“What did you say?”
“I’m telling you to fight me! Don’t worry, I won’t suppress you with the formation. I’ll make you die in a convincing fashion!”
Gu Yanying rolled her eyes at him. Did she not just tell him to preserve peace?
Li Qingshan smiled at her. Since his strength could recover slowly, then he did not have to be so conservative with the power of the Divine Talisman of Great Creation anymore. He did not have to be so cautious either.
Gu Yanying said in persuasion, “Fellow Hou, once this mister Li gets carried away, he won’t even recognise his own family. He just wants you to save a person’s life, which can be considered as a good deed. Why must you be so prideful?”
Hou Hongtao began laughing out of anger. “They count as people? This whore has the courage to stand among us. I’ve already been patient enough with her, yet you still want me to expend the effort to heal their wounds? That’s simply absurd!”
“Alright then. Forget I said anything.” Gu Yanying took a step back. If someone really wanted to die that much, no one could do anything about it.
“If they aren’t people, what are you supposed to be?” Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows and said furiously.
“I am the mighty Marquis of the Fierce Fire Sword. Even the White Ape King would not insult me over a few whores!”
“Shut your mouth. If you continue to compare me with that old ape, you’re not even going to have an opportunity to strike!”
“Alright, I’d like to see just what backs up your arrogance!”
With a clang, the Fierce Fire sword was drawn from its sheath, illuminating the entire hall. The temperature suddenly began to rise, and the swordsmen all retreated due to the waves of heat.
Hou Hongtao released his true qi; it turned into raging flames, dyeing his beard red. He strode towards Li Qingshan, one step, two steps, three steps. His aura rose to the limit.
Sword qi whistled and flames surged like the cry of a dragon.
The sword turned into a streak of bright-red flames, slashing towards Li Qingshan.
“It’s the Fire Dragon Slash!”
The swordsmen were amazed. In particular, the two eighth layer innate realm swordsmen were astounded. They had a clear understanding of Hou Hongtao’s strength. They never thought he would actually make another breakthrough. Was it because of the page from the White Ape Sword Classic?
However, little did they know that even Hong Houtao himself was pleasantly surprised. In the moment he lashed out against Li Qingshan, the flow of his true qi suddenly resonated with the spiritual qi of the world, conforming with a certain obscure will. He had already been stuck at the ninth layer for many years, but right now, he actually felt like he was about to break through, allowing him to launch a strike more powerful than anything he had unleashed in the past.
All he saw was Li Qingshan sitting exactly where he was. Hou Hongtao thought, Hmph, even the White Ape King would not take this attack on directly, yet you’re actually so confident in yourself? You’re asking to die!
Li Qingshan raised his hand slowly and pressed down.
With a rumble, the hall shook, and the raging flames vanished. A deep handprint appeared on the ground.
Hou Hongtao lay in the centre of the handprint, raising his head in disbelief. He wanted to say something, but blood spurted from his mouth. All of the bones and organs in his body were either broken or had ruptured. A sliver of regret flashed through his eyes before he passed away on the spot.
Li Qingshan drew back his hand slowly. Dealing with the likes of him was far easier than the White Ape King, as the powers of this world limited the various abilities the Divine Talisman of Great Creation conjured. Against a supreme master like the White Ape King, it would take him a couple of moves and some techniques. As for the weaker ones, he could directly crush them with absolute strength.
Everyone was dumbfounded. They never imagined that the mighty Marquis of the Fierce Fire Sword could not even withstand a single strike and would suffer a fate like this.
The bit of hope and disdain that originally existed because they had not witnessed him fight vanished immediately. If they were not capable of something like this, how had they killed the White Ape King?
“Marquis!”
Some of the swordsmen were on good terms with Hou Hongtao. Witnessing this, they were absolutely devastated. Rage overwhelmed their rationality for some reason, and they stood forward with drawn swords. They called out, “Let’s get him together, everyone! Revenge for the marquis!”
“Alright, then I’ll kill you untameable dogs!”
Li Qingshan sneered, about to carry out a massacre.
With a rip, Gu Yanying tore out another page of the White Ape Sword Classic and called out, “Take them out!”
The two eighth layer innate realm swordsmen exchanged glances and drew their swords. With a flash, the people who called out for revenge all collapsed on the ground. They also killed a few others caught up in the disturbance, stabilising the situation. Thick blood began to flow, dyeing the decorated hall red.
Sheathing their swords, they stood forward and clasped their hands. “Manor lord, Hou Hongtao’s remaining allies have all been beheaded. We are not with them, so please spare us!”
The martial arts community had always respected the strong. Lowering their heads to people like them was nothing humiliating. In hindsight, they clearly possessed such great strength, yet they had been relatively reserved the entire time. They even offered up the White Ape Sword Classic to share with everyone. Hou Hongtao’s actions were basically as foolish as it could be. He really had lived up to what they said, that they only knew how to respect a monkey and not a tiger, only to die in the tiger’s mouth in the very end.
Gu Yanying said nothing else. She tossed down the page, and the two people extended their hands, each grabbing a half and refusing to let go.
“From today onwards, you will be responsible for the matters in the external courtyard. I name you the protectors of the left and the right.”
“The protector of the right thanks the manor lord!”
In the current world, there was bias against the left, so one of them immediately let go of the page and bowed gratefully, stealing the position of the protector of the right. The sword manual was available for anyone to view anyway.
The other person cursed inside, but all he could do was bow gratefully as well. “The protector of the left thanks the manor lord. Manor lord, I don’t practice the Fierce Fire true qi, but I can heal these women.”
“Me too.”
“Then I’ll leave this matter to you. I don’t wish to see anyone be punished again for learning the sword. I want everyone in this mountain manor to be able to learn. I want martial arts to be available for everyone to practice so that everyone has the opportunity to become supreme masters!”
Li Qingshan spread his arms and announced loudly, trying his best to hold back his smile.
The two protectors said in a hurry, “Kind-hearted be the manor lord. As you wish!”
The regular swordsmen all roused with enthusiasm from that. Who did not want to be a supreme master? They raised their arms and cheered, “Martial arts for everyone to learn!”
The woman called “Fei Hong” even began shedding tears emotionally. “I will never forget the manor lord’s kindness!”
“Pick up the sword!” Li Qingshan said.
Fei Hong picked up the Fierce Fire sword in a hurry.
“From today onwards, the sword belongs to you. Learn the sword well. I think you can definitely become a supreme master. Don’t let my hopes down.”
“Yes, manor lord.” Fei Hong choked back sobs.
Li Qingshan finally could not hold back his laughter anymore. “I’m going back to rest! Everyone, practise the sword well!”
……
The banquet at night was extremely sumptuous, and Li Qingshan had another hearty drink. During the feast, Fei Yuanyuan carefully made her way over and asked if they wanted the back kitchen to cook the Marquis of the Fierce Fire Sword as well.
Li Qingshan was speechless. He waved his hand and declined, which let Yuan Feifei and everyone else in the mountain manor let out a great sigh of relief.
Li Qingshan listened to Gu Yanying’s summary of this world’s cultures and geography. He suddenly slapped his knee. “I know what kind of book to write!”
“I thought you were just going to copy out the books you wrote in the nine provinces again!”
“That’s because you’re an outsider to this trade. The audience is completely different!” Li Qingshan said complacently.
“Then what do you plan on writing about?” Gu Yanying asked curiously.
“The White Ape King’s chronicles.”
Gu Yanying immediately understood. “I see. That really is a good idea. By then, probably everyone in the world would want to buy a copy and take a look.”
They were clueless about the White Ape King’s life, but none of that was important. What was truly important was the White Ape Sword Classic. As long as they could write the sword style in the book, did they have to worry that no one would buy it?
By then, there really would be martial arts for everyone.
