Chapter 216 Cao Qianqiu

The old man appeared when the road was blocked. This “surprise” came so suddenly that Qin Ming took three steps back.

He had a premonition that there was something wrong with the nine divine chains. He initially thought that Li Qingxu had sealed some mysterious power, which would eventually erupt.

At that time, he might face an even stronger Li Qingxu. However, in this first realm, Qin Ming is fearless in the face of challenge.

He was even hoping for something.

Who would have thought that Old Deng would eventually step forward?

It’s like on your wedding night, when you lift the red veil, you find a grumpy old man grinning at you. All the anticipation turns into horror. Qin Ming didn’t get to see the “complete” Li Qingxu; instead, he was greeted by his utterly detestable master.

“Breaking my Nine Dragons Nourishing Body Technique will come at a price!” Li Qingxu shouted loudly. He was covered in blood, had extensive fractures, and could barely stand.

At this moment, he was filled with boundless killing intent. Even when he was severely injured before, he was able to remain calm, but now his emotions were fluctuating wildly.

This time his voice was exceptionally loud, and the spectators standing on the various high mountains could hear it.

“His path to immortality has been severed, so what is he still so proud of? Sure enough, even if he hasn’t won a crucial battle, he can’t afford to lose his high standards.”

“The light that burst forth from his body was extremely dangerous. Was this his trump card?” From a great distance, many people did not see the true nature of this pure yang light.

Cao Qianqiu stood with his hands behind his back, slowly ascending into the air, looking down at Qin Ming with the same domineering and powerful demeanor as before, displaying an attitude of looking down on the world.

Li Qingyue saw it clearly because she possessed spiritual eyes. Her brows furrowed slightly, sensing something was wrong. Cao Qianqiu was fiercely protective of his own; who could stop him?

All the immortals and gods on the other paths sensed the anomaly and gazed solemnly with divine light in their eyes.

This was a wisp of Cao Qianqiu’s pure Yang consciousness. In an instant, he understood the situation here and looked at his disciple with a complicated expression.

He himself is hard to defeat, so how come his disciples are in such a miserable state?

The Nine Dragons Nourishing Body Technique is recorded in the Zhenjiao Scripture. If it is accumulated over time, and the divine chains are allowed to break and fall off naturally, Li Qingxu’s talent and strength will increase dramatically.

As a result, his skills were broken prematurely, and so badly that he almost had all his bones broken.

Li Qingxu felt ashamed. He had been defeated by a demon and had been forced to use the life-saving trump card left to him by his master. He felt utterly humiliated.

“It’s alright. The Nine Dragons Nourishing Body Technique also has the concept of destruction followed by construction, and it will become even more powerful in the future,” Cao Qianqiu said.

He was unruly and reckless in the outside world, his hands stained with blood. He even tried to suppress the founder of the New Life Path and become his strongman. He once bullied the weak and killed the Overlord without caring about his reputation, which was despised by others. However, his protectiveness towards his disciples was indeed very loyal to them.

Li Qingxu was deeply moved, his eyes reddening as he nodded. Even at this moment, his master was still comforting him. “It’s a pity that I didn’t have the chance to break through and rebuild myself in my youth,” Cao Qianqiu said.

These words caused Li Qingxu’s facial expression to freeze.

“Mirror, come out quickly, there’s a problem here!” Qin Ming called out in his heart. The old man in front of him was incredibly skilled, and few people were willing to face him.

“Currently, he hasn’t exceeded the limit,” the Heavenly Demon Mirror responded. However, the gloom in Qin Ming’s heart remained.

If this pure yang consciousness were to remember him and resonate with his original body, then his future would be practically over, if not completely cut off.

This old man kills whomever he pleases, doing as he pleases, and few can restrain him.

Back then, in the divine city built by the giant centipede, Cao Qianqiu wanted to kill Qin Ming with a single finger simply because Qin Ming’s fighting style was somewhat similar to that of the Overlord.

If Meng Xinghai’s grand-uncle hadn’t intervened in time, Qin Ming would have been reduced to a cloud of blood mist without even realizing it. “Watch closely as I crush him!” Cao Qianqiu said.

Li Qingxu was shocked; his master was about to take action himself!

Qin Ming knew this matter couldn’t be resolved peacefully; the old man was indeed going to personally intervene—a long-standing tradition of this lineage. “Come here, I’ll kill you!” Cao Qianqiu declared, his words dripping with murderous intent.

Now that things had come to this, Qin Ming no longer remained silent, nor would he back down. He calmly spoke, “If you were to return to your youth, or if I were born in your era, I might very well be able to beat you up!”

Cao Qianqiu sneered and said, “You’re not convinced? Ha, I look down on all the worlds and see how many so-called heroes have turned to dust over the years. Even the strongest of an era are only barely qualified to come close to me.”

His head was full of silver hair, shrouded in the red sun, and his eyes became extremely sharp. He hovered in the air and looked down at the young man in front of him, saying: “As for you young men, you will not be able to come to my presence even if you take one step and kowtow one step at a time.”

Ming’s expression changed. He admitted that the old guy was indeed powerful, having kicked through countless iron plates throughout his life. However, this man was also incredibly arrogant.

His temper flared up, and he said, “I am indeed not convinced. There’s no point in saying more. Give me a chance to fight you in the same field, and I promise to strangle you.”

Cao Qianqiu was surprised. For so many years, no one had dared to speak to him like that. The last person to openly contradict and reprimand him was that tyrant.

He spoke coldly: “Hmm, this environment forces me to fight on the same level? Heh, fine. When I was in my prime, I dared to sweep away all my rivals. Today, I’ll be arrogant once more and crush your so-called geniuses with one hand.”

Qin Ming finally understood why this old man was hated by gods and ghosts, even demons were jealous of him, and even street dogs wanted to bite him. Every word this old guy said was extremely hateful.

It’s completely understandable how his opponents feel. They can’t do anything about him, and if they dare to provoke him, they’ll be beaten to a pulp. So they’re all filled with resentment, anger, and bitterness, and they have to keep it to themselves even if they’re not convinced.

In just a short while, Qin Ming’s emotions were stirred up by him.

With a clang, the dragon blade in his hand shone brightly, flowing with black and white light in an instant, and resonated with the sound of dragons and snakes. He said, “Stop relying on your age. Today, let’s see if I can cleave you in two or if you can strangle me with one hand!”

Qin Ming was inspired by the old man’s powerful fighting spirit; he hadn’t felt such an urgent desire to fight someone in a long time.

“Very well, another insignificant skeleton has been added to the river of time I’ve waded through.” Cao Qianqiu nodded, an extremely dangerous aura emanating from his body.

He pointed his finger, and countless runes appeared in mid-air, like a glittering galaxy or like countless immortal flower buds about to bloom.

Li Qingxu was both ashamed and excited, for in the end his master appeared and personally killed the demon seed.

In the secret realm, none of the parties knew what was happening on the battlefield, nor did they know that the light manifesting from Li Qingxu’s body was Cao Qianqiu, and they could not hear the conversation there.

Undoubtedly, if the “casual conversation” between the old man and the young man were to get out, it would cause a huge uproar! Only a few people were aware of it and guessed the truth.

After Cao Qianqiu pointed his finger, the dense runes in mid-air condensed together with a loud bang, transforming into a large hammer engraved with numerous patterns.

He held it in his hand and said, “Whether it’s a demon or a newcomer, their early methods are pretty much the same. I’ll just crush you in your area of ​​expertise.”

Amidst the clanging sounds, the dragon blade in Qin Ming’s hand also changed, reforming into a large hammer, black and white, swirling with the yin and yang symbols. His fighting spirit was ignited, and he prepared to confront the old man head-on.

He activated the Dragon and Snake Scripture with the unified Heavenly Light Force, imbued with demonic energy, and manifested the Dragon and Snake Hammer, his essence, energy, and spirit highly concentrated.

Then, Qin Ming took the initiative and charged forward with his hammer.

He couldn’t possibly follow the old man’s pace; facing such a madman, the best response was to simply crush him. Cao Qianqiu, a man of strong character throughout his life, took the initiative to attack upon seeing this.

His body, formed from pure Yang consciousness, was light and ethereal, yet incredibly fast. Wielding the rune-inscribed hammer, he swooped down in an instant.

The blinding sunlight surged as he swung the hammer, creating a deafening explosion as he smashed it towards the boy in front of him.

Qin Ming was deeply surprised that Cao Qianqiu had actually simulated the terrifying characteristics of the Heavenly Light Force with his pure Yang consciousness and spiritual light. It was indeed somewhat heaven-defying.

With a loud thud, like a thunderclap, the entire battlefield was shaken. Anything in the mountains, including grass, trees, and boulders, that was struck by the streaks of light unleashed by the two men shattered and exploded.

In the arena, both men’s hair flew backward, their clothes fluttering wildly as they were struck by the terrifying “Heavenly Light Force.” Although Cao Qianqiu was formed from a spiritual light, he appeared no different from a person of flesh and blood.

He stood in mid-air, spun around, swung his right arm, and slammed down with even more ferocity.

Undeterred, Qin Ming leaped into the air, stretched his body, and swung the Dragon-Snake Hammer at his opponent.

Instantly, a muffled sound erupted in mid-air, deafening and intense, with beams of light surging like thunder from the heavens, causing the entire area to shake violently.

Cao Qianqiu soared into the air amidst the shockwave. His pure Yang spiritual body was incredibly light, as if he were exerting no effort, as he leaped over twenty meters away, gripping a hammer covered in runes.

Qin Ming descended from the sky, the ground beneath his feet cracking open. The great hammer in his hand surged with heavenly energy, as if crackling with lightning. “You’ve got some skill. Hmm, you’ve got a problem,” Cao Qianqiu said, staring at him.

In fact, ever since he met Qin Ming, he had sensed that this person was not a pure demon, but he didn’t think much of it. Now that they had fought, he naturally learned a lot of information based on his experience.

Qin Ming interrupted him, saying, “Stop talking nonsense. I’d love to see how you’re going to kill me. And don’t just use one hand, use both!”

In fact, he himself also had one hand behind his back.

Cao Qianqiu’s expression was indifferent as he raised the sledgehammer in his hand once more.

The power he displayed, though called the Heavenly Light Force, was actually simulated by his pure Yang consciousness and spiritual light. It was far more powerful than the Heavenly Light Force that people on the path to immortality cultivated themselves. The attribute of “pure Yang” alone was enough to overwhelm everything.

He used runes to continuously stack up, constructing this pure yang light into an extremely terrifying “force”.

Behind him, Li Qingxu was greatly shocked. This was the first time he had seen his master’s power at this stage, and he truly could not surpass his master.

Cao Qianqiu, wielding a large hammer, flew in his spirit form, moving with lightning speed, and once again swooped down towards Qin Ming.

This time, Qin Ming stood still, violently activating the Heavenly Light Force, causing the Dragon-Snake Hammer in his right hand to vibrate and roar, surrounded by dazzling beams of light, and even emitting a hissing sound as it cut through the air.

Like a flash flood or a breached dam, the thunderous roar continued as Qin Ming and Cao Qianqiu clashed repeatedly, nearly sinking the mountain and tearing through the night.

The two suddenly separated, and Qin Ming looked across at the other side, holding the Dragon-Snake Hammer.

Cao Qianqiu’s spirit floated away, moving more than ten meters backward. The rune hammer in his hand was shattered, and now only half of the hammer handle remained.

“Use your immortal techniques!” Qin Ming put his left hand behind his back and pointed the black and white dragon-snake hammer at Cao Qianqiu in mid-air.

(There’s more to come!)