Chapter 25: Master Uncle the Keeper

This small building is ten *zhang* tall and has two floors. From a distance, it resembles a large gourd. Its 'chief designer,' Li Changshou, was likely inspired by Jiu Jiu's personal magical treasure, the Evil-Slaying Ruyi Sword—that large gourd that can change in size and carry people through the air.

The building stands in a pond. Eighty *zhang* directly in front of its entrance is a well, and the pond and well are interconnected by waterways. From an aerial view, a hundred-*zhang*-diameter Tai Chi diagram is embedded in the forest. The pond forms the Yin-Yang fish shape, and the building and the well serve as the two 'eyes' of the Yin and Yang. This is a Feng Shui array, designed to stabilize fortune and dispel evil. Furthermore, as the Immortal Ascension Sect belongs to the Human Dao lineage, the Yin-Yang Tai Chi diagram holds significant meaning.

Approaching the building, one can see a wooden plaque above the entrance with the large characters "Little Qiong Peak Alchemy Lab." Closer inspection reveals two vertical lines of smaller text below: "Permitted by the Hall of Myriad Affairs for the construction of an alchemy building." In short, it’s a properly licensed and regulated structure!

Entering through the main door, one is met by a wooden screen. Behind it stands a large alchemy furnace, six *zhang* tall. This furnace occupies a vast area, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. It is forged from large blocks of purple gold, inscribed with auspicious clouds and various herbs, and incorporates numerous protective enchantments. However, the upper part of the furnace has many 'patches,' making it look a bit shabby.

This was originally a discarded furnace, but only its upper half had exploded. Li Changshou, using connections with spirit fish, acquired it from the Hall of Myriad Affairs and spent six months continuously repairing it until it could finally be used again. The furnace has three legs, two handles, and a round, bulging belly. It features Yin-Yang fish-shaped 'windows' on all four sides. The primary enchantments below, such as the flame-gathering array and spirit-balancing array, are completely intact. After Li Changshou's repairs, the furnace's current power is only 30% less than when it was undamaged. What's even more remarkable is that acquiring this furnace cost almost nothing. Large blocks of purple gold can inherently suppress the properties of most spiritual herbs, making this furnace currently the most valuable treasure on Little Qiong Peak.

The entire building is constructed around the furnace. Around the furnace are several rows of shelves, filled with jade bottles, gourds, and jade boxes of various sizes. They contain many spiritual elixirs refined by this furnace, though mostly conventional types. The place is meticulously kept by Lan Ling'e, who is currently in seclusion, diligently cultivating to improve her realm.

When Jiu Jiu hopped in from outside, Li Changshou, in his light blue robe, was standing by the furnace, with more than ten pale golden pills suspended in his palm, reflecting on his recent alchemy session.

"Little Changshou, what new elixir have you concocted?" Jiu Jiu asked, curiously approaching him.

"Would you like to try some, Martial Aunt? These are newly refined Mind-Calming Spirit-Focusing Pills. I've tweaked the flavor slightly, and the medicinal effect should be good too." Li Changshou asked casually as two pills slowly flew to Jiu Jiu. She promptly popped them into her mouth, chewing them with crunching sounds, soon let out a burp, and exhaled a fresh fragrance.

"So sweet," Jiu Jiu said, extending her right hand. "Give me a few more!"

Li Changshou effortlessly conjured a white jade porcelain bottle, put all the pills inside, and handed the bottle to Jiu Jiu.

Jiu Jiu's small hand remained outstretched. "This month's 'Drunken Immortal' and 'Seductress Charm'!"

"Don't worry, I wouldn't forget you, Martial Aunt." Li Changshou chuckled lightly and dutifully handed over two palm-sized jade gourds. Jiu Jiu eagerly opened them and took a sniff, letting out a rather satisfied sigh.

"Excellent, Changshou. Your alchemy skills are now perfectly on par with your wine-making abilities. Do you need my help with anything today? You haven't been setting up arrays these past two months, so I can't just keep getting freebies from you."

"Not today," Li Changshou said with a smile. "In twenty days, I plan to concoct a high-difficulty immortal elixir, and I'd like to ask for your assistance, Martial Aunt."

Jiu Jiu cheerfully patted her chest, causing her linen short-sleeved top to ripple slightly. "No problem! Leave it to me! Twenty days from now, right?"

"Precisely, twenty days from now," Li Changshou said seriously. "This elixir is very important to me, and once preparations begin, they cannot be stopped. If you happen to be unavailable then, Martial Aunt, please inform me in advance. Also, I wonder if you could keep this matter confidential for me?"

"What kind of elixir is it, to be so mysterious?"

"A poison pill called 'Immortal Melting'."

Jiu Jiu was also startled. "Immortal Melting Pill? Isn't that supposed to be able to poison True Immortals? I think I heard Fifth Senior Brother mention it a long time ago. Why are you concocting that?"

Li Changshou chuckled. "Poison is essentially a type of medicinal property, just as dishes can be sour, sweet, or spicy. Poison pills can be used both to kill and to save lives. Rest assured, Martial Aunt, I have no enemies and I cherish my cultivation life. I would never do anything harmful or evil. If the Immortal Melting Pill is successfully refined, I will offer you a year's worth of 'Seductress Charm' as a thank you, beyond our usual arrangements."

"Deal!" Jiu Jiu extended her right fist to Li Changshou. He raised his hand, lightly touching her fist, and Jiu Jiu immediately beamed.

"I'll come again in twenty days then."

"Farewell, Martial Aunt."

Amidst laughter, Jiu Jiu, perched on the large gourd, shot up into the sky, flying over Little Qiong Peak. She looked back and saw thin mists rising in various spots in the forest she had just left. In an instant, the mist enveloped the entire forest, but then a gentle breeze swept through, and all the white mist vanished. The dense forest within a thirty-*li* radius appeared unchanged from before, but Jiu Jiu knew that the powerful arrays within had already begun to operate.

"Next time I want to trick Seventh or Eighth Senior Brother, I can lure them here," Jiu Jiu muttered softly, but then thought of Li Changshou's perpetually serious face. "I should still tell him beforehand, otherwise he'll start lecturing me about some grand principles again."

Shaking her head, Jiu Jiu rode her large gourd through the air and swiftly returned to the back mountain of Sky-Breaker Peak, disappearing into several layers of overlapping arrays. That was the cultivation and seclusion ground for Daoist Wuxing's nine disciples, with a series of continuous pavilions built along the mountain. Although the 'Nine Immortals of Wine' were just a 'branch' of the Sky-Breaker Peak lineage, even Jiu Jiu, the youngest and least experienced among them, was a True Immortal. Their treatment was naturally incomparable to that of Qi Yuan and his two disciples. This place not only boasted an excellent spirit-gathering array but also had many servant disciples. Protective arrays, typically forbidden by sect rules, were also built around some of the pavilions, making it an ideal place for cultivation.

Jiu Jiu was the youngest and much beloved by her senior brothers and sisters. Her residence was close to Jiu Wu's, subtly protected by the residences of her other senior siblings. If Jiu Jiu entered seclusion, the others would naturally form a protective perimeter. Under the secret gazes of several servant disciples, Jiu Jiu flew back into her pavilion. Kicking off her cloth shoes, she hopped barefoot onto the jade-carved bed, clutching the two jade gourds she had just received, and giggled softly.

"Should I drink you first, or you first? Little Shou Shou is really amazing, to be able to make such good stuff. Three years are almost over; his 'Ganges Water Laobaigan' that he buried is almost ready to be unearthed. I must drink my fill then! Slurp, I'll favor 'Seductress Charm' today."

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

Outside the pavilion, a five-foot-tall short Daoist coughed. Jiu Jiu, who was lying on the bed, immediately clutched the two jade gourds in her hands, warily staring outside. Seeing who it was, she relaxed slightly. "Oh, Fifth Senior Brother, you could've just come in. I didn't activate the array."

"It's just that I was just scolded by Eldest Senior Sister. Even if we're close, we still have to observe proper etiquette," Jiu Wu said with a smile, taking two steps forward before abruptly stopping. There was nowhere to set foot. Looking at the scattered wine jars, short shirts, and *dudou*... Jiu Wu patted his forehead and complained, "Little Jiu, you're a thousand-year-old person, and you still can't clean your room."

Jiu Jiu sniffed a few times and waved her hand. "There's no strange smell, it's fine." She casually put the jade gourds into her storage treasure and sat cross-legged on the bed. Jiu Wu laboriously cleared a path through the pile of clutter on the floor and sat by the short table, muttering thoughtfully.

"Lately, Little Jiu, you've been visiting Little Qiong Peak quite frequently, haven't you?" Jiu Wu said with a smile. "What exactly do you do there?"

"Play, what else?" Jiu Jiu blinked. "Fifth Senior Brother, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

"Nothing, nothing," Jiu Wu waved his hands repeatedly, then scratched his head. He thought of the task assigned by his senior and junior sisters, finding it hard to speak for a moment. How should he put it? He couldn't just directly ask his junior sister if she had fallen in love with someone on Little Qiong Peak. Jiu Wu rallied himself. "Ahem! I remember, for the first few decades after you joined the sect, you were quite close with Junior Brother Qi Yuan from Little Qiong Peak, weren't you?"

"Yes," Jiu Jiu nodded. "Senior Brother Qi Yuan took good care of me back then."

Jiu Wu hesitated. "Then... are you...?"

Jiu Jiu frowned. "Fifth Senior Brother, what's wrong with you? You're so hesitant today."

"I, I... Oh!" Jiu Wu stomped his foot. "Then I, this humble Daoist, will ask clearly! Lately, Little Jiu, you've been running to Little Qiong Peak every day? Even when you're banned from drinking, you're still so energetic every day! Your senior sisters are wondering if... well, if..."

"If what?"

"You!"

"Me?" Jiu Jiu's brows furrowed tightly, her eyes filled with confusion.

Jiu Wu took a deep breath, steeling his Dao heart, and transformed it into a question: "Are you...! ...about to have a breakthrough or something?"

"It's not that easy to have a breakthrough," Jiu Jiu rolled her eyes. "Tell the senior sisters not to worry. If I encounter a bottleneck, I'll ask you all; I won't recklessly attempt to break through on my own."

"That's good, that's good. I'll head back then; you continue your cultivation." Jiu Wu fled in a hurry, getting up and quickly walking to the door. He then turned back and asked, "Oh, right, Little Jiu, those two nests of spiders you brought back from Little Qiong Peak earlier, I accidentally killed them. Could you ask that Junior Nephew Changshou if he has any more? I'll trade him treasures or elixirs."

"Mm, got it. I'll ask him for you next time I go."

Jiu Wu immediately smiled faintly. *Tsk*, ever since Jiu Jiu brought back a nest of three-headed double-pupil spiders two years ago, he obtained spider silk that allows for remote viewing, and his life became much more entertaining. Especially after arranging the spider silk near the pond where his Dao companion often bathed, the scene...

"Tsk, tsk," Jiu Wu mumbled, hurrying away with a rustle of wind.

"Why is Fifth Senior Brother so strange today? Never mind, he probably argued with Fourth Senior Sister." Jiu Jiu shook her head. She then activated the array outside her pavilion, lay on the bed, took out the two jade gourds, and resumed her happy dilemma.

***

Little Qiong Peak, inside the Alchemy Lab.

Li Changshou stood before the furnace. He had already placed the medicinal ingredients for the next batch of pills and turned to walk towards the meditation mat on the left. In his left hand, he held a jade plaque, carefully sensing the changes in various parts of the grand array. After repeatedly confirming there was no danger, he casually activated the furnace's enchantments, and several flames immediately appeared inside. He then proceeded to sit on the meditation mat to the left of the furnace. However, as he was about to sit down, a puff of green smoke erupted around him, and his figure instantly vanished, leaving behind only a paper effigy. The paper effigy in the green smoke instantly transformed into Li Changshou's likeness, while the wisp of green smoke quickly seeped into a small hole beneath the meditation mat, disappearing from sight.

Illusory Transformation Art, Old Daoist Qi Yuan's 'specialty.' As his eldest disciple, Li Changshou naturally mastered it long ago. In fact, he could now transform into many times more things than his master.