“No!” Li Qingshan answered firmly.

  His eyes shone with cold light like a vicious tiger crouching behind a barren mountain, grinding its teeth in a bloodthirsty manner as it was about to swallow someone whole.

  “If he wants to play with me, then I’ll play to the very end with him!”


  The winds surged, picking up waves and shattering the clouds. All of the vegetation on the island shivered.

  The world paled in the face of the killing intent.

  The otherfolk kings and Daemon Kings all shivered.

  In a daze, Li Qingshan’s figure seemed to rapidly expand until he filled the world. He turned into a tiger of wind, occupying the South sea and gazing north at the Dragon province.

  In the distant Dragon province, the founding emperor Si Long was currently receiving the homage of the many officials. His heart suddenly shivered as if he had sensed that. His lips curled into a smile. “Interesting.”


  “What’s wrong, your majesty?”


  “Nothing. Everything is going as planned.”


  “Just you wait, Si Long!”


  Li Qingshan felt a sense of elation. If he retreated now, it would definitely result in a heavy blow to the will of the tiger demon, unable to make any more progress in the future.

  Sometimes, the lurking and forbearance of the spirit turtle was necessary, but forbearance was not for the sake of forbearing forever. Lurking away and hiding was not a form of escape either.

  With Si Qing still alive and the religious preceptor of the left still roaming the land, how could he just hand over the world like this? If even a measly Human Sovereign, a dragon in shallow waters, could repel him, then how could he still go on about facing the Demon domain and fighting Qiongqi?

  It was like how neither of them had any good intentions towards each other, so why should they not fight?

  However, determination alone was not enough to even touch a hair on Si Long. The very fundamentals were still increasing his strength. Right now, the Ape Demon Transformation was his greatest shortcoming.

  Cultivating the Ape Demon’s Method of Moon Scooping was actually very easy—he only needed to do whatever he wanted.

  Acting as he pleased, getting his own way, to his heart’s content. He could try and scoop the moon from the water if he wanted. He could do whatever he wanted, regardless of whether it was something foolish or something bad. He completely cast aside the spirit turtle’s resourcefulness, the phoenix’s reservedness, the ox demon’s stubbornness, and the tiger demon’s battle-hungriness, all for the sake of being carefree.

  Being carefree was a simple concept, but how many people in the world could truly achieve it? Who didn’t constantly weigh the costs and benefits? Who didn’t constantly consider the right and the wrong, the good and the bad?

  Li Qingshan happened to be very adept at this. The razor-sharp murderousness faded away, replaced by a face full of smiles. It was filled with brimming interest, yet also a little funny. That was probably the same smile on the faces of naughty children when they made a bit of mischief, filled with a simple and innocent malice.

  The otherfolk kings and Daemon Kings in the surroundings could not help but shiver. Earlier, they understood at the very least that Li Qingshan’s killing intent was not directed towards them, so they were only affected by the collateral impact. Yet right now, he gave them the feeling that he could twist off any of their heads at any moment and kick it around like a ball, and he would do so without any reason at all.

  The ape demon was still a demon after all. The destructive power of a naughty child could never be underestimated!

  Abruptly, Li Qingshan leapt into the air, made a few hundred flips, and plunged into the ocean. Almost at the same time, another Li Qingshan rushed out from the surface of the ocean, flying towards the north. That was another mirror clone of his.

  He did not explain anything to Gu Yanying, Rāhu Xiaoming, or Xiao An. They did not need any explanation from him either. Since they knew he was determined to face Si Long in battle, then they would make their preparations.

  Xiao An drifted away. She already possessed a large quantity of resources that she had never gotten round to using. She had also obtained all the ?arīra from the Spirit K?etra temple and a good portion of the Corpse Emperor Kuang Tianyou’s body. She could further refine her body of white bone and the many white bone artifacts, as well as forge a new white bone artifact, the Trisepultural Robes.

  Gu Yanying took to the skies as well, vanishing in the blink of an eye. Rāhu Xiaoming simply found a cliff on the island and settled down, taking out an oval item shrouded in blood-red light.

  In such a short amount of time, Gu Yanying had already obtained an Asura Field for him.

  The otherfolk kings and Daemon Kings all bid farewell to the Great Banyan Tree King, leaving a Giant Lumberfolk King to guard him. No matter how loyal they were to him, they still had many clansmen to look after. The Daemon Kings all had their own territories as well. They could not be cramped up on this tiny island. They could only provide him with assistance when it was needed.

  Madam Vine turned into a golden sun vine, wrapping around the great banyan tree gently. Sun vine flowers bloomed one after another, absorbing the resplendent sunlight of the South sea and channeling warm spiritual qi into the great banyan tree.

  “Uncle, you helped me in the past. Now, it’s my turn to help you. Vines don’t just steal nutrients from the tree. You have to listen to me from now on.”


  Tree and uncle was a pun she had made when she first developed intelligence, babbling her first words as she received his guidance. She still did not understand the difference between the two back then. When she mentioned it now, it bore quite the significance.

  TL: Tree and uncle sound similar in Chinese. One is pronounced dàshù and the other is pronounced dàshū.

  The great banyan tree trembled, blooming with gorgeous pink flowers in the sunlight.

  Madam Vine said in surprise, “Y- you’re blooming!”


  “Look at how important it is to start them when they’re young!”


  Li Qingshan sighed. After facing such a great disaster, the one who would remain by the Great Banyan Tree King in the very end was still madam Vine who he had supported from plant to Daemon King.

  Gong Yuan furrowed her brows. “What did you say?”


  They were inside the Crystal palace of the Merfolk of the South sea. Daylight and shadows rippled on the ceiling like an illusion, contrasting against a woman’s absolute beauty. It made her seem like a deity. Her slender fishtail bobbed up and down with the water, and her dark-blue tail fins were like fine gauze.

  Li Qingshan ignored her. He stared at her, admiring her beauty.

  Gong Yuan felt rather uneasy. It had been many years since they last saw each other. The concept of time for cultivators was different from mortals, and the lifespans of Merfolk were lengthy too. Living on the gloomy bottom of the ocean, they were even less sensitive to the flow of time. However, she had clearly experienced the sensation of longing.

  Now, the man had returned again, and he was even stronger than before. Everything that had once happened between them filled her head again.

  Li Qingshan said, “Do you know why I have to face him?”


  “Why?”


  “I refuse to see my women submit to another man.”


  Once Si Long refined the nine provinces into a blessed land, everything in it would be under his control. Even if she resided in the South sea, it would be impossible for her to remain independent. She would be forced to submit to the Great Xia empire.

  His shining eyes set off ripples in her deep, cold heart, but she maintained the nobility and pride of the Merfolk Queen. She shifted her gaze. “Who’s your woman? You better not be so melodramat- Mmf!”


  Li Qingshan directly lunged over and kissed her deeply on her icy-cold lips.

  Gong Yuan put up a struggle. She pushed against his chest as she swung her tail.

  Li Qingshan obviously possessed a crushing advantage with his current strength, but she did not put up a desperate struggle either. After all, this was the Crystal palace. Even he could not have acted so brazenly here.

  Li Qingshan said, “Let’s dual cultivate!”


  Gong Yuan’s heart skipped a beat as she gazed at him in a strange manner. She understood that the dual cultivation this time would be different from any of the times in the past.

  Li Qingshan lifted her up in his arms and flew out of the Crystal palace, sinking towards the depths of the sea abyss until they reached the bottom of the ocean.

  Gong Yuan’s hair floated in the surroundings. Her clothes slid off, revealing a figure that was perfect like a jade statue, gradually gaining some warmth in this icy-cold sea water. Her deathly-still eyes glistened and rippled as if she was trying to see Li Qingshan properly.

  Li Qingshan’s robust body had become bare a long time ago.

  There was no embarrassment in her eyes either. Instead, she asked, “What are you trying to do?”


  The question seemed a little unnecessary. With a man and woman alone, facing each other with their bare selves, what else could they try and do?

  However, Li Qingshan considered that question seriously and answered seriously, “I want to start a harem.”


  Yes, the thought that he had discarded recently had immediately leapt out again the moment he decided to do whatever he pleased, just like a little monkey running amok in his head and calling out, “Start a harem! Start a harem! Start a harem!”


  It had to be mentioned that this idea was absolutely idiotic.

  Back then during the grand wedding, Han Qiongzhi and he had broken off their relationship with each other, and he already understood that was the end of their destiny together. Back then above the South sea, he had plenty of opportunities, but he never really did anything with Gong Yuan, even when he knew how she felt towards him.

  On the path to the Nine Heavens, they could not keep up with him, so was that not the most intelligent decision? He refused to let them be dragged down by him. He refused to interfere and disturb their cultivation, so was there really no feelings of affection involved?

  As a result, not only was this thought idiotic, but it was even horrible too.

  However, he could not care about that now, just like how he was drunk on the beauty of the moon in the water, unable to help himself but reach over and scoop it. Even when it was destined to be all in vain, even if he would break someone’s heart and leave them in disappointment, he refused to simply stop, continuing to make attempt after attempt. Every single time, it would be filled with hope and anticipation. Perhaps there would be a time when he could actually grasp the moon and leave no regrets behind.

  Gong Yuan’s heart fluttered. Her full chest rose and fell. “Then… can I decline?”


  “You can’t.” Li Qingshan smiled as he brought his arms around her slender waist, pulling her in firmly.

  “Alright then.” Gong Yuan looked down. Her dark-blue fishtail swayed about, and the scales glittered as they fell, turning into specks of light. It turned into a pair of slender legs, curling up gently. They were at the peak of perfection, too chubby if they were slightly thicker and too skinny if they were slightly thinner. They pressed against each other firmly as if she had to adjust to this transformation.

  Although she said nothing more, although her expression was still a little cold, this was already the most precious thing that a female Merfolk could give to a man.

  Li Qingshan could not help but gently caress this flawless creation of nature. Emotions surged through him too, and he suddenly discovered that he still had the heart of a human. However, this thing was far too delicate, unable to compare to the heart of gods and demons. As such, he had protected it very well the entire time, never exposing it without good reason.

  It was like a child being caught in his fantasies.

  But living in the world, man would always be struggling to persevere, hesitating in cowardice, enduring pain, lowly and uncertain, without a day of happiness, without a moment of freedom.

  With all of this, who would ever want the heart of a human? He should just get rid of this thing as soon as possible, but he was reluctant to part with it at the same time. The mere heart of a human could produce all perseverance, courage, intelligence, and nobility. It could also experience the various joys of life. Just by allowing the demonic and divine clash together, constantly searching within the uncertainty, perhaps it could find an answer that even the demonic and divine could not understand.

  “Yuan’er.” Li Qingshan brought his forehead to hers and called her name gently with a smile. He parted her legs gently and became one with her.

  Great waves surged through the abyss.