The second armoured deity was even larger and mightier than the first. He was clad in heavy armour and stood tall and sturdy.

  Looking over, he seemed like a ball. He clutched a golden octagonal mace in his hand; the weapon was the size of a water tank. With foot steps that sounded like war drums, he charged towards the fiends like a war chariot, tearing everything before him to shreds.

  Several dozen fiends opened their huge mouths and roared out together. Strings of saliva hung from their jagged teeth, dripping onto the ground. It hissed like acid, giving off clouds of white smoke.

  The armoured deity whirled his hand around, and the golden mace thrummed as it reached top speed. He let go and it flew out like a golden comet, smashing into the twisted face of a fiend. Another one vanished. However, even more fiends surged passed the fallen mace, moving towards the weaponless deity.

  The armoured deity suddenly leapt into the air with unbelievable grace, like a black cloud that had suddenly risen into the air. Lunging forward, he fell onto the fiends.

  Thump! With a heavy sound, the ground shook, and a shockwave spread out in all directions.

  The armoured deity had directly crushed a fiend to death, but he fell into the encirclement of the fiends as a result.

  The armoured deity who had been circling around in the air this entire time descended. The golden dagger-axe in his hand slid along a curved trajectory, sweeping past heads, throats, claws, and chests. It left behind a splash of red, and five fiends vanished as they howled out.

  He returned to the sky soon after, shaking off the claws reaching towards him and waiting for another optimal opportunity.

  The attack from him this time ripped open a gap in the tight encirclement. The armoured deity on the ground rolled over and grabbed his mace, returning to his feet. He lifted up the mace with both hands and swung it towards the heads of the incoming fiends.

  Bang! As their heads shattered, they turned into a wisp of red mist that dispersed.

  At this moment, a fiend lunged over from behind. Its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, and its jaw unhinged to an unbelievable angle. It bit down viciously on the armoured deity’s neck guard with its razor-sharp teeth.

  Several teeth shattered, but even more of them managed to penetrate the armour with a corrosive hiss.

  The armoured deity spun around on the spot, wanting to shake off the assailant on his back. He swung his golden mace around, smashing away the fiends that lunged at him like mad dogs. A lot of gashes appeared on his armour, but he was unable to do anything to the fiend on his back.

  The armoured deity who circled around in the air was only bold enough to kill fiends on the outskirts. He was not bold enough to charge into the encirclement and rescue his companion. Otherwise, he would immediately become trapped by countless claws, which would rip apart his thin, golden armour.

  At this moment, a golden arrow the size of a spear spun and pierced the fiend’s eye.

  It left behind a golden streak and a momentary circular gap in the air. At the end of the streak and gap was a third armoured deity. He stood tall with a quiver on his back. The string of the golden bow in his hand still vibrated.

  All of the cheering and cries from the platforms vanished. They all stared blankly as these huge creatures tried to kill one another.

  Never had they thought that the school of Novels they had once mocked, the school of Painting that was rumored to only draw beautiful women, would actually possess such terrifying power.

  Every single fiend present had the power to kill an eighth or even ninth layer Qi Practitioner. Their mad attacks made even Han Tieyi frown slightly.

  But to the other side, the three armoured deities were even stronger. Under Li Qingshan’s careful control, they killed the fiends without losing the upper hand.

  This was no longer a match they were used to seeing, but a true battle to the death. The Main Martial Arts stadium had become the battlefield of a bloody slaughter.

  Chu Tian was dumbfounded. Originally, he thought his cultivation had progressed tremendously after the recent period of arduous cultivation. He was prepared to challenge Li Qingshan again, but the sight before him caused him quite the shock. His chances at victory had not increased at all.

  Han Qiongzhi clenched her fist and cheered out, breaking the silence. Now this was the man who had caught her eye!

  Wang Pushi shook his head gently. He had never thought that even the arts of the school of Novels would become so powerful in his hands. He sure was worthy of the girl, Qiongzhi. Commander Gu’s insight sure was outstanding!

  Han Anjun remained silent, but he found this satisfying too. Li Qingshan’s talent for battle had been perfectly unleashed through the small squad. He was almost in perfect control over the battlefield.

  Liu Zhangqing sighed gently. This was probably the generation of the academy with the most geniuses! Even geniuses like Hua Chengzan and Han Tieyi, who originally stood out from everyone else, no longer seemed special before them. Was it because the world was about to be thrown into chaos that prodigies like him had appeared?

  Despite the image of a school leader that he was supposed to maintain, Liu Chuanfeng stretched out his arms and called out happily. The emotions he had repressed for all these years were released. Do you see this? This is the power of the school of Novels!

  The One Thought master glanced at Xiao An, but he failed to see any excitement from her face at all, as if she was certain he would win. All she did was lean on her hand and gaze at him from the crowd. Li Qingshan would smile at her from time to time too, as if the intense battle unfolding right before him was unable to scatter his attention towards her.

  Recently, she had gone to find him much less frequently compared to before. The One Thought master even eased up slightly, but as it seemed, nothing had changed at all. He had finally confirmed that an invisible string tied them together. It was so-called fate!

  As her senior brother, he had absolutely no confidence in guiding this talented junior sister who called herself One Will. Probably even his master had seen this, which was why he had directly accepted her as a disciple. He would leave everything up to fate!

  Li Qingshan and Chu Danqing’s gazes crossed through the battlefield and met.

  Li Qingshan continued to smile like before. This battle was basically for him to bully Chu Danqing over his lack of experience with real time strategy games. Of course, the situation right now was inherently different from games, but he was no longer the same person from his past life, but Li Qingshan who had gone through countless battles.

  Chu Danqing, on the other hand, was rather flustered. His overall strength was clearly much greater than Li Qingshan’s, but all he could do was watch as the fiends were slaughtered one by one. He was helpless.

  “Danqing, you can only see the source of everything if you calm down!” Chu Shidao’s voice rang out in Chu Danqing’s mind.

  “The source?” Chu Danqing immediately looked at the teenager with the straw hat, and he came to a realisation. All the armoured deities came from him. As long as he defeated the teenager, all his problems would be solved.

  Chu Danqing swung his hand, and the remaining fiends abandoned the armoured deities, rushing towards Ma Liang as a frenzied wave.

  The three armoured deities had managed to kill over twenty fiends under their ingenious teamwork, but they were unable to stop the charging army of fiends.

  Li Qingshan stopped smiling. Have you finally discovered it? My greatest weakness!

  The magic brush was impressive, but Ma Liang was just a regular teenager, and he was his most important medium too. Once he dispersed, the golden deities would immediately disperse as well.

  By then, even if he could conjure him again, would Chu Danqing still give Ma Liang the opportunity to paint? He would probably be slain the moment he appeared, making it a waste of his power of belief.

  At this moment, the real outcome of the match had been determined.

  What was he supposed to do? Conjure a defensive armoured deity who used a shield? No, even if he managed to stop them, Ma Liang would be in no shape to paint anymore either. Moreover, the Hellscape Rhapsody had clearly yet to unleash its full strength. It would be a checkmate situation against him.

  The only thing he could do right now was defend by attacking!

  Ma Liang suddenly raised the brush and began swinging it around recklessly in the air!

  Black strokes of ink hovered in the air as the power of belief in the Divine Talisman of Great Creation rapidly drained away.

  A shadow engulfed Ma Liang. Countless claws and teeth were right before him. The scarlet red wave slammed down on Ma Liang viciously.

  Compared to the fiends, his figure seemed pitifully small. Just like what all the children expected of him, he faced these fiends calmly and fearlessly. He poured his strength into finishing the final stroke.

  The ink strokes in the air turned into strands of sword qi and shot off in all directions.

  Compared to the sword qi, the fiends seemed to slow down. All they could do was watch as the sword qi pierced their bodies.

  The scarlet wave came to a halt and immediately collapsed, disintegrating into countless pieces. They fell towards Ma Liang, but they dispersed in the air.

  Cheers rang out. Li Qingshan said loudly, “Who’s the one who’s going to forfeit now?”


  The three armoured deities stood in a battle formation right in front of Chu Danqing’s Hellscape Rhapsody. They slaughtered the fiends as they emerged. They wanted to see just how many fiends Chu Danqing could summon.

  Chu Danqing clenched his fist firmly. Although the Hellscape Rhapsody depicted countless fiends within a limited space, he could not actually summon fiends forever. And, even if he could, they would probably all be slain one by one.

  “It’s you!”


  The Hellscape Rhapsody surged with scarlet light, almost lighting up the entire stadium. The rivers of blood in the painting suddenly began to flow slowly, and the endless sea of fire began to burn.

  “Oh no!” Li Qingshan said.

  The hellish sea of fire suddenly surged out of the painting. It was so fast that it swallowed the three armoured deities immediately. Their golden armour rapidly melted away in the flames, and in the blink of an eye, the three deities had been reduced to ash, following the footsteps of the fiends.

  The air turned into waves of heat, twisting and distorting everything there. The rolling flames swept towards Li Qingshan, unstoppable and unavoidable.

  On the brink of celebration, Liu Chuanfeng’s face immediately twisted, as if he was the one being scorched by the flames of hell; this had already exceeded the limits of Qi Practitioners.

  Chu Shidao’s face was dyed red by the flames. Li Qingshan, take a look. This is the power of the Jade Blood of Vermillion and Black. You might be a genius, and it’s great luck that the school of Novels possesses a disciple like you, but you still pale slightly in comparison to Danqing.

  Victory was already determined!

  For the first time, Han Anjun was no longer certain that Li Qingshan could emerge victoriously. This was touching on a difference in cultivation realms. It could not be made up with battle tactics or strategy.

  Li Qingshan’s face sank as his thoughts flitted. The flames had already arrived before him. Even if he tried getting Ma Liang to paint, it would be too late. Moreover, just what was he supposed to paint that could block the endless fire?

  At this moment, Ma Liang suddenly collapsed. The fire did not touch him, but he was unable to endure the scorching heat of the flames.

  Li Qingshan had been a cultivator for too long. He had overestimated what a regular teenager could withstand. It only made things worse.

  Was this really it?