"If I can't even see this, then I would have wasted the past five thousand years." The Banyan Tree King smiled.
"So what if I can see it? Do you think I can't live without you?" Madam Teng sneered.
"This is my fault. You should have gone out a long time ago. You would have realized that the world is so vast and not what you have seen in the past five thousand years. I just happened to be the first tree you have met."
"It's not just a coincidence, it's fate!"
"Fate? I am confident that few people in the Nine Prefectures can compare to me in the Dao of Divination, but I feel that fate is unpredictable and uncontrollable … "
"It's fate!" Madam Teng said stubbornly, "It's fate that you want to kill me, and it's fate that I want to leave. There's no need for you to take care of me. I will walk my own path!"
As she spoke, Towering Sky City shook and a loud rumbling sound came from below. The sun vines that coiled around the great banyan tree began to curl up and finally turned into a curved golden light that entered Madam Teng's body. The sun flower on her head suddenly shone brightly like the blazing sun before slowly shrinking and disappearing.
It wasn't that plants couldn't move, but it was more suitable to cultivate if they stayed in one place. After the sun vines became a spirit monster, they didn't have to be parasitized to survive. They just had to pay a price.
After completing the transformation, Madam Teng said hatefully, "Go be the God of the Nine Prefectures, damn old man!" With that, she turned into a golden light and shot towards the north.
The Banyan Tree King gazed into the distance until Madam Teng completely disappeared in the horizon. Just Now, he closed his eyes gently.
Li Qingshan opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. He patted the Banyan Tree King's shoulder. Thinking about it, it was already rare that he didn't take revenge against such a resolute betrayal, let alone forgive. The Banyan Tree King's image had been changed for nothing.
"Please take care of me." The Banyan Tree King turned his head and sighed.
"Don't worry!" Li Qingshan felt as if the positions of the Banyan Tree King and Madam Teng had been reversed. Moreover, Madam Teng's strength could be said to be the strongest among the Demon Kings. She didn't need anyone to take care of her.
"It's getting late. You should set off."
Li Qingshan said, "Let's go back." He spread his phoenix wings and flew towards the north under the illumination of the setting sun. Little Ann and Little Phoenix followed closely behind.
On the way, Li Qingshan said to Little Ann, "You guessed wrong this time. You really haven't forgiven me, right?"
"Do you think the phrase 'let nature take its course, don't force it' was meant for you?" Little Ann looked to the north.
"You mean …" Li Qingshan was stunned.
"If my guess is correct, Madam Teng's trip to the north this time is most likely to find an opportunity to seize the Qingzhou Cauldron." Little Ann looked back and smiled.
"Does she still want to stop the Tree King from becoming a God?" Li Qingshan said in surprise. This seemed to be the only reasonable explanation, but it also seemed a little strange.
"Since the Tree King has already taken this step, he can no longer turn back. How can he be stopped?" Little Ann shook his head slightly.
"You mean she did it to help him?"
"Of course."
"This … can't be!"
Li Qingshan felt that this was too unbelievable. Originally, Madam Teng was the staunchest opponent of the Banyan Tree King becoming a God. After suffering a fatal blow, she suddenly became a supporter? She didn't hesitate to take a great risk to seize the Qingzhou Cauldron.
"Since she still believes that it's fate!" Little Ann's voice was faint.
"Heh, what fate? I think she is blinded by lard." Li Qingshan smiled disapprovingly.
"That's true!"
They headed north until they reached the border of the two prefectures. Li Qingshan said quietly,
"Qingzhou, I am back!"
… …
There was a small city surrounded by mountains. The three words "Qingyang city" were deeply engraved on the city walls. They had already become rather mottled from the erosion of wind and rain. Under the setting sun, they seemed rather bleak.
A locust landed on the point above the word "city". Its emotionless compound eyes were reflected red by the setting sun. It paused for a moment before flapping its wings and taking off again, merging into the swarm of insects that filled the sky.
"Sir, let's go! If we don't go now, it'll be too late!" Frantic footsteps rang out everywhere in the government office. The advisor's call made everyone shiver.
"What're you panicking for? It's just a few insects. Don't tell me they can eat us?"
Under the plaque hanging high above, a fat figure turned around and stared at the advisor with bulging eyes. He wore a set of large, red official robes. He was the district magistrate of Qingyang, Ye Dachuan. His hair and beard were white, and his face was covered in wrinkles. He already seemed rather old. However, having been an official for many years, he had developed a bearing of authority. He was not as miserable as when he first took office.
"Sir, please stop putting on airs. Those locusts really can eat people. Ouch!"
A locust flew in from the swarm of insects outside and landed on the advisor's neck. He cried out and extended his hand in a hurry to catch it, but the locust crawled onto his face again.
Smack! Ye Dachuan raised his fat hand and slapped the advisor across the face before patting him on the shoulder. He wiped his hand along the way. "You idiot! How could I not have made arrangements?!"
At this moment, a bell rang out from somewhere in the city. Ye Dachuan's face lit up. He wrapped the green veil he had prepared around his head and face and ordered loudly, "Go to the back and invite the madam and young miss. Don't worry about what you can't carry. We'll set off immediately!"
Several kilometers away, in the Iron Fist.
The Iron Lion, Liu Hong, pulled back his fist and left behind a clear imprint of his fist on the metal bell before him.
His hair and beard were all white, joining together. Although he was advanced in age, he seemed even more spirited than before. His first disciple, Wang Lei, praised behind him, "Master's martial arts have advanced again!"
"It's all because of your junior brother's spiritual fruits!" Liu Hong shook his head and glanced at his fist. The innate realm sure was wondrous, but unfortunately, this was as far as he could go.
"Junior brother is an important figure in the Clear River prefecture. I heard that even our main sect master greets him when he sees him. Everything has been prepared. Once we reach the Clear River prefecture, master, you can spend your remaining years in peace. "
"I still have a few more years to live. Looking at the situation in the world, who can spend their remaining years in peace?"
Just like what Wang Lei had said, a long group of people were already waiting outside. All of their heads were covered in gauze, and their eyes were covered too. Even their ears were plugged up to prevent the locusts from burrowing in.
When Liu Hong emerged from the Iron Fist, the group fell silent. Despite Wang Lei's objections, Liu Hong insisted on riding at the front of the group, travelling out of the city slowly. They stopped at the entrance of the government office, and Ye Dachuan merged with them with his family and guards, making the group grow larger and larger. They advanced arduously through the swarming locusts.
Liu Hong raised his head and looked around. He saw the dense swarm of locusts. The surrounding mountains had all become barren, let alone the fields and gardens. They had all become food for the locusts. The famine in the city had already lasted for a very long time. When he passed by an alleyway, he saw a few stray dogs gnawing on a starving corpse. He had already grown sick of this sight a long time ago.
Suddenly, he began to miss the times of the past. Even when the jianghu was filled with many dangers and battles to the death, it had never been so gloomy.
The group's advance led to an uproar in the city. The wealthy families who had endured the famine until now all brought their most precious belongings with them. Even if they could still last for a very long time with the surplus of food in their homes, their minds would collapse first.
This was not a regular plague of locusts. The rumour of locusts eating people had already spread for a very long time before the first locust arrived. No one knew when the insects that ate grass would become the legendary man-eating monsters.
And, in the past few days in the city, many people had reported seeing a huge locust that specially hunted people at night, so their fear became heavier and heavier.
Everyone believed that they would only be truly safe in Clear River city, and Liu Hong and Ye Dachuan's choices gave them even more confidence.
"Master, what do we do?" Wang Lei urged his horse to travel with Liu Hong as he asked with a frown.
"They're all from the same village. Let them follow us. Your junior brother has his own plans!"
Liu Hong said. At the end of the day, there were only a few people who could keep up with the group. The poor people who only had a pair of legs and were half-dead from hunger were unable to keep up. However, this gave them an opportunity. They could rely on the food that the fleeing wealthy families had left behind to last a little longer.
The group passed through the city gates in a grandiose manner, setting off towards the distant Clear River city.
Liu Hong suddenly felt threatened. He looked back at the sky, but he was unable to see anything.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Let's hurry to Xiachuan village!"
Unbeknownst to Liu Hong, a locust was currently watching him from within the swarm of locusts. This locust seemed no different from regular locusts, but it did not go around eating like its own kind. Instead, it hovered in the air quietly, overlooking the entire Qingyang city. Faint daemon qi revolved around it.
Actually, Qingyang city was located in a remote location, and it was located on the outskirts of the Boundless mountains, so it had not become the Soaring Locust King's target. The locust plague had only reached here very late.
Within the locust plague of Qingyang city, there was only a single, weak clone that guided and controlled the entire swarm of locusts. Its objective was to plant enough eggs and provide a "source of soldiers" for the entire plague of locusts. At the same time, it would create a great famine and wipe out the "source of soldiers" of the humans.
In terms of strength, this clone was not even the opponent of the "innate master" Liu Hong. It would probably struggle to deal with the "master of the Iron Fist", Wang Lei.
"Myriad Clones" was an extremely terrifying innate ability, but there were many prerequisites for it. Moreover, with a tremendous advantage in numbers, it was very difficult to guarantee the quality. If it were like Li Qingshan's "Watermirror's Image", where every clone possessed thirty percent of the original's battle prowess, the Soaring Locust King would have been invincible a long time ago. Why would it still need to hide its original body?
After the group had travelled far away from the city, the locust wrapped in faint daemon qi suddenly swelled up. It was the size of a calf, and it swooped down with a flap of its wings. Below, a group of people were currently breaking down the door in an attempt to barge into the granary left behind by a wealthy family. A wave of madness swept over them, and they all turned around. They cried out in fright, "Giant locust!"
The "giant locust" swept through the crowd in an arc before rushing back into the sky. It carried a skinny human in its six legs as its cries reached the sky. With a bite from its sharp mouth, the cries immediately vanished, turning into slurping and chewing sounds. Even the bones were chewed and swallowed. By the time it had swallowed everything, the "giant locust" had grown even larger.
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