“You!”
The stone punch pierced through the air, producing a thunderous roar and kicking up a violent gust of wind. Strongboulder was taken aback. The punch he was completely confident in had actually missed.
“Is this your innate ability? It can actually influence my mind!” Li Qingshan grabbed Strongboulder’s wrist firmly with a tiger’s claw. His eyes were calm and clear as his gruff voice hummed like metal. He raised his hand and caught the other punch that Strongboulder threw.
With a clang, there was a metallic screech, and the two pairs of eyes met. As the two surging forces clashed, neither of them roared or shouted. Only the ground beneath them groaned painfully, constantly cracking and collapsing.
“What might! He can actually rival Strongboulder’s physical strength!’ “He might actually be able to win!” “He can’t win. Storngboulder hasn’t even used his full strength yet.”
“You’re actually unaffected? But it’s already too late. Watch as I crush you to pieces!” Strongboulder gritted his teeth and smiled viciously. His muscles swelled rapidly. Huge boulders suddenly rose up from his shoulders and covered his entire body. Jagged rock enveloped his face as well. He seemed like he had equipped some kind of strange, rugged armour, only leaving his shining eyes exposed.
Li Qingshan felt an unstoppable force rise up. It was incredibly heavy, like an immovable mountain crushing down on him. Even with the Strength of the Earth, he was unable to do anything about it. He could only watch as Strongboulder broke free from his grip bit by bit.
“Shatter!” Strongboulder lifted his arms and broke free from Li Qingshan’s grasp. With tremendous weight, he reached towards Li Qingshan’s shoulders.
Li Qingshan’s shoulders slumped down. He leaned forward and lowered his head, making Strongboulder miss.
“Are you admitting defeat by lowering your head?” Strongboulder laughed madly. Suddenly, he felt his body tighten, having been lifted up by Li Qingshan. A pair of sharp ox horns glistened menacingly, targeting Strongboulder’s abdomen. With a deep, furious roar, Li Qingshan swung his iron hooves about and ran violently.
Boom! Li Qingshan’s horns pushed Strongboulder against a wall. Countless cracks covered the wall instantly as huge pieces of rock fell down with a rumble, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Interesting. Interesting. It’s been a very long time since someone’s made me feel pain. Let’s have some proper fun!” Mad laughter rang out from the rubble. Strongboulder pushed aside the rock casually. Li Qingshan’s sharp horns had only left behind two dents in his abdomen, which vanished in the blink of an eye.
“Hold on!” Just when Strongboulder was about to strike, Li Qingshan raised his hand.
“Is he going to admit defeat?” “Now that’s the correct decision to make.” The night roamers discussed quietly. Anyone facing a situation like this would become despaired and doubt whether they had a chance at victory at all.
“I don’t accept forfeits!” Strongboulder roared. Meanwhile, the Spider Queen’s gaze became icy. This was not the level of battle she had wanted to witness.
“Forfeit? That was just a warm up. Let’s play a game!” Li Qingshan returned to the severed flow of lava and turned around, standing still.
“Oh? What game?” Strongboulder asked in interest.
“Whoever leaves this river loses!” Li Qingshan pointed at the two shores, designating them as the boundaries.
“What?” Ye Mingzhu cried out. The river was very wide, but it seemed extremely narrow compared to their figures. If that were the case, they would reach the shores from taking a single step back. He would have absolutely no room to pivot around in. Was he trying to put his life on the line against Strongboulder?
This was no game. This was clearly suicide!
“I just knew you wouldn’t disappoint me!” The Spider Queen licked her lips in excitement.
“Alright, alright, alright!” Strongboulder was taken aback before agreeing to it happily. He had never seen such an interesting opponent before! He arrived before Li Qingshan and stopped.
“Why aren’t you using your power from before?” Li Qingshan asked.
“Rock of Slaughter!” Strongboulder was slightly surprised before smiling viciously.
“What?”
“That was my original name! When I was still a rock, I already possessed this power. Whether it’s man or beast, as long as they approach me, they will be infected by battle and killing intent. If they have any companions, they will try to kill one another, and if they don’t, they’ll throw themselves against the rock until they’re dead. That’s why I was called a Rock of Slaughter! It’s all thanks to them that I could develop a spirit and become a daemon.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Li Qingshan came to an understanding. This had already surpassed innate abilities. Instead, it was a power he was born with. If it were not for the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression, even he would not have been able to resist this hysterical battle intent of madness!
“Because I’m about to cover myself in your blood soon!” Strongboulder roared at the sky. He unleashed his terrifying power, causing even the spectating night roamers to become red-eyed. When they looked at the people around them again, they found them despicable, tempted to kill them on the spot. They used their final bit of clarity to back off. They only let out a sigh of relief after they moved extremely far away.
“Then come!” Li Qingshan no longer controlled himself with the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression. His blood blazed like fire as his battle intent roared. Producing layers of blurs, he threw a hundred punches in a single instant, overwhelming Strongboulder like a tremendous wave.
Strongboulder ignored the attacks. He raised his right fist and twisted his body. Only when he pulled his fist back to the limit did he throw it at Li Qingshan.
The Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell sank in deeply the moment they collided, covered in cracks and closed to shattering. At the same time, Li Qingshan’s punches landed on Strongboulder. Countless collisions merged together in a single boom.
“What have you done?” Strongboulder’s vicious smile suddenly stiffened. He gazed at his body in disbelief. It was riddled with cracks, like the fissured ground during a drought. Shockwaves penetrated his skin and filled his entire body.
“Beat you up, obviously!” Li Qingshan sneered. “My innate ability is most effective against a rock like you. But as it seems, you won’t shatter so easily, but that’s perfect. If there’s no danger at all, what’s the point of fighting?”
“That’s reasonable! Nice! Come, come, come!” Strongboulder threw a punch as he roared out, and the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell shattered. The punch landed heavily on Li Qingshan’s face. “Let’s see who falls first!”
Li Qingshan leaned backwards, but he immediately straightened himself again. His iron hooves had already sunken into the ground, pinning him to the spot. He fought back without the slightest hesitation.
Booms roared thunderously as the ground rumbled. The spectators were all dumbfounded. Blurs filled the narrow space between the two of them. They had completely abandoned their defences to strengthen their attacks as much as possible, unleashing all of it on their opponent in an attempt to crush them.
The fists kicked up a whirlwind, which turned into a tornado and swept out in all directions. The entire underground shook and trembled. Only the two of them remained still. Both of their legs sank into the river bed, reaching up to their knees and locking them in place. It had devolved into a battle of immobility.
There was no room for tricks. It was just a clash of power in the most primitive and barbarous way possible.
Rock chips sprayed everywhere as blood danced about.
Strongboulder was like a jagged rock in the ocean, exposed to the billows and the erosion of storms but remaining unshakeable. Cracks covered his body as rock chips shattered and scattered. The strange power constantly invaded his body, but he ignored all of it. He was as excited as he could get. This strange rock that created conflict had always liked killing and fighting more than any other creature!
Even Li Qingshan himself had no idea just how many heavy punches he had received. Even the Ox Demon Forges its Hide was unable to nullify the terrifying force. He became covered in fist prints as his bones twisted and groaned, cracking and fracturing. However, all of the pain turned into indescribable delight.
Within his surging heart and his blood-red eyes, anger, killing intent, and hatred all merged together into battle intent as violent as the turbulent sea. He no longer cared about his fate. Only a single word remained, constantly repeating and echoing, Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill…
The Rock of Slaughter infecting him was not all of it. This process released something in his very nature. That was a bloodthirsty, belligerent tiger, roaring furiously as it broke out of the cage!
The third layer of the tiger demon!
Hmm? Spider Queen Lolth was slightly surprised. She could clearly sense Li Qingshan undergoing an overwhelming, startling change.
Li Qingshan’s eyes were blood-red as his canines protruded. His surging daemon qi became even more valiant and violent, while his colossal body seemed to become “slender”. In reality, his piled muscles had become better allocated. His great tendons twisted like steel wire, gathering the disorderly power. Within his flesh and blood, his fractured bones recovered, becoming even tougher than before.
Roar! Li Qingshan suddenly raised his head and let out a tiger’s roar, shaking up the entire rift. His wings of wind unfolded on his back, and with a stomp of his feet, he pulled himself up from the ground, smashing Strongboulder’s head violently with a headbutt. The rock armour shattered, exposing his original appearance. His face was plastered with surprise.
Li Qingshan did not become very powerful all of a sudden. As a matter of fact, he was still disadvantaged in terms of daemon qi, but his bearing had overwhelmed Strongboulder’s, making him slightly frantic.
“How is this possible!? How can his battle intent and killing intent surpass mine!?” Strongboulder roared furiously as he landed a punch on Li Qingshan’s abdomen. Li Qingshan only keeled over slightly before recovering.
Through this fierce battle, Strongboulder had sustained rather heavy injuries too from the destructive shockwaves. Now that his bearing weakened, it became even more difficult for him to unleash his full strength.
“Cover yourself in my blood? Then I’ll skin you alive!” Li Qingshan growled. With a hook and flick of his curved tiger claws, he ripped off the cracked rock armour within a series of sparks.
Strongboulder grabbed Li Qingshan’s shoulder and flung him hard in an attempt to throw him out. As long as Li Qingshan left the river bed, then he would have lost. However, did Strongboulder even care about the outcome of the battle a moment before?
Li Qingshan unfurled his arms, and with a flap of his wings, he stabilised himself, arriving above the river bed. Afterwards, he swooped down as hard as he could.
Boom! Like a black meteor, he struck the ground.
The iron hooves landed heavily on Strongboulder’s head, pushing him deep into the river bed. The circular shockwaves spread out in all directions, kicking up waves in the soil that reached several meters in height. Before it had even settled down, Li Qingshan rose up into the air once again.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! No one knew just how many consecutive attacks he had launched.
The river bed was reduced to a huge crater, while Strongboulder had already vanished from sight a long time ago. Li Qingshan landed in the crater and reached down, grabbing Strongboulder by the head and plucking him out. He raised his arm and threw him far away. With a boom, Strongboulder crashed into the wall, becoming embedded in there.
