Chapter 77: Old Madam, Salutations

Master Wuging was truly formidable; his cultivation was profound, his divine abilities fierce, and he possessed numerous magic treasures. More importantly, he was also ruthless.

Master Wuging and the Qi refiner from Jin'ao Island had a sparring match outside the mountain-protecting array. The aftermath of their magical duel made the grand array sway back and forth, causing qi currents within several hundred miles to fluctuate wildly. Yet, several hundred miles outside the mountain gate, a Qi refiner of the Earth Immortal path, who had transformed into a tree stump, was still sound asleep, completely undisturbed. Li Changshou also felt considerable admiration for his master's composure and undisturbed focus.

This battle displayed Master Wuging's formidable aura and elegant style, providing Li Changshou with numerous insights into 'mid-tier immortal combat.' Excluding the sect master and the Grand Elders who were in perennial seclusion, Master Wuging could be considered the strongest combatant in the Duxian Sect. However, after cultivating for ten thousand years, Master Wuging still hadn't broken through to the Golden Immortal realm; even within the Eastern Divine Continent, he couldn't be called a true master.

Heavenly Immortals still had a limited lifespan. No matter how powerful their divine abilities or how many magic treasures they possessed, before the passage of time, they would inevitably turn to dust. Only Golden Immortals... Only achieving longevity... Only by relying on one's own Dao, protecting oneself, escaping the fate of birth, old age, sickness, and death, and living as long as heaven and earth, could one be considered to have taken the first step in the Primordial World. This was merely the first step; it only meant one had the qualification to be barely glanced at by a true master.

Li Changshou, who had been watching the battle by the lake, stood with his hands behind his back. He had gained some insights after watching the battle, but he quickly absorbed all of them, suppressed his realm, and did not break through immediately. This minor realm was not yet solid enough. Although the 'Wuwei Scripture' advocated following nature and achieving through inaction, this was mainly to teach cultivators not to forcefully pursue realms or cultivate impatiently. Li Changshou's pursuit of perfection in minor realms could be considered a slight deviation from the true meaning of the Wuwei Scripture, but it had no side effects.

With a gentle flick of his long sleeves, a wisp of breeze passed, and there was no longer any abnormality. Turning around, he found his junior sister was already gone. Li Changshou's immortal sense swept over, only to see Ling'e sitting in front of her dressing table, looking at the glazed mirror he had given her, admiring herself with a hint of self-pity.

"Such vanity," he muttered.

Li Changshou chuckled softly and turned to head for the alchemy chamber. He activated all the arrays around the alchemy chamber and placed several wooden plaques outside the grand array, each inscribed with a message: "If there's anything, please enter the array directly. I'm in seclusion consolidating my realm, and I will naturally sense your presence."

He once again sat cross-legged behind the alchemy furnace, holding the controlling jade token. Li Changshou made some calculations regarding potential future changes, but in the end, he could only shake his head helplessly. The entanglement of karma made precise calculations difficult. Just one move during his trip to the Northern Continent had led to a series of endless troubles later on. And because he went out to undergo tribulation, he made a second move, which resulted in the matter of the South Sea Sea God.

Oh, right, how much incense merit did he have now? Li Changshou sensed his merit power and vaguely saw a faint golden auspicious cloud appearing around his primordial spirit. After a quick calculation, Li Changshou felt a surge of qi reverse upwards, and he almost burst out cursing! It had only been a few years; how were there already over six hundred statues? Over six hundred villages, towns, and cities were performing useless Sea God worship? Was secular incense merit really that easy to obtain?!

He sensed it more carefully, then gritted his back teeth in exasperation. How despicable! That Bear Village was utterly unscrupulous! They weren't engaged in production; instead, the entire village proclaimed themselves envoys of the South Sea Sea God, parading their exaggerated muscles everywhere, promoting the South Sea Sea God's divine abilities, and amassing great wealth through this!

'Believe in the Sea God, gain great strength!'

What "great strength"?!

Li Changshou's mouth twitched, and he quickly pondered countermeasures. This couldn't continue to develop like this; otherwise, this Sea God cult would truly rise! For so many years, although the Western Sect hadn't come knocking, and he had also earned a lot of incense merit, it was absolutely a huge hidden danger!

But in this matter, what could he, the 'Sea God' in question, possibly do? He couldn't show his face; doing so would very likely make him a target. He had to stay far away from the South Sea region and remain in the Eastern Divine Continent, within the Duxian Sect, under the very nose of Saint Laozi.

Although the Duxian Sect had suffered several great misfortunes—for instance, when Elder Wan Linyun gained fame, it was because a sect immortal slew demons, which attracted a sneak attack by a host of demons on the Duxian Sect—and also when the Duxian Sect was first established, it once contended with other immortal sects for spiritual veins, leading to a great immortal sect war... Conflicts of this level, how would Saint Laozi care? Even True Man Du'e, the patriarch acknowledged by the Duxian Sect, didn't have much 'motivation' to appear. But if the Western Sect dared to send masters to the Duxian Sect because of the South Sea matter, then the masters of the Human Sect would definitely respond. This was a contention over the Saints' face, the nature of which was naturally different.

"I still need to pay more respects at the Hall of Hundred Mortals." But in the end, wasn't it because the Western Sect itself was ineffective? A group of people engaging in incense gathering, meticulously scheming, yet they couldn't even compete with a Sea God whose true form never appeared!

Li Changshou sighed, looking up, then felt a bit powerless to complain. If this matter really caused trouble in the future, then he could only say, "The one you're looking for is the South Sea Sea God; what does that have to do with me, Li Changshou, a disciple of the Duxian Sect?"

Closing his eyes and focusing his mind, his consciousness returned to his paper effigy. Li Changshou observed the surrounding environment of the market town for a while and quickly got busy. After finishing these elixirs and exchanging them for enough spiritual herbs and precious materials, he would go into seclusion in the mountains for twenty years! The matter of accumulating wealth could only be temporarily set aside. After all... Life was the most important.

***

"How do I deal with this? My appearance is already fixed..."

After Qi refiners broke through to the God Transformation realm, they could already influence changes in their appearance. Therefore, among the younger generation in the sect, most women had beautiful, jade-like faces, and most men weren't ugly or deformed. When one's cultivation was profound, it was also about 'appearance reflecting the heart'; but for Dao companions within the sect, or Qi refiners who had someone in their heart, they would carefully lock their appearance. Most men would maintain an appearance of being in their thirties, handsome and dashing, yet not lacking in maturity and steadiness. Women varied; if they cared about these things and felt when they were most beautiful, they would 'lock' their figure and face. As Ling'e knew, she herself, Qin Xuan'ya, Liu Yan'er, Martial Aunt Jiu, and several other familiar senior and junior sisters, had all locked down their appearance and figure for the long years to come...

This led to... It was now very difficult for Ling'e to age naturally. Although she knew it was difficult to enter her senior brother's heart, and becoming his beloved would require countless trials, she never expected—it would be this hard!

"What should I do now?" Ling'e sighed softly, thinking of the content on the scroll she had seen earlier, and pondered countermeasures in her heart. Soon, Ling'e sat up, took out her few pieces of makeup, resting her chin in her left hand, showing a pensive expression. She could only start from her makeup... Since her senior brother pursued excitement, then as his junior sister, she would see it through to the end! Only this way could she be considered her senior brother's junior sister!

***

Li Changshou returned from Linhai Town with a full harvest this time. Having decided to temporarily suspend his wealth accumulation plan, he focused on collecting precious materials for setting up grand arrays, reducing his accumulation of spiritual medicines and herbs. He couldn't have it all. In the current situation, the defense system of Little Qiong Peak was the top priority.

The paper effigy successfully slipped back from Linhai Town this time, its return path tracing a slanted figure-eight. When he found his master... beside that tree stump, he heard a rhythmic snoring. The paper effigy glanced at the detection stone, finding no one was probing the area, and then thoroughly searched the surroundings for a while; after confirming the area was safe, the paper effigy returned to the tree stump, swaying slightly and muttering 'smaller, smaller, smaller,' transforming back into its original form: a thick paper figure. The paper figure, carrying its bulging backpack, lifted the square box over its head, ran to the tree stump, let out a "Heya!" and threw the box, gently hitting the tree stump.

"Hmm?" The soundly sleeping tree stump immediately transformed into a puff of smoke. Old Daoist Qiyuan stretched and emerged from it, seeing the square box at his feet.

"Master, the box is back."

"It's already done?" Qiyuan said with a smile, tucked the box into his sleeve, and headed towards the mountain gate.

Li Changshou's consciousness immediately returned to his main body, constantly transmitting messages to his master, recounting what had happened earlier: that is, the Qi refiner from Jin'ao Island had come to the sect for a Dao discussion, and he had won a sparring match against Ao Yi. Qiyuan listened with regret, saying he had missed such a lively event.

"Master, there's no hurry about going out later," Li Changshou instructed. "Master, please focus on your seclusion and cultivation from now on, and try to avoid going out. In the previous Dao discussion, the Jie Sect disciples fought three battles in total, all of which they lost to Master Wuging and this disciple. I'm afraid there might be further trouble."

Qiyuan glanced at the mountain gate, now visible in the distance, and muttered softly, "What trouble could there be? The Jie Sect wouldn't bother with such a small matter and conflict with our Human Sect's lineage."

Li Changshou transmitted a message, saying, "It's not that I fear the Jie Sect, but that I'm afraid someone might use this matter to stir up trouble. Nowadays, friction between the Jie and Chan Sects is increasing daily; perhaps someone intends to..."

"Intends what?"

"To borrow a knife and kill someone."

Old Daoist Qiyuan couldn't help but shiver and muttered again, "Changshou, should we inform the sect about this?"

Li Changshou transmitted a message, "Master, we are of little importance and have little influence; for prudence's sake, it's better to wait and see. Moreover, with so many experts in the sect, how could they not think of what your disciple can think of?"

"You're right." Qiyuan thought about it, and indeed, it made sense.

Li Changshou, who was meditating in the alchemy chamber, sensed with his immortal consciousness that his junior sister was about to enter the array, and continued to transmit a message to his master, instructing, "Master, let's discuss this matter when you return; your disciple has one more thing to report to you." After saying that, Li Changshou closed the outer array of the alchemy chamber, letting Ling'e in; but his immortal consciousness kept watching his master until he entered the mountain gate, only then did he slightly relax. His master's shallow cultivation made him constantly worried when he went out.

Li Changshou sat there, carefully calculating whether the matter of Ao Yi and his group coming to the sect for a Dao discussion would ultimately be exploited by others. He only noticed the subsequent impact of this matter after hearing many people discuss it in Linhai Town; of course, those who discussed it all spoke of how formidable Master Wuging was; no one mentioned the young disciple who liked to ambush with earth evasion. This made Li Changshou quite satisfied.

Li Changshou had always felt that among the many factors contributing to the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, the Western Sect accounted for a considerable proportion. Because looking at the outcome of the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, the Western Sect seemed to have gained too many benefits: converting people, snatching treasures, grabbing pets... So, the slight conflicts between the three sects that arose after the Three Pure Ones split, which had always been amplified and caused friction, could they also be part of the two Western Saints' schemes? This question...

"Senior Brother~" A sweet, delicate call suddenly came from outside the door. His junior sister was here again, always doing something pointless every once in a while.

Li Changshou looked in the direction of the voice and immediately saw Ling'e in front of the alchemy chamber, raising her left hand, using the wide sleeve of her long dress to cover her face, as she slowly entered.

"Junior Sister, I'm thinking about serious matters, what's wrong with you?" Li Changshou chuckled. "Did a hundred-venom bee sting your face?"

"Senior Brother, you're annoying!" Ling'e lightly rebuked him, then, with a shy and timid demeanor, lowered the sleeve covering her face, revealing... revealing... a heavily made-up face, with many paper pieces pasted on to form wrinkles... an old face.

Ling'e watched her senior brother's stunned expression, smiled smugly to herself, bowed gracefully forward, and intentionally deepened her voice, saying, "This old one greets you."

Li Changshou opened his mouth, unable to move from his meditation cushion; his entire being seemed petrified.

***

In the South Sea, on a desolate island just a hundred miles from the mainland, three Daoists were trembling as they knelt on the reef, their faces ashen.

Buzz—

A faint buzzing sound became increasingly clear amidst the waves. All three were True Immortals in cultivation, but cold sweat incessantly dripped from their foreheads. Suddenly, an array appeared out of thin air here. Wisps of gray qi drifted all around, and the surroundings grew dark and gloomy. Streaks of blood-red light gathered to the side, forming a graceful figure in a blood-red dress. This woman was alluringly beautiful, almost bewitching; her manifested form was too dazzling, and her figure was somewhat exaggerated. She wore only this blood-red robe and walked barefoot to stand before the three Daoists.

She extended a slender finger, touched it to one person's forehead, simply closed her eyes and lightly inhaled, as a streak of blood-red light flashed across her enchanting face... That True Immortal let out no cry of agony, instantly turned to ashes and dispersed with the wind. The woman let out a soft hum from her nose, admiring her slender fingers, and spoke in a slightly hoarse yet alluring voice: "This taste is truly awful. I told you to search for the true form of that so-called Sea God in the South Sea, yet you merely knelt here begging for my mercy. What, do you think I won't eat if I'm not hungry?"

The remaining two Daoists immediately lowered their heads, trembling all over, not even daring to breathe loudly.