However, that truly was some undeserved blame. Li Qingshan really did not know what her name was. Although Ru Xin had introduced the overall situation of the South sea to him, she never mentioned the name of the Merfolk Queen for some reason. Li Qingshan did not mind either. After all, it was only a term of reference at the end of the day. Their name and surname was not important.
During this short conversation, the guard captain, Gong Kun, felt like he had just made a fool of himself before the queen, which made him even more furious. He downright let go of the anchor. His arms rippled with muscles, immediately becoming covered with scales that shone with a metallic sheen. They suddenly turned into blurs as he unleashed a barrage at Li Qingshan’s defenceless back. Every single punch possessed the power to split mountains.
Li Qingshan ignored it. Let alone dodging, he did not even glance at him. The dark red demon qi automatically protected him, forming swirls and easily nullifying the punches. The punches did not even reach his clothes.
This was originally a battle skill from Ocean Wielding. Although the Ocean pearl was completely gone now, his usage of this battle skill was more ingenious than ever.
“You fool, do you really think my Cascading Strikes of the Great Waves is that simple? I’ll make you learn your lesson right now!”
The force was like the roaring waves of the ocean, piling up and cascading together turbulently. The swirls of demon qi gradually gave way.
“Die!”
Gong Kun bellowed. His right arm thickened once again, and he punched towards Li Qingshan’s back.
“Have you had enough yet?”
Li Qingshan finally turned around. He raised his left hand and blocked Gong Kun’s punch. Gazing at Gong Kun’s twisted and stunned face, he felt an urge to swing the anchor in his right hand.
He only needed a gentle swing to smash this merman’s head in. Even the Merfolk Queen would not be able to save him in time. However, he decided against it. He had not come to develop ill will with the Merfolk of the South sea.
“Gong Kun, back down!”
Gong Yuan’s eyes flashed. She sensed the momentary change in Li Qingshan’s aura and could not help but sit up. She was surprised by his audacity, actually bold enough to consider taking someone’s life right in front of her. This was either brazen foolishness or absolute confidence.
The elders all looked at one another. As it seemed, Li Qingshan did live up to his title as the King of Savages. Gong Kun had unleashed his full strength, yet it was not even enough to probe out his strength. He was like a rowdy child messing around with an adult. Once the child pissed off the adult, a single slap across the face would be enough to render the child half-dead.
Aside from the queen, probably no one was his opponent. Coupled with his young age, he would definitely become a great cultivator in the future as long as he did not die along the way. The nine provinces were endowed with talented geniuses!
Gong Kun had already pulled back before the order. He only bowed after blanking out for a moment. “Yes!”
He was badly shaken. In the moment earlier when they locked eyes, murderousness had flooded over. He felt like he was facing a terrifying, colossal beast of the deep sea. Now that he returned to his senses, it was just a regular, smiling man. He could not even be regarded as handsome by the standards of Merfolk, but he did give off a valiant bearing that could not be ignored.
Hmph, as the captain of the guards, since when have I feared death?
“You big dumb oaf, who told you to come up here? Why don’t you piss off right now?”
Right when Gong Kun wanted to stand by the crystal throne, a voice rang out in his head, which made his expression become quite strange. The speaker was not anyone else, but the huge whale beneath them. It could not stand being stood on, so it directly communicated with him to shoo him away.
The blue whale Daemon Commander was the special mount of the Merfolk Queen. He had grown up in the South sea and was rumoured to be a descendant of the Great Whale King. He was already over seven thousand years old now, having witnessed countless vicissitudes of the Merfolk. He was at the peak of the second heavenly tribulation, and once he underwent the third heavenly tribulation, he would become the protector beast of the Merfolk. He possessed an extremely great status among the merpeople and was known as elder Blue.
This elder Blue had quite the temper. Normally, he never let anyone ride on his back. Today, the queen had set out on a trip and needed to discuss matters with the elders, so he came to a compromise to carry them as well. Li Qingshan had been standing on him for so long, yet he did not respond at all. He tried to shoo away Gong Kun instead.
“Gong Yuan, deep like the sea. What a good name!”
Note: The “yuan” in Gong Yuan means abyss. It can also be used to describe great depths, which is the case here.
Li Qingshan casually tossed the anchor back to Gong Kun. Gong Kung glanced at Li Qingshan, reluctant to just drop the matter there, but Li Qingshan had already turned around and begun talking with the queen. As a result, he had no other choice but to leave the whale’s back, glancing at the pool-sized whale eye grumpily.
“Look at you. I call you dumb, yet you still refuse to admit it. Why don’t you check your anchor? The kid might just have a cultivation at the second heavenly tribulation, but his strength is unfathomable. Even I am probably not his opponent, so what do you have to feel discontent about? He’s a White Hawk commander of the Hawkwolf Guard, while his master is a Monk King of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. As long as someone like him does not openly oppose us, it’s fine even if he’s a little rude. Do you really want to create an enemy for no good reason?” Elder Blue added.
In simpler terms, politeness purely depended on strength. If mortals ran their mouths, then some of them should be killed and made into an example. However, even if Li Qingshan climbed onto the whale’s back and asked for the Merfolk Queen’s name, there was nothing wrong with that.
Gong Kun lowered his head, and sure enough, there was a handprint on the anchor. He was shocked. He had found the anchor from a huge, sunken ship. Only after forging it who knew how many times did he shrink it to its current size. It was extremely tough, yet Li Qingshan had actually left a mark through his grip alone. He glanced at the whale back again, and the man suddenly seemed much taller and larger under the starry sky.
“Li Qingshan. Now that’s a rather mediocre name,” Gong Yuan said coldly. She could acknowledge Li Qingshan’s strength to a certain degree, but that did not mean they were equals.
“Then you can call me Erlang. I’m the second son in my family.” Li Qingshan smiled.
He was clearly mocking her with that, which infuriated the Merfolk elders. However, the Merfolk Queen remained just as cold as before. “Little Li the second, why do you block my path and hinder the sea fair?”
Little Li the second?
Li Qingshan pinched his nose. He never expected the Merfolk Queen’s tongue to… resemble Ru Xin’s a little! At a closer glance, despite her icy-cold, dignified bearing of a king, her facial features really did bear some resemblance to Ru Xin’s. Was she related to Ru Xin somehow?
Gong Yuan’s expression only grew colder. “Heh, how could a measly second son of the Li family block your majesty’s path? I’ve come to guide you.” Li Qingshan turned to his side and raised his hand. “Please look. That is where the sea fair will be held, called Giant Ship island. On there are three great mountains, which are called Main-mast mountain, Fore-mast mountain and… uhh… Medium-mast mountain…”
Li Qingshan began to ramble as he introduced the mountains and the sea fair. Ru Xin had mentioned all of it offhandedly to him in the past, which was the only reason why he knew, and there were even many mistakes in his introduction.
All of the merpeople became rather confused. Who knew how many times they had held the sea fair already, so did they really need an outsider to introduce this to them? If you want to introduce it to us, at least do your research. What the hell is Medium-mast mountain supposed to be about?
There was a “pfft” and a mermaid began laughing, earning a vicious glance from the great priest, so she covered her mouth in a hurry. However, she struggled to hide her smile. This human sure is bold. He’s actually brave enough to talk nonsense in front of the queen. He might not be particularly handsome, but he is quite interesting. Even that grumpy-looking Gong Kun isn’t his opponent.
“Now look at him. That’s the sect master of Cloud Sail mountain, fellow Feng Changfeng. He’s known as the Wind Gale King. He wields a Feilian flag…”
Li Qingshan smiled at the laughing mermaid before pointing at the altar on the beach, which made Ji Changfeng’s eyes twitch. Li Qingshan had said nothing bad about him. Instead, he placed him on a very high pedestal, even saying things along the lines of “The Wind Gale King dominates the South sea, where even the King of Southern Yue has to treat him with courtesy”. However, it left him restless for some reason. He was tempted to just swing the Feilian flag and blow him back to the Green province.
“This Li Qingshan…” Ji Qingyu was speechless, but he could not help but admire him. Right in front of countless cultivators and merpeople, he remained completely at ease while caught between two kings, completely matching them in prestige and might. That was the King of Savages.
“Shut your mouth. We don’t need your introduction. Leave us!” the great priest barked.
Li Qingshan glanced at her. “When I’m talking with the queen, I don’t need any other people butting in!”
“You!”
Ji Changfeng felt like he could not let this continue any further, so he cleared his throat gently and clasped his hands. “Fellow Gong, long time no see! My friends, you’ve all travelled a great distance, yet I’ve failed to welcome you from afar, so please enter the port! Also, my… little friend, thank you for your introduction, but that’ll do. Let’s not make everyone wait too long.”
After a moment of hesitation, he decided to refer to Li Qingshan as “little friend” in the end, which signified treating him as an equal, but not on equal footing like “fellow”.
“You’re too kind, my old friend. I’m basically done anyway. Since you don’t need me anymore, I’ll take my leave.”
Li Qingshan clasped his hands at Ji Changfeng. Although there had been a small accident, he had basically achieved his objectives. This kind of recognition seemed pointless, but it was actually extremely important. It was directly connected to a series of plans.
“I have to admit, despite also being the king of a race, you’re far more tolerant than that bastard Zhu Yan, your majesty.”
“Hold on, you’ve met Zhu Yan before?”
Li Qingshan said that and was about to leave when the icy-cold Gong Yuan finally became fazed.
“I have met him once. Unfortunately, it was not a particularly enjoyable experience.” Li Qingshan shrugged.
Gong Yuan sank into her thoughts. She glanced at Li Qingshan deeply and said, “Little Li the second, you can stay right here and enter the port with us!”
“That would be an honour! But if you could call me something else, I’d-”
“Enter the port!” Gong Yuan ordered, and the blue whale swam in.
Li Qingshan shook his head, turning around and arriving on the blue whale’s head. He stood in the wind.
Acquainting himself with this Merfolk Queen had unfolded much more smoothly than acquainting with the Fire Devouring King. When otherfolk were endowed by heaven, they were also influenced by their natural element, which affected the seven great races of otherfolk in particular. The yin-element night roamers were sinister and crafty, the fire-element fire devourers were short-tempered and restless, while the water-element merpeople were relatively milder and more tolerant.
Of course, that was only relatively. The Merfolk Queen’s character was cold and deep, just like the sea abyss. She was definitely a tough nut to crack. A major reason why she was willing to tolerate his “rudeness” was because of his strength and background. The outcome of his battle against the Myriad Poison cult had played a critical role too.
Otherwise, she probably would have shown him the violent, unpredictable side of the ocean already.
ps: 大家知道，战胜“病魔”不是一朝一夕的事情，昨天我又与精神病抗争了一下，以我的大获全胜告终，所以晚上还有一更，敬请期待。
