Li Qingshan sensed the killing intent and raised an eyebrow. Looks like I need to end it all today! Chu Tian, oh Chu Tian. I don’t have any particularly great grievances with you, but with the hostility you’ve shown, you can’t blame me for showing no mercy.
True qi of the five elements shone brightly and condensed into a large hand above Chu Tian’s head. However, his mind gradually settled as he stared at Li Qingshan coldly. He began to recall the various times he had been humiliated by him. Li Qingshan, today’s the day you die.
Li Qingshan exchanged glances with Xiao An. Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit, so let’s leave out all the nonsense later. We’ll work together and kill him instantly, just in case he makes more trouble in the future. Xiao An agreed, clenching the Skull Prayer Beads.
The setting sun cast their shadows on the sparse forest below. Their eyes clashed. A battle to the death could break out at any time.
Li Qingshan frowned and glanced at the distance, rubbing Xiao An’s head and studying Chu Tian curiously. Did fate really protect him because he was a Reincarnated Celestial?
“Chu Tian, what are you doing?” Wei Yangsheng flew over quickly and called out loudly from afar.
Chu Tian arrived here for an ambush as soon as he heard how Li Qingshan wanted to set up a dwelling. He thought he had been secretive, but his face always gave away what he was thinking. Radiating with murderousness and sneering every now and then, anyone could tell there was something wrong with him. The moment Chu Tian left the academy, confucian disciples reported this silently to Wei Yangsheng.
“School leader, what brings you here?” Chu Tian’s expression changed as he stowed the item away again. He was afraid to unleash it.
“Junior brother Li, what are you doing?” Wei Yangsheng ignored Chu Tian. He greeted and asked Li Qingshan.
“Chu Tian is challenging me. Don’t stop him, senior brother. I’d like to see what he’s capable of,” Li Qingshan said. He could also sense something amiss. Chu Tian was arrogant, but he was not actually stupid after all. Was he unable to tell the difference between their strength? Since he was bold enough to challenge him, he definitely possessed some kind of powerful trump card.
“Chu Tian, is this true?” Wei Yangsheng asked in surprise. Just who was Li Qingshan? Let alone a Qi Practitioner, even Wei Yangsheng himself had no confidence in being able to defeat him. Challenge him? Are you sick of living? You’ve even chosen such a remote location. If Li Qingshan gets carried away with his murderousness, do you really think you’ll survive?
“School leader, leave me alone! This is a matter between us!” Chu Tian waved his hand in annoyance.
Wei Yangshen was angered by how he lashed out. So much for worrying about your safety and rushing over in such a hurry, yet you’re not even going to appreciate it, finding me annoying instead. “Alright then. Chu Tian, your cultivation is outstanding, so I’m going to leave you alone. I’ll just watch from here and see how you’ll achieve victory. Just wait for my celebratory applause.” He backed away to one side.
“Don’t get angry, senior brother.” Li Qingshan smiled. He knew Wei Yangsheng remained here because he still did not want Chu Tian to suffer too much. However, Chu Tian right now was someone of absolutely no importance to him. It did not matter even if he left him alive. There was still ample time ahead.
Chu Tian frowned and became frantic. His fist tightened before he loosened it again. In front of Wei Yangsheng, he was unable to use that item. Surely he could not kill Wei Yangsheng as well? They had spent so many years together, so he did become somewhat attached to him. His anger had yet to reach the point where he would even turn against his friends. However, if he did not use that, how was he supposed to win?
If he forfeited like this, it would be embarrassing, so he still clung onto a small sliver of hope. He had basically perfected his true qi of the five elements now. If he unleashed the Protection of the Five Elements, he was capable of keeping himself safe even when he faced Foundation Establishment cultivators. Once he returned, he could say that Li Qingshan was helpless against him even after reaching Foundation Establishment, and it would still be his victory.
Li Qingshan cut right to the chase. He spread out his arms and used the Vortex Form conveniently, swirling the invisible spiritual qi of the world and creating a huge vortex in the blink of an eye. It spun rapidly, unleashing a great suction force and even kicking up a violent breeze. Some of the trees with shallowers roots below had even been ripped out of the ground, sucked into the vortex and torn to shreds.
Wei Yangsheng’s expression changed slightly as he backed away by another few dozen meters. He thought, Is the Arts of the Boundless Ocean really this powerful? It’s fantastic news that the academy has gained such a powerful person, but Chu Tian is probably going to be in for some bad luck. For a moment, he had no idea whether he should be delighted or worried.
Chu Tian was startled. He gritted his teeth and unleashed his true qi of the five elements desperately in an attempt to stabilise himself. However, he was like a fallen leaf in a whirlpool, sucked towards the centre helplessly. Suddenly, he roared out and swung the Palm of the Five Elements violently towards Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan smiled. The spin of the vortex reversed and Chu Tian flew out again, watching helplessly as Li Qingshan grew further and further away. The vortex reversed again, and he was sucked back. This repeated for who knew how many times. All Chu Tian felt was the world spin around him as he became light-headed. He could not even put up a fight.
Foundation Establishment cultivators had always possessed an absolute advantage in power over Qi Practitioners. Chu Tian might have been able to protect himself before regular Foundation Establishment cultivators with his true qi of the five elements, but how could Li Qingshan be compared to a regular Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Li Qingshan simply sat down on the cloud and wielded the spiritual qi of the world, sending Chu Tian wherever he wished. He was completely toying with him.
Wei Yangsheng let out a soft sigh. He wanted to speak up, but he stopped himself. Teaching Chu Tian a lesson would be good too. If a Qi Practitioner had leapt out in front of him and wanted to make trouble, being toyed with would be a gentler fate to suffer.
Chu Tian roared furiously, “Li Qingshan, I’ll fuck-”
“You’ll what?”
With a flash, Li Qingshan arrived in front of Chu Tian and swung down with his hand. Chu Tian’s protective true qi shattered and collapsed.
Bang!
Like a balloon, Chu Tian flew into the remote forest. There was a boom, and the trees trembled. Dust rose up everywhere.
Li Qingshan wanted to pursue, but Wei Yangsheng stopped him and coaxed him. “Junior brother, please just drop the matter. Do it for me. He’s learnt his lesson.”
Chu Tian leapt up from the crater he had created. He stared at Li Qingshan, completely overcome by fury. “Li Qingshan, you’ve gone too far!”
Li Qingshan said in surprise, “Weren’t you challenging me? What’s this got to do with me? Don’t tell me you’ve come specially to cheer me up? Thank you then, I am in a much better mood now.”
“Chu Tian, why don’t you apologise?” Wei Yangsheng grabbed Chu Tian and shot him a glance.
“You- you- you-” Chu Tian looked at Wei Yangsheng before looking at Li Qingshan. He was clearly hiding a powerful trump card, but he was unable to use it. He felt so frustrated and furious that he actually burst out into tears with a wah.
Li Qingshan was the one who became very embarrassed now. He clasped his hands towards Wei Yangsheng. “Senior brother, I’ll be taking my leave first.”
Wei Yangsheng was exasperated by Chu Tian. He said earnestly, “Little Tian, we’re all from the academy. It’s not like he’s killed your parents or stolen your wife, so why must you invite humiliation like this? Even if you want to redeem yourself, you’ll have to establish a foundation first!”
“Senior brother… if you hadn’t… if you hadn’t…” Chu Tian choked out between his sobs.
“If I hadn’t what?”
“Wah!”
……
The Hawkwolf Guard of Clear River city was bustling with activity. Hua Chengzan descended from above and stepped in.
“Commander Hua, you’ve come.” The many people all greeted him.
“Yeah, I’ve come.” Hua Chengzan nodded towards them one by one. He made his way up the stairs quickly and entered through the door.
Wang Pushi stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and said without even looking back, “Where is he? Didn’t I tell you to bring him back to receive orders?”
Hua Chengzan said, “He said he wanted to set up a dwelling, so I let him go for now.”
“You’re far too lenient with him. He’s reached Foundation Establishment, and he’s a Hawkwolf guard. He’s a disciple of the academy on top of all of that. He has his responsibilities. What kind of impression is he giving off if he enters seclusion whenever he wants to and sets up a dwelling whenever he wants to? What would everyone else say?” Wang Pushi turned around and said sternly. Compared to three years ago, his appearance had not changed much. He just seemed slightly more weathered.
“But he just killed a Daemon General.”
Wang Pushi was taken aback. “He still can’t be permitted to do whatever he likes.” However, his tone had softened. Even among the school leaders of the academy, not everyone was capable of killing a Daemon General. Although Li Qingshan did whatever he liked, without any control at all, no one could nitpick what he did. As a matter of fact, they would even praise him.
“Fu Qingjin just came. He asked me where I was yesterday. He seems to be investigating something.” Hua Chengzan mulled over the conversation he just had with Fu Qingjin, wanting to deduce something from it. As the leading figure of the Daemon Suppression alliance in the Clear River prefecture, there would be a profound reason regardless of what he did.
“What’s he investigating?” Wang Pushi frowned.
“I’m not sure. From his tone, it sounds like someone did something huge yesterday. He also mentioned that he wanted to do something big soon, and he wanted our cooperation. He said it would greatly benefit us too.” Hua Chengzan crossed his arms and sank into his thoughts, rubbing his chin with one hand as he tried to guess what Fu Qingjin was thinking.
In the Chain mountains, a white cloud flew around freely between the mountains. Li Qingshan and Xiao An were looking for a suitable place to set up their dwelling. In just a while, they had already toured through the several dozen mountains of various sizes there.
Finally, Li Qingshan chose a mountain. It was not particularly lofty or precipitous, but it did possess some delicate beauty. “Let’s get to work!”
“Yep.” Xiao An nodded.
They circled around the mountain again and found a natural cave. Li Qingshan condensed the pulses of water in his right hand into a huge drill, and the rock fell to the ground as dust. He expanded the cave, turning it into the entrance of their dwelling.
Li Qingshan ventured deeper. Before long, he had dug out a huge hole in the middle of the mountain. He had basically created the most simple dwelling possible.
In the end, he took out the formation discs and banners and set up the Eight Gates Formation of Golden Locks. He saw eight words and the eight gates flash in order around the mountain, “Resting, Life, Wounding, Obstruction, View, Death, Alarm, Beginning.” The eight trigrams circulated around the mountain peak before suddenly stabilising and drooping down. It vanished at the same time, as if it had merged with the mountain. The spiritual qi of the mountain was firmly locked in.
TL: The eight gates comes from the Qimen Dunjia, which is an ancient form of Chinese divination. The “men” in “Qimen” refers to the gates, also known as the eight gates. You may know the eight gates from Naruto, used by Might Guy and Rock Lee, which come from the same origin, but are translated a little differently from their original etymology. I’ve translated them according to their original etymology here, so they will differ from Naruto. I’m not going to explain why they’re named like this, as that’ll take too much time and is not particularly relevant to the story.
Li Qingshan nodded in satisfaction. From that moment onwards, no one could enter the mountain easily unless they had his permission. If he cultivated here, he did not have to worry about his daemon qi leaking out and drawing attention.
Arriving in front of the dwelling, Li Qingshan flattened the rock there with a wave of his hand. He said to Xiao An, “My handwriting is no good, so you do it instead!”
Xiao An bit her lip. The bone sword protruded from her hand. With a few flicks, rock fragments fell down with her beautiful penmanship. Three large, sunken words appeared, “Qing Xiao’s Home.” Qingshan and Xiao An’s home.
“Qing Xiao’s Home dwelling. What a strange name. But that doesn’t matter. From today onwards, this is our home.” Li Qingshan inspected it with crossed arms, radiating with vigour. Xiao An smiled.
The bright moon had just risen, and the moonlight scattered across the autumn mountains. It illuminated a small and a large figure, freezing time.
