Even with the great red veil, Li Qingshan seemed to be able to see her innocent look. He actually found her to be absolutely adorable, which made him wonder if there was something wrong with his head.
Si Long was absolutely devastated. He took a step back and said with a face full of disbelief, “No! This can’t be true! Mirao, you must be joking with me. You’re blaming me for becoming involved with too many women. I can promise you that you’ll be the only one in my heart from today onwards.”
His expression almost made him seem like he was pleading with her, which even earned him some sympathy from Li Qingshan. This sight basically resembled a nobody begging a goddess to not break up with him, only for the goddess to say, “Nothing ever existed between us. All of it was just your hallucinations!”
It was basically a living tragedy, so tragic that he even lost all of his friends. As a result, he began laughing and thought, Si Long, oh Si Long! To think you would have a day like this! Is the Nine-headed Fox Empress actually serious or still joking around? If she’s serious, then who’s she waiting for? Don’t tell me it’s me?
He was aware that the Nine-tailed Fox Empress had already spent five millennia waiting in this world at the very least. Back then, even his eightieth ancestor had not been born. Even until now, he did not have a single clue about what the Nine-tailed Fox Empress looked like, but he still could not help but look forward to finding out a little.
That was even when his reason had already come up with a speculation. The reason why the Nine-tailed Fox Empress had never ascended, remaining in the nine provinces, was probably like Xiao An waiting for him in the nine provinces. She was waiting for the return of a certain person, but that person was not Si Long. Of course, it was not him either. She probably wanted to use him to completely end Si Long’s wishful thinking.
The Nine-tailed Fox Empress said, “Little Long, if I were willing to tie a knot with you, I would have married you five thousand years ago. You’re the one who’s been confused the entire time. I’m doing this for your sake too. If you marry me, it’ll only cause your endless problems.”
“For my sake?”
Si Long feigned composure. He wanted to sneer in response, but his sneer seemed more like a miserable smile.
“Yeah, because you’re completely unworthy of me.”
The Nine-tailed Fox Empress said matter-of-factly as if she was stating a common fact like the sun was rough.
What a vicious strike!
Li Qingshan shivered. A chill ran from his tail bone to the top of his head. Even as just a spectator on the side, he found it absolutely dangerous, basically cutting his soul in half in a single stroke. He never thought he would actually hear something like that with his own ears, especially when Si Long had returned with riches and glory after many years of hard work and thought he had achieved great success. He had been sent from heaven to hell in an instant. It was basically as brutal as it could get.
The damage to Si Long from everything he tried, everything he thought of, could not match that simple sentence. It was an absolutely correct decision to come today. Even if he were used as a tool to impersonate the groom, he found it extremely satisfying. In a short while, he had already developed a great impression of the Nine-tailed Fox Empress. Sure enough, she really was noble, beautiful, and powerful!
Si Long’s face changed drastically. “I- I’m not worthy of you?”
The minister of rites could not help but call out, “Fellow Su, what are you saying? Our emperor is the lord of the world, having undergone the fifth heavenly tribulation and condensed a Yang Soul. He’s known as a Human Sovereign. You’re just a measly Daemon King. I think you’re the one who’s unworthy of our emperor.”
The officials that had accompanied Si Long all felt completely humiliated. They basically struggled to imagine just how Si Long felt right now. Was the Nine-tailed Fox Empress crazy?
The Nine-tailed Fox Empress completely ignored him. She said earnestly, “Little Long, you’ve spent all those years in the Human realm. Calm down and think about it. Are you really worthy of marrying me just because you’ve condensed a Yang Soul and become a Human Sovereign?”
Even Li Qingshan found it devastating to his ears. She was basically trying to hack him to pieces!
He could not help but clench his fists and prepare for battle. If he were in Si Long’s place, he would definitely fly into a maddening fury out of shame and butcher everyone present.
But to his surprise, Si Long fell silently, actually calming down. He sighed deeply. “Yes, you’re right. A measly Human Sovereign still isn’t worthy! Probably only True Immortals are worthy of you. That’s why you’re worried about sending me to my death, refusing to accept my proposal, refusing to accompany me to the Human realm, and trying to sever our tie in such a vicious manner.”
“But I can’t make you wait here bitterly any longer. I will never give up on you either. I’ll have to trouble you to cover yourself. There will be a day when I become a Human Immortal, and a True Immortal after that, such that you can accompany me by my side openly…”
Li Qingshan’s expression immediately became strange. This Si Long sure was quite sick in the head. What “only True Immortals are worthy of you”? Even those people who paraded beauty was in the eye of the beholder were not so exaggerated.
However, was it really like what Si Long had said, that the Nine-tailed Fox Empress was actually thinking for him, which was why she came up with a horrible plan like this? Except with that thought, he felt vexed inside as if someone had stolen his love.
Little did he know that while Si Long’s words did have an element of exaggeration due to his emotions, it was not actually a lie.
Nine-tailed foxes were blessed with beauty by nature. From birth, they possessed endless charms, earning the good graces of all. Wherever they went, it would always lead to a struggle. The Yousu clan even ranked first in terms of charms among the nine-tailed foxes, so they were even more disastrous with their beauties. Even gods and immortals had once died over them. On top of that, this Nine-tailed Fox Empress, Su Mirao, had been specially selected from the best among the best in the Yousu clan in the Kingdom of Green Hills.
If that were not the case, it was impossible for Si Long to lose his composure like this, much less shake Li Qingshan’s will. After all, neither of them were innocent, inexperienced men who had not seen women before. In their lifetimes alone, they had basically witnessed many vicissitudes.
“I’m very sorry. The person I’m waiting for has already arrived.”
Right as Si Long expressed his sincerity, a single reply from the Nine-tailed Fox Empress completely shattered all of his fantasies.
Si Long roared out, “I don’t believe you! Tell me! Who is it exactly?”
“Look right before you. Why, isn’t it him?”
The Nine-tailed Fox Empress’s slender hand grabbed Li Qingshan’s sleeve gently. Her voice seemed to possess a hint of shyness and sweetness.
Happiness came too suddenly!
Li Qingshan felt woozy, basically wondering whether he was dreaming or not, or perhaps he had fallen into an illusion woven by the Nine-tailed Fox Empress a long time ago and everything he saw and felt was fake. However, he had confirmed a long time ago that everything happening before his eyes was not an illusion.
Logically, it was impossible for an illusion like that to exist. No matter how great the Nine-tailed Fox Empress’s hidden strength was, no matter how special her bloodline was, the power of the techniques she could use in the World of the Nine Provinces was limited. Si Long had only managed to overcome this limit through the will of the heavens, the heart of the people, and the nine cauldrons. Even with that, he still viewed Li Qingshan as a great enemy, so how could he be dancing in the palm of her hand?
If it isn’t an illusion, then am I actually the person she’s waiting for…
Li Qingshan bit the tip of his tongue viciously and circulated the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression, trying his best to maintain his mental clarity.
No, I can’t believe it so easily. Even if everything isn’t an illusion, it might be a lie by this vixen so that we end up fighting viciously. Though, if I emerge victoriously, I’ll never spare her.
There was one person who refused to believe this even more than him. Si Long was furious. “You’re lying to me! He didn’t even exist five thousand years ago! Even with his rebirths and reincarnations, it’s enough for him to be reborn over a hundred times. How would you know he would be born here? If he really is the person you’re waiting for, why didn’t you meet with him much sooner, waiting for exactly this day before you mentioned it? Su Mirao, what are you trying to do exactly?”
The Nine-tailed Fox Empress shook her head gently. “Everything was the lord of the kingdom’s arrangements. What can I do about it?”
“How’s that possible?”
Si Long shuddered inside. The lord of the Kingdom of Green Hills was definitely a Daemon Immortal, having undergone the seventh heavenly tribulation at the very least. He never imagined someone like her would interfere with the measly World of the Nine Provinces.
Although he had just said he would become a Human Immortal, and then a True Immortal, so she could accompany him openly, he understood exactly how difficult this process would be and how slim his chances at succeeding were.
The path of cultivation was more difficult the further one went. Throughout the countless creatures in the trichiliocosm, only so many were able to become immortals. The entire Myriad sect had only produced a single True Immortal in a million years. That was a million years in the Human realm.
During this process, countless stars had been born and countless worlds had been destroyed. Human Sovereigns like him were like common carp. There were an immeasurable number of them. Who wasn’t a genius of startling talent? Yet in the end, they all struggled to break free from the cycle of rebirth, sa?sāra.
True Immortals had broken free from sa?sāra, no longer existing among the five elements. They coexisted with the world and shone with the celestial bodies. The difference between a True Immortal and a Human Sovereign like him was basically even greater than the difference between him and a mortal.
As for the great cultivators and female Daemon Kings, they had not even made it past the basic threshold to become an immortal, so they could not really understand Si Long’s shock.
Li Qingshan’s scarlet eyebrows pressed together slightly. He sank into his thoughts.
If that was the case, everything made sense. A nine-tailed fox of unmatched talent would waste five thousand years in the nine provinces all because of an order from a superior, not because of something like infatuation.
“The lord of the kingdom placed me in this world and made me wait here for a fated person. She said I don’t have to go out of my way to look for that person, as they will come to me one day. She wanted me to marry him, to become his virtuous wife and assist him in realising his dream, reaching beyond the Nine Heavens.”
Li Qingshan suddenly raised his eyebrows. His scarlet eyes burned like fire.
Beyond the Nine Heavens—what a long time it has been since he last heard those four words!
