Chapter 127: Farewell Gift from Shou

After leaving his Little Qiong Peak and rushing back for the sect's grand competition, Li Changshou made a special detour to the Hall of All Mortals, where he offered three 'tall' sticks of incense to the portrait of the Human Sect Master.

These three sticks of incense today seemed to have had some effect.

As Li Changshou returned to his spot in the corner of the gentle slope, maintaining his Wind Whisper spell to monitor his surroundings, he heard very few discussions about himself.

The old immortals on the jade platform and the disciples throughout the river valley had all turned their attention to the competition for the Thirty-six Heavenly Generals.

Li Changshou gripped the spirit treasure, the white jade flute, and slowly began to refine it.

He glanced at Ling'e, who was waiting at the side for her turn to fight, found her in good spirits and accompanied by Uncle Jiu, so he didn't concern himself further.

Jiuwu had already handed over three hundred years of monthly payments to Li Changshou, all in the form of precious materials for refining formation foundations.

With this 'small windfall,' the comprehensive grand formation plan for Little Qiong Peak could be completed in advance... by about 0.03 percent.

However, Uncle Jiuwu's 'you win' promise had not been fulfilled, so Li Changshou still had to make up a fight later.

Lowering his head, Li Changshou looked at the white jade flute in his hand and couldn't help but ponder slightly: this item...

How many precious materials could it be exchanged for?

Just kidding, of course. If he really took out a spirit treasure bestowed by Heavenly Lord Qin Wan to sell, it would be an intentional insult to the cultivators of Jin'ao Island, and he would probably be hung up and beaten.

The grand formation is for self-preservation, the poison pills are also for self-preservation, and having a spirit treasure for protection can also enhance one's ability to protect oneself.

Moreover, ever since he ascended, he had never had a treasure that could fully utilize his strength.

Once this white jade flute is fully refined, if he attached some spirit beast fur to its end, it could also double as a 'celestial brush' to perform the divine ability of 'writing scriptures into spells.'

As Li Changshou thought of this, the white jade flute in his hand immediately trembled twice, conveying a faint sense of resistance.

He hastily dismissed this strange idea from his mind and continued to use his spiritual consciousness to soothe the white jade flute's spiritual essence.

First, he should 'tame' it properly; then he could consider it doubling as a celestial brush.

So-called spirit treasures generally refer to items that have developed their own spirituality, possessing the most basic spiritual essence.

But due to the limitations of the Heavenly Dao, acquired spirit treasures cannot transform into living beings nor carry the Great Dao, and their power is far inferior to innate spirit treasures.

Innate spirit treasures and innate living beings mostly appeared in ancient times.

At that time, the Heavenly Dao was not yet complete, and treasures and living beings born from the innate Dao could directly access the Great Dao.

Living beings could cultivate and grow stronger without restraint, and treasures were imprinted with the might of the Great Dao.

That was an era where one could pick up spirit treasures just by walking along the road.

That was a time when any random mountaintop could be a blessed land or a grotto-heaven.

But at the same time, it was also a more perilous and dark era.

The big figures were all ignorant and had no concept of shame; if they saw a good treasure, they would claim it was fated for them, and if they saw a good blessed land, they would claim it was theirs by destiny.

If the other party didn't agree, they would just fight it out, and whoever had the bigger fist would be obeyed.

Nowadays, the best force to inherit the ancient customs should be the Western Sect of the Two Western Saints; with a single phrase, 'I see you are fated with our West,' people could be converted and disappear.

Li Changshou let his mind wander as he continued to refine the white jade flute.

Before long, Ling'e floated over from a distance, dejected, and sat down beside him, a little disheartened, letting out a soft sigh.

She had previously lost to a first-stage Return-to-Dao immortal sprout, which cut off her path to the top thirty-six.

"Senior Brother..."

Ling'e called out plaintively.

"It's good to save some face for the disciples of other peaks," Li Changshou transmitted. "How many years have you been cultivating? You're the youngest here, and you've already put many senior brothers and sisters to shame."

Transmitting sound while half a *zhang* apart—this was probably a major characteristic of Little Qiong Peak.

Ling'e blinked, and her eyes immediately brightened. "Senior Brother, are you comforting me?"

"Rule of Three."

"Oh!" Ling'e chuckled happily, sat cross-legged on her prayer mat, and slowly tried to inch closer, just a little closer to Senior Brother.

This patch of grass on the ground was almost bald.

Li Changshou transmitted helplessly, "It's already four thousand and fifty times now."

Ling'e immediately froze, her large eyes filled with a pitiful expression, and she raised her soft hands, whispering:

"Senior Brother, do you really have the heart to see your junior sister's hands... be ruined like this?"

"Yes."

"Hmph, I'll write then," Ling'e immediately turned her head to look into the distance.

Li Changshou smiled calmly, waiting for his turn to enter the arena.

Another day later, the sect's grand competition reached its most exciting part: the Heavenly General title fight, which was also the finale of this grand competition.

The attention in the arena was now on Youqin Xuanya and the top ten immortal sprouts.

The foreign guests and elders on the jade platform were also observing with great interest, wondering if any of the disciples below might become a 'master' of tomorrow.

Although Youqin Xuanya's talent was outstanding, her future growth path still held too many uncertainties.

Whether she could reach the Heavenly Immortal realm, no one could say for sure at this moment.

Temporary victories were not highly valued; only reaching the peak was true dominance!

As soon as the Heavenly General competition began, Li Changshou's 'first-stage Return-to-Dao realm' cultivation started to struggle.

Relying on his Earth Escape, he 'exhausted all his abilities' to win three matches, but in the fourth match, he directly encountered Youqin Xuanya.

However, Li Changshou did not give anyone the opportunity to imagine or conceive of a 'Little Qiong Peak mace versus the chief disciple' battle.

As soon as the jade slip vibrated...

"I concede!"

Youqin Xuanya at the side was startled, and then cast a slightly guilty look at Li Changshou.

Li Changshou: ...

What was this guilt for again?

Never mind, he would never understand Junior Sister Poison's thought process.

Thus, Li Changshou stopped at the eighteenth place, which was close to the rank he had previously planned.

The two disciples of Little Qiong Peak ranked eighteenth and thirty-ninth respectively. Old Daoist Qiyuan would likely later burn incense to the confirmed deceased grandmasters of Little Qiong Peak and properly worship them.

The subsequent fights were more intense than the last, and the sect's grand competition had more 'highlight' moments.

But the scene of the mace breaking out of the ice remained a peak that later participants could not surpass.

Ultimately, Youqin Xuanya fought her way through and claimed the top spot.

After Li Changshou watched the last fight, he used the excuse of saying goodbye to Ao Yi and immediately slipped away.

Sure enough, it was as he expected...

When Youqin Xuanya gave her victory speech, she very earnestly said:

"This sect grand competition has some regrets, as I could not share the stage with the senior brother I most wished to spar with."

At this moment, Li Changshou, who was on a distant cloud saying goodbye to Ao Yi, couldn't help but feel a slight emotion well up in his heart.

Finally, he could gradually anticipate some of Junior Sister Poison's ways.

"Brother Changshou, just cultivate in peace within the sect," Ao Yi said. "Don't worry too much about... certain matters."

Li Changshou took out a treasure pouch and said seriously:

"Inside are a few paintings, which I consider my recent masterpieces. There's also a brocade pouch, which might help you with your troubles. Remember, do not open it in front of others."

Ao Yi smiled, took out two communication jade talismans from his robes, and handed them to Li Changshou, saying, "Brother Changshou, these two jade talismans can be used to contact me directly. If Brother Changshou has anything... to say, you can use this item to convey it."

Li Changshou took the communication jade talismans. The two exchanged smiles and bowed to each other on the cloud.

"Clouds vast, mountains high and waters long," Li Changshou said. "Parting with Brother Yi today, we shall surely meet again."

"I hope Brother is well and quickly ascends the immortal path," Ao Yi replied. "Jin'ao Island is in the deep clouds where the South Sea and East Sea converge. If Brother Changshou is free, you can come to the island to visit, and we can chat over wine."

Subsequently, the man and the dragon exchanged smiles.

Ao Yi turned and rode his cloud, heading towards the Jin'ao Island group that was waiting for him.

Li Changshou bowed from afar again, and Han Zhi and the other 'juniors' also returned the bows.

Sect Master Ji Wuyou, who was currently seeing off the Jin'ao Island group, also nodded with a smile.

The Sect Master looked at this distant young disciple, who had brought much prestige to the Immortal Du Sect this time, and thought about how to help him safely pass his immortal ascension tribulation next.

'Finally...'

Li Changshou rode his cloud directly towards Little Qiong Peak.

As soon as he landed on Little Qiong Peak, white clouds flew out from the river valley below Shattered Heaven Peak, and disciples from various peaks returned to their respective mountain tops.

Some were laughing, and naturally, some had bitter expressions.

Li Changshou made a brief summary; seeing Ling'e and Jiu Jiu, who couldn't part with her mace, flying back together, he thought of going with them to report the 'good news' to their master.

So many important figures had come to Little Qiong Peak earlier, yet Master had remained as steady as Mount Tai!

—If Li Changshou hadn't already discovered that Master was sound asleep on his bed, he would definitely have 'looked at Master with new eyes.'

But before Ling'e could fly back, Li Changshou's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately sensed something.

The Sea God Temple, which had previously hosted the white-robed fop, seemed to have received another 'distinguished guest.'

So, Li Changshou used the Wind Whisper spell to transmit a message to Ling'e, who was still more than ten *li* away:

"I've had a sudden realization and will enter seclusion for cultivation. Please entertain Uncle Jiu Jiu well."

Ling'e immediately nodded in agreement, and Li Changshou turned and flew towards the alchemy room.

His spiritual sense made a slight probe; there were quite a few pilgrims in that Sea God Temple.

The gray-robed elder who had previously descended to the mortal realm with the Jade Emperor was standing with his hands behind his back beside the idol, with two Heavenly Immortal realm 'guards' behind him.

Li Changshou composed himself, internally deducing several times what this person would say later, and quietly activated the paper effigy hidden beneath the Sea God Temple.

At the same time, three thousand *li* south of the Immortal Du Sect, on the white cloud carrying the Jin'ao Island group.

Ao Yi pondered for a few moments, thought long and hard, and at this moment, couldn't resist taking out the treasure pouch Brother Changshou had given him.

He was interested in Brother Changshou's masterpieces, and certainly not to see the 'brocade pouch' of clever strategies Brother Changshou had given him!

So, Ao Yi quietly rode his cloud to a standstill. Several Jin'ao Island Golden Immortals and old Heavenly Immortals immediately cast a wisp of their immortal consciousness, but merely smiled without saying anything.

'Just looking at the paintings...'

Ao Yi coughed, took out two scrolls, and saw two lines of notes written on the outside of the scrolls:

*When feeling excited, with blood surging, and unable to suppress oneself, wanting to express one's thoughts, look at this scroll.*

*When feeling dejected, lacking energy, and feeling there is no hope in this life, or no beloved spirits left in one's dragon life, look at this scroll.*

Ao Yi thought for a moment and first opened the latter, first seeing the opening poem...

'When will spring flowers and autumn moons end? How many residual dreams slowly fade away?'

Opening the scroll, Ao Yi's gaze flickered, and his youthful face immediately flushed crimson. He subconsciously squeezed his eyes shut, then couldn't help but open a sliver of a gap, cautiously peeking at the more than ten different beauties on it.

Was this why the human race reproduced so quickly?

Human cultivators indeed had their unique qualities.

But for him, who had not yet fully matured, it was simply too...

He then heard several exclamations of praise from behind him:

"The brushwork is truly meticulous," one said, "the figures are lifelike, and it's rare to see such charm."

"Indeed, quite good," another added.

"From what I see," a third commented, "the difficulty lies in combining both elegance and vulgarity. Though they aren't provocatively posed, they can still make one's imagination run wild. We've lived for so many years, but *Autumn Water* paintings of this quality are rarely seen."

Ao Yi's forehead creased with discomfort. He turned his head for a glance, only to see several senior uncles standing silently behind him, commenting on the painting.

Seeing Ao Yi stammering, unable to speak for a moment, several Jin'ao Island cultivators who had deliberately come to tease Ao Yi burst into laughter.

On the cloud ahead, Heavenly Lord Qin also watched them with a smile.

A few younger juniors nearby, although curious to go over, dared not be as casual as the older generation of cultivators.

"Junior Brother Ao Yi, open the other one too, let's see."

"Good things should be shared."

"Come, come, come..."

Ao Yi had no time to stop them, nor did he know how to stop them; the other scroll had already been taken by an old Daoist in the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Several people gathered around. The old Daoist's hand trembled, and the scroll quickly unfurled...

On this formerly lively small patch of cloud, silence suddenly fell.

Heavenly Lord Qin in front also twitched his lips slightly.

An old Daoist silently rolled up both scrolls and handed them to Ao Yi. The others' faces were calm, their spirits like withered wood; they flew back to the cloud ahead with lowered heads, each with lifeless eyes.

Ao Yi curiously opened it for a look, and seeing the four characters 'Hundred Beauties: Elderly' on it, he couldn't help but laugh wryly, not daring to look further.

'Only a wonderful person like Brother Changshou could have such wild and unrestrained thoughts!'

Afterwards, Ao Yi took the opportunity to retrieve the brocade pouch, and upon opening it, found a wooden plaque inside, on which seven large characters were boldly written:

*If you can't force it, change it.*

Ao Yi pondered briefly and sighed lightly with his hands behind his back.

Then he cheered up, put away the two scrolls and the brocade pouch, and flew forward. When he looked at Junior Niece Han Zhi again, his gaze became clear and free.