Li Qingshan could clearly sense the movements in the earth around him. Although he could not see it with his eyes or hear it with his ears, the Spider Queen’s attacks were no longer so unfathomable anymore.
It was just fish swimming through water. No matter how fast or nimble they were, they would always cause disturbances in the water.
However, Li Qingshan did not use these “disturbances” to deduce her location. Instead, he directly fused with the earth. When she split open the earth, he could grasp the trajectory of her movements with how the earth shifted. Naturally, his reactions became slightly faster.
His strength seems to have increased. My strength is already regarded as rather powerful among Daemon Commanders. That means he has indeed reached the realm of Daemon Commanders in a certain aspect. Is this all really because of his bloodline as a descendant?
The Spider Queen pulled her hand back, but it failed to budge, which left her slightly surprised.
One of the two major innate abilities that came with the fourth layer of the ox demon, the Strength of the Earth, had changed before he knew it.
If the thick earth only served as a powerful backing to him in the past, then he now seemed to have merged with it, with strength flowing through him at all times. It was as if he could continue fighting for eternity.
“Hmph, you want to engage in close combat with me? You’re digging your own grave!” The Spider Queen made use of the situation to advance boldly.
In that instant, Li Qingshan’s pupils became clear. The boundless sea in his pupils clearly reflected the Spider Queen’s figure. All he saw was an image of a slender, silvery-grey blur sweeping towards his waist like a battle-axe.
He could even estimate the power of this strike. His kidney would definitely become heavily injured.
Yet, the Spider Queen had only just begun lifting her leg.
Li Qingshan rejoiced slightly. The spirit turtle possessed the ability to divine the future and foresee danger.
However, after reaching the fourth layer of the spirit turtle, he had never come across any opponents that had forced him into such dire straits. As a result, this power had never been unleashed.
Only during this battle today did this feeling become clearer and clearer between the constant life-threatening danger.
Sure enough, people were made with pressure. Daemons were also made with pressure.
Speaking positively, the spirit turtle was obviously a divine beast that pursued good fortune and avoided disaster. Speaking negatively, it was just a coward, afraid of death and fleeing in the sight of danger, avoiding all threads of karma and taking on absolutely no risk at all.
I’ve become so conservative in the past few years probably because of its influence. Sure enough, the life right now is what I want! I want to fight the strongest enemies and sleep with the most beautiful women, uh, female daemons!
Boom!
The Spider Queen’s foot landed on Li Qingshan’s hand!
The Ox Demon Butts its Horns!
Li Qingshan produced a crazy howl that resembled both an ox and a tiger. Using both hands, he forcefully dragged the Spider Queen over and lowered his head to butt her.
Boom!
The Spider Queen twisted her body. The free foot stamped viciously on Li Qingshan’s head, kicking off to free her arm and leg and using the force to fly off. The tremendous shockwave pushed aside all the soil beside them, creating a small cavern.
Li Qingshan’s head spun. Although the skull was the toughest part of him, he still experienced splitting pain after taking on a kick from her. He shook his head hard and laughed wildly. “Once I defeat you, I’ll fuck you again!”
“That’s quite arrogant of you!” the Spider Queen barked furiously, but she felt surprised inside.
What was going on? She clearly still possessed the upper hand. She had even landed a kick on him earlier, so why was he becoming even more arrogant and fearless? He did not behave like he had a thirty percent chance at victory, but rather that victory was already within his grasp. Did he have some sort of powerful trump card?
“An old brother of mine once told me that if I don’t even have the courage to say a few bold words, I might as well go back to farm work!”
Li Qingshan had no trump card at all. He only felt extremely delighted. He was fighting the terrifying Spider Queen underground, beyond the light of day. If he lost, then only death would await him. If he won, there would be quite an impressive reward.
Even if he could spend an entire life in the mountain village peacefully and happily, it would not be able to compare to the glory of this moment. He had cast the issue of death aside a long time ago. Right now, he was merely enjoying himself.
“You’re just bluffing!”
The Spider Queen sneered. Her silvery-grey body vanished and appeared before Li Qingshan. She raised her arms high into the air as eight shadows whistled over.
Every single part of her body—her hands, legs, knees, and elbows—could be unleashed as lethal weapons. Like a heavy storm, it landed on Li Qingshan. His head, chest, belly, and legs were basically attacked at the same time.
Li Qingshan lost his senses that came with the earth. Even if he could predict the Spider Queen’s movements, his reactions could not keep up with the Spider Queen’s responses.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thunderous rumbles constantly erupted on Li Qingshan’s body. The force leaked into the surroundings. Just when the cavern began showing signs of collapse, it was immediately crushed and made even tougher.
The eight legs danced about as messy shadows, leaving behind wound after wound on Li Qingshan’s tough skin. In the blink of an eye, toxins ate away the wounds, turning them horrifically bone-deep.
A silvery-grey shadow circled around Li Qingshan, ripping off chunks of his flesh and devouring it. All Li Qingshan could do was barely guard his vital points.
However, his wild laughter had never stopped.
Ignoring his wound-ridden body, he refused to let a single opportunity to attack slip by with the spirit turtle’s predictions, barraging the Spider Queen’s body as if he wanted to trade injuries with her.
The Spider Queen endured a few punches too, but her response was nothing special, as not only were his punches without any innate abilities, he had not even used daemon qi. It was only brute force.
After another series of clashes, the Spider Queen pulled back.
“What, are you tired? Keep going!”
Li Qingshan asked. He no longer had a single piece of his body intact. Cracks riddled even his bones inside. It was impossible to connect his face to the concept of handsomeness anymore.
His left cheek had completely collapsed—the result of a side kick. As for his right face, it was even more terrifying. The venom had eaten away at it, leaving his gums and teeth completely exposed.
His throat gurgled as if he was laughing, but he could no longer use his facial muscles to express this feeling. Only his eyes continued to shine as he stared at the Spider Queen.
He was right. The Spider Queen did feel slightly exhausted. Even with her powerful body as a Daemon Commander, it was impossible for her to maintain such intense attacks. She gazed at Li Qingshan and thought to herself doubtfully, Isn’t he tired?
The part that astounded her the most was not even this. His reactions and speed seemed to be gradually increasing, and he was extremely sensitive to lethal attacks. He would often be able to dodge in the most effective way in the critical moment and avoid lethal wounds.
Of course, the price for that was often a horrific wound. If it were not for the fact that the spirit turtle’s daemon core had replaced the function of most organs, he would have collapsed already.
“Why should I waste energy on a corpse?”
The Spider Queen sneered. Her venom had already invaded every part of his body. Although the venom in her legs was not as potent as what she could directly inject him with, it was still relatively terrifying when it built up bit by bit.
Now, she only needed to wait for the venom to kick in and completely destroy Li Qingshan’s body.
“Then you might be disappointed.”
“What?”
At this moment, Strongboulder’s daemon core that Li Qingshan struggled to digest in his belly suddenly erupted with rings of greyish yellow light.
The Strength of the Earth was an ability that connected with the boundless will of the earth, and this earth element daemon core was condensed from the essence of the earth. Normally, it would not be easy for him to digest it.
But at this moment, when his body was on the verge of collapse, the earth all around him provided aid to him, the child of the earth on the brink of death.
Strongboulder’s daemon core began to respond too, spinning around and releasing waves of daemon qi that merged with his body.
His wounds recovered at a visible rate. Black, poisoned blood flowed out from them. The residual poison no longer posed as too much of a problem, as after digesting Strongboulder’s daemon core, his body had become stronger and stronger.
The Spider Queen could not help but be taken aback. She did not know about Strongboulder’s daemon core. She thought Li Qingshan had been hiding an ability that could heal his wounds.
“What, are you done resting? Or have you used up all your strength in bed and no longer possess the energy to fight? If that’s the case, you might as well just bend over!”
Li Qingshan twisted his head. With a crack, he moved a few dislocated vertebrae back into place. As he smiled viciously, his eyes gradually went from being scarlet to blood-red.
As he devoured Strongboulder’s daemon core, the killing intent in the daemon core completely erupted all at once.
In his sea of consciousness, the tiger demon roared wildly and bounded about, becoming larger and larger and filling his entire sea of consciousness. It brandished its teeth and claws as it broke out, like it had broken out of a cage.
A tiger’s markings appeared on Li Qingshan’s face. His long canines protruded, and his hands turned into tiger claws. A tiger tail dragged behind him, waving around like a steel whip. He had turned into a humanoid tiger.
Wondrously, his mind became exceptionally clear in that moment, as if his soul had been projected from his body, gazing over himself from above.
Li Qingshan arched his back and bent over. His murderousness and killing intent was completely withdrawn, like a vicious tiger about to pounce onto its prey. There were no singing birds or chirping insects. The entire forest fell silent.
This is my best opportunity at breaking through to the fourth layer of the tiger demon. Once I fail, I don’t have a second daemon core to heal myself-
His thoughts came to a halt. Violent killing intent dominated everything.
Roar!
With a tiger’s roar, his murderousness skyrocketed!
The Spider Queen could not help but take a step back before feeling deeply humiliated. Had a mere Daemon General frightened her? Even if you recover a hundred times, I’ll defeat you a hundred and one times. No, this time, I’ll kill you here.
Her layered pupils locked onto the incoming Li Qingshan. She opened her mouth slightly, but silk did not spray out immediately. Instead, she paused for a moment to build up daemon qi. Just how powerful would an attack be when even she needed to build up to it?
In that instant, thousands of strands of silk emerged from her vermillion lips.
Her spider silk had previously managed to pierce the arcane artifact, the Bronze Cauldron of the Four Cardinal Directions, and kill the sect master of Bronze Cauldron mountain inside. Its penetrative power was so great that it was even sharper than the Green Ruins sword that Fu Qingjin wielded.
The Spider Queen had made up her mind. She gave up on her plan to capture Li Qingshan alive and torture him slowly. She wanted to kill him in a single stroke.
