The Gold Crystal Horn Beast was an extremely aggressive monster, about six meters long, with a snow-white, blade-shaped horn growing from the top of its head. Its whole body was covered in white scales that turned gold when it was enraged, and its long, slender tail bristled with spines. Normally, it had two red crystalline eyes, but when angry, a third eye opened on its forehead, which was why it was also called the Three-Eyed Beast.
Li Qiang had no time to curse. He raised the Hundred-Blade Spear, sending a string of spear projections striking the Gold Crystal Horn Beast's head as he shouted, "Everyone, fall back!" The conjured spear points failed to halt its advance. The beast rammed straight at his chest. The Crimson Flame Dragon Shield activated at once, but the monster was too heavy and its charge too powerful. Caught off guard, Li Qiang was sent flying.
Seeing this, Zhao Hao and Zheng Peng immediately closed in from the left and right.
Zhao Hao thrust his treasured saber straight at the monster's eyes, while Zheng Peng swung his great axe with every ounce of strength he possessed, bringing it down on the beast's horn.
Golden light flashed across the Gold Crystal Horn Beast's snow-white horn. Zheng Peng felt as though he had struck a spur of the Southern Mountain. The impact sent him staggering backward until he fell onto his backside, his great axe flying from his hands.
Zhao Hao's thrust missed as well. Realizing he was in trouble, he hurriedly reversed his saber and slashed the monster's body, relying on his agility to spring away with the rebound. Even that blow failed to leave the slightest mark on its hide.
Li Qiang scrambled up. Although unhurt, he felt thoroughly humiliated and keenly aware of his inadequate cultivation. He looked up and nearly had his soul scared out of him. "Heizi, get out of the way!" he shouted.
Zheng Peng sat sprawled on the ground, his great axe lying far away, while the Gold Crystal Horn Beast charged toward him, horn first.
Twelve whip shadows coiled around the Gold Crystal Horn Beast's legs in succession. It staggered several steps before crashing to the ground. Mei Jingjing's long whip flashed, pulling Zheng Peng over.
Li Qiang gave Niuniu an approving look, then glanced around. An idea came to him. "Everyone, follow me!" he shouted. He led the others straight toward the large tree. Once beneath it, he said, "Hide behind that boulder. I'll lure it over."
Golden light flickered over the Gold Crystal Horn Beast's body. With a few struggles, it broke free of the whip shadows and stood up. It seemed furious. Turning around, it spotted Li Qiang beneath the tree and charged with a roar.
Li Qiang launched a golden eagle, blasting the Gold Crystal Horn Beast back several steps, then laughed and called to the man in the tree, "Hold on tight!" He darted behind the boulder. Enraged by the golden eagle's explosion, the beast charged wildly toward him. Li Qiang suddenly vanished, and it rammed headfirst into the tree. The man tumbled from the branches with a string of yells, landing squarely on the beast's back.
What left Li Qiang and the others gaping was that the man actually seized the monster's horn and began punching it, blow after measured blow. The Gold Crystal Horn Beast could not move at all, as though pinned beneath a mountain. The man grinned toward their hiding place. "Heh-heh, I'm almost too worn out to hit it anymore. Ah, getting old. Can't rely on muscle and bone now!"
The man jumped off the Gold Crystal Horn Beast and dragged it toward their boulder with just one hand.
All four of them were stunned. What tremendous strength! The monster was now glittering gold, straining with all its might to break free of the man's grip. Its low growls came one after another, sounding utterly helpless.
Mei Jingjing said nervously, "He-he's dragging the monster over!" Everyone understood that if the man let go, the consequences would be terrible.
Li Qiang thought anxiously, then suddenly hit upon an idea. He took out a bottle of Maotai with a little less than half already drunk and held it high, smiling at the man. "Hey! Keep a tight grip. Don't let go! If you let go, I'll get nervous, and when I get nervous, I might drop this liquor."
Li Qiang had seized the man's weak spot. "Fine, you win!" he called. After a pause, he put on a cheeky grin. "How about a deal? I'll drive the Gold Crystal Horn Beast away, and you give me that bottle." He nearly drooled as he stared at the liquor in Li Qiang's hand.
"Not fair!" Mei Jingjing called. "You brought the monster here, so you should drive it away yourself. That doesn't count! Offer something else."
The man thought, Ha! As long as I get what I want, what condition could possibly stump me? He wiped away his drool. "Fine. Tell me what you want in exchange!"
Li Qiang nodded. "Niuniu, you choose." He thought, This is the best way to settle it. Nobody loses face.
For a moment, Mei Jingjing really could not think of a good condition. Then she noticed the man's hand pressing down on the monster's horn, and an idea immediately came to her. Giggling, she said, "Trade us the monster's horn." She thought, Let's see how you get that off.
The man visibly relaxed. "Oh, now you've really made things difficult for me," he said with a smile.
He pressed the monster's head down with his left hand, gripped its horn with his right, and twisted his wrist. With a sharp crack, he snapped the golden horn clean off at its base by brute force. None of the four could believe their eyes. Could a human possess such strength?
"You've done me quite a service, so I'll spare your life. Scram!" The man kicked out, and the Gold Crystal Horn Beast went tumbling away as though something had yanked it, vanishing from everyone's sight.
The man walked over proudly with the horn. "You have a good eye, little girl. This gold crystal horn is quite a treasure."
Zhao Hao knew this man must be an extraordinary recluse. Though inwardly convinced of his ability, he said, "Hey, who exactly are you?"
The man ignored Zhao Hao completely. He handed the horn to Mei Jingjing while impatiently holding out his other hand. "Give me the liquor!"
Seeing his frantic eagerness, Li Qiang smiled faintly. "I have plenty of liquor, but first, tell me who you are."
The man's eyes lit up. "Really? But I don't see you carrying any. Eh? You have a storage bracelet! Whose disciple are you? Ah, give me the liquor first!"
Seeing how desperate he was, Li Qiang handed him the bottle.
After one small sip, the man's lean face relaxed. He breathed out and asked, "Which sect do you cultivate in? How did you get a storage bracelet when even cultivation experts have trouble obtaining one? Your cultivation has only just reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Why would your sect give you such a precious bracelet?"
Before Li Qiang could answer, the man's expression suddenly changed. "Let's find somewhere quiet to talk. Two annoying fellows are coming." Without allowing any argument, he enveloped the four in white light. In an instant, the ground was deserted.
Two strange men appeared out of thin air, one tall and one short. The tall one said, "Damn it, he slipped away again!"
The short one sniffed in surprise. "That old bastard seems to have found some good liquor. He might even have undone the Heartless Knot incantation we put on him."
"Let's keep looking. Come on!" the tall man said bitterly.
"We're here." The man plopped down on the ground.
Although Li Qiang could not teleport, he had experienced it before. Zhao Hao and the other two had never experienced anything like it and were both frightened and impressed.
The man took another sip. "Let's continue." Then he looked at Li Qiang.
Li Qiang hesitated a little. "I don't seem to belong to any sect. My big brother gave me the bracelet."
The man looked skeptical. "That can't be right. Hmm, who's your big brother?"
"My big brother is Fu Shan. He's on Sealed Fate Planet," Li Qiang said.
The man sprang up from the ground and shouted in astonishment, "What? Fu Shan? Fu Chongbi?" He scratched his head. "No wonder, no wonder. Eh, strange, very strange. Say, little brother, is Fu Shan your guide?"
He knew Big Brother Fu Shan! Li Qiang could not help feeling excited. "Yes, Big Brother Fu is my guide. You know my big brother?"
The man laughed. "Heh-heh, know him? We've been fighting for centuries, and neither of us can get the better of the other. Hey, you don't seem to have learned much. Why are you so lousy?" Zhao Hao and the other two were too astonished to interject, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
Li Qiang told him about his experiences on Mars.
The man laughed delightedly. "Ha-ha! Hua Meiniang! Not bad, not bad. That little demoness has some nerve, daring to oppose Fu Chongbi. Interesting, very interesting." He added, "Since you're Fu Chongbi's brother, I won't hide it from you. My surname is Hou, and my given name is Pijing. Your big brother and I are both friends and rivals."
Li Qiang laughed in surprise. "What? Monkey Fart Imp? Ha-ha!" All four burst out laughing.
Hou Pijing snapped, "No respect for your elders! Pi as in thunderbolt, Jing as in clean. Stop laughing! Damn it, I knew you'd laugh!"
The four struggled to hold it in. Mei Jingjing's little face turned red with the effort, and the smile at the corners of her mouth rippled outward like waves. Li Qiang finally managed to stop smiling, but one look at Niuniu's odd expression broke his restraint, and he roared with laughter again.
Hou Pijing stamped his feet and sighed. Taking an angry gulp of liquor, he said, "Do you want to know which sect Fu Shan belongs to?"
Of course Li Qiang wanted to know. Since becoming separated from Fu Shan on Mars, he had had no chance to learn many things. He still wanted to return to Earth someday, and without Fu Shan's guidance, that was almost an idle dream.
Hou Pijing said smugly, "Want to hear? Bring out another bottle!"
Li Qiang was speechless with exasperation.
Hou Pijing took a sip, lowered his head in thought for a moment, and began explaining Fu Shan's background and sect to Li Qiang.
Fu Shan, courtesy name Chongbi and Daoist title True Person Green Peak, belonged to a cultivation sect called Profound Mystery. Its cultivation placed the greatest emphasis on artifact crafting. Its methods were uniquely strange and unlike those of other sects, allowing newcomers to advance extremely quickly in their early cultivation.
Among the seven great sects and organizations on Sealed Fate Planet, Profound Mystery was the most distinctive. All its core members addressed one another as brothers. They recruited newcomers through guides, but those selected had to meet the sect's unique requirements. Moreover, to qualify as a guide, a member had to reach the eighth level, the Spirit Severing Realm, and craft a special cultivation treasure to establish a newcomer's cultivation foundation.
The Chongxuan Sect had another strange rule: each core brother could accept disciples of his own. Thus, it was also an enormously powerful sect. There were twenty-seven surviving core brothers, though fifteen were currently missing, possibly cultivating in seclusion. Fu Shan ranked twelfth among the sect's brothers, and his strength had already reached the level of a grandmaster.
Li Qiang sighed. "Brother Hou, unfortunately, Big Brother Fu and I got separated." Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Who were those two annoying fellows you mentioned? Why were you hiding from them?"
Hou Pijing breathed out a mouthful of liquor fumes and cursed. "Two despicable bastards who only know how to hurt people from the shadows. They're elders of the Poison Incantation Sect. Damn them, they caught me off guard and put their sect's Heartless Knot Incantation on me. My Nascent Soul was sealed, and only drinking can temporarily undo it. They've turned me into a drunkard."
Li Qiang asked curiously, "Why can liquor undo the Heartless Knot?"
"No idea. After I got hit with the Heartless Knot, I was upset and went drinking. By chance, I discovered that liquor could temporarily loosen that damned knot. The stronger the liquor, the better it seemed to work. Damn it, after ten years of drinking, just smelling liquor makes me drool now," Hou Pijing said helplessly.
Li Qiang considered this. The stronger, the better? What could beat alcohol? I happen to have medical anhydrous alcohol at ninety percent purity. Heh-heh, surely alcohol can undo that Heartless Knot of yours?
Li Qiang took out a bottle of alcohol and smiled. "This is the strongest liquor I brought, though it doesn't taste good. Want to try it?" Inwardly, he chuckled. Good grief, ninety-percent pure alcohol. It could burn him to death. Let's see how he drinks it.
Hou Pijing could no longer bear even hearing the word "liquor." He snatched it over, opened the cap, and gulped down three great mouthfuls in succession. "What's with this taste?" he asked doubtfully. Then he felt a ball of fire burning up from his stomach. "Damn, wonderful! Now this liquor hits the spot!" he shouted. He raised the bottle, poured the rest into his belly, and immediately sat cross-legged.
Mei Jingjing asked quietly, "Big Brother, what kind of liquor did you give him? His face is so red. Even his body's glowing from it."
Zheng Peng said guilelessly, "Little Brother, give me a sip of that liquor too."
Li Qiang laughed and scolded, "If it were drinkable, would I keep it from you? That's alcohol!"
None of the three understood what alcohol was. They looked at Li Qiang in puzzlement, and he had no way to explain.
Hou Pijing was thrilled. The Heartless Knot that had plagued him for nearly ten years was showing signs of coming completely undone.
Driven by the alcohol, his true essence began circulating rapidly. He closed his eyes and looked within. The layer of black, sticky threads covering his Nascent Soul began to loosen, fading as his true essence power rapidly wore it away. His Nascent Soul swelled dramatically, and in an instant, the Heartless Knot that had troubled him for nearly ten years vanished like smoke and clouds.
Drenched in foul-smelling sweat, Hou Pijing leaped up with a cheer. He walked a circle through empty air, then landed before Li Qiang, chuckling foolishly with delight.
Li Qiang thought, Good grief, he drank ninety-percent medical alcohol like water. What an ability! He smiled. "It's undone? Congratulations! Congratulations!"
"It's undone, it's undone! Ha-ha! Brother, I've never owed anyone a favor, and I don't know how to give thanks. From now on, if there's anything you can't handle, I'll back you up!" Hou Pijing said excitedly.
Li Qiang did not think he had done anything extraordinary, but he was pleased to have such a formidable expert helping him. He still did not know that Hou Pijing was just as renowned in the Cultivation Realm as Fu Shan, an extremely troublesome character with profound cultivation and few rivals. With him backing Li Qiang, there would be few who dared provoke him.
Li Qiang smiled. "Brother Hou, since I got separated from Big Brother Fu, there are lots of cultivation skills I don't know. Would you teach me?"
Hou Pijing was inwardly surprised. This brother seems to know nothing about the Cultivation Realm's rules. Sects don't allow disciples from other sects to learn their cultivation methods. Oh well, I do like him. He asked, "Brother, what do you want to learn?"
Zhao Hao tugged Li Qiang's robe and whispered, "Learn to fly!"
Zhao Hao's cultivation was poor, but his judgment was exceptionally keen.
Mei Jingjing and Zheng Peng also clamored, "We want to learn too!"
Hou Pijing looked at Zhao Hao and laughingly scolded, "You little fellow, you have quite an eye. Fine, I'm in a good mood today. I'll teach each of you a set of skills."
Zhao Hao smiled wryly. He was over seventy, and this was the first time anyone had called him a little fellow. Still, he was delighted to bask in his master's reflected glory and learn something from Hou Pijing. Someone this formidable would surely teach him something good.
Li Qiang carefully sensed the circulation of his true essence, and his body slowly began to rise. He tried taking a step and immediately understood what allowed him to stroll slowly through the air. Delighted, he cried, "Ha-ha, I can fly!" His concentration slipped, and he fell with a thud.
Li Qiang climbed up awkwardly and explained, "Hey, stop laughing. It was an accident, an accident!"
Mei Jingjing said, "Big Brother, you looked so handsome falling down."
Hou Pijing sprayed out a mouthful of liquor. Coughing with laughter, he said, "Little girl, are you praising your big brother or making fun of him? Ha-ha!"
Mei Jingjing blushed. "Of course Niuniu is praising Big Brother! Laugh at me, and I-I'll hit you!"
After fooling around for a while, everyone resumed learning.
With his strong foundation, Li Qiang soon became proficient. In fact, cultivators could begin learning the Sword Control Technique and flight as soon as they reached the Illumination Stage, but they needed a good sword. After forming a Nascent Soul, they could fly freely without relying on external objects. Teleportation, however, required reaching the eighth level, the Spirit Severing Realm. Thus, anyone who could teleport was necessarily at the level of a grandmaster.
Looking at the pitiful Zhao Hao, Hou Pijing smiled. "Don't look at me like that. It's not that I won't teach you. Your master hasn't bestowed a treasured sword on you, so there's no way I can."
Li Qiang thought, Oh, cultivators are supposed to bestow swords when they accept disciples? This is bad. I don't have one. What should I do? After some thought, he smiled at Hou Pijing.
Hou Pijing caught sight of Li Qiang's smile and hurriedly shouted, "Hey, don't get any ideas! I have no sword. None, absolutely none!"
Li Qiang did not answer. He slowly lined up eight bottles of liquor on the ground and smiled at Zhao Hao. "Though I accepted you as a registered disciple, I have no flying sword to bestow on you. Consider these eight bottles of exquisite liquor your compensation."
Catching on, Zhao Hao said, "Thank you, Master."
Hou Pijing's eyes nearly popped out. "Brother, I haven't wronged you! You-you-!" Frantic, he scratched his ears and cheeks.
Zhao Hao smiled. "Martial Uncle, how about this? Let these eight bottles of fine liquor be your martial nephew's respectful gift. In return, bestow a good sword on me on Master's behalf."
Li Qiang had once again seized Hou Pijing's weak spot. Ten years of drinking had left him with a craving so strong that even he could scarcely believe it. Hou Pijing shook his head and pretended to have just remembered something. "Eh, now I remember. I think I do have a good sword. Oh well, you're getting a bargain, brat. Take it. But you'll have to refine it anew before you can use it."
Zhao Hao accepted the sword delightedly. It was seven inches long, glittering silver and exquisitely beautiful. Mercury seemed to flow within its blade, and two tiny seal-script characters engraved at its neck read "Cold Sparrow."
Mei Jingjing and Zheng Peng would not stand for that. They rushed up and pestered Hou Pijing, overwhelming him indiscriminately with soft pleas, hard demands, and every other approach.
The four pestered Hou Pijing until he nearly went mad. A grandmaster of his generation, he was actually left dizzy by the questions and demands of four juniors who had only just begun cultivating, crying that he could not take it anymore.
Over a dozen days of cultivation greatly increased the strength of Li Qiang and the other three.
That day, Hou Pijing hid up a large tree, sipping fine liquor and narrowing his eyes in thought.
Li Qiang flew up and sat beside him. "Big Brother, do you cultivate on Sealed Fate Planet too?"
Hou Pijing shook his head. "I cultivate on Bada Star, but I often visit Sealed Fate Planet. There are many cultivators and sects there. Some cultivation supplies can only be bought on Sealed Fate Planet."
Li Qiang asked curiously, "Then why did you come to Heavenly Court Star?"
"This is my home," Hou Pijing said. "I come back every few decades. There's really nothing left to see. The places remain, but the people have long since changed. I just can't let go." He gave a few dry laughs, full of bitterness. "Enough of that. Brother, where are you heading?"
Li Qiang smiled wryly. "The emperor of Gusong Kingdom wants me to go to the capital. I don't know what he wants."
Hou Pijing nodded. "Hmm, that's not surprising, since you're a cultivator. Don't worry, I'll go with you." A sharp light flashed in his eyes. "Well, well, those two despicable bastards actually tracked me here. This time, let's see how I deal with you!"
Li Qiang knew that the people from the Poison Incantation Sect had found them.