The unending autumn rain turned into flying snow, floating across the entire Lake of Dragons and Snakes.
On Cloudwisp island, the snowy bamboo stood proudly in the pure-white world, which made them seem even straighter and more verdant than ever before.
Li Qingshan sat beside a furnace in the bamboo loft. He held a cup of hot tea in his hands as he faced the tiny lake in the centre of the island. The flying snow fell down, landing on the ice-sealed lake. He murmured to himself, “Water and fire, water and fire…”
He spent another few months; clearly, he had already grasped the vital parts, but there was a thin barrier he was unable to break through, which was a highly dissatisfying feeling.
He took a sip of hot tea. He could not help but admit that sure enough, cultivation took up the most time, which was why both daemons and humans required lifespans of centuries and millennia to face the various difficulties. Succeeding in a single breath was not realistic. Impatience and restlessness was instead detrimental to cultivation.
He practised the Arts of the Boundless Ocean in turn, and the Ocean pearl revolved. Waves of spiritual qi flowed through his entire body, producing a tsunami-like roar. The waves rose up before the previous could subside in an endless fashion.
After over a year of cultivation, he had already completely consolidated the Ocean pearl. His sea of consciousness became stronger and stronger too. The strength of the arcane artifacts on him had all been multiplied. Coupled with the Demon Suppression Statuary that became even more powerful as his demon heart strengthened, there was almost nothing that could stop him anymore even without using the Nine Transformations of the Demonic and Divine.
However, if he wanted to go from early Golden Core to mid Golden Core, it would not be that simple. At this point, the time he spent on both his human or daemon cultivation would be calculated in years. It was a pity that he could not use the Water God Seal right now and mobilise all the spiritual qi from the bodies of water throughout the Ruyi commandery to cultivate, or he would be much faster.
As long as he broke through to Daemon Commander, then he would possess enough strength to face the Dragon King of Ink Sea and break out of this situation!
Li Qingshan caught something from the corner of his eye. A streak of light rushed through the sky, passing through the snow and landing on the icebound lake.
Bang! The ice trembled and cracked open. Snow was sent flying through the air. Dressed in simple robes, Han Qiongzhi stood with a blade on her waist, as valiant and mighty as ever.
“Qiongzhi, what brought you here?”
“You won’t come and look for me, so am I not allowed to come and look for you?” Han Qiongzhi glanced around and feigned surprise. “Hmm? Parlour master Li, why aren’t you having a jolly, romantic time in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain instead of sitting in such a remote place, drinking alone? There’s no beautiful women, nor is there any alcohol. That doesn’t suit you!”
“If I wanted beauties, how difficult could that be? You better not underestimate the school of Novels!”
Li Qingshan smiled. He snapped his fingers, and a beautiful woman materialised, fading into existence. She appeared in front of Li Qingshan and gazed at Han Qiongzhi in a provocative way, radiating with vigour. No one could tell that the Divine Talisman of Great Creation had conjured her.
Clang!
With a flash, a wave of air pushed the snowflakes into Li Qingshan’s face. Han Qiongzhi snorted coldly and sheathed her blade away.
A thin, bloody mark appeared on the beauty’s neck. Her face was filled with shock and fear, just like a real person. Her current state was enough for people to feel pain and sympathy for her. Fortunately, something as terrifying as her head falling to the ground did not happen. Instead, she immaterialised, fading out of existence.
Li Qingshan touched the tip of his nose. The blade aura had shot right past his eyes. He patted the space beside him. “Stop standing there like a dumb idiot!”
He also felt rather fortunate. Fortunately, he was not in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain and the person beside him was not Linglong. Otherwise, perhaps she would not cut her down in a single stroke, but she would definitely lose her temper.
“You’re the dumb idiot!”
Han Qiongzhi said that as she sat down beside him, but she maintained quite a distance between them. Only when Li Qingshan opened his arms and pulled her in, kissing her on the head gently, did the discontent on her face silently melt away. She leaned against him quietly, watching the drifting snow as she quietly waited for a grand wedding.
Over the past year, they had finally spent more time together than apart. In particular, during the time she had absorbed the Virtue Accumulation pills and emerged from seclusion, they spent a total of three months together. Apart from their daily cultivation, they basically spent every moment beside one another, reluctant to separate as if they had returned to their period of passionate love in the past.
Afterwards, Li Qingshan discovered that spending all this time together was not completely a good thing. No matter how passionate the love was, there would always be a time when it cooled off. Han Qiongzhi emerged from the shadow of the past, or in better words, she had cooled her head that had become giddy from love. She had really been quite violent-tempered. For a period of time, she was basically capricious. She even said something along the lines of, “If you’re not satisfied with me, then call off the engagement. You’re more than willing to marry the woman you like!”
Li Qingshan could understand her apprehension. He had many secrets on him, and he did whatever he pleased, which left her uneasy, afraid that Han Anjun’s prophecy would come true. At times like that, he was instead unable to say any sugared words. All he would do was embrace her firmly and unleash the patience of the spirit turtle, which allowed him to survive that difficult period.
Afterwards, when everything settled down, Han Qiongzhi even felt rather embarrassed. She pinched his cheeks and said, “It’s best if we don’t spend too much time together in the future. You sure look cute, but once I spend enough time with you, you really are quite annoying!”
“I also find you…” Before Li Qingshan could even finish, he felt his neck tighten. A pair of hands choked him firmly as Han Qiongzhi asked viciously, “Annoying?”
By the way, when they said those things, Han Qiongzhi was sitting on top of Li Qingshan crankily. Both of them were completely bare, confronting each other with sincerity.
Faced with a “naked” threat like that, all Li Qingshan could do was yield. He shook his head firmly, and only then did Han Qiongzhi let go of him in satisfaction. “That’s more like it!” In the next moment, Li Qingshan rolled over and was on top.
So-called “cultivation partners” were people who could bring help to each other’s cultivation. If the conditions were met, then even two men could be cultivation partners and cultivate together. However, when it came to “partners of love”, there was no need for anything like that. Sometimes, they would instead negatively influence one another.
As cultivators, personal independence was extremely important, but becoming husband and wife like regular people was about sacrificing a part of the independence to contribute to the family, which would lead to a dilemma that was difficult to resolve. It definitely was not as simple as finding each other annoying because they had spent too much time together.
Even Li Qingshan who did whatever he wanted had almost chosen to directly break through to the fifth layer of the spirit turtle for her sake in the past, embarking on a path that was much more difficult. The various dilemmas Han Qiongzhi faced because of him went even more without saying. No matter how deep their love for each other was, it could not withstand something like that.
As a result, the two of them did not cohabit like that. Instead, they would meet up once in a while, ranging from every one or two days to every three or five days. They spent their remaining time on cultivation, which created a special way in how they got along.
Han Qiongzhi was not the type of woman who would be trapped by this kind of love, bothered by it endlessly. She possessed some of the straightforwardness of a man. As a result, she opened her mind and let him do whatever he wanted without probing deeply into these secrets. If he had not been like that, she would not have liked him in the first place.
However, when they were together, she definitely exercised her rights as his primary woman. She could not even put up with him making intimate contact with the women he conjured. She did not force herself to accept all of him, nor did she force him to do every little thing the way she would like him to.
Actually, she was no less busy than Li Qingshan. Apart from cultivation, she also had responsibilities from the clan and missions from the Hawkwolf Guard. She was different from Qiu Haitang. She did not live purely for the word “love”.
She had also once sincerely told Li Qingshan that if he actually grew tired of her one day, all he had to do was tell her honestly. He would not be forced to do anything. She would personally pen the divorce letter and pass it to him.
At this moment, Li Qingshan felt a familiar aura grow near. Ru Xin trudged through the snow. Perhaps because she sensed Han Qiongzhi’s existence, she stopped and hesitated before continuing on her way, eventually appearing in his field of view. Her clothes were even whiter than snow, and her skin was like jade as she stood elegantly.
Han Qiongzhi immediately broke away from Li Qingshan’s arms. She stood up and clasped her hands. “Fellow Ru, long time no see!”
It had been a very long time since she had seen Ru Xin. Surprised filled her eyes. In the past, she was already a relatively outstanding beauty, but now, she gave off an icy-cold, transcendent feeling. If it were not for her lively eyes, she might have mistaken her for an extremely delicate jade statue. She could not help but develop a sliver of caution towards this woman who she had heard being mentioned with Li Qingshan the most.
“Fellow Han, apologies, I’ve interrupted your intimate session.”
Li Qingshan spread his arms with a smile. “Actions over words. You can do it too!”
Before he had even finished speaking, an icy-cold blade was placed against his neck. Li Qingshan laid out his hands helplessly. “Looks like we need to wait until this tigress is gone.”
Ru Xin smiled. “Alright, big brother Qingshan. Just like usual?”
“Big brother Qingshan!” Li Qingshan felt like he had just been punched in the gut.
“Just like usual?” Han Qiongzhi raised an eyebrow and swung down. Li Qingshan ducked in a hurry, and the sharp blade aura swept over his head.
“Heh, it’s just a joke, so please don’t misunderstand, fellow Han. Fellow Li has many beautiful women, but I’m fortunately not one of them.”
Li Qingshan curled his lip. “Wouldn’t it be easier to cause misunderstandings if you say it like that?” Han Qiongzhi said, “Hmph, misunderstandings?”
“When your wedding arrives, I will definitely offer up a lavish gift. Hopefully you haven’t been cut down by fellow Han by then!”
“You two take your time. I’ll take my leave for now.”
Li Qingshan pulled Han Qiongzhi into his arms and said to Ru Xin, “Alright, stop joking around. Come in and have some tea! You definitely didn’t come here for nothing. Why are you looking for me?”
Ru Xin said, “Don’t worry about the tea. I’ve already refined the medicine you wanted.”
“Medicine? What medicine?” Li Qingshan could not recall him ever asking Ru Xin to refine some medicine for him.
“Hmm? You forgot? It’s for erectile dysfunction… Ah, almost slipped up with my mouth!”
“You already said it!” Li Qingshan said vexedly.
“I see now! No wonder!” Han Qiongzhi drew out her voice and looked at Li Qingshan with a disdainful gaze.
Ru Xin took out a glass bottle filled with faint, red liquid and placed it into Li Qingshan’s hand. She patted his hand with a smile. “Take good care of your body!”
When the tips of their fingers touched, Li Qingshan felt that her hands were icy-cool, just like cold jade. Was it because of the Heavenly Tome of Cloud Furnace?
He gazed into her eyes. “Tell me, what is this medicine exactly?”
“Medicine for balancing yin and yang, for merging water and fire. It can guarantee an early pregnancy and scaling to new heights. Why don’t you test it out?”
Han Qiongzhi heard “balancing yin and yang” and “an early pregnancy”. She became giddy.
However, Li Qingshan heard “medicine for merging water and fire” and “guarantee scaling to new heights”. The meaning hidden in that left him extremely interested. He still wanted to say something else, but Ru Xin had already clasped her hands gracefully and trudged away through the snow.
