The Lion Spirit King then said, “Though, little fellow, you still have to call me the old fool. That’s an order.”
The last thing that Li Qingshan listened to were orders. He nodded. “Alright, Lion Spirit King.”
“It’s old fool.”
“Not a problem, Lion Spirit King!”
“It’s old fool!”
“Lion king.”
“Old fool.”
……
The endless, silent, black water suddenly became noisy. A large lion and a tiny turtle sized up one another. One stood gloriously, filling the mountains with his might, while the other was impassive and unmoving.
The great lion did not fly into a rage and smash the tiny turtle to death with a swat. Instead, he persistently corrected his term of reference. Who knew how many rounds they went through.
Suddenly, he began to laugh aloud. His voice was like a thunderous avalanche, but it was filled with joy. Perhaps he had spent far too much time alone in this prison of black water.
Li Qingshan squinted his eyes. “Hey, don’t you find this to be very immature?”
“You’re the one who’s immature! Little fellow!” The Lion Spirit King stressed each word. He stared at Li Qingshan with his eyes that shone like the sun. “You’re burdened with a Blood Oath of the Nether River. You don’t have much time.” He lowered his mountain-like head. “If he tried facing me…” He smiled complacently. “Thou would definitely face defeat!”
Li Qingshan let out a sigh. With the tremendous difference in their cultivations, it was not strange that he could see this. Though, he was right. The time of the oath was getting closer and closer. He no longer had much time left.
“Then may I ask how am I supposed to release you from here, foolish mister lion?”
He looked around, continuing to search for something like a paper talisman. He just felt like there was supposed to be one!
The Lion Spirit King laughed again. “Little fellow, you sure know how to joke!”
“You bastard! Then I’ll leave right now!”
“Don’t underestimate yourself. Of course, the insignificant you doesn’t possess that power. After all, you’re still too young. If you want to open up Ruin’s End, you can only ask for help from my beloved second sister!” the Lion Spirit King raised his head and said with absolute respect.
Li Qingshan was astonished. “Second sister!? The Ocean-upheaving Great Sage, the Serpent Demon King!?”
“That’s right. That’s also your beloved second sister!”
Li Qingshan found it nauseating. “I don’t know her.”
“You’ve been chosen by first brother, so of course, you’re our brother.” The Lion Spirit King extended a claw and tapped Li Qingshan’s shell gently.
It took everything inside Li Qingshan to endure this little demonstration of endearment. He shook his head helplessly. “That’s my honour! Then am I supposed to call you fourth brother?”
“No, call me the old fool.”
“Alright then!” Li Qingshan gave up completely. “Then where’s second sister?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you can just stay here!”
“But my beloved fifth brother definitely knows. His ears are particularly sharp. He knows everything.” The Lion Spirit King’s ears that resembled small mountains twitched, expressing his earnest recognition.
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“The Wind-coursing Great Sage, the Macaque King!”
Li Qingshan came to a realization. He understood why brother ox had sent Ox-headed A’pang to bring him to the depths of hell. Given the current situation, all the sages had been suppressed. If he wanted to release them, he had to know where they were at the very least, so the Macaque King was a crucial component in the plan.
That would all come down to how useful his Yang Soul would be, whether he could reach the depths of hell and meet with that Wind-coursing Great Sage. If his Yang Soul failed, then he would have to make another visit to the underworld.
But before this, he had to deal with the Blood Oath of the Nether River on him first, so he mentioned his bet with Demon God Qiongqi. The details of the bet was not to defeat Qiongqi but to upheave his Qingqi mountain. He was certain this “Mountain-moving Great Sage” right before him had a method.
Sure enough, the Lion Spirit King did not disappoint him. “Now that’s easy.” He opened his abyss-like mouth and spat out a palm-sized tablet that ended up before Li Qingshan.
“What’s this?” The tablet was simple and crude. It was deeply etched with a simple word, “Fool”. It did not give off any special aura. It seemed like it had been carved from a regular piece of rock.
“The Mountain-moving tablet. This is my lifebound item. With this tablet, even moving mountains to fill oceans won’t be a problem.”
Li Qingshan stowed the Mountain-moving tablet away carefully. That was critical to him defeating Qiongqi.
The Lion Spirit King then said, “Your cultivation is too weak, so you probably can’t unleash much of its powers. I’ll give you another three mountains just in case.”
He shook his body and three mountains immediately flew over from his back, landing before Li Qingshan. They all became the size of fists, resembling three fake mountains. However, they were completely identical to the original mountains in the details.
Li Qingshan asked, “What are the names of these three mountains?”
“Wolf Fang mountain, Sky-scraping ridge, and Yellow Cliff edge.”
Li Qingshan grabbed Wolf Fang mountain in an attempt to lift it up, but it refused to budge. Who knew how many tonnes it weighed. Let alone the fact that he was in the Spirit Turtle Transformation, even if he was in the Ox Demon Transformation, he probably could not pick it up.
The Lion Spirit King smiled. “You’re not first brother, so how are you supposed to pick it up with brute force?”
WIth a thought, Li Qingshan waved the Mountain-moving tablet gently, and the three mountains immediately began to levitate. They were as light as three small birds.
The Lion Spirit King reminded him. “You can only use these three mountains once. Once you’ve used them, they’re not going to turn back.”
“That’s enough!” Li Qingshan nodded. He was just borrowing the Lion Spirit King’s powers, but that already made the entire trip seem worth it. Not only did he have a treasure for dealing with Qiongqi now, he had even gained such a powerful attack.
The three mountains had all been refined by the Lion Spirit King, so they were not loose and clumsy like regular mountains. Instead, they almost resembled arcane treasures, such that they were one entire entity and could be wielded freely. If he threw it at someone, even Human Immortals would be smashed to pieces if they took one on.
But when he gazed out, the three mountains were only the smallest pinches of rock on the Lion Spirit King’s back, coupled with the fact that he himself was basically a mountain.
The Mountain-moving Great Sage truly lived up to his name!
This was probably all prepared for the sake of the divine battle beyond the Nine Heavens. It was something well beyond his reach right now. However, he had a feeling that that day would not be too far away. That was his foresight as a pure-blooded spirit turtle.
There would be a day when he possessed power that truly belonged to him and became a true Great Sage! What am I supposed to call myself? The Invincible Great Sage? Whatever, I’ll go back and discuss it with Xiao An. When he thought of Xiao An, he immediately began to miss home. He had already forgotten who he was, but she definitely still knew.
Before he bade farewell, he asked another question, “Oh right, what number am I supposed to be?”
The Lion Spirit King’s face sank. “You’re the seventh brother.”
“Hmm? I recall that the seventh brother should be the Heaven-rivalling Great…”
“Shut your mouth!” The Lion Spirit King flew into a rage. “Don’t mention that traitor’s name!”
The roar of a male lion whistled through the mountains. The endless black water surged violently as the entire Ruin’s End shook.
Li Qingshan was washed away by the water, slamming heavily against a mountain. The mountain collapsed. It was like he was facing a terrifying natural disaster. He was unable to offer up any resistance at all.
He consoled him quickly. “Calm down! Calm down!”
The Lion Spirit King pacified his rage, but he was still furious. The mountains ground against one another like sharp teeth, rumbling away like thunder. Traitor! Traitor!
Li Qingshan was filled with mixed emotions. “What exactly happened?”
“Stop asking. I don’t want to talk about it. You should go!”
The Lion Spirit King suddenly lost all interest. He turned his head away again and laid down on his paw lazily. Even his ears drooped down again.
Li Qingshan sank into his thoughts and said nothing more. He had already become a true spirit turtle, so entering and leaving Ruin’s End was no longer anything difficult. The black water produced a whirlpool.
Right when he was about to disappear into it, the Lion Spirit King said lethargically, “Whatever, you’re the eighth brother.”
“Yeah. Goodbye, old fool!”
TL: The mountain-moving old fool is also a Chinese idiom about a relentless spirit. You can read more about that story here, so the Mountain-moving Great Sage is not just a reference to Journey to the West, but also that idiom.
