Chapter 130: Master, the Disciple Has Done His Best

"This..."

Looking at Dongmu Gong in front of him, Yuelao furrowed his brows, feeling somewhat troubled. "This... um..."

At that moment, the two were sitting in the flower room of the side hall in Yuelao Hall, with Dongmu Gong leaning his body slightly forward, proactively closing half a step.

Yuelao was all too familiar with this gesture. People who came to him for help but didn't want others to know about it would instinctively act this way. Not only that, but Dongmu Gong's motion of handing over the treasure pouch and his evasive eyes when speaking...

Yuelao knew it all too well.

But today, the request Dongmu Gong had put forward was something Yuelao had never heard of before, leaving him utterly perplexed.

If it were just an ordinary matter of tying a red string, given Dongmu Gong's status, position, and seniority, Yuelao certainly wouldn't dare to refuse—it would just mean losing some merit points.

But...

"Yuelao, can you give me a straight answer?"

Dongmu Gong asked in a low voice, his eyes tinged with helplessness.

"Dongmu Gong," Yuelao cupped his hands and said seriously, "to be honest with you, I have indeed helped people tie red strings before, but that was only when the two red strings were already close and had some mutual feelings, which allowed me to tie them.

"I have also helped cut red strings, but that was when the clay figures on both sides were struggling against each other, with the string about to break, so I gave them a clean end.

"But I absolutely cannot do something like cutting all the marriage fate clay figures clean.

"This is the fate of a lone star of calamity; it must involve tremendous karma!"

Hearing Yuelao's sincere words, Dongmu Gong pondered for a moment, and in his heart, the words of that 'old gentleman' surfaced.

'If the first path doesn't work, then Dongmu Gong can reconsider, choose a suitable match, and marry as soon as possible.

'Then, find an excuse to ask His Majesty for a plaque or something similar, to wish you and your wife a match made in heaven, and afterward, Dongmu Gong can frequently appear in public with your wife, showing affection.

'Wouldn't that dispel any suspicions about you?'

Dongmu Gong had no idea that the 'old gentleman' who had given him this idea was actually far more complicated than he imagined...

Dongmu Gong pondered for a moment and said,

"Then, Yuelao, could you take me to see my marriage fate?

"This matter is of great importance. If Yuelao can assist me, I will surely repay you in the future."

Yuelao smiled bitterly. "As Dongmu Gong says, I dare not disobey. Please follow me."

With that, Yuelao led Dongmu Gong to the rear hall, summoned Dongmu Gong's marriage fate clay figure, and brought over all the clay figures that could form a marriage fate with him.

Dongmu Gong's eyes lit up at once, discovering that around his own clay figure, there were actually four or five marriage fate clay figures floating, and the red strings of these clay figures were all reaching toward his.

"Am I really being thought of by so many in my daily life?"

"Dongmu Gong is deeply trusted by His Majesty and is among the male immortals..."

"Don't say such things, Yuelao!"

Dongmu Gong cut off Yuelao's flattery and thought for a while, carefully examining among these clay figures reaching toward him.

It was as if a stroke of insight came to him, a moment of good fortune, and suddenly a flash of inspiration crossed Dongmu Gong's mind...

Some time ago, when he had met Nanhai Haishen for the first time with His Majesty, Nanhai Haishen had presented His Majesty with twelve pieces of advice, and the last one included the phrase 'borrow mediocrity to seek stability.'

Dongmu Gong pondered... 'Borrow mediocrity' meant making himself appear as ordinary as possible to avoid arousing others' wariness; 'seek stability' meant seeking stability...

"Yuelao!"

Dongmu Gong suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with sharpness, and he gripped Yuelao's arm with his right hand, startling Yuelao so much that his voice changed.

"Dongmu Gong, you... what kind of tie do you want?"

Dongmu Gong extended his left hand, slowly running his five fingers across it, then clenched them into a fist.

"I want them all!"

Yuelao trembled slightly.

What had gotten into Dongmu Gong? Earlier, he had wanted to become a complete bachelor, untouched by any marriage fate, and now he actually...

He truly was a great figure!

Given Dongmu Gong's high status, Yuelao, as a minor immortal, didn't dare say anything.

Moreover, the marriage fate clay figures Yuelao had summoned were indeed all capable of forming marriages with Dongmu Gong. It was just that Dongmu Gong's cultivation was profound, and unless he initiated such thoughts himself, the red strings wouldn't connect.

"Ah... ah, I'll get to it right away."

Yuelao agreed in a low voice and immediately set to work.

At Duxian Men, near the spirit cultivation enclosure that had been rebuilt for about a third.

These three female qi refiners, who were eighteen years old plus several hundred or thousand months, finally realized that if they kept cultivating while playing around, it might take ten or twenty years to finish the place.

So, Ling E and Youqin Xuanya discussed it, got their little shishu drunk, and then the two of them took over...

The efficiency immediately soared by more than ten times!

In just three months, the place had completed a third of its transformation!

In the past few days, Youqin Xuanya had been urged by her master to return for several months of cultivation, so Ling E was left to handle the spirit beast enclosure alone.

The Steadfast Scripture still needed 1,600 more recitations;

The spirit beast enclosure would require at least half a year more of work...

Thinking of this, Ling E sighed softly, smoothed her skirt, and knelt on the grass by the pond where the spirit-nurturing jade frogs were kept.

It was really...

If it weren't for wanting to open up her shixiong's defenses as soon as possible and make him develop some romantic thoughts, she wouldn't have to suffer alongside her little shishu and Youqin Shijie.

Given her shixiong's troublesome personality, Ling E felt she probably couldn't handle it alone.

"Ling E?"

A familiar voice suddenly came from beside her ear, and Ling E jumped up instinctively, glaring at her shixiong.

"Shixiong! How come you walk without making any sound now!"

"I just walked over like this," Li Changshou frowned. "But why were you spacing out like that, with all your mind empty? If an enemy attacked, how would you respond?"

Ling E stuck out her tongue, saying aggrievedly,

"It's just that I've been too tired lately...

"Besides, with you always on the peak, how could anyone sneak an attack?"

Li Changshou's furrowed brows relaxed a bit, and his gaze softened slightly. "Help me out for a moment, then go cultivate. I'll have Jiu Jiu Shishu handle the spirit beast enclosure."

Ling E pursed her lips and smiled. "Oh... how can I help you, Shixiong?"

Li Changshou thought for a moment and said, "Follow me."

With that, Li Changshou and Ling E went together to the nearby pavilion.

The pavilion was built quite meticulously, with top-quality materials and paint. If Li Changshou remembered correctly, the decorations here were all done by Youqin Xuanya herself...

As expected of someone with a princess background in the mortal world, this game room she made exuded an air of imperial elegance!

Li Changshou took out a portrait from his sleeve, depicting a handsome and dashing man—it was for his paper daoist's "fixed appearance."

Then, he secretly hung the portrait and placed a sachet behind it, asking Ling E to check it with her spiritual sense...

After a short while, Li Changshou asked, "How is it?"

"What, how is what?" Ling E blinked weakly.

Li Changshou said, "Didn't some images appear in your mind?"

"Huh?" Ling E tilted her head. "It's just a portrait. What images are supposed to appear?"

Li Changshou frowned and said, "Keep checking it."

"Oh," Ling E obediently responded and simply sat down cross-legged, continuing to scan the portrait with her spiritual sense.

Li Changshou carefully sensed it, but Ling E showed no changes.

"This doesn't make sense," Li Changshou put away the portrait, took the sachet back into his hand, and was about to seal the pill inside...

Just then, with a "hiss," Ling E's face turned bright red. She let out a soft breath and bit her lip hard. "Shixiong..."

Li Changshou instantly sealed the sachet, flicked out a Heart-Clearing Pill, dissolved its power, turned it into mist, and sent it into Ling E's nose.

A moment later...

Ling E relaxed and looked at Li Changshou with some lingering fear, but her face gradually flushed again as she stammered,

"Shixiong, what did you just do?

"If you... if you... actually, you didn't need to use such methods...

"Just say the word..."

Li Changshou looked up at the sky and said, "Cultivate properly and don't overthink. I was just testing this pill for our master."

Then, Li Changshou walked away with a puzzled expression.

Does this pill not work on someone who already has feelings?

In that case, when Jiuwu Shibo came to get the Valiant Heart Pill earlier, and I had him see a beautiful woman's portrait with this pill behind it, why did Jiuwu Shibo...

Was it the pill's effects being unstable, or something about Jiuwu Shibo himself...

Hiss—

This is troublesome.

"Shixiong!"

Ling E chased out of the pavilion, holding onto the doorframe and calling softly,

"Do you want me to take that thing and let you try it with your 'spiritual' sense?

"You'd only know the effect by experiencing it yourself~"

Li Changshou paused, waved his hand dismissively, and rode the clouds toward the pill room.

"Hmph! I knew you wouldn't dare, always so steady."

Ling E huffed, rolled her eyes, and walked with light steps back to her room in the pavilion...

Meanwhile, Li Changshou had already started pondering how to improve the two types of pills he had just created.

The immortal sense poison pill was originally Elder Wan Linjun's innovation; Li Changshou had merely built on that sturdy branch to create a side offshoot...

He had now made two kinds of immortal sense pills, using a large batch of precious herbs he had earned, and the results were evident, adding a small expansion to his arsenal of trump cards.

The type of pill Li Changshou had put away was the orthodox anti-immortal sense detection pill, which he named the Counter-Check Pill. This was a treasure pill he had no intention of sharing with anyone.

Otherwise, if it spread, it might end up being used against him.

When someone wears the Counter-Check Pill and is probed by immortal sense, a faint, nearly invisible mist will appear around the prober.

This mist would help Li Changshou lock onto the person probing him.

The second immortal sense pill, which he named Heartfire Burn, was inspired by enchanting demon techniques. Using love stones and love wine as base materials, he experimented hundreds of times over several months and accidentally found the 'correct' formula.

Elder Wan Linjun's immortal sense poison pill relied on the 'Bijing Thorn Spirit Insect' and its special toxin that could injure the probing person's primordial spirit through immortal sense.

Li Changshou's own Heartfire Burn replaced the 'Bijing Thorn Spirit Insect' with a 'love gu,' incorporating a bit of enchanting method.

Incidentally, to study the enchanting method, Li Changshou had, with his master's permission, used his master's image to secretly visit the true immortal realm demon fox trapped in the earth vein array.

He observed and summarized several times, and cleverly resolved the karma between the demon fox and his Xiaoqiong Peak.

As for the process... well, that wasn't important. The other party had ultimately made a great dao oath.

After another two months of adjusting the properties of Heartfire Burn, Li Changshou placed one paper daoist, one Heartfire Burn pill, and one Counter-Check Pill together in a specially treated sachet.

Later, he only needed his master to wear the sachet and wander around;

If encountered by immortal sense probing, Li Changshou could use the paper daoist to judge the situation, and if he thought the other party was decent, he would release the Heartfire Burn's seal.

His shibo's reincarnated body definitely needed to be found;

But to help his master emerge from his seclusion sooner, greetings and recognition from unfamiliar female qi refiners would surely lift his master's spirits.

As a disciple, this was all he could do for his master.

Li Changshou organized the sachet and rode the clouds toward his master's thatched hut;

Glancing at the three graceful figures busy again near the spirit beast enclosure, now much more focused than before, Li Changshou couldn't help but show a slight smile.

However, before Li Changshou could fly to the thatched hut, a sudden premonition struck him.

Calculating with his fingers, he found Dongmu Gong waiting again at that Sea God Temple...

Speaking of which, he now had... had... ahem, 6,692 god temples, so why did Dongmu Gong always go to that one?

Couldn't he go to some more secluded ones?

Plucking wool from the same sheep—eventually, it would get noticed.

Li Changshou grumbled internally and decided to remind Dongmu Gong later to hide his tracks next time.

He turned on the clouds and returned to his own thatched hut.

Simultaneously multitasking, he used the paper daoist to glance around, checking on Elder Wan Linjun, who was searching for poisonous insects in the North Continent, and seeing that the elder was safe and sound, he then activated the paper daoist underground at the Sea God Temple...