Zhongshan Shenzhu Chi

Chapter 123 Meeting

After saying that, the red dragon turned and left, and the thick fog instantly dissipated.

Mingli glanced at Lü Changqing and Xuan Lian, who were speechless, then quickly bowed and said goodbye before fleeing as if escaping.

"How is your mother-in-law?" Lu Changqing asked after putting away the jade bead that bound the mist demon.

"This is bad." Xuan Lian stared at the direction where the red dragon disappeared for a long time. "People say that my Star River Sword Palace only has one and a half cultivators at the fifth realm. They're right, my mother-in-law is that half, but only half."

As soon as she finished speaking, Xuan Lian stared at Lü Changqing, her tone filled with distance and hostility: "But it was she, a half-realm cultivator, who helped two people reach the fifth realm—"

"I feel guilty towards your mother-in-law, and also towards Yunxizhou." Lü Changqing nodded with difficulty.

"Stop feeling guilty. If you truly feel guilty, then come with me to catch up with the Crimson Dragon and kill it."

Xuan Lian sheathed her longsword and said coldly.

Her idea was simple: humanity is supreme.

The demon race is ignorant of laws, traditions, and order. Yunxi Continent, and indeed the entire world, should be governed by capable and virtuous individuals.

"You broke through to the next realm by slaying the dragon, and now the red dragon is right in front of us. At worst, my mother-in-law and I will offer ourselves as a sacrifice to perform your dragon-slaying technique once more," Xuan Lian said again.

Unexpectedly, Lü Changqing shook his head and rejected Xuan Lian's suggestion.

"We can't kill them now. At least until the battle of Yunmengze and the battle between Zhongzhou and Cangmingzhou involving the wolf god are resolved, we are still on the same side as Zhongshan."

"Now is the time for Zhongshan to bleed and weaken the strength of the East Sea Dragon Court, and it is also the best time for us to remove the poison from our bodies—and it is also our last chance."

"Your Lü family really needs a good dressing down," Xuan Lian said coldly.

"Although the Dynasty has signed an alliance with us, given their style and the secret method of extending lifespan with the Mist Ghost—we should join forces to remove all the thorns the Dynasty has planted in Yunxi Continent." Lu Changqing ignored the sarcasm in Xuan Lian's words.

"In this grand scheme of Yunxi Continent, we must first eliminate the imperial dynasty."

"You and they are using the same excuse," Xuan Lian sneered.

"I know that my refusal to kill the Crimson Dragon now has deepened your doubts."

"You may not believe me, but you must believe in the sword in my hand." With that, Lü Changqing drew his three-foot-long sword, which had accompanied him throughout his life and slain countless enemies. "The firefly has been with me for many years, only breaking but never bending. You should understand its nature."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Dragon-Slaying Sword named Firefly actually emitted a faint glow of fire.

Xuan Lian had practiced swordsmanship since she could remember, so she naturally understood the language the sword intended to convey. Just now, the sword said, "It and that red dragon must..."

One must perish, for it is fate, predetermined by destiny.

"You—" Xuan Lian was stunned.

"As you have heard, the reason that the red dragon traveled with me was because I shared the same idea."

"We are just using each other now. It exacerbates the internal conflicts within the Lü family to buy time for Zhongshan to capture Yunmengze."

"By taking advantage of the war between Zhongshan and Longting, I will do something special during this special period, and bring about a change of the world for the Lü clan."

"The Yunmeng Water God controls one-tenth of the world's water transport in just one Yunmeng Marsh. I will never allow it to be given to any living being outside of Yunxi Continent."

"A real fight, even after the Lü family has undergone painful self-examination and Zhongshan and the Dragon Clan have bled dry, is still possible."

Lu Changqing raised his eyes to look at Xuan Lian, his gaze deep and unfathomable.

"Your mother-in-law and I are both nearing the end of our lives, but you are still young and have a thousand years left—in the entire Yunxi Continent, only you can firmly hold the position of Yunmeng Water God. Back then, your mother-in-law sacrificed herself to help me break through to the next realm, and now I will pave a path for you."

"Is this a deal?" Xuan Lian asked in a deep voice.

"This is not a transaction; it is my expectation of you, and also the expectation of the Yunxi Continent's human race. Aren't you the one who listens to your mother-in-law the most? Tell your mother-in-law my exact words and the red dragon's exact words."

"She will convince you to accept it."

Xuan Lian fell silent upon hearing this. In the ensuing stillness, Lü Changqing turned around with a flick of his sleeve, his shoes striking the ground as he vanished without a trace.

*

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"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!" On the shore of Hongze Lake, the Golden Ape King lay on the ground, crying out in pain.

"Don't scream. You said yourself that you want to recover from your injuries as soon as possible," Bloodhound said, pressing down on its body along with Black Bear.

The prison wolf sat beside it, focusing its spirit and controlling its bone-corroding poison to corrode the flesh and blood inside and outside the Golden Ape King's body, turning it into pus and expelling it from the body.

"It hurts so much, can't I yell?"

"Cough cough cough—!"

As the Golden Ape King was shouting, he suddenly vomited a large pool of black, purulent blood, the stench of which was overwhelming, as if his flesh had been eroded through.

The black bear and the bloodhound quickly dodged away.

"The remaining bit of poison is related to your internal organs, which I can't handle. You'll have to remove it yourself slowly."

The delicate task of using poison to create poison was something Prison Wolf had never done before. For three days, he had to maintain a high level of concentration at all times, with a pair of scarlet and crazed eyes staring intently at him.

The prison wolf collapsed weakly to the ground, his spirit almost completely exhausted: "Don't ask me to do this again—"

"I think you could do more of this kind of thing." Suddenly, a majestic yet gentle voice rang out above the four fierce demons.

"Hmm?" The wolfhound and the bear both looked up.

The voice is very familiar.

But the colossal, mountain-like crimson dragon did not appear in the sky. Instead, the voice rang out again from the Golden Ape King.

"If you can control the power to burn the Golden Ape King's internal organs without injuring it, you have reached the level of the Mountain Lord." On the Golden Ape King's belly, a red dragon only ten feet long slowly descended.

The moment they made contact, Huai Nian knew exactly what the Golden Ape King's current physical condition was like.

"Candle, you're not lying to me?" The Prison Wolf, Bloodhound, and Black Bear gathered around the Golden Ape King once again.

"Why would I lie to you? Why don't you guess how the mountain tiger trained the black bear?"

"It was fed spirit fruits one by one, and when it couldn't eat them all, it was melted into water with its green flames. Even the spirit fruits in its stomach were not spared, and they were melted into water as well, filling it to the brim."

After saying that, Red Dragon raised his hand and patted Golden Ape King's body.

"Well done, you've made progress."

"Have you been watching us the whole time?" the Golden Ape King asked suspiciously.

When the Crimson Dragon suddenly disappeared, the little foxes practically turned Zhongshan upside down. They even thought for a time that the Crimson Dragon had abandoned Zhongshan and left them behind.

"I also have many things to do and don't have the extra energy to take care of you."

"You need to hurry up and grow stronger, because Yunxi Continent is about to unleash its fury. The first flashpoint will be when you attack Yunmengze," said the Crimson Dragon.

"Besides the Dragon Court of the East Sea, who else are our enemies?" At this moment, the frog walked over with the fox.

Upon seeing the Crimson Dragon, the little fox roared and leaped onto the Golden Ape King's belly, rubbing its head against the Crimson Dragon's body like sandpaper, its three tails spinning in a circle.

"And that fifth-realm cultivator from the Star River Sword Palace."

"You don't need to consider the rest."