Snow soared outside the palace with a biting cold. Flowers bloomed within the palace with a heavy fragrance.
It was like two separate worlds.
“Qingshan, I’ve specially come to receive you. All of the waiting for the past few millennia was for you. You are the chosen person, and I am about to become your wife. Once we leave this world, I will tell you how to reach beyond the Nine Heavens…” the Nine-tailed Fox Empress murmured softly, like a dream, like an illusion.
Li Qingshan’s breathing became slightly hurried. He stared at the Nine-tailed Fox Empress, and his eyes dilated slightly. A variety of scenes flowed through his eyes; on Crouching Ox hill, the black ox spoke to him, teaching him how to drink alcohol, eat meat, and kill people, giving him a great cultivation method that could pluck the stars and moon from the sky and move entire mountains to fill whole oceans.
All of his pursuit, all of his dreams, pointed towards beyond the Nine Heavens. The four words were like a curse, becoming deeply embedded in his fate from the moment they occurred. He strived for it dauntlessly, with an indomitable spirit. It was his deepest obsession.
Before he knew it, even the spirit turtle was unable to suppress the ripples in his heart. He could not help but reach towards the Nine-tailed Fox Empress, wanting to remove her bridal veil.
Beneath the great red bridal veil, the Nine-tailed Fox Empress’s lips curled into a smile, which made the entire Jade palace shine, pushing the so-called “bewitchment” to the limit.
A strange fragrance curled through the palace, so faint that it did not seem to exist. Wonderful music flowed through the place, fading in and fading out.
The two merged together, leaving people enchanted. It was not actual fragrance and music, all just senses from the bottom of the heart. However, these illusionary senses were more realistic than any other smells or sounds.
Xuanyue said in an enchanted daze, “Big Blacko, I told you already. The fox empress is beautiful and noble and powerful. Do you finally believe me now?”
Lolth bit her lips. She had joined the Jade palace recently, and her intrinsic nature was brutal and merciless, so she was not that deeply affected by the bewitchment. She felt rather mixed inside. This man who had conquered her through force and made her give birth to a child was gradually falling under the charms of another woman.
Even more lamentable, she was no different. The Nine-tailed Fox Empress had stopped restricting her freedom a long time ago, yet she had lost the willpower to leave here. All she could do was watch helplessly as she constantly fell further, like those prey who fell into her webs. The web was already bound, and the venom had already been injected. Everything was beginning to melt away.
Si Long was ashen. His aura constantly declined, falling into disorder. He watched as Li Qingshan lifted the bridal veil, yet he was unable to move a single finger. He only found it all pointless. He had become a pitiful joke, an ugly farce.
At this moment, both of their inner demons flared!
“Your majesty! Your majesty, are you alright?”
The calls seemed to come from an extremely distant place. A series of faces circled around him, filled with contempt and sneers. His body convulsed, flickering with light as if it could collapse at any moment.
The two men that dominated the nine provinces experienced emotions that were complete opposites. One rose up to heaven, while the other fell into the abyss of hell. However, in the eyes of others, they both seemed possessed, dancing in the palm of a woman’s hand, unable to free themselves from her.
On the icy peak, Xiao An suddenly said, “It’s too quiet.”
Gu Yanying said, “Yeah!”
Just earlier, Si Long had given off a mighty aura. They thought a battle was on the verge of erupting, yet for some reason, it suddenly settled down again.
Logically speaking, when two vicious beasts were locked in one cage, a horrific slaughter would immediately begin after a temporary staredown, yet now, there was actually no disturbance at all. It truly was extremely strange.
“Don’t tell me they’re actually holding a wedding! Or perhaps he’s been entranced by the vixen,” Rāhu Xiaoming fiddled around with his cup and said with deep meaning.
“I’ll go in and take a look.” Xiao An tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword, about to force her way into the Jade palace.
“What’s the point of going in? He doesn’t even have the ability to start the battle. Let’s just disperse here!”
Rāhu Xiaoming raised his head in disapproval. He drank all of the ice and snow in his cup.
Gu Yanying smiled. “I concur, but something else has probably happened. After all, the Nine-tailed Fox Empress is only a Daemon King. No matter how crafty she is, controlling Li Qingshan as soon as they meet is a little too unbelievable.”
Rāhu Xiaoming countered with a question, “Is she really just a Daemon King?”
Gu Yanying was taken aback, sinking into her thoughts.
Xiao An had already taken off, landing before the Jade palace silently. She burst through the gates in a single stroke, flying through the entrance, except there was only an empty field of snow before her. The entire Jade palace had vanished.
At the same time, Li Qingshan lifted the great red veil.
At that instant, an invisible force gripped everyone’s hearts. It went without saying that the female Daemon Kings all became enchanted and enthralled. Even the great cultivators blanked out on the spot, staring at her in a daze, forgetting about everything else in the surroundings.
Only Si Long behaved like he had just suffered a great blow. Blood spurted from his mouth violently, turning into a golden mist in the air. His aura became even more disorderly and disheveled.
However, the only person that existed in her eyes was Li Qingshan. Her jade-green fox eyes were like deep pools that reached the yellow springs, dragging his mind in.
Suddenly, a red thread appeared around Li Qingshan’s little finger. It tightened before snapping!
It was the Lovesickness Dyes the Thread Red that Qiu Haitang had planted. He had once opened his mind and allowed the red thread to wrap around him, yet now, it had been forcefully destroyed.
Li Qingshan’s heart ached. He blinked his eyes as if he was about to recover.
Su Mirao grabbed his hand and called out, “Dear.”
Li Qingshan’s eyes became dazed again.
Suddenly, a butterfly drifted past his face, shining with illusionary colours. It immediately obscured Su Mirao’s face.
Shen Mengdie smiled. “Li Qingshan, oh Li Qingshan. After such a great dream, when are you going to wake up?”
“Little Die, what are you doing?” Su Mirao said nonchalantly, reaching towards the colourful butterfly that drifted over.
As if she had been expecting this, Shen Mengdie dodged it lightly. “Heehee, dreams are only interesting if they’re bizarre. And he’s the main character.”
“What kind of nonsense are you on about?”
Su Mirao furrowed her brows. There was something wrong with this woman’s head even back then, immune to the control of her bewitchment, so she specially came up with a scheme against her. She became trapped by her question for several thousand years, yet she actually did not die from insanity and cultivation deviation. Instead, she became even more deranged, which was truly unexpected.
“Su Mirao, you think everything will go as you planned? Yet you don’t know that throughout the whole wide world, the main character is always the greatest, so of course, I have to stick with him. What kind of a future do I have with you?” Shen Mengdie declared righteously.
With a red flash, Su Mirao drifted over. Her bridal clothes fluttered, and her tassels drifted through the air. Her hands turned into countless blurs like blooming flowers, trapping the butterfly within.
Shen Mengdie spun and flew. The butterfly turned into countless blurs as well, slipping between Su Mirao’s fingers from an unbelievable angle every single time.
The myriad flowers bloomed as a thousand butterflies fluttered. One of them advanced as the other one retreated, one in pursuit and one in flight. Their clothes drifted about, no longer resembling female daemons. They were clearly goddesses in a mortal realm.
They clashed in such a narrow space, yet they did not give off any aura, much less cause any damage. It seemed like a graceful dance of great coordination and instead gave off an illusionary sense of beauty.
In a daze, it seemed like a splendid, white fox lunging towards a colourful butterfly.
The fox’s steps were light as the butterfly danced gracefully, drawing over everyone’s gazes. Even Si Long was enthralled. Even in the Human realm, he had never seen a dance like that.
“Hmph!” Su Mirao snorted coldly, becoming angered. A snowy-white tail abruptly extended out from beneath her dress, smacking the butterfly out of the air viciously.
“Hmm? Don’t tell me… you’re actually the main character!? How tragic, how tragic. I don’t want to live in a world with a female main character! It’ll be too crazy!”
PS: Apologies, I’ve made you all wait. Writing up to this point has been a huge test to me. I can’t afford any carelessness. Recently, I’ve been doing my best with reading novels, almost to a point where I’m possessed, which is also a major reason for missing releases. This is everything that’s been built up over the past few years, converted into the most fascinating story, so the second half of Legend of the Great Sage can be even better. It’s almost like coming up with a whole new book, yet just without the passion of a new book, which involves difficulties that cannot be put into words. For the sake of this goal, I’ve basically cast aside everything else, whether it be wealth, love, or contact, living life like an ascetic monk, just so I can do my best and overcome my limits. As for how far I can take it, even I am uncertain right now. Ten years face to wall, I shall make a breakthrough, or die an avowed rebel daring to tread the sea.
TL: The poem at the end is by Zhou Enlai, written in 1917, who later went on to become the first premier of the PRC. It basically means that he will spend 10 years of hardships in hopes of success, but even if he fails in the end and dies, he will still be a hero.
