The scarred man’s group had made their preparations. They first unleashed a large formation and enveloped everyone inside. Their arcane artifacts all shone with light from powerful techniques that were charged up and ready to go. They were only waiting for Li Qingshan to appear so that they could deal a lethal blow.
The landscape around them twisted and changed, going from a rainforest to a desert. The sun blazed, and the air became arid, both restraining Li Qingshan’s water element techniques and preventing him from escaping.
However, when they had prepared everything, Li Qingshan did not appear. They all looked at one another, clueless as to what went wrong.
“Sir tree king, why must you interfere with the operation of my Dragon Arena and keep Li Qingshan there?”
Si Qing’s voice echoed through the entire rainforest with a questioning tone.
The rainforest was originally his proudest battlefield. The great banyan tree could provide many extremely-valuable resources, but it was still one of the Ten Daemon Kings after all. Although he followed the way of nature and stood aloof from the world, Si Qing could not be too rude to him.
“I’ve said already. I’m not some Great Banyan Tree King, and you don’t need to call me sir. I want to keep this little friend of mine around for a few days so that he can help me clear out the insects and vines on me. I’ll send him out afterwards.”
“Senior, you’re my guest here, so I will definitely carry out my role as the host and leave you as satisfied as possible with anything you require. Please let out Li Qingshan, senior, and I’ll be able to help you out.”
After transplanting a branch of the Great Banyan Tree King into the Dragon Arena, Si Qing had once apologised to him politely before even accepting him as his master. However, the Great Banyan Tree King completely ignored him. Then Si Qing asked for a certain item, and he was obviously turned down as well. He was utterly furious, but he could not turn against him either, so he let these burrowing mites that multiplied rapidly and had lost their natural predators be, wanting to make the Great Banyan Tree King suffer a little. He never expected to give Li Qingshan an opportunity instead.
“It’s nothing big, so I dare not trouble your highness.”
The Great Banyan Tree King spoke with the same gentle tone the entire time, but it gave off a feeling like he would not be changing his mind, turning down Si Qing without being too rude or too polite. Si Qing cursed inside, This old coot!
Against a king, even the most good-mannered king, Si Qing was powerless. All he could do was take a step back. “May I ask how many days you require?”
“Three days at the least, five days at the most.”
“Alright, I hope you can keep your word, senior! If five days pass and you still don’t let him out, then… then he can stay in there for the rest of his life!”
Si Qing realised that if the Great Banyan Tree King truly insisted on protecting Li Qingshan, there was not a lot he could do. After all, he could not rip out this great banyan tree, dig out Li Qingshan and butcher him, even though he was completely capable of something that.
The Great Banyan Tree King would not even have to look for revenge if that happened. As long as the news made it out, the Great Xia empire would immediately punish him, the eleventh prince, and give an explanation to the Great Banyan Tree King. Kings the founding emperor conferred could not be offended by anyone. Defying and offending superiors was a great crime.
Si Qing was gloomy inside. His joy from making the Golden Core cultivators succumb to him vanished completely. He secretly made up his mind to overcome the third heavenly tribulation as soon as possible and reach the realm of kings.
The conversation between Si Qing and the Great Banyan Tree King reached the pitch-black tree hole. Li Qingshan and Hua Chenglu exchanged glances and smiled.
Li Qingshan said, “Thank you for protecting me, fellow!”
“Looks like your grievance with Si Qing runs very deep. I can protect you for five days, but I won’t be able to protect you on the sixth day. By then, you’ll still have to find a way to deal with it yourself.”
The Great Banyan Tree King felt this child was extraordinary, so he tried testing him with that, guessing he would probably ask for his help. Never did he expect Li Qingshan to smile deeply. “My path of survival is a little different from yours. All I seek is following my heart and killing to my satisfaction. The more enemies the better!”
“Aggression leads to easy failure.”
“Passivity leads to vulnerability!”
The Great Banyan Tree King began laughing again. His laughter subsided, and he asked, “Are you prepared to complete the second task?”
Li Qingshan nodded. “I’m skilled with water element techniques, so summoning some spiritual rain is no problem. However, the sun vines are vicious, and they can absorb techniques and spiritual qi. May I ask how am I supposed to kill them?”
If he could not contain the sun vines first, the sun vines would absorb probably most of the spiritual rain. Despite his strength as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was rather helpless against these strange, twisted vines.
The Great Banyan Tree King said, “This will require the lassie beside you.”
“Her?” “Me?!” Hua Chenglu widened her eyes. She was unable to imagine why the Great Banyan Tree King well beyond her reach would require help from a measly Qi Practitioner like her. Li Qingshan was rather confused too. This girl might be very cute, but probably even the thinnest sun vines could kill her.
“Is your cultivation method called Method of Springtime Bloom?”
“It is. How do you know, senior?”
The Method of Springtime Bloom was a secret method passed down through the Hua family. It was an extremely special wood element cultivation method, gathering the essence of a hundred flowers to practise. Although it could not charm or enchant people, it could multiply the practitioner’s charm, allowing them to possess the beauty and fragrance of a hundred flowers. This was why the clan had many handsome men and beautiful women. They were renowned for this even among the aristocratic clans.
“Not only do I know, but I even thoroughly understand the entire cultivation method. I even know that fellow Qingshan’s cultivation method is called the Arts of the Boundless Ocean, which comes from the late Ocean sect. However, this sect did not exist for a very long time, and no one from it ever visited the Mist province, so this is all I know about it.”
With his lifespan that had already lasted ten millennia so far, the cultivation methods that the Great Banyan Tree King knew were basically as vast as the open sea. His knowledge was so extensive that no one could match him.
Li Qingshan thought of something. The greatest problem he faced with the Arts of the Boundless Ocean was that he had no master to give him guidance. He could only rely on himself to fumble around. Although he had managed to reach the sixth layer with his exceptional talent, the Great Banyan Tree King would definitely be able to give him some good suggestions with his knowledge and wisdom.
He took out the jade slips to the Arts of the Boundless Ocean and Ocean Brawling. “If you’d like to, you’re more than welcome to look through them. If you could give me some guidance, I’ll be filled with gratitude.” He felt an invisible power pass through his body, and the jade slips in his hand flashed.
“Oh, this cultivation method really is a little interesting. Your cultivation hasn’t deviated from it, but you are still lacking some comprehension. Let me look through it carefully, and then I’ll tell you in detail. Let’s get down to business first. Sun vines are not aggressive only during one special time, which is when they bloom.”
Hua Chenglu immediately understood what the Great Banyan Tree King’s objective was. The Method of Springtime Bloom possessed the ability to impel flowers to bloom. “But with my cultivation, I won’t be able to impel such large sun vines at all!”
“If your cultivation is insufficient, then you can just increase it. I can make you break through to Foundation Establishment within three days, but you’ll have to pay a small price.”
With that, not only did Hua Chenglu become stunned, but even Li Qingshan was taken aback. Hua Chenglu was only an eighth layer Qi Practitioner right now. She did not cultivate slowly, but it definitely was not fast either. She was not a genius like Hua Chengzan. At this rate, it would take her another decade at the very least before she established a foundation successfully.
Casually imbuing her with a little of the Great Banyan Tree King’s wood spiritual qi could allow her cultivation to advance drastically and remould her body, but breakthroughs also required personal comprehension. Sufficient resources was not enough. Growing up, she had never lacked pills or resources either.
If it had not been the Great Banyan Tree King who said that, the two of them definitely would have treated it as a great boast.
“What price? But I have nothing on me!”
“Have you heard of the Wisdom Imbuement technique before?”
