Chapter 200: Sorrow, So Great

For some reason, Jiang Lin'er smiled and then suddenly pouted, muttering "boring," before calmly looking up at the starry sky.

Li Changshou, standing nearby, caught this small detail. Thinking about the type of dan yao he had previously designed but failed to refine, he silently apologized to his little shizu in his heart...

He had been cultivating for a relatively short time, and his accumulation in innovating dan yao was quite limited...

That said, Ao Yi had dressed as a woman just once and immediately won the affections of someone at first sight. It had to be admitted that his charm was truly impressive.

Unfortunately, this was destined to be a case of unrequited feelings, with the water flowing on but remaining heartless.

As the proper crown prince of the dragon clan and a qi refiner of the Jie Jiao, Ao Yi scoffed at this and coldly said,

"Get lost!"

With a flash, his short sword was drawn and then sheathed, producing a sword's ringing sound. This Ke Le'er of his leaped up and dove into the sea...

The four dragon clan guards stayed close, providing protection.

Li Changshou's paper effigy in the form of an old woman frowned at the young qi refiner in the Tianxian realm and sent a voice transmission,

"This fellow daoist, my young master is no ordinary woman. If you develop feelings for her, watch out for your life."

He couldn't really sabotage his own second sect leader, after all.

With that, the old woman paper effigy turned and left, not forgetting to send a quiet voice transmission to Jiang Lin'er with a few words of advice.

As planned, Li Changshou's paper effigy, along with Ao Yi and the four dragon experts, departed from the area and quickly vanished into the vast sea.

Ao Yi couldn't stay outside for too long, to avoid drawing the attention of the Western Cult experts.

Jiang Lin'er blended into the crowd and headed toward the city.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a murmur from the seaside—it came from that flustered human youth qi refiner who had been shouting "Ke Le'er" and insisting on asking for her name...

The guy was muttering,

"What an extraordinary woman, so different from ordinary ones. Just one glance, and it's impossible to let go.

Ke Le'er...

Le'er... Le Le..."

Jiang Lin'er stumbled, nearly turning back to chop the guy!

Now, back to the main events.

In the sea, Long Yi and his three brothers escorted Ao Yi and Li Changshou's paper effigy, hurrying away for tens of thousands of li.

Li Changshou briefly instructed Ao Yi to go back and align his story with Jiang Si'er, letting her arrange the follow-up for Ke Le'er's backstory to avoid any slip-ups...

The four personal guards of the Dragon Kings were on high alert, working together to use their escape techniques and swiftly return Ao Yi to the Donghai Dragon Palace.

It was as if delaying even a bit would make a Saint disciple from the Western Cult jump out behind them.

There was no helping it—after being warned so many times by this Sea God, they had become inexplicably tense.

Although it was just a brief encounter and they had only handled a minor matter together, the four dragon guards' trust in Li Changshou was no longer simply due to orders from the Dragon King.

They had realized that this Sea God handled things far more steadily and meticulously than most human experts...

In fact, not just humans—even among the dragon clan, such prudent and thorough individuals were extremely rare!

After parting ways with Ao Yi and his group, Li Changshou turned the old woman paper effigy into ashes and switched to his standard Sea God paper effigy with the appearance of an old immortal.

He searched the depths of the Donghai for a while, confirming that no one was tracking Ke Le'er's trail, before hurrying to the deserted island where he had arranged to meet Jiang Lin'er.

Once on the island, he cast a transformation technique and hid in a rock crevice.

Li Changshou began to deduce what reactions the Western Cult might have because of this incident...

This was probably just a small scheme.

The deep-sea yao clan had been drawn into the dragon clan's affairs, and the Western Cult was using more and more tactics.

What worried Li Changshou the most was that, later on, the Western Cult might feel backed into a corner.

Those Saint disciples manipulating the "taming of the dragons" had invested too many resources, and if it all led to the dragon clan joining the Heavenly Court, they would surely be furious. They might try to escalate things beyond control, alerting the two Saints of the Western Cult.

Grasping this "degree" was truly difficult, and for Li Changshou, it was quite a challenge.

Still, there was something marvelous about today's events.

Thinking carefully, it was also due to the good karma from Jiang Si'er's past-life tear.

—Jiang Si'er had given Lan Ling'e the treasured pearl "Past-Life Tear" from the jiao ren clan as the cause, and Lan Ling'e passed it to her little shizu, who encountered the fake Ao Yi incident on the way back to the Honghuang.

Every drink and peck has its destined measure;

Causes and effects are naturally profound.

Li Changshou could only sigh at its wonder, feeling a slight sense in his heart...

'Hold on!'

Li Changshou's dao heart shook, and he quickly halted.

In the underground chamber, his main body opened its eyes, condensed a cyan great sword, and used the Dao-Severing technique to slash fiercely at his own forehead.

There were two soft cracking sounds, and immortal light surged around Li Changshou's body, with lotus flowers scattering everywhere. He barely dropped to a lower minor realm, perfecting his dao foundation a bit more.

Then, Li Changshou continued with his previous insights.

The matter with his shizu and the Emotionless Immortal needed to be pushed forward quickly.

If he could use his shizu's words to subtly remind the Emotionless Immortal about the aspects he hadn't yet comprehended or realized, the Emotionless Immortal might reach the peak of Tianxian and achieve great perfection...

Although Li Changshou was still suppressing his own realm, the sooner he could reference the Golden Immortal tribulation, the better...

That way, he could make more preparations and determine the optimal level for consolidating his dao foundation.

If he had sufficient control, he also needed to consider whether there would still be a chance for ascension after the Golden Immortal tribulation...

Without any innate supreme treasures for protection, and his merit golden body only condensed to a few fingers so far, naturally, the higher his cultivation, the safer he would be.

Half a day later,

Jiang Lin'er swiftly escaped from the sea and reunited with Li Changshou on the deserted island.

By then, Li Changshou had already arranged the follow-up for the "fake Dragon Prince," and the dragon clan side had started spreading the story far and wide.

They shaped the romantic tale of Ao Yi and Jiang Si'er's marriage into multiple versions to stabilize the hearts of the four seas' sea clans.

As for Ke Le'er, this friend, Jiang Si'er naturally acknowledged her;

The little princess was a clever paper person, and with Ao Yi consulting Li Changshou's opinions at any time, there wouldn't be any mistakes later.

In the sea, Li Changshou looked at his little shizu, who had resumed her armor and conical hat, and smiled,

"I'll escort you to the Du Xian Men mountain gate.

This time, I already put you in danger by letting you go out, which was inconvenient enough. If something else happens on the way, it would be hard to explain to Changshou."

Jiang Lin'er's expression turned a bit strange, and she casually said,

"Still putting on an act with me? There's no one else here."

Li Changshou showed a puzzled look, quickly thinking in his heart about any possible slip-ups, and continued calmly,

"What do you mean, fellow daoist? Have you not fully come out of the act from earlier?"

"Hmm?"

Jiang Lin'er raised an eyebrow, but seeing no flaws, she laughed and said, "Don't blame me, I just thought you might be that mysterious little grand-disciple of mine.

Since you insist on escorting me back, let's go together. Riding clouds or what?"

"We can use water escape; it's more concealed."

Li Changshou flicked his duster, and the two were enveloped in a bubble, swiftly moving through the sea.

On this journey, Jiang Lin'er was truly a handful for Li Changshou...

And to avoid exposure, Li Changshou kept their water escape speed from being too fast.

Jiang Lin'er started chatting with Li Changshou about all sorts of things, occasionally setting traps in her words to catch him off guard and extract some valuable information.

However, not only did Li Changshou not fall for it, but he gradually took control of the conversation, repeatedly hinting through details.

By the time they reached the Du Xian Men mountain gate two days later and bid farewell, Jiang Lin'er was mostly convinced—

The South Sea Sea God and her little grand-disciple weren't deeply connected; they only had some interactions because of Ao Yi, the Second Prince.

In fact, Jiang Lin'er even felt that the South Sea Sea God was a pretty good senior expert...

He was just a bit too mysterious;

He wouldn't reveal his true cultivation, original dao title, or anything like that.

"People like this are actually reassuring, much better than those who bare their hearts right away—it feels more comfortable."

Jiang Lin'er let out a light sigh, stretched her muscles, and flew toward the Du Xian Men mountain gate.

Although there had been a small hiccup, she had finally returned safely.

Hmph, this time, it wasn't for the Past-Life Tear or anything like that!

She had come back just because she missed her two adorable grand-disciples and little Jiu.

A moment later, on Xiao Qiong Peak,

"Lan Ling'e, Changshou! Your shizu is back!"

In the gaming room, Wine Jiu, who had just lifted a wine pot to drink, instantly sprayed out a mist of liquid, her face turning pale and her short robe trembling.

Lan Ling'e blinked;

Of course, they couldn't tell Wine Jiu about using the Past-Life Tear to win over the Emotionless Immortal—that would be impossible.

Besides, watching her little shishu get teased by their shizu was quite entertaining...

"This mischievous shishu! How could she come back without any warning!"

Wine Jiu hurriedly dashed out, summoned her large gourd, and hugged it as she took to the air before it could even grow!

But as soon as Wine Jiu flew up, a graceful figure swooped from behind, captured her in an instant, and smashed toward the lake on Xiao Qiong Peak!

"Hahaha, back and already getting some good luck!

Come on, little Jiu, let your shizu snuggle a bit!"

"Master, help!"

"Your master dares to interfere?"

Wine Jiu shouted at the top of her lungs, "Little Changshou, help!"

"Hahaha, even if you scream your throat out, no one can save you!

Xiao Qiong Peak is my domain!

Well, at least in terms of seniority!"

That wildly arrogant laughter echoed back and forth by the lake.

Qi Yuan, the old daoist, was startled awake and was about to rush out to pay respects, but as soon as he stepped out, he heard the noisy commotion outside.

After thinking it over, Qi Yuan quietly sat back on his meditation mat, deciding not to interrupt his master's fun just yet...

Soon after, Lan Ling'e and Xiong Lingli arrived.

Xiong Lingli, who had become quite familiar with Wine Jiu, stepped forward without hesitation and shouted,

"Let go of my shijie!"

Seeing Wine Jiu in such a sorry state, she charged in, activated her bloodline divine ability, swung her fan-sized hand like thunder, and slapped the unfamiliar short and skinny woman flying!

Xiong Lingli rescued the disheveled Wine Jiu and sheltered her behind her tower-like body, saying,

"Don't bully my shijie!

If you've got something, come at me!"

Jiang Lin'er was sent flying hundreds of zhang, skipping across the lake surface like a stone, yelling "ouch" nonstop. Before plunging into the water, she couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Lan Ling'e's face turned pale with shock, and she hurried over.

Wine Jiu was so moved that tears welled up, hugging Xiong Lingli's leg and sobbing.

When Qi Yuan shouted "Master—" and rushed to the lake edge, Xiong Lingli blinked, counted on her fingers for a moment.

The Sea God's master... oh.

Whoops, she'd caused trouble again!

A short while later, Li Changshou leisurely arrived on a cloud from the pill room, his immortal sense revealing a somewhat odd scene.

His master stood by the grass hut—nothing unusual there.

Wine Jiu was wrapped in a blanket, shivering in front of Lan Ling'e's grass hut, while Lan Ling'e carried tea from the lakeside stove toward the hut.

Xiong Lingli sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the hut, occasionally scratching her head and chuckling.

Beside her, a figure was jumping around, poking here and touching there, exclaiming nonstop.

"Heavens above, how did you cultivate this body?

It's so incredibly talented!

I'm a full Tianxian, and I was wearing six defensive treasures, but you slapped me hard enough to spit blood! And your yuan shen cultivation is still far from immortality!

Wow, that's amazing—the legendary ancient wu clan is probably no better.

Want to come out and adventure with me? Staying cooped up here is such a waste of talent. If you had a divine weapon weighing a few thousand jin, you could sweep through armies!

Wow, these chest muscles... huh, they're not as hard as I expected. You must not train them enough...

Wait, you're a woman!"

Xiong Lingli tilted her head, glanced down at that seemingly tiny and adorable hand;

Then, her cute face turned white, a blush spreading visibly from her neck to her forehead, followed by a puff of steam.

"Ah—shizu, you're awful!"

"Shizu, get back!"

Li Changshou shouted, but Xiong Lingli's shy and embarrassed slap had already landed!

That fan-sized hand, laced with blood light, struck Jiang Lin'er's shoulder in a flash!

The scene seemed to slow down before speeding up...

Since they were so close and Jiang Lin'er was initially stunned, she only had time to duck her head, watching helplessly as the slap hit and her body deformed!

Before Jiang Lin'er could feel the force erupt, a whooshing wind filled her ears...

From this slap, Jiang Lin'er was sent straight through the wall of Qi Yuan's grass hut, leaving two human-shaped holes, smashing through a dozen large trees, and finally lying in the forest.

She opened her mouth, tilted her head back, and sprayed a small fountain of blood...

Staring at the sky, ignoring her injuries, another tear slowly slid from the corner of her eye...

"Sadness, so great."