Chapter 662 - Breaking the Game
From the terrace, the Unraging Monk’s voice boomed like thunder.
Immediately, blood completely receded from Si Qing’s face. Growing up, he had never been insulted in front of so many people, and he was currently helpless against the person who insulted him.
Jin Fugui shook his head gently. Although he had gone from “Raging” to “Unraging”, a leopard could not change its spots. This monk had never been known for possessing a good temper.
Jia Zhen waved his feather fan. “Demons are demons, humans are humans. It’s not something you can distort and quibble with language. The mighty Unraging monk of the mighty Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga actually wants to protect a demon?”
E Dan droned, “The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga might be able to block us from purging demons, but they can’t block the mouths of the entire world. Commander Jin, please uphold justice.”
They never imagined the Unraging monk to not even glance at them. He said to Li Qingshan, “d.a.m.ned disciple, how’d you throw these people into a flurry? You better explain yourself clearly!” He completely reduced the two vicious people, Jia Zhen and E Dan, to mere accessories to the incident.
Li Qingshan explained the entire story, from how he fell out with E Dan, to the Exhibition Matches of the Nine Prefectures this time and Si Qing’s actions.
When the Unraging Monk heard how Li Qingshan openly cursed E Dan in the hall, he took a bite of his lamb leg. “Well cursed. That behaviour is no different from a beast’s!” Then he heard how Si Qing’s lackeys had ganged up against Li Qingshan, followed by how they were all killed. He took a sip of alcohol. “Well killed. That bears great resemblance to your master’s demeanour in the past!”
“A mighty prince from the imperial family, the leader of an entire commandery, would actually sacrifice the lives of thousands of cultivators for his personal gains. Someone so out of his mind truly should not live in this world. In the end, he lost everything, which you can say is the will of the heavens. d.a.m.ned disciple, you’ve done well!”
When he listened to the end, the Unraging Monk laughed loudly at the sky, but his laughter seemed to contain the flames of fury that could burn down everything. Si Qing, Jia Zhen, and E Dan all changed in expression.
Jin Fugui never had a particularly good impression of Si Qing. After hearing about everything, he had come to stand up for Gu Yanying before becoming even more reluctant to get involved. A Scarlet Hawk commander of my Hawkwolf Guard is someone you can execute just because you want to? Who do you take me for?
“Unraging, the status of master and disciple comes before the status of superior and subordinate, so I’ll leave this child to you to take away. I believe the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga will judge him justly under the precepts of the monastery.”
He was obviously letting Li Qingshan go. I don’t care whether you’re a human or a demon. I’ll leave you up to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga! However, he was quite surprised. The relationship between the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga and the Demon race should have been as hostile as water and fire. With the Unraging monk’s ident.i.ty and cultivation, why couldn’t he see the demon heart in Li Qingshan’s body? And why did he have to protect him?
“It would be wrong of you to say that, commander Jin. This d.a.m.ned disciple of mine refuses to be a monk, so why would I take him back with me? Since he’s a Hawkwolf guard, then his punishment should obviously be up to you. Though, let me restate what I said earlier, those who possess demon hearts are not necessarily demons!”
Suddenly, the Unraging monk erupted with demon qi, coloured like flames and twisting into faces of rage. Even the sky changed in colour.
“Demon King!”
Jin Fugui took a step back in caution, staring at the Unraging monk in disbelief. With such a bearing, he was already a legendary Demon King. The Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga was actually hiding a Demon King at the back of their mountain. This was even more unbelievable.
Afterwards, he saw the Unraging monk in the demon qi bring his palms together, smiling widely like a smiling buddha, possessing the solemn bearing that only an eminent monk of buddhism could possess. A single glance was enough to comprehend the true meaning of “casting aside the butcher’s blade and attaining instant enlightenment”.
The Unraging monk asked, “Commander, do you know which hall I guard at the back of the mountain?”
“The Demon Suppression hall!”
“Then have you ever heard that the Demon Suppression hall possesses a cultivation method called the Demon Suppression Statuary?”
“I have heard of it. Don’t tell me… No wonder… I’ve never heard that someone managed to practise this cultivation method. I didn’t think it would be your fortuitous encounter.”
Jin Fugui was stunned at first before reaching realisation. In the past, although the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga managed to protect the Unraging monk, many people said he had already suffered from qi deviation and fallen into the demonic path, unable to make anymore progress again. Never did they think he would actually overcome the heavenly tribulation one day and reach the realm of Monk Kings.
It also made perfect sense now why the Unraging monk would accept a secular disciple as his disciple. Li Qingshan clearly practised the Demon Suppression Statuary too, which was why he had a demon heart in him and why he could use the various abilities of the Demon race. In other words, he had a demon heart, but he was not a demon.
“Practising this cultivation method requires great obsession and great obstacles, but also great willpower and great wisdom. I came across one for once, so I decided to show a little more care to this d.a.m.ned disciple of mine, but that doesn’t mean he can strut around, thinking himself as impressive and making unnecessary trouble for the commander. If he’s done any wrong, please punish him freely, commander. There’s no need to pay any attention to me.”
The Unraging monk withdrew his demon qi and tossed his alcohol and meat aside, bringing his palms together and bowing. He was indescribably friendly.
“It’s Great Xia’s good fortune to have such an outstanding person in the Hawkwolf Guard.”
“I cannot stay in the secular world for long, so I’ll be taking my leave first.”
“Take care, master!” Jin Fugui raised his hands with a smile.
If a regular person who did not know what was going on had been watching, then this would seem like a wealthy man who was trying to do good and virtue bidding farewell to a monk politely after giving alms to a monk who had come knocking.
Master, it’s rare of you to come out. You should let me hold you a banquet so that you can feast to your heart’s content for a good three days!”
Seeing how the Unraging monk managed to pacify an almost-despairing situation with just a few words, Li Qingshan could not help but feel grateful over the kindness he had shown. Moreover, he wanted to ask about Xiao An.
“Hmph, it’ll be no good feast. Having a d.a.m.ned disciple like you will probably only bring endless troubles and disaster. I really should just let you deal with the consequences you face alone!”
The Unraging monk said in exasperation, but he did not say that purely out of exasperation. Everyone at his realm of cultivation had a vague sense over the obscure existence of fate, like how a single statement could end up being prophetic.
Li Qingshan smiled. “I originally wanted to deal with the consequences I face alone too, reluctant to drag down everyone else. However, there’ll always be some ties of karma that remain unresolved in human life.” As he said that, he glanced at Han Qiongzhi deeply.
“Where are the prayer beads?”
“Right here!” Li Qingshan took out the string of prayer beads. The Unraging monk stroked it with his great sleeve, and the shattered prayer bead was repaired. Then he said, “d.a.m.ned disciple, you’re on your own!” Taking a step, he strode away through the air.
Li Qingshan gazed into the distance as if he was in thought.
Gu Yanying stared at his back and smiled inside. With this ident.i.ty of his, he could wander the world freely. Si Qing had bitten off more than he could chew this time.
“Your highness, looks like it was all a misunderstanding. Scarlet Hawk commander Li Qingshan of my Hawkwolf Guard is not a demon like you speak of!” Jin Fugui said flatly.
Jin Fugui’s friendliness as a rich man had vanished completely. Clearly, this misunderstanding had displeased him. As long as he spoke a little firmer when he reported to the imperial court, it could lead to great misfortune for Si Qing.
“Then it looks like I was mistaken!”
Si Qing gritted his teeth. Not only had he failed to kill Li Qingshan, but he had even been insulted for nothing instead. On top of that, he had antagonised two powerful cultivators, as well as the organisations behind the two great cultivators, which was basically a consequence even worse than refining the Asura Field. It left him so gloomy that he wanted to cough up blood.
Jin Fugui nodded at Gu Yanying and was about to leave when Li Qingshan suddenly said, “Commander, there’s something else I’d like you to preside over to ensure it is carried out fairly!”
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“Oh? What is it?”
Jin Fugui recovered some friendliness. Although Li Qingshan came off as rather unruly, he was still his subordinate after all, and he did indeed have the right to be unruly. With his cultivation, he had the opportunity of pushing past the second heavenly tribulation under the age of thirty. There were only a handful of geniuses like that across the entire Green province. As long as he did not die along the way, he could definitely stir up the nine provinces.
Li Qingshan said nothing more and opened his hundred treasures pouch. With a smack, a small medal fell onto the ground, followed by a great rustle. Thousands of medals fell out like flowing water, forming a small mound before him.
“What’s this?” Jin Fugui was rather confused.
“Li Qingshan, y- y- you!” Si Qing’s face twisted slightly. He almost began to breathe fire.
“This is for the reward that his highness Si Qing promised. Basically all of them are here, so please tally them up, your highness!” Li Qingshan said calmly.
Basically all the medals Si Qing had allocated were here. Even if a few were missing, there would be no more than a hundred.
Back then in the Asura Field, when Han Teiyi challenged the Asura General again.
Hua Chengzan advised Li Qingshan. “Qingshan, you better gather these medals, just in case something happens.”
Li Qingshan smacked his forehead. “I almost forgot about this.” This had been a rule that Si Qing had set down in the first place, the main objective of this compet.i.tion. From the lackeys he had slain, he had already obtained a thousand medals from their hundred treasures pouches.
As a result, he ordered the asura to scavenge all the hundred treasures pouches from the battlefield littered with the remains of thousands of cultivators. Then he sent them off to other battlefields. He basically left the weapons scattered on the battlefields to them as a reward.
The asura completed this task very easily, so Li Qingshan obtained thousands of medals.
At this moment, Liu Zhangqing and the others arrived. Seeing the situation, they all took out their medals and handed them to Li Qingshan. It was no longer possible for them to exchange anything from their enemy, Si Qing, with these medals. Even if they were shameless enough to do so, Si Qing might not necessarily acknowledge it. As a result, they pa.s.sed them all to Li Qingshan without holding back at all.
A single medal could only be regarded as possessing some value, but it was not enough for Li Qingshan to take it seriously. However, when all of these medals were gathered together, that would be tens of millions of spiritual stones, as well as countless pills, talismans, spiritual artifacts, and arcane artifacts. It was truly a tremendous sum. He obviously could not let Si Qing get away scott-free, wanting to have this debt resolved properly.
Si Qing’s face darkened at times and turned green at others. He never planned on issuing these rewards. In his plan, all the cultivators would die, serving as sacrifices for the Asura Field, but he never expected that not only would someone survive, but they would even basically gather all the medals too.
Jin Fugui looked at the trembling Si Qing and did not feel any pity at all. He had set the rules of the game himself, using absolute advantage and strength to subdue everyone, only to end up like this in the end. It was as funny as it could get.
“I will mention this to his majesty too!”
Gu Yanying understood that the appearance of three people broke Si Qing’s game—Mo Yu, Northmon, and Li Qingshan. Although she knew Li Qingshan and Northmoon were the same people, she did not know that even Mo Yu had been drawn over here by Li Qingshan.