Suddenly, Li Qingshan pulled his hand back, and Ye Liubo recovered a hint of clarity. She pouted unhappily and heard a squeal which made her open her eyes, only to see that Ye Liusu had already been lifted up in Li Qingshan’s arms. She giggled and threw herself at Ye Liusu, kissing her on the cheek.
The huge cocoon shook gently.
The next morning, Li Qingshan walked out, completely naked. His figure was tall and sturdy, with his muscle fibres and bones visible. His scarlet hair draped down his shoulders. He let out a great yawn, revealing his four sharp canines and scarlet tongue. He seemed like a vicious beast that happened to be tired.
Afterwards, in a split second, he gathered his focus and strode out of the dwelling.
Ye Liusu poked her head out of the cocoon silently. Her hair was a mess. She gazed at his back, rather hopeful that he would turn around, but he left without even looking back, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Ye Liusu did not feel disappointed. That was his habit, and she had accepted it long ago. He would always stride forwards like this. Perhaps he would stop to rest from time to time, but he would never look back or be reluctant to leave.
As a result, Ye Liusu and Ye Liubo just remained there. The Silkworm Madam’s dwelling really was suited for cultivation. The density of the spiritual qi here ranked towards the top across the entire Savage mountain. In particular, the cocoon could free the mind of any distracting thoughts and bring peace.
Almost another year passed by. Ye Liusu underwent the second heavenly tribulation first, closely followed by Ye Liubo who also underwent the tribulation successfully. Then they spent a period of time resting.
On Savage mountain, Li Qingshan gazed at the sky and turned around. “It’s time.”
Yu Wufeng, the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, and Ghost Shadow stood right there. The three night roamer sisters stood sternly, awaiting his command as well.
The moon illuminated the sky, sprinkling across the sea of trees, but it could not reach Hawk’s Worry valley. The deep and serene mountain stream cut through the earth like a scar.
Li Qingshan stood on the edge of the cliff and gazed down. The mountain wind was cool like water, whistling into his face.
This place was not as great as Savage mountain, but it was still a rare, blessed land, except it was not suitable for founding a sect. It was more suitable for independent cultivators, and the last thing that the Mist province lacked were independent cultivators who cultivated alone.
The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber said, “This formation is called the Profound Astral Formation of Heaven’s Lock. It’s very difficult to take it down from the outside. ‘Hawk’s Worry’ is extremely renowned in the south. He became wanted by the Hawkwolf Guard three centuries ago. Back then, he was still at the first heavenly tribulation, but through his Great Technique of Heaven’s Escape, he could vanish without a trace within hundreds of kilometers and fall off the map within thousands of kilometers. Even the Hawkwolf Guard was helpless against him. A century ago, he established his dwelling here, but under the protection of the formation, even fewer people could do anything to him. We’re forced to ask fellow Ghost and your night roamer friends to infiltrate this place.”
Ghost Shadow’s voice drifted out, “If the four of us work together, killing this Hawk’s Worry will be easy as long as we spend some time planning and preparing. No matter how powerful his escape technique is, he downright won’t have the opportunity to use it. However, I don’t have any confidence if we are to strike immediately and force him to swear the blood oath.”
The method of assassins was about killing in a single strike. If they did not have the determination to kill, their vigour would fall, and they would not be able to use their full strength.
Ye Liusu said, “That’s true.”
“You don’t need to worry about any planning or preparing. Just go at it. If you kill him, then you kill him. With how big the south is, how difficult can it be to find a few subordinates?” Then Li Qingshan said to Yu Wufeng and the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber, “Prepare yourselves too. If he manages to survive, don’t let him escape.” Then he glanced deeply at Yu Wufeng.
Yu Wufeng lowered his head and pressed his hand against the hilt of the Fogbow sword.
Ghost Shadow said nothing more. His aura abruptly vanished, having merged within the curtain of night as he drifted towards Hawk’s Worry valley. He filled the three sisters in admiration, who followed behind him closely.
A while later, Li Qingshan smiled. “Sure enough, he really is quite capable.”
Before Li Qingshan could finish speaking, a streak of light rose up from Hawk’s Worry valley. Li Qingshan did not take action. A fogbow rose up from beside him, piercing the horizon and intercepting the streak of light. A pale-faced old man in black robes appeared. He was as small and skinny as a monkey. He roared in surprise and fury.
“The Fogbow sword! Yu Wufeng! I have no grievances with your Savage mountain, so why have you launched a sneak attack against me?!”
Yu Wufeng said nothing. He formed a seal with his hands, and the Fogbow sword turned into a wandering streak of light, coiling around Hawk’s Worry.
“Who’s that? The White Hawk commander!”
Hawk’s Worry glanced at the smiling man in white who stood with his hands behind his back in front of Yu Wufeng. Under the illumination of the moonlight, a silver hawk soared on the white clothes. The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber who had already made a vicious name for himself stood behind him too, lowering his huge head while trying his best to maintain a humble posture.
Hawk’s Worry forced himself to calm down. The light from the Fogbow sword was dense, but it could not keep him trapped. Right when he was about to use the Great Technique of Heaven’s Escape, several drifting clusters of killing intent pinned him down on the spot. Consequently, he dared not move about.
A while earlier, if it were not for the sharp senses he had developed over countless years of life-threatening danger, he almost would have forgotten to use the escape technique, dying to the terrifying assassination attack. Apart from Ghost Shadow, the three others were clearly powerful assassins of the Shadow Palace too, which almost frightened him to death.
Although he had managed to escape, he was still heavily injured. He even decided to abandon his dwelling, but he was intercepted by the first cave master of Savage mountain with his infamous Fogbow sword.
Immediately, killing intent flooded the surroundings, but it did not erupt.
Right as Hawk’s Worry tried to come up with a countermeasure, the Demon Suppression Tower descended from above.
“Demon suppression!”
While he was caught off-guard, four powerful night roamer assassins tried to assassinate him, the first cave master of Savage mountain used his arcane treasure, the Fogbow sword, to trap him, and in the end, even Li Qingshan took action. No matter how powerful Hawk’s Worry’s escape technique was, the only fate awaiting him was being captured.
In the Demon Suppression Tower, Hawk’s Worry turned into a streak of light and rampaged about, but it was obviously futile.
The Demon Suppression Tower was rather clumsy in actual battle, but any enemy it had suppressed would definitely struggle to break free.
At this moment, a figure passed through the tower. Li Qingshan appeared and said, “Stop wasting your strength. Let’s discuss something important instead!”
“You’re Li Qingshan? What great lengths you’ve gone to, sir!”
Hawk’s Worry did his best to maintain his distance from Li Qingshan. His eyes were filled with worry. What gave him the ability to order around the three cave masters of Savage mountain and three peak assassins of the Shadow palace?
Li Qingshan took out the Blood Oath Scroll and smiled. “Come, fellow. Swear an oath!”
“The Blood Oath Scroll! You actually refined the Blood Oath Scroll!” Hawk’s Worry’s face changed drastically. He finally understood why he could dispatch the three cave masters of Savage mountain now.
“I’ll give you half a minute to consider!” Li Qingshan said.
Half a minute later, the Demon Suppression Tower dispersed as demon qi. Li Qingshan stowed the Blood Oath Scroll away and patted Hawk’s Worry’s shoulder. He said in praise, “Fellow Hawk really is a sensible person!”
Hawk’s Worry was devastated. He forced out a smile. “Yes, yes…”
“C’mon, to the next stop!” Li Qingshan waved his hand in high spirits.
Seven days later, in the Marquis of Serene Sea’s estate.
The Marquis of Serene Sea was currently thinking with his eyes closed when the caretaker reported, “Marquis, that Li Qingshan is outside right now! He wishes to see you!”
“He’s still alive!”
The Marquis of Serene Sea snapped open his eyes and made his way outside to receive him, only to see Li Qingshan standing with his back towards him, lecturing a group of people.
“From today onwards, you’ll be turning over a new leaf and behaving yourselves. You’ll definitely become quite accomplished in the future…”
The Marquis of Serene Sea counted them and found that they totalled at eight. They varied in size and shape, whether tall or short, fat or thin. Every single one of them was wrapped up in a dark cloak, the hood covering their faces. Although they all bent over and lowered their heads like servants, the aura they vaguely gave off left the Marquis of Serene Sea shocked.
The figures of these people are so familiar. That great fatty is… the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber! And that shorty…
The Marquis of Serene Sea was unable to identify them one by one, as Li Qingshan had already turned around and asked a question.
“Marquis, would you like to die or live?”
A Slight Explanation for My Thoughts When Writing
The past two days have been a little lacklustre, or should I say that this month has been rather lacklustre. Actually, the plot has always been relatively clear, but as the main character’s strength rises, the pacing is becoming more and more difficult to control.
I don’t want to write that kind of repetitive, levelling-up novel, where as soon as the main character grows a little stronger, a great swathe of even stronger opponents come to kill him. Then the main character faces mountainous pressure and continues to level up, repeating endlessly all the way until beyond the Nine Heavens. That’s far too boring.
But if I don’t write it like that, it’s very easy for it to become an invincible genre where the main character just crushes all the enemies he sees. That’s probably even more boring than the former. Of course, the mainstream writing right now is to combine the two. There are a lot of benefits to writing like that. The pacing is fast enough, the peaks and troughs in the story are large enough, it’s easy to write, and it’s satisfying enough to read. It’s no coincidence that it became mainstream.
But I really don’t want to write like that. I’ll feel no different from a person with just bones and no flesh. Reading a book like that leaves me very happy too, but if I have to write like that, you better cure my OCD first.
Although Legend of the Great Sage is a levelling-up novel, I want to write a levelling-up novel with a plot. I want this path to the Nine Heavens to go through countless demons, monsters, or other beings and countless feelings of love and hatred. I want to write some characters that feel alive, some scenes that touch the heart.
This really isn’t an easy feat. The most difficult part about it is being “down to earth”. The old readers should have had quite the contact with this. No matter what the material is, once you reach a certain word count, it’s easy to drift apart the more you write. Although it’s possible to keep reading due to the preexisting investment and momentum, it only feels more and more wrong. This is also what I’m doing my best to avoid.
In short, I’m a person with slow hands and a slow brain. I can’t speed up with the releases, so please forgive me for that. All I can guarantee is that I’ll write seriously. I’ll write it well, and I’ll write it to the end.
Finally, there is a double today. Two releases for monthly votes!
