Chapter 1017: Arrogant and Mouthy
The Tiger Demon Forges its Bones, with a Frenzied Heart.
This was the state that Li Qingshan was accustomed to, from the day he began cultivating to today when his bloodline of the tiger demon had already become so thick. Even when he used the Frenzy of the Tiger Demon, he had never lost his mind and gone insane.
The feeling that the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End's A Madman at Path's End gave him was slightly different from the Frenzy of the Tiger Demon, but it was not enough to make him die from madness.
This move isn't particularly evident when it comes to unleashing power. It can be compared to the Possession of the Battle Demon to a certain degree, but it's nowhere close to the Frenzy of the Tiger Demon. Though, it's probably much stronger in terms of the increase it brings to battle prowess. It can make up for my greatest shortcoming, Li Qingshan thought as he concentrated on comprehending the blade intent.
However, before long, he felt deeply fatigued, so he forcefully separated himself from the space of blade intent despite the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower's tuggings.
The patterns on his body receded back onto the blade, and the metallic lustre on his skin faded away. In that moment, an intense feeling of emptiness swallowed him. The profound and flexible bladesmanship was no longer his, and he had lost the feeling of being able to wield the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End in his hand freely. He could not help but feel a little despondent.
However, just like how the tide would leave behind many traces and marks on the beach after it receded, he had comprehended a hint of blade intent, which was enough for his bladesmanship to improve.
He smiled. The Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower had not lied to him. This was indeed the fastest way to learn bladesmanship. As long as he constantly fused with the blade and merged with the space of blade intent, his bladesmanship would reach a whole new level very quickly.
He flicked the blade gently. "Do you have anything else to say?"
"Looks like it wasn't completely because of deceiving tricks that you could obtain me from the Armoury of War and Chaos. Since you've already passed the test, I'll fight for you!"
After three consecutive attempts at killing Li Qingshan, which had all ended in failure, the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower seemed to finally give up on that thought.
Li Qingshan let go of the hilt and laid down on the ground. A clash of the mind was basically even more exhausting than a great battle. He fell deep asleep before long.
The Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End was planted in the ground right beside him. The edge was only a few inches away from him, and he seemed completely defenseless. The blade shimmered with light as if it was staring at him with a shining eye.
Within the space of endless blade intent, the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower said to herself, "What a strange guy. His malice is even heavier than Asura Kings, yet he's completely unaffected mentally. It's exactly because of that that he can remain calm during A Madman at Path's End, but can you still remain so composed in a battle to the death? Hehe!"
......
"Fellow Unraging, where is Li Qingshan? Tell him to drag his ass out here!"
Yue Wuyang was furious. Extremely furious! Anyone would be furious if they were stood up, let alone being stood up for a good half a year. Who knew how many years it had been since someone last toyed with him.
In order to deal with the Soaring Locust King, he had carefully crafted an entire plan and even notified the King of Chu's estate, but the main character of the plan, Li Qingshan, never appeared. He said he had returned to the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga to study his cultivation method, and then there was no more news of him. He had sent people numerous times to urge Li Qingshan, but the end result had all been Li Qingshan cultivating in seclusion in the Demon Suppression hall.
The Soaring Locust King was still at large in the Green province. He had become much less active compared to before, but that was because he had already cleaned out the various cities and villages, and there was insufficient food to replenish his clones. The risk that came with attacking prefectural cities was far too great, so he had toned down his activity himself. The counterattack from the King of Chu's estate was less of a reason for this.
As long as the locust plague persisted, the mortals would not be able to recuperate and recover like normal, and the foundations of the cultivation community in the Green province would be shaken.
"Please calm down, Great General King. He's inside." The Unraging monk pointed at the Asura Field beside him.
"Isn't he cultivating in the Demon Suppression hall?" Yue Wuyang asked.
"He came out and entered there," said the Unraging monk.
"Get him to come out! Does he really think he can brush aside everyone and act as he pleases just because he's undergone the third heavenly tribulation?" Yue Wuyang said.
"This is his arcane treasure. Even I can't open it!" The Unraging monk shrugged.
"If you won't open it, then I'll open it!" Yue Wuyang had truly been angered this time, reaching towards the Asura Field. He moved like a bolt of lightning.
"That's not really a good idea, is it?" The Unraging monk pressed down on the Asura Field with his huge hands.
"Unraging monk, this is touches on matters of great significance. As an eminent monk of buddhism, can you really bring yourself to watch as the common people are plunged into misery?" Yue Wuyang asked.
"This is the Green province's crisis. How can you place all your hopes on a single person?" The Unraging monk shook his head.
"Who's calling for me?"
At this exact moment, Li Qingshan's voice rang out from the Asura Field. Soon afterwards, Li Qingshan leapt out from the Asura Field with the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End on his back. Due to his fantastic sleep, he was brimming with energy.
Yue Wuyang wanted to fly into a rage the moment he saw Li Qingshan, but his gaze was drawn away by the blade on his back, not only because of the huge, flagrant appearance of the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End, but also because of its unique bearing.
Just like how alcohol enthusiasts were drawn to fine alcohol and painters were drawn to famous paintings, Yue Wuyang possessed an instinctive intuition for the quality of weapons as a disciple of the school of the Military. He could sense that life seemed to be pulsing within the cold weapon.
Was it an asura armament?
"The fuck you're looking at?" A provoking voice rang out, but it did not come from Li Qingshan, but the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End. It directed its chilling killing intent straight at Yue Wuyang.
"A weapon spirit!" Yue Wuyang was very surprised. This was actually an asura armament with a weapon spirit! Just how did this kid obtain it? And how could he keep it under his control?
"You're still looking! I'll cut you down if you keep looking!" The Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower continued to raise a clamour. She said to Li Qingshan eagerly, "This guy is not bad. Let's feed him to the blade! And count in the fatty beside him too."
The Unraging monk was also taken aback, widening his eyes. He had never seen such an arrogant weapon before. Even the most self-aware buddhist treasure in the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga could not be compared to that.
"You don't need to look around. I'm talking about you. Your fat will be perfect for oiling and maintaining the edge. Come at me, the both of you!"
"Shut your mouth!" Li Qingshan ran out of patience and slapped the hilt forcefully. Originally, he did not want to carry the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End on his back, but the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower said to him, "If you want to comprehend the blade intent a little faster and unleash the full power of the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End, then you better just carry me properly!"
"Oh my! You really think you're my master! With your bit of strength, I've already shown you plenty of respect by being willing to fight for you. Don't take it too far, kid! Argh! I want to go back to the Asura realm! This world is far too boring! To think that I can't actually kill whenever I want to! How boring!"
Why would the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower listen to Li Qingshan? She yammered away as the blade constantly thrummed.
The only reason why Li Qingshan had managed to refine the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End was because she wanted to kill him, so she cooperated proactively. However, it resulted in a relationship of equal cooperation. She no longer tried to kill Li Qingshan anymore, but since they were equals, he could forget about controlling what she said too!
"Damned disciple, this blade sure suits you!" The Unraging monk watched this with quite some interest and chuckled.
"Really?"
"Arrogant and mouthy!"
"Damned fatty, why don't you fucking say that again!" Before Li Qingshan could even reply, the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower began roaring away.
Li Qingshan felt like someone was covering his face in spittle with all the things she said. Earlier, the Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower still seemed rather quiet and cool, but now she had completely become an annoying, aggressive patient with manic episodes. He finally understood how the past masters of the blade had died from madness. Carrying the blade basically meant a constant barrage of disrespect every single moment of the day. Even if he managed to survive his enemies, he would be driven to madness by her yammering.
He shoved the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path's End into the Asura Field and secretly made up his mind about completely refining her one day and changing the name to Tiger's Fang 2.0!
"Fellow Yue, long time no see. I've made a fool of myself with my inadequate use of discipline. Oh right, have you specially come for me?" Li Qingshan almost forgot about the Great General King's plan.
"Of course I've come for you!" Yue Wuyang glared at him with widened eyes and said furiously, "Don't tell me you've already forgotten about it."
"Haha, how could I? I really must apologise for this. Many things happened during cultivation this time, so I really had no choice. Let's set off right now!" Li Qingshan said.
"There's no reason to hurry. Where did you get the asura armament from? I've never heard about a blade like this across the nine provinces." Yue Wuyang changed the topic, also temporarily casting the overall situation of the Green province and the misery of the common people to the back of his head to ask the question he cared most about.
"I exchanged for it from the Asura Altar of Armaments with a lot of demonic weapons." Li Qingshan shrugged without hiding it.
"You have an Asura Altar of Armaments!?"