Legend of the Great Sage

Chapter 1357: Casting a Formation

Le Tian cheered and raised his hands high in the air. “Qingshan! Qingshan! Qingshan!” He smashed his head into the three-legged golden toad and called out, “The invincible dark horse! The invincible dark horse!”

Croak! The three-legged golden toad swiveled its eyes before closing them again.

Ruan Yaozhu pressed against her chest. “That’s fantastic!” She felt excitement that lingered for a very long time. She wondered whether this was the taste of gambling that her senior brother Le was talking about.

Le Tian pointed at the other three and smiled. “You three, how’s that?”

That was the smile of a victor of the gamble.

“Is he really not an asura?”

Pi Yangqiu was puzzled. He had faced his fair share of battles, and he had seen existences much more powerful than Li Qingshan before. However, he had only ever witnessed such fervent enthusiasm for battle and boldness to neglect their safety from asura.

After all, cultivators still prioritised longevity at the end of the day. They would try their best to avoid pointless battles and try to eliminate battles that they had no confidence in winning altogether. They had already achieved a very, very high status, and they had a very, very long lifespan to enjoy. They would never gamble everything that they would possess without good reason, even if the risks were very, very low.

Their gamble with Le Tian was only a form of social contact between direct disciples so that they could find excitement. Even if they lost, it would merely cost them some Green Jade bookmarks. After all, they would always win some and lose some. As long as they had enough time, they could always make it back.

Li Qingshan was different. He had ventured into the lair at the centre of the mountain while he was almost completely ignorant of earth fiend beasts, singing at the top of his lungs along the way and declaring war against the beasts at the danger of being killed. There was no cautiousness to speak of. The way he behaved did not resemble a cultivator at all.

People like that were almost a little perplexing or even hopelessly foolish. Was he not aware that he would lose everything from the slightest accident? All of his efforts so far, his great future prospects, and his own life had all been placed on the gambling table without any concern, waiting for fate to make a choice.

Unbeknownst to Pi Yangqiu, a situation like this was all too common to Li Qingshan compared to the dangers, difficulties, and situations of life or death he had faced. If he did not possess the courage and resolve to neglect death, he would have been reduced to a pile of bones a long time ago. How could he have made it to where he was right now?

There were no great future prospects for him to enjoy either, as the path ahead would only be more dangerous. Very soon, he would be venturing into the Demon domain to face Demon God Qiongqi. Compared to that, what were a few earth fiend beasts supposed to be? If he even ran away from this bit of danger, he was better off slitting his throat and dying!

He had never considered stopping. He had never considered looking back, which was why he gambled everything he had freely, seeing if he had the luck to make it beyond the Nine Heavens! If he died along the way, then he would calmly accept that fate! At the very least, it would not be a result of cowardice and uselessness.

“Hmph, asura don’t pose around like that!”

Ren Aoyou continued to brood on Li Qingshan’s appearance of a “good boy” that he had demonstrated in the beginning, but a smear of praise flashed through his eyes. That was no longer a gaze of watching an insect through a glass cover from high above. Instead, he treated him as a “fellow” truly worthy of standing on equal footing.

He even began to admit inside that he had never seen his true colours and that there was something wrong with his judgement.

At this moment, Li Qingshan leapt out from the mouth of the huge, motionless beast and became entangled with the other beasts. He ignored his injuries, laughing and singing madly.

The Strength of the Earth bestowed him with endless power, and as he understood the earth fiend beasts’ methods of attack, it became easier and easier too. The terrifying enemies before him crumbled away like pottery.

With the mad singing, he was like a black tornado that swept through the cavern, obliterating and shattering everything in his path like he was unstoppable!

Pi Yangqiu sighed. “Why doesn’t he go to the Asura realm instead? He might even end up being chosen by the heavens! He’d gain the favour of one of the generals from the Asura realm immediately. He’d definitely have a much greater future there than the Human realm!”

Leng Yuan furrowed his brows in thought, which made him seem even more quiet and mysterious.

Le Tian jokingly said, “Perhaps he’s been drawn by junior sister Ruan’s charms! I’m winning this gamble for sure. If he doesn’t come first, I’ll eat this Map of All-seeing and All-hearing. Hahahaha!”

Ruan Yaozhu reddened. “Don’t say that, senior brother. What charms do I have? Anyways, it doesn’t matter how much you win. You’ll be returning it to the three senior brothers regardless.”

The nine-coloured deer sighed. She knew this would happen. She never even considered winning her senior brother’s Green Jade bookmarks.

“Junior sister, oh junior sister, don’t you know what greed is? I hate people like you when it comes to gambling!” Le Tian smiled craftily. “But I don’t think I’ll lose, and this is my gamble with you. Don’t tell me the three of them are shameless enough to ask you to compensate them?”

“Junior sister Ruan, are you looking down on us, or do you want this kid Le Tian to look down on us?” Ren Aoyou said in displeasure, “And, grinning little Le, it is a little too early to say that! The gamble is not ending anytime soon!”

Ruan Yaozhu pouted and lowered her head silently, which made her seem slightly simple. However, she definitely was not the type of person that could be easily swayed with words.

“That’s right. This Li Qingshan clearly hasn’t made any preparations for the test. He knows very little about earth fiend beasts, and he completely relies on his physique to fend them off. However, just how much strength will he have after a bitter battle with the earth fiend beasts?”

“The two brothers are different. They’re clearly well-prepared, completely looking down on the other Soul Nascence cultivators, so they must have something to rely on. On top of that, they’ve been conserving their energy for an ambush on the unexpected. Senior brother Le, the outcome has yet to be determined!”

Pi Yangqiu spoke with composure, brushing off Le Tian’s remarks. How could he admit defeat before the result of the test was determined? However, after witnessing Li Qingshan’s valiance, he no longer held much hope. If the two brothers did not act like idiots and did not provoke this monster Li Qingshan, they would be doing quite well.

“Alright, alright, alright. I’ll make the three of you lose all hope then. Let’s take a look at what these two are doing!”

Le Tian brought the Map of All-seeing and All-hearing to the other end of Magnetic Field mountain with a smile and locked onto the brothers. They were currently guarding a necessary path out of the mountain and busying about. They seemed to be preparing something like a formation enthusiastically.

However, whether it were techniques, arcane treasures, or formations, they were all useless in Magnetic Field mountain as long as they relied on the power of cultivators. Even if they were located near the exit of the mountain and the influence from the magnetic field had begun to weaken, regular formations were still mostly useless.

However, when they saw the tools they used to cast the formation, the direct disciples’ eyes all lit up.

Le Tian said in surprise, “Sigh, it’s actually a thief formation. Haha, the two of them really are prepared.” Not only was he unworried, but he even smiled instead. “Not bad. They have a chance. They have a good chance!”

Ren Aoyou and Pi Yangqiu exchanged glances, and their complexions had both recovered. At the very least, it demonstrated that their judgement was not too horrible. The gamble had only just begun!

Ruan Yaozhu furrowed her brows. She never expected the two brothers to be so prepared. They were clearly ready to block the path and rob passing cultivators right from the beginning. The amount of effort they put into this wicked act left her displeased. She could not help but worry for Li Qingshan’s safety again.

“They might not be bold enough to attack Soul Nascence cultivators.”

Le TIan said, “Maybe not in the beginning, but they definitely will now! This gamble really is getting more and more interesting.”