Chapter 56: The Xiong Family's Bear Village

To avoid any unnecessary complications, after expressing his thanks, Li Changshou waited until the towering girl ran out to call for help. He left behind a pile of gold, silver, and treasures, then quietly slipped away without a word.

He didn't go far. Using earth escape, he tunneled through a hundred li and hid inside the trunk of a large tree in a seaside forest. With his xian shi, he scanned the entire village.

As the saying goes, the local environment shapes the local people.

But this village—could it be that the water and soil here were mixed with some kind of "mighty warrior elixir"?

From what his xian shi revealed, groups of robust men and women were bustling about everywhere. They weren't just ordinarily strong; it was a kind of... well, a hard-to-describe, almost aristocratic level of strength.

Everywhere his xian shi reached, there were men and women with explosive muscles, their arms as thick as his little shimei's waist. Children were rolling around massive grinding stones weighing several hundred jin as if they were toys.

Apart from a few elderly people and children, most of the villagers had builds similar to the towering girl he had encountered earlier.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it; it's just a village that values muscular beauty," Li Changshou thought with a smile. He multitasked, observing the village while carefully sensing his own immortal body and yuan shen, which had not fully recovered.

Xian shi was far more useful than ling shi. Not only could it probe a greater range, but the images it provided were also clearer and more vivid.

Before his heavenly tribulation, Li Changshou's ling shi could only reach one or two hundred li, and the visuals were blurry—only within thirty li could he see clearly.

Now, things were different. He could casually extend his xian shi to over two thousand li.

For instance, even from a thousand li away, he could roughly make out the movements of two figures wrestling in the forest grass...

It seemed like they weren't actually fighting...

Ahem, no need to dwell on those details. The point was, his probing abilities had been greatly enhanced!

Li Changshou shifted his focus back to the village a hundred li away.

The girl who had cared for him during his recovery rushed over with a group of people to the wooden hut where he had stayed. They discovered the pile of gold and silver he had left on the bed.

He had been away from Du Xian Men for over nine months and could stay outside for at most three or four more years; otherwise, his shifu and the sect's attendants would surely come looking for him.

During this time, he decided to find a secluded island and continue his closed-door cultivation.

There was still so much to do. He needed to keep his thoughts clear and prioritize his schedule.

Healing his injuries and stabilizing his realm went without saying.

He had to find a way to conceal his xian li and immortal body, making them mimic his original mortal dao body.

Since he had chosen to hide his cultivation as his trump card from the start, he had to stick to that path. If he suddenly exposed it, the higher-ups in Du Xian Men would definitely grow suspicious.

—Developing the third version of the Turtle Breath Equalizing Qi Art had to be prioritized.

On top of that, Li Changshou had to face an awkward reality.

After passing his heavenly tribulation, his strength had leaped forward dramatically, granting him the rumored "flying ascension."

This was undoubtedly a good thing, but more than a third of his previous enemy-fighting methods had become completely obsolete, and another third had lost much of their effectiveness.

For example, Soft Immortal Powder and many of his poison pills were now somewhat redundant.

When his strength was lacking, drugs and poisons were essential for self-defense.

But now, their effects were no match for a single slap from him...

All those poison pills he had refined to counter true immortals would have to be sealed away for use in specific environments.

Or, he could go to a market town on the edges of Zhong Shen State and trade them for precious materials or herbs.

The bronze short crossbow's power could be enhanced based on the user's fa li or xian li level.

This weapon, which consumed very little xian li, could be kept. He'd refine it a bit later to unlock its potential and continue using it with his paper figures.

The same went for San Mei True Flame—its power would grow with his strength; he just needed to supplement his cultivation and refine the immortal fire.

The divine ability of Paper Figure Substitution required further comprehension. His future paper figures would have more clever uses and far greater power than before.

His Five Elements Escape Techniques could step into a whole new realm.

His sword arrays and treasures needed to be refined anew.

Some powerful talismans that he couldn't draw before could now be created.

He could also set up even stronger arrays for the Luotian Treasure Umbrella...

And so on.

When he tallied it all up, there was truly a lot to do—three or four years might not even be enough.

He decided to prioritize the most important tasks first, like upgrading his most commonly used escape techniques.

Safety always came first.

What did flying ascension matter? What did becoming an immortal matter?

It only turned him from a mere ant into a slightly stronger one.

Flying ascension gave this ant wings to fly, but it was still just a flying ant—and an even more noticeable target.

The Great Desolation had existed for countless ages, with endless years passing. Even with great tribulations descending one after another, there were still far too many experts remaining.

At the top were the Heavenly Dao, Dao Ancestor, and the Six Saints.

Below them were ancient great powers, the three religions' big shots, the remnants of witches and demons, rising human experts, and various reincarnated masters...

He was nowhere near the level of a third-rate expert in the Great Desolation; he was still far behind.

And the key point was...

He was especially poor.

...

His xian shi picked up a burst of noisy commotion from the distant village. The sturdy girl was hugging the pile of gold and silver he had left, squatting on the ground and sobbing loudly.

"Immortal, it's really not that I lost you!"

"I didn't sell the immortal either!"

Watching her cry on the ground like a two-hundred-jin child, the surrounding group of "iron towers" and "vajras" still heartlessly scolded her mercilessly.

"How could you lose such a big sea god?"

"Oh, did you have to run out and shout for people? You could have just stood at the window and yelled, 'Sea god is awake, sea god is awake'! Why run around like that?"

"We told you, that's a sea god, not some immortal! Xiong Lingli, oh Xiong Lingli! Don't listen to your dad's nonsense! Offending the sea god is a big deal!"

"Hurry up and take these vulgar gold and silver to the village chief's house! We can't let these worldly things offend the sea god!"

Xiong...

That surname was certainly fitting—truly bear-like physiques.

The adults scolded the girl for a while and then dispersed without punishing her. Instead, they began searching inside and outside the village for their "sea god."

Li Changshou continued to observe in secret.

There was something unusual about this village, and that was the only reason he had stayed a hundred li away instead of leaving directly.

Anything out of the ordinary could mean demons or hidden treasures.

The village had over a thousand human residents who lived by fishing, hunting, and farming. Their lives were quite comfortable, and the area enjoyed good weather without any natural disasters.

As for man-made troubles... even if a few thousand regular troops from a mortal kingdom or tribe attacked, they might not take the village, let alone small bands of mountain bandits or sea pirates.

But the vast majority of the people here had no cultivation; they were ordinary mortals, yet they all had builds as robust as the girl's. That didn't add up.

First off, their nutrition couldn't possibly support it.

What's more, the people here didn't seem to engage in any deliberate muscle training...

Among the possibilities Li Changshou considered, the most likely was that there was something special about the local water sources or food—something abundant and readily available.

Often, these kinds of miraculous things that mortals overlook could be treasures for alchemy, weapon refining, array setting, or cultivation.

Additionally, there were no signs of outside qi refiners in the village. The few individuals at the qi refining or spirit transformation stages had probably learned some incomplete techniques, which wasn't uncommon in the human mortal world...

This was what had piqued Li Changshou's interest a bit, leading him to linger a hundred li away for observation.

After searching the village without success, the group of "bears" mobilized en masse.

They scoured the area with the full strength of Xiong Village for half a day. Finally, an elderly person sighed and shouted:

"The sea god has returned to the sea!"

With that, the villagers—most of whom shared the Xiong surname—returned to the village and started a lively bonfire gathering to bid farewell to the sea god.

Li Changshou observed for three days. He secretly checked the local water sources, investigated the village's common foods, and searched the surrounding hundreds of li, but found nothing unusual.

Maybe it really was just an ancestral trait?

He didn't want to waste more time here. Since he couldn't uncover the anomaly, he decided to leave.

That night, Li Changshou squeezed out of the tree trunk, transformed into a medium-sized fish, and dove into the warm seawater to find his next cultivation spot.

This area was in the southwestern part of Nan Shan Bu Continent, within the sphere of influence of the South Sea Dragon Palace.

But because the South Sea Dragon Palace was so far from the land and not as active as the East Sea Dragon Palace, these waters were unusually peaceful and harmonious. Li Changshou quickly found a small, deserted island and went into hiding for closed-door cultivation.

Three months later.

Li Changshou's dao injuries were fully healed. The power of his water escape and earth escape had both seen significant improvements, and he had re-cultivated San Mei True Flame, condensing his immortal fire.

Five months later.

Sitting in meditation in a reef cave, Li Changshou retracted all the immortal light around him. His breathing and exhalation no longer emitted pure qi, and his eyes lost their piercing glow. The faint fragrance on his body also vanished.

Standing up, he looked himself over—his aura showed no fluctuations whatsoever.

He walked to the edge of the reef and stood quietly, observing the reactions of the sea creatures.

Previously, due to his immortal pressure, the fish and shrimp in the sea would scatter in fear.

Now, as he stood there, the sea creatures were only startled for a moment before resuming their normal, carefree play.

After thinking it over, Li Changshou first simulated the aura of the seventh stage of the Return to Void realm, then hid that aura and revealed only the third stage of the Return to Void realm.

The third version of the Immortal Turtle Breath Equalizing Qi Art was complete.

"Once I get back, I'll pass the second version on to Ling E," he thought.

Letting out a light breath, Li Changshou felt quite pleased. Not wanting to waste any more time, he turned to return to the cave for more cultivation.

But just as he was about to turn, a wisp of seven-colored precious light appeared on the northern horizon.

Li Changshou's xian shi immediately swept over and traced the source to Xiong Lingli's village...

That village really did have something good!

However, such a big commotion could attract other qi refiners' attention. If he went rashly, he might walk into danger.

After weighing his options, Li Changshou took a paper figure from his sleeve and blew on it gently.

The paper figure trembled, slowly came to life, stretched its little arms and legs, and jumped from his hand onto the sea surface.

The small paper figure walked a couple of steps on the water, then with a puff, transformed into the figure of a middle-aged daoist. It caught the three treasure pouches Li Changshou tossed over, turned, and dove into the sea, disappearing from sight.

Li Changshou returned to the cave, closed his eyes in meditation, and projected his mind onto the paper figure.

He kept his mindset relaxed.

If he could pick up a treasure, great; if it required more than just picking it up, he'd have the paper figure withdraw.

After all, as his realm improved, higher-level paper figures took more effort to make.

And this was the mortal world—it wasn't likely to have any formidable treasures.

...

At the boundary between the South Sea and East Sea, in a corner of the island shaped like a great turtle.

"Fellow daoists, I truly wasn't lying.

On my way back last time, I happened to witness someone passing the Jiu Xiao Shen Mo Jie. I said he wouldn't make it, but he did! Then he was struck by heavenly punishment, and I thought he was done for, but...

Guess what happened?"

By the treasure pool, an old daoist was chatting animatedly with over a dozen qi refiners of similar cultivation levels.

At the bottom of the treasure pool, Ao Yi had reverted to his true form as a green dragon, coiled motionless on the pool floor...

The Great Desolation was truly terrifying.

The nightmare still lingered, but Ao Yi had taken the initiative to ask his dragon mother to send him back to the territory of the Jie Jiao immortals.

Because Ao Yi knew that Jie Jiao had some human disciples, he could observe them and learn the qualities that the dragon race lacked—especially that cunning and scheming nature.

Unbeknownst to him, the conversation among the qi refiners by the pool had shifted to the little dragon at the bottom.

One of them sighed, "The gaps in the pool floor have been sealed with restrictions.

I wonder why this Dragon Prince is so eager to escape from Jin Ao Island."

Another added, "Kids just don't want to listen to the elders—that's not unusual."

The old daoist who had been sharing the tribulation story chuckled and stroked his beard. "Don't worry. As long as we treat this Dragon Palace Prince well, he'll come around and cultivate here peacefully."

The group of qi refiners nodded in agreement.

At the bottom of the pool, Ao Yi shifted his dragon head slightly but said nothing.