Li Qingshan could not help but sigh. The thoughts of women sure were unpredictable!
In truth, this was normal. When Qiu Haitang first met Li Qingshan, not only did she oppose Li Qingshan, but he was still a teenager. He seemed like a crude child from the countryside, so why would she think like that?
On the other hand, Northmoon had appeared when she experienced the greatest pain and was the weakest. He had presented himself as a young man of flawless handsomeness, and he played the role of “a friend of women”. Afterwards, the two of them worked together to destroy the Green Vine mountain, an event filled with excitement and romance. As a result, he left behind the deepest impression possible.
Qiu Haitang grumbled, “What’s that got to do with you? Even if he has to be thanked, it’s me thanking him. I’ve already promised to pledge myself to him to pay him back.”
“Then would you like me to send you over so that you can complete your promise?” Li Qingshan pulled with some force and Qiu Haitang laid on him. She turned her head away. “Whatever you want. I’m long in hair and short in wit anyway, and I have no free will either!”
Li Qingshan found this funny inside. Women sure could be petty. His face stiffened. “I think I better just kill him.”
Qiu Haitang said in a hurry, “Don’t! I owe him for his kindness!”
“It’s got nothing to do with me anyway.”
“Fine, it’s got something to do with you. Are you happy now? Thank him however you want to thank him, but you can’t harm or kill him!”
Qiu Haitang was truly afraid he would do something like that. He had been butchering people during both times they met, while the name “Northmoon” had never brought on a gentle, kind-hearted impression in the eyes of the cultivators. Instead, it represented flagrance and slaughter, where he was capable of anything once he lost his temper.
“That won’t work. I’ll be the one losing out otherwise.” Li Qingshan set up a trap to lure her in.
“What do you want to do?”
Li Qingshan smiled. “I want you to properly thank me first, and then I’ll give him some benefits. After all, you can’t call that humiliating me forcefully or hurting your heart!”
“That’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re using my words against me. You’re saying all of that just to…” Qiu Haitang grumbled, thoroughly experiencing the craftiness of daemons. She had shut him off earlier, so he turned around and twisted her words against her.
“Just to what? Love between a man and a woman, assimilation between yin and yang, is perfectly justifiable. That’s something you said!”
“I didn’t.”
“You just won’t admit it, won’t you?”
Li Qingshan raised his head and kissed Qiu Haitang’s lips. He discovered that not only were not stiff, but they were so tender that they seemed like they could break from the slightest touch.
Qiu Haitang widened her eyes. She had no idea what to do. Who knew how many times she had witnessed something like this in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain already, but it was the first time she had experienced it personally. She felt like she had received an electric shock. Her entire body grew numb.
Li Qingshan did not go too far. He asked with a smile, “How does it feel?”
Qiu Haitang’s mind was in a mess. She was unable to control herself, so how could she still answer him? Li Qingshan kissed her again, directly parting her lips and entangling his tongue with hers. Qiu Haitang was thrown into an even greater disarray, collapsing limply on Li Qingshan. Kissing until they were aroused, Li Qingshan placed a hand on her breasts that were so full that they seemed like they were about to rip her clothes, struggling to get a good grip over the sheer size. He smiled. “Let’s see whether I’ve hurt your heart or not.”
“Don’t!”
Qiu Haitang grabbed his hand. Li Qingshan was already aroused, so he could no longer care so much anymore, but when he saw the pleading gaze in her eyes, he could not help himself as his heart softened. Harassing a feeble woman because of his momentary urges was not something a proper man would do. He had taken advantage of her already anyway, so he scooped up Qiu Haitang.
“Looks like no one’s coming. Let’s go!”
Leaving the dwelling, Li Qingshan did not travel off in the direction of Moon Court lake. Instead, he arrived in a mountain range, within a tranquil valley. There was a beautiful, little lake in there.
When Li Qingshan discovered this place when he was refining bodies of water, he found the scenery very nice, and the spiritual qi here was quite dense. It was not suitable for establishing a sect, but it was extremely suitable for carving out a dwelling and cultivating alone.
Li Qingshan made Qiu Haitang wait on the shore as he dived into the lakewater. A while later, the surface of the water parted into two, presenting a path. Qiu Haitang entered the lake through the path, following it until she reached the very bottom.
She only saw that a huge space had been hollowed out at the bottom of the lake. The ceiling was made out of the huge piece of crystal originally in Qiu Haitang’s dwelling, so she could see the rippling light and swimming aquatic life when she raised her head.
Li Qingshan spread his arms and smiled. “How is it?”
Qiu Haitang was happy with it inside, but she said, “It’s like a prison. I’m going to suffocate to death.”
“Being in prison is still better than being someone’s concubine, right? Isn’t that cultivation in the first place? If you had cut out some of your random thoughts and properly focused on cultivation, you wouldn’t have been so weak!”
“I’m still not…”
“You’re still not what?”
Li Qingshan asked mischievously. He did feel a little like he was keeping a secret mistress. However, he probably would not have too much time to pay “visits” to this beautiful mistress, not to mention this beautiful mistress did not want any “visits” from him either.
“Hmph, nothing!” Qiu Haitang snorted coldly and did her best to recover her composure from when she was sect master Qiu.
“Here, take it!”
Li Qingshan took our granny You’s hundred treasures pouch and golden core and handed it to her. He had glanced through the hundred treasures pouch, but there was nothing that caught his eye. She was not even as wealthy as E Feng and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators. Granny You had persisted for many years before finally making it to Golden Core, so any resources that she had would have been mostly consumed already. After becoming a Golden Core cultivator, she had been finished off before she could even build up anything.
The golden core could not truly be regarded as a “golden” core. Instead, it was completely pink and slightly gentle and charming in appearance. It was not a regular golden core. Instead, it was like the Ocean pearl that the Arts of the Boundless Ocean could condense, a special golden core condensed from a special cultivation method. With how unrelated their elements were, it would not bring much benefits even if he ate it.
Qiu Haitang was rather surprised. According to her knowledge, the golden core condensed from the Major Method of Clouds and Rain was not like this. If she refined it blindly, it would definitely lead to only detriment. Granny You must have had a fortuitous encounter elsewhere, so she shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
Their relationship right now was already rather strange. If she accepted something so precious from him, then she really would seem like a concubine.
“Cut the nonsense. I told you to take it, so just take it! If you dare to speak up to me again, I’ll give you a thorough spanking!” Li Qingshan glanced at her plump bottom that propped up her dress. It definitely would be quite the sensation, which instead made him rather eager for her to talk back. As it went, “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you”.
Under his scarlet eyes shining with a nefarious light, where would she find the courage to talk back? Shee accepted the golden core and hundred treasures pouch, which instead left Li Qingshan slightly disappointed.
In the end, Li Qingshan gave her a jade tablet and imbued it with a sliver of his soul sense. “It’s relatively reclusive here, and you’re protected by formations, so you shouldn’t be in any danger. If you really do face any critical issues, crush it. Even if I can’t rush over immediately, I’ll moziblise the water immediately and help you fend off the enemy. This is called helping someone to the end.”
“Will you be leaving?” Qiu Haitang suddenly became rather reluctant to see him go.
“If I stay for any longer, I can’t guarantee that I won’t do anything to you.”
Li Qingshan shrugged with a smile. He leapt up and shot out of the lake water without even looking back, unfurling his wings and taking off into the air.
Qiu Haitang gazed upwards for a while before lowering her head and sighing. She thought, If you could stay here forever and accompany me, so what if I let you do whatever you want to?
The moment the thought occurred to her, she leapt in fright. However, upon further thought, she realised that even if it were against her will, she would not allow a man to force himself on her. Even if it did happen, she would not feel a hint of resentment or blame either. She would only blame him for leaving too decisively and too heartlessly.
She refused to think too much about it. She cast down the formations first before arranging her new home under the lake and nodding in satisfaction. Although it was a little small, she did not have to bother with the matters of the Sect of Clouds and Rain anymore, nor would there be anyone to disturb her. Like he said, this was a good place to cultivate in peace.
Sigh, what am I thinking of him again for? He might not even come back in the future. She could not help but sigh inside, but immediately, another voice leapt out, He didn’t get his way today, so he’ll definitely come back. Hmph, men- no, male daemons!
Even if he does return, so what? With how he does whatever he wants, how can he be tied down by a mere woman? One voice said.
Aren’t you a little too unconfident in yourself? Didn’t he specially come to see you and feel jealous because of you? He came both times to save you from danger. You’re fated to be together! The other voice argued.
The two voices made a racket by themselves. Qiu Haitang lowered her head and checked granny You’s hundred treasures pouch. “Hmm? What’s this?” A pink jade slip appeared in her hand. Jade slips like these were mostly used to record cultivation methods. The last thing that Li Qingshan lacked was cultivation methods, so it obviously did not catch his attention.
Qiu Haitang remembered the strange golden core that belonged to granny You. She shut her eyes and gathered her focus, directing her soul sense into the jade slip. Much later, she opened her eyes and became amazed.
As it turned out, the cultivation method was called the Heart Dyeing Art of Rouge. It was even more profound and wondrous than the Major Method of Clouds and Rain. The foundation of the Major Method of Clouds and Rain was still based on sexual intercourse and dual cultivation. The arts of charm were merely an extension of its functions. Both men and women could practise the cultivation method.
However, only women could practise the Heart Dyeing Art of Rouge, and it inherently came with an ability to charm.
Rouge was originally what mortal women smeared on their cheeks and lips, cosmetics that accentuated their beauty. However, unrivalled beauties like Qiu Haitang who were born attractive had naturally-painted lips and faces like flowers blooming in spring in the first place. Cosmetics instead became unessential.
However, the Heart Dyeing Art of Rouge was as its name suggested. It was like it applied rouge to the heart, increasing a woman’s charm from their very basis. The further they cultivated, the more charming they would become. Even if they did not purposefully use arts of charm, they could still mesmerise everyone and everything. The golden core condensed was known as the Rouge Heart.
Simply avoiding sexual intercourse as a requirement had solved the greatest problem Qiu Haitang currently faced. She was reluctant to give her chaste to someone so easily, so she had never had a cultivation partner. She did not have to worry anymore with this cultivation method.
“It’s no wonder granny You managed to undergo the heavenly tribulation successfully despite being so old and being in secluded cultivation alone. It’s all thanks to this cultivation method!”
However, granny You had already become too old, so she was unable to unleash much of the cultivation method’s charms anymore. On top of that, she confronted Li Qingshan who practised the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression, so she was unable to escape death in the end.
To Qiu Haitang’s joyous surprise, the Heart Dyeing Art of Rouge also recorded a few techniques with wondrous effects: Gentle Hands of Red—with merely a gentle wave of the hand, the opponent’s body would become limp and immobilised; Rouge Beauty—the moment it was used, even the most vicious enemies, regardless of men or women, could not hurt or harm the user.
In hindsight, Qiu Haitang must have fallen for this move. She had never been a particularly softhearted person. After all, she had ordered Wei Zhongyuan’s death without even batting an eye. Granny You who she was not even familiar with had coerced her into such a horrible position, yet she still could not help but speak for her when her life was at stake.
The technique that interested Qiu Haitang the most was called, “Lovesickness Dyes the Thread Red”. With your chaste as the medium, it could only be used once in your life, but it could make a man fall deeply in love with you for the rest of his life, regretlessly infatuated and longing for you tirelessly.
Even forged steel would wrap around your finger at your whim. Even the unromantic would become the romantic!
