Chapter 275: Upward Report to Lingxiao Palace, Ritian Personally Leads the Expedition

To His Majesty, the Jade Emperor,From Chang Geng, God of the Four Seas,

Your humble servant, entrusted by Your Majesty to observe oceanic affairs and patrol the Four Seas, has recently made some observations.

The Dragon Clan is now beginning to pledge their allegiance, and the number of those yearning for the Heavenly Court's influence is growing daily. However, the Dragon Clan still faces unresolved internal strife and external threats. Therefore, future actions should be slow and steady, not rushed, to secure benefits through stability.

Your humble servant now proposes a strategy: using the pretext of military training for the Heavenly Court, invite the Dragon Clan to deploy their forces to jointly suppress the demonic creatures of the Four Seas.

This initiative offers three advantages to the Heavenly Court...

***

"Hmm?"

In the study of the Sea God's residence in the Heavenly Court, Li Changshou, who was meticulously drafting a memorial, suddenly paused his pen. Sensing that the outer defensive array of Little Qiong Peak had been breached, his consciousness immediately returned to the paper effigy he had stationed there.

A patrolling disciple, riding a white crane, had arrived and was hovering in the air, looking around Little Qiong Peak. In his hand, he held a sect gate token.

Li Changshou's divine sense swept over the sect entrance. First, he blinked, then instinctively tilted his head, and a small mushroom-shaped question mark slowly appeared on his forehead.

He understood everything...No, this time, he didn't quite understand anything!

How did Ox-Head and Horse-Face end up at the Immortal Du Sect?

Don't think he wouldn't recognize them just because they'd taken off their masks; their rotund bellies hadn't shrunk, there was a clear color difference on their necks, and the unique martial aura of the Witch Tribe was almost impossible for others to imitate.

Had Ox-Head and Horse-Face discovered something?

The disciple on the white crane called out, "Is Senior Brother Changshou in the mountain? Some friends have come to find you!"

Indeed, they were looking for him.

***

At this moment, 'Li Changshou, a Core Immortal Realm disciple of the Immortal Du Sect,' was actually seated on a white cloud returning from Southern Jambudvipa to the Eastern Divine Continent.

Venerable Forgetfulness was piloting the cloud, while Ancestor Jiang Lin'er held the hand of the young girl who was the reincarnated form of Martial Uncle Wanjiang Yu, listening to Ling'e play her zither. Youqin Xuanya and Jiu Jiu were also present, keeping them company.

Master Qi Yuan sat with his back to them, meditating alongside Li Changshou.

Li Changshou pondered, ensuring he would not reveal any flaws in his current arrangement.

***

The patrolling disciple on the white crane circled the lake, finding several thatched huts protected by arrays, with wooden signs hanging outside that read 'Out.'

Fortunately, the mournful cries of the spirit beasts in the mountain led the patrolling disciple to discover the iron-tower-like girl wrestling and playing with the spirit beasts in their enclosure.

The disciple shivered, his Adam's apple bobbing, as he cautiously flew over on his white crane.

Inside the spirit beast enclosure, Xiong Lingli had just wrestled a two-zhang-tall black bear to the ground. Gazing at its plump paws, tears of joy welled up inside her.

It could be butchered!

Once her cousin and the others returned, they could steam bear paws together!

This bear was so strong and cute; just steaming it seemed a bit wasteful. Perhaps she could also...

"Um, excuse me..."

The patrolling disciple asked in a soft, polite voice, "Senior, is Senior Brother Changshou on the mountain?"

"Huh? Why are you calling me 'Senior'? How old do you think I am!"

Xiong Lingli only then noticed someone, turning her head, her small face filled with curiosity.

The patrolling disciple was visibly stunned, recalling the rumors within the sect. He quickly said, "So it's Martial Aunt Xiong. This disciple is looking for Senior Brother Changshou. Two of Senior Brother Changshou's friends are looking for him outside the sect gate."

Just as Xiong Lingli was about to speak, Li Changshou's voice resonated directly in her mind.

*My cousin isn't home, is he?*

Indeed, Lord Sea God is omnipresent.

Xiong Lingli cleared her throat and stated word by word, "My cousin said he's not at home."

The patrolling disciple and Xiong Lingli faced each other and blinked in unison.

Xiong Lingli raised her large hand, even sturdier than a bear's paw, and forcefully smacked her cherry-sized mouth, stomping her foot in urgency.

"No, what I mean is, my cousin isn't home; he's out on business!According to what my cousin said, he'll be back in just a few more hours at most.Anyway, just relay that to my cousin's friends."

"Alright, this disciple will do as you say."

The patrolling disciple didn't dare to linger and hastily departed on his white crane. Xiong Lingli awkwardly scratched her head.

To think that someone as clever as her could be so clumsy with words!

Li Changshou's voice transmission came with a chuckle, "It's fine, just act as if nothing happened. Go about your business."

Xiong Lingli promptly and obediently agreed.

Now that her cultivation was higher, her tolerance for mistakes had also significantly increased, and Li Changshou wouldn't criticize Xiong Lingli over such minor details.

***

His divine sense continued to track the patrolling disciple, watching him report back to the sect gate. Afterward, he overheard Ox-Head and Horse-Face muttering and discussing a few things.

The two brothers didn't disclose why they had come, only stating that they would roam around the vicinity of the Immortal Du Sect gate and return to find Li Changshou in half a day.

The elderly gatekeepers also sensed the extraordinary nature of these two Witch Tribe experts and politely agreed, promptly reporting the matter to the Hall of Myriad Affairs.

Naturally, they didn't recognize them as the Soul-Reaping Emissaries from the Underworld Bureau of Hell.

Without their masks, Ox-Head and Horse-Face appeared as ordinary young men of the Witch Tribe.

An ancient poem once praised them:*Witch Tribe, mighty in body; Human Race, sharp in wit.**If neither Witch nor Human reveal their hand, how can one tell a Witch from a Human?*

Li Changshou was temporarily unable to ascertain why these two Witch Tribe experts had directly come to the Immortal Du Sect to find him.

Could it be that they were deeply concealed, secretly astute, and had already seen through his arrangements?

That shouldn't be the case...

Alas, dealing with the Xiong Village Divine Envoy and the Underworld Witch Tribe left him feeling somewhat powerless.

Since he didn't understand, Li Changshou naturally intended to find out.

These were two formidable figures, whose combat power exceeded that of an ordinary Golden Immortal like Ji Wuyou several times over. For them to inexplicably appear so close to his fundamental roots demanded serious attention!

Thus, Li Changshou observed for a while.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face moved within a radius of several thousand li around the Immortal Du Sect for two hours. Whenever they encountered a spirit beast that looked edible, they would knock it unconscious and stuff it into a sack-like storage artifact.

It seemed they were merely hunting...

However, judging from their movements, they had thoroughly surveyed several excellent strategic locations for attacking the Immortal Du Sect!

For a moment, Li Changshou's doubts deepened.

Coincidentally, after two hours of hunting, Ox-Head and Horse-Face returned to a dense forest in front of the Immortal Du Sect gate and sat down on a tree stump.

Ten zhang beneath them, among the tree roots, one of Li Changshou's paper effigies, disguised as a coachman, silently maintained his Wood Escape technique.

In other words, Li Changshou's true body was hidden there.

—His true body had been outside the sect gate earlier, researching how to make his paper effigies break through to the half-step Golden Immortal realm. The paper effigy taking his place in the mountain had also been temporarily called away by Ancestor Jiang Lin'er.

He hadn't completely given up on his subsequent research; he still had a few not-so-bold ideas he wanted to try one by one.

Therefore, his true body had remained hidden there, ready to continue experimenting with spiritual explosions once things settled down.

***

Ox-Head and Horse-Face sat on the tree stump, first counting "one, two, three, four, five" for a bit, tallying their newly acquired ingredients.

Ox-Head, without his mask, muttered, "Lord Sea God is truly generous! So much meat, enough for us to eat for a while!"

"Lord Sea God is simply beyond words; he speaks so kindly and is so courteous to us, completely without the airs of a Heavenly Court minister."

"Yeah, much stronger than those useless great demons from the Demon Court era who loved to look down on people!"

Horse-Face sighed softly. Without his mask, he even had a somewhat refined look.

Back in the day, Horse-Face was considered a handsome young man for miles around in the Witch Tribe. How many Witch maidens wanted to knock him out and carry him back to their tents...

Horse-Face sighed, "It would be great if the Sea God could go to the Underworld and bring the Sea of Blood under his divine authority too."

"Is the Sea of Blood even a sea? It's a cesspool!"

Ox-Head cursed testily, "To rule the Sea of Blood, he can't be a Sea God, he has to be a Filth God!"

"Then how about 'Sea Filth God' or 'Filth Sea God'?"

Li Changshou: ...

Chatting is one thing, but why include insults?

He was now considered a seasoned Pure Yang Daoist. How did he get associated with filth?

Immediately after, Li Changshou heard a crucial piece of information.

Ox-Head sighed, "Stop fantasizing. No one knows if Ancestor Minghe is truly dead or not. He might resurrect anytime. Let's not put the Sea God in a bind."

Horse-Face echoed a couple of sentences, and the two brothers continued to whisper.

Soon, they got to the main purpose of their visit.

"Horse, what should we say later?We can't just directly say we want to exchange Underworld conveniences for a few jars of your seasonings, can we?"

"Ox, the key is the seasoning's secret recipe."

"Isn't asking for the secret recipe too unethical? That should be Li Changshou's closely guarded secret, shouldn't it?"

"This..."

Horse-Face pondered, also finding it difficult. He instinctively raised a hand to touch his mane, only to realize he wasn't wearing his mask.

Ox-Head suddenly jumped up, shouting, "On that cloud to the south!Look quickly, is that young Master Changshou back?!"

"Let's go, let's go! Remember to wear our masks and make ox and horse sounds. We'll be shameless today and get some of that seasoning!"

"If that doesn't work, we'll give him some of our local specialties from the Underworld!"

With that, Ox-Head and Horse-Face put on their masks, resuming their identities as Soul-Reaping Emissaries. One mooed twice, the other neighed softly, trying to get into character.

A plume of bloody mist condensed beneath their feet, lifting them slowly into the air. Their aerial speed was rather... moving.

***

Underground, on the cloud, in the Heavenly Court, in Anshui City—Li Changshou's true body and his paper effigy both simultaneously pressed a hand to their foreheads.

He had never imagined that Ox-Head and Horse-Face would come all the way to the Immortal Du Sect for, for...Barbecue seasoning.

The paper effigy on Little Qiong Peak immediately busied itself in secret.

Li Changshou dared not let Ox-Head and Horse-Face linger at the Immortal Du Sect; only by sending them away quickly could he feel at ease.

Two hours later, in front of the Sea God's residence in the Heavenly Court, Li Changshou's Sea God paper effigy emerged on a cloud, leisurely and seemingly in a very pleasant mood.

Two squads of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals immediately stepped forward to escort him. Li Changshou chuckled, "Why would I need an escort while traveling within the Heavenly Court? Please rest for now. I am going to the High Heavens Palace to seek an audience with His Majesty."

The Heavenly Soldiers and Generals quickly bowed their heads in affirmation, watching the venerable immortal ascend on his cloud and slowly make his way towards the Heavenly Court's center.

Li Changshou mused over the preceding events, still feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face truly had come for seasoning.

The two Soul-Reaping Emissaries suddenly intercepted the 'bringing martial uncle home' squad, immediately terrifying Youqin Xuanya, Ling'e, and the recently retrieved young girl. They thought they had encountered a demon attack.

Fortunately, Jiang Lin'er, who was well-versed in human affairs, quickly stepped forward to salute them, identifying Ox-Head and Horse-Face as the Soul-Reaping Generals of the Underworld Bureau of Hell, and hastily asked the two generals why they had come to the Immortal Du Sect.

Ox-Head and Horse-Face immediately stammered, finding it difficult to speak in front of so many people. They could only look affectionately at Li Changshou.

At that moment, Ling'e keenly caught the gaze, exclaiming silently, 'Could it be?!'

She then raised a hand to cover her eyes, deeply impressed by her own imagination.

After the previous 'wall-pinning' incident, Ling'e had come to a realization:Her senior brother did indeed like women, but the women he liked had to be sufficiently steady and not cause him too much karmic entanglement.

So, Ox-Head and Horse-Face were vague and unclear in their explanation. It was Li Changshou who stepped forward and said with a smile, "Are my two elder brothers well?"

Ox-Head and Horse-Face immediately nodded emphatically.

Li Changshou said to Venerable Forgetfulness, "Ancestor, these are old acquaintances of mine.Please, Ancestor, take everyone back to the mountain first. I will return after a brief word with them."

"Very well," Venerable Forgetfulness didn't ask further questions and flew the cloud carrying the group towards the sect gate.

The gazes of the immortals, quasi-immortals, grand immortals, and the mortal girl on the cloud were all more or less tinged with surprise as they looked at Li Changshou.

Only the old Daoist Qi Yuan was diligently meditating at the time, completely unaware of what had transpired from beginning to end.

When Li Changshou personally handed two jars of seasoning to Ox-Head and Horse-Face, he said:"If you run out, you can inform Lord Sea God's residence, and I will make more seasoning later and leave it there for you."

At that moment, the look of gratitude in Ox-Head and Horse-Face's eyes...

They almost dragged Li Changshou into a 'Ox-Horse-Human' sworn brotherhood at the sect gate!

The two Witches were quite amusing when they left. One shouted for Li Changshou to visit the Underworld whenever he had time, while the other wished Li Changshou an early attainment of immortality and removal from the Book of Life and Death.

Li Changshou could only wave his hand with a smile, sending them on their way.

Upon returning to the mountain, he naturally couldn't avoid a joint interrogation by the Little Qiong Peak foodie squad, who wanted to know how he had become sworn brothers with experts from the Underworld.

Fortunately, Li Changshou had been to the Underworld twice—once with Jiang Lin'er present, and once accompanied by Jiu Jiu—so explaining it was not difficult, and he passed the inquiry with ease.

***

Afterward, on Little Qiong Peak, the group began to discuss a major matter that hadn't been decided on the journey:Who would take the reincarnated Martial Uncle Wanjiang Yu as a disciple.

Jiang Lin'er initially wanted to take on another disciple but felt her cultivation wasn't particularly high. Moreover, Venerable Forgetfulness had actively stated that he could take a tenth disciple.

The couple was discussing this, primarily because Jiang Lin'er was still somewhat hesitant.

Li Changshou did not interfere much. He quietly sat in a corner, meditating and attending to other minor tasks.

These minor tasks mainly included:Drafting the memorial, contacting the Dragon Clan, confirming the Dragon Clan's intentions, and having the Dragon Clan first explore the gathering places of deep-sea demons...And so on.

Li Changshou finished drafting his memorial while Jiang Lin'er was still hesitating.

He continued to be busy, sending his paper effigy stationed in the Heavenly Court to the High Heavens Palace on a cloud.

The memorial's content broadly requested His Majesty the Jade Emperor to dispatch troops and join forces with the Dragon Clan to purge the deep-sea demons within the Five Continents, thereby "trimming the branches" of the Western Sect.

This step was of extraordinary significance.

It would not only deepen the Heavenly Court's connection with the Dragon Clan but also foster a greater sense of affinity for the Heavenly Court among the Dragon Clan.

Li Changshou had already negotiated the terms with the Dragon Clan: a Heavenly Court general would be chosen as the main commander, and the Dragon Clan's forces would move in cooperation with the Heavenly Court's troops, thus establishing a preliminary subordinate relationship.

Incidentally, this would also weaken the Western Sect's peripheral forces, actively counterattack the Western Sect, and end the long-standing passive defensive situation.

It was truly a move of immense significance.

***

Upon entering the High Heavens Palace, Li Changshou presented his memorial, standing side-by-side with Duke Dongmu.

The Jade Emperor, clad in white brocade robes, sat upon his high throne. After reading the memorial, his eyes sparkled with light. He slapped the table and burst into laughter:

"Chang Geng, my beloved minister, what a brilliant plan! Let's implement this immediately! How many troops do you require, beloved minister? Will half a million be enough?"

"Your Majesty," Li Changshou hastily replied, "The Heavenly Court's foundation is not yet profound. Deploying half a million troops so readily would lead to uncontrollable attrition.It would be better to dispatch ten thousand elite Heavenly Soldiers, supplemented by the 'scattering beans to create soldiers' technique, combined with battle formations and divine armor. This force would be sufficient to match hundreds of thousands of ordinary troops!"

"Hahahahaha!"

The Jade Emperor clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "My beloved minister Chang Geng, what I admire most about you is your thorough consideration in all matters.Duke Dongmu, retrieve the tiger tally and prepare troops for Chang Geng!"

Duke Dongmu immediately accepted the command, "Your humble servant obeys the decree!"

"Your Majesty," Li Changshou continued, "Your humble servant can offer counsel and act as a strategist, but I should not be the main general. I humbly request Your Majesty to appoint a trustworthy, capable minister or general to lead the expedition.This should be the Heavenly Court's first significant expedition to assert its prestige, so it is crucial to establish the Heavenly Court's renown. The choice of the main general should be carefully considered."

"It is rare for my beloved minister to be so thoughtful!"

The Jade Emperor pondered for a few moments. Duke Dongmu beside him subtly swayed, puffing out his chest but not daring to look up, trying to make his presence known.

Li Changshou was, in fact, subtly hinting at this very matter...

He didn't want to monopolize all the credit. He merely wished to offer strategies and mediate, leaving the actual fighting and killing to Duke Dongmu and his troops.

However, to Li Changshou's and Duke Dongmu's surprise...

"Speaking of a commanding general, I do have a suitable candidate," the Jade Emperor said, winking at Li Changshou and smiling. "Duke Dongmu?"

Duke Dongmu suppressed the excitement in his heart, stepped forward, and accepted the command, shouting, "This old minister is here!"

"Go and summon General Huaritian, the Golden Tungsten Heaven-Mixing General. He shall be the supreme commander for this campaign."

Uh...

Li Changshou chuckled inwardly. So, the Jade Emperor intended to personally oversee the campaign.

His eagerness was not surprising.

It was just tough on old brother Dongmu; he would likely be anxious about gains and losses for a while again.