Chapter 425: Rewards and Punishments Are Clear

Stay calm!

There's a trick here; there must be a trick! Just the word "stable" doesn't explain anything. As long as I have a thick skin, I can ignore that earlier comment about "my husband is my senior brother"! I need to stay composed and not show any steam. If it's not a case of mistaken identity, then it's probably senior brother testing me on purpose.

Ling E calmly put away the two poison-dispensing tools hidden in her sleeves, which had been locked onto Ao Yi. She stood up under the gaze of those around her, used her immortal power to push the jade bracelet and tray back, and stared at the familiar-looking "仙子" in front of her.

"Daoist friend, we truly don't know each other," Ling E released a fabricated aura of the Tianxian realm and took half a step back. "Flowers don't bloom in pairs, and the heavens don't create identical forms. Why are you approaching me so closely—what are your intentions?"

Ke Le'er sighed softly, her eyes full of regret and worry: "Dear sister-in-law, could we speak privately for a moment? Brother didn't mean to flirt around. Sister-in-law, let's take these angry words somewhere else and discuss them in private, alright?"

Ling E furrowed her brows, her guard rising even more. Was this woman truly senior brother's paper effigy? No, there was no trace of the unique aura or artificial feel of a paper effigy. This seemed to be a real living being, and she had definitely seen her before.

"Sister-in-law, please..."

Ke Le'er gestured invitingly and sent a voice transmission: "I'm here on Changshou brother's orders. Not many know about the title '教主 brother.' Teach Master brother forgot to give you spirit stones, so he sent me to catch up and deliver some. Also, to test your vigilance. Sister-in-law Ling E, you're doing well right now. You can act like you've seen through my disguise. Oh, and don't mention to Teach Master brother that Ao Yi leaked the topic."

Ling E's pupils contracted, but she kept her expression unchanged, without revealing any flaws. She lightly snorted, flicked her sleeves, and left the place.

Ke Le'er followed with the tray in hand, while the two dragon elders, transformed into burly old men, released their own pressure, instantly quieting the teahouse inside and out.

Jin Xian realm experts as guards! In that moment, the immortal senses probing Ling E and Ke Le'er decreased significantly.

A short while later, in a private room of a nearby restaurant, the dragon elders set up an immortal power barrier.

Ke Le'er set the tray down, and Ling E dropped her previous expression, smiling: "Thank you for your trouble, Second Prince Ao Yi."

"Oh?" Ke Le'er's eyes lit up, and she sighed. "You've actually recognized me, sister-in-law."

Ling E's face turned slightly red as she quickly said: "I was just making it up on the spot. My senior brother and I haven't gotten married yet, so please don't tell him about this—it's so embarrassing."

"Ha ha ha," Ke Le'er transformed back into Ao Yi's youthful form and bowed to Ling E.

Ao Yi said: "Since you've seen through it, I won't hide anymore. It's rare for Ling E to go out for training—would you like to visit the Dragon Palace?"

"No, I have my training to do, and senior brother gave me tasks to complete." Ling E shook her head gently, showing a composed and graceful demeanor. "Could you take me away from this market town later? After your little stunt just now, I'm definitely being watched."

Ao Yi nodded with a smile; with the help of these elder dragons, that was a trivial matter.

By the water tan of Black Pool Peak, Li Changshou and Bai Ze exchanged a glance.

Bai Ze laughed: "Ling E is quite impressive, figuring out Ao Yi's identity from just a hint."

Li Changshou stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, muttering: "I just feel like Ao Yi was going easy on her."

"Why does the Water God always assume the worst about others?"

"This isn't assuming the worst; it's a reasonable inference based on my understanding of Ling E," Li Changshou said with a smile. "Anyway, let's say she passed. It was my oversight earlier—I forgot to give her more spirit stones."

Bai Ze laughed heartily, and together with Li Changshou, they watched the scene in the water tan.

The water tan showed: Ling E, Ao Yi, and the dragon experts left together and parted ways on the East Sea coast.

Ling E changed her appearance, put on a thin mask, and used earth escape to slip away for several thousand li, reappearing in an uninhabited river valley.

She carefully scanned the surroundings, rested by the river for a while, soaked her feet, and took out the jade bracelet Ao Yi had given her.

First step: Check if the storage treasure has any extra restrictions. Second step: Wrap the storage treasure with immortal power and push it a few zhang away, then try to undo the restrictions with her immortal sense. Third step...

"Wow!" Ling E exclaimed softly, then quickly covered her mouth. Her eyes fluttered, and tears fell one after another.

Those blocks of spirit stones—enough to fill the storage treasure!

Ling E's eyes were full of indignation. She gritted her teeth and counted on her fingers: "You jerk of a senior brother, you have so much wealth, yet you make me scrape by with spirit stones every day!"

By the water tan, Bai Ze looked at Li Changshou with a hint of disdain and chuckled meaningfully.

Li Changshou said calmly: "I just didn't pay attention to it before. She doesn't need them in the mountains, and I haven't skimped on anything else."

"I see, I see."

However, Ling E's subsequent actions made Li Changshou quite pleased.

When she was close to her first training site, she went to another market town, this time with much more confidence.

She wandered the city for half a day, selected two expensive immortal treasures for her master Qi Yuan, bought a large batch of fabrics, and prepared for her upcoming trial ground by purchasing plenty of hunger-suppressing pills and lower-grade pills suitable for mortals.

This scene was just like an elder from a newly established small sect out for procurement...

When Ling E left the market town, to guard against sneak attacks, she used a strategy of deception. She hid her true body in the sleeve of an "older version" paper effigy, and once the paper effigy left the city, her real body quietly separated.

In the end, the paper effigy wasn't ambushed and was buried by Ling E in the nearby mountains for future use.

Bai Ze watched in amazement, while Li Changshou smiled faintly. It reminded him a bit of his own style back in the day.

When Ling E arrived near the southern continent border...

Li Changshou asked: "Mr. Bai, do you think humans and demons can coexist?"

"Why does the Water God ask this suddenly?"

Bai Ze fanned himself and said with a smile: "Unless the heavens are left with only humans, how could the demons be exterminated? Even if they're enemies, they're still coexisting."

Li Changshou asked again: "Is the existence of the Heavenly Way truly to make the world more stable?"

"Does the Water God think the Heavenly Way is deliberately weakening the overall strength of beings in the world?"

"Hmm," Li Changshou nodded slowly. "I've been comprehending the Great Dao lately and had a sudden realization. If the Heavenly Way categorizes acquired beings, how should it be ranked?"

Bai Ze thought for a while and replied: "Humans, demons, shamans, dragons, spirits?"

"You're wrong, Mr. Bai," Li Changshou said with a smile. "It's humans, immortals, spirits, demons, devils, ghosts."

"Oh?" Bai Ze lowered his head in thought, pinched his fingers to calculate, and looked puzzled, with sweat gradually forming on his forehead.

Soon, Bai Ze stood up and bowed: "I would like to hear more."

Li Changshou's voice became somewhat ethereal as he said slowly: "This is the conclusion I reached through resonance with the Heavenly Way while comprehending my own dao over the past two years. In the world today, humans hold an absolute advantage, with humans listed separately, and all non-human beings categorized under spirits, such as dragons, phoenixes, shamans, demons, and so on. If humans or spirits cultivate and uphold the righteous dao, they become immortals. Immortals can be human immortals or fox immortals, ox immortals, dragon immortals, tree immortals, and the like. If a human's nature is unrighteous and they turn to evil, they become devils. If a spirit's mind is deceitful and they kill innocents indiscriminately, they become demons. Ghosts don't need further explanation—they're what happens after humans or spirits die. What do you think of this dao, Mr. Bai?"

Bai Ze bowed his head in deep thought and remained silent for a long time.

Li Changshou waited quietly beside him, watching Ling E's journey in the water tan.

What he had just said was indeed something he realized during his dao comprehension, or perhaps a hint from the Heavenly Way, guiding this ordinary minister of Heaven on how to steer the Heavenly Court.

Mu Gong felt offended once again.

This time, sending Ling E to Chentang Ancient Town wasn't just for training—it was also to have her act as his surrogate for "investigation and research."

What Li Changshou had just described was essentially setting the future rules of the world, creating a standard for the primordial world to fully break free from the shadows of ancient times.

But to achieve this, the key was immortal-mortal separation.

Chentang Ancient Town had existed for a long time. Though called an ancient town, it was actually a large fortress.

Why did Li Changshou send Ling E there for training? That's a long story, so let's keep it short.

Demons survived in the cracks between the major continents, which might sound pitiful, but because the primordial land is so vast, these "cracks" are either vast mountain ranges or endless forests.

For mortals, these are insurmountable barriers, serving as paradises for demons to multiply.

Chentang Ancient Town is one such "human front line" in constant conflict with demons, and it's been in a state of isolation for a long time.

Since Emperor Yu retreated to the Fire Cloud Cave, the position of supreme ruler passed on for less than a millennium before imperial power waned, plunging the southern continent into chaos for tens of thousands of years.

The rise of Daoism led to the emergence of "immortal sects," with human numbers exploding and more mortals lacking cultivation qualifications. The mortal world gradually became unsuitable for qi refiners, leading to the distinction between immortals and mortals.

But the relationship between Central Divine Continent and the mortal world remained intertwined—most immortal sect disciples came from the mortal world; although mortal wealth was just a bonus for major immortal sects, many medium-sized ones valued it greatly.

This resulted in mortal forces, like nations and tribes, having the shadows of immortal sects behind them, with power struggles often involving immortal sect rivalries.

Li Changshou's idea of immortal-mortal separation was to cut this connection, and he had already put it into action.

Sister Kong Xuan was currently protecting the "Shang" tribe in the southern continent, a key piece in changing this chaos. With the "Three Clauses Immortal Contract," once Shang unified the prosperous areas of the southern continent's mortal world, immortal-mortal separation could be mostly achieved!

But everything has two sides.

While immortal sects secretly colluded with mortal nations and tribes to exploit mortals, they also protected them, shielding most mortals from demon threats.

Li Changshou had to consider: After immortal-mortal separation, with immortal sects' influence in the mortal world reduced, how could human qi refiners better protect the human mortal world?

As Bai Ze said, demons couldn't be wiped out completely. All spirits absorbing the essence of sun and moon to cultivate would turn into demons upon transformation, and some evil demons would harm mortals.

This highlighted the importance of Chentang Ancient Town.

Located in a remote area, facing demon forces that weren't particularly strong, it hadn't attracted the attention of human experts...

Various factors left it outside the nations and tribes, receiving almost no aid from the mortal world.

Yet, relying on themselves and a small number of human qi refiners, they had resisted demon invasions for thousands of years.

Li Jing joining the Degree Conferring Immortal Gate was actually the path that qualified, immortal-capable young people from Chentang Ancient Town had to take.

They left their homes, hoping to quickly master immortal arts and return to slay demons.

In investigating Li Jing's background, Li Changshou discovered Chentang Ancient Town's situation and wanted to find answers or inspiration there for protecting the mortal world after immortal-mortal separation...

That's why he arranged this training for Ling E.

By the water tan, Li Changshou gazed absentmindedly at Ling E flying on her cloud.

Beside him, Bai Ze was calculating with his fingers and carefully considering, but in the end, he decided to push back: "The Water God is putting humans' status a bit too high."

Li Changshou looked up, about to argue, when a small gray cloud suddenly drifted over Black Pool Peak.

This gray cloud appeared abruptly, with no prior sign, condensing directly within the great array of Black Pool Peak and floating above the water tan in an instant.

Just as Li Changshou recalled the fear of being dominated by heavenly punishment, his dao body’s "muscle memory" was triggered, and his yuan shen shone with brilliant light!

The gray cloud struck down a thumb-thick lightning bolt, hitting Bai Ze on the head!

After the lightning, a wisp of golden light fell from the gray cloud and entered Li Changshou's dao body.

Merit! Enough merit to form a small toe of a golden body!

Li Changshou perked up, checked himself internally, and looked at Bai Ze beside him, bursting into laughter.

Bai Ze's hair was disheveled, his forehead charred, a wisp of black smoke rising from his head, and he stared at the sky with a face full of grief: "This is so unreasonable! I just said one thing!"

"Mr. Bai, be careful with your words," Li Changshou quickly stopped him and bowed toward the dissipating gray cloud, saying loudly: "Your disciple understands the intent of the Heavenly Way and will soon advise His Majesty the Jade Emperor to benefit all beings and maintain the stability of the heavens!"

When he looked up again, the gray cloud had vanished without a trace.

Li Changshou couldn't help but smile, standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the indignant Bai Ze.

"Mr. Bai, does that mean I won this debate?"

Bai Ze turned away, sighing at the water tan: "I, Bai Ze, bear the title of auspicious beast in vain. A new generation replaces the old."

Li Changshou smiled without speaking, and the doubts in his dao heart about this matter dissipated.

If only he could get some merit for Ling E too...

After a moment of contemplation, Li Changshou restrained his smile and fell into thought by the lake.

Three hours later, Ling E arrived near the ancient town and happened to see a small-scale skirmish between human guards and demons. She secretly released some poison.

Ling E soon discovered several Zhenxian realm demon "experts" hiding in the rear.—In this place, Zhenxian realm was already considered expert level.

Ling E thought carefully and didn't rush to act. Instead, she sent out a paper effigy to secretly investigate the local demon forces.

She also noticed many wounded soldiers in the town and entered as a wandering qi refiner, voluntarily treating them.

The trial in Chentang Ancient Town was actually of low difficulty, and Ling E handled it quite easily.

Watching the busy scenes of Ling E in the water tan, Li Changshou smiled contentedly and thought of the two follow-up tasks hidden in the jade talisman.

Trial task two: Go to a certain island in the East Sea and "rescue" fellow disciple Youqin Xuanya. Trial task three: Follow the map to Wuzhuang Temple and personally deliver this jade talisman to the master of Wuzhuang Temple.

Since Ling E was out of the mountain for once, it was only natural to give her plenty of training... ahem, to let her gain sufficient experience and grow better.