Chapter 63: Less Schemes, More Sincerity

Recently, why has my left armpit been so itchy?

While refining elixirs, Li Changshou stretched his left arm, his brows furrowing slightly.

He now possessed an immortal body, pure as jade both inside and out. For someone as pure as him, how could he suddenly... have an itchy armpit?

This was no small matter, but Li Changshou had checked repeatedly for half a month without finding any issues. A sequela from the heavenly tribulation? That seemed unlikely. After much thought, he could only attribute it to his immortal body still being imperfect, needing further consolidation of his cultivation.

After his ascension, Li Changshou also felt a subtle shift in his mindset; though not obvious, he had indeed gained a bit more confidence, so much so that he dared to directly contemplate the Dao even in his alchemy room!

Alas, he still needed to be cautious. He decided to stick to his old habits: solidify one minor realm before moving on to the next. His lifespan was still very long, and the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods was far off, so there was no need to rush. Only by building a solid foundation and consolidating his immortal roots could he pursue the path to longevity and gain more strength to preserve his life during future tribulations.

His spiritual sense detected Ling'e flying over from beside the thatched cottage. Li Changshou deactivated part of the formation, allowing her an unobstructed path to the alchemy room.

Soon, Ling'e hopped off her cloud onto the floor of the alchemy room.

“Senior Brother!”

“Are you… toasting your hands?”

“Toasting my hands? I’m refining elixirs.”

In the alchemy room, Li Changshou stepped aside, revealing a miniature cauldron, barely three feet tall. Ling'e, who had floated in carrying a meal box, blinked. She looked at the much-emptier alchemy room and the three-foot-tall cauldron on the ground, then gestured with her slender fingers in the air, outlining the shape of a large cauldron.

“Where’s the big one?”

“It exploded half a month ago,” Li Changshou sighed, lowering his head as he carefully controlled the flame beneath the small cauldron. Without the cauldron's inherent restrictions and formations, or any means to stabilize the flame, alchemy had reverted to its troublesome early days. He had to constantly adjust the heat himself, making it impossible to refine certain immortal elixirs.

“Senior Brother, you must also pay attention to protection when refining elixirs. Is it really that dangerous?” Ling'e asked, a hint of worry in her voice. She spoke with concern, then placed the dark purple meal box intricately carved with a phoenix design on a low table nearby. Looking up, she noticed the roof also seemed to have been replaced.

She busied herself beside him, pushing two tables together, activating the simple restrictions carved onto them, and then slowly arranging the freshly prepared delicacies.

When Senior Brother was not on the mountain, Ling'e mostly wore her several loose cultivation robes. But when he was, even if she wouldn't see him for days, she would put on beautiful immortal dresses, occasionally drawing her eyebrows and applying a touch of lip rouge.

“Senior Brother, is it still Uncle-Master Jiuwu you’ve invited this time?”

“Yes, Uncle-Master Jiuwu sent a paper crane yesterday, saying he would come today to discuss something.”

Li Changshou exhaled softly as the flame in the cauldron gradually receded, and the elixir began to emit wisps of medicinal fragrance. Recalling how he had pranked Jiuwu once a few years ago, making him swear those oaths, Li Changshou couldn't help but smile slightly. This banquet would serve as a small apology to Uncle-Master Jiuwu.

After tidying the dishes and warming the fine wine, Ling'e glanced at the sachet hanging from her waist, giggling.

“What is it?” Li Changshou asked casually, waiting for the elixir to be finished. “Did your mood recover so quickly? It seems you’ve forgotten last time’s lesson.”

“I haven’t forgotten! Absolutely not!” Ling'e quickly frowned, putting on a distressed expression, and lamented, “Senior Brother, it was wrong of me, your junior sister, to anger you before…”

“Alright,” Li Changshou chuckled. “What did you make for me? Bring it out.”

Ling'e’s eyes lit up, and she said cheerfully, “Hehe, so Senior Brother, you really were peeking at me!”

Li Changshou replied helplessly, “Why would I need to peek? I can tell what you’re thinking just by which strand of hair floats up.”

“What do you mean,” Ling'e mumbled, feeling a little deflated. She casually tossed the sachet over and walked out the door, pouting. “Here’s the robe I made for you, you rotten Senior Brother! I’m going back to cultivate. I’ll come back later to clean the dishes!”

Li Changshou caught the sachet and peeked inside, seeing a simple dark green long robe. A satisfied smile appeared on his face. Indeed, his efforts in nurturing his junior sister had not been in vain. This robe was very much to his liking.

Sitting in a rocking chair outside the alchemy room, Li Changshou quietly waited for Jiuwu to arrive, closing his eyes to ponder divine abilities and mystical arts.

Before long, the figure of the short Daoist appeared outside Little Qiong Peak. Li Changshou rose to greet him, deactivated the surrounding formations, and bowed respectfully to his uncle-master, just as before.

This time, however, the short Daoist circled a few times before landing a hundred zhang away, hands behind his back, cautiously surveying the surroundings. His gaze was filled with vigilance. Li Changshou smiled but said nothing, standing quietly by the door and waiting as his uncle-master approached step by step, without showing any further reaction. When they were still three zhang apart, they exchanged smiles.

“Ahem!”

Jiuwu coughed lightly and said indifferently, “What, this time… you don’t need your Uncle-Master to give pointers on formations?”

Li Changshou smiled. “Your disciple didn’t prepare anything in advance. Uncle-Master said you were coming, so I asked my junior sister to make some food and wine. If you wish to guide your disciple in formation cultivation, I do have a few areas of confusion.”

“No, no,” Jiuwu immediately shook his head. “This old uncle-master can’t guide you, I simply can’t.”

“Your attainment in formations, Uncle-Master, is far beyond what your disciple can achieve,” Li Changshou said earnestly. “Your disciple has merely introduced some minor innovations in insignificant areas. To truly set up powerful grand formations, one needs an immortal like you, Uncle-Master, who is truly skilled in formations, possesses high cultivation, and has ample materials.”

Jiuwu raised his short, thick eyebrows, a wide smile spreading across his face. “No image-recording orb for this Daoist this time?”

Li Changshou smiled and shook his head. Just as he was about to turn and invite his uncle-master inside, Jiuwu smirked triumphantly and pulled something from his Daoist robe… two fist-sized glazed dharma orbs.

“Heh heh, I brought them!”

Li Changshou simply looked on.

“As long as you’re happy, Uncle-Master,” Li Changshou said, gesturing for him to enter. “This time, your disciple has no requests; I merely wish to hear your teachings. Please come in, Uncle-Master.”

Thus, Jiuwu slowly and cautiously entered, checking every step of the way. Jiuwu noticed the unusual state of the cauldron and couldn't help but analyze what kind of arrangements would result from a cauldron transforming into a smaller one.

Finally, after much effort, Jiuwu and Li Changshou both took their seats. Looking at the banquet before him, Jiuwu narrowed his eyes, pulled out a spirit beast rabbit from his sleeve, and began feeding it the dishes as a taste test. Li Changshou found this amusing and quietly waited for Jiuwu to finish his antics.

Eventually, when Jiuwu confirmed that Li Changshou had indeed not tampered with anything today, and after producing his own pair of jade chopsticks, he cleared his throat, a difficult expression on his face, and spoke in a deep voice: “Your Uncle-Master Jiushi is currently in secluded cultivation seeking a breakthrough, nephew… Please, whatever you do, don't pull a stunt like last time.”

Li Changshou said, “Your disciple can swear an oath: at this time, in this place, I sincerely wish to invite you, Uncle-Master, to drink and chat!”

“Then swear it,” Jiuwu immediately nodded. “Come on, quickly.”

“Your disciple was just speaking casually,” Li Changshou chuckled. “If I truly swear an oath, wouldn’t that imply I really have something to hide?”

“Uncle-Master, your disciple offers you a toast.”

Jiuwu let out a scoffing laugh, raised his wine cup, lightly clinked it in the air with Li Changshou’s, but only took a small sip.

“Let’s discuss business before drinking,” Jiuwu said. “This time, according to the oath I made last time, I’ve come to consult with you in advance. If you agree to this matter, the sect will certainly give you a good reward. If you don’t agree, then consider that your Uncle-Master never brought it up.”

“Oh?” Li Changshou mused for a moment, then understood what it was. “If Uncle-Master intends to promote the consecutive formations within the sect, there’s no need to ask your disciple.”

Jiuwu frowned. “How did you know? I haven’t mentioned this to anyone!”

“A guess,” Li Changshou said, taking a bite of the spirit fish cooked by his junior sister. The tender white fish melted in his mouth, fragrant on the outside, sweet on the inside, leaving a delightful aftertaste.

“So you agree then?” Jiuwu’s eyes immediately crinkled into a smile. “Come on, tell me, how did you set up your consecutive formations?”

So he still hadn’t figured it out.

Li Changshou said, “Actually, your disciple merely summarized and derived it from scattered references found in ancient texts.” He then produced a parchment scroll. Naturally, he wouldn't so easily reveal his trump card. What he presented now was merely a theoretical solution, designed to address a critical difficulty of consecutive formations: the adaptability of different formation foundations. It was still a relatively early solution. The scroll also indicated reference materials, all from obscure ancient texts in the outer hall of the Daoist Scripture Repository that no one paid attention to. This solution was completely different from his current 'formation foundation unit' approach. Its main drawback was material waste, but it could still achieve the effect of setting up consecutive formations. From the very first day the formations around the alchemy room began construction, this parchment scroll had been waiting to be brought out. Today, it finally ‘got its wish’.

Jiuwu took it and studied it carefully. A moment later, the short Daoist couldn't help but slap his thigh, exclaiming "marvelous" repeatedly.

“This poor Daoist thought I’d have to spend some effort persuading you, but to think you handed it over so readily! It truly shows that this Uncle-Master values you, truly values you greatly! Can this truly be presented to the sect?”

Li Changshou nodded with a smile, saying, “Naturally.”

“Alas, I never thought! This poor Daoist misjudged you, nephew, thinking you would be someone who hid his own secrets!” Jiuwu sighed with emotion, raised his wine cup, and drained it. “I deserve this punishment, I deserve it!”

Li Changshou said earnestly, “The sect is our home; its prosperity depends on everyone. Uncle-Master, about the… the thing… what kind of reward can the sect offer?”

Jiuwu laughed. “You certainly won’t be left out! What do you want?”

“If possible,” Li Changshou said, pointing to the cauldron nearby.

Jiuwu was startled for a moment, then nodded in agreement, adding: “If the sect can’t find a cauldron to your liking, when your Uncle-Master Jiushi comes out of seclusion, I’ll ask her to make one for you! Her artifact refining skills might not compare to those of the few Heaven Immortal elders within the sect who specialize in refining, but her mastery of fire is quite deep!”

Li Changshou immediately broke into a smile, repeatedly toasting Jiuwu. For a while, cups clinked as the uncle-master and nephew enjoyed a harmonious time together.

As they drank until they were slightly tipsy, Li Changshou suggested roasting the rabbit used for taste-testing directly in the small cauldron, turning it into 'Medicinal Fragrance Crispy Rabbit'. It tasted quite good.

Three days after this drinking session, Jiuwu came to find Li Changshou and took him to Alchemy Peak to select a new cauldron. Alchemy Peak was a lineage within the Immortal Ascension Sect specializing in alchemy and artifact refining. Although their output of elixirs and magical artifacts was not large, they had an excellent reputation in East Victory Divine Continent, making them one of the Immortal Ascension Sect's rare shining points.

Just as Li Changshou ascended on a cloud with Jiuwu, departing Little Qiong Peak, a graceful figure flew over from the direction of Skybreak Peak. His spiritual sense caught sight of this figure, and Li Changshou frowned slightly. He didn't need to see her face clearly; just by observing her slender and almost perfectly curved figure, and her familiar fiery-red long dress, he knew who it was: Youqin Xuanya.

On Little Qiong Peak, Ling'e was cultivating beneath a tree. Li Changshou thought for a moment, then decided not to interfere, continuing to chat with Uncle-Master Jiuwu. When they weren’t scheming against each other, the uncle-master and nephew actually found each other quite agreeable.

***

Under the willow tree, Youqin Xuanya stood quietly, stating her purpose. Although she genuinely wanted to visit Little Qiong Peak and see Senior Brother, she couldn't simply come without a reason. After emerging from seclusion this time, she had pondered for several days and nights until she finally came up with a method: she had come to ask for insights into Earth Escape cultivation.

After stating her purpose, Youqin Xuanya lowered her head and waited quietly, feeling that her excuse was a bit too far-fetched and wondering if it would be convincing. She heard a rustling sound but no reply from Ling'e. Youqin Xuanya looked up and saw a stone tablet with several lines of text carved into it:

Senior Brother just went out.I've been punished by Senior Brother not to speak.Senior Sister, please go inside the house and wait for a while.

Ling'e chuckled inwardly. She had promised Senior Brother not to talk to strangers, and in her opinion, Senior Sister Youqin was quite a stranger, even though they had slept together before. By saying this, Senior Sister Youqin would surely leave discreetly. The words 'went out' were also somewhat ambiguous, easily misunderstood as having left the sect.

“Alright.”

“Alright?”

“Pardon the intrusion, Junior Sister.”

Youqin Xuanya bowed to Ling'e, then proceeded to walk into the thatched cottage nearby, whose door was open. Ling'e tilted her head, about to speak, but couldn't help but raise a hand and slap her forehead.

This Senior Sister… is she poisoned or something? Does she really not understand basic social etiquette?