Chapter 182: The Performance at the Life Gate Alley

He took the road towards the South Sea and continued eastward.

As Li Changshou was about to set off, he was worried about running into Zhao Gongming and his group, so he kept close to the South Sea coast and used water escape to travel.

Three days later, he reached the East Sea waters, and the journey was quite smooth.

He had previously asked Ao Yi to confirm the location of Sanxian Island—

Starting from the southeast corner of Nanzhanbuzhou, head east for 160,000 li, then south for 60,000 li, and you would find a place shrouded in mist.

That was the outer great array of Sanxian Island.

In Jie Jiao, countless immortals knew the location of Sanxian Island, and many admired the Sanxiao Immortals, but throughout history, very few had actually set foot on the island...

When Li Changshou arrived in the depths of the East Sea, the immortal power of this paper effigy had been depleted by about ten percent.

To present himself in the best possible state when meeting the renowned Yunxiao Immortal, as he approached Sanxian Island, Li Changshou took out a new paper effigy from his sleeve and switched to it.

Then, he emerged from the seawater and rode a cloud toward Sanxian Island.

In his mind, he pondered what situations he might encounter next, and he suddenly noticed some previously overlooked details...

For instance, among the famous masters of Chan Jiao, aside from a few like Cihang Dao Ren, most were male immortals.

While in Jie Jiao, among the famous masters, the inner disciples of the saint's eight great disciples included Jinling Shengmu, Guiling Shengmu, and Wudang Shengmu, and the outer Sanxiao needed no mention—with female immortals being predominant.

Li Changshou couldn't help but tease his own Ren Jiao's certain Old Pure Yang in his heart.

Their grand mage's pursuit of dao companions had clearly gone in the wrong direction; it should have been aimed outside Ren Jiao but within Dao Men, making an effort to foster some connections...

That way, it could wear down the ambitions of the qi refiners from the two sects, delay the arrival of the heavenly great calamity, and also strengthen the bond between the two sects, making them reluctant to fight during the Fengshen Great Calamity.

In the original Fengshen Great Calamity, the old daoists shouted:

"Dead dao friend, not dead poor dao—today, I'll send you to the list!"

But after the grand mage's dao companion trend, during the mundane battlefield of the Shang-Zhou war, handsome men and beautiful women would gaze at each other with deep affection.

"Dao friend, you are cold and heartless, unreasonably causing trouble—you deserve to go on the Fengshen List."

"Oh, no, it's you who is cold and heartless, unreasonably causing trouble, yet you accuse me of being cold and heartless and unreasonably causing trouble—you're the one who should go on the Fengshen List..."

Li Changshou nearly burst out laughing.

Of course, this was just some teasing of the grand mage in his heart—he absolutely wouldn't dare say it out loud...

Although Xuandu Grand Mage was like the senior brother of Dao Men, he still couldn't influence Jie Jiao and Chan Jiao much.

Enough joking around.

He needed to quickly resolve the hidden threat from the extortion group, then return to his immortal sect in peace, handle the dragon clan matters, and prepare for the Jinxian Great Calamity.

After flying on the cloud for half a day, Li Changshou spotted a massive wall of clouds on the sea surface from afar.

No wonder so many Jie Jiao immortals said Sanxian Island was easy to find;

The cloud wall stretched over a thousand li in diameter, with spiritual energy abundant across thousands of li, immortal light swirling, and sea creatures here more spiritually aware than in other waters.

As long as you didn't stray too far off course and kept scanning with immortal sense, you could find this place...

When he was still two thousand li from the edge of the cloud wall, Li Changshou tried to extend his immortal sense to probe inside.

Strangely, his immortal sense entered without any obstruction, but it only showed a vast expanse of white...

The closer he got, the wider the range his immortal sense could cover, and the more surprised Li Changshou became.

Once he was close enough, his immortal sense fully enveloped the thousand-li cloud mist...

There were no barriers, no fluctuations from any array—it was just ordinary mist, with not even a single island in sight.

The only anomaly was the dense spiritual energy here, rivaling that of legendary cave heavens and blessed lands...

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, thinking it through carefully.

Since he had come this far, he might as well stay and try—he couldn't just leave without attempting.

So, Li Changshou's paper effigy rode the cloud, flying back and forth within the thousand-li cloud wall several times. There was no danger, but also nothing to gain.

He couldn't even find a single reef.

Even for a rare natural array, there should be an entry point...

In the four arts of immortality—arrays, elixirs, artifacts, and talismans—Li Changshou was most immersed in the way of arrays...

Precisely because of this, he could tell that the array here was extraordinarily sophisticated, far beyond his understanding of array dao.

This was truly a great array set up by a master of arrays!

Among the Sanxiao, one of them must have extremely profound attainments in the way of arrays!

However, that had nothing to do with him—he was just admiring it casually, as a sign of respect for the Sanxiao Niangniang's cultivation.

Li Changshou stood on the sea surface, lost in thought for a moment, and soon came up with a plan...

He couldn't just shout that a small mage from Ren Jiao had come to pay respects;

This paper effigy was his South Sea Sea God persona, and revealing it here would cause some trouble.

By now, his three main personas were quite clear:

The South Sea Sea God, leader of the Sea God Cult, an image of a wise and resourceful old immortal, one of the Jade Emperor's future advisors, with a Ren Jiao background;

The Ren Jiao small mage, a middle-aged daoist image, traveling with his true cultivation, a dedicated alias for handling tasks for Doushuai Palace, mainly following behind the grand mage and muddling through;

An ordinary disciple of Duxian Sect... this was his deepest disguise.

Others, like the stern old daoist from the "Washing Dragon Case" or the nameless self-destruct artist from Duxian Sect's crisis, were images used once and then discarded, never to appear again.

Back to the main matter.

To set foot on Sanxian Island, he would need to put in some effort, but luckily, Li Changshou had prepared in advance.

He first called out loudly, controlling the sound to stay within the cloud wall:

"Dao friends of Sanxian Island, are you at home?"

Naturally, there was no response.

Li Changshou didn't rush; he calmly reached into his sleeve and pulled out a stack of paper effigies, tossing them out to transform into six figures, both men and women.

There were:

Two young men in short shirts, each holding a suona;

Two women in simple long skirts, who produced two copper basins, took out paper money used for graves in the mundane world, lit it in the basins, knelt before them, and began to weep with handkerchiefs in hand.

And two white-haired daoists, one with a soul-capturing bell and the other with a wooden fish, swaying and tapping as they recited the rebirth mantra...

Li Changshou sighed deeply, and the two paper effigies blew on the suonas. With immortal power enhancing them, the piercing, mournful music echoed throughout the cloud wall.

This trick was very effective, though it often led to a beating...

After a moment, a light rebuke came from within the cloud wall, in a somewhat childish girl's voice:

"Who are you? What are you doing here? This is so inauspicious!"

The mist shifted, and a girl in a light yellow short skirt stepped forward, slightly annoyed and glaring at this kind-hearted, slender old man.

Li Changshou immediately raised his hand, and the six paper effigies stopped, freezing in place.

Then, he sighed heavily and said in an aged voice: "Is this the Sanxiao Immortals' dao field, Sanxian Island?"

"You know it is, yet you dare to cause a disturbance here!"

The girl huffed, "If not for you being an elder, the whip that Third Niangniang gave me would have struck by now!

Now, leave quickly! What bad luck!"

Li Changshou sighed: "I've traveled thousands of li here for just two things.

The first is to mourn for Gongming Dao Friend here.

If Sanxian Island doesn't allow it, I'll leave right away."

With that, his sleeve robe fluttered, and the six paper effigies returned to his sleeve.

"You're talking nonsense!" the girl snapped angrily. "My great lord is perfectly fine! Why do you need to mourn? Pfft, bad omen!"

Li Changshou shook his head. "Although he's fine now, a calamity is coming soon."

The girl pulled out a short whip and scolded: "Say one more word of nonsense, and I'll have to teach you a lesson today!"

"How am I speaking nonsense?" Li Changshou sighed. "Is your Qiongxiao Niangniang not on the island?"

The girl was stunned for a moment, then said: "So what if she is?

Don't tell me you saw her somewhere and now want me to take you to the island? No chance!"

"In that case, how about we make a bet?"

Li Changshou took out the invitation letter from his sleeve and used immortal power to send it to the girl.

"I'll wait right here. You can take this to the person in charge on the island. If they decide not to see me, I'll leave immediately without looking back."

The girl looked suspicious as she took the cloth scroll.

Li Changshou added: "It's just letting your person in charge see this letter—it's no loss to Sanxian Island.

But if you delay any longer, Gongming Dao Friend might really be in serious trouble!"

"You—stop your nonsense!"

The girl swung her short whip and scolded: "Fine! I'll let you see for yourself today!

Wait here. Whatever my lady does to me later, I'll do to you!"

With that, the girl turned and went back into the cloud wall, her figure disappearing after just two steps...

Li Changshou keenly detected the subtle changes in the spiritual energy here, which were extremely complex.

But that girl...

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, a slight doubt rising in his heart.

From her behavior, she was either a servant girl pointed out by the Sanxiao or a spirit cultivating on Sanxian Island.

Yet, for some reason, the girl gave him an odd feeling...

She had the cultivation of a Tianxian, flawless speech, a somewhat spoiled temperament, a cute face, and a graceful figure.

It all felt very familiar to Li Changshou, as if he were designing the appearance and personality for his own paper effigies.

That's right—this girl seemed too formulaic!

It was like a performance: flawless acting, perfect details, but lacking genuine emotional immersion...

Li Changshou stayed alert in his heart but remained standing still, ready to self-destruct at any moment.

A moment later, the cloud wall changed again.

The girl hurried back, and when she saw Li Changshou, her eyes showed a hint of fear and shame. She bowed to him...

The girl quickly said: "Senior, please don't blame me. I didn't recognize your incarnation.

My great lady is in seclusion and can't be disturbed;

But Third Niangniang has seen your letter and invites you to the island for a talk.

Senior, please follow me."

Li Changshou nodded and followed the girl without a word.

This time, as they entered, the mist ahead began to change. Li Changshou, who had been flying over the sea, suddenly found a winding path under his feet...

Stepping onto it, the mist around him gradually faded, and he found himself at the edge of a spiritual island.

Was this Sanxian Island?

He tried to scan the surroundings with his immortal sense, but some array here limited it to just three zhang around him...

The girl led the way ahead, guiding Li Changshou along the winding path until they reached an elegant courtyard.

She pushed open the gate and said with her head bowed: "Senior, please enter on your own. My Third Niangniang is waiting for you inside."

Li Changshou said warmly: "I offended you earlier—please don't hold it against me, immortal."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Please go ahead."

The girl waved her hands hastily and quickly retreated with her head down.

Li Changshou acted as if he noticed nothing, stepping into the gate, though he sighed inwardly...

After a few steps, a wisp of mist unconsciously wrapped around him;

Then, Li Changshou felt a daze, and before he knew it, he was in the backyard, facing a treasure pool brimming with spiritual energy.

The sound of water lightly rippled from the pool, where a graceful figure sat with her back to him, quietly combing her long hair...

The scene was, naturally, not to be described;

This sight certainly wouldn't be shown...

But Li Changshou remained completely composed, with only one thought in mind—

What a perfect back—it would be a shame not to apply some fire cupping.

"Hmm?"

The figure combing her hair suddenly noticed something and turned slightly, letting out a sharp cry!

When she fully turned, her face was extraordinarily ugly, with a wide mouth and an inverted face shape, even more hideous than a stone pomegranate...

The woman shouted loudly: "You insolent one! You've seen my body—you have to marry me!"

Without a word, Li Changshou raised his hand and slapped his forehead, his body tilting back and collapsing motionless on the ground.

The immortal power on the paper effigy rapidly dissipated, shrinking into a half-chi tall, one-cun thick paper figure.

The woman in the pool froze, and a flash of immortal light transformed her into a jade frog, which leaped into the water and swam away quickly.

Laughter erupted from outside the wall as the girl who had led the way flipped over it, doubling over in mirth.

"Ha ha ha, he actually got scared to death!

What kind of incarnation is this, with such a fragile dao heart?

Ha ha ha! I had so many more setups planned, even the bridal chamber was ready—truly, you've gotten off easy, you unlucky old daoist!"

Suddenly, a sigh echoed behind the girl.

"Dao friend, I truly have urgent business to discuss with your elder sister..."

The laughing girl froze, turned her head, and saw the paper figure on the ground being pushed aside as another paper figure jumped out. It wobbled and quickly transformed back into the kind-hearted old immortal, looking at the girl with a helpless expression.

"Please, Bixiao Immortal, pass on the message for me."