Chapter 269: Impossible to Directly Confront

The boy recited a poem, which Li Changshou initially thought might have been penned by some great elder.

However, it turned out to be from Ran Deng, who would later become the famous Ran Deng Ancient Buddha, residing in Yuanjue Cave on Lingjiu Mountain. This meant Li Changshou felt no psychological burden in handling the situation.

It wasn't that Li Changshou had become arrogant or dared to show disrespect to Ran Deng.

In fact, Li Changshou held deep reverence for all Daoist predecessors, always putting his full effort into his calculations and never holding back even a fraction.

But this boy was excessively arrogant, and Ran Deng, relying on his status as the Deputy Leader of Chan Jiao, directly demanded that Li Changshou show himself in person.

Was this an attempt to force him to reveal his true form?

The intention seemed rather malicious.

If the Grand Master hadn't been present, Li Changshou might have had to expend more effort, potentially using a recording pearl containing the boy's words as later evidence.

There was no way he could respond cordially.

With the Grand Master watching from above, Li Changshou could neither retreat nor show weakness.

Whether it was this boy or even Ran Deng himself, if they approached with an arrogant attitude and looked down on others, Li Changshou would maintain a respectful distance, neither humble nor assertive. Calling him "senior" would be a sign of respect, and offering a cup of tea would suffice as courtesy.

He needed to keep his thoughts clear and not abandon his principles.

The core principle in handling this was to never compromise the dignity of Ren Jiao.

Especially since the other party had sent a boy to be so aggressive, the most prudent option was for Li Changshou to show some displeasure and express his dissatisfaction appropriately.

Li Changshou didn't believe that a great figure like Daoist Ran Deng, who had lived since ancient times, was unaware of his boy's temperament.

On the contrary, sending such a reckless boy could serve to pressure Li Changshou and see if it could trick him into revealing his true form. If things went south, Ran Deng could simply scold the boy and shift the blame to a "temporary helper," preserving his own reputation.

These great powers had such intricate minds.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

After analyzing the possible outcomes, Li Changshou flicked his horsetail whisk and said:

"Please go. I will not see you out."

The boy's eyes widened in shock, as if he had misheard.

In his childish voice, he shouted, "Sea God, do you know who my master is?"

"Hmph!"

Li Changshou let out a cold snort and replied calmly, "With your disrespectful attitude, I can hardly show you a welcoming face. Go back.

My true form is currently traveling the four seas, so it's inconvenient to meet."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving the boy on the white crane staring in bewilderment.

"You—you really mean that?"

The boy immediately jumped down, his face flushing red as he yelled, "Do you know my master is the Deputy Leader of Chan Jiao?

Even the Twelve Golden Immortals have to call him teacher!

How dare you act like this?"

Li Changshou completely ignored him, a faint wisp of smoke rising around him as he vanished from sight.

Had he just left?

The boy was stunned, and most of the divine messengers and mortal pilgrims burst into laughter.

Several divine messengers teased:

"Want to see our Sea God with that temper? You're asking for trouble."

"Our Sea God is very busy—not just anyone can meet him!"

"You—!"

The boy had never faced such humiliation. He leaped up, trying to rush into the Sea God Temple's main hall.

Suddenly, three or five burly men darted out from the side. One stepped directly in front of the boy, using his massive, solid chest to knock the boy flying back.

The others quickly advanced, all dressed in black leather armor, their muscles gleaming menacingly as they chorused:

"Heh heh!"

The boy trembled.

Although he had cultivation at the late True Immortal realm, he was just an enlightened spirit. Faced with this situation, his face turned pale, and he panicked.

"What are you doing? I—I'm just a boy! My master is the Deputy Leader of Chan Jiao!"

In response, the divine messengers' "heh heh" grew even louder.

A moment later, the boy wailed in tears, mounted his white crane, and shot off toward the northwest at top speed.

Li Changshou secretly raised an eyebrow. If that white crane hadn't been a spirit bird from Jade Void Palace, he might have quietly detained it.

It seemed like an excellent spiritual breed—it would be best if he could acquire a male and female pair.

Then, a light laugh came from outside the rear hall as the Grand Master arrived on the clouds.

Li Changshou stepped forward to bow in greeting. The Grand Master naturally sat in the main seat of the rear hall and said with a smile:

"This Daoist Ran Deng must have some ulterior motive, sending that boy to test you.

Changshou, have you had any conflicts with people from Chan Jiao before?"

"Among the experts from Chan Jiao whom this disciple knows, there are only two: True Immortal Huang Long and Yun Zhongzi. I have always treated them with courtesy and dared not show any neglect."

"In that case, let me perform a little divination."

The Grand Master pinched his fingers to calculate, his expression serious.

After a moment, he let out a soft sound of surprise and slowly drew a circle with his left hand, revealing the chasing yin-yang fish within, borrowing the power of the Taiji Diagram.

The Grand Master seemed to discover something amusing, his lips curving into a smile.

Li Changshou waited quietly beside him.

Without enough divine abilities, he relied on his mental calculations to ponder various possibilities, guessing that this matter would have follow-up soon.

"Ha... What a ridiculous situation."

The Grand Master suddenly chuckled, and Li Changshou felt puzzled.

The Grand Master explained:

"This time, Daoist Ran Deng is acting on a request from a disciple of the Western Sect. He is to serve as a guarantor and take you to the Western Sect to discuss matters related to the Dragon Clan.

It's truly absurd.

Ran Deng has a high seniority and wide connections, so it's no surprise he knows people from the Western Sect.

But now that Ren Jiao stands with the Heaven Court to promote its prosperity, and Ran Deng doesn't even consider the Heaven Court's Daoist origins, he directly demands your true form appear—insisting on nothing less.

This attitude is far too arrogant, not taking Ren Jiao seriously at all."

Li Changshou asked, "Grand Master, how should we handle this?"

"Just ignore it. You continue with what you are doing."

The Grand Master chuckled a few times, stood up, and paced in the rear hall of the Sea God Temple. With a gentle wave of his left hand, the shadow of the Taiji Diagram floated up, hovered under the central beam, spun twice, and then faded away.

A subtle, indescribable Dao rhythm spread through the rear hall before gradually dissipating with the wind.

The Grand Master said with a smile, "That should do it."

"Thank you for your protection, Grand Master!"

Li Changshou bowed in Daoist salute to the Grand Master, then turned and bowed toward the outside of the rear hall, saying clearly, "This disciple sincerely thanks the Saint for his protection!"

The Grand Master couldn't help but smile, offering a few words of warm encouragement to Li Changshou before his figure vanished, not staying to watch the rest.

As he left, the Grand Master patted Li Changshou on the shoulder and said, "Keep up the good work. Some people whose hearts are outside Daoism don't deserve any extra courtesy."

Li Changshou immediately understood his superior's stance and nodded solemnly in agreement.

After seeing the Grand Master off, Li Changshou looked up at the beam and sighed.

Now, he finally had a trace of the Taiji Diagram's power.

Should he hide his true form here?

Well, no need; it wasn't necessary.

The value of this protection lay in its symbolic meaning, not its actual power.

Li Changshou felt a warmth in his heart.

For a Ren Jiao like this, all his efforts and troubles were worthwhile.

What should he do next?

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, pacing slowly in the rear hall as he thought carefully.

The boy had ridden the crane north; based on the crane's speed, it would take one or two hours to reach Jade Void Palace.

Soon, Ran Deng would likely come under the pretext of questioning him, as a Daoist senior, about why he had struck his boy and damaged his reputation.

The matter could be big or small, and on the surface, Ran Deng already held the upper hand.

According to the Grand Master's arrangement, Li Changshou just needed to reveal the Taiji Diagram to make Ran Deng back off.

But that wasn't the most prudent strategy.

Li Changshou quickly sorted out his thoughts.

Ran Deng was acting on behalf of the Western Sect, using his Chan Jiao identity to pressure a Daoist junior like him. If Li Changshou pushed back forcefully, it would be seen as disrespecting Chan Jiao, likely leading to enmity.

He could use other schemes to avoid clashing with Chan Jiao and keep the Taiji Diagram's protection as his trump card against Ran Deng.

For this...

"I've got it."

Li Changshou stopped and had this paper effigy perform earth escape back to the underground paper effigy storage.

As his mind shifted, he activated another paper effigy hidden in a seabed crevice near the East Sea Dragon Palace.

This paper effigy took the form of the Sea God's usual elderly immortal appearance and used water escape to head straight to the East Sea Dragon Palace, arriving without any hindrance.

Half an hour later, Li Changshou appeared again at the Dragon Palace banquet.

This time, he didn't delay and went directly to find True Immortal Huang Long.

Li Changshou stepped forward, bowed to the Daoist predecessors at the same table, and said with a smile, "Senior Huang Long, this junior has a favor to ask."

"Oh?"

True Immortal Huang Long perked up and replied, "What is it, friend Sea God? Feel free to speak."

Li Changshou then used a voice transmission technique to detail the incident with Ran Deng's rude boy to True Immortal Huang Long.

The more True Immortal Huang Long heard, the deeper his frown grew.

Once Li Changshou finished, True Immortal Huang Long stood up, bowed to the Jie Jiao friends at the table, and said with a smile:

"My fellow Daoists, please excuse me while I attend to a prior matter."

With that, he left the main hall with Li Changshou, amid some puzzled looks from the guests.

Asking True Immortal Huang Long to step in was the most straightforward method Li Changshou could think of.

This way, the incident could be framed as a personal conflict between him and Ran Deng, not as disrespect toward Chan Jiao.

"Big Brother!"

Ao Yi ran over from the side and asked hurriedly, "Is there some trouble?"

Li Changshou smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's just a minor issue."

Ao Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said firmly, "Big Brother, if there's anything you need from Ao Yi, or if you require help from the Dragon Clan, please let me know right away."

"Very well."

Li Changshou nodded with a smile and, under Ao Yi's escort, left the Dragon Palace with True Immortal Huang Long, flying toward the sea surface.

Once they reached the sea surface, True Immortal Huang Long asked:

"Was that boy truly so overbearing, demanding your true form appear and go to Jade Void Palace?"

"When you arrive at my Sea God Temple, senior, you can just look at the recording pearl to see the full context."

Li Changshou sighed and said, "This junior has always avoided traveling with my true form because I'm currently assisting the Dragon Palace and Heaven Court against Western forces.

If experts ambushed me, the consequences would be unthinkable, so I dare not agree to such a thing."

True Immortal Huang Long sighed and said, "It's unfair that you've been put in this position. This deputy leader... ah, he always does things that are hard to understand. I don't know what he's up to this time."

"From your words, senior, it seems this Deputy Leader Ran Deng doesn't have much prestige within Chan Jiao?"

"He has high seniority, and we disciples and fellow students all address him as teacher or uncle."

True Immortal Huang Long explained honestly, "It's just that our teacher gave him the deputy leader position out of consideration for their ancient friendship, so he issues orders to us in daily matters.

As for some other things, it's not easy for me to say more."

Li Changshou caught on to something from this.

As they spoke, the elder and the youth, one dragon and one man, arrived at the edge of NanZhanBuZhou.

—To beat Ran Deng to the punch before he came to demand an accounting, they naturally crossed NanZhanBuZhou as quickly as possible.

Just as they flew out of the East Sea boundary, a familiar voice came from behind, carrying a familiar Dao rhythm:

"Eh? What a coincidence, running into you here?"

True Immortal Huang Long quickly stopped his cloud, and Li Changshou turned to see a middle-aged Daoist with a majestic face, wearing golden chainmail, approaching on the clouds.

It was Zhao Gongming!

If not for the Dao rhythm of QianKun Escape Technique around Zhao Gongming, Li Changshou might have believed it was just a coincidence and not that Zhao Gongming had hurried after them.

"Greetings, Senior Gongming!"

"Ha ha ha, old brother, you forgot again?"

"Uh, greetings, old brother Gongming!"

"Good! You two look like you're in a hurry—what fun is there? Why not take me along?"

Li Changshou: ...

Indeed, chivalry and boldness were just for idle times!

Zhao Gongming used the DingHai Divine Pearls to perform an escape technique, directly transporting True Immortal Huang Long and Li Changshou to the rear courtyard of the Sea God Temple.

Li Changshou went to the front hall to retrieve a few recording pearls and showed the boy's behavior.

Zhao Gongming immediately cursed:

"What does this Deputy Leader Ran Deng mean?

Demanding your true form right away? Is he trying to make you an easy target for those who want to harm you?

Let's go to Jade Void Palace and confront him!"

"Old brother, wait, old brother, wait."

Li Changshou quickly said, "I expect Deputy Leader Ran Deng will come to question me soon.

Later, you and Senior Huang Long can hide in the shadows, each with a recording pearl to capture everything we say.

That way, if things escalate, I'll have evidence to speak for myself and avoid being labeled as disrespectful to my seniors.

If nothing happens, we can just pretend this never occurred, and I don't want to make enemies of such a senior figure."

True Immortal Huang Long nodded with a smile, his eyes showing approval. "Friend, your mindset is truly broad."

Li Changshou replied with a smile, "It's just that feuds are better resolved than started."

With that, Zhao Gongming activated the DingHai Divine Pearls, and he and True Immortal Huang Long hid in a corner of the rear hall. The two great figures each held a recording pearl provided by Li Changshou, starting to record the scene.

At the same time, in the DouShu Palace, under that large tree.

The Grand Master leaned against the trunk, a cloud of mist floating before him, clearly displaying the scene in the Sea God Temple's rear hall.

From the angle of the "recording," it was likely observed through the shadow of the Taiji Diagram.

When the Grand Master saw Zhao Gongming and True Immortal Huang Long arrive and heard Li Changshou's plan, he couldn't help but clap and laugh.

Leisurely, he waited for what would happen next.

Li Changshou sat in the rear hall for about half an hour when a white cloud drifted in from the northwest, carrying an elder enveloped in golden light. The boy from earlier knelt beside him.

The elder appeared thin-faced from afar, but up close, he had a square jaw, which was quite unusual.

He wore a brown Daoist robe, sat on the white cloud with his hands tucked in his sleeves, and a bronze lamp floated above his shoulder. His eyes were half-open, with thick eyebrows, long sideburns, and large, drooping ears.

Every movement exuded a dignified aura, and his Dao rhythm flowed with the air of a true master.

Li Changshou's knowledge of Daoist Ran Deng was limited.

He only knew that Ran Deng was a master of stirring up trouble in the FengShen calamity, teaming up with the mysterious Daojun Lu Ya to escalate the chaos.

Later, before the FengShen calamity even ended, Ran Deng dropped the "Daoist" from his title and added "Ancient Buddha," leading several of the Twelve Golden Immortals to defect from Daoism.

But as for Ran Deng's exact origins, cultivation, or abilities, Li Changshou had never heard.

Li Changshou stood up and flew to the courtyard above the rear hall, this detail also part of his strategy.