On the other end of the Heaven Climbing Vine, in the endless expanse of outer space, Li Qingshan’s main body revealed the same smile on the colossal space-devouring beast’s back.
Gu Yanying and Xiao An accompanied him, but they did not look at him.
Su Mirao stood with her umbrella; she was like a blooming flower in outer space, even more dazzling than the stars. She was no longer bound by the laws of the world, but it instead left her looking especially gorgeous and charming. She was displeased with how cautious they were.
She thought, Sure enough, these two women are the greatest troubles standing in my way of conquering Li Qingshan. Interestingly enough, they’ve never truly conquered Li Qingshan either. One’s become an adherent, while the other’s become a collaborator. Even though they can influence many of his decisions, that’s nowhere close to conquering him.
To truly conquer someone is to change their mind, not just their actions. At the very least, I’m not satisfied with this tiny bit I’ve gained. Though, this bastard Li Qingshan refuses to look at me properly even more, and he’s even grinning from ear to ear, so he must be having one of his daydreams. What a difficult guy to deal with. Though, that’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it?
Li Qingshan lowered his head and said to Su Mirao, “Now, we can talk.”
He had devoted his attention to the small world the entire time, sensing the depth and breadth that came with being the god of a world, specially creating a world that belonged to him, basically uninfluenced by anything else.
Now that he had returned to his senses, a smear of amazement flashed across his eyes; it lingered without dispersing.
However, he did not dislike this feeling. Instead, he remembered that bold proclamation he had made about sleeping with the most beautiful women. However, if his willpower was not sturdy enough and he had been bewitched, he could not blame anyone else. After all, there was nothing wrong with beauty by itself.
Before he knew it, he had already forgiven Su Mirao for everything she had done. Instead, he could not help but constantly think about her various upsides. He was simply unable to avoid being influenced by her charms.
However, there was nothing he could do about that either. After all, she was talented, and she devoted all these years to cultivation. Was it all supposed to be for nothing, where he could just casually ignore it all? Being able to maintain a hint of clarity was already very difficult.
In hindsight, if Lolth had not been a gorgeous beauty back then, she probably would have died to his fist a long time ago. Back then, she had actually wanted to butcher him. She had far more evil intentions than the Nine-tailed Fox Empress.
As a result, it was difficult to decide what was called being bewitched or not. All he could say was it was unavoidable for people to be influenced by others. It was fine as long as he did not lose his sense of self. This battle without weapons had only begun!
Su Mirao covered her gentle smile while her gaze was dazzling and bewitching. “Dear, what would you like to talk about?”
Li Qingshan was infatuated. “Our future, of course.”
“What kind of future would you like? I can help you.”
“I want…”
Spurt! Gu Yanying broke into laughter before shaking her head and sighing. She really could not watch this any longer. Xiao An stared right at Li Qingshan’s face with her large, clear eyes.
Li Qingshan felt an invisible pressure. He was unable to bring himself to say “you”, so he corrected himself, “… the way to defeat Qiongqi!”
Su Mirao raised her head proudly. ‘Hmph, that’s impossible!”
“Hey, but didn’t you say…”
“Hehe, if you want to defeat Qiongqi, go cultivate for another ten thousand years,” Su Mirao said in contempt.
“What’re you getting mad for? You’re beyond reason!” Li Qingshan laid out his hands.
“I’m beyond reason? Without me, you would have been crushed to death by Si Long already!” Su Mirao even raised her hand and made a “crushing” gesture at Li Qingshan.
How could Li Qingshan put up with something like that? He sneered. “Tsk, you sure are shameless enough to mention it. It was my brilliance and valiance that dismantled your inferior plan, taking down Si Long in the process. Are you going to admit that or not?”
Su Mirao was so furious that she arched her eyebrows and ground her teeth.
“Haha, alright, the two of you. The flirting stops here. Let’s talk about the official business!” Gu Yanying smiled as she mediated the situation.
Xiao An said indifferently, “If you want to win the gamble, you don’t have to defeat Qiongqi.”
Li Qingshan was surprised. “Really?”
“What an idiot. Try and recall the oath between you and Qiongqi.”
Li Qingshan held his chin and sank into his thoughts. The contents of his Blood Oath of the Nether River with Qiongqi were very short. He could recall it a thousand times in an instant. Suddenly, he seemed to notice something before shaking his head. “That’s impossible!”
There was indeed a loophole in the Blood Oath of the Nether River that allowed him to achieve victory while avoiding Qiongqi himself, but the loophole could not be considered as a loophole at all. It was even more difficult to achieve than defeating Qiongqi himself.
Su Mirao said proudly, “What you can’t do can be easily accomplished by others.”
“But this is my gamble,” Li Qingshan said seriously.
He had no doubts about that at all. If brother ox were around, Qiongqi would be absolutely nothing at all. However, those that could help him defeat Qiongqi without personally taking action would definitely be even more powerful than Demon God Qiongqi. Was it actually related to brother ox?
“The gamble never specified that you had to enter the battle against Qiongqi empty-handed.” Su Mirao gazed at him in a pitying manner like she was looking at a dimwit.
As it had to do with brother ox, Li Qingshan refused to be carried away by her rhythm. He asked seriously, “Who can help me?”
“A prisoner.”
Li Qingshan raised his eyebrows. He did not ask how a prisoner could help him. Instead, he was surprisingly excited. Don’t tell me the prisoner is brother ox? Even if he was completely incapable of freeing him right now, just the thought of it left him exhilarated.
“Unfortunately, he’s probably not the one you’re thinking of, but you’re not too far off.”
A prisoner that was not too far off from brother ox, coupled with the broken horn on brother ox’s head, made Li Qingshan come up with some guesses. He asked, “What exactly happened beyond the Nine Heavens?”
“Even if I wasn’t trapped in the nine provinces, the details aren’t something that I can learn about. On top of that, there are certain names and matters that are best left unmentioned. Even if I know about it, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to talk about it with you here. However, when you see the prisoner, he’ll probably tell you everything.”
“Where can I find him?”
“Hehe, Li Qingshan, you’re not that unruly now, are you? You’ll go wherever I tell you to go!”
Su Mirao found an opportunity to regain the upper hand so that she could vent. Originally, she thought he would fly into a rage, but she never expected him to simply remain stern, asking again, “Where can I find him?”
“Do you think I’ll just tell you so easily?”
Li Qingshan took a step forward and stared right at her with his scarlet eyes. “Su Mirao, I know you know much more than me, which is why you’re so fearful of us meeting. The enemy is so powerful that you don’t even have the courage to say their name, afraid that they would sense it, but I’m determined to face them, no matter who they are. I hope you can stand by my side, but if you still treat this all as a game even now, then I’d advise you to back out early, as you can’t afford to play at all!”
“You!” Su Mirao glared at him. Nothing angered her more than the words “you can’t afford to play”. However, she could not help but admit that compared to Li Qingshan, she really “could not afford to play” as much as him.
“I know you want me to lower my head, but someone told me to never lower my head, as kneeling won’t get me to beyond the Nine Heavens. Don’t tell me you want a piece of trash to play this life-threatening game with you?”
A while later, Su Mirao spat out a pair of words like she was sighing. “Ruin’s End!”
