Her current form should be one of her innate abilities. Her defences are ridiculously tough, so I completely lack the means to deal a life-threatening wound to her right now. However, she only needs to bite me or trap me in her web and I’d probably be done for.
The constant warnings from the spirit turtle’s daemon core had already become pointless. All it told Li Qingshan was, You can die at any time. Obviously, he knew that already. He needed no warning.
The Spider Queen’s venomous teeth were inches away, but her left hand maintained a firm grip over Li Qingshan’s right fist, while her right hand grabbed his left shoulder like a vice, pushing him firmly against the web. He could not move.
Li Qingshan could not dodge, nor could he escape. He could only take her on in a battle to the death.
“The Ox Demon Butts its Horns!”
Suddenly, Li Qingshan raised his head. He completely unleashed the pair of sharp ox horns engraved with “Northmoon”, butting towards the Spider Queen’s throat.
Even the Spider Queen was reluctant to clash with the toughest part of Li Qingshan’s body. She tilted her head gently to avoid it. Although she had failed to deliver a venomous kiss as she wished, this was not enough for Li Qingshan to break out of the dire straits she had placed him in.
The slender fingers on her right hand had already stabbed into Li Qingshan’s shoulder. Crippling his arm was merely an issue of time. Simultaneously, eight legs turned into eight blurry shadows as they darted out from behind her.
This time, they were not stabbing out, but “embracing”. They were like eight extended arms, reaching around Li Qingshan and pulling him firmly into her arms.
A mesmerising smile that Li Qingshan found extremely familiar appeared on her silvery-grey face. It only appeared during the extreme pleasure of intercourse. If intercourse gave her physical pleasure, then she was experiencing mental pleasure currently. She was enjoying the primitive delight of hunting prey as a predator, but it made her seem especially cold and eerie.
Once she embraces me, I probably won’t be able to break free ever again! I refuse to believe my innate ability only has a use in bed. Tremors of the Ox Demon, shatter!
Li Qingshan unleashed as much of the power of tremors as he could again. He felt like thousands of zither strings had snapped on him as the tough spider web finally ripped apart from the vibrations.
He used all of his strength to forcefully wrench his fist back from the Spider Queen’s hand. A few streaks of blood spattered from his shoulder, now with five additional bloody holes. He had directly abandoned a portion of his flesh.
Finally, his body was free once more. He fell downwards, and the wings of wind unfurled to their full extent, sweeping downwards like wind blades.
The Spider Queen’s smile became even more enchanting. Just like her tastes for other things, she liked an intense, stimulating performance. The more her prey struggled, the more excited she would become. She raised her hands and casually smashed apart the wings of wind.
However, Li Qingshan had already achieved his objective. He had widened the distance between them with a flap of his wings.
The wings of wind condensed once more and flapped desperately, rushing downwards as quickly as they could.
Fortunately, the Spider Queen was not particularly proficient at moving through the air. This was expected; after all, she was a daemon that lived underground.
The Spider Queen flipped in the air and landed on the vertical wall dexterously, running downwards along the wall.
Each step she took would blast open a gaping hole in the wall. Using this to advance, she accelerated instantaneously, turning into a silverish-grey shadow. She completely shook off the rising dust and falling rocks behind her.
As the king of the underground world, she had never required the ability of flight in the first place.
In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance between them once more. The Spider Queen smiled at Li Qingshan and opened her mouth, spitting out swathes of silk that rapidly fell towards Li Qingshan.
If Li Qingshan dodged, then the web would unfurl beneath him and trap him once again. However, he came up with a plan with only a single thought. Taking in a deep breath, he opened his mouth wide and whistling gales surged out violently like a passing typhoon.
The spider web was extremely tough, difficult to break with brute strength alone, but it was exceedingly light. It began to shift from the fierce gales or open up prematurely.
Li Qingshan used this breath of his to widen the distance between them once again.
With a great boom, he travelled through several thousand meters and struck the bottom in the blink of an eye.
Li Qingshan came to a halt.
How could the Spider Queen let such a good opportunity slip by? Suddenly, she stopped and bent her slender legs, like springs being pushed to the limit. She unleashed all of her power abruptly and shot downwards like a silver streak.
At this moment, she had completely lost interest in fooling around anymore. To be able to escape from her hands consecutively, he possessed strength that definitely did not belong to a mere Daemon General. He basically showed signs of crossing the chasm between Daemon General and Daemon Commander.
Not only did he have numerous innate abilities, but he also grew at a startling rate. If she allowed him to continue growing, eating him would become more and more difficult. She definitely could not allow him to escape again. She had to trap him in spider silk as soon as she caught him, and then she could deal with him slowly!
This thought flashed through her head. Suddenly, she saw a scarlet figure appear on a spiral staircase on the side. It leapt up and lunged over. Its scarlet hair and eyes were exactly the same as Li Qingshan’s.
The Spider Queen was slightly taken aback before realising this was his mirror clone.
Li Qingshan had already begun mobilising his mirror clone to set up an ambush the moment he entered the Spider Queen’s chambers. He had been waiting for this moment.
The mirror clone was much slower than his original body, so he had it lying in ambush here. Moreover, it had launched an attack when the Spider Queen had struck out with full strength, when she was unable to maneuver freely.
The Spider Queen did not dodge, but she did raise a hand and grab the mirror clone’s head. Her fingers dug in viciously, and with a crack, blood began to flow.
Li Qingshan felt his head ache. His mirror clone and he had always been sharing the same mind. It was not a regular clone; instead, it was equivalent to another body of his.
There was absolutely no time to use daemon qi to repair the mirror clone. The crushed head of the mirror clone shattered like a watermelon as blood and brains scattered everywhere.
The sensation was absolutely horrible.
But at last, he had stalled the Spider Queen for a moment. By the time she looked over again, Li Qingshan had already vanished. A hole the size of a person appeared in his place.
“You think you can escape?” The Spider Queen sneered and rushed into the hole as well.
Soil squeezed inwards from all directions. The path ahead had also been sealed. She was unable to sense Li Qingshan’s aura at all.
The Spider Queen’s eyes lit up, and four halos appeared in her eyes. Her gaze immediately penetrated the rock and soil, seeing where Li Qingshan was.
Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you won’t be able to escape from me.
She began to circulate her daemon qi, smashing through the rock and soil in direct pursuit. At her level of cultivation, an obstruction of soil was almost no different from air or water. She could easily carve out a path.
The thick soil and rocks parted to the two sides in front of Li Qingshan before closing up again behind him. After reaching the fourth layer of the ox demon, his usage of the power of tremors had increased in intricacy, and he vaguely gained some ability to control earth.
Strongboulder’s daemon core in his belly shrank before he knew it. The daemon core was of the earth element, so the spirit turtle’s daemon core composed purely of the water element could not absorb it. Instead, it had merged with his body, making him even tougher.
After digging who knew how deep, he became surrounded in thick earth all around. The tremendous, venomous daemon qi behind him rapidly drew closer.
Finally, Li Qingshan stopped, turned around, and faced the incoming daemon qi.
His battle spirit began to rouse!
He did not want to flee either! Fleeing blindly would only prevent the tiger demon from freely unleashing its murderousness, making it even more impossible to break through to the fourth layer.
He was choosing an appropriate place to fight, as well as waiting for an appropriate moment for battle.
Now, it was here. It was time.
Come, ma’am Spider Queen!
I’ll have you witness the power of your child’s father!
Although the earth was not a particularly effective obstacle to the Spider Queen, it was like a human swimming through water; it would not be as easy as walking along the ground. Her speed would still be affected to a certain degree.
By now, the smile on her face had already vanished completely. It had been replaced with vicious, terrifying killing intent. Although she enjoyed the process of hunting prey, if the prey managed to escape too far away, the predator would only appear to be incompetent.
Suddenly, she saw Li Qingshan stop.
“Have you finally given up on the pointless struggle?” The Spider Queen’s voice reached Li Qingshan’s ears through the thick earth.
Li Qingshan instead made his way towards her. His expression was calm and composed as he said, “The Ox Demon, with its Great Strength, Sinks in the Mud. As long as I still have a shred of strength left, I will continue my struggle forever, even if I am in dire straits, even if I have no chance at victory!” He smiled and changed the topic. “Not to mention that I already have a thirty percent chance at victory now.”
“What? Thirty percent? Are my ears deceiving me? Do you really think you have a geographical advantage by remaining in the soil?”
The Spider Queen sneered. Her hand shining with a silvery-grey lustre pierced the earth easily. With her five fingers together, she stabbed it towards Li Qingshan’s heart like a sharp blade.
Li Qingshan’s response, unsurprisingly and simply, was a punch. But this time, he did not use the Tremors of the Ox Daemon. He even purposefully minimised the consumption of daemon qi, using the strength of his body alone.
And, his fist did not pierce the rock and soil like the Spider Queen’s attack. Instead, earth began to amass in layers on the fist, like a huge, heavy glove. However, the power and speed behind the punch did not decrease at all.
As a result, the Spider Queen only saw a huge boulder amassed from earth hurtling towards her, but she completely ignored it. Her hand cut through Li Qingshan’s “glove” easily, and using her superior speed, she skimmed past the punch and stabbed towards Li Qingshan’s heart with great precision.
As for the incoming rock, it crumbled as soon as it made contact with her silvery-grey skin, unable to pose a threat at all.
Since she knew Li Qingshan’s strength was relatively greater, there was obviously no reason for her to take on his attacks openly. All she needed to do was use her superior speed and reactions to gain an absolute upper hand.
Even if Li Qingshan could predict her next move, she could react in time and block his attack or avoid his defences. Although they were deep underground, his disadvantageous circumstances did not seem to change at all.
The Spider Queen’s sharp, red nails came in contact with the skin on Li Qingshan’s chest. All she needed to do was push a little harder, and it would pierce him through the heart. A hand extended over from the side suddenly and gripped her wrist firmly.
Li Qingshan snickered. “In the earth, your movements have slowed down slightly, while my reactions have sped up slightly.”
