Deep inside the mine.
Lu Qingshan dug the last piece of Flame Heart Stone from the rock wall in this area, then stopped and headed outside.
This time, he unearthed more than two hundred pieces of Flame Heart Stone of various sizes, and even his share of the value was no less than 100,000 Cosmic Sand.
It's just an Eternal True God. Obtaining this much from a single gathering mission is more than enough. Any more might arouse suspicion.
After all, stumbling upon a rich mine once is just good luck; if it happens every time, everyone knows there will definitely be some problems.
In a situation where one's position is unstable, there is no need to invite others' covetousness.
This is also why he had only previously taught a lesson to a few of Zhong Shan's fellow disciples.
However----
That's what Lu Qingshan thought, but things didn't develop as he expected.
Just as he left the abandoned mine, suddenly, an aura far more powerful than Zhong Shan's flew towards them from afar.
The aura was extremely powerful, like a sharp sword, with a keen edge and a chilling killing intent.
In just a moment, a tall and slender figure appeared in the void in front of Lu Qingshan.
The newcomer was dressed in silver armor, with a cold expression, carrying a silver greatsword on his back, and his eyes were full of killing intent.
"You are Xue You —the newly joined inner disciple of the sect?"
Qu Guang spoke, his tone carrying a condescending air.
Lu Qingshan glanced at him. "Who are you!"
He had only recently joined the Flame Ruins Sect Flame Ruins Sect, and the only other disciples he had come into contact with besides the Fire Saint were Wu Huan and Zhong Shan and the others from earlier. He didn't know much about the other disciples.
"My Qu Guang —one of the top ten inner disciples—you don't even know me?"
A cold glint flashed in Qu Guang's eyes.
Lu Qingshan didn't answer his question, but continued, "Did Zhong Shan invite you?"
" Zhong Shan is my friend." Qu Guang didn't deny it, but said directly, "You injured my junior brother and robbed his mine, so naturally I have to come and ask you about it."
"The mine belongs to the sect, not him. I'm digging here, and I don't owe anyone anything."
Lu Qingshan said calmly.
"That's the principle, but in the Flame Ruins Sect, principle always comes down to strength. You're stronger than Zhong Shan, so you can teach him a lesson. But now, I'm stronger than you. Tell me, how many of those Flame Heart Stone you have are you planning to hand over as an apology?"
"Hehe----Dream on."
"Then I'll have to come and get it myself!"
As soon as Qu Guang finished speaking, his figure had already vanished.
Lu Qingshan frowned slightly. He had not sensed that the other party had used spatial teleportation; it was purely due to extreme speed that the other party had even disappeared from his perception.
Immediately afterward, the vanished figure reappeared like a silver streak of Flowing Light.
He aimed his sword straight at Lu Qingshan's face.
This sword strike looked very simple, just an ordinary strike. However, Lu Qingshan felt that his body was firmly locked in place. At this moment, no matter which direction he dodged, this sword strike seemed destined to land on him.
In this situation, dodging is pointless; a head-on confrontation might yield a better outcome.
Indeed, there are some powerful Eternal True God within this Flame Ruins Sect.
Lu Qingshan's gaze sharpened, and a blood-red War Blade appeared in his hand.
He held his War Blade horizontally in front of him, blocking his way.
"Boom!!"
In that instant, the sword had already fallen. Although Lu Qingshan blocked it with his War Blade, the terrifying force that followed forced Lu Qingshan to retreat hundreds of kilometers. His feet carved two deep furrows in the hard ground. In the direction the sword was pointing, his robes turned black, and silver primal power was now destroying his divine body.
Even so, Lu Qingshan still managed to withstand it.
He easily extinguished even that remaining strength.
A hint of surprise flashed in Qu Guang's eyes.
Although he didn't use his full strength in this sword strike, it was definitely not something an ordinary Eternal True God could withstand. Even an Eternal True God like Zhong Shan would be killed by his sword. Unexpectedly, this guy not only withstood it, but also seemed to be unharmed.
"Your divine physique is impressive, but it's not enough to fight me."
Qu Guang spoke calmly, and then made another move.
This time, his swordsmanship became more complex, with sword lights crisscrossing and streaks of silver light dancing in the void.
Holding his War Blade, Lu Qingshan exchanged a few blows and immediately felt immense pressure.
The Qu Guang's moves were so exquisite that they completely exceeded his expectations. Each sword move seemed to exist independently, but in fact, they were very coherent and interlocked, leaving him unable to find any flaws.
If no openings are found, one can only face endless attacks, without even a chance to retaliate.
Lu Qingshan could only rely on his powerful divine body to endure these attacks one by one.
"It hasn't been long, yet my divine body has lost one ten-thousandth of its original size, "Lu Qingshan's expression changed slightly.
He knew that things couldn't continue like this.
The opponent's secret technique was too powerful. He could only passively take the beating. He was only able to withstand it because he had cultivated a divine body. If he hadn't come to the Flame Ruins Sect and hadn't borrowed money from the Fire Saint to cultivate a divine body, his original divine body wouldn't have been able to withstand this attack from Qu Guang.
"My secret techniques are still too weak."
Lu Qingshan was well aware of his weaknesses. In front of these veteran Eternal True God from the Origin Continent, his moves appeared extremely clumsy. The Destruction Origin and Space-Time Origin he knew were executed very crudely. Against an opponent like Qu Guang, who had honed his secret techniques to the extreme, he was completely at a disadvantage in terms of skill.
If it weren't for his resilient divine body, he would have given up long ago.
On the other side, Qu Guang's expression also changed slightly. He had obviously not expected that Lu Qingshan could hold out for so long.
Unable to quickly defeat his opponent, he began to burn his divine power during his attack. Although his attacks were fierce, he had already consumed one-thousandth of his divine body.
For him, this was already a considerable expense.
He had already consumed one-thousandth of his divine body, while Xue You, who was passively taking the beating, seemed to have suffered little loss in his divine body, only looking a bit disheveled.
"Just how monstrous is this guy's divine body! No wonder, the mere pressure of his divine body made it difficult for Zhong Shan to move."
Although he was surprised, he didn't show it. Instead, he said, " Xue You, is this all you've got? Your attack methods are too crude. No matter how strong your divine body is, you're nothing but a sitting duck in front of me!"
His swordsmanship changed once again.
This time, he abandoned his previous relentless attacks and instead concentrated almost all his power into one strike. A flash of silver light appeared, and this sword, carrying the power to pierce through everything, came toward Lu Qingshan's True God Heart.
Lu Qingshan neither retreated nor hid.
He knew his advantage lay in his divine body. In response to this attack, he used the Divine Power Burning Secret Technique, " Nine Stars," to burn one ten-thousandth of his divine body.
His enormous divine body, even if only one ten-thousandth of it, was already the entirety of other Eternal True God. Such terrifying power, under his control, formed a blood-red shield on the surface of his divine body.
The shield slammed head-on into the Qu Guang sword.
"Boom!!"
The silver sword pierced fiercely into the blood-red shield, but instead of piercing it, it became embedded within it. Lu Qingshan seized the opportunity, and his arms also blazed with blood-red light. Like a war god, he slammed his arms together, locking the Qu Guang silver sword firmly in place.
"You!!"
Qu Guang's expression changed drastically. He never expected that not only would his ultimate move fail to penetrate the opponent's divine body, but the opponent would also use both arms to directly jam his weapon. Now, no matter how hard he tried, he could not pull his sword back.
Without his sword, the power of his moves would be greatly reduced.
"What kind of monster is this?!"
Qu Guang realized that this guy's moves were quite ordinary, just the most average among inner disciples, completely incomparable to his own. However, the opponent's divine body was incredibly powerful and abnormal. Even the few disciples with Infinite Divine Body and special physiques among the direct disciples were probably no better than him.
"That's enough! You've angered me!"
A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Lu Qingshan's eyes.
He exerted force with both arms.
With a snap.
The Qu Guang sword flew from his hand, and the silver longsword was bent by the force of the blow.
Immediately afterwards, six pairs of blood-red wings appeared behind Lu Qingshan.
This is the Wings of Time and Space in disguise.
After being equipped with the Wings of Time and Space, Lu Qingshan's ability to utilize the Space-Time Origin was on a completely different level than before. At this moment, he had made up for his disadvantage in movement techniques and took a step forward.
In an instant, they were standing in front of Qu Guang.
Then, he raised his hand and threw a punch.
"Boom!!!"
This punch was incredibly fast. Lu Qingshan used the Wings of Time and Space to instantly close the distance, and Qu Guang didn't even have time to react before the punch landed squarely on his face.
Qu Guang's face was deformed and twisted; the punch had created a huge dent in his face.
Qu Guang's body was also sent flying uncontrollably backward, like a meteorite crashing into the earth, slamming hard into the crimson mountain, not only smashing through the rock wall but also embedding itself firmly into it.
However, it only lasted for a moment.
Lu Qingshan is here again.
During this process, his body grew taller, becoming a giant two billion kilometers tall. He took a step forward, heading directly towards the spot where the Qu Guang had just struck.
If this kick lands solidly, it might be even more powerful than the punch from before.
However, Qu Guang was also jolted back to reality during this brief moment of confusion. Seeing the giant foot already descending, he spat out a mouthful of blood and used a secret technique to immediately roll to the side.
Rumble!!!
With one step, the mountain collapsed and the earth trembled.
Qu Guang emerged from the mountain peak in a disheveled state, covered in dust and mud, his deformed face still showing signs of recovery, and blood still trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Walk!"
After glancing at the enormous, god-like body, Qu Guang didn't say a word, turning around and transforming into a streak of silver light.
Mang fled, leaving even his weapons behind.
He was terrified.
He sensed the other party's fury.
If he stays here, the other party might kill him in a fit of rage.
Although he has a teacher at the level of Chaos Great Sage, this guy's divine body is probably at the level of Infinite Divine Body. There is no way he doesn't have a background. Even if he doesn't have a background, after coming to the Flame Ruins Sect, many Chaos Great Sage, or even great God King, would be willing to take him as a disciple.
This time, he came on his own initiative, while the other party was on the defensive. Even if he were accidentally killed, the other party probably wouldn't suffer too severe punishment.
"Damn Zhong Shan! He's gotten me into such big trouble!"
Qu Guang was furious.
It wasn't directed at Xue You, but at his so-called friend, Zhong Shan.
At the foot of the mountain.
Zhong Shan and several subordinates of the Void True God were waiting here.
They couldn't see the battle on the mountain clearly because of the cosmic projection.
However, they were secretly very pleased with themselves.
"Senior Brother Qu Guang has made a move; that guy is definitely in trouble."
No sooner had Zhong Shan finished speaking than a figure flew away.
He was stunned after seeing it clearly.
"It was Senior Brother Qu Guang. Why did he leave without saying a word? And Senior Brother Qu Guang doesn't seem to be acting right."
Zhong Shan stood there, stunned.
He could sense that Senior Brother Qu Guang's aura had changed drastically; he was not only extremely weak at the moment, but also in a very disheveled state.
For Qu Guang, who is very particular about his appearance, such a situation would be impossible.
Several Void True God also witnessed this scene; they looked at each other, their faces deathly pale.
"Could it be that Senior Brother Qu Guang has been defeated?"
"Impossible! Senior Brother Qu Guang is at the Eternal True God Tenth Stage, ranking among the top ten among the inner disciples."
"Just who is that guy?"
"No—we have to get out of here right now, that guy will definitely—"
However, before they could react, the blood-red figure appeared before them.
Lu Qingshan's body returned to its normal size, and his wounds had all healed. But at this moment, he still looked taller than the others. He looked at Zhong Shan and the others as if they were a group of ants.
"Blood— Xue You Nether—What happened today was all my fault. I apologize to Xue You."
Zhong Shan forced a smile.
" Xue You, we were wrong."
Several Void True God hurriedly begged for mercy.
At this moment, they clearly understood the situation. Even Senior Brother Qu Guang had been defeated; how could they possibly be a match for Xue You? All they could do now was pray that the other party would take pity on them and not hold it against them.
"You don't know you're wrong, but rather—"
Lu Qingshan didn't finish his sentence. After all, he couldn't really kill them all in the sect's precious land. Even Qu Guang wouldn't have dared to do such a thing just now.
He raised his hand.
Zhong Shan, the only Eternal True God among them, was directly knocked to the ground.
His breath was weak, and half of his divine body was destroyed by that slap.
He couldn't rely on his powerful divine body to deal with Qu Guang, but dealing with an ordinary Eternal True God like Zhong Shan was still quite easy, especially since the other party didn't dare to resist.
Then he let out a muffled groan.
Several Void True God transformed simultaneously, collapsing to the ground, their divine bodies also half destroyed.
Hand over all your valuables and get out of here!
A moment later, Zhong Shan and his companions, left with only their personal clothing and identity tokens, fled in a disheveled state, not daring to look back.
After the group left, Lu Qingshan put away all the things they had left behind.
They didn't carry much on them when carrying out the collection mission; only their main combat equipment was worth something. All of it together amounted to about 20,000 units of Cosmic Sand, but it was mostly provided by Zhong Shan.
I should go too.
After collecting these items, Lu Qingshan turned and left, ending his gathering mission.
He may possess the Eye of Wisdom to hollow this place out, but there's no need for him to do so, at least not now.
Qu Guang's departure, and Zhong Shan's subsequent reprimand, may still cause some trouble.
Lu Qingshan planned to ask Fire Saint.
Fire Saint is a disciple of the God King; whether he can offer advice is another matter. If the sect really intends to punish him, Fire Saint might be able to put in a good word for him.