Chapter 54: The One-Horned Brute

Qin Changsheng looked at the crater, then raised his head to look at the sky.

A burly man wearing animal skins and with a single horn on his head was suspended mid-air, looking down at him coldly.

"Human, you have a lot of nerve to dare slaughter the people of my Eastern Wasteland."

The burly man said in a chilling voice.

Hearing this, Qin Changsheng smiled: "So it is a Deity Transformation expert from the Eastern Wasteland, my apologies. However, these desolate beasts were trying to kill me, so I could hardly just stand there and let them slaughter me, right? Therefore, I killed them in self-defense. Is there a problem?"

"Sharp-tongued."

The burly man let out a cold snort: "Regardless of the reason, since you killed the people of our Eastern Wasteland, you must pay the price."

Qin Changsheng shrugged: "The price? What price? Could it be that you intend to kill me to avenge these desolate beasts?"

"Precisely."

The burly man nodded: "Not only will I kill you, but I will also extract your soul as a sacrifice to the fallen citizens of our Eastern Wasteland."

Qin Changsheng laughed: "You want to kill me? You'll have to see if you have the ability."

Although he was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, backed by the blessing of the Primordial Source Qi, he had fought Deity Transformation experts before, and freaks like the Dao-robed youth were completely overshadowed in his presence.

What was a mere member of the Desolate Clan compared to that?

"Courting death!"

Seeing that Qin Changsheng still dared to provoke him, the burly man flew into a rage. With a flash of his figure, he lunged straight toward Qin Changsheng to kill him.

Seeing this, Qin Changsheng showed no fear at all. Wielding his heavy sword, he met the attack head-on.

Boom!

The two attacks collided, erupting into an earth-shattering roar. Qin Changsheng's figure was sent flying directly backward, skidding a long distance across the ground before coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough."

Qin Changsheng raised his head to look at the burly man, his eyes filled with solemnity.

The strength of this burly man was even greater than he had imagined. If it weren't for the reinforcement of his terrifying physical body, this single strike alone would have been enough to severely injure him.

Even so, he had only suffered minor injuries. This was no big deal to him.

Seeing that Qin Changsheng was not only able to stand back up but also appeared to have suffered only minor injuries, the burly man wore an expression of astonishment: "You're actually unharmed?"

"What? Did you think a single strike like that could kill me?" Qin Changsheng retorted with a sneer.

The burly man frowned upon hearing this: "You are indeed no ordinary person. You must be a top-tier prodigy from the Human Sacred Grounds. Even so, you will die here today."

Having said that, his figure flickered and he charged toward Qin Changsheng once more. This time, his attack was even more ferocious than before, clearly intent on slaying Qin Changsheng on the spot with a single blow. However, faced with such a ferocious attack, Qin Changsheng did not show the slightest trace of panic.

He took a deep breath and abruptly stomped the ground, causing a fissure to instantly split open beneath his feet. Immediately afterward, activating an earth-escape art, he burrowed straight into it and vanished.

The burly man's attack ultimately struck empty air.

"He actually escaped?" Seeing this, the burly man grew furious.

His figure flashed as he arrived beside the fissure, reaching down with a grab, attempting to drag Qin Changsheng out from the depths of the earth. However, just as his hand was about to touch Qin Changsheng, a sword beam suddenly shot up from underground, slashing directly toward his arm.

"Ah!" A miserable scream echoed out as the burly man's arm was cleanly severed, and a fountain of fresh blood stained half the sky crimson.

"You dare injure me?" The burly man roared in fury.

With a flash of his figure, he shot back up into mid-air and made a beckoning gesture. His severed arm flew back toward him, instantly reattaching itself to the wound, and in the blink of an eye, it was as good as new.

"Very well, you have successfully angered me." He stared coldly at the fissure in the ground and said: "Next, I will make you understand what it means to wish you were dead."

With those words, he began to unleash a barrage of fierce attacks, raining down blow after blow onto the ground and reducing it to utter rubble. Yet, no matter how frantically he attacked, he could not locate Qin Changsheng's whereabouts.

Qin Changsheng used this opportunity to test his movement technique.

"Damn it, where on earth has this brat hidden himself?" The burly man was starting to grow impatient.

He had originally thought he could easily dispatch Qin Changsheng, but he had never expected the opponent to be so cunning, dodging his attacks time and time again. Just at that moment, he suddenly sensed a fierce wave of danger erupting from behind him.

Instinctively whipping his head around to look, he saw that a sword beam was already right in front of him. "Not good." He cursed inwardly, wanting to dodge, but it was already too late. He had no choice but to take the blow head-on.

Lifting his hand, he threw a punch toward the incoming sword beam.

Boom!

Fist and sword collided, triggering a deafening explosion. Following that, the burly man's figure was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the ground.

"Cough, cough." He climbed up from the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, and wore an incredulous look on his face. "How is this possible? How could your strength suddenly become so terrifying?"

From that last strike, he had actually sensed the threat of death. If he hadn't reacted in time, he likely would have been slain by Qin Changsheng right then and there.

Naturally, it was because he had increased his power.

Without answering him, Qin Changsheng's figure flashed as he charged at him once more. The heavy sword swung with razor-sharp murderous intent and boundless might, as though it intended to shatter the very heavens and earth.

Seeing this, the burly man did not dare to be careless, hastily mustering all his strength to fend off Qin Changsheng's assault. However, having already been wounded, his combat effectiveness was severely compromised; he was no match for Qin Changsheng at all. Before long, he was driven into a desperate corner.

Watching as Qin Changsheng closed in for the kill, the burly man could finally hold back no longer and shouted, "I surrender! I am willing to submit to you!"

Qin Changsheng halted his movements, looking at him coldly. "Submit to me? What qualifications do you have to submit to me?"

"I can tell you a secret regarding the Eastern Wasteland," the burly man blurted out in a rush.

"This secret is only known to experts at or above the Deity Transformation realm. As long as you spare my life, I will tell you."

"Oh? What secret?" Interest was piqued in Qin Changsheng's eyes.

He had originally intended to finish the burly man off directly, but since the other party was willing to trade a secret for his life, he didn't mind listening. If the secret truly possessed value, sparing the fellow's life was not entirely out of the question.

"This secret concerns the recent upheaval in the Eastern Wasteland—specifically, the Holy Fire," the burly man took a deep breath before slowly speaking.

"The Holy Fire has reignited, and the Saintess of our Desolate Clan has successfully descended. As long as one receives the blessing of the Saintess, they can undergo baptism by the Holy Fire and directly break through to a higher realm."

"The Holy Fire?" Qin Changsheng's eyes lit up.

"Words alone are empty. How can you expect me to believe you?" Qin Changsheng asked.

"I can take you to the center of the secret realm, and you will see for yourself," the burly man said hurriedly. "As long as you spare me, I will lead you to the location of the Holy Fire. You can verify it with your own eyes."

Qin Changsheng fell silent for a brief moment before nodding, "Very well, I agree." The reason he agreed to the burly man was, on one hand, because the conditions proposed truly moved him.

On the other hand, he wanted to see what kind of hidden secrets and power this so-called secret realm harbored. If what the man said was true, it would undoubtedly be a supreme opportunity for him.

Of course, there was also the strategy of playing along to trick the enemy.

The moment the burly man had regained his trust and closed in beside him, he ignited the Holy Fire and launched a murderous ambush against him!

A fatal strike of utter lethality!

Fueled by the blessing of the Holy Fire, his terrifying attack was actually elevated to the Saint realm!

This bastard had faked his surrender all along!

Just as that horrific attack descended upon his head, dazzling golden light erupted from Qin Changsheng's body as he uttered a single phrase: "Amitabha."

Instantly, the monstrous strike slammed down upon his crown.

The golden light rippled gently, while Qin Changsheng remained unshaken like a towering mountain!

The Indestructible Golden Body had been activated.

Qin Changsheng had been prepared all along, looking at the single-horned burly man with a smile on his face: "It seems you still haven't truly accepted defeat."

"You guessed all along that I was faking my surrender?!"