Chapter 191: No Modification Means No Soul

Wen Jing Dao Ren was quite the expert in secret messaging.

Over the long years before, she had moved through the shadows, handling the dirtiest, most grueling, and ill-fated tasks, playing the role of an emotionless assassin without ever revealing her true origins...

That was true professionalism.

Even now, Wen Jing Dao Ren couldn't figure out how she had been targeted by Nan Hai Hai Shen.

This Ren Jiao sect...

With its strongest saints, domineering grand mages, and enigmatic Nan Hai Hai Shen, it was becoming more intriguing the more she pondered it.

Buzz...

An ordinary-looking mosquito braved the strong winds, flying high above the mortal world until it reached An Shui Cheng, then descended toward the ground below.

If any exceptionally gifted mortal with keen insight, or any cultivator at the Tian Xian realm or above, happened to catch a glimpse of this mosquito, they would realize it was an extraordinarily fearsome...

Ren Mian Mosquito Body Xiao Hua Mosquito!

Silently, the Xiao Hua Mosquito flew near the main temple of the Hai Shen Temple, observing the bustling incense burners and the endless stream of worshippers. It couldn't help but curl its mouth in a smirk.

' Mortals are truly foolish, believing in just about anyone. '

Envious?

Impossible!

How could she, the grand queen, envy such trivial incense merits?

Besides, she was already bound by the Heavenly Dao, unable to gain any merit power and only able to use it to cleanse her karmic obstacles.

The Xiao Hua Mosquito rolled its eyes and continued flying into the temple.

To avoid adding to her own karmic obstacles and to keep her presence hidden, the mosquito targeted an elderly temple attendant, landing on his neck without piercing the skin.

The old attendant's eyes glowed red, but he was only temporarily controlled—Wen Jing Dao Ren hadn't harmed his soul...

Then, the attendant picked up a bamboo stick from the divination stall and quickly wrote a line of small characters on it before tossing it aside.

The bamboo stick vanished mysteriously, reappearing at the feet of the main idol.

That completed the message.

Wen Jing Dao Ren sensed that a strand of divine thought had now appeared on the main idol, clearly indicating the true master had arrived.

In the cave dwelling at the foot of Ling Shan, Wen Jing Dao Ren suddenly smiled faintly.

Her tongue lightly traced her lips, her smile growing more alluring.

If she didn't stir up a little trouble, did they really think she was that easy to command?

In the Hai Shen Temple, the old attendant's face flushed red as he threw his head back and laughed "ha ha" twice, his beard trembling wildly, drawing curious stares from all around.

Suddenly, he stood up, agilely leaped over the table, untied his belt, loosened his robes, and strode forward while laughing nonstop...

His actions startled several young women and elderly ladies, causing them to scream, while many female worshippers covered their eyes, peeking through their fingers.

Then, the old attendant raised his belt high, spittle flying from his beard as he writhed like a serpent, shouting repeatedly:

"Hai Shen! You've chosen me! Chosen me!"

"I'm going to serve Hai Shen tonight! Ha ha ha!"

"Hai Shen has chosen me for the night!"

The worshippers in the courtyard and the bear tribe guardians on duty at the temple entrance were all stunned...

"What's wrong with old Fu?"

"Did he drink too much at the brothel last night or get poisoned? How did he suddenly become so... so flirtatious?"

"Quick, go pin him down! What nonsense is he shouting?

Hai Shen would choose him for the night?! If anyone, it should be the young women from our tribe!"

At once, several guardians rushed over and restrained the old attendant on the ground, while the mosquito had already turned to ash and vanished...

From within the main idol, Li Chang Shou's strand of divine thought watched the scene, his forehead creased with black lines.

This mosquito... could it be...

Not only arrogant, but also quite repressed?

That actually matched quite well with his own grand mage.

However, the fact that Wen Jing Dao Ren hadn't used a blood mosquito to harm the mortal was somewhat unexpected for Li Chang Shou.

As for that bamboo stick...

Amid the chaos outside, one of the bear tribe guardians walked over, picked it up, and discreetly headed to the back hall.

The message read: Today, use dragons to disrupt Hai Shen.

Just ten simple words, yet they set Li Chang Shou's mind racing.

The next moves from Xi Fang Jiao aligned with the schemes he had previously outlined...

They had several superior plans at their disposal, but they chose this middling one.

It was just a basic scheme of sowing discord.

In the eyes of Xi Fang Jiao's experts, the Dragon Clan and Ren Jiao were now connected through the Nan Hai Hai Shen sect.

The last time, the Mosquito Daoist had plotted against Dragon Clan experts and was ambushed in return, with the grand mage appearing afterward.

The time before that, Xi Fang Jiao had set a trap for East Sea Dragon Palace's second prince, Ao Yi, but it was foiled by the little mage...

This discord scheme was likely Xi Fang Jiao testing the exact nature of the relationship between the Dragon Clan and Ren Jiao.

After a brief contemplation, Li Chang Shou had his 'guardian' paper effigy use earth escape to return to the underground paper effigy base.

He would counter their moves as they came and go with the flow.

This could be a chance to strengthen his ties with the Dragon Clan, making future actions easier.

"When will Ao Yi come to visit the sect?"

Li Chang Shou pondered briefly, worried that issues might arise before Ao Yi arrived.

To be safe, he took the initiative to bridge a divine connection with Ao Yi.

But the wait for Ao Yi was longer than expected...

In broad daylight...

Tsk, youth is wonderful.

A moment later, Ao Yi hurried over, his face flushed and a bit embarrassed.

He asked hurriedly, "Ge Ge, what's wrong?"

Li Chang Shou chuckled, "Did I interrupt you?"

"Not at all, not at all," Ao Yi said with an awkward smile, but seeing Li Chang Shou's serious expression, he quickly composed himself.

Li Chang Shou said, "I just received word that Xi Fang Jiao is plotting against us again."

"Oh?" Ao Yi raised an eyebrow. "What vile scheme are they hatching this time?"

Li Chang Shou pondered for a moment and replied, "Probably, they're planning to secretly manipulate and control some Dragon Clan experts to cause trouble at the Hai Shen sect, aiming to drive a wedge between the Dragon Clan and Ren Jiao."

Ao Yi was furious and cursed, "This is utterly shameless!

If they fought the Dragon Clan openly and we lost, we'd accept it!

But these sneaky, underhanded tactics—we'll fight them to the end!"

Li Chang Shou sighed, "They're just trying to subdue the Dragon Clan at the lowest cost, that's all. Don't let it anger you, Yi Ge.

If the Dragon Clan falls under their control, Xi Fang's power would surge, posing a real threat to our Dao Men.

For that reason alone, I'll do everything in my power to help the Dragon Clan."

"Ge Ge!"

Ao Yi's eyes filled with emotion as he bowed deeply to Li Chang Shou. "Ge Ge has been true to me, and I will never betray Ge Ge in this life!"

"You're too kind, Yi Ge," Li Chang Shou said, gesturing for him to rise. Then, they discussed how to respond.

Though it was called a discussion, it was mostly Li Chang Shou guiding and hinting, leading Ao Yi to come up with the plans himself. This way, Ao Yi would feel they were his ideas.

When Ao Yi later explained to the Dragon King, it would have a better effect.

After their discussion, they finalized the strategy.

Li Chang Shou severed the divine connection, and Ao Yi awoke from the dream state. He smiled apologetically at his soon-to-be bride, who was already asleep beside him, then draped on his robe and strode out of the hall.

They decided to play along with the scheme.

When Xi Fang Jiao made their move, they would pretend that the Dragon Clan and the Nan Hai Hai Shen sect had fallen out, lulling Xi Fang into lowering their guard.

The key was that the Dragon Clan could use this to trace back and uncover how many of their experts had secretly colluded with Xi Fang.

This was crucial for the Dragon Clan.

In the underground chamber, Li Chang Shou meditated for three months, finally stabilizing his cultivation realm completely.

During this time, he attempted to sever his dao foundation once more, only dropping a few minor realms, but his foundation became even more perfect.

He wasn't aiming for an ultra-perfect dao foundation—everything needed balance; excess was as bad as deficiency.

This was essentially a simple math problem...

It was known that repeatedly severing one's realm could strengthen the dao foundation, thereby increasing the success rate of crossing the Golden Immortal tribulation.

However, strengthening the foundation also intensified the tribulation, affecting the success rate.

The two factors interacted, creating a curve where the success rate first rose, then stabilized, and finally declined.

What Li Chang Shou needed to do was pinpoint the peak of that curve.

This was the practical application of the philosophy of moderation in mathematics.

"All laws are interconnected, nothing more than that."

Li Chang Shou chuckled lightly, returned his true self to the pill room, and refined several years' worth of pills for his junior uncle. He also dug up the fine wine he had brewed earlier from behind the pill room.

Calculating the days, Jiu Jiu Shishu was probably about to come by, pretending to be embarrassed because she was out of wine.

Since Xiong Ling Li had only recently arrived at Xiao Qiong Peak, Li Chang Shou couldn't just leave her unattended.

After refining the sugar bean pills, he strolled with his hands behind his back toward the spirit beast enclosure and the gaming room...

Before he even got close, he heard a melodious ensemble playing.

The music featured a guqin, a jade flute, and an erhu, with the tunes flowing smoothly and in perfect harmony. There was also a small drum that kept missing the beat...

But the melody from these instruments was quite simple, prompting Li Chang Shou to hum inwardly...

'Two tigers, two tigers, running fast...'

Taking a closer look, he couldn't help but laugh in amusement.

In the main hall of the Xiao Qiong Peak gaming room, Ling E sat cross-legged behind the guqin, dressed in a light green skirt, her long hair cascading like a waterfall...

Two paper figures, created by Ling E's paper-cutting magic, stood quietly beside her.

These paper figures had weak magical power but stable auras—one played the erhu, the other the jade flute, both hitting the notes flawlessly.

This was a good way to practice multitasking.

By having her true self and the paper figures play increasingly complex pieces together, her ability to handle multiple tasks would improve.

Xiong Ling Li sat huddled nearby, holding a tiny drum and tapping it lightly now and then, but always off-beat...

Seeing them focused on practice, Li Chang Shou didn't want to interrupt. He turned and rode the clouds, patrolling the spirit beast enclosure, and couldn't help but marvel.

What a treasure he had found!

If Xiong Ling Li were in his previous life's world, she'd surely be a master at building wealth—a pioneer in high-yield pig farming!

Look at the spirit beast enclosure—just a few months since releasing the first batch of young creatures, and they were already so plump and healthy!

Well, as her cousin and senior brother, he couldn't fall behind!

Li Chang Shou flew to a dense forest on the back mountain of Xiao Qiong Peak, found a patch of lush grassland, and took a glowing green bean from his sleeve, flicking it into the center of the open space.

Divine ability: Scatter beans to summon soldiers!

He steadied his breath and focused, his hands swiftly forming seals as strands of magical power turned into symbols that merged into the specially treated bean.

In no time, the bean burst with a pop, and a warrior over seven feet tall emerged, holding a long sword and looking imposing.

Unfortunately, the warrior's eyes were dull and lifeless, giving off an air of dim-wittedness...

This was the original version of scatter beans to summon soldiers.

Li Chang Shou calculated that, based on Ling E's current cultivation, if she used all her magical power for this ability, she could summon about a hundred 'soldiers' at the third tier of the Hua Shen realm in a short time.

These soldiers could last for roughly an hour.

"If it's like this..."

Li Chang Shou set up several layers of barriers in the area and began detailed experiments.

He tested the ability at various cultivation levels, summoning soldiers of different strengths to evaluate its practical value...

Soon, he hit the limit of the original ability.

At its peak, it could only create a group of 'soldiers' at the sixth tier of the Gui Dao realm, lasting twelve hours.

Moreover, these soldiers couldn't use any spells or divine abilities, and the caster couldn't control them—they could only be given a target enemy or simple commands, after which they'd charge forward with their weapons, yelling wildly.

For mortal battles, this ability was unbeatable.

But for Li Chang Shou, it was rather useless.

It might just be a boon for the spirit trees on Xiao Qiong Peak...

Then, Li Chang Shou asked himself a few questions.

Should he use this ability?

Was it worth modifying it?

What returns could he get for the effort?

Quickly, he had his answers.

Since the ability was granted by the grand mage, if he could innovate something new and it made the grand mage happy, he might get a perpetual version of the 'Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Linglong Pagoda' power as a bonus—that would be a huge win!

To modify it, he first needed to define exactly what the 'soldiers' were.

Li Chang Shou's mind opened up, and he realized this ability fit perfectly with his current tactical system!

A new version of the paper effigy could store immortal power, equivalent to an early Tian Xian realm cultivator.

And such a paper effigy, using full power, could scatter hundreds of beans at once...

Paper effigies themselves could be stored.

Li Chang Shou's immortal power could be depleted and then rapidly restored by absorbing spiritual energy—as long as he had enough spirit trees, he could endlessly produce paper effigies.

In other words, with the current original version of scatter beans to summon soldiers, given a few months, he could assemble an army of 'Gui Dao' level soldiers lasting twelve hours!

If he successfully modified the ability to make the soldiers stronger, last longer, and use less immortal power...

I, Chang Geng Dao Ren, will have a million heavenly soldiers hidden in my sleeve!