Chapter 117 - Killing a Qi Practitioner

In the competition this time, there was no doubt that the strongest were Diao Fei and the other third layer Qi Practitioner. However, the person who attracted the most attention was Qian Rongzhi. There were many female Qi Practitioners, with quite a few attending the competition, but there were not many who were born with beauty like hers. Beautiful women would attract gazes no matter where they went.

However, out of the three positions available, Li Qingshan had already claimed one. The last two positions seemed to be in the grasps of the two third layer Qi Practitioners. As long as they did not meet in the competition, the other Qi Practitioners basically stood no chance.

The competition advanced very quickly. Many of the victories would be determined in a split second. Consequently, they reached the fourth round in less than four hours. Only four people remained in the square. It seemed like the two third layer Qi Practitioners could become Hawkwolf guards after defeating two more second layer Qi Practitioners, but the situation suddenly changed. The envoy read out the matches, but it was second layer against second layer and third layer against third layer.

The expressions of Diao Fei and the other third layer Qi Practitioner changed slightly. However, the two second layer Qi Practitioners suddenly erupted with hope. One of them happened to be Qian Rongzhi. She remained calm as if she had been expecting this.

When Qian Rongzhi made her way to the centre of the square, Li Qingshan looked down. The outcome was already determined. Since Qian Rongzhi possessed a mid grade talisman as a trump card, she vaguely surpassed her opponent in both cultivation and status. That was that.

As expected, Qian Rongzhi immediately took out a talisman as soon as the match began, but to Li Qingshan’s surprise, she did not activate it immediately. Instead, she said to the Qi Practitioner gently, “Young master Zhang, you should be able to tell that my mid grade talisman possesses tremendous power. However, I don’t want to harm you, so please forfeit!”

‘Young master Zhang’ could not help but hesitate. He had witnessed Qian Rongzhi’s strength before. Coupled with the mid grade talisman, his chances of victory were less than thirty percent.

Qian Rongzhi made full use of her advantages as a female. The drizzle drenched her clothes, sculpting out her beautiful figure. Her eyes were just as misty as the rain. She did not seem like she was threatening, but begging. “I really don’t want to become your enemy unless I have to. If the day comes, Rongzhi will definitely serve you well if you visit the Ancient Wind city.”

In the pavilion, Zhou Wenbin smiled. “Commander Zhuo, is that allowed too?”

Zhuo Zhibo said, “Why wouldn’t it? The competition is not just about cultivation in the first place. It’s also about intelligence.”

Li Qingshan could not help but admire this woman’s thinking. As expected, the Qi Practitioner known as ‘young master Zhang’ chose to forfeit under the gentle request of a beauty and the threat of the talisman.

Qian Rongzhi also crossed through the square, arriving below the pavilion and standing beside Li Qingshan. She even smiled at Li Qingshan. “I underestimated young master a few days ago. If I have caused any offence, I hope that you can forgive me.” Vaguely, she seemed to demonstrate awe, as if Li Qingshan was not Qian Rongming’s murderer, but a talented young man who made her heart throb.

This was the first time Li Qingshan had been referred to as ‘young master’, but he only felt a chill run down his spine. He replied with a soft ‘yep’ and stopped paying attention to her. Regardless of whether she was truly unaffected by Qian Rongming’s death or she hid the resentment deep inside, she was a terrifying beauty of viciousness like a snake or a scorpion. Her cruelty probably originated from the education of the large clan she came from. No matter how beautiful a woman like that was, he would never be interested.

Not only did Qian Rongzhi ignore Li Qingshan’s coldness towards her, she even tried to start a conversation. “Who do you think will win?”

Li Qingshan frowned and directed all of his attention to the square. The clash between the two third layer Qi Practitioners would be the headline match of the competition, but it was not as intense as imagined at all. They fought against one another warily.

After a few attempts at probing out the opponent, Diao Fei used the Lightning Strike talisman he had purchased from Li Qingshan. With a flash of scorching white light, a bolt of lightning as thick as a pillar descended from the sky, easily piercing his opponent’s protective true qi and charring him.

The traces of the lightning only vanished from the opponent’s face after quite a while. It was so powerful that even Li Qingshan was taken aback. Lightning was the punishment of the heavens. Even if he daemonified, it would still injure him.

The light in Qian Rongzhi’s eyes flickered. “This young master Diao grasped a good time.”

All techniques were about circumstances. Today, the clouds had constantly been rumbling with thunder; the Lightning Strike talisman was almost as effective as a high grade talisman during this rainy summer weather. It was not something weaker Qi Practitioners could fend off, becoming an absolute trump card.

Diao Fei also walked over to Li Qingshan’s side. Although he did his best to remain calm, he was unable to hide his joy. He even thanked Li Qingshan quietly. It was as if he no longer cared about the Pearl Dew pill.

Two mid grade talismans had become the determining factors of victory. The three people had become the final victors, basically building off what had happened on the boat earlier. However, the three of them definitely were not friends.

Zhuo Zhibo said from the pavilion, “Come up!”

“I refuse to accept this!” Suddenly, someone called out boldly. His face was twisted due to jealousy. He had become rather crazy due to his failures. He looked at Li Qingshan resentfully. “How can a piece of trash like you, a first layer Qi Practitioner, surpass me…”

Zhuo Zhibo did nothing. Instead, he said to Li Qingshan, “You’re already a Hawkwolf guard. When someone offends you, they’re offending the Hawkwolf Guard. You should know what to do!” It was as if he did not realise a difference existed between first and second layer Qi Practitioners at all. The other Hawkwolf guards all watched on with interest, waiting for Li Qingshan to be defeated. They wanted to see if he would still be able to stand there after that.

Li Qingshan turned around with ease and walked towards the Qi Practitioner. He learned that this person’s name was Lü Hui during the competition earlier. He had insulted Li Qingshan in the beginning before being labelled as trash. Li Qingshan said, “Since you want to die so much, I’ll give you what you want.”

To everyone else, that just sounded like boastful words.

“What’re you trying to do? You’re just a first layer Qi Practitioner!” Lü Hui watched as Li Qingshan gradually approached him. For some reason, he actually felt deep fear. Now that his head had mostly cleared up, he regretted his earlier words.

When he was twenty steps away, Li Qingshan stopped. He leaned forwards and bent his knees; he was like a tiger in the forest, stalking its prey and about to pounce. His temporarily condensed power suddenly erupted as he leapt forth.

Li Qingshan’s eyes were calm and composed like a young beast king who had gracefully leapt out of the forest. There was no ruthlessness or fury, only calmness due to confidence. It was enough to make people’s hearts shudder.

Lü Hui looked at the emotionless eyes and felt pressure that took his breath away. When Li Qingshan stopped, he had already begun circulating all of his true qi. However, due to Li Qingshan’s sudden acceleration, all he saw was a blur sweep past him. Li Qingshan moved just too quickly, to the point that it gave Lü Hui the false impression that only after quite a while did the gust of wind that the motion produced arrive. It slammed into Lü Hui’s face with the cold rain.

The figure in front of him vanished, and he felt agony in his chest. Lowering his head, he saw that his chest was empty. When he looked back with difficulty, all he saw was Li Qingshan clutching a bloody heart. He opened his mouth, but before he could even say anything, he had already collapsed face first into the ground.

The entire square immediately fell silent. Suddenly, the sound of the rain became incredibly clear. Everyone was shocked; even Zhuo Zhibo and Zhou Wenbin were fazed. They yelled out at the same time, “Body Practitioner!”

A second layer Qi Practitioner had been killed in a single stroke, and it was not through a sneak attack or a talisman but in a direct confrontation. Everyone felt a heavy, cold sensation. The Qi Practitioners looked at Li Qingshan like he was a monster. Was he really a first layer Qi Practitioner?

The Qi Practitioners present no longer grumbled about Li Qingshan avoiding the competition. Instead, they felt extremely fortunate. If he had taken part, there would probably be a few more corpses to the side of the square, which might have included them. As expected, he was not an idiot. He was bold enough to rip them off with talismans before the battle because he possessed absolute confidence in his strength, yet others actually still mocked him. Fortunately, none of them were like the idiot from before, actually stepping forward and antagonising him.

Even the Hawkwolf guards who had watched the competition unfold leisurely looked at Li Qingshan in shock. Originally, they felt much disdain towards this kid who openly joined the Hawkwolf Guard through the backdoor using his connections. But now, their opinions of him had completely changed. This kid was not someone they could just teach a lesson to.

The shock that Li Qingshan created even surpassed when Zhuo Zhibo killed the Qi Practitioner in a single move. The latter had used his overwhelming strength to crush his opponent, which only made sense, while the former still managed to crush his opponent despite being weaker in cultivation. Such a matter was simply extraordinary.

Li Qingshan tossed the heart aside and caught his breath. Earlier, he had instantaneously erupted with his physical strength and true qi. The outcome of the combination even surprised him a little. However, he was absolutely confident in himself when he launched the attack.

The Tiger Demon Leaps over the Ravine. The Tiger Demon Digs out the Heart. Ever since he became a daemon, these moves seemed to have fused into his blood, becoming a part of his instincts.

Even when he did not have a sliver of true qi, he had used his physical strength and an opening to defeat Feng Zhang in a single stroke. Ever since then, he had been cultivating daily, and the daemon qi converted from several dozen Qi Gathering pills only made his body stronger. His true qi had almost reached the peak of the first layer as well, and it was as pure as it could get. As such, his strength changed in an overwhelming fashion.

As for Lü Hui, he was the opposite. He had just been through three rounds of battles, so he was at his weakest in both true qi and physical strength. With the disparity in conditions, the outcome became extremely clear-cut.

Li Qingshan reevaluated his strength. In human form, killing a third layer Qi Practitioner in a direct confrontation should pose no difficulty. He had yet to see any fourth layer Qi Practitioners, so he was uncertain about them. Of course, this was given that his opponent did not have too powerful of a trump card. However, in terms of trump cards, just how many people could surpass him?

Li Qingshan returned to Qian Rongzhi and Diao Fei’s side. Both of them shuffled back slightly in an unnatural fashion. The terrifying power to injure and kill that Li Qingshan had erupted with caused them tremendous pressure.

Qian Rongzhi could no longer force out a smile. Not a single person would be able to smile when they knew the person right beside them had the power to kill them at any time, and that they just happened to be displeased with them.