Chapter 402: Changshou Returns to the Mountain, Black Panther Visits Friends

On a dark and windy night at Xiaoqiong Peak, the air was filled with fragrance, casting ethereal shadows through the forest.

Ling'e, who had just received a message from her shixiong, quickly threw on a Daoist robe and hurried out of the thatched hut. She held the array-opening jade talisman and rushed straight to the alchemy room.

But as soon as she reached the alchemy room, Ling'e heard a series of muffled...

Sobs?

Her heart skipped a beat. She leaped out from the shadows of the forest and landed in front of the brightly lit door, where she saw her shixiong lying back in a rocking chair, tears streaming down his face and snot running everywhere!

Crack!

It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed behind Ling'e, making her body flinch backward in shock and disbelief.

Heaven, how had it suddenly collapsed!

"Shixiong, what's wrong with you?"

Ling'e's voice choked with tears as she knelt directly in front of the rocking chair. She grasped Li Changshou's large hand with her small ones and cried out:

"Whatever it is, tell me about it. No matter what happens, we'll face it together!

Is it... is it Shifu? Has Shifu passed beyond saving?

Shixiong, has something gone wrong with your cultivation?

If your path to immortality is destroyed, I'll go with you to reincarnate or whatever!"

"Ling'e... it's nothing..."

Li Changshou replied with a trembling voice, his Adam's apple bobbing as he exuded a thick wave of sorrow.

Ling'e lowered her eyelids, tears falling like broken strings of pearls. She pressed the back of her shixiong's hand against her cheek and sobbed softly:

"Shixiong, don't scare me. If you were gone now, what would I do?

I wouldn't even get to be a widow for you; I'd just be guarding your grave...

Ouch! Shixiong, why did you hit me!"

"Stop spouting nonsense!"

Li Changshou scolded irritably, withdrawing the finger that had flicked her forehead. He wiped the tears from the corner of his eye and sighed deeply, murmuring:

"This aftermath is just too overwhelming."

Ling'e clutched her forehead, pouting as she looked at her shixiong with a mix of grievance and confusion. "It's been so many years since I've seen you cry, so I was worried, okay?"

"As your shixiong, I'm not crying," Li Changshou sighed. "I'm just venting the pent-up emotions in my Dao heart."

Ling'e was completely baffled.

Li Changshou shook his head and gazed at the gloomy night sky, trying his best to calm the sorrow in his Dao heart.

He had returned to the mountain just an hour ago and had been "steadfastly shedding tears" here for that entire hour.

Half a day earlier, when leaving Difu, Li Changshou had politely declined Zhao Daye's invitation to a meal by saying he needed to handle follow-up matters at the Sea God Cult and Tianting.

The Xuanhuang Pagoda had been deliberately taken back by the Grandmaster, who had also specifically arranged for Yunxiao Xianzi to escort Li Changshou's true body back to the mountain gate...

As reliable as ever for a good shixiong.

Li Changshou had mustered rare strength and taken the initiative to see Yunxiao Xianzi off to Sanxian Island. There, he had a cup of tea and chatted briefly before setting off alone.

On the return journey, without the pagoda's protection, Li Changshou inevitably felt a bit of "security loss"...

What should have been a half-hour flight back turned into a detour around half of Central Divine Continent!

Once he returned to Xiaoqiong Peak and lay back in his comfortable rocking chair, Li Changshou let out a soft sigh. Strands of deep blue Dao rhythms floated around him, and waves of melancholy rose from his entire body.

Contemplating the vastness of heaven and earth, he wept alone in desolation.

All things have their end; how to endure the solitude.

Previously, Li Changshou hadn't been unaffected by the minor sorrow, but he had suppressed it and projected an air of profound mystery.

Cough, it wasn't because he was in front of Yunxiao Xianzi!

This pure sorrow and infectious power couldn't be resisted just by having an untainted Dao heart...

Ling'e moved a meditation cushion and sat beside Li Changshou. With her most serious gentleness, she asked softly:

"Shixiong, what happened?"

"It's nothing major," Li Changshou said calmly. "I was just helping Houtu Niangniang suppress the seven emotions incarnation, and I got influenced by the Dao rhythms of the seven emotions from all living beings. Venting it out is fine."

Ling'e blinked, seeming to have heard her shixiong mention something incredibly significant...

Li Changshou continued: "Do you know why I called you here?"

"I know," Ling'e sighed lightly, putting on a face of utter despair as she turned her head aside. "If rewarding me with copying scriptures can bring you joy, I... am willing..."

"Not this time. Just play me some cheerful tunes to counterbalance my state of mind."

"Hee-hee, why didn't you say so earlier? Coming right up!"

Ling'e immediately shifted back, summoning two paper figures to hold a drum and a xiao. She also brought out an ancient zither and began playing a lively melody.

Li Changshou smiled, closed his eyes again, and waited for the tide-like sorrow to gradually fade. His mind started bustling once more.

The successful resolution of Houtu's seven emotions crisis was inseparable from the cooperation of Tianting, Dragon Palace, and the three religions' immortal sects.

Li Changshou's paper effigies set out again: one went to Dragon Palace to thank the Dragon King and report on the matter's progress; another found Duke Dongmu in Tianting to discuss sending people to Difu for condolences.

At Duke Dongmu's place, Li Changshou received some unexpected news.

When gathering the power of faith from all living beings earlier, a surge of faith had also gathered in the three thousand worlds and rushed to Difu, infusing the six paths reincarnation disk with significant help.

The source of this faith...

Was from the vast number of incense cults controlled by Western Cult in the three thousand worlds!

Had Western Cult acted out of righteousness?

Li Changshou thought it through carefully and understood Western Cult's intentions—essentially three points:

First, to bestow a favor on Difu, making it easier for them to operate in the netherworld later;

Second, by assisting the six paths reincarnation disk alongside Daoism, they were contributing to the Heavenly Way, earning no merits but recovering some luck;

Third, to claim the moral high ground.

Morality, in the brutal survival environment of the Great Desolation, seemed like a joke.

Before the Dao Ancestor merged with the Heavenly Way and the six saints emerged, it was indeed that way; ancient times were purely about might makes right, with morality just a fig leaf for the strong.

But after the Dao Ancestor merged and the six saints appeared, the heavens of the Great Desolation were set, and background and origins became more important than strength.

The existence of the six saints established the basic order of the Great Desolation;

The Heavenly Way's presence made morality increasingly vital.

Western Cult's assistance this time was to seize the moral high ground, to "legitimize" themselves, and show that as a major cult in the Great Desolation, they could still compete with Daoism on the same level.

In essence: We're not the villains of the Great Desolation; we're competitors with Daoism, each with our own positions.

Was this ordered by the saints, or initiated by Ksitigarbha or other saint disciples?

Li Changshou pondered for a while, but naturally found no answer. He just smiled and let it go.

Well, better to think about how to help Difu next and earn more merits in the process.

In assisting Houtu Niangniang this time, the Heavenly Way had bestowed massive merits, distributed to the nine immortals of Daoism. As the one who contributed the most and played the key role, Li Changshou naturally received the largest share.

But as the Grandmaster had reminded him earlier...

Sharing the merits with the Daoist experts who helped would reduce what he got himself.

There was no way around it; for a great virtue like Houtu, Li Changshou naturally sought everything to be as stable as possible.

His merit golden body was now about ninety percent constructed!

But this ninety percent was still just "raw material."

Pure merits could only offset karmic burdens and had no major uses; only a complete merit golden body could provide "Heavenly Way protection."

Of course, Li Changshou's approach to this had always been unchanged—

He didn't want the merit golden body to rely on it for survival.

With the merit golden body guarding him, in dangers not involving saints, his safety factor would increase by at least thirty percent;

In dangers involving saints, he could use the merit golden body to make the saint... hesitate for a moment.

That would be a lifeline!

Li Changshou had long prepared the method to cultivate the merit golden body and even considered modifying it, but he hadn't found a suitable idea yet.

Right now, the missing part of his merit golden body was just a small leg and a foot.

Could he make a miniature "limb"?

Merit golden body: Heavenly Crippled Foot?

"Ha-ha-ha!"

The image flashed in Li Changshou's mind, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Ling'e's zither playing paused as she said happily: "Shixiong, are you okay now?"

"Ah, my Dao heart is fine," Li Changshou stretched his arms and looked at Ling'e in front of him, falling into thought again.

Ling'e suddenly blushed and asked softly: "What is it?"

"Ling'e, how long has it been since you started cultivating?"

How long had she been cultivating?

Was Shixiong... about to make a move on her?

The flower of the household was finally blooming and bearing fruit; their shixiong-mei relationship could advance further?

Ling'e's heartbeat quickened, her face flushed red in an instant, and she stammered incoherently, skipping over her maidenly reservations and unease. She whispered the words she had prepared for years:

"I-I'm... ready... ready..."

"Oh?"

Li Changshou's eyes lit up, and he laughed: "You actually guessed my thoughts. With your cultivation advancing, your wisdom has grown too.

Then let's settle it: you'll go down the mountain for travels in twelve years.

It's about time you faced this Great Desolation."

"Eh?"

Ling'e was stunned, and Li Changshou chuckled a few times before his figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished from the alchemy room.

Where to make up for the lacking merits?

Exterminating demons was a stable option, but putting too much pressure on the demon race suddenly could cause a strong backlash.

He still needed to center his schemes around Lu Ya Dao Ren, using his identity as the Demon Court Crown Prince to draw out more demons with heavy karma.

The ideal scheme would be to make the demon race pressure Tianting on their own initiative, raising the banner of rebellion against heaven. Then, his actions to harvest merits would be logical and justified.

The demon race's current strength and foundations, compared to the entire human race, were far inferior;

But compared to the newly established Tianting, they were not to be underestimated.

Li Changshou tallied up the matters he needed to handle in the coming decades.

Tianting's recruitment and expansion, completing the reincarnation process plans, targeting Lu Ya, secretly protecting the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother, letting his shimei understand the world's hardships...

In principle, he wouldn't actively scheme these things.

The timeline for the Investiture of the Gods calamity had already appeared in Southern Jambudvipa, and with Kong Xuan—cough, Kong Xuan Dao Friend—guarding it;

Li Changshou just needed to proceed steadily at his own pace, preparing for what followed without rushing.

Anxiety from above is the greatest enemy of those who seek stability!

Next, he would go find Youqin Shimei for a talk, see how far her cultivation had progressed, and before she went to Tianting, try to elevate her realm to the Tianxian level.

Hmm... He also needed to arrange a scenario for Youqin to "formally connect" with the Tianting Water God, giving her a solid background and foundation.

After all, she was going to Tianting to help his fellow disciple, so he couldn't treat her unfairly.

"Senior... Senior, are you there, Senior?"

"Hmm?"

Li Changshou raised an eyebrow, directing most of his mind back to the paper effigy hidden at the border of Southern Jambudvipa and Eastern Divine Continent. His immortal sense spread out, observing the cave of the black panther couple.

The water demon Miao Miao was pacing back and forth in front of the cave, holding the transmission jade talisman Li Changshou had given her earlier.

What was going on?

Li Changshou's paper effigy stood up, checked his appearance to ensure it was the old Daoist form he always showed the black panther couple, and then rode the clouds over.

His immortal sense caught that the black panther was sprawled on a stone table in the cave, snoring away, with two jars of immortal brew beside him—clearly, his wife had gotten him drunk.

This situation, this scene...

If the black panther saw this, he might think something was going on between this "Lu Ya old Daoist" and the water demon Miao Miao!

Arriving at the cave entrance, Li Changshou kept a straight face and asked:

"Why are you urgently summoning me? And why did you get your husband drunk?"

The water demon bowed her head in salute and quickly answered:

"Lately, my husband has been constantly talking about the Jie Sect immortals and saying he wants to visit Jin'ao Island.

I asked him what was wrong, and he said he's been missing his old friends on Jin'ao Island and wants to pay them a visit.

But Jin'ao Island is the Jie Sect's sacred ground, full of experts. We're just two minor demons—how dare we go there? If we offend some master, it could be a fatal disaster.

Senior, could you persuade my husband?"

"No problem," Li Changshou thought briefly and said with a frown: "If he wants to go, then let him."

The water demon furrowed her brows and asked softly: "Is... is that really okay?"

"Of course it's fine," Li Changshou showed a hint of impatience. "You're husband and wife; this is something you two should discuss. I'm not keeping you locked up here.

I just think your husband's gift for speaking is extremely important for our demon race, so I've been quite attentive to you both.

The immortals on Jin'ao Island are reasonable and eloquent. If what your husband said is true, you might even gain some benefits there.

Don't belittle yourselves because of your demon origins. Although our demon race is down now, we were glorious in ancient times."

The water demon felt increasingly uneasy and said lowly: "If he goes, I certainly won't be going..."

"That's your marital affair," Li Changshou waved his hand. "I have other matters to attend to, so I won't stay here long.

Such a trivial thing, hmph."

With that, Li Changshou rode the clouds away, leaving the water demon hesitating but only able to bow in farewell.

She sighed lightly, turned back into the cave, lifted the black panther onto the bed, and activated the cave's protective array.

The black panther wanted to visit Jin'ao Island?

What chain reactions would this cause for the Investiture of the Gods calamity?

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, sensing vaguely that the black panther's movement would surely stir up storms in the Great Desolation.

Perhaps he could use this to target Lu Ya...

Li Changshou's thoughts extended further, and he gradually narrowed his eyes in a smile.

Three days later, the black panther indeed set out from the cave, sneaking cautiously toward the East Sea and heading for Jin'ao Island.

As soon as the black panther moved, Tianting issued a demon-subduing proclamation across the five continents, pursuing the ancient Demon Court remnant Lu Ya Dao Ren.

The proclamation stated the reason: Lu Ya Dao Ren possessed a treasure that threatened the balance of heaven and earth, and he needed to be captured and brought to Tianting...

Once the proclamation was issued, the immortal sects of Central Divine Continent reacted indifferently, essentially ignoring it.

—Although Tianting was on the rise, its influence and appeal were still far from that of the three realms' overlord.

But when the demon race heard this, they first cursed Tianting vehemently, then quickly seized the key point.

Lu Ya Dao Ren—a treasure threatening the balance of heaven and earth!

How outrageous was that?

Many demon experts felt immense pressure in their minds, and the demon territories on the borders of various continents buzzed with excitement. Ancient great demons who had just settled down emerged one after another, waiting for the Crown Prince to raise the call to arms!

When the person involved learned of this news later, the entire black panther... was dumbfounded.