Chapter 115: and translation of title, then ===GLOSSARY=== with list of named entities

Boom—!!

Thunder roared above the firmament, flashing lightning illuminating the world.

A cute ox calf mask, speckled with raindrops, its eyes as clear as seeing fire, stared intently.

Liu Jinsong's hairs stood on end; at this moment, he felt as if his very blood had frozen.

Ox demon?

Ox demon!!!

No, how dare he?!

Liu Jinsong's pupils constricted, as if a murderous ferocity like ink rapidly spread from his pupils.

A strong resentment and killing intent erupted from Liu Jinsong's body.

A ridiculous and laughable emotion welled up in Liu Jinsong's heart.

Has he, Liu Jinsong, already become so desolate?

As a grand illusory-form cultivator, does this ox demon dare to come alone to hunt him?

Ignorant of life and death thing!

Liu Jinsong's killing intent toward the ox demon was unprecedentedly intense; without this ox demon, how could he have come to this point?

Before, every time he moved to capture the ox demon, the creature escaped using its special shifting technique; this guy, besides being sinister and vicious, is also slippery.

Mastering such a shifting technique makes him extraordinarily hard to deal with.

However, the ox demon has never dared to clash head-on with Liu Jinsong, because its strength is actually weak, only enough to kill some minor forces under the Fishermen's Gang.

Now, the ox demon actually wants to take advantage of his injury to get a cheap win?

Truly…

Ignorant of life and death!

Boom—

Liu Jinsong let out a roar as if insulted, like a master's true qi bursting forth, capable of piercing gold and shattering stone, hastening the birth of new blood within his body.

And that illusory divine form, originally shattered by Li Qingshan's hammer, now struggles to coalesce, riddled with cracks, its power greatly diminished.

But it is still an illusory form!

Countless air currents surged; the rain was struck and shattered by divinity, exploding into countless rain particles!

The dense divinity seemed to revive from dormancy, as murky currents merged with divinity and slowly condensed!

He, Liu Jinsong, can't beat Li Qingshan, and can't even beat you, ox demon?

A cowardly, sneaky wretch!

Boom—

The ground instantly exploded; countless rocks were crushed to powder by the terrifying illusory form's pressure, and dust billowed up.

Although Liu Jinsong was injured, he felt no fear whatsoever.

Ox demon……

And then?

Perfect, he's come to deliver himself to death!

Liu Jinsong never feared the ox demon; compared to Li Qingshan, the ox demon excels in cunning and slipperiness, and its vanishing shifting technique is especially annoying.

But in a true face-to-face clash, ten ox demons couldn't match the threat posed by a single Li Qingshan!

Suddenly.

Liu Jinsong's eyes narrowed, yet he saw the ox demon's burly body lunge forward.

Instantly, six black, fat crow-shaped objects fell to the ground, accompanied by six booming explosions.

Countless fine particles of ground divinity crystal floated around, enveloping Liu Jinsong.

"This is……"

Divinity crystal powder?!

Liu Jinsong's eyes narrowed; he instantly recognized the floating particles around him, and inwardly cried, 'Not good!'

He stomped down heavily, terrifying blood-and-qi true qi surging from his body as he slammed a fierce palm toward the ox demon.

The surging, trembling airflow howled, scattering countless raindrops, aiming to knock down all the dust!

"Eight Extremes Divinity Crystal powder… my divinity… I can't move!"

His heart suddenly sank to the depths.

Liu Jinsong felt only that the incomplete divine form condensed from his fury blurred and twisted, severed from the divinity in his Niwan Palace.

Instantly, the already weak illusory form collapsed completely!

What an ox demon!

Knowing that the divinity of an illusory form is too hard to counter, he sought out Eight Extremes Divinity Crystal, ground it into powder, and detonated it to create a zone that restricts divinity usage!

Is he planning to bring both to the same level to clash with martial artist's blood and qi?

Quite clever!

If they clashed with divinity, the ox demon would surely lose; it cannot form a Six Offices Divine Foundation like Li Qingshan's, and even Li Qingshan's Six Offices Divine Foundation is actually inferior to illusory-form divinity.

Li Qingshan's strength lies not only in his Six Offices Divine Foundation, but also in his masterful physique, having cultivated the Divine Sect's secret art, the Eight Flood Dragons Overturning the River Technique!

That is the true basis of Li Qingshan's strength.

So, what does the ox demon rely on?

Even without divinity, he is still a true qi grandmaster!

The ox demon shows no true qi fluctuations, obviously not a martial grandmaster; how could it resist?

He flicked his fingers, grabbed with five fingers, drew a long blade from the Heaven and Earth Jade, and fiercely slashed at the ox demon.

Vast true qi gathered in this blade, brilliant as the vast sun, instantly slicing the long sky; after disturbing the torn airflow which let out a mournful wail, it was explosively shattered by the cut.

The brilliant blade light, wrapped in rolling true qi, seemed to cleave the divine crystal powder open into a hollow clear flow.

Grand Master's one strike — Bull Demon, die!

Pfft—!

Liu Jinsong's lips curled up; under that blade he instantly cut into the Bull Demon's body, the Bull Demon mask bursting apart, and the Bull Demon was split in two from the shoulder by his force.

So easily obtained, a blade like cutting melons and vegetables...

Bull Demon, that's all!

However, Liu Jinsong quickly sensed something was off, because... there was no blood!

No bloody smell!

That blade split the Bull Demon, yet there was no spilled blood at all!

Liu Jinsong's eyes narrowed, a bad premonition suddenly welled up in his heart.

But the Bull Demon he had split explosively burst open, multicolored powder spraying out from its shattered body.

Liu Jinsong, with the body of a Grand Master, penetrated heaven and earth; each breath was like a whale exhaling and inhaling.

Inhaling a breath of airflow mixed with dust, Liu Jinsong instantly turned pale with shock, his face turning green.

"Lime? No... lime mixed with divine crystal mixed with poison powder!"

"It's highly toxic!"

"Despicable!"

Liu Jinsong roared in anger, hastily covered his mouth and nose, and spat out the poison powder he had just inhaled.

Liu Jinsong heavily stomped a step, roaring with a long whistle.

He swept his long blade out violently, the blade light rolling, the airflow howling and clearing the surrounding air, preventing the toxic divine crystal powder from approaching.

But suddenly, a rank pressure that made Liu Jinsong's scalp tingle and hair stand on end erupted from behind him.

"Buzz-bang" was the sound of his body breaking its shackles, violently swelling and expanding.

Liu Jinsong looked back and saw a towering figure he would find hard to forget.

Splendid gold burst from his pupils, specks of golden vapor diffusing from within.

Countless jet-black, vigorous strands of hair grew wildly, hanging to his waist like a heavy black cloak, flying with the fierce wind.

Thick tendons like huge pythons writhed beneath his near-crimson skin, one after another.

Indestructible Vajra, perfectly cultivated!

Emerging divine ability, Dragon Elephant Vajra·Ascending the Tower!

The Bull Demon heavily stomped a step, and a black temple god chess piece was suddenly pinched and exploded.

The resulting black mist shot up instantly, rushing into the nostrils beneath the Bull Demon's mask.

The internal qi seemed coated with a layer of red, like burning and boiling.

The Bull Demon unleashed a White Tiger Chaotic Wind!

After reaching the Divine Pulse Realm, Li Che again initiated Ascending the Tower; the strength from his bodily expansion underwent a qualitative change.

Or rather, he truly gave birth to Dragon Elephant Strength!

Strength bears the fruit: one dragon, one elephant!

A punch thrown, like an ancient elephant swinging its trunk, amidst Liu Jinsong's trembling muscles, bones, and blood flow, with an irresistible fierce posture, it horizontally pushed and smashed down.

Appearing slow, yet its speed reached the extreme, grinding and exploding the airflow, it fiercely smashed onto Liu Jinsong's chest.

The next moment...

Liu Jinsong's Grand Master flesh felt an extremely obvious power.

Like the power of a flood dragon and a barbaric wild elephant fused, it merged with the internal qi infused by a punch into his body, trampling and striking his physique.

This is... internal qi?!

Liu Jinsong glared, his skin flushed red, but unable to recover, the internal qi infused into his body shattered his Grand Master true qi, his python tendons, tiger bones, and his heavenly circuit meridians.

A large burst of blood mist lingered in place, while Liu Jinsong's whole body had already been blasted thirty zhang away.

His body heavily hit the ground, like a thousand-pound weight, the earth sank all around, a ring of kicked-up dust like well-rehearsed fireworks.

Liu Jinsong lay face-up on the ground, his eyes somewhat dazed.

How could he be so strong?

How could the Bull Demon possibly be this strong?!

Internal qi tore his true qi, tendons and bones, and the meridian network!

This is meridian opening?!

This was Liu Jinsong's final thought.

Because after the Bull Demon threw a punch, crushing his resistance, it came like a dark, abyssal mountain moving horizontally.

A crimson, dazzling long spear erupted with divine majesty; at the instant its tip trembled, it was like a peacock spreading its tail, countless spear shadows piercing his body.

It strangled his last life!

When the dust and smoke cleared.

At the edge of the ruins, Li Che, with jet-black vigorous hair dancing like a cloak, a towering figure like a mountain, his eyes emitting golden mist, appeared extraordinarily mystical amidst the howling dark clouds.

Gazing at the deep pit where Liu Jinsong's corpse lay pierced and ruined.

Li Che's Bull Demon mask hung faintly, his palm slowly raised, fingers inwardly hooked.

Upon Liu Jinsong's corpse, countless wisps of divinity rose like smoke, intertwining and coalescing into a human shape.

"God Bind..."

"Worship me."

……

……

Countless raindrops were torn apart, a figure shot forward like a cannonball, the air trembled, forming overlapping ripples that spread outward!

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Several figures fell down, swiftly approaching.

Divine essence intertwined behind him, twisting into a blurred divine visage.

Her graceful figure was extremely voluptuous, bowing her head she could not see her feet; Gong Yunli furrowed her brows, the supervisor's robe flapped loudly in the heavy rain and wind.

I'm late.

Gongyang Liancheng beside her also had his face sink, he pinched his beard.

Walking to the edge of the deep pit, he saw rotting flesh in the ruins, his eye twitching involuntarily.

He narrowed his eyes, fingers grasping at the air; instantly a mass of airflow gathered in his palm into a sphere.

His divine sense overflowed, sensing the matter and aura within the airflow sphere, his expression turned strange.

Arsenic, seeing-hand green powder, crane-top red, lime… plus divine essence powder, the method is vicious, and also the divine essence of the 【Three-Eyed Fury True King】 lingering between heaven and earth…

The attacker is undoubtedly the Bull Demon.

Gongyang Liancheng analyzed.

Bull Demon? That Bull Demon… actually dares to kill a Void-Phase?

Supervisor Gong Yunli was astonished, covering her mouth, full of amazement—Bull Demon… this fierce?

"A blood-depleted Void-Phase." Gongyang Liancheng added solemnly.

Li Qingshan's hammer strike shattered Liu Jinsong's Void-Phase; his divine power could only exert less than thirty percent, and even the master's fleshly body was hammered by Li Qingshan until he coughed blood.

In every aspect he was inferior to his peak; saying he was blood-depleted is not an exaggeration.

"But the Bull Demon managing this is not bad at all! When the Fishery Gang experts laid a heaven-and-earth net to catch him, he still dared to come out for a sneak attack, that's the bull!" Gong Yunli praised.

A stream of air shot forth; Li Qingshan came drifting with hands behind his back, wearing a cat-face mask, hiding a ram-horn hammer in his sleeve.

Gazing at Liu Jinsong's corpse in the deep pit.

Li Qingshan's expression beneath the mask was almost shocked to distortion.

That kid… has his courage grown to this extent?

He even dares to kill a Void-Phase?

What if… he isn't afraid of the what-if… being counter-killed by the Void-Phase?!

That is a Void-Phase being, only half a step away from truly possessing a Divine-Phase!

After a long while, Li Qingshan slowly exhaled a turbid breath.

This Bull Demon…

He could only sigh like this.

Others may not know who the Bull Demon is, but how could he not know?

A year ago, that Bull Demon was merely a mere blood-exchange martial artist.

Even before reaching the prefectural city, the Bull Demon had only just stepped into the Meridian-Phase.

Now, he actually killed a Void-Phase, even if it was a blood-depleted one…

But even a blood-depleted Void-Phase has far more vitality than a Meridian-Phase!

Amazing…

Li Qingshan suddenly laughed, feeling he might have truly misjudged.

This Li Che, his potential may not be the slightest bit weaker than that daughter of his who is an extraordinary spirit child.

Li Qingshan now has an urge, wanting to immediately go see someone…

However, tonight's matter is not yet settled; the turmoil has just begun, Li Qingshan can only suppress his anticipation and curiosity.

Let's go, leave the dead clean and tidy, don't leave anything for this old man.

What's there to see in a rotting corpse?

The Fishery Gang is finished; let's settle accounts, all the bad deeds they've done over the years must now be paid for with their lives.

Li Qingshan let out a heh-heh laugh.

The prefectural city… has someone who hates evil even more than this old man.

……

……

Inside the study, the candlelight was dim.

Li Che slowly opened his eyes; the chess piece he had grasped returned to the board's Dao fruit.

Taking off his bamboo hat, stowing his mask and black robe, Li Che retrieved the Inda Divine General from the 【Suspending Thought Willow Wood Body】 onto the 【Immaculate Heart】 Dao fruit.

Li Che exhaled, sitting in the grand teacher's chair, blankly staring at the flickering lamp flame; the smile at the corner of his mouth could no longer be suppressed.

Liu Jinsong is indeed a Void-Phase; the pressure he exerted on Li Che was immense, even though he had been hammered by Li Qingshan into a blood-depleted state.

Yet he is no ordinary foe; the Void-Phase's aura brings immense oppression, though not matching true Divine-Phase pressure, it is enough to weaken Li Che's combat power by twenty to thirty percent.

Therefore, Li Che immediately used the powder of the Eight Extremes Divine Essence Crystal that he had drained; only such powder can restrain a Void-Phase's divine essence.

Moreover, he did it in two stages: first using a Ferrycrow Hand Grenade to blast away smoke and dust, then applying poison, lime mixed with divine essence crystal, ensuring Liu Jinsong could absolutely not use his divine essence.

At this point, he again activated the Ascending Pavilion State.

After breaking through to the Divine Meridian in his cultivation, activating the Ascending Pavilion State's amplification was tremendous, even awakening the strength of one dragon and one elephant!

With all his strength, he literally shattered Liu Jinsong's tendons and bones inch by inch, followed by his frantic barrage of explosive blasts.

If Liu Jinsong were uninjured, I fear it would still be a hard battle…

Still, a sneak attack offers the best cost‑effectiveness.

So, people, try not to get hurt easily… otherwise you'll be too prone to attack; it's better to attack others than to be attacked by them.

Reflect, summarize, innovate, and learn the lessons from enemies who were struck down.

Li Che conducted a post‑battle debrief.

After the debrief, he adjusted his breathing, exhaled a turbid breath, and calmed his inner turmoil.

Li Che lowered his eyelids, began to dispose of the loot, and tallied his gains.

The harvest of a Xu Xiang realm cultivator was enough to make Li Che's heart flutter with great anticipation!

Although he was merely the deputy chief of the Fishermen's Gang, he was nevertheless a Xu Xiang expert!

Looking across the prefecture city, a Xu Xiang cultivator counts as a top‑tier expert!

His personal collection of wealth is certainly not shabby.

Moreover, a cultivator of the Xu Xiang level would definitely keep his treasures on his person; hiding them elsewhere would be less safe than keeping them with himself.

Thus Li Che remained quite eager for this harvest.

Li Che's first focus was the divine‑nature crystals.

He had two Nine‑Luminaries divine‑nature crystals, and next were twenty Ten‑Capital divine‑nature crystals.

The haul was certainly not small!

Li Che was still quite excited and thrilled; the feeling of striking it rich always left him savoring and lingering.

However, what left Li Che somewhat regretful was that Liu Jing‑song's stash contained no Eight‑Poles divine‑nature crystal.

After all, Eight‑Poles divine‑nature crystals are inherently rare and precious; even if he had one, Liu Jing‑song would have immediately used it for cultivation.

How could it possibly be cheap for Li Che?

After confirming the divine‑nature crystals, Li Che's excitement subsided and he continued tallying the spoils.

One divine weapon: a Nine‑Luminaries top‑grade longsword, of considerable value.

The medicines were an unexpected find: nine‑grade top‑tier martial pills from the Corpse God Sect, Corpse God Myriad Ghosts Death‑Qi Condensing Martial Pills, in a large quantity—three bottles, each holding nine pills.

"This Liu Jing‑song has completely defected to the Corpse God Sect, reaped great benefits, and intends to cultivate the Corpse‑Possessing Body!"

Li Che's eyes flickered as he understood why Liu Jing‑song could possess so many death‑qi martial pills.

As for cultivation techniques, Li Che didn't gain much.

The divine nature that Liu Jing‑song cultivates is the Grief aspect of the Seven Emotions divine nature, which shares the same source as Li Che's 【Resentful Wail Suppresses Ghosts】.

Li Che wishes to forge the Seven Emotions divine foundation, but he still lacks the Fear and Worry aspects.

A divine‑nature method of the same origin would not be of much significance.

"What a pity… the Fishermen's Gang, as a power under the prefecture city's five great clans and five great sects, must have a splendid treasury… I never got the chance to see it."

Li Che felt a pang of regret, beating his chest and stamping his feet.

"You won't give me time… you should wait a bit longer for me, until I become stronger."

He exhaled a sigh, and Li Che gathered up his gains.

He began to sense his own transformation and improvement from this battle.

A faint stream of light flickered past before his eyes.

【Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv3, 20%), Immaculate Mind (LV3, 5%), Chess Sage (LV2, 68%)】

The Dragon Elephant Vajra dao fruit increased significantly; slaying a wounded Xu Xiang cultivator counted as a counter‑attack against the odds, the pressure was considerable, and the combat experience gained and converted into dao‑fruit maturity was indeed notable.

But even more notable was the increase of the Chess Sage dao fruit.

After all, having absorbed Liu Jing‑song's entire divine nature… directly boosted the Chess Sage dao fruit's maturity by 20%!

If he were to absorb a few more Xu Xiang cultivators, he could straightaway reach level 3!

Besides that.

Li Che's divine sense flowed, feeling a faint sting in his flesh—this was the minor strain caused by unleashing the power of one dragon and one elephant after activating the Ascending Tower state.

"The power of the dragon and elephant… one dragon, one elephant—is it because I opened my divine meridian?"

Li Che slightly closed his eyes, recalling and savoring the sensation of the dragon‑elephant power erupting while in the Ascending Tower state.

He took out a Fury Xuan Jia Blood Martial Pill; his strong stomach crushed the pill casing, and the potent medicinal power spread throughout his body.

Li Che slowly practiced the White Tiger Chaotic Wind Fist in his study.

It seemed as if dragon chants and elephant trumpets echoed, winding through his trembling bones and tendons!

He suddenly opened his eyes; the candlelight flickered, his twin pupils seeming to glow, brilliant as a rising sun!

"The power of the dragon and elephant… is it a body‑forging method derived from the lingering dao fruit?"

【Dragon Elephant Vajra】 dao fruit, a method derived and passed down from it.

Experiencing combat under pressure, he couldn't help but form an initial impression of such a method.

Li Che, whose martial talent is extraordinarily high, gradually sketched it out in his mind.

Gradually, a martial art derived from the dao fruit, not yet perfect, was recorded by him.

"The dao fruit gives rise to a method, but the method is incomplete, imperfect; it needs to be gradually written into completeness later."

"Borrowing the dao fruit to create a method…"

Li Che's eyes opened and closed, light radiating outward, his emotions surging.

"Thus… let us first call it the 'Dragon Elephant True Strength'… nurtured by qi‑blood, internal force, and spirit, it can continually raise the explosive limit of dragon‑elephant strength."

"People nurture strength; strength nurtures people!"

"Now it is one dragon and one elephant; in the future, could we reach ten dragons and ten elephants, a hundred dragons and a hundred elephants, a thousand dragons and a thousand elephants?!"

Li Che's gaze burned bright.

Although the Dragon Elephant True Strength is not yet perfected, Li Che feels that even its beginning is extraordinary, and now it already rivals the level of supreme martial arts.

Even the upper limit is extremely high!

"I've heard that to break through to Grandmaster, one needs to master a secret art of true intent; this secret art I've born from the Dao fruit isn't exactly the opportunity for the future Grandmaster's path, is it?"

Li Che laughed.

Grandmaster's Method, we have it!

The Grandmaster's path is right before us!

This is merely a preliminary creation of the method, not yet perfect.

Li Che also needs to constantly innovate, comparing it to the normal Grandmaster's Method; if he could obtain several secret martial arts, extracting their essences and merging them into the Dragon Elephant True Strength, that would be excellent.

That way, using the Dragon Elephant True Strength to assault Grandmaster in the future can be guaranteed to avoid accidents.

"Secret-level martial arts are extremely rare; even if they exist, they are treasures hoarded by various forces… The Eight Flood Dragons Overturning the River that Lao Li just performed seems to be the Divine Sect's secret-level martial art; if I…"

Li Che's eyes gleamed, and he couldn't help but direct his idea toward Li Qingshan.

However, he soon dismissed that thought.

"Forget it, no rush."

"They will all come."

Asking for monthly votes, recommendation votes, and readership support! I'm screwed—collections and readership have dropped, Lao Li pleads!