Chapter 453: The Female Immortal's Competitiveness

Oh, I'm so miserable. I already share a single grass ring with six others, yet I'm still dragged out to do this and told I can't stay for too long. Whimper...

On the gentle, verdant slope, within the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, a single grass ring hovered gently. Xiao Ai, her form somewhat ethereal, appeared beneath the grass ring. She was so heartbroken she couldn't stand, and tearfully hugged herself. The moment she spoke, pale blue ripples emanated in all directions, and the female demon soldier commander and the other seven demon soldiers sitting cross-legged on the slope quickly had their eyes turn red...

Li Changshou sat ten zhang away, holding a scroll and recording the reactions of these demon soldiers.

Just as he expected, these veteran soldiers, hailing from ancient times, were most susceptible to the emotion of 'sadness.' However, too much sadness was detrimental, as it would lead to negative thoughts.

Slightly behind and above Li Changshou, Houtu sat with her skirt gathered, watching Li Changshou write and draw with some curiosity. When Li Changshou asked for the next one, she sent Xiao Ai back and released 'Wrath,' one of the Seven Emotions.

“Hey! You there! Go call that red-clothed scoundrel in! I'll kill him!”

Streaks of red ripples emanated from her, spreading outwards. The eight demon soldiers instantly exuded a murderous aura, each gnashing their teeth, as if ready to devour someone!

Without Li Changshou needing to say anything, Houtu gently tapped her hand, forcibly sending 'Wrath' back to the grass ring and releasing the 'Fear' incarnation to counteract the anger.

Next, the Seven Emotions incarnations took turns appearing, stirring the desolate Dao hearts of these demon soldiers.

When the final 'Joy' incarnation returned to the grass ring, the eight demon soldiers looked into the distance, somewhat dazed.

Blood-red chains appeared on two of them, but then these chains shattered. The two burly men clutched their heads, curling up where they sat, their bodies trembling incessantly, and whimpers escaping their lips.

The immortal power within them began to surge outwards, mixed with wisps of demonic energy. However, this demonic energy had long been tamed and controlled by them and did not harm a single blade of grass or tree in the area...

Li Changshou stood up, somewhat anxious, but Houtu beside him gestured for him to remain calm.

Before long, two more experienced the same phenomenon. They had shattered the shackles within their hearts, and the Seven Emotions were reawakened within them. Fortunately, the emotions that affected them most were love and joy. After enduring the pain of their minds being torn apart, they fell into a state of tranquility...

These were formidable individuals who had fought their way through ancient times, their Dao hearts long as firm as bedrock. At this moment, they had merely regained their thoughts and individual wills, their fundamental nature unchanged.

The first four to recover bowed their heads to Li Changshou. One woman said in a halting voice: “Thank... you...”

Li Changshou nodded with a smile, unsure what to say, so he said nothing more.

They had survived countless battles, yet their spirits had withered like flowers in the spring wind.

Li Changshou led these four recovered individuals out of the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. He sensed the situations in various places and checked on Xiaoqiong Peak. Still uneasy, he once again sent a message to Bai Ze, instructing him to keep watch over Xiaoqiong Peak from outside. Then, he led the next batch of twenty demon soldiers into the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk.

In this manner, the Seven Emotions incarnations continuously appeared, and the Dao heart shackles of the demon soldiers were broken one after another.

Houtu's Seven Emotions Dao Fruit was perfectly utilized here, not differing much from Li Changshou's previous expectations...

After three days and three nights, one hundred and eight demon soldiers stood beside the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. The two commanders stood directly in front of Li Changshou, and all one hundred and eight knelt on one knee, clasping their fists.

The two commanders who could speak fluently called out in unison: “Thank you, Lord Chang Geng!”

Li Changshou turned sideways, accepting half of the salute and yielding the other half to Houtu.

At this moment, two Yama Kings, more than a dozen judges, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and numerous ghost officials were gathered around. They were purely curious and also serving as witnesses to this day's events.

Li Changshou sighed inwardly...

Once, there were one hundred and eight masters of killing and arson before him, and he did not appreciate them. He estimated that by the time he might lack people later, he would regret it deeply.

If Heaven gave him another chance to choose, he probably still would...

...do the same.

Just like merchants, some money isn't meant to be earned. He didn't want to use these ancient human heroes as tools; doing so would weigh on his conscience.

“Esteemed Seniors!”

Li Changshou cupped his hands and proclaimed loudly: “In today's world, we humans are the protagonists of Heaven and Earth. Countless humans thrive and multiply across the Great Wilderness, the Five Continents, and the Three Thousand Worlds. The demon race is no longer a threat; the destiny of the Demon Court has been completely severed! Humans and all spirits coexist; all spirits and humans can now live together. Some of the devastating wars in today's world are merely human factions fighting amongst themselves. The Heavenly Court established by the Saints upholds the operation of the Heavenly Dao. His Majesty the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court values mortals even more, and I am assisting His Majesty. In ancient times, esteemed seniors, you had no choice. The demon race was aggressive and sought to exterminate our human race. The human race was weak and lacked enough masters to protect itself. Thus, you all had to fall into demonic ways and become demon soldiers. But today, you are heroes of the human race. You may choose your own paths from now on.”

As Li Changshou's words fell, a hint of bewilderment appeared in the eyes of all one hundred and eight demon soldiers.

“Please, have a seat first.”

Li Changshou made a gesture, and the one hundred and eight demon soldiers neatly sat cross-legged, their gaze fixed on Li Changshou.

Li Changshou carefully chose his words and smiled: “My intention is that you can do whatever you wish in this current world. For example, you could learn a musical instrument, find a companion, or travel around and see the bustling mortal world, or gaze upon the immortal mountains in the clouds. This entire realm was fought for by you, esteemed seniors.”

One person sighed softly: “Like... lost souls... better to return to dust...”

The demon soldiers remained calm, each nodding their heads.

“That is also an option,” Li Changshou said softly, with a sigh, “If you, esteemed seniors, feel too weary, you are entirely free to choose your own fate, life or death. However, speaking from my personal desire, I do not wish to see you all choose that path. You have already missed an era; perhaps it is better to start a new life in this one. I will help you, and the human race will help you adapt. There will be a place for you in this world. This is the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. I am well-acquainted with the Underworld and consider the Yama Kings as close friends. If you wish to be reborn and no longer carry the burdens of the past, Meng Po's soup is available in unlimited supply today. If you have any unfulfilled wishes, I will help you achieve them, to the best of my ability. If you wish to continue exploring and observing the world...”

“Lord,” the female commander interrupted Li Changshou's lengthy speech and lowered her head to ask, “Do you still require our service?”

Li Changshou paused his words, standing still for a long time.

He could feel that if he merely said they were not needed, all one hundred and eight demon soldiers would depart in unison.

After a long moment, Li Changshou finally spoke: “The human race no longer requires you to shed your blood or sacrifice your lives. A new order has also emerged in Heaven and Earth. I do need your strength, but it is for my personal needs, for my own selfish reasons. It might not hold much significance for the human race or for Heaven and Earth. That is why I brought you here, to give you the opportunity to choose anew. Whatever choice you make, I will not forcefully interfere. However, if anyone is currently undecided, lacking a conviction, then I can say... Stay, and fight for me. But let me make it clear, I have no grand ambitions. If you choose to stay and work for me, there likely won't be much upheaval.”

Having spoken, Li Changshou stood up, bowed to the one hundred and eight demon soldiers, and turned to walk aside.

He had barely walked ten zhang when a slight rustling sound emerged from behind him. A surge of Dao aura rose and then dissipated, as one demon soldier's soul dissolved on the spot.

Unwilling to even enter reincarnation again.

One after another, continuously, demon soldiers shattered their own souls, transforming into wisps of black quicksand, and vanished upon the Reincarnation Immortal Island.

The wind seemed to carry soft whispers, and Li Changshou's primordial spirit heard their confessions.

‘Lord Chang Geng, thank you for fulfilling our wishes.’‘Our comrades have gone, and we follow.’‘We did not fail His Majesty's trust, nor the General's command!’‘Lord, please be kind to the brothers who remain. We are leaving now...’

Li Changshou tilted his head slightly, sighed softly with his hands behind his back. Black quicksand floated behind him, and gentle breezes stirred across the land of the Netherworld.

One by one, ghost officials of human origin knelt on one knee, leaning on their weapons. Ox-Head, Horse-Face, and the few other Wu race members also had red eyes.

Even the Wu had a sentimental side.

After an unknown period, Li Changshou heard footsteps. He couldn't help but turn to look, only to see eighteen or nineteen men and women standing behind him. They all knelt on one knee in unison. “We are willing to serve you, Lord!”

“Please, rise quickly,” Li Changshou gestured with both hands as if helping them up. Then he let out a wry chuckle, “Not a single one wished to enter reincarnation.”

The female commander showed a slight smile, and the scars on her cheeks seemed to have faded somewhat. She chuckled: “Without obsession, one cannot become a demon. Without our demonic essence, we cannot survive. Lord, you still understand too little about us.”

Her words were noticeably more numerous than before, and her tone was lighter.

Li Changshou cupped his hands: “My Dao is quite the opposite of obsession. Please wait a moment, I will go thank Houtu, then I will take you back to the mortal world. First, I'll give you a task... Each of you, or among yourselves, think of a name.”

After he spoke, a beam of light shone upon Li Changshou, drawing him back into the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk.

The more Li Changshou pondered, the more he felt that Xiao Ai... was truly fascinating.

Her logic was complete. No matter the problem she faced, she could always arrive at an absolutely negative conclusion.

Even Houtu found this somewhat vexing. She and Li Changshou deliberated for a long time but couldn't devise a solution. To top it off, Xiao Ai discovered them and tearfully complained that they were secretly plotting against her...

Thankfully, she didn't threaten to run away from home or anything.

Li Changshou then presented a few proposals for reforming the Underworld for Houtu's review. Houtu agreed with a smile, without a single objection.

This merit was already beckoning to Li Changshou. The Golden Body of Merit was not far off!

When he left the Underworld with the nineteen Golden Immortal realm experts, the large ship borrowed from the Dragon Palace was noticeably emptier.

Li Changshou planned to organize a 'golden years' tour group for the Great Wilderness, taking them around to sightsee. After that, they would officially take up their posts in Anshui City and Xiaoqiong Peak.

These nineteen experts were legitimate Golden Immortal realm demon soldiers. Having fought since ancient times, they had overthrown the Demon Court and repelled extraterrestrial demons. Their cultivation level, coupled with their formidable combat experience, and the many treasures they had accumulated, made them an absolutely formidable force!

Xiong Lingli, the incompetent security captain of Xiaoqiong Peak, could then honorably retire.

The demon soldiers brought back by the one hundred and eight Great Mages finally found their refuge, and Li Changshou put a worry to rest.

Perhaps others might have had better ways of handling it, but Li Changshou felt his approach was the safest.

Upon returning to Anshui City, he arranged for the demon soldiers, who were like reborn beings, to stay in the Sea God Temple. After informing these nineteen 'ancient heroes' that they could move about freely, Li Changshou shifted his attention back to Xiaoqiong Peak.

Ling'e was playing in the card room, while Youqin Xuanya was cultivating in the giant treewood forest...

She really wasn't treating Xiaoqiong Peak like someone else's home anymore.

Li Changshou sent a few messages, telling Youqin Xuanya to begin preparations for ascending to Heaven. Soon, the Heavenly Court would start promotional efforts across the Great Wilderness.

Youqin Xuanya firmly agreed. Having prepared for a long time, her eyes now held a hint of anticipation.

A jade slip was hovering in the alchemy room.

Li Changshou dispatched a paper effigy, which took the jade slip into its hand. It was a special communication jade slip sent by Mr. Bai...

Direct voice transmission, or jade slips between nearby peaks, were old traditions of the Human Sect.

Holding the jade slip, Li Changshou flew on a cloud to Black Pool Peak. Before he had even landed steadily, Bai Ze and Zhao Gongming approached him from left and right. Each stroked his beard, smiling, and their smiles were a little bit... mischievous.

Li Changshou stepped back half a pace, and said with an air of righteousness: “Sirs, please do not involve this humble Daoist in your strange antics! This humble Daoist is quite different from solitary beings like yourselves.”

Bai Ze and Zhao Gongming were startled at first, then they both charged forward, grabbing their weapons. Fortunately, Li Changshou was not only skilled in escape techniques, but his close-quarters combat maneuvers were also excellent. He dodged by riding the wind, playing around with the two great powers for a while...

In the end, he was caught and thoroughly beaten.

Since it was just a paper effigy, playing around with Zhao Gongming and Bai Ze was fine; it couldn't harm his true body. Li Changshou also seized the opportunity to secretly record this scene with a recording orb, to be used for future threats...

“What's up?” Li Changshou asked with a smile, getting to the point.

“Here, a letter from my second sister,” Zhao Gongming winked and made faces, then slapped a letter into Li Changshou's arms. He urged, “Quick, open it and see! Do you know how many hours your brother has been waiting?!”

Li Changshou: ... “This appears to be a letter addressed to me alone.”

Zhao Gongming and Bai Ze nodded very seriously, standing to Li Changshou's left and right, behind him.

“Should you two perhaps step away?”

Buzz— Water-blue light blossomed, and Li Changshou's paper effigy instantly froze in place. Twenty-four Sea-Pacifying Divine Orbs descended from the sky!

Zhao Gongming stroked his beard and chuckled softly. Using immortal power to bind Li Changshou's fingers, he carefully tore open the envelope. Then, using the same method, he opened the letter in front of Li Changshou...

Afterward, Zhao Gongming and Bai Ze pretended to pass by from behind and 'accidentally' glanced up. Bai Ze praised, “Fairy Yunxiao is truly understanding of the greater good! We are impressed!” Zhao Gongming said, “My second sister is indeed the smartest among us four sworn siblings. The words in the letter are nearly identical to what Mr. Bai Ze said.”

The two chatted and laughed for a few moments, then tacitly walked away. Only after they had maintained a sufficient distance did Zhao Gongming retrieve the Sea-Pacifying Divine Orbs...

With a few hearty laughs, Zhao Gongming and Bai Ze hid on the other side of Black Pool Peak and continued to drink and revel.

‘They really are playing along together.’

Li Changshou shook his head, shook the letter open, and read it carefully.

The letter mentioned the matter of Fairy Yunhua. Li Changshou read it over and over, only feeling Fairy Yunxiao's gentleness and care. He simply couldn't put the letter down. After reading it carefully for a while, he finally discerned between the lines that the entire letter conveyed the unspoken words, ‘I understand you.’

Chuckling softly, Li Changshou put the letter away, tucking it into his sleeve, and shifted his attention to the Heavenly Court.

Inside the Lunar Palace.

The paper effigy trembled slightly twice, and Li Changshou returned to his normal state, stretching lazily.

His immortal sense spread out, and he suddenly felt the atmosphere in the hall was a little... strange?

Inside the Lunar Palace, there were over thirty Chang'e fairies. Half of them were practicing dances, while the other half were sitting aside, chatting and laughing. However, outside the palace, hundreds of people were gathered in various groups, seemingly plotting something.

Li Changshou keenly noticed the unusual aspects everywhere.

Many Chang'e fairies wore heavy or light makeup, and their immortal gowns were entirely different from the uniform attire they usually wore for dance practice. They were colorful and competed to outshine one another!

His immortal sense could hear what they were saying...

“Ah, if only we could make Lord Water God look up at us, wouldn't that be a victory?”

“Lord Water God truly looks down on us Lunar Immortals! Even Sister Heng'e personally came, but she couldn't make Lord Water God even glance up...”

“Perhaps Fairy Yunxiao truly is one of a kind, unmatched in the world.”

“I still don't believe it!”

What's going on? Heng'e was here?

Li Changshou silently tucked his sleeves and began checking the recording orb hidden on him. Sure enough, he found... a pair of jade-like feet in embroidered shoes.

The Taiyin Star Lord, Heng'e? He wondered if it was a psychological effect caused by her being the 'Foremost Beauty of the Three Realms,' but Li Changshou found these feet quite lovely, neither too big nor too small.

But they definitely weren't as strong as Jade Rabbit's feet...

Li Changshou pondered for a moment. Why did Heng'e come to find him? His term was almost over, and he would soon peacefully leave the Lunar Palace.

During this period, Li Changshou used his 'live streaming' here as a cover, traveling several times to the Three Thousand Worlds to investigate the details of Western Sect, and successfully initiating Yang Jian's story. He had certainly made full use of these ten years.

Was there some scheme at play here?

At present, Li Changshou showed a worried expression, deliberately adopting a look of deep thought, and slowly walked towards the palace entrance.

The moment he moved, the Lunar Palace, both inside and out, buzzed with excitement.

The music stopped, the dancing ceased. A host of Chang'e fairies came at the sound, a chorus of beauties of varying builds, some with light makeup, some with heavy, a cloud of goddesses.

They dared not speak, but gathered on Li Changshou's path. Each of them exuded six or seven parts grace, two or three parts reserve, and one or two parts eager anticipation.

Li Changshou was almost drowned in amorous glances, and his paper effigy's nostrils were nearly overwhelmed by the fragrance.

The competitiveness of women was indeed terrifying!

Finally, a fairy couldn't help but whisper, “Lord Water God...”

Li Changshou glanced up, nodded blankly, then continued to slowly walk forward, muttering about the common problem of battle formation transition errors that occurred when Heavenly Soldiers dismantled the Ninety-Nine-Eighty-One Return-to-Origin Array into nine Nine-Palace Arrays...

Once he had stepped out of the Lunar Palace, Li Changshou's eyes lit up with an expression of sudden realization, and he lightly clapped his palm and the back of his hand together. “Ah, so that's how it is.”

A gentle breeze swept past, and Li Changshou's figure vanished in a flash, too fast for the Chang'e fairies to react.

The Chang'e fairies: ...

It was unclear who chuckled first, but the Chang'e fairies either covered their mouths and chuckled, or smiled faintly with pursed lips, or exchanged knowing smiles with close friends.

“Lord Water God is truly amusing. Why... did he run off?”

“Sigh, we finally had a chance to compete with the Star Lord.”

A managing female immortal urged, “Don't just stand there! You must either cultivate or practice your dances. Don't idle here!”

The Chang'e fairies softly assented, their gentle laughter spreading, and dispersed.

Having narrowly escaped, Li Changshou felt a bead of sweat on his brow. He pondered deeply in his heart. What exactly did this Heng'e want with him?

Was there some important matter to discuss? If he kept hiding like this, he would needlessly offend a Heavenly Court righteous deity. Moreover, Heng'e was the master of the Guanghan Palace and the daughter of the Human Emperor. What if she sought him for an important human matter? Wouldn't he then...

Yet, visiting Guanghan Palace would go against his original intention.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He remembered the bronze mirror he had left in the Lunar Palace. Couldn't he just bring more 'eyes' to Guanghan Palace? This was also a good gimmick. He could establish the image of the 'Foremost Beauty of the Three Realms,' and it would coordinate with the Super Heavenly Soldiers project!

Hmm, there's always a way to have the best of both worlds. Not betraying his 'kidney' nor his 'dear'... Pah, not betraying his reputation for purity!