Chapter 182: Rescue and Reward

"It's Voidflash King and Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang!"

Upon seeing Lu Qingshan and Voidflash King appear, Longzang King—who was being battered by Heart-Shatter King—finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

He had originally been wandering other regions of this Second Outer Battlefield, and only arrived at this Tiansha Sea region a little over a million years ago, so he didn't know many of the powerful beings active there.

Moreover, he was only an ordinary-race High-Level King, and those he usually befriended were mostly Initial-Level Kings, High-Level Kings, and Peak-Level Kings. Limit-Level Kings active on this Outer Battlefield weren't that many to begin with, and those willing to befriend him were even fewer.

On top of that, Heart-Shatter King's strength was considered quite outstanding even among Limit-Level Kings, so those willing to come rescue him were even fewer.

Therefore, when he sent out his call for help, he sent it to every powerful being he could reach, and Voidflash King—who possessed teleportation ability—was naturally among them.

"Although Voidflash King and Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang charge higher fees, now that they've shown up, I'm definitely safe this time. For me, that's more than worth the price!"

Longzang King couldn't help thinking to himself: "I just hope this Heart-Shatter King doesn't go mad. If he burns his Immortal Divine Power, all the wealth I've accumulated over endless years will probably end up going to Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang and Voidflash King!"

By now, Lu Qingshan and Voidflash King had been working together for several million years, and had become quite renowned on this Second Outer Battlefield, so Longzang King naturally knew of them.

The fee Lu Qingshan and his partner charged varied according to the enemy's strength.

Among them, each Limit-Level King enemy required a fee of roughly five hundred million Hunyuan units, a Peak-Level King enemy required a hundred million Hunyuan units, and High-Level Kings were generally ignored—counted only as a bonus.

Of course, if the enemy's highest strength was only High-Level King, Lu Qingshan wouldn't bother intervening in such a rescue at all. After all, a battle like that would neither earn him money nor temper himself, and he couldn't frequently burn his Immortal Divine Power to kill the opponent, lest he once again draw the attention of the higher-ups of the alien races.

Beyond that, the rescue fees mentioned above only applied to battles fought without burning Divine Power. Once Immortal Divine Power was burned in combat, the fee had to increase at least tenfold!

Actually, such a fee would normally be considered rather high, but for the one calling for help, facing a crisis of falling—when a powerful being can arrive in time to save them, that alone is already something very much worth celebrating.

Otherwise, even if one could be resurrected through the reversal of spacetime, the price paid would be far, far greater!

"Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang!"

On the other side, Heart-Shatter King of the Machine Race faction also quickly looked toward Lu Qingshan: "I've long heard your strength is extremely great, and that you often seek out other powerful beings to fight. So this time—shall we each go our separate ways, or shall we have a bout?"

Hearing these words, Longzang King's half-suspended heart finally settled.

Since Heart-Shatter King had no intention of burning his Immortal Divine Power to fight to the death, he would only need to pay the base fee of five hundred million Hunyuan units later. The wealth accumulated over endless years was finally safe.

As for Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang's fondness for sparring with powerful beings, he had heard of that too—but that was none of his business.

"Hahaha!"

Lu Qingshan answered with a smile as well: "I've long heard that Heart-Shatter King, your hammer technique has boundless might. Since fate gives me the chance to meet you, naturally we must have a bout!"

The moment his words fell…

Whoosh!

Lu Qingshan instantly transformed into a streak of flowing light, blasting toward Heart-Shatter King not far away.

"Hmph, you think I'm afraid of you?" Heart-Shatter King snorted coldly, and likewise charged at Lu Qingshan with twin hammers in hand.

Any powerful being who dared to wander the Outer Battlefield—especially a dangerous region like Tiansha Sea—had no fear of battle, let alone a Limit-Level King like Heart-Shatter King.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The purple-gold long sword in Lu Qingshan's hand instantly collided with the divine hammer in Heart-Shatter King's hand.

In an instant, a terrifying shockwave swept out in all directions, and the figures of Lu Qingshan and Heart-Shatter King were sent flying backward.

"What tremendous power!"

While flying backward, Heart-Shatter King was also immensely shocked in his heart: "Isn't this Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang specialized in soul attacks? How is he also so skilled in raw strength?"

"My body amplification secret art reaches fifteenfold, and the weapon I use is also specialized in explosive power—yet I still fell at a disadvantage against him?"

Although Lu Qingshan had not yet received the inheritance of the Four Divine Generals, because he had cultivated the body amplification secret art *Lei Ting Huan Shen*, combined with a tenfold life gene level, and the recomposed Divine Power after his comprehension of laws broke through, his base strength had directly reached 2.4 million times the World Lord's power.

Heart-Shatter King, although he had also cultivated an amplification secret art, could at most unleash 1.5 million times the World Lord's power. Falling at a disadvantage in a clash of strength was perfectly natural.

"However…"

A new thought quickly flashed through Heart-Shatter King's mind: "This Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang is a powerful being of the Human Race—he may very well have received the inheritance of a Divine General who specialized in body amplification!"

Receiving a Divine General's inheritance was, for a King-Level Immortal, absolutely one of the best ways to raise one's strength—even a Limit-Level King like Heart-Shatter King greatly desired it.

After all, Heart-Shatter King had spent endless effort to cultivate an amplification secret art within his race that suited him quite well, yet even so, his body amplification was only fifteenfold.

But once he could receive a Divine General's inheritance, his body amplification could be raised to at least thirty- or fortyfold!

Unfortunately, although his race, the 'Giant Spirit Race,' was a powerful race, there was not a single Divine General inheritance site within it.

If he wanted to receive a Divine General's inheritance, he had to apply through the Machine Race Alliance!

And Machine Race powerful beings were born without souls, so they naturally placed even greater importance on Divine General inheritances that could raise body amplification.

Generally speaking, nearly ninety percent of the slots for Divine General inheritances that raised body amplification secret arts within the Machine Race Alliance were occupied by Machine Race powerful beings. For alien-race powerful beings like them, applying was naturally extremely difficult.

"Enough. If I can't match him in raw strength, then let this Spirit Ling King Lingjian Wang have a taste of the peak hammer technique I've spent endless years creating!"

Thinking this, Heart-Shatter King immediately unleashed the peak secret art he relied on to roam the universe—*Sky-Breaking Hammer*!

The moment Heart-Shatter King's peak hammer technique was unleashed, Lu Qingshan instantly sensed an extremely oppressive, terrifying aura radiating from Heart-Shatter King.

He saw Heart-Shatter King's figure shift several times, and in an instant appear before Lu Qingshan. Then a black divine hammer radiating endless electric light in his hand tore through space and struck, the surrounding cosmic space being crushed and shattering layer upon layer in its wake.

Facing a black divine hammer with such terrifying speed, Lu Qingshan's face changed: "I can't dodge it at all—I don't even have time to use a secret art to block!"

At this thought, Lu Qingshan could only enlarge the long sword in his hand and hold it horizontally before him.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The black divine hammer slammed directly into the blade of the long sword in Lu Qingshan's hand. The terrifying impact passed through the blade and immediately slammed brutally into Lu Qingshan's divine body.

Although Lu Qingshan resisted with all his might, he still felt the divine hammer in Heart-Shatter King's hand was terrifyingly heavy. The terrifying impact instantly shattered the bones and muscles formed from his internal Divine Power.

"Puh!"

Lu Qingshan spat a mouthful of fresh blood. Every sinew and bone in his body was broken, his muscles were shattered, and fresh blood dyed his entire body red.

But in almost an instant, Lu Qingshan's divine body fully recovered once more.

"Truly powerful!"

Lu Qingshan looked toward Heart-Shatter King in the void not far away and couldn't help sighing in his heart: "This Heart-Shatter King's strength is probably no less than that of the Shi Jia Wang who killed me!"

"It's just that this Heart-Shatter King, unlike that Shi Jia Wang, has a soul and isn't immune to soul attacks. And the me now is no longer the me who faced Shi Jia King back then!"

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan's mind moved, and he instantly unleashed his own soul attack secret art—*Soul-Slaying Sword*!

Boom!

A terrifying soul attack instantly pierced through the battle armor worn by Heart-Shattering King, seeping into his body.

"Roar!"

The strange beast formed within Heart-Shattering King's body by his self-created peak-tier soul defense secret art instantly let out a roar.

But just at this moment, the virtualized immortal divine power that had rushed into his body actually transformed into a series of illusory small swords, which then gathered together to form a giant sword phantom.

"Slash!"

Lu Qingshan, who was in the distant void, willed it, and the giant sword phantom instantly slashed toward the roaring strange beast.

Puff!

The giant sword phantom instantly struck the strange beast's neck.

"Aooo!"

The strange beast instantly let out a shrill howl, but in the end still blocked Lu Qingshan's attack.

"Too terrifying! This Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang's soul attack is truly too terrifying!"

In the outer void, Heart-Shattering King, who had ultimately blocked Lu Qingshan's soul attack, was now even more shocked: "This Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang truly lives up to his fame across the universe for soul attacks. The might of his soul attack is enough to rank in the top three among the many soul masters I've encountered!"

"If I hadn't always been diligently studying soul defense secret arts, I might have fallen to his hands this time!"

Thinking of this, Heart-Shattering King couldn't help but feel the urge to retreat in his heart, but at this moment Lu Qingshan had once again charged up with his long sword in hand.

Because he had to split his attention to resist the soul attack, when Heart-Shattering King executed his peak-tier hammer technique, it naturally didn't carry the same might as before, and for a time he actually exchanged blows evenly with Lu Qingshan.

Just like that, after exchanging several hundred rounds with Heart-Shattering King and fully verifying the first sword technique he had just elevated, Lu Qingshan finally felt satisfied!

Rumble rumble rumble!

Lu Qingshan's sword struck the black divine hammer in Heart-Shattering King's hand, and then his entire figure instantly blasted backward.

"Heart-Shattering King, let's stop!" Lu Qingshan immediately transmitted his voice.

And upon hearing Lu Qingshan's transmission, Heart-Shattering King also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

After all, fighting a soul master like Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang was also quite stressful for him, because he had to guard against the opponent's bizarre soul attacks at every moment.

Moreover, once the opponent burned immortal divine power, he would also have to burn immortal divine power!

Now that Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang intended to stop, it was naturally the best possible outcome for him, and he naturally wouldn't object.

Not far away, Dragon-Treasury King and Flash-Sky King were also watching Lu Qingshan and Heart-Shattering King, who were suspended in the void facing each other from afar.

The aura emanating from them caused even Flash-Sky King, a peak-tier King-class powerhouse, to feel tremendous pressure, let alone Dragon-Treasury King, a high-tier King-class immortal!

"Your strength is very formidable!"

Lu Qingshan immediately said loudly: "Being able to cross hands with a powerhouse like you in this extraterritorial battlefield truly makes one's blood boil! But now the two of us don't have any major conflicts of interest — how about we stop here?"

"Good!"

Heart-Shattering King immediately nodded and said: "Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang, your strength also fills me with great admiration. I hope that in the future the two of us won't fight to the death over interests!"

"Hahaha, who can say for certain? We'll be taking our leave first!"

As soon as his words fell, Lu Qingshan quickly transmitted his voice to Flash-Sky King beside him.

And Flash-Sky King also rapidly spread out immortal divine power to envelop Lu Qingshan and Dragon-Treasury King, then directly executed teleportation and vanished.

"Peak-tier races truly are blessed by heaven!"

Watching Lu Qingshan's figure disappear, Heart-Shattering King couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

When fighting Lu Qingshan earlier, he could clearly sense that the sword technique Lu Qingshan executed had not crossed into the peak tier, and there was still a tremendous gap compared to his peak-tier hammer technique.

But precisely because Lu Qingshan came from the human race, he was able to crush him in terms of base power — combined with his powerful soul attack — once they truly fought with everything on the line, his chances of winning would definitely be very low.

"If I could cultivate a soul amplification secret art, or even receive the inheritance of a divine general skilled in soul amplification, I could absolutely easily resist that Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang's soul attack!" Heart-Shattering King couldn't help but secretly think.

He came from the powerful race 'Giant Spirit Race', and within the clan there were naturally super-powerhouses who had created soul amplification secret arts.

It's just that powerful races ultimately couldn't compare to peak-tier races like the human race. The soul amplification secret arts possessed by the Giant Spirit Race numbered only eleven in total, and none of them were suitable for Heart-Shattering King to cultivate, which was why he had never cultivated a soul amplification secret art.

"As long as I block that Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang's soul attack, he poses absolutely no threat to me!"

Thinking of this, Heart-Shattering King sighed even more in his heart: "If only my Giant Spirit Race were also a peak-tier race. Then, with my strength, I could easily receive the divine general inheritance most suited to me, and my strength could instantly skyrocket!"

As a super-powerhouse who had created two sets of peak-tier ultimate arts, Heart-Shattering King was undoubtedly extremely proud in his heart. After all, among King-class immortals, those who could create peak-tier ultimate arts were still relatively rare!

"Enough. I'll just accumulate more military merit and see if I can find a way to apply for a divine general inheritance quota from the Machinery Race Alliance!"

Thinking of this, Heart-Shattering King immediately transformed into a streak of flowing light and vanished.

……

On an ordinary island in the Tiansha Sea region, three figures suddenly appeared out of thin air above the icy snowfield — they were precisely Lu Qingshan, Flash-Sky King, and Dragon-Treasury King, who had teleported away from the battlefield.

"Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang, Flash-Sky King!"

Dragon-Treasury King gave Lu Qingshan a slight bow, then solemnly thanked him: "Thank you both for your help. The remuneration of five hundred million Hunyuan units has already been transferred to Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang's account through the military system!"

"Hahaha……"

Lu Qingshan immediately said with a smile: "Dragon-Treasury King, you needn't be so courteous! Helping you once and easily obtaining five hundred million Hunyuan units is also very worthwhile for Flash-Sky King and me!"

Hearing these words, Dragon-Treasury King continued: "Although this matter is very simple for you, Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang, if you and Flash-Sky King hadn't arrived in time this time, I would have been in danger!"

"In the future, if Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang and Flash-Sky King need any help, please don't hesitate to ask. I will do everything in my power to assist!"

"Dragon-Treasury King, you're really too polite!"

Lu Qingshan quickly asked with a smile: "What are your plans next?"

"My divine body suffered some losses this time, so I plan to return to my homeland and recover for a period of time first!"

Dragon-Treasury King quickly said: "Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang, Flash-Sky King, if you have nothing else, I'll take my leave first!"

"Alright!" Lu Qingshan and Flash-Sky King nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Dragon-Treasury King instantly opened a temporary divine kingdom teleportation channel.

This was naturally not his own divine kingdom teleportation channel, but one opened by the auxiliary lifeforms he had cultivated.

After all, the Divine Realm is the foundation of every Immortal Deity; even facing Lu Qingshan and the other two who had just saved him, Dragon Storage King was unwilling to reveal the Divine Realm's coordinates.

This had nothing to do with trust or lack thereof; it was merely the most normal reaction!

Whoosh!

Dragon Storage King nodded slightly to Lu Qingshan and the other two, then stepped into the temporary Divine Realm teleportation channel and vanished.

"This harvest is not bad!"

After Dragon Storage King left, Lu Qingshan quickly looked at Flash Void King beside him: "Flash Void King, I have already transferred fifty million Chaos Units to you through the army system!"

1:9!

This was the reward distribution ratio he had agreed upon with Flash Void King beforehand.

Although he wanted to reach the battlefield immediately and needed Flash Void King's teleportation ability, it was Lu Qingshan, who excelled in soul attacks, who could retreat from enemies.

In the Heaven Calamity Sea, where experts are as numerous as clouds, teleporting experts are countless, but how many soul masters possess strength like Lu Qingshan's and are willing to burn Immortal Divine Power to fight in order to rescue other experts?

Therefore, Flash Void King had never had any dissatisfaction with this distribution ratio all along; on the contrary, he was very grateful that Lu Qingshan brought him to act together.

"Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang, if you have nothing else, I will take my leave!" After receiving the fifty million Chaos Units in remuneration, Flash Void King quickly spoke.

Having spent millions of years with Lu Qingshan, he had long since figured out some of Lu Qingshan's habits.

For instance, he disliked others asking about his origins; for instance, he hated acting with others for long periods...

So Flash Void King knew very well that Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang was willing to bring him along mainly because Soul Ling King Lingjian Wang himself could not teleport, and because he was sensible.

"Mm!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly: "If there is new distress information, just continue to contact me!"

Hearing Lu Qingshan's words, Flash Void King nodded slightly, then immediately teleported and vanished.

(End of this chapter)