Chapter 288 – Thousand Days Drunk (1/2)

The slovenly daoist priest was surprised too. He appreciated people with great willpower very much, and his talent was rather impressive too. If this had happened in the past, he would definitely try to convince him to stay in the school of Daoism.

If Li Qingshan sent Xiao An to other schools, then so be it. But just why was it the school of Buddhism of all the schools? It would make the damned bald ass complacent. He had truly crossed the line this time.

Suddenly, he came up with an idea. With a wave of his arm, the windy, rainy weather vanished. The moonlight fell onto Li Qingshan. To his surprise, the path before him had recovered its original width, while his true qi was no longer suppressed either. The stars twinkled in the sky, and the daoist temple was nearby too.

He was afraid of becoming careless, so he slowed down. Arriving before the daoist temple, he saw a young daoist priest with small eyes waiting there. He nodded. “Congratulations, sir. You’re the first.”

Li Qingshan looked back. There were still two or three hundred Qi Practitioners left on the mountain path, advancing with difficulty. Some of them tottered around, while others teetered about. As long as they lost their balance, they would be sent to the bottom of the mountain immediately.

“Someone has emerged from the formation! It’s that Li Qingshan person!” A Qi Practitioner called out.

Hua Chenglu was perplexed. “How is it possible to break out of the formation midway?”

Qian Rongzhi sat in the thatched pavilion nearby as she watched on indifferently with a smile. This kid’s probably in trouble now.

Just like Hua Chenglu, she had only enrolled for the school of Legalism. She had already learnt about the various school leaders from Wu Gen and Fang Enshang in detail before the examination.

The leader of the school of Daoism was the strongest at late Foundation Establishment. He was close to condensing a Golden Core, and he was the most unruly out of all of them. He never liked the school of Buddhism. Even if the other school leaders were displeased with Li Qingshan’s choice, they probably would not act up, perhaps due to their identities, perhaps they cared about Xiao An, or perhaps they treasured talent. However, this old daoist priest was different. Once he was carried away, he was even bold enough to rain the other school leaders with curses.

Li Qingshan had broken out of the formation midway up. There must have been something going on behind the scenes for this anomaly to happen.

“I’m Li Qingshan. May I ask for your name, esteemed daoist?” Li Qingshan turned back again and clasped his hands. Although he was calm and composed, a tenth layer Qi Practitioner clearly was not someone he could just brush aside.

“This lowly priest is called Juechenzi. Please come with me!”

The large hall was empty. There was only a formation on the ground, shining dimly.

The slovenly daoist priest sat in front of a statue. The hair around his temples had already become grizzled, but he was brimming with energy and vigour. He said slowly, “Li Qingshan, do you recognise me?” His voice boomed like thunder, rolling and echoing through the hall.

“Obviously.” Out of the school leaders, the slovenly daoist priest was the person who gave Li Qingshan the most powerful and terrifying impression.

The slovenly daoist priest said, “And yet you still have the courage to come!”

Li Qingshan asked, “Why wouldn’t I?”

“In what way does my school of Daoism pale in comparison to the school of Buddhism? You better be clear with your explanation!”

Li Qingshan was stunned. He finally understood why it had been so difficult as he climbed up the mountain path just then. The slovenly daoist priest had clearly been working against him. He became angered by this too.

“What, you can’t answer me?”

Li Qingshan laid out his hands. “I never thought that a mighty leader of a school would be so petty. If you don’t want me to join your school of Daoism, I’ll get off the mountain immediately. There’s no need to say anything else.” He turned around to leave. If he remained in the school of Daoism, he would have to put up with his abuse constantly. Who could endure that? The school of Military was not a bad choice anyway, and if that did not work out, he still had the schools of Agriculture and Names.

Juechenzi stood outside the hall, gazing at the shining moon in the sky as he smiled and shook his head.

“Where do you think you’re going? Halt!” said the slovenly daoist priest.

Li Qingshan immediately felt his body seize up. He was immobilised. His right foot still hovered in the air, having failed to pull it back in time.

This was a curse!

The slovenly daoist priest said, “Are you saying that I’ve been unfair?”

Li Qingshan said nothing. His eyes churned with fury. He gathered all of his true qi, his sea of qi surged, and all of his muscles tightened. His right foot that had been frozen mid-air actually fell down bit by bit. With a boom, it landed on the ground, and he turned his head. “Yes!” His eyes shone brightly, like a wolf’s glare.

The slovenly daoist priest was surprised. He was not skilled in curses, and he had used the curse without much thought earlier, but it truly was unbelievable that Li Qingshan could forcefully break free with his cultivation at the sixth layer. This was no longer just due to his strength, but his extraordinary willpower too.

“Alright, I’ll give you a chance. Let’s gamble.”

Li Qingshan asked, “What are we gambling on?”

“Obviously what you are best at, drinking.” A jar of alcohol suddenly appeared in the slovenly daoist priest’s hand. He removed the sealing clay, and a streak of light shot out. The smell of alcohol permeated the entire hall.

“What are we gambling on?”

“If you can drink this jar of alcohol without falling drunk, I’ll let you join the school of Daoism, and I’ll forget about everything that happened in the past. If you fall drunk, then you’ll piss off, off of this mountain!”

“What if I refuse to gamble?”

“It’s fine if you don’t gamble. I’ll still treat you as passing this test, but don’t even think about joining my school of Daoism. I have plenty of ways to get you.”

Li Qingshan said, “Fine, let’s gamble.” With the toughness of his daemon body and how he could nullify the alcohol with his true qi, he refused to believe that he would fall drunk. And, the jar of spiritual alcohol was probably equivalent to a thousand Qi Gathering pills.

The slovenly daoist priest tossed the jar over and Li Qingshan caught it. He took a tasting sip and felt like he was drinking liquid fire, but it was extremely satisfying too. Afterwards, he tilted his head back and drank heartily, leaving not a single droplet behind. He tossed the jar on the ground. “How’s that?”

However, the slovenly daoist priest was laughing. He suddenly split into two, then four, then eight.