Chapter 45: A Little Bit, Planning the Investiture of the Gods

After being out for a few days, things in the mountains should be fine, right?

On the way back to Du Xian Men, Li Changshou pondered slightly in his heart.

His master was probably still drinking on another peak, and he had already instructed his junior sister to stay put and focus on her secluded cultivation.

The most likely trouble would be if someone visited Xiao Qiong Peak and accidentally triggered the arrays around the alchemy room. Although the trapping and illusion arrays had no direct killing power, lingering in them for too long could easily disrupt one's mental state and breed inner demons...

However, after nearly driving Jiu Wu Shibo insane last time, Li Changshou had made some minor adjustments to the linked arrays.

—He had left a "guest reception" path.

If intruders were external thieves, driving them mad or eliminating them outright was fine. But with Du Xian Men's protective mountain array, how could outsiders sneak in under normal circumstances?

In most cases, anyone entering the arrays would be fellow disciples with questionable intentions, and killing or driving them insane wouldn't be appropriate.

So, Li Changshou set up some guide signs along a "dead-end" path to lead intruders into a comfortable and cozy environment, temporarily keeping them in place.

This way, he could avoid any awkward aftermath, prevent them from wandering around, and give himself plenty of time to make other arrangements.

Moreover, if a true immortal got trapped and started bombarding the surroundings, it might trigger the hidden killing arrays...

Whether the intruder lived or died was irrelevant to him, but if the sect questioned him for illegally setting up arrays, that would be a real hassle.

The surface arrays were meant to stop others from approaching the alchemy room, and adding a "guest room" within them solved these two key issues effectively.

This was also a necessary measure after Li Changshou's careful consideration.

What's more...

He had even borrowed his master's name for it, with the guide signs written in an imitation of his master's handwriting.

After all, his master was the peak master, while he was just the senior disciple of Xiao Qiong Peak.

'Finally, almost back.'

Li Changshou glanced at the mountains flashing by in the distance, calculating the remaining journey.

Once back, he would continue suppressing his cultivation and study the Sanmei Zhenyan.

At his current minor realm, if he risked his life to suppress his natural breakthrough speed, he could probably hold it back for about two more years.

Two years would barely be enough to cultivate Sanmei Zhenyan to the entry level.

The next time he went out would be for his official heavenly tribulation.

That said, how should he explain the alchemy room and the linked arrays around it to his master? If his master asked how the arrays were set up, should he reveal a bit of his hidden strength?

He naturally trusted his master, but what if his master spilled the truth after drinking...

Forget it. His master and junior sister were the closest people to him, so their "access" and treatment should be equal.

Once back, he would talk to his master and bring him up to the same level of knowledge as his junior sister.

As he neared the mountain gate, the night wind felt unexpectedly warm.

...

By the time he returned to the Du Xian Men mountain gate, it was already late at night with a bright moon and sparse stars.

The group dispersed in front of the Bai Fan Hall, and Li Changshou bid farewell to Jiu Jiu Shishu before flying toward Xiao Qiong Peak on a cloud.

You Qin Xuanya clearly wanted to say a few words to Li Changshou, but as soon as she landed, she was called away by several shibos to the Bai Fan Hall, with no chance to break free.

Li Changshou slipped away unnoticed, his spirits high from the recent gains, as they say, joy brings vitality.

But as Li Changshou recalled his trip to the East Sea, his face quickly darkened...

He still wasn't sure why that Dragon Prince had chosen him to step out that day.

To avoid encountering that unpredictable Ao Yi again, he would have to keep his distance from those ancient nobles in the future.

Xiao Qiong Peak was quiet, and from afar, Li Changshou noticed that his junior sister and master were not in their respective thatched huts. Sweeping his spiritual sense over the arrays, he immediately saw his master and junior sister trapped at the edge of the array...

What?

How did they both end up trapped together?

His master had been in seclusion and unaware of the arrays, but his junior sister had been there during the construction—how did they both wander in?

Maybe they thought the scenery was nice and went in together for tea and stargazing?

Li Changshou flew over on a cloud, not rushing to release them. Instead, he thoroughly inspected the arrays inside and out before taking out the jade token to control them and deactivate the outer trapping array.

A gentle breeze blew, dispersing the white mist in the forest, and the once-dense underbrush seemed a bit sparser.

Ling'e immediately cheered:

"Shifu! Shixiong is back!"

Qi Yuan Laodao perked up, starting to rise but then thinking better of it. He steadied himself, put on a stern face, and picked up his horsetail whisk!

"Ahem! You rascal... Good one, Li Changshou! Come over here and face your punishment!"

Li Changshou, drifting down from the air, blinked, sensing something unusual...

As soon as he landed, his master's whisk lashed out; after advancing to a turbid immortal, Qi Yuan Laodao's strength had truly leaped forward, the whisk transforming into a net of white threads in an instant. If not for Li Changshou holding back, his instincts would have made him flee!

The net fell, binding Li Changshou tightly with the whisk.

Ling'e pounced from the side like a limp tiger, and Li Changshou was pushed over by his junior sister...

Laughter and a few cries echoed through the forest, but this "lesson" for her senior brother wasn't as intense as Ling'e had imagined.

With her senior brother not resisting at all and her master just watching, she felt a bit lost on what to do.

As the junior sister, she couldn't really hit him without the master leading...

Looking up, Ling'e suddenly met her senior brother's warning gaze.

'Humph!'

She steeled herself, raised her delicate hand, and brought it down fiercely, but stopped just before contact...

In the end, her hand only landed gently on the spot where her master had hit him a few times before, and remembering how it had swelled up those times, she couldn't help but rub it softly.

"Uh, Ling'e has really grown up, hasn't she?"

Li Changshou looked pleased, though with a touch of helplessness, and earnestly advised:

"As a young lady, you must be reserved.

Lust is lust, and habits are habits—your senior brother understands, especially since you're at that age.

But as a cultivator, you still need to restrain your inner impulses. What if it leads to inner demons? Don't you think so?"

"No! I just—"

Ling'e's face turned bright red in an instant. She glanced panic-stricken at her master, only to see him frowning at her with a hesitant, awkward expression.

"I was just... You big bully, Shixiong! Wah!"

"Gentlemen use their fists, not their mouths—how did you get so vicious with your words?"

"Humph! I can't outtalk you, but I can still bite you!"

"Shifu, aren't you going to do something about junior sister? How will she ever get married like this?"

"Mind your own business! I'll just die an old maid on Xiao Qiong Peak!"

In the forest, Qi Yuan Laodao had already turned and left at some point, the old daoist drifting back to his thatched hut with a faint smile on his lips.

Soon after, Li Changshou emerged from the woods with grass in his hair and disheveled clothes, looking at the bite marks on his arm and feeling both amused and exasperated.

His junior sister was definitely part rabbit—proven.

Behind him, Ling'e's face was flushed, but she pretended to gaze casually at the stars.

When they reached the thatched huts, Qi Yuan Laodao's voice transmitted to their ears:

"From today, I will begin secluded cultivation to comprehend the ways of the turbid immortal. All matters on Xiao Qiong Peak will be handled by you, Changshou. If anything important arises, come to me for discussion at any time.

Ling'e, you must watch your words and actions, and show proper respect to your senior brother."

Ling'e replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito:

"Yes... yes, Shifu..."

Then, layers of arrays activated around Qi Yuan Laodao's thatched hut, isolating it from the outside.

Li Changshou turned around, his gaze meaningful.

"You told Shifu everything?"

Lan Ling'e flinched, stammering:

"This... um... just a little bit..."

"A little bit, or a billion bits?"

"Definitely just a little bit!"

Li Changshou frowned.

"Go inside."

Lan Ling'e trembled slightly, her face falling as she switched to a teary-eyed mode. Once in her thatched hut, she grabbed a cushion, sat cross-legged, knelt down, lowered her head, and started fake-crying, all in one smooth motion.

Casually activating the surrounding arrays, Li Changshou said calmly:

"Go on, what exactly did you tell Shifu?"

"Shixiong, it was all because Shifu forced me..."

Li Changshou's forehead veins twitched at her words—if others heard that, they might think something scandalous was happening on Xiao Qiong Peak.

That aside, should he add an option for a shiniang in his master's retirement plans?

That could be worth considering.

As for the roundabout information Lan Ling'e had shared with their master, Li Changshou didn't really mind.

After all, she didn't know much.

Based on his understanding of Lan Ling'e's personality, he had anticipated something like this today.

...

In the dead of night, with the arrays around the alchemy room fully activated, Li Changshou opened the alchemy furnace and casually refined a batch of pills, leaving a paper effigy to guard it. His true body then appeared in the underground chamber.

All was secure.

He took out three jade tokens and toyed with them for a while, putting away the thunder technique and the Wuwei Jing, then forcibly imprinted the Sanmei Zhenyan cultivation method into his mind before sitting there lost in thought.

The Feng Shen calamity...

Although secretly cultivating to Daluo Jinxian within the immortal sect was the ideal state, it required long years of accumulation.

As a sect of the Three Teachings, Du Xian Men was likely to be affected by the Feng Shen calamity.

The Feng Shen calamity wasn't just the single plot of King Wu of Zhou overthrowing the Shang in the South Continent; it was a great calamity involving the Three Realms, targeted at the disciples of the Three Teachings.

The more prosperous Zhongshen Continent was now, the more devastating its destruction would be in the calamity, and the immortal sects of Dongsheng Shenzhou would probably not escape unscathed.

But Li Changshou wasn't without ways to avoid this calamity.

It was simple: get on board early.

The Feng Shen calamity was essentially the process by which the Jade Emperor of Heaven established his authority over the realms. The nominal cause was the Jade Emperor Haotian complaining to the Dao Ancestor, saying that the disciples of the Three Teachings were disrespectful and powerful, disregarding the orders of Heaven, leaving him as the ruler of the Three Realms with only a title and no real power, unable to hold his head high in front of the Wangmu Shijie, his masculine dignity shattered...

Ahem, I digressed.

From the results of the Feng Shen calamity, it led to the disciples of the Three Teachings entering Heaven as gods, the saints no longer actively appearing in the world, and the foundation for Heaven to manage the Three Realms was laid.

So, if he sneaked into Heaven early and became one of its founding members, he didn't need a high position—just hide his cultivation and be a minor official to get his name on the heavenly immortal registry.

Once the Feng Shen calamity struck, he would already be on the registry and unrelated to it, so how could the calamity affect him again?

They wouldn't reseal the gods of Heaven—that would defy the Dao and reason.

After the Feng Shen gods took their posts in Heaven, with the court full of talents, he could then retire smoothly, leveraging the momentum to return to the mountains for peaceful cultivation. That way, he could claim the credentials of a heavenly founding elder while continuing his stable practice.

Why not do it?

Li Changshou tapped his fingers on the table, carefully pondering the specific plan.

To obtain a spot on the heavenly immortal registry, he needed to act before the Jade Emperor complained to the Dao Ancestor, which should give him plenty of time. Getting his master to become a Land God was a key step, as it would save him a lot of scheming.

It all depended on whether his master was willing.

Though the Land God position was small and numerous, with limited authority, it was still a god of good fortune and virtue...

Who knows, a Land God might even find a... Land Goddess.