Chapter 1075: Saber Against Immortal Physique
At this time, the Mortal King was ruthlessly glaring at Li Qiye. His expression could even be described as unsightly. In his eyes, the perfect phrase to describe this situation was ‘the road was always narrow for enemies’.
Earlier, his words were full of bravado, but now, his heart was a bit shaken after seeing Li Qiye. Even though he had techniques to deal with Li Qiye, he was not completely confident.
And it wasn't just him, Jikong Wudi, Heavenly Emperor Lin, and Zhan Shi were uncertain as well.
From beginning to end, they hadn't seen Li Qiye's true power. No one knew what realm he was in or what kind of merit laws he cultivated.
They couldn't formulate a strategy due to the lack of knowledge about his openings and flaws.
Li Qiye glanced at the group from the palanquin and slowly said: "Very good, today is truly a nice day. Everyone is here already, what great timing."
In just a second, everyone was holding their breaths. Some quietly left since they knew that wherever Fiercest went, a bloodbath would soon follow. They naturally didn't want to be caught up in the mess.
Jikong Wudi's group, on the other hand, didn't want to leave. If they left the moment they saw Li Qiye, they would become laughingstocks. Others would think that they were afraid of Li Qiye. How could they compete against him for the Heaven's Will in the future if that were to happen?
Li Qiye cheerfully smiled at the group and spoke in an insipid tone: "I heard some people want to step in for the Azure Mysterious Ancient Kingdom."
Zhan Shi and Heavenly Emperor Lin were still relaxed, but the Mortal King had gone too far. He already spoke tough words; it was the same as water that had been thrown out. If he acted timidly at this moment, it would be a great blow to his prestige.
"Brother Li, it is better to get rid of enmity than adding to it." Jikong Wudi spoke as a mediator: "Brother Menghui was at fault, so he will apologize to you. Everyone can just take a step back and bask in the immensity of the heaven and earth. What do you think, Brother Li?"
"Apologize?" Li Qiye smiled: "Unfortunately, all pretenses have been shed so what's the point of apologizing? If saying sorry was good enough, then why do cultivators still fight and kill?" Li Qiye looked at Jikong Wudi and emotionlessly declared: "I'll let this go if you hand Shen Menghui over. Otherwise, I won't wait till the Heaven's Will competition, I'll just kill all of you right now!"
Such contemptuous words left Jikong Wudi astounded. In the contemporary times, who would dare to speak to him like this?!
"Li, don't think you are invincible!" The Mortal King finally lost his cool and shouted: "I know you are very powerful. Fine, I'll fight you right now! If I lose, then I will have nothing else to say…"
"There's no need for my Young Noble to fight against someone like you." A cold voice resounded as the Mortal King finished speaking. Chen Baojiao came out with a challenge: "I'll take you on!"
Her challenge was not an impulsive decision. Prior to this, the sacred school had been spreading a rumor saying that she was its disciple and a perfect match for the Mortal King. She had long wanted to settle this score, so after meeting the Mortal King here today, how could she restrain herself given her fiery temperament?
Li Qiye only chuckled and didn't say anything. He let her do as she pleased with an obvious doting demeanor.
"I want to challenge Li…" The Mortal King spoke coldly.
She quickly interrupted him and uttered: "You are not worthy. Let's go!"
The Mortal King was visually exasperated by this development and provocation. Anger immediately sprang up inside him.
In the past, the Chen Clan did not have a high position in the Jewel Pillar Sacred School. Now, he — as the sect master — was being gravely disrespected by Chen Baojiao. How could he ever stand this?
"Fine, I also want to see what kind of laws you have learned at the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect in the past few years." He snorted and a divine saber appeared in his hand.
"Enough to slay you!" Her Tyrannical Immortal Saber left its scabbard.
"Clank!" The blade's resonation filled the sky. She attacked right away with a slash that split apart the void. An eternal scar had already formed, even before she finished her move.
River Crossing First Slash — this was an attack from her eight sabers technique. The tyrannical saber instantly made it dozens of times stronger.
However, the river was not the victim of this move, it was the stars in the sky; even gods and devils had no place to hide.
The Mortal King was startled. He shouted and his own saber emitted a brilliant light. His attack resembled the rising of a thousand suns that emitted enough heat to scorch everything.
His technique was quite on point. An all-incinerating flame capable of rendering all creatures to ashes ignited on the blade.
"Soulburning Saber." Li Qiye glanced at the saber technique and said dismissively: "The Jewel Pillar Sacred School doesn't have a technique like this."
"Clank!" A clash resounded in the sky. Even though the king's saber was quite incredible, it was far weaker than Chen Baojiao's own. He was not a match for her in regard to the dao of the saber. Otherwise, Li Qiye wouldn't have chosen her as a saber maid.
One slash came down and multiple suns exploded. Amidst the hymns of the blades, the king's saber was split in two. Even though his blade had a great origin, it couldn't compare to the Tyrannical Immortal Saber.
"Boom! Boom!" The Mortal King quickly retreated right when his saber broke. He summoned various treasures including a pagoda, a heavenly seal, an immortal rope, and treasure mountains… All of these items were activated by his powerful blood energy and immediately went straight for Chen Baojiao.
Only his powerful and plentiful blood energy would be able to support so many treasures at once.
Chen Baojiao didn't try to dodge this furious attack. She snorted and swung her blade down across the sky with the momentum of a surging river about to break through a dam.
Hatred Aqua Second Slash — the next move of the eight sabers technique. All of the king's attacking treasures were annihilated. After several explosions, they were ripped asunder by her blade.
Such a domineering and fierce style made everyone take deep breaths. They had forgotten that she was a charming and beautiful girl.
"Thump!" Right when she was cutting the treasures into pieces, the Mortal King attacked by heavily slamming his hands down like a divine bludgeon.
Light exuded from his body with the emergence of his inner physique. It resembled a supreme deity that suppressed innumerable devils in hell in a frightful manner. He finally activated his Hell Suppressing Godly Physique and used his hands as a weapon. He ferociously struck Chen Baojiao's blade.
"Bang!" Due to the immeasurable weight of the physique, Chen Baojiao went flying even though his direct hit couldn't shatter her blade. Although she landed on her feet, the force resulted in many cracks on the ground.
"So what if you have an Immortal Physique?!" In high spirits, she soared to the sky again.
"Clank!" She slashed down once more. In the blink of an eye, this attack pierced through myriad realms, causing stars to fall and Yin and Yang to split.
The ground was torn asunder by this attack along with the sky. The slash carried the power of an endless army.
Void Circle Third Slash — short for hating all the "flaws" in this world! This third technique was an extremely powerful and direct attack. With the help of the Tyrannical Immortal Saber, it could slash through all things! 1
The Mortal King's expression sank. He let out a roar and his figure quaked. Layers of defenses emerged around his body. A divine mirror appeared in front of his chest to protect him.
"Clank!" The slash descended and the defensive layers were cut down like tofu. Eventually, even the Godking-level mirror that protected his chest was shattered by this attack as well.
The momentum of this saber slash was too strong. Despite having endless weight, the king was still sent flying from the force of the slash. He heavily slammed into the ground, creating a large pit while spurting blood. Without the mirror protecting him, even his tough body would have been chopped open!
"Tyrannical Immortal Saber and Heaven Traversing Eight Blades." Li Qiye nodded gently and said: "This is a crowning technique and a supreme saber. To be able to exert such power… she isn't letting their prestige down."
The saber was the invincible weapon of the Tyrannical Lion Monarch while the eight blades technique belonged to the Martial Ancestor. People thought this technique was created by the Martial Ancestor, but in reality, this wasn't the case.
Both the saber and the technique had the same heaven-defying origin. Even the lion monarch and Martial Ancestor didn't really know where they came from.
The crowd was astounded by this scene. Many people knew about Chen Baojiao's half completion Immortal Physique. However, she hadn't even used it yet but was already able to send the king, who was using his physique, flying. This was too scary.
Of course, they didn't know that she had gained some ground with her saber technique as well as mastery over her saber. Even without the Tyrannical Spring Physique, she was still very formidable.
"Very good, strong enough!" The Mortal King thought that he could compete against Chen Baojiao's Immortal Physique. However, he was already losing before he even saw it — this completely infuriated him.
Parsing it literally, you would get "Third Slash No Circle, meaning Hate Earth No Circle". It is an abrupt naming scheme and explanation, so this is my own interpretation. Circle here must not be talking about a literal circle but rather perfection. The naming scheme of the 2nd and 3rd slashes so far have hatred in them. It is a cool word to have for a name. ↩Chapter 1076: The Unstoppable Chen Baojiao
The spectators turned silent after seeing the furious king. They all knew that he had been training hard at the Imperial Border. They thought he would be able to challenge Li Qiye, but he couldn't even defeat Li Qiye's saber maid. How could he challenge Li Qiye then?
Jikong Wudi and the other geniuses were slightly trembling too. The more astonishing part was that from start to finish, Chen Baojiao didn't even use her Immortal Physique.
There had been rumors that the Dual Blade Beauties were both at half completion with their physiques. Some had even seen it with their own eyes. However, the Mortal King was already at a disadvantage before Chen Baojiao showed it off. Once she activated her physique, she would be even more frightening.
"Clank! Clank!" A burst of metallic sounds appeared. A thick and heavy armor covered the king's body.
This happened in an instant. The armor seemed to be made from immortal steel and emitted a golden sheen, making him look even more sacred, especially when he activated his Immortal Physique. In this moment, he looked like an unbreakable man of iron.
"Good armor." Even Li Qiye had to praise after seeing it: "Nowadays, not too many people can craft armor specifically for the Hell Suppressing Physique."
Even Jikong Wudi's group had solemn expressions after seeing the armor. They knew their stuff, so after seeing the incredible divine metal, it was clear that even a Godking-level weapon wouldn't be able to break it. As for imperial weapons, one blow alone wouldn't be sufficient.
This type of armor in conjunction with the king's Immortal Physique could definitely double his combat prowess.
"Eat this!" The furious king lunged into the sky and took his speed to the limit. He then descended like a blazing meteor.
Although speed was the weak point of the Hell Suppressing Physique, this was only something Li Qiye or other geniuses like Jikong Wudi would say. For other experts, the Mortal King was still very fast; they couldn't even catch glimpses of him.
"Rumble!" With his meteoric attack, the entire world shook and rumbled. If he were to slam onto the ground, it would definitely lead to a disaster.
Many people immediately retreated even further away from the battlefield in shock after seeing this. The half completion Hell Suppressing Physique had an unfathomable weight. This weight combined with that celestial momentum would have an inconceivable impact.
In the face of such a ferocious strike, Chen Baojiao made no attempt to dodge.
"Clank!" The tyrannical saber lit up and unleashed an unstoppable slash with an aura that soared to the sky. It was an incredibly decisive and fierce slash; she was like an unstoppable overlord with the crushing desire to fight until death.
Overlord Fourth Slash — this attack heralded the arrival of a tyrant that had the power to flip over mountains and shatter the world. This slash had an indescribable might. Nothing else could claim to be tyrannical in the face of this attack.
"Boom!" The saber glint flashed for countless miles after the sonorous blast resounded. When it struck the Mortal King's armor, fiery sparks flew like a volcanic eruption. It illuminated the area in a majestic manner.
The saber was sharp indeed. It left a deep cut on the armor. However, her overbearing blade still couldn't overcome his Hell Suppressing Physique. The saber energy began to disintegrate and dim after the direct blow.
"Boom!" Due to the suppression of the physique, Chen Baojiao fell from the sky. Meanwhile, the physique continued to suppress the tyrannical saber. Chen Baojiao didn't evade and fiercely met the offense directly.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Chen Baojiao was pushed back through several peaks.
"Thump!" Eventually, her blood energy soared. With one foot stomping on the ground, she barely stopped the attack from the Immortal Physique while her saber was still stuck in the king's chest.
"Activate!" After her shout, the area in front of her lit up with the emergence of her inner physique. At this second, her Tyrannical Spring Physique erupted.
Her blood energy frantically increased. The power of the grand dao and the worldly energy in the Lesser Imperial Devil World seemed to be pulled in by her as she became the center of a terrifying storm.
An inexhaustible power poured into the storm's center. She became a Storm Goddess who could, with this power alone, tear apart this world.
"Clank!" This frightening storm forming behind her allowed her to unleash a mighty force. The vortex of energy was fueling her.
"Bang!" She reversed the tide from defense to offense. The spring physique allowed her battle prowess to multiply endlessly. The tyrannical saber began to force the king back continuously. It was his turn to smash through several peaks.
"Clank!" The sound of metal cracking came about. The blade finally cut through the king's armor.
"Pluff!" The saber energy instantly pierced his body as his blood stained the armor. The Mortal King staggered several steps back as his blood kept on gushing out like a spring.
The crowd gasped at this scene. Just a bit more and her saber would have taken the king's life. His armor was his one saving grace.
"Zzz—" With a secret technique, the wound on his chest instantly closed, but his face was still pale.
Her saber had wounded him. Even though his secret technique cured the wound, it expended a huge amount of blood energy.
"You are forcing me to use my killing move!" The Mortal King roared. This development angered him to the point of insanity.
"Buzz!" Before he finished his cry, he had already summoned two treasures with billowing imperial auras.
One was a pagoda while the other consisted of two flying shuttles. The two shuttles floated around his shoulder and instantly spewed out an imperial vortex to increase his speed. 1
At the same time, the pagoda above his head poured down a primordial energy. This energy entered his inner physique and immediately brought about a crackling sound. Even the earth couldn't handle his new weight.
"Imperial weapons…" Many people murmured after seeing his two new weapons.
This was not his first time showing off an imperial weapon. He had used them in the past. Moreover, it was two at the same time right now! What was even more puzzling was that everyone knew that the Jewel Pillar Sacred School didn't have imperial weapons. However, he was using two at this moment. Where did he get these two from?
"Alacrity Shuttle and Primordial Pagoda!" Li Qiye narrowed his eyes while revealing their names.
After summoning these treasures, the Mortal King's battle intent surged, making him look like a War God riding into battle.
The Alacrity Shuttle was a Life Treasure capable of increasing the Mortal King's speed dozens of times. The Primordial Pagoda, on the other hand, could increase his weight several times.
This amplification of both speed and weight resulted in an increased battle prowess up to a hundredfold over.
"Buzz!" In the blink of an eye, the Mortal King started his offense with a speed as fast as lightning and a weight absolutely capable of shattering the void. This allowed him to instantly warp through space, leaving behind a terrifying black hole.
Chen Baojiao readied herself with a battle cry. Her speed also reached its limit as she slashed straight down at him.
Heaven Traversing Fifth Slash — the next variation of her saber technique. In an instant, only this slash existed in this world. It sealed the firmament as well as the earth. Myriad laws moldered and the dao prostrated before it.
At the same time, her spring physique funneled the worldly energy from the grand dao. This torrential power empowered her, allowing the saber energy of this slash to reach the extreme. The whole world was enveloped by its aura.
"Bang!" Even the spring physique and the powerful saber technique couldn't stop the attack from the Mortal King.
Chen Baojiao was blown away while spraying out a mouthful of blood. At this split second, Li Qiye rush forward at an unbelievable speed and caught her. The Mortal King didn't stop there. Right when Li Qiye grabbed Chen Baojiao, he continued his onslaught with an unparalleled speed using his greatest weapon — the Hell Suppressing Physique.
This slam embodied both extreme speed and great destructive power. Even a God-Monarch would be blown away from this attack with their blood jetting.
Imagine a dart in the form of a sewing shuttle. They're a type of hidden weapon like shurikens or flying daggers and don't have to look like a shuttle completely. In this particular scenario, I would imagine that they're weaving out imperial energy, creating a vortex to increase his speed. ↩Chapter 1077: Stagnation Domain
Though this blow from the Mortal King carried extreme speed and extreme weight, Li Qiye didn’t care about it enough to even give it a glimpse.
"Buzz!" Li Qiye spread his palm. Under his five fingers, a world of darkness emerged and instantly swallowed the attacking king.
Heaven Devouring Evil Fist — one of the Myriad Dao Fists, an attack capable of devouring everything.
Li Qiye simply didn't care for the king and instantly carried Chen Baojiao back. He checked her veins and let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was nothing significant to worry about.
"Boom!" The Mortal King broke through the void and rushed back from the world of darkness.
"Fight me again!" He laughed like a madman as his battle intent erupted. He was bursting with absolute confidence. It didn't matter whether he was facing Li Qiye or Jikong Wudi or Mei Suyao, he believed that he could defeat all of them.
Both Jikong Wudi and Heavenly Emperor Lin turned solemn after seeing the king's current state.
With the Alacrity Shuttle and Primordial Pagoda boosting him, he had indeed become much more powerful. His Hell Suppressing Physique was able to exert an unprecedented battle prowess.
"The younger generation is quite frightening." Even a God-Monarch was quite wary of his newfound speed.
"You think I'm afraid of you!" Chen Baojiao's pride was swelling; she struggled to get up for another round.
Li Qiye stopped her and gently shook his head: "Rest for now, leave it to me."
She wasn't convinced by the last exchange, but Li Qiye smiled: "Your grand dao is still not mature, so there's no need to force a fight. Winning and losing is part of being a warrior. Let me go, you can watch me kill him with one move."
She finally turned silent and quietly went back while Li Shuangyan came to take care of her.
In fact, she was not afraid of fighting the Mortal King again because she had created her own grand dao. She still had an ace up her sleeve.
She cultivated the Tyrannical Spring Physique. This made her cultivation speed during the later stages much faster. She had surpassed Li Shuangyan's group and obtained her own grand dao. Partly due to the treasure art that she received from the World Tree, she had succeeded in creating her own personal grand dao. This grand dao was given the name Terra Treasure Art. 1
"Li Qiye, come and fight me!" Defeating Chen Baojiao left the king brimming with confidence. He wanted nothing more than to fight, so he challenged Li Qiye.
Li Qiye went forward and lazily stretched his back to say: "So you are confident in defeating me."
The Mortal King was looking down on the rest of the world with his sweeping momentum and imposingly spoke: "Whether I can or not, just give it a try and find out."
Despite his complacent demeanor, many people had to admit that his current form was quite frightening due to his superb speed and weight. Even Jikong Wudi, let alone the other geniuses, might not be able to defeat him.
"I have to say that the person behind you is truly smart, using the Alacrity Shuttle to nullify your shortcomings and the Primordial Pagoda to augment your strength." Li Qiye glanced at him and smilingly shook his head: "Alas, these are just petty tricks, unworthy of mentioning in front of me."
After being defeated three times on top of being held in disdain, the Mortal King couldn't accept this. Li Qiye's attitude towards him was too humiliating.
He loudly shouted at Li Qiye: "Li, come then, I'm going to grind you into mincemeat today!"
"Mincemeat?" Li Qiye glanced at him and lazily pointed a finger at him: "Just one move with my finger is enough to grind you into mincemeat."
The king's expression turned red and ugly. Such words were too contemptuous. He came prepared this time despite his previous defeats. After continuous training, he had reached a state of oneness with his two imperial weapons. He was confident in easily crushing Jikong Wudi.
But now, Li Qiye claimed that he could win with just one finger attack. It would be strange if the king didn't go crazy from this blatant mockery.
"This is Fiercest, so bold and crazy." People felt that Li Qiye was crazily arrogant, but no one refuted his well-deserved right to act in this manner.
"Little animal, I'm going to tear you to shreds!" The king let go of all posturing and forgot to maintain an image befitting a sect master. He screamed as his blood energy rose like a rainbow that crossed the sky.
"Boom!" He utilized both imperial weapons to their limit. Imperial auras surged, especially the vortex from the shuttle. It allowed the Mortal King to reach a speed that could crush time and space.
"Poof!" A series of his shadows were left behind by him, the sound of his passage not ringing out until after he pierced through the void. His speed had surpassed all things, even the fabric of time and space itself. It left behind an everlasting scar in the sky that should only be possible to create with weapons, yet his body was able to do so. It was quite a fearsome spectacle to behold.
Zhan Shi's group was astounded to see this attack. It could be praised as an ultimate attack due to its might.
"Humm—" However, this attack didn't destroy the sky like how everyone imagined. Li Qiye also didn't counter with a world-ending attack, contrary to the crowd's expectations.
In the blink of an eye, a light lit up where Li Qiye was standing. When the Mortal King was ten meters away from Li Qiye, everyone could see him clearly.
In this instant, the king's passage was delayed indefinitely. He became slower and slower until he reached a snail's pace.
His attack was even faster than lightning, no one could see him before. However, after this one split second, it was strangely slowed down. This scene was quite bizarre.
In one moment, infinite speed; the next second, indefinite delay. Extreme swiftness and extreme stagnation within just a single thought. The contrast between the two astounded everyone.
This was the Stagnation Domain, an absolute territory created by the Soaring Immortal and Hell Suppressing Physiques. Inside this domain, weight was boundless and accompanied by an immeasurable time-slowing property!
"Crack!" Once the king entered this domain, it wasn't only his speed that was hindered, his armor was crushed at the same time.
"Bam!" Next, he could no longer stand straight and promptly kneeled on the ground. It seemed that the world's heaviest object was crushing down on him like a planet looming over his shoulder.
Keep in mind that the king cultivated the Hell Suppressing Physique. He himself had boundless weight, yet it seemed so insignificant before the immensity of the Stagnation Domain.
Li Qiye reached out and gently pointed with his finger. Afterward, one could hear the sound of bones breaking. The kneeling king's bones shattered one by one. He couldn't withstand this terrifying force.
"Buzz!" The Alacrity Shuttle and Primordial Pagoda under his control were suddenly recalled by someone. They instantly tore through space and used their powerful imperial auras to escape out of sight.
"No…" The king cried out in despair. Without imperial weapons, he was in an even worse position. Before he could finish his desperate howl, his entire body shattered. With more cracking noises, his whole being was completely crushed.
The king was no more. There was only a pool of smashed flesh and quietly flowing blood on the ground.
The spectators were creeped out by this outcome. The king's battle prowess was as clear as day. Even God-Monarchs had to be somewhat wary of him, but all that was left of him was a pile of mincemeat.
The Stagnation Domain was completely horrifying. It wasn't simply the combination of the two Immortal Physiques. This was the culmination of the two physiques finding symmetry to form an absolute domain.
This domain was the endless exertion of the physiques' power. This meant that the raw power of the two physiques was amplified by several dozen times or even a hundred times inside this space.
Two Immortal Physiques appearing at the same time was horrible enough, but once symmetry was reached, the essence of their power became augmented a hundredfold, resulting in this frightening creation.
People could only quiver in fear. From start to finish, Li Qiye didn't actually use a technique. He simply lifted his finger and just like that, the king was crushed into a meaty paste.
In fact, Li Qiye didn't even need to lift a finger while inside the Stagnation Domain.
Remember the Storm God praised as a God-Monarch? She could only stand there and accept the beating once inside the Stagnation Domain he casually released.
Li Qiye looked at the sky and said indifferently: "It seems like he is still quite smart."
The person hiding in the darkness was the king's dao protector. Alas, he didn't try to save the king and only recalled the imperial weapons instead. This was because he already knew the outcome and didn't want the imperial weapons to fall into Li Qiye's hands.
After seeing this scene, all the other geniuses had grim expressions. They wanted to see a fight between the king and Li Qiye in order to observe Li Qiye's flaws and possible merit laws.
However, Li Qiye didn't reveal a single technique in this battle, rendering them unable to find any of his weaknesses.
I was going to leave out Treasure here because it is a bit redundant, but "Treasure" here is Bao — part of her name, so I figured I would leave it. Terra Art alone sounds boring too, it is a bit cooler in Chinese. ↩Chapter 1078: Threat
The bystanders stared at the pool of blood on the ground in silence. They wondered what law or technique Li Qiye just used right now. The strangest part was that no one was able to understand the Mortal King's death.
For many, a powerful opponent was not particularly frightening. No matter how strong they might be, there would always be a chance to surpass them by exploiting their flaws and openings.
The scariest thing was not knowing why an opponent was so strong, a lack of knowledge regarding his arts.
"A hero of a generation, only to become a pile of bones on the imperial path." An older paragon lamented.
All had to admit that the Mortal King was a great genius. With the sacred school's capabilities, the Mortal King was still able to reach this height and stand shoulder to shoulder with Jikong Wudi's group. This was indeed a praiseworthy feat.
Many thought that he had great potential with his relentless determination. This was his most precious and best characteristic. But in the end, he still miserably died while vying for the throne.
Some also felt that the king was too complacent this time. If he took a step back, perhaps he would have had another chance to raise his head once more.
"The imperial path has always been merciless like this." An experienced spectator commented with emotion: "The success of just one general is built upon thousands of corpses. Everyone knows about the glory of an Immortal Emperor, but who would remember the countless supreme geniuses that fell in the process?"
A lot of people became silent. As for the younger generation, some felt like retreating after seeing this scene. Even a powerful and resolute person like the Mortal King had fallen on this path — this left a shadow in their hearts. Some suddenly realized that although becoming an Immortal Emperor was a tempting endeavor full of glory, too many had died trying, and they didn't wish to add to the count.
Li Qiye turned towards Shen Menghui and insipidly asked: "Who else can protect you now?"
Shen Menghui was ashen. The Mortal King died a tragic death and was definitely not a match for Li Qiye. Although his talents and accomplishments were quite high, he was too far off from the Mortal King.
He had to look towards Jikong Wudi for help. On the field right now, his relationship with Zhan Shi and Heavenly Emperor Lin was only that of acquaintances, but Jikong Wudi was his friend.
Jikong Wudi began to contemplate quietly in the face of this situation. He didn't know of Li Qiye's weakness or even how he had attacked. Everything was unknown. Without complete confidence, he would not rashly attack Li Qiye.
This was not a spar or a learning experience. Someone as fierce as Li Qiye would fight to the death, especially given the feud between them!
Thus, without absolute certainty and an absolute advantage, he wouldn't rush into a fight with Li Qiye. Losing his own life for an outsider was not worth it at all.
Seeing Jikong Wudi's indifference, Shen Menghui became desperate for he knew that he couldn't count on him.
In fact, no one would blame Jikong Wudi for not taking action. Everyone could see that going against Li Qiye right now was courting death! Moreover, Shen Menghui was only an outsider. Who would be willing to risk their life for an outsider?
In the end, Shen Menghui shouted: "I'll take you down with me!" His most powerful art erupted as he lunged for Li Qiye.
Li Qiye stood there motionlessly. A black light surfaced as Shen Menghui entered the Stagnation Domain. One could hear a poof; he was instantly crushed into a bloody mist. His end was even more pitiful than the Mortal King's. No one was surprised to see this after the Mortal King's death.
Li Qiye glanced over at Jikong Wudi's group of three and revealed a faint smile to say: "I'm actually waiting for you all to come, how long will I have to wait?"
The crowd held their breaths and watched Jikong Wudi, Zhan Shi, and Heavenly Emperor Lin. They understood that a fight between these four was unavoidable.
If this group wanted to become the Immortal Emperor, then they must challenge Li Qiye. If they couldn't even defeat Li Qiye, wanting to become the Immortal Emperor would only be empty talk.
Jikong Wudi stood there silently with a cold presence. With an aptitude of three saint attributes, he had always been confident and arrogant. However, he had to pick inaction with no choice but to avoid Li Qiye's sharp momentum.
On the other side, Lin and Zhan Shi looked at each other real quick. Eventually, Lin smiled and slowly spoke: "I do want to see Brother Li's supreme arts. However, with my current strength, I'm afraid I would be overreaching and not knowing my own limits. If Brother Li doesn't mind, Brother Zhan and I will join hands and try your supreme arts at a later date."
The crowd became excited after hearing this. Without a doubt, he and Zhan Shi had reached a tacit understanding of working together to challenge Li Qiye's divine might.
Perhaps in their eyes, working together gave them their best chance to defeat him. This was because Zhan Shi was rock-solid as an expert in defense. Meanwhile, Lin was swift and extremely gifted at offense. The two of them together would create a miracle.
Li Qiye glimpsed at the two of them and couldn't help but smile leisurely: "Very good, I'll be waiting."
Lin cupped his hands in response: "Thank you, Brother Li. Wait until Brother Shi and I are mentally prepared, we will issue the challenge then."
Li Qiye only smiled and didn't say anything else to Lin while boarding his carriage. He ordered the girls: "Let us go."
The girls lifted up the palanquin and immediately disappeared into the horizon.
The crowd watched him leave. After Li Qiye's departure, someone murmured: "I really am looking forward to that day. Two heroes fighting against Fiercest together, that battle will certainly be brilliant."
Lin and Zhan Shi didn't say anything else and left together. The only thing in their minds right now was to come up with a joint plan to emphasize their strong points to the extreme. They needed time to mesh together. Only through good teamwork would they have a chance of defeating Li Qiye. Otherwise, just attacking together was simply hopeless.
Jikong Wudi didn't say anything; he left with a cold expression. In his eyes, Li Qiye was a thorn that had to be removed or else he would forever be restless.
Li Qiye and the girls went back to the thick forest and entered its depths. At this place was a huge cave with a pond inside.
The pond was filled with a liquid the color of amber. This liquid emitted the fragrance of wine, making others salivate as if it was an immortal brew.
Li Qiye stepped inside the pond and comfortably soaked in it. He couldn't help but take a deep breath due to the comfort before turning to the girls and smiling: "All of you, come in. This will greatly benefit everyone."
Chen Baojiao glanced at the nectar in the pond and asked: "What is it?"
While soaking in the pond, Li Qiye replied: "You can call it Devil Wine. When soaking in it, let your dao heart out and it will wash away the evil energy within."
"But we don't have any evil energy there." Chen Baojiao faintly chuckled.
Li Qiye gently shook his head: "The evil energy I'm referring to is not the energy found in the Devil World. To put it more accurately, it is the evil thoughts looming in your mind. Every cultivator will always have anger from defeat or pride from success… All of these negative emotions will accumulate in your dao heart."
"No one can claim to have a truly pure and innocent dao heart. After all, we live for so long that no one can maintain their innocence. Thus, everyone will have this 'evil energy' inside them." Li Qiye explained: "At the same time, this Devil Wine can cleanse your dao heart. Even though it cannot cleanse all the negative emotions, it can make your dao heart even purer, resulting in great benefits."
An inner demon was something all cultivators had to face. For some people, once their cultivation reached a certain extent, they would have to suffer the backlash from this inner demon. This was especially true for those who made an oath with their true fate. Once they violated this oath, they would easily be attacked by this inner demon. Once bitten, the majority would be killed.
"Pure and innocent like the heart of a newborn child, does such a thing really not exist in the world of cultivators?" Mei Suyao slowly asked.
"In the strictest sense, we really don't have such a thing." Li Qiye slowly spoke: "But to be more lenient, perhaps there have been some across the ages, not many though."
Having said that, Li Qiye entered a daze while recalling the past. If an innocent heart really existed in this world, then Magu would be counted as one of the few.
After a while, his mind returned. He patted the nectar in the pond and smiled: "Okay, everyone, come in."
Chen Baojiao and Li Shuangyan were fine with it. They only slightly blushed and entered the pond to soak in the nectar.
Mei Suyao's flawless face also had a faint pink shade, but she still coolly entered the pond. Bai Jianzhen hesitated for a moment. In the end, she still stepped inside with a cold demeanor.
Once the nectar soaked their clothing, it revealed all of their charming curves and valleys. In an instant, spring was blooming in this cave with all of its allurement.
This scene would absolutely let people's blood boil and cause their hearts to beat rapidly.