“Granny” had to call her a few more times before the old nun returned to her senses. She said in praise, “Sure enough, this child possesses the aptitude for buddhism and is heavily endowed with a buddhist nature. She should become my disciple and inherit my legacy.”
The old nun was the most mysterious great cultivator of the South sea. She neither founded a sect and recruited followers from everywhere, nor did she normally have any contact with other cultivators. She specially toured through the various regions of the South sea, spreading the buddhist dharma and doing good. Instead, she had an extremely resonant reputation among the mortals and was known as the Divine Nun of the South Sea. Many places had built shrines for her.
Now that the Crystal palace was about to go to war against Fire Melt mountain, “granny” had specially invited her here.
The Divine Nun of the South Sea was originally reluctant to partake in the war among otherfolk. She was disinterested in the treasures of the Crystal palace too, but “granny” told her that two buddhist disciples from the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga would be coming, and that both of them were highly talented with extraordinary cultivations. Among them, the woman was even treated by the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga as a one-in-a-thousand-years buddhist prodigy. As a result, she became interested and said she would come and take a look.
When she first saw Li Qingshan, the Divine Nun of the South Sea secretly frowned. He was clad in armour, wearing a horned helmet, which made him seem more like a military general and not a monk. He did not have a buddhist sense of benevolence at all. Instead, he seemed very vicious and malicious. Then she saw Xiao An and was stunned. What a girlie with a natural aptitude for buddhism, deep with the root of wisdom! On top of that, she already possesses such a cultivation at her age! Not only is she destined to undergo the third heavenly tribulation in the future, but there’s even a chance for her to ascend!
“Unfortunately, she’s a disciple of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga,” said Gong Yuan.
“The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga is a temple of monks. I haven’t heard that any Monk King has specially accepted her as their direct disciple, so it’s not exactly impossible for her to shift over to the abbess.” “Granny” cast a glance at Gong Yuan.
Gong Yuan disagreed inside. After witnessing the sword stroke from Xiao An in Feilian hall, she no longer dared to underestimate this expressionless lady. “Granny” wanted to use her to rope in the Divine Nun of the South Sea, but she only viewed her as a regular cultivator. Her calculations were not fantastic, and the Li Qingshan right beside her was even less easy of a nut to crack.
As they spoke, Li Qingshan, Xiao An and elder Blue had already made their way through the crystal corridor and arrived outside the hall. Elder Blue reported their arrival and invited them in.
Li Qingshan clasped his hands with a smile. “It’s been a few days. You look much better, your majesty.”
“You too, King of Savages!” Gong Yuan nodded gently, but she was puzzled inside. Why was Li Qingshan so sickly? Had he suffered a hidden wound during the battle? However, it was inconvenient for her to ask about it, so she introduced Li Qingshan to the others in the hall.
Seeing how Gong Yuan had no intentions of holding a banquet to thank him for saving his life, Li Qingshan cut right to the chase. “Everyone’s time is very precious, so I’m not going to beat around the bush. I want Fire Melt mountain and the divine wutong tree. I can give up on everything else, but I definitely won’t accept it if even just one of them is missing. If it’s possible, we can start discussing the strategy and put in a good effort against the fire devourers.”
Gong Yuan’s icy face also thawed slightly. Li Qingshan did not go overboard and make some excessive demands. Fire Melt mountain was a very rare blessed land for cultivation, but it was useless to the Merfolk. As an ancient divine tree, the divine wutong tree was very precious, but it was rooted on Fire Melt mountain and immovable. Since they could give him Fire Melt mountain, then that just came with it. Moreover, his two demands were built off the condition that they did manage to take down Fire Melt mountain and eradicate the fire devourers.
Ji Changfeng eased up inside as well. Li Qingshan’s demands did not have any conflict with his, and it was not unacceptable. They were basically half-way to forming the alliance already.
“Young man, aren’t you afraid of boasting? Do you know what kind of blessed land Fire Melt mountain is, and what kind of divine item the wutong tree is? Just what gives you the right to put forward these two demands?”
“Granny” stared at Li Qingshan. She wanted much more than those from Li Qingshan.
“Old ma’am, I have no right. Those are just my conditions. It’s up to you if you want to agree or not.” Li Qingshan did not get angry. If Ru Xin’s Stoneheart could achieve its expected effect, then the battle this time would be unprecedentedly brutal. He was confident that Gong Yuan could see this too.
“It’s not impossible for us to agree, but I also have two demands, so hear me out. First of all, hand over the wretched spawn to us. Second of all, hand over your cultivation method that can suppress the inner demons.”
Li Qingshan was taken aback. He broke into laughter. “Gong Yuan, don’t tell me your granny has gone senile? If it wasn’t for the fact that I had obtained a fine blade recently and am in a good mood, I would have cut her down already just after the first demand. As for the second demand, hehe, don’t you find it embarrassing just by mentioning it?”
Ru Xin’s significance to him went without saying, while a powerful cultivation method to a cultivator was virtually as important as their life. She really was getting ahead of herself if she thought she could obtain it just by asking for it.
“Such impudence!” “Granny” bellowed out sternly. She thumped her dragon-headed cane, and a thunderous rumble rang out. “Where do you think you are right now? Why don’t you try and cut me?”
Li Qingshan immediately experienced tremendous pressure, like the entire ocean was crushing down on him. The seawater in the surroundings surged and became filled with killing intent. He sneered, and his eyes became tranquil and deep, glowing with clear, dim light. The surging sea water immediately settled down, without a single ripple remaining.
“Granny” was stunned inside. What is this cultivation method? It actually bears a hint of a divine nature. It can severely restrain water.
Li Qingshan held down the Tiger’s Fang that was eager to have a go at her. He said to Xiao An, “This just feels like we’re begging them. Forget it. Let’s go. Let’s just wait and see after the war between the fire devourers and merpeople!”
“Hold on!” Several voices rang out at the same time. “Granny’s” was furious, Gong Yuan’s was calm, and Ji Changfeng’s was anxious. However, the Divine Nun of the South Sea was the most direct, arriving before Li Qingshan and Xiao An in a flash.
Li Qingshan studied the nun before him and thought, What’s this all about? He brought his palms together and asked, “Abbess, may I ask what is the matter?”
The Divine Nun of the South Sea ignored him, saying to Xiao An instead, “Child, you have quite the destiny with me. Are you willing to accept me as your master?”
Li Qingshan had learnt a long time ago that buddhist monks all took a liking to Xiao An, but he never imagined her charms were actually so great, enough for a great cultivator to scramble over and go on about some “destiny”, directly wanting to accept her as a disciple, without any self-regard. We’re negotiating, alright? Do you have to destroy the atmosphere like this?
Xiao An bowed at her politely. “I’ve also found the abbess to be amicable at first glance, but I’ve already entered the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga unfortunately, so I can’t cultivate with you.”
What the nun said afterwards left Li Qingshan stumped. He had no idea what she had just said. She seemed to have used some kind of allegory from a buddhist scripture to express the vastness of buddhism and how they should not cling to the idea of schools and sects. Xiao An immediately responded with other allegories. Just like that, the two of them chimed in one after another, discussing the dharma like there was nobody else around. They left everyone absolutely clueless.
Ji Changfeng spoke up for Li Qingshan. “Fellow Gong, your demands are far too harsh. We’ve specially invited the King of Savages here for revenge, yet it’s ended up like this. How can you call that receiving a guest, let alone asking him to hand over his cultivation method? Do you want me to hand over my Method of the Wind God as well?”
Gong Yuan said, “Please calm down, fellow Ji. King of Savages, feel free to sit down and have a talk. When it comes to a major affair like forming an alliance, leaving in a huff over the slightest disagreement is not the behaviour of a great man.”
Li Qingshan glanced at Xiao An who was “trapped” with the Divine Nun of the South Sea and arrived before Gong Yuan. He did not take a seat, casually sitting down on the jade table and crossing his arms. “Then let’s hear what you have to say, your majesty. Since you know that forming an alliance is a major affair, you shouldn’t let those ignorant of its significance talk nonsense here. It’ll only destroy our respect for one another that we’ve built up after so much difficulty.”
Before Gong Yuan could even get a word in, “granny” flew into a rage. “You’re just a mere human. You’ve come to my Crystal palace, and you still have the courage to let your tongue run? I’d like to see what you’re capable of.”
Gong Yuan frowned. When “granny” became carried away, even she struggled to stop her. Most importantly, the two other Merfolk Kings disagreed with him. They could mediate between Gong Yuan and “granny”, but they could not allow an outsider to behave so arrogantly. Most importantly, the outsider’s cultivation was far lower than theirs, and he was even sickly in appearance. He did not seem like someone worthy of their respect.
“How would you like to see it?” Li Qingshan answered with a question.
“You said you’ve obtained a fine blade recently. That must be the one hanging on your waist. Let’s see just how ‘fine’ that blade of yours is!”
“Granny” arrived before Li Qingshan with her dragon-headed cane, her face filled with anger.
“You actually want to see it? Once unsheathed, this blade will always see blood!” Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow.
“See whose blood?”
“Obviously whoever wants to see it.”
“Alright, I’d like to see just how you make me see blood.”
“Granny” began laughing out of anger, staring straight at Li Qingshan. It had to be mentioned that even if the Fire Devouring King Zhu Yan was present, he probably was not her opponent. Although water was weaker than fire in battle, the difference in their cultivations was still a thing. To her, what Li Qingshan said was like a fly telling a human, I can bite you to death in a single gulp. It was utterly hilarious and repulsing.
Li Qingshan stood up. He pressed his hand against the hilt, and his eyebrows sank. He said nothing.
The atmosphere in the hall immediately froze. Even the Divine Nun of the South Sea and Xiao An stopped their buddhist conversation, casting their gazes over.
The Divine Nun of the South Sea asked secretly, “Who is he to you? He’ll probably end up suffering. He is a genius given his age and cultivation, but isn’t he a little too mindlessly arrogant? The blade is a little strange, but how can it be her opponent?”
Xiao An shook her head. “You reap what you sow.”
A while later, Li Qingshan let go of the hilt. He sighed. “Looking at your senility, I really can’t bring myself to do it. Whatever, whatever. When people get old, they’re bound to take advantage of their seniority. It’s really nothing strange for them to utter some nonsense. Gong Yuan, why don’t you keep an eye on her?”
Gong Yuan was speechless.
“What, afraid?” “Granny” said in disdain. She mocked herself for actually taking him a little seriously earlier. She raised the cane high into the air. “Though, I’d like to see your blood!”
In that moment, a blood-red streak of light ripped through her field of vision. A tiger’s roar filled the hall!
