Chapter 353: The Li Mountain Little Master Who Leaves One Speechless
The wind and snow gradually eased, the snowy plain silent and soundless. However, not much time passed before the ground began to tremble, the accumulated snow loosening as countless demon army troops galloped past, chasing southward. The shadow in the sky slowly withdrew into Snow Old City. The Black Robe had returned to the scene at some unknown moment, several demon generals standing silently behind him. The scene fell silent again, with no sound for a long time. These great figures of the demon race seemed at a loss for what to say. Who could have imagined that the strongest figure of the southern continent would be such a person?
"When a true strongman suddenly decides to discard his dignity, it's indeed troublesome."
The Black Robe's voice remained as emotionless as ever. Occasionally, a cold wind swept by, lifting a corner of his hood, revealing a slightly cyan jaw. The demon generals deeply agreed. A powerhouse like Su Li, at a time like this, resorting to such a lowly trick, truly caught them off guard. Was this perhaps the principle that the most shameless are invincible?
The Black Robe looked at the footprints Su Li had left on the snow, remained silent for a long time, then continued indifferently: "His injuries are already severe. Though he successfully deceived His Majesty's eyes, that final sword must have drained his lifeblood. There's no reason he can still hold on."
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A single sword could not truly span ten thousand miles, but being able to carve a sword path stretching hundreds of miles through the layered formations constructed by the demon strongmen—one could imagine how terrifyingly powerful that sword was. As the Black Robe asserted, even someone as strong as Su Li, wielding that sword, would have to pay a considerable price.
Six hundred miles southwest of Snow Old City lay a snowy ridge. The cold climate hadn't frozen all the scenery; white steam rose everywhere among the ridges. It turned out there were many hot springs in the mountains. Suddenly, wind and snow raged beside a hot spring. As snowflakes drifted slowly down, the figures of Su Li and Chen Changsheng gradually appeared.
Su Li had already sheathed his sword back into the yellow paper umbrella. With his right hand, he lightly brushed away the snowflakes before his face, his demeanor appearing extremely calm and carefree. In contrast, Chen Changsheng looked much more disheveled. His hand still tightly gripped the front end of the yellow paper umbrella as he sat in the snow, like a little beggar begging for food.
"The demons have decent intelligence, but somehow they always act stupid. Those demon generals must be leading their men straight south." Su Li looked back at the path they had come from. His gaze, sharp as a sword's gleam, pierced through layers of wind and snow, landing somewhere unknown. The corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking expression.
This sentence wasn't directed at Chen Changsheng; it was a mutter to himself, or rather, self-consolation. But Chen Changsheng didn't know that. He struggled to get up from the snow and said, "Senior, this is still demon territory after all. We should leave as soon as possible."
Su Li seemed to notice the youth's existence only then. He glanced at him, said nothing, and didn't rush to leave. Instead, he walked toward the nearby hot spring.
Chen Changsheng released his grip on the yellow paper umbrella, watching him step into the hot spring, puzzled by what was happening.
Suddenly, a dense array of sounds erupted around the hot spring. Some sounds were extremely shrill, as if sharp sword gleams were cutting through space. Some sounds were very loud, like thunderous roars from hammers striking rock. Some sounds were very muffled, as if someone was speaking from the depths of a thousand-zhang deep pool.
With these sounds, countless powerful auras emanated from Su Li's body—the sword intent of the demon generals' iron swords, the wind-thunder intent of iron rods, the dark, eerie intent of the Black Robe. The rocks around the hot spring, brittle from the cold, shattered one after another.
The snowy ridge was filled with the roar of swords and the rumble of thunder! Even the surface of the bubbling hot spring water showed countless cracks. It was a long time before everything returned to calm. Su Li stood in the knee-deep hot spring water, his long robe completely torn, countless gashes on his body, blood streaming down unceasingly.
So close to Snow Old City, surrounded by tens of thousands of demon troops, besieged by over a dozen demon generals, with the demon army's strategist, the Black Robe, watching from the side, and the demon lord's will casting a shadow over the sky—this was the most formidable killing formation in centuries, and Su Li had held out for several days and nights.
His clothes had no tears, not even a single snowflake, making him look completely uninjured. But in truth, he had suffered severe wounds. The demon generals he had slain, the Black Robe he had fought, and even the demon lord's will had left many terrible injuries and killing intents within his body.
However, those injuries and killing intents had been forcibly suppressed by his formidable will and transcendent realm. Only after he had retrieved the yellow paper umbrella, drawn the Sky-Covering Sword, cut a path through the snowy sky, and arrived hundreds of miles away, confirming temporary safety, did he stop consuming his true essence to suppress them.
Thus, all those injuries and killing intents erupted at once in an instant.
Most of the killing intents were forcibly bestowed upon this snowy ridge, letting heaven and earth bear them instead. But the injuries remained within his body.
His face was as white as snow, his expression weary. Only the casual, carefree aura between his brows remained unchanged.
Hearing the sword roars and thunder rumbles in the snowy ridge, feeling the terrifying, cold killing intents spilling out, looking at Su Li, drenched in blood, and the hot spring water gradually stained red, Chen Changsheng was shocked and pale. His voice trembling slightly, he asked, "Senior... are you alright?"
Su Li didn't answer his question. Instead, he asked, "Are the Li Mountain disciples in the Zhou Garden alright?"
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Su Li fell silent, gazing at the gray, hazy sun in the distance over the snowy ridge, lost in thought.
Chen Changsheng was very worried and repeated, "Senior, are you alright?"
Su Li turned to look at him and said, "Do you know who I am?"
Chen Changsheng had thought he guessed this senior's identity earlier, but the senior's later behavior was so different from the legends that it made him question his own life—and naturally, whether he had guessed wrong. Hesitantly, he asked, "May I ask for your esteemed name, senior?"
Su Li said, "I am Su Li."
Chen Changsheng was shocked. He hadn't expected to be right, hadn't expected to actually be right.
Because he hadn't expected the legendary Li Mountain Little Master Uncle to be such a person.
"And then?" he asked.
Su Li was somewhat displeased and scolded, "That order is wrong. Do it again."
Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned and said, "Ah?"
Su Li looked into his eyes and asked again, "Who am I?"
Chen Changsheng hesitated for a moment, then said, "Senior, you are... Li Mountain Little Master Su Li."
Su Li asked again, "In the rumors, what kind of person am I?"
Chen Changsheng didn't know why this senior, covered in blood and looking utterly exhausted, would ask these questions. After thinking it over, he answered seriously, "You are an unparalleled sword genius. Your realm and cultivation have long reached the pinnacle of mastery. You can be called a legendary figure."
Such praise spoken directly could easily be seen as flattery, but Chen Changsheng said it very earnestly because he was telling the truth. Thus, coming from his mouth, it sounded especially sincere and credible, which made Su Li very satisfied.
He looked at Chen Changsheng with approval and said, "Although your strength as a junior is utterly terrible, you still have some insight."
Chen Changsheng really didn't know what to say at this point. Watching the blood flow more and more from his body, he couldn't help but ask again, "Senior, are you really alright?"
Su Li smiled and said, "You just said I am an unparalleled sword genius, with realm and cultivation at the pinnacle of mastery, a legendary figure."
Chen Changsheng thought, since he could remember his words verbatim, he probably wasn't in too much trouble.
"So, how could someone like me have any problems?"
Then, Su Li said cheerfully.
And then, like a severed stone pillar, he fell forward, tumbling into the hot spring.
Water splashed everywhere. The hot spring water, stained red, rippled endlessly. Su Li's body bobbed up and down in the water.
It took Chen Changsheng a moment to realize that this senior had actually fainted. He quickly jumped into the hot spring, pulled him out, and laid him on the ground by the spring.
Almost as soon as his body hit the ground, Su Li began to snore. Having held on until now, he was truly too exhausted.
Chen Changsheng didn't know this. Looking at this senior, he didn't know what to think.
What he had said was true.
In the minds of the younger generation of cultivators, although Su Li wasn't ranked among the Eight Winds and Rains and didn't have the title of sage, he was the idol of young cultivators. Even Tang Thirty-Six, so narcissistic and proud, had no objection. Because compared to the sacred and solemn sages like the Saintess and the Pope, and compared to the rule-abiding Eight Winds and Rains like the Heavenly Mechanism Elder and the Moonlit Solitary Drinker, the Li Mountain Little Master, wandering the four seas with his sword songs everywhere, better represented the freedom and spontaneity that young people most yearned for.
Yet... it turned out the Li Mountain Little Master was such a person.
Chen Changsheng had lost count of how many times he had felt this way.
He felt that the shock this senior brought him was even greater than the Sword Pool and the Heavenly Book Stele in the Zhou Garden.
Watching Su Li's still carefree expression even in deep sleep, listening to his thunderous snores, he suddenly felt that Su Li was somewhat like Tang Thirty-Six.
Then, he recalled that Tang Thirty-Six had once said that he and Xu Yourong were both people who left others speechless.
This Li Mountain Little Master was truly the one who left people speechless, wasn't he?
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(See you tomorrow.)