Many years ago, when Li Qingshan had only just become a Hawkwolf guard, he hunted down masters of the unorthodoxy en masse to help Xiao An recover her body. In the end, he took them out in one fell swoop on the Island of Cherishing Flowers.
That was the same time when he first encountered Hua Chenglu and Yu Zijian.
As for the little girl who struck resolutely and blasted the Island of Cherishing Flowers with cannons, the impression she had given him was much deeper than Yu Zijian’s. Back then, if she had not held off the West Gate Granny, he really would have been in a bit of danger! Afterwards, they had quite a few incidents together too.
With Li Qingshan’s personality, he would obviously pay her back. He had given her many blessings over the years. She was not completely without talent either, so her path of cultivation had been rather smooth, having undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation already. Because she liked touring the land, she was often seen as a fairy that had come to the mortal world, so she possessed the nickname of the Hundred Flowers Fairy.
Of course, there was no need for him to deny it. He really did want to sleep with her a little back then. However, he could be described as a seasoned veteran now. Whether it was the princess of the kiṁnara or the asura beauties, what hadn’t he seen before and gotten along with? A little girl like Hua Chenglu was far too young and too simple. He no longer had that thought at all.
What Yu Zijian said was utter slander. He did not come back this time because he wanted to sleep with anybody. He was the mighty king of the Demon Gods. All that went on in his head were the important matters of the six realms of saṃsāra. The measly relationships between a man and a woman had ceased to be any of his worries.
Yeah, just a glance of her will be enough. I don’t have to meet with her. Tender and lovely flowers need to be protected. I can’t drag her into this storm as well.
With that idealistic thought in mind, he narrowed his eyes and saw an island wrapped in fragrance within the depths of the tremendous ocean. It was a place where the flowers bloomed, where the Hundred Flowers Fairy cultivated.
He was stunned.
Within a hot spring embraced by flowers, a slender figure faded in and out of the hazy mist. Her black hair draped onto her fair back as her thin waist bobbed within the water, together with her graceful legs. Her extended arms were like flower stems. The renowned Hundred Flowers Fairy was currently bathing.
If her big bro Hua Chengzan was the standard handsome man, then she was the standard “beautiful woman”. She would be too plump if she was just a bit plumper and too thin if she was just a bit thinner, too fair with just a bit of powder, and too red with just a bit of vermillion. Her eyebrows were like feathers of jade, her skin was white like snow, her teeth were like seashells, and her waist was narrow like a roll of silk.
Sure enough, she was a flawless beauty, and her demeanour and bearing even surpassed the past. If she was only a little flower bud in the past, then she was a flower in glorious bloom right now.
Li Qingshan stroked his chin and smiled. “The little girl sure has grown big! Yeah, very big.”
He did not plan on meeting with her, but he still could admire her. This was his special privilege as a god. Of course, this was only an admiration of beauty. It was very, very, very pure.
As such, the mighty Demon God began peeping on a bathing woman and found absolutely no fault in that.
Just as he gathered his focus and properly “admired” her, Hua Chenglu suddenly spoke up, asking, “How is it?”
Li Qingshan shuddered inside, Impossible! She can’t sense this! It’s not like she’s Zijian, who bears the heavenly path of the true dragon. How can she sense my peeping, I mean, admiration?
He glanced around in bewilderment. Apart from her, there were only the blooming flowers on the island. There was no one else.
All the cultivators in the World of the Five Continents knew that while the Hundred Flowers Fairy liked touring around, she was quite reserved and proud. Her only true friend was the Violet Clouds Sword Sovereign. She did not even have a single disciple attending to her in her place of cultivation.
Her eyes were like water as if they rippled away, but she did not look in his direction.
Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows and thought, Don’t tell me she’s talking to her own reflection? Heh, what a narcissistic little girl.
However, Hua Chenglu raised her head and said gently, “Big brother Li.”
Li Qingshan shuddered inside again, almost convinced that he had actually been discovered. However, upon a closer look, she was gazing at the sky, leaving her body completely exposed to the air without any attempts to cover up. She did not seem embarrassed at all. That was not how a woman should have reacted when they were being “admired”.
He soon understood what was going on. Sigh, sure enough, my charms are simply exceptional. Even this girl has lost her senses thinking about me, still unable to forget about me. It’s just a pity that you and I are separated as human and god. We just don’t have the destiny!
Hua Chenglu smiled. “Zijian told me that you came back. You must have come to peep on me.”
“…” Li Qingshan suddenly felt like he was the naked one, squeezing out a single word from between his teeth. “Traitor!”
Hua Chenglu extended her graceful body. The water droplets slid down her body, glistening in the sun like dew drops on flower petals. It was still so natural.
Hmm? Don’t tell me that apart from washing and bathing, she also knows to burn incense and pray?
Rustle! The flower bush trembled. Li Qingshan moved aside a cluster of bright red camellias and emerged from the depths of the bush. He was at ease, without any signs of awkwardness.
Hua Chenglu gazed at his figure, and she trembled just like the flower bush. Under his scorching gaze, she wanted to hide back into the water. She raised her hand to cover the blossoms on her chest, but she suddenly sucked in a deep breath and held her chest out proudly again. She spread her arms and circled through the pool gracefully. “How is it?”
She was no longer a naive little girl anymore, but the proud, reserved Hundred Flowers Fairy. However, only before this man could she let go of all of her reservedness and put all of her beauty on full display.
Li Qingshan nodded with a smile. “A beauty like a flower. You live up to your name.” He entered the water step by step, wading over to her.
Hua Chenglu could not help but hold her breath as she gazed at him.
Li Qingshan sniffed the special fragrance from her body and used his large hand to touch her moist cheek. “Have you been well over the years?”
“I’ve been very well and very happy. You know. I’ve always wanted to travel around and take a look. Your world really is so big, with so many interesting things going on. I’ll never feel bored here.”
She had not been someone particularly talented originally, nowhere close to her elder brother Hua Chengzan, much less a “deviant” like Yu Zijian. In the original World of the Nine Provinces, if they had never met, the limit she would achieve in her life would probably just be Golden Core. She might even struggle to break through the second heavenly layer. It would have been very difficult for her to possess such freedom. She might have even been married off according to arrangements of the clan.
However, in the World of the Five Continents, she was spoilt by the heavens. She possessed unprecedented freedom, allowing her to wander about without anything tying her down.
All of this came from him.
Li Qingshan placed his hands on her shoulder. “Now that is the joys of life. As long as you enjoy it.”
Hua Chenglu sighed. “It’s a pity that I don’t have talent like Zijian’s. I can’t help you.”
“She’s a sword. You’re a flower. A sword only has meaning in existing in war and slaughter, while a flower only needs to be admired and protected. I’m only afraid that I can’t protect you.” Li Qingshan looked at her gently. If they could both find happiness, there would be a little more meaning to his efforts, even if he never truly possessed her.
“No. I only need to be admired, not protected.” Hua Chenglu shook her head with a smile. “What flower in the world doesn’t wilt one day? All that matters is they have bloomed. Speaking of which, flowers have thorns too.”
Li Qingshan was slightly surprised. Time sure had flown by. Even she could say something like that. This understanding definitely was not an act.
“A sword’s meaning for existence is war and slaughter. Do you know what a flower’s meaning of existence is?”
“What is it?” Li Qingshan brought his arms around her waist.
Hua Chenglu trembled slightly, and the blossoms on her chest shook as well. Her face reddened, but she continued to smile away sweetly. “Perhaps, it’s to draw over the bees and the butterflies!”
Li Qingshan teased her. “Then which bee or butterfly is so fortunate?”
“The sword fights for you, while the flower blooms for you. If you reach the end of your path, it can also snap for you and wilt for you.”
Li Qingshan was momentarily unable to reply. He had never wished for reciprocation like that. “I might not be able to reciprocate such deep feelings.”
“You don’t need to. This isn’t to pay back your kindness either.” Hua Chenglu murmured, “There is something that I haven’t experienced before.”
“Alright.” Li Qingshan lowered his head and kissed her on her petal-like lips before suddenly remembering what Yu Zijian had said. You didn’t come specially so that you could try and sleep with me, did you? He could not help but laugh at himself. Sure enough, people never changed!
Even as a god, he had emotions and desires. His personality had never changed. Life was perhaps filled with pain, but there had always been plenty of happiness too. There was no need for him to become too wrapped up in all of it. All he had to do was do his best, gathering flowers while he could.
Hua Chenglu extended her hand, and the flowers extended and wove to form a ceiling, enveloping the hot spring.
The flowers clustered together, and the fragrance became heavier.
The flower had already bloomed.
