Chapter 1249: Final Stop, the Nine Provinces

Li Qingshan said, "Then please pass the two cultivation methods to me, fellow!"

The complete cultivation method of the Sovereign's Limit Record of World Prosperity appeared in the Stone Heart Empress's mind. Li Qingshan browsed through it quickly and discovered it was truly extremely profound. It both possessed the wonders of humanistic pragmatism and the spirit to embrace the world, to hold the world within one's palm. It was much better than the Battle Demon Statuary right now, except he had no idea how to go from the demonic to daoism.

The Stone Heart Empress just remained there silently. Li Qingshan understood what she wanted and smiled.

Wu Tieshan was scavenging the beach for anything useful. He planned on catching some fish to eat when a figure suddenly appeared on the beach, making his way towards his treasured statue.

"Who are you!?"

Wu Tieshan immediately tensed up, gripping his sword firmly like a leopard about to pounce. He gazed at the person with hostility. However, the person's appearance seemed so familiar for some reason, which made his jaw suddenly drop. "H- h- hero king!"

He had only ever seen this man once in his life, and he had done so on his father Wu Huan's shoulders, but it was a memory that he could never forget about.

Li Qingshan smiled. "Tiedan, long time no see. Your mother is quite nice, but I really am not your father."

Wu Tieshan trembled in excitement. "You're really... You didn't leave?"

"I've never left."

Li Qingshan patted him on the shoulders and made his way over to the statue, tapping it gently with his index finger. The spiritual qi of the world was drawn over, surging towards her along the finger and making her erupt with blinding light.

The greyness of the stone gradually receded, revealing the fair skin underneath. The tough rock then turned into gentle clothes, dancing in the sea breeze.

The Stone Heart Empress blinked her eyes. They were dark and bright, except her gaze was as unyielding as rock. She said forcefully, "Thank you, fellow." Afterwards, the Sovereign's Limit Record of World Destruction appeared in her mind.

Li Qingshan could tell with a single glance of the Sovereign's Limit Record of World Destruction that the Stone Heart Empress had not been lying to him. The cultivation method was filled with the resolve to destroy everything, a demonic art through and through. It could convert his demon heart and replace the Battle Demon Statuary.

When he compared the two versions, he found it to be even more wondrous.

He stared into the Stone Heart Empress's eyes and said with sincerity, "May you have fun in my world."

At that instant, the laws of the world pulsed around the Stone Heart Empress. As the god of the world, Li Qingshan had given her a blessing, so she no longer faced the rejection of the will of the heavens. She could move through the world freely.

The Stone Heart Empress eased up. She spoke with a bit more sincerity too, "Thank you! The hero king truly lives up to his name!'

Her heart was firm like stone, but she was completely at his whim. He practised the cultivation method of demonfolk, so his disposition was questionable. It really would be difficult to tell what would happen to her. Only then did she confirm that he held good will towards her. There was very little good will like this in a world that was about to end.

"You're welcome. Let's meet again if fate allows it."

This was his good fortune too. Perhaps she could become a powerful assistant for him in the future, but he soon remembered she was far too weak right now. She had his blessing, but it was difficult to say absolutely nothing would happen to her. He could not constantly watch over her either, so he said, "Let me find you a protector! Tiedan, get over here!"

Wu Tieshan was already dumbfounded when he saw the statue turn into a woman and talk with the hero king as an equal. Now that Li Qingshan was calling for him, he cupped his hands in a hurry. "What are your orders, hero king?"

Li Qingshan smiled. "You owe me a life."

Wu Tieshan recalled what had happened on the ship and smiled as well. "Anything you want, whether it's through fire or water!"

Li Qingshan said, "Protect her in my place for some time. It shouldn't be too long."

Wu Tieshan glanced at the Stone Heart Empress. When he met her determined and cold eyes, he shivered inside, no longer able to pay any attention to her alluring beauty. He lowered his head in a hurry. For some reason, he found her to be more feminine when she was a statue.

"I definitely won't disappoint you!"

Li Qingshan nodded in satisfaction. He raised his hand and pressed down on his forehead before vanishing from the world.

Wu Tieshan felt like he had fallen into the stormy seas again, leaving his head spinning for quite a while. He discovered that a cultivation method called the Arts of the Boundless Ocean had appeared in his sea of consciousness.

Looking into it a bit, he immediately cheered, "Long live the hero king!' The cultivation method was basically a perfect fit for him and a perfect fit for the current situation. It could actually allow him to undergo the second heavenly tribulation. Just how great of a cultivation was that?

He turned towards the Stone Heart Empress. As someone who could stand on equal footing with the hero king, her identity must have been something else. He cleared his throat. "If you have any orders, senior, just let me know."

"You can cultivate for now! I will call you when I need you."

The Stone Heart Empress found a rock and sat down with her legs crossed, absorbing the spiritual qi.

A very large portion of her world had been digested by the small world. As its only survivor, she did not face the rejection of spiritual qi, so it was only a matter of time before her cultivation recovered.

However, once her cultivation reached the limits of what this world could contain, she could neither ascend nor traverse through space, so she would still be trapped here. By then, she would still have to ask Li Qingshan for help. That was the awkwardness that came with losing her world.

Li Qingshan's attention returned to outer space. Navy Li'l Fatty carried out the third teleportation, crossing ten million kilometres with ease.

Outer space flickered with lightning as Rāhu Xiaoming faced the second heavenly tribulation. Ever since he received the endless supply of spiritual qi, this child of an asura god had been making progress at a tremendous pace, not just because of his bloodline, but also because he had taken this path once before. He was like a doctoral student in high school. It could not get any easier than that.

He could not help but think of the Reincarnated Celestial, Chu Tian. After inheriting his past memories and becoming Lin Xuan, he probably grew rapidly too! However, he was probably also constrained by the quality of spiritual qi.

A while later, Rāhu Xiaoming returned. He was so relaxed and leisurely that he seemed like he had just returned from a holiday. He became much older again, now a handsome young man around thirteen or fourteen years old. His strength was already on par with regular great cultivators. When they actually became locked in battle, the one dying definitely would not be him.

However, his demand for the quality and quantity of spiritual qi also surpassed regular cultivators. "The quality of spiritual qi from the small world is still too low, with far too many impurities. You don't need to provide me with any more in the future. I'll undergo the third heavenly tribulation once I return to your nine provinces!"

Li Qingshan agreed with that. Cultivators had to ascend to higher and larger worlds so that they could obtain a more appropriate environment for cultivation.

"Oh right, I just obtained two cultivation methods. Take a look and give you your appraisal."

"Ah, the Sovereign's Limit Record of World Prosperity and the Sovereign's Limit Record of World Destruction does bear some resemblance to great lord Mahe?vara's path, except it's nowhere close in terms of quality. Great lord Mahe?vara grasps destruction and prosperity with his two hands. Compared to that, these two cultivation methods seem a little half-assed..."

"But from the perspective of mortals, it's quite impressive. It reaches the apex of mortals. For once, it contains a sliver of the will of great destruction. It would be very difficult to comprehend so far unless you experienced the destruction of a world..."

Li Qingshan listened carefully and benefited tremendously. The knowledge of gods truly was extraordinary. Most importantly, it came from a certain height.

At this moment, Gu Yanying stopped cultivating too, also saying that the spiritual qi of the small world was no longer of much help to her anymore. It was enough to maintain her current cultivation, but she would struggle to make any progress with it.

Li Qingshan clapped his hands. "Alright, we'll stop here with cultivation. Let's set off immediately! Final stop, the nine provinces!"

Navy Li'l Fatty swung his tail, producing a cascading wave of ripples as it slid several tens of thousand kilometres ahead before suddenly vanishing into space.