Hall chief Wu rejoiced. Fortunately, he had not gone alone. He desired the spiritual ginseng even more now. As long as he ingested the spiritual ginseng and broke through to the innate realm, the Iron Fist school would gain a protector, protector Wu. Even if he faced sir Feng of the Hawkwolf Guard again, he no longer needed to behave so submissively.
Sir Feng smiled. “He has got some skill. This kid is only fifteen?”
“Yes. He will be sixteen once the new year arrives. He must be going to the Qingyang restaurant right now.” Liu Hong had made some investigations himself. He was afraid of infuriating sir Feng, so he did not directly tell him that Li Qingshan had refused to come.
“All of the masters should be gathered there right now. Interesting.”
Li Qingshan had already entered the Qingyang restaurant. The entire restaurant no longer had a single customer. It seemed to be divided into a few groups that opposed one another.
Even though the entire restaurant had heard the news that he had killed the Mad Monk, they still felt utterly shocked when they saw him carrying the Mad Monk’s renowned weapon, the Mad Demon staff.
Li Qingshan looked around. There were only four people that he paid attention to.
They were a one-armed old man who carried a large blade on his back, a middle-aged madam with a sunken face, a chuckling wealthy man, and a sickly-pale scholar who carried a sword.
If someone who frequented the jianghu was present, they would definitely pale in fright if they were in Li Qingshan’s shoes.
Don’t tell me that Wan Hao is the sect master Wan Hao of the Wild Blade sect? He is known as the One-armed Blade King in the jianghu, and he killed the Eighteen Cavalry of Fierce Wind with a single arm and a single blade, making a name for himself in Xiasha city. And that Wei Dandong, he must be the Wei Dandong who originated from Humble Maple academy; he is known as the Life-taking Scholar within the jianghu. His Thirteen Swords of Life-taking has attained perfection.
As for that Chu Xin and Lü Tingrui, they’re even more impressive. The Smiling Ghost Chu Xin, the Hornet Sword Lü Tingrui. Are any of them not figures that even first-rate masters would struggle to deal with? All four of them are some of the greatest first-rate masters in current existence.
All of their weapons glowed. None of the weapons they used were ordinary. Were they similar to Void Butcherer, all possessing terrifying trump cards?
Aside from Wei Dandong, all of them were surrounded by people, with countless disciples under them. Aside from them, none of the people of the jianghu could claim a seat in the restaurant.
Of course, there was one more person now.
Li Qingshan made his way to the centre of the restaurant like there was no one else around him. It was like he had entered a group of beasts. With his skinny stature, he did not seem particularly strong, but he gave off the bearing of the king of all beasts.
Just like his nickname, the Black Tiger!
Li Qingshan sat firmly and stabbed the staff into the floor. “Serve the dishes!”
The waiter brought up a tray with a pair of trembling hands. He spilt alcohol all over the tray.
“Your alcohol has been spilled, so let me give you another!” Wei Dandong picked up the cup on the table and tossed it over.
The cup whistled through the air, but not a single drop of the alcohol inside spilled out.
This was just the most ordinary method of probing out someone. They wanted to probe out Li Qingshan’s martial arts. If everything happened according to plan, Li Qingshan would also display his superior skills to shock the people present. Everyone looked over.
Li Qingshan waved his hand, and the cup shattered. Wei Dandong became even paler, while the others wondered to themselves whether Li Qingshan had been injured in his battle against Void Butcherer.
“I have my own alcohol!” Li Qingshan lifted up the gourd, removing the stopper and tilting his head back, gulping the contents down. A while later, he said, “And it’s spiritual alcohol!”
Everyone became enticed. Every single one of them were poised, ready to strike at any time. Not only did they take everyone else into consideration, but they were also deterred by the black, heavy staff.
All Li Qingshan felt was the true qi within him being fully replenished once more. “That’s right, the spiritual ginseng is with me!” He caused another commotion in the restaurant.
Chu Xin said, “What are your demands for it? How much silver do you want? Name a price! We can negotiate a price!”
Li Qingshan lowered his head as if he were considering the offer.
“Kid, do you know the nickname of this fatty in the jianghu?” Lü Tingrui said in a hurry when she saw how Li Qingshan was interested.
“What is it?”
“The Smiling Ghost. He seemed very amiable, but he treats people most ruthlessly. He can promise you thousands of silver taels, tens of thousands of silver taels, but you can’t trust him.”
Chu Xin remained jolly. He fished out a stack of silver notes and slammed it on the table. “Don’t say that. When I do business, I never cheat anyone. Is the silver enough? If it’s not enough, treat it as a down payment.” He was not buying the spiritual ginseng, but an opportunity at becoming an innate master. As long as he became an innate master, he could make back all of the silver he had spent.
Wei Dandong coughed heavily a few times. “I need the spiritual ginseng to save my life. If anyone wants to fight for it with me, you’ll be trying to take my life. I can only throw my life at you!”
Wan Hao said, “I don’t have much time to live either. There’s nothing to pity.”
Li Qingshan fiddled around with the gourd and smiled nonchalantly. “There are four of you here. Who should I give the spiritual ginseng to? You can decide among yourselves!” Since he was bold enough to come, it definitely would not be bravado. Instead, he had foreseen this, and he had come up with an idea to end this entire matter.
Chu Xin chuckled. “We better not fall for his scheme of turning us against one another. Are we supposed to kill each other? That’ll really be a huge loss then. Why don’t we work together and get this kid and split the spiritual ginseng into four shares? It’ll be a guaranteed profit. What do you think?”
Wei Dandong said, “It looks like it’s still an old ghost like you who’s good at calculations. But if we really start fighting, at least three of us will die. Who can say that they’ll be the last one alive?” With that, he coughed a few times more.
Wan Hao and Lü Tingrui were tempted.
Li Qingshan thought, They truly are experienced people of the jianghu. They won’t be led around by others, and their reactions are fast enough too. Seeing how he was about to become everyone’s target soon, he placed his hand on the gourd, prepared to carry out his plan.
His plan was very simple. It was eating the spiritual ginseng in front of everyone. The spiritual ginseng had been steeped in alcohol for such a long time, so its spiritual qi had already become extremely thin. He should be able to endure it.
Of course, this might end up infuriating these first-rate masters, causing them to work together in an attempt to kill him. However, Li Qingshan personally believed that escaping would not be an issue. There was an even greater possibility that these people would do nothing. Without the temptation of the spiritual ginseng, these experienced people would never be willing to risk their lives.
If he chose to flee or secretly eat the spiritual ginseng, the troubles would be endless, and it could even multiply. The only choice he had was to spread the news that the spiritual ginseng had been eaten before these renowned figures of the jianghu, ending the matter once and for all.
Not only did the idea rely on his intelligence, but it relied on his strength as well. If he were a second-rate master, there would be no point in trying anything. It was exactly because he was a first-rate master, and he possessed the strength to kill the Mad Monk Void Butcherer, that he made these people wary.
At this moment, more people entered the restaurant, and everyone’s gazes were drawn over.
In front was sir Feng. He wore his dark, Black Wolf uniform that had a shimmering wolf embroidered on it. It was only visible from a special angle. The wolf bared its fangs, moving as his clothes rippled as if it were alive.
He carried a green scabbard made from sharkskin, holding a Wind-entwining blade with a golden guard embedded with a green cat’s eye gem. The triangle eye tilted upwards slightly as if it constantly looked down on everyone.
However, what Li Qingshan saw was that he shone with a glow similar to spiritual artifacts. Without any introduction, two words appeared in his head, Innate master!
