“He’s clearly so weak, yet he still provokes them without a second thought. Is there something wrong with this daemon’s head?” The night roamers either discussed quietly or mocked loudly. They believed the outcome of the battle was already predetermined.

  “Is it really just arrogance?” Ye Liusu suddenly thought of everything that had happened after meeting him. His figure of roaring at the entire Spider Shadow clan recklessly still lingered before her.

  No, it definitely isn’t!

  All of his arrogance was built off his confidence. He was bold enough to bellow out, “Who dares to kill me!” because he was just a clone. If they really ended up fighting, only the Spider Shadow clan would suffer losses in the end.

  Looking back, all she saw were Ye Liubo’s eyes shining, without the slightest doubt. Ye Liusu opened her mouth before closing it again, smiling bitterly and silently. Was this still the crafty and resourceful Ye Liubo she once knew? She had found someone she could depend on, and she chose to place complete faith in him. Was this not a form of happiness?

  What about herself? And the fate of the entire Night Roaming folk? Where were they supposed to go? Suddenly, she began to hope from the bottom of her heart that Northmoon could emerge victorious, as he was a daemon unlike those daemons. If he led the night roamers, he could definitely bring about something completely new!

  Dragonsnail said slowly, “I’ve arranged a suitable battlefield for you!”


  The space suddenly opened up upstream from the rivers of lava on the other side of Cobweb city. Li Qingshan raised his head and gazed over.

  A huge rift pierced the underground terrain, several hundred meters deep. Looking down from above, he could see a thin river of fire flowing at the bottom, like a long, winding snake. In comparison, Li Qingshan seemed tiny.

  Li Qingshan lowered his head and focused on the surging lava. The scorching light made his eyes shine.

  To the other side of the river of fire, Strongboulder rubbed his fist menacingly and snickered.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. All I’ll do is crush every single bone in your body and make you understand the cost that comes with challenging the strong!”


  “Then try it!” Li Qingshan strode forward. His iron hooves landed heavily in the lava, kicking up a few splashes and sparks. Among a series of gasps, he rapidly changed in shape. His scarlet hair blazed like fire as his horns curved like hooks. He radiated with valiance and viciousness, like the brutal aura of a primordial daemon.

  But at the same time, blue inscriptions flashed on his skin that was as dark as ink. He had obtained this after reaching the third layer of the spirit turtle. They were no different from the inscriptions of the turtle’s shell, giving off a profound aura that could see through the truths of the world. It was filled with a sense of intelligence and divinity.

  Doing whatever they wanted, those who defied the heavens were demons. Abiding to the heavens, those who shared their lives with the world were gods. These two opposing, conflicting concepts appeared on his body at the same time. Even he himself failed to sense the strangeness of this.

  However, Spider Queen Lolth was slightly fazed. So this was his original form!

  Ye Mingzhu thought to herself, Oh no. So he was not going to heed her advice.

  Two days ago, Ye Mingzhu delivered all the information she had summarised to Li Qingshan, and she discussed the tactics for the two battles with him.

  “Strongboulder is transformed from a strange rock. He’s a stone daemon that you rarely ever see, almost indestructible and filled with endless physical might. Against him, all you can do is make use of your advantage in speed and search for openings.”


  “That’s reasonable!” Li Qingshan smiled.

  “As for Bloodshadow, his original form is a bat, but there are no regular bats as powerful as him even if they reach Daemon General. He should be some kind of exotic beast, but very few know about his actual origins. It’s rumored that he’s not a creature of this realm and comes from the Hell of Blood Pools instead. If he pushes his speed to his limit, probably the only one who can catch him would be Spider Queen Lolth. As a result, if you want to defeat him, all you can do is bide your time and block all of his attacks. You can deal a killing blow once he tires out.”


  “Is this how Strongboulder and Bloodshadow try to defeat one another? What’s the outcome of it?”


  “A tie. However, according to this plan, you’ll be undefeatable at the very least.”


  “What’s the point of being undefeatable? I want to win!”


  Win? Although Li Qingshan had personally claimed he had a fifty percent chance at victory, Ye Mingzhu had heavy doubts about that. As long as he could achieve a tie in these two matches, he would be able to consolidate his status underground and stand beside them at equal footing. He could slowly work on defeating them in the future.

  However, Li Qingshan’s earlier words seemed to be his answer to her—Ten millennia is too long. All I can do is seize every moment!

  “Interesting, interesting. Let’s see how many punches you can take!” Strongboulder laughed aloud. He admired and mocked Li Qingshan for being bold enough to take him on in a direct confrontation. His body also swelled up, becoming a huge rock giant. He strode over and threw a punch at Li Qingshan’s chest.

  It was simple, carrying the weight of a mountain, just like his body. However, in his eyes on his vicious face—no, in what remained of his eyes after being squeezed together by the vicious rock—a mysterious, cunning light flickered.

  Scorching battle intent suddenly rose up in Li Qingshan’s heart. Without any hesitation, or should you say, without any thought, his body reacted naturally, also throwing a punch at Strongboulder’s chest. He completely abandoned defence, acting as if he had just met the murderer of his entire family. It was like he was tempted to reduce Strongboulder to a pulp on the spot, even willing to go as far as to drag Strongboulder down with him.

  With a great boom, wind whistled through the air violently, sweeping up pebbles. Everyone felt the ground beneath them shake violently. Despite being so far away, they could still clearly sense the direct confrontation between the terrifying forces.

  The great river of fire halted momentarily!

  Strongboulder only swayed slightly, while Li Qingshan was sent flying. He collided heavily against the rock face and became deeply embedded, covered in a messy pile of rubble. In that moment earlier, he felt like he had been struck by a mountain. Not only was it tough, but it was even heavy too!

  “Master!” Ye Liubo cried out.

  Bloodshadow hung upside down from a stalactite like a bat. A sunken smile was plastered over his pale-white face. This guy doesn’t understand Strongboulder’s true ability at all. No matter how much strength he possessed, no matter how tough his body was, it was useless if he could not land a strike. Yet, Strongboulder was able to force him into an open confrontation, a battle to the death whenever they fought.

  “Is this your innate ability? Now that’s interesting.” Strongboulder glanced at his fist before looking at the pile of rubble.

  With a bang, the rubble exploded, and Li Qingshan stood up. The faint blue Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell flickered before him, but it was cracked and slightly dented.

  That’s just a punch! Li Qingshan was shocked. This was the power of the three great Daemon Generals. With their bizarre original forms and thousands of years of cultivation, they had become truly powerful and terrifying existences. If it were not for the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, he would have been injured from that punch.

  The cracks on the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell repaired themselves in an instant, but the situation did not improve at all, as he had still depleted a large amount of daemon qi. Li Qingshan’s daemon qi was nowhere close to Strongboulder’s. Defeat would be certain if this became a battle of endurance.

  Li Qingshan was rather puzzled. Why had he been so rash earlier? He was a genius in actual combat. Whenever he struck, it might seem crude and conceited in the eyes of others, but it would always be the best decision he could make. He would have never engaged in a direct confrontation like a ruffian.

  “Again!” Strongboulder advanced with a smile. His heavy footsteps boomed like war drums.

  The battle and killing intent within Li Qingshan surged uncontrollably again. His eyes reddened. All he saw was a punch fly over, filling his vision.