My strength is enough, but are my reactions and speed still insufficient?
Li Qingshan thought. In the critical moment, hexagonal pieces of the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell flew together, assembling into over a dozen protective layers. However, the black shadow pierced eleven of them in a single breath before slowing down slightly.
Only then did Li Qingshan make out what it was. As it turned out, it was a spider’s sharp, long leg. The tip of the leg shone coldly, clearly laced with life-threatening poison. A single move of hers was enough to set off heavy warnings in him.
It slowed down, but it had only slowed down to a speed where he could see it clearly. In reality, it still moved with startling speed. With the injection of the Spider Queen’s insidious daemon qi, the indestructible Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell became as frail as paper.
Fu Qingjin’s sharp swordsmanship and Zhou Tong’s lightning bolts both paled in comparison to this, but this was merely an ordinary strike from the Spider Queen.
Only three layers of the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell remained when the leg finally ran out of power, coming to a halt.
A Daemon General had used his innate ability to block the attack of a Daemon Commander. That was truly a proud feat, but Li Qingshan did not ease up at all.
The Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell can stop her to a certain degree, but it depletes daemon qi far too rapidly. I won’t be able to block many times before I run out of daemon qi. Then, I’ll really become a lamb to the slaughter.
At this moment, seven other, similar legs extended from behind the Spider Queen. They turned into seven shadows and stabbed towards him.
Li Qingshan crossed his arms and protected his vital points. He was afraid of using the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell again. This was the helplessness that came with a difference in cultivation. Even though he possessed powerful innate abilities, he was afraid of using them.
Streaks of blood spattered and darkened in the air. Eight, deep wounds appeared on Li Qingshan’s shoulders, arms, legs, and knees. The Ox Demon Forges its Hide had been forcefully ripped apart.
The Spider Queen was displeased with this result. Originally, she planned to lop off Li Qingshan’s limbs before slowly torturing him, but the toughness of his skin was simply unexpected.
However, the end result would all be the same.
Toxins entered Li Qingshan’s body through the wounds, spreading rapidly like something living. It dissolved his skin, flesh, and bones.
“Suppress!”
Li Qingshan bellowed out, and the spirit turtle’s daemon core shone brightly. Waves of light suppressed the toxins like clear water, halting their spread before forcing them out of his body.
Eight streaks of poisoned blood flew out. One streak landed on the city below, and in the blink of an eye, it produced a great pit in the ground. The potency of the venom was as clear as day.
The Spider Queen frowned. She opened her red lips slightly and spat out an invisible strand of silk, but it was even more terrifying and elusive than the legs.
“Tremor!”
Li Qingshan raised his arms and bellowed out. He threw a punch at the Spider Queen’s face, launching a desperate counterattack.
The Spider Queen took a step back. She was not afraid of his punch. She just did not want to be hit by him. However, she ended up retreating first in this battle, which made her utterly furious.
Li Qingshan had never planned on landing a punch like that on the Spider Queen in the first place. His fist struck the air, and the power of the Tremors of the Ox Demon whistled out.
The shockwave ripped open cracks in the air between them, tearing through the spider silk and spreading in the direction of the Spider Queen without harming the terrace beneath them.
After reaching the fourth layer of the ox demon, Li Qingshan had reached a new level with this ability of the ox demon. It had become his most powerful offensive ability.
“What is this power!?”
The Spider Queen felt her skin sting as if it were about to be ripped apart. Her snowy-white skin immediately became a silvery-grey, flashing with a metallic sheen.
Li Qingshan’s strongest attack had only managed to leave behind a series of hairline cracks on her body, like fractures on a vase.
A wound like that was absolutely nothing to her. She made a full recovery in the blink of an eye, but it completely aggravated her. A Daemon General under her command had forced her back and injured her. She had truly been humiliated. She opened her mouth and screamed.
Cobweb city trembled gently. Countless pieces of loose rock fell down as Li Qingshan felt an ear-piercing buzz fill his mind.
The night roamers that were still in the city all clutched their ears and began circulating their true qi and spiritual qi to block them. The weaker ones directly died as they bled from their orifices. The other night roamers dared not linger around for any longer, fleeing out of the city.
Spider Queen Lolth remained in human form with the upper half of her body, while the lower half had already become a spider. She was like a precise killing machine, radiating with a terrifying and strange sense of beauty. She spread her silver arms in a striking position.
The Spider Queen vanished. All Li Qingshan saw was her scarlet red dress that dragged along the ground dance like flowing fire.
So fast! She has become even faster! I almost forgot she’s also a carapaced daemon. The toughness of her body is her strong point.
Li Qingshan spread his wings and glided backwards, stopping in the middle of the air. He raised his right arm and called out, “Wait!”
The Spider Queen appeared, stopping on the edge of the terrace. Her blood-red eyes stared straight at Li Qingshan. There were no emotions that befitted her humanoid form. It was only a stare of death that a predator gave to its prey.
“You can’t kill me! You can’t break the rules of the daemons!”
Li Qingshan said that like he was regretting his actions, making one last struggle in the face of death. However, there was no fear on his face at all. There were even hints of excitement.
“I won’t kill you. I will torture you viciously. I will make you feel fear and despair such that you’ll wish you were dead!”
A malicious sneer appeared on the Spider Queen’s silvery-grey face, like a delicate mask.
“Is that all you want? You just want me to wish I was dead? Is that enough to satisfy you?” Li Qingshan smiled.
“What are you trying to say?” The Spider Queen became rather puzzled.
“Haven’t I mentioned it a long time ago already? Now, I accept your invitation.”
Li Qingshan walked over, reaching a distance of absolute danger. He extended his hand towards the Spider Queen who seemed like a seductress found in legends.
Curious, the Spider Queen did not attack him or immediately try to kill him. Suddenly, she understood what he was saying and turned back to human form. Her skin turned back to a snow-white. She extended her hand and lifted Li Qingshan’s chin as her scarlet lips curled into a mesmerising, bloodthirsty smile.
“You really are a brave child. Though, that suits my tastes perfectly!”
By “taste”, she definitely meant it literally.
“Perhaps. I just want to have some fun before dying.” Li Qingshan laughed aloud and wrapped his arm around her slender waist, pulling her in. They made their way up the terrace, heading towards her chamber.
Mortal enemies in battle had become close lovers in that instant, but this was not some sh*tty plotline of “love from hatred”. Instead, it pushed their antagonism towards one another to the limit. It hid the most terrifying killing intent.
The rule that daemons were forbidden from killing one another was not absolute. Habits and nature surpassed this rule. The Spider Queen had a natural tendency to kill and devour her mate. If Li Qingshan took the initiative to sleep with her, then he would become a target that she had to kill. Even the Dragon King of Ink Sea would not be able to blame her.
I’ll give you a reason to break the rule and kill me!
Li Qingshan thought. Wherever they walked past, the terrace collapsed loudly as if it were cutting off his path of escape. Up ahead was the Spider Queen’s dark, gloomy nest.
Normal battles were worth absolutely nothing to the tiger demon. Even with Strongboulder’s daemon core he had devoured, the effects of foreign substances would be extremely limited.
Only through battle, battle between life and death, frenzied, maddening battle, would the tiger demon be excited and unleash its true power.
If he were unable to break through to the fourth layer of the tiger demon, his chances of escaping from the Spider Queen’s hands would be pitifully small. It would be very likely for him to end up as the Spider Queen’s food, dooming him for good.
However, when he made up his mind and decided to carry that heavy promise of beyond the Nine Heavens on his back, it became fated that he would not be able to hide anymore and advance forwards carefully, cautiously, and safely. All he could do was stride ahead and throw himself into the face of danger.
The Spider Queen was obviously extremely terrifying, but compared to the enemies of brother ox, she was probably just a tiny spider!
Remember, don’t lower your head to anyone, to anything. You have once ridden on my back.
Lofty sentiments rose up in Li Qingshan. His fear and his worries all vanished. In the moment he stepped through the door, a strange thought crossed his mind.
Qiongzhi, you can’t blame me. This is infidelity with my life on the line!
……
The Academy of the Hundred Schools, Benevolence island, within a white room enveloped by formations.
This was a room completely sealed off from the outside world. There were no windows. Apart from a bed, there was not a single piece of furniture. The six snow-white walls were layered with flickering inscriptions.
However, these formations and inscriptions were not for killing or trapping, but for healing.
“My sword, my sword!”
Fu Qingjin jerked awake. He extended his hand and reached about randomly as if he was trying to grab something.
He had a nightmare. In the nightmare, he lost something extremely important. If it were possible, he would rather use his life to trade for that item.
“It’s broken.” Ru Xin said straightforwardly as she stood to one side with her arms crossed, earning herself a glare from Hua Ci.
As the two most skilled in medicine within the Clear River prefecture, the two of them were responsible for healing Fu Qingjin. Fu Qingjin’s wounds were not particularly heavy. His injured organs and shattered bones might have been fatal to regular people.
However, they could be easily healed for cultivators. And, most of these injuries did not come from the moon demon, but from using the heart of the sword. They had come from the Green Ruins sword overusing the body.
“It’s broken?”
Fu Qingjin murmured to himself. Ru Xin’s two, simple words were like lightning to Fu Qingjin.
The memories he refused to accept gradually filled his mind.
The nightmare had become real!
“Fellow Fu, your life bound weapon was destroyed, so your mind was injured. If you spend your time recuperating quietly, your cultivation won’t regress too much. You’ll still be able to maintain your Foundation Establishment cultivation.”
Hua Xi was dark-skinned and skinny, not particularly attractive, and his voice was rather cold. However, it did have a power to comfort others.
“Though, you’ll only be a regular Foundation Establishment cultivator, and one at early Foundation Establishment. Regaining control over the Daemon Suppression alliance won’t be possible.” On the contrary, Ru Xin’s face was fair, gentle, and delicate; her voice was soft and amiable, yet her words could shatter hearts.
Hua Ci could no longer bother with glaring at her anymore. He continued to comfort patiently, “You’ve already been extremely fortunate that your life and cultivation are intact. As for anything else, it’s best if you stop obsessing over them. It’ll be detrimental to your recovery.”
Ru Xin continued, “It’s all thanks to the moon demon who showed some mercy and spared your puny life. You should treasure it.”
