In the hall, a wave of air knocked Xianghua Zi away before she could even return to her senses. She widened her eyes mid-air, only to see the altar lord’s strange, thin body rapidly swell up above the lotus pedestal. In the blink of an eye, he became a tough, muscular man with a head full of long, black, slick hair. He was brimming with vigour. His aura constantly grew, filling the entire hall.
It’s the Hidden Aura gu. This arrogant kid is dead for sure today. I can’t afford to be implicated by him any further!
Normally, the Hidden Aura gu withdrew all auras and spiritual qi into the body. Although it made the user seem all thin and withered, it could lengthen their lifespans and conceal their aura, and it could erupt with great strength when it mattered.
The shaman arts of the south were often known as the arts of shaman gu, which only demonstrated the importance of “gu”. The cultivation methods of many shaman gu were nurturing gu, which was divided into “internal nurturing” and “external nurturing”. Internal nurturing was nurturing the gu within the body, becoming one with the gu; this allowed them to unleash various abilities. It was akin to the daemon core of daemons. External nurturing was refining various kinds of gu and controlling them in battle.
There were many different types of insects, and the shamans abused these insect’s special characteristic of limited intelligence, allowing them to create a myriad of arts of shaman gu. They could attack, defend, curse, or poison. They could do anything. However, the orthodox cultivation community spurned it. After all, regular people never liked placing an insect or bug into their bodies, and even their personalities would be affected as time went on. They would become as brutal and cruel as insects.
The altar lord flew into a rage. He drew his blade loudly from its sheath and swung down from several meters away. There was a spurt of golden light, and it turned into a blade aura several meters long.
The blade is only a spiritual artifact. Looks like shamans really aren’t particularly skilled in artifact forging, but it does look rather powerful. It would still be for the best to create no disturbances at all!
Faced with the incoming blade aura, Li Qingshan did not dodge at all. He leapt towards the edge and even commented a little on the weapon inside.
“Watermirror’s Image!”
The altar lord immediately lost track of Li Qingshan’s figure. Instead, he saw himself. A huge mirror had abruptly been placed before him, and his reflection currently swung its blade. When his blade aura entered the mirror, it did not seem to hit anything at all, but the blade aura that was originally a reflection in the mirror suddenly flew out towards him. Although it had become a little smaller, it was still as sharp as ever.
The altar lord was surprised, but he did not lose his calm. The lotus pedestal beneath his feet shone brightly, producing pure-white petals that bloomed.
When the blade aura landed on the lotus petals, it directly shattered. The lotus pedestal was a sacred item the White Lotus Mother bestowed upon the altar lord. When he cultivated on it, not only could it calm his mind and increase his cultivation speed, but there was even no need for him to worry about attacks from the outside world. It was an extremely powerful defence.
The mirror shattered silently, and Li Qingshan appeared again. He had already assumed his horned, winged, and scarlet-haired-and-eyed form. With a flap of his wings of wind and fire, he turned into a streak of scarlet light.
He’s transformed into a Daemon General!
The altar lord met the scarlet eyes and experienced a sense of unprecedented fear. It made him think of the predicament he was in when he first met the White Lotus Mother. He had virtually lost the will to fight back. However, this sensation only lasted for a split second. He bellowed out and swung his blade again, except he channelled most of his spiritual qi into the lotus pedestal below. The white lotus bloomed even wider, wrapping around him layer upon layer. He was untouchable.
Tremors of the Ox Demon!
Li Qingshan threw a punch, and the pitch-black powers of tremors tore through the white lotus, ripping apart the petals like they were as fragile as paper.
How is this possible!?
Before the altar lord could even respond, Li Qingshan had already arrived right in front of him. The altar lord swung down with his blade, but Li Qingshan caught it with his left hand and gripped the altar lord’s throat firmly with his right.
The altar lord was shocked. He still tried to put up a fight, but the power of tremors filled his body, and he was unable to gather even a hint of his spiritual qi. He was pressed against the ground in the blink of an eye.
Li Qingshan planted a foot on his head as he held the Asura Field in one hand, studying it and fiddling around with it. He was filled with delight from recovering something he had previously lost. The altar lord had not refined the Asura Field. His cultivation at the first heavenly tribulation was nowhere near enough to wield an arcane treasure. Even with Li Qingshan’s current strength, refining it again would take quite the effort.
Everything had begun and ended in a single moment. Only at this moment did Xianghua Zi fall to the ground heavily, gazing at the situation in disbelief. The powerful altar lord had actually been defeated and subdued in a single moment. She could not help but rejoice that she did not attack him rashly.
Just who was this child? No, he was not a person, but a daemon. A Daemon General that had assumed a human form at the very least! Moreover, she found his scarlet hair and eyes strangely familiar. She remembered something she had investigated over a year ago and exclaimed, “You’re that baby!”
Li Qingshan glanced back at her and kicked the altar lord’s head. “You sure are stupid! What kind of a person do you think would be in possession of an arcane treasure? To think you actually tried to attack me!”
An arcane treasure! The wondrous item is actually a legendary arcane treasure! I was in possession of an arcane treasure before!
Xianghua Zi became even more surprised. The altar lord had never told her because he did not want her telling others about the existence of this item. Apart from her shock, she also felt deep regret, but she quickly thought it through. An item like an arcane treasure was not something she could keep, or it would only lead to great trouble. The altar lord’s fate was evidence!
“Are you a remnant of the Snake God cult? If you kill me, the holy mother will definitely avenge me!”
The altar lord spat out some vicious threats, but he refused to do anything unnecessary as he laid against the ground. The foot on his head only needed to press down slightly, and his head would crack open. Survival was the instinct of all creatures, let alone someone like him who possessed a noble status and great strength.
He never thought the opponent would actually be so powerful, such that he had absolutely no time to use his many techniques and abilities. However, since the enemy had not killed him off immediately and chose to capture him instead, he definitely had qualms.
“Do I look like a snake?”
The altar lord saw a sliver of hope. Since he was not from the Snake God cult, then he did not have to kill him. “Release me! I’ll act like nothing has happened at all! No, I can even give you a recommendation for you to join the White Lotus cult!”
“Do I look stupid?”
Li Qingshan crouched down and smiled, collecting the altar lord’s hundred treasures pouch and conveniently plunging his hand into the altar lord’s dantian. When he wrenched it out, he was holding a black insect around three inches long that constantly struggled in his hand. A connection remained intact between the insect and the altar lord, which was rather similar to a daemon’s daemon core. The arts of shaman gu truly were fascinating.
A cold light flashed through the altar lord’s eyes. The insect suddenly swelled up, turning vicious and biting down on Li Qingshan’s wrist.
Li Qingshan closed his fingers around it gently, and with a flash of blue light, the insect returned to its original size, lying there silently without moving at all. The connection with the altar lord had been completely suppressed and severed.
“You-”
Blood spurted from the altar lord’s mouth violently, and his body rapidly withered away, returning to his original, boney appearance. Clearly, losing the insect had injured a fundamental part of his body, making his cultivation regress drastically.
“I’m taking the insect. I’ll keep you alive for now!”
Li Qingshan pressed his hand against the altar lord’s head. Blue light rippled out and suppressed all of the remaining aura and even consciousness in his body. He laid there as still as a corpse.
Obviously, Li Qingshan was not trying to show mercy like this. Mercy to the opponent was mercilessness to himself. It was very likely for life lamps of altar lords to exist in the main headquarters of the White Lotus cult. If he killed him, it probably would not take very long for the White Lotus Mother to rush over here. He still wanted to refine the Asura Field again here!
“A’yue, are you fine?”
Xianghua Zi turned around and saw Xianghua Lu leaning against a pillar, asking fearfully. After hearing how Xianghua Zi had brought him to the top of the mountain again, she followed over here silently, afraid that something might happen to him!
This little girl sure is quite attached to me! All those days of guidance paid off in the end. Though, she’s still too young and naive. If it were Xianghua Man instead, she would have never risked her life!
Li Qingshan smiled. During the past few days when they were alone, spending every moment of the day together, he had not been some gentleman. Xianghua Lu only feigned reluctance, so he had completely taken advantage of her a long time ago. He just happened to be in a good mood, so he casually tossed the altar lord’s hundred treasures pouch, along with the Hidden Aura gu, to her. “Here, this is for you!”
As long as he refined the Asura Field, he would be able to retrieve all of his property, so the hundred treasures pouch of a barbarian really could not catch his attention. As for the shaman gu, it was even more useless to him. He already had enough paths of cultivation. The Ocean pearl, the demon heart, and the Divine Talisman of Great Creation were all waiting to return to his body. How could he let himself become distracted even further?
“This is… a gu insect!”
Xianghua Lu caught the hundred treasures pouch and the Hidden Aura gu dazedly. She looked at Li Qingshan, Xianghua Zi, and then the altar lord on the ground. She was still rather puzzled by the situation.
Xianghua Zi’s eyes were filled with surprise and envy. That was an astonishing sum of wealth, yet he had actually given it all to A’lu so casually and generously. A’lu had only helped him tell some lies. Compared to the arduous hardships she had been through in the Zi Lotus altar, A’lu had obtained it all so easily that it left her envious! It’s no wonder that mother wants me to give him my full cooperation. She probably received quite a lot of benefits too!
Compared to crawling up bit by bit, making use of a powerful connection was obviously still easier. And, with his strength, destroying the Zi Lotus altar was a piece of cake. When she thought up to there, she stopped hesitating. She dropped down on one knee. “A’zi is willing to pledge her allegiance to sir A’yue!” Meanwhile, she said to the confused Xianghua Lu, “Sister, why don’t you thank the sir for his bestowment?” However, she was basically trying to tell A’lu to put in a good word for her.
Sir? Xianghua Lu struggled to draw a connection between this word and the naughty brat who harassed her.
Li Qingshan said, “Get up! The one outside, why don’t you get your ass in here now?”
“A’zhong is willing to pledge allegiance to sir A’yue too! During the past few years, I’ve been responsible for all matters large and small in the Zi Lotus altar. As long as you want to, sir, absolutely no one will find out about what happened here! I’m willing to swear on my life!”
A man scrambled into the hall from outside. He was the middle-aged man who had tried to stop Li Qingshan from entering the Zi Lotus altar. Now, he was trying to suck up to Li Qingshan. After hearing how Xianghua Zi had left and returned so quickly, bringing the pretty child to the hall, his curiosity was piqued. He guessed there was probably something wrong with the child.
The reason why Xianghua Lu managed to pass through the numerous obstructions and enter the hall successfully was all thanks to his secret efforts. He wanted to drag Xianghua Lu into this matter so that he could deliver a blow towards Xianghua Zi who competed with him for authority, but he never thought that a mighty altar lord would actually be defeated so quickly. When he heard the call, how could he hesitate? He immediately scrambled in and surrendered, simply seeking for a way out of the situation.
Li Qingshan said, “Oh? To prevent anyone from knowing about this? A’zhong, do you have any good suggestions?”
