Clash of the Imperial Roads

Qin Ming slapped him across the face, and with a crack, Li Qingxu's face split open.

"So hard?" he exclaimed in surprise. It was just a statue; what kind of material was it made of? It could actually withstand the force of his palm strike. He didn't stop there. Since one slap hadn't shattered it, he would strike again.

Moreover, this time he increased his strength, Dragon Snake Scripture. Immediately, crackling sounds rang out as Li Qingxu's face shattered, followed by his entire head exploding.

Qin Ming naturally disliked him. Before he even embarked on his New Life Path, his arm had been broken by this man, and his skull had been shattered in three places, giving him a near-death experience.

He was in a coma for at least two months and almost never woke up. In any case, the feud between him and Li Qingxu could not be resolved.

In a misty, cloud-shrouded palace, Li Qingxu was meditating with his eyes closed. Purple Mist flowed around the futon he sat on, enveloping him.

On the table in front of him, an incense stick had been lit, emanating a faint Daoist aura that could bring one's mind to a state of exceptional clarity.

In Li Qingxu's mind, the secret teachings of the sect that he had memorized in the past were being cleared of the fog, and the core essence was emerging clearly. He gradually grasped the true meaning and thoroughly understood it.

At this moment, celestial energy was rising, and countless runes appeared on his body, as if they were being branded into his flesh and blood and the Consciousness Spirit Light.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the path he was on shook violently, nearly knocking him off the special prayer mat. Li Qingxu abruptly opened his eyes, his face filled with astonishment. How could an external force have interfered at such a crucial moment?

Just now, he had focused all his Essence, Qi, and Spirit on the Page of True Inheritance, using this Enlightenment Land to try to comprehend its profound meaning, but he was suddenly awakened.

This infuriated him; nothing could be worse. "What's going on?" He jumped to his feet.

"Beings from other paths are attacking the 'traces' you left behind." A mechanical and cold voice echoed in the palace. "What impact will this have on me?" Li Qingxu asked.

"When he breaks your statue in that square, he can challenge you to a duel across different paths!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qingxu's feathered robes fluttered, and his hair was lifted. He originally possessed an Near-Immortal aura, but now his gaze was icy cold.

"How can I retaliate now?" he said coldly, having never suffered such a loss before.

His senior Senior Brother and Senior Sister were all over a hundred years old, and all of them were powerful, so he was not afraid of anyone.

Anyone who dares to target him like this must retaliate fiercely.

Most importantly, he was Cao Qianqiu's youngest disciple, and their lineage had always been in a dominant position!

That cold voice told him, "He's only been on his way for a short time, only reaching the plaza at the first Nodes. He hasn't left any trace there yet, so his message can't reach you. For now, we can only wait."

Li Qingxu's face was gloomy. He was actually forced to passively take a beating? He could only sit here and wait for someone to challenge him. Normally, he would have attacked directly and taken the initiative.

"Who is he?" he asked again.

The cold voice stated, "He leaves his mark in the square; his name will only be recorded after the statue is erected. For now, all we know is that he stands on the Fiend Path."

Li Qingxu's expression was cold as he said, "The plateau outside the Third Forbidden Land is about to be ravaged by blood, yet a young demon dares to set out and infiltrate the Secret Realm. He's quite bold. We'll deal with him later; I doubt he'll ever leave the Secret Realm alive."

He waited a moment and found that the whole road was quiet and there was no more attack.

He couldn't keep going like this. The incense stick that had already been lit was very precious, and he didn't want to waste it, so he sat down cross-legged again.

The futon beneath him was no ordinary object either; it too aided in enlightenment. These were temporary gifts from this place after he embarked on the mysterious Immortal Path.

Qin Ming was looking at the other statues and discovered Li Qingyue, the Tathagata's Abandoned Disciple, Su Shiyun, and others, all of whom were of the Immortal Seed or God Seed. Little Wu was also among them.

"Hmm, of everyone, I still dislike you the most. Just disappear completely!"

After Qin Ming turned around, he kicked out in mid-air with a kick, which was the Tail-Swing Form from the Dragon Snake Scripture!

With a crack, the upper half of the entire statue exploded.

Then, he delivered a second kick, and Li Qingxu's afterimage exploded completely.

Qin Ming was immediately in a great mood.

In the distance, Li Qingxu's path suddenly trembled twice. Startled once again, he withdrew from his Enlightenment Realm, his face turning frosty.

Suddenly, Qin Ming saw his own blurry figure appear, and a voice asked his name. "My statue is standing here too, what's going on?"

After a moment, he roughly understood.

"Fiend Path Demon One formally challenges Immortal Path Li Qingxu!" a cold voice rang out.

"It's finally here!" Li Qingxu stood up, his face ashen. Then, he saw a statue reflected in the palace.

He was certain he had never seen this wild and untamed demon before, and he made no attempt to hide his loathing for the challenger, wishing he could smash him to pieces with a single blow.

This time it was Qin Ming's turn to frown. It turned out that these statues had another "secret" function, allowing different paths to clash. In front of him, the statue of Li Qingxu in the square reappeared, perfectly intact.

"Isn't this supposed to be a head-on fight?" Qin Ming asked.

The mechanical voice announced, "That's not the case. Rather, it's the collision that occurs after your respective 'achievements' on your paths have materialized!"

"This is boring!" Li Qingxu was somewhat dissatisfied upon hearing this. He really wanted to confront that demon head-on. As far as he knew, the Demon Seed on the plateau was nothing special.

"The challenge has begun; you may now make your move." A cold voice rang out.

In an instant, Li Qingxu discovered that the statue displayed in front of him seemed to have come to life. He immediately swung the Purple Bamboo Staff and hurled it forward.

His body, flesh, and even his consciousness were covered in runes, indicating that he had been using some kind of scripture he had just been studying.

In an instant, the power of his flesh and blood resonated with the Consciousness Spirit Light, making the purple bamboo stick in his hand almost transparent, carrying his terrifying power.

Qin Ming discovered that Li Qingxu in the square seemed to have truly come back to life, appearing before him and brandishing a weapon at him.

At this moment, he did not hesitate. Facing a true Near Immortal Seed in the Second Realm, he dared not be careless in the slightest and naturally had to go all out.

In fact, he felt he had acted rashly this time, starting a war with Li Qingxu too early, after all, his own cultivation level was not high enough.

The Silver Robed Youth and the Spider Scorpion he killed in the Secret Realm only possessed Fragmented Demon Seed, not its complete form.

Boom!

Along his path, a large amount of red demonic mist was stirred up and surged violently. In an instant, the unified Scorching Sun Heavenly Light Force resembled a blazing sun in the sky, stained with blood, as it hurtled forward.

"Um?"

"This is..."

Both were deeply surprised and felt they had underestimated their opponent's strength!

Qin Ming originally thought that he might be under unimaginable pressure.

But at this moment, a look of astonishment crossed his face. Was this the Near Immortal Seed of the Second Realm? It had actually been blocked by his punch!

Well, it's somewhat overrated!

At the very least, his fist blast knocked the bamboo stick away, rendering it completely harmless.

"How is this possible? Why is the demon so strong?!" Li Qingxu was shocked because he saw that after the statue erupted, its fist came crashing down like a blood-stained Scorching Sun standing in front of him.

At this moment, his Consciousness Spirit Light was being burned with excruciating pain.

His right hand, which was gripping the stick, was numb from the impact, and he was actually being pushed backward.

A cold voice rang out. "This is the result of your achievements on your respective paths, materialized, and then colliding at the same level."

For a moment, Li Qingxu was stunned. In a battle between people of the same domain, he was actually no match for that demon!

He didn't know the other person's exact cultivation level, but he guessed it was also in the Second Realm.

"I see, that's interesting!" Qin Ming said, a smile spreading across his face.

"A solemn reminder: you may engage in 'Imperial Road ' confrontation, but you need not come into contact with each other!" a mechanical voice announced, informing them that this was to protect those aspiring to pave the way.

In the Secret Realm, many people suddenly looked up, because two paths had inexplicably appeared in the void, running across the area, and were visible to everyone.

They actually charged together like two mountains colliding, and exchanged blows.

One road was shrouded in Yao Qi, the other in Immortal Mist; both were floating and swirling there. Was this a clash between Demon Seed and Immortal Seed, a battle about to erupt? Everyone was astonished.

At this moment, one road was shrouded in surging red demonic mist, with dragon roars echoing along it; the other road was filled with surging immortal energy, and some Pure Yang Consciousness Spirit Light.

Everyone saw that the two roads collided again.

A chilling aura emanated from there, as if two mountain ranges were about to collapse.

The Fiend Path clearly had the upper hand, suppressing the Immortal Path, which trembled violently, making one wonder if it might break. "Could it be... that person making a move?" Gan Jincheng's voice trembled.

"Could it be that he... traveled as Fiend Seed to conceal his true form?" Jiang Ruoli was also somewhat lost in thought, staring blankly at the sky.

At this moment, Xiao Yaqin, Liu Hannya, and others had similar thoughts, because they all knew that Qin Ming had obtained several Fragmented Demon Seed.

Xin Youdao said with utmost seriousness, "Don't forget, we all swore an oath using forbidden techniques. That person, no matter what, should not be him."

"Yes, even if it really is... uh, it's not him!" That's right, it's definitely not him!

Although they all said this, their Divine Capital burned with intense light as they stared at the two paths in the sky, their expressions turbulent.

They naturally knew the gravity of the situation and that some things couldn't be said carelessly. The other party had saved their lives, and even without any forbidden techniques, they wouldn't bring it up again.

"That was Li Qingxu's path. He was ambushed. It was truly unexpected that there would be such a demon in the Secret Realm, whose power is unimaginable!"

The disciples from the Beyond the Mundane Pure Land were also looking up at the sky, completely stunned.

"Li Qingxu might be shot down!" someone said, bringing up the old story with a hint of excitement in their voice.

Immediately, someone retorted, "Shut up! Senior Brother Li won't lose. He's Senior Cao's last disciple, with the Ambition to Pioneer a Path. He could be Near-Immortal in the future!"

People were wary of Cao Qingqiu's lineage and naturally didn't want to give anyone cause for criticism or be caught out. Therefore, many people stopped talking and just watched quietly.

(There's more to come!)