She examined herself with some intrigue, completely ignoring Li Qingshan’s threat.

  “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll cut you down with a single stroke?” Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows and gazed at her slender figure without any interest at all. Meanwhile, he pondered inside, What’s the Black Sun Demon heart? Don’t tell me…


  “We’ve known each other for all these years after all.” Qian Rongzhi smiled. “I have never harmed you.”


  “Which is the only reason why you’re still alive.”


  “Those mere schemes of mine aren’t even up to standard. If I didn’t have you, or…” Qian Rongzhi smiled at Xiao An gently. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it today.”


  Li Qingshan’s appearance had thrown the nine provinces into a complete upheaval. He had even brought the world to its end, which allowed her to ride along and rise up as well. Otherwise, no matter how resourceful and cunning she was, it was useless. By the time Si Long descended as the lord of the world, nothing would be able to fool him, and the only thing awaiting her would be death.

  XIao An nodded, while Li Qingshan folded his hands and said in thought, In other words, you plan on paying me back!’


  Qian Rongzhi made her way over in a charming manner and prodded Li Qingshan’s chest. “Without me, you might not have been able to defeat Si Long, whether it was in the nine provinces or just then.”


  Swish! Li Qingshan slashed out with his blade, but she had already pulled her hand back. She said softly, “So we don’t owe each other anything.” She pretended to cheer, “A new world! A new life! Why don’t we start over?”


  “Start over?” Li Qingshan furrowed his brows. He disliked that saying.

  “Just like in the nine provinces. Back then, there were plenty of times when we conspired together. What a wonderful time it was. There’s a very deep destiny between us.” Qian Rongzhi’s expressions were exaggerated, a little like Si Long’s pretentiousness.

  Her expression, bearing, and thought process was as if she had just broken out of a fixed situation. She also possessed a sense of composure from being blessed by the heavens. She was no longer merely a venomous snake that lurked in the darkness, but a great python that could dive and surge, swallowing the clouds. She could coil up in peace now.

  The furrow in Li Qingshan’s brows deepened.

  “Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean that kind of destiny. You’re not suited for me. I already have a little dragon.”


  Qian Rongzhi hugged herself. Her arms were like white snakes, tightening around her inch by inch. Her fingers locked together behind her back as she smiled away sweetly.

  It gave Li Qingshan goosebumps. Was that a form of narcissism? Only those with something wrong with their heads would find her normal.

  He gazed at Xiao An, wanting to ask her, “Why don’t I just butcher her here and now instead?” Oi, Xiao An, what’s that supposed to mean? Why do you seem unworried?

  “Cough. What’s the Black Sun Demon Heart?”


  “It’s a legend of the Demon domain…” Qian Rongzhi explained slowly, telling him about what she had seen and heard in the Demon domain.

  Li Qingshan was astounded. “So what happened in Cold Blood pass really was my fault!”


  Originally, he had always thought it was because Chao Tianjiao had been far too prominent and had been asking for it, but he never expected it was actually his fault. The disturbance must have attracted the twelve Demon Sovereigns, who wanted to take down Black Cloud city in the process.

  “So it really is in your hands.” Qian Rongzhi licked her lips greedily.

  Li Qingshan said after a moment of thought, “I want to go to Qingqi mountain.”


  “Understood.” With a wave of her hand, the Immortal Relinquished sword flew up from the ground and entered her hand. “How do I contact you?”


  Xiao An flicked out a Skull Prayer Bead. She caught it in her hand, and a layer of dense scales appeared on her white skin, shimmering away with many colours. Her figure gradually blurred before vanishing.

  “Let’s go!”


  Li Qingshan stretched and yawned before making his way towards the Human realm.

  He was extremely satisfied with the outcome of this battle. He had broken through to the sixth layer of the tiger demon, allowing his battle prowess to skyrocket, and he had dealt with Si Long, a lurking source of problems. He no longer had to worry about any sudden or unexpected attempts on his life. Last of all, he had understood the legend regarding the Black Sun Demon Heart. It was best if he did not take that thing out ever again.

  If Qian Rongzhi could locate Qingqi mountain as well, then it would be even better.

  But unfortunately, just a scouting mission clearly was not worth a reward like that. She should have been aware of it too. It was only worth it if she could directly assist him with defeating Qiongqi.

  He did not have to worry about her suddenly turning against him either. After hearing about the legend of the Black Sun Demon Heart, there were not a lot of people who could resist the urge to go on a meteoric rise.

  His opponent was a Demon God after all. If the situation was disadvantageous to him later on, swallowing the Black Sun Demon Heart would be his final choice.

  But right now, he had to break through the sixth layer of the phoenix and the spirit turtle before facing the fifth heavenly tribulation.

  By then, even Human Immortals and Heretic Gods could forget about completely overpowering him.

  In the dust and wind, a red sun and a black sun rose up together.

  Qian Rongzhi watched their figures vanish into the horizon, turning towards the Demon domain. The pain, humiliation, chaos, and twistedness of the past had all been buried deep in her heart, leaving her demon heart crystal-clear.

  Before she knew it, all of the venomous snakes had vanished. She no longer had to endure that hellish torture. As she completely merged with Si Long, she gained complete control over her cultivation as a Demon Sovereign, and the Illustrations of Naraka had reached great completion. She had turned into a true “hell snake of pain”, crawling towards her own fate step by step.

  ……


  Li Qingshan returned to the mountains again, preparing to break through to the sixth layer of the phoenix.

  He rarely ever used the Phoenix Transformation. Apart from feeling that his life force had become extremely vigorous, it did not seem to bring any other benefits. No wait, there was one benefit. He would be beaming and his handsomeness would rise straight up. He would possess a natural bearing of nobility and restraint, or in other words, fully sick.

  However, if he faced Si Long like that, he would only be a punching bag. He definitely could not afford to look more handsome.

  A major reason for the insufficient strength was because the abilities of the Phoenix Transformation were far too singular. There was only the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a, the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a, and the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a.

  Of course, this was a wonderful ability of rebirth, but it was a little useless. If the enemy was not powerful, what the fuck was the point of rebirth? If the enemy was too powerful, what the fuck was the point of rebirth? No matter how he rebirthed, he would just be crushed as an egg in the end.

  The phoenix’s lifespan was definitely the longest among all the transformations. That was basically what all living creatures wished for, but that just happened to be the most useless to him. Speaking of which, the spirit turtle’s lifespan was not short either!

  “When I use the Ox Demon Transformation and the Tiger Demon Transformation, the innate abilities all become extremely powerful, but what’s the point of the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a becoming stronger? Don’t tell me I can rebirth faster?”


  Xiao An suddenly asked, “Qingshan, why don’t you try and use the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a proactively?”


  “Proactively?”


  Li Qingshan sank into his thoughts. He had never considered this in the past. He had never stopped fighting and killing, so how could he afford to be so wasteful? However, he already possessed some capacity for self-preservation now. Even Demon Sovereigns were powerless over him. Was a Heretic God supposed to come for him?

  “Real phoenixes probably don’t rebirth only when they’ve been killed.”


  “That’s reasonable.” Li Qingshan shrugged. “Then let me try! Though, I need to make some preparations first.”


  He wandered through the mountains and finally found a dormant volcano that had stopped erupting for who knew how many years. He descended from above and threw a punch.

  The crater burst open, and black smoke rose into the air. Lava and scorching flames surged out.

  With a flash of the wings of wind, he blew away all of the ash. He let out a phoenix’s cry and turned into a phoenix, casting himself into the flames.

  “Phoenix’s Nirvā?a!”