Li Qingshan coughed into his fist, which was like two claps of thunder in the silent cave.

  Rumble. There was a disturbance in the darkness. The sound of rubbing and colliding rock rang out endlessly, surging towards him like a tsunami.

  Standing high on the stage, Li Qingshan sucked in a deep breath and spread his arms, calling out.

  “My dear friends, are you well?”
Are you well… you well… well… well…
The echoes rampaged through the cavern. The reply he received was a strange buzzing, basically drowning out his voice, like a surging ocean surrounding the lone island he was on.

  Pi Yangqiu said with absolute certainty, “He’s mad!”
Ren Aoyou laughed. “No wonder you like to gamble on the dark horse, junior brother Le. This gamble is particularly interesting. Even losing would be worth it!” But up until now, he already had a certain victory over one gamble. Once the earth fiend beasts finished this guy off, he would win his second one too.

  Le Tian smiled wryly. “Though, it seems to be a little too exciting.”
Ruan Yaozhu was concerned, paying close attention.

  “Now, please allow me, Li Qingshan, to perform a song for you—Men Should Strive to Better Themselves!”
Li Qingshan bent over slightly, raising his right arm and bowing. He smiled wildly and flagrantly.

  The giant rock under his feet shook—no, the entire cavern was shaking.

  Li Qingshan furrowed his brows and raised his chest, singing out loud, “With a sense of pride, laughing over the myriad waves!”
Roar! The beasts lunged towards him from all directions as they growled. The strange rock under his feet split open to form a gaping mouth that could swallow an elephant whole.

  “Hot-blooded, hot like the red sunlight!”
Li Qingshan leapt up towards the ceiling of the cavern. The beasts collided beneath his feet. The commotion they created was like a rockslide. There were jagged rocks and overlapping magnetic fields everywhere as if it had turned into an abyssal hell.

  Boom!

  A colossal head smashed apart several dozen earth fiend beasts in its path, completely breaking free from the pull of the earth and biting towards Li Qingshan with unbelievable speed.

  Li Qingshan reached mid-air and gradually slowed down. He was unable to use any of his powers or daemon qi here at all. Unless he ignored the prying eyes and unfurled his phoenix wings, the only thing awaiting him was falling into the mouth of the whale-like earth fiend beast.

  “Courage seemingly forged from steel!”
Li Qingshan turned around and landed on the colossal beast’s teeth. The moment the gaping mouth slammed shut, he leapt up again, touching the ceiling of the cavern. He punched out towards the black stalactite that weighed several hundred tonnes over thirty metres beside him.

  “Pride seemingly carved from diamond!”
The fist and rock collided, producing the thrumming of metal.

  With a bang, the stalactite broke off from the ceiling and hurtled towards the colossal beast that pursued him relentlessly.

  Boom! The colossal beast was smashed into the ground. Dust filled the air as the entire cavern shook violently.

  Li Qingshan used the rebounding force to push himself over to another stalactite. He was about to repeat the same trick when a gust of wind rushed over his head. An earth fiend beast had woken up in the ceiling, immediately lunging towards him while he was unable to dodge mid-air. It interrupted his singing, and the two of them fell towards the ground.

  Sharp and hideous teeth filled his eyes. He saw the ground from the corner of his eyes. Several hundred earth fiend beasts of various sizes raised their heads and ground their teeth, waiting for him. Even without these dangers, his body would be smashed to pieces if he directly fell three hundred metres even if it was forged from steel.

  Search h0sted n0vel for the original.

  Search h0sted n0vel for the original.

  No matter how tough his physique was, he was not invincible, much less in a place like this, in a world like this. The heavy fall damage would temporarily incapacitate him, and he would not be able to escape the fate of being torn apart by the beasts.

  Pi Yangqiu concluded. “He’s done for!”
Perhaps this outcome had already become set in stone the moment he entered the centre of the mountain and challenged the beasts. That was the fate of those who overestimated themselves.

  “No, he’s still smiling!” Le Tian manipulated the Map of All-seeing and All-hearing, zooming in on Li Qingshan’s face.

  Sure enough, in the face of danger, as he rapidly fell towards the ground, he smiled even more wildly and flagrantly, wild like fire, flagrant like wind!

  He continued to sing with an even louder voice, “A breadth of mind thousands of metres across, a vision thousands of kilometres long!”
He spread his arms and gave the earth fiend beast on him a great hug, twisting himself in the air such that he was on top.

  Boom!

  Rock shot off everywhere, and the ground cracked. The earth fiend beast had been smashed to pieces.

  With his black hair drifting through the air and a smile on his face, Li Qingshan grabbed the third piece of magnetic ferrum and tossed it into the basket on his back. He sang with a smile, “Swearing to improve yourself, to be a fine man, roar!”
With a bellow, he lunged towards an earth fiend beast and plunged his hand into its chest with the Tiger Demon Digs out the Heart, digging out another piece of magnetic ferrum.

  The earth fiend beast immediately froze as if it had turned into a stone statue.

  “To be a fine man, improving with each day!”
The buzzing drowned out his singing as several dozen earth fiend beasts swallowed his finger. In the next moment, even more resonant singing ran out.

  “A hot-blooded man, even hotter than the red sunlight!”
He stood barefooted on the ground. His imposing figure made him seem like he had turned into a beast of steel, opening his large hands like claws.

  “Roar! Hah! Hey!”
With each bellow and a Tiger Demon Digs out the Heart, an earth fiend beast froze. He was like a vicious tiger fighting off a pack of wolves. The wolf pack was vicious, but the tiger was much more fatal, killing them until wolf corpses lay strewn, afraid to approach him again.

  The direct disciples were all dumbfounded. Pi Yangqiu said in disbelief, “How is he doing this?”
The most troublesome part of earth fiend beasts was their lack of so-called vital points. Sometimes, they could even continue fighting after most of their bodies had been destroyed. That was fine when there was only one opponent, but once they became surrounded by them, then that was like being tossed into a stone mill. They would be crushed and ground to pieces very soon.

  However, Li Qingshan relied on this one attack that could not be more commonplace to deal an effective blow whenever he struck, forcefully paving a path for himself.

  The only explanation was he could instantly determine the location of the magnetic ferrum in the bodies of the earth fiend beasts. However, even the Human Sovereigns present were not capable of that.

  Le Tian shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. This dark horse is already so dark that even I don’t know how to explain it anymore.” He suddenly became excited, dancing around. “But nicely done. Qingshan, kill them all! Make them taste your power!”
Ruan Yaozhu let out a sigh of relief while the nine-coloured deer wondered inside, Does this guy really have the bloodline of the qilin? It doesn’t seem like it with how he fights. It’s as if he’s turned into someone different altogether! He’s quite fearful, actually! But whatever. As long as he can help me win this round, none of that matters!

  Ren Aoyou said, “Hmph, don’t celebrate too soon. We still don’t know whether this kid can survive or not!”
The cavern extended off in all directions like a huge echo chamber. The resonant singing, the noise from the battle, and the disorderly magnetic field awakened all of the earth fiend beasts in the mountain, luring them over.

  With each passing moment, earth fiend beasts surged in from every entrance, like the furious current, turning the cavern into a colossal arena. Even a moment of carelessness would cost him his life.

  On top of that, the strongest and most terrifying “beast king” in the lair had not been destroyed yet.

  Boom!

  Boulders shot through the air, even crushing a few small earth fiend beasts.

  Li Qingshan gazed out, only to see the earth fiend beast that the strange rock had transformed into emerge from the rubble, virtually unscathed. It completely extended its limbs and became even larger, trudging towards him with heavy steps. Each step made the cavern shake.

  It suddenly stopped and shook its head. With a hiss, electricity surged in its mouth, charging up for an attack!

  Even without the spirit turtle’s senses, it made Li Qingshan shiver. With a body slam, he smashed apart the earth fiend beast in front of him. He did not even bother with collecting the magnetic ferrum, running along the walls furiously as he tried to make his way over to the beast king’s back.

  The beast king swivelled its head slowly. The electricity became even brighter in its mouth before it abruptly launched the attack.

  A flash of white light filled his eyes, leaving the cavern bright like daytime.

  Li Qingshan leapt up and was immediately slammed against the wall by a great force.

  Boom! The wall cracked and collapsed, forming a great hole. All the magnetic ferrum he had gathered after so much difficulty scattered on the ground.

  He lay in the hole with his organs in pain. His entire body was numb and immobilised. He could even smell the scent of roasted meat.

  Only after a seemingly very long time did he hear the deafening boom. With his blurry eyes, he could still make out the twisted trajectory of the electricity in the air.

  He should have been able to dodge the attack with that leap of his, but the electricity had suddenly twisted as if it had locked onto him, slamming into him viciously.

  “Qingshan!’
Le Tian cried out painfully as if he was the one who had suffered that blow. Only extremely powerful earth fiend beasts were capable of that. Even if he endured a strike like that, it would be quite painful.

  Ruan Yaozhu completely paled in horror, subconsciously biting down on her lip.

  Pi Yangqiu said, “The earth fiend beasts’ sense of hearing is not actually a sense of hearing. It’s closer to the very nature of hearing. They’re extremely sensitive to vibrations, and what they truly use to lock onto prey are magnetic fields! In such a narrow space, it’s almost impossible to dodge the electricity attack from the great earth fiend beast. It’s useless no matter how fast his reflexes are. He’s dead for sure!”
The beasts surged over like the tide, lunging towards the immobilised Li Qingshan. The beast king began to amass electricity in its mouth again.

  “Make the sky and sea gather strength for me…”
Li Qingshan stood up slowly. He lost some control over his tongue, so his singing became rather strange.

  The boundless earth was with him. The endless power surged in through every pore of his body. It was the only remaining innate ability of his, the Strength of the Earth!

  In such a deep place in the mountain, not only was it unaffected by the magnetic fields, but it even became stronger and more sensitive. This was the exact ability he had used to sense the location of the magnetic ferrum in the bodies of each earth fiend beast, which was why he could kill them with a single strike.

  The deep tranquillity surrounded him like he was in his mother’s embrace. There was no fear at all. He was the child of the earth.

  Once again, he leapt up energetically and smashed through the tide of beasts!

  “To achieve greatness, to advance for the sake of my dreams!”
He stepped over the earth fiend beasts and lunged towards the beast king’s hideous mouth, throwing himself into the surging electricity.

  Boom!

  Electricity exploded, even leaving the Map of All-seeing and All-hearing white.

  The direct disciples all widened their eyes. By the time the white light had slowly faded away, all they saw was the terrifying beast king standing in the same position as before, launching the attack. It did not budge at all, but Li Qingshan was nowhere to be seen.

  Ruan Yaozhu asked with a trembling voice, “I- is he still alive?”
Le Tian said, “Look!”
A charred figure emerged from the colossal mouth of the beast king, holding a huge piece of magnetic ferrum that shone in the darkness.

  Li Qingshan grinned, revealing his snowy-white teeth. He overlooked the beasts.

  “Since I am a man, I should strive to better myself!”
TL: The song in this chapter is called Mr. Strong Man by George Lam. This is my personal translation of the song. You can listen to it here. You can see alternative translations for the song here, hereand here.