Chapter 1344: Fellow
Being called “fellow” truly brought Li Qingshan a nostalgic feeling, but his heart then shuddered. There was actually a cultivator in the parlour, and he had failed to notice him. Even though he had raised a great commotion and had not specially searched the area with his soul sense, this was something that never would have happened to him in the nine provinces. It was even more impossible in the World of the Five Continents. There, he could even read the minds of people.
The laws of the Human realm severely restrained the power of cultivators, which included their senses and probing abilities. Even the senses of the spirit turtle became extremely blurred. Ever since he arrived in this realm, what he had relied on the most was instead his sense of smell.
Then he recalled the sensation of being watched earlier, as well as the strange cry of a deer, which made him sink into his thoughts. Had he been far too careless by demonstrating his powers in the city?
At this moment, a middle-aged man drifted down, but he was even more elegant and refined than everyone else. He had a long moustache and a beard on his thin face, and his green robes bore some similarity to the robes of daoist priests. He gave off quite a sagely feeling.
He circled around the tree full of peach blossoms first, even picking a flower and placing it in his mouth to taste, confirming that this was an actual peach blossom and not some inferior trick. Afterwards, he arrived before Li Qingshan and said in surprise, “What is this technique? Fellow, how did you achieve this?”
“A Foundation Establishment cultivator?” Li Qingshan asked.
“That’s correct. I am but a measly Foundation Establishment cultivator,” the middle-aged man stroked his whiskers and said rather proudly.
“Nice to meet you.”
Li Qingshan smiled. Exactly due to the restraints from the laws of the world, the Human realm was not a world where Soul Nascences were commonplace and Golden Cores were worthless. Regular Qi Practitioners were only magicians. They were not even regarded as cultivators. There must have been many more cultivators stronger than him, but since they were scattered across the vast Human realm, the chances of encountering one would be almost negligible. If he did not even have the courage to demonstrate his techniques, then he would have been a little too cautious.
“I am Xie Maoshi. May I ask for your name and cultivation, fellow?”
Xie Maoshi glanced at Zhu Yingcai and could immediately tell he was a Qi Practitioner, but he was unable to tell the cultivation of the handsome man before him. However, just from the demonstration of his prowess, he knew Li Qingshan was anything but ordinary.
“Li Qingshan, Soul Nascence.”
Li Qingshan revealed a hint of his aura, but he hid the domineering and grim side of the Sovereign’s Limit of World Destruction as much as possible, temporarily switching over to the Sovereign’s Limit of World Prosperity. He naturally gave off a sense of importance as if the entire world was within his grasp.
“A Soul Nascence cultivator!?”
Xie Maoshi paled in surprise. He had already guessed that Li Qingshan’s cultivation was probably higher than his, likely a Golden Core cultivator, but he never expected it to be so much higher. He tidied his clothes in a hurry before bowing deeply again. “So it’s senior Li. Please forgive me for my rudeness!”
Zhu Yingcai finally gained confirmation from Li Qingshan himself, so he was amazed too. He thought, A Soul Nascence cultivator. That’s a figure of legends. If I can take him on as my master, it’s worth it even if I don’t go to the Myriad sect!
Most people were not familiar with the significance behind Soul Nascence, but they were very familiar with Xie Maoshi. He was a person who stood on equal footing with the lord of the country; they referred to each other as fellow. He was renowned for his casualness and how he never stressed formalities, so they had never seen him treat someone with such politeness before.
The women became even more interested. None of them imagined this young man who seemed as delicate as a boy would possess such a great status among magicians.
Xie Maoshi could not believe this either, but when he remembered how all those great cultivators could preserve their youth, that was why he called him senior and considered himself as a junior. He was afraid of causing him the slightest offence, as that would only lead to misfortune.
The procuress lowered herself even further, saying carefully, “Sir Li, the dishes will be done soon, very soon! Please come into the parlour and take a seat!”
Xie Maoshi waved his hand. “Why bother with that? A brothel like this will only bring disgrace to senior!”
The procuress’ expression froze, but she did not dare to rebuke him. She cursed inside, You old lust fiend, which day haven’t you come to my Flower Fragrance parlour? How come it doesn’t bring any disgrace to you? Hmph, you’re clearly worried that sir Li will steal your women if he comes inside!
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Xie Maoshi really had not been thinking of that. He had just become overly excited after seeing a living Soul Nascence cultivator. This was an extremely rare occasion.
“Senior, the lord of the country is currently inviting cultivators from abroad to dine in Deer Cry garden. Why don’t we attend the banquet too… No, no, no, that would be far too disrespectful to you, senior. I’ll contact the people in the palace right now and inform them of your arrival. The lord of the country will definitely receive you in person!”
“The lord of the country is holding a banquet for cultivators, so why aren’t you attending?”
Li Qingshan was interested. He was trying to gather information, so this was a fantastic opportunity. On top of that, corpses of the starved lay everywhere outside the city, while the people in the city lived a life of luxury and hedonism. He happened to be interested in meeting with this incompetent ruler and asking just how incompetent he was.
Xie Maoshi said in shame, “I’m passionate for women. I’ve made a fool of myself, senior.”
Li Qingshan smiled. “You’re a romantic man. There’s nothing funny about that.”
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Xie Maoshi’s eyes lit up. “What a saying! Senior, you truly are enlightening, well beyond anything I’m capable of. I’ll have the people in the palace pass on the news immediately so that the lord of the country welcomes you at the main gates of the palace!”
“That won’t be necessary. Tell me, in which direction is Deer Cry garden and around how far away is it?”
Zhu Yingcai immediately understood what Li Qingshan wanted to do, so he covered his mouth with both hands.
Xie Maoshi glanced at him in bewilderment, but he refused to defy Li Qingshan, so he provided him with the direction and the distance.
“Take good care of my guests.”
Li Qingshan instructed the procuress. The procuress was about to respond when the three of them rushed into the air, shooting off in the direction of the imperial palace. She fell back on her bottom in surprise. “An immortal!”
“Procuress, give me a few peaches. I’ll give you five, no, ten taels of gold!”
“I’ll give you twenty!”
“Mum, I want some too!”
The parlour immediately became filled with noise. The procuress became reinvigorated again. “Ten taels of gold for a peach! This is the base price. Please make a bid yourselves. It will be a fair sale, going to the one who pays most! Daughters, if you want a taste of them, you better ask the guests beside you.”
Then she instructed a few eunuchs. “Be sure to treat sir Li’s ‘guests’ well. Give them a proper fill. Let’s just say I’m doing good for once!”
At the same time, within the fine scenery of the imperial garden, the trees provided shade as the cries of deer rose and fell. Within the pavilion surrounded by water, palace maids dressed in fine gauze moved around swiftly and gently like clouds.
There were several dozen people in total, both lord and subjects, enjoying the delicacies while appreciating the music and performances. They sang poems and toasted to one another in great leisure.
With a great boom, something fell down from above, kicking up a wave thirty metres tall that poured into the pavilion like a storm. It startled the palace maids and disturbed the music. For a moment, they all fell over in a dishevelled manner, and the dishes were all knocked over too. The lord and the subjects all leapt in fright. The lord of White Deer country called out, “Guards! Guards!” He completely disregarded his own cultivation.
The regular Qi Practitioners were even worse off. One of them directly threw himself under the table with his bottom sticking out.
A voice rang out from beneath the pavilion, “Don’t panic, your majesty! It’s me, it’s me!”
