Chapter 289: Have You Seen the Divine Punishment Thunder of the Primordial Ugly Hour That Can Bend?

"Zhangmen, the Ling Bao occurrences have resumed in the past half month, and this time they are even more frequent than before."

"Cough, cough... This poor Daoist isn't deaf; I heard them ages ago."

In Du Xian Men, at Du Xian Dian, Zhangmen Ji Wuyou, dressed in a deep blue robe, covered his mouth and coughed a few times, looking somewhat helplessly at the elders before him.

Could he do anything about these Ling Bao events?

Ever since unexplained spiritual power disturbances began occurring around Du Xian Men, Ji Wuyou had led the elders on multiple investigations, each time yielding two completely different conclusions.

The elders of Du Xian Men unanimously believed it was either due to instability in the earth's spiritual veins causing 'Ling Chong';

Or that two experts were constantly sparring nearby, creating such disturbances.

Yet, neither explanation was convincing.

However, Ji Wuyou had guessed the correct answer from the start...

'It must be Changshou practicing some great divine ability passed down by his master.'

Each Ling Bao occurrence happened about two thousand li from Du Xian Men, appearing irregularly and at random directions.

Although Ji Wuyou had no solid evidence, all the signs pointed to his suspicion.

"It's probably some expert cultivating a divine ability, cough cough," Ji Wuyou wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled. "No need to worry, everyone. You elders should just keep the disciples on each peak focused on their cultivation.

The mountain-opening ceremony is approaching, and there are all sorts of complicated matters to handle.

Now, Du Xian Men also needs to send off a group of disciples who have completed their training; arranging for them is the priority."

The elders exchanged glances, probably realizing that the Zhangmen knew some inside story, and they each acknowledged his words before taking their leave.

"Hmm..."

A faint smile appeared on Ji Wuyou's pale face. He thought for a moment, then clasped his hands behind his back and rode a cloud toward Xiao Qiong Peak, leaving a trail of light coughs.

He had only flown a few hundred zhang when his figure vanished into the air, evading the probing gazes and immortal senses from within the sect.

Soon after, Ji Wuyou's figure appeared at the outer edge of the pill room's grand array on Xiao Qiong Peak. He sent a voice transmission to Li Changshou inside the pill room... and coughed twice.

The surrounding arrays opened one by one, and Ji Wuyou stepped forward, his figure flickering several times before he appeared in front of the pill room.

However, Li Changshou inside the pill room sat quietly without moving.

Ji Wuyou frowned slightly...

As the nominal Zhangmen, he should at least be greeted.

But then, Ji Wuyou let out a soft sound of surprise, noticing something off about the Li Changshou sitting by the pill furnace.

It was hard to pinpoint, but he seemed like an empty shell.

It was just Ji Wuyou's good timing.

At that moment, Li Changshou was at a critical stage of 'condensing the pill,' with his mind fully focused on his true body, hidden in an underground crevice three thousand five hundred li away, watching the 'pill' in the cauldron flash with multicolored light.

Allowing the Zhangmen in had already been the extent of Li Changshou's divided attention.

It only delayed a few breaths, and then Li Changshou's true body quickly used an escape technique to flee hundreds of li away.

He had done everything possible in the steps before the pill formed; whether it exploded or stabilized depended on the pill's own fate.

Back at Xiao Qiong Peak, in front of the pill furnace in the pill room, the 'Li Changshou' body trembled lightly as a wisp of his mind returned to this 'Paper Dao Ren' body.

He immediately stood up and bowed to Ji Wuyou at the door.

"Zhangmen, please forgive me. This disciple was deeply focused on refining pills and couldn't snap out of it!"

"Ha ha ha, cough cough, it's fine," Ji Wuyou laughed a few times and stepped into the pill room, feeling much more at ease.

Why had the Zhangmen come so suddenly?

Li Changshou took a chair from his treasure pouch and placed it in the center of the pill room, respectfully inviting the Zhangmen to sit.

Ji Wuyou smiled and asked, "Changshou, how has your cultivation been going lately?"

"In reply to Zhangmen, this disciple's cultivation has been going smoothly."

"Good," Ji Wuyou nodded, pondered for a moment, and said directly, "The disturbances outside the mountains lately—are they from you cultivating a divine ability?"

Li Changshou instinctively wanted to deny it threefold:

'How could it be? Impossible, this disciple doesn't have that kind of ability.'

But seeing that the Zhangmen seemed completely certain, he must have solid evidence.

"Well, it was indeed something this disciple accidentally caused..."

"Those over sixty times before, and the more than a hundred times in the last half month—were they all your doing?"

"This disciple was refining a special kind of pill," Li Changshou said, a bit embarrassed. "But I always did it outside the sect's range, and recently, I moved the refining site underground, so it only caused a slight tremor in the earth."

"Good that you're refining pills, but remember to ensure your own safety."

Ji Wuyou casually offered some advice, then gazed at Li Changshou and lowered his voice to ask, "Changshou, what pill are you refining? How did it cause such a commotion?"

"This disciple isn't sure how to explain it properly..."

"No need for detailed explanations; this poor Daoist is just curious," Ji Wuyou said with a smile. "Now that we've confirmed it's from you, there's no issue.

I'll inform the sect later so everyone can focus on cultivation.

Changshou, how much longer will you need for this pill refining?"

"Well..."

Li Changshou thought carefully for a moment and suddenly realized something.

That pill earlier—didn't explode?

"Please wait a moment, Zhangmen, let me calculate," Li Changshou replied. With the Paper Dao Ren standing before Ji Wuyou, his true body three thousand li away quickly checked on that 'pill.'

The small cauldron was intact, and inside, a pill emitted multicolored light, wrapped in layers of yin-yang energy, with five stars chasing each other within.

It had stabilized?!

Li Changshou's eyes widened. He hurriedly picked up a jade plaque and recorded the entire refining process for that pill—the quantities of various treasures and herbs used, the order and timing of adding them, the curve of immortal power control... and so on!

This Zhangmen was practically his lucky star!

Li Changshou carefully examined the pill's properties, suppressing the joy in his heart.

What did this mean?

Research required explosions, but without them, how could he progress?

As long as the explosions were managed well, success was inevitable!

Once Li Changshou confirmed the pill was completely stable and met his expectations, he quickly packed up the site and headed to the next temporary location.

Back in Du Xian Men, Li Changshou's Paper Dao Ren showed no major changes in expression and gave the Zhangmen a definite timeline.

"Zhangmen, at most another half month, and this disciple will have fully refined this pill."

"That's good, cough cough," Ji Wuyou said with a smile. "The mountain-opening ceremony is imminent, so don't let this alarm the new disciples coming to join.

Changshou, do you have any interest in taking disciples?"

"This disciple is only at the Yuan Xian realm; it's not appropriate to take disciples."

"You're right, I forgot you prefer not to reveal your true realm," Ji Wuyou said, adjusting his robe and standing up. "In that case, this poor Daoist won't disturb your pill refining any further.

If you need anything, come to Du Xian Dian to find me.

The sect has been busy with many matters lately, so I can't focus on secluded cultivation."

"Zhangmen, if there's anything you need, just instruct this disciple. Please take good care of your health."

"Very well."

Ji Wuyou waved his hand, rode a cloud out of the pill room, and vanished into the sunlight in an instant.

Li Changshou breathed a slight sigh of relief, feeling a bit puzzled...

Although he had let the Zhangmen know about his connection to his master through the Tai Qing Dao Han last time, and the benefits he received,

Why was the Zhangmen so polite to him?

Li Changshou couldn't figure it out and just attributed it to his master's influential reputation.

Time to get back to work!

The Paper Dao Ren sat back in front of the pill furnace, activated the arrays around the pill room, and extended a wisp of immortal sense over Xiao Qiong Peak. Li Changshou threw himself fully into his avatar project.

The core pill was complete; he had crossed the most difficult step for a Golden Immortal realm Paper Dao Ren!

He couldn't rush; he needed to stay steady. The success of refining a pill like this had an element of chance.

Li Changshou changed to a new testing site, recalling the feel from before, and perfectly replicated the previous refining process. The result...

It exploded.

But this time, the explosion happened in the final instant, and Li Changshou sharply captured the subtle changes in the five elements' forces inside the pill before it blew.

Overall, the pill had stabilized.

Based on these subtle changes, Li Changshou quickly reverse-calculated the problem and made the necessary adjustments.

The second success and third success followed one after another!

Two days later, after causing six more Ling Bao events, Li Changshou looked at the row of 'immortal force core' pills in front of him and finally smiled with satisfaction.

The next steps would be much easier.

Li Changshou took out a new type of Paper Dao Ren and carefully placed one of the pills into the multiple layers of restrictions in its abdomen, making the pill the core of the restrictions.

In the next instant, multicolored immortal light flashed, and the restrictions in the dozens of layers throughout the Paper Dao Ren slowly lit up, connecting streams of immortal power that began to operate on their own.

Li Changshou placed his left hand on the Paper Dao Ren's back and infused strands of immortal power...

Approaching the Golden Immortal node, breaking through the Golden Immortal node...

Streams of immortal power circulated rapidly through the Paper Dao Ren's body via the core 'pill.'

A moment later, Li Changshou let out a light breath. His true body used an earth escape technique to disappear, and his mind settled into this Paper Dao Ren.

He wasn't as excited as he had imagined.

The reason? This thing was just too expensive!

One of the biggest advantages of Paper Dao Ren was their low cost, but this Golden Immortal realm Paper Dao Ren—excluding the massive amounts of herbs and treasures spent in the research phase—was about sixty times more expensive than a Heavenly Immortal realm one.

The requirements for the spiritual tree sap alone were extremely strict; it had to be from trees over a thousand years old to construct something like this.

Still, having a Golden Immortal realm avatar would make handling outside matters much more convenient.

On balance, the greatest advantage of the Paper Dao Ren method was that they had no intelligence, serving merely as a 'body' to carry his mind and primordial spirit.

"Let's test its power."

Li Changshou closed his eyes and felt it; controlling this Paper Dao Ren was even more agile, and manipulating immortal power through the core 'pill' was easier.

With a thought, a faint mist surged around the Paper Dao Ren, and a middle-aged man emerged from it—that was the appearance of this Paper Dao Ren.

Li Changshou tried a few spells; the power was indeed impressive, with stable internal immortal power. Next, he planned to test its stability under various extreme conditions.

For example, being surrounded by three hundred Golden Immortal realm experts.

But just as he was about to act, he heard thunder rumbling. The Paper Dao Ren looked up.

A layer of black clouds obscured the stars, and vast heavenly might suddenly appeared!

A familiar Dao rhythm locked onto this Paper Dao Ren.

A Golden Immortal realm [Infinite] avatar needed to undergo a heavenly tribulation?

No, that wasn't right.

This wasn't a heavenly tribulation; it was...

Heavenly punishment!

Li Changshou's mouth twitched wildly, but the Paper Dao Ren immediately bowed to the sky and said:

"This disciple is willing to accept the punishment!"

As soon as the words fell, a deafening boom came from above, and though the black clouds were only a few hundred li in diameter, they exuded a pressure that made even Golden Immortals tremble!

Li Changshou could only respond with a bitter smile.

All his hard work had been for nothing; the Heavenly Dao wouldn't allow a Paper Dao Ren to have Golden Immortal realm power.

Why?

Other experts' avatars could potentially reach Golden Immortal or Da Luo levels, and while he had taken many shortcuts and ensured the Paper Dao Ren had no independent thoughts...

Was the issue here?

For now, he truly had no plans to mass-produce Golden Immortal realm Paper Dao Ren, and the resources required were something he couldn't afford anyway.

At most, he would just assemble the twelve 'core' pills he had prepared.

No point dwelling on it.

'Thank you, Heavenly Dao, for taking the time to strike!'

This Paper Dao Ren had to be sacrificed...

Crack!

The black clouds shuddered, and a purple-red lightning bolt as thick as a water bucket struck down straight!

The Paper Dao Ren closed its eyes in resignation, and Li Changshou's mind quickly returned to his true body, which was about to escape underground...

But a trace of heavenly might silently descended, locking onto Li Changshou's true body!

And just as the purple-red divine lightning was about to hit the Paper Dao Ren, it veered off strangely, arcing three zhang above the Paper Dao Ren's head!

The lightning flew hundreds of zhang horizontally, then traced a 'zhi' shape in the air before plunging into the earth!

A deep pit, dozens of zhang wide, appeared in the ground, with the soil and rocks inside vanishing into thin air...

At the bottom of the pit, Li Changshou barely managed to erect over a dozen layers of immortal power barriers before being engulfed by the lightning!

What the hell!

Heavenly punishment that bends? Who could handle that!

Underground, Li Changshou spat out a mouthful of blood, but his body shimmered with immortal light; he hadn't suffered serious injury from that strike.

He understood the logic.

But...

Why had it hit his true body?

Li Changshou had heard that when refining a heaven-defying spirit pill, the Heavenly Dao might send punishment to destroy it;

Or when forging a heaven-defying spirit treasure, the Heavenly Dao would do the same.

His Paper Dao Ren was basically a type of magical tool, and it definitely had no shred of intelligence—it was just a special magical treasure of his own!

The heavenly punishment lightning had clearly been aimed at the Paper Dao Ren!

This 'zhi'-shaped lightning was just too unfair!

Right then, another bolt of heavenly lightning fell from the sky. Li Changshou surged his immortal power, raised his left hand, and a swirl of water and fire formed a Taiji diagram in his palm, slowly rotating to withstand the lightning!

But when half the lightning's power hit, the Taiji diagram in his palm shattered, and he took a solid hit, his back robe tearing open to reveal a charred wound...

This was completely unreasonable!

He didn't dare say such things out loud; Li Changshou could only complain silently in his heart.

He quickly leaped out of the pit, stowed the Paper Dao Ren in his treasure pouch, and dashed toward a nearby forest.

Above, the rolling black clouds condensed into a small gray cloud, hovering steadily over Li Changshou and occasionally dropping a purple-red lightning bolt.

Faced with heavenly tribulation, Li Changshou couldn't hide; he had to keep enduring it. Fortunately, he was no longer as vulnerable as during his own tribulation, and even if he faced a dozen more strikes, he wouldn't suffer too much damage.

At that moment, he sorely missed Yun Xiao Xianzi... and her Hunyuan Jindou!

Gradually, the rhythm of the heavenly punishment became leisurely and relaxed.

It was as if an old man sat on that gray cloud, brewing a pot of fine enlightenment tea, rinsing it with Hongmeng spiritual essence, sipping it slowly, and casually wielding the whip of punishment.

Below the gray cloud, that figure dodged east and west, his robe in tatters, scurrying about with his head covered—yet he ran with such dashing elegance.

But Li Changshou soon realized that by taking the tribulation for his Paper Dao Ren, he had indirectly preserved his efforts.

The Heavenly Dao had acknowledged his Golden Immortal realm Paper Dao Ren!

Instantly, even as he vomited blood into his treasure pouch, Li Changshou broke into a bright smile...