The woman who radiated with an abyssal coldness stopped on the edge of the island. Only after hesitating did she pass through the jungle and arrive before Li Qingshan.
She was alone. Her lovely, silken dress and her noble, crystal crown contrasted heavily against the tiny hut in the trees. Even the sunlight that landed on her seemed to turn cold, losing its original warmth.
Li Qingshan was about to say something when Ru Xin walked out of the hut. Her seething fury put her fire devourer bloodline on full display.
“What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t think you would return here,” Gong Yuan said while holding back her sighs.
“What, you want to chase me away again?” Ru Xin sneered. Flames burned in her eyes.
Gong Yuan had nothing to say in response to that. Quite a while later, she said softly, “I’m sorry. That’s not the conclusion I wanted to see either. I originally thought you could leave the south and leave the range of influence of Fire Melt mountain. I thought you could go to a new place and start over…”
The South sea was large, but it was not large enough for them, a fire devourer, a traitor, and a crossbreed that everyone loathed.
Her apology and explanation seemed to take Ru Xin by surprise, leaving her momentarily speechless.
“I can make it up to you. After all, you’re my…” Gong Yuan took a step forward.
“Shut up!” Ru Xin gradually calmed down. “I don’t need you to make it up to me. There’s nothing really you can do to make it up to me anyway. We don’t have any relationship either. I don’t seek revenge against the Merfolk simply because that’s not what my mother would like to see. You can go, your majesty. This is my home, not a place you should come to.”
“Fine then!” Gong Yuan did not pin her hopes on being forgiven. Perhaps it was better described that being simply forgiven would instead make her even more emotionally perturbed. She recovered her cold, noble bearing and said to Li Qingshan, “Don’t forget about ten days’ time.”
“Just you wait.” Li Qingshan sat back down, lowering his head and fiddling around with the jar. The jar was very exquisite, with beautiful, coloured patterns like a mural. It depicted three figures, two large and one small, holding hands and standing together. They did not have any expressions, but they seemed very happy and peaceful.
After Gong Yuan left, Ru Xin smiled wryly. “I’ve really made a fool of myself today.”
“You really aren’t as foolish as normal today. What’re you standing there for? Hurry up and go clean up the hut. Woman, get to work!” Li Qingshan said without even looking up like he was the master of the house instructing his wife.
Ru Xin kicked her foot at him, but she came to a halt half way and pulled it back. Li Qingshan brought the jar before his face. “Be careful. I’m not compensating you if you break it!”
Ru Xin snatched back the jar and returned to the hut. After some effort, she had cleaned up the hut. The place was spotless, and the colourful jars of various sizes were placed neatly too.
She stood with her hands on her hips and looked around in satisfaction. Suddenly, a ball of fire lit up in her hand, and she tossed it out gently, flying out and spreading rapidly. The flames filled the place very quickly, devouring this place called “home”.
Crickle, crackle! The furniture burned, and the earthenware shattered.
Her face was brightly lit up by the firelight, gazing at this in a daze. Her expression constantly changed, but only with a closer glance was it possible to tell that it was just the flickering of the firelight. Her expression remained the same the entire time, like a jade sculpture.
Li Qingshan gently pulled her into his arms. She murmured, “Qingshan, as people of cultivation, they can’t be too emotional. With their exceptional talent, they should have possessed a very, very long lifespan and a very, very long road ahead of them…”
“Then they wouldn’t have you.”
“I’d rather they not have me. If they didn’t have me…”
“Did they regret it?” Li Qingshan interrupted.
“No.” Ru Xin thought about it.
“Then there you go. As for being emotional or not, that’s all just bullsh*t. They just weren’t strong enough!”
Li Qingshan never believed there was some kind of supreme principle in the world that applied to all and restrained all. He did not believe “do well and have well”, just like how he did not believe “do well and don’t have well”. Since a principle like that did not exist, why couldn’t he cast aside all misgivings and stride forward along his own will?
“Alright then. Let’s just say you’re right!”
“Though, looks like we can only do it out in the open now!” Li Qingshan said with quite a bit of pity.
Ru Xin’s eye twitched, holding back her urge to cuss him out.
By now, the hut had already become a huge, blazing torch. The tongues of flames constantly licked the sky.
Li Qingshan kicked the ground gently with his right foot and left behind a deep footprint. The powers of tremors silently spread through the entire island, and with a rumble, the volcano erupted with unprecedented intensity. The surging lava was thrown high into the air, splattering across the entire island. Very soon, the entire island was alight.
He had already unfurled his phoenix wings, flying away with Ru Xin in his arms. He sighed. “With that, we can’t even do it out in the open. Cough, cough. Perhaps I might be a crude person. I don’t really understand overly delicate feelings. Compared to cherishing the memories of lost family, I still prefer causing ten times, a hundred times the pain to my enemies. What do you think?”
“That’s right!” Ru Xin’s gaze became determined because of hatred. She gazed in the direction of Fire Melt mountain.
On the mountain peak of the Fire Melt mountain, the three Fire Devouring Kings resided by the crater of the volcano, wolfing down the flames and rapidly recovering their strength.
A while later, Zhu Fen opened his eyes first. He muttered Li Qingshan’s name viciously, tempted to go to Savage mountain right now and burn everything to a crisp.
Zhu Zai said in persuasion, “There’s no need to be so impatient, king Fen. Perhaps that Li Qingshan has already been killed by the King of Southern Yue. He comes from the Green province after all. I refuse to believe the King of Southern Yue will just let an enemy like him grow!”
Zhu Yan also added, “Our priority right now is to deal with the Merfolk of the South sea. Originally, we thought we could kill Gong Yuan and Ji Changfeng by taking them by surprise, but we never thought we’d end up exposing the Divine Fire tablets and making them raise their guards.”
“Hmm? Raise their guards? They’ve yet to witness the true might of the Divine Fire tablets! This time, it was both because Li Qingshan had pulled some kind of trick and trapped the fire god, as well as the fact that your control over the Fire Tablet of Man is insufficient. The fire god only possesses the form but not the essence, which not only prevents you from awakening fire god Zhurong’s divine consciousness, but it also prevented you from wielding it freely, becoming one with the god.”
“Though, my flames of heaven and king Zai’s flames of earth were quite lacking too. Otherwise, the scenario would be completely different. Once we completely comprehend and understand the divine texts on the Divine Fire tablets, would we still need a sneak attack? We can directly kill our way into the Crystal palace and burn those damned Merfolk to a crisp!”
Zhu Zai and Zhu Yan agreed. They concentrated on comprehending the Divine Fire tablets.
At the same time, the fire devourers below the mountain played around in the rivers of lava and fire. At the same time, they also absorbed the flames of the earth to cultivate.
Fire devourers were just as their names suggested. They ate nothing but fire, but flames of the earth were only one kind. They would also set various different items alight to taste flames of different flavours. They even had something akin to human culinary arts, setting multiple items alight together to create special tastes.
All fire devourers liked setting things on fire. It was this exact aspect that made it impossible for them to establish a close connection with the Great Banyan Tree King like the Shadow palace.
However, the flames of the earth were still the most important. It was equivalent to the staple food of humans.
At this moment, in the depths of the magma below Fire Melt mountain, two figures appeared. They were Li Qingshan and Ru Xin who had just returned from the South sea.
