ps: 第二更，有木有，再来点月票鼓励，我要坚持每天两更，吼吼吼!
“It’s just like what you said, mister Ram. I originally wanted to arrange it, but if it’s just between some regular people, it probably won’t be enough to interest you. Now that we have the ‘King of Savages’ taking part, that’ll be perfect, hehe!”
Ji Changfeng immediately expressed agreement. Towards the end, he even laughed involuntarily.
The corner of Li Qingshan’s lips twitched, and he mimicked. “Hehe!”
Before he had even finished talking, a red-faced old man stood up below. “I’ve served as the Elder of Cultivation Methods in the South Sea Sword pavilion for many years now. I heard the King of Savages is skilled in the path of the sword, so I’d like some guidance from you, sir, so that I can witness the secret arts of the Green province.”
“How unfortunate. I just gave up on the path of the sword recently, switching over to the path of the spiky club,” Li Qingshan laid out his hands and said.
Even someone from the South Sea Sword pavilion was standing forward. It was probably under the instructions of the master of the sword pavilion right beside him.
Ye Duanhai sensed Li Qingshan’s gaze and turned around. He said gently, “I’ll be troubling you, fellow.”
By referring to him as “fellow”, that was a very high level of recognition, but between the lines, he was saying, If you can’t accept this challenge, then you’re unworthy of this term of reference. What makes you still qualified to strike a deal with me?
“How unfortunate. I’ve already given up on the path of the sword, and I don’t want to use the sword again.”
During the past two years Ru Xin spent in secluded cultivation, Li Qingshan took out the two big clubs and played around with them whenever he had nothing to do. The more he played with them, the more he found what Yin Qing said to be correct. It was exactly because he had accepted it that he found it to be quite interesting. The path of the sword truly did not suit him.
“Oh, it’s just that coincidental?” The Elder of Cultivation Methods stared at Li Qingshan. He did not believe him at all. His face shone with a red sheen, not only because of the alcohol, but also because of the excitement from discovering his opponent’s opening. If Li Qingshan really did have the strength, he definitely would have agreed to it without batting an eye. Now that he had said something like this in an attempt to shirk away, he was clearly afraid.
“It’s just that coincidental. I’ve already switched to the path of the spiky club. I can’t give you any guidance on swordsmanship.” Li Qingshan casually picked up a fish of some variety unknown to him and shoved it into his mouth, chewing away. He took a few more sips of alcohol before sputtering with his mouth full.
“The path of the spiky club? What kind of path is that supposed to be? Kid, you better stop trying to mess around! Whether you use the sword or not is not important. You’re not escaping our bout!” Elder Blue’s voice was thunderous, making all the dishes on the table shake.
“Haha, you really are the ‘King of Savages’ after all. We pale in comparison to the courage you possess. For normal people, even if they know they stand no chance, they’ll reluctantly agree to never use the sword again after they’ve been defeated. Instead, you downright claim you’ll never use the sword again before you’ve even fought. Now that’s clever. That’s what you would call unassailable, right? Admirable, admirable!”
The speaker was the “seventh seat” fellow. The sarcasm in his voice was so obvious that even a fool could tell, immediately leading to a roar of laughter in the hall. It seemed quite like they were all in agreement. Even their thoughts were basically the same.
Everyone is at the same realm of cultivation. You’re so young, and you’re even a lackey of the empire, so what gives you the right to sit above us? You claim to be a king even with your cultivation? Don’t make us laugh! We were actually almost fooled by you earlier. You’ve finally given yourself away now.
Anyone who could be seated in the main hall was someone who had already made a name for themselves. Who didn’t have a sense of pride? No matter how great Li Qingshan’s reputation in the south was, the South sea only heard some obscure, flimsy rumours. Words were but wind, but seeing was believing.
Under the various emotions of pride, suspicion, prejudice, as well as some envy that they could not mention, it would be strange if they had a good impression of Li Qingshan.
When Li Qingshan decided to stand up for himself forcefully, conversing with the Merfolk Queen calmly and ignoring the master of the sword pavilion’s display of might, even the head caretaker of the King of Yue’s estate praised him. Who was bold enough to provoke him then?
Now that all three of them wanted to test him, he instead refused to accept the challenge decisively, showing his weakness slightly, which immediately unveiled the hostility.
Standing on equal footing with these powerful cultivators seemed to bring endless glory, but in reality, a tree that stuck out from the forest would definitely be blown over by the wind. Several dozen eyes landed on Li Qingshan, all waiting for him to make a fool of himself.
Mister Ram sat right in front of him, holding his half a cup of alcohol and smiling mysteriously.
“Get up. I’ve been standing here for half a day now,” elder Blue said, urging him again.
“If you’re sick of standing, then sit down. It’s not like you’ll be first in line anyway,” Li Qingshan said without even looking back.
“You…” Elder Blue clamped down on Li Qingshan’s shoulder, on the verge of directly striking him. However, if he did that, that would no longer be probing him out and having a bout, but directly making an enemy out of him and going against his original intentions.
“You’ve already come up with an ordered list, King of Savages?” Mister Ram asked. He was also puzzled. Since he refused the elder of the sword pavilion’s challenge, then his opponent was the whale daemon. What order was there to speak of?
“I’ve done exactly that!” Li Qingshan stood up with a jug of alcohol in his hand.
Elder Blue felt a force that he could not contend with rise up. His huge hand actually struggled to keep him down, except he had hoped for Li Qingshan to stand up and face him in battle in the first place, so he did not try to keep him down. He let go and took a step back.
Li Qingshan strode over to the “seventh seat” and chuckled. “Why don’t I count you in too? I don’t practise the path of the sword, but I can use the path of the spiky club to give you some guidance.”
“Sure, that’s exactly what I’d like. I’ll test out the King of Savages’ ability right now!”
“Seventh seat” was taken aback. He never thought that not only would he provoke a few powerful enemies for himself, he would even take the initiative and go after him. Although he had some second thoughts, how could he back down in front of so many fellow cultivators?
Li Qingshan had turned around the moment he said “sure”. He used his finger to point out people one by one. “And you, you, you, you, you, you… Would you like to join in too?”
When he casually pointed around, he basically included everyone in the hall. Apart from a few cultivators who were relatively more experienced and prudent that had not laughed earlier, he had gotten around to everyone.
Everyone’s faces changed, with “seventh seat” in particular. Li Qingshan clearly was not taking him seriously.
The hall suddenly fell silent before everyone roused to action, standing up to face him in battle. Afterwards, they felt the same fury as “seventh seat”, as Li Qingshan had already turned around. He did not even waste a second to see how they would respond. He pointed at elder Blue. “You can be last!”
Elder Blue’s face immediately turned green.
Li Qingshan even added a word of consolation. “Don’t worry, I’ll get around to you!”
It was an open provocation, a naked, open provocation of the entire group! He had almost perfectly gathered everyone’s hatred! Even mister Ram was greatly surprised!
“Alright, I’ll be the first then. We probably won’t need a second!”
“Seventh seat” rose to his feet suddenly, and he surged with spiritual qi. He was already gripping a hook-shaped arcane artifact in his hand.
“Oh wait, you’re not the first. Look at how enthusiastic you are. You can be the second. Come, come, come. The Elder of Cultivation Methods there, you’re the first!” Li Qingshan waved his left hand and made a gesture at the elder with his right hand.
“Seventh seat” became overwhelmed by fury. He was almost unable to hold himself back from slapping Li Qingshan across the face.
The Elder of Cultivation Methods’ face became even redder. Holding back his fury, he arrived at the centre of the hall. “Didn’t you say you don’t use the sword anymore?”
“I never said I’d be the one to give you guidance!” Li Qingshan moved to one side, revealing a graceful figure. “Xiao An, go give him some guidance on his swordsmanship!”
A vein popped out on the elder’s forehead. The only reason why he had managed to hold back his anger was because of the patience he had developed through many years of guiding disciples.
Ye Duanhai nodded towards the elder. Li Qingshan had made so many enemies for himself, so they no longer needed the sword pavilion to test him out. This was perfect for probing out the mysterious woman by his side.
“You better not underestimate her just because she’s small. Her path of the sword far surpasses mine!” Li Qingshan pressed down on Xiao An’s shoulder with one hand and smiled at the elder.
“It’s all the same, no matter who it is! Come!” the elder said coldly before speaking indifferently to Xiao An. He had almost lost his mind to anger.
“I don’t have a sword!”
“Pfft! Cough, cough, cough, what am I supposed to do? Let me find you one then!” Li Qingshan secretly gave Xiao An a thumbs up inside. Nice one, girl! You’ve already inherited my true legacy!
Xiao An did not say that just to help Li Qingshan piss people off. She had spent almost a year with thirty thousand Bone Eating shamans as materials to reforge the Buddha Slaying sword to a whole new level. It was enough to rival the renowned swords of the Sword Collection palace, except it was inconvenient for her to wield it here.
Behind the bronze mask, she blinked her eyes and scanned around the hall. She said, “No need.”
Afterwards, she made her way to a corner of the hall. A peach tree was planted within a large flower pot. The peach blossoms were in full bloom, giving off a wonderful fragrance.
She extended her hand and broke off a part. The twisted peach branch was around two feet long, and there were still a few petite, pinkish-white blossoms on there. Basically all of them could fall off with a gentle breeze.
She made her way back. “I’m ready now.”
Now that was called infuriating!
