Li Qingshan would have been fine if the golden rain was all that he faced, but with how shrewd Dragonsnail was, why would he ever give him that kind of opportunity? Dragonsnail lunged over without the slightest hesitation.

  They wanted to squeeze out the last shred of life in him with this pincer attack.

  Li Qingshan’s mind calmed down, like a grand ocean that was completely flat.

  In that instant, he seemed to witness the trajectory of every single quill, but this feeling only remained for a single moment. The Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility in his right hand had swung towards the incoming rain of quills already. The blade of the sword flashed with the reflected silver moonlight.

  At the same time, he sent a palm strike towards the incoming Dragonsnail, unleashing the Rising Tide Form and the Parting Clouds Form in a single breath. His true qi moved like the tide, layering and cascading in his palm strike, but it did not erupt. Only during the moment before Dragonsnail was about to reach him did it turn into a cloud-parting tsunami.

  If it were some other time, his sword techniques might have been useful. If he faced regular Daemon Generals, this palm strike of his should have done the job.

  However, he currently faced an ambush from a powerful commanding officer of the daemons. Dragonsnail had only brought a single Daemon General with him to ambush Li Qingshan, which only demonstrated his confidence in succeeding.

  With a cling and a clang, Li Qingshan’s sword that was slightly slower only managed to knock away the two quills flying towards his head. His chest, belly, arms, and legs were struck at the same time, leading to seven or eight bloody holes running right through his body. One of these holes just happened to pierce the location of his heart.

  With a bang, Dragonsnail confronted Li Qingshan’s palm strike scornfully. With his unbelievably great power and extremely tremendous daemon qi, he directly smashed through the tsunami, launching Li Qingshan away as he spurted with blood.

  Just like the disciples of the school of Music, Li Qingshan fell out of the sky.

  Dragonsnail was extremely confident that he had already shattered Li Qingshan’s organs with that palm strike of his. Not to mention, his heart, a vital point, had been injured too. Death was certain for him.

  But just in case, he nodded towards the hedgehog Daemon General. The hedgehog Daemon General rushed towards Li Qingshan eagerly, ready to enjoy the delicious taste of human cultivators.

  Li Qingshan’s eyes suddenly lit up. Before everyone had noticed it, he was already holding a scarlet talisman between his fingers. It burst into flames and turned into ashes as light wrapped around Li Qingshan.

  The hedgehog daemon missed. In the blink of an eye, Li Qingshan had already been transported to five kilometers away, leaving behind a twinkling trail of light in the night sky.

  Fortunately, I have this Escape talisman, or that old bastard would have gotten me good!

  Li Qingshan could sense the circulation of his spiritual qi return to normal. No matter what Dragonsnail’s innate ability was, he clearly could not cover such a large range. He immediately unleashed the Wave Treading Form without the slightest hesitation, flying off into the distance.

  Escape talismans were relatively precious among the various types of talismans available. Even their weakest versions could be scarlet talismans. Using one when facing imminent death was like gaining a new lease on life.

  Having used an Escape talisman of the lowest quality, Li Qingshan could only escape to five kilometers away, and he did not know any escape techniques, which made it highly restrictive. He could only move five kilometers once he used it, not an inch more or less. He could only escape to somewhere within his view, and there could not be any obstacles in between.

  These various restrictions made the Escape talisman almost useless. Not only was he unable to use it in a closed region, five kilometers was not far at all either for someone at his cultivation. He could cross that distance in a single breath.

  It would be particularly restrictive in a situation like earlier. If he tried to use it right off the bat, he would probably be interrupted the moment he took it out. Even if he managed to use it, he would probably be startlingly slow under Dragonsnail’s strange ability, allowing Dragonsnail to respond in time.

  He’s so heavily injured, so how can he still move around freely? Dragonsnail’s expression changed. A hint of anger flashed through his eyes as he directly pursued Li Qingshan.

  Li Qingshan eased up. Dragonsnail was not fast. Let alone Bloodshadow, he was not even as fast as Strongboulder, but he was still a bit faster than Li Qingshan. The distance between them rapidly decreased.

  There’s no need for me to catch up to him. I just need to be close enough for my ability to reach him. Dragonsnail squinted his eyes. His ability expanded like a great net, extending towards the fleeing Li Qingshan.

  Li Qingshan had thought of that too, so how could he just let Dragonsnail succeed? He unfurled the Cursive Sword Calligraphy and launched another ink sword before using several techniques together. He cast down a water curtain before summoning a cloud giant, blocking Dragonsnail’s path, and in the end, he stuck a Tailwind talisman to himself.

  Dragonsnail swallowed the ink sword in a single gulp, smashed the water curtain with a single palm strike, and directly pierced the cloud giant. He only slowed down slightly three times. His speed was virtually unaffected.

  But when he spotted Li Qingshan again, he had already ridden off into the distance on a swift gale, widening the distance between them again.

  Dragonsnail slowed down and gave up on the pursuit.

  Clear River city was not particularly far away anymore. Having reached this point, the ambush had basically failed already. Continuing his pursuit would instead be a bad idea.

  Dragonsnail’s aura travelled away before vanishing. Li Qingshan descended from the sky, sat down, and began meditating to recover his spiritual qi.

  The holes through his body had mostly recovered by now, only leaving behind faint marks. His heart began to thump once more too. With his powerful life force, many vital points were no longer vital points to him. All he had to do was protect his head.

  I’m still not strong enough. If I directly transformed and killed this bastard, would it still be so troublesome?

  No, if I were stronger, I’ll just go and conquer Lolth. Wouldn’t I have even more freedom if I were a Daemon Commander?

  Raising his head and looking into the distance, the glowing Clear river city was right ahead. At this moment, the sky in the distance flashed, followed by the muffled sound of thunder a very long time after.

  What loud thunder. The thunder is probably from almost five hundred kilometers away. That’s definitely not regular lightning. Probably even my Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell would not be able to block it easily.

  Li Qingshan lamented inside. There were countless powerful masters in the world, and this was just the measly Clear River prefecture, restricted to Foundation Establishment cultivators.

  If this game of chess ended and the war spread, Daemon Commanders and Daemon Kings would be running amok with Golden Core and Soul Nascence cultivators everywhere. His cultivation at Daemon General would be nothing anymore. Running into any one of them would be enough to end his life. Just Wen Zhengming from Pine Sough academy alone was a great issue.

  Having faced the dangers tonight, he desired an increase in strength and cultivation even more. He had to break through to the fourth layer of the ox demon and tiger demon as soon as possible.

  Changing into a new set of clothes, he strode off towards Clear River city.

  ……


  The burnt stick in the slovenly daoist priest Zhou Tong’s hand was obviously no ordinary stick. Instead, it was a true arcane artifact.

  During his travels in the past, he encountered an ancient cycad that had almost become a daemon. It had been struck by lightning, only leaving behind a tiny piece. After several decades of refinement, he forged it into an arcane artifact and named it “Lightning Slaughter”. It was extremely powerful.

  Zhou Tong practised the Divine Heaven Method of Lightning Wielding. When he powered Lightning Slaughter with that, the destructive power was so great that even other arcane artifacts would pale in comparison. His unruliness might have been due to the cultivation method’s influence, but he had what it took to back up this unruliness.

  The region where Bloodshadow originally stood had turned into a great pit of several hundred meters wide, reaching the structures on the sides.

  From the destruction alone, it did not seem particularly extraordinary. Li Qingshan could achieve something like that easily. However, unlike other techniques, the power of lightning normally could not destroy rock or soil, yet the bolt of lightning had directly vaporised several hundred tonnes of rock. The pit glistened under the moonlight, having crystallised under the heat.

  “What a coward!” Zhou Tong snorted. The bastard had managed to escape.

  In the final moments, Bloodshadow raised his cloak, which turned into a blood-red barrier that blocked the bolt of lightning. It earned him a moment, which he used to escape.

  If they actually clashed, who knew what the outcome would be. Bloodshadow’s ability to control blood posed a huge threat to cultivators. Originally, he could have used that opportunity to approach Zhou Tong, but Bloodshadow refused to take on even the slightest of risks. He directly fled instead.

  It made Zhou Tong furious, but there was nothing he could do. He was known as the greatest in the Clear River prefecture, but he was slightly slower than Bloodshadow.

  Zhou Tong shot off on his sword, throwing the pitch-black city behind him. However, he could not help but glance backwards and let out a gentle sigh before leaving resolutely.

  All of the firelight in the city had been put out.

  In a study room, all of the vases and porcelain had shattered, scattered across the ground. A scholar collapsed on his table. Just earlier, he was studying under lantern light, but now, there was not a shred of life left in him. Blood gradually soaked his books. He bled from his orifices. He had been directly killed off by the shockwave.

  Not a single living creature remained in the city, whether they were male or female, young or old, reptilian, insect, or mammalian.

  Some of them died to Bloodshadow. Most of them died to Zhou Tong’s bolt of lightning.

  Against an opponent like Bloodshadow, Zhou Tong was afraid to hold back, nor could he afford to hold back. If he had to think about the fates of regular people when he struck, holding back his full strength, the one who would die would be him.

  As for Bloodshadow, he would still be able to slaughter cities, and he would continue to do so. As a result, this was the only choice Zhou Tong had. There was nothing else he could do.

  Even though he refused to admit that, reality was like cold steel. Regular people were no different from ants.

  It was just a clash between immortals, a disaster for regular people.

  ……


  In Clear River city, the meeting in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain had ended a long time ago, but the Parlour of Clouds and Rain had been transformed into the headquarters of the human cultivators. It manifested their determination to protect the several million lives within the city.

  “Qingshan, that’s another one!” “That’s fantastic, senior!” “Sir, you truly are amazing!”


  Cultivators moved around in the parlour in a bustling, noisy manner. When they saw Li Qingshan return, they all bowed and greeted him.

  The news of another Daemon General dying at Li Qinngshan’s hands had already become known. He was treated like a hero.

  Recently, he had been running around in the Clear River prefecture, saving the lives of countless cultivators and establishing many good ties of friendship. However, he only nodded slightly in response, without making any other gestures back. It made him seem rather arrogant in the eyes of some.

  Actually, it was just because Li Qingshan was reluctant to establish any more ties with others and meddle with karma. Although he had only randomly learnt these terms from the scriptures that Xiao An read, he actually found it to be rather reasonable and logical now. Since he understood the path he had to take, it would be better if he had fewer friends and acquaintances, just in case they died and caused him grief.

  Arriving on the top floor, the leaders of the schools of Confucianism, Legalism, the Military, and so on were all present, as well as Fu Qingjin and a few Foundation Establishment cultivators he was unfamiliar with. They all crowded around a large mental map of the Clear River prefecture, as if they were discussing something.

  They were all too busy to greet Li Qingshan. Liu Zhangqing waved his hand at him, making him wait before lowering his head again and pointing at a location on the map. “I’ve just received news that senior Zhou Tong has failed to kill Bloodshadow. He should be responding very soon. This is already the twelfth city. If it were not for the fact that the blood demon has to absorb and refine his blood, the destruction might be even greater.”