After Xue Hanfeng bowed and took his leave, Xue Bing helped him to the back courtyard.

  Xue Hanfeng glanced at the new moon in the air, floating in the sea of clouds. Tears suddenly began to roll down his cheeks. He sighed and said, “Bing’er, the Snow Mountain sect is over.” When he said that, he seemed like he had aged by a decade.

  “Father.” Xue Bing wept as well.

  “The world falls into chaos with the arrival of the daemon star. Perhaps this is the will of the heavens!”


  “He is not the will of the heavens!”


  Xue Bing made her way out of the residence. She was received by a handsome young man. “Junior sister, is master… still alright? Sigh, that power really isn’t something you can contend with as a human. Perhaps joining and following the World’s society is the best choice. The hero king didn’t even use his blade earlier! At least that’s a silver lining to all of this.”


  “Has the banquet ended? Where is the hero king right now?” Xue Bing asked coldly.

  “He’s admiring the moon on Flying Snow cliff. What are you trying to do?”


  “I want to make a deal with him.” Xue Bing made her way towards Flying Snow cliff.

  “You…” The first senior brother realized something. He wanted to go with her, but he still ended up watching her vanish off into the distance.

  Li Qingshan peered beyond the cliff with his head raised, looking at the new moon in the sky. He wondered whether the moon was the same right now in the nine provinces, whether Xiao An was gazing at a similar moon too.

  The sound of footsteps rang out from behind. Li Qingshan looked back. “Is your father alright?”


  The dim moonlight sprinkled on Xue Bing’s face as if it enveloped her in a layer of frost. She was filled with determination. She clasped her hands and said, “Hero king, you previously said in the restaurant that you wanted to marry the Ten Great Beauties of the World.”


  Li Qingshan corrected her. “It’s the nine great beauties. Yeah, I like alcohol.”


  Note: This is a pun. “Nine” and “alcohol” sound the same in Chinese.

  “I can be the first, whether it’s as a wife, a concubine, or a servant. As long as you spare the Snow Mountain sect, I’ll be yours,” Xue Bing said sternly with her chest held high.

  Li Qingshan began laughing aloud.

  “What are you laughing about?” Xue Bing felt furious about how he simply brushed her aside.

  “I’m laughing at how much importance you’ve attached to the Snow Mountain sect and how little you’ve attached to yourself. You should go to Pegasus city and meet with that leader of the World’s society. She doesn’t even take her own father seriously.”


  Everything that Xue Bing possessed came from the Snow Mountain sect. Originally, she thought Li Qingshan would mock her for having no right to make this kind of deal, so she was slightly taken by surprise when she heard his response. No one had ever said something like that to her. “I’ve heard that the leader of the World’s society, Gu Yanying, is the greatest beauty in the world. Unfortunately, I’ve never had the opportunity to meet her.”


  “That’s just a title others have given her. The ‘beauty’ part doesn’t exist in her mind. That’s right, even when she faces me, she refuses to be the second greatest in the world.”


  “Do you like her very much, my king?” Xue Bing asked. She was curious about what a woman who could make him exhibit an expression like that looked like.

  Li Qingshan thought about it before smiling with composure. “That’s correct.”


  “What if she were here, making this deal with you?” Xue Bing suddenly felt a hint of envy.

  “She won’t.”


  “Then I’m different from her. I’m willing to sacrifice myself in exchange for peace for the entire Snow Mountain sect.”


  “If you fly high enough one day, you’ll discover that this snow mountain is merely a mound of earth. Though, you are quite right about me. If it weren’t for this brat, I’d lunge over right now and then refuse to uphold my end of the deal.”


  Xue Hong reddened. “And you call yourself the hero king?”


  “Fuck the hero king. It’s only a name. Oh right, I have a supreme secret manual in my possession called the Gui Water Method of Condensing Qi. Do you want to exchange for that instead? I can guarantee you that it’s a fair deal, a deal you simply can’t miss out on.”


  Xue Bing was taken aback. She stomped her foot furiously and said, “I refuse!”


  She had come to sacrifice herself for the Snow Mountain sect, not to sell her body for some supreme secret martial arts manual. She had almost been swept into his rhythm, which left her fuming.

  “That’s a pity then.” Li Qingshan looked at her as if she had just missed out on a fantastic deal. Then he asked, “You really don’t want to go forward with that?”


  “I don’t. Farewell!’ Xue Bing clasped her hands as she fumed, only to see Li Qingshan’s expression change. He sneered and said, “We’ll be making that exchange whether you want to or not.” With that, she noticed that she had been immobilised, leaving her shocked. Is he going to?

  Li Qingshan approached her step by step, raising his hand and sealing up her acupoints. The maximum length of his innate ability was far too short right now.

  Xue Bing watched as he brought his face towards hers, which made her close her eyes. However, she heard him utter by her ear, “Listen up!” Following that, she heard a string of mantras for a cultivation method.

  She opened her eyes in shock, only to see a mischievous smile. “Stop. I’m not listening.”


  Li Qingshan ignored her and recited the entire Gui Water Method of Condensing Qi with a smile. This was his original cultivation method as a Qi Practitioner. Even now, he could still recall it perfectly.

  Xue Bing’s body slackened. Her acupoints had been released. She saw how he had already arrived by the edge of the cliff, gazing at the dark clouds rising up on the horizon. Gradually, the clouds swallowed the new moon. He said without looking back, “Alright, I’m leaving. Wait for me!”


  “Where are you going? Why would anyone wait for you? I never agreed to that deal! I’ve already forgotten everything you recited to me!”


  His actions of forcing the deal on her had already left her furious, but she suddenly felt a hint of reluctance when she heard how he would be leaving.

  “I know you’ve remembered it! As for where I’m going? This hero king is obviously off to uphold justice and maybe check out the eight other great beauties.”


  “You’re going to do this alone?” Xue Bing understood what he meant. The eight great beauties corresponded to the five great sects and three remaining aristocratic clans. He was probably off to take on the martial arts community across the entire world.

  “There’s the two of us! Hey, stop always forgetting about Xiaoming. Xiaoming is very important!”


  Li Qingshan lifted up Rāhu Xiaoming and shook him around violently.

  Rāhu Xiaoming shot a glare at him from the corner of his eye. Killing intent erupted from his body.

  At this rate, he would recover his fighting spirit even before the red lotus’ bloom.

  “Hero king, who knows how many freaks and strange people capable of all sorts of techniques and abilities there are in the world. Even with your unrivaled martial arts, you might not be able to get out unscathed.”


  “Are you worried about me?”


  “Of course not. I’m worried you’ll turn the Snow Mountain sect into a laughing stock of the world, so I wish you success with subduing the other sects and clans.”


  “Haha, thank you for your blessing.” Li Qingshan suddenly furrowed his brows and said in distress, “Speaking of which, are there any cute nuns in the Salvation temple?” The Salvation temple guarded and suppressed the daemon star, so he had to pay them a visit. The spiritual qi he could directly extract might help him recover a lot of his strength.

  “Of course not,” Xue Bing said in exasperation.

  Li Qingshan clapped his hands. “I know. They don’t have one, so I’ll just confer one to them. That way, there’ll be the Ten Great Beauties of the World again.”


  “You’re serious?” Xue Bing widened her eyes in response to his bizarre “great idea”. She found it both fuming and funny.

  “Yep. You’re the first.” Li Qingshan grinned and leapt off the cliff.

  “I’m not!” Xue Bing rushed to the edge of the cliff and called out, but the only reply she received was his laughter. She watched him vanish off into the darkness.

  Everything she had gone through during the short half a day was like a dream. There was fear, sorrow, and hatred, as well as joy, gratitude, and admiration, yet in the end, it also seemed like a joke. Never had a man managed to make her emotions heave like that.

  “Hopefully, you can return safely!”