“Li Qingshan!”
The bored direct disciples immediately sat up straight. The reason for them wasting so much time was outside right now.

  Ever since he had been sent flying by a punch from Li Liehuo, it was as if he had vapourised. No one knew where he had gone. Some even suspected he had already fled. They never expected him to suddenly appear outside the Direct Disciple hall.

  Le Tian and Pi Yangqiu exchanged glances. There was the same question in their eyes. Did he succeed?

  Ruan Yaozhu’s heart tightened before she let out a sigh of relief. She found him despicable, but she still wanted to see him return safely.

  Ge Xing furrowed his brows and clasped his hands. “Regular disciples aren’t permitted in the Direct Disciple hall, but since he’s directly involved in all of this, you might as well let him in and see what he has to say, third senior sister.”
The other direct disciples obviously would not object, except Dai Mengfan’s face was filled with surprise, like she had just witnessed something unbelievable. Apart from her, the other direct disciples could not see what was going on outside.

  That only left the direct disciples even more curious. Most of them had not seen Li Qingshan before, but even if he were a three-headed, eight-legged freak, there was no reason for their third senior sister to respond like that!

  Dai Mengfan waved her hand. “Open the doors!”
Li Qingshan happened to be looking down, instructing with his soul sense. “Look a little elegant later. I’m going to take you to show off!”
A voice replied, “Don’t worry. Am I supposed to embarrass my first father?”
The door to the Direct Disciple hall swung open, and Li Qingshan climbed up the steps. He moved calmly and made his way past the door, looking around at the direct disciples in the surroundings. All he saw was a similar expression on all of their faces, which made him smile. He clasped his hands. “Greetings, senior brothers and sisters!”
All of their eyes were glued to Li Qingshan’s shoulder. A phoenix stood there, where his magnificent tail feathers that resembled flames almost touched the ground, yet he did not even look at them. No matter how powerful or extraordinary they were, he simply tidied his feathers like no one else was around, demonstrating his reservedness and pride, yet he also seemed so natural at the same time.

  Li Qingshan nodded in satisfaction inside. This kid gets me. He’s already picked up some of my legacy!

  The phoenix was obviously Li Fengyuan. After occupying the Xuanming dwelling, Li Qingshan immediately connected the World of the Five Continents with the Human realm through the Heaven Climbing Vine, summoning Li Fengyuan over. It obviously was not for the sake of posing around either. Li Fengyuan’s cultivation was already nearing the fourth heavenly tribulation. He needed a much vaster place to spread his wings, and he was the Meat-stewing Heavenly King after all.

  Haha, definitely not, definitely not. I come nowhere close to first father.

  As the two of them flattered each other, the direct disciples all understood why Dai Mengfan was so surprised.

  “That’s… a phoenix!? That kid is Li Qingshan!?”
Not only did Li Fengyuan maintain his “elegance”, but Li Qingshan also seemed very modest as well. His facial features were delicate and gentle like a youth’s, giving off a good impression from the first glance. They struggled to connect him with the rebel who challenged the first senior brother and first senior sister of the Myriad sect successfully less than a year after joining the sect.

  As for a phoenix, that was basically the rarest and most precious mount in the world.

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  Even first senior brother Lin Xuan’s mount had only been a dragon. The dragon clan seemed extremely proud, but they were actually highly “flexible”. Perhaps through temptation or through force, it definitely was not delusional to obtain a true dragon as a mount.

  However, the reservedness and pride of a phoenix reached deep into its bones. It refused to roost unless it was a wutong tree, it refused to feed unless it was the fruit of bamboo, and it refused to drink unless it was from a sweet spring. Even when subdued by force, it would rather die than yield.

  There had always been fewer phoenixes than dragons. Normally speaking, while dragons were more skilled in battle, what cultivators truly required had never been strength, but longevity. As long as their lifespans were long enough, they would always have power, and it would be true power that belonged to them.

  A phoenix was a mount that could lengthen the lifespan of a cultivator the most.

  Li Qingshan smiled towards Ruan Yaozhu. “Senior sister, I wasn’t lying to you!”
Before Ruan Yaozhu could say anything, the nine-coloured deer sighed in amazement. “A phoenix as a mount. It’s actually true!”
Of course, Li Qingshan neither wanted to ride anyone nor be ridden, unless under a specific situation. He had purely brought Li Fengyuan along to show off, and as it seemed, it was quite effective.

  Thunk, thunk, thunk!

  Dai Mengfan knocked the table. “Li Qingshan, since you’re here, do you have any objections to the discussion this time?”
“Junior brother Li, if there’s anything you’re unhappy about, you’re welcome to mention it. I’ll definitely consider it!” Ge Xing patted Li Qingshan on the shoulder warmly. “Military orders are absolute. They cannot be changed. However, the law isn’t completely rigid. It is possible to give you some time.”
The direct disciples looked at one another. You’re clearly the one who personally ordered for this kid’s conscription, so why’re you acting as a good person today? However, little did they know that Li Qingshan had earned Ge Xing’s respect the moment he saw him, and Ge Xing wanted to go out of his way to settle their grievances.

  Afterwards, Li Qingshan had directly confronted Li Liehuo. That courage was even less reason to underestimate him. Now that he had suddenly produced a phoenix, his future was basically limitless. Even if he lost a few gambles, so what? As long as he did not die along the way, he had plenty of time to turn things around.

  He managed to endure a full-powered punch from Li Liehuo as soon as he had undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation, so he did not seem like he would just croak without reason. He had to be an utter fool to make an enemy out of someone like that over a few hundred Green Jade bookmarks.

  Li Qingshan said, “Thank you, senior brother Ge. I have no objections to the discussion this time. However, a few extra days would always be best!”
“No problem, no problem!” Ge Xing agreed happily.

  The atmosphere in the Direct Disciple hall immediately became strange. The intense dispute had instead eased up with the arrival of the person involved. The other direct disciples studied Li Qingshan and became a little more careful. He had actually managed to tame a phoenix into becoming his mount. The Myriad sect would probably gain another direct disciple very soon.

  Li Qingshan met Ruan Yaozhu’s eyes. Li Qingshan had an undefeated record when it came to stare outs, but who knew what Ruan Yaozhu was thinking. She stubbornly refused to shift her gaze.

  Dai Mengfan thought, Don’t tell me she has actually let her mortal emotions overcome her? Originally, she found that absolutely impossible, but after seeing Li Qingshan for herself, she suddenly found that to be nothing strange at all.

  Pi Yangqiu and Le Tian made their way over and asked eagerly, “Did you succeed?”
Li Qingshan nodded with a smile. “Of course.”
“Really?” Pi Yangqiu was still in some disbelief. Just how much time had passed, and he had managed to take down the Xuanming dwelling?

  Li Qingshan took out a jade box and grabbed a handful of Green Jade bookmarks. “This is for the price of the Xuanming dwelling, as well as the bookmarks that I owe you.” Then he grabbed a handful for Le Tian. “This is yours.”
Pi Yangqiu and Le Tian gazed at the bookmarks in their hands. Their expressions changed, and they began laughing aloud.

  The direct disciples were all stunned. It was not that they were easily impressed, but several hundred Green Jade bookmarks was already a large sum. An exchange of several thousand Green jade bookmarks was extremely rare even among the various departments of the Myriad sect.

  And this was just private dealing. Since when did an inner disciple become even more extravagant than them?

  Lin Xuan had been stuck at the peak of Human Sovereign for many years and spent a long time as the first senior brother of the Myriad sect, so regular disciples obviously came nowhere close to his status. His cultivation had halted as well, so he basically consumed and used up nothing. Coupled with all those years of preparation for his reincarnation, that was the reason why he had accumulated over ten thousand Green Jade bookmarks.

  Li Qingshan had only managed to obtain all this after great difficulty due to his helpful allies and everything he was capable of. Otherwise, even if Li Liehuo and Chao Tianjiao worked together to take down the Xuanming dwelling, they could not stop Ao Xuan from fleeing with everything. They probably would not be able to breach the place anyway.

  Le Tian brought his arm around Li Qingshan’s shoulder. “Junior brother, why don’t we just call off our gamble with this?”
On the podium, Dai Mengfan shook her head. This was probably unprecedented, an inner disciple stunning a group of direct disciples in the Direct Disciple hall and direct disciples treating an inner disciple with such closeness. Even if news of this made it outside, probably no one would believe it.

  On top of that, Le Tian always had quite a high opinion of himself. Even when it came to the other direct disciples, he did not necessarily respect them all, or why would he have fooled all the ones seated here like monkeys? He was basically treating Li Qingshan as an equal right now.

  “Forget about it!” However, Li Qingshan declined bluntly. “Once the thirty years are over, I’ll obviously be paying you a thousand Green Jade bookmarks if I lose!”
“Heh, you sure know how to make me look bad!”
Li Qingshan shut the jade box and looked towards Ruan Yaozhu, passing the entire box towards her.

  Immediately, all of the direct disciples were drawn to the jade box. There were at least two thousand Green Jade bookmarks in there.

  “This… surely not! Are Green Jade bookmarks really worthless to this kid?”
For the sake of their wagers of a few hundred Green Jade bookmarks, they had spent so many days haggling here, yet they gained nothing at all. Instead, their wagers were in even greater danger now.

  However, under Ruan Yaozhu’s blank gaze, the jade box suddenly vanished, having been stowed away in a sumeru ring. Li Qingshan gave a stretch and laughed. “I better hang onto it actually!”
Ruan Yaozhu snorted gently and looked away.

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  “But to thank the two senior brothers’ support, please choose one each!”
Li Qingshan took out the arcane treasures that Lin Xuan had collected and displayed them mid-air.

  Le Tian smiled. “I wonder just how many people are longing for these few items.”
Pi Yangqiu was tempted, but he still ended up saying, “I’ve made no real contribution. You’ve earned all of this yourself, so you don’t have to give us any.”
“There’s no need to be so polite, senior brothers. I always repay my debts. Since I’ve already offered it to you, how can I rescind it?”
This was not a matter of Li Qingshan’s generosity. Arcane treasures had always been foreign objects. While they were precious, could they increase his chances against Qiongqi at all? In the past, when he first began cultivating, even a few taels of silver had been very important, but looking at it now, it was nothing. As long as he continued onwards, it would all turn out the same. If he stopped where he was, then what was the point of keeping it anyway? So he could take them with him to the grave?

  That was what gave him confidence. There were great horrors in life and in death, but as long as he stood strong, there would be great courage as well.

  Since these external objects were useless to him, why couldn’t he part with them?

  “Then I won’t be holding back.”
“If you lose, you can just forget about the debt.”
Pi Yangqiu and Le Tian each chose an arcane treasure.

  “A gamble is a gamble. That will not be necessary.”
A direct disciple abruptly stood up and pointed at an arcane treasure. “Junior brother Li, t- that Nine Dragons seal, I’ll buy it! Give me a price!”
Before Li Qingshan could answer him, Le Tian smiled and said, “Junior brother, if the remaining arcane treasures are useless to you, let me auction them off! After all, they are from first senior brother’s collection. They’re quite the memento!”
Li Qingshan said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you with this, senior brother.”
The direct disciple sat back down helplessly. Now that the Nine Dragons seal had ended up in Le Tian’s hands, its price would probably double or triple.