“It’s like what they say, to have the world as a furnace and nature as the blacksmith. Since we’re trapped in this world, let’s temper ourselves properly!” Li Qingshan roared out, which echoed through the dark mountainous forests.

  Li Qingshan had lost almost all of his powers, but his spirit to toughen himself through danger had not weakened at all. Instead, the more setbacks and difficult situations he faced, the firmer and tougher it became.

  Gu Yanying looked at him with a smile. Who knew what she was thinking. She raised her hand towards the sky. “Sure enough, it’s here again.”


  Dark clouds suddenly gathered like a huge tent obscuring all the stars. The sounds of winds gradually rose up with bone-chilling coldness.

  “A snowstorm is coming.”


  Gu Yanying sucked in a mouthful of cool air, which cleared her head even further.

  It happened to be late autumn. They were located far north in a land of coldness, so there was nothing strange about the snow. It could only be described as a little soon and a little more intense. Just like what they had experienced earlier, everything that could go wrong would go wrong.

  “This place is fantastic apart from the fact that it’s too boring.”


  Li Qingshan smiled. If only bad things happened without anything good, then wouldn’t his life be missing that portion of joyous surprises?

  “Yeah. I’m a little cold. Let’s go and find somewhere warm!”


  Gu Yanying hugged her arms and shivered.

  The restraint from the world was truly impressive. Not only did it seal away all of their powers, but their bodies had become extremely frail too. If it were not for Li Qingshan’s Divine Talisman of Great Creation, they probably would have frozen to death in this land of snow and ice.

  However, a warm place would definitely have humans, which would let him find ways to build up more power in the Divine Talisman of Great Creation. Then he could fend off the endless disasters they would face.

  “Let’s go!”


  Li Qingshan felt slightly strange inside. Once they set aside their disagreements, they could understand each other in just a few words. That was a level of tacit understanding he only possessed when he was with Xiao An, except it was slightly different too.

  Before he could study the differences closely, the forests began to howl, like sobs of sorrow and bellows of fury. Together with the chilly winds was an endless bleakness.

  “It’s endless,” said Li Qingshan.

  “Who said we’re only unlucky? Our luck is here, isn’t it?” Gu Yanying smiled.

  “Fair enough. I take back what I said earlier.”


  Li Qingshan nodded. He just happened to be contemplating where to go!

  The power of the world was well beyond what they could withstand and almost endless, but its will was far too profound and obscure, so it could not truly think like a living creature.

  The howls rapidly grew closer. Pairs of green eyes lit up in the darkness as robust figures leapt out. Their weapons shone with cold light.

  “Seems like monkeys.” Gu Yanying listened closely. Due to the restrictions of the world, her hawk eyes lacked their usual sharpness. She could only make out the black figures leaping around, which did not seem to be human.

  “It’s apes.” Li Qingshan corrected her.

  The world in his eyes remained as clear as before, vivid with colours. Only when he saw how Gu Yanying squinted her eyes did he suddenly recall that he had once dripped ox tears into his eyes during his youth. However, apart from using it to see Xiao An, it had not been of much use later on. Even regular Qi Practitioners could see in the dark with ease. He never expected it to be unaffected by the laws of the world.

  Gu Yanying vaguely made out that they had been surrounded by a group of apes, dressed in armour and wielding various weapons. Although they constantly leapt around restlessly, they seemed to have undergone training, ready to launch a combined attack. The daemon qi they gave off shook up the wind and snow.

  “Is there anyone here who understands what I am saying?” Li Qingshan asked, but only the howls of apes filled with hostility answered him, which made him shake his head.

  After all, they were still only daemons—no, even the daemons only amounted to two or three. The rest were daemonic beasts. Even if they could understand him, they could not answer him.

  “Who are you?”


  A strange, hoarse voice suddenly rang out, bearing some resemblance to an ape’s howl.

  The apes all fell silent. They even bent over and lowered their weapons, like subjects welcoming the arrival of their king.

  Li Qingshan followed the sound and looked over. A sword as bright as snow shot over.

  This time, even Gu Yanying made it out clearly. She could not help but sigh. “Oh, sword control!”


  “Sigh, that’s what it is!” Li Qingshan said. In this small, remote world, it was far too nostalgic to see someone control a sword telepathically.

  The sword whistled and fell, turning around and returning to its sheathe. A white ape wielding the sword stood over thirty meters away, giving off a sense of aloofness and arrogance. He was even dressed in robes. If it were not for his apeish face, he really did resemble a human swordsman.

  Tsk, he actually speaks human tongue!

  Li Qingshan was amazed inside. This white ape clearly had not undergone the heavenly tribulation yet. In the past, when he served as a Daemon General underground, none of the daemon soldiers under his command possessed that ability, but perhaps they had no need to communicate with humans either.

  “Who are you?” the white ape said coldly.

  “I am Li Qingshan. She is Gu Yanying. May I ask for your esteemed name, fellow?”


  Originally, Li Qingshan was prepared to capture a pair of apes as mounts so that they could take them away from here, but seeing how he could communicate as well, he probably was not under the control of this world. As such, he decided to communicate with him. He wanted to go for a “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and conserve the Divine Talisman of Great Creation’s powers.

  “Do the likes of you think you’re worthy of learning the name of me, the White Ape King?”


  The White Ape King turned his head slightly and gazed at the man and woman in rather sorry shapes with a frown. It had already been many years since humans found the courage to intrude upon his territory, and they were actually a pair of mortals who had not even reached the innate realm. The man had a robust figure, so it seemed like he had practised some external martial arts, but he did not practise any internal martial arts. He basically had no hope left either given his age. He could not live past a century.

  The woman was even more frail, but she possessed beauty he had never seen before. In particular, her bearing basically could not be put into words, even making his mind sway.

  Li Qingshan was taken aback. It had already been many years since anyone had spoken to him like that. If any Daemon King tried to sass him in the nine provinces, they would immediately be served an iron fist. Right now, it was actually an ape daemon that had not even undergone the first heavenly tribulation, which left him at a loss for words. He had seen his fair share of kings, but one this weak was definitely a first.

  “So it’s the White Ape King. I’ve heard many things about you. May I ask why you’ve come, sir?” Gu Yanying asked with clasped hands.

  Li Qingshan understood what she was trying to do. She would get some information out of him first. It was not like he had actually been angered by this White Ape “King”, so he let her be.

  “Have you seen where the daemon star landed?”


  The White Ape King’s expression eased up slightly. He just happened to have questions for them too.

  The arrival of the daemon star was a major event that rarely happened even across millennia. Back then, he just happened to be cultivating, so he did not witness it for himself. He only learnt about it through the reports of his subordinates, but he struggled to determine the precise location of where the daemon star had fallen. Only when he heard the rockslide did he rush over, but he failed to see the “daemon star” he imagined. He only ran into this pair of strange people.

  He had witnessed the arrival of the previous “daemon star”. He never expected the “daemon star” would be living people, and they would be standing right before him.

  “Daemon star.” Li Qingshan immediately understood what was going on. When Gu Yanying and he landed here, it probably was like the fall of an asteroid.

  “Have I asked you?” The White Ape King’s eyes flashed with cold light.