Chapter 288 - Thousand Days Drunk
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 d.a.m.ned bald a.s.s 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 Pract.i.tioners 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 Pract.i.tioner 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 ident.i.ties, 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 Pract.i.tioner clearly was not someone he could just brush aside.
“This lowly priest is called Juechenzi. Please come with me!”
Juechenzi made his way towards the main hall with Li Qingshan. When they arrived in front of the hall, Juechenzi gave Li Qingshan a glance, wishing him good luck, before sending him in alone.
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 br.i.m.m.i.n.g 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 p.i.s.s 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 pa.s.sing 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.
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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.
Li Qingshan immediately felt the world spin around him. He muttered, “Oh no!” He never thought the kickback from the alcohol would be so powerful. The entire hall twisted and changed.
“Fall!” The slovenly daoist priest stretched out the syllable.
With a thump, Li Qingshan collapsed on the ground, drunk. He began to snore.
The slovenly daoist priest walked over and kicked Li Qingshan. He smiled. “So much for being so crafty. You’ve drunk my Thousand Days Drunk.”
The slovenly daoist priest loved drinking, but with his cultivation, falling drunk was difficult. Under the idea that drinking without falling drunk could not be regarded as drinking, he went through multiple books and brewed this Thousand Days Drunk himself. Even he would fall drunk when he drank it, let alone a mere Qi Pract.i.tioner!
The slovenly daoist priest waved his hand again, and a daoist guardian in golden armour appeared, carrying Li Qingshan to the back of the hall.
Just as he was complacent, he suddenly thought of something. He uttered, “c.r.a.p!”
He checked the mountain path in a hurry. The person with the Five Elements const.i.tution who he had been caring for the entire time, Chu Tian, had already fallen off the path. He could not help but feel regret. However, when he saw how Yu Zijian was still there, he finally relaxed. The Pure Yang const.i.tution was even more important than the Five Elements const.i.tution to him.
Yu Zijian no longer gripped the sword so firmly. Instead, she carried it on her back. The sight of her father teaching her movement techniques during her childhood appeared in her mind again. Don’t be scared. Steady.
And when she raised her head, a powerful figure hovered before her. If Niu Juxia was here, he definitely would not be afraid! She had never seen him display an emotion like that, even when he turned around and returned to the place filled with daemons underground.
“I’m useless!”
“If you’re useless, then why did I save you?”
“I want to stay here to help you out!”
“We’ll see after you accomplish something with your divine abilities first!”
Her gaze gradually became determined. The person who had rescued her while risking his life was not useless. If she failed here, how was she supposed to help him out? How was she supposed to avenge him?
Her footsteps gradually sped up. She ignored the bottomless cliffs to the two sides and only stared ahead, chasing after that figure.
The slovenly daoist priest showed great appreciation for this. He said to Juechenzi, “Look, I was right, wasn’t I? All she needed was a chance.”
Juechenzi could only say, “Wise be master.”
In the end, less than two hundred people made it to the top of the mountain. On the mountain path, the test would become harsher the closer they were to finishing, especially to those lacking in talent.
There was no need for them to complain about the unfair nature of the test. Since they lacked supreme talent, they had to possess supreme willpower, or how else were they supposed to contend with those prodigies.
As soon as everyone made it to the top, they saw the slovenly daoist priest. They all greeted the school leader.
The slovenly daoist priest got right to the chase. “You’ve all pa.s.sed. I’ve already recorded your names down, so you’re welcome to leave the mountain and partake in the tests of the other schools.” Suddenly, he said to Yu Zijian in a pleasant and kind manner, “You must be Yu Zijian!”
Yu Zijian said in a hurry, “Yes!”
The slovenly daoist priest said, “You can stay behind.”
Yu Zijian said, “But… I still have other tests…”
The slovenly daoist priest waved his hand. “There’s no need to partake in them!” As long as she did not partake in any other tests, the only school Yu Zijian could join would be the school of Daoism.
Juechenzi whispered, “Master, that would be breaking the rules!”
The slovenly daoist priest growled, “f.u.c.k those rules. That d.a.m.n bald a.s.s could directly intercept a person even before they went through any tests, so why can’t I keep someone here?”
Juechenzi thought, You intercepted her too.
He saw how Yu Zijian hesitated, so the slovenly daoist priest said, “With your Pure Yang const.i.tution, there’s no place more suitable for you than the school of Daoism. Here is the only place where you can unleash the full potential of your talent. As for all the pills and medicines, I might refer to myself as a lowly priest, but I’m richer than those “lowly monks”. I can see that you like swords, so I’ll give you this Nine Yang sword as a welcoming gift!”
He drew out a shiny sword and tossed it before Yu Zijian. Surprisingly, it was also a supreme grade spiritual artifact.
Originally, it was impossible for disciples to be bestowed something like that the moment they joined the school no matter how talented they were. He only did this so that he would not lose out against the school of Buddhism.
Yu Zijian closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. She no longer hesitated anymore. Under everyone’s envious gaze, she grabbed the sword hilt.
The slovenly daoist priest smiled in a satisfied manner. With this test, one of the three most dazzling geniuses had already fallen into his hands. As long as he guided her well, he refused to believe that she would end up any worse than the d.a.m.n bald a.s.s’s disciple.
As a result, many Qi Pract.i.tioners expressed their willingness to stay behind. Apart from the Qi Pract.i.tioners that had only enrolled for the school of Daoism, the rest were shooed off the mountain by the slovenly daoist priest. If he really held them back here, he would probably just incur the wrath of the public.
The ship set sail once more. No one noticed Li Qingshan’s absence. Even if they did, they would have just thought he had remained behind in the school of Daoism.
Li Qingshan had an absurd dream that night. He dreamt that he had returned to his past life and was a student again. He had overslept, missing an important exam.
“Wake up!” Juechenzi took out a pill and shoved it into Li Qingshan’s mouth.
Li Qingshan let out an alcoholic breath and slowly woke up. The horizon shone dimly as morning birds sang.
f.u.c.k, it’s not a dream.