"Chu Tian is already dead. From today onwards, I will be called Lin Xuan. Please don't call me the wrong way when you see me in the future."
Under the resplendent sunlight, Li Qingshan's mind drifted off. He recalled the final words the man called Chu Tian had said in the dark underground palace.
Was Lin Xuan a name he made up? Or was it his original name? He had no idea. He only knew that Qian Rongzhi was in trouble this time. She would be an enemy even more terrifying than Si Qing and E Dan.
All the school leaders gathered together, gazing at the rippling surface of the water. Because the original Watermirror disc had been taken away by that wretched daemon Northmoon, the water mirror for observing the new students was cast by Li Qingshan, who was most skilled in water techniques.
Li Qingshan leaned against the window and gazed at the shimmering Lake of Dragons and Snakes lazily. It had truly been a long time since he had experienced such a peaceful life. He felt like every single bone in his body had been dismantled, allowing him to relax.
Actually, he had not been idling around during this period of time. He had paid a visit to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga and reported his current cultivation to the Unraging monk. The Unraging monk sighed in amazement at his terrifying cultivation speed. The only pity was that he had condensed an Ocean pearl and not a buddhist śarīra.
Afterwards, the Unraging monk allowed him to enter the seventh floor of the Demon Suppression Tower. He advanced step by step, and after a bitter battle, he finally arrived before the seventh Demon Suppression statue and comprehended the seventh Demon Suppression Statuary. And, this was all thanks to the fact that he could demonify freely now, disguising himself as a demon, so the demons would not gang up on him.
His cultivation advanced further too, and his demon heart became even more resplendent. After demonifying, he could contend against mid or even late Golden Core cultivators. However, he was unable to see Xiao An, who he wanted to see the most. He only heard that she was cultivating arduously in the Bodhi courtyard, refusing to speak to anyone. It was said that she was practising zen of silence, but the Unraging monk said that she just did not want to speak to anyone.
With some reluctance, Li Qingshan left the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Before he left, the Unraging monk warned him, "You're all moving too quickly. You should stop and think about it."
After some thought, Li Qingshan agreed with him. He had gone from a teenager who knew nothing at all to practising cultivation methods of both daemons and humans. It had only been a decade or so before he reached his current realm of cultivation. Xiao An was no different. He had gone from a little ghost who was afraid of wind and light to someone who could kill Corpse Commanders like butchering dogs.
No matter how talented he was, he still needed a certain amount of time to consolidate his strength. Powerful cultivators struggled to achieve rapid progress, which was why brother ox had given him ten thousand years.
Perhaps it was not that the powers of the phoenix and the spirit turtle could not merge, but he had invested far too little time and effort into it. He always wanted to resolve the problem in one go, allowing his cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds. As it seemed now, it was not that simple. Since there was no shortcut to the south mountain, then he would just have to climb up bit by bit!
Right now, he sat lazily upstairs, while his mirror clone was deep underground, soaking in the magma of the earth and enduring the pain of being burned. It was on the brink of collapse at any time. He had to constantly mobilise his daemon qi to repair it. Only then could he maintain it.
After undergoing the second heavenly tribulation, his comprehension of the ways of the world and the mysteries of nature had deepened. He had gradually found a way to merge water and fire. He was no longer as confused as he was in the past, where he had no idea what to do.
"Qingshan, once it's all over, let's go to the restaurant and have a few drinks together. How about that?" Wei Yangsheng suddenly said. His expression was not exactly ingratiating, but it was filled with deep reverence.
In reality, while Li Qingshan was unconcerned, he had always been the focus of everyone's attention. Even Han Tieyi, who was as cold and tough as steel, looked at him in a completely different light after receiving Han Anjun's subtle hints. The only one who did not take him seriously was the leader of the school of Medicine, Ru Xin. At the very least, that was how it seemed.
"Sure. Is the door still open?" Li Qingshan agreed straightforwardly. It was not like he was some kind of ascetic cultivator, and he had the opportunity to drink to his heart's content, so why would he turn it down?
"Even a centipede will not fall over even when it's dead, let alone a sect as large as it. Though, it seems like there's been quite a lot of trouble lately. It's all because it's lost its foundation after all. Qingshan, why don't you take over?" Liu Zhangqing picked up the conversation with a smile and suggested to Li Qingshan.
After granny You's death and Qiu Haitang's disappearance, the sect was leaderless. Not only did it fall apart internally, but it also faced numerous dangers externally, becoming the target of many organisations.
Originally, Liu Zhangqing wanted to use this opportunity to swallow it up, but after careful consideration, he still gave up on that idea. Li Qingshan had taken a tremendous risk to help Qiu Haitang escape, but in the end, he ended up taking all the benefits. If any ill feelings arose between them, then the losses would outweigh the gains. As a result, he used his identity as the prefect to maintain the status quo of the sect. It did not collapse, but no one could get their hands on it either.
"Me? Let me think about it! " Originally, Li Qingshan wanted to say, What use do I have for that? However, upon further thought, this was Qiu Haitang's sect after all. If he had the opportunity in the future, it would be nice if he could return it to Qiu Haitang.
The various tests were carried out in an orderly manner. In the end, the handsome young man called Lin Xuan passed the tests with ease and joined the school of Daoism, becoming a daoist. It left the leader of the school of Confucianism, Wei Yangsheng, in great pity. Many people were confused too. Ever since Juechenzi's death, the school of Daoism had always been without a leader. It was completely up to the primary disciple and a few professors to manage the situation and pass down the daoist methods. No one could make the decision to give him any extra benefits, but Wei Yangsheng had offered quite the impressive conditions.
However, Li Qingshan understood that he had probably chosen the school of Daoism precisely because he did not want a certain person to pay special attention to him. He would probably become the leader of the school of Daoism before long. Not only did he possess a powerful cultivation method and cultivation experience, but Ru Xin had even promised to provide him with sufficient resources for cultivation in exchange for the Daoist Technique of Cloud Furnace and the detailed teachings of the Daoist Technique of Cloud Furnace.
The rise of a new star could already be foreseen.
Liu Chuanfeng sighed. "What a pity. If only this kid could join our school of Novels."
"You can stop dreaming, junior brother. The school of Novels might be much more powerful than before, but true geniuses won't take this path." For the entrance examination this time, Sun Fubai had specially hurried back as well. He had accepted over a dozen disciples for the school of Novels.
Li Qingshan said, "If it weren't for that bastard Zhou Tong, I wouldn't have ended up in the school of Novels."
Sun Fubai smiled. "This is the will of the heavens, as well as the good fortune of the heavens. I'll do my best not to disappoint you, Qingshan. I'll tell you in detail once we get back. The school of Novels has great potential too! "
They returned to Cloudwisp island with the new disciples. The three of them each said some words of encouragement and explained some of the rules of the school of Novels. They let them wander around before returning to the bamboo loft to discuss matters.
Among the dozen or so new disciples, the oldest was already twenty years old, while the youngest was only nine. After the three of them left, they all let out a sigh of relief. The pressure that a Foundation Establishment cultivator gave off was far too great. Although it was just an unintentional aura, it was enough to make them hold their breaths.
The oldest youth exclaimed excitedly, "It's really him!"
The youngest child, who was nine years old, tilted his head in confusion. "Who is it?"
"The one who spoke at the end, the one who's the tallest, is senior uncle Li Qingshan! Don't tell me you haven't heard of him before! "The young man suppressed his voice as if he was saying," You're just too ignorant. "
"Of course I've heard of him! "He's the Scarlet Hawk commander of the Clear River prefecture. He was originally just a cowherd, but he only cultivated for around a decade before defeating a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators from the school of Novels in the Exhibition Matches of the Nine Prefectures. He's not even thirty, yet he's already close to breaking through to Golden Core. He's the most powerful genius in our Clear River prefecture, no, in the entire Ruyi commandery!"
A young girl said immediately. She was so proud as if she was talking about her own matters. Her eyes were filled with admiration.
The young man sighed. "Sigh, I'm not asking for anything else. I just want to reach Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty." The others all showed expressions of admiration and eagerness. They were filled with confidence towards their lives in the school of Novels. The power of a role model was endless.
Although Li Qingshan was still a distance away from becoming renowned throughout the world, becoming renowned throughout the Ruyi commandery was not an issue at all. Before he knew it, he had become a legend.
… …
In the bamboo loft, the three of them sat before one another. Li Qingshan picked up a cup of tea and said to Sun Fubai, "Fubai, you've worked hard. Qingshan will replace wine with tea, so let me toast you!"
Liu Chuanfeng also picked up a cup of tea and expressed his gratitude to Sun Fubai. If it were not for him running around outside, the Cloudwisp association definitely would not have achieved what it had today.
Sun Fubai replied with a smile, "Junior brother and I should be the ones thanking you. Qingshan, do you still have any money on you? "
"Money? Are you talking about spiritual stones? "
Sun Fubai shook his head with a bitter smile. "No, just money. Real gold and silver."
Originally, to cultivators at their realm of cultivation, gold and silver were basically no different from scrap metal, completely meaningless. However, in order to expand the Cloudwisp association and carry out Li Qingshan's plan, Sun Fubai set up free private schools across the Ruyi commandery to teach the children of poor families how to read and write. He wanted to expand the foundation of the school of Novels, only to discover that money really was not enough.
In the vast territory of the Ruyi commandery, just setting up these private schools would probably cost hundreds of millions of gold and silver coins. Coupled with the costs of recruiting people and maintaining operations, it would be an astronomical figure, and it would only be paid out.
Sun Fubai was not lacking in methods to accumulate wealth. He already possessed many salt pans and gold mines, all of which were rolling in money. However, if he wanted to carry out such a grand plan, there was still quite a gap.
After listening to Sun Fubai's explanation, Liu Chuanfeng said, "Since you don't have money, then you'll have to develop it slowly. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Sun Fubai shook his head. "But that'll be far too wasteful. It's like a barren piece of land. The more seeds you plant now, the more food you'll harvest in the future. If you delay farming by a year, you'll harvest by a year, so the more you invest right now, the better. "
Li Qingshan rummaged through his hundred treasures pouch and found quite a lot of silver notes, as well as gold bars and silver ingots. They were worth as much as ten million taels of silver.
"Then I won't hold back. It'd be great if I had more."
Li Qingshan thought, Regular sects don't accumulate too much gold and silver, but there are exceptions. The pavilion welcomes guests from all over, and most of them are mortals who use gold and silver. The sect should be quite rich, right?
Li Qingshan told him Liu Zhangqing's suggestion, and Sun Fubai immediately said, "That's a great idea! A single pavilion surpasses ten banks!"
