Chapter 1288: A Tiger's Prowess

On Dragonshead mountain, in the imperial court, Si Qing's life lamp suddenly extinguished.

Si Long noticed it in shock. He stood up and arrived outside the hall, gazing at the stars in the distance. His face was sunken.

He still could not monitor the distant Lightning province, but he could already sense the devastation of the group.

Several generations separated Si Qing and him, so he did not have any attachment to him, but he was still a central figure to the Great Xia empire.

The Heavenly Frost Wolf King had truly followed him for many years. He had always demonstrated utmost loyalty and devotion, such that he was unmatched.

The religious preceptor of the left was the leader of buddhism across the world, not only serving as a mainstay to Great Xia's strength, but also influencing the arrangements in the Human realm.

He had no doubts about their murderer. Apart from him, just who in the world could still kill them? Who in the world still dared to kill them?

An irrepressible rage immediately filled him. He uttered the name quietly, "Li Qingshan!"

Abruptly, he shivered inside and looked back. His gaze reached into the depths of the sky. He stroked the Dragon Province cauldron in his hand gently and sensed the tremendous, intangible, and indescribable will of the world.

"Is the will of the heavens at work?"

Otherwise, it was far too much of a coincidence. A diplomatic mission to the Lightning province was anything but difficult. It would take two or three days to complete at most, yet they actually ran into Li Qingshan.

In his knowledge, Li Qingshan had been cultivating in the South sea the entire time. It was impossible for him to learn about this diplomatic mission. Even if he did know about it, he would not stop his cultivation for the sake of this, as he did not take the religious preceptor of the left and everyone else seriously in the first place.

Si Long sucked in a deep breath and pacified his fury and hatred. With my disposition and cultivation, I shouldn't have such strong emotional responses.

As a result, he understood what was going on. All living things would face invisible restraints and influence as long as they were in this world. He was not an exception. The intangible will of the heavens wanted to kill with a borrowed blade, so it established a blood feud between him and Li Qingshan.

"Hmph, will of the heavens, you will submit to my will sooner or later, but this is fine. The will of the heavens stands on my side. If I can kill Li Qingshan, I'll definitely receive the blessings of the will of the heavens, and the nine provinces will be refined much faster. Li Qingshan, since you're bold enough to stay here, then you can forget about leaving the nine provinces alive!"

With lofty aspirations and his killing intent concealed, he slammed the railing, shattering it!

At the same time, over ten thousand kilometres away, in the Myriad Buddha city of the Lightning province.

Slivers of golden light gushed out from the cracks on the religious preceptor of the left's body, flowing and dissipating in the air, dyeing half of the city golden.

Countless citizens knelt on the ground and brought their heads to the ground. They all thought it was the power of the buddha, but little did they know it was actually the end of a Monk King.

Li Qingshan reached out and collected the glistening śarīra before taking the sumeru ring. As the abbot of the Spirit Kṣetra temple, there should be quite a lot of nice things inside. Then he collected the Heavenly Frost Wolf King and Si Qing's sumeru rings with a wave of his hand.

Actually, spoils like that were no longer of any importance to him. However, killing enemies and taking all of their possessions was simply something that brought him joy.

The religious preceptor of the left had been the strongest among them, and his disposition and willpower went without saying. As a vehement believer of a religion, his mind definitely could not be compared to the Heavenly Frost Wolf King's. At the very least, he would not be overwhelmed mentally. If he unleashed his various buddhist treasures and secret techniques, it would not be that easy even if Li Qingshan tried to kill him with a single punch.

However, Li Qingshan did not clash with him. Instead, he launched a sneak attack out of nowhere, directly landing a punch to give him a taste of his own medicine.

The bodies of human cultivators always struggled to match the bodies of daemons. Even the tough zombie emperor had been shattered apart by Li Qingshan's punches, not to mention the fact that his cultivation had progressed drastically, countless times more powerful than before. It was obviously well beyond what the religious preceptor of the left could withstand.

"Heh, so this is all the will of the heavens is capable of!" Li Qingshan extended his middle finger at the sky.

Rumble!

The thunder boomed endlessly as the surroundings became as bright as daytime.

The clouds turned into a sea of lightning, pouring down on the Myriad Buddha city as if it was trying to crush the place along with the mountain.

In the King of Western Liang's estate at the top of the mountain, the King of Western Liang's expression changed drastically. During all his years in the Lightning province, he had never witnessed such an intense lightning storm. Even the protective formation shook as a result, blocking the lightning before drawing it in and absorbing it.

The diplomatic group from Great Xia has died here. What am I supposed to do now? A thought flashed through his head, My Lion's Formation of Great Thunderclap can borrow the might of the lightning. With such favourable conditions, could I...

He glanced down the mountain and met the scarlet eyes, which made him lurch inside. He looked away in a hurry as if he did not see anything at all. He contacted prince Tsangyang. "My son, this Li Qingshan is not a person you can just deal with. Apart from Si Long, no one in the world can match him. Handle this carefully. Do not make an enemy out of him!"

He had already made up his mind to never partake in this war. Even though neither side of the war would be particularly fond of him if he maintained neutrality, joining a side, any side, would put the kingdom in danger of destruction.

All meticulous and ingenious plans suffered from a problem. If any part went wrong, the entire plan would fall apart.

Prince Tsangyang happened to be one of these crucial parts. When Li Qingshan and the Heavenly Frost Wolf King clashed, he was about to strike instinctively, but in the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Frost Wolf King had suffered a miserable defeat, prince Si Qing had been slain, and the religious preceptor of the left had died.

It shocked him so much that he immediately dismissed that idea; it even covered him in cold sweat. He thought, Li Qingshan is extremely fierce and brutal. If I had struck him, I'd probably be dead already, and I would have made a powerful enemy for the Mahachakra temple and the Kingdom of Western Liang!

Then he heard the message from the King of Western Liang and thought, Oh no. Hopefully, he didn't hear what I said earlier!

A thousand thoughts raced through his head, yet none of them dared to oppose Li Qingshan. He could not afford to consider Qiu Haitang anymore either. After all, compared to his personal feelings, the fate of the Kingdom of Western Liang and the Mahachakra temple was still more important. As a matter of fact, he even felt some regret. He should not have provoked him.

Fortunately, I've never disrespected her over the years. Hopefully, she can put in a good word for me.

"Haitang, I've saved you again. How are you going to thank me?"

Li Qingshan smiled at Qiu Haitang on the stairs and also sensed her changes. This woman who resembled a peach blossom had bloomed even more delicately and charmingly. Her figure was just as great as before, but she had already hidden her irresistible charms away.

"Hmph, you were clearly the one who caused the problems, so why should I thank you?"

Qiu Haitang sucked in a deep breath and tried her best to restrain her surging emotions. Her chest heaved as a result while her heart stirred.

However, whether inside or outside, there was not a single pair of eyes that dared to fixate on her anymore apart from Li Qingshan. They all buried their heads, as timid and docile as a herd of sheep before this vicious tiger.

Prince Tsangyang felt wry inside. Her voice was cold, but it did not give off an unapproachable feeling. Instead, it seemed more like flirting. That was something he had never experienced from her.

A shadow loomed down. Before he knew it, Li Qingshan had arrived before him, patting him on the shoulder. "Hey, you seem to have said a lot of bad things about me earlier!"

"I-"

Prince Tsangyang shivered inside. Sure enough, he heard it! Under the gaze of the scarlet eyes, how could he still muster any words? Only then did he understand the great horrors that existed between life and death.