Bright light flowed through Li Qingshan’s eyes. On the precipitous cliff beneath his teeth, there were thousands of tiny holes, all claw marks left behind by his hands.
Who knew how many times the will of the heavens had toyed with him, where the rock grumbled under his grip or he was bombarded from behind by snow and wind. He had all dealt with it in the moment. As long as he slipped up, even just once, his body would be smashed to pieces, but never did he use the Divine Talisman of Great Creation, nor did he lose his smile.
He was very happy, definitely not just due to the influence from the ape demon’s demonic nature. Instead, as he followed his heart in an almost hysterical manor, he recalled his original sentiments.
He recalled just how unwilling he felt to just submit to fate when he was on the brink of death, having lived this fleeting life in such a mediocre manner. He also recalled just how happy and joyful he felt when he gained new life and how he swore he would not let this life go to waste.
Back then, all he thought of was having a satisfying life across his century of lifespan, but before he knew it, he already possessed far more than he initially wanted. He possessed unimaginably great strength and an unimaginably lengthy lifespan, so why had he become afraid instead?
Formation, existence, disintegration, then emptiness. That was the unavoidable cycle of the world.
Were the gods and buddhas truly immortal and undying? No matter who or what it was, were they not reduced to emptiness in the very end?
Scooping the moon was futile, but so what?
The will of the heavens toyed with him, but did he have to care what the end result was?
If the moon in the water was really so enchanting, then he should just scoop away!
Gu Yanying seemed to understand something, leaving her momentarily speechless. She patted him on the shoulder, “Thank you.”
Listening to the splashing water next door, she suddenly smiled, “If you don’t think that much, it really is very interesting, except…”
She took out the peng’s feather and swung it gently.
Crack! The stone wall was split into pieces, which slid and shifted before collapsing loudly, sending water surging. The pasty-white bodies within the steam all froze there.
“Then you better look carefully!”
Within the screams, Gu Yanying turned around and left while fanning herself. Her foot suddenly slipped and she lurched forward violently. Li Qingshan caught her by the waist.
“The damned heavens are basically even more wrose than you!”
Gu Yanying gritted her teeth. During the time she spent in the building, she had been careful with everything, such that she almost forgot about her bad luck.
“Haha, I’m just about to compete with it!” Li Qingshan laughed.
“Alright. You’ve basically spent enough time running around recently. It’s time for you to go back with me to write the novel.”
“Don’t we already have a book? I’m going to the front courtyard for a stroll!”
Li Qingshan felt troubled as soon as sitting there with a brush and writing away crossed his mind. Climbing around dangerously on the cliffs was still more fun.
“If you’re training, then I don’t care, but you’re bored enough to show me this today, so you’ve clearly encountered a bottleneck. You’re probably running out of the power of belief within the Divine Talisman of Great Creation!” Gu Yanying grabbed his elongated arm and stared at him sharply.
“I really can’t hide anything from you.”
Li Qingshan smiled. During the past few days that he spent climbing around on the cliffs, he had already pushed the powers of the ape demon to the limit.
“As long as you’re aware. Don’t forget, you’re a novelist.”
“I can’t forget that.”
“Before the beginning of spring next year, we need to make ample preparations.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“You should be able to help me up now!”
Gu Yanying lay in the crook of Li Qingshan’s arm and carried out this serious conversation, except right behind them was the chaotic bathing pool. It really was a very strange sight.
……
The weather came and went. The snowflakes fell at times and stopped at others. The whistling mountain wind never stopped.
The winter up north was especially long, but before they knew it, the icicles began to melt away silently, dripping with translucent beads of water.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning shot across the sky and the entire mountain manor shook. Everyone in the mountain manor all felt like the clap of thunder had exploded right by their ears. By the time they had recovered from the shock, cries rang through the mountain manor.
“Oh no, the main building’s been struck by lightning!”
“The formation’s fallen! It must have struck the central point!”
“How is it that coincidental?”
“Where’s the two manor lords?”
“Still in the building!”
Dark clouds hung low in the sky. Following the clap of spring thunder, even more lightning began to build up in the cloud layer, all pouring down on the building. The lightning twisted and expanded on the stone walls.
“Don’t tell me this is the heavenly tribulation of ascension?”
In the secret room below the building, Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying were completely aware that this was not some heavenly tribulation. It was just a regular lightning storm, but it just happened to occur above the mountain manor and each bolt just happened to come for them.
The rumbling echoed through the secret room, deafening them.
“You got lucky! Otherwise, if a bolt struck you! No one would be able to save you!”
Li Qingshan yelled at the top of his voice. Gu Yanying basically spent every single day cultivating on the terrace, regardless of the wind and snow. She just happened to have not gone up there today, dragging him into the secret room to check the treasures in preparation for leaving the mountain which allowed her to avoid this disaster.
“It’s not good luck! I observe the clouds every single day! If I hadn’t brought you here! You would have died to the lightning long ago!”
Gu Yanying yelled at the top of her voice too. Since young, she had always like to fly, so she was completely familiar with the various kinds of clouds. Lightning clouds and regular clouds were completely different. As soon as she noticed changes in the weather, she dragged Li Qingshan here. This was the lowest point of the mountain manor, as well as the sturdiest and safest place.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?”
“Surprise!” Gu Yanying smiled.
“Surprise your grandfather!” Li Qingshan rolled his eyes, but he saw Gu Yanying’s smile stiffen and point behind him, roaring out, “Be careful, lightning!”
How could there be lightning here? He had even closed the heavy stone door to the secret room.
Originally, Li Qingshan thought she was joking, but looking back, he saw a ball of lightning that had passed through the stone door somehow, wandering around silently. The air was filled with a strange stench.
“Fucking hell…”
“Boom!”
Violet light filled the secret room.
After a good while, the lightning clouds dispersed and the stone door opened up.
Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying crawled out, dirtied and covered in dust. A good half of the building above them had collapsed and flames rose up in the mountain manor. The figures of people rushed about to put it out.
However, when the lightning ran amok earlier, it had killed several people, so no one dared to emerge.
By now, the fire had already spread completely. Even the innate realm masters were powerless.
The mountain winds whistled, feeding the flames and turning the mountain manor into a sea of fire. The lone mountain seemed to have been set alight, like a huge torch. Even from dozens of kilometers away, it was possible to see the fire.
“Oh no, my novels!”
Li Qingshan’s face changed. He had spent an entire winter writing the Legend of the White Ape King to the fifth volume, before having his subordinates make over ten thousand copies by hand. With this fire, it had all gone up in ashes.
“Don’t worry. I’ve ordered them to seal them in chests, before being buried in the ground. They’re impervious to fire and water!”
Li Qingshan eased up. Earlier, he had used the Divine Talisman of Great Creation again to stay alive, which used up a lot of power of belief. He had already reached an extremely dangerous point. Once it completely ran out, he would be forced to gamble his life with the heavens with his naked body.
He produced a whirlwind to force back the heat waves. The two of them stood within the roaring flames as a plume of black smoke rose up into the sky, circling around the mountain like a black dragon brandishing its claws, staring at them in malice.
Gu Yanying gazed at the sky, “Looks like the heavens are urging us to get on with our path!”
Li Qingshan said, “Then let’s set off and go make a mess! Let’s make the entire world aware of my, the Descended Tiger Li Qingshan, and you, the Soaring Divine Hawk Gu Yanying!”
“Erm, could you drop the two nicknames?”
Li Qingshan grinned, “Nope.”
