Chapter 74: I Lay My Cards on the Table

Li Changshou was quite perplexed at the moment.

Why?

Why were there suddenly three old Daoists at the Heavenly Immortal realm above Little Qiong Peak? Two of them were sect elders, and one was unfamiliar but he had seen him before at the entrance to Linhai Town, and his aura felt somewhat familiar…

And why?

Why were Ao Yi and Jiuwu circling within the outer illusion array? A dragon-horned youth was walking anxiously ahead, while a short Daoist floated sinisterly behind, smiling… And they were both following the instructions on a wooden sign, heading towards the small reception room he had set up…

How on earth did those two end up together? It must have been a special destiny that brought them together, turning them both into troublemakers…

What on earth was going on? Was this arranged by Martial Uncle Jiuwu again? That made no sense. His relationship with Martial Uncle Jiuwu had deepened over the past few years, and the Grand Dao oath was still effective…

Hmm? From the direction of the main peak, there were also many Heavenly Immortal realm immortals whose auras were gathered in the main hall, which was usually closed…

Li Changshou quickly realized what was happening.

He had accidentally met the Jie Sect group in Linhai Town and overheard some of their conversation; it seemed they were looking for an immortal sect to preach and debate Daoist principles, and to spar in cultivation. He never expected that the Jie Sect group was here specifically to debate Daoist principles with the Immortal Du Sect! Ao Yi and the Immortal Du Sect also had a slight history of grievances; after all, Ao Yi was the Second Prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace, and relations between the East Sea Dragon Palace and the various immortal sects in Eastern Divine Continent had been a bit tense in recent decades…

Could it be that this time, the little dragon wanted to stir up conflict between the Human and Jie Sects? That couldn't be right; Ao Yi didn't seem that foolish. If he really did that, the Dragon race would be instantly overthrown by the Jie Sect Master's single sword strike… Although this little dragon indeed seemed a bit… not very intelligent… Had he drunk too much 'Beauty's Charm' and damaged his dragon brain?

Li Changshou pondered deeply. He was initially completely bewildered by the situation but quickly grasped what was happening. At this moment, he could faintly feel that the entire Immortal Du Sect's attention was fixed on Little Qiong Peak. Streaks of immortal consciousness and spiritual perception were all monitoring the area around the alchemy lab… Among the Immortal Du Sect disciples, his displayed cultivation level was supposed to be upper-middle excellent, so there shouldn't be an issue in that regard.

Every consequence has a cause. He had encountered Ao Yi once before his tribulation, which was also a chance event. He was certain Ao Yi hadn't recognized him; throughout that encounter, he had maintained the persona of a cold-faced old Daoist with the same face, and his aura and even body scent had been simulated. So, it was likely related to the sparring at the East Sea Demon Extermination Assembly… This little dragon, unhappy that he hadn't deliberately lost to him last time and unable to let go of the matter, had traveled thousands of miles after all these years just to give him an easy win?

Li Changshou let out a soft sigh in his underground secret chamber. "This dragon and this woman, I'll never understand how their minds work."

What should he do now?

Li Changshou observed the paper effigy clone in the alchemy lab, noticing that the three sensing stones on it were only flickering faintly—clearly triggered by his own immortal consciousness. After a brief hesitation, he transformed into a wisp of green smoke and slipped back into the alchemy lab. Inside the alchemy lab, Li Changshou vanished for a moment, then instantly reappeared. He stepped onto the meditation cushion behind the alchemy furnace, sat down, closed his eyes, and began to meditate deeply, pretending to be fully focused on comprehending the Dao, just as he had instructed his junior sister.

Li Changshou mused that if he were to enter secluded cultivation to break through a bottleneck, he should logically show some progress, so he secretly adjusted his Turtle Breath Calming Qi Art.

Surface disguise: Fifth stage of the Reversion to Void Realm;Inner disguise: Ninth stage of the Reversion to Void Realm;Deep disguise: Primordial Immortal Realm.

After doing all this, Li Changshou began to frantically inspect and reflect, finally ensuring that there were no details on Little Qiong Peak that could expose his hidden trump cards. Ling'e, at this moment, was also obediently hiding in her thatched hut, pretending to cultivate. This time, his junior sister had performed well. He would praise her later.

Li Changshou knew that he could only pretend to be in secluded cultivation, comprehending the Dao, waiting to be awakened by the sect's experts or startled by activity within the array… For what came next, he could only retreat to advance, finding an opportunity to divert their attention!

Within the grand array.

Following the wooden sign's guidance, they arrived step by step at the 'open-air tea room.' Ao Yi and Jiuwu couldn't help but exchange glances. At this time, Ao Yi still had the physique of a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy. Including his horns, he was six feet tall, a head taller than Jiuwu. After reading what was written on the wooden sign, he turned to look around, his eyes filled with confusion.

Jiuwu chuckled, "Prince Ao Yi, it's clear this is another fork in the path."

Ao Yi frowned, "I've found the way out of all these basic arrays, so why can't I leave this place?"

"This is a consecutive array, created by Martial Nephew Changshou," Jiuwu explained. "After finding the way out of one array, you immediately enter the next. To break this array, one must possess profound mastery of array formations. Prince Ao Yi, don't strain yourself."

"Hmph!" Ao Yi scoffed lightly, stating calmly, "I refuse to believe I can be trapped here today!" With that, he took out an ice-blue treasure bead from his bosom. The bead shimmered faintly, and the flow of spiritual energy within the grand array was instantly disrupted. Ao Yi smiled serenely, turned back the way he came, and soon discovered a new path. Jiuwu quickly followed behind, but the smile on the short Daoist's lips grew increasingly wide…

Back then, he and Jiu Shi, as a couple, were both disoriented by this grand array; today, this array was clearly more refined and perfect than when they first tried to break it… Essentially, this consecutive array was just a combination of basic arrays, but under Martial Nephew Changshou's meticulous design, it truly achieved 'splendid artistry.'

Half an hour later…

Ao Yi looked at the wooden sign in front of him, and a corner of his mouth twitched. Lost? He had walked back to where he started!

"Damn it!" Ao Yi's handsome face twitched from clenching his teeth too hard, then he shook his head and headed towards other paths.

Inside the alchemy lab;

Li Changshou's left eye opened slightly. This little dragon seemed to possess a treasure for breaking arrays, but he kept circling the periphery, clearly only having a superficial understanding of array formations. After some thought, Li Changshou secretly removed several layers of the array within a hundred zhang of the alchemy lab, allowing the Heavenly Immortals to see him in secluded meditation there if they looked closely at the lab's location. This made it more logical.

...

Another half hour later.

In the air above Little Qiong Peak, the three Heavenly Immortals wore various expressions. The Immortal Du Sect elders naturally had smiles on their faces, though they couldn't smile too broadly; Old Daoist Yuanze also had a smile, but his brows occasionally furrowed. They could all generally see the situation within the array, watching Ao Yi stumble around like a headless fly. Old Daoist Yuanze also felt a touch of anxiety.

Inside the array.

Ao Yi's eyes were bloodshot, his state of mind quite unstable. He held a treasured sword and a treasure bead, walking quickly within the grand array. Jiuwu floated unhurriedly behind him, wary that Ao Yi might use his spiritual treasure longsword to forcefully break the array… Soon, Jiuwu would directly ask his master to intervene, retrieve the two of them, and let the Dragon Palace Prince admit defeat. Martial Nephew Changshou wouldn't even need to leave seclusion; everything was already handled by him!

Gradually, Ao Yi's breathing became rapid… But Ao Yi was still relatively clear-headed at this point. Although he was anxious, he made no outrageous moves. He had agreed to challenge the array; if he passed through, he would win! The array here was indeed composed of basic formations that cultivators at the Reversion to Void Realm could set up, but for some reason, he just couldn't get out… He couldn't even find the array foundations or core points needed to break it!

He had learned so many array principles during his egg-hatching period… Was the Dragon race truly so incapable in the way of array formations? No, my Dragon race can still rise again!

Jiuwu whispered, "Prince Ao Yi, perhaps we should just…"

"I'm breaking the array!" Ao Yi turned his head and growled.

"Ah, please, take your time, take your time." Jiuwu immediately narrowed his eyes in a smile, his hands clasped behind his back as he followed closely, also afraid of losing track of Ao Yi.

Outside the array, above the clouds.

The two young women discussed briefly. Han Zhi softly said, "Master, you've also taught me many array formation skills. How about Elder Sister Rourou and I go down and try as well? This has nothing to do with sparring with Martial Uncle Ao Yi; your disciple is simply eager to try."

Old Daoist Yuanze looked at the two Immortal Du Sect elders beside him, who naturally nodded in agreement. They also wanted to see just how profound the consecutive basic array outside Little Qiong Peak's alchemy lab truly was… They had unexpectedly discovered a talent in the way of array formations! They should later instruct the Hall of Hundred Mundanities to focus on cultivating Changshou in this area.

"Go on, go on," Old Daoist Yuanze waved his hand, and Han Zhi and the other young woman floated down hand-in-hand, entering the array.

A moment later…

The two young women at the Primordial Immortal Realm looked at the wooden sign, their brows furrowed in exasperation. Lost?

Han Zhi whispered, "The one who set up this array is truly a bit too arrogant!"

"There's another wooden sign further on."

"Let's see what tricks he has up his sleeve; let's go check it out!"

Today's 'open-air tea room' had more guests than the past ten years combined…

...

Inside the alchemy lab, Li Changshou, observing all this with his immortal consciousness, silently sighed and continued to pretend to be in secluded cultivation for a breakthrough. Fortunately, he had already offered the key secrets of the consecutive array to the sect through Jiuwu, and had even received an alchemy furnace as a reward from the sect. This last potential problem had also been preemptively suppressed by him.

However, after today, the arrays around his alchemy lab would likely become a major attraction within the sect… The True Little Qiong Peak Signature Attraction—Illusion Array and Confinement Array Adventure!

Moreover, with this incident, combined with previous events, his status as an 'excellent disciple' had already drawn too much attention. This truly gave Li Changshou a headache… His persona as an 'excellent disciple' was too flimsy and could no longer be sustained! This time, he would seize the opportunity to reveal a strength level equivalent to that of a 'poor-grade immortal seedling.' Otherwise, the various circumstances would be too abnormal and even harder to explain.

Li Changshou's mind raced. Disguise lay in balance across all aspects, requiring a 'degree' that made others feel they had seen through his true nature at a glance; this was, in fact, a higher level of disguise. The strategy he used to deal with Jiuwu back then was to reveal a little to Jiuwu, making Jiuwu believe he knew everything about him… This time, to deal with the sect's experts, he could only continue with this approach; perhaps he might even gain considerable benefits from it…

Now, he could only reveal a cultivation level of a 'quasi-immortal seedling,' drawing some of this attention to his cultivation to mask other anomalies. The goal was likely to make them think his talent was actually quite good, which would explain why he could cause so many incidents to this extent… Then, Li Changshou would only need to remain stable for a few years, deliberately getting 'stuck' at a bottleneck, allowing his cultivation progress to revert to that of an excellent disciple. The sect would then pay less attention to him, a disciple of Little Qiong Peak.

If a bit of his cultivation trump card was exposed, he could recover it later. But if his other trump cards were exposed, that would be quite troublesome… From now on, he had to be doubly careful. The trump cards he had painstakingly hidden were meant to cope with various dangers and to ensure his survival. Exposing even a small part of them under these circumstances, no matter how tiny, was still a loss.

Speaking of which, back then in the sea… he should have poured some 'Mind-Lost Powder' down Ao Yi's throat! Only a tiny, tiny dose, I assure you!

Another half hour passed…

The evening glow painted the western sky, illuminating the Immortal Du Sect elders' faces, their wrinkled countenances beaming with smiles as bright as chrysanthemums; two Golden Ao Island cultivators and three Immortal Du Sect elders had arrived at this location. In their hearts, the Immortal Du Sect elders praised Li Changshou and Jiu Jiu to the heavens, and also had much admiration for Jiuwu, who had devised this method to distract Ao Yi. Indeed, he was clever enough.

An Immortal Du Sect elder proactively offered a way out, stroking his beard as he smiled: "The array here was meticulously designed by Li Changshou, a disciple of our Immortal Du Sect, using the method of setting up consecutive arrays that he has studied for many years. It was then laid out by Martial Nephew Jiu Jiu, who is at the True Immortal Realm. Although they are all basic arrays, in practice, they are equivalent to arrays that only True Immortals can set up. It's perfectly normal for Prince Ao Yi and the two immortal maidens not to be able to pass through."

"Enough!" Old Daoist Yuanze sighed, saying, "I will go and bring the three of them out. Martial Brother Ao Yi has indeed lost another round this time." With that, Yuanze floated down towards the grand array, his hands clasped behind his back. With a Heavenly Immortal's power, a surge of immortal energy could easily collapse the array foundations here, but doing so would be too undignified. Old Daoist Yuanze had observed from outside for a long time and now felt confident he had figured out how to break the array. He was full of confidence, aiming to restore the honor of the Golden Ao Island cultivators… The two juniors and his junior martial brother had indeed made a fool of themselves this time; there was nothing to be done about it.

However…

What Old Daoist Yuanze didn't expect was…

A moment later…

Lost?

This Heavenly Immortal old Daoist couldn't help but sigh towards the sky. This array, indeed, held hidden profound mysteries. Turning around, the old Daoist frowned and continued attempting to break the array. Above the clouds, the other Heavenly Immortals exchanged glances, unsure of what to say at this moment…

After Li Changshou returned from his tribulation, he had indeed subtly adjusted the outer array, but only altered a few array foundations. It would have been very easy for this Heavenly Immortal to forcefully break the array, but Old Daoist Yuanze, now a bit stubborn, insisted on breaking this consecutive array from within—an array that was actually a closed loop… Theoretically, the only way to break this array was to forcefully charge through it and destroy one of its basic formations. But could this old Daoist really resort to brute force? This concerned the level of array formation mastery of him, a cultivator from Golden Ao Island! It was also about Old Daoist Yuanze's face!

And so, after who knows how many more… half-hours…

Ao Yi and Jiuwu stared, stunned, at the Heavenly Immortal old Daoist pacing back and forth in front of them.

"Martial Brother Yuanze!" Ao Yi shouted, taking a step forward, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed; Old Daoist Yuanze heard the shout and raised his sleeve to cover his face, but as the array shifted, his figure swiftly vanished from Ao Yi's sight.

"This…" Ao Yi's eyes widened, and his entire body trembled slightly.

Jiuwu quickly caught up, smiling, "Prince, it's getting late. How about we? Hmm?"

"I will surely break this array! I will surely break this array!" Ao Yi cried out tremblingly, raising his sword and continuing to rush forward, his whole body shaking erratically.

...

Inside the alchemy lab, starlight filled the ground. Li Changshou's immortal consciousness focused on the group of Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals in the air who were stirring, seemingly eager to enter the array and experience it… Perhaps he should pack his valuables tonight and escape with his master and junior sister. Indeed, he should just escape. This Immortal Du Sect… he could barely stay here anymore!

Of course, this was just a joke; he had painstakingly managed Little Qiong Peak for so many years, and this was where he felt relatively safe. Just then, a wisp of immortal consciousness suddenly descended from the air, locking onto Li Changshou and gently disturbing his spirit. The disturbance was very slight; Li Changshou understood that this was an expert from within the sect waking him, yet fearing to disrupt his mental state… To be so considerate of a disciple was truly thoughtful.

Li Changshou opened his bewildered eyes, looking exactly like someone awakened from cultivation. The voice of Revered Master Forgetfulness then echoed in Li Changshou's ear: "Stop cultivating. Release those within the array. That Ao Yi has come to spar with you again. He is already at the Primordial Immortal Realm, and he might suppress his cultivation later to fight you. You don't need to force a victory, but you also shouldn't lose too quickly within your own immortal sect."

Li Changshou quickly rose, performed a Daoist bow towards the sky, and said, "This disciple obeys."

Suppress his cultivation to fight me? He quickly walked to the alchemy lab's entrance, pretending to look out. With resolve in his heart, he secretly made up his mind, clenching his fists! Time to show his hand!

The jade token gently turned, and a breeze swept through various parts of the forest; meanwhile, Li Changshou ascended on a cloud in front of the alchemy lab, slowly rising into the air, revealing his cultivation of the seventh stage of the Reversion to Void Realm without a doubt! It seemed this realm had just been broken through, and it was still a bit unstable…

In the air and in the forest, the elders, Jie Sect immortals, Jiuwu, Ao Yi, the two Jie Sect immortal maidens, and the old Heavenly Immortal all looked over simultaneously… From various parts of the immortal sect, it seemed countless gazes also fell upon Li Changshou. This made Li Changshou feel slightly uncomfortable, but he could only try his best to endure this wave.

Then, he heard Jiuwu hastily transmit a reminder: "You haven't hidden your cultivation!"

Li Changshou paused, gave Jiuwu a Daoist bow, and then said, taking the opportunity: "Li Changshou, a disciple of Little Qiong Peak, greets all elders, martial uncles, and esteemed seniors."