Chapter 47: Rebellious Dragon Son, Online…

“Just a beard... you scared me, Master-Uncle.”

Jiu Jiu retrieved the wooden ladle, then sniffed the wine in the nearby jar, expressing a lingering fear, “I thought it would cause a complete imbalance of yin and yang, turning me into something neither male nor female.”

Li Changshou chuckled and shook his head, always deeply admiring his little Master-Uncle’s unique logic.

“Master-Uncle, after this batch of pills is refined today, I’ll likely go into seclusion for six months to a year to cultivate the Samadhi True Flame. I’ve already prepared a year's supply of those wines for you in advance, but it’s not good to drink too much of it. Please drink in moderation. It’s on the shelf next to that jar of medicinal wine, the usual spot.”

“Half a year?”

Jiu Jiu put away a few wine flasks, casually placing some empty ones on the shelf. She walked over with her hands behind her back, seriously cautioning, “Although the Samadhi True Flame can be cultivated from the Void Reversion stage, it initially requires burning essence, qi, and spirit to condense the fire seed! You must not be impatient; don't practice spells until you exhaust your vital energies, making yourself spirit-deficient, qi-deficient, and essence-deficient. That would be terrible!”

Li Changshou nodded with a smile, continuing to focus on sorting herbs.

Jiu Jiu yawned, a little bored, and muttered, “I’ve been stuck at a bottleneck for the past few years; breakthroughs in cultivation have been troublesome. But I’ve had situations like this before, stuck for a few years, then inexplicably breaking through on my own. After breaking through, I’ll need to go into seclusion for a few years, possibly even decades, so you might not see your Master-Uncle for a long time.”

Li Changshou chuckled, “Master-Uncle, you’re primarily cultivating the *Wuwei Sutra* now, aren’t you?”

“That’s right,” Jiu Jiu conjured a bamboo chair and sat by the table, somewhat idly leaning on it. “When you become an immortal, you can also cultivate the *Wuwei Sutra*. If your aptitude is better, you can even cultivate it from the Void Reversion stage. Too bad... Oh, right, I heard from Fifth Senior Brother that your master also seems to have started comprehending the *Wuwei Sutra*.”

“Yes, Master received the scripture from an inner-sect deacon two months ago,” Li Changshou said casually. “Actually, Master-Uncle, with your mindset, cultivating the *Wuwei Sutra* is most fitting: not to strive, not to seek too much.”

Jiu Jiu blinked. “Little Changshou, why do you talk just like our Master?”

Li Changshou replied, “Previously, Master-Uncle Jiu Wu also gave this disciple a copy of the *Wuwei Sutra*'s upper volume. Aren't these words just the meaning within the scripture?”

“So that’s how it is.”

Jiu Jiu murmured, then sat quietly beside him, watching Li Changshou sort herbs, gradually becoming lost in thought…

A moment later.

“Little Shou Shou… you’re actually quite handsome, aren't you… hehehe… why didn't I notice before?”

“Hmm?”

Li Changshou, who was about to start refining pills, turned his head and saw that his Master-Uncle had fallen asleep on the table, still mumbling in her dreams.

After becoming an immortal, with an untainted immortal body, his little Master-Uncle’s medium-long hair, even without constant care, was silky smooth, dark, and shiny. She simply wore a plain phoenix-tail braid, without jewelry or makeup, yet she exuded such a simple and pure aura. The sleeping Master-Uncle could truly be described as having "skin as pristine as jade and a spirit as clear as crystal."

Unfortunately, when awake, she was a bit too wild.

Shaking his head with a smile, Li Changshou tiptoed out of the alchemy room. He observed the small spirit fish he kept in the yin-yang shaped pond, waiting for Jiu Jiu to wake from her nap. After all, he was relying on her, using Jiu Jiu’s pure immortal power to refine pills, so he couldn't be too harsh on his little Master-Uncle.

Two days later.

After refining the pills, Li Changshou temporarily sealed the alchemy room, activating only the formations within approximately 1.5 kilometers of it. After seeing Jiu Jiu off, he went to find Ling’e to inform her about his upcoming seclusion. For this seclusion, Li Changshou intended to formally condense the fire seed of the Samadhi True Flame, which would take about half a year.

Ling’e, dressed in loose cultivation robes, who was currently studying herb-scattering techniques under a willow tree, suddenly felt puzzled.

“Senior Brother, aren’t you going into seclusion in the alchemy room this time?”

“Cultivating the Samadhi True Flame easily causes explosions in the room,” Li Changshou chuckled. “I’ll make a small raft later and go into seclusion on the lake; that will be safer.”

Ling’e blinked gently, appearing to have something more to say.

Li Changshou placed a few porcelain bottles in her hand, instructing her on the usage and dosage of each pill. After constant deliberation, little Ling’e still softly asked, “Senior Brother, the Samadhi True Flame… shouldn’t you hide it? Isn’t this spell very powerful?”

Li Changshou casually tapped his junior sister's head, naturally without using much force. Although they were face to face, Li Changshou used a sound transmission spell to explain in detail, “Have you forgotten everything I taught you just a few years after I stopped teaching? The Samadhi True Flame was bestowed by Jiu Wu and Jiu Jiu’s Master. Intentionally hiding it and not using it would only arouse more suspicion. A true trump card needs to be something others can't think of or guess, something they won't associate with the information you usually reveal, not merely something judged by its power.”

Ling’e stuck out her tongue, then lowered her head, meekly accepting the lesson.

Li Changshou took out two more porcelain bottles and transmitted, “Place these two bottles of pills in front of Master’s door; these are immortal pills refined for Master, with the effect of purifying impurities and restoring clarity. Don’t you dare secretly taste them; you’ll be burst by the immortal pill’s potency.”

Ling’e immediately brightened. “Then if Master eats them, won’t he be able to…”

“Difficult,” Li Changshou shook his head, sighed softly, and strolled into the woods, preparing to construct the small raft he would use next.

Lan Ling’e opened the jade bottle and sniffed, a surge of pure vital energy wafting towards her. She took a slight breath, and her entire body felt lightheaded and dizzy; she stumbled back to her room and immediately sat in meditation to resolve the pill's potency.

Seeing this, Li Changshou chuckled, found an old forest, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.

Two days later…

“What’s that noise?”

Lan Ling’e, having just woken from meditation, got up and looked out the wooden window, her small mouth agape, letting out a few gasps, her beautiful forehead furrowed with lines of disbelief.

*“I’ll make a small raft later.”*

Her Senior Brother’s words echoed in her mind, and then she looked at the newly launched, fifty-zhang-long “simple” multi-story boat on the lake. Lan Ling’e couldn't help but pat her forehead. Did Senior Brother have some misunderstanding about the words “small” and “large”?

Lan Ling’e lowered her head and glanced at the curves of her cultivation robe, her mouth twitching slightly. That annoying Senior Brother, sure enough… he’d indeed been influenced by Master-Uncle Jiu Jiu and lost his normal sense of scale!

In truth, Li Changshou wasn't someone who focused on enjoyment; when making small items, he prioritized practicality. The "small raft" was merely wood simply pieced together, without any complex magic seals. In terms of crafting difficulty, it was indeed a small item. A place of seclusion, however, had to have simple warning formations, soundproofing formations, and anti-detection formations, and to place and hide the bases for these formations, some space was always needed. Beyond that, he had a few small designs.

The two-story boat had a total of seven equally sized rooms, each interconnected, and each equipped with a meditation cushion. Later, when he went into seclusion and activated the surrounding formations, he would also place several paper effigies in each room. If anyone triggered the formations, the enchantments on these paper figures would immediately activate, transforming them into his likeness, capable of deceiving anyone! It was practically an essential item for preventing assassination!

Unfortunately, this design wasn't entirely perfect; there was still a one-seventh chance of being assassinated.

“Ling’e, I’m starting my seclusion now.”

Receiving Li Changshou’s sound transmission, Lan Ling’e quickly walked to the door and waved her small hand at Li Changshou, who was standing on the "multi-story boat."

Li Changshou formed hand seals, and layer after layer of formations activated on the small raft, obscuring a large area of the lake below, while the small raft itself became much more indistinct within layers of light barriers. A moment later, a thin white mist appeared on the water, and Lan Ling’e could no longer see where her Senior Brother was.

Li Changshou placed paper figures in each room, then quietly went to a secluded cabin. He fumbled around in a corner for a while and opened a hidden compartment, below which was clear lake water. He formed a magic seal, cast an illusion spell, transforming into a spirit fish, and silently slipped into the water, escaping towards the lakebed, which was also covered by layers of formations, leaving only seven paper figures lying in various cabins. The reason he made the raft so large was primarily to allow these layers of formations to cover the underwater area. And below, was Li Changshou’s third seclusion spot.

The time Master brought little Ling’e up the mountain, he had been in seclusion here, refining the Nether Cold Flame to a minor completion. As water subjugates fire among the Five Elements, cultivating fire spells underwater was actually an excellent method to prevent excessive accumulation of fire qi from causing self-detonation.

It's just that Little Qiong Peak, originally lush with green trees, suddenly had a small bald patch.

***

East Sea, Crystal Palace.

“Bold Ao Yi! How dare you speak so wildly, show such disrespect for elders, disgrace our clan’s might, and slander our clan’s glory! Do you know, do you know what kind of crime this is!”

In the empty Second Prince’s Hall, the young dragon Ao Yi was bound by chains to an iron pillar, his eyes tightly shut, his ears faintly echoing with the enraged curses from that day. He sneered, enduring the stinging pain in his back, yet his gaze remained as firm as it had been that day.

Ao Yi now felt that this Crystal Palace was utterly absurd and ridiculously laughable. When he stood at the celebratory banquet that day, facing his father, who had been feigning sleep with squinted eyes, and uttered the words: “Your son wishes to take a master at Du Xian Sect and cultivate the methods of the Three Sages!”

Those faces of dragons, shocked, disbelieving, and rapidly contorting… those enraged curses of “unfilial,” “disgrace to the dragon race,” and “utter nonsense”… The surging auras of those dragon experts nearly crushed him, a little dragon just turned ten, on the spot! Those who cursed him that day were all his father’s brothers or even older dragons; they had the right to scold their nephew. As for the marine ministers and dragon generals not of the Dragon King’s bloodline, none dared to speak, yet they all conveyed disdain through their gazes. To go and seek mentorship from a Saint’s lineage would be considered an act of great impiety; to leave and seek a master for cultivation would be deemed treachery against the dragon race.

How ridiculous, truly ridiculous…

“Utterly laughable!” Ao Yi couldn’t help but curse angrily, his handsome face contorted in pain. The iron pillar behind him glowed with a chilling, icy power, as ice spikes pierced his pale, smooth back, causing Ao Yi to tremble all over in pain. Yet his gaze remained clear, the resolve within him not diminishing in the slightest!

A moment ago, the Dragon Mother had just left, bitterly urging him to admit his mistake soon…

“My son, are our clan’s methods not enough to learn and use? Are our clan’s treasures not enough for you to play with? Why must you do such an absurd thing, and even speak such outlandish, unorthodox words in front of so many clan uncles and elders? You want to seek mentorship from a Saint’s lineage, but do you know that all Saint’s lineages, except for the Jie Sect, do not accept dragon descendants! Furthermore, the old master of the Chan Sect, back then, even accepted an illegitimate evil dragon as a disciple, and with the help of a supreme treasure, stripped away our dragon clan’s last bit of destiny, placing it on this evil dragon. How could the clan forget such humiliation? My son, who has misguided your heart?”

How could Ao Yi not know, or not discern the truth and falsehood of his mother’s words? Yellow Dragon True Immortal, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, clearly possessed the Ancestral Dragon bloodline. He merely fell heavily injured onto Kunlun Mountain back then and was raised in the courtyard by the Three Pure Ones before they became Saints, serving as an ornamental dragon for the Three Pure Ones’ family. Before the ancient Saints emerged, the dragon clan considered this a disgrace, severed ties with Yellow Dragon True Immortal, and removed his name from the Dragon Registry. Later, when the Three Pure Ones became Saints, the dragon clan was too proud to curry favor with Yellow Dragon True Immortal, and instead began spreading rumors within the clan, labeling him a “bastard.”

As for the so-called Saint’s lineages not accepting dragon descendants… After the Three Pure Ones achieved Sainthood, a group of dragon experts brought young dragons to Jin’ao Island to seek mentorship, treating the Saints with respect. But upon hearing that Tongtian Cult Master, who had the lowest threshold for accepting disciples, only allowed the most outstanding dragon disciples to become disciples of *his* disciples, rather than directly becoming disciples of a Saint, the dragon experts turned and returned, feeling that the Saints intended to humiliate them.

What is absurd? *This* is what’s absurd!

Ao Yi’s body trembled slightly, and the glow of the iron pillar behind him gradually weakened.

I, Ao Yi, must endure. Only he, the Second Prince of the Dragon King, by completely lowering his stance and seeking mentorship from Du Xian Sect, a mid-to-lower-ranked immortal sect among the Three Religions—even if it means kneeling indefinitely before Du Xian Sect, entering as a registered disciple—only then can he break the dragon clan’s pointless pride and tear apart their twisted self-esteem! If these humiliations still cannot awaken the drunken dragon clan, then he will stand at the apex of all beings by means of a Saint’s methods! By then, he will come and ask these ancient venerables… what is the true path forward for the dragon clan!

Taking a breath, Ao Yi opened his mouth and shouted loudly:

“Let me out—!”“I want to see Father!”“I want to go to Du Xian Sect to seek a master and learn the Dao!”

Outside the hall, a group of teary-eyed servant girls, their pretty faces filled with heartache, were blocked by immortal Jiao soldiers, unable to approach the Second Prince even half a step.