Against daemons and demons, the first thing that regular cultivators would think of would be purging them. Gu Yanying definitely possessed the strength to do that as well. Although Li Qingshan’s strength and speed had been greatly amplified after daemonifying, he was still not the opponent of a Golden Core master.
But right now, she showed no killing intent at all. She even lost her usual, carefree smile, now possessing a tinge of sorrow. Under the illumination of the moon, she seemed like a jade sculpture.
Then she discarded these emotions, sighed gently, and smiled freely.
“Little bro Qingshan, from today onwards, only the mountains and forests will be your home. We probably won’t meet ever again unless you cultivate to Daemon General or even Daemon Commander. However, once that happens, we’ll probably be enemies. Take care!”
She muttered to herself and even clasped her hands, completely ignoring the fact that Li Qingshan could not hear or see her at all. Lifting her arms, her sleeves fluttered as she flew off like a white hawk. Only when she reached over five kilometers away did the gust of wind she create form a canal in the sea of clouds.
The white hawk landed on the edge of the well and saw what she wanted to see. A special frog added an amusing story to her life.
However, no matter how amusing it was, a frog was still a frog. At most, it would just become slightly more powerful. There were matters that outweighed this completely waiting for her to complete. If she could not find that damned cat, a battle between the two great sects of the Green province, the Sword Collection palace and the Umbral Yin sect, would likely erupt. A great fire would burn through the back courtyard of the provincial lord as well.
However, what she failed to sense was that as she observed Li Qingshan, a black ox gazed at her through the darkness on the ground. This was something utterly inconceivable to a Golden Core master. Her spiritual senses were so sharp, and she knew some techniques for divination as well.
However, if she really could predict the future, she would know that the frog would not remain a frog forever.
Li Qingshan wailed wildly for quite a while before barely managing to calm himself down. Xiao An remained by his side, doing his best to comfort him. He glanced at Xiao An.
Only now did he truly understand what Xiao An felt when he became a skeleton and just how great of a mental blow it was to turn into something else as a human.
The black ox emerged from the darkness as a smile stretched across his face. He looked at Li Qingshan and studied him in wonder, like an artist appreciating a masterpiece he was extremely satisfied with.
Li Qingshan said, “Did you know I would become like this already? This isn’t some ability of oxen and tigers at all!” His current strength had definitely exceeded what a single ox could possess. Perhaps, the strength of an ox never referred to the strength of a single ox, but an ox demon, an ox daemon.
The black ox said, “It looks like the effects aren’t bad at all!”
Li Qingshan suddenly lunged at the black ox, swinging his right claw viciously. His sharp claws were like curved blades, shining in the darkness.
The black ox did not try to dodge at all. It continued to smile. Xiao An tackled from the side and knocked Li Qingshan away.
Li Qingshan trembled all over as his claws dug into the ground. “Sorry, brother ox. I don’t know what has happened to me.” He felt like his heart was packed full of explosives, where even a hint of anger or dissatisfaction would set it alight, making him want to kill.
Although he had his suspicions that the black ox had screwed him over, he had been mentally prepared for this a long time ago. It was just like the legend with those people who made deals with the devil. They would gain power at a cost. It was brutal, but it was fair. There was no reason for any complaints.
And, the black ox had demonstrated that the ability it had taught to him really was not some common thing he could find anywhere. Just with its effects of refining the body, the ability had managed to reach an inconceivable level, using just a few months to push his body to unbelievable toughness.
The black ox said, “Your mind is not strong enough to overpower your demonic nature, but you’ve already surprised me a lot by being able to do this. You’re right. Although this originates from a body refining superhuman ability of daoism, the Strength of Nine Oxen and Two Tigers, this is not actually that.”
“There is no superhuman ability that can turn a human into a daemon! What am I supposed to do now? How do I recover my human form?” Li Qingshan did not want to spend the rest of his life in these remote forests and mountains.
“It’s very simple. All you have to do is undergo the first heavenly tribulation and become a Daemon General, which is Foundation Establishment for humans, and you’ll be able to take a human form.”
“How long will that take?”
“If you’re fast, a century!”
“What!” Li Qingshan’s eyes glowed red. “I can live for a century?”
“Don’t worry. Once you’ve transformed into a daemon, your lifespan will be greatly extended!”
Li Qingshan ground his teeth. He was just about to give into the killing intent surging in his heart.
The black ox said, “However, it’s not like there aren’t other ways!”
Li Qingshan said, “There are other ways?”
The black ox said, “I’ll teach you another ability. Oh right, you’re not actually completely a daemon right now.”
Li Qingshan said, “So I’ll become a complete daemon once I practise this ability?”
The black ox only smiled. Li Qingshan knew the only option he had was going down this path completely.
The great fire continued to burn. Li Qingshan made eye contact with Xiao An and said, “Alright, now neither of us are humans, and only you won’t loathe me!” They really were brought together by their ill fates. Neither of them could mock the other.
Xiao An nodded furiously, expressing that he did not loathe Li Qingshan at all.
Li Qingshan said, “Let’s stop here. Let’s get practising!” He made Xiao An use the corpses on the mountain for cultivation and recovering his wounds. At the same time, Li Qingshan searched through the corpses.
He found a bottle of pills that had not been completely consumed on hall chief Wu. He tilted his head back and ingested them all, immediately recovering from his injuries. He found a talisman on Wei Dandong, the sickly scholar’s body. It looked exactly the same as Lü Tingrui’s, so it should also be a Swift Breeze Talisman that increased speed. He found another talisman on Chu Xin, similar to the one he had used. As it seemed, he really was wealthy.
Lü Tingrui’s slender sword was still in one piece, and it shone very brightly. On the other hand, Xiao An’s sword had become extremely dim after the battle. It could not be used anymore, so this was a perfect replacement.
In the end, he found a total of four talismans on Feng Zhang. They were all the kind that could unleash fire. There was also a bottle healing pills, and from their glow, they seemed much better than hall chief Wu’s, so he stowed it away carefully.
Li Qingshan tossed all of the corpses into the sea of fire. Seeing how the fire did not burn vigorously enough, he tossed out a fire talisman without any hesitation at all. The fire talisman floated through the air and landed on the ground. It had not been activated.
The black ox said, “Daemon qi cannot activate talismans and spiritual artifacts unless you refine them.”
Then Li Qingshan tried it with the Cursive Sword Calligraphy. As expected, there was no reaction at all when he injected it with daemon qi. It refused to accept it. Without a doubt, he did not possess the ability to refine it right now, so he could only put it aside for now.
Xiao An had recovered from all of his wounds as well. His bones became white again, but they were no longer pale-white. Instead, they glistened slightly like jade. He had progressed with his ability yet again.
Watching the flames weaken, Xiao An suddenly opened his mouth and sprayed out rolling, blood-red flames. The blood of the corpses were like oil that had been set alight, surging with blood-red flames that were several meters tall. It even drowned out the orangey-yellow fire, completely destroying all traces of the corpses.
It was a technique from the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty, the Blood Flames of Corpse Incineration. It could set flesh and blood on fire. Once contaminated with it, certain death would ensue; one would be reduced to a corpse before being burnt to ashes. This was why it was called ‘corpse incineration’. It was far more terrifying than regular fire talismans.
