Chapter 678 – Coming to a Stop, Having a Think (1/2)

Under the resplendent sunlight, Li Qingshan’s mind drifted off for a moment. He recalled the final words the man called Chu Tian said in the underground room.

Was Lin Xuan a name he came up with? Or was it his original name? He did not know. All he knew was this time, Qian Rongzhi would be in trouble. This would be an enemy even more terrifying than the likes of Si Qing and Jia Zhen.

All the school leaders gathered in one room, gazing at a rippling surface of water. Because that wretched daemon Northmoon had taken away the Watermirror disc that they originally used, the water mirror they used to observe the new disciples was obviously something the one most skilled with water element techniques among them created, Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan leaned on the window sill and gazed at the rippling Lake of Dragons and Snakes lazily. It had truly been quite some time since he last enjoyed some peace like this. He felt like every single bone in his body had been separated, allowing him to relax.

Actually, he did not spend this time idling around. He paid a visit to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga and reported to the Unraging monk his current cultivation. Even the Unraging monk was amazed by his terrifying cultivation speed, but the only pity he found was he had condensed an Ocean pearl and not a buddhist śarīra.

Afterwards, the Unraging monk gave him permission to enter the seventh floor of the Demon Suppression hall. He advanced steadily, and after a bitter battle, he finally made it to the seventh Demon Suppression statue and comprehended the seventh part of the Demon Suppression Statuary. He had only achieved this because he could freely demonify now, disguising himself as a demon so the other demonfolk would not attack him together.

As a result, he took a step further with his cultivation, and his demon heart became more and more resplendent. After demonifying, he could take on mid or even late Golden Core cultivators. However, he did not manage to see the person he wanted to see the most, Xiao An. He only heard that she was cultivating arduously in the Bodhi courtyard, refusing to speak with anyone. People said she was practising meditative silence, but the Unraging monk said she simply did not want to talk to anyone.

With quite a lot of reluctance, Li Qingshan left the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Before he left, the Unraging monk warned him. “You’re both going too fast. It’s about time for you to come to a stop and have a think.”

No matter how outstandingly talented they were, they required a certain amount of time for accumulation and consolidation. Powerful cultivators were not created overnight. This was why brother ox had given him ten thousand years.

It might have been possible to merge the powers of the phoenix and spirit turtle, but he spent far too little energy and effort into it. He constantly thought he could deal with this one day and his cultivation would advance abruptly, but as it seemed now, it was not that simple. Since there were no shortcuts up the mountain, he would just climb up slowly!

Right now, he sat lazily in the room while his mirror clone was deep underground, bathing in the magma and enduring the pain of being incinerated with fire. He was on the verge of collapsing at all times, so he had to constantly send daemon qi over to repair his clone. Only then could he sustain the clone.

After undergoing the second heavenly tribulation, his comprehension of the principles of the world and the mysteries of nature grew deeper. He gradually found certain ways he could merge fire and water together, no longer clueless and at a loss as for what to do like in the past.

“Qingshan, once this ends, let’s go for a few drinks in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain,” Wei Yangsheng said suddenly. Although he was not exactly trying to curry favour and fawn over Li Qingshan just yet, he did show deep reverence.

Actually, while Li Qingshan had been unconcerned, he had always been a point of focus to everyone. Even Han Tieyi who was as cold and staunch as metal viewed him in a completely different light after the hints from Han Anjun. The only person who did not treat him seriously was the leader of the school of Medicine, Ru Xin, or at least that was how it seemed.

“Sure. The Sect of Clouds and Rain still hasn’t been shut down?” Li Qingshan agreed happily. He was not some ascetic. If there was an opportunity to drink fine alcohol liberally, why would he turn it down?

“Even upon death, a centipede does not keel over, let alone something as large as a sect. Though, they do seem to be facing quite a few issues lately. They’ve lost their backbone after all. Qingshan, why don’t you just take over?” Liu Zhangqing continued the conversation with a smile and suggested to Li Qingshan.

After granny You’s death and Qiu Haitang’s disappearance, the Sect of Clouds and Rain became leaderless. Not only were they fragmenting from the inside, but they faced numerous dangers from the outside too, becoming the target of many organisations.

Liu Zhangqing originally wanted to use this opportunity to swallow it up, but upon further consideration, he gave up on that idea. Li Qingshan had taken on great risks to help Qiu Haitang escape, yet the benefits all fell to him in the end. If it led to any misgivings between them, then it would not be worth it at all. Through his identity as the prefect, he maintained the current situation of the Parlour of Clouds and Rain, preventing it from dispersing while preventing anyone from claiming it.

“Me? Let me consider it!” Li Qingshan originally wanted to say, Why would I want that? However, he soon remembered that this did belong to Qiu Haitang’s sect after all. If he had the opportunity in the future, returning it to Qiu Haitang was a good idea.

The various tests were carried out in an orderly manner. In the end, the handsome young man known as Lin Xuan passed through the tests with ease and joined the school of Daoism, becoming a daoist priest, which brought great pity to the leader of the school of Confucianism, Wei Yangsheng, as well as much confusion to many people. Ever since Juechengzi died, the school of Daoism never had a proper leader. It completely relied on their primary disciple and a few professors to maintain the situation and pass on their daoist techniques. No one could make the decision to give him any additional benefits, while Wei Yangsheng had put forward rather impressive conditions.

However, Li Qingshan understood that he had probably chosen the school of Daoism to avoid any special attention from a particular person. He would probably become the leader of the school of Daoism soon. Not only did he have a powerful cultivation method and cultivation experience, but Ru Xin had even agreed to provide him with sufficient resources for cultivation in exchange for detailed guidance over the Daoist Arts of Cloud Furnace and the Heavenly Tome of Cloud Furnace.

Li Qingshan could already see the rise of a new star.

Liu Chuanfeng sighed. “If only this child joined my school of Novels.”

“You better stop dreaming, junior brother. The school of Novels might be much stronger compared to the past, but true geniuses still won’t take this path.” For this entrance examination, Sun Fubai had specially hurried back, accepting over a dozen disciples for the school of Novels.

Li Qingshan said, “If that bastard Zhou Tong hadn’t gone so far, I would have never ended up in the school of Novels either.”