Chapter 727: Li Changshou's Treasure List

Now that the great war of the Dao Gate has ended, Jie Jiao has been destroyed, Chan Jiao has hidden in Kunlun Shan, and the opportunity for our Western teachings to rise has arrived.

Jieyin Shengren said: "Puti, Jiaye, Anan, you three should not go into seclusion recently, nor leave Ling Shan. Think about how to spread the essence of our Western teachings."

After saying this, Jieyin Shengren went into seclusion, effectively becoming a hands-off leader.

In the current state of the world, with the saints no longer prominent, there's no choice but to be hands-off.

This situation has returned to how it was before the Feng Shen calamity, where the saints' disciples all exercise restraint. The core disciples avoid conflicts that might involve the saints' dignity.

Chan Jiao and Western teachings had already formed an alliance, so there were no major conflicts among the great saintly sects in the world.

Subsequently, under Jiaye's leadership, the disciples of Western teachings held a small meeting.

Li Changshou mostly remained silent, only speaking a few simple yet profound words when he noticed that Western teachings seemed to be heading toward the "Buddhist path," gently steering them back toward a seemingly brighter road.

The path ahead is full of possibilities.

Without Maitreya and Dizang, Li Changshou looked at Jiaye and the other Western teachings' saint disciples, who usually focused only on cultivation and were not skilled in strategy or planning... and felt quite lonely.

Jiaye suggested that to spread their teachings, they should build more temples, perform miracles, and attract believers.

As the "suffering Xu Puti who had been beaten by the Heavenly Court," Li Changshou pondered for a moment and, intending to test the Western teachings' disciples, said: "If we do that, it's best to inform the Heavenly Court first. We must not underestimate the Heavenly Court. The losses we've suffered and the walls we've hit are too numerous to count. Now, we must face the Heavenly Court squarely."

The Western teachings' disciples frowned slightly and looked at Li Changshou.

Jiaye whispered: "Senior brother, have we... had intense conflicts with the Heavenly Court?"

Only one old Daoist at the corner smiled bitterly and shook his head slightly to himself.

—Every family has its hidden experts.

Li Changshou sighed inwardly.

He looked at Jiaye and the other disciples, carefully checking if they were acting, and quickly concluded that, aside from the old Daoist, their memories had indeed been altered.

Just then, a voice transmission echoed in Li Changshou's heart—it was from Jieyin Shengren.

Jieyin sighed: "Puti, they have forgotten the existence of that extraordinary human figure. You know about it, but in the future, don't mention it in the world. It's now a taboo of the Heavenly Dao."

Xu Puti closed his eyes and nodded.

After all the calculations, he hadn't anticipated that the Western teachings' saint disciples would be so... so weak.

But from another perspective, the Dao Ancestor must have expended a great deal of the world's primal energy to erase his traces.

This was also a good thing.

Li Changshou looked at the Western teachings' senior and junior brothers before him and said calmly: "It must have been my mistake. In that case, please have someone go to the Heavenly Court."

—Big tasks for small errands, a tradition in Western teachings.

Jiaye said slowly: "I'll go."

An old Daoist nearby whispered: "After the Feng Shen calamity, the Heavenly Court has become the ruler of the three realms. We should take this trip seriously—perhaps send more people."

Thus, all eyes turned to Xu Puti.

Li Changshou hummed dismissively and said nothing.

He hadn't fully adapted to the role of Xu Puti yet, and for safety's sake, he couldn't easily enter a place thick with Heavenly Dao power.

The Western teachings' disciples had no choice but to look away and discuss further, eventually deciding that six saint disciples would form a "Heavenly Court visitation group" to head to the Heavenly Court tomorrow and discuss the matter of spreading Western teachings.

Another old Daoist suggested going to greet Chan Jiao, but Li Changshou stopped it with a single sentence: "You all must stay alert. Now that Jie Jiao is gone, our alliance with Chan Jiao has already broken. Most of the obstacles we'll face in spreading our teachings will come from Chan Jiao."

The disciples suddenly awoke as if from a dream and cast looks of admiration at Xu Puti. "Senior brother, you thought of that." "Ah, our Western teachings suffered greatly from the Jie Jiao disaster, with many fellow disciples dead or injured. Now, we must rely on you, Puti senior brother, for more plans and strategies." "We are foolish; please guide us more, Puti senior brother."

Xu Puti's expression softened slightly, and a confident smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Soon after, a bead of sweat formed on his forehead. He frowned slightly, pursed his lips, and closed his eyes, his face looking unwell.

A strand of Dao rhythm slowly unfolded from Li Changshou's heart—it was Jieyin Shengren acting to dispel the fear in his Dao heart.

No matter the stance, saints still treat their direct disciples well; though Western teachings would unhesitatingly sacrifice their disciples.

After the discussion, Li Changshou found Xu Puti's cave dwelling on Ling Shan and calmly moved in.

Following Xu Puti's habits, he didn't extend his immortal sense to probe; for caution's sake, he also didn't use the Wind Language Curse, simply sitting in quiet seclusion to contemplate his own Dao.

A few hours later, he strolled out of the cave with his hands behind his back, looking distracted, and went to the back mountain of Ling Shan. He stood outside the grand hall by the Lotus Treasure Pool, gazing at the sky.

At the same time, he began to eavesdrop on the whispers of Ling Shan's disciples to understand the altered history of the primordial world.

How many times had such things happened in ancient and prehistoric times? Li Changshou couldn't be sure.

The only thing he could be sure of was that the Dao Ancestor had put a lot of effort into this.

Originally, Senior Lang had just hidden behind the scenes, and what living beings saw was only his second primordial spirit, Fuxi, so few needed their memories altered. But Li Changshou was "well-known" in the primordial world, so erasing his traces must have been quite troublesome.

'I wonder how His Majesty the Jade Emperor is doing now.' Li Changshou, in his Xu Puti paper effigy, looked up at the sky, as if he could see the layers of heavenly palaces. Gazing at the Heavenly Court he had helped build, he suddenly felt like a proud father.

The Chaos Bell had left with Xiao Qiong Peak, so the Taibai Palace no longer bore his traces. For that innate supreme treasure, taking Xiao Qiong Peak to escape was trivial, let alone carrying ten or eight of the Du Xian Gate.

The Chaos Bell has a major function: it can hold a small thousand world inside and control the flow of time within it, making it faster or slower.

He would go back and pretend to be in seclusion, splitting off a wisp of his mind to make other arrangements here.

Deliberately sighing a few times, Xu Puti returned to the cave with a sense of unresolved frustration, activated the array, and under Jieyin Shengren's watch, wrapped himself in the Dao of Emptiness to contemplate the method of Emptiness.

'All is empty illusion.' 'The Bodhi tree is not real, nor is the bright mirror a stand.'

His cultivation was slowly yet steadily growing stronger.

Opening his eyes, pure saintly light surrounded him.

Li Changshou stretched and stood up from the meditation mat, then instructed the Four Plums to rotate their shifts for rest. They were his professional team for maintaining communication with the primordial world and couldn't be overworked.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, sent a voice transmission, and wisps of treasure light appeared around him, with several streams of light flying in from outside the hall.

Soon, the grand hall was filled with flashing treasure light as several supreme treasures lined up before Li Changshou, their spirits connecting with his mind.

The innate supreme treasure Taiji Tu, the innate supreme treasure Chaos Bell, the innate top-grade merit treasure Xuan Huang Pagoda, the innate treasure Li Di Yan Huo Qi, the innate treasure Hun Yuan Jin Dou, the innate treasure Jin Jiao Jian, and the innate treasure Chuan Xin Suo.

Li Changshou cleared his throat and said seriously: "The situation now is not optimistic. I want to have a full discussion with all of you first. Can each of you manifest a form? Like the Chaos Bell does."

With a light ding, the Chaos Bell's spirit sat on top of the bell, crossing its legs and winking at Li Changshou.

Then, beams of treasure light flashed, and several figures appeared.

Taiji Tu manifested as a vague human form, just going through the motions to humor its young disciple.

Xuan Huang Pagoda's top showed a bearded uncle in a profound robe, calmly sitting on the pagoda's tip.

Li Di Yan Huo Qi turned into an ordinary middle-aged woman in Daoist robes with white hair, surrounded by flickering flames.

Hun Yuan Jin Dou and Jin Jiao Jian each became young women, while Chuan Xin Suo became a young Daoist.

Their forms were either life-sized or miniature, all for the convenience of conversation, so Li Changshou wouldn't feel strange talking to them.

The Jin Jiao Jian girl asked softly: "Owner's brother-in-law, why are you having us discuss matters instead of going to find the owner?"

"The things I'm about to say involve you all and have nothing to do with your owner," Li Changshou replied warmly, nodding slightly to Taiji Tu. "Elder Tu, please explain the current state of the world."

The vague human form of Taiji Tu spoke: "Now, the Great Dao of the Four Saints is sealed, their powers becoming forces that the Heavenly Dao can control, and the primordial world has become fully under the Dao Ancestor's grasp. The Dao Ancestor struck first, and our defeat was already within the old master's calculations, though he couldn't find a way to counter it. Still, the old master has high hopes for his young disciple. He said only the young disciple can bring truly unexpected changes to the primordial world."

Li Changshou nodded with a smile.

The Chuan Xin Suo youth looked gloomy, sighing dejectedly: "Why didn't the owner use me in the battle before... In the end, I'm just too weak, can't keep up with the owner's growth... Maybe I should be remade."

Li Changshou smiled without responding and took out the Lu Shen Qiang, but its spirit was quite weak and couldn't communicate directly. This spear had been severely damaged before.

Li Changshou said: "There just weren't many chances to use you in the fights; every treasure has its value. Don't lose heart."

The Xuan Huang Pagoda spirit chuckled: "What are you moping about, little lock? You couldn't even break my defense anyway."

Chuan Xin Suo laughed dryly and continued to hang his head, while the Xuan Huang Pagoda spirit raised his eyebrows at him provocatively.

The Chaos Bell spirit laughed and scolded: "You're always stirring trouble. If you've got the guts, go pick a fight with the two banners."

"No way," the Xuan Huang Pagoda spirit quickly backed down. "Chaos sword energy is no joke. I'm the old master's treasure, so fighting it would mess up the hierarchy."

The Li Di Yan Huo Qi spirit laughed: "So, was Chi Ge really not left with the old master at Zixiao Palace because his dialect was too hard to handle?"

The Hun Yuan Jin Dou girl whispered: "What dialect?"

The Jin Jiao Jian girl played with the two dragon spirits in her hands: "The Qian Kun Chi is pretty strong too—it's the Dao of Qian Kun, after all."

"Everyone!" Seeing the conversation veering off track, Li Changshou steered it back: "Let's stick to the main topic."

The treasures quickly quieted down and focused on Li Changshou.

Li Changshou thought for a moment and spoke steadily: "Here's the thing—I've been thinking about what kind of system we should establish in the primordial world after overthrowing the Dao Ancestor. This is a big question, but we need to have some preliminary ideas. Overthrowing the heavens is important, but building order afterward is even more crucial. We can't just replace the Dao Ancestor and become the next one—that would be the same, whether favoring living beings or the world; it's just a copy. So, we need a system that maintains harmony between the world and living beings... Do you all understand?"

The treasures showed various expressions.

The vague face of Taiji Tu revealed a gentle smile: "This is a very good matter."

The Chaos Bell spirit said: "But there has to be someone in charge... The Jade Emperor? He might be like that now, but not necessarily later. Living beings change, and their desires evolve. Few can withstand the erosion of time and power. Dong Huang Tai Yi was like that—I was so disappointed in him later."

Li Changshou smiled: "That's why I called you all here to discuss."

The treasure spirits were a bit stunned.

Li Changshou continued: "It's not good to let living beings dominate the Great Dao and nature, nor vice versa. But the primordial world itself has provided a solution: something between the Great Dao and living beings... you all. Innate treasures. Each innate treasure is an embodiment of the Great Dao, yet with its own spirit. This spirit is bound by Dao principles, free from selfish desires, and thus more impartial than living beings. My idea is that after overthrowing the Dao Ancestor, we divide his authority over the Heavenly Dao among thirty-six innate treasures, giving them the mission to monitor the Heavenly Dao and the Heavenly Court as a supplement to the system. This would also keep innate treasures away from the masses."

The treasures looked stunned.

Taiji Tu asked: "What if a treasure makes a wrong judgment or gets deceived by living beings?"

"No problem, I have other backups," Li Changshou replied. "Letting innate treasures, which are bound by and can control the Great Dao, fully participate in Heavenly Dao operations will benefit the Heavenly Dao itself. But you all must be vigilant against one thing: not being assimilated by the Heavenly Dao and becoming a new Heavenly Dao will. I'll pay special attention to that and provide different solutions and contingency plans. That's the first point. I haven't finalized the list of thirty-six innate treasures yet. They need to cover heaven, earth, and human attributes, with eleven for each, totaling thirty-three treasures, corresponding to the thirty-three layers of the Heavenly Court. Elder Tu, Pangu Banner, and Bell, as manifestations of the Sky-Opening Axe, will suppress the destiny of the entire primordial world in the future, serving as the overall monitors. Among the heaven, earth, and human attributes, I'll list Tian Shu Feng Shen Bang, Di Shu Tian Di Tai Mo, and Ren Shu Sheng Si Bu as the primary ones."

Li Changshou pointed lightly, and shadows of various treasures appeared in the hall.

"With this, the thirty-six treasure monitoring system, the Heavenly Court system, and the Heavenly Dao power can be perfectly unified, making the primordial world more stable than it is now. Any opinions?"

The treasures fell silent for a while, all feeling a bit shocked.

The Chaos Bell spirit asked: "Will the Zaohua Yu Die be in this system?"

"No," Li Changshou said. "If we can seize the Zaohua Yu Die, we'll use it to expand the primordial world's boundaries, sort the three thousand Great Daos, and reinforce the world. Of course, if we can't, we'll have to destroy it."

The Hun Yuan Jin Dou girl asked: "Will treasures be influenced by their owners?"

Li Changshou answered: "I'll return the selected treasures to an ownerless state, fill in their missing spirits, and give them different symbolic meanings."

The Jin Jiao Jian girl asked softly: "Owner's brother-in-law, I want to stay with the owner—what should I do?"

Li Changshou smiled: "No problem, I'll respect your choices. This is just a framework for now; the list isn't finalized."

Taiji Tu said: "This might redefine the purpose of treasures. As the world endures and living beings change, we'll exist eternally with the Dao if undamaged. Without the owner's constraints, we'll lean toward the Dao."

"I'll instill in you the belief to guard living beings," Li Changshou said seriously, "and turn that belief into the Dao of treasures. Moreover, you'll be a supplement to the Heavenly Court system, not able to decide everything—the Heavenly Court will monitor you too. Got it?"

The vague figure of Taiji Tu nodded slowly.

"Any other questions?"

Li Changshou saw the spirits shake their heads and smiled: "This is just looking ahead. We need to be practical and start building up our strength to overthrow the Dao Ancestor. You all will be key to that. I'll keep enhancing you with every means possible. But these enhancements will be withdrawn once everything is done."

The Chaos Bell spirit asked: "How will you enhance us?"

"With this," Li Changshou said, opening his left hand to reveal a flickering flame. Two firefly-like lights flew in from the side, were swallowed by the flame, and turned into gold, black, and gray auras. Merit, karma, and true spirit embers.

Li Changshou continued: "Later, I'll have Kun Peng lead some experts to hunt in the Chaos Sea, killing Chaos gods and demons to capture true spirit power. Then, turn that power into merit and karma—merit for you all, and karma to recast the Lu Shen Qiang. The Lu Shen Qiang will be an important part of the treasure system; it'll hang as a blade over the Heavenly Court, buried under all living beings. If the heavens are unjust and the treasures retreat, this spear will appear and choose a living being to wield it."

The treasures fell silent again.

The Chaos Bell spirit said in confusion: "From what you're saying, it sounds like you want to overthrow the Dao Ancestor, set up a perfect system with innate treasures, and then step back yourself?"

"Exactly." Li Changshou smiled faintly: "My Dao is that of Tai Qing—inaction and self-purity. Rather than becoming the next Dao Ancestor, I'd rather wander carefree through the three realms and the Chaos Sea, accompanied by my beloved, and truly appreciate the beauty of this world. It's embarrassing to say, but after being in the primordial world for so long, I haven't really taken the time to admire its wonders. You can tell your owner about this, but it's best to keep it confidential for now."

The treasures nodded one by one, each falling silent.

"Come on, let me outline this system in detail. You all can recommend some innate treasures—try not to suggest ones of the same type. Once the system is mapped out, we can attract more allies."

The hall filled with treasure light once more as the group of innate treasures chimed in, offering thoughtful suggestions one after another.