“If there’s nothing else, then I’m off to prepare, senior brother!” Li Qingshan clasped his hands and was about to leave.

  Li Liehuo suddenly asked, “What are you carrying on your back?”
All of the cultivators had been wondering about that. The basket was woven from regular rattan, so it definitely was not some kind of weapon or arcane treasure. If it were an item, couldn’t he place it in his sumeru ring? Yet they were unable to detect any living aura from it.

  “Treasure,” Li Qingshan answered just like before.

  Li Liehuo was not as agreeable as Ge Xing. “Open it and show us!”
Li Qingshan asked, “Is this also a military order?”
“What do you think?” Li Liehuo said bluntly.

  Li Qingshan placed down the basket and opened it slowly. All of the gazes gathered over, but all they saw was a skeleton curled up within the basket, which left them disappointed. What kind of a treasure was this?

  That was indeed Li Qingshan’s treasure, as well as the only person he would carry on his back willingly.

  Since he was bold enough to come, he had already prepared for the worst, which was downright falling out with Li Liehuo. Whether he was the army captain or the first senior brother, blood would splash five paces away under the rage of a common person. He was prepared to reveal his true form as a daemon. Whether it was the army of a million or the Myriad sect, all of it would be useless. A split second was enough to determine life and death. She could deal that lethal strike in that time.

  However, since Li Liehuo had only given him a dangerous and difficult mission to make things hard for him, there was no need for him to act in such a hurry. A mission that was extremely dangerous to others could only be considered as easy as cake to him. Moreover, the fastest way to earn contribution and become a direct disciple was to make contributions in the army.

  In order to encourage disciples to participate in the war, the Myriad sect had offered an extremely great reward, especially when it came to the contribution. It was something that no one could write off.

  That was why Li Liehuo and Chao Tianjiao who strived towards the position of first senior were active on the battlefield, completely shaking off the third senior sister Dai Mengfan. She did not even have the right to contend with them. In the past, Lin Xuan had led several expeditions in the Demon domain too, killing multiple Demon Sovereigns in battle, which allowed him to become the first senior brother.

  The direct disciples were afraid that Li Qingshan was progressing too quickly in the Hundred Herbs garden, so they had forced him onto the Demon domain battlefield. It was basically like setting a tiger free. Let alone becoming a direct disciple, even ending up as the first senior brother might not be impossible. By then, it would be quite interesting to see how Li Liehuo and Chao Tianjiao, these two haughty, half-assed first seniors, would respond.

  Li Liehuo felt irritated, but there was nothing he could say. He could always find an excuse to make things difficult for Li Qingshan out of malice, but that went against his personality and his path. He was someone who wanted to become the first senior brother of the Myriad sect. He could kill people with his fists and overwhelm people with his influence, but he could not be too dirty.

  Li Qingshan put the basket on his back again and left through the door under everyone’s watch.

  “Senior brother!” The bearded man stepped forward, and his armour clinked. “This kid is far too rude. I’ll go butcher him right now!”
“Our Myriad sect is not a demonic sect. That’s not something we do. Since he accepts my orders, leave him be!”
As for destroying Li Qingshan’s body while his Yin Soul had been projected, he had not even considered that. Against an enemy that possessed lower status and lower cultivation than him, if he still had to take advantage of his disadvantageous situation to deal an underhanded strike, then there was no point in practising his Heavenly Tome of Scorching Fire anymore. There was no need for him to become the first senior brother either.

  The Demon domain rapidly spread through the trichiliocosm. Their conflicts with the Human realm were becoming much more frequent and much more intense. Even Demon Sovereigns and Human Sovereigns struggled to move about freely, where they were in danger of dying once they entered battle.

  The laws of the world from the Human realm and the Demon domain overlapped and were chaotic at the boundaries, which led to further suppression of a cultivator’s strength and techniques. There was nothing strange even when powerful cultivators died to the hands of regular demonfolk.

  The bearded man spat, “Ptui. This kid has only just arrived. He’s seen nothing. He doesn’t even know what a war is. I’d like to see just how long he can strut around like that for.”
Everyone agreed with that and cursed away.

  “That kid is like a girl. He better not faint when he sees dead people strewn everywhere!”
“He just got a little lucky. When I ripped apart a Demon Emperor with my bare hands, who knew where he was, sucking on his mother’s teat…”
“You only managed to tear a Demon Emperor apart with your bare hands because of my Mountain Splitter!”
As they went on, it devolved into a boast of military achievements. It was unavoidable. When these people gathered together and had no official business, this was basically guaranteed. If they could hold it in, it would be an extraordinary demonstration of self-control already.

  They were all experienced on the battlefield, having killed their way through corpse mountains and seas of blood. They possessed a natural sense of superiority towards regular cultivators. Even if we have the same cultivation. I can kill you with ease, so of course, I’ll look down on you.

  On top of that, Li Qingshan had only joined the Myriad sect recently before becoming an inner disciple, occupying the Xuanming dwelling and obtaining the tremendous amount of resources that Lin Xuan had left behind. Who knew how many dangers they had been through to reach where they were, yet they never had a dwelling that was up to standard, nor did they ever have enough resources, so how could they not feel envious?

  Li Qingshan emerged from the Scorching Fire hall. The snow fell like before, and the mountains were unchanged. The voices from behind him were like the buzzing of flies. He grinned and forgot about these “people of success”.

  As for the other aspects, Li Liehuo had still given him the treatment he deserved as an inner disciple. He was allocated a towering, grey, stone tower that could overlook all of Black Cloud city as his place of cultivation.

  Black Cloud city had several towers like this, extending towards the sky like grey swords, wrapping around the mountain peak—a strangely-shaped metal tower that poked into the clouds. That was the core to the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder—the Lightning Rod tower.

  His tower was endowed with the most basic formation, but its primary function was to gather spiritual qi. As a foundation point of the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder, it possessed a certain level of defence, but it primarily just kept the cold out.

  Li Qingshan made his way to the top of the tower. The wind and snow howled outside, yet it was warm like spring inside. However, it was completely empty. Everyone who could stay in this tower possessed sumeru rings, and they would bring things with them.

  Li Qingshan had prepared a little as well. At the very least, he had ample meat and alcohol. However, he was not in a hurry to arrange the room. Instead, he placed down his basket first and bent down to open it again.

  A pair of straight, snowy-white arms extended out, wrapping around his neck. The empty eye sockets turned into limpid eyes, while the white teeth became covered up by red lips, smiling away gently. Her body spread out like a wutong tree as skin covered the white bones, having turned into a great beauty already.

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  “We can kill that Li Liehuo.”
In a direct confrontation, even when they worked together, the odds would be against them. That was completely impossible in Black Cloud city too. As the captain of an army, Li Liehuo could control the Formation of Black Clouds and Roaring Thunder.

  However, it would be completely different in a struggle to the death. Li Qingshan only needed to unleash the Force Field of the Earth through the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens and immobilise Li Liehuo for an instant, and Xiao An would be able to launch her strike. By then, Li Liehuo would probably be dead. He would not even be able to respond in time. The Buddha Slaying sword was not a weapon that he could simply shrug off.

  Li Qingshan smiled. “Of course. Who can’t we kill? However, now is still not the time, so leave him be. I’ll be paying a visit to the Demon domain sooner or later, so it’s a perfect opportunity for me to investigate the situation. At the very least, I need to know how to get to Qingqi mountain!”
“Yes,” Xiao An embraced him firmly.

  Li Qingshan could sense her mood. After going through many difficulties and several partings, the two of them were together again.

  No matter how dangerous the path ahead was, as long as he was with her, it would be like home.

  In the Scorching Fire hall, everyone was dismissed, only leaving behind Li Liehuo. Suddenly, he felt a chill, and his hairs stood on end. He looked back at the black shadow on the map and wondered, Don’t tell me the Demon domain is launching another large-scale invasion?