Chapter 22: Helping the Master Cross the Tribulation First Set of Schemes

Qi Yuan drank until midnight before returning to Xiaoqiong Peak.

Li Changshou hadn't seen his master so joyful in seven or eight years. As Qi Yuan walked, he even hummed a little tune whose origin was unknown.

Passing by Li Changshou's door, Qi Yuan called out:

"Changshou ah? Are you cultivating?"

"Master, your disciple is resting. Today, I'm easing my mind and will resume cultivation tomorrow."

Li Changshou, who was sitting in meditation on his grass bed, opened his eyes and replied. Just as he was about to get up and open the door, he heard his master laugh and say:

"Rest, rest. As your master, I need to continue my seclusion.

This time, you did well. You used your escape arts to save Potian Peak's Youqin Xuanya, our niece-disciple. That truly brought glory to Xiaoqiong Peak.

However, don't let it make you arrogant. Always prioritize cultivation above all else. Don't go overboard with obsessing over escape arts—your own Dao realm is the foundation!"

"Your disciple understands," Li Changshou responded from inside the room.

Qi Yuan stroked his beard and smiled, then advised, "Hmm, make sure to solidify your realm.

Cultivation can't be rushed; take it steady, step by step, to have a chance at passing the major thresholds.

You rest. Your master is going into seclusion.

Ling'e has been worried sick about you these past few days and looks quite worn out. Remember to comfort her tomorrow."

"Yes," Li Changshou replied warmly.

Qi Yuan chuckled a couple of times, hummed his tune, and strolled back to his own grass hut, activating several array formations around it.

—For seclusion and cultivation, it needed to be quiet, so soundproofing arrays and warning arrays were essential.

Li Changshou glanced at the jade boxes in his storage treasure and let out a light sigh. After preparing for a while longer and building the alchemy room he'd been planning, he could start refining the Rong Xian Dan.

As long as he successfully refined the Rong Xian Dan and convinced his master to keep it on hand during his Tian Jie, the chances of his master surviving the tribulation would reach ninety percent.

The Cheng Xian Tian Jie was an unavoidable trial and ordeal for acquired beings seeking longevity.

Once the heavenly thunder struck, it was a matter of life or death.

From ancient times, no one seeking immortality through tribulation dared claim they had absolute certainty of surviving;

And Qi Yuan, due to an injury in his early years, had damaged his Dao foundation. His cultivation was unstable, and his divine soul strength was only half that of an ordinary ninth-tier Hui Dao cultivator.

Without other measures, Qi Yuan facing the Tian Jie would be certain death.

Yet, Qi Yuan was desperately eager to undergo the tribulation and become an immortal...

Qi Yuan wasn't just the master of him and Ling'e; he was also the peak master of this generation for Xiaoqiong Peak, the only peak master in Du Xian Men who hadn't become an immortal. The elder peak masters' meetings never included Xiaoqiong Peak.

In comparison, Shishu Jiu Jiu, who entered the sect several years after Qi Yuan, was already a Zhen Xian, leaving Qi Yuan far behind...

Before becoming an immortal, human Qi refiners couldn't live beyond three thousand years—this was the fixed decree of the Great Dao. In reality, Qi Yuan could still live for several hundred or even a thousand more years.

But Li Changshou knew that his master didn't want to suppress his realm or wait until his lifespan was nearly up to gamble on immortality;

Sometimes, Li Changshou could even sense that his master had thoughts of seeking death under the Tian Jie, using a resolve of certain death to fight for a slim chance of survival!

It sounded passionate, but in Li Changshou's view, his master's mindset was both stubborn and foolish.

That's why Li Changshou had been secretly preparing for fifteen years...

That's why Li Changshou had broken his own principles for the first time, leaving the sect's protection to go to Bei Ju Lu Continent; and after discovering the Xian Jie Cao, he had quickly decided to risk scheming against the Three-Eyed Bi Bo Snake and Yuwen Ling and the others.

The core of Li Changshou's first plan to help his master through the tribulation was to refine the Rong Xian Dan using Xian Jie Cao.

During his master's Tian Jie, as long as he could withstand the first strike and generate the first wisp of Xian Ling breath, he could immediately swallow the Rong Xian Dan, feign death, and initiate Bing Jie to evade the subsequent tribulations.

If an immortal failed their tribulation and underwent Bing Jie, they could become a Zhu Xian.

Although a Zhu Xian's cultivation and divine abilities were far inferior to a normal Yuan Xian, their lifespan was the same, and they could continue to cultivate upward.

According to ancient records, Zhu Xian could cultivate up to the Zhen Xian realm at most, so they were also called Di Xian practitioners, to distinguish them from Tian Xian practitioners.

In this first plan, Li Changshou had even mapped out his master's later life:

Transform into a Di Xian, accumulate several hundred years of cultivation, then join the budding Tian Court, which was in need of personnel, and secure a minor position—like a land god or mountain or river spirit. As long as he enjoyed a bit of incense offerings, his lifespan would exceed that of an ordinary Zhen Xian;

If his master achieved something noteworthy and earned merits from Tian Court, he might even outlive some Tian Xians...

Incidentally, his master could build some connections in Tian Court, and once he and his junior sister were fully prepared, they could also secure minor positions there. In the future management structure of the Three Realms, they could gain the qualifications of elders and then retire peacefully.

A perfect plan.

"Refining this dan isn't too complicated.

If I could get help from a Zhen Xian like Shishu Jiu Jiu and prepare multiple sets of materials, it should be doable.

But..."

His master was the typical sect Qi refiner—stubbornly prideful and suffering unnecessarily. Convincing him to use this method to save his life would be harder than finding the Xian Jie Cao.

However, as his disciple, he had to take on this karma—it was an unavoidable responsibility.

If all else failed, he'd have to coax and deceive him, maybe coat the Rong Xian Dan with sugar and call it a life-saving immortal pill...

Thinking of this, Li Changshou smiled faintly.

Amid the chirping of insects outside the window, he began to review his experiences from this trip, examining his shortcomings.

His methods against a Yuan Xian weren't sufficient, and he hadn't handled it quickly enough;

There was room for improvement with his Paper Cut Avatars—they still couldn't pass as completely real;

His Five Elements Escape Arts were a bit sluggish during transitions; when he entered that old cypress tree's roots, he exposed some fluctuations in the earth...

After self-reflection, he had plenty of time ahead to address these issues. After all, Li Changshou had no more reasons to go out; he could just stay in the mountains and cultivate steadily.

As for his own Tian Jie...

He wasn't in a hurry. He absolutely wouldn't take that step without ninety-nine percent certainty.

—That remaining zero point one percent could be for the Heavenly Dao acting unpredictably.

Thud!

A stone hit the wooden wall of the grass hut. Li Changshou calculated with his fingers and realized, without noticing, it was already past Yin Shi.

He got up and walked out of his grass hut, strolling toward his junior sister's residence next door.

...

In the ten years since his junior sister entered the sect, most of the teaching, tutoring, and life guidance happened around Yin Shi.

Arriving at the grass hut, Li Changshou gently knocked on the door. The wooden door opened a crack on its own, and he pushed it open and went inside.

A pink curtain greeted him, and the carpet underfoot had been changed to a pink style;

Behind the translucent screen, a familiar figure lay diagonally on the bed, facing inward, her gauze skirt revealing glimpses of lovely scenery.

The most captivating was the hazy ambiance, teasing the mind indescribably.

Yet, Li Changshou didn't even glance twice. He went straight to the main seat in the room and said calmly:

"Don't pretend to be asleep. That kind of demure posture doesn't suit you when you're actually sleeping."

From behind the screen came a coquettish, whiny voice: "Senior brother, I was just trying to configure Soft Xian Powder, and now I feel a bit dizzy, my head is fuzzy, I can't do anything, and my body is all soft and weak."

Li Changshou nodded and pretended to stand up. "Then let's talk tomorrow. It's not anything urgent anyway."

"No!" Ling'e instantly dropped the act and complained with a hint of grievance: "Sit down! I'll come out right now!

Hmph, you have to explain everything today—why you came back so late!"

There was a rustling sound, and soon Lan Ling'e emerged from behind the screen in a long skirt. She sat at the table on the left side, glaring at Li Changshou with a pout.

Li Changshou smiled helplessly and said: "Well, there were some unexpected events. Do you know Yuan Qing from Potian Peak?"

"Mm," Ling'e blinked. "The Potian Peak disciple who went to Bei Continent with you, right? Among our generation, his cultivation ranks second, and he's supposedly quite gentle."

"Remember, a man's gentleness is always just a facade.

He stirred up some trouble this time, trying to scheme against Youqin Xuanya, but ended up getting killed by her."

Li Changshou shook his head and organized the scenes he'd seen from those remnant souls' memories. "What he did was a classic case of losing the bigger picture for trivial gains—abandoning his identity as a Du Xian Men disciple to chase after worldly power as fleeting as smoke and clouds."

Ling'e rested her chin on her hand, leaning sideways on the table, and asked softly: "Senior brother, what exactly happened?"

Li Changshou explained slowly:

"That Youqin Xuanya is the sixth princess of a mundane kingdom in Nan Continent. This Yuan Qing is a non-legitimate son from a powerful family there, known as the Fourth Young Master.

Yuan Qing's mother is probably a concubine in that powerful family, but she's quite dominant and comes from another influential family herself, so she has some influence.

Then, these people targeted the sixth princess, who was sent to Du Xian Men to cultivate.

As long as Yuan Qing could marry the sixth princess, he could become the prince consort of that mundane kingdom and gain more say in his own family, while also harboring ambitions to seize the kingdom. So, they used every means to get Yuan Qing into Du Xian Men as well.

But Yuan Qing himself was incompetent; after sixty years, he still couldn't win her over. The people behind him were in a precarious situation, so they finally decided to take a desperate risk..."

Li Changshou gave his junior sister a simple rundown of what had happened before.

"In the end, these people failed miserably, and now their two families are about to be implicated. They're probably going to be uprooted by their kingdom's ruler to appease Du Xian Men's anger."

Looking at Ling'e's thoughtful expression, Li Changshou asked warmly:

"Xiao'e, what can you learn from this story?"

"Um—"

Ling'e pondered for a moment, then said firmly: "Women absolutely shouldn't be concubines! Otherwise, even fighting for power at home is so exhausting!"

"Cough!"

Li Changshou couldn't help but cover his forehead with one hand. "Anything else?"

"This Yuan Qing's schemes and layouts were too crude, and the branch of that mundane powerful family seriously underestimated Du Xian Men's strength and the value of its disciples."

Ling'e analyzed seriously, "I think the right approach would be to suppress Youqin Xuanya, endure for a few thousand years to cultivate into a Tian Xian, then go out and secretly become the hidden shadow ruler of that mundane kingdom. Pillage the kingdom's resources to offer tribute to the sect, boost your status and importance within the sect, and flourish in both the mundane world and the immortal world!

Relying on marriage to the ruler to rise up is just wishful thinking—these rulers have more than enough heirs."

Li Changshou: ...

"Forget it, just take this as an amusing story to listen to.

Your family is also from mundane nobility, so I thought I'd remind you to learn from it as a cautionary tale."

"Hee hee," Ling'e smiled with pursed lips, "Don't worry, senior brother. Without you, Ling'e won't go anywhere."

Li Changshou shook his head and chuckled lightly. "Bring out your medicine pouch. I need to refill it for you. It must have been used up this time, right?"

Ling'e instantly looked guilty. She sat up straight, pressed her pair of fair and slender legs together, and clasped her hands on her knees. Her eyes darted around as she pretended to be...

Obedient, cute, and lost in thought.

The poison powders and pills that senior brother gave her—on this trip, she hadn't wasted much at all... supposedly.