Chapter 426 – The Eight Gates of Golden Locks, the Illusory Water of Invisibility (2/2)

She suddenly smiled. He was clearly so deeply shrouded with mysteries, yet she never doubted him and thought he would actually turn against her and show no mercy. Even just thirty percent of the pills refined from these spiritual herbs were enough for any two cultivation sects to turn against each other and declare war.

She shook her head and dismissed these thoughts. Sitting with her legs crossed, she activated the Crystal Resin cauldron and began refining pills.

Li Qingshan returned to the academy and notified Liu Chuanfeng about how he wanted to set up a dwelling outside. Afterwards, he found Xiao An. “Have you already spoken with Qian Rongzhi?”

“Yep. She’s already gathered around seventy or eighty thousand.”

“So quickly?” Li Qingshan was surprised.

As it turned out, collecting corpses was not all that Qian Rongzhi did during these years. She had done plenty of backstabbing and killing too. She had accumulated forty or fifth Corpse Soldiers within her possession alone, and they were all elites that had been carefully refined. She sold off all the other corpses of lower quality, or she probably would have possessed a hundred and ten or twenty thousand corpses. And, she was well acquainted in the academy, so she could gather seventy or eighty thousand just by asking around, which she passed onto Xiao An for now.

“She didn’t accept the spiritual stones. She said she would find you instead.”

“That works too.” Li Qingshan rubbed Xiao An’s head. He thought about how it really had been a correct decision to leave this matter to her. “Let’s go set up a dwelling!”

“A dwelling?”

“Our home.”

“Home.” Xiao An repeated softly. Her heart created by the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty suddenly heated up. She nodded firmly. “Alright!”

Just as the two of them were about to leave, Hua Chengzan and Han Tieyi arrived together. One of them possessed a picturesque appearance, as handsome as ever, while the other had a pair of straight eyebrows and twinkling eyes, radiating with valiance. After undergoing the heavenly tribulation, they became even more enchanting. As they stood together, they were like two perfect pieces of jade.

Li Qingshan went up to receive them. “What brought you here?”

“Qingshan, I heard you wanted to set up a dwelling. Do you need our help?” Hua Chengzan said enthusiastically. Han Tieyi never liked talking, so he just stood there coldly.

“There’s no need. Isn’t it just digging out a cave?”

“You can’t say that. You can’t go without formations if you want to set up a dwelling. This Eight Gates Formation of Golden Locks might not be the best formation, but it should be enough to protect your dwelling. You can call it a gift for succeeding with Foundation Establishment.” Hua Chengzan was just speaking modestly. The Eight Gates Formation of Golden Locks cost tens of thousand spiritual stones at the very least. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators would struggle to destroy it if they were alone. Moreover, it could lock in spiritual qi, such that even regular mountains would become fantastic places to cultivate as time went on.

Li Qingshan was touched. He accepted the entire set of formation discs and banners. Right now, he did not exactly lack a few tens of thousand spiritual stones, but all of it came from unknown sources. If he spent them carelessly, it was very easy for him to draw suspicion. Hua Chengzan’s formation was basically giving him exactly what he needed when he needed it, but there was nothing he could give back in return. Everything he carried on him was stolen goods.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He took out the strange catfish’s daemon core that he had just obtained from his hundred treasures pouch. “It would be rude of me to not reciprocate. Please take this.”

Hua Chengzan and Han Tieyi’s gazes were drawn over. Hua Chengzan accepted the daemon core and said in surprise, “This is a Daemon General’s daemon core. Where did you get this?”

Li Qingshan told him the entire story. Han Tieyi’s eyes flashed as he stared at him. Hua Chengzan said, “I’ve heard about this daemon too. It’s already flooded many cities and towns. I never thought it would die to your hands.”

Apart from gift-giving, he had come to persuade Li Qingshan to not cultivate single-mindedly and forget about the matters of the academy and the Hawkwolf Guard, but never did he expect him to kill a Daemon General right off the bat, so what else could he say? Even if he entered seclusion for another year or two, no one could criticise him.

And, the value of the daemon core surpassed the worth of the Eight Gates Formation of the Golden Locks. He fiddled around with it before returning it to Li Qinshan. “I haven’t come to make an exchange, so why would I want your daemon core? If you don’t have a use for it, I can purchase it from you, but you cultivate the water element, and the daemon core’s the water element too, so it suits you the most! You better keep it for yourself!”

Li Qingshan was actually very reluctant to give it away too. Since Hua Chengzan had said that, he just obliged and stowed the daemon core away. As long as his cultivation could increase, did he have to worry about not being able to pay him back?

“Brother-in-law, where’s your gift?” Li Qingshan teased.

Sure enough, Han Tieyi rummaged through his hundred treasures pouch and seemed to pull out something, but his hands were empty.

Li Qingshan squinted his eyes. Only after careful observation did he make out a transparent sword around a meter long. Although it did not glow at all, Li Qingshan could clearly sense it was a supreme grade spiritual artifact.

Hua Chengzan smiled. “This Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility comes from general Han’s personal collection. When you use it, both the wielder and the sword can turn invisible, making it a perfect weapon for secret assassinations. He’s basically accepting you as his son-in-law, Qingshan.”

“My father’s never said that,” Han Tieyi said. Hua Chengzan ignored him and asked, “Where do you plan on setting up your dwelling?”

“The Chain mountains.”

“Isn’t that…” Hua Chengzan shut his mouth and glanced at Han Tieyi.

Han Tieyi was just about to pass the Illusory Water Sword of Invisibility to Li Qingsan when he suddenly tightened his grip and pulled it back. Li Qingshan grabbed his arm. “Brother-in-law, how can you take back something you’ve given out? This is a gift from my dear father-in-law.”

Han Tieyi tried to pull his hand back, but it did not even budge. He was secretly surprised. What strength!

Li Qingshan smiled. “Don’t mess around. Don’t forget, you still owe me a punch!”