“Eat my fist first!” Li Qingshan did not show any mercy, following through with his punch.
Yu Wufeng threw out a violet talisman in response. Specks of light suddenly reflected in Li Qingshan’s eyes. Thousands of golden streaks shot off in all directions, each like spears that a god had tossed.
A speck of light rapidly enlarged in Li Qingshan’s eyes. All he could do was tilt his head, resulting in a long, bloody mark across his cheek. Splitting pain shot through various parts of his body.
The Skeleton Demon Formation also stopped operating from the bombardment, but Yu Wufeng became even more stern. The golden streaks of light only left behind faint marks on the skeletons, unable to destroy them.
Li Qingshan allowed himself to bleed. The blood turned into flames in the air before flying back and merging into a ball of fire. His wounds rapidly closed up without leaving behind a single trace. Even his aura had not weakened.
Yu Wufeng originally tried to stall him before unleashing a violet talisman to break out of this situation, but he never expected Li Qingshan to be so vicious.
Boom!
A great, thunderous rumble echoed through Savage mountain. The Fogbow sword flew out and stabbed into a boulder.
“First cave master Yu, do you think I’m qualified to become a cave master of the Lair of Demons?” Li Qingshan grabbed Yu Wufeng’s throat and asked with a smile.
“Your strength is startling, well beyond mine. Since I’ve already ended up in your hands, do what you want, whether you want to kill or torture me!”
Yu Wufeng shut his eyes. His clothes were in tatters, soaked in blood. He no longer tried to say anything more, clearly quite injured. His cultivation was higher than the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, but he did not have fat to nullify the damage. He could be regarded as fortunate and strong enough given that the punch had not killed him off.
“I’m not going to ask too much from you. If you want to die, I’ll give you what you want. If you want to live, I’ll give you a chance to survive.”
Li Qingshan was not worried about how Yu Wufeng would answer him. If he really had his mind set on dying, he would not have said that to him.
“Sir, you mustn’t do that! Yu Wufeng is extremely crafty, and he’s close to the third heavenly tribulation. If you don’t kill him, it’ll definitely come back to bite you!” The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber flew over from afar and called out.
Before he had even finished speaking, Xiao An behind him said, “Retrieving the Blood Oath Scroll requires half the cave masters at the very least, or we’ll have to force our way through the formation.”
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber immediately fell silent. Killing Yu Wufeng would be equivalent to eliminating a powerful enemy, and the seal over the Blood Oath Scroll could not be destroyed so easily. As long as he was free from the bounds of the Blood Oath Scroll, he would still have a chance to escape, but he never expected her to see through his intentions yet again.
“Half. I’ve killed four, so four still remain. You two just happen to be half. C’mon, cave masters. Let’s go retrieve the Blood Oath Scroll.” Li Qingshan ushered them along with a smile.
“I still haven’t agreed to it!” Yu Wufeng suddenly opened his eyes and said, “I can yield to you, but you have to promise me one thing, or I’d rather die!”
“Fat cave master, finish him off.” Li Qingshan did not bother. He could go discuss his conditions with the king of hell!
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber was taken aback. Only then did he realise that “fat cave master” was referring to him. Right now, he only looked like a slightly-plump, middle-aged man. Holding his belly, he became rather hesitant. He was completely willing to kill Yu Wufeng, but this bastard would definitely blow up and drag him down with him.
“Hold on!” Yu Wufeng said in a hurry.
He never expected Li Qingshan to be so difficult to deal with, so he let out a powerless sigh. If he had strength like that, he would definitely be very difficult to deal with too. He glanced at the city below the mountain that had already been reduced to ruins.
The great cause of unifying Savage mountain actually just ends like this. Master, I’ve let down your hopes!
In the end, caught between a decision of life and death, Yu Wufeng still ended up going with the sensible choice of life. A large part of the reason was because he refused to die by the hands of the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber. That would be an utter disgrace to him.
With the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber leading the way, the four of them followed a hidden path and entered the depths of Savage mountain.
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber and Yu Wufeng worked together, opening the various formations until they arrived at the centre of the mountain. Their field of view suddenly opened up, and a primitive hall appeared. The density of the spiritual qi peaked here. Despite being pitch-black, the hall glowed with dazzling spiritual qi in Li Qingshan’s eyes.
The spirit turtle sent a warning! The danger it hid was enough to threaten him. A formation was operating without stop.
“Here, even the most regular formations can unleash ten times more power, and the power of the formation here is anything but normal. Even I would find it extremely difficult to try and force apart the formation.”
Looking over, there was a meter-tall stone pedestal in the centre of the hall with a pitch-black scroll forged from the hide of an unknown creature on there. The edges were frayed, and at first glance, it did not seem special. However, the evil nature it was hiding could be sensed through the formation.
“Then I’ll be troubling the two of you!” Li Qingshan said.
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber and Yu Wufeng could not help but exchange glances. Until now, they were still the masters of Savage mountain. They could still control the formations littered throughout the mountain, with the formation before them in particular. It was called the Eight Point formation, and it was extremely powerful. They only stood a chance against it if they worked together.
However, their gazes parted the moment they met. After so many years of fighting both openly and under the table, their grievances had already become firmly ingrained. Neither of them trusted each other. Moreover, the smiling Li Qingshan with his arms crossed and the silent Xiao An behind prevented them from acting recklessly.
The two of them raised their hands and gained the recognition of the Eight Point formation very quickly. They bellowed out together, and under their control, the light rippled, surging about like the tide. Talismans drifted through the air, and eight vicious beasts faded in. Their roars boomed through the centre of the mountain.
“We’re injured, so we can’t last for too long. If you want to retrieve the scroll, please move quickly!” Yu Wufeng said.
Li Qingshan smiled and made his way over, entering the Eight Point formation fearlessly. Xiao An’s dark pupils turned into the Samādhi Flames of White Bone, blazing away as she stared at the two of them. The Buddha Slaying sword was already in her hands. If they tried to do something else, she would kill them immediately.
The eight vicious beasts moved aside and formed a path, but they were still filled with reluctance. They brandished their claws and bared their fangs, wanting to lunge over at all times.
Li Qingshan arrived before the stone pedestal and picked up the Blood Oath Scroll before backing out.
Yu Wufeng and the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber sat on the ground, gasping for air, but their eyes were glued to the Blood Oath Scroll. The arcane treasure that they had dreamt of for all these years was merely inches away right now.
Li Qingshan unfurled the Blood Oath Scroll, and an evil nature together with demon qi flooded his face. In that moment, a black, vicious, non-human skull actually appeared in his eyes. Its hollow eye sockets gazed at him, and two streaks of blood tears flowed out.
In the blink of an eye, the illusion vanished, only leaving behind the pitch-black background with lines of bloody words. That was the blood oath contract that bounded the cave masters of the Lair of Demons. Right below the contract were eight vague figures.
Four of them seemed to be forcefully dug out from the background. The outline they left behind corresponded to the Silkworm Madam and the other three. There were another two that were extremely blurry as if they had been gently erased with an eraser. One of them even had a bloody handprint over them, which went without saying who they were. The last two remained as clear as before, which were the third cave master and seventh cave master that had gone out.
“Hmm? The Blood Oath Scroll seems to be forged from the hide of a demonfolk, and one that’s a Demon King at the very least!”
Li Qingshan said and passed the Blood Oath Scroll to Xiao An. If they wanted to set up an oath, he obviously had to leave it up to the meticulous her.
When Yu Wufeng and the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber saw this, they both became extremely astounded. He actually just handed over an arcane treasure like that? Aren’t they even wary of each other?
Xiao An accepted the Blood Oath Scroll, and the Samādhi Flames of White Bone surged out, enveloping the arcane treasure. Although it was masterless, it was still an arcane treasure after all, so it took her quite a while to refine it. A tiny skeleton appeared at the very top of the Blood Oath Scroll, which was the imprint she had left behind.
Li Qingshan asked, “How’s it? Is it any good?”
Yu Wufeng and the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber became extremely nervous. Their lives, freedom, and everything depended on the Blood Oath Scroll.
“The cave masters of the Lair of Demons have always been maintained at around eight people. Even at most, it never exceeds ten people, which is roughly the limit of the Blood Oath Scroll. Moreover, once those who are bound by it undergo the third heavenly tribulation, it won’t be a lethal threat anymore despite remaining effective. In other words, the Blood Oath Scroll can turn ten second heavenly tribulation cultivators, daemons, or otherfolk into slaves. You can say it’s quite a nice arcane treasure. We’ll be needing these people.”
“I see. As long as we possess this Blood Oath Scroll, we can immediately establish a powerful sect or organisation, and it can guarantee absolute loyalty too.” Li Qingshan nodded. The Blood Oath Scroll truly was an arcane treasure after all. If it was used well, it would even be worth more than arcane treasures for battle. Then he said with some pity, “Sigh, if I had known earlier, I would have been a little less heavy-handed.”
However, cultivators were different from mortals, and the cave masters were all the cream of the crop among cultivators. If he did not kill them, they would be an endless source of trouble even if they only had a breath left in them. It was even possible for them to escape back to Savage mountain and use the formations against them.
“They’re too weak. They’re a waste of spots.”
Xiao An’s calm voice made Yu Wufeng and the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber shiver inside. Although she had never mentioned it, she had thought through everything for Li Qingshan. All Li Qingshan had to do was point her in a direction.
Li Qingshan smiled. “Fair enough. With how large the south is, I refuse to believe that I can’t recruit eight subordinates. Oh right, is it possible to alter the blood oath? That way, we’ll have four subordinates. The seventh cave master is probably a piece of trash too, but the third cave master might be worth anticipating.”
“Once the blood oath has been written, it cannot be altered. If you want to rewrite the oath, then you have to choose between releasing or wiping out those that are bound.”
“Wipe them out then!” Li Qignshan said casually. Then he glanced at the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber. This fatty had not uttered a single word of truth.
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber jiggled and said in a hurry, “Please give me your wise judgement, sir. I’ve never refined the Blood Oath Scroll, so I would never know it included so many details.”
Xiao An used her index finger to touch the figures of the third and seventh cave masters gently. The vicious skull appeared on the pitch-black background of the Blood Oath Scroll again.
Smack! Smack!
Two bloody handprints slammed down on the two figures, dripping with blood.
ps: 说梦祝大家中秋快乐，人月团圆，年年有今日，岁岁有今朝。对了，今天还有一更!
