This was the second time He Li had encountered a so-called god, even though he himself was one of those so-called... gods.
Unlike Huo Si, He Li had personally witnessed the awakening of the god before him.
But what was the same was that they spoke the same words: We are companions,
Then,
A confrontation filled with gunpowder began.
The man remained seated on the throne, looking at the two fingers that had just blocked Chen Sui's blade, and said, "Seeing that your mental power is still so formidable, I am relieved. I hope in this game of gods, you won't be so easily killed as you were 4,000 years ago."
Immediately after,
The man squinted, withdrew his fingers, and twirled them as if pulling threads,
"Bang!"
Xiao Yue fired his gun, not at the man on the throne, but at a spot in front of He Li.
"He's pulling at your memory fragments, weaving them into threads. I've already interrupted him," Xiao Yue said.
At this moment, the man appeared slightly astonished and said, "The you from 4,000 years ago couldn't interrupt my 'extraction' ability. It seems your mental power has grown even stronger after this reincarnation."
Arrogant and mockingly provocative,
He was trying to stimulate and test He Li.
He Li's silence left him somewhat bewildered. Gods meeting gods were never supposed to be peaceful, cordial greetings.
Desperate battles were the main theme between gods.
He Li wasn't remaining silent; he was contemplating how to kill the damned god seated on the throne across the ice.
This possibility was currently very low, perhaps even impossible.
"What should I call you?" He Li asked.
The man replied, "Just as you did 4,000 years ago, call me Qi Shuang. But how should I address you? Have you changed your name again? Or are you still called... Xia Peishu, as you were 4,000 years ago?"
"He Li."
"I like your current name."
"4,000 years ago, when you died, I was on another battlefield. However, I still saw you being surrounded by those three fellows, chains constricting your neck, claws tearing your skin, and a battle saber piercing your chest.
Your divinity, humanity, and bestiality were all ripped from your body, then burned. Finally, fearing your revival, they sent your body to Kexuotu, so his power could destroy it."
"You died a miserable death," Qi Shuang said mockingly, looking at He Li.
He Li didn't get angry at Qi Shuang's mockery. Instead, a faint sadness arose in his heart. Although he wasn't sure if the god who died 4,000 years ago was him, he could still feel that trace of sadness welling up from the depths of his being.
It wasn't sadness for death itself, but a feeling of indescribable depth.
He Li shook his head. He looked up at Qi Shuang, his eyes devoid of emotion. Just moments ago, he had thought of a possibility: he had never been afraid since childhood, as if that part of his emotions was missing. In fact, many emotions were missing, or rather, they were very faint.
It was a kind of indifference born from the very core of his being.
If, as Qi Shuang claimed, his divinity, humanity, and bestiality had been extracted when he died 4,000 years ago, then what was he now?
No!
He had transmigrated; he wasn't from this world. He didn't have the memories of his past lives like other gods. His memories only spanned a little over a decade.
What was going on?
He Li felt a sense of temporal dislocation, a confusion about whether he was a god from thousands of years ago in this world or just an ordinary person who had transmigrated.
His head ached terribly, as if a steel rod was violently churning inside his brain, constantly severing nerve endings.
Qi Shuang looked at He Li, who remained silent despite his provocations and mockery, and shook his head.
"Regardless, thank you for coming to welcome my awakening."
"Then..."
Qi Shuang slowly rose from his throne. The throne formed from the Mother of Poplars behind him attached itself to Qi Shuang, transforming into a suit of wooden armor. Ice crystals from the frozen ground beneath him gathered in mid-air, forming an ice-crystal longsword, which Qi Shuang grasped.
He looked at He Li and said softly, "Then... let the battle commence."
"You talk too much," He Li said, raising his hand to cover his head. His gaze cleared, and the spiritual energy within his body burned wildly, radiating outwards. Gritting his teeth, he endured the intense pain in his head and let out a low growl.
Chen Sui, as if a soldier hearing the drumbeat of war, leaped high. He stomped on the ice wall behind He Li, bursting forth and charging towards Qi Shuang. His bloodthirsty battle sabers, like dragon's teeth, gnawed at the god.
Then came Xiao Yue.
Viscous psychic energy filled the entire space beneath the glacier. Several psychic bullets shot from the silver-white muzzle, locking onto Qi Shuang, who was engaged with Chen Sui.
Behind He Li, Yan Ping slowly drew the plain Tang saber from its brown scabbard and attacked Qi Shuang with ghostly speed.
Jin Fang stood on the blood-red gate of the ice palace, his hands unleashing chains that tightly gripped Qi Shuang's body.
Li Qin, holding a halberd in both hands, fiercely swung it towards Qi Shuang's head.
Qi Shuang's arms flexed, and immense power erupted from his body, shattering Jin Fang's chains and sending everyone flying.
The entire glacier trembled, and ice cones and blocks began to fall.
Qi Shuang couldn't see or sense Jin Fang and the others. He only knew that He Li's mental power was constantly bombarding him, and the near-viscous mental energy even astonished him.
They were all in the process of recovering their strength; they did not possess divine power.
He had felt Chen Sui's attack earlier, and He Li's mental power was stronger than it had been at the same recovery stage 4,000 years ago.
But he hadn't expected it to be this strong.
"4,000 years ago, you witnessed my tragic death. So, how do you wish to die today?" He Li slowly lowered his hand, his gaze fixed on Qi Shuang.
Everyone had returned behind He Li.
He Li raised his hand, Li Qin's gravity halberd grasped tightly in it. The entire space beneath the glacier was filled with Xiao Yue's psychic energy. He Li stepped directly onto a glacial crevice, supported by the psychic energy,
And thus, he walked step by step towards Qi Shuang.
"You call yourself a god. I'll humor you and assume you are one. Since you are a god, you should know that
Gods
Are not to be challenged!"
In an instant, the trembling of the glacier stopped. The surroundings seemed to be enclosed within a special space. The solid ice silently shattered, scattering into the air, then transforming into ice crystals, and finally vanishing.
"Then let's... begin the battle."
He Li charged towards Qi Shuang. The ice-crystal longsword and the gravity halberd collided heavily. Throughout the space beneath the glacier, they flickered countless times, clashed countless times. The white slashes of the ice-crystal longsword, the black gravity shadows of the gravity halberd.
They fought fiercely. This era's first battle between gods, beneath the glacier.
One god welcomed the awakening of another god, and then they fought.
It was like Huo Si welcoming He Li, except Huo Si had presented He Li with a killing game,
While He Li presented Qi Shuang with a desperate struggle.
After blocking Qi Shuang's sword, He Li released the gravity halberd, spread his arms, and allowed the ice-crystal longsword to pierce his shoulder. He grabbed Qi Shuang's wrist and then forcefully grabbed Qi Shuang's left shoulder.
"What are you doing?" Qi Shuang was startled. He didn't understand why He Li would endure injury to grab him.
They stood frozen in mid-air like this.
He Li said, "I don't know how gods fight and kill, but there's one thing I've known since I was a child: to win, you have to take a beating first. Endure a couple of punches, grab one of the opponents, hold on tight, and then beat one of them relentlessly.
Whether it's one or a group, I've never been afraid of fighting."
A faint gleam flashed on the hand He Li used to grip Qi Shuang's shoulder. A delicate, sapphire-blue ring appeared on his index finger, and then the ring transformed into a glove.
Then,
Qi Shuang's left shoulder began to become illusory, turning into particles, then his arm, and then spreading to his chest and neck.
"This... this is Kexuotu's ability!" Qi Shuang exclaimed in shock, kicking He Li away with a roar. He also flew backward.
But the decomposing power spread like a virus.
Qi Shuang's heart hardened. He swung his sword with his right hand, and with a swish, his entire left shoulder was cleanly severed. The shoulder and arm did not fall but completely dissipated in mid-air.
Qi Shuang clutched the wound on his shoulder. Blood gushed out, splashing onto the ice layer beneath his feet. The blood, like scorching lava, melted the solid ice and seeped downwards, making sizzling sounds.
He Li, who had landed on the opposite side of the glacier, stabilized himself, licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and spat a bloody glob of saliva to the side.
Then,
Just like Qi Shuang's blood, he melted a small hole in the solid ice.
The gravity halberd stood beside He Li. He looked at Qi Shuang and chuckled, "The battle... shall it continue?"
...