The deafening boom swallowed Chu Danqing’s voice. A wave of air rushed out, whistling through the clouds and allowing a ray of resplendent sunlight to pass through. The fierce wind soon followed, like a passing hurricane. It lifted up the thick snow and revealed the brown earth.
Chu Danqing flew up like a leaf. Originally, he still wanted to stop this battle, but he knew it was just a pipe dream after seeing this. He used the gales to fly back to his dwelling, supporting the formations to block the repercussions of the battle. He felt pained inside. Neither of these two men would accept anyone’s persuasions!
Qingshan, I won’t be able to save you!
Chu Danqing was filled with regret. He never should have told the Dragon King of Ink Sea about the Three Absolutes Calligraphy.
Who was the Dragon King of Ink Sea? His name had echoed through the Green province for thousands of years. No one believed the young and inexperienced Li Qingshan stood a chance against him.
Like the collision of two meteors, the intense confrontation gave off an illusion that they had stopped moving. The world was dyed with black and red.
The blood-red blade aura and inky-black sword qi constantly collided. One was valiant and scorching, pressing forward in an indomitable manner, while the other was majestic and ever-changing. They shattered and collapsed at the same time, sending out endless rumbles. Waves of air whistled out as the holes in the sky rapidly piled up and expanded.
The surroundings had turned into a sea of storms. The calm lake surface heaved with waves. Entire trees were uprooted, tossed into the air like blades of grass.
Even the formation around the dwelling began to shake. Chu Danqing gazed at this terrifying, apocalyptic sight and felt extremely shocked. This was a clash between cultivators who stood at the very peak. However, there was something else that caused him even more disbelief. Qingshan can actually hold his ground against master in an open confrontation!
Li Qingshan’s scarlet hair drifted through the air as his eyebrows were firmly locked. The Dragon King of Ink Sea was truly powerful. His sword style was identical to the path of the sword within the Three Absolutes Calligraphy, but it actually possessed a flexibility that arcane treasures could not match. He had completely mastered the entire style, wielding it freely.
The sword qi were like slivers and strands, wrapping around the blood-red blade aura. The violent blade aura seemed to fall into a net, rapidly worn down by the sword qi.
“Li Qingshan, the difference between us cannot be made up for with strength alone. You are still too young.”
The Dragon King of Ink Sea gazed at Li Qingshan from above. The inky-black sword qi directly crossed through the blade aura to attack Li Qingshan. They were ingeniously profound, tearing through his demonic armour with ease and leaving behind inky traces in the air. If it were not for his Ox Demon Forges its Hide, he would have been ground to death.
He can actually still spare the effort to talk!
Li Qingshan shivered inside. He understood that his blade style was not just slightly worse than the Dragon King of Ink Sea’s path of the sword. In the beginning when he managed to cut a strand of his hair, that was probably because he had been too careless.
Great strength could lead to victory even when severely outnumbered, but that was given there was enough strength to crush them all. Harassing the likes of Si Qing was fine, but it was nowhere near enough to subdue an existence like the Dragon King of Ink Sea. He wanted to use his full strength, but he felt like he had no idea where to start. Even his all-conquering power of tremors could only shake up the sword qi.
If this continued, defeat was certain!
“Frenzy of the Tiger Demon, get through to him!”
。
Li Qingshan let out a roar and abandoned all defences. The sword qi struck with this opportunity, making blood splatter from all over his body. His wounds reached all the way to his bones. However, he did not seem to sense it. All that existed in his eyes was the Dragon King of Ink Sea. He cut through the layers of sword qi with a single stroke and cleaved his blade at his head.
The Dragon King of Ink Sea was surprised before immediately recovering his calm. He said nonchalantly, “You’ve overexerted yourself.” He vanished with that.
Right when the slash was about to miss, Li Qingshan widened his scarlet eyes. The muscles on his arms rippled, and he forcefully twisted the blade, producing a crescent arc as he slashed it to the side with a roar.
The slightly stunned face of the Dragon King of Ink Sea was dyed red by the blade. He never expected Li Qingshan to predict where he would move to. Was this simply luck?
The blade and sword collided. Their eyes met and sparks flew!
The sword trembled rapidly, nullifying the force in the blade. Thousands of clashes piled up together, forming a strange resonance. The curtain of clouds in the air was swept clean, and the fierce wind immediately settled down. The huge trees all fell out of the sky before suddenly turning into dust and scattering through the air.
In the Ruyi commandery, the Great General King Yue Wuyang faced a map as he planned out his trap to kill the Soaring Locust King. Suddenly, he heard something and made his way out, gazing at the horizon. He said in surprise, “What great might! Who are the ones fighting?” He shot off into the air.
Countless cultivators sensed this fierce struggle, but only great cultivators who were confident in their strength flew over. Who knew how many years it had been since a battle on such a level had occurred.
The Dragon King of Ink Sea caught a glance from the corner of his eye and frowned slightly. He bent his finger and flicked it, sending out a droplet of ink.
Li Qingshan’s eyes lit up and suddenly saw an opening. With a violent flap of his wings, he turned into a scarlet streak and rushed past the Dragon King of Ink Sea.
A fragment of a sword circled through the air, and a horrific slash appeared along the waist of the Dragon King of Ink Sea, almost splitting him into two. Thick ink surged inside, wanting to repair this wound.
The scarlet light produced an arc and returned with a flash. Li Qingshan followed up this successful strike quickly, giving the Dragon King of Ink Sea no time to catch his breath. However, he was rather puzzled by why the Dragon King of Ink Sea had suddenly done something so meaningless. Was it some kind of scheme? He followed the droplet of ink and gazed over.
The huts left behind by Chu Shidao had completely vanished already, reduced to dust. Chu Danqing knelt on the ground as he covered his ears, his face in pain. Blood trickled out between his fingers. He had been injured by the repercussions of the battle already.
The droplet of ink landed on him and turned into a black sphere, enveloping him.
Li Qingshan shuddered inside and came to a halt. He became uncertain.
“What’s wrong? What’re you hesitating for? You can’t maintain this state for too long.” The Dragon King of Ink Sea gripped his broken sword and remained calm as if he had not received that slash at all. He looked down on Li Qingshan.
“Nothing!” Li Qingshan casually slashed himself, leaving behind an identically horrific wound as the one on the Dragon King of Ink Sea. “I’ll return this slash to you. Let’s continue elsewhere!”
He was not a person overflowing with sympathy, nor did he mind harming a few innocent people. He did not even desire a fair battle with the Dragon King of Ink Sea. As a matter of fact, he wholeheartedly wanted to go dragon slaying with Xiao An by his side. However, he would never use a friend’s safety to create an opening against the enemy. That was where his pride lay!
The Dragon King of Ink Sea reevaluated Li Qingshan. He asked, “Do you really want to kill me?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“You can’t kill me here, and it’s no different even if we switch locations. Even if I just stand here without moving and let you slash away at me, I won’t die,” said the Dragon King of Ink Sea.
“Then stand right there without moving!” Li Qingshan pointed his blade at the Dragon King of Ink Sea. He hated those who posed around the most.
The Dragon King of Ink Sea completely ignored him. With a flash, he arrived beside Chu Danqing and patted him on the back gently. Chu Danqing spat out a mouthful of blood, and his complexion immediately improved. He said, “Master, please stop fighting. If you have any grievances, can’t you just come to an agreement over them?”
“Be quiet.” Then the Dragon King of Ink Sea said to Li Qingshan without even looking back, “Of course, you won’t be killed so easily by me either. Once you stand no chance, you’ll flee. It’s pointless for us to continue like this!”
“I’ll flee? Then may I ask when can I kill you, sir dragon king?” Li Qingshan sneered.
“If you’re not afraid of death, then come to the Painting Tomb! Only there will you have an opportunity to kill me.”