Li Qingshan shuddered for some reason inside. The illusion collapsed, and his Yin Soul broke free. It was transparent and extremely feeble, returning to his body in a hurry.

  Chao Tianjiao felt her eyes blur, and she returned to the Xuanwu hall again. Glancing at his complexion, she smiled. “Your wounds are quite heavy.”
Li Qingshan laughed dryly. “Thank you for your concern, senior sister.”
“I’m a little worried about whether you can accept that gift of mine during the army-wide martial arts competition that’s being held soon.” Chao Tianjiao looked at Li Qingshan like she wanted him to beg her to spare him.

  Li Qingshan said indifferently, “I want to fight ten.”
“Heh, you sure know how to talk tough. When you make a fool of yourself later, you better not blame me.”
“If there’s nothing else, then I’m leaving.”
Li Qingshan was talking tough. Given his current state, he could not recover unless he had a month, but he would never suck up to Chao Tianjiao and beg for mercy.

  Chao Tianjiao waved her hand and Li Qingshan turned around to leave. Right when he was about to leave through the door, he suddenly heard her say, “Get ready to face a frenzied Demon Emperor. That will be the opening act to the army-wide martial arts competition. Only victory is permitted, or I’ll never spare you.”
Li Qingshan glanced back at her and nodded. “Thanks.”
By a frenzied Demon Emperor, that was probably a demonic beast. As long as he understood the enemy and understood his own capacity, he could win all of his battles. If he knew what his opponent was, he could make many arrangements beforehand. Actually, he already had some ideas right now.

  After leaving, Chao Tianjiao shook her head. Damned brat. Even after being injured, you’re still so stubborn. This time, I’m basically showing you mercy already. This is for the sake that you let me see what happened at Cold Blood pass.

  Thinking up to there, she became rather stern. The situation at Cold Blood pass was very eerie. It definitely was not as simple as Tu Wancheng losing control and becoming a demonic beast. Instead, it was a massacre with a purpose. All of the Demon Emperors and Demon Kings had been eliminated first.

  But just what was this all for?

  Chao Tianjiao gazed at the sky. All she saw were the black clouds pressing down and the hazy snow.

  Li Qingshan left the Xuanwu hall and did not return to the stone tower directly. Xiao An was probably focusing on cultivation, while he was unable to cultivate right now given his current state, so he simply strolled through the city.

  With how leisurely he seemed, he was quite jarring compared to the street full of soldiers that hurried along sternly. Quite a few people actually recognised him, but they were all hostile. No one came up to greet him.

  If it were not for Li Qingshan’s identity and strength, probably a great group of them would have come over to make trouble already.

  Not only had Li Qingshan completely offended Li Liehuo, but he had almost humiliated the entire Scorching Fire army. His feud with Chao Tianjiao had offended the Xuanwu army as well.

  Actually, if that was all, it was not enough for regular soldiers to be so hostile to him. Instead, it could earn him a lot of respect. After all, the strong were respected in the army.

  However, he had also left the Upraised Light abbot unconscious recently, turning him into a criminal in the eyes of all the soldiers.

  Not only was the Upraised Light abbot responsible for purifying the demonic land and recording their contributions, but he also cleansed the demon qi off soldiers that fought in the Demon domain. Otherwise, it would be very easy for them to suffer from cultivation deviation or even become demonfolk.

  He upheld the belief of the pure land school that all were equal, so he was easy-going and friendly. He possessed an extremely great reputation in Black Cloud city. Who knew how many people had been graced by him, and the soldiers of the lower levels were particularly protective about him.

  As a result, Li Qingshan became notorious because an inner disciple like him had gained the position of a general as soon as he joined the army. As a result, he earned himself another wonderful nickname, which was the crawling general.

  Li Qingshan’s ears were far too sharp. He would always be able to catch the countless murmurs, yet none of them was anything positive about him. Even with his broad-mindedness, it left him irritated.

  Suddenly, he heard the sound of cries and fighting, as well as cheers and curses, which immediately washed away these murmurs.

  Out of curiosity, he made his way around a building and arrived on some drilling grounds.

  All he saw was a black mass of people surging around, totalling two or three thousand. They gathered around the ring in the centre of the drilling grounds and cheered and shouted away.

  There were currently two soldiers locked in combat on there. One was dressed in light armour, wielding a spear, while the other was clad in heavy armour with a blade and shield.

  They were both low-level soldiers that had not even undergone the first heavenly tribulation, but they radiated with battle intent and murderousness. Whenever they clashed, it would lead to a wave of cheers.

  “What’s going on?” Li Qingshan stopped a young soldier who watched on from the outskirts.

  The young soldier’s eyes were glued to the ring. He said without even looking back, “Kid, you must be new. You don’t even know about this? This is the army-wide martial arts competition.”
Li Qingshan said in surprise, “Isn’t there still half a month before the army-wide martial arts competition begins?”
“Sigh, you really know nothing at all. The army-wide martial arts competition begins as soon as we reach winter.”
Li Qingshan stroked his chin and guessed that this was probably the preliminaries, while the finals were half a month later.

  He had guessed correctly because as soon as they reached winter, the wind and snow became sharp and biting. The cold was harsh. The army would not be able to advance. Apart from small-scale scouting and assassination attempts, they were basically all in a state of ceasefire.

  An army that was a million strong huddled up in the barracks of Black Cloud city. They were a group of vigorous, aggressive, bloodthirsty men, so if they did not have something to do, they would definitely stir up trouble. As a result, they held the army-wide martial arts competition whenever they reached winter.

  In order to prompt them on, not only did they offer a large number of rewards, but it even directly determined their position in the army too.

  Even soldiers of the lowest rank could make an appearance in the “finals” that Li Qingshan would be participating in if they placed well. That was not just a form of honour. If they could catch the attention of a certain officer, they could be directly promoted or chosen as a personal guard, obtaining a cultivation method and formally setting off on the path of cultivation.

  Many lucky people like that would appear every year.

  The winters here were particularly long, so they actually only spent half their time fighting demonfolk and the other half holding the army-wide martial arts competition. They were the two most important paths to promotion in the army. The latter would also lead to deaths often, but it was still safer than fighting against demonfolk, so of course, the entire army was enthusiastic about it.

  Even the losers could have a few gambles if they believed in their own eyes and luck. The soldiers that hurried along sternly in the streets did not come to watch the competition. They were competing.

  At this moment, the cheers surged like waves, filling the air.

  On the ring, the soldier with the spear caught an opening and thrust his weapon into a crack in his opponent’s armour, on his waist.

  The young soldier was bright red from excitement. He could win quite a lot from this one round.

  However, Li Qingshan smiled. “He’s lost.”
Before he had even finished what he was saying, the soldier with the blade and shield cast aside his blade decisively and grabbed the spear. Disregarding his injuries, he suddenly rushed forward with a shield slam. With a thunk, he knocked his opponent out of the ring.

  The cheers immediately died down, only to be replaced by new cheers in the blink of an eye like it was endless.

  The young soldier stamped his foot and cursed. Only now did he turn around. He was surprised. “Hmm? Why do I find you so familiar? Ah, you’re the craw-”
“Craw what?” Li Qingshan’s eye twitched. The young soldier corrected himself in a hurry, “G- general.”
No matter how poor Li Qingshan’s reputation was, he still was not someone a low-level soldier could openly insult. However, all it sounded like was he had saved the “-ling” part.

  Li Qingshan was furious. My discretion is not a reason for you to walk all over me. He knocked out the young soldier with a knifehand strike and tossed him out. He casually took the metal helmet from his arms and made his way towards the centre of the drilling grounds.

  “Grandsonny, what’re you pushing and shoving for?” “Get your ass back there!”
With the shouts and curses, he squeezed through the crowd and directly arrived below the ring. The soldier who had just won had made his way down to tend to his wounds, so there was no one on there. He leapt onto the ring and under everyone’s watch, he pumped his arm and shouted out.

  “Long live Li Qingshan!”