“You took quite a bit of risk in this battle too. Speaking of which, even your basic survival has become a problem now, so let’s share it!”


  Li Qingshan weighed the daemon core in his hand. In the nine provinces, neither of them would be interested in a few daemon cores like this, but now, they were clearly extremely precious.

  “It’s not the time to ensure fairness. Given the same cultivation, your strength is far beyond mine, so you should use all the resources first so that you recover your strength quickly. That way, we’ll both have a safeguard to rely on, or I wouldn’t be so generous either. Speaking of which, it’s not like I’m not getting anything out of this. I plan on trying out invigoration through my diet. Help me collect the ape meat!”


  “You’re actually going to eat it?”


  Li Qingshan was surprised. With all the limbs and blood scattered on the snowy ground, even gluttons could lose their appetite. The White Ape King’s corpse that had died in resentment resembled a human’s as well.

  “It might not be as disgusting as it looks. It’s still the flesh of intelligent, cultivating creatures, so it’s worth a try. Hurry up. Let’s go and find the White Ape King’s dwelling before the snow covers up the traces.”


  As she said that, the snowstorm grew heavier. The snowflakes swept through the world with the fierce wind like goose feathers, sending the world into chaos.

  Li Qingshan said nothing more. He conjured a large sack and swept all the corpses in there before riding off in the wind with Gu Yanying in his arms, vanishing into the wind and snow.

  All he left behind was a snowy, white land, hiding the blood and rubble.

  Li Qingshan widened his eyes and looked around carefully. The ape daemons were agile, so the traces they left behind had already been extremely sparse. Coupled with this snowstorm, it became particularly difficult to find their way.

  The cold attacked every inch of their skin, piercing into their bones. It had already been a very long time since Li Qingshan felt so cold. Gu Yanying’s lips had even turned blue. If this continued, they would definitely catch a great cold, so he was forced to use the Divine Talisman of Great Creation to produce some warmth.

  “Conserve your power. It doesn’t have to be so warm. The Hot Wind hell does make me feel quite warm.”


  Gu Yanying leaned against Li Qingshan as they relied on each other to stay warm.

  Warm?

  Li Qingshan shook his head. This was basically an insult to hell. All he felt was the pain of his soul scorching, like he had ended up in the middle of a desert and every bit of moisture was being baked out of his body, all while remaining conscious. If he did not have a bit of persistence in him, then even death would seem like liberation.

  What was truly warm was her soft body beneath her thin clothes.

  The wind and snow howled. The world was in chaos.

  Only the two of them seemed to remain in the world, advancing alone, rejecting fate and contending against the entire world. This feeling could not be put into words.

  Li Qingshan glanced down. Her graceful smile had become slightly stiff from the cold, but she continued to smile away, which resembled the spring breeze in March. Her hawk eyes remained as determined as ever, but he had no idea how she truly felt inside.

  “Keep your eyes on the path!” Gu Yanying looked back at him.

  “The snow is too heavy. I’ve already lost track of the traces,” said Li Qingshan.

  “Then find another way. Don’t forget about our deal. All that exists between us is friendship. We will not develop anything more than that.”


  “I can’t forget that. You should stop making me feel so good about myself too!” Li Qingshan sneered.

  “I’m just reminding you. After all, we’re a man and a woman alone in a world, but speaking of which, neither of us really seem like people who can be affected by our environments.”


  “Are you telling that to yourself?”


  “Yeah!” Gu Yanying was completely calm. Even if they went through thick and thin together, she had to keep her heart to herself.

  “Understood.”


  With a wave of his hand, Li Qingshan’s Divine Talisman of Great Creation erupted with rainbow light, and a black hound materialised out of nowhere. It landed on the snowy ground gently and sniffed around with its nose, scurrying off into the forest.

  ……


  The colossal peak sliced through the wind and snow, pointing straight at the sky.

  There was a speck of lantern light at the top of the mountain. It was like a guiding star, but in reality, it was a well-lit mountain manor.

  The southern cliff was carved with five colossal words, three hundred meters across for each—Sword Sect of the World.

  Everyone who saw this for the first time would gasp at the wondrous swordsmanship of the person who carved it, as well as their extraordinary boldness to look down on the entire world.

  However, there was an exception today. Actually, there were two exceptions.

  “The white ape sure knows how to boast!“ Li Qingshan.

  “It’s probably true in this world. At the level of Qi Practitioners, daemons possess a clear advantage with the toughness of their bodies. Coupled with an innate ability and intelligence no less than a human’s, he probably is without any rivals.”


  “Yeah, but the spiritual qi in this world is so thin. Producing a daemon like that probably isn’t very easy.”


  Li Qingshan rode his way up on the wind, landing at the entrance of the mountain manor.

  The gate was very large, embellished with eighty-one doornails, which demonstrated the bearing of a ruler. The gate was not guarded by stone lions, but a pair of stone apes. A power seemed to envelop the entire mountain manner.

  Li Qingshan remarked in surprise, “There is actually even a formation here, but it is an extremely low level one.”


  “It’s more than enough to deal with Qi Practitioners. Look, this is the formation disc, but we probably have to reach the core of the formation if you want to switch owners.”


  Gu Yanying took out the formation disc she had found on the White Ape King’s waist and conveniently checked if there were anything like hundred treasures pouches in this world. If they did exist, then the White Ape King would definitely possess one. The difference between this world and the nine provinces was not just the absence of everything above Qi Practitioner. Their entire way of cultivation was behind.

  “I’ll go knock. Huh? Nevermind.”


  The vermillion gate suddenly opened, and several dozen figures flickered inside. The lantern light illuminated the snowy ground, casting long shadows behind Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying.

  “Who are you? How dare you intrude upon my Mountain Manor of the Divine Ape without reporting yourselves!?” the middle-aged man at the front yelled out.

  The middle-aged man’s face was fiery-red, and his voice boomed like a bell. The short beard on his chin was trimmed extremely neatly, which added a sense of charm to him. He was the Marquis of the Fierce Fire Sword renowned throughout the world, Hou Hongtao, a grandmaster of the sword at the ninth layer of the innate realm.

  He gazed at the two people before him in uncertainty. He had no idea how they had managed to make it here without setting off any alarms through the wind and snow on the mountain path. For a master like him, he obviously did not take the mountain path, directly flying up here on his sword, but the two of them clearly seemed like regular people. One of them even carried a huge sack on their back, and the sack reeked with the smell of blood.

  They had not come with good intentions!

  Li Qingshan and Gu Yanying exchanged glances. They never expected the White Ape King’s den to have so many humans, but it was exactly what they wanted. As long as there were people around, they could learn about this world very quickly.

  “Do you still want to talk?” Li Qingshan asked Gu Yanying.

  “You better try instead!”


  “Alright.”


  Through their contact with the White Ape King, a gentle method clearly was not particularly appropriate, so he would establish his might first!

  With a wave of his hand, the sack vanished, and the limbs scattered on the ground. The most complete item in the sack was the White Ape King’s corpse.

  “Ah! That- that’s…”


  Everyone staggered backwards in an uproar.

  “The lord!?”


  Only Hou Hongtao remained exactly where he was, staring at the White Ape King’s corpse like he was entranced. He murmured, “No, that’s impossible!”


  It had been less than a day since the renowned White Ape King had left the mountain manor with his subordinates, yet he actually ended up facing such a horrific fate.

  Thinking of the daemon star shooting across the sky, he could not help himself as a prophecy appeared in his head—with the arrival of the daemon star, the world falls into chaos.

  “Heh, to think this old ape is a lord! From today onwards, we’re in charge of here. You’re all my subordinates.”


  Li Qingshan announced loudly and strode forwards. Everyone retreated again in fear.

  “I am guarding the Mountain Manor of the Divine Ape in the White Ape King’s place. If you take another step forward, sir, then forgive my rudeness.” Hou Hongtao’s heart thumped away as he stood exactly where he was. He gripped the Fierce Fire sword on his waist, having calmed down already. He came up with the most logical explanation. “Do you really think you can fool us with mere illusions?”


  “Yeah, it must be illusions. Wise be the marquis!”


  “It’s tricks by people of the demonic path again!”


  The swordsmen all recovered and drew their swords.

  “You said this is an illusion?”


  Li Qingshan’s expression was strange. The bastards of these worlds really did not know how to cooperate, no matter what they tried. Did he really have to carry out a massacre before they learned their lesson?

  “I didn’t think the Daemon Maiden of Illusionary Dance would have a successor, but you’ve actually produced such a laughable illusion. Don’t you know that even if that old daemon woman was here in person, she would not even be able to touch a hair on the ape king?”


  Hou Hongtao became more confident in his judgement and glanced at the ape corpses on the ground in disdain. If someone had tried to poison them in secret, then so be it. Even if the chances of that succeeding were pitifully small, at least it was easier to accept. However, it was absolutely impossible for the White Ape King’s entire group to have crumbled in such a heavy-handed manner.

  On top of that, the greatest hole in all of this was not that, but the woman’s beauty. In comparison, all the beauties in the White Ape King’s harem that he had gathered from across the world seemed mediocre. How could such a beautiful person exist in the world? It could only be explained through the use of illusions, but even when he thought of that, he could not help but steal another glance or two.

  “It’s fake. It’s all fake. Kill these two wretched members of the demonic path!” a person called out complacently.

  “How tiresome. You really just can’t communicate with them.” Li Qingshan sighed.

  “If you don’t believe us, you’re welcome to check.” Gu Yanying shrugged, also powerless over the situation.

  “Don’t go, marquis! Who knows what they’re scheming!”


  “Yeah, let’s kill them first!”


  “Whatever. Let’s head in for now.”


  Li Qingshan pulled Gu Yanying along as he made his way through the entrance. His right hand clenched firmly before opening up again, ready to draw the Dragon-slaying sabre.

  Swords flashed in the surroundings, but it was also like a repeat of what had happened earlier. Without Hou Hongtao’s orders, no one dared to attack them.

  Hou Hongtao gazed coldly at the approaching Li Qingshan. His sword-wielding hand lit up with flames. I don’t care what kind of demonic being you are. I’ll cut you down with my sword.

  However, a sense of uneasiness gradually surged out in his heart. Compared to the woman’s beauty, the man’s appearance was nothing special. His stature could only be considered as a little larger than normal as if he had practised some external martial arts before. From head to toe, there was nothing frightening about him, yet in the flickering firelight, he gave off an indescribable and ominous feeling.

  “I’d advise you against that. I’m in a very bad state right now, so I won’t be able to hold back,” Li Qingshan said sincerely as he made his way around Hou Hongtao.

  With a clang, the flames shone.

  Most of the Fierce Fire sword had been drawn from its sheath, but to everyone’s surprise, Hou Hongtao, who possessed the temper of flames and the pride of a marquis, did not end up striking them. His face turned red.

  However, a few people noticed that during the instant he brushed past him, Li Qingshan had wielded his fingers like a sword and made a few casual gestures. After a moment of thought, their expressions also changed.

  Hou Hongtao ordered, “The two of you, go and check carefully. Illusions aren’t completely flawless, and they can’t be maintained forever.”


  The two of them went up reluctantly and spent a good while checking the remains. They reported blankly, “Marquis, i- it doesn’t seem to be an illusion!”


  In that instant, Hou Hongtao turned pale white. Cold sweat drenched his clothes.