Chapter 111: A Qi Refiner Can't Possibly Visit Brothels

Fellow Daoist, you're preaching to your own cult leader.

At that moment, although Li Changshou truly wanted to retort with that, he simply smiled slightly and said, "I revere the moral Renjiao."

With that, he cupped his hands in salute, held his fuchen, and walked deeper into the street.

The preaching old Daoist didn't press further; he simply returned the salute, mumbled an apology, and went back to his chair in the corner of the street.

Li Changshou was well aware of the context of this matter.

Earlier, Ao Yi had consulted him through the idol, and he had agreed.

Seeing the Sea God Cult's abundant gongde and rapid expansion, the East Sea Dragon Palace wanted to promote it along the East Sea coast of Nanbuzhou.

Li Changshou had consented, but he reiterated the old rule: the Sea God Cult must not extend beyond the sea's edge.

Sensing inwardly, he found that the Dragon Palace had acted swiftly—over a hundred idols had already been erected along the East Sea.

What slightly reassured Li Changshou was that, whether the newly built idols or the earlier ones, his own features remained very blurred, only vaguely outlining the facial contours, without that previous "divine essence."

However, the smaller idols of the Azure Dragon Great Protector standing beside his were markedly different.

Especially along the East Sea, the newly set up paired idols in those villages—

Li Changshou's idols were carved from fine stone by skilled craftsmen of the East Sea Dragon Palace, with meticulous details everywhere except for the face.

Beside them, Ao Yi's idols were made from premium jade, meticulously polished by over a hundred craftsmen, with clear features, well-proportioned facial features, and incredibly detailed horns, even covered with a treasure garment...

Li Changshou truly wanted to advise them on this:

Are you... truly not afraid of them being stolen?

But considering the Dragon Clan's joy at long-awaited rain and their deep foundations as a major Honghuang clan, Li Changshou held his tongue.

After all, he securely took seventy percent of the xianghuo gongde, while Ao Yi's twenty percent wouldn't increase because of this.

The remaining ten percent was distributed to the various protectors and divine messengers, with a small portion rewarded by Li Changshou to the devout followers who accumulated good deeds.

With over a hundred idols along the East Sea, plus those along the South Sea coast... hmm? Why is there a delay in my sensing and calculation...

Combined with that, there were three thousand six hundred and ninety-two idols already built, and four hundred and sixty-three under construction...

Li Changshou's main body, in the thatched hut in cultivation, and his paper Daoist here, nearly cursed out loud in unison.

How did it suddenly become so many?!

When he checked three and a half months ago, it was barely two thousand! Now it's doubled!

Does he lack this bit of xianghuo gongde?

He does lack it—this stuff isn't something you can have too much of; condensing a gongde golden body a day earlier is a good thing.

But if it keeps growing like this, can the Four Seas Dragon Palaces withstand the pressure from all sides?

If this momentum continues...

Could it be that in another ten or twenty thousand years, the Sea God Cult completes its route of surrounding the land with the sea, the Fengshen Calamity advances because of it, and the three Daoist sects' leaders suddenly appear before him—Tongtian Jiaozhu with the Zhuxian Formation Diagram, Yuan Shi Tianzun with the Pangu Banner, and his own Renjiao leader, Laozi, coldly saying:

"Fellow Daoist, shall we discuss the Fengshen List?"

Li Changshou was instantly engulfed in shadows.

He had just felt he temporarily resolved the hidden threat on the South Sea coast, only to find a new one emerging.

—The development was simply too fast!

Indeed, once cause and effect are involved, it's hard to sever them.

But Li Changshou quickly rallied.

The current Sea God Cult was something he had half-proactively planned for xianghuo gongde.

For the Sea God Cult's future path, Li Changshou had already thought it through when he was manipulating the dragons.

As long as the Sea God Cult stays stable now, and the little dragons don't get overexcited and let the West Sea Dragon Palace copy the Western Cult's back route, there won't be major issues.

They probably won't copy it, right...

The Dragon Clan shouldn't be that shortsighted.

What is the Sea God Cult's future path?

Simple: submit to the Heavenly Court, align with Renjiao, and shift to the three thousand worlds.

As long as the Dragon Clan helps him shoulder this burden now, Li Changshou will return the favor with another opportunity later.

Lately, Li Changshou had also come up with an emergency escape plan—rename the cult itself, detach himself, have the Dragon Clan make a grand vow to protect the human race, and take over the Sea God Cult.

The inspiration for this method came from the future event of "Laozi turning Hu into Fo."

But, in the proliferation of the hundred races for heavenly destiny;

In Honghuang, the human race and Dragon Clan are also in competition, so handing the South Sea God Cult to the Dragon Clan is equivalent to indirectly pressuring the human race.

Therefore, as long as the South Sea God Cult remains stable and doesn't cause him trouble, Li Changshou would absolutely not do that.

Now, the Dragon Clan's share of xianghuo gongde is gathering on Ao Yi, at most cultivating a Dragon Clan expert...

Ah...

On the two hundred and fourth day since officially becoming the leader of a cult...

Reflect, worry, and stay steady.

After leaving the mountain gate for over half a month, on Xiaoqiong Peak, Jiu Jiu had already come to play a second time.

At that moment, Jiu Jiu was drunk and had taken over Ling'e's bed, once again performing her post-drinking specialty.

Meanwhile, on the East Sea coast of Nanbuzhou, in Lindong City, Li Changshou's mind was focused on the paper Daoist. He found an inn in the city that offered lodging and stayed there.

—In the mundane world of Nanbuzhou in Honghuang, which has been prosperous for at least tens of thousands of years, inns and entertainment houses have long existed.

Moreover, because Nanbuzhou is so vast and mortals have limited mobility, the customs and scenery vary greatly from place to place.

Carefully extending his xian consciousness throughout the city, Li Changshou quickly spotted the sneaky Jiu U Shibo.

At that time, Jiu U was fully concealing his aura, and he was doing a decent job.

But Jiu U Shibo had clearly forgotten that this was the mundane red dust world, where someone like him... well, could be considered quite eccentric.

Especially with Jiu U Shibo in his elaborate Daoist robe, exuding an air of authority, many mortals couldn't help but stare and point at him discreetly.

Fortunately, the Honghuang human race doesn't know the story of the great official and the young lady; otherwise, seeing Jiu U Shibo, they might have offered him some steamed buns or the like as gifts.

Jiu U Shibo also realized he was drawing attention.

Imitating "Qi Yuan," he casually picked an inn, tossed out two pieces of jade, secured a suite, and kept his xian consciousness fixed on this distant junior brother.

Seeing this, Li Changshou pondered briefly, a smile playing at his lips.

He stayed in his room for three days and two nights, until night fell again and the innkeeper and staff, worried he might starve to death, were about to break in. Only then did Li Changshou decide to go out.

Li Changshou was concerned that Jiu U Shibo might disrupt his enemy-luring plan, so he wanted to take the initiative to contact Jiu U, while still maintaining control...

Thus...

He assumed the appearance of his own master, removed his Daoist robe, changed into brocade clothing, and groomed himself carefully.

Li Changshou, disguised as "Qi Yuan," first wandered half a circle around the city, then, under the dim night, headed to the most bustling street in the city at night.

The place was brightly lit, filled with flirtatious women everywhere, and calls of "handsome sir" ringing out endlessly. There were magnificent wooden buildings and secluded courtyards.

Every ten steps, one could hear intertwining music;

After walking a thousand zhang, the street's end was still not in sight.

This level of prosperity indirectly showed that the mortals of Lindong City had ample food and resources, with abundant produce—after all, only with material wealth could they pursue this kind of... spiritual life...

The "Qi Yuan" that Li Changshou was impersonating entered this street and selected a rather elegant flower house, strolling inside as if he were a regular.

To catch Jiu U Shibo's weakness, he naturally had to start with Jiu Shi Shibo;

Half a bottle of top-grade Soft Immortal Powder and a shadow-recording ball, and the matter would be settled...

Meanwhile, Jiu U, who had been tailing him in secret, saw "Qi Yuan" enter a small flower house and was stunned!

"Was Junior Brother Qi Yuan rushing here with such urgency on the road earlier? How could this be? The red dust world is already full of turbidity, and this place is even more foul—if he has physical contact with women from the pleasure quarters, his pure qi will surely be tainted...

Is this him becoming a turbid xian and giving up on himself?"

Jiu U hid in a street corner, stroking his chin in dilemma. As a married man, he couldn't enter such a place.

But...

Jiu U swept his xian consciousness over it; there were no array barriers here, and everything was unseemly.

"Such movements are quite novel; even I haven't...

Pah! What am I saying!"

Jiu U shook his head, about to turn and leave, but then hesitated and muttered, "I can't let Junior Brother Qi Yuan go astray; I'll go scare him a bit—that's for the best."

With that, Jiu U stepped forward and quickly headed toward the place "Qi Yuan" had entered.

This distance of just a few hundred zhang was truly awkward for Jiu U...

He heard a soliciting woman nearby say:

"Oh, what a handsome young master from whose family? Did you come out to play with your elders?"

Jiu U glared at the woman;

She turned pale, her rouge and powder flaking off, her breathing labored.

"Hmph!"

Jiu U flicked his sleeve and continued onward, soon arriving at the flower house.

This short Daoist stood coldly outside the flower house, not intending to enter, and was about to deliberately release his aura...

Then, a voice transmission reached his ear:

"Jiu U Shixiong, please stay calm."

Jiu U was startled, then chuckled awkwardly.

"My concealment technique is truly crude; it was discovered so easily by Junior Brother Qi Yuan."

Li Changshou, imitating his master's voice, continued the voice transmission:

"Shixiong, don't make a scene. Please carefully sense the southwest direction, nine hundred zhang away, at that flower house...

There are several unusual yao qi there."

Jiu U scanned as instructed, and his eyebrows shot up.

Immediately, Jiu U stepped into the building, casually tossing a piece of low-quality treasure material—a gold ingot—to the mortals here. Following "Qi Yuan's" instructions, he entered a private room on the second floor.

As soon as he entered, Jiu U glanced around warily, probing every corner, then stared at "Qi Yuan" standing by the window.

Li Changshou continued the transmission, reciting the thirty-six main gate rules of Duxian Gate.

Only then did Jiu U relax his guard a bit, sigh, walk in with his hands behind his back, and casually set up a layer of xian force barrier, whispering:

"Junior Brother, what are you doing in a place like this?

You ran so far; it's probably not just for some shady business, right? You only just discovered the anomaly here?"

"Qi Yuan" said with a bitter smile: "Please allow me to explain later, Shixiong. I'm truly not here for any illicit activities; this place is where I just found the irregularity."

"Alright, following your Xiaoqiong Peak's rules, swear an oath first."

Jiu U lifted his chin slightly, and Li Changshou couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He raised his hand and made the oath, stating that at this moment, he was not plotting against Jiu U.

Naturally, he used the name "I, Qi Yuan."

In secret, Li Changshou put away the shadow-recording ball and the top-grade Soft Immortal Powder...

He had originally planned to catch some leverage on Jiu U Shibo with the shadow-recording ball to capture some intriguing scenes;

But upon accidentally detecting the yao qi in the nearby flower house, and after closer inspection, Li Changshou found something off about it.

Beneath the yao qi, there was actually gongde;

Hidden in the filth was pure qi.

Li Changshou's first reaction was that there might be a gongde spiritual treasure hidden here.

Weighing the options, Li Changshou directly used his master's identity to invite Jiu U inside for discussion, planning to give Jiu U some hints later.

With himself and Jiu U Shibo teaming up here to obtain a treasure, that would be quite good...

After "Qi Yuan" swore the oath, the two finally sat by the window, looking toward the source of the yao qi.

Just then, a small commotion unfolded at the flower house where the yao qi was located—

Several skinny "attendants" shoved a plainly dressed young man out.

Following that, in the area bright with flower lamps and lights, a graceful figure slowly emerged, stepping lightly.

This woman was dressed revealingly, with a curvaceous figure, holding a biyu fine pipe in her hand. She gently exhaled a wisp of fragrant smoke from her red lips, with a colorful butterfly-shaped mark on her left forehead, her face quite alluring.

She took two steps forward, stood before the young man, and slowly spoke:

"Young Master Xia, do you know what the most tragic thing for a man is?

A long life for you, but a short one for me; you enter a flower house with no money.

What, thinking of getting it for free?

This isn't a charity hall I'm running."

With that, the woman snorted, took a puff from her pipe, and glanced over the people nearby, her eyes seemingly passing over where Li Changshou and Jiu U were.

But she showed no reaction, as if ignoring them completely.

As she turned and reentered the flower house, the passersby couldn't help but follow her in.

In the private room, Li Changshou and Jiu U exchanged a look.

The "Qi Yuan" that Li Changshou was impersonating picked up the teacup in front of him, took a sip, and whispered: "Shixiong, what do you think?"

Jiu U pondered and replied: "What she said... does make some sense."

"Hmm?"

"Ahem, back to business, Junior Brother Qi Yuan. Let's team up to eliminate the yao here and bring peace to this place—wouldn't that be wonderful?"