Discarding the bamboo sword in his hand, Li Qingming stepped forward a few paces and patted Li Qingquan on the shoulder, saying, "Xiao Er, I didn't expect that after more than ten thousand years of separation, you have also ascended to the rank of Daluo Golden Immortal!"
Li Qingquan, upon hearing these words, habitually scratched his head and said, "Big brother, you truly are my big brother! Hehehe…"
"Alright, you brothers should go inside and talk, stop poking around here!" Li Yanran wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes and said.
Arriving outside the bamboo palace, Li Qingming glanced at the apricot tree and said, "It's been ten thousand years, and I didn't expect this apricot tree hasn't transformed yet!" Touching his chin, Li Qingming's eyes brightened, he brought out the Qiankun Tripod, rummaged through it, and dug out a grain of soil the size of a speck of dust, which he buried under the apricot tree.
"Brother, what's that thing!" Li Qingquan always blunt and curious in front of Li Qingming.
"It's nothing! That's a grain of Primordial Soil that I scraped off from the Nine Heavens Breath Soil." Li Qingquan nonchalantly flicked the dust off his hands.
"But isn't that, the legendary soil that can autonomously condense Earth's Primordial Energy and can grow and never diminish?" Li Yanran had a deep fascination with the anomalies of Primordial.
"Yes, this Nine Heavens Breath Soil is something I serendipitously obtained from Mount Buzhou," Li Qingming said, glancing at the apricot tree which seemed greener now, then took out a nail-size piece from the Qiankun Tripod and handed it to his mother, saying, "Mother, I still have some here. Since you like planting flowers and plants, I'll give this small piece to you!"
Li Yanran was not shy to accept, after all, it was a gift from her own son, and she promptly stored it in a bamboo tube.
"Mother, let me tell you about my travels over these past ten thousand years…"
…
For the next hundred years or so, Li Qingming spent each day talking with his mother, occasionally digging up some bamboo shoots and cooking them in various ways for her and his brother to eat.
One day, while the three of them were sitting outside the bamboo palace enjoying the cool air, they suddenly saw a thick, unyielding cloud of evil Qi over the Western Border of the Primordial Continent. After silently calculating for a moment, he said, "Mother, my opportunity has arrived! I need to make a trip to Yun Meng Swamp!"
…
Above Yun Meng Swamp.
"Ao Long, you are no match for the two of us—better capture yourself quickly!" Feng Tian's resonant Phoenix Cry pierced the skies.
"Ao Long, with an anguished roar, retorted, "You forced my hand, Feng Tian, Lin Tian, I want you dead!!!" Covered in bloodstains, his eyes were red and almost maniacal.
"Dragon Clan, lay down the ritual sacrificial great formation!" Ao Long declared viciously.
At the edge of Yun Meng Swamp, a sneaky shadow hid behind a giant rock all this time.
The person had handsome features and was more than eight feet tall. It was none other than Li Qingming returning inland!
"With so many innate materials, this might just bring me a small fortune!" Li Qingming, with a joyful smile on his face, showed no sign of nervousness. He seemed not headed to a battle but to a banquet instead.
Li Qingming's form shifted, dragon horns grew on his head, and a steel pitchfork appeared in his hands as he leapt into the battlefield. He targeted a combat circle with fewer numbers and jumped in.
With a fierce flick of the steel pitchfork held in his left hand, it stabbed into the eye of a Cow Demon. Muttering a spell, a Water Dragon appeared out of thin air and surged towards a Vermilion Bird in the sky. The Vermilion Bird frantically flapped its wings, creating a tornado formed by Primordial Energy. The Water Dragon, stirred by the tornado, transformed into droplets of water scattering towards the sky.
Li Qingming, seeing this, cryptically smiled and said, "Do you think it's over?"
As he spoke, these droplets fell on the creatures within a ten paces radius. As soon as the water droplets touched them, they rapidly began to freeze.
"Barren Land Ice Sealing!"
This was a Divine Skill created by Li Qingming when he advanced to the Daluo Golden Immortal Middle Stage, comprehending the Water Law. As long as there was water, this skill could be instantly deployed.
In the blink of an eye, this ten paces area turned into a world of ice and snow. Ice sculptures of various shapes stood there. Li Qingming chuckled and stored these thirty or so ice sculptures inside his Qiankun Tripod, then set his sights on the next combat group. Since the battlefield on Yun Meng Swamp was fairly dispersed, no one noticed that on this peripheral area, a fierce beast was silently baring its fangs towards the entire battlefield.
If the Three Clans were attentive enough, they would discover over the next few years, a Dragon Clan member proficient in using ice-based Divine Skills constantly darting around the battlefield, shifting front lines. This person, unhesitant in attacking, left no survivors, irrespective of friend or foe. Gradually, the flying and Beast Clans started to consciously unite against this Dragon Clan member.
Although the Primordial Golden Immortals were as common as stray dogs, and Daluo were everywhere, such a formidable Daluo Golden Immortal was rare to see. Over these years, Li Qingming continuously fought, mastering his Combat Skill and Divine Skills to perfection. Eventually, the flying and Beast Clans organized a team of three thousand elite Daluo Golden Immortals. They formed groups of ten, continuously chasing Li Qingming throughout Yun Meng Swamp—it disturbed Li Qingming's stability and shattered his peace at night.
"Good, I will hide for a while! Decisions can wait!" Harassed by these three thousand Daluo Golden Immortals, constantly under tense pressure, Li Qingming glanced towards the sky at the fighting leaders of the Three Clans and secretly mocked, "A calamity is looming, yet you are still caught up in this futile strife, how laughable, laughable indeed!"
Then, Li Qingming transformed into a sweeping breeze, and disappeared from sight!