Chapter 710: Ancient Old Dragon Soul

A call of “Report—” echoed from the front hall, causing Li Changshou, who was deep in thought about important matters, to frown slightly.

He had just returned to Xiaoqiong Peak and hadn’t even had the chance to casually say to his junior sister, “It’s nothing, I just overturned a Saint.”

Yet, here came another issue.

With his mind sweeping through the Five Heavens Gate, he saw no sign of visitors anywhere.

Li Changshou turned his gaze toward the Taibai Palace, where the messenger heavenly general stood with both hands holding a jade talisman, head bowed in wait. He dispatched a paper effigy of Taibai Jinxing to go out and meet the general.

“Star Lord!”

“Just now, an old Daoist placed this jade talisman at the Central Heaven Gate and said to deliver it to you immediately, then he took his leave.

The other’s cultivation was profound, so we didn’t dare take it lightly and hurried here to deliver it!”

“Oh?”

Li Changshou enveloped the jade talisman with his immortal power and smiled. “You’ve worked hard, General.”

“This humble general doesn’t deserve such praise!”

The heavenly general responded firmly, bowed, and took his leave.

As he walked away, he made a small fist-pumping gesture, seeming quite excited.

Li Changshou held the jade talisman, confirmed there were no tricks or schemes inside, and carefully peered into it.

There was no aura, no Dao rhythm—it was clear the sender had deliberately hidden their identity. But within the talisman, there was a special mark meant to reveal who they were.

A nine-petaled lotus?

No, this should be a ten-grade lotus platform, missing one petal.

Back when he was preparing contingencies for Nezha, he had worked with Taiyi Zhenren on some lotus seeds for Nezha’s Lotus Treasure Body.

Better safe than sorry, after all.

Later, Nezha’s tragedy was smoothly resolved, and the lotuses Taiyi Zhenren cultivated grew to nine petals, not fully complete.

Only a few knew about this: himself, Taiyi, Yuding, Yang Jian, and perhaps a couple others. He figured the old Daoist was likely Taiyi Zhenren in disguise.

Why not contact him through a paper effigy directly, but instead send a message to the Heavenly Court?

There must be some problem here.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment and read the simple contents inside.

Taiyi Shixiong was inviting him to meet at a market town in the Middle Divine Continent, with a specific code phrase.

Good brother, one blanket.

This made Li Changshou seriously doubt that Taiyi Zhenren had a deep misunderstanding—or perhaps some expectation—about the brotherly bond between the Jade Rabbit and Lingzhu Zi!

As a master in the Primordial World... the perfect universal gossip trait!

But this phrase actually proved Taiyi Zhenren’s identity better than the lotus mark.

After a brief thought, Li Changshou decided his shixiong probably had serious business to discuss. He sent a nearby paper effigy to the market town, while his main body stayed put without moving an inch.

Did they really think Saints were that easy to kill?

This battle had greatly drained his vital energy and spirit. Without his Cloud Legs Pillow, he wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

What a shame the situation earlier wasn’t right for it.

Yunxiao had returned with the Jie Sect immortals for their ‘meeting,’ so he couldn’t stay behind to exchange a few words of encouragement as dao companions.

With the Saint’s fall, the power of living beings had waned, and the great calamity’s force had weakened as well. Li Changshou could now openly protect Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao.

But Yunxiao was too modest; she probably wouldn’t agree to such special treatment...

Meanwhile, Li Changshou’s paper effigy arrived at the market town and deliberately released a bit of his Dao rhythm. Soon, he heard a voice transmission.

“Good brother.”

Li Changshou replied calmly, “Just cover with the same blanket.”

This drew side glances from many immortals on the street.

After exchanging the code, he was led by Taiyi Zhenren to a private room in a teahouse, stepping through layers of barriers.

The market town was buzzing with talk of the Saint’s fall.

Figures flew in the sky, and immortals rushed about on the ground, sharing the news with everyone they met: how the sixth Saint had been slain by a Daoist disciple. The atmosphere was quite festive.

In the private room, Li Changshou and Taiyi Zhenren exchanged a look. The two disguised old Daoists raised their wine cups and each took a sip.

“What’s going on?”

Li Changshou asked quietly, “Why couldn’t this be said directly in the jade talisman?”

“It’s not safe,” Taiyi Zhenren said, his eyes showing a hint of struggle. “This matter is quite troublesome, especially during the great calamity. Who knows what consequences it might trigger.”

Li Changshou chuckled. “When did you learn to build suspense, Shixiong?

This hesitant, overly cautious behavior isn’t like your carefree style at all.”

“Tsk,” Taiyi Zhenren’s eyes flickered with light as he whispered, “Geng, do you think there are some immortals and gods in our Chan Sect who aren’t quite right?”

Li Changshou suddenly realized—this was about Wenshu, Puxian, and others who seemed overly friendly toward the Western Sect?

He already had an answer. Long ago, the Western Sect had made a secret deal with Chan Sect, sending a few of their disciples to the Jade Void Palace to study under Yuan Shi Tianzun.

This was probably some transaction between his second shishu and the Western Sect’s two Saints, with Ran Deng likely part of it.

He wasn’t entirely clear on the details.

Just as Li Changshou was about to respond, Taiyi Zhenren tsked again and whispered,

“Don’t you think Shixiong Huanglong has something off about him?”

Li Changshou: ...

“Huanglong Shixiong?”

He’s the most honest one in the entire Chan Sect!

“That’s right, Huanglong—let’s just call him Huang.”

Taiyi Zhenren made a shushing gesture, then switched to voice transmission, recounting a recent incident.

“When we returned to the Jade Void Palace and were called to the small courtyard for a lecture, the teacher didn’t really scold us. He just told us to cultivate our character and not lose our virtue.

After we left the Jade Void Palace, I saw Huang Shixiong looking troubled, heading toward the outskirts of Kunlun Mountain. I thought I’d follow him quietly and find a chance to cheer him up.

He’s always getting captured, always losing in fights—it’s not his fault. He just lacks good treasures and doesn’t seize the initiative. He’s too kind-hearted...”

At the time, Huanglong Zhenren headed straight for the Middle Divine Continent but didn’t return to his Magu Cave. Instead, he went to a hidden valley.

That valley was a natural formation, filled with layers of mist and a faint, heart-pounding aura.

Taiyi Zhenren didn’t dare probe deeper and just waited outside. After about half an hour, Huanglong flew out looking refreshed, his earlier gloom completely gone.

“It was as if he’d suddenly turned into a different dragon.”

Taiyi Zhenren tapped the table and whispered, “There must be something fishy here.”

Li Changshou thought for a moment and said, “This is Huang Shixiong’s private matter, after all. Maybe... heh.”

“I’m worried there might be more to it,” Taiyi Zhenren whispered. “If he had a dao companion in Magu Cave, hiding her in a golden house outside would make sense.

But Huang Shixiong has never been interested in that sort of thing. I’ve never heard him talk about any female immortal all these years.”

Li Changshou replied, “In that case, let’s go check it out discreetly. Guessing wildly won’t help and might lead to misunderstandings.”

“Good idea,” Taiyi Zhenren said. “We’ll leave the city one after the other and meet in the mountains six hundred li outside.”

Li Changshou agreed, and they left the private room separately.

Thus, half a day later,

Two young immortals arrived laughing in the clouds and landed on a cliff beside the valley—it was Li Changshou and Taiyi Zhenren in disguise.

The young Daoist transformed by Taiyi laughed loudly:

“This place has abundant spiritual energy, a convergence of earth veins, and hardly any other cultivators around. What a wonderful spot!”

“Shixiong,” the boy transformed by Li Changshou reminded, “this might be someone else’s residence. We should call out first.”

“Agreed!”

Taiyi Zhenren straightened his sleeves and called out toward the valley:

“This humble Daoist, Xing Xing Zi, and my junior brother, Chang Xing Zi, are passing through. We see this fine place with its beautiful scenery and thought to rest here awhile. Is there any fellow Daoist residing here?

If so, please let us know, so we don’t intrude.”

As he spoke, Taiyi Zhenren deliberately revealed his ‘Golden Immortal’ Dao rhythm and waited quietly.

To be fair, without his red robes, Taiyi Zhenren’s flamboyance was halved, and he wasn’t one to start fights recklessly.

His excuses like ‘my mouth has a mind of its own’ or ‘I just can’t control my mouth’ were really just a form of sarcasm.

The valley remained silent, with only a nearby mountain teeming with spirit beasts for miles around.

Ever since the great calamity, the Middle Divine Continent had become quite desolate. The days of immortals filling the skies were gone.

“Junior brother, no one’s here,” Taiyi Zhenren chuckled, then led Li Changshou downward on the clouds.

Suddenly, clouds and mist churned in the valley, obscuring the path ahead. The two lost their sense of direction instantly.

But who were they?

Taiyi of Mount Qianyuan, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Jade Void Palace, with unmatched verbal prowess, precise in starting conflicts and cleverly positioning himself, always emerging unscathed—a top-tier force in the Primordial World.

The other needed no introduction; the words ‘paper effigy’ said it all.

Before Li Changshou could point the way, Taiyi laughed:

“What a natural formation! Marvelous!

Is anyone below? My junior brother and I mean no offense; we just want to find a cave to rest!”

As he spoke, Taiyi Zhenren maneuvered through the clouds, weaving in and out with ease, skillfully navigating the maze and entering a hidden paradise.

It truly was a paradise.

Though still within the valley, the space inside was several times larger than it appeared from outside. The sky was clear and pale blue, with no trace of the earlier mist.

At the bottom, a clear stream flowed into a pool at the valley’s end, lined with dense forests teeming with spirit birds and beasts.

Li Changshou and Taiyi Zhenren scanned the area with their immortal senses, exchanging glances—nothing unusual.

It was just a scenic wonderland, with no caves, no cultivators, not even any demonic beasts...

A breeze blew by, carrying a faint Dao rhythm that made both Taiyi Zhenren and Li Changshou feel a subtle unease, as if some danger lurked.

Li Changshou transmitted, “I’ll scout around; you wait here, Shixiong.”

Taiyi Zhenren nodded slowly. From Li Changshou’s sleeve, several streams of light flew out, transforming into figures like himself, darting in all directions.

Burrowing into the earth, diving into the water, weaving through the trees—Li Changshou quickly searched the entire area but found nothing amiss.

However, on a riverbank, he discovered a few shed dragon scales bearing Huanglong Zhenren’s aura.

Li Changshou said seriously, “Shixiong, this seems to be just Huang Shixiong’s hiding spot, a place for some peace and quiet.

We might have overreacted.”

Taiyi Zhenren nodded slowly, unable to spot any flaws.

“It was probably me overthinking. Let’s head back.”

Li Changshou suggested, “Or we could go ask Huang Shixiong directly. That might yield more than searching blindly.”

Taiyi Zhenren agreed and nodded, no longer dwelling on it as they left together.

On the way, Taiyi Zhenren looked ashamed, repeatedly saying things like “I was too hasty.”

However, after Taiyi Zhenren and Li Changshou’s paper effigy departed, in a bush by the river, the paper effigy Li Changshou had left behind quietly appeared.

He hid on a tree trunk, gazing at the nearby riverbank with a thoughtful expression.

This time, Taiyi Shixiong had unintentionally done him a big favor.

If his guess was correct, this matter was serious and offered no benefits—worse, it could touch on the Dao Ancestor’s sore spots. He couldn’t drag Taiyi Shixiong into it.

This place didn’t just have a dragon clan aura.

The unease they felt was an instinctive one.

After a moment’s thought, Li Changshou’s paper effigy stayed motionless on the tree, while his mind returned to the Heavenly Court. He immediately sent out two jade talismans.

One went to the East Sea Dragon Palace, the other to the Eight Treasures Cave on Kunlun Mountain.

Just a few days later, as cultivators across the Five Parts of the World discussed the slaying of the sixth Saint, they also started talking about a few minor events from that day.

Some busybodies even made a ranking of the combat strengths of the direct disciples from Chan and Jie Sects, fairly placing Huanglong Zhenren at... fifth from the bottom.

When this reached the Jade Void Palace and Magu Cave, Huanglong Zhenren, already in a foul mood, felt even more depressed.

Coincidentally, Taiyi Zhenren and Yuding Zhenren invited him to a banquet, where they subtly encouraged him and mentioned wanting to trade some treasures.

How could Huanglong Zhenren not understand his shidi’s good intentions?

But could he accept those treasures?

Of course he could—it was just a matter of setting aside pride.

Huanglong Zhenren didn’t take the treasures. After the banquet, he returned to Magu Cave.

Two days later, on a dark and windy night,

Huanglong Zhenren concealed himself and left Magu Cave, heading to that distant valley. He looked around, waited quietly for a while, then entered the natural formation.

He went straight to the riverbank, passing those shed scales. Just as he was about to step over, he noticed a jade talisman lying among them—it was his usual style, carrying his aura, and completely blank.

“When did I drop this?”

Huanglong Zhenren muttered, picked up the jade talisman, and continued toward the water.

Beneath the river, it seemed a portal silently opened, but the water flowed on undisturbed.

Huanglong Zhenren stepped into it, his body gradually becoming translucent as he ‘sank’ into the river’s center.

Indeed, there was a hidden secret underwater.

This was an extremely advanced Qiankun technique, similar to a mustard seed world.

But while a mustard seed world has a certain ‘volume’ in its original space,

This Qiankun technique attached an entire space to the Primordial World without any direct connection, linked only by something beyond spiritual energy.

The only term Li Changshou could think of was ‘extradimensional space,’ though it felt simplistic and out of place.

Underwater was a complex cave dwelling, filled with countless formations: trapping arrays, killing arrays, maze arrays, poison arrays—all complete.

Even a typical Daluo would face trouble if they strayed.

These formations didn’t follow the common ancient styles; they incorporated numerous ‘talismans,’ a method from even older times.

Huanglong Zhenren turned left and right with ease, arriving at the deepest part of the cave and entering a secret chamber.

Pushing open the stone door, inside was a painting, some simple furniture, and an image of a mighty dragon soaring into the sky, exuding an overwhelming, fierce aura.

Huanglong Zhenren lit three sticks of incense and sat on the cushion in front of the painting, sighing softly.

“Ah... Mother, am I really so useless?”

The dragon’s eyes in the painting glimmered, and the dragon within slowly emerged, transforming into a three-foot-long elder green dragon with radiant eyes.

“Child, did you bring a friend?”

Huanglong was startled and quickly said, “Mother, I came alone. Your existence is forbidden by the Heavenly Dao; how could I risk exposing you?”

“Cough,” a light cough came from Huanglong’s sleeve, and a green light flew out—it was the jade talisman.

The talisman trembled and transformed into Li Changshou’s figure, who bowed to the dragon in the painting.

“Disciple of Taichi, Heavenly Court’s Taibai Jinxing Li Changgeng, pays respects to Dragon Mother. I apologize for the intrusion.

And Huanglong Shixiong, I’ve offended you.”

“Ah, this!”

Huanglong jumped up, staring at Li Changshou speechless, finally sputtering,

“Shidi, how did you find this place?”

Li Changshou briefly explained the cause and effect, bowed to Huanglong, and said seriously,

“Shixiong, please don’t blame me. I just wanted to ask Dragon Mother something. If I told you directly, you definitely wouldn’t agree.”

“This... this...”

“Child, you may withdraw.”

The green dragon said calmly, “I am but a lingering soul, hiding here to see how the Primordial World unfolds.

Since the Saint-slayer has come seeking answers, I will speak freely.”

Li Changshou pursed his lips, thinking the title sounded a bit overly dramatic.

Dragon Mother asked, “What does Star Lord wish to know?”

Li Changshou replied, “The battle between Luohou and the Dao Ancestor, and the place where Luohou fell.”

The dragon fell silent, staring at Li Changshou for a long time without speaking.

“You want to become the second Demon Ancestor?”

“Not at all, Senior. I have no interest in being a failure.

Whether it’s the Demon Ancestor or that groundhog beside Pangu God back then,” Li Changshou smiled, “I just want to find something important to me.”

“What is it?”

“I’d rather not say.”

Dragon Mother said, “Then I cannot tell you where it is. You may check the Four Seas Dragon Palaces.”

Li Changshou responded, “The Dragon Palaces have no records of the Demon Ancestor’s fall; it seems they were deliberately erased. Among those who fought in that battle, you’re the only one I can trace, Senior.

That’s the answer from the East Sea Dragon King.”

Dragon Mother frowned slightly and whispered, “So, the dragon race has chosen to stand with you now?”

Li Changshou’s brow furrowed slightly, a thought flashing in his eyes as he glanced at Huanglong Zhenren.

Dragon Mother understood immediately. “Child, wait outside.”

Huanglong blinked in confusion but quickly bowed and headed out of the cave.

What was going on?