“He’s still my third cave master after all. I’ve already given a promise to all these night roamers, so just let him stay behind and keep serving me. There should be a time when I remove the blood oath and give him freedom again.”
Li Qingshan smiled. Having resolved their most essential reason for conflict, his attitude towards her mellowed out as well.
“I’m fine with anything else, but I must take this lowly scum back with me today!” Ye Weiyang said.
Li Qingshan glanced at Ghost Shadow curiously. He wondered how he had managed to offend the Shadow Queen so much. “Then I’m afraid I can’t oblige. If I can’t even keep a subordinate around, then what’s the point of calling myself the King of Savages?”
Ghost Shadow shot a grateful gaze towards Li Qingshan. From a certain perspective, his objective was the same as Ye Liusu’s. He wanted to undergo the third heavenly tribulation before returning to the Shadow palace.
Ye Weiyang gradually raised her eyebrows, and the heavy murderousness began to radiate again. Li Qingshan stood on his side and gazed at her, continuing to smile like before, but he showed no intentions of backing down. The atmosphere that had just eased up immediately became tense again.
It made the Great Banyan Tree King sigh inside. Ghost Shadow’s existence was not particularly important to either of them, but they had entered a stalemate for the sake of their pride.
“Ma’am Shadow Queen, could you hear me out?” Ye Liusu interrupted before casting another glance at Li Qingshan. If the two of them remained together, they would definitely end up quarrelling.
“Alright. I’ll hear you out first and then take that lowly scum away,” said Ye Weiyang.
The crescent moon sank into the western mountains silently. The light of dawn surged out from the east.
Ghost Shadow stuck close to Li Qingshan nervously, but in the end, the Shadow Queen did not appear again. Only then did he sigh deeply and ease up.
Ye Liusu sat under the great banyan tree with her legs crossed, but the seat before her was already empty. Ye Weiyang had already left Savage mountain silently. Ye Liusu was still stuck in thoughts, sitting there silently. She saw a blur before her, and Li Qingshan sat down in front of her. He smiled at her.
“How was it? Did you have a good talk?”
Ye Liusu nodded gently before suddenly revealing an extremely charming smile. “Thank you!”
Li Qingshan stood up and gazed into the east. “There’s still a long road ahead!”
In the Myriad Poison cult, hundreds of braziers of varying heights burned with dark, green flames, turning the halls green. The Myriad Poison Ancestor sat on his throne. He felt a little uneasy, so he stood up and paced around the hall. He thought, Have I missed something? When the Shadow Queen takes action, even I have to treat her with the utmost caution, so let alone a measly kid at the second heavenly tribulation. Death is the only fate awaiting him!
At this moment, the flames moved despite the absence of wind, rising and flickering about. The Myriad Poison Ancestor’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly looking back. He only saw an additional item on his throne. It was the remuneration he had offered, the treasure of the Myriad Poison cult.
His face changed. The Shadow Queen had actually given up on the assassination!
“Why? Why!?” he called out loudly as he waved his arms around. His wide sleeves flew about, and the green flames blazed.
But he received no reply. Only his voice echoed through the hall endlessly.
He would have never imagined that the Great Banyan Tree King would selflessly support a “human”, helping him control his formations and mediate his conflict. With the Great Banyan Tree King’s assistance, Li Qingshan instead had an easier time in the Mist province than in the Green province.
The news of the battle spread through the south very quickly, followed by the entire Mist province.
The Myriad Poison cult was a very renowned sect in the Mist province, yet they had actually been devastated by the King of Savages, Li Qingshan, in a single battle. Even the Myriad Poison Ancestor was unable to stop him. Everyone found this unbelievable.
After hearing Qian Liangmu’s report, the King of Southern Yue also became surprised. He fiddled around with the chess piece and forgot to take his move. He said to his opponent in chess, the Great Banyan Tree King, “Sure enough, you didn’t take notice of him for no reason, fellow. Though, it does make my urge to kill him grow heavier.”
“Perhaps making peace would be better!” The Great Banyan Tree King smiled.
The King of Southern Yue raised an eyebrow, and the surprise in his eyes became even heavier. The Great Banyan Tree King’s stance on this issue was even more obvious than last time. Last time, he said he was merely establishing a good tie of friendship, and it was not exactly sheltering just yet. However, his intention to shelter him was very clear now, which was very much worth some thought.
It had to be said that when the Great Banyan Tree King agreed to control the formations of Savage mountain and went to such great lengths to intervene between him and the Shadow Queen, he was no longer in a position of absolute neutrality. Even for someone as wise as him, it was impossible for him to not have likes and dislikes, to not be closer with certain people than others. When others saw Li Qingshan, they only treated him as a genius disciple of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, but to him, he was a supreme genius of the Daemon race rarely seen in a thousand or even ten thousand years, and they were on good terms.
The King of Southern Yue contemplated. “No wonder this Li Qingshan is bold enough to come to the south and take office. With just a single order from you, fellow, just who’s still bold enough to even touch a hair on him?”
“Life and death are decreed by fate. Riches and honour are matters decided by heaven.”
The Great Banyan Tree King expressed his stance. If the King of Southern Yue had really made up his mind about eliminating Li Qingshan, he would not go out of his way to stop him. This was the burden that came with the term of reference “fellow”.
“For people like us, aren’t we all trying to oppose the heavens and change fate?”
The Great Banyan Tree King only smiled.
……
“Li Qingshan, are you bold enough to face me in battle?”
Above Savage mountain, the Myriad Poison Ancestor rode on his poisonous cloud; his voice boomed like thunder. He made no attempt to hide his fury and agitation.
“Myriad Poison you oldie, you’re still bold enough to kick up a fuss at Savage mountain? You’re not afraid I’ll make your Myriad Poison cult die out for good?” Li QIngshan stood at the top of the mountain and laughed aloud.
“Are you bold enough or not? I only need a single answer!” the Myriad Poison Ancestor said.
“What if I say I’m not?” Li Qingshan said slowly.
“Then remove your name as the King of Savages, because you’re unworthy!” the Myriad Poison Ancestor said.
“Someone seems to have told me that in the past. Hehe, whether I’m worthy or not is not for an old bastard like you to decide! You want me to come out. That’s exactly what I’m not going to do,” said Li Qingshan.
“Alright, alright, alright. If you think you’re good enough, why don’t you stay in there for the rest of your life? I’d like to see just how long you can hide in there!” the Myriad Poison Ancestor pointed at Savage mountain and said in exasperation. He had truly been angered this time, going as far as to use such a foolish method to show Li Qingshan what was what.
“You can stay there for as long as you like. I’m going to be cultivating in my dwelling, having the time of my life!” Li Qingshan said.
The Myriad Poison Ancestor snorted coldly and just sat on the cloud. He made up his mind about waiting Li Qingshan out.
“If he remains outside Savage mountain, the cave masters outside won’t be able to report back,” said Xiao An.
“You can just let him wait outside for a little longer. I’m only pissing off this old bastard first. I’m obviously not going to hole up here and see who’s more patient. He’ll be perfect for getting some practise,” Li Qingshan said while rubbing his hands, itching to try the Myriad Poison Ancestor.
Although cultivators had a lengthier lifespan than mortals, their concept of time was not as clear as mortals. That became even more the case the higher their cultivations were. In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
The Myriad Poison Ancestor had absolutely no intentions of leaving. He seemed to be cultivating, but he kept an eye on Savage mountain below the entire time. As soon as Li Qingshan left the formations, he definitely would not be able to escape his senses.
Let alone a month, he could even afford to wait a year, or even a decade. It would only affect his cultivation a little, but increasing his cultivation had already become incredibly difficult at his current realm. Coupled with his resentment and anger, it was not like he would cultivate any faster even if he were in the Myriad Poison cult. By remaining above Savage mountain the entire time, it instead put him in a slightly better mood. No matter how he looked at it, he was not losing out on anything.
