Chapter 1401: Demon Nascence

Li Qingshan completely focused on contending with the heavenly tribulation, disregarding everything else. His scarlet eyes were fixed on the sword of lightning that shot between the dark clouds. With his knowledge, he was unable to identify what it was, but his instincts told him it was a great threat.

The explosive lightning wove and spread between the sky and sea. Even the thinnest arcs were thick like beams. The lightning erupted together, completely illuminating the waves and the bottom of the ocean with its blinding light, producing an extremely wonderful scene. At the very centre of the lightning was Li Qingshan.

Rumble!

The deafening boom shattered the ocean, which instead gave off the false impression of momentary silence. The surging, steaming mist was dazzlingly white, swelling around Li Qingshan's figure as he contended against the heavenly tribulation and blurring the boundary between the demonic and the divine.

In a daze, Ruan Yaozhu seemed to see him seated high above the clouds, controlling the lightning itself with the might of gods.

Who are you exactly? Or should I say, what are you exactly?

Li Qingshan's physique of the demonic and divine did not seem capable of enduring such terrifying might of the heavens, making him stagger. He dropped down on one knee and lowered his proud head.

However, the light sword shot over immediately, slashing towards his head.

Roar!

Li Qingshan raised his head and let out a furious growl. It was fierce and frenzied.

The waves rose; the winds surged. With the tiger's roar, the world moved!

The tiger's roar forcefully halted the incoming sword of lightning. It grew even brighter, refusing to stop until it slashed down on Li Qingshan's head. Meanwhile, new lightning gathered in the tribulation clouds that blotted out the sky, even raining down with hundreds of flashing balls of lightning.

Ruan Yaozhu immediately tensed up. For a moment, she no longer cared about Li Qingshan's race or identity, ready to interfere at any moment. She had come here to watch over him, so she would deal with everything once the heavenly tribulation was over. Otherwise, if he died here, what was the point of all that? However, she truly wondered whether she could save him in such a precarious situation.

Lock!

Li Qingshan extended his ape arms and opened his left hand, casting the Ape Demon Locks the Space and freezing the sword of lightning mid-air. Then he threw a punch; the air cracked open. The sword of lightning was sent flying.

Due to the knockback, he fell backwards, so he twisted around and threw himself at the ocean, turning into a huge turtle.

The tribulation lightning constantly bombarded the turtle shell, but it seemed to strike a mirror, rebounding back brilliantly.

His endless array of abilities left Ruan Yaozhu stunned. Were regular daemons that powerful? It was no wonder that he did not fear Shen Yushu at all. If it were a fair battle to the death, how could Shen Yushu be his opponent? However, it did seem like he did not need her help right now.

Within the turtle shell, Li Qingshan grinned. Sometimes, shrinking up inside a shell was quite nice.

However, a bolt of lightning darted between the sky and sea, leaving behind a complicated and profound blur. The sword of lightning basically absorbed all of the rebounded lightning, becoming even larger and brighter. Its shape had become clearer and sharper too.

Li Qingshan thought, Sure enough, the mighty heavenly tribulation that tests all cultivators can't be conquered so easily. However, he was still very relaxed. If the greatest threat from this tribulation was only the lightning sword, that would not be enough to kill him.

At this moment, the soul nascence in his body budged and smiled wickedly. That was both Li Qingshan's appearance and Li Qingshan's smile, but it seemed to contain all of the malice in his heart.

Something suddenly interfered with the operation of the small world. The endless demonic thoughts surged forth.

Distracted, there was a flash of lightning; the lightning sword cut off head, which fell into the ocean. In the air, he cursed, "What the fuck!?"

Boom! His head produced a great wave when it slammed against the ocean surface before sinking into the water.

Li Qingshan could still move his body, so he extended his arms to catch it in a hurry. The lightning flashed urgently and criss-crossed the surroundings, severing his arms as well. They also landed in the ocean with a boom. His sturdy body split apart like a rockslide, falling into the ocean piece by piece.

Qingshan!

Ruan Yaozhu widened her eyes. He had clearly been in complete control the moment earlier, yet he had been carved to pieces in the next. The abrupt twist in the situation was difficult to accept. Had he just died here? But the tribulation lightning did not stop.

With a flash of lightning, she actually saw another Li Qingshan standing in the air. His body was half-transparent, his long hair was scattered, and his black clothes drifted through the air. His eyes shone with a wicked, red light as he grinned viciously, revealing his mouth full of sharp teeth.

The tribulation lightning also treated him as a target. His figure hovered about, fading in and out, unleashing some kind of ingenious movement technique almost instinctively and manoeuvring through the lightning. Even the sword of lightning was unable to lock onto him so easily.

What is that?

Ruan Yaozhu was very uncertain. She had never heard of such a strange and wicked soul nascence before. It was basically like the legendary "devaputra-māra". However, the devaputra-māra only appeared when cultivators became immortals or gods. When that happened, the inner demons would flare and the five skandhas, the five forms of attachment, would blaze, opening the body, which would lead to the arrival of the devaputra-māra. They would unleash their endless demonic arts to obstruct them from attaining enlightenment, an existence even more dangerous than tribulation lightning.

Don't tell me that's a skandha-māra?

For the sake of the sixth heavenly tribulation, she had investigated this thoroughly before. When the Yang Soul became an Origin Soul, the inner demons would be internalised, making their thoughts surge, but intrinsically, they were still a type of inner demons. They completely depended on the cultivator themselves and took no tangible form, definitely unlike now.

However, neither the skandha-māra nor the devaputra-māra were things that cultivators that had not attained immortality yet were supposed to face. Otherwise, no one could become an immortal. It was rumoured that all devaputra-māra were embodiments of Maheśvara. If it was for a measly Soul Nascence cultivator, it basically made no sense at all. Death was certain.

"Maheśvara... the Heavenly Tome of Liberty... don't tell me that's his soul nascence?"

The demon nascence gazed at the surging ocean and sneered. "Stop playing dead. I know you're still alive. Get out here!"

He's still alive! Ruan Yaozhu beamed with joy inside, but she also became filled with doubt. She gazed at the demon nascence in the air. Don't tell me that's actually his true form?

A phoenix's cry pierced the air, and the ocean was dyed a magnificent colour as if it was burning.

A phoenix spread its wings and burst out of the ocean, taking to the air.

Li Qingshan gazed at the demon nascence in intrigue. That message earlier felt like he was muttering to himself, yet he was also unable to control it, like he was talking in his sleep. The sensation was far too strange. He never knew that practising the Heavenly Tome of Liberty could produce such a freakish thing, a wicked, frenzied mirror clone that contained a consciousness of its own?

"You're a fucking thing!" the demon nascence cursed loudly and flew over.

Li Qingshan tried to grab it, but the soul nascence merged with his hand. Soon afterwards, the lightning sword filled his face, and the small world suddenly became sluggish again.

This time, Li Qingshan was prepared. He beat his wings and turned around, brushing past the lightning, but it still left behind a horrific slash, extending from his right shoulder to his left waist. It gave off a burnt smell. Even the phoenix's powerful vitality could not heal it.

The demon nascence laughed aloud. "You're absolutely miserable. This is all you're capable of, and you still want to go beyond the Nine Heavens? You're better off just dying here."

The laughter and tone was basically identical to Li Qingshan. It was even more Li Qingshan than Li Qingshan.

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"Detonate, soul nascenec!" Without any regard for his wounds, he made up his mind and directly chose to blow up his soul nascence.

However, nothing happened to the demon nascence at all. It sneered. "If I don't watch you die, I won't die!"

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