes. Then he merged the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes with Myriad city before finally merging Myriad city with the world.
If Li Qingshan wanted to defeat him, he had to defeat the world!
The world was his territory and all of the direct disciples were his chess pieces. As long as they could stop Li Qingshan’s footsteps and block his strongest wave of attacks, he would be undefeatable on this chessboard!
Actually, what spirit turtles were most skilled at was not divination, but defence.
As a result, before Li Qingshan could even properly savour the taste of revenge, he experienced the pressure like he was at the bottom of the ocean again.
He had grown accustomed to this sense of pressure a long time ago. The voices of the living creatures of the Demon domain rang out in his ear again, pleading, sighing, worshipping… Just how many enemies did he have to kill before he could get what he wanted?
A strange sensation surged through his chest, suddenly letting out a great roar at the sky—The Tiger Demon Forges its Bones, with a Frenzied Heart!
The direct disciples were surprised at first, retreating in a hurry. They had all been frightened out of their wits from Li Qingshan’s Tiger Demon’s Fierce Roar earlier, but only after a moment did they realise that the roar was very spirited and intense, but it did not contain much power. It was better described as the growl produced by a wild beast after falling into a trap than an innate ability.
Li Qingshan seemed to have devoted all of his strength to fending off the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, such that he could not spare any effort to go after anyone else.
Several direct disciples even let out sighs of relief and relaxed. As it turned out, as long as they did not flee, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance would be able to concentrate on suppressing Li Qingshan, and Li Qingshan’s threat to them would greatly diminish. As long as he was unable to kill them in a single strike, they would have plenty of trump cards for staying alive.
In other words, Pi Yangqiu was at fault for Leng Yuan’s death. They gradually noticed that Pi Yangqiu’s behaviour earlier was strange. He had probably already been recruited by Li Qingshan, defecting to the demonic path when he went to take back the Xuanming dwelling.
It could only be said that none of the direct disciples were fools. They only required a slight deduction to work out most of the truth. Suddenly, they felt like Li Qingshan was not that terrifying anymore. Instead, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was slightly more scary.
As a result, they all gave up on the thought of escaping, unleashing their arcane treasures and techniques at Li Qingshan.
Immediately, the square under the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes turned into a field of weapons, basically swallowing Li Qingshan’s colossal figure. The body condensed from spiritual qi crumbled and collapsed at a visible rate as if he was about to follow Pi Yangqiu’s footsteps.
Even when they knew they were only chess pieces, they were unable to defy the chess player’s order, following the path that the player had arranged for them to make a charge for the enemy commander.
Meanwhile, Li Qingshan did not respond at all. He neither dodged nor blocked. Only the roar continued onwards, like he had given up on the battle right before him, just so he could vent a certain emotion.
The chess pieces became even more invigorated as a result. If they could destroy Li Qingshan’s clone, then it would definitely merit tremendous rewards from the Desireless Heavenly Palace. They would have an opportunity at becoming Human Immortals.
But strangely enough, the chess player clearly possessed a tremendous advantage, yet he only became sterner. He furrowed his brows firmly. In order to suppress Li Qingshan, he could not spare the effort to perform any divinations either. As Li Qingshan’s body became smaller and smaller, he did not relax at all. Instead, an ominous feeling gradually overtook him.
Of course, the chess pieces were not all obedient either. Dai Mengfan was an example. She only used a fraction of her strength to attack Li Qingshan, devoting the rest to self-preservation. She hid carefully among the direct disciples, possessing none of the spirit belonging to a first senior sister.
The other direct disciples all noticed this and were certain she would be harshly punished by the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance after the battle, not only losing her position as the first senior sister, but even maybe being expelled from the sect.
If Dai Mengfan knew what they were thinking, she would definitely cry out, “Please expel me from the sect right now!”
Because at that moment, her divining abilities even surpassed the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance. All she saw was a thick, inky aura of death swallowing everyone.
