Legend of the Great Sage
chapter-1410

Chapter 1410: The Dangerous Path

In outer space, Navy Li’l Fatty swallowed the last mountain. The Heaven Climbing Vine was like a long, twisted intestine, delivering all the living creatures to the World of the Five Continents.

Everything else was directly digested. The World of the Five Continents’ mass swelled further. The oceans became more vast as the continents spread off into the horizon.

It was still not enough to reach a higher level, but that was merely a matter of time, as the space-devouring beast had already set off on a new journey. Suddenly, it vanished from there, advancing towards another star.

Li Qingshan pulled back the Heaven Climbing Vine, but there was nowhere to attach it to. The Dragon’s Pool dwelling had already been breached, and the altar was probably destroyed, completely losing the anchor point.

If he had his own dwelling, he could build a new altar and connect the World of the Five Continents with the Human realm. That way, he could use the World of the Five Continents for cultivation. There were many people he trusted that could come to the Human realm and lend him assistance.

He had no idea when Pi Yangqiu would help him get the Xuanming dwelling. The concept of time had always been very slow to cultivators, so all he could do was wait patiently.

He could not help but think that if the World of the Five Continents continued to swell like this, perhaps it would become an unbelievably tremendous object one day, even rivalling the six realms of saṃsāra.

As the god of the world, all the living creatures there were his allies, so could he nurture and support them?

Under the dancing shadows of the tree, a gentle breeze blew over.

Li Qingshan looked out, only to see a young cultivator making his way up the hill and reporting politely, “Senior brother, I’ve just returned from Myriad city. Senior brother Pi of the Department of Heavenly Dwellings has told me to pass on a message to you. The thing you want has already been prepared. If you have the time, go to the Department of Heavenly Dwellings to collect it!”

Li Qingshan smiled. Quite efficient! With his current cultivation, perhaps he could consider challenging that true dragon called Ao Xuan.

He thanked the young cultivator and stood up. It was time for him to visit Myriad city again!

His Yin Demon sank into the hill to maintain all his thought clones as he left the Hundred Herbs garden and flew towards the ocean.

On the nineteenth floor of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was reading. He raised his head and glanced past Li Qingshan.

His gaze that was as deep as a sea abyss still made him tremble; it felt like he could see through everything. However, Li Qingshan had already become much more composed. He understood that this was only an illusion. His fate was not something that this old turtle could see through.

He offered up a jade slip. “Please examine it, spirit reverend!”

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance accepted the jade slip and began looking through it. He was clearly much more serious than last time.

Li Qingshan waited patiently. He felt very confident. While offering up books last time had ended in failure, he did not become defeated. Instead, he pulled himself together and tried harder. He increased the rewards to everyone involved, particularly with those novelists. Even when they had only earned him a single Black Wood bookmark, he still rewarded them heavily.

It was not like it cost him anything as the god of the world. It was merely a matter of putting up plentiful rewards. The effects had not disappointed him either. Novelists surged forth like bamboo shoots in spring after rain. The creative craze reached a new height.

This time, he brought even more novels for the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance.

Before long, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance passed the jade slip back to Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan asked with a smile, “How is it?”

“A little better.” The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance swung his hand, and the badge on Li Qingshan’s chest lit up. He had earned some contribution, ten times as much as last time. This time, he did not give him any Black Wood bookmarks to “insult” Li Qingshan, completely rewarding him with contribution.

On the Myriad ranking, Li Qingshan’s name jumped higher yet again. He was already close to inner disciple now, earning him a lot of attention.

“Better in what way?” Li Qingshan asked closely. The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance glanced at him and gave some casual criticism.

Li Qingshan memorised every single word, planning on repeating it to the novelists in the World of the Five Continents. He could not help but admit that the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was quite tasteful. His criticism was concise and to the point, and as long as he understood his tastes, he could bring even more novels of even greater value. He had an entire world serving him, so how could failure be possible?

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance then extended his hand. “You can hand it over!”

“Heh, I really can’t hide anything from you!” Li Qingshan took out another jade slip. “Inside records some of my experiences regarding the Heavenly Tome of Liberty. Please take a close look, spirit reverend.”

These were his three great avenues of earning contribution.

First, working in the Hundred Herbs garden. His income from this avenue was the biggest as well as the most stable.

Secondly, offering up books. His earnings were still very little right now, but it was something he could look forward to in the future.

Lastly, his experiences from practising the Heavenly Tome of Liberty. This was all thanks to Pi Yangqiu’s suggestion.

After all, the Myriad Heavenly Tomes were still the crux of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes. Novels were only a hobby to the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance, but the heavenly tomes had to do with cultivation. The difference in importance went without saying. As the first adopter of the cultivation method, the benefits that came with it definitely could not be disappointing.

Sure enough, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance became much more serious. He checked through the jade slip; his gaze wavered, like he was thinking and calculating. After a very long period of time, he said, “Well done!”

With that, Li Qingshan’s badge lit up with blinding light.

Li Qingshan’s name shot up on the Myriad rankings, suddenly squeezing into the top ten formal disciples. Now, he was ranked seventh, only inches away from becoming an inner disciple.

In the Myriad sect, the ranking was status. With his ranking increased twice in such a short amount of time, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone that was on the square.

Ever since Li Qingshan underwent the fourth heavenly tribulation and managed the Hundred Herbs garden with all his thought clones, his name had risen up extremely quickly, basically advancing with every single day like a new star on a meteoric rise. With the two increases, there were no longer any doubts that he would become an inner disciple very soon. Perhaps it would lead to far more than that too.

Among the gazes, many of them were hostile, and that was not just out of envy.

A gamble had already spread among the direct disciples. Le Tian was much more efficient than Pi Yangqiu.

Li Qingshan said, “Thank you, spirit reverend.”

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance said, “This Heavenly Tome of Liberty really is dangerous. You haven’t had it easy to undergo the fourth heavenly tribulation.”

“Erm…” Li Qingshan was speechless. “You don’t need to come clean in such a direct way, do you?”

“I can stay quiet, but is that not what you think? Every single heavenly tome is a path. I will pick the most suitable person to pave it. However, what I’ve produced is only a map. It’s extremely detailed, but it has its limitations. If you can’t pave this path, then I can’t anticipate everything either.”

“I’m sure that’s the truth.” Li Qingshan nodded. “Because I couldn’t find any problems either.”

“With you serving as an example, the people in the future can avoid a lot of unnecessary bends and traps. I can amend the Heavenly Tome of Liberty as well. This is a result of your hard work. You haven’t let down the promise you gave me that day.”

“Can you amend my Heavenly Tome of Liberty in the process too?”

Li Qingshan cursed inside, You damned turtle, so I really am a lab rat! The Heavenly Tome of Liberty I practise right now is probably a shoddy version, which is why it’s so dangerous.

“You? You don’t need it.” The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance glanced at Li Qingshan.

“Don’t tell me I need to pay bookmarks for this as well?” Li Qingshan raised an eyebrow. Even a lab rat would be rewarded with food!

“There’s no doubt that not only is the Heavenly Tome of Liberty you practise right now without any issues, but it’s even the most perfect version too.”

Li Qingshan questioned, “You aren’t trying to deceive me, are you? If it’s perfect, why does it need to be amended?”

The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance said, “The so-called concept of perfect has always been a form of extreme, and this heavenly tome is an extreme path as well. Do you understand?”

Li Qingshan said in thought, “Only by being extreme can it be perfect.”

“Exactly. Amending it would make it no longer extreme. Regular disciples will be able to comprehend and practise it as well, limiting the risks of death as much as possible. It is like two different paths to the top of the mountain. One is dangerous, but fast, while the other is steady, but slow. The former is closer to the true nature of this path, but with your talent, as long as you are willing to slow down, you will definitely make it to the top of the mountain. If you want me to, I can amend it for you?”

“Thank you for your guidance, spirit reverend, but that won’t be necessary. If I don’t take this path, I have no path to take.”

As a result, he could only continue as the lab rat, but he had an ability to suppress the Yin Demon, so he did not have to decrease any risks. Of course, the faster his cultivation speed was, the better it was. The closer it was to its true nature, the better it was.

“Which is why I said you don’t need it.” The Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance vanished within the bookshelves with his hands behind his back.

After a moment of thought, Li Qingshan arrived on the ground floor of the Pavilion of Heavenly Tomes, probably because he was enthusiastically welcomed by that worker whenever the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance saw him.

“Senior brother, do you need any books? I can go and fetch them for you!’

Li Qingshan shrugged, “Give me all of them.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. I want to read all the books here.”