As long as cultivators had undergone the third heavenly tribulation, they had a vague sense over the heavenly secrets even if they did not know divination, let alone the fact that great cultivators would usually go out of their way to make up for this. Even if they could not see into the future or scheme a hundred steps ahead, at the very least others would not see into their future and scheme a hundred steps ahead of them. They had the energy and ability to anyway. The Myriad Poison Ancestor was no different.
It was possible for someone to go out of their way to interfere or even suppress this feeling of the future—a major reason for the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s horrific defeat in this battle was because Li Qingshan and Xiao An were capable of stirring up the heavenly secrets, or Xiao An would have never succeeded with her ambush. Even if she were a little stronger, she still would have been crushed one-sidedly by the Myriad Poison Ancestor. Her life might have even been in danger.
Among these heavenly secrets, the one that was most difficult to interfere with was a person’s sense over the threats to their life. Just like how it was a “matter of life or death”, even mortals who had faced danger numerous times could sense it, let alone a great cultivator who had spent a millennia cultivating and had an idea over his own fate.
With his body destroyed, reduced to a soul nascence, the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s senses for the future only became sharper.
In other words, no matter what Li Qingshan did to kill him, he would always have sufficient time to respond and blow up his soul nascence.
“Aren’t I stuck like this then?” Li Qingshan frowned slightly, feeling a little annoyed. There just happened to be a chance that his phoenix nirvā?a would not succeed, where he would really end up perishing with the Myriad Poison Ancestor if he were careless.
“There still are ways to deal with this…” The Great Banyan Tree King faltered.
“Please go on, fellow!” Li Qingshan clasped his hands.
“On the South sea, I have an old friend who’s skilled at creating illusions and mirages, which can delude people and subvert reality. If he’s willing to help out, then this can be resolved easily.”
Ru Xin was currently focused on reading a text on poisons. When she heard that, she raised her head in surprise. “Are you talking about the Clam King of Mirage Sea?”
“That’s right, the Clam King of Mirage Sea,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
“The Clam King of Mirage Sea,” Li Qingshan murmured.
Li Qingshan had read about that name in a book before. Among the Seventy-two Daemon Kings, he could be regarded as the most mysterious. The Clam King of Mirage Sea never left the ocean and always resided in a place called the “Mirage sea”. He had never been involved in any major incidents among the nine provinces either, so the information on him was limited.
“The Clam King of Mirage Sea is truly the most appropriate choice with what he’s capable of. I only need to lure Myriad Poison into the illusions for a while, and I’ll be able to deal with him. But will he help me? Will he have any conditions?”
Li Qingshan had his doubts. The Seventy-two Daemon Kings did differ in strength, but as long as they had not ascended and were still alive, they were basically all on par with the Dragon King of Ink Sea with several thousand extra years of consolidation. Even ten Myriad Poisons might not be an opponent for them, so ten Li Qingshans obviously stood no chance either. He did not want to leap out of the frying pan, only to end up in the fire and dooming himself for good.
“He has no conditions. He’ll definitely help you. Go to the South sea and find him!” Unlike how hesitant he was before, the Great Banyan Tree King spoke firmly now.
“So you have so much trust in this Clam King of Mirage Sea, fellow!”
Li Qingshan was slightly surprised. He had known the Great Banyan Tree King for all these years. Whenever he spoke, he always left room for maneuver. After all, the matters of the world were unpredictable. Not even he could predict everything with his intelligence, so leaving some room for himself was always a good idea. Rarely did he ever speak with such confidence, which made Li Qingshan think.
Don’t tell me this Clam King of Mirage Sea is actually a female daemon and there is something going on between the two of them? Heh, speaking of which, the South sea and the Mist province are neighbours, and they never leave their territories either. It does seem like they would cherish one another from afar.
“Stop letting your imagination run wild! I understand him very well. You only need to say you’re my subordinate. With our many years of friendship, he definitely won’t make things difficult for you,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
Ru Xin raised an eyebrow and glanced at Li Qingshan, wanting to say something. The Great Banyan Tree King’s voice rang out in her head. “I know you come from the South sea. Try not to say too much!”
How strange, even stopping me from saying anything. But the Great Banyan Tree King shouldn’t be trying to harm him, so I’ll just wait and see, Ru Xin thought. Coincidentally, Xiao An gazed over with her clear, deep eyes.
Ru Xin communicated to her. “Were you warned by the Great Banyan Tree King too?”
Xiao An looked away silently, basically admitting to it. She sank into her thoughts slightly.
The descriptions of the Clam King of Mirage Sea was limited in the books that Li Qingshan had read. The Great Banyan Tree King claimed there would be absolutely no danger, but Ru Xin and Xiao An’s understanding of this was the exact opposite. The legends regarding the Mirage sea were terrifying stories Ru Xin had grown up listening to, while from the resources Xiao An had read, countless cultivators had died in there before.
It was unlike regular zones of danger that guaranteed safety as long as they avoided it from afar. The Mirage sea drifted around on the South sea, making it unpredictable. Whether it was mortals or cultivators, humans or otherfolk, they would struggle to emerge again once they set foot in there.
There were a multitude of rumors and legends regarding the Mirage sea. There have been a few lucky survivors over the several millennia it had been around, but their description of the Mirage sea all differed. Some said it was a demonic island where ghosts and monsters wandered, while others said it was a mountain of treasure, littered with gold and silver. It only added to the eeriness of the Mirage sea.
Most of the survivors were mortals, and not a single cultivator, despite being countless times more powerful, would normally emerge. As a result, the most popular belief was that the Clam King of Mirage Sea intentionally spat out clam qi, drawing cultivators into bizarre illusions and mirages before devouring their essence blood, merging their souls with the clam qi and strengthening the illusions. Mortals were too weak and beneath attention, so they had a chance of slipping away.
TL: If you’re wondering how clams and mirages or illusions are connected, that’s because the Chinese traditionally believed that clams were responsible for creating mirages. The bubbles they spit out (the “qi” they produce, or clam qi) can create illusions.
As a result, the Mirage sea was recognised as the greatest zone of danger in the South sea, such that even the merpeople of the South sea refused to approach it. Li Qingshan had absolutely no idea about this, so he was basically walking towards an abyss with his eyes blindfolded, yet the Great Banyan Tree King refused to let anyone warn him, which was far too strange.
Of course, it was also possible that the Great Banyan Tree King was on very good terms with the Clam King of Mirage Sea. Perhaps it was a place of danger to others, but since it was the Great Banyan Tree King sending him, he could emerge unscathed. Though, surely he still had to make everything clear!
“I’ll have to rely on your assistance again,” Li Qingshan said sincerely. After going through all this, he trusted the Great Banyan Tree King very much.
“It’s a mere trifle, so there’s no need to be so serious. Perhaps I might need your help too one day.”
The Great Banyan Tree King felt rather astonished. Before he knew it, he had already forced a great cultivator into dire straits, where he had to resort to threats of blowing up his soul nascence. Li Qingshan had basically been advancing at an extraordinary rate. His obscure senses about fate became clearer too. There would be a day when he needed his assistance.
“Feel free to mention it when you do. I’ll return to my dwelling and recuperate first then. I’ll proceed to the South sea and find the Clam King of Mirage Sage once I recover,” Li Qingshan stood up and bade farewell.
The Great Banyan Tree King said, “You can heal here. I’ll help you out.”
“Then I’ll be troubling you. I just happened to be wanting to ask what kind of daemon this Clam King of Mirage sea is. That way, I’ll know how to deal with her when I see her,” Li Qingshan agreed happily.
Before he had even noticed it, he actually began to feel that the Clam King of Mirage Sea should be a female. There were far too many males among the Seventy-two Daemon Kings. That threw everything off-balance!
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed. Li Qingshan had made a full recovery, and his exhaustion was all gone. This was all thanks to finding the antidote, as well as the Great Banyan Tree King’s assistance. Otherwise, just completely cleansing the poison would probably take ten times longer.
It was pouring with rain outside the tree hole as the sounds of thunder rang out in the distance. Li Qingshan had never witnessed such a fierce storm in the Green province before. It was a pity he could not see snow here.
“Qingshan, according to my calculations over the past few days, the Mirage sea has currently stopped here. You should go there quickly. Don’t waste any time along the way, or who knows where it’ll drift to.”
The Great Banyan Tree King pointed around on a sea chart carved from wood with a root.
“Alright! I’ll set off right now!” Li Qingshan accepted the wooden sea chart and stood up. Over the past few days, he had gained a rough understanding of the Clam King of Mirage Sea, which made him more confident about this trip.
He thanked the Great Banyan Tree King and made his way out of the tree hole. Xiao An was already waiting there. They took off together to find the Mirage sea in the South sea.
The Great Banyan Tree King watched as Li Qingshan vanished into the horizon. Ru Xin’s voice rang out from beneath the tree. “I didn’t think the Clam King of Mirage Sea would actually be a very amiable person despite his horrible reputation!”
“Who knows?” The Great Banyan Tree King sighed with emotion.
“Who knows! Isn’t he your old friend?” Ru Xin asked curiously.
“He’s a very strange old friend, and while we’re old friends, we’re not familiar with one another.” The Great Banyan Tree King smiled.
“You’re clearly old friends, yet you’re not familiar with one another. That really is very strange,” said Ru Xin.
“We’re not just unfamiliar. I don’t even know his gender, as no one has seen his true form before. His personality is even more unstable, sometimes extremely friendly, yet other times filled with hostility.”
“And you’re old friends?” Ru Xin asked.
“Because I treat him as an old friend,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
Ru Xin sank into her thoughts.
“Actually, the strangest part of this all is he still hasn’t ascended yet. I originally thought he could have ascended three thousand years ago. Back then, even when kid Si toured the shore of the South sea, he had played a huge joke on him. There was just nothing he could do about him.” The Great Banyan Tree King recalled some matters of the past from several thousand years ago.
“Kid Si?” Ru Xin was taken aback. Only then did she realise who this “kid Si” was. When the founding emperor established the nine provinces and toured the world, he had once come to the Mist province to pay homage to the Great Banyan Tree King before venturing south to the shore of the South sea. The emperors that came after never did something like that again.
Ru Xin had left the South sea when she was young, so she did not have a detailed understanding about the Clam King of Mirage Sea. When she heard all this, she could not help but sigh. “In other words, this Clam King of Mirage Sea won’t necessarily show respect to anyone for anyone’s sake, and he’s also strong enough to not do that.”
“Hehe, you could put it that way,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
Ru Xin smiled. “Kid Li is going to be in trouble this time.”
“Aren’t you going to ask why I told you to warn him of nothing?” the Great Banyan Tree King said.
“You definitely have your reasons! And it’s not like he needs any warnings from me. This kid looks crude and brash, but he actually has a lot of things going on in his head. There aren’t a lot of people he trusts. Honestly, if the mighty Great Banyan Tree King wanted to deal with someone, why would you have to send him all the way to the distant South sea? Isn’t this a consideration that is as clear as day?” said Ru Xin.
“No wonder he trusts you so much,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
“I only happen to understand that certain things cannot be said. Though, probably not everyone can think as clearly as me…” Ru Xin gazed into the horizon. Worry flashed through her eyes. “Xiao An, the person he trusts the most, might not necessarily be willing to let down his trust. Most importantly, she only trusts him. As for the others, whether it’s the Great Banyan Tree King or herself, it’s all the same in her eyes no matter how trustworthy they seem.”
“That child really is as strange as she can be!” The Great Banyan Tree King sighed. “You haven’t come to find me just for this conversation, right?”
“I have a few questions about medicine that I’d like to ask you. This has to do with the success or failure of the battle against Firemelt mountain.” Ru Xin immediately became respectful.
“Go on.”
The Great Banyan Tree King listened to Ru Xin’s entire question and fell silent for a good while. “The strong preying on the weak is the principle of nature, but doing something like that is just a little too depraved.”
“You’re too kind, senior. You’d be completely right if you said I’m out of my mind and depraved, but if I don’t do that, how will the hatred in my heart even be resolved?” Ru Xin’s eyes flickered with flames. She was determined.
ps: 又是一段新的旅程，求保底月票!
