Chapter 99: The Concern of the 'Wild' Deity
On the Peak-Breaking Mountain, at the residence of the Nine Immortals of the Wine Character.
Upon returning from the Temple of Immortal Transcendence, Li Changshou didn't find either Wine Crow or Wine Offerer, nor did he see any other immortal of the Wine Character; they were all busy around the mountain gate.
His junior master was still drunkenly sleeping by the bed, and Li Changshou didn't bother to move him from the floor to the bed. Doing something like that, which might be easily misunderstood, was naturally out of the question.
Moreover, Li Changshou took some time to study the defensive array surrounding his junior master's attic and soon understood the principles behind its arrangement. He connected the base of the array here, activating the surrounding defenses to protect his junior master's unbridled sleeping habits.
This array was obviously arranged by Senior Brother Wine Crow and had a strong flavor of the 'Short Daoist' style.
Afterward, Li Changshou found a handy disciple and got two bottles of pills for the Nascent Divinity realm. After a few pleasantries, Li Changshou asked him to tell his junior master when he woke up that he and Ling E had already returned to Little Qiong Peak.
Having done all this, Li Changshou then took Ling E, letting his junior sister lie on a cloud and flew at his most familiar height toward Little Qiong Peak.
To be honest, the presence of Little Qiong Peak was really too faint. Although Li Changshou was quite satisfied with this...
But his master had been missing for so long, and no one from the sect had taken the initiative to inquire! This made some of the small details Li Changshou had prepared completely useless!
Of course, it was also a good thing not to use them if possible...
Fortunately, Li Changshou didn't find his master's name on the 'Martyrs' steles that had just been erected in front of the Hundredfold Hall. Otherwise, he really wouldn't know how to explain it to his master.
Those three paper figurines, no matter how long they had been worshiped, shouldn't have caused any other incidents. This 'memorial' was purely for commemoration and didn't produce any merit or virtue...
Back at the grass hut, Li Changshou woke up Ling E first.
After discussing for a while, the two decided to act according to the first set of plans they had previously set, the "Stable Teacher" plan.
Li Changshou lay back on his bed, his lips dry, his eyes lifeless, with a hint of attachment to the world at the bottom of his eyes.
Ling E ran to her master's grass hut, knelt on the cushion, and let her master...
Out.
"Who dares to scheme against this Daoist! Look at my magical treasures!"
Qi Yuan, the old Daoist, jumped out of his pocket, holding his whisk and glaring around angrily. He looked down and saw his disciple kneeling on the ground.
Ling E's eyes turned red, she gently bit her lip, pinched her thigh secretly, and used a bit of her real cultivation.
"Master..."
Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment, then remembered that he had been knocked unconscious by two disciples before.
Scanning with his divine sense, Qi Yuan immediately saw his eldest disciple lying in the next grass hut and quickly asked, "Ling E, what's going on? What happened to your senior brother...?"
"Master, a large number of demons invaded the mountain gate earlier. Senior Brother was afraid that you would rush up and fight the demons, so he and I knocked you unconscious and brought you away... Senior Brother was in this big battle..."
Before Ling E finished speaking, Qi Yuan hurriedly ran over to Li Changshou's bedside. Looking at his heavily injured disciple, Qi Yuan regretted it deeply and quickly took out a pile of medicine bottles, but for a moment, he didn't know which one to use.
Li Changshou opened his eyes, his gaze lifeless, and whispered, "Master."
"Ah, I'm here, I'm here!" Qi Yuan answered anxiously, "I'm here, if you have anything to say, just say it."
"I'm fine," Li Changshou hoarsely replied, sighing softly, "Master, I... I knocked you unconscious earlier..."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, you did it for me, how could I blame you?" Qi Yuan sat by the bedside, reached out and held Li Changshou's wrist, carefully checking it.
In an instant, the old Daoist's expression changed. The immortal energy in his eldest disciple's body was much purer and clearer than his own, indicating that it was indeed the immortal energy of the Nascent Immortal realm. However, at this moment, this immortal energy was extremely thin. Li Changshou's breath was extremely chaotic, his heart pulse was noisy like a drum, and upon careful inspection, it seemed like...
Like playing music and drums, with a rhythmic feeling!
Li Changshou tried to smile and said, "Master, I'm fine, no need to worry."
Qi Yuan's eyes were full of guilt. He sighed, "Alas, it's my incompetence. I couldn't protect you and Ling E, and I made you work so hard."
"I knocked you unconscious first, otherwise you would have... cough, cough..." Qi Yuan hurriedly said, "It doesn't matter, I don't blame you, I don't blame you."
Li Changshou coughed weakly a few times and smiled sincerely, "Master, it's not convincing without any proof in the Great Dao..."
"Alright, I'll do it right away!"
"Huh?" Qi Yuan was stunned for a moment, looking at Li Changshou on the bed; the latter half-closed his eyes, gasping for breath, and coughed weakly twice.
This old Daoist looked outside the door, where Ling E was hiding, and his divine sense swept around Little Qiong Peak, then he suddenly came to his senses.
Qi Yuan said coldly, "Changshou, your Turtle Breath Calming Qi seems to be able to do more than just conceal your cultivation."
"Master, I..."
"Haha!"
Suddenly, there was a laugh from outside the door. After struggling to endure, it eventually couldn't be suppressed.
Qi Yuan's forehead was covered with black lines.
Li Changshou coughed and quietly sat up, showing a sincere smile to his master.
"Master, I really am fine."
"You rascal!"
Qi Yuan picked up his whisk and struck, but Li Changshou fled towards the door, only to be grabbed by his junior sister with a 'malicious cat pounce' at the door!
"Senior Brother, don't blame Junior Sister for being ruthless!"
Ling E squinted and smiled, shouting into the room, "Master, I caught Senior Brother!"
"Everything was forced by my senior brother! I originally said, Master, you going out to kill enemies could also fulfill your responsibility as a Qi Refinement practitioner in the Douxian Sect.
But my senior brother said you only go out to fight recklessly, without any strategic thinking!"
Li Changshou glared at Ling E, while Qiyuan, who was behind, rushed forward, brandishing his whisk and yelling, and then lashed out at Li Changshou's buttocks.
If he really wanted to run away, Li Changshou could have vanished in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, he was just giving his master an opportunity to vent his anger.
There were a few familiar sounds of 'pops', hitting the same familiar spot, causing the same familiar swelling...
Li Changshou wasn't easy.
When his master used the whisk to strike, he exerted great effort to suppress his own immortal power from retaliating against his master, lest his master be harmed in any way.
After a moment...
Li Changshou and Ling E knelt neatly in front of their master. Qiyuan sat in his circle chair, frowning and listening to Li Changshou's speech.
From initial annoyance to later puzzlement, and now to realization, Qiyuan's expression underwent a series of changes.
After Li Changshou finished speaking at length, Qiyuan murmured, "Is that so?"
For a moment... he felt that something was amiss, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Master, it's indeed true,"
Li Changshou and Ling E nodded in agreement, and Qiyuan appeared pensive.
Ling E, on the side, sneaked a smirk, completely understanding that in such a situation, she absolutely couldn't give her senior brother a chance to speak!
Otherwise, her senior brother could turn black into white, and white into black!
Clearly, they had ambushed their master, yet their master now felt that he himself should have been mesmerized...
This would prevent any gaps in their side's formation during the big battle, leading to a situation where 'a levee of a thousand miles collapses because of an ant hole'.
Qiyuan sighed and soon, following Li Changshou's words, flew towards the Baifan Hall.
As the peak master of Xiaojiongfeng, he had to show up and ask what he could do...
Just as their master left, Ling E felt a chill coming from the side, unable to resist shivering.
"M-master..."
"Junior sister,"
Li Changshou smiled kindly and gently, "getting tougher, huh?"
Ling E shrank her neck, giggling, and whispered softly, "It's all because of senior brother's teachings.
It's better to have one person dead than two... I was wrong, senior brother!"
"Humph!"
Li Changshou slowly got up, supporting his buttocks, and circulated his immortal power to heal the wounds inflicted by his master.
"Senior brother, do you want me to apply medicine for you?"
"No need..."
Li Changshou was about to tease Ling E but suddenly felt a surge of curiosity and frowned.
He concealed his right hand in his sleeve, calculating with his fingers.
Li Changshou's brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
This time, it wasn't because something had happened to Senior Brother Jiuwu, nor had he given Senior Brother Jiuwu any more of those 'little things'.
It seemed, without any reason, Li Changshou suddenly felt a slight sense of foreboding...
He glanced at his junior sister and said, "Ling E, go play outside for a while.
I need to meditate and think about some things."
"Oh,"
Ling E sensed that her senior brother seemed to have something important to do.
Although she was a bit displeased with the word 'play', she still obediently agreed and quickly left Li Changshou's grass hut.
Activating the surrounding formations, Li Changshou sat cross-legged on the cushion, beginning to sense and deduce continuously.
Trouble was brewing...
There was trouble with the South Sea Divine Sect.
One of his own idols had been smashed.
Li Changshou was initially pleased because now, his over 1,600 idols could be reduced by one.
But then, he couldn't laugh about it anymore...
In the small temples of the villages where he was worshipped, two groups of mortals were hacking at each other with knives, blood splattering everywhere.
This was a sectarian conflict, something Li Changshou had sensed before, but he hadn't expected it to escalate to such an extent, where mortals were now sacrificing themselves for the South Sea God, shedding blood and losing their lives...
However, Li Changshou quickly discovered a faint black aura lingering around his primordial spirit, finally binding to his wrist.
This seemed to be... karmic obstacles! Li Changshou quickly brought forth a wisp of merit from his hidden accumulation, bringing it close to the black aura.
The two entangled, and then gradually disappeared.
Merit and karmic obstacles offset each other.
"What is this?"
Li Changshou sat there feeling somewhat amused but quickly began to think carefully.
Merit actually came from 'protecting' and 'educating' mortals.
The existence of the South Sea Divine Sect to some extent unified and assisted the villages in that small area, providing a slight benefit to the stability of the heavens and earth.
In addition to the continuous offerings, this was equivalent to the Heavenly Dao acknowledging him as a 'wild' god.
This was a form of forced worship; however, at this moment, these karmic obstacles arose from the sectarian conflict, resulting in the killing and bloodshed of some mortals, which turned into karmic obstacles and found their way to Li Changshou...
"This must be resolved."
Li Changshou sat there contemplating.
He now had the Paper Daoists, a rudimentary form of his external avatars.
With the help of some treasures for aerial and underground movement, he could save immortal power and rush to the South Sea coast.
What should he do to undermine his own South Sea Divine Sect? This bit of merit wasn't even comparable to cultivating merit in the Heavenly Court, where the merit was pure and comforting.
Unlike this, there was always the danger of being held accountable by the Western Sect.
Thinking carefully, as a 'wild' god worshipped by others, but intent on dismantling his own divine sect, this was quite unique.
"Hmm, I must plan carefully."
Li Changshou exhaled lightly, sitting there and pondering carefully.
That greedy bear gang really needed to be given a scare!
A few days later, at the Broken Sky Peak. Jiuwu, who had just woken up, stood in front of the wooden door, reciting several spells in succession, but the defensive light barrier outside showed no response.
Huh? Jiuwu's master frowned and found that things didn't seem to be so simple...
On the Golden Turtle Island.
"Hanzhi, if you keep going on like this, it's not good."
Aoyi looked at the weary-faced girl and said softly, "How about I accompany you to travel around? If you're tired of the scenery in the East Sea, we can go to the West Sea or the South Sea.
There are nice views everywhere.
If you keep feeling down like this, it won't do."
"Sigh,"
Hanzhi smiled bitterly, "my master unexpectedly..."
"Actually, it's not necessarily a bad thing,"
Aoyi said, "After Yuanze senior brother reincarnates, he will definitely be able to cultivate.
So what if he's a demon?
It's just lacking some luck and fortune, but he can still transform and continue to pursue the great Dao.
Moreover, think about it...
" Aoyi pondered for a moment, her eyes shifting, "
After Yuanze senior brother reincarnates, he won't be able to speak for a long time.
Then, won't he avoid causing trouble?" Hanzhi blinked, suddenly understanding, "It does make sense!"
With Aoyi's continuous persuasion, Hanzhi's mood gradually improved.
She sighed softly and said, "Then let's go out for a walk. I also want to clear my mind. Thank you, Senior Uncle, for always accompanying Hanzhi." "It's nothing,"
Aoyi showed a faint smile. "I will take good care of you on behalf of your master!"
Not long after, the two figures flew out of the Golden Turtle Island, casually choosing a direction and slowly strolling away.