The eyes of the seductive women all lit up the moment they spotted Li Qingshan. A Foundation Establishment cultivator as young as him was rare, which often represented talent and future prospects. They immediately abandoned Liu Chuanfeng and gathered around him.
“Little brother, you look so familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?” “How are you so sturdy?”
Some of them brushed past him gently as others lightly touched Li Qingshan’s chest. They did not possess absolute beauty, but they were still attractive. Combined with their full figures and revealing clothing, they were extremely charming.
Even Li Qingshan began to be taken away by his imaginations, as it had been some time since he had last done it.
“Back down.” Qiu Haitang walked over.
The women immediately retreated to one side and bowed. “Sect master.”
Qiu Haitang smiled and bowed gracefully. “I’ve made the two of you wait. Please come with me.”
Meeting Li Qingshan once again, she could not help but reevaluate him. He was not handsome like Hua Chengzan, but he did have a sturdy stature and a lively expression. Just by standing there, he radiated with a sense of power and firmness. Never had she thought that the ignorant young man who had stood up to her would have already grown up into a figure like this.
Qiu Haitang said to him secretly with a smile, “If you’re interested, Qingshan, I can make some arrangements for you. Of course, Qiongzhi won’t know.”
After three years in secluded cultivation, Li Qingshan reached Foundation Establishment in a single breath. He accomplished this at the tender age of his early twenties, and then he killed two Daemon Generals in a row. He was one of the prominent figures of the cultivation world in the Clear River prefecture right now, a young cultivator who surpassed most cultivators in his generation. He even surpassed Hua Chengzan and everyone else, almost earning him the title of the greatest prodigy.
Qiu Haitang was afraid to brush him aside. Thinking about his past disputes with the Sect of Clouds and Rain, she and the entire sect would be in quite a lot of trouble if she failed to handle their relationship properly and he clung onto those past grievances.
However, Li Qingshan had assisted her in killing Wei Zhongyuan in the past, so their relationship was not all bad. Qiu Haitang believed it would not be a problem at all to make him forget about their past disputes with what she was capable of and improve their relationship.
“Unless it’s Haitang yourself, the risk is not worth it!” Li Qingshan studied Qiu Haitang. With her splendid attire, she was like a flowering crabapple. Her appearance seemed no different from three years ago, but her worries had vanished from her face. It seemed like she had already let go of what she had been clinging onto. He felt like it had all been due to his efforts.
Qiu Haitang glanced at Li Qingshan in surprise. She felt like he had suddenly become a little too familiar with her, which left her rather confused. She just found him to be rather different from the Li Qingshan in her impression.
In Li Qingshan’s memory, he already possessed a very deep understanding of Qiu Haitang. He had set off “fireworks” with her, and he had seen her most frail side. He had heard her speak her mind. Their relationship had even exceeded that of regular friends. This sense of familiarity just flowed out naturally.
“It’s a joke, it’s a joke.” Li Qingshan knew that his abilities as an actor were not enough. He showed an opening from just a slight carelessness, so he tried to dismiss it in a hurry.
“With your youth, talent, and heroic bearing, I’m instead not worthy of you, Qingshan.” Qiu Haitang took advantage of that to improve their relationship, but she maintained her distance from him. She felt like Li Qingshan’s behaviour probably originated from the complacent arrogance of youths.
It was reasonable for a person as young as him to develop some outrageous thoughts with how high his cultivation was. However, she did not feel anything special towards Li Qingshan at all.
Thinking up to there, another figure appeared in her mind. Although they had only met twice, both times so fleeting, the impression he had left behind was so deep that she would never be able to forget him.
Of course, he had already become known as a terrifying existence called the “moon demon” now. Humans and daemons were destined to travel down different paths, so there were no possibilities for them to become entangled again. However, if she did meet him again, he should not kill her. She did have that confidence.
The mechanism of the Parlour of Clouds and Rain had already been activated, dividing into two layers. Qi Practitioners mingled on the bottom, while above was a meeting that only Foundation Establishment cultivators had the right to join in.
This made Li Qingshan think about the elaborate banquet in the Hua family three years ago. Now, he saw many of those familiar faces once again. As he stepped on the cloud elevators and traveled up with Qiu Haitang, those people all raised their heads and stared at him, becoming smaller and smaller.
Among them was the first senior brother of Horned Rhinoceros mountain. Who knew what his name was, but he refused to accept this. Although the tenth layer of Qi Practitioner was only a step away from Foundation Establishment, it had never been an easy step to take. Three years would often not be enough.
Arriving upstairs, the surroundings immediately became much more spacious. Many Foundation Establishment cultivators had already gathered there, keeping each other company. They did not worry about any taboos as they spoke, all talking about the huge matters that happened recently in the Clear River prefecture.
The battle between Fu Qingjin and Strongboulder three days ago was obviously the most popular topic. As one of the people directly involved, he garnered a lot of attention the moment he set foot on the floor.
Fu Qingjin nodded at Li Qingshan in acknowledgement. Li Qingshan did not want to come off as overly impolite, so he clasped his hands back at him. Seeing Wei Yangsheng and a few others, he went over and greeted them. They all congratulated on his repeated victories.
Before long, basically everyone was present. Everyone retreated into the surroundings.
The leader of the school of Mohism tossed out a wooden box. The box began to swell and change rapidly, letting out a mechanical clicking. Before long, it had expanded into a circular, stepped stand.
Everyone took their seats. The academy and the Daemon Suppression alliance took up many of the seats. Those who were directly involved in the discussions sat towards the bottom, while those uninvolved sat towards the top to listen along, which was convenient for them to speak up at any time too. It saved them from a lot of the trouble of being seated according to seniority.
The meeting had finally begun. The representatives from both sides, Liu Zhangqign and Fu Qingjin, arrived in the centre of the stand to make a speech one after another before engaging in a debate.
Li Qingshan watched on from a corner towards the back. After listening on for a while, he found it rather boring, so he lowered his head and began cultivating. This meeting would definitely take some time.
He had already become a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but his experiences were still rather lacking, and he was not skilled at debating either. Instead of all that, he would be better off settling down and increasing his cultivation.
The fragrance of medicine appeared from beside him. Li Qingshan knew it was Ru Xin, but he ignored her.
“Wake up!”
A thunderous voice assaulted his ear drums, which made Li Qingshan shudder all over. He glared at Ru Xin beside him.
“Leave me alone.” Li Qingshan suddenly frowned heavily before closing his eyes again.
“Oh my? Your temper has grown.”
Li Qingshan’s temper had not actually grown. Instead, in the cavern underground, he just happened to receive the Spider Queen’s orders to slaughter cities.
……
“Master, what should we do?”
With Li Qingshan’s main body moving about outside, his mirror clone watched over underground so that he could react to anything unexpected.
He opened his eyes. Ye Liusu and Ye Liubo stood to his left and right, awaiting his orders.
Li Qingshan asked in thought, “What do you think?”
Ye Liubo suggested, “If we move independently, there might be losses. Should we gather the matriarchs again? Night roamers may not be accustomed with large-scale killing, but if we work together, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Among the techniques that night roamers are capable of, there’s something called “Gathering Nightshroud”. It can cover a very large range. It’s not particularly powerful, but it’s more than enough to deal with regular humans.
Little did she know that Li Qingshan had no interest in carrying out this order at all. Even if he tossed his morals and ethics aside, contemplating purely his interests, what benefit would killing regular people bring? It would cause many problems instead.
The current war might have been restricted to the Clear River prefecture, which he could rampage through freely with his cultivation as a Daemon General. However, there would be one day when this game of chess ended and stronger cultivators could become uninhibited from their constraints.
The cultivators on the side of the academy prohibited such acts the most. Let alone others, even Gu Yanying would not allow a Daemon General that slaughtered entire cities without batting an eye to run freely through the territory she governed.
The Sword Collection palace was just a powerful organisation among the many sects of the Green province, but slaughtering regular people was forbidden by the entire empire. This would definitely lead to the consequence of being specially hunted down in the future. The combined strength of the academy was far more terrifying than a single Sword Collection palace. He could go into hiding, but it would be impossible for him to keep everything he had built up underground after so much effort.
He was not afraid of battle, but he did not want to become involved in pointless battle, not to mention all the people he was familiar with that he could not lay his hands on in the academy. Taking a step back, if he killed everyone, who would still read his novels and help him gather the power of belief?
Only an idiot would do something that brought no benefit and only detriment.
Ye Liusu said, “Now is without a doubt the perfect opportunity to carry out this order.”
“Why?”
“The Daemon Suppression alliance and the Academy of the Hundred Schools are currently holding a meeting in Clear River prefecture. Most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators are attending it.”
“How do you know?”
“I purchased this information from the humans.”
“This is a heaven-sent opportunity. Master, let’s go make a great mess!” Ye Liubo’s eyes shone.
Li Qingshan noticed the uncertain and worried expression on Ye Liusu’s face. “Liusu, you don’t seem particularly willing.”
“Master doesn’t seem to derive his power from slaughtering cities like Strongboulder or Bloodshadow.”
“That’s true.”
Ye Liusu suggested, “This matter brings no benefit at all, and it’ll probably lead to a destructive blow to Night Roaming folk. Please give this matter careful consideration, master.”
“Oh? Why do you think that?”
Ye Liusu gave an explanation similar to Li Qingshan’s analysis. Her objective was for the night roamers to return above ground, so they could live under the stars and moon again. Falling out with the humans for a conflict between daemons and humans was completely meaningless.
Li Qingshan admired her secretly. She did not possess so many avenues of information like him, yet she was still able to see so far. Her insight was truly impressive.
“Sister, it’s just killing a group of regular people. Will the consequences really be so severe?” Ye Liubo felt like she had come up with a good idea for once, but she had been overshadowed by her elder sister yet again.
“All chest and no brains.” Li Qingshan patted Ye Liubo’s cheek. “Hmph!” Ye Liubo directly grabbed his hand and stuffed it between her impressive breasts.
Li Qingshan did not pull his hand out, enjoying himself between her soft breasts. He asked, “Liusu, looks like you’ve learnt quite a lot about the human world recently. I don’t like wasting time on something like this, but how should we deal with this?”
This order definitely could not be carried out, but the Spider Queen was a difficult target to appease. Completing ignoring her orders was impossible too. This was the helplessness that came with a lack of strength. If he served someone, then he would be bound to them. He was unable to approach matters the way he wished all the time.
