Li Qingshan stood on the soft carpet and raised an eyebrow. All he heard were the sounds of turning gears behind the walls on the two sides of the corridor.
Delicate patterns on the luxurious carpet lit up and climbed out from the floor like vines, wrapping around Li Qingshan.
The walls to his side flipped open. Countless specks of cold light twinkled behind them as densely-packed spears stabbed out suddenly.
With a series of clicks, mechanical crossbows dropped down from above. Volleys of crossbow bolts engulfed him like a lotus swarm.
The quiet corridor immediately became filled with deadly traps, enough to kill anyone who set foot in there.
“Looks like the assassination has failed.” Li Qingshan let out a long sigh. He knew the ship would not be so simple.
……
“Haitang, have some alcohol and calm down. Chengzan just knows no better.”
Jiang Shancheng passed a cup of alcohol to Qiu Haitang. They were in an extremely extravagant cabin. He had studied her charming body countless times already from the corner of his eye, and he stared straight at Qiu Haitang’s face that was as beautiful as a flower.
Qiu Haitang found his fake pity and undisguised desires absolutely disgusting, but she still accepted the alcohol and drank it all.
Jiang Shancheng was overjoyed. He passed alcohol to her cup after cup, and Qiu Haitang drank it all, without the slightest hesitation. For the entire time, only he was talking. Qiu Haitang remained silent.
Before long, Qiu Haitang was completely flushed. Her eyes were as limpid as water as her gaze drifted about. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. There might have been sorrow in her eyes, but with the arts of charm she had cultivated arduously over all these years, every single smile or action from her was filled with unparalleled charm. Jiang Shancheng almost became dazed as a result.
Qiu Haitang’s smile blossomed like a flower, and a voice emerged from the centre of the petals, “Am I pretty?”
“Y- you are! You’re extremely pretty!”
Qiu Haitang smiled wildly.
“Haiting, you’re drunk. I’ll take you to go rest.” Jiang Shancheng was unable to help himself anymore. He grabbed Qiu Haitang’s fair hand, and she did not reject him. He was enchanted. “Sigh, there are plenty of good men in the world, so why must you become so hung up over a single man, Haitang? Actually, I…”
When he reached there, Jiang Shancheng’s expression changed, and he fished out an item, a delicate ship’s wheel the size of a hand. It was flashing with light.
“Someone has broken in. I’d like to see just who has the audacity. I’ll definitely make him suffer.”
Having been interrupted, Jiang Shancheng was furious. This was his only opportunity. Qiu Haitang was depressed right now, or why would she ever take him seriously?
Is it him? An intense hope rose up in Qiu Haitang’s heart, and her face lit up slightly.
Jiang Shancheng became even more uneasy. He too was afraid Hua Chengzan had come in pursuit. Oh Chengzan, we’re friends, so why must you get in my way?
Strands of light emerged from the ship’s wheel, knitting into a screen in the air. He could see the situation in every compartment of the cabin.
In the end, his gaze locked onto the entrance of the cabin, on the scarlet-red figure.
Qiu Haitang was very disappointed, while Jiang Shancheng eased up. Everyone could be dealt with easily as long as it was not Hua Chengzan.
The Soaring Dragon ship did possess defensive formations, but flying through the air already consumed tremendous amounts of energy, so activating the formations would only waste even more. There were two Foundation Establishment cultivators present, so just who were they supposed to be afraid of? The enemy would probably piss their pants at the sight of their Pine Sough academy’s insignia!
Jiang Shancheng activated the defensive mechanism in the cabin and did not worry too much about the intruder. As he watched the scarlet figure being enveloped by crossbow bolts, he smiled proudly. The mechanical traps inside the Soaring Dragon ship were all the handiwork of mohist masters. They possessed startling power. Even if the intruder was made of steel, he would still become peppered with holes.
Within the deathly silence, sounds of distortion like creaks and cracks rang out.
Boom!
The spears snapped, and the bolts were sent flying. Li Qingshan was completely unscathed. With the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell around him, he tried to advance, but he discovered the patterns on the carpet still trapped him. He frowned, and the carpet was ripped to pieces.
His hands landed on the side of his legs, and he discovered that they were bare. He was naked. As a result, he plucked off a strand of red hair and transformed it into a pair of pants, shoving his hands into the pockets in satisfaction as he ventured deeper into the cabin.
“W- what’s going on?” Jiang Shancheng’s expression changed drastically. A terrifying sense of danger filled his mind. The figure was somewhat familiar.
“You still haven’t recognised him?” Qiu Haitang let out a drunken sneer. Following her disappointment, her heart became even colder.
Jiang Shancheng suddenly recalled a huge matter from a while ago that had caused a disturbance so large that it still lingered about. He had once seen a painting, which depicted the terrifying daemon who killed the Lone Grave Elder and the Golden Pheasant Elder while frightening the Green Vine Elder to the point where he was afraid of leaving his sect.
He shifted his gaze to the screens projected from the ship’s wheel. It was him! Jiang Shancheng paled in fright as the wheel in his hand shone brightly. He gave an order to the Soaring Dragon ship,
“Activate all mechanisms and send out all puppets!”
The Soaring Dragon ship shuddered slightly, and the noise from the activation of countless mechanisms merged together like thunder. It was like a roar of dragons.
Li Qingshan arrived in a larger compartment. An army of puppets waited there as specks of light shone in their eyes. They turned around and looked at Li Qingshan.
Crossbow bolts erupted like a barrage of black rain. Li Qingshan flapped his wings of wind and scattered the storm.
He wrinkled his nose, and the corner of his mouth curled up. Mountain boar, I’ve found you!
The Soaring Dragon ship was made of some unknown timber. Not only was it extremely tough, but it limited the sensing of aura very much. However, his sense of smell was unaffected. He had already grasped the trail of the scent.
It was an exotic fragrance that lingered about. Li Qingshan took off with a flash, charging along the scent.
“This mountain boar Jiang sure is a deviant. He even uses perfume!”
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! The doors in the cabin slammed shut before him. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Li Qingshan smashed through all of them.
Behind him, groups of puppets tailed him relentlessly. Ahead, various traps erupted constantly.
Sometimes, the flooring would suddenly cave in and spit fire; sometimes, the walls would suddenly close together and spray acid like the writhing guts of a monster. It was all a desperate attempt to kill this intruder.
However, Li Qingshan happened to be a foreign entity it could not digest.
“What do we do?! Sister Qiu, what do we do?!”
The ship’s wheel depicted everything. Jiang Shancheng saw Li Qingshan rush over with lightning speed, and he began to sweat bullets. Surprisingly, he still knew a bit about his own weaknesses. He was only an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. He had already gotten lucky to be able to establish a foundation at all, yet his opponent was a great, renowned daemon who had killed two mid Foundation Establishment cultivators and almost taken the late Foundation Establishment Green Vine Elder’s life in a one-against-three battle.
“I don’t know.” Qiu Haitang knew she was probably done for tonight, but she remained calm instead. If I die here, I’ll have that fickle man regret for the rest of his life.
“Oh right, use your arts of charm! They might be effective!” Jiang Shancheng pulled out a stack of talismans in a hurry and stuck them on the door.
“I’m supposed to use my arts of charm to draw his attention so that you can use the opening and escape, right?”
Qiu Haitang spoke his mind in a single comment, which made Jiang Shancheng feel rather awkward. He was just about to try and convince her otherwise.
Boom! The heavy cabin door suddenly caved in, and wooden shrapnel sprayed everywhere. The inscriptions on the door twisted, yielding before the terrifying strength.
“Is anyone home?” Li Qingshan asked before throwing another punch. The cabin door became riddled with cracks.
“If someone is home, can you open up please?”
Boom! The door was closed to shattering and giving in.
The voice from behind the door was ghastly and demented, which made Jiang Shancheng’s heart turn cold. Without the slightest hesitation, he left Qiu Haitang behind and fled using the secret tunnel in the corner of the room.
Boom! The door shattered, and fragments of it sailed across the room.
An insolent daemon with scarlet hair up to his waist appeared at the door. When Qiu Haitang saw him, her pupils constricted from the powerful pressure despite already accepting death.
Why’s Qiu Haitang on this ship? Li Qingshan finally understood the origin of the exotic fragrance, but he moved without the slightest hesitation. With a flash, he arrived before Qiu Haitang and grabbed her slender, pale neck.
“Is it just you?”
Qiu Haitang stared at his face silently.
“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll kill you?” Li Qingshan was rather curious over the fact that Qiu Haitang put up no resistance at all. She did not even use the arts of charm she was best at.
Qiu Haitang sneered miserably.
Her expression gave Li Qingshan the unfortunate feeling that she was not just depressed. Instead, she had already lost the will to live, so he immediately guessed the reason for it. As long as Hua Chengzan remained infatuated, it would remain completely one-sided. Even Qiu Haitang’s greatest efforts would be rebuffed heartlessly.
Li Qingshan tossed her aside, and she collided against the wall heavily. He wrinkled his nose again and kicked open a trapdoor, jumping into it in pursuit.
The trapdoor closed behind him. Seeing how Qiu Haitang had no intentions of pursuing him, Jiang Shancheng let out a sigh of relief. As long as she kept him busy for long enough, he would be able to make it out of the cabin. He glanced at the tiny ship’s wheel in his hand. Perhaps, there was even the chance for him to turn the situation around.
The Soaring Dragon ship sailed ahead over the sea of clouds under the moon.
To a corner on the ship’s stern, a tiny door was suddenly flung open. Jiang Shancheng extended his head out from there and saw the sea of clouds recede around him. With a clang, a supreme grade spiritual sword flew out. He stepped on it and took off.
Glancing at the ship’s wheel in his hand, he hesitated. There was a chance for him to turn the situation around, but it was simply too dangerous. So be it. The consequences of losing a Soaring Dragon ship were severe, but as long as he remained alive, there would be plenty of opportunities for him to redeem himself. If he could survive this, his future prospects would remain as bright as ever. There was no need for him to risk his life over a wretched daemon. He was just about to take off.
Jiang Shancheng sensed something and suddenly looked back. Two bloody specks of light lit up in the gloomy door. That was bad news!
“A Strike of Righteousness!”
Li Qingshan lunged over, and Jiang Shancheng formed a seal with his hand. The supreme grade spiritual sword turned into a streak of snow-white light.
Human cultivators did not possess bodies as tough as those of daemons, but they could control swords from afar to kill their opponents; these swords were startlingly fast and deadly. In a real battle, not even regular Daemon Generals could necessarily triumph over him.
But was Li Qingshan a regular Daemon General?
With a flap of his wings, he suddenly turned, and the edge of the streak of light brushed past the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Shell, erupting with light and illuminating Li Qingshan’s smile. Avoiding the sword qi, he shot over without slowing down at all, extending his right hand towards Jiang Shancheng.
Jiang Shancheng retreated in a hurry and took out a scarlet talisman. This was the life-saving talisman the Pine Sough academy would give to their Foundation Establishment disciples, and it possessed alarming power. However, before he could use it, darkness enveloped him and shrouded the moon and stars.
Li Qingshan’s right hand turned into a huge, pitch-black claw, grabbing Jiang Shancheng. He quickly closed his hand and heard the joyful sounds of cracking bones, which made him snicker. After learning his lesson with the Green Vine Elder, he knew it was very important for him to reduce his enemies to pulp.
And, this guy was human scum in the first place. He would not even spare his good friend’s woman, even abandoning the woman and taking off first. I’ll make you live up to your name a little better.
