Chapter 129: Immortal Awareness Poison Pill Heart Fire Burns

Li Changshou looked at the three female cultivators before him—one adult and two younger ones.

Jiu Jiu was sleepy-eyed, still stretching and yawning, her clothes a bit disheveled.

Beside her, Youqin Xuan'ya looked directly at Li Changshou, her eyes clear and bright, her posture upright, ready to accept any punishment.

Ling'e, at this moment, stood with her head down by the bed, her face reflecting utter despair.

If one were to ask Ling'e, the one directly involved, how she felt right now, she would surely say she was full of regret.

She shouldn't have shown off her barbecue skills that one time, which led to both her Martial Aunt and Senior Sister Youqin falling for it. She knew her Senior Brother would scold her severely after he came out of seclusion, yet she clung to the faint hope that he wouldn't punish everyone.

Li Changshou closed his eyes and slowly exhaled.

"Senior Brother Changshou!"

Youqin Xuan'ya cupped her hands, bowed her head, and admitted her mistake, her long hair tied in a ponytail swaying gently. "Xuan'ya was delighted to see the spirit beasts, so she encouraged Junior Sister Ling'e, finding all sorts of excuses to turn them into delicious meals. Xuan'ya is willing to accept any punishment from Senior Brother!"

Li Changshou smiled faintly and gently asked, "Was it delicious?"

"G-good... mm," two blushes appeared on Youqin Xuan'ya's face, which usually maintained a frosty demeanor.

Jiu Jiu yawned. "Little Changshou, it's just a few of your spirit beasts that were eaten. Your Martial Aunt will compensate you with treasures and spirit stones."

Li Changshou calmly replied, "Martial Aunt, your treasures and spirit stones have already transformed into another form, accompanying you now."

"Oh no! I almost forgot I spent all my savings!"

Jiu Jiu instantly jolted awake, fully alert, standing barefoot on the ground, lost in thought for a moment. Although she could be a bit wild at times, as a Martial Aunt, she wouldn't go as far as bullying a junior martial nephew.

Ling'e sighed softly and lightly bit her lip, knowing she had to unite with her Martial Aunt and Senior Sister Youqin at this moment and pull them onto the 'pirate ship' with her.

So, Ling'e whispered, "Senior Brother, this matter is entirely, entirely my fault..."

"Junior Sister, don't be so nervous," Li Changshou said with a smile. "After all, I'm not some demon; why are you so afraid?"

Ling'e's mouth twitched, and she subconsciously took half a step back.

"Let Little Ling'e go! Whatever it is, come at me!"

Jiu Jiu resolutely shielded Ling'e behind her, puffing out her chest and raising her head. "At worst, I'll pay off the debt with my own body! Your Martial Aunt will see this through to the end!"

"Martial Aunt, please don't say such things," Li Changshou said with a frown. "This disciple has always respected you and holds no improper thoughts."

"Pah! I meant I'd help you refine pills and array foundations!"

Jiu Jiu snorted softly, having just blushed for a moment. But at this point, she couldn't let go of her 'dignity' as a Martial Aunt and stubbornly added, "You, have improper thoughts? Then how about you have 'proper' thoughts about Ling'e and let your Martial Aunt see something new!"

Li Changshou's mouth twitched slightly, but he lightly steered the conversation away from the topic.

(Their Immortal Ascension Sect also has divine beasts, so it's said.)

Li Changshou sighed, his hands clasped behind his back. "Since you've already eaten them, it's not like I can make you spit them out, can I? But my Little Qiong Peak cannot suffer such losses for nothing. I have meticulously calculated the value of those spirit beasts. Now I offer you three another method of compensation. Please look."

As he spoke, he pulled two parchment scrolls from his sleeve and slowly unrolled them. On them was a complex design blueprint.

"If you find no issues, each of you can press your handprint here, make an oath, and we can start work on an appointed day."

"What is this?"

Jiu Jiu was the first to lean in, and all three were slightly puzzled...

And so, half a day later.

Around the spirit beast enclosure, three graceful figures, with sleeves rolled up and skirts tucked in, slowly flew in from a distance, dragging a pile of freshly processed timber with their immortal and magical power.

On Little Qiong Peak, delicate work chants soon echoed.

Inside the alchemy room, Li Changshou subtly moved his finger, reinforcing the isolation array around Little Qiong Peak twice over.

Although he wasn't in the wrong, if other disciples were to accidentally see the currently popular chief disciple, who was like an iceberg to outsiders, doing carpentry work on his Little Qiong Peak... those fellow disciples and peers who held beautiful fantasies about the chief disciple would probably truly develop inner demons or mental obstacles.

Shaking his head inwardly, Li Changshou continued to open his furnace and refine pills.

He had plenty of Ambition Pills in stock. It was more logical to refine a few more batches of low-grade spirit pills to sell and buy back some spirit beast young. Otherwise, with the spirit beast enclosure empty, he always felt something was missing, and Little Qiong Peak didn't feel quite complete. This time, he would buy some cheap ones that tasted good.

The spirit beast blood needed for alchemy nowadays required a minimum of several thousand years of age to start with. Little Qiong Peak didn't have such things, so he occasionally had to cadge some from Dan Ding Peak.

For half a month, he refined pills, and for half a month, the area around the spirit beast enclosure was bustling.

Li Changshou didn't make things too difficult for the three of them; after all, one was his biological junior sister, one was a close Martial Aunt, and the other was a junior sister who took everything intensely seriously.

Li Changshou merely had them build a pavilion near the spirit beast enclosure, in a scenic spot with beautiful mountains and water, to serve as their future place for leisure and play. (The lakeside was his and his master's resting area, so it wasn't appropriate to always let them go there.)

Aside from the pavilion, the overall project only involved a bit of planning for the spirit beast enclosure's renovation. At their current efficiency, tsk, it would probably be completed within thirty years and wouldn't affect Youqin Xuan'ya's participation in the Three Sects Origin Conference.

Working and playing at the same time, a pavilion that could have been built in half a day was drawn out for half a month...

Li Changshou felt deeply helpless about this and decided to keep a certain distance from the three of them in the future to avoid catching this kind of 'contagion'.

A few months later, on Dan Ding Peak.

As was his custom, Li Changshou visited Elder Wan Linyun every so often. The two strolled through the woods on Dan Ding Peak, where tree shadows danced and the path was secluded. Stepping on the gently swaying patches of light on the ground had its own unique elegance.

"Changshou, recently I had a flash of inspiration, inspired by your Sense-Testing Stone, and conceived of a poisonous pill."

"Oh?" Li Changshou smiled. "Elder, your inspiration is truly remarkable. Could this poisonous pill be sensitive to immortal consciousness?"

Elder Wan Linyun gave a 'cold' smile and gently said, "Precisely. Changshou, do you know what immortal consciousness and spiritual consciousness are?"

Li Changshou replied:

"This disciple has seen in our sect's scriptures that spiritual consciousness and immortal consciousness are thoughts emanating from the primordial spirit, the primordial spirit's perception of heaven and earth. According to the 'Classic of Benevolent Immortals', the primordial spirit is integral to the heart, and spiritual and immortal consciousness are the consciousness of the heart. Mortals rely on eyes, ears, nose, and tongue; their mortal minds are ignorant, and thus do not perceive the Great Dao. Cultivators observe heaven and earth with their hearts, hence it is called spiritual consciousness."

Elder Wan Linyun's smile grew colder and sterner, a hint of admiration in his eyes. (Though one could find similar answers from any other disciple in the sect.)

Elder Wan Linyun said:

"Ever since I saw your Sense-Testing Stone last time, I searched through ancient texts, perused the sect's Daoist scriptures, and pondered it several times with a few other elders skilled in alchemy. The sap of the Color-Infused Flower changes color when probed by spiritual or immortal consciousness. The sap of the Jade-Green Spiritwood forms a web-like pattern when probed by spiritual or immortal consciousness. Besides these, there are seven or eight other substances that also react to spiritual or immortal consciousness. I experimented with each one and finally settled on the formula for this pill."

As he spoke, Elder Wan Linyun handed a piece of paper to Li Changshou and sneered, "Take a look, what do you think?"

Although Li Changshou was accustomed to Elder Wan Linyun's signature smile, he could still be slightly startled by it at times.

He took the formula, Li Changshou examined it carefully, pondering it deeply in his mind, sometimes frowning, sometimes looking enlightened. Finally, he nodded slightly.

Li Changshou said, "This formula should be feasible. Both the medicinal properties and principles give this disciple a feeling of sudden enlightenment."

"Next, I'll need to figure out the precise quantities," Elder Wan Linyun said. "I'll be heading to North Continent soon to search for the Jade-Crystal Spirit-Stinging Worm. If I can catch a few more, this pill can be refined in three years."

"Elder, you're going to North Continent yourself?"

"Yes. I had the younger generation on Dan Ding Peak search various places, but the Jade-Crystal Spirit-Stinging Worm cannot be found in East Victory Divine Continent."

Elder Wan Linyun leaned on his copper staff, his gaze fixed on the dense green trees. "A poison for immortal consciousness is rarely seen in the world. If I can refine it, that would truly be a comforting achievement. Changshou, my Heavenly Immortal lifespan is already more than halfway through, yet the opportunity for longevity has not appeared. I reckon I won't be able to attain the Dao fruit of eternal life. If, in my lifetime, I can leave behind a few more poison scriptures and create a few more brand new pill formulas, that would also make my journey worthwhile."

Hearing this, Li Changshou felt a slight surge of emotion in his heart but said nothing more, simply listening with a faint smile.

"Oh, right, Changshou, your Ambition Pill..."

"Cough!"

Li Changshou hadn't expected the topic to change so quickly.

"Elder, do you wish to use it? After the sect's grand competition, I refined many, but those pills were all taken by Martial Uncle Jiu Wu. I've just prepared a new charm concoction recently; if you need it, Elder, I'll send it over once it's refined."

Elder Wan Linyun waved his hand, saying, "Why would I use it? I have no such desire."

"You truly startled this disciple..."

"Hahaha," Elder Wan Linyun said seriously, "your Ambition Pill seems to be refined from 'infatuation stones' formed from love gu worms. I obtained one from Liu Feixian and pondered its medicinal principles. This item is not only effective for male cultivators with weak resolve but also generally for female cultivators. You must instruct those who take the pills not to cause harm or mischief."

"This disciple will remember," Li Changshou said with a smile. "Elder, to be able to determine that the main ingredient is 'infatuation stone' just from one pill, this disciple... truly admires you greatly. Recently, this disciple has also wanted to improve the formula by adding two herbs that solidify and invigorate yang qi."

Wan Linyun laughed. "That's not bad at all; it's good that you know about this."

Li Changshou thought for a moment and took out a treasure pouch from his robes. He said, "Elder, when you go to North Continent, please take this with you as well. North Continent is dangerous. Although this disciple cannot help much, there are two paper effigies inside that are immune to poisonous miasma."

"Hmm," Wan Linyun took the treasure pouch and placed it carefully into his sleeve. (This was purely to save Li Changshou's face.)

After returning from Dan Ding Peak, Li Changshou had been contemplating Elder Wan Linyun's conceptualized 'poison for immortal consciousness'. Once this poisonous pill was refined, it would be like the Sense-Testing Stone and could be worn. Its function was to reflect damage onto those who probed one's immortal consciousness, but the damage wasn't significant; at most, it would cause the target headaches and dizziness.

Li Changshou, however, felt that this poisonous pill was actually a bit useless. If the main ingredient, the 'Jade-Crystal Spirit-Stinging Worm', were replaced with other herbs to achieve the effect of secretly marking the source of immortal consciousness, that would be truly... *cough*, that would be an essential product for 'anti-reconnaissance'!

"What could replace it?"

Li Changshou involuntarily fell into deep thought. His knowledge in this area was certainly not as extensive as Elder Wan Linyun's, and he wasn't as free to travel as Elder Wan Linyun either...

Li Changshou suddenly thought of something.

The fox demon that he and Martial Uncle Jiu Wu had captured... The fox demon's charm techniques... The 'infatuation stones' he currently had on hand... Immortal consciousness is the consciousness of the heart... marking the probe, affecting the probe's mind...

"Indeed, I could start from this aspect..."

Li Changshou pondered for a few moments, then casually summoned a scroll, sat on the rocking chair in front of the alchemy room, and began to carve and draw with his carving knife. Soon, a concept for an immortal consciousness poisonous pill, tentatively named "Look at me once and you'll be marked and your heart will burn," slowly took shape under his carving knife.

The highest realm of poisoning is to make the target willingly and unknowingly fall into the trap.

After half a day of work, Li Changshou felt a bit lightheaded. His immortal consciousness scanned the figures in the spirit beast enclosure. The three graceful figures there were busy chopping firewood, felling trees, and digging earth, each one much more diligent than before.

Li Changshou looked at their figures and became slightly lost in thought, a secret smile forming in his heart.

'Indeed, laborers are the most beautiful. The saying truly didn't deceive me.'

Heavenly Court, Matchmaker's Temple.

The figure of Duke Dongmu looked left and right and carefully slipped inside.