Li Qingshan laid lazily on a banyan leaf that was as wide as a rowboat. The autumn sun shone on his skin, making him feel a little tipsy. Of course, the primary culprit might have been the several hundred jars of alcohol he had just drunk, but did that matter?
The breeze drifted over, giving him comfort.
“Qingshan, you’ve already laid here for ten days,” the Great Banyan Tree King’s voice echoed through the cloud-like canopy.
“Could you raise me a little higher- Alright, just like that.” Li Qingshan made the banyan leaf take an angle that received more sunlight before suddenly realising what the Great Banyan Tree King had said. He cocked his head and said, “Ten days? It’s been that long? Heh, it feels like I just drank the first cup!”
As he said that, he picked up a jar of alcohol and polished it off with a few glugs before casually tossing it aside. The jar vanished behind a cloud on the horizon. Then he laid down comfortably again, letting out a belch. He spoke up with a half-narrating, half-singing voice.
“How many times in life do you get to drink… Only through drinking will you find peace of mind!”
“Hmph, I didn’t expect the legendary Daemon King Northmoon to be so depraved.”
There was a flash of white in the depths of the clouds. Then, it descended from above, hovering above the canopy and turning into a woman in white. Her skin was milky-white, and her beautiful appearance gave off a holy feeling. She looked down at Li Qingshan from above. However, nothing stood out like her pair of pure-white wings.
“An angel?” Li Qingshan murmured, “Oh, an otherfolk.” He vaguely remembered the existence of this race.
The term “otherfolk” made the woman in white frown. She corrected him. “It’s godfolk!”
“It’s fucked in the head!” Li Qingshan laughed aloud, and the canopy shook.
The woman’s expression changed. With her cultivation at the third heavenly tribulation, she actually sensed a tremendous pressure from the laughter. Sure enough, this Li Qingshan really was worthy of his reputation. She developed a little more respect.
“I’m the Chamberlain for the Imperial Insignia from the Clouded divine kingdom, Bai Jie. Under my king’s orders, I’ve come to invite you to pay a visit to the divine kingdom.”
“What’s your name?” Li Qingshan was taken aback.
“Bai Jie,” the woman repeated proudly.
“Nice name!” The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips curled up, and he studied her closely, which left Bai Jie feeling unpleasant for some reason. Holding back her disgust, she said, “Please come with me!”
“I refuse,” Li Qingshan said.
“You actually declined? This is an invitation from Clouded city. Do you know just how many people want to set foot in Clouded city but can’t?” Bai Jie said in disbelief.
“Go away. You’re blocking the sun.” Li Qingshan waved his hand impatiently.
“Alright, I hope you don’t regret this!” Bai Jie turned into a streak of white light and vanished into the horizon.
Li Qingshan sipped his alcohol as he watched her leave.
“Why did you decline?” the Great Banyan Tree King asked.
“Stop playing the fool. Can’t you tell?” Li Qingshan’s eyes suddenly flashed. “A great banyan tree trying to pass off as a spring onion. Hahahaha!”
Note: A literal translation of the colloquial Chinese term of “playing the fool” is trying to pass off as a spring onion.
After grasping the Spirit Turtle Transformation and comprehending the laws of the world, his senses became sharper. The invitation this time was not out of the enthusiasm and hospitality from brothers of a minor ethnic group. It was clearly hiding danger.
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t have declined!” the Great Banyan Tree King said. Given Li Qingshan’s personality, since when did he fear danger?
“I want neither women nor enemies right now. Sigh, you seem like you don’t want me to be around here!”
“What do you think?”
The Great Banyan Tree King replied with a question. Even the sky dimmed.
All the alcohol Li Qingshan drank during the past few days had been made with his tree sap. Li Qingshan had even been picky, making him use the laws of the world to replicate aging the alcohol by centuries and millennia. Many cultivators would never even see such precious spiritual alcohol in their entire lives, yet he drank away like water, downing a few hundred jars.
Li Qingshan was just like someone who had nothing better to do apart from living off his parents like a parasite. If he had nothing to do, then he would drink a little and act madly. It obviously led to contempt from his seniors.
“Aren’t I watching over Xiao An?”
Li Qingshan laid out his hands. Xiao An was still cultivating beneath the tree, reforging her white bone artifacts.
“She doesn’t need you to watch over her.” The Great Banyan Tree King dismantled his excuse mercilessly. He asked, “Don’t you have an aspiration that lies beyond the Nine Heavens?”
“There’s no hurry, there’s no hurry.”
The tipsiness in Li Qingshan’s eyes vanished, recovering their clarity. He gazed at the distant sky. He was not laying there to slack off and rest. His cultivation of the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine had reached a relatively stable level. Drinking all the spiritual alcohol was also for preparing for the next step of cultivation.
“Alright then. I was afraid your ambition died down, so I was reminding you. Do you still want to drink more?”
“Heh, I would never, or we’d really end up falling out.” Li Qingshan sat up and stretched his neck. “Tell me about the Featherfolk.”
“Featherfolk are one of the seven great otherfolk races. Their entire race shares the surname Bai, and they’re proud and reserved. They claim to be true descendants of gods, and they look down on other races, including other otherfolk. It goes even more without saying with humans and daemons. The divine kingdom in the sky they founded called “Clouded city” is separated from the divine kingdoms of other otherfolk on the ground. It’s said that from birth to death, their feet never touch the ground.”
“What a strange bunch. Why don’t they check the age that they’re in? Didn’t Great Xia handle these guys when it was founded?” Li Qingshan asked curiously.
“Featherfolk are one of the races least affected by war. They possess extraordinary strength, but they have a disdain for war and battle, so rarely do they experience any internal conflict either. They rarely interfere with any battles on the ground either even from the age of the divine kingdoms. They only take action when demonfolk launch large-scale invasions, and they’ve always managed to turn the tides at critical moments. They’re a decisive force against the Demon domain.”
“When Great Xia was founded, they remained neutral the entire time. Afterwards, they seemed to sign some kind of agreement and did not go to war with each other. And after that, no one ever really saw them again. Clouded city is located in the Cloud province to the east most of the time too, or it is drifting over the ocean.”
The Great Banyan Tree King demonstrated his immense knowledge once again.
“They sound like a race filled with greatness, brilliance, and righteousness. If you throw in liberal democracy, it’ll basically be far too uncanny. Though, why would a race like that want trouble with me?”
“Probably because the invasion of the Demon domain caught their attention. As for why they want you specifically, that’s difficult to say. It was right of you to decline their invitation. Over five thousand years of development, the strength of the Featherfolk is probably only second to Great Xia. They cannot be underestimated.”
Li Qingshan agreed with that very much. Otherfolk were always extremely talented. If they had numbers on their side too, then there would definitely be a fair few powerful existences at the third heavenly tribulation. However, as long as he did not go to the Clouded city, there was nothing the Featherfolk could do to him either, so he did not have to worry too much.
“It’s time to go out for a walk.”
Li Qingshan reached into the Asura Field and drew out the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End. The damage was already completely repaired, and it was shining brightly and even sharper than before. He still had many matters to resolve before he ascended.
“Dragon King of Ink Sea, I’m coming!”
……
At the same time, several thousand kilometers away, a streak of white light entered a palace hidden within a cloud.
“He declined?”
“Yes.”
“How’s his strength?”
“Significant, but nowhere close to being invincible in the world, much less being compared to his majesty.”
“Then prepare to invite our true guest!”
