A few stars had already silently opened their eyes in the dusky sky, gazing at this world coldly.
A green streak of light shot past and suddenly came to a halt. The Myriad Poison Ancestor’s face changed drastically, filled with disbelief. He murmured, “Impossible! Impossible! Who is it exactly!?”
He refused to believe that Li Qingshan was capable of such a feat. It was exactly this incorrect judgement that cost him severely. He gritted his teeth, and his face turned green. He had gone as far as to sacrifice his cultivation to fly faster.
When he was close to where the followers of the Myriad Poison cult had died, a call suddenly rang out from below, “Master! I’m here!”
“Who is it? Who did it?” The Myriad Poison Ancestor arrived beside Qian Liangmu with a flash and grabbed him by the shoulder, asking away viciously.
“I- it’s Li Qingshan!”
“Just him?”
“And that Xiao An. She used the Chant of Deva-Nāga to intercept us. I saw that something was amiss, so I used a Great Shifting talisman. Have they… have they…”
Qian Liangmu had escaped, but up until now, he still wondered whether his decision was correct or not. He worried about how he was supposed to explain himself to the Myriad Poison Ancestor if Li Qingshan was not as dangerous as his gut feeling told him. Only now when he saw the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s expression did he finally confirm that he had made the correct decision. In fact, the situation seemed to be even worse than he had imagined it to be.
There were so many of them… did none of them manage to escape?
“Hmph, you sure know how to run!” The Myriad Poison Ancestor glared at Qian Liangmu.
“I deserve death! Please punish me, master!” Qian Liangmu said.
“So be it. It’s already rare enough that you managed to escape alive. Once I ascend, you’ll be the next cult leader of the Myriad Poison cult. You haven’t let down my high hopes for you.” The Myriad Poison Ancestor swung his arm and gradually calmed down. He gazed in the direction of Savage mountain with a sunken expression.
“Master, what should we do now?”
He had obtained what he had been dreaming about the entire time, yet Qian Liangmu had no idea how to respond. By now, Li Qingshan and the others had probably escaped back into Savage mountain already.
They had struck with the forces of the entire Myriad Poison cult when Li Qingshan was not even there, yet they had still failed to take down Savage mountain. Just the two of them remained now. They had basically been inviting humiliation, but Qian Liangmu dared not say that to the Myriad Poison Ancestor.
However, the Myriad Poison Ancestor was no mediocre person. It had just been many years since he suffered such a great loss, which left him careless. Now that he had been smacked right in his face, he had already made up his mind. He ordered Qian Liangmu.
“Return and watch over the Myriad Poison cult. I’m going to a place! I’ll never let this matter drop until Li Qingshan has been reduced to dust!”
……
“Strange. The Myriad Poison Ancestor hasn’t rushed over. So much for us rushing back!”
Li Qingshan stood on the tip of the tall tower on the main peak of Savage mountain and gazed at the horizon, only to see the sun vanishing into the west, the sky black like ink, and the moonlight flowing like water.
“He is a sect master after all. He won’t be so rash and irrational.” Xiao An sat on the edge of the tower roof, the stars reflecting in her eyes and her long hair drifting with the night breeze.
“Heh, fair enough. What a pity. I was even planning on cursing him a little more!” Li Qingshan looked away and said regretfully.
“He won’t just let this slide. We still need to take precautions,” said Xiao An.
“As long as it’s not the King of Southern Yue launching a full-scale invasion, who can get through my tree king formation?” Li Qingshan smiled.
In the valley, the Great Banyan Tree King sighed helplessly. He would have to go to quite a lot of trouble for this kid yet again.
“In my knowledge, there still are others,” said Xiao An. Hopefully, it would not be too troublesome of an opponent, or perhaps the foundations of Savage mountain really might be destroyed one day.
Li Qingshan said, “The world is vast and powerful cultivators are as common as clouds, but we can’t just let anyone walk over us. Whether it’s favours or grievances, they’ll be paid back tenfold!”
In the Asura Field.
“Just what is your relationship with that Li person? We’ve worked so hard, yet you’re the one who reaps the most benefit.”
Yin Qing sighed, standing with her hands behind her back and studying the bald Daemon General of mediocre strength and limited intelligence. He was Milliped.
“Friends! Milliped likes friends!”
Milliped rubbed his head and smiled foolishly, clutching a series of dark-green pearls in his hand. Every single one of them possessed vast amounts of spiritual qi.
They were the primary spoils of this battle, ten golden cores from the protectors and elders of the Myriad Poison cult. Because their attributes were all poison, they were useless to Li Qingshan, so he tossed them all to Milliped.
These ten poison cores could save Milliped a thousand years. It basically confirmed that he could become a Daemon Commander, and even his chances at becoming a Daemon King had increased drastically. Even Yin Qing was envious of such treatment, developing a little more admiration towards Li Qingshan.
If she could return to the Asura realm one day and follow an Asura King like him, that would be quite a good choice. Though, she was better off enjoying her rare holiday right now.
Yin Qing crossed her legs and sat down, finding an exquisite tea set within the pile of hundred treasures pouch. She added a pinch of tea leaves before boiling it in spiritual water, pouring herself a full cup. The wisps of steam curled upwards, and the exotic fragrance pervaded the surroundings.
Milliped stopped looking at the poison cores. Instead, he stared straight at the tea cup, downright drooling from his mouth.
Yin Qing placed down the tea cup. “Sigh, you’re disgusting! Whatever. Wipe away your drool. I’ll invite you to a cup.”
……
“My king, the cave masters are currently waiting for you in the Savage King hall for instructions.”
Yu Wufeng arrived on the main peak and clasped his hands towards Li Qingshan, who stood on the top of the tower. He was extremely respectful and cautious.
Li Qingshan had defeated him in the past and forced him to swear the blood oath, but Yu Wufeng had always found this rather difficult to accept. He always felt that Li Qingshan had only stopped him from escaping through the help of others. However, the battle today had left an extremely great impact on him.
The South Sea Sword pavilion and the Myriad Poison cult had clashed for many years. They had always treated each other as mortal enemies. There had been countless epics about righteous battles and stirring sacrifices between the south and the South sea, but as it turned out, it was merely the matter of a palm strike to him.
Even if I undergo the third heavenly tribulation, I won’t be his opponent! But the most terrifying part of this all is he’s only in his thirties! He was not just shocked by Li Qingshan’s great strength. He also felt like his prior beliefs had crumbled around him, opening up his eyes.
Li Qingshan leapt down. “Let’s go!”
Savage King hall was a hall constructed under the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber’s lead. It used up a total of a hundred tonnes of black tortoise stone, sitting majestically on the ridge of the mountain. It was not carved and polished, but it gave off a primitive aura. It seemed particularly sunken under the curtain of night.
At the very centre of the hall was a black throne. To the sides below were ten smaller seats. The nine cave masters had already taken their seats. Apart from Ghost Shadow who remained silent, the other cave masters all discussed among themselves. The Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber was the liveliest out of them all.
At this moment, a large, tall figure appeared at the entrance. Li Qingshan strode in.
The cave masters stood up at the same time, bending forward and clasping their hands. “Greetings, our king!” Their combined voices echoed through the spacious hall, filled with both fear and respect.
Li Qingshan made his way between them and arrived before the black, stone throne. He studied it. The throne sat high up, its base fused with the ground and sculpted with many skeletons according to the aesthetics of the south. However, the back was as rugged as a sword, where the uncut and unpolished rock jutted right into the sky.
Li Qingshan shook his head. It was just rock!
However, when he took his seat and told the ten cave masters to take their seats as well, the rock suddenly seemed to become magical. The gazes of every single cave master gathered on it, each shining with certain thoughts, which made the Gentleman of Heavenly Blubber worry.
