Chapter 657 - Asura General
The blood-red swirl revolved in the sky. Li Qingshan and Han Tieyi stood beside each other on the hill, gazing at the battlefield below.
Two streaks of light shot over from behind, which were Hua Chengzan and Hua Chenglu. They were worried for their safety, and they were relatively confident in their mental strength and cultivation, so they hurried over.
Li Qingshan pointed at the battlefield and gestured with a smile. “Look, you don’t see a sight like that everyday!”
Hua Chengzan gazed into the distance. Among the deafening bellows, various-coloured light flickered. The explosion of fire and the clashing of weapons formed a stunning chorus, drawing people in against their will to battle and fight. Hua Chengzan suppressed his mind in a hurry before glancing at Hua Chenglu beside him. She was much calmer in comparison.
Suddenly, he sighed inside. After learning Li Qingshan’s other ident.i.ty, he no longer tried to compare himself to him anymore, but Han Tieyi was a good friend of many years. His cultivation had always exceeded him. Even when he was stuck at the tenth layer of Qi Pract.i.tioner for many years, he was still the first one to establish a foundation successfully. Yet, he had caught up and overtaken him, almost breaking through to mid Foundation Establishment.
Now, even the cultivation of his not particularly talented younger sister was surpa.s.sing his. He had watched her grow up. It was completely impossible to say that he was not at least slightly despondent. He was determined to go back and properly cultivate.
“Can you save some more people?” Hua Chenglu was unable to accept this. There were still many people she knew in the battlefield.
Li Qingshan personally believed he had already lived up to his duty and humanity for these strangers. He also had to constantly pay attention to the battle between Si Qing and Mo Yu, so he had no interest in taking on this burden, but that was not something he could say.
Han Tieyi said, “It’s too late. They’ve completely a.s.similated with the will of the Asura realm. However, their souls may end up belonging to the Asura realm once they die in battle.”
Hua Chenglu asked, “Is that an asura?”
In the centre of the battlefield, the asura suddenly turned around lithely, kicking up a screen of dust. The first senior brother of the Horned Rhinoceros mountain missed. The metal maces in the surroundings circled around and struck his back heavily. He staggered a few steps forward before collapsing on the ground.
Li Qingshan shook his head. The attack from a blunt weapon probably was not too effective against a cultivator who practised his body like the first senior brother of Horned Rhinoceros mountain. The strike had only landed because the first senior brother was overcome by murderousness, taking away his rationality and covering him with openings. It was not exactly ingenious.
Sure enough, the first senior brother of Horned Rhinoceros mountain let out a furious roar and turned around, wanting to engage him again, but only the top half of his body turned around. The lower half of his body was frozen and completely immobilised. When he was struck earlier, there was a crisp crack, which the violent sounds of fighting drowned out. No one heard it.
“His spine is broken!” Li Qingshan was mildly taken aback. Spines were vital points to humans, but they could not be broken that easily. He soon understood what had happened. Like how the Traitorous Demon sword could see through weak points, spines were not indestructible.
The asura seemed almost frenzied, but he was extremely precise with his attacks, clearly all killing moves that had been thoroughly tempered. And, he was clearly extremely familiar with the vital points and weak points of various enemies. He used a single strike to defeat an opponent of equal cultivation and was even slightly stronger from a certain perspective, making something like that seem as easy as cake.
The asura smiled hideously as he struck the same location with his mace. The first senior brother of Horned Rhinoceros mountain widened his eyes and let out a roar. The asura lifted up his other mace and swung down again and again like he was striking rock, embedding the mace into the first senior brother’s body. After striking him several dozen times, blood spurted out, and the first senior brother finally perished.
All of this had happened in a short moment. The other Qi Pract.i.tioners all responded. Roused by the asura’s aura, they all lifted up their weapons and rushed over. The asura’s murderousness became even more intense, advancing instead of retreating, charging into the group. He swung his maces around madly, immediately kicking up a whirlwind of slaughter.
Li Qingshan only saw that the asura was vicious with his attacks. There was not exactly a fixed pattern, but every single strike was precise and effective, all killing moves that had been tempered through countless battles and slaughter. Basically all the Qi Pract.i.tioners who faced him died to a single strike. A while later, a few more people died to his maces.
However, in a chaotic battle like this, it was impossible to go unscathed unless he had three heads and six arms. His body gained a few deep wounds, but none of these wounds bled. Instead, they rapidly closed up.
“Just a low level asura like him possesses such life force. How extraordinary. I think that if the battle continues, he’ll definitely be the last one to survive,” Li Qingshan said while rubbing his chin.
The battle prowess of an asura like him was even greater than some Foundation Establishment cultivators unskilled in battle. If his opponent came from a sect like the Sect of Clouds and Rain that primarily practised the arts of charm, it would probably not be strange at all if the asura killed them.
“That’s the undying body of the asura! Legend has it that powerful asura can even be reborn from a droplet of blood.” Han Tieyi explained everything he knew about asura.
“Reborn from a droplet of blood. Interesting!” Li Qingshan said.
He believed that he could also be reborn from a droplet of blood once he practised the Phoenix’s Scripture of Nirvāṇa to a certain level.
As they spoke, another asura descended from the sky, followed by a third, a fourth… More and more asura entered the battlefield, banding together very quickly. Their teamwork was ingenious, forming an army. They became more and more unstoppable, splitting up the battlefield and wantonly slaughtering the frenzied Qi Pract.i.tioners.
Hua Chengzan’s expression changed slightly as well. Against such an asura army, all he could do was flee for his life.
Li Qingshan asked Han Tieyi another question, “If you possess the Asura Field, can you summon these asura to fight for you?” If that were possible, then it would basically be an endless source of fresh troops. If even more powerful asura were summoned, even he would find it troublesome.
“I don’t know, but there is that possibility!” Han Tieyi said.
The Great General King possessed an Asura Field, but the world had been at peace for too long after all. No one had personally witnessed him enter battles with the Asura Field.
The battle came to an end very quickly. All of the cultivators were slain, but not a single asura fell in battle. The asura that descended from above had already reached a hundred, standing among the piles of corpses and puddles of blood with their eyes shut. The murderousness that pervaded the battlefield was absorbed into their bodies, and the colour of their skin became an even-brighter red.
With a rumble of thunder, the omnipresent heavenly tribulation descended suddenly. Bolts of lightning struck an asura; the other asura moved away. Their eyes were filled with envy and caution as they surrounded the asura.
The first heavenly tribulation was clearly unable to pose any threat to such a lifeform. The asura successfully underwent the tribulation without any surprises, becoming an Asura General. But in that moment, the hundred or so asura struck out at the same time, attacking the asura that had just undergone the heavenly tribulation from all directions.
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This incident even left Li Qingshan extremely surprised. They were still pooling their efforts together a while ago, so why had they suddenly turned against one another?
The asura faced danger again and again, basically almost killed. Even one of his arms had been cut off, and basically half of his neck had been severed. The wounds on his body were extremely horrifying. If he were human, he would have died ten times over already.
However, with his undying body as an asura, he clung on tenaciously, becoming accustomed to the change in his strength after undergoing the tribulation very soon. Gradually, he turned the tides and let out a thunderous roar, using his remaining arm to kill several asura together. His arm regrew with that, becoming more and more unstoppable.
The battle between asura widened Li Qingshan’s horizons. A while later, the Asura General completely gained the upper hand. The asura all suddenly stopped and dropped to one knee together towards the Asura General, revering him as their leader.
The Asura General was satisfied. With a wave of his hand, the asura stood up and gathered behind him. If they still seemed a little like they were fighting alone earlier, then they had completely become an army now.
The Asura General stared at Li Qingshan and the others with his blood-red eyes and belted, “Have you seen enough? Come fight!”
“Just as I wished!” Han Tieyi leapt down from the hill, wielding his spear like a dragon.
“We’ll just watch.”
Li Qingshan raised his hand to stop the siblings who also wanted to fight. He already reached a vague understanding of these asura’s path of slaughter. If he had guessed correctly, the Asura General would not be using the power of the other asura.
Sure enough, seeing Han Tieyi charge over alone, the Asura General raised his battle axe and flew over to receive him. The asura behind him all stayed put, simply watching.
Immediately, their eyes locked together, and the spear and battle axe clashed countless times, sending sparks flying.
Han Tieyi was restrained in every shape and form as soon as he began fighting, losing the upper hand. He had clearly undergone the first heavenly tribulation already many years ago, yet an Asura General that had just undergone the heavenly tribulation completely overwhelmed him.
Even Han Tieyi who came from the school of the Military and was skilled at fighting was like that. If it had been a regular Foundation Establishment cultivator instead, they would have been even less of an opponent.
“Qingshan, why don’t we watch from a closer place so that we can cover Tieyi?”
Hua Chengzan’s face was filled with concern. Soldiers were vicious and battles were dangerous. The slightest carelessness could have Han Tieyi beheaded, but with Li Qingshan’s strength, he could obviously ensure Han Tieyi’s safety.
Li Qingshan shook his head with a smile. “I’m standing here exactly so that I can’t save him when it matters!”
Hua Chengzan frowned. “Why’s that? Has he offended you?”
Li Qingshan smiled. “Of course not. Tieyi is my brother-in-law no matter what you say. Even if he’s offended me, I’d never stoop to the same level as him. Instead, he’s a warrior. Only when he has his back against the wall can he fight desperately and survive.”
Hua Chengzan immediately understood what he meant. Han Tieyi wanted to use this battle to break through to mid Foundation Establishment. If he had a path of retreat or a safeguard, it would instead prevent him from unleashing his full strength. As a result, all Hua Chengzan could do was hold back his worry.
Fierce gusts of wind whistled past his ears and pain filled various parts of his body. Han Tieyi gradually could not cling on for much longer, but he did not take a single step back, allowing blood to spatter from his body.
The incoming axe swung over, something he could not block. He was already in dire straits, but despite walking on a thin line between life and death, he felt an indescribable pleasure. A reckless smile appeared on his frosty face. Suddenly, a power broke through the restraints and spread throughout his body. His spear seemed to spring alive, the spear head twisting to an unbelievable angle and pushing aside the battle axe.
“He did it!” Li Qingshan smiled. Suddenly, he vanished from his location, jumping in between Han Tieyi and the Asura General. He held the spear in one hand and knocked the battle axe away with the other.
Han Tieyi frowned, but Li Qingshan smiled. “Victory has already been determined. If you keep fighting, it won’t benefit you at all. If you really die here, it’ll be quite difficult for me to explain it to Qiongzhi!”
Han Tieyi had broken through to mid Foundation Establishment, but he had lost too much blood in the battle. He was already completely exhausted, having depleted all of his spiritual qi. He completely clung on with willpower alone. On the other hand, the Asura General was still as imposing as ever.
Han Tieyi backed away, and the other asura rushed over.
Li Qingshan swung the Traitorous Demon sword and said to the Asura General, “Once you rest up, we’ll keep fighting!” As he spoke, his figure swelled, a.s.suming his demonified form. He surged with murderousness.
The Asura General stared at Li Qingshan like he was confronting a deadly enemy. He waved his hand to make the asura stop. Gradually, surprise filled his face.
Suddenly, the Asura General dropped down on one knee towards Li Qingshan, leaving him astounded.