The bright moon hung in the sky as its glow flowed like water.
There was a tiny bamboo loft within the dim bamboo forest and the rustling shadows. Inside the loft, a lamp’s pea-sized flicker of fire was surrounded by the darkness as if it could be extinguished at any time.
A middle-aged man bent over in front of a table and wrote away swiftly, completely unaffected by the darkness. Actually, with his cultivation, he could see clearly even within the darkness. Even if he could not, he could open the windows and let the moonlight in.
The lamp was only there to add to the atmosphere. As for what kind of atmosphere, even he could not describe it properly. Anyways, mortals would definitely light lamps at night. What he was writing right now was exactly for mortals to read.
In the past, the public warmly received the story about the Heaven-leaning sword and the Dragon-slaying sabre. Currently, he was writing the sequel. It was a story about Zeng A’niu’s descendant, who first mastered the Ice and Fire Infinite Divine Arts of Nine Yin and Nine Yang on the Island of Ice and Fire. Then he waged war against the forbidden city, killing Zhu Chongba and unifying the world. Afterwards, he killed his way into the Persian Ming cult and added their holy maiden, Xiaozhao, to his harem.
Of course, during this process, he had already developed a harem of beauties. Now, he was considering whether to have him add the Purple Dress Dragon King.
From the perspective of mortals, she did seem a little old, but that was nothing to cultivators. With how powerful the martial arts in the novel were, they could be regarded as half-cultivators. If she were a a regular woman, then so be it, but what could he do about the fact that she was Xiaozhao’s…
TL: These are all references to Louis Cha’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. If you understand it, then treat it as an easter egg. If you don’t, just ignore this. I’ll have to explain an entire novel if you want to understand what is going on in these three paragraphs.
A mysterious smile appeared on his face, which seemed rather obscene between the shadows and firelight. His eyes lit up, about to bring brush to paper.
The lamp was abruptly extinguished, curling up with a wisp of smoke. The man shuddered gently as if he had woken up from a wonderful dream. He seemed rather lost. Gazing at the wet ink on the paper, he let out a long sigh. He stood up and pushed open the bamboo windows. Gazing at the tranquil Lake of Dragons and Snakes, he seemed extremely bleak.
The bamboo forest had died a long time ago. The lake no longer had a single fish left. He was the only living person left on the Lake of Dragons and Snakes!
If it were not for the sake of inspiration, he would have never returned. He happened to have made it here after everything that occurred with the Hungry Ghost realm, so he activated the formation on Cloudwisp island and hid here to write. He found plenty of inspiration, but even if he finished writing it, how many people could read it?
The world was in upheaval. The school of Novels had basically suffered a fatal blow. Poems could be recited on their own, while essays could voice will and spirit, but novels were for people to read. Otherwise, how was it any different from a daydream?
“Hmm? What’s that?”
He widened his eyes, only to see a half-moon rising up on the horizon. It was far larger than the moon in the sky, except it was not that bright and gave off an azure glow. It did not leave the horizon. Instead, it grew larger and larger as if it was alive.
The man felt uneasy. Right when he was about to slip away, he suddenly discovered that a figure seemed to be standing on top of the azure half-moon. When he made out the figure, he saw a person with scarlet hair and eyes, devilishly handsome. He was Daemon King Northmoon!
“Qingshan!”
“Liu Chuanfeng!”
Li Qingshan looked back. Standing on the blue half-moon, he arrived on the Lake of Dragons and Snakes.
Only now did Liu Chuanfeng discover that the blue half-moon really was something living. It was absolutely colossal. Just its exposed part towered like a mountain. He needed to look up almost vertically to see Li Qingshan standing atop with his arms crossed, yet he was also somewhat obscured. Under the moonlight, he seemed like a dream or an illusion, which made him wonder whether he was still dreaming or not. Otherwise, how could a monster like that appear in the world?
Li Qingshan said, “Come up.”
Liu Chuanfeng stowed his draft away and flew onto the giant beast’s back, hesitating as he tried to muster the courage to directly set foot on it. Suddenly, he looked back; the entire Cloudwisp island had already been swallowed by the giant beast, making him cry out.
Li Qingshan thought back to how he had even faced Chu Danqing in battle in the past for the sake of the Cloudwisp island around him, yet today, he would be destroying it with his own hands. It left him sighing inside a little. However, this place had been contaminated by the death qi from the Hungry Ghost realm, having already turned into a land of death, so he did not proactively control Navy Li’l Fatty. In the blink of an eye, it had already swallowed most of the lake.
Liu Chuanfeng wanted to say something, but he faltered. This disciple of the school of Novels had already become a great Daemon King whose name echoed through the world. Back then, the hundred schools had turned him down, and he had ended up on Cloudwisp island.
Li Qingshan smiled. “What are you doing here?”
“I… came back to take a look.”
“Is Fubai still doing well?”
“He’s already passed away.”
Li Qingshan’s eyes flashed; he asked nothing more. Many years ago, Sun Fubai had already become an old man. Undergoing the first heavenly tribulation was already his limit. Perhaps he had died in his sleep, or perhaps he had suffered an accident, but the deaths of people were like extinguishing lamps. None of it mattered anymore.
At this moment, even mentioning the past would make him seem melodramatic. All he said was, “I’m no longer a disciple of the school of Novels.”
The Divine Talisman of Great Creation had already been lost to the small world. It was impossible for him to condense it again.
“Have you come to destroy the evidence?”
Liu Chuanfeng could not help but ask. In the past, when Li Qingshan became a disciple of the school of Novels, he viewed it as an utter disgrace. Afterwards, even when it rose into prosperity, it could never compare to the larger schools like the school of Buddhism, Daoism, the Military, or Mohism. If that were the case, then he would be in danger. The nature of daemons were unpredictable.
Li Qingshan laughed aloud. “It was my greatest fortune to join the school of Novels!”
If it were not for the Divine Talisman of Great Creation, he might have perished in the small world already. No matter how profound the cultivation methods of the other schools were, they would be useless. The school of Novels was truly the most interesting school too. It was a little weak, but to the ape demon, nothing was more important than being interesting.
“Li Qingshan, what are you trying to do?”
Liu Chuanfeng was shocked, as those words did not come from him. Instead, it fell down from above, ringing out from all directions. It possessed a great aura of prestige and power like a god’s advent to the mortal realm, giving him the urge to prostrate on the ground.
Li Qingshan sneered. “Si Long, have you finally run out of patience?”
“Si Long. What a familiar name. Don’t tell me…”
Liu Chuanfeng widened his eyes and looked around, but he did not find any trace of the founding emperor of Great Xia. Instead, he discovered a huge chasm winding over from the skyline. All of the earth had ended up in the giant beast’s belly.
“Do you know how severe of a consequence this will lead to?” Si Long growled, filled with anger.
“I obviously do.”
Li Qingshan smiled. The space-devouring beast had already swallowed the entirety of the Lake of Dragons and Lakes. It continued to cruise along the ground, swallowing everything it encountered. It was restrained by the laws of the world, unable to demonstrate the same kind of strength as in outer space, but after a slight adjustment, devouring the rock and soil was not a problem.
The Great Banyan Tree King’s warning was stern, but it also proved something. Si Long could not leave the Dragon province or even Dragonshead mountain. Refining the nine provinces into a blessed land of cultivation definitely could not be completed in a day or two either. As a result, Li Qingshan wanted to compete with him to see whether he could refine faster or whether he could devour faster.
Si Long said sternly, “You are destroying this world?”
“And so what? I can save this world. I can also destroy it!”
Li Qingshan dug into his ear as an ape’s tail swayed around behind him. The ape demon was neither stubborn nor frenzied, but its demonic nature was no weaker than the ox demon or tiger demon. Instead, it was much more impossible to apply common logic to its behaviour.
Si Long said, “You can’t win the game of chess, so you want to flip the table? Fellow, aren’t you a little too crass with this?”
Li Qingshan leapt up, turning into a black, enraged ape and pointing at the sky furiously. “Shut the fuck up. If you have the courage, come face me in battle, or piss off back to your Human realm! Do you really think you’re playing a game of chess? Then I’ll smack your face in with the chessboard!”
