Chapter 716 - Growing Up
Several days later, Xianghua Man received what she wanted. She fiddled around with the Asura Field and constantly tried injecting it with true qi, but her strength equivalent to Qi Pract.i.tioner clearly was not enough for an arcane treasure to respond. She could not even tell this was an arcane treasure. It was far too distant from the world she resided in.
“Mother, what is this exactly?” Xianghua Zi asked curiously.
Xianghua Zi had spent the entire trip back guessing at what it was, but she still had no idea.
“This item is anything but ordinary. Regular people definitely cannot wield it. The secret to the mysterious shaman art should be inside. Why don’t we show it to your elder sister?”
“She’s hundreds of kilometers away, so how are we supposed to show it to her? The rules of the White Lotus cult are very strict. Surely we can’t get her to hurry back home over one strange item. If you have no use for it, mother, then why don’t you just give it to me?”
Xianghua Zi swiveled her eyes. When it came to her elder sister Xianghua Hong, she had to put up a stand even if it were only for a piece of trash.
“Then… since you brought it back, you can hold onto it!”
Xianghua Man gave it a moment of consideration. Her first daughter, Xianghua Hong, had already become a glorious disciple of the White Lotus cult. Her future was bright, and it was not like she lacked something like this. In recent years, it had always been her second daughter, Xianghua Zi, who had been running around for her. They were both her daughters, so she could not favour one over the other. Her second daughter would be joining the White Lotus cult sooner or later, so she would end up unlocking the secret behind this item and obtaining the mysterious shaman art inside anyway.
Xianghua Zi accepted the Asura Field happily. In the hot spring several hundred meters away, Li Qingshan shut his eyes with ease.
Although he could consider stealing back the Asura Field right now, the risk was too great, and it was unnecessary. Once he got some proper sleep and recovered some of his strength, it would not be an issue for him to take it back publicly.
Several hours later, Xianghua Man discovered her guess was completely wrong. The mysterious shaman art had nothing to do with the patterned bundle. She frowned as she gazed at the young man in tattered clothes who resembled a beggar and asked, “You’re from Huangliang beach?”
“Y- yes!”
“You said Goldie A’bao and an infant attacked you. Everyone died, and only you managed to escape? Why did they let you go? And why did you come to Fragrant Flower market and not Huangliang beach? Explain everything clearly. If you tell even a single lie, hmph!”
The young man described his nightmarish experiences again, constantly trembling in the process. After Goldie A’bao and Li Qingshan left, he set off as well. He was very lucky. The Bone Eating tribe had been led away from the main path, allowing him to escape. Only after travelling for a few more days did he rush back to Fragrant Flower market. Utterly furious, he intentionally told everyone how Goldie A’bao had killed their people on the busy streets, letting the various tribes know just what kind of a person Goldie A’bao was.
However, he caught the attention of the Fragrant Flower clan very quickly. After a close questioning, he was brought into Fragrant Flower house, and the matter was reported to Xianghua Zi. In the end, he was brought before Xianghua Man.
“A baby with scarlet hair and eyes! A fire devourer?” Xianghua Man furrowed her brows. She said to Xianghua Zi beside her, “A’zi, has a baby like that appeared in Fragrant Flower market before?”
Xianghua Zi said, “Definitely not, or I’d definitely know.”
“The baby is anything but ordinary. He only used a few days to turn a mortal into such a vicious monster. He might be hiding somewhere, so search the city. Don’t miss a single corner. I’d like to meet him!”
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“Yes, mother. What about this lad?”
“Kill him!” Xianghua Man spoke with so much ease that it was like she was ordering the crushing of an insect. He was an insignificant little barbarian anyway. “If we let him blab about this blindly, who knows what kind of trouble he’ll create! The flower gardens require some fertiliser anyway.”
The young man was unable to respond at all. A beautiful, n.o.ble matriarch like her had actually decided his fate in such a casual manner.
Xianghua Zi clapped her hands, and two st.u.r.dy, bare-chested guards immediately walked in. Giving him absolutely no chance to plead or curse, they cleanly landed a stroke through his neck. With a crack, they broke his neck before dragging his corpse away.
Xianghua Zi ordered people to search through the city, but they found nothing. Perhaps the baby had already left Fragrant Flower market, or perhaps he was already dead, gnawed clean by the rats in the sewers. It was also possible that a heartless pedlar had turned him into roast meat…
Time pa.s.sed by quickly, and Xianghua Man gradually set this matter aside.
After who knows how long, Li Qingshan opened his eyes again. The shine in his scarlet eyes were hidden away, and his scarlet hair reached his shoulders, having become thicker and stiffer. As his body grew, the s.p.a.ce in the fake mountain became rather cramped. Glancing at his hand that had become much larger, he smiled and clasped it firmly. He no longer felt so feeble and powerless.
He exhaled deeply. He had finally recovered some strength, so he could go out and do some things now!
He sucked in a deep breath, but what flowed into his mouth was not merely air, but surging spiritual qi too. Propelled by the spiritual qi, his daemon core began to spin slowly.
Although he had only recovered to Daemon General, he could use three innate abilities now, which were the Spirit Turtle’s Profound Sh.e.l.l, the Tremors of the Ox Demon, and the Tiger Demon’s Breath. Of course, logically speaking, there was the Phoenix’s Nirvāṇa as well, but given his current state, he probably could not use it a second time.
However, that was enough!
Li Qingshan took a step. Before the rocks from the fake mountain had even touched his skin, they had already been reduced to powder. His control over the powers of tremor was becoming better and better.
“Ah!” A woman’s scream rang out from very close by!
Li Qingshan smiled. He had run into the person he wanted to see as soon as he woke up, and there was eye candy available too. After so many days of bad luck, it was finally taking a turn for the better!
Apart from cultivating, what Xianghua Man liked to do the most was bathing in the hot spring. This huge hot spring in the centre of the courtyard was specially prepared for her. Apart from her, no one was allowed to touch the pool water, or only death would await them. They would suffer the fate of being buried in the flower gardens as fertiliser.
Beautiful petals floated on the surface of the water as she stood comfortably in the pool water. Her graceful figure shimmered in the steam as she used her hands to gently stroke her smooth skin, voluptuous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and flat belly. Although she had already given birth to three daughters, she could still drive any man crazy.
Not only was she a beauty, but she was also the matriarch of the Fragrant Flower clan that reigned over thousands. She was very satisfied with her life, but right as she admired herself, she suddenly felt the surface of the water ripple. The fake mountain shook gently, and spiritual qi of the world surged over as if something was trying to break free.
Even with her extensive knowledge and experiences, she could not help but cry out. However, she immediately composed herself and wrapped her hands in true qi, staring straight at the fake mountain. “What is it? Come out!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure emerged from the fake mountain. At first glance, he was just a boy around five or six years old. His scarlet hair draped down to his shoulders, and his facial features were pretty. An innocent smile stretched across his face, revealing two little fangs. He did not seem threatening at all.
However, with a closer glance, she discovered that his forehead bulged slightly, and his fingernails were not regular fingernails, but more akin to sharp claws. His scarlet eyes were extremely deep, giving off a gaze that she could almost physically feel sweep past her naked body invasively. It was not the gaze of a child.
“Who are you?”
Li Qingshan’s reply was a wolf whistle, but when he checked his reflection, it turned into a sigh.
Xianghua Man leapt to the side of the pool and picked up her clothes, twirling around and draping them over her. She stared at Li Qingshan coldly and suddenly found him rather familiar. She remembered, Scarlet hair and eyes! Don’t tell me… this is the baby they were talking about?
Li Qingshan asked with the crisp voice of a child, “I have two questions I want to ask you. The first one is where is your daughter? The one you sent to Black Water cave a few days ago. The second question is…”
Before he could even finish, a fragrant gust of wind swept over. Xianghua Man launched a palm strike from afar.
A hexagonal piece of Spirit Turtle’s Profound Sh.e.l.l flew out automatically and blocked the attack, but the fragrance permeated Li Qingshan’s surroundings. He wrinkled his nose. “How fragrant!”
“Since it’s fragrant, why don’t you smell it a bit more?”
Xianghua Man smiled gently and launched several more palm strikes.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Columns of water erupted from the hot spring, and the steam dispersed. The Spirit Turtle’s Profound Sh.e.l.l blocked it all. Li Qingshan walked on the surface of the water, steadily approaching her.
“You better stop soon, or I’ll punish you viciously!”
“Hmph, how do you plan on punishing me?”
“I’ll give you a spanking first, and if that’s not enough, I’ll slap you across the face! If I really run out of options, I’ll kill you!”
“Really? Just by you, a brat who doesn’t even have hair down there? I wouldn’t mind having a son like you. Come, call me ‘mummy’!”
Xianghua Man shivered inside. She could be regarded as very powerful among shamans, but she could not be compared to those who had undergone the heavenly tribulation, actually unable to breach such a thin defence. However, no matter how powerful you are, you’ll be completely at my whim in a short while!
The fragrance grew heavier and heavier. She had already powered the Fragrant Flower gu within her body. The gusts of wind from her palm strikes were imbued with tiny specks of pollen. Once he came into contact with it, he would definitely become limp and powerless, completely at her whim, not to mention the fact that he had just inhaled it.
“Have you ever heard of watching your mouth a little when you curse? If I don’t beat you until you call me daddy, I’ll write my name backwards!”
With a flash, Li Qingshan appeared in front of Xianghua Man and planted his hand on her smooth lower belly casually; it was not because he was trying to be a pervert, but because he was limited by his height.
Xianghua Man did not fly out. Instead, she shuddered and directly collapsed there. She felt like every single bone in her body was shaking and the true qi in her dantian had been shaken apart. He had clearly inhaled her pollen, yet he was completely unaffected. She immediately understood an unimaginably wide gap existed between their strength.
Actually, from the perspective of cultivation alone, Li Qingshan had only just reached the level of condensing a daemon core. If it were several years ago when he had just condensed his daemon core, it would be a bitter battle even if he could defeat Xianghua Man. It would be nowhere as easy as right now.
During the days he spent in the fake mountain, he did not spend all of his time sleeping. Instead, he poured all of his attention into his body, balancing the four completely different powers. The initial effects were already showing themselves. Right now, he was no less than ten times stronger than when he first became a daemon.
And, a casual strike of his contained many years of battle experience. His grasp of timing and control over strength was ingenious. How could the leader of a tiny tribe from a land of wilderness stand a chance against him?
“The second question is where is the Bone Eating tribe?”
Li Qingshan crouched down. You could say he drew a clear line between his debts of kindness and grievances, or he bore grudges over even the smallest of things, but in short, he was very vengeful!