Li Qingshan sat on a branch and conversed with the Great Banyan Tree King at ease.
“He’s not just referred to as fellow…” The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber murmured, “He’s basically as close to him as his own son.”
The Great Banyan Tree King was most renowned for his gentleness and neutrality. It was so extreme that he even refused to remove the insects living in him, but now, he had actually agreed to maintain the formations for Li Qingshan. He seemed very reluctant and powerless, but this without a doubt betrayed the principle he had been upholding the entire time.
It’s no wonder he’s not afraid of the King of Southern Yue. With the Great Banyan Tree King’s protection, he can move about freely in the Mist province with no hindrances at all. Yu Wufeng sighed inside.
The Mist province was split into two major forces. One was the human cultivation community led by the King of Southern Yue, while the other was obviously the daemon forces, but it did not just include daemons. There were numerous races of otherfolk that also followed the Great Banyan Tree King’s lead.
In reality, the latter was much more powerful. Although the Great Banyan Tree King never directly used these forces to seize power and influence, it was exactly his passivity and neutrality that earned him greatness. Unlike the other Ten Daemon Kings, he followed the way of nature, which brought benefit to all. Even without the use of force, he established order in the Mist province.
However, little did Li Qingshan know that the reason why the Great Banyan Tree King had agreed to this “over-the-top” request was not only out of admiration for the kind of person Li Qingshan was, but also because Li Qingshan had a sense of propriety and knew how to act during certain circumstances. Even when he faced certain death while the Dragon King of Ink Sea hunted him down, Li Qingshan did not seek help from the Great Banyan Tree King or try to flee to his territory.
If that was because the Great Banyan Tree King was too far away and the dragon king would reach him before he had a chance to reach out, then the Golden Cicada Spirit King was right there below the magma under the Clear River prefecture, clearly a powerful ally within arm’s reach. Yet, he refused to ask for this favour, refused to seek shelter from him.
It was exactly because of his character where he took complete responsibility for his actions that the Great Banyan Tree King was willing to break his principles. Li Qingshan had basically earned this respect by throwing his life on the line. If there was one day when the King of Southern Yue actually attacked and he ran out of options, Li Qingshan definitely would not seek shelter under the Great Banyan Tree King.
Under Ye Liusu’s command, the night roamers settled down in their new homes very quickly. All of them were delighted by this brand-new environment.
“I’ll definitely pay a visit to your Towering city in the future!” Li Qingshan said to the Great Banyan Tree King. Towering city stood in the Lone Wood commandery and was the largest city in the Mist province, as well as where the Great Banyan Tree King’s original body stood.
“Alright, you’re welcome to come at any time. I’ll introduce you to a few small friends of mine when you come. You’re actually more suited to be a daemon with the kind of person you are,” said the Great Banyan Tree King.
“I’ll have to undergo the third heavenly tribulation and settle my score with the Dragon King of Ink Sea before I meet them, just in case they look down on me and end up thinking I’ve come to create trouble for you,” Li Qingshan said.
The Great Banyan Tree King’s small friends were all Daemon Kings that had undergone the third heavenly tribulation. They were the mainstay of the Mist province daemons.
As the era of the Seventy-two Daemon Kings faded away, many more daemons throughout the nine provinces had undergone the third heavenly tribulation during the past millennia, standing among the ranks of Daemon Kings and maintaining the balance against human forces. However, probably only the Great Banyan Tree King had a royal court as unified as this out of the Ten Daemon Kings.
Li Qingshan had only found out through his conversations with the Great Banyan Tree King that the royal court of the Dragon King of Ink Sea also had a group of Daemon Kings, but they basically had no loyalty to speak of. They were commanders under the dragon king in-name, but they all just cultivated in seclusion. Unless war erupted once again among humans and daemons, they basically would never emerge.
Compared to humans, daemons had always been rather unsociable. They did not found sects or establish clans. On top of that, in this day and age when humanity prospered, the Treaty of Kings was still in effect, so it was even more unlikely for Daemon Kings to wander about openly.
Because of their lengthy lifespans, daemons possessed a different concept of time from humans too. After reaching their realm of cultivation, secluded cultivation for an entire century was nothing but common. It had only been two decades since Li Qingshan left Crouching Ox village. He spent most of his time within the world of humans, so seeing a Daemon King was much more difficult than seeing a powerful human cultivator of the third heavenly tribulation.
Li Qingshan felt fortunate too that the dragon king was proud and aloof, or revenge would be ten times more difficult.
At this moment, the Asura Field flashed with blood-red light and activated by itself.
Li Qingshan sent his soul sense inside in a hurry and discovered that the blank left behind in the Asura Field with the Great Banyan Tree King’s departure had already been enveloped by faint, blood-red mist.
The swirl in the sky suddenly began to spin. The depths of the spiral was like a huge funnel, allowing the aura of the Asura realm to flow in.
Li Qingshan handed the Asura Field to Xiao An before entering it.
The fierce winds blew, and murderousness surged.
Li Qingshan stood directly below the blood-red swirl. A deafening roar filled his ears, which he discovered to be his own voice. The tiger demon that had slumbered for all this time roared furiously at the sky!
Ever since that battle against Mo Yu and all the time he had spent undergoing the phoenix’s nirvā?a, he had encountered many opponents and killed many enemies, but not a single one of them could rouse the tiger demon.
Li Qingshan had been focusing on the Phoenix’s Scripture of Nirvā?a the entire time. Although he wanted the tiger demon to break through to the fifth layer, it had never demonstrated any signs of budging. Only at this moment did the vicious tiger within him awaken from its slumber, sensing the calling from the other world. That was a land of endless slaughter. Battle was the only theme.
Li Qingshan’s mind shuddered, like an exhausted person breathing in the cool air of winter. He thought, Sure enough, the Asura Field is of great help to the Tiger Demon Transformation!
At this moment, something seemed to emerge from the depths of the swirl with a flash, like a twinkle. By the time Li Qingshan looked over there carefully, he found nothing at all. A sense of danger suddenly rose up in his heart, and he turned around.
This was better described as the tiger demon’s instincts for battle than the spirit turtle’s apprehension. A brilliant light reflected in his pitch-black eyes. A circular blade flew out from the space before him, spinning away furiously but silently, flying right towards his neck. The angle it came from was so ingenious and vicious that even Ghost Shadow’s attacks paled in comparison. On top of that, the attack was highly flexible and responsive.
It actually gave Li Qingshan, who had been through countless battles, the feeling that he could not dodge it. The strike had already pushed the techniques of assassination to the peak of perfection.
“Nice!” Li Qingshan praised.
He exhaled, and his breath knocked away the circular blade. Then he threw a punch towards the back of the blade.
“Tremor!”
He had already recovered fully now, and through the harmonising of the phoenix’s nirvā?a, he was even stronger than before. He completely unleashed the power of the Tremors of the Ox Demon. No matter how fast the opponent was, they would be affected by it, which would force them out.
With a great rumble, the ground within several kilometers cracked, and the air shattered.
“Huh?” But to Li Qingshan’s surprise, the punch still ended up missing. He did not hit the invisible assassin. Instead, the circular blade flew towards him once again.
Li Qingshan smiled. “An asura assassin? Interesting!”
ps: 第二天，继续坚持!
