Chapter 271: I Need to Enrich Myself

Ha ha ha ha!

The person hadn't arrived yet, but the voice preceded them; it was Gongming's laughter, which was particularly hearty.

Li Changshou, with a slightly furrowed brow that then relaxed, greeted them with a hint of distress.

In the rear hall of the Hai Shen Miao, Huanglong Zhenren and Zhao Gongming arrived arm in arm. Li Changshou's paper effigy quickly stepped forward to inquire about the situation from Zhao Gongming and Huanglong Zhenren.

It really wasn't a good idea for Zhao Gongming to continue like this.

Moreover, in the past, Brother Gongming had always targeted the Western forces with his schemes; the West had been covertly undermining the Daoist foundations and changing the great fortunes of the Daoist schools, so it was understandable for their side's experts to counter them discreetly, and the West didn't dare to escalate the matter.

But now, Zhao Gongming's target had shifted to the deputy leader of Chan Jiao...

As long as Ran Deng hadn't publicly declared his departure from Chan Jiao, or unless the Saint of Chan Jiao, Yu Qing Yuan Shi Tianzun, stepped in to remove Ran Deng from his position as deputy leader, Ran Deng remained a heavyweight figure in Chan Jiao.

He wasn't someone to be easily provoked.

Therefore, when Li Changshou learned that Zhao Gongming had gone to ambush him midway, claiming a chance encounter and an accidental greeting—oh, what a surprise—he quickly sent Huanglong Zhenren to catch up, carrying a bit of his own advice.

Fortunately, Zhao Gongming now looked relaxed, while Huanglong Zhenren appeared somewhat embarrassed, indicating that things hadn't spiraled out of control.

Li Changshou asked for details, and Zhao Gongming recounted the entire episode of his scheme.

Zhao Gongming, the old master of such tricks, was truly incredibly skilled at it!

Before Huanglong Zhenren arrived, Zhao Gongming had followed his usual routine: first, lie down; second, make demands; third, settle privately.

The only thing that surprised Li Changshou slightly was that Zhao Gongming had used his twenty-four Dinghai Shen Zhu to firmly gain the upper hand over Ran Deng, putting Ran Deng at a disadvantage before the fight even began.

That was the true confidence behind Zhao Gongming's daring scheme.

Li Changshou couldn't help but praise this endlessly, which strengthened his resolve to quickly acquire some powerful spiritual treasures to bolster his own strength.

For a certain Ren Jiao novice mage before becoming a Jin Xian:

The Great Dao is my true self, and the heavens and earth resonate with me!

If spiritual treasures are lacking, use arrays instead; talismans, restrictions, hallucinogens, and poisons can still defeat enemies and turn the tide; true flames can burn all things, and thunder techniques can dispel evils.

Theoretically, how much initiative you have in battle depends entirely on how fast your escape techniques are—spiritual treasures and magical items are all secondary!

Risking danger to acquire treasures for self-protection is simply illogical nonsense!

For that same Ren Jiao novice mage after becoming a Jin Xian:

'My Dao realm improvements are slowing down; I need external objects to enrich myself!'

Ahem, back to the main point.

After sealing the heavens and earth, Zhao Gongming lay down directly in front of Ran Deng and insisted on going to Bi You Gong to seek justice.

Ran Deng furrowed his brows deeply, immediately pondering what kind of scheme this was from Jie Jiao.

Based on Zhao Gongming's description, Ran Deng's furrowed expression lasted a full incense stick's worth of time; clearly, he had already imagined a whole set of conspiracy theories and schemes of the Hong Huang world in his mind.

Fortunately, during this pause, Huanglong Zhenren arrived just in time.

As per Li Changshou's instructions, Huanglong Zhenren secretly transmitted a message to Zhao Gongming:

"Gongming Shixiong, by using this method against Ran Deng, the deputy leader, are you after some treasure? Or perhaps some divine ability?"

Zhao Gongming shook his head at once and replied via transmission: "I just can't stand how arrogant he is and how he's leaning toward foreign teachings; I'm just causing him trouble for no other reason."

Immediately, Huanglong Zhenren explained the potential consequences and presented the action guidelines Li Changshou had provided.

Zhao Gongming soon curled his lips and sighed inwardly.

A hero's talents go unused.

Zhao Gongming climbed up from the cloud he was lying on and laughed as he asked Ran Deng: "Ran Deng Shishu, do you have any way to counter this move of mine?"

This was a tactic Zhao Gongming had used before, and he executed it smoothly.

Ran Deng's brows furrowed even deeper, and for the first time since encountering Zhao Gongming, he spoke:

"Daoist friend... what do you mean?"

"Ah, to be honest," Zhao Gongming sighed, "in recent years, I've been searching for ways to break this technique, and for that, I've consulted many wise experts in Xi Niu Hezhou.

But they all failed to find a solution, which disappointed me greatly.

Today, seeing you, Ran Deng Shishu, I know you are an exceptionally wise person, highly revered by many experts in the Western Teachings, so I directly used this technique to see if you could find a way to break it.

Now, it seems difficult.

Shishu, I apologize for the offense; I'll take my leave now."

Zhao Gongming looked regretful, put away his treasures, and rode the clouds toward the southwest.

Ran Deng finally reacted;

Though still utterly confused and unsure of Zhao Gongming's intentions, he quickly called out:

"Can you demonstrate this technique again? Perhaps I can think of a way to counter it!"

Zhao Gongming stopped his cloud, turned around, and laughed:

"Ran Deng Shishu, there's no need to force it; you've already pondered for so long. If you can't break it, that's fine—it's not embarrassing, as even many Saint disciples from the Western Teachings couldn't solve it.

If you want to truly understand this technique, you should go to the South Sea and find my younger brother, the Hai Shen!

To tell you the truth, this technique came from my younger brother's ingenious ideas—it's truly fascinating!"

With that, Zhao Gongming bowed in farewell and drifted away on the clouds, feeling a bit more at ease in his heart.

Ran Deng was not angered; he smiled faintly and rode the clouds away, though a flash of anger briefly appeared in his eyes.

The last few lines were purely Zhao Gongming's own addition, to back up his younger brother and secretly warn Ran Deng.

His younger brother, the Hai Shen, has wide connections—not only protected by the Saints of Ren Jiao, but also backed by Jie Jiao!

And as a side threat to Ran Deng:

If you want to deal with him, my younger brother has plenty of ideas!

After Zhao Gongming finished recounting this, he raised an eyebrow at Li Changshou, and this senior outer disciple of Jie Jiao laughed:

"How about it? Did I handle this with restraint this time?

From now on, if that Ran Deng deputy leader wants to move against you, he'll have to think twice!"

Li Changshou's paper effigy nodded with a smile, repeatedly saying "You've worked hard, brother," but his true body was in the secret chamber, frantically scratching at the walls.

Although this incident would make it impossible to get along harmoniously with Ran Deng in the future, his previous impression on Ran Deng was probably just that of a 'somewhat clever Ren Jiao disciple.'

But with Zhao Gongming's antics...

It would likely be much harder to scheme against Ran Deng from now on.

In the Hai Shen Miao, Li Changshou arranged a banquet and shared a few cups with Zhao Gongming and Huanglong Zhenren, with everyone enjoying themselves as hosts and guests.

In Yu Xu Gong, when Ran Deng returned to his cultivation hall, he ordered his attendant to guard the entrance, and the hall was enveloped in a great array—who knows what this old Daoist was doing inside.

Later, Li Changshou made a simple summary and analyzed in detail the role that Ran Deng, as the deputy leader of Chan Jiao, could play.

Overall, the other party was still a major figure in the Daoist schools.

Based on the information he gathered from Zhao Gongming and Huanglong Zhenren during their drinks, it was confirmed that Ran Deng and Guang Chengzi did not get along.

Chan Jiao's internal harmony was not as good as Jie Jiao's.

The disciple Yuan Shi Tianzun favored most was Nan Ji Xianweng, and Nan Ji Xianweng, along with Guang Chengzi, were the only two who could enter the 'San You Small Courtyard' to pay respects to the Saint at any time.

Although Ran Deng was the deputy leader, only a few of his close disciples followed his orders; most others just paid lip service, and his influence was far less than Guang Chengzi's.

Yet nominally, Ran Deng could still give orders to Guang Chengzi, which made Guang Chengzi quite dissatisfied.

Of course, Li Changshou had no intention of actively targeting Ran Deng;

He understood all this merely to prepare for potential troubles in the future.

Apart from Zhao Gongming's 'sudden impulse,' everything else was under control.

In the art of scheming, pulling one hair moves the whole body. When Li Changshou was entrusted with the task of 'assisting the dragon to ascend to heaven' by the Saint, he had already made these preparations.

The efforts today were for the peace of his immortal path tomorrow.

Keep striving; give it your all, immortal power!

Li Changshou perked up his spirits, saw off the two senior friends, Zhao Gongming and Huanglong Zhenren, and then returned his mind to his true body.

He focused on consolidating his realm and observing the situations in the four seas;

Incidentally, Li Changshou made a table, listing all the treasures he could think of or knew about that might be obtainable.

On the topic: How to enrich oneself without entangling karma.

Speaking of treasures, the strongest spiritual treasure Li Changshou currently had was that Ai Cao Bao Shu, safely stored in his paper effigy repository beneath An Shui City.

This was a post-heaven merit spiritual treasure, high in grade but not suitable for direct use in combat.

He couldn't very well create a bunch of paper effigies during a fight and have them sneakily poke strong enemies with branches from the Ai Cao Shu.

That might work, but after one battle, the Ai Cao Shu would probably just...

Be stripped bare.

Even after achieving Jin Xian, Li Changshou dared not plot for first-tier innate spiritual treasures; in the Hong Huang world from ancient times to now, almost all treasures with the word 'innate' were already owned.

His current goal was locked on post-heaven merit spiritual treasures and post-heaven merit supreme treasures.

Such merit spiritual treasures and supreme treasures weren't simply made by infusing incense merit; they had to be involved in great affairs of heaven and earth, endure the power of the Heavenly Dao, and be nurtured by heavenly merit to qualify as post-heaven merit supreme treasures.

The way the Tian Ting cultivated the Ai Cao Shu was actually quite wasteful.

After all, the Tian Ting was the spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, and the Yu Di was like having a merit mine at home, but Li Changshou couldn't imitate that.

Li Changshou carefully calculated, based on what he knew from his previous life and the rumors he'd heard in this one, and compiled a list of top post-heaven treasures, which indeed numbered quite a few.

Among post-heaven treasures, the first to recommend was the human path supreme treasure, the first of Emperor Xuan Yuan's three sets—Kong Dong Yin.

This treasure was refined by a great expert of Chan Jiao and served as the imperial seal, with power said to be no less than Guang Chengzi's Fan Tian Yin.

However, the Kong Dong Yin's main function was to suppress the great fortunes of the human race, entangling too much karma.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment and crossed off all the treasures on his densely packed table that involved massive karma, like the Da Yu Jiu Ding, the Kai Shan Fu, the Shen Nong Wan Ling Ding, the Fu Xi Ba Gua Pan, the Sui Ren Zuan Huo Zhui...

And so on.

Then, Li Changshou crossed off another batch—treasures that clearly already had owners.

For example, the Kai Tian Zhu, the Bi Di Zhu, the Hunyuan Bao Zhu, the Ding Hai Zhu, the Ri Yue Zhu, the Huo Long Fan, the Duo Po Fan... all were someone else's spiritual treasures.

After busying himself for several hours, Li Changshou ended up crossing off everything on the table and sat there feeling helpless.

"Acquiring a few treasures truly requires starting from impossible feats."

Li Changshou racked his brains again, picking up his brush to write down a new batch of treasures—ones he favored, with relatively lower acquisition difficulty, and whose owners he knew wouldn't be too hard to deal with.

Soon, Li Changshou wrote down the names of a few treasures, pondered and deduced for a long time, then crossed them off again.

The karma involved wasn't small, and the risks were not insignificant.

"Ah, enriching oneself is truly not easy."

With a sweep of his sleeve, Li Changshou decided not to spend more effort on this for now and resolved to solidify his realm before launching the 'exchange pills for treasures' plan.

Where do opportunities come from? They're all things you have to scheme and plan for yourself!

The Dao of alchemy taught by Lao Jun had become his greatest reliance; once he could refine sixth-grade or higher spiritual pills, he wouldn't worry about treasures coming his way.

Money makes the world go round.

A flash of inspiration struck in his heart, and Li Changshou suddenly thought of something. He took out a piece of cloth and began writing and drawing.

Li Changshou quickly perked up, his eyes gleaming as he hung the cloth on the wall.

It depicted a pair of copper coins with small wings, annotated with dense information.

Luo Bao Tong Qian!

Exactly the bane treasure fated for Zhao Gongming!

At this point, it was likely not yet born and was wandering somewhere!

To get this thing, his current paper effigy strength was clearly insufficient; he had to significantly enhance the paper effigy's power so his true body could sit securely and avoid risks!

He didn't dare aim for the paper effigy to reach Jin Xian level, but at least it should be able to remotely injure an ordinary Jin Xian when controlled.

"Hmm, time to start upgrading my divine abilities early."

Li Changshou took a breath, lowered his head, and took out a pile of spiritual tree pulp paper, beginning to write, draw, inscribe restrictions, and cast divine abilities.

A few days later...

On Xiao Qiong Feng, a violent spiritual energy fluctuation suddenly occurred, but it came and went quickly, unnoticed by anyone.

A few breaths later, eight hundred li northwest of the Du Xian Men mountain gate, a mushroom cloud rose, with intense spiritual energy turning into shockwaves that rippled far out, making the Du Xian Men mountain protection array sway.

The three great Jin Xian experts of Du Xian Men were alarmed and immediately led several elders to investigate.

At the explosion's center, an entire barren mountain had vanished, replaced by a massive pit where spiritual springs were gushing forth, the earth's veins shattered.

Meanwhile, the unknown Yuan Xian disciple of Du Xian Men, who had accidentally caused the paper effigy to explode, had stealthily slipped back near the mountain gate and was sitting in meditation in an underground dense forest to regulate his breath.

Oh heavens...

He had come so close to blowing up Xiao Qiong Feng!

Indeed, modifying divine abilities has its limits; even the Heavenly Dao won't allow me to create a half-step Jin Xian paper effigy. Theoretically, the previous paper effigy shouldn't have exploded at all.

"Never mind, one experiment result could be coincidental; I'll try a few more times."

Thus, over the next two months, more than twenty spiritual explosions occurred within thousands of li of Du Xian Men, each happening deep in the night without warning and with tremendous noise.

Those seeking to buy Xiong Xin Dan from Master Uncle Jiu Wu surged temporarily!

Later, it was due to a seemingly unrelated minor incident that the unknown Jin Xian, eager to enrich himself, paused his divine ability research.

—Jiang Lin Er and Wang Qing Shang Ren had called upon Qi Yuan and his disciples, and together they headed to Nan Zhan Bu Zhou to accept disciples.