Chapter 84: Longevity, What Do You Say We Do?
At this moment, Li Changshou was feeling extremely fortunate...
Thank goodness he came with Elder Wan Linyin...
If he had been a bit slower to react, that old man would have charged straight in, confronting that group of big guys head-on!
They were currently about two thousand five hundred miles away from the Gate of Ascension, which was essentially at the border of the 'territory' nominally belonging to the Gate of Ascension.
According to the customs of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, the resources and spiritual veins within two thousand miles of the Gate of Ascension belonged to the Gate of Ascension.
At this delicate distance, the other party intentionally set up such sophisticated concealment and camouflage arrays, still undetectable by the Gate of Ascension...
The actions of those inside were already suspicious!
But going in guns blazing seemed a bit too domineering just because of that.
However...
When Elder Wan Linyin took out a treasure that looked like a Taiji Yin Yang double fish, grabbed Li Changshou's paper puppet incarnation, and silently infiltrated the array underground...
If Li Changshou hadn't reacted quickly for the second time, restraining this late-stage Heavenly Immortal realm Poison Immortal, Wan Linyin would have undoubtedly burst out and roared, "Evil creatures, seek death!"
There was no other reason than the rolling demonic energy and the accumulation of karma within.
Inside the array, there were actually dozens of big demons, ranging from the True Immortal realm to the Heavenly Immortal realm!
In addition to that, there were over a hundred figures, most of them in the True Immortal realm, with over ten Heavenly Immortals among them...
Wan Linyin turned his head and glared at Li Changshou. Just as he was about to communicate via sound transmission, Li Changshou gestured for silence.
He took out two jade pendants and handed one to Wan Linyin.
Part of the "Heart Voice Jade" series.
Holding these pendants, the two could communicate mentally without any fluctuations in immortal energy, mana, vitality, or air, making it extremely covert.
The downside was that they couldn't stray too far from each other.
Li Changshou mentally transmitted, "Elder, you can just think of what you want to say in your mind, and I'll hear it."
"Oh! Changshou, why are you stopping me!"
Wan Linyin gritted his teeth and thought, "Wait for me to annihilate these big demons, and kill these scum who consort with evil demons!"
"Elder, don't be hasty, don't be hasty...
Calm down, impulsiveness is a demon!"
Li Changshou hurriedly said, "Elder, could you inform me of how you plan to eliminate these big demons?"
"Of course, with divine abilities and poison pills!"
"Are you going to charge in directly?"
"In matters of ambush, one must first strike swiftly, instantly crushing one or two of their stronger ones!"
Probably feeling that the other party hadn't detected them yet, Wan Linyin calmed down at this moment and instructed Li Changshou:
"In such a situation, Changshou, you must not act impulsively in the future. Being trapped in an encirclement will be dangerous for you.
But I'm not afraid!
The closer they get to me, the more effective my poison pills will be!"
Li Changshou mentally transmitted, "But Elder, think about it. If you're injured or damaged here, what will we do?
There are many of them, and we've only roughly sensed their cultivation levels. If there are Golden Immortals hiding here, deliberately luring us in, that's one issue..."
Wan Linyin frowned, his usually solemn face showing a hint of contemplation.
What Changshou said made sense.
Li Changshou continued to persuade:
"Elder, you will definitely show your might later. With the divine abilities you've taught me and your tens of thousands of years of accumulated poison pills, wiping out these enemies here is completely within your capability.
But what if they see the situation is unfavorable and scatter, leaving behind hidden dangers for the sect?
That's another issue."
"True," Elder Wan Linyin agreed.
Li Changshou added:
"Looking around here, although there are many Heavenly Immortals, humans, demons, and spirits are all present.
Elder, look at how they're arranged. Humans, demons, and spirits are mixed together, but there's no interaction between them.
Under normal circumstances, shouldn't humans be closer to humans and demons closer to demons?
Take another look!
Those two big demons covered in blue fur, their auras are similar and mixed. They must have been together for a long time, either as brothers or husband and wife, or maybe they're just...
Ahem, but right now they're separated by a hundred feet...
Think about it carefully, there must be something unusual here.
It's very likely that the humans, demons, and spirits here have been possessed by someone else!
Just like those Qi Refiners who attacked Senior Master Jiuwu and others outside the Golden Palace, they were just puppets!
That's the fourth point..."
Wan Linyin squinted his eyes, nodded slowly, and looked somewhat embarrassed.
This old man silently thought to himself, "It's a good thing Changshou came with me, otherwise, it might have turned into a big mistake!"
Li Changshou mentally chuckled, "Elder, you're devoted to alchemy and have a righteous heart, so you naturally wouldn't think of wickedness. It's normal not to think in that direction.
I've just been thinking about these things all along, worried that such a situation might occur, and it turns out it really did..."
"Alas, Changshou, what do you think we should do?"
Li Changshou secretly breathed a sigh of relief...
Finally convinced him.
Li Changshou asked in his mind, "Elder, have you ever refined drugs or poison pills that are mild and not easily detected for a period of time?"
"Of course, why do you ask for such items?"
Wan Linyin's old eyes showed a hint of confusion, "Can't we just use the strongest poison directly?"
"If we directly release a poisonous mist here, these enemies will immediately react and scatter.
It's like throwing a rabbit onto a hot pot lid, it will jump out immediately;
But if the lid of the pot heats up slowly and the rabbit faints first, it will be roasted without realizing it..."
The elderly Wanlin Yun's eyes lit up, and he gave Li Changshou a trademark smirk, thinking to himself, "So it is."
The elder pulled out seven or eight porcelain bottles from his ring and whispered, "This stuff can intoxicate the celestial spirit and numb the body, it's called the Soul-Intoxicating Powder."
Li Changshou blinked, "Could it be that this pill is also one of your formulas, Elder?"
"Correct," Elder Wanlin Yun smirked again, "I came up with it when I had nothing else to do. After all, some poison pills are too fierce. But this one is complex to refine, so it wasn't included in the poison manual I gave you before. I'll teach it to you when we get back."
Li Changshou exclaimed, "Elder, I already obtained the formula in the outer hall. It was recorded in a damaged jade slip. I never expected it to be such a precious pill created by you."
"Hehe... Keep these for self-defense. I forgot about them earlier. They're just sedatives, suitable for your protection," Elder Wanlin Yun said as he handed the bottles to Li Changshou. Worried that Li Changshou might refuse, he immediately took out more than ten bottles from his ring.
The stockpile of poison pills by this poison master made Li Changshou a bit envious. This was his foundation! And the fact that this poison master Elder was so generous truly impressed Li Changshou. It just so happened that he was ready to receive!
"Wanlin, can I take action now?" Elder Wanlin Yun asked eagerly.
Li Changshou continued inwardly, "Elder, from what I've observed here, this is likely just the vanguard of the enemy. If they're planning to attack our mountain gate, they certainly won't have only this level of experts. It's best not to let a single one of them escape."
"So, Changshou, how should we use these sedatives to keep these thieves all here?" Elder Wanlin Yun inquired.
"You envelop them with your celestial power, permeating the entire array from underground, then let the sedatives seep out slowly from below... Keep two bottles for self-defense, Elder. You can use the rest to eliminate the enemies," Li Changshou advised.
"No need, I've made plenty of these. I intended to use them to trap the enemy rather than kill them," Elder Wanlin Yun replied, revealing that same smile again. What he admired most was Li Changshou's willingness to share his findings rather than keep them to himself...
Following Li Changshou's instructions, Elder Wanlin Yun used eighteen bottles of Soul-Intoxicating Powder, infusing them with strands of celestial power and sending them to the exact location where each hiding figure was. Then he allowed the sedatives to slowly diffuse.
Li Changshou still wasn't at ease, continuously reminding inwardly, "Elder, give those demons a bit more dosage. Their resistance to toxins is stronger than ours."
"Elder, be careful. The fluctuations in celestial power might startle them."
"Elder, pay special attention to those in the trees."
Half an hour later...
Inside the array, it was quiet. Several figures fell from the trees like sandbags, crashing onto the ground.
Underground, Elder Wanlin Yun couldn't help but admire. He was about to rush out to finish off these people.
"Elder!" Li Changshou quickly grabbed the elder and said, "Why do we have to go out now? What if someone pretends to be knocked out to lure us out, falling into their trap?"
"Hmm, Changshou has a point. What should we do next?" Elder Wanlin Yun pondered.
Li Changshou thought to himself, "We'll use the same method to release more poison outside... but this time, it must be stronger and more lethal, leaving no room for them to retaliate. We also need to consider that they might break free from the sedatives at the moment of life and death, with their souls leaving their bodies or their demon spirits escaping..."
As he spoke, Elder Wanlin Yun nodded in agreement.
At this moment, the elder's eyes were full of kindness and gentleness. Earlier, Elder Wanlin Yun had worried... worried that Li Changshou's cultivation was too shallow to make effective use of the poison pills, wasting these hard-to-refine elixirs. But today's events made Elder Wanlin Yun realize... this disciple was even more compatible with his poison path than he himself was!
After a few more instructions from Li Changshou, he said, "If you have doubts, you can kill those big demons first. I have the Soul-Reaping Bead, which can search for their fragmented memories to determine their origins. If these human cultivators need to be killed, we can do that later. Anyway, demons can be killed directly."
"Alright!" Elder Wanlin Yun agreed and decided to go all out. Then, following Li Changshou's instructions, the elderly, with a clear and thin face, raised his bronze staff underground and aimed it upwards. Strands of thick green poison mist spread across the land, infiltrating the bodies of the already sedated big demons...
Before long, these demons started trembling violently. Initially, Li Changshou was somewhat worried. After all, he didn't personally handle this, and without a formation to suppress them, there might have been a delay, and they might have lost their opportunity to take action. Maybe one or two demon spirits would escape...
However, soon Li Changshou was shocked. What a powerful celestial poison! It directly killed the demon spirits, souls, and celestial spirits of the big demons in the Celestial Realm!
Quickly, all the big demons in the area revealed their true forms. Even several highly skilled ones floundered for a moment and then became motionless. They had no breath, but their demonic power was still abundant.
Elder Wanlin Yun was about to go out again, but Li Changshou stopped him once more.
How many times was this now?
This elder always wanted to rush out for something when everything could be done down here!
"Changshou, aren't we going out yet?" Elder Wanlin asked.
Li Changshou smiled bitterly, "Elder, don't you have the Samadhi True Flame, or something more powerful? Just burn them from afar."
"Naturally, I do. I have a true flame called the Thousand-Poison Soul-Refining Fire, which is even more powerful than the Samadhi True Flame."
At that moment, this clear and thin-faced old man, following Li Changshou's instructions, released clusters of flames underground...
If someone had been watching this array from above all this time, they might have witnessed a terrifying ancient horror story.
The hidden figures here first fell silently, then were gradually enveloped by the poison mist. Soon they began convulsing and died without a sound...
After that, patches of dismal green flames emerged from the ground, devouring the bodies of these big demons and turning them into piles of ash...
From start to finish, the big demons didn't struggle at all, departing peacefully...
But the people who were sedated didn't notice a thing.
Finally, a figure emerged from the ground.
"A young woman in a long dress, holding a pearl, wandered through the ashes.
Using the Soul-Capturing Bead, she extracted remnants of souls and sought fragments of memory.
Shortly after, thick mist rose from the ground, directly extinguishing the life force of human cultivators.
Flames erupted, filling the hidden array with green light.
The young woman moved around, the Soul-Capturing Bead spinning rapidly.
Suddenly, a streak of blood light shot out from the green flames, piercing the woman's neck. With a tilt of her head, she swatted it away.
Smack!
A blood-winged mosquito, black-bodied, was squashed by her light tap.
Another blood light attempted to fly towards her but was immediately engulfed by swirling true fire, turning into a wisp of blood vapor.
This wasn't an ordinary mosquito; it seemed to be a manifestation of divine power, condensed from blood essence.
Meanwhile, in a cave near Mount Ling in Xiniuhezhou, a man in blood robes opened his eyes in shock.
Despite gathering a group of puppets, a third of them had been silently destroyed?
Being too far away, he only just noticed the anomaly.
But most importantly... Who was that woman just now? Why couldn't he sense her divine presence?
Could it be the work of a formidable figure?
The man in blood robes narrowed his eyes, feeling a hint of apprehension.
Though caught off guard by the casualties, his plan hadn't completely failed since the three most important Qi cultivators from Jin'ao Island, hidden in the rear to absorb the power of the blood lotus, had not been affected.
The man continued to meditate, but now, he couldn't 'see' what was happening in the hidden array.
The puppets were all gone.
In the forests of Dongsheng Shenzhou, underground, Li Changshou and Wan Linjun looked at each other.
Wan Linjun's thoughts were simple. 'Thankfully, you were vigilant enough, Changshou.
If we had been ambushed, it would've been disastrous for the Duxian Sect!' Li Changshou, however, had more thoughts.
A mosquito?
Controlling people's minds through mosquitoes? Did such powerful mosquitoes exist in the primordial chaos?
Could it be... the Blood-Winged Black Mosquitoes that sucked the blood of Gui Ling Shengmu and the third-grade golden lotus in the Battle of the Gods?
The mosquito swarm? Was this big shot for real? The primordial chaos was indeed too dangerous!
'Elder, don't go out. Let's burn this place with true fire,'
Li Changshou advised. 'Agreed!' Green flames erupted everywhere, engulfing the trees.
Half an hour later, the hidden array was spotless, with no traces left behind.
The ground was barren, not a blade of grass in sight.
Several figures emerged from the ground, swiftly collecting the ashes and damaged storage treasures into empty bags.
Then, a man struck a wooden fish lightly, and the others began reciting scriptures.
Underground, Wan Linjun was puzzled. 'Changshou, what are we doing?' Li Changshou smiled. 'Reciting scriptures to eliminate karma.
If any remnants of souls can't be absorbed by the Soul-Capturing Bead, we'll send them to the underworld to be reincarnated, alleviating future worries.
Later,
Elder, you can use your power to disperse these ashes everywhere.
Dust returns to dust, soil returns to soil.
Cultivation originally involves plundering the world's spiritual energy, so letting them return to nature after death is in line with our Duxian Sect's principles.'
Wan Linjun nodded in agreement.
When the chanting above ceased, the poison master waved his robe underground, sending the ashes flying into the array.
Li Changshou sighed inwardly.
It was complete.
Although he hadn't acted personally, there was still a sense of ceremony.
Wan Linjun blinked. 'Complete? What do you mean?'
Li Changshou hastily replied, 'Oh, it means we have no more worries.'
Then, he put away the jade pendant in his hand, ceasing the transmission of thoughts.
As Wan Linjun reviewed the entire process of their battle, he grew increasingly fond of Li Changshou's gaze.
Subsequently, the figures burrowed underground, transforming into paper people and were stored in an empty bag by Li Changshou.
They would need to be cleansed before further use...
Wan Linjun didn't dare underestimate Wan Linjun's poison.
'Elder, let's go back and hand over these items and the Soul-Capturing Bead to the sect. They'll know what to do.'
'Agreed.'
'Oh,
Elder, one more thing. Please don't mention that I was here...'
Li Changshou kept advising as the two, one old and one young, slipped back into the Duxian Sect's mountain gate."