Chapter 112: On the Influence of the Field on the Ash-Sprinkling Hand Feel

"Junior Brother Qi Yuan, I have a question, and I must apologize for my own dullness..."

Deep beneath Lin Dong City, a hundred zhang below the surface, two figures were huddled together, groping forward in the darkness, searching for a glimmer of light in this cruel and desolate ancient world.

The short Daoist Jiu Wu led the way, holding a sheathed treasure sword in his hand.

Qi Yuan—that is, Li Changshou's paper daoist—was following behind Uncle-Master Jiu Wu, gradually approaching the large flower house hidden with demonic energy.

Jiu Wu turned his head and transmitted:

"Logically, for a sneak attack, it should be a dark and stormy night.

But here it's broad daylight, under a clear sky, and right at noon. Why not just charge in and get it over with?"

"Senior Brother, you are mistaken," Li Changshou replied, imitating his master's voice through transmission. "Places like this have fewer customers at noon, and these mortals are all resting.

Last night, we saw how lively it gets here in the evening."

Jiu Wu slowly agreed and chuckled. "I didn't realize you were so familiar with this place, Junior Brother Qi Yuan."

"I heard about it from Changshou a few times."

Li Changshou sighed inwardly. To protect his master's reputation, he had no choice but to sacrifice his own a bit.

Jiu Wu immediately clicked his tongue and laughed softly, saying, "Now that you mention it, I believe it.

Your senior disciple has a heart as black as the bottom ash of a dan furnace!

Once he starts scheming, even Yuan Immortals can't handle it, and True Immortals might trip up. After he passes his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, he'd probably even dare to plot against Heavenly Immortals."

Li Changshou thought: ...

I could draw my sword and stab you right now!

"Ahem," Li Changshou continued in his master's voice through transmission, "I heard from Changshou that he holds great respect for you, Senior Brother.

He feels that you balance cultivation and sect affairs perfectly, making significant contributions to the stability of Du Xian Sect."

"Ah, let's not talk about it; it just makes me worry.

It's one thing after another, and I have to run all over the place. Some places just won't function without me..."

Seeing that Jiu Wu was about to open the "box of complaints," Li Changshou quickly interrupted through transmission:

"Senior Brother, it's best if we do more reconnaissance later.

Once we've dealt with these demonic creatures, we can have a late-night chat."

"You're right; this isn't the time for chatting," Jiu Wu said with an awkward laugh and continued slowly forward.

Because Jiu Wu's mastery of earth escape was not deep, they couldn't move completely silently.

While both concealed their auras, Li Changshou secretly masked their presence even further...

This situation made Li Changshou quite nostalgic for the experiences he had acting with Elder Wan Lin Yun.

They quietly reached the area beneath the flower house and began carefully probing upward, quickly locking onto the sources of the seven strands of demonic energy.

"There are actually two Great Demons at the True Immortal realm," Jiu Wu frowned in the dark. "They've been entrenched here for some time. Why hasn't anyone noticed?"

"This kind of pleasure house is probably rarely visited by ordinary qi refiners," Li Changshou answered.

Jiu Wu immediately clicked his tongue and laughed through transmission: "So, Junior Brother Qi Yuan, why were you here before?"

Qi Yuan sighed lightly and said, "I just wanted a place to drink and unwind. Recently, I received two letters...

Senior Brother, let's not dwell on that for now. We should deal with the demons first."

Letters?

Jiu Wu's eyes immediately showed curiosity, but he didn't ask more.

However, Li Changshou secretly observed the changes in Uncle-Master Jiu Wu's expression and knew he had successfully planted a seed.

Later, he could naturally continue discussing this with his senior brother.

One step sets up ten; lay the groundwork in your heart.

—"Tao Lu Lun" by Li, disciple of Ren Jiao, Sea God Cult Leader, Changshou.

After figuring out the situation with the demons above, Uncle-Master Jiu Wu drew a long sword, preparing to strike quietly and launch a sudden attack, first killing the two True Immortal realm Great Demons.

One of those True Immortal demons was the elegant manager they had seen before.

This female demon was currently in a small wooden hut, watching two attractive young women practice playing the qin and xiao.

"Junior Brother Qi Yuan, stay here and cover me."

Jiu Wu said this, clearly not wanting Qi Yuan to join the fight.

But Li Changshou's paper daoist quickly acted, using his turbid immortal power to pull Jiu Wu back.

Was the Du Xian Sect's common "passive skill" not going to work?

"Senior Brother, since we've already gained the advantage of surprise, why not maximize it?

I have a few poisonous pills that Changshou gave me for self-defense. Why don't you use them here to silently eliminate these demons, then grab the treasures and leave..."

As he spoke, Li Changshou took out two bottles of the miyao and poisonous pills given by Elder Wan Lin Yun, and he specifically explained how to use them.

In the dark and narrow rock layer underground, Jiu Wu looked at Qi Yuan with a slight hint of suspicion.

Jiu Wu laughed and said, "So that's how it is..."

Li Changshou frowned inwardly, thinking Jiu Wu had spotted some flaw.

But unexpectedly, Jiu Wu chuckled and said, "I thought Nephew Changshou was naturally so clever, but it turns out he's been taught by you, Junior Brother.

A true master hides his abilities."

"Ah," Qi Yuan sighed, "The world is harsh, and my cultivation is weak, so I have to be careful."

"Good point."

Right then, Jiu Wu made his move, carefully controlling the dosage of the miyao and releasing it bit by bit. Soon, the entire front and back courtyards of the large flower house, with over two hundred figures in total, were all knocked out.

Although most of them were already asleep.

Li Changshou added from the side, "This miyao can be harmful or even fatal to mortals if they inhale too much.

The women here are all pitiable souls. Senior Brother, just put the demons who suck the essence from mortals to sleep."

"I didn't expect you to be so compassionate, Junior Brother Qi Yuan."

"It's just to avoid karmic backlash."

"Don't worry, Junior Brother," Jiu Wu smiled and continued to release the drug.

The flower house manager with the pipe also couldn't resist; she raised her hand to her forehead, staggered back two steps, and slowly leaned into her armchair.

Her jade pipe fell to the ground, and she was completely overcome, her sleeping posture somewhat alluring.

Without Li Changshou needing to remind him, Jiu Wu began a thorough search...

Overall, Jiu Wu was a bit more cautious than Elder Wan Lin Yun.

It wasn't much at first glance, but upon closer inspection, both of them were quite surprised.

Last night, amid the dim lights, they had seen many graceful figures.

But now, in the daylight without makeup, there was mostly the weariness of years.

The mortal women weren't too bad; they just looked a little different without rouge and under the candlelight.

Those five "flower queens" here—five demons with cultivation around the Yuan Immortal realm—were now unconscious and revealed their true forms: three toad spirits and two white fox spirits...

A true illusory tank, Hong Huang custom edition.

Jiu Wu shook his head and sighed: "How could those mortals bring themselves to...?"

"It's just being deceived by appearances," Li Changshou said, while monitoring the wind and grass within hundreds of li around them.

Jiu Wu decisively struck, using heavenly immortal poison to silently eliminate these five "little demon immortals."

They had been hiding in the flower house, cultivating by absorbing the yang energy of mortal men, so their demonic power was impure and mottled.

Now, they couldn't resist the poison at all and were instantly destroyed, body and soul.

Their method of cultivation here was actually quite clever.

They entertained many clients and didn't usually target a single mortal, so they rarely took lives.

Like that "Young Master Xia" who was kicked out yesterday—his yang energy and family wealth were drained, but his life was spared; he just had little lifespan left.

" Killing a few small demons actually brought some merit."

Jiu Wu muttered softly, then continued his attack.

This time, he was targeting the two True Immortal demons.

One, the centipede spirit, kicked its legs and died on the spot.

But the flower house manager, who had never shown her true form, was surrounded by a faint golden light...

That light condensed into the shape of a snow-white fox with six tails behind it, resisting the invisible and colorless toxins around her.

Jiu Wu frowned and was about to increase the poison, but Li Changshou suddenly said:

"Senior Brother, withdraw the poison.

We can't deal with this demon so simply!"

"Oh?"

Though puzzled, Jiu Wu quickly stopped.

He had noticed that the faint golden light was not ordinary; it carried a trace of merit power.

The merit and pure energy they had sensed earlier seemed to come not from some treasure, but from this flower house manager herself.

Or perhaps, the treasure was on her...

This short Daoist was very careful; he first withdrew the surrounding toxins, used his immortal power to bind them, and carefully sealed them back into the porcelain bottle, then placed the bottle in a discarded storage treasure. Only then did he relax a bit.

Jiu Wu frowned and asked: "Junior Brother Qi Yuan, what's going on? Has this demon clan been running a flower house and doing good deeds?

How did they accumulate so much merit?"

Li Changshou asked: "Senior Brother, do you have any treasures for capturing living beings?"

"I don't have anything like that prepared..."

"No problem, I have one."

"You have... hmm?"

Jiu Wu looked at Qi Yuan and said with a bitter smile, "Junior Brother, what exactly are you out here for? You have treasures for capturing people, poisonous pills, miyao..."

Li Changshou sighed: "I'm just a turbid immortal, so I can't rely on direct combat."

"I understand, I understand."

Jiu Wu showed a hint of embarrassment, feeling he shouldn't have said that and touched on Qi Yuan's sore spot.

Li Changshou took out the beast skin bag that had once held his master's spirit beast and instructed:

"Give this demon more miyao. We'll figure out how to handle her later.

Senior Brother, take her and leave this place temporarily—head to the edge of the East Sea. I'll stay here and set up some arrangements to avoid leaving any traces."

"Alright."

Jiu Wu quickly emerged from the ground, used the spirit beast bag to secure the charming manager, and then shot into the sky, flying rapidly toward the East Sea.

As soon as Jiu Wu left, the flower house was enveloped by an isolating array, and several figures emerged from the ground.

—Naturally, they were all paper daoists created by the original.

Li Changshou had deliberately sent Jiu Wu away to keep this secret.

He then searched the area meticulously, quickly transporting the corpses of the demons to a remote back courtyard.

The paper daoists moved swiftly and efficiently.

They chanted scriptures, rang bells, used the soul-capturing pearl to gather remnant souls;

Then, with the suona sounding, the demons' lives ended in vain, funeral cries rose, and yellow paper for wandering spirits burned...

Before long, only a few ashes remained.

They had cremated demons in deep mountains before, but doing it in this elegant, culturally rich flower house was a first.

Li Changshou, still wearing his master's appearance, flicked his sleeve, and the pile of ashes scattered, turning into fertilizer for the flowers here.

The feel was quite different.

"Since you came to the human realm to do evil, enduring this calamity is something you brought upon yourselves."

With that, Li Changshou retrieved the paper daoists and the array here, leaving a bit of sobering powder in the air to turn the mortals' deep sleep into light slumber.

With his immortal sense, he detected that Uncle-Master Jiu Wu had already reached hundreds of li away with that demonic beauty.

For the harmony of the Jiu Zi Nine Immortals, Li Changshou quickly followed...

Back at Xiao Qiong Peak, in the thatched hut.

Li Changshou's true body heard movement outside the grass hut and opened his eyes to see his junior sister and uncle playing on the lake in a boat.

He hadn't noticed it much before, but after visiting that worldly flower house twice, now looking again...

His uncle was not only broad-minded but also had a fine figure—slender waist, delicate feet, and a very beautiful face.

His own junior sister was even more spirited and elegant, with a face as pretty as a flower, a graceful and alluring figure, refined and not vulgar...

For a moment, Li Changshou was filled with emotion.

Cultivation truly makes a huge difference.

He quickly shifted most of his mind back to the paper daoist and glanced at the soul-capturing pearl. As he performed earth escape, he frowned.

The True Immortal realm centipede spirit they had just killed was actually connected to his visit to Lin Dong City!

This time, it was a fortunate coincidence.