Chapter 43 Thick-Skinned
The azure sea with its white clouds drifting leisurely. Just like when they came to the Eastern Sea, a huge white cloud carried sixteen true immortals and eleven disciples, with several celestial beings guarding in the four directions above, drifting towards the northwest mountain gate. They were the first to leave, leaving a large swath of white clouds behind them, the cloud path spacious and not crowded at all. This was the third day after the battle between Li Changshou and Ao Yi's "madness," and the Demon Expulsion Conference had successfully concluded; The "fake" leader Li Changshou sat in the corner, now considered to have retired with honor, and no one paid attention to him anymore. The "real" leader Qin Xuanya, because of her outstanding performance at the conference, had gained fame far and wide, defeating thirty-six Qi Refiners and four Dragon Clan juniors in a row, and was now being protected in the center of the white cloud by numerous stars. Qin's opponents that day, along with the four Dragon Clan juniors, totaled seven or eight people at the First or Second Stage of the Dao-Returning Realm, while she relied solely on her Eighth Stage of Dao-Reversion cultivation, her perseverance, and the superb techniques she had accumulated through hard work; As well as the flying sword in her hand, which was much more powerful and of higher quality than ordinary immortal treasures, she went through one battle after another, gradually overcoming these obstacles... The driving force that kept her going was not the four immortal treasures thrown out by the Dragon Palace; In the eyes of the public, she placed those four immortal treasures in front of her senior brother who had been "bullied by the Dragon Clan" before, then returned to her seat and sat down cross-legged, essentially giving everyone a clear answer— We're not fighting for treasures, but for dignity! The disciples of my Dao School are not to be trifled with! My fellow senior brothers are not to be bullied by just anyone! At that time, several emotional female senior uncles and senior brothers had tears in their eyes. If Li Changshou hadn't been implicated in this matter, he would have surely given Qin Xuanya a thumbs up and said, "Cool." But he was the one who had been "bullied by the Dragon Clan," protected by his junior sister behind him, and ended up getting four immortal treasures for nothing... That was quite awkward. Those four immortal treasures were like hot potatoes. Fortunately, Li Changshou reacted in time and entrusted them to his fellow disciple Jiujiu, who belonged to the Broken Sky Peak, to temporarily take care of them. After returning to the mountain, they would be handed over to Qin Xuanya's senior uncle, Jiang Jingshan. This was considered handled properly, and there were no further troubles. However, being protected and having someone stand up for oneself felt a little strange... During this trip to the Eastern Sea, Li Changshou also gained something. In the past two days, he had widened his thoughts on combat through battles with his peers; These Qi Refiners came from different Dao Schools, each specializing in different techniques, although they all focused on the Five Elements Yin and Yang Dao, their techniques varied greatly and were quite complex. Watching from the sidelines for two days, Li Changshou had learned some very useful "tricks," enriching the tactical system of paper figures. Expanding knowledge and broadening horizons was also a form of cultivation. Because of Qin Xuanya's outbreak, the Dao School became the biggest winner of this conference, not only taking away a third of the treasures but also boosting the sect's prestige to some extent. At the next ceremony to accept disciples, they might recruit a few more talented individuals because of this... After Qin Xuanya left, although Li Changshou's peers each took the stage, the best result was only seven consecutive victories. The senior brother who said he wanted to vent his anger for Li Changshou also only won four out of four battles and didn't get to see the remaining juvenile dragon masters. Just as Jiujie, who had just returned to her usual obedient old fairy demeanor, received a transmission from above; She quickly flew up into the air and went to the side of her master, Forgetful Immortal. Soon, Jiujie flew back down from the air, her face full of smiles. She landed back on the white cloud where everyone was located and placed a pill next to Qin Xuanya; Qin Xuanya had overextended herself before, and since the battle two days ago, she had been meditating and practicing cultivation. Then Jiujie walked up to Li Changshou, tilted her head to look at him, and muttered, "Strange, why did my master praise you with two more words than he did for Xuanya?" Li Changshou couldn't help but feel nervous. Did Forgetful Immortal see through his true cultivation level? No, if that were the case, the master would have criticized him for not contributing to the sect's glory instead of praising him for no reason... "Here, this is for you. It's a reward from my master, not included in the sect's rewards." Jiujie threw a jade token over and then sat cross-legged three feet away from Li Changshou. Several disciples perked up their ears to listen. Qin Xuanya receiving a reward from Forgetful Immortal was natural, but Li Changshou's performance was only one battle and a loss, so why would he receive a reward? In that jade token, there should be some kind of high-level immortal technique, after all, it was a reward given privately by Forgetful Immortal... Jiujie squinted her eyes, pretending to be serious, cleared her throat, and said: "My master said that you handled yourself very well when facing the Dragon Palace's prince. That Dragon Palace Second Prince is full of bad intentions, probably wanting you to injure him severely and lose to you on purpose, then use it as an excuse for the Dragon Palace to make trouble for our Dao School. My master said that if you hadn't seen through it early, used the tactic of suspecting the enemy, and surrendered before him, we might not have been able to return to the mountain gate on this trip. My master also said that Fifth Senior Brother mentioned you to him several times, saying that you are meticulous in your thoughts, cautious in your actions, and very reliable in handling things. This time, letting you lead the disciples, it's really the right choice." A heavy stone in Li Changshou's heart fell instantly. Forgetful Immortal actually... Saw through the entire conspiracy of the Dragon Palace! Indeed, the perspective and vision of the celestial beings were vastly different from those of small fry like them! Although Li Changshou had previously speculated through careful analysis that the Dragon Palace prince wanted to humiliate the Dragon Palace and thus reverse the current bad reputation of the Dragon Palace... He didn't expect there to be such logic behind it, such a malicious calculation! Li Changshou immediately reflected that he had never stood at a high enough level. From the beginning, he had prejudged that the Dragon Palace would not dare to directly confront the Three Teachings and Nine Schools, at most, they would let Ao Yi kill an unimportant disciple to vent his anger. Hmm? Thinking about it carefully, Forgetful Immortal's logic seemed to have many flaws. Well, forget it. From the current results, Forgetful Immortal's analysis was quite advantageous for him. This master... Is really commendable! Very warm! Very considerate! Several disciples seemed to suddenly realize, while most of the true immortals had expressions as if they had known this all along, casting appreciative glances at Li Changshou. Getting another wave of goodwill for no reason... That was still better than resentment. After returning to the mountain gate, there would probably be quite a rich reward, although Li Changshou had already obtained the Inaction Scripture in advance... Li Changshou glanced down at the jade token and found that it contained a profound thunder technique, the "Luotian Yang Lei True Secret." After a brief thought, Li Changshou whispered a few words to Jiujie beside him and handed the jade token back. Jiujie looked at Li Changshou in shock. As an immortal who had been cultivating for almost a thousand years, she had never heard of such absurd behavior! When the elders in the sect bestowed treasures, the juniors actually had the audacity to be picky and even asked her to inquire if it could be exchanged for the "Three Samadhi True Flames" cultivation method, which would be more helpful for alchemy! Li Changshou naturally knew that this was somewhat inappropriate, but firstly, he had the relationship with Jiujie, and secondly, he indeed had a hard need for the Three Samadhi True Flames. If he could obtain the Three Samadhi True Flames, his strength would soar... For this, he could only brazenly ask for it. "Really, I'm going to be scolded to death by my master!" Jiujie rolled her eyes and took back the jade token, then flew into the air angrily, but halfway through, she reverted to her usual obedient appearance. Soon, Jiujie successfully returned, wrapped two jade tokens in a handkerchief, and secretly threw them to Li Changshou when no one was paying attention. The "Luotian Yang Lei True Secret" that Forgetful Immortal had given him was not taken back; And the new jade token contained a cultivation method similar in grade to this thunder technique, beginning with four big characters— Three Samadhi True Flames! After reading a few sentences of the introductory explanation, Li Changshou felt a sense of satisfaction in his heart. Finally got it, this trip was not in vain. Perhaps, this incident would leave some negative impressions of greed and dissatisfaction with him in Forgetful Immortal's mind. But it was worth it! After returning to the mountain, he would focus on cultivating on Xiaoqiong Peak. Ignoring the outside world and focusing solely on studying the True Fire Scripture! The Three Samadhi True Flames were not only used for harming enemies; This was a relatively widely circulated type of true fire in the Dao Sect, known for its great power and relatively low cultivation threshold, but obtaining the cultivation technique for the Three Samadhi True Flames was quite difficult. Once the Three Samadhi True Flames were mastered, according to the method recorded in an ancient book, he could use them to strengthen his soul and Dao body, giving himself a better chance of facing the Heavenly Tribulation! In the future, he only needed to leave the mountain once more— To transcend the Heavenly Tribulation! If he could successfully overcome the Heavenly Tribulation, he could quietly seek immortality in the mountains in the future! Feeding fish, raising flowers, refining pills, studying formations, when bored, he could play with his little junior sister, and when he had nothing to do, he could even do some ideological work for a certain candidate for a Heavenly Court civil servant... This was probably the life he longed for at this stage. Would there be trouble coming out of nowhere? Li Changshou glanced at Qin Xuanya, who was being closely guarded at the moment, and couldn't help but smile slightly. After the poisonous junior sister returned to the mountain, she would probably receive the highest attention from the sect; this kind of attention would, to some extent, also become a shackle restricting her activities. As long as he could handle Jiawu, trouble would surely have no way to find him. Xiaoqiong Peak would also return to its former tranquility! As for Jiujiu Senior Uncle, it was actually a good thing that she often came over. This way, any special pills produced after he became an immortal, or powerful formations arranged, could be attributed to Senior Uncle's help... "What are you thinking?" Jiujie transmitted her voice from the side and muttered, "You look like you're up to no good." Li Changshou smiled and nodded, taking out a fifth-grade magic cube and handing it to Jiujie. Jiujie looked at the dazzling array of colors on the cube and her forehead was covered in black lines. She quickly meditated and practiced cultivation, a rare display of seriousness. ... In the depths of the Eastern Sea, in the heavily guarded Dragon Palace guarded by countless shrimp soldiers and crab generals, there was a crystal palace covered by a large array on the seabed. Inside the main hall, the music and dance continued without stopping, celebrating the successful conclusion of the Demon Expulsion Conference; The most outstanding young disciples from the various immortal sects of Dongsheng Shenzhou fought over the few treasures thrown out by their Dragon Palace, which made the experts of the Dragon Palace quite pleased. The Dragon King sat on the throne made of crystal coral, leaning back as if he were drunk, with several charming sea nymphs gently fanning him, patting his shoulders, massaging his back, and rubbing his dragon legs... The life of a dragon was so boring, comfortable, and dull. The civil and military officials of the Dragon Palace pushed their cups and exchanged cups, speaking joyfully about the fights they had witnessed between the human disciples, their conversations full of laughter. Outside the main hall, the young dragons of the Dragon Clan, who had just awakened half a day ago, had firm gazes as they ascended the steps. He, Ao Yi, the Second Prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, was about to do another... big thing!