Savage Mountain, the Eight Point hall.
Xiao An stood outside the hall quietly, both guaranteeing she could not disturb Li Qingshan, yet able to help out at any time.
In the simple and primitive hall, Li Qingshan widened his scarlet eyes and stared at the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s soul nascence. He radiated with malice, giving off a bearing like he could subdue all. His eyes became as red as blood, producing two streaks of strange light.
The slumbering soul nascence suddenly began to move, its face warping in pain and refusal. Although its willpower and consciousness had been suppressed by Shen Mengdie, sending it into an eternal dream, it still resisted instinctively, proudly refusing to submit.
Li Qingshan became more and more solemn. He raised his thick eyebrows and let out deep growls that echoed through the hall. The figure of the tiger demon seemed to appear behind him, baring its fangs viciously.
Xiao An was slightly worried. Soul nascences were different from souls. They possessed most of a great cultivator’s power, and the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s cultivation was higher than Li Qingshan’s. Although he had the Clam King of Mirage Sea’s assistance, this was still very dangerous. Converting him into a haunt definitely would not be that easy.
However, a high risk also meant a high reward. Once he succeeded, the entire Myriad Poison cult would be his. That was a blessed land even better than Savage mountain, and there would be a set of protective formations as well, which were of immeasurable value.
The resources of the Myriad Poison cult would form a great chunk too. It was impossible for the Myriad Poison Ancestor to take all the resources around with him at all times, or the Myriad Poison cult would not be able to operate once he entered secluded cultivation. There must have been a treasury in the cult. There would be large swathes of medicinal gardens as well. Who knew how many precious spiritual herbs were planted inside.
As long as he obtained the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s loyalty, then he would be able to devour everything a large sect had built up through several thousand years of operation. Apart from these additional benefits, the Myriad Poison Ancestor himself was most important.
A great cultivator could increase their strength drastically, allowing them to carry out their plan in the south even more smoothly. When it mattered, Li Qingshan could even order the Myriad Poison Ancestor to blow himself up. By then, even the Fire Devouring King would probably face death. Moreover, great cultivators were normally skilled at refining medicine and forging artifacts. The Myriad Poison Ancestor even knew how to refine poison and gu on top of that.
These various benefits combined made Li Qingshan choose the gamble.
The tiger growls filled the valley. The ten hall masters had already been recalled back to the mountain, all listening along carefully and guessing what he was trying to do.
……
Sure enough, the Myriad Poison Ancestor is difficult to deal with. Such an intense struggle might very well make him wake up. It’ll be troublesome by then.
Li Qingshan frowned. He was in his own territory and could probably prevent the Myriad Poison Ancestor from infiltrating his sea of consciousness again with his various preparations, but once the Myriad Poison Ancestor blew up his soul nascence, probably even Li Qingshan would end up heavily injured. It was even possible for Savage mountain to be destroyed, greatly damaging his foundation in the south.
But there was no way back now. He did all that he could, and the strange light infiltrated the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s soul nascence with great difficulty.
Time passed by slowly, and the soul nascence struggled more and more violently. Right when he was about to succeed, the soul nascence suddenly opened its eyes and stared at Li Qingshan in utter resentment.
Their eyes met!
Li Qingshan thought, Oh no. The thing he had been worrying about the most had still ended up happening.
The soul nascence’s eyes suddenly became hazy.
Subservience to the Tiger was primarily about the pair of tiger eyes. A slumbering opponent could put up less resistance, but they could not stare into his eyes either. The critical situation had instead pushed the power of the innate ability to the limit.
The surroundings twisted and changed, going from a pitch-black cave to a deep and serene forest. The air was filled with miasma, where the scenery just slightly further away was all blurred.
“Why have I fallen down the trees? No, I need to hurry back. It’s too dangerous here.”
A young shaman said in alarm. His face was painted with colours, but he vaguely resembled the Myriad Poison Ancestor in his youth.
When he tried finding a tree to climb up, gusts of wind began blowing through the trees.
“How can there be wind here?” The young man gazed in the direction where the wind came from.
The thick miasma that never dispersed suddenly surged and thinned, like subjects welcoming the arrival of their lord. Two specks of scarlet light shone dimly among the miasma.
Roar! The vicious howl of a tiger shook the entire forest. The wind became even fiercer, blowing away all the miasma and revealing a vicious tiger. Its fur was scarlet like fire, shining with a glossy sheen within the darkness. It was layered with black stripes, which also formed a “王” character on its forehead.
The vicious tiger saw the young man and strolled over to him leisurely. The young man wanted to run, but his body crumpled from fear. The tiger pounced gently and pressed him down under its front claw, lowering its head and meeting his eyes.
Foul air filled his face. The young man looked back in fright. The scarlet eyes were forever engraved in his soul.
……
Li Qingshan suddenly jerked awake. He checked his hands, but they had not become tiger claws. What was that about? Was that another dream?
He dreamt that he became a tiger, wandering through the jungle of the Mist province before hunting prey.
Hmm?
Li Qingshan discovered that the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s soul nascence had already been dyed by the strange light. He stared straight at Li Qingshan, but there was no longer any resentment or hatred. There was only subservience from the bottom of his heart.
Was I in the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s dream earlier? Looks like it was a terrifying nightmare. He was alarmed by me, waking up from his dream, only to be pulled back into a dream through the influence of the tiger demon’s ability, while my consciousness was pulled into his sea of consciousness…
Li Qingshan guessed. In the end, he could not help but sigh. It’s still all thanks to that crazy woman in the end!
He had personally witnessed the Clam King of Mirage Sea’s strength. Her nightmares clearly could not be broken free from so easily, while the innate ability of the tiger demon still seemed to possess powers he had not yet discovered.
He subconsciously rubbed his eyes. Apart from converting souls into haunts, could it be used in regular battles to stun the opponent?
There was no need to make the opponent directly submit. He only needed to stun them, even for just a second, and that might be the difference between life or death, victory or defeat.
“There sure are quite a lot of benefits that that nightmare has brought me!”
At this moment, the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s soul nascence suddenly bawled out like an infant, flying high into the air and producing rings of green light that illuminated the entire hall.
Li Qingshan gazed over. The Myriad Poison Ancestor’s soul nascence rapidly grew up before actually turning into the Myriad Poison Ancestor again. When the green light subsided, he landed before Li Qingshan again, directly dropping to his knees and saying with guilt and regret.
“Great king, please forgive me for the disrespect I’ve shown!”
Even Li Qingshan was taken aback when he saw his mortal enemy end up like this. His lips curled into a smile, but he refused to believe it completely, afraid that there was a scheme involved.
As a result, he straightened himself out and coughed twice. “You old bastard, do you know your crimes?”
“I do, I do!” The Myriad Poison Ancestor lowered his head again and again.
“So what crimes are they? Tell me.” Some of Li Qingshan’s doubts vanished from his eyes. Great cultivators had their dignity. It was basically impossible for them to do something like that.
“First of all, I shouldn’t have launched a sneak attack on Savage mountain while the great king was not around, much less develop hatred towards the great king because the people of my sect were killed. Afterwards, when the great king wanted to kill me, I should have just stood still and let the great king kill me, yet I even tried to run. I’ve committed crimes upon crimes. I deserve to die a thousand times! I just hope the great king can allow me to redeem myself and make up for my crimes. With how wise and mighty the great king is, you’ll definitely conquer the nine provinces in the future. I’m willing to follow you wherever you go…”
Then the Myriad Poison Ancestor sucked up with a lot more flattery. Clearly, this was a trait that ran in the Myriad Poison Ancestor, which left even Li Qingshan a little embarrassed. He barked, “Stop!”
“Yes.” The Myriad Poison Ancestor immediately shut up in an extremely obedient manner.
Li Qingshan could not help but laugh loudly. He had finally brought the battle to an end, and he had benefited tremendously too.
His laughter echoed out, gradually dying down before turning into a great sigh.
Even though it was extremely delightful to see a powerful opponent that had been at his throat being reduced to such a state, it left him feeling rather melancholic too. This was how brutal the cultivation community was. Once failure happened, perhaps they would even lose control over their own fate.
Any further revenge was pointless. He was convinced that the Myriad Poison Ancestor had already submitted to the tiger demon’s ability. He said, “Stand up!”
Then he asked about the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s current state. The Myriad Poison Ancestor really was a knowledgeable great cultivator after all, immediately providing an explanation.
When great cultivators lost their bodies but were unable to find a suitable body for their soul nascences to possess, they would become ghost cultivators, and their strength would be equivalent to “Ghost Kings”.
Of course, ghosts could not live forever. In particular, ghost cultivators in the world of the living had lifespans even shorter than when they were still alive. Once the hour came, their souls would disintegrate if they did not return to the sa?sāra.
“Then how much longer do you have?” Li Qingshan asked in a hurry. He had just recruited his most powerful lackey after so much difficulty, so surely he would not kick the bucket after a few years.
“I’ve already cultivated for nine hundred and fifty eight years. My original lifespan only had a few centuries remaining, but now that I’ve become a ghost cultivator, that might not be necessarily true. If I continue like how I’ve been in the past, my lifespan will shorten by over a century at the very least. If I cultivate in places of extreme yin, then my lifespan might even increase. If I have a method for ghost cultivators, then it can potentially increase even more. If I’m in the Hungry Ghost realm, then perhaps even a few extra millennia are possible.”
“A few centuries are enough.”
Li Qingshan waved his hand and fished out the sumeru ring he had stolen from the Myriad Poison Ancestor. With a gentle flick of his finger, it landed in the Myriad Poison Ancestor’s hand.
Although Ru Xin had looked through it, she primarily took materials mentioned in the text on poisons. She did not touch anything else, including the arcane treasure, the jade throne. Now, he returned it to the Myriad Poison Ancestor, to guarantee that his strength would not plummet too much.
The Myriad Poison Ancestor bowed gratefully, wearing the sumeru ring on his finger again.
“With that, how much of your strength can you recover?” Li Qingshan asked.
“Sixty percent.”
“Only sixty percent?” Li Qingshan was surprised. This was nowhere close to what he had imagined.
“I’ve suddenly switched to being a ghost cultivator, so I need a period of time to adjust. By then, it should be seventy percent. The cult treasure has been destroyed, or it would add another ten percent. If I have a decent method for ghost cultivators, then perhaps I can recover to eighty or even ninety percent of my former strength.”
The Myriad Poison Ancestor stood in a bow and said politely, like an old, loyal caretaker.
“Method for ghost cultivators.” Li Qingshan sank into his thoughts. He only knew that the Umbral Yin sect might have possessed powerful cultivation methods for ghost cultivators, but he was a disciple of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga right now. Coupled with his identity as an elder of the Sword Collection palace, it was basically guaranteed for him to oppose the Umbral Yin sect.
“I happen to know a decent cultivation method for ghost cultivators. It can recover his strength completely, or even propel him higher.” Xiao An walked in from outside.
Li Qingshan smiled in delight. He had almost forgotten about her past identity.
