Having been away for several days, there shouldn't be any trouble back at the mountain, right?
On the way back to the Du Xian Sect, Li Changshou quietly pondered the situation.
Master should still be drinking on one of the other peaks. He'd already reminded Junior Sister to stay put and cultivate diligently.
The most likely source of trouble would be someone venturing to Xiaoqiong Peak and accidentally wandering into the formations around the pill chamber. Although the trapping and maze formations lacked direct lethal force, lingering in them for too long could easily destabilize one's mental state and give birth to heart demons...
However, after nearly driving Martial Uncle Jiu Wu mad last time, Li Changshou had made some minor modifications to his interconnected formations.
He'd left a "reception route" for guests.
If the intruder was an enemy, driving them mad or killing them outright would be fine. But the sect had its mountain-protecting grand array—how would ordinary enemies slip in?
Under normal circumstances, anyone who stumbled into the formations would likely be fellow disciples with peculiar motives. Killing or driving them mad wouldn't be appropriate.
So Li Changshou had placed guide signs along a dead-end path, leading intruders to a comfortable, cozy environment to temporarily keep them at ease.
This way, he could avoid embarrassing situations later, prevent them from wandering around, and give himself ample time to make other arrangements.
Moreover, if he accidentally trapped a True Immortal who kept attacking the surroundings, they might trigger the hidden lethal formations...
Whether the intruder lived or died was none of his concern, but if the sect held him accountable for unauthorized formation construction, that would be genuinely troublesome.
The surface formations served to keep others away from the pill chamber. Adding a "reception room" within would neatly address both critical issues.
This was a necessary measure Li Changshou had adopted after careful deliberation.
Besides, he'd even borrowed his master's name—the guide signs were written in a script imitating his master's handwriting.
After all, his master was the peak lord, while he was merely the eldest disciple of Xiaoqiong Peak.
*'Almost home.'*
Li Changshou's gaze swept over the mountains passing in the distance, calculating the remaining journey.
Once he returned, he'd continue suppressing his cultivation and contemplate the Threefold True Flame.
At his current minor realm, if he pushed himself to suppress his natural breakthrough speed, he could hold out for another two years or so.
Two years—just barely enough to cultivate the Threefold True Flame to the beginner stage.
And his next outing would be his formal tribulation crossing.
Speaking of which, how should he explain the pill chamber and its surrounding interconnected formations to his master? If his master asked how he'd set them up, should he reveal some of his hidden abilities?
He naturally trusted his master, but if his master spilled the truth after drinking...
Never mind. His master and junior sister were the two people closest to him. Their "access level" and treatment should be equal.
He'd talk to his master when he got back, letting his master know him to the same degree his junior sister did.
As he neared the mountain gate, the night breeze was unexpectedly warm.
...
By the time they returned to the Du Xian Sect's mountain gate, the moon was bright and the stars sparse—midnight.
The group dispersed in front of Baifan Hall. Li Changshou also bid farewell to Martial Aunt Jiu Jiu and drifted toward Xiaoqiong Peak on his cloud.
Youqin Xuanya clearly wanted to say a few words to Li Changshou, but the moment she landed, several martial uncles called her into Baifan Hall, leaving her no chance to break free.
Li Changshou slipped away unnoticed. They said joy brought vitality—he'd reaped rich rewards these past few days.
But when Li Changshou recalled his trip to the East Sea, his expression quickly darkened...
He still wasn't sure why that Dragon Prince had chosen him to step outside the boundary.
To avoid running into that unpredictable Ao Yi again in the future, he'd have to keep his distance from these ancient nobles.
Xiaoqiong Peak was quiet. From a distance, Li Changshou noticed that both his junior sister and master were absent from their respective huts. His spiritual sense swept through the grand array, and he immediately spotted them—trapped at the edge of the formations...
How had they both gotten trapped together?
Master had been in seclusion and unaware of the rear formations, and Ling'e had been a spectator during construction. How did they both end up inside?
Could they have found the scenery nice and gone in together to drink tea and watch the stars?
Li Changshou drifted over on his cloud. Rather than immediately releasing them, he first inspected the formations inside and out. Only then did he produce the jade control token and deactivate the outer trapping array.
A gentle breeze stirred the white mist drifting through the forest. Some of the dense undergrowth had also thinned.
Ling'e immediately cheered: "Master! Senior Brother is back!"
"Ah, I see him."
"You brat—Li Changshou!"
"Get over here and accept your punishment!"
Li Changshou, still descending from the air, blinked. He caught a whiff of something unusual.
The moment he landed, his master's fly whisk snapped toward him.
After ascending to Muddy Immortal, Elder Qi Yuan's strength had truly leaped forward. The fly whisk instantly transformed into a sky-spanning white net. Had Li Changshou not exercised extreme restraint, his instincts would have sent him fleeing instantly!
The white net descended. Li Changshou was bound tight by the fly whisk.
Ling'e immediately pounced from the side with a feeble tiger's leap. Li Changshou compliantly allowed himself to be knocked over by his junior sister...
Several cries of pain and laughter echoed through the woods.
But this "lesson" for her senior brother wasn't as intense as Ling'e had imagined.
Her completely unresisting senior brother and the master watching the entire battle left her at a loss.
She was only the junior sister. Without her master demonstrating, she couldn't actually hit her senior brother...
Looking up, Ling'e suddenly met her senior brother's slightly warning gaze.
*'Hmph!'*
Her heart hardened. She raised her fair hand, brought it down fiercely, but stopped just before contact...
In the end, that slender hand simply landed on the spot where her senior brother had been hit by their master several times. Remembering how it had been bruised here repeatedly, she couldn't help but gently...
Rub it.
"Uh, Ling'e has really grown up."
Li Changshou wore a face of gratification laced with a hint of helplessness, lecturing earnestly:
"A young lady must always be reserved."
"Lust is one thing, fetishes are another. Your senior brother understands—you are of age, after all."
"But as a Qi Refiner, you must still restrain the impulses in your heart. What if a heart demon grows from this? Wouldn't you say?"
"No! I wasn't—"
Ling'e's fair face flushed crimson. She panicked and glanced at her master, only to find him frowning at her with an expression that was halfway between speechless and mortified.
"I was just—Stinking Senior Brother! You're bullying me! Argh!"
"A gentleman uses his hands, not his teeth. Why are you resorting to such vicious bites?"
"Hmph! I can't out-talk you, but I can certainly out-bite you!"
"Master, aren't going to do something about Junior Sister? How will she ever get married like this?"
"Mind your own business! I'll rot on Xiaoqiong Peak for all I care!"
In the forest, Elder Qi Yuan had at some point turned and departed. A faint smile lingered at the corner of the old Taoist's lips as he drifted leisurely back to his hut.
Not long after, Li Changshou emerged from the woods with grass in his hair and his clothes in disarray. Looking at the several bite marks on his arm, he truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Junior Sister was a rabbit—that was now proven beyond doubt.
Behind him, Ling'e's face was bright red, but she pretended to be casually stargazing.
Before the hut, Elder Qi Yuan's voice transmission reached both their ears:
"Starting today, your master will enter seclusion to comprehend the cultivation methods of the Muddy Immortal path. All matters on Xiaoqiong Peak will be handled by you, Changshou. If anything important comes up, you may come discuss it with your master at any time."
"Ling'e, you still need to mind your conduct. Show proper respect to your senior brother."
Blue Ling'e immediately replied in a voice barely audible: "Yes—yes, Master..."
Shortly after, layer upon layer of formations lit up around Elder Qi Yuan's hut, isolating it from the outside world.
Li Changshou turned around, his gaze carrying deeper meaning. "You told Master?"
Blue Ling'e instantly wilted, stammering: "This—I mean... well... just a little bit..."
"Just a little bit? Or a billion little bits?"
"Definitely just a little bit!"
Li Changshou put on a stern face. "Come inside."
Blue Ling'e's body trembled slightly. Her small face collapsed, instantly switching to the verge-of-tears mode. After entering her hut, she grabbed a cushion, knelt with legs together, hung her head, and feigned crying—all in one smooth sequence.
Casually activating the surrounding formations, Li Changshou spoke flatly: "Tell me. What exactly did you confess to Master?"
"Senior Brother, it was really Master who forced me..."
A few black lines appeared on Li Changshou's forehead. If anyone else overheard this, they might think some tragic familial incident had occurred on Xiaoqiong Peak.
Speaking of which, should he add a "Martial Aunt-in-law" option to his master's retirement plans?
That could be considered.
As for his junior sister's evasive hints about what she'd revealed to Master, Li Changshou wasn't particularly concerned.
After all, what his junior sister knew was limited.
Given his understanding of little Ling'e's personality, he'd long had a premonition about today's situation.
...
Late at night, with the world quiet, the formations around the pill chamber were fully activated. Li Changshou casually refined a batch of pills in the furnace, had a paper incarnation guard them, and his true body appeared in the underground chamber.
Peace at last.
He took out three jade slips and played with them for a moment, putting away the Thunder Law and the Wuwei Scripture. He then forcibly imprinted the Threefold True Flame cultivation method into his mind before sitting there, slightly lost in thought.
The Investiture of the Gods...
Although secretly cultivating to the level of a Golden Immortal within the sect would be the ideal state, it required vast accumulation over long ages.
And the Du Xian Sect, as one of the Three Teachings sects, would likely be drawn into the Investiture of the Gods.
The Investiture of the Gods wasn't merely the earthly tale of King Wu's campaign against King Zhou in the Southern Continent—it was a catastrophe involving the Three Realms, targeting all disciples of the Three Teachings.
The stronger Central Shenzhou was now, the more devastatingly it would be destroyed when the time came. The immortal sects of E Sheng Shen Zhou would likely not escape unscathed either.
But Li Changshou was not without ways to avoid this catastrophe.
Quite simple—get on board in advance.
The Investiture of the Gods was actually the process by which the Jade Emperor of the Heavenly Court established his dominion over Heaven and Earth. Its nominal cause was the Jade Emperor Haotian going to the Patriarch of the Dao to complain that the Three Teachings' disciples were insolent and powerful, refusing to obey the Heavenly Court's commands. He felt that his position as sovereign of the Three Realms was hollow, that he had no dignity as a man, that he couldn't even hold his head up before the Queen Mother, his senior martial sister, that his masculine vigor had collapsed completely...
Ahem—tangent.
From the results of the Investiture, the Three Teachings' disciples were appointed as gods in the Heavenly Court, the Sages no longer manifested actively in the mortal world, and the foundation for the Heavenly Court's governance of the Three Realms was laid.
So, as long as he infiltrated the Heavenly Court in advance, becoming a founding member during its difficult early days—he needn't take a high position, just hide his cultivation and serve as a minor official—the goal being to have his name on the Heavenly Court's immortal registry.
When the Investiture of the Gods descended, he would already be in the Heavenly Court's registry, unrelated to this catastrophe. Why would the Investiture fall upon him again?
Re-register all the gods and immortals already in the Heavenly Court? That defied both reason and principle.
After the Investiture, the gathered immortals and gods would take up posts in the Heavenly Court. By then, with the court brimming with talent, he could ride the wave, leverage his position to retire, gain the credentials of a Heavenly Court founding member, and return to the mountains for peaceful cultivation.
What wasn't to like about that?
Li Changshou's fingers tapped the table as he carefully considered the specifics of his plan.
To obtain Heavenly Court registration, it had to be before the Jade Emperor went to the Patriarch of the Dao. There should be plenty of time left. Having his master become a Local Deity was also a critical step—it would save him from much scheming.
It all depended on whether his master was willing.
Though Local Deities were minor and numerous, their authority was slight, but they were at least blessed virtuous gods...
Perhaps his master the Local Deity could even find... a Local Goddess.