In the dark, gloomy Sword Collection pavilion, elder Tian and elder Di sat together, both in thought. This was the first time in the past century that they had no interest in comprehending the Sword Collection Manual of Heaven and Earth. When they heard about everything that happened on Great Buddha mountain, they went from disbelief to beyond belief, followed by the silence right now. Only two hours had passed.
Regardless of their moral alignment, sword cultivators never lacked resolve, yet they were stuck in a period of great hesitation now.
“Should we…” elder Tian asked hesitantly.
“Have you forgotten about the teachings handed down through the sect? Unless the sect faces destruction, we should never do that. It is something completely beyond our control!” Elder Di declined firmly, but his eyes also flickered with uncertainty.
“If this continues, we’ll basically be watching as the sect faces destruction! Li Qingshan, Northmoon.” Elder Tian ruminated over those two names. “If we had known earlier, we should have kept him here by force.”
“Don’t mention matters of the past anymore… If we really did that back then and let him fly off into a frenzy here, we both would have been in life-threatening danger, so forget about it.” Elder Di felt slightly glad. Li Qingshan’s feats in battle on Great Buddha mountain had been far too terrifying.
“Fair enough.” Elder Tian nodded.
The two of them were grand elders of the Sword Collection palace, but they were not saddened or infuriated by the palace master, the Light Queen, and Ji Xuanri’s deaths. From the moment the demonic seed had sprouted and taken root, it had eliminated their sense of sympathy, not that they found anything wrong with that. Sword cultivators were supposed to be cold like the sword in the first place, casting aside all distracting thoughts of weakness. Having a strong sense of justice and helping the weak was merely a fantasy.
“You don’t have to worry too much, senior brother. The Sword Collection palace’s Sword Formation of Heaven and Earth has it as its core. It’s nowhere near as flimsy and useless as the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga’s World Purifying Formation of Buddha Hymn. If we really run out of options, we’ll just take him on in a battle to the death,” said elder Di.
“That’s true! Looks like junior brother is still the one with a greater composure!” Elder Tian praised.
“It’s devolving into a mess outside. Senior brother, you better go out and console everyone!” elder Di said that and shut his eyes, submerging his mind into the profound Sword Domain of Heaven and Earth.
Elder Tian arrived outside the hall. The dark clouds in the sky hung low as the darkness was extremely heavy. Streaks of light travelled to and fro from the mountain peaks. Everyone in the Sword Collection palace was jittery. He was in no hurry to console everyone; he never planned to in the first place. Instead, he raised his head and looked at the Sword Collection peak, showing quite some scorn. “Junior brother, oh junior brother. Look at the situation around us, and you’re still so patient and conservative. Your lack of courage and resolve is your greatest weakness!”
In the dim Sword Collection pavilion, elder Di opened his eyes again. “Senior brother, oh senior brother. You’ve always liked to take risks. You’ve managed to make it to today with your outstanding talent, but little do you know that gamblers only need to lose once to lose it all. I’m not going to gamble with you!”
Elder Tian rose up into the air and flew towards the Sword Collection peak, beginning the greatest gamble of his life.
Elder Di merged with the sword and dove into the earth, leaving this troublesome place that was the Sword Collection palace.
They had both been expecting this. Their understanding for one another and their relationship that they had built up over a thousand years had vanished like this.
……
“Then should I call you Li Qingshan or Northmoon? Or a clone?”
On the sandy shoal, Ru Xin played around with the icy-cold river water. She jokingly asked Li Qingshan nearby, or perhaps more accurately, Li Qingshan’s mirror clone.
The two of them made their way across the barren land, spreading the plague everywhere. However, ever since Li Qingshan entered the Sword Collection pavilion and began deducing the Sword Collection Manual of Heaven and Earth, they had stopped here. Li Qingshan also needed his full attention to deal with everything that happened afterwards. He only managed to share this “story” with Ru Xin after the battle had come to an end.
“Call me whatever. I am me.”
Li Qingshan smiled. The so-called mirror clone was just another body he had condensed through his innate abilities. During the battle, he had not recalled his mirror clone to Great Buddha mountain. It was not only because he possessed absolute confidence in his strength, but also because the sandy shoal happened to be located between Great Buddha mountain and the Sword Collection palace according to the mental map of the Green province. He could intercept the fleeing palace master if he got away, but he never had to resort to something like that.
“The Sword Collection palace is actually colluding with the Demon domain. Humans sure are capable of anything. Thankfully, you forsook wickedness for righteousness, or I wouldn’t even have the courage to speak with you anymore.” Ru Xin patted her chest.
“This has nothing to do with race. You have no right to criticise me,” said Li Qingshan. The Sword Collection palace saw how he was a demon and wanted to rope him in, while the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga found out he was a daemon and wanted to expel him, but little did they know that the only side he took was his own.
“Yeah. Oh right, when do you plan on attacking the Sword Collection palace?” Ru Xin asked.
“A little later!”
Li Qingshan gazed in the direction of the Sword Collection palace. He was very curious about what the Sword Collection peak was hiding, but after rebirthing again, he could vaguely sense that the Phoenix’s Scripture of Nirvā?a was close to breaking through to the fifth layer. He had some other matters to deal with, so he was in no hurry.
He looked back and asked, “Let’s continue?”
“That won’t be necessary. Let the plague spread by itself!” Ru Xin was lazy. They had already covered a large enough region. All they had to do was wait for the plague to spread across the entire Green province.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Li Qingshan shot a glance at her.
“What’s wrong with going out for a stroll together? Who knows if we’ll still have this opportunity in the future.” Ru Xin sighed even though she had grown accustomed to farewells a long time ago.
Li Qingshan’s heart softened, but he did not give her some promise like they would never part. He arrived beside her with a flash and held her hand. He smiled. “Let’s make some memories.”
“You better settle your other debts first!” Ru Xin patted his cheek with a smile.
“Sigh, just like how it stops itching when you have enough lice, you just stop worrying when you have enough debts.” Li Qingshan laid down on the sandy shoal.
“I don’t want to be an insect. Speaking of which, that big insect still hasn’t appeared. We haven’t even seen a clone of his during this time!”
Ru Xin laid down beside him. The effects of her plague were infestation. Wherever it reached, locusts died in the hundreds of millions. In particular, the eggs and nymphs buried deep underground were unable to put up any resistance at all. If this continued, the Soaring Locust King would lose all of his foundations before long.
“As long as I’m here, they’ll only be delivering themselves to their deaths unless the main body comes. Though, that insect has been suppressed for several thousand years, so he’s become very cautious and careful now. He probably won’t take a risk like that, but we can’t be so sure about the future,” Li Qingshan said in thought.
The cultivation community of the Green province had suffered heavy losses. The Soaring Locust King no longer had to fear any ambushes or traps anymore, so it would not be strange even if he emerged right now.
At this moment, he heard a strange buzz. “So soon!” He could not help but gaze into the distance. A dark cloud appeared on the northern horizon, sweeping over across the skies, but there was not a lot of daemon qi.
“What a jinx. There wasn’t even a single locust within a radius of a thousand kilometers… Hmm? They don’t seem to be coming for us!”
Ru Xin was prepared for battle as well, but when the cloud of insects passed by, they did not come for them. Instead, they continued south.
“It’s the Clear River prefecture.”
Li Qingshan received news from Gu Yanying very soon that all the locusts across the Green province had mobilised, converging in the direction of the Clear River prefecture. As it seemed, the Soaring Locust King had already made up his mind. He wanted to fight the Golden Cicada Spirit King to the death!
“C’mon, let’s go back!”
