Chapter 24: True Immortals Cannot Work Part-Time

Clang!Clang!

On a quiet afternoon, within the protective embrace of the smooth and ethereal mountain-guarding array of Du Xian Sect, a rhythmic pounding echoed from Little Qiong Peak, which stood noticeably shorter than the surrounding mountains.

About ten li north of the three thatched huts by the small lake, in a dense forest, a towering tree trembled with each strike. Beneath the tree, a young woman, dressed in training attire embroidered with orchids and fragrant herbs, her head adorned with a light purple silk cloud-patterned headscarf, continuously swung a large axe with an indescribable grace.

The young woman gritted her teeth and muttered a rather 'friendly' greeting:

"If I can't use my magic, what if my arms and legs get all lumpy with muscle! I'm a female Qi cultivator! Honestly! He said he'd watch me chop trees, but where is he? He went back to meditate again! Hmph hmph, rotten Senior Brother! I'll cut you off at the root, remove you completely, leave no trace, not even a blade of grass will grow where you once stood! Break!"

Crack!

The old tree slowly, reluctantly toppled backward, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind her: "Are you... Little Ling'e?"

Lan Ling'e instantly became alert, immediately leaped forward with her giant axe, and upon landing, had already turned to face the figure floating in the air. The person seemed familiar. A ten-foot-long gourd, a female immortal sitting cross-legged on it, somewhat grubby hemp robes... Dammit, her short hemp tunic was almost bursting...

Uh, it was Martial Aunt Jiu Jiu...

Lan Ling'e quickly set down her axe, bowed respectfully, and recalling several greeting templates her Senior Brother had set, chose the most appropriate one, saying softly: "Disciple Ling'e greets Martial Aunt Jiu. My cultivation is shallow, and I failed to greet you in time. Please forgive me, Martial Aunt."

"It's fine, it's fine, no need to be so polite," Jiu Jiu said, feeling quite fond of this elegant and well-mannered junior niece who spoke so pleasingly. Jiu Jiu put away her large gourd and jumped down from the air.

"Is your Senior Brother here? I need to find him."

"Senior Brother should be cultivating," Lan Ling'e replied demurely, continuing softly, "Please wait a moment ahead, Martial Aunt. I will go call Master to come out and greet you. Our humble dwelling might be lacking in hospitality; I hope Martial Aunt will forgive us."

"Oh, there's no need for such trouble. I came specifically to find your Senior Brother; your Master is about to become an immortal, so let him stay in seclusion and don't disturb him." Jiu Jiu waved her hand, then turned her head, scanning the surroundings. "Little Ling'e, what are you chopping wood for?"

"It's a form of cultivation, Martial Aunt. Please don't laugh."

Lan Ling'e's answer was still impeccable, but a slight doubt arose in her heart. What does this Martial Aunt want with Senior Brother? Qi cultivators have long lifespans after becoming immortals, and there are many cross-generational Dao companions within the sect; and this Martial Aunt in front of her was pretty, with a shapely figure. Though a bit unkempt, she was naturally beautiful and possessed significant resources... The key point was that Martial Aunt Jiu Jiu had traveled outside the sect with her Senior Brother... Something was amiss.

Lan Ling'e instantly became wary. With a subtle turn of thought, she intended to subtly probe Jiu Jiu's purpose. But before she could speak, slight ripples appeared on the ground not far away, and Li Changshou's figure slowly emerged, bowing to Jiu Jiu in greeting...

A moment later, inside Li Changshou's thatched hut, Jiu Jiu and Li Changshou sat cross-legged on opposite sides of a low table. She had come to deliver Li Changshou's rewards from the recent cultivation assembly, and coincidentally, she also brought the gratitude gift entrusted by Martial Uncle Jiang Jingshan. She placed two storage artifacts on the low table.

Li Changshou didn't stand on ceremony and accepted them directly. Seeing the several magical treasures, the small mountain of precious materials, and spirit stones inside the storage ring given by Martial Uncle Jiang, he felt a slight relief. Just now, when investigating the ley lines of Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou was worrying about the precious materials needed to build various grand arrays. This gratitude gift immediately solved most of the problems.

Li Changshou asked, "Martial Aunt, why didn't you go to Nanzhou with them?"

"Sigh," Jiu Jiu let out a long sigh, weakly slumping onto the table, her eyes gradually losing their luster. "I originally planned to go and have some fun, but when I returned to the mountain, I was kept for questioning until now. I just came out of the Hall of Rewards and Punishments. Now I'm worried. Several elders actually punished me with a three-year alcohol ban. Ah, they might as well have tied me to a lightning rod and struck me for three years..."

Li Changshou couldn't help but smile, noticing then that Jiu Jiu's small gourd artifact was missing; it must have been confiscated by the sect elders. Just then, Ling'e entered with tea. Seeing the situation, she immediately pursed her lips.

Such casual posture, getting along so well with her Senior Brother... This Martial Aunt is definitely trouble. After serving the tea, Lan Ling'e moved her meditation cushion next to her Senior Brother, then obediently knelt down, deliberately pressing her arm against his.

Jiu Jiu widened her eyes at the sight. "Huh? Changshou, your condition?"

"My Junior Sister's contact with me is fine, likely because we're together day and night," Li Changshou calmly explained. "However, when I touch other women besides my Junior Sister, I still inevitably experience symptoms like convulsions."

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

Lan Ling'e covered her mouth and coughed. Her slightly pained expression clearly showed she was struggling to suppress laughter.

"Oh, so that's how it is." Jiu Jiu didn't suspect a thing. She slumped down again with a faint sigh, her eyes losing their luster once more, and she weakly murmured: "Three years... how will I endure these three years... How can I seclude myself or cultivate without alcohol? I can't even sleep, and I have no energy to do anything... That scoundrel Yuan Qing, what kind of trouble did he stir up? It's bad enough he got himself into it, but he also made me suffer for three years."

Li Changshou lowered his brows in thought, stroking his chin in contemplation; beside him, Lan Ling'e saw Senior Brother's expression and instinctively shifted slightly to the side, straightening her posture and keeping her gaze forward, not daring to speak. She secretly glanced at the slight curve at the corner of Li Changshou's brow, confirming it was a precursor to Senior Brother planning to trick someone! Whenever Senior Brother wore this expression, either she or Master was always about to be 'arranged' for something!

"Martial Aunt Jiu, why don't we strike a deal?"

"Hm? What kind of deal?" Jiu Jiu responded feebly.

"Martial Aunt, since you can't touch alcohol for these three years, and if you find it hard to cultivate, why not help this disciple build some arrays?" Li Changshou said seriously. "In return, I will brew three kinds of extinct fine wines for you, which will be ready for you to enjoy exactly three years from now. Furthermore, among them, there's also a drink that can substitute alcohol."

"Extinct fine wines? A drink to substitute alcohol?" Jiu Jiu immediately perked up, sitting upright. "What is it? Are you trying to trick me into working for free for you? Let me tell you first, I know absolutely nothing about arrays."

"Martial Aunt only needs to use your immortal power to help stabilize the array foundations and suppress spiritual energy fluctuations," Li Changshou calmly smiled, countering, "Martial Aunt, do you like drinking or savoring wine? Do you like the taste of alcohol, or the feeling of being drunk?"

"Hmm..." Jiu Jiu mused for a few moments. "Both, I suppose. I joined the mountain when I was three, and my Fifth Senior Brother, who was responsible for looking after me, happened to like brewing wine. Once, he accidentally dropped me into a wine vat for a bath, and after that, I couldn't part with the liquid in the cup. If I had to say, the taste of the wine is very important, and that light, pleasantly tipsy feeling when you've had enough is also very important."

"Martial Aunt, please look." Li Changshou pointed to the teacup in front of him, took a small jade pot from his sleeve, pulled out the stopper, and dripped a single drop of light green liquid into the teacup.

Instantly, a faint fragrance wafted out, and the tea in the cup turned light green. Li Changshou smiled, "Martial Aunt, please try it and see if you get that tipsy feeling."

"Oh?" Jiu Jiu blinked lightly, picked up the teacup, and tentatively sniffed it in front of her nose, only detecting a faint, fresh aroma. Then she took a small sip, and her eyes immediately lit up. She raised her hand and drained the cup in one gulp. A slight blush gradually appeared on Jiu Jiu's pretty face, her eyes began to glaze over, and she couldn't stop grinning. "Good stuff... potent..."

Clatter. The teacup landed on the table, and Jiu Jiu slowly, leisurely lay down, gently rolling back and forth on the floor, letting out soft giggles. She kept muttering: "Seventh Senior Brother, aren't you ashamed? You cling to Sixth Senior Sister all day, cultivating together for so many years and still no baby... Everyone's in pairs, so am I, the ninth, destined to be single? Hmph, when I become a Heavenly Immortal, I'll snatch a few handsome men to pour wine and scrub my back every day... Little Changshou... you must, must, must never look down on your Master... Your Master was incredibly powerful back in the day..."

Gradually, light snores began to rise, and Jiu Jiu, hugging her meditation cushion, completely fell asleep on the floor.

Lan Ling'e asked curiously, "Senior Brother, what is this?"

"Immortal's Drunkenness," Li Changshou transmitted his reply. "It's both a mild sedative and a kind of fine drink, but it carries no alcoholic scent. Other than making someone intoxicated for a while, it has no other effects. It was originally something I discarded. According to ancient records, in antiquity, many immortals who enjoyed drinking would try this Immortal Brew, but they would often gulp it down directly due to severe alcohol addiction. It's actually refined using methods similar to brewing, except that brewing usually uses immortal fruits and grains, while Immortal's Drunkenness is made from thirty-two types of medicinal herbs."

Lan Ling'e asked with some concern, "Is this enough for three kinds?"

Li Changshou smiled and nodded, looking at the sleeping Jiu Jiu. Thinking of his soon-to-be-completed alchemy lab, he transmitted his reply, "Not just three, I can make thirteen kinds. If a True Immortal can assist, many ideas that couldn't be realized before now have a chance. Once the alchemy lab is complete, the safety factor will be even more guaranteed."

"Alright," Lan Ling'e pouted slightly, looking at her Martial Aunt, who was surprisingly adorable in her sleep. She felt a small... sense of crisis.

And so, two years later.

Thud!

The wooden door of Li Changshou's thatched hut was kicked open, and Jiu Jiu, dressed in hemp robes and looking utterly frantic, rushed in. "Quick! This month's Immortal's Drunkenness and Beauty's Charm... Not here? Oh, why is he refining pills again! Might as well tie him to the alchemy furnace!"

Jiu Jiu stomped her foot, muttered a few low curses, then hastily turned and leaped into the air, about to rush towards the dense forest behind the thatched hut. But her figure suddenly froze. She tilted her head, staring at the dense, deep forest ahead, sensing the spiritual energy slowly flowing within it. Her forehead instantly creased with dark lines. Her mind conjured up the more than ten embarrassing incidents she had endured, trapped within it, over the past six months...

If she hadn't already known what lay ahead, she wouldn't have been able to discern that the area contained as many as twenty-eight overt arrays and seventy-six hidden arrays, all interlocking trapping and illusion formations... "Where was the exit again? Did I really help set this up? This way? Doesn't seem right. Or this way? Ugh! Arrays are so annoying! Li Changshou, come out quickly! Otherwise, I'll tear down your peak!"

A gentle breeze swept through the forest, the trees swaying softly, and the spiritual energy within also began to flow more lightly. Li Changshou's voice drifted on the wind: "The arrays have been deactivated. Your disciple is currently guarding the alchemy furnace and cannot come out to greet you."

Jiu Jiu blinked, then cautiously advanced over ten zhang. Only after confirming she was safe did she angrily fly directly towards the center of the dense forest. There, an elegantly designed small building stood quietly, wisps of pure energy emanating from it, and a fresh medicinal aroma filled the air throughout the forest.