Chapter 234: Ling Shou's Hair Loss

In the vast and boundless prehistoric world, Li Changshou's first post-heaven spiritual treasure was a nameless small pagoda given to him by his senior brother, Yunzhongzi, out of respect for his master. Li Changshou used it for his main body's protection.

However, his first merit spiritual treasure turned out to be… the Tree of Yearning, which he had smuggled from the Marriage Hall in the Heavenly Court!

He had just decided to withdraw from the world of mortals, and immediately received a reward from the Jade Emperor. Who could he complain to about that?

In a small secret room deep beneath the Sea God Temple, sealed by arrays, Li Changshou's paper effigy sat holding the potted plant, chuckling to himself in a mixture of amusement and disbelief...

Honestly, back in his previous life, before he even graduated from university, a fortune teller who looked completely unreliable had used a mobile app to divine his fate and told him he would definitely wear a big red wedding robe in the future.

To combat such superstition, Li Changshou had planned to order a pure black tailcoat for his wedding in that life.

Although he never got to use it.

Unexpectedly, the day seemed to be approaching, but he wouldn't be the groom—instead, he would be a backup Junior Yue Lao?

Tsk, it was rather interesting, in a way.

Li Changshou gazed at the Tree of Yearning, his expression slightly hesitant.

He couldn't just give it to his main body; it wouldn't be very useful anyway.

Was he supposed to use it in battle, summoning the Tree of Yearning and letting its branches pierce the enemy, making them fall head over heels and turn their weapons into a bed of romance?

Hmm, that idea wasn't half bad.

After careful consideration, Li Changshou decided to place this small tree in An Shui City to suppress the destiny of his Sea God Sect!

Although it was just an acquired merit spiritual treasure, even a mosquito's leg is meat...

Ahem, that wasn't the point!

Something was better than nothing, regardless of its size.

Li Changshou controlled the paper effigy, using the earth escape technique to head underground toward An Shui City.

Once he reached within ten li of the main Sea God Temple in An Shui City, the paper effigy began a winding, labyrinthine journey that twisted and turned like eighteen bends.

Soon, it arrived at a spot in the underground rock layer, skillfully activating a series of restrictions. The paper effigy shed its disguise as an old immortal and reverted to its thick paper form, with a cloth bag slung over its shoulder, then leaped into a crevice.

Inside the crevice was a hidden space.

There lay a courtyard about three zhang square, like a meticulously programmed paper factory, enveloped in layers of intricate arrays.

This was Li Changshou's largest paper effigy storage outside his main base so far!

In two rows of small houses, stacks of thick paper effigies were piled up, their total number impossible to count accurately. Every so often, paper effigies infused with immortal power were delivered here...

Beyond that, many basic paper effigies with simple commands patrolled, swept the area, and guarded against fire and theft.

The basic paper effigies were just for show, adding a touch of life to the place.

In a corner of the courtyard stood two small houses filled with high-quality immortal beans, all carefully selected and of superior grade—better than the batch he had previously given to the Heavenly Court.

—To avoid harming mortals, Li Changshou hadn't placed any poisonous immortal beans here.

This was the final line of defense for the main Sea God Temple.

If anyone attacked the Sea God Sect, the paper effigies and immortal beans here could erupt with the force of tens of thousands of elite heavenly soldiers in a short time, protecting An Shui City and the temple.

If even those were wiped out, Li Changshou...

Would just have to flee.

At that moment, the paper effigy with the cloth bag strode forward with an unyielding tortoise-like gait to the center of the courtyard, pulling out the 'potted plant' from the bag and setting it down.

The Tree of Yearning emitted a soft glow, illuminating the entire small courtyard with a radiant light, and the paper effigies instantly gained a bit of merit blessing.

Speaking of merit...

Li Changshou's mind opened up a new train of thought.

As Dongmu Gong had mentioned earlier, this small Tree of Yearning was cultivated from the original one.

Could he use merit to nurture this small tree and spread its spiritual roots?

That wild idea for combat he had earlier was actually feasible—pairing the Tree of Yearning with his immortal sense poison and heart fire to disrupt the enemy's state of mind...

Double the effect, twice as powerful!

Though this combat style was a bit underhanded, in a life-or-death fight, survival was what mattered most.

On top of that, the leaves and branches of this small Tree of Yearning could probably be used for alchemy...

Maybe even try some grafting techniques, adding other spiritual roots or branches to it, and grow some 'Yearning Fruits'?

The Fruit of Ren Shen was shaped like an infant, so Yearning Fruits could come in male and female pairs...

If he ever got the chance to visit the Wuzhuang View, he could go as Changgeng Dao Ren, present some Yearning Fruits, and pay respects to the ancestor of earth immortals by saying,

"Senior, our fruits are fated—how about we exchange a few hundred pairs?"

Ahem, that was just him craving peaches.

"How can I make the most of this thing?"

Now that he had it in hand, even if it wasn't the shape-changing spiritual medicine he wanted, he couldn't let such an acquired spiritual root and merit treasure go to waste.

Who knew, once the Tree of Yearning grew, what effect its sap would have if used to make paper effigies...

Uh, the 'Qing Zi Paper Effigy' project officially launched?

But on second thought, he should play it safe.

Better to leave it here for now, let it absorb some incense merit and grow slowly, and think about the rest later.

After securing the newly acquired Tree of Yearning, Li Changshou's mind returned to his main body, and he continued refining pills.

If he had known the Jade Emperor would grant such a 'valuable treasure,' he could have saved himself the trouble and just stabbed Wang Fugui a few... hundred times to finish it.

Reflecting on it, Li Changshou felt that as a minor disciple of Du Xian Men, his reputation didn't quite match his reality.

While his fellow disciples were busy with trivial matters between peaks, he was caught in the whirlpools of great sects.

While most of them worried about their immortality tribulations, he was already fretting over the Golden Immortal tribulation, figuring out how to achieve longevity steadily...

The ways of the world were truly wondrous.

That trip to Bei Zhou had shattered the calm of his cultivation life.

A small South Sea God Sect that started as a 'wealth-gathering gang' had ended up entangling him in so many karmic ties...

The dangers of the primordial era were countless, yet its vastness and excitement filled Li Changshou with a sense of fulfillment.

It was all worth the journey.

Of course, getting carried away with heroism was impossible—this lifetime, he would never do that. A few hearty laughs or shows of bravado meant nothing in practice.

Stable cultivation was the true path.

He was just a few tremors away from the Golden Immortal realm...

At such a critical moment, he couldn't waver from his principles and must never disrupt his origins.

He had to firmly uphold the basic strategies of 'keeping a low profile' and 'making a fortune quietly,' while sticking to the guiding ideology of the 'Steadfast Sutra'!

'Should I share some insights with Master Wangqing?'

Li Changshou pondered for a bit but couldn't find a completely safe way.

Currently, only two people in the sect knew his true cultivation level.

One was his own master, Kong Xu Palm Sect Ji Wuyou, but ever since that night, the palm sect seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, offering no further instructions as if nothing had happened.

He hadn't even followed up with any coaxing or consolidation!

The other was the newly ascended True Immortal and chief disciple of his generation from Potian Peak, who had a somewhat clarified relationship with him and seemed, probably, possibly, to have a slight fondness for him...

You Qin Xuanya.

She had already sworn a great Dao oath from the Zhou lineage, so under normal circumstances, she wouldn't reveal his true cultivation.

Moreover, due to inconsistencies in sect and external intelligence, both Palm Sect Ji Wuyou and this 'not-so-cold iceberg' You Qin Xuanya were unaware of the major events he was handling outside...

To be fair, Sister You was truly beautiful, though she could be a bit too straightforward at times, not adaptable and not savvy in social graces.

In the eyes of other disciples, she was the epitome of a pure fairy, untainted by worldly dirt.

Li Changshou thought of this and just smiled faintly, not dwelling on it further...

After a series of ups and downs, his cultivation days finally entered a slightly peaceful period.

Unfortunately, this peace didn't last long. In the twelfth year after Ao Yi's wedding and the South Sea-East Sea battle, the sea clans erupted in another large-scale rebellion.

This time, the rebel forces launched a fierce attack on the North Sea Dragon Palace, though they were repelled in the end, the North Sea Dragon Palace suffered heavy losses, even having its gates demolished.

Bei Ju Lu Continent was bitterly cold, and the North Sea was affected as well, with few sea creatures and vast expanses of perpetual black ice floating on the surface, making the North Sea Dragon Palace the weakest among them...

This was the dragon clan's first taste of defeat, and the atmosphere within the entire race became quite delicate.

The factions for war, reform, and peace all had large numbers of dragons.

But these were just the obvious troubles; the real problems lay hidden beneath the ice.

According to the latest message from Wen Jing Dao Ren, the Western Teachings' true target this time was the West Sea Dragon Palace. Half of it had already been infiltrated, and most of the immortal flood dragons were secretly rebelling.

A storm was quietly brewing in the West Sea, while most of the dragon clan had been distracted...

Li Changshou pondered continuously for half a month and settled on a three-word strategy.

This time, playing it safe was absolutely necessary.

Upon receiving Wen Jing Dao Ren's message, Li Changshou promptly reported the matter to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor took it very seriously, and emboldened by his previous display of might, he boldly assembled one hundred thousand elite heavenly soldiers from various places, training them in secret and preparing for a righteous strike from the heavens!

For the Heavenly Court at that time, this was a precious force, and if it suffered major losses, the Jade Emperor would surely be heartbroken.

At the same time, to reduce his own workload, Li Changshou offered the previous version of the cultivation method for Frost Archers and Great Shield Soldiers—which had been used at the Dragon Palace—to the Heavenly Court.

Apparently, they created a... Bean Planting Marshal for it!

Since the 'Wan Dou Archer' was too powerful, Li Changshou hadn't handed over its cultivation method and was growing it himself on Xiao Qiong Peak.

In the subsequent new varieties of Wan Dou Archers he developed, he created an upgraded version and a five-elements fire version.

These one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers were each equipped with ten archer-type immortal beans, ten defensive-type immortal beans, and five upgraded Wan Dou Archers.

When the time came, it would be a thunderous strike!

As the saying goes, things don't happen more than three times.

If the Western Teachings were thwarted again in their second major scheme, they would likely reassess the dragon clan matter.

At that point, the Western side would probably retreat if they knew better, or in the worst case, directly pressure the Heavenly Court.

That's why Li Changshou valued this 'opportunity' so much—he had to make the dragon clan yearn for the Heavenly Court, and even wait for them to actively seek aid...

This was the crucial step in bringing the dragon clan to heaven.

But truthfully, under the premise that the Western Teachings already knew of the Heavenly Court's and Ren Jiao's interference in dragon clan affairs, to successfully scheme against them again and undermine their plans a second time...

It was truly difficult.

What surprised Li Changshou a bit was...

The Western Teachings had become much more cautious this time.

Even with such a significant advantage in secret, they didn't rush to attack the West Sea Dragon Palace. Instead, they used the sea clan rebels and the demon clans they later mobilized to constantly drain the dragon clan's energy and patience.

Li Changshou could only roughly estimate that their strike would come soon—anywhere from three years to a hundred years—and it would be a decisive blow.

'What kind of move will it be?

On second thought, they can only approach from a few limited angles, like the Heavenly Court, the dragon clan, or the South Sea God Sect.'

Lately, Li Changshou felt his mental energy was stretched thin, and even...

He had lost two or three strands of hair!

In the end, what did this have to do with him as a Du Xian Men disciple, Li Changshou? It was the South Sea Sea God's moment to gain fame in the primordial era.

"What a life full of worries."

Just as he was about to dive back into analyzing the Western Teachings' backup plans, he noticed Ling E hurrying back from the Potian Peak direction, arriving outside the pill room's great array.

He opened the special passage for his junior sister, allowing Ling E to enter the pill room, and his main body emerged from the underground chamber.

"So urgent—what's wrong?"

Ling E said hurriedly,

"Senior brother, our grandmaster is looking for you. He seems very anxious!"

"Did he say what it's about?"

"It seems to be... about our uncle-master Wan Jiang Yu's reincarnation. There might be some issues on the underworld side.

The palm sect has even been alerted, and he's in the Wangqing Residence right now!"

The palm sect was involved?

In that case, it wouldn't be appropriate to go with an effigy, to avoid displeasing the palm sect.

Li Changshou asked Ling E to wait a moment as his true main body flew out from a box in the corner of the bookshelf; the previous main body series of paper effigies turned into a wisp of green smoke and returned underground.

"This... this..."

Ling E glanced at the small hole under the meditation cushion, then at her senior brother in front of her, and asked aggrievedly,

"Senior brother, last time when your hand brushed past my face, was that also..."

Li Changshou replied calmly,

"That was naturally not an effigy."

"Oh," Ling E's face turned red, but she had improved a bit and adapted somewhat.