“Si Long! Si Long! Get out here!”
With the dragon cries, a cloud descended from above, enveloping the Dragon’s Pool dwelling. Dragon scales surged through there as claws and horns faded in and out. Abruptly, a huge dragon head poked out.

  Suddenly, Xiao An opened her eyes. They were clear and empty, without the slightest ripple. She looked towards Rāhu Xiaoming and Gu Yanying.

  Gu Yanying sighed. “Sure enough, we are simply unable to avoid trouble. Qingshan has just taken the Heaven Climbing Vine away, so we really are unfortunate. Surely something hasn’t gone wrong on his end…”
Xiao An said impassively, “That won’t happen.”
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “There have never been any tribulations of fate that you can get by with running away. Regardless of whether anything has gone wrong on his end, this is our problem now.” He shut his eyes and sensed around. “A fifth heavenly tribulation true dragon. It’ll be quite the opponent.”
Gu Yanying stood up. “Let me go and test him out.”
The arrival of the true dragon was like a mountain crushing down over them. It had left them without a path of retreat, where they hung on by a thread, yet the three of them did not even panic, much less feel fear or worry.

  The golden-eyed black dragon roared furiously, “If you still don’t come out, I’ll destroy your dwelling immediately.”
Rumble! Lightning weaved through the clouds, flashing without extinguishing.

  “Please calm down, senior.” Gu Yanying emerged from the dwelling and arrived at the top of the mountain. She bowed calmly first and asked, “May I ask why you are looking for my sovereign?”
“Who are you?” The golden-eyed black dragon lowered his head and stared at Gu Yanying.

  Gu Yanying replied in a way that was neither particularly humble nor prideful. “I am my sovereign Si Long’s subject. I have been sent here to watch over the Dragon’s Pool dwelling.”
The golden-eyed black dragon thought, Since she’s not a disciple of the Myriad sect, she must have come up from below. In other words, the Heaven Climbing Vine has already made a connection successfully. It made him relax slightly. Originally, he could clearly sense everything that happened to Lin Xuan, including his safety, but ever since he reincarnated, even the life lamp he left in the sect had been extinguished. All connections had been severed, preventing him from sensing anything more.

  “Where is Si Long?”
Gu Yanying hesitated. “This…”
“He’s still in the nine provinces?”
Gu Yanying was still uncertain about the golden-eyed black dragon’s identity, but since he was familiar with Si Long and he had not directly attacked the dwelling, it was obviously possible to talk with him. “Since senior knows already, then I’ll be frank. My sovereign is indeed still in the nine provinces.”
“When does he return?”
“I’m not sure about that, sigh!” Gu Yanying appeared worried and let out a sigh.

  “What are you sighing for?”
“The nine provinces have been riddled with misfortune. First, we were invaded by the Demon’s domain before being attacked by the Hungry Ghost realm. I wonder how it is doing now.”
“You’re lying!” the golden-eyed black dragon roared furiously. Thousands of bolts of lightning flashed, like the world was about to collapse.

  Even with the formation between them, Gu Yanying felt frightened. She folded her arms and bowed deeply. “Every single word I have uttered is the truth. I would never try to deceive you, senior. Please verify what I have said!”
“Hmph, you’re quite bold. Go and find Si Long right now. Make him come and see me immediately.”
The golden-eyed black dragon had only made a feint, but she remained surprisingly composed, which made him feel a little embarrassed. He also felt a hint of worry. Were the composure and quality of character of all cultivators from the World of the Nine Provinces this impressive? That would be far too shocking. There was something abnormal about this.

  Gu Yanying said with difficulty, “But my sovereign has told me to watch the dwelling and cultivate in the meantime…”
“No buts. I’ll give you three days. If he doesn’t return in three days, I’ll force my way into the dwelling and kill all of you!”
The golden-eyed black dragon radiated with murderousness. It was not a lie. If Lin Xuan and Si Long had already met up yet Si Long was afraid to see him, then the issue must have arisen with Si Long. He had to get to the bottom of it.

  “Yes.” Gu Yanying returned to the Dragon’s Pool dwelling. “Prepare for fight or flight!”
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  “Fighting will lead to certain death, while we can’t get away either. Now this is a familiar feeling.” Rāhu Xiaoming smiled. “During this time, we’ve all been wondering whether there was something wrong with the world. We only have a single choice left.”
The three of them exchanged glances and said at the same time, “Face the tribulation!”
The three of them had all reached the verge of the fourth heavenly tribulation, and they did not have multiple considerations like Li Qingshan. However, because they were in a precarious situation, they refused to make any large commotions, which is why they bid their time. After this period of cultivation, they had already grown accustomed to the laws of the Human realm. They could face the tribulation at any time now.

  Gu Yanying said, “Together?”
Xiao An said, “Together.”
Once the heavenly tribulation descended upon them, it would definitely alarm the dragon outside. Perhaps he would immediately attack the dwelling, so there was no point in hiding anymore.

  The golden-eyed black dragon was in thought when he suddenly heard the sound of a special thunder. It was very soft, but it was vastly different from the thunder he produced. It contained a hint of the might of the heavens.

  Gazing out, tribulation clouds gathered from all directions, rising up like an ambush from all sides and bearing witness to the vast might of the heavens!

  “Tribulation thunder?” The golden-eyed black dragon immediately noticed that something was amiss. Why was she facing the tribulation as soon as he had arrived? She clearly only needed Si Long to come out and explain himself, and that would be enough. Something very unexpected must have happened. He roared furiously, “Ants, how dare you trick me! Originally, getting through this Dragon’s Pool dwelling would take some work, but today, I can use the heavenly tribulation to flatten this place!”
Immediately, the colossal dragon danced through the air. The winds and thunder surged, shaking up the world.

  ……
Li Qingshan emerged from the Spiritual Beast garden, but he felt a little uneasy. In this world, when it came to who was closest to Lin Xuan, it would definitely be that golden-eyed black dragon. It was impossible for him to rush back to the Dragon’s Pool dwelling and check what was going on either. He could work hard and serve as the pioneer, but that was all he could do. Fortunately, they were all capable of taking charge.

  Hopefully, they’re fine!

  Li Qingshan picked up the metal gourd and took a few sips. Suddenly, he felt like he was being watched. He turned around, except there was no one around. However, the feeling of being watched did not vanish. Instead, it grew more intense.

  Shen Yushu held his breath, hiding behind a tree. Has he discovered me? Impossible, how did he discover- Why am I hiding? He had followed Li Qingshan into Myriad city the entire way, spying on Li Qingshan while thinking of a way to deal with him. He stopped outside the Spiritual Beast garden.

  If I directly provoke him and if he dares to touch me, then I don’t need to hide. He’ll be attacking someone above him, and he’s bound to be punished. No, it’ll be too embarrassing if news of this makes it out.

  At this very moment, he heard Li Qingshan’s footsteps grow closer, which made him tense up. He felt strangely alarmed.

  Li Qingshan raised his head and opened his eyes, only to see a rabbit crouching quietly on the tree. It had black fur and two long, pointy ears. It stared straight at him, or perhaps more accurately, the metal gourd in his hand, with its fiery-red eyes.

  Rabbits can climb up trees?

  This was supposed to be something worthy of surprise, but after a stroll in the Spiritual Beast garden, he would not be surprised even if a sow ended up on a tree. He stroked his chin and said in thought, “It’s probably escaped from the Spiritual Beast garden! No matter how nice it is as a mount, they still desire freedom at the end of the day!”
The black rabbit actually nodded.

  “Hmm? You can even understand humans? You really have escaped from the Spiritual Beast garden.”
Li Qingshan noticed its gaze and raised the metal gourd in his hand. He asked with a smile, “You want some?”
Rabbits can drink? Of course, after a stroll in the Hundred Beasts garden, this was not particularly surprising to him anymore either.

  With a swish, the black rabbit leapt down the tree with alarming speed, clutching the metal gourd and drinking away.

  Li Qingshan noticed its paws possessed sharp claws. Of course, that was not worthy of surprise either. However, it was quite interesting to watch a rabbit drink alcohol.

  “Tsktsk, you still haven’t had enough? Your little belly is bigger than it looks.”
However, he was unable to smile anymore very soon. When he picked up the metal gourd, he could sense that it was empty.

  Err, a single rabbit can drink so much alcohol. That doesn’t seem particularly surprising either… my ass!

  Li Qingshan grabbed the rabbit by the ears and lifted it up. “You bastard, give me back my alcohol!”
The black rabbit stared at him with its fiery-red eyes. It scratched its belly with its front paws and let out a lazy belch.

  Li Qingshan was furious, raising his fist violently.

  At this moment, the female attendant who had shown him the way exited the Spiritual Beast garden. She wanted to see Li Qingshan off as she found this boasting senior brother to be quite interesting. He had a high cultivation, a good temper, and in particular, he was handsome too… Suddenly, she spotted this and became stunned.

  “Err… I’m just scaring it…” Li Qingshan said awkwardly.

  An adult man harassing a little rabbit was a little too unbefitting of his status, or in the words of their Spiritual Beast garden, he was without love.

  The female attendant said nothing at all, immediately backing into the Spiritual Beast garden again.

  Li Qingshan let out a sigh at the sky. Had it been easy to earn the bookmarks? He had managed to accumulate some books to offer up to the old turtle after quite some difficulty, only for it all to vanish. That was equivalent to everything that he had earned from waiting all this time ending up in the belly of this damned rabbit.

  He said viciously, “You’ve drunk my alcohol, so I’ll never spare you. Tell me, do you prefer being deep-fried or steamed?”
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  The black rabbit did not seem to understand humans again, grooming its fur like no one else was around.

  The female attendant retreated back to the Spiritual Beast garden and covered her mouth. “I- isn’t that first senior sister’s black-furred hou?”
TL: A hou in this context corresponds to a denglong in Chinese mythology. They are technically a son of the dragon and don’t actually look like rabbits, but this isn’t too important to the story.

  In a certain place within Myriad city, a woman smiled. “Li Qingshan. Sure enough, you’re an interesting guy. No wonder Bamboo cares about you so much, actually making a request with me over a stinky man. Hehe, oh I’ll take good care of him. If there are any problems, I’ll personally eliminate a threat like this.”
TL: The woman refers to Ruan Yaozhu as bamboo. Ruan Yaozhu has several nicknames, if you haven’t noticed. The nine-coloured deer calls her a piece of wood or softwood because the feeling she usually gives off is simple and innocent, like a piece of wood. Her surname, “Ruan”, shares the same pronunciation as “soft” in Chinese, hence Softwood. At the same time, the last character in her name, “Zhu”, means bamboo, which is where her nickname of bamboo comes from.