Chapter 1355 - Lair
It was impossible for a person to hide everything, especially when they were doing something that they liked.
Even though Li Qingshan could feel he was being watched, he did not plan on changing the way he acted. Within the battles that he was all too familiar with, he gave off a specific bearing naturally.
Apart from Ruan Yaozhu who was still unaware due to her lack of expertise in fighting, the three other direct disciples could all sense that his bearing could only be developed by going through countless battles, fighting and killing decisively. He must have faced countless struggles to the death for him to be so graceful and composed.
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They all resented the fact that his harmless appearance had actually fooled them. They all looked at Le Tian. “Hmph, so you’ve made the correct bet yet again!”
Regardless of the end result, Li Qingshan was indeed the person qualified to come first.
Le Tian stroked the three-legged golden toad beside him gently and smiled. “I have a feeling that I can win both bets.”
The three faces sank. Who knows how bloodied his hands are to possess a bearing like that? And how can he be a kind-hearted person? Even if he butchers the entire mountain, it would be nothing surprising. Junior sister Ruan has probably been deceived by this kid this time. Hmph, if that really is the case, we’ll never spare him! Le Tian might win against us, but how dare he mislead junior sister Ruan! He’s asking to die!
Li Qingshan was still unaware that due to some strange gamble, he had almost developed a grudge with three direct disciples before he had even joined the Myriad sect.
Ruan Yaozhu raised a finger and said seriously, “Senior brother Le, you can only win one gamble at most.”
“Hah, then let’s just wait and see!”
Li Qingshan completely pulverised the earth fiend beast. He did not strike to defeat or to kill. Instead, he smashed apart every single part of its body punch by punch until he found the magnetic ferrum. It was much larger than the magnetic ferrum in the tiny earth fiend beast’s body, shimmering with light in the darkness.
Li Qingshan fiddled around with it and shut his eyes to sense it. He sank into his thoughts.
Sumeru rings could not be opened in Magnetic Field mountain, so he casually tossed the magnetic ferrum into the basket behind him. This had been allocated to every single person by the Myriad sect when they entered the cave. It had even come with a pickaxe for mining.
A strange buzzing rang out from the depths of the caves again. Even more earth fiend beasts lunged over. He carried the pickaxe on his shoulder as he strode ahead, singing at the top of his voice.
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
“Fine men, let’s go with me.”
“I’ve travelled through the mountains, and I’ve yet to grow old.”
“Young men and their lofty aspirations know no distress.”
TL: This song is called Carefree Wandering from the show Legend of the Eight Immortals. You can listen to it here.
The direct disciples exchanged glances. The lyrics and tone were strange, but it did give off an indescribable sense of carefreeness and heartiness.
Ren Aoyou said, “This kid really is very interesting. He has a chance at becoming a direct disciple.”
Leng Yuan said cautiously, “You’ve found out about his origins?”
Ren Aoyou said, “With how vast the Human realm is, coupled with the ascending cultivators from the trichiliocosm, how can we find out about everyone’s origins?”
Le Tian had truly experienced an upheave of emotions. His face flushed with excitement, such that even his mask-like smile became lively. “It’s far too exciting! It’s far too fascinating! Right and wrong, success and failure. The intangible will of the heavens, the unpredictable thoughts of man. All of that is involved in this gamble. Junior sister Ruan, have you experienced the joys of gambling?”
Ruan Yaozhu pouted and shook her head.
“So be it, you little monster.” Le Tian rubbed his hands. “Hehe, now all my fine little horse has to do is defeat these earth fiend beasts one by one, and it’ll all be over. If he can kill a few unlucky b.a.s.t.a.r.ds too and turn their magnetic ferrum into his, it’ll be even more perfect!”
Li Qingshan sped up, running through the twisted caves. He never hesitated whenever he encountered a fork. He ran into another two earth fiend beasts and finished them off efficiently, gaining another two pieces of magnetic ferrum in his basket. The largest one was almost the size of a peach.
“He’s venturing down!”
Pi Yangqiu and the others could clearly see from the Map of All-seeing and All-hearing that basically every choice Li Qingshan made when he encountered a fork would be downwards, completely defying the basic principle of exploring Magnetic Field mountain.
The closer to underground, the more intense the magnetic field was, and the stronger the earth fiend beasts would be. The danger would be greater too.
As a result, when they had to choose a path, they would try their best to travel upwards. If they could follow the ridge of the mountain, they basically would not encounter any earth fiend beasts at all. They would only venture down if they were unable to find any magnetic ferrum.
Most of the cultivators partaking in the test had chosen this path, which had already led to countless battles and struggle. Normally, that would be the source of fascination in this gamble. Perhaps there would even be a few side bets out of interest, but now, no one cared about the fates of those people.
The direct disciples all paid close attention to the lone figure that constantly ventured downwards. Ren Aoyou frowned. “What’s he trying to do?”
Leng Yuan said coldly, “He’s trying to die!”
Le Tian began to tug at his hair again. “You fool, you already have victory guaranteed! What’re you still going down for? Get your a.s.s back up here!”
After a furious sprint, Li Qingshan suddenly stopped and smiled.
Beneath his feet was a cliff. The area before him was open. An underground cavern three hundred metres tall, as large as ten soccer pitches, lay before his eyes. It was basically impossible for such a large opening to appear in regular mountains.
This was the very depths of Magnetic Field mountain. If he ventured any further, he would be leaving the mountain, and if he ventured any deeper, he would be underground.
He leapt down from the cliff. Specks of light glimmered in the darkness, present everywhere whether it was above his head or below his feet, just like the starry sky. It was enough for him to forget about where he was, like he had been displaced in outer s.p.a.ce.
That was the l.u.s.tre of the pieces of magnetic ferrum. They were half-buried in the walls, with some even exposed outside. It was possible to imagine just how much more ore there was beneath the stone ground.
However, this dreamy sight also hid great danger.
When Li Qingshan entered the depths of the cavern, the specks of “stars” silently vanished into the darkness, no longer shining anymore.
Even though he had not emitted any sounds, he had disturbed this place of silence, as well as the colossal beast slumbering in the darkness. Even though the senses of the spirit turtle had basically lost its effect, the chilling sensation was like needle p.r.i.c.ks to his skin, giving him gooseb.u.mps. It roused the most primitive sensation of fear.
The direct disciples all stopped talking, staring straight at the Map of All-seeing and All-hearing. They could clearly see the craggy walls shifting about, swallowing the magnetic ferrum half-exposed in the walls. Vicious heads protruded out, casting their gazes towards Li Qingshan’s direction.
This was not some magnetic ferrum mine but a lair of earth fiend beasts!
Li Qingshan arrived in the centre of the lair. A strange rock thirty metres tall stood there. He leapt up onto the rock, but due to his angle, he failed to see the huge chunk of magnetic ferrum, almost the size of a watermelon, embedded on the other side of the strange rock. It shone brightly, slowly sinking into the depths of the rock.