Chapter 1393: Dwelling
“You want to purchase the Xuanming dwelling?” Pi Yangqiu raised his eyebrows and studied Li Qingshan with quite a bit of interest.
“It sounds like a very good dwelling.” Li Qingshan smiled as well.
Pi Yangqiu said with a slight smile, “Yeah. How could the first senior brother’s dwelling be bad? Not only is it rich with spiritual qi and beautiful in scenery, but it even comes with everything that the first senior brother has accumulated throughout his life and a true dragon for a mount.”
Li Qingshan said, “Then it probably costs a lot of bookmarks!”
“No, no, no. Not only is this dwelling beautiful, but it’s even cheap too.”
“And why’s that?”
Pi Yangqiu’s smile vanished. “Would you like to go dragon-slaying?”
Li Qingshan shrugged and gave no reply.
The Xuanming dwelling was basically like a giant dragon’s den from those knight stories, but his objective was neither the princess nor the treasure.
He thought, If you even touch a hair on them, I’ll definitely butcher you!
Pi Yangqiu said, “What a junior filled with youthful vigour. You make me feel that time is tight and I need to hurry up and cultivate. Let’s cut to the chase. Here are some suitable dwellings. Take a pick!”
“Please convert it into bookmarks for me first, senior brother!”
Li Qingshan thought about it. If anything unexpected happened, he definitely had to obtain the right to go dragon-slaying.
Pi Yangqiu said in surprise, “What, you’re actually thinking of buying the Xuanming dwelling? It may be cheap, but it’s not something you can afford right now.”
Li Qingshan thought about it and had a stroke of inspiration. “I can pay in instalments.”
“Instal…ments?” Pi Yangqiu furrowed his brows and immediately understood the meaning of that. He looked at Li Qingshan in a rather strange way.
“Hmm? Don’t tell me the Department of Heavenly Dwellings doesn’t offer this? I can pay a deposit and then pay off my debt either monthly or yearly, over fifty years for example! If I can pay it, then not only will the Department of Heavenly Dwellings sell the dwelling, but you’ll even earn some interest as well. If I can’t pay it, then you can take back the dwelling. It’s not like the dwelling can grow legs and run away. It’s a guaranteed profit.”
Pi Yangqiu stroked his chin in thought. “That’s a very interesting idea. It reminds me of Le Tian… Did you think of this?”
To him, Li Qingshan still seemed like he belonged to the group of fighters who advanced valiantly, no different from the fake first senior sister and first senior brother right now. Although advancing head-first made it easy for them to stumble and break, they could tear through everything before they encountered an obstacle that actually made them stumble and break. He really did not seem like the kind of person to come up with an idea like this.
Li Qingshan continued, “If you manage to popularise it, a lot of cultivators will be able to buy dwellings, and they’ll sell faster. The price will increase as well. You can turn them all into mortgage slaves, no, dwelling slaves! By then, who would still be bold enough to defy the Department of Heavenly Dwellings?”
Pi Yangqiu’s eyes lit up. “Dwelling slave? That sounds horrible! But I like what you said at the end. If it’s just you, the Department of Heavenly Dwellings can cover that, but if you want to offer it to the entire Myriad sect, you’ll need a tremendous amount of bookmarks as a foundation. Unfortunately, I don’t possess the right of property for the Myriad sect. I’d need that guy, Le Tian’s, cooperation. Why don’t we pay a visit to him together?”
Li Qingshan thought, No wonder Le Tian could lend a thousand Green Jade bookmarks on a whim and set up a gamble of thirty years. However, it did also make him say, “The Myriad sect has actually handed their right of property to a gambler. That’s a little…”
“Too crazy, right? A lot of direct disciples think that too, but this is the conclusion that the spirit reverend reached personally. It’s probably because bookmarks are merely a representation of resources to us, while resources are just tools for cultivation. Only Le Tian would be so interested in gathering bookmarks.”
Li Qingshan immediately found that to be extremely reasonable, as the notion of greed and avarice commonplace among regular people had instead become extremely rare among cultivators of their realm. It was enough as long as the resources they received were enough for cultivation. If Le Tian were not such a gambler, he probably would not be interested in such a thing either.
“But I’m not like you pure and noble direct disciples. The more resources there are, the better it is for me. The Xuanming dwelling is a fantastic opportunity.”
“But senior brother Pi, I’m not friends with Le Tian.”
Pi Yangqiu remarked with intrigue, “You’re the only formal disciple who can say that so calmly. But don’t worry. He respects fellow gamblers even more than friends. If it’s you, he’ll definitely cover this sum of bookmarks.”
“Why?”
“Do you know what he likes most apart from gambling?”
“Usury.”
Li Qingshan was speechless. It really did make so much sense for the boss of a casino to offer high-interest loans that it left him speechless
“You’ve taken a thousand bookmarks from him for nothing last time. He must be very discontent about this. Now that an opportunity will present itself, he definitely won’t let it slip by. And, this is another wild gamble too!’
“Really?”
Pi Yangqiu gazed at Li Qingshan like he had no idea what to think of him. He said earnestly, “Junior brother, it’s very likely that you will obtain nothing from the Xuanming dwelling.”
“And you still let me gamble, senior brother Pi? Didn’t you say you would protect me?”
“If you can take the Xuanming dwelling, then your chances at winning will increase dramatically and so will mine. If you can’t, then you’ll just be stuck with a terrifying debt, that’s all.” Pi Yangqiu smiled. “Don’t worry, I will help you push this debt thirty years into the future.”
Li Qingshan understood now. If he failed to take the Xuanming dwelling, then he would have to pay Le Tian a great sum of bookmarks even if he became a direct disciples within the next three decades. Perhaps it would be even more than two thousand bookmarks. As a result, it was very likely for Le Tian to accept this proposition.
Meanwhile, Pi Yangqiu was guaranteed a profit. He would be taking the dwelling back anyway if he could not pay the mortgage, so he would lose nothing at all. However, it did increase his chances at winning against the other direct disciples for free.
“Aren’t you mad, junior brother Li?” Pi Yangqiu said in surprise. It was rare of him to ask something like that so directly.
“Why would I be mad, senior brother Pi?”
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Thirty years later? Heh! Usury? Heh!
Pi Yangqiu said in praise, “Alright, I like this part of you. Calling me senior brother Pi makes us seem too distant. You can just call me Pipi from now onwards.”
The corner of Li Qingshan’s eyes twitched. “Pi… pi…”
Pi Yangqiu laughed. “Just kidding.”
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He grabbed Li Qingshan’s shoulder. With a turn, he arrived below the archway in front of the Fate Perturbing casino.
The inner disciple who had reported to Pi Yangqiu that still remained there stood in shock. He murmured, “Just who is Li Qingshan?”
……
Ao Xuan turned his head slowly, gazing at Rāhu Xiaoming in the endless darkness.
“A Rāhu!? Who are you?”
Rāhu Xiaoming said proudly, “You are not worthy enough of learning my name!”
“Alright, very good then! It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt such pain. I will make you understand that this isn’t the Asura realm!”
Ao Xuan’s body pulled together, turning into a valiant man. He had a striking appearance with golden eyes and black clothes. He touched his cheek gently.
Two beams of dazzling, golden light shot out from his eyes, meeting Rāhu Xiaoming’s eyes of endless darkness.
The light and darkness collided and wove together. The air twisted and ruptured, producing a string of explosions. Winds surged out like waves.
Rāhu Xiaoming’s hair fluttered in the air. He spread his arms to embrace the darkness.
At almost the same moment, the golden-eyed black dragon shot over with a trail of golden light, throwing a punch.
Gu Yanying spread her wings, soaring between the endless sky and earth of the Human realm. There was no longer any need for her to adhere to the narrowness of the nine provinces. The delightful sense of freedom overwhelmed all of her fears and worries as everything gazed up at her. Suddenly, she looked back, only to see darkness enveloping the two of them.
An indescribable sense of loftiness abruptly filled her mind, Damned dragon, if you dare to kill him, I’ll definitely butcher five hundred true dragons, with you included!
The message was like an arrow, piercing the space and darkness and landing in Ao Xuan’s sea of consciousness, which made his face change slightly.
Xiao An blinked her eyes and looked at Gu Yanying in a strange manner.
Gu Yanying blushed and smiled. “What, are only men allowed to act brave, and I’m not?”
Xiao An said, “You are.”
Gu Yanying gazed into the distant sky without looking back again. Since she was a kunpeng, why did she need Li Qingshan to do anything?
After who knew how long, several streaks of light emerged from the darkness, having been ripped apart by the golden dragon claws. It fell down from the air, merging with the night.
Ao Xuan stood in the starry sky. His black clothes were rather tattered as he spat out a dragon tooth with a frown, clutching it firmly in his hand. The other had turned into a vicious dragon claw that grasped Rāhu Xiaoming. He peered into the distance that the kunpeng had vanished in for quite some time, thinking about something. A while later, he flew down.
Boom! The stone gate shattered into pieces. Ao Xuan pulled his fist back and barged into the Dragon’s Pool dwelling. He looked around silently. There was no one else inside, and the altar had already been smashed to pieces by the heavenly tribulation. There was no Heaven Climbing Vine in sight either.
Why would a Rāhu appear in the nine provinces? And together with the successor of the Heaven-stirring Great Sage? And that delicate set of white bones on the kunpeng’s back, was that a successor of the White Bone Bodhisattva?
The various clues made him catch the scent of something that made him tremble. Was there another upheaval coming? No, surely not. The Great Sages had all been suppressed…
He refused to think any further than that. Even gazing at the Rāhu in his hand, he felt a little troubled.
“Whatever, I’ll go back to the dwelling first. I’ll be a fool if the Department of Heavenly Dwellings uses this opportunity to take back the dwelling. The Xuanming dwelling belongs to me. No one can take it away from me!”
