The bamboo turned into messy, verdant shadows that receded around Li Qingshan.
The glistening Lake of Dragons and Snakes suddenly unfolded before him. All he saw was a series of splashes that extended quickly towards Great War island. Han Tieyi ran along at the end of the splashes like he was running across land.
Li Qingshan leapt up and stepped onto a cloud. He pursued on the cloud, leaving behind a long, cloudy trail behind him.
Huge platforms of various heights reached towards the sky. The Main Martial Arts stadium of the school of the Military was right before him.
Li Qingshan’s eyes suddenly narrowed. The several hundred military disciples stood in neat formation in the stadium; they were like statues.
The military disciples that had shown up this time numbered one or two hundred less than last time at the very least. They had died to the White Lotus cult. Although every single one of them remained neutral in expression, grief lingered in the air.
Through this trial of life and death, their aura had become even more intense than last time. Aggrieved soldiers were unstoppable.
Han Tieyi passed through the formation before quickly turning around. His body continued to slide backwards due to the momentum as his legs dug out two faint trails on the ground. He raised his arm high into the air and pointed it straight at Li Qingshan like a long spear. “For redemption!”
“For redemption!” The voices thundered like an avalanche.
Li Qingshan leapt off the cloud and landed heavily on the ground in a half-crouching position. He straightened himself out and displayed his right hand like he was inviting them. “Come!”
This time, there were no spectators on the island. Apart from the military disciples, all other disciples were forbidden from entering the island. There were only two exceptions, Han Qiongzhi and Ru Xin.
Han Qiongzhi stood with the ten core disciples. She was brimming with interest and high morale. This time, Li Qingshan would definitely be defeated. He had yet to witness the true power of the school of the military. However, whenever she saw this man’s fearless bearing when he took on everyone else alone, she would find him utterly charming.
Ru Xin stood to the other side of the stadium on a platform over a dozen meters tall with the entire battlefield in sight. Her red lips parted slightly. Imbued with true qi, her voice reached Li Qingshan’s ears. “Be more heavy-handed.”
Li Qingshan ignored her. This time, he would not be able to hold back even if he wanted to.
He moved his legs, rushing forwards gently and swiftly. Within a single second, he had turned into a black tiger, diving into the military formation. A few military disciples were directly sent flying.
Suddenly, he glanced back; it was like the scarlet eyes of a tiger meeting the glimmering eyes of a wolf.
“Fall into formation!” A furious roar rang out.
The military disciples surrounding Li Qingshan held back their desire to attack. All of them retreated, revealing twelve of the most powerful people, who advanced slowly. In terms of combined attacks, there was not a single school that could surpass the school of the Military.
“Now that’s more like the school of the Military.” Li Qingshan grinned. Compared to putting on an act and standing to the sides from weakest to strongest, it would be better if they just used their full strength!
However, the military disciples all found this to be an insulting mockery. The humiliation from their crushing defeat last time and their grief from losing their fellow officers immediately turned into flaming fury.
They struck out at the same time. Their true qi turned into sabres, spears, fire, and ice! Last time, the combined attacks they had not used even until the very end were unleashed immediately! Determination flashed through their minds, This time, we’ll knock you down with just a single strike!
Li Qingshan, on the other hand, was completely calm and composed. He paid attention to everything unfolding around him with his senses. Sure enough, there was not the slightest opening at all. If that was the case, then let’s make an opening!
Li Qingshan raised both arms as blue true qi that rippled like water wrapped around them. He was not targeting any of the military disciples. Instead, he slammed his hands against the ground violently.
Bang. The ground shook, and it sank to form a deep pit. A circular shockwave spread out in all directions.
Every single military disciple could not help but stagger slightly. Perfection was without openings, but once perfection was destroyed, countless openings would appear.
Back to Li Qingshan, he had already used the force from slamming the ground to leap into the air. The attacks passed by below his feet, just half a beat too slow.
Li Qingshan overlooked the battlefield. He pushed his hands backwards, and his body stabbed towards a large group of weaker military disciples like a straight spear.
The world of cultivators had always been a world that pursued strength. The strong was in control of everything, not bound to the weak. It would never be so easy that they could achieve victory through an encirclement.
Just when it was going to be a repeat of last time, Han Qiongzhi shook her head instead. Meanwhile, Ru Xin squatted down on the edge of the platform, completely contrasting against her image. With her red lips and white teeth, she smiled very happily. As it seemed, she would not be receiving as much money as last time. However, seeing him suffer defeat would still be worth it.
A huge snake opened its huge mouth and lunged towards Li Qingshan.
The snake head seemed real, but the neck was illusionary, and by the time it had reached the body, it had already faded away and merged into the surrounding five hundred military disciples. Before he knew it, they had already shifted into a strange, revolving formation.
This was the strongest trump card of the school of the Military, military formations! Through rigorous training, they merged everyone’s spirit and will together, forming a single attack with everyone’s strength.
The Coiled Snake formation was specially created for tearing apart powerful cultivators.
True qi surged out, and Li Qingshan turned around and threw a punch.
With a thump, Li Qingshan was sent flying, colliding into a platform. He slid down as his body ached with pain. Probably only Foundation Establishment cultivators could rival the tremendous true qi within the snake head.
“Hey, you fine?”
Li Qingshan raised his head and met Ru Xin’s cheerful gaze. He said loudly with a smile, “Interesting!” Defeating the military disciples the first time had been interesting. If he did the exact same thing this time, even he would find it boring. Only strong opponents were worth challenging.
Han Qiongzhi had originally been clenching her fist, worried. However, when she saw how he laughed and joked along with that strange woman from the school of Medicine, she immediately became furious. She waved her fist. “For redemption!”
Han Tieyi glanced at her and waved his hand. Advance!
Li Qingshan stood up by pushing off his knees. He saw the army advance slowly as the snake in the air flicked its tongue. He smiled and went up to receive it.
Boom. The snake head bit down, creating a great pit on the ground.
Li Qingshan was already prepared. He dodged it and used his extraordinary speed to circle around the army. He tried attacking them several times, but he felt rather uncertain about where he was supposed to target. The weakest military disciples were at the snake’s tail, hidden in the centre of the formation, while the body of the snake outside was like a steel wall, able to block everything.
However, their disadvantage was very clear—they moved just too slowly. Even out of the twelve stronger military disciples, only one or two of them could keep up with Li Qingshan, and they were afraid to approach him, afraid they would be defeated individually. They could only let him run around freely.
Han Tieyi shook his head slightly. This kid’s reactions were simply too fast! At the moment just prior, regular people would definitely consider dodging if they were faced with such a terrifying attack, but if they dodged, they would definitely be forced into the formation and be torn apart. On the other hand, he had done the exact opposite, taking it on without any hesitation.
He also had the power to take it on. If regular seventh layer Qi Practitioners took on the snake head, they would be heavily injured even if they managed to survive, yet he just brushed himself off and stood up again; it was like he was completely fine.
Li Qingshan constantly moved around, leading the entire military formation around. He smiled suddenly. Finally, he had found the critical point. He leapt up and dove into the military formation.
A while later, the five hundred disciples of the school of the Military all laid on the ground in the stadium, but as long as they were still conscious, they all cheered. Many of them even shed tears of emotion.
They had won. The monster-like Li Qingshan had finally fallen. The gloominess and humiliation that had weighed on their hearts seemed to be released in that moment.
When Li Qingshan dove into the Coiled Snake formation, he pulled the army apart very quickly, but he also entered a difficult battle immediately. He was secretly injured from the strike earlier too, so when he finally ran out of true qi, his body gave way, and he collapsed.
He laid on the ground with his arms and legs spread out, gazing at the clear sky. Suddenly, a figure blocked the sunlight. Han Tieyi extended his hand.
Li Qingshan grabbed the hand and stood up.
The military disciples looked at Li Qingshan. When their fury and humiliation subsided, they all felt admiration towards him. This man had taken on all of them alone after all. He was defeated, but he could still stand proudly.
“Do you want to learn the battle skills of the school of the Military?” Han Tieyi’s handsome face that appeared to be sculpted from ice seemed to warm up slightly too.
Li Qingshan smiled. “Of course, but I need to rest up first!” He called out, “Ru Xin!”
“Coming. Thank you for your patronage. Three thousand spiritual stones.” Ru Xin arrived on a green leaf as she chuckled to herself.
“I don’t have a single spiritual stone on me right now.” Li Qingshan was telling the truth. He had spent all of his spiritual stones on pills, and he obviously could not spend what Qian Rongzhi had given him.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Spiritual artifacts and talismans work too. I’ll pick them myself later. You can go to sleep!” Ru Xin waved her hand, and the green leaves scattered, lifting up all the severely injured military disciples.
How can I fall asleep in your presence?! Li Qingshan said to Han Qiongzhi to the side, “Senior sister Han, help me keep an eye out on her. Don’t let this woman steal my things.” Exhausted, he tilted his head back and fell asleep immediately, snoring away.
“Why me? Oi, don’t fall asleep!”
Han Qiongzhi could see that Li Qingshan was heavily injured. Originally, she wanted to check up on him, but she could not bring herself to do so in front of all these military disciples. Everyone seemed to have seen through her thoughts already. Just as she was wavering, she heard that and beamed for some reason inside.
Han Tieyi said, “Go!”
“I’ll go take care of the military disciples and help you bargain a little. She rips you off every single time.” Han Qiongzhi found her excuse. Neither the school of the Military or her Han family lacked this tiny amount of money for the treatment fees. Although Ru Xin was quite punishing with her mouth, she was fair with prices.
On Benevolence island, the military disciples who were waiting to be checked on by their first young miss did not even see her shadow.
Han Qiongzhi sat by the bed, leaning on her hand and staring straight at Li Qingshan. Never had a man touched her heart like this. Since young, Han Tieyi would often be riddled in injuries and bed bound from the old man’s lessons, while all she would do was stand by the bed and laugh at him loudly.
“Knock, knock, knock. Have you stared enough?” Ru Xin knocked on the door and smiled.
“Since when did you…” Han Qiongzhi leapt up.
“I’ve stood here for two hours already. You didn’t see me?” Ru Xin said in surprise.
“What! Of course I saw you! I was just about to ask you whether you’ve watched me for long enough…”
“I’m kidding. I’ve only just come, hahaha.”
Han Qiongzhi was unable to put up with her gaze. Her face reddened and said, “Don’t touch his things. I’m going to go check on others.” before fleeing through the door.
Ru Xin arrived by Li Qingshan’s bed and glanced at the hundred treasures pouch on his waist. She extended her hand over before suddenly clenching it into a fist half way through. She struck Li Qingshan’s abdomen and smiled. “Wake up!”
Li Qingshan clutched his belly and sat up. “You’re crazy!”
Ru Xin said, “Who told you to break the promise? I told you to be more heavy-handed.”
“Victory and defeat are both frequent for the school of the Military. I’ve already done all that I can.”
“You really can’t call holding back doing everything you can.” Ru Xin suddenly pressed against Li Qingshan’s shoulder. Her gentle face was only inches away, wobbling slightly and reaching his face with her breath.
