Li Qingshan flapped his wings as hard as he could, gathering the atmospheric winds and flying faster and faster. He reached the boundary of the land very soon, and the shimmering ripples expanded before him, extending off into the horizon.
He had arrived at the South sea!
His eyes lit up, and his mind opened up. He sped up slightly yet again. Only when he reached the depths of the South sea did he furl up his wings and dive into the ocean.
The magnificent Crystal palace stood in the depths of the ocean as Merfolk bustled about.
Suddenly, the merpeople raised their heads, only to see a speck of scarlet light fall downwards. It stretched into a scarlet streak in the blink of an eye, vanishing into the great sea abyss behind the Crystal palace.
At the bottom of the sea abyss, the Merfolk Queen was currently cultivating, holding the Heart of the Abyss in her mouth as she connected with the distant world of Ruin’s End. She allowed the sensation of loneliness and stillness to fill her heart. The deep, icy-cold power penetrated her entire body.
The crystal accessories on her were all dyed black. Even her silken dress had become a similar colour, adding a hint of stillness and mysteriousness to her cold and noble bearing. It was difficult to look at her.
Suddenly, she sensed something and opened her eyes, frowning slightly and asking coldly, “Why have you come?”
“What’s wrong? I’m not welcome? If I recall correctly, I almost became the son-in-law of the Crystal palace.” Li Qingshan stood with his arms crossed, completely ignoring the dignified bearing of a queen she might have intentionally been giving off.
“Cut to the chase. Why have you come?” Gong Yuan shut her eyes, saving herself from the misfortune of having to see him.
Li Qingshan walked towards her, and Gong Yuan snorted coldly. He felt bone-chilling coldness, like countless blades slicing away at his body in an attempt to make him stop. However, the seawater in the surroundings never froze.
Li Qingshan was secretly amazed. Her cultivation truly had progressed. However, he had no intention of stopping. He arrived before her against the coldness and extended his hands, pressing them down on her icy-cold shoulders. His eyes were filled with great sincerity as he said, “Help me out!”
Gong Yuan shuddered gently. During the millennium she spent cultivating, there had only been a single man who could stand so close to her, and no one other than him dared to touch her so recklessly. However, after all of the contact and embrace in the past, she seemed to be able to accept a slight infringement like this as natural.
However, anger suddenly rose up in her heart. She opened her eyes. “Why should I? Where were you when I needed your help?”
“Hmm? Didn’t I help you take down Fire Melt mountain? I even cooperated when you wanted to dual cultivate!” Li Qingshan was clueless over her anger.
“And then you had no more use for me, right?” Gong Yuan sneered. The empty seat throughout the entire banquet from over a decade ago was still vivid in her memories, which also caused her bitter disappointment.
“How can you say that?” Li Qingshan was surprised. He had no idea why she was angry. He had already forgotten all about the banquet from over a decade ago. Even if he could remember it, he would not think it was something particularly important.
“And now that you can use me again, the great King of Savages has finally gone to the length of personally paying a visit?”
Li Qingshan felt rather clueless, but he at least understood one thing. The queen was in a very bad mood. If he requested her to go purging demons with him right now, it would definitely end in failure, yet she just happened to be the best assistant for something like this.
Demon Kings were not easy targets, especially those that camped right beside demon caverns. Defeating them was already difficult enough, and killing them was almost impossible. During the battle against the Thousand Tendrils King, Ye Duanhai had weakened him first, followed up by Xiao An’s sneak attack from behind. It would have been virtually impossible for Li Qingshan to succeed if he were alone.
For a Demon King to rise up among regular demonfolk, they had to have experienced countless bloodshed. The brutal, harsh environment basically determined that the battle prowess of Demon Kings would be much greater than regular great cultivators and Daemon Kings of the nine provinces, and they were cunning and cautious in nature. They definitely were not prey that would just stay put and wait to be hunted.
When Li Qingshan said he was going “hunting”, he said it with lofty aspirations, but he needed a powerful assistant. In this aspect, Gong Yuan was the best choice whether it was her strength, ability, or their teamwork.
When Xiao An reminded him of the South sea, she had only done so after very close thought. However, the minds of women were ungraspable, just like a needle at the bottom of the ocean, let alone the Merfolk Queen who had a mind as deep as a sea abyss. No matter how clever Xiao An was, it was impossible for her to guess her attitude. It was up to Li Qingshan to resolve this.
Faced with Gong Yuan’s sneers and questioning, Li Qingshan grinned and pulled her into his arms forcefully, lowering his head and kissing her.
Gong Yuan’s eyes widened. They were not in a state of dual cultivation this time. Instead, she was completely vigilant. She opened her mouth gently and spat out a dark, cold stream. That was the most pure power of Ruin’s End.
Let alone his mouth, even Li Qingshan’s entire head went numb. The kiss obviously fell apart, but his strength of the ox demon was not for show. He forcefully embraced her and discovered that she was not as cold as he imagined her to be. In particular, there was a sensation of warmth and gentleness up against his chest.
Ignoring the bone-chilling coldness, he said gently, “That’s how I want to use you. I’ve been trapped on Fire Melt mountain for all these years, or I would have come to the South sea and made good use of you a long time ago. A pity, a pity.”
“Trapped!” Gong Yuan had already made up her mind to teach him a brutal lesson, to make him understand the price of infringing on her again and again. However, when she heard that word, she could not help herself as the All Water to Ruin’s End circulating at full strength halted momentarily.
“Yeah, all because of that Feng Xiwu, so that divine wutong tree. He almost trapped me for a thousand years!” Li Qingshan silently practised the Spirit Turtle’s Method of Sea Suppression to stabilise her feelings.
Sure enough, the natural compatibility of the two cultivation methods immediately brought a sense of ease to Gong Yuan. Over a decade of cultivating alone made her suppressed inner demons stir again.
“Why?” Gong Yuan asked and temporarily dismissed the idea of attacking him. After some calm thought, she still needed this bastard to increase her cultivation, and she needed his strength to develop her race. She had to endure the humiliation for the greater good. She could not make an enemy out of him. However, these reasons felt like she was finding an excuse for herself, and she was unable to explain why she had flown into such a fury when she first saw him.
“Umm, that’s difficult to say, but since you want to know…” Li Qingshan hesitated.
“If you don’t want to tell me, then forget about it! Don’t weave those lies in an attempt to fool me!” Gong Yuan interrupted coldly.
“Can’t you sense it if I’m trying to fool you?” Li Qingshan just opened his mind and entered a state of dual cultivation with her. Under this state, they were mentally linked, so absolutely no lies or deception were possible.
Perhaps this was the reason why virtually everyone who dual cultivated together would become partners of cultivation. Of all living beings, who didn’t desire the existence of someone like that? Cultivation was lonely. Cultivators were not born with a preference of travelling alone.
Gong Yuan hesitated, but she was unable to resist this temptation. The moment their minds linked up, her heart stirred. Compared to her cold, silent heart, his heart would always be so scorching and boiling hot, filled with desire, ambition as well as the unscrupulousness to do whatever he wanted.
“How do I start? I have a son now!” The entire sea abyss froze over the moment Li Qingshan said his first sentence.
“Heh, sure enough, you’re not lying.”
