“This is a map to an actual earth flame!” she cried with undisguised glee.

“Great, so hand it and the girl over and I’ll leave your corpses intact.” A cold voice echoed out that caused the heads of Long Di and the rest to turn, where they saw a Nitu demon looking at them with disdain.

****

It was the same Nitu demon that attacked Yang Fuyou before. Somehow he was not only able to locate Long Di and company, but was also able to catch up to them on the Super Donkeys.

He wouldn’t admit it, but when he saw that Hu Guan was in the kowtow position with his butt facing him, he felt indignant and went in the direction the old bodyguard was facing.

The new arrival was not inside the carriage, but was instead outside on the ground. His lower body was submerged beneath the earth as he continued to move along at their pace.

Long Di looked at the sneering Nitu demon with a look of impassiveness. “I knew these donkeys were anything but super.”

“How is this possible!?” Yaomu Shou was shocked that they could catch up when they were riding Super Donkeys, knowing how fast these magical beasts were.

The Nitu demon sneered inwardly and went on to explain, “Hmph! Naturally, if I was any later, then not even I would be able to find you. However, super donkeys have one flaw, and that is the power in their travel is too explosive. The vibrations can be felt from miles around underground, and for us, that’s as good as shouting at the top of your lungs where you are. Plus, not too long ago, their speed was severely kept back for some reason while their explosiveness was heightened. I don’t even know how that happened but it gave me everything I needed to catch up before the speed skyrocketed all of a sudden.”

Everyone looked at Long Di whose expression remained unchanged even though he knew it was his fault, his only comment was, “I admit nothing.”

“Me satisfying your curiosity is my greatest mercy. Now die!”

Boom!

The ground exploded as several spikes shot up from the earth in front of the super donkeys. If they continued on this path, it wouldn’t be long before they ran into it, impaling themselves, yet their current speed rendered such a sharp turn impossible!

Feng Yu immediately became flustered, “Long Di, I-”

“Continue on the current path!” Long Di shouted.

He took out his saber and ran to the outside before jumping on one of the super donkeys.

The tumultuous ‘ground’ below was not fit for prolonged stabilisation, so he made his move as fast as he could.

D-Dum!

Nine black crystalline cauldrons exploded into being, radiating a formless pressure that bore down on those present!

Krrsh!

Long Di brandished the saber as lightning arcs crackled along the length of it. He invoked the lightning qi that lurked within his body and sent it full force into the saber!

Without wasting time, he executed a full power swing in the direction of the spikes. The tyrannical lightning bombarded the spikes, weakening the obstacles substantially!

Bam!

Because they lost much of their lethality, the super donkeys were able to easily blast their way through the spikes.

“Long Di, this doesn’t make sense. He shouldn’t be able to keep up with the super donkeys!” Yaomu Shou’s shout came from inside the carriage.

Hearing this, Long Di looked all around and saw a disturbing sight. From miles around, he could see the entire land being pushed in the opposite direction they were going.

“No wonder he was able to catch up. He’s manipulating the land to go in the opposite direction. He must have put this motion when I still had control of the reins,” he mumbled to himself.

Yaomu Shou stuck her head out of the carriage and saw the outside scene, “Wha… What is this?”

“The world’s most disturbing treadmill,” Long Di responded.

Staring at the land, Yaomu Shou was horrified! “Is this how he caught up!?”

“Yeah,” Long Di answered before he turned to Feng Yu, “Stop the carriage. We’re going nowhere like this, and fighting like this is too disadvantageous for me. I need to kill this guy before his friends come and provide reinforcements.”

Long Di didn’t even consider the possibility of the Nitu demon working by himself. As things like this are rarely ever the case in most cultivation novels. He quickly jumped off the super donkey he was on to land on the ground.

“Hmph! Just a two star core martial master. Not enough to reach the apex! You think you’re worthy enough for me to alert the others searching along with me?” The Nitu demons were advised by an elder of the Zhen family of Long Di’s cultivation level.

They were also advised that he was capable of unleashing an attack of apocalyptic proportions and to be cautious.

When hearing all these things, he was immensely surprised to see a child who looked no more than eleven years old. He was doubtful of Long Di’s cultivation level, especially when taking his age into consideration.

However, when seeing the number of cauldrons behind Long Di and the state of them thereof, he was forced to believe.

‘Those cauldrons… what the hell are they!? Are they a special grade cauldron? They feel… different somehow. Like they are a part of the pre-established grades… but at the same time… like they’re not.’

Nevertheless, thinking Long Di to be no more than a child, his guard slightly fell as he placed his hands behind him. He looked at Long Di like an adult getting ready to scold a child.

The lines on his body pulsated with a light brown light. The glow matched the colour of the earth. As a Nitu demon, he was intrinsically linked to the earth.

“You must know that you are unable to defeat me.”

D-D-Dum!

As the Nitu demon spoke, his cauldrons exploded into existence behind him. Nine cauldrons hovered there, rotating at a fast speed. They were all at the high-grade ranking.

Though they all had pearls affixed into a groove present on each of them, four were shining with a light brown light. This is a clear sign that the Nitu demon is affiliated with the element of earth.

Most, if not all, of the Nitu demons are affiliated with this element because of their race’s innate nature. So it wasn’t surprising for this demon to be the same. The only difference here was, based on the scale and expertise at which he was able to manipulate the land, he was much more powerful than the Nitu demon that Long Di fought before, and that was bad news.

Long Di looked back at him apathetically, “Even if I can’t beat you, it doesn’t really change anything, does it? I would still have to fight.”

The Nitu demon was slightly shocked at Long Di’s demeanour. His reaction in the face of death was… unexpected. He then nodded in response to Long Di’s statement, “You’re right,” he answered. “In another circumstance, I might have left you alive, but this is a situation where you and the rest of those children will die. Secrecy is paramount, I’m afraid. In addition, you killed one of my clansmen, which warrants death on its own, so your fate was sealed the minute you killed him.”

“So even though he wanted to take someone against their will, and kill me to ensure this, you’re saying I am not allowed to defend myself?” Long Di asked calmly.

“Yes,” The Nitu demon responded rather matter-of-factly. “You’re a child, so understand this. In this world, the strong eat the weak. You might have been stronger than him, but you are not stronger than us, and that is your undoing this day.”

“I see,” Long Di realised he was talking about the Nitu demon’s backing. Long Di figured that he was being watched as well by his own presumed ‘backing’, but as they never helped him to his knowledge, he didn’t acknowledge them as such. He could only depend on himself.

“I don’t hate you, child. Though you are human, I find you interesting. Even if I rank you against the genius of our clan, you shine ever brighter. I can only hope that the heavens weep of your passing as you must die. In this, I have no choice. Thus, I will give you the honour of knowing my name before you depart this realm. I am Diqiu Jian, the fourth elder of the Infernal Myriad Ground Clan.”

As he spoke, he raised his hand. The lines on his hand released a brighter glow than before, and the earth beneath them started to tremble.

Long Di adopted a stance with the saber in hand, ready to strike at any time.

“Could you at least tell me why you want the girl?” he asked.

Diqiu Jian shook his head, “A dead man has no need to know such things.”

“But your name I do? Alright, it’s fine I guess,” Long Di circulated his cultivation technique, causing lightning qi to engulf the entirety of the saber once more. “C’mon, let’s do this.”

Yaomu Shou watched the entire exchange with an indifferent expression, contemplating if she should take action. After a moment, she decided to watch for now, and play it by ear. The subtle actions she took that indicated this, caused those who were watching from within the void to stay their hands as well.

Boom!

Spikes erupted from below Long Di without warning, causing the latter to jump in response. Alas, his reaction was half a second too late and several spikes grazed him, drawing blood.

Though Long Di’s expression was stagnant, his internal body was anything but. A foreign energy was causing damage to his organs and tissues.

“Your pain threshold is quite high,” Diqiu Jian was slightly shocked when he saw the lack of reaction from Long Di. He even doubted whether the double-pronged feature of his attack took effect. However, when he heard Long Di’s question, his doubts were laid to rest.

“What is this?” Long Di asked after landing. He could feel the unique energy running rampant within his body. It was as if his organs and tissues were turning hard and brittle

Diqiu Jian didn’t mind explaining what he did. He even stopped moving and placed his hands behind his back once more. To him, this fight was over. He was confident that Long Di could do nothing against it. “It’s a unique type of earth essence that we Nitu demons are able to extract from the earth. In its purest form, without being refined, it is no different from poison… especially to you humans.”

As he spoke, the four cauldrons that housed the star cores were pulsating with a dense brown light.

Yaomu Shou saw this and her eyes narrowed in response, ‘It can’t be…’

Long Di felt the energy turning his inner organs more rigid as they underwent induration. He took staggering steps backwards as the effects worsened. His blood vessels were losing their flexibility and just the flow of blood was causing his now brittle blood vessels to scream in pain. The beat of his heart was causing small hairline cracks to appear all over it, as it was on the verge of crumbling apart.

“Ack!” A mouthful of blood was spat as the naturally moving nature of his organs were tearing his inner body apart.

Yaomu Shou’s expression changed once she saw this, her thoughts now in a whirl, ‘Can he take no more than this? Must I take action then?’

Krsshh!

Before she could formulate a response to her own thoughts, the sound of electricity crackling could be heard once more. She looked up to see the lightning not on Long Di’s saber, but on his own body instead.

Lightning was not just covering Long Di’s body from the outside. He allowed the tyrannical energy to run rampant within his body, only nudging it every now and again to attack his most critical areas. Namely, his heart, liver, kidney and so on.

Yaomou Shou’s expression beamed with enlightenment. ‘I get it! Lightning is a yang-based type of energy that has a purifying effect to it. This should be effective against a wide range of poisons which are normally of the yin spectrum! I was worried that he wouldn’t know much when I heard the circumstances of his family, but he’s extremely erudite!’

“That won’t help,” Diqiu Jian advised. “We were long made aware of your lightning-attributed spiritual qi. Though poisons are normally yin as opposed to yang, this energy is composed of earth essence, which is yin yang balanced. Your use of lightning is justified, but that will only eradicate the yin aspect of it, and that is only after much work. After all, earth is known to be sturdy. So though you are cleansing the ‘yin’ as we speak, the yang aspect is still very much alive. That is enough to carry the poison along with the remaining yin based energy within that you have yet to get rid of to kill you. As of now, you have only managed to slow it down.”

Long Di cooly replied, “and that is enough.”

Hong!

Suddenly, Diqiu Jian’s expression changed into one of shock, “What the…!“