Virtue Accumulation pills were one of the few pills that could be mass-produced. There were a lot of pills with similar or greater efficacy than it, but many of the materials and spiritual herbs could not be planted en-masse, so either there was an extremely low yield from farming, or people were forced to collect them from lands of wilderness.
Virtue Accumulation pills were different. Every single herb that went into its production could be planted in gardens. Of course, it would take a long period of time. The older the herbs were, the greater efficacy they possessed and the better the Virtue Accumulations pills refined from them would be.
The most ordinary Virtue Accumulation pill was equivalent to a year of cultivation. Beyond that, there were three-year Virtue Accumulation pills, five-year Virtue Accumulation pills, and so on. Although absorbing the effects and removing the residue from the body would take some time, it could still drastically decrease the amount of time spent on cultivation. Although the spiritual herbs that went into its production could be farmed, they were still extremely expensive.
However, if ingesting pills led to an unstable foundation, then the time saved would be spent on the bottleneck. No matter how great the medicine was, it could only serve as a powerful supplement, unable to completely replace the cultivator’s process of cultivation. The cultivator still had to consider and bear the trade-offs themselves.
“I don’t have a lot of Virtue Accumulation pills on me. The best one I have is a five-year Virtue Accumulation pill, but it’s worth a hundred times more than regular pills.”
“I’ll take it.” Li Qingshan did not hesitate at all, buying five Virtue Accumulation pills. Three of them were regular Virtue Accumulation pills, one was a three-year pill, and one was a five-year pill.
Afterwards, he lingered around for a few more days in the commandery city. Before he left, he gave the five-year Virtue Accumulation pill to Han Qiongzhi. They spent more time apart than together, so he could only make it up to her slightly in other ways.
He could still remember how Han Qiongzhi’s expression was rather strange as she held the Virtue Accumulation pill. Her joy from obtaining a precious pill had been completely drowned out by some other emotions. It was as if she wanted to turn him down, but she still accepted it in the end.
Li Qingshan understood that perhaps he should stay here for some time, but he also knew it was time for him to set off again. He could not remain anywhere for anyone for lengthy amounts of time. All he could do was constantly advance, striving towards beyond the Nine Heavens. He did not even have the time to acknowledge his own feelings.
As a result, after a parting kiss, he left.
Li Qingshan dismissed his thoughts and made his way into the Qing Xiao dwelling. He took out the Asura Field. Ever since he stole it, he never had the opportunity to examine it closely. It basically seemed no different on the outside, just now dyed with a colour of blood-red with some additional, eye-catching and bright-red inscriptions.
He tossed it up gently, and the Asura Field expanded, reaching the size of a yurt. Li Qingshan walked in, and his surroundings changed. An expansive land unfurled before him. At the same time, he assumed his form with the scarlet hair and pupils, spreading his wings and flapping them gently. The scenery around him immediately stretched into thousands of streaks of light, receding behind him rapidly.
He stopped in front of the towering tree. The sun vines flowers were still blooming. The blooming period was not over, decorating the great banyan tree with resplendence.
Li Qingshan declared loudly to the great tree, “From today onwards, I am the owner of this place. I am Northmoon. Sir, you must be the Great Banyan Tree King of the Ten Daemon Kings!”
Right now, the most important resource in the Asura Field was the Great Banyan Tree King. Not only could he provide him with tree sap that could quickly recover spiritual qi, but he could also bequeath him with wisdom and inspiration. He could ask him about many problems he encountered with cultivation. As a result, the first thing he did when he entered the Asura Field was visit him.
“It’s you?” The Great Banyan Tree King said in surprise.
“It’s me what? You’ve seen me before?” Li Qingshan was taken aback, but he showed none of it.
“You’re Li Qingshan!”
“What are you blabbering on about? How can I be a lowly human?” Li Qingshan raised the pitch of his voice unhappily.
The Great Banyan Tree King suddenly began to chuckle aloud. His colossal body shook gently. His laughter was filled with understanding.
“It’s no wonder that I sensed the Asura Field had been refined by someone inside. So it was all you. That kid Si Qing is probably about to cough up blood from anger.”
Li Qingshan’s body slackened. “Fine then. How did you manage to tell?”
“I might have lived for over ten millennia, but I haven’t grown that senile just yet. How could I not recognise you after seeing you a mere few days ago? Compared to your appearance and aura, your microexpressions, the way you talk, and your body language stands out just as much in my eyes.”
Li Qingshan was forced to admit that sometimes, he could not fool everyone just by changing his face and surrounding himself in daemon qi. At the very least, he could not fool the Great Banyan Tree King who only grew more insightful with age.
The reason why his dual identity had never been seen through was because most of the people he made more contact with under the identity of Northmoon did not know Li Qingshan, while the people that Li Qingshan was familiar with rarely had any contact with Northmoon. As a result, it led to an insufficient amount of information. Combined with the fact that his clone was there to confuse everyone, that was the only reason why he had managed to maintain this secret until now. With this as a lesson, he would definitely pay extra attention to this.
“Then please keep this secret for me, fellow!”
“Don’t worry. To me, this tiny secret of yours is nothing. I’m keeping many more important secrets than that!”
The Great Banyan Tree King had experienced the change of the ages, so while Li Qingshan’s existence was a little strange, he did not stand out too much compared to the people of the past. Of course, this was only his current belief.
With the Great Banyan Tree King’s promise, there was no reason for Li Qingshan to worry anymore. As a result, he smiled. “Since we know each other, then I’ll get right to it. Actually, there are still many aspects of the Arts of the Boundless Ocean that puzzle me, so please give me some guidance, fellow!”
……
On Moon Court lake, rain poured down heavily as the waves surged madly.
A huge, red carp swam about and rolled around in the lakewater, sometimes bobbing to the surface and sometimes diving to the bottom.
Bolts of lightning tore through the night sky, tailing behind it.
“What’s happening?”
Two beautiful, female night roamers stood on a tall lookout tower in the dwelling at the centre of the lake. One possessed a noble bearing, her eyes twinkling like stars, while the other was alluring, with large breasts and wide hips. They were Ye Liusu and Ye Liubo. Their gazes passed through the rain, plunging into the depths of the black water.
Ye Liusu said, “The carp under master seems to be undergoing a tribulation!”
Ye Liubo was surprised. “It’s just becoming a Daemon General, so why is there such a great disturbance?”
Ye Liusu vaguely guessed why, but she did not mention it. This would only happen if the carp possessed the Water God Seal, but he would never hand the Water God Seal to anyone else unless he had no other choice. She could not help but become slightly worried.
The carp named “Li’l Red” by Li Qingshan returned to Moon Court lake with the Water God Seal. The power in the Water God Seal obviously flowed into its body.
So far, the Water God Seal had basically refined all the water within the Ruyi commandery already, whether it was above or below ground. The Ruyi commandery was extremely rich with water resources, enough to rival ten Jiangnans, so just how vast was the water spiritual qi?!
Even just absorbing a thousandth of the spiritual qi was equivalent to consuming who knew how many pills for a water element daemon. And, daemons did not possess as many realms and bottlenecks as humans. The greatest struggle they faced was accumulating spiritual qi.
With the Water God Seal as a foundation, it had reached the cusp of Daemon General in a mere few days, causing the heavenly tribulation to descend, and it obviously used the power of the Water God Seal to contend against the heavenly tribulation.
Two figures appeared near a port on the shore of Moon Court lake. One was a brutal and fierce-looking man, while the other was a sunken-faced scholar with a black feather fan. They were E Dan and Jia Zhen.
“That bastard Northmoonactually dared to fool us. I won’t be satisfied until I massacre all of his subordinates.” E Dan ground his teeth.
“Killing them all is too much of a waste. We better capture them and sell them off as slaves in the Dragon province. It can make up for quite a bit of our loss. Daemons and male night roamers can be sent into the arenas, while female night roamers should fetch a good price!” Jia Zhen waved his feather fan. He seemed extremely calm, but his eyes also blazed with wickedness.
As Si Qing’s left and right hand men, they had always been courteously received and deeply trusted by Si Qing. They had received many benefits because of Si Qing’s identity as a prince. When the lord was worried, his ministers would be insulted. When the lord was insulted, his ministers would die. Now that Si Qing had been forced to return to the Dragon province for punishment despite just taking his position, they felt utterly humiliated. They had to get revenge.
As a result, they cast aside all of their schemes and decided to crush him with absolute strength. After seeing the situation of the Moon Court lake, they reached the same conclusion.
“There’s a daemon undergoing the tribulation. From the disturbance, don’t tell me it’s that wretched daemon Northmoon? He was already so powerful despite being a Daemon General. If he can break through to Daemon Commander, then just who can still keep him at bay in the Ruyi commandery?” E Dan frowned.
Jia Zhen calculated by making a few hand signs. “It’s just the first heavenly tribulation, so it shouldn’t be Northmoon. To be able to make such a disturbance…” He pondered for a while, and his eyes lit up. “It’s very likely for the Water God Seal to be in the daemon’s possession!”
As long as they obtained the Water God Seal, then they could make up for their loss of the Asura Field. If they could fuse it with a Mountain God Seal and refine the true “God Seal of Mountains and Water”, then they would have basically accomplished their entire objective of coming here in the first place.
Right when the two of them were about to take action, a voice suddenly rang out from behind.
“My good friends, it’s really been some time! What has brought you to my humble abode all of a sudden today?”
Within the rainstorm, a naked man with scarlet hair and scarlet pupils strode across the surface of the water. A devilish smile stretched over his handsome, flawless face. He was Northmoon, or more accurately, Li Qingshan’s mirror clone.
Just like how when enemies met, their eyes would redden with rage, E Dan’s eyes did indeed redden immediately. He gave off a violent aura, immediately scattering the rain around him. He stared at Northmoon like a monster who wanted to gobble him up.
“Northmoon!”
Jia Zhen raised his fan and stopped E Dan. “Northmoon, hand over the Asura Field, and we’ll clean the slate between us. We’ll leave immediately. Or, do you really plan on continuing until one side is dead?”
However, he had already made up his mind inside. When Northmoon handed over the Asura Field, he would immediately steal the Water God Seal, clipping his wings before finding another opportunity to kill him.
“Ah, about that. I do admit that I am somewhat at fault, but the Asura Field isn’t with me. It has been stolen by Mo Yu. I almost died at his hand. I only managed to escape after quite a lot of difficulty.”
Northmoon laid out his hands and said helplessly.
However, he secretly frowned inside. With this clone alone, he definitely did not stand a chance against either one of them. Even if his main body rushed over, he could not contend against their combined efforts. Unless Lolth was willing to help out, he did not have the slightest hope at winning at all.
Although he had viciously screwed over Si Qing by playing along, he had never been in possession of any advantages when it came to a direct confrontation. The best result was taking back the Water God Seal despite the risks. He would be in no shape to worry about anything else.
