Time flowed; the clouds churned. The fifteenth of the tenth month arrived in the blink of an eye.
“What heavy snow!”
With a sigh of amazement, a man climbed up to the top of the mountain. The sharp, cold wings swept up the snowflakes, slamming against his exposed chest and immediately vapourising like they had fallen into a ball of fire. It enveloped him in hazy mist that obscured his appearance. However, his tall, straight figure clearly resembled a red flag planted at the top of the mountain, his clothes buffeting in the winds as his scarlet hair danced.
He gazed out. The surroundings had turned into a world of ice and snow. Everything turned white, only left with a vague outline. It brought him great breadth of mind.
It was not even dawn yet, yet it was already completely bright. However, if a mortal were here, they probably could not see beyond ten paces and probably could not survive fifteen minutes before turning into an ice statue.
His scarlet eyes narrowed, piercing the sky full of snow and seeing a white palace standing within the surrounding mountains.
It was not white because it was enveloped by snow. There was not a single snowflake on the palace. It was not a snowy-white either, but a warm and gentle pure-white. The entire place was actually carved out of white jade.
Engraved on the decorated archway in front of the palace were two words, Jade Palace. The style was extremely smooth and gentle.
It made people wonder just what kind of a person had written these words when they saw them.
It was a woman without a doubt, but what kind of woman exactly would take a lot of thought to decide, and it would be difficult to make a final conclusion.
He could not help but think of the woman with the umbrella in his dream, as well as that slight smile.
He was still uncertain about whether that was an illusion created by the Clam King of Mirage Sea, Shen Mengdie, or the master of the Jade palace, the Nine-tailed Fox Empress.
Thinking up to there, he pulled out a great cauldron from his sumeru ring. He filled it with water before tossing a skinned dog inside. Afterwards, he added scallions, ginger, cinnamon, bay leaves, and various other spices.
Of course, perhaps some people would call that a wolf, and the king of the Frost province too, the Heavenly Frost Wolf King.
But in his cauldron, it was merely a dog.
Despite losing its daemon core, its flesh was still filled with spiritual qi. It did not require much preparation. Not even the blood was drained.
The broth for stewing the meat was water from Ruin’s End. He had specially asked Gong Yuan for it. When the dog meat fell inside, it became covered in a layer of ice first, and that was all thanks to the extraordinary origins of the dog meat. Otherwise, even metal would have been frozen into broken bits the moment it fell in there.
The cauldron was an arcane treasure from alchemy, or it would be impossible to cook it thoroughly. An alchemy arcane treasure like that was extremely precious, worth more than ten regular arcane treasures. It was a spoil he had obtained from the religious preceptor of the left.
Even the various spices were spiritual herbs cultivated by the school of Agriculture, coupled with various precious spiritual medicines. He could no longer recall clearly where he had obtained all this. It seemed to be from the sumeru ring of the grandmaster of the school of Agriculture he had faced during the battle on Great Buddha mountain.
The man completed all the preparations and gazed at the sky. “Why don’t you get your ass down here?”
With a flash, a young man descended from above. He wore colourful robes with a delicate crown on his head. His hair was combed back perfectly, which made him seem even more striking and extraordinary. He possessed quite the bearing of a king.
He bowed deeply towards the man elegantly. “First father.”
Li Qingshan asked with a smile, “Those subordinates of yours didn’t stop you?”
Li Fengyuan reddened. Back then, he had been discouraged by the Featherfolk, so he was unable to save Xiao An. He felt rather ashamed about this towards Li Qingshan. He patted his chest. “No matter what the others say, I’ll definitely lend you a hand! Even if you’re destroying the world, I’ll be there to the very end!”
The Featherfolk must have refused to partake in the battle. Even if they were forced to take a side, they definitely would not join Li Qingshan. After all, the world would be destroyed. Even if they hovered in the sky, it was useless.
At this exact moment, Li Qingshan discovered he really did bear some resemblance to the great demon king mentioned in the notice of denunciation. Originally, he still struggled to understand why all the demon kings in all those stories would have a group of clever and powerful supporters despite their viciousness and violence. Now, it made a little sense.
However, he did not think Li Fengyuan had let him down in any shape or form regarding the matter with Xiao An. Even as father and son, they were still individuals. They had their own judgements and choices to make. There was no need for them to be a loving father and a dutiful son and copy that heart of gratitude like mortals.
He patted Li Fengyuan on the head gently. “Who told you to accompany me in destroying the world? Go start the fire!”
“Huh!?”
“I need to conserve my strength. This meat doesn’t cook easily, so you need to use your phoenix flames, just in case it doesn’t turn out well.” Li Qingshan explained the matter seriously.
Li Fengyuan asked in disbelief, “You summoned me to cook meat for you? I’m still a divine bird, the phoenix, the Featherfolk King…”
“So much nonsense. Do you want to eat or not?”
“I do.” Li Fengyuan immediately refined the cauldron and unleashed his phoenix flames, stewing the meat.
A while later, the water began to bubble. As it gurgled, a special fragrance permeated the surroundings.
“Switch to a small flame.”
“Yes.” The noble phoenix simply served obediently as the dog meat cook, and he even peered inside the cauldron greedily.
Li Qingshan stroked his chin and sank into his thoughts. Li Fengyuan dared not disturb him, but he did hear him murmur, “As the great demon king, how can I go without my four heavenly kings…”
“I know!” Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and pointed at Li Fengyuan. “I name you the Meat-stewing Heavenly King!”
Li Fengyuan. “…”
“Do you have an issue with that?”
“I don’t, I don’t.”
“Then what heavenly king am I?” Gu Yanying abruptly appeared on the top of the mountain, strolling over gracefully.
Even Li Fengyuan was frightened by her. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he really struggled to believe a person could move that quickly.
“You are the Lookout Heavenly King,” Li Qingshan said confidently.
“Oh, so I’m responsible for the lookout?” Gu Yanying arrived before the cauldron and sighed glumly. “How pitiful of my uncle wolf. Not only has he been butchered, but he’s even forced to offer up his body.” She took a deep whiff. “Yeah, it smells great!”
Li Qingshan smiled. “If I die, others are more than welcome to cook and fry me into a great meal. At least that’s better than rotting in the ground and being eaten by insects.”
“Then I’ll definitely eat every last piece, without even leaving behind a droplet of soup!”
A voice rang out from afar. By the time he finished talking, the person had already arrived before the cauldron and sat down. He radiated with murderousness, studying Li Qingshan as he locked his lips as if he was trying to tell which part of him tasted a little better.
Li Fengyuan shivered inside. He felt like he was facing a powerful enemy, raising his guard instinctively.
Li Qingshan grinned. “Look, isn’t it the Bird-shooting Heavenly King?”
“Stop giving me horrible nicknames randomly!”
Rāhu Xiaoming glared at Li Qingshan. His murderousness froze the winds and snow. He had already undergone the third heavenly tribulation, having grown taller yet again.
He was truly a natural god, and he had truly been a god in the past. His cultivation speed was basically as fast as a feral dog freed from its leash.
Li Fengyuan felt all of his blood freeze as if he saw endless mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Just from the aura alone, he could tell he definitely was not his opponent. Since when did the nine provinces possess such a powerful existence?
Li Qingshan was completely unfazed. He dug into his ear with his small finger. “You’re late. Oh you. Stop getting in the way of the Meat-stewing Heavenly King’s job. Do you want to eat or not?”
The clear ringing of a bell, hollow and penetrating, pierced the frozen murderousness, right towards Rāhu Xiaoming.
“About time I get something proper to eat.”
Rāhu Xiaoming immediately erased his murderousness as if it had never existed in the first place. Whether it was this guy right before him or that successor of white bone, Li Fengyuan could not overwhelm any of them through his presence alone. However, he would not be seated here either if it were not for that.
Li Qingshan let out a gentle smile. “My last heavenly king has come.”
Xiao An drifted over and landed beside Li Qingshan gently.
Li Fengyuan gazed at the three heavenly kings and suddenly discovered it was actually an honour to be the Meat-stewing Heavenly King. On top of that, he had only earned this title through the back door. If it were not for his father, he would have no right to be here.
