Li Liehuo’s “desires truly cloud the mind” made Li Qingshan smile as well. He was still submerged in the joys of obtaining the Myriad Heavenly Tome, which made him seem rather gentle and benign. It was as if the violence and slaughter from earlier never existed.
Chao Tianjiao’s expression could not help but soften, recalling the many wonderful times she had spent with Li Qingshan. She subconsciously scolded Li Liehuo, “Stop with your nonsense. Qingshan is the same as you and me. He’s only just undergone the sixth heavenly tribulation, so how can he become the lord of the Demon domain?”
Very clearly, the news that Chao Tianjiao had access to in the Desireless Heavenly Palace beyond the Nine Heavens was much more than cultivators in the Human realm. She knew that the Demon domain had produced another Demon God, not only earning the recognition of the demonic heavens, but also earning the submission of the twelve Demon Gods. That was the origins of the daemon star of misfortune, Yinghuo.
However, the true identity of the lord of the Demon domain remained a mystery. Even a divine general like Chao Tianjiao did not know it.
The gods guarded it closely, like they were evading something, yet also like they were waiting for something.
Li Liehuo wavered slightly too. He felt like the point that Chao Tianjiao raised was reasonable. If it manifested as an astral phenomenon in the sky, they must have become a True Immortal, while Li Qingshan had almost been killed by a punch from him just recently, so how could he undergo the seventh heavenly tribulation and become a True Immortal in such a short time?
“This… might be my mistake then… No, hold on-”
A smear of conflict suddenly flashed across Li Liehuo’s face, and a ball of fire erupted in his Origin Soul, immediately recovering his clarity. When he looked at Li Qingshan again, that was better described as the Maheśvara’s legendary form of benignity that enchanted the living creatures, Śaṇkara, than actual gentleness.
He furrowed his brows firmly, tightening his grip around his spear. He raised his guard to the extreme.
“Wake up, first senior sister! If he isn’t a true god, how can he influence us so easily? If you still refuse to acknowledge the truth, both of us are going to perish here today!”
Chao Tianjiao shivered inside and silently circulated the power of zhenwu. A sense of coldness gradually welled up in her mind. Having become a Human Immortal, she could already catch a glimpse of the heavenly secrets, except she had been deluded by her emotions and the appearance before her eyes.
She tightened her grip around her blade and stared straight at Li Qingshan in the pit. Her various experiences after meeting him filled her mind—his fury and smile, his arrogance and fear, his wretchedness and honesty, together with his transcendent talents and indescribable charm, pouring together to forge the Li Qingshan before her eyes.
If he was not the daemon star of misfortune, then who was?
Chao Tianjiao drew her blade and pointed it at Li Qingshan. “You bastard, you’re toying with me again!”
“Haha, alright. You really are Li Liehuo after all!”
Li Qingshan could not help but praise him. He was no regular Demon God, but the lord of the Demon domain. The consciousness of the living creatures of the Demon domain constantly influenced him, and he also used it to influence others. He did not have to use any special techniques at all. Every twinkle and smile from him could leave others enchanted. Regular Human Immortals never could have recovered so quickly and made a judgement like that.
At this moment, he was accepting the Myriad Heavenly Tome from the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance beneath his feet. Not only did it require his full attention, but he could not move either, so he could not fight. As a result, he wanted to buy some time. Otherwise, if the transfer was interrupted, then everything would go to waste. However, his attempt immediately ended in failure.
“Li Qingshan, if you want to be a Demon God, then so be it, but when has the Myriad sect ever wronged you? You actually… actually…” Chao Tianjiao gazed at the ruined Myriad sect and sensed the spiritual qi that dispersed in the air. There were many auras she found familiar among them. This was the place where she had grown up.
“If it were not for the fact that it was so hard to kill me, I would have died by your hands a long time ago. However, I have always been a generous and magnanimous god, so I’ll drop those matters. I even admire your talents. Li Liehuo, if you lay down your weapon and surrender with grace, you’ll still retain your promise of godhood. Tianjiao, don’t be some Divine General of the Six Ding. I’ll support you as a Demon God.”
Li Qingshan invited Chao Tianjiao with a smile. Before he could even finish, Chao Tianjiao had already replied. She did so through the blade.
A blade aura that resembled a stream of light filled his face, sending a chill through his forehead. At the other end of the blade aura was Chao Tianjiao’s cold face, having turned blue from the glow, like a deity enshrined in a temple.
With that swing, their ties of the past were severed!
Li Qingshan had been anticipating this. He was not surprised at all. She was not Ruan Yaozhu.
The moment Chao Tianjiao struck out, Li Liehuo took action as well. With a boom, he erupted into a meteor, rushing towards Li Qingshan fearlessly.
When regular Human Immortals learned that they were facing a Demon God, even if it was only a clone, fear would be unavoidable. They would already be regarded as skilled in battle if they could unleash seventy or eighty percent of their strength. However, the two of them only grew stronger when they faced a powerful opponent, unleashing a hundred and twenty percent of their strength.
The flames roared as the heat waves filled his face. The light shone as the chills ran through his bones. They seemed to be pure fire and light, clearly spending their entire lives opposing one another, yet also coordinating wondrously to the extreme, leaving their lives in each other’s hands. At the same time, they also saw through Li Qingshan’s current situation—he was only a clone, so his cultivation was similar to theirs. They possessed a slight advantage against his cultivation method, and he seemed to be restrained by the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, unable to move.
Their combined attack had sealed off all places for Li Qingshan to dodge, like it was earth-breaking, immediately forcing him into dire straits, like he had returned to the hell of ice again.
Li Qingshan felt some pity. The two of them could be killed, but they could not be subdued, which was why everything he said earlier was merely a joke.
After the joke came killing intent.
Boom!
Demon qi rushed into the air, erupting from Li Qingshan. His smile turned into a sneer, while the form of benignity turned to the form of terror.
The world darkened. Both the light and fire dimmed and became sluggish as if they inched through the darkness. Li Qingshan was clearly so close, yet also beyond reach.
Chao Tianjiao and Li Liehuo both experienced great despair and terror, hearing the whisperings of countless demonfolk.
However, their minds only became sharper and more determined under this pressure, smashing through the darkness and thrusting their blade and spear deeply into Li Qingshan’s body!
Li Qingshan was stunned, lowering his head to look at his chest as if he never expected something like this.
Chao Tianjiao and Li Liehuo both rejoiced, about to completely unleash the power within the edge of the blade and the tip of the spear.
Two Human Immortals that were skilled in combat were working together against a clone. Not only was the clone immobilised, but they also possessed a natural advantage against its cultivation method too, so all of this seemed to make perfect sense.
No! The Li Qingshan in their memories definitely was not this easy to deal with.
Light illuminated the darkness. Chao Tianjiao and Li Liehuo discovered in surprise that Li Qingshan was still right before their eyes, except their blade and spear had now turned towards one another before they had realised it.
As the buddha said, “There were ninety instants within a thought and nine hundred births and deaths within a single instant.”
After becoming a god, Li Qingshan had already achieved great mastery over his various abilities and techniques. He combined the Spirit Turtle Transformation’s Watermirror’s Image with the path of the devaputra-māra, able to twist the minds of others in an instant and create an illusion that matched what Chao Tianjiao and Li Liehuo wanted to see.
The path that Li Qingshan walked was not the path of the devaputra-māra, but the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine.
It was just a pity that this illusion had been destroyed in the final moment by the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance.
“Tsk!” Li Qingshan stomped his foot violently, and the entire turtle island shuddered. He was not just up against two Human Immortals, but a Daemon Immortal too.
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