Chapter 551: This roundabout little heavenly way

The Western Sect… it seems rather fragile.

One Incense Divine Kingdom after another was 'reclaimed' under the Immortal Alliance's fierce offensive.

In just three years, the Immortal Alliance's influence grew significantly; the Western Sect lost one-tenth of its territory in the Three Thousand Worlds, and twenty percent of its immortal experts were killed, injured, or fled. If the Western Sect hadn't used so many mind-control techniques when building the Incense Divine Kingdoms—most of the immortal experts under their sway were like puppets—their morale might have already collapsed by now.

Notably, Li Changshou chose the vast majority of battlefields in the void spaces of various Great and Small Chiliocosm Worlds, aiming to minimize the impact on living beings.

However, this situation finally saw a certain degree of reversal after Mount Ling secretly deployed dozens of old Taoists and utilized some hidden Primordial Fierce Beasts. In the last two clashes, the Immortal Alliance's experts suffered heavy losses.

Li Changshou pondered the situation for half the night and ultimately decided to have the Immortal Alliance rein in its offensive and switch to a defensive posture. Being able to tie up some of the Western Sect's forces in the Three Thousand Worlds was, in fact, a great victory for the overall situation of the Great Desolation.

Elder Wan Linyun had been exceptionally active for over three years; his name as the 'Poison Immortal of Duxian' became renowned throughout the Four Seas. Although he was only at the Golden Immortal realm and had only recently entered it, his poison pills were incredibly potent. In truth, except for the very first batch of poison pills which Elder Wan crafted himself, the subsequent ones were arranged by Li Changshou, with Lu Yue assisting Elder Wan. In terms of poison pill mastery, Elder Wan could only be called 'Little Lu Yue,' as he still had a significant gap compared to the former leader of the Plague Department in the original Investiture of the Gods calamity.

However, Elder Wan concealed a paper effigy in his sleeve, and under the guidance of Li Changshou's meticulously devised tactical strategies, its destructive power was truly impressive. He appeared and disappeared like a ghost, impossible to guard against. He would always opt for sneak attacks over direct assaults and would immediately flee if discovered. The Western Sect dispatched a large number of experts to pursue and intercept him, but with Li Changshou secretly orchestrating events, Elder Wan felt no thrill or danger at all. He merely changed his escape direction a few times as per Li Changshou's instructions, successfully executing a counter-encirclement operation to lure the enemy deeper.

However, Li Changshou had a subtle concern: Elder Wan had been taking lives for three years, and his Dao heart had become somewhat unstable. The old man Wan Linyun had mostly vented the anger in his heart. Recently, the Western Sect began to counterattack, so for safety's sake, Li Changshou advised Elder Wan Linyun to temporarily return to the Tianya Secret Realm and stay with Lu Yue. There, even Primordial Fierce Beasts dared not easily trespass. After all, Lu Yue's poison pills had transcended from affecting living beings' physical forms to influencing the Great Dao itself.

With the Western Sect and the Immortal Alliance switching offensive and defensive roles, Li Changshou was not in a hurry. First, he arranged for Saintess Jinling, who felt guilty and had specially come to the Three Thousand Worlds for combat, to ambush the enemy a few times with Zhao Gongming, killing over a dozen Primordial Fierce Beasts. Then, when Daoist Wanjing came to reinforce the Incense Divine Kingdoms, he orchestrated several large-scale retreats, allowing Daoist Wanjing to kill some corrupt Immortal Alliance members who were already burdened by karma. In doing so, he could both slow down the outbreak of internal conflicts within the Immortal Alliance and earn some battle merits for Wanjing.

Through these actions, the Western Sect's dark forces, accumulated over many years, had already suffered more than half their strength in losses, and few Primordial Fierce Beasts remained usable. The eastern region of the Three Thousand Worlds, which had been bustling for three years, once again fell into a stalemate, and the Western Sect finally had a chance to catch its breath.

Over these three years, in the Five Continents of the Great Desolation, they had been thoroughly harassed by the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals. Disciples of Saints had to completely conceal their whereabouts when venturing out, daring not to mention they were Mount Ling cultivators. In the Three Thousand Worlds, their accumulated heritage of tens of thousands of years had suffered a twenty percent loss. While they could 'convert' some rogue cultivators to fill this power vacuum, it was ultimately a crippling blow. Most frighteningly, they had no idea when the retaliation from the Grand White Golden Star of the Heavenly Court would finally cease.

In all fairness, they merely had a somewhat unfamiliar Senior Brother secretly orchestrate a sneak attack, killing one Golden Immortal, over ten Heavenly Immortals, hundreds of True Immortals, Prime Immortals, and even some Duxian Sect disciples who had not yet become immortals... Why did Maitreya unnecessarily provoke this guy?!

Approximately three and a half years had passed, during which Li Changshou's main body had remained in the Grand White Palace of the Heavenly Court.

During this period... The process of 'teaming up' with Elder Wan to deceive their opponents was very enjoyable, bringing back a bit of his youthful days of fancy poison-spreading. It was truly commendable. The process of mediating between the various Vice-Leaders of the Immortal Alliance and the Heavenly Court Marshal Corps was a bit tedious, but it was a necessary measure, so he'd give it a reluctant 'fair' rating.

The only thing he'd rate poorly was that Old Man Zhao still kept his distance from Saintess Jinling in public. Moreover, this was at Saintess Jinling's own request. Old Man Zhao would occasionally seek out Li Changshou's paper effigy to confide, developing serious doubts about himself...

'Chang Geng, is it because I'm not good enough that Jinling doesn't want to talk about us to outsiders?'

To this, Li Changshou could only offer an awkward smile, giving Old Man Zhao some of the paintings left over from when he used to give them to Jiu Wu, and asking Old Man Zhao to hunt some highly nourishing yet highly poisonous creatures. Resuming his old profession.

Over these three years, the greatest achievement was actually not in the Three Thousand Worlds, but on Little Qiong Peak. Li Changshou further integrated Little Qiong Peak's formations, filling in details he had previously overlooked and further enhancing the grand formation's 'independence,' reducing its reliance on being actively controlled. When Sect Master Ji Wuyou faced his calamity, if Ling'e had been able to unleash even one-tenth of Little Qiong Peak's power, those dozen or so Golden Immortals wouldn't have been able to act so arrogantly. Of course, this was Li Changshou's own fault and had nothing to do with Ling'e. His junior sister had already worked very hard at the time, and it was truly difficult for her to make decisions within mere instants. Just to prevent her from becoming arrogant, Li Changshou took a reverse approach, making her self-reflect for several months, and for the past three years, she had been learning the correct usage of Little Qiong Peak's complex grand formation system.

Additionally, six months ago, Xiao Jin and Xiao Yin delivered a treasure pouch containing the treasure Li Changshou had requested previously.

Bear Armor!

It was a set of purple-gold chainmail. Though its defensive capabilities could only be described as ordinary, being a product of Old Lord Lao, it was by no means common, especially since this set of armor consumed a considerable amount of ancient precious materials and primeval spiritual objects from Old Lord Lao. The first problem it solved was Xiong Lingli's mobility issue. After Xiong Lingli put on the armor, with a single thought, her body slowly floated up, and she could walk freely in the air, moving as she pleased in all directions. Over the past three years, under Li Changshou's coercion and enticement, Xiong Lingli had diligently practiced transformation techniques without slacking off, and could now barely manage to temporarily grow larger or smaller. However, at this level, Li Changshou still didn't allow her to leave Little Qiong Peak. Otherwise, while walking, chatting, or laughing, if she suddenly transformed into a mountain, it would inevitably cause various accidents.

When Xiao Jin and Xiao Yin delivered the armor, they also mentioned that Old Lord Lao would next forge a set of weapons for Xiong Lingli, and asked Xiong Lingli if she preferred blades, spears, swords, halberds, or axes and hammers. Xiong Lingli decisively chose a pair of super-large bronze hammers. Little hammers that can shatter a dragon's spine and a phoenix's chest with a single blow—that's the romance of the Wu! Yang Jian, that monkey, or anyone else who storms the Heavenly Court will have to endure a baptism from a thousand-zhang-tall mountain giant who'll 'gently tap your chest with little hammers!' That scene, Li Changshou found it quite exciting just thinking about it!

Of course, not everything could go as smoothly as he wished. Li Changshou's project to revise his paper effigies had not seen much progress in the past three years. The advantage of paper effigies was their low cost; they were equivalent to having countless avatars, and to some extent, they could ignore the barriers of distance in the cosmos, allowing him to instantly shift his consciousness. Their disadvantages were also very obvious: they were too fragile, and once their immortal power was exhausted, it could not be replenished. Furthermore, Maitreya had already grasped methods to counter them. This made Li Changshou more cautious in the past three years, preparing several backup plans for each action, in case he lost contact.

He had actually thought of ways to improve them three years ago, but in practice, one difficulty after another arose. There was no other way; he had already refined them too many times before. Even with the 'external Golden Core' blessing, the room for improvement was no longer significant. He could only forge a new path and develop other avenues.

'Alas, avatars are indeed a challenge.'

Li Changshou rubbed his temples, lying under a tree on Little Qiong Peak, gazing at the majestic Grand White Palace in the distance, distorted by the mustard seed universe formation, his mind slowly emptying. He suddenly felt like visiting Yun Xiao. Since he had nothing to do these days, he would secretly take a leave and proactively go to Three Immortals Island. Their relationship had made substantial progress last time... probably. This time, he definitely had to move from hand-holding and kissing to the next great stage: a polite, light hug!

A mental disturbance?

Li Changshou immediately closed his eyes, searching for the source of the disturbance. Among the paper effigies he had deployed outside, a few had a faint trace of his consciousness reserved, and at this moment, they seemed to 'subconsciously' sense something he cared about.

In a moment, Li Changshou, still with his eyes closed, raised an eyebrow, locating the source of the disturbance. That black leopard spirit had suddenly emerged from seclusion!

His consciousness returned to a paper effigy outside a certain valley on the border of Southern Jambudvipa, Central Divine Continent, and Eastern Purvavideha. Li Changshou's paper effigy opened its eyes, seeing a thicket of bushes, and its form silently merged with the surrounding earth. Almost instinctively, he activated the Wind Whisper Spell and cautiously extended his immortal sense. He immediately heard the black leopard muttering in front of its cave dwelling.

'Are you well?'

He was likely missing the water demoness. Speaking of the water demoness, Li Changshou also felt a pang of emotion. Originally, the black leopard's cultivation was inferior to the water demoness', and the water demoness was always compliant with the black leopard and constantly encouraged him. But when the black leopard recovered his past life memories, realizing he was an Immortal of the Jie School in his previous life and insisted on visiting Jin'ao Island once, the water demoness chose to leave without saying goodbye.

Then he heard the black leopard murmur again: 'Senior Lu Ya.'

Li Changshou: ... Was he still thinking about his former fake identity as Lu Ya? Never mind, don't dwell on such details.

Li Changshou calculated the time: In Southern Jambudvipa, it was still about two hundred years until 'King Tang of Shang' became the new Human Emperor. In the original Investiture of the Gods story, Shen Gongbao entered as a master disciple, becoming a disciple of Jade Void Palace along with Jiang Ziya. Now that the Investiture of the Gods list was in the Heavenly Court's hands, would Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya still become disciples of him, the Grand White Golden Star? Wouldn't that mess things up?

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, unable to fathom what fate awaited Shen Gongbao, the best partner for calamities, and what path his life would take next. He could only keep a close eye on him. Although he wouldn't dare claim he had full confidence to completely control the black leopard within his grasp, he still had ninety-eight percent—cough, ninety percent—certainty in making the black leopard serve him at crucial moments. Show more respect to the Dao Ancestor.

However, the subsequent developments gradually began to exceed Li Changshou's imagination. The black leopard flew southeast for a while, and indeed, he was heading in the direction of Jin'ao Island. But upon reaching the vicinity of the southeastern corner of Southern Jambudvipa, the black leopard frowned slightly, suddenly turned southwest, and by the shore of the South Sea, encountered a middle-aged Daoist riding clouds northward.

Li Changshou sighed inwardly; the traces of the Heavenly Dao's manipulation behind the scenes were a bit too obvious. Not natural at all. There were countless cultivators in the Great Desolation, and although it was currently a period of great calamity, few cultivators ventured out. However, someone coming from the South Sea, passing through the eastern side of Southern Jambudvipa to Eastern Purvavideha, was entirely normal.

But as the black leopard passed by this middle-aged Daoist, he frowned slightly, hesitated for a moment, and turned to say:

'Fellow Daoist, please stop.'

The middle-aged Daoist frowned and turned to look at the black leopard. Li Changshou was also slightly surprised, his eyes narrowed slightly as he intently watched the middle-aged Daoist. His intense gaze revealed something unexpected... Li Changshou instantly saw that this middle-aged Daoist was not human!

The middle-aged Daoist turned around, bowed to the black leopard, and smiled, 'Greetings, Fellow Daoist. Why did you suddenly ask this humble Daoist to stop? This humble Daoist does not seem to know you.'

Confusion flickered in the black leopard's eyes as he stared at the middle-aged Daoist for a moment, then offered an awkward smile: 'This humble Daoist thought you were an old acquaintance, but it seems I was mistaken. Please forgive me, Fellow Daoist.'

'Very well.'

The middle-aged Daoist replied with a smile, his smile as warm as a spring breeze, but for some reason, the black leopard felt something... false and unreal about him. The black leopard couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. He didn't even know why he had suddenly flown in this direction.

The two exchanged Taoist bows and turned to leave. The middle-aged Daoist was naturally cautious, keeping his immortal sense locked onto the black leopard. Once the black leopard flew out of range of his immortal sense, the man subtly let out a breath.

'That was close, I almost blew my cover.'

'My name is Du Shuren. I am not human, nor a native creature of the Great Desolation; I am a special existence, called an 'Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon' in the Great Desolation.'

Du Shuren was naturally a false name, one he casually adopted after taking over this body. Being able to come to the Great Desolation was not a matter of luck, nor the result of effort; everything simply fell into place naturally. From the moment he was born, he had been cultivated as if he were a human. Although they were called Outer-Realm Heavenly Demons, in reality, they were also life forms generated by the resonance of true spirits and the Great Dao, fundamentally identical to the creatures of the Great Desolation. They were born in relatively stable corners of the Chaos Sea, and their appearances naturally differed from those of Great Desolation beings. Because the Dao laws were different, the definition of a 'primordial Dao body' also differed. The environment determined whether one was flawed or distorted. In fact, the arrogant beings of the Great Desolation had never truly acknowledged them and did not understand that they were primarily divided into seven major categories and three forms. In the language of the Great Desolation, the three forms were 'Heart Demons,' 'Simulacra,' and 'Spirit-like Entities.' Of course, this was a classification system Du Shuren had summarized and categorized himself. The so-called Heart Demon form was likely the most familiar to the beings of the Great Desolation, while the Spirit-like Entity form was most common outside Xuandu City. Because they lived in the Chaos Sea surrounding the Great Desolation, they were heavily influenced by the Great Desolation's Dao laws; therefore, strictly speaking, they shared many commonalities with Great Desolation beings. Hmm... they were entirely different from those ugly and truly grotesque Chaos Sea creatures.

Du Shuren was of the 'Heart Demon' form. In fact, Du Shuren preferred to drop the 'Outer-Realm' part and simply call himself—a Heavenly Demon. He once had a physical body, but with continuous cultivation and metamorphosis, his body had been completely discarded, transforming him into a purely spiritual existence. How to entice cultivators, how to widen the cracks in a cultivator's Dao heart, and how to seize opportunities to devour a cultivator's primordial spirit, making them their nourishment, were the compulsory lessons for 'Heavenly Demons.'

Du Shuren, however, was different from ordinary Heavenly Demons. He had exceptional aptitude and was a Heavenly Demon of superior lineage. From a young age, he had been trained in how to be a cultivator, so that one day, after invading a cultivator's primordial spirit and gaining control of their body and mind, he could live like an ordinary cultivator. Those lesser Heavenly Demons only knew how to kill and smash, which Du Shuren found extremely embarrassing. An excellent Heart Demon should read books, listen to music, cultivate themselves, and engage in some art. Otherwise, what were they coming to the Great Desolation for? Just to die?

However, Du Shuren didn't know what he was truly meant to do in the Great Desolation, despite being cultivated for a long time. He had infiltrated the Great Desolation two years ago. Before his departure, his 'mother,' who had split him from her own body, took him to their clan's sacred land to pay respects to a colossal dark shadow whose presence couldn't be perceived and whose form couldn't be clearly seen. Du Shuren felt his own insignificance and lowliness, and at that moment, he could only shrink into a ball of black mist, trembling like a mouse. Afterward, the ruler of that sacred land communicated with his mother for a while, and he inadvertently used the 'divine ability' of a Heavenly Demon to perceive a segment of their conversation.

'Master, is he suitable?'

'Yes, inject the plan into its spirit, let it know what to do next, step by step.'

'Yes, Master, do you... require sustenance?'

His mother asked somewhat excitedly, already eager to split off individual entities from her colossal body... The indistinct dark shadow inhaled the 'brothers' his mother had split off in a single gulp.

'Enough. I have already recovered my vitality and need to remain dormant for a while. Send him to find the cultivator body chosen earlier.'

The dark shadow thus instructed, and his 'mother' sighed lightly, still wanting more, taking him away from the sacred land. What followed was the boring and tedious process of finding openings, descending, enticing, seizing bodies, and disguising.

The first step of the plan he received was to travel from a Great Chiliocosm World on the periphery to the core region of the Great Desolation, the Five Continents. After arriving there, Du Shuren waited for half a year, and then the second step of the plan emerged in his mind—go to Eastern Purvavideha and find an immortal sect, to attach himself to a Heavenly Immortal cultivator. Thus, he simply traveled from a certain market town in the South Sea to Eastern Purvavideha.

This journey was originally uneventful, but just now, upon entering the border of Southern Jambudvipa, he suddenly encountered an old Daoist who called out to him, 'Fellow Daoist, please stop.' At that moment, Du Shuren thought he was about to be exposed, but the other party had mistaken him for someone else, and his own reaction was almost perfect. Infiltrating the Great Desolation was never difficult...

'Fellow Daoist?'

He suddenly heard a call in his ear; the voice seemed to be right beside him. Du Shuren was slightly puzzled. He turned his head and immediately saw a young Daoist with a smiling face. The other party smiled, gently swaying a jade flute in his hand.

'Are you interested in climbing a mountain together?'