Li Qingshan could not help but think of something very absurd. An enemy is teaching me the sword?

  However, he would never let any opportunities of strengthening himself slip by. He completely memorised the sword style that Fu Qingjin displayed earlier. Before great grievances, small favours were not enough to make him waver.

  ……


  Spring went and summer came. The weather was hot and humid. The thick, dark clouds piled on the sky, awaiting a storm.

  The crows cawed noisily as they circled around in the air, refusing to land. They were like specks of black sesame scattered across the sky.

  If someone managed to take note of the trajectories of all these crows, they might have been able to detect some kind of pattern after an hour of observation.

  A streak of blood-red light stuck close to the ground. The gales of wind it kicked up rushed past a few crows and ripped them to pieces. Black feathers scattered in the sky.

  However, these pitch-black feathers vanished before they even reached the ground.

  “He’s here,” Li Qingshan whispered into a jade tablet for communication. He stood on a tall mountain in an extremely distant place, gazing at the black shadow that protruded from the horizon.

  A city stood there, but now, it was a trap.

  He did not make his way over. With his cultivation at early Foundation Establishment, he had no right to participate in the ambush this time. Of course, this was also a form of protection.

  The sky was so dark that it seemed like dusk. Bloodshadow had already arrived at the city gates. Suddenly, he sensed a hint of uneasiness, as if something was brewing, just like the clouds in the sky.

  But at the same time, the fragrant smell of fresh, enticing blood attracted his attention.

  There was a rumble of thunder, which made his heart lurch. It made him think of the divine lightning the slovenly daoist priest had summoned. Then he sneered at himself. If it were just that ox-nosed daoist, he could escape safely if he ran into him another ten or a hundred times.

  Even regular wild beasts could sense the arrival of death. At his cultivation, his senses had become even sharper. He did not sense any life-threatening danger, so he strode into the city without worrying.

  A crow perching on the city gates let out a strange caw before taking off.

  “Your predictions sure are divine. Looks like there’s no need for you to do anything this time.” Li Qingshan smiled brilliantly and looked back.

  Xiao An sat on a grey rock under a large pine tree, staring at an insect on the branches in a daze as her seaweed-like hair flowed freely. She was as serene as an orchid. Hearing Li Qingshan’s words, she shook her head gently.

  “He won’t die here.”


  “What? Didn’t you predict that Bloodshadow would come here?” Li Qingshan was very surprised. They had already rigged the entire city with traps. Even if the moon demon barged in there for some reason, he would be done for.

  “I only said he would come. I never said he would die.” Xiao An smiled beautifully. Only then did she seem like a young girl. “It’s the exact opposite. I made sure he would never die here.”


  Some of the childishness vanished from her voice, replaced by a sense of clarity. It was extremely pleasant, like it possessed a wondrous power that could comfort the souls of people.

  “Is it really that accurate?” Li Qingshan blinked his eyes. He felt very amazed even though he had no idea how all of this worked.

  “It really is that accurate.” Xiao An copied Li Qingshan and blinked her eyes too. “But it won’t be this accurate everytime, because he’s entangled in many ties of karma, and he has very deep karma with me.”


  “What karma?”


  Rumble! Several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky together, like a huge dragon diving down.

  “It has begun!” Li Qingshan turned around quickly and gazed at the lonely city on the horizon.

  “You again!”


  Bloodshadow was reduced to a miserable state by the consecutive bolts of lightning as he stared at Zhou Tong before him in surprise and fury. Why did this damned ox-nose always know where he would appear?

  “It’s not just me this time! Wretched daemon, prepare to die!” Zhou Tong sneered as if the outcome was already set in stone. He relished with delight.

  That kid Xiao An’s divination sure is accurate!

  Bloodshadow behaved as cautiously as he normally did. Without saying anything more, he flapped his cloak and took off into the air. He moved faster than the lightning, running head-first into a barrier of light.

  In each direction outside of the city, eight Foundation Establishment cultivators planted down eight formation banners, immediately trapping Bloodshadow in the formation as they rushed into the city together.

  How could they be so certain that I’d appear? Oh no, I’m in danger this time! Bloodshadow became pale-white.

  Not only had Xiao An predicted a location, but she had even predicted an extremely precise time as well, which was why they were able to gather the strongest group of cultivators the Clear River prefecture had to offer. They had to make sure Bloodshadow would die.

  It was not just Zhou Tong. The other cultivators all relished with delight too. Practitioners of divination were definitely precious in this day and age, and with her accuracy, it basically made her something akin to a rare treasure. All of them praised her inside.

  The time is actually completely right, down to the very second.

  She truly is a genius. With her divination, defeat will be certain for the daemons!

  Even the Cloud Elder who had been displeased with Xiao An’s avoidance of the war thought, We have to protect this child. We can’t let the daemons get close to her.

  With their various thoughts, the nine powerful cultivators did not utter a single word, cutting right to the chase. They unleashed their strongest moves at the same time to kill Bloodshadow.

  The rain fell like buckets, while the sky was as dark as night. Six streaks of light tore through the air. They were actually six arcane artifacts.

  Various trapping and restricting techniques were unleashed at the same time. Strands of golden light turned into chains, jangling about and sealing up the space everywhere. Thick trees rose up from the ground, extending their branches and blotting out the sky.

  All of this had been planned beforehand. Their teamwork was perfect. However, with Bloodshadow’s speed, he was fast enough to escape before these techniques managed to wrap around him.

  A handsome, pale cultivator in white robes among the nine cultivators opened his mouth and spat out a single word towards Bloodshadow, “Freeze!”


  He was not loud, but it reached everyone’s ears clearly. Even from fifty kilometers away, Li Qingshan could vaguely make out his words.

  “This is the school of Names’ Freezing curse. Bloodshadow really won’t be able to escape this time.” Li Qingshan smiled.

  The hundred schools all had their own wondrous arts. The school of Names focused on concepts and words, using language to express a hint of the truths of the world. They inherited the curses and jinxes of ancient cultivators and were known to imbue powers with every word they spoke. They could injure without the opponent even knowing.

  Among the thousands of curses, the most famous one was probably the Freezing curse. It was more convenient than any technique for trapping the opponent.

  In that instant, Bloodshadow became immobilised. All he could do was watch helplessly as the chains condensed from Geng Metal spiritual qi wrapped around him firmly, and the trees formed a huge cage. Seven or eight spiritual artifacts and arcane artifacts hurtled over together, grinding him into mince meat.

  “The blood demon is still not dead! Don’t stop!” Liu Zhangqing called out.

  Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—various powerful techniques of all five elements landed on Bloodshadow.

  In particular, the slovenly daoist priest Zhou Tong raised the Lightning Slaughter wooden sword towards the sky. Thunder boomed without end as a thick, flashing bolt of lightning pierced the sky, lingering for a very long time.

  The leader of the school of Names’ Freezing curse was unleashed again and again, disrupting each of Bloodshadow’s attempts at escaping.

  The crows that Li Qingshan had conjured from his power of belief scattered into the distance and watched from above, allowing him to take in this sight from various different angles. He was secretly shocked.

  An encirclement like this is just too terrifying. Let alone escaping, you won’t even have the opportunity to fight back. As soon as you tear through a technique, seven or eight more would have struck you already. If it were me, I’d probably barely manage to put up the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, and all I’d be able to do is just watch as my daemon qi was expended. No matter how much daemon qi I have, no matter how quickly it recovers, I still won’t be able to withstand something like that.

  Though, setting up a trap like this is anything but easy. Both daemons and cultivators are extremely sensitive to life-threatening dangers. If it were not for the fact that they had grasped his movements, Bloodshadow should have been able to come and go as he pleases even if he faces the nine of them, moving about freely. The divination is still the part that is more terrifying. No, I have the spirit turtle’s daemon core, so I should have quite the talent in this aspect. I need to learn from Xiao An in the future.

  Li Qingshan turned around and asked, “Oh right, what did you mean by karma earlier? Bloodshadow is clearly done for now, so why did you say he wouldn’t die here?”


  “It’s waiting for me.” Xiao An leapt off the rock and flew off into the distance.

  “Where are you going?”


  “Off to kill Bloodshadow.” Xiao An smiled.

  “But Bloodshadow is not in that direction.”


  Just when Li Qingshan was about to chase after her, he thought about it and stopped himself. Since Xiao An made him wait here, she definitely had her reason.

  He was not worried about Xiao An’s safety. After reaching the first layer of the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty, probably only the Spider Queen could pose life-threatening danger to her, as well as that “guy” hidden deep below the magma. There was no need for him to worry too much.

  However, as he watched her figure disappear into the horizon, he experienced a strange sense of melancholy, like “My child has grown up and is independent now”. He really could not go without his strength increasing anymore. At least, he could not pale in comparison to Xiao An.

  He also had to surpass the pressure that Fu Qingjin and Dragonsnail could cause him.

  “Blood demon, today is the day you die.” Seeing how the blood demon was close to death, Zhou Tong let out a great laughter.

  The leader of the school of Names had already uttered “Freeze” eleven times, having reached his limit. He also eased up at this moment.

  Bloodshadow, who had been reduced to a blood-red piece of meat, suddenly began to separate and twist. A sinister face appeared there.

  Innate ability, Bloodlight Escape!

  With a bang, the chunk of flesh exploded. Violent energy pushed away all the arcane artifacts and techniques. Only a blood-red daemon core revolved about as it took off as a red flash with a swish.

  “Stop him!” Liu Zhangqing said in a hurry.

  Even if he had not said that, Zhou Tong still would have extended his finger over. A serpentine bolt of lightning shot over.

  However, when the blood-red light ran into the formation, it actually passed through directly and sailed across the sky. The lightning slammed against the barrier heavily.

  Everyone in the city was left dumbfounded. How had Bloodshadow managed to escape given the current circumstances?

  “The blood demon is just a daemon core now. He might be dead already,” Liu Zhangqing said bitterly.

  Everyone wanted to believe that, but none of them could believe that! In that instant, the blood demon had clearly abandoned his body and taken off.

  Was Bloodshadow dead?

  Of course not!

  Only after flying five hundred kilometers away did Bloodshadow stop and land. His flesh and blood immediately began to grow, turning into a blood-red bat in the blink of an eye, flapping its wings. A little later, he regained a human form. He seemed perfectly fine, apart from the fact that his face was pale-white, without a shred of blood.