With Xiao An’s appearance, the platform on the very top of the parlour immediately fell quiet.
Hua Chengzan’s eyes lit up, slightly amazed.
He had been born with a handsome, flawless face and both Qiu Haitang and Hua Chenglu who he had regular contact with were rare beauties. Even his dream lover was a supreme beauty like Gu Yanying.
Originally, he thought he would never be amazed by beauty again, but now, that was exactly what he felt. Even more to his disbelief, the person that amazed him was a budding young girl around thirteen or fourteen years of age.
Today, Xiao An was not dressed in any special manner, or even rather casual. She had no concept of beauty and ugliness, and a grown man like Li Qingshan would never spend time to dress her. However, none of it impeded her beauty.
She did not have an enchanting smile, only glancing past everyone calmly with her pitch-black eyes. They were like calm, deep pools, unable to reflect anyone. However, that empty expression of hers possessed indescribable, bizarre charm on her face.
Qiongzhi, oh Qiongzhi. You really are in trouble. Hua Chengzan could not help but worry for his good friend.
Whether it’s Gu Yanying beyond reach or Ru Xin within arm’s reach, probably neither of them pose a threat as great as this kid! When Qingshan was still a Qi Practitioner, he went as far as standing up against Qiu Haitang, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, for her sake, willingly offending an entire group of school leaders for her. What about now? What about the future?
Qiu Haitang was standing right behind Hua Chengzan. Although she had already given up on him, they remained as very good friends. She obviously would not miss out on the excitement with everything that was happening today.
After all these years, she saw Xiao An again. Aside from her amazement, she could not help but experience deep pity and envy.
She’s already so charming despite being so young. If she practised the cultivation methods of my Sect of Clouds and Rain instead, just who would still be able to withstand her once she grew a little older? If I had her beauty, even little Hua that infatuated, blind lover would probably change his mind!
If it’s just the Aspect of Heavenly Fragrance and Beauty, then so be it. What’s even more terrifying is her unbelievable cultivation talent. This Li Qingshan’s good fortune is basically out of control. That’s the only reason why he’s managed to find an unbelievable wonder like her.
Qiu Haitang suddenly frowned. Though, is it really good fortune? The disaster of beauty, being able to overthrow kingdoms, isn’t all just for say. As the ancient saying goes, ‘With the Heavenly Aspect, the world is thrown into chaos’ I doubted it a little, but looks like it’s actually true now.
“Qingshan, is this Xiao An?”
Fu Qingjin studied Xiao An deeply. She was a teenage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and she had not even begun cultivating from a young age. Only five or six years had passed at most, and she had never received any true, close guidance. She had basically relied on her own comprehension and understanding. Even Fu Qingjin could not help but admit he paled in comparison to this talent.
It was no wonder that the Annihilum Light Chan Master of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga would travel thousands of kilometers to accept her as a disciple despite how aloof and outstanding he was. He seemed like he was lowering himself and making a fuss out of something, but this was actually a clever move to take. Otherwise, even the Sword Collection palace and Umbral Yin sect would fight over a disciple like her!
In the cultivation world, even ten thousand mediocre people could not rival a single genius. This point was made extremely obvious through this war. They were at Foundation Establishment, yet a single Fu Qingjin was worth more than ten regular Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Li Qingshan said, “Yes. She doesn’t really like to talk. Everyone, let’s begin!”
“The quiet room has already been prepared. I also want to witness Xiao An’s divination with the seven lots.” Ma Buyi stepped forward and bowed towards Li Qingshan and Xiao An individually.
“You’re far too polite, senior.” Li Qingshan lowered his head. “Xiao An, it’s fine, right?”
Xiao An nodded and entered the room with Ma Buyi. Everyone else waited outside for the results.
“General, how is it looking with my Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility?”
Li Qingshan found Han Anjun. Although he did not care too much about this sword, it was still a supreme grade spiritual artifact, and one he had obtained through legitimate means.
“It’s damaged beyond complete repair.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do. Thank you for your efforts, general.”
Li Qingshan had been anticipating this. The stuff that Dragonsnail spat out definitely would not be anything good. If it were a regular spiritual artifact, then it would only become slightly weaker at most with some damage. However, the primary function of the Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility was to conceal the user. It would become useless even if it gave away only a small part of the user.
Han Anjun then took out a great, azure sword and only said three words, which was the sword’s name—Heavy Water Sword.
Li Qingshan’s eyes lit up. It was another water element supreme grade spiritual artifact. Clans sure had foundations that ran deep!
It was not an arcane artifact, but not everyone possessed arcane artifacts among Foundation Establishment cultivators. Most of them still used supreme grade spiritual artifacts. Arcane artifacts and spiritual artifacts only differed by a single word in name, but it made all the difference in their effects, power, and quantity. Arcane artifacts could not be obtained easily.
In the past when Li Qingshan led the night roamers and destroyed multiple sects, only Bronze Cauldron mountain and the Vermillion Clothes sect had arcane artifacts. They were all sect treasures, items that represented the legacy of the sect.
Li Qingshan was already much better off than most other people with the Cursive Sword Calligraphy in his possession. He was not greedy either. Finding a water element supreme grade spiritual artifact sword was rare enough. At the very least, he could unleash the power of the sword qi in his dantian with it.
“As it’s a gift from the father-in-law, I must oblige.” Li Qingshan joked before accepting the Heavy Water sword without hesitating. His arms sank the moment the sword entered his hand. The sword was quite hefty.
Li Qingshan beamed inside. The heavier the sword was, the better he could make use of the advantage of his strength, unleashing greater destructive power. It suited his personality more than the Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility too. It was even compatible with the Arts of the Boundless Ocean, far more appropriate for him than the Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility.
Han Anjun no longer said anything about the way he was referred to, unlike the past when he maintained his opposing stance over this marriage. He had already achieved his objective of making Han Qiongzhi independent, and Li Qingshan’s performance lately had been very outstanding.
Of course, Li Qingshan did not do what Hua Chengzan suggested, which was frequently visiting the Han family. He would never go out of his way for someone to like him. If he handled it badly, it would only worsen their relationship. He stuck with his decision of walking his own path. He just did his best to complete Han Anjun’s military orders.
Even this aspect left Han Anjun very satisfied. The so-called favours and etiquette of the mundane world never worked with him, and he looked down on men who used petty tricks and sucked up to people verbally. At the end of the day, he had admired Li Qingshan very much right from the beginning. He just did not have a high opinion of this relationship, but people had to take responsibility for their choices.
As the patriarch of the Han family, all he had to do was cover his responsibility of “roping him in”. However, his method of roping him in seemed more like a formality.
Li Qingshan moved over to one side and immediately began refining the Heavy Water sword.
At this moment, the door to the quiet room opened again, and Ma Buyi walked out.
“School leader Ma, how was it?” “Have you found anything?”
Ma Buyi waved his hand and said to Hua Chengzan, “Commander Hua, please give me the information on the blood demon.” Then he added, “Xiao An needs it.”
The Hawkwolf Guard had begun gathering all the information they could gather on Bloodshadow since three years ago and undertook analysis. Hua Chengzan had even tried replicating the blood demon’s thought process to predict which cities he would attack next, but he had not been particularly successful.
“If you could find out through analysis, why do we still need divination?” someone asked.
Ma Buyi did not give an explanation. Actually, even he was not too certain about that.
The nature of divination was a method of learning information. It did not rely on any deductions or logic. Instead, it directly asked for the answer from fate. It did require some information as a foundation to increase the accuracy of the divination, but overly complicated and detailed information was unnecessary.
In the room, Xiao An sat on a huge mental map of the Clear River prefecture. With a thump, she opened her eyes and saw Ma Buyi pile up a stack of documents as tall as a man in front of her.
“It’s all here.”
Xiao An waved her hand, and the documents all fluttered into the air, arranging themselves neatly in stacks. They almost filled the entire room before beginning to revolve around her.
Without any pattern or form of order, the pages flashed past her, and the information on there entered her eyes clearly, yet she did not seem like she was looking. In the end, she simply shut her eyes.
Ma Buyi could not help but back into a corner. He was clearly the one who taught Xiao An the Cloud Bookcase of the Seven Lots, yet he was at a slight loss on what Xiao An was trying to do now.
At this moment, seven clusters of light lit up around Xiao An, turning into seven lots.
“Divining with all seven lots!” Ma Buyi’s expression changed.
……
Time passed slowly. Everyone stopped talking and waited in silence. The outcome of the divination directly tied into the lives of the people around them, as well as the future of the Clear River prefecture.
“Done!” There was a whisper that surprised everyone slightly. They all turned around, only to discover it had come from Li Qingshan in a corner. He held a great, azure sword in one hand and seemed completely satisfied. The sunlight and the glow of spiritual qi flowed through the sword beautifully.
Li Qingshan had already refined the Heavy Water sword. Because the Heavy Water sword was ownerless, the refinement process had been easier. All he did was pour in waves of spiritual qi with the Arts of the Boundless Ocean before leaving behind an imprint of his soul sense.
Through the refinement process, he completely understood the functions of the Heavy Water sword. There was actually just a single move, and it was extremely simple and crude.
It was expending large quantities of spiritual qi in one go, making the sword expand to ten times its size to launch a devastating attack. Li Qingshan named it as the Siege Breaking strike.
If the Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility was an assassin’s sword, then the Heavy Water sword would be a true warrior’s sword.
As a matter of fact, this sword was not even suited for artifact control. It was only suited for close combat, which most cultivators disliked. Even Qi Practitioners with water affinity would normally take a more nimble and flexible approach with their sword techniques. They would not use such a large sword.
However, it was perfect for Li Qingshan. He could finally unleash the power of the Arts of the Boundless Ocean. His battle prowess was about to multiply.
“Is she still not done?” Li Qingshan stood up and looked around. He was probably the most relaxed out of all of them.
“Seems like fellow Qingshan is very satisfied with this sword. They probably still need a little more time, so why don’t we spar? Just so you can try out the sword.” Fu Qingjin’s green clothes ruffled as he drifted over.
