Chapter 581: This Can Lead to Some Unexpected Gains

Suddenly having to command the Sheng Ren master, Li Changshou felt a bit nervous.

Of course, this experience was limited only to Tongtian Jiaozhu. There was no opportunity to arrange for other Sheng Ren, after all.

Among the Sheng Ren, Tongtian Jiaozhu was the most approachable and down-to-earth.

To ensure the Sheng Ren master had the best "arranged experience," Li Changshou decided to elevate the detail of his preparation plan by several levels.

The preparation time was extended from the previous three years to twenty years.

In the Hong Huang world, the longer qi refiners lived, the weaker their perception of time spans became. For these ancient figures of Hong Huang, a few years or a few decades made little difference.

This was most evident in his own teacher, Taiqing Sheng Ren.

Even the time to ponder a single sentence could stretch to three or five years, truly embodying the saying "Hong Huang does not count the years."

After returning to Biyou Palace with his main body, Li Changshou secluded himself in the alchemy room for two months to revise the plan's details. He also sent Bian Zhuang on a secret trip to Huoyun Cave to deliver the new adjustments.

Nowadays, when Li Changshou's paper Daoist went out, its concealment was no longer guaranteed. No matter what appearance he changed to or how carefully he hid his vital energy details, he risked exposure if he encountered powerful experts with great divine abilities.

It was time to start using some subordinates.

Li Changshou knew Bian Zhuang inside and out. The guy was a womanizer, but he was all bark and no bite. He was a bit frivolous, yet reliable when it came to serious matters.

Moreover, Bian Zhuang's entire family was currently working for the Tian Ting, making him a solid and trustworthy choice with fewer concerns.

Even more importantly...

Bian Zhuang was a key supporting character in the upcoming calamity. No matter how the Heavenly Dao calculated, it wouldn't let him fall into trouble.

Based on Li Changshou's understanding of the Heavenly Dao, this was almost certainly the case.

'Did Senior Lang back then develop resentment toward the Heavenly Dao because it arranged everything?'

In front of the alchemy room, Li Changshou sat in a rocking chair, recalling the "Lang Ren Nian Ji" he had once read, searching for any overlooked clues.

On the matter of Senior Lang, Li Changshou's stance leaned more toward the Heavenly Dao.

Why?

There was an example Li Changshou had never mentioned before—the Moon Palace's Heng E.

The world never lacked beautiful immortals. If the Heavenly Dao wanted to place the most stunning beauty in the Moon Palace, or arrange for the daughter of a human emperor to marry Yi, it would be no trouble at all.

Considering how quickly the child of the great calamity had grown, a few centuries would suffice for such a transformation.

Yet, as Senior Lang's close disciple and one deeply connected to him, Heng E had slept for ten thousand years and forgotten everything related to Senior Lang, but she still survived.

To this day, Heng E continued to search for the missing piece in her Dao heart, and the Heavenly Dao had not struck her down.

In Li Changshou's view, Dao Zu had already shown the utmost benevolence and righteousness.

"Ah, the past is gone."

Li Changshou sighed, gently fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, feeling utterly relaxed and content.

The Feng Shen calamity was drawing nearer, the grand stage of Hong Huang was set, and the destined tribulation of heaven and earth was fully prepared.

First, they could eliminate Kun Peng as a sacrificial offering to heaven, which might alleviate some pressure on Hong Huang and create more variables and chances of survival for those fated to face the calamity.

'Still, I should take this opportunity to organize a Three Teachings gathering.'

This wasn't the first time Li Changshou had brought together the Chan Jiao and Jie Jiao for such events, like the ancient Shura city or the intimidation of Ling Shan.

But this time, the situation was different.

In the matter of Yang Jian, Chan Jiao's stance had been ambiguously subtle.

How could the immortals of the two teachings be fools? They understood that the key lay in the choices of their Sheng Ren teachers.

What Li Changshou wanted was simply to foster more goodwill among the immortals of the two teachings, so they might show some mercy when the time came for action.

Though the idea seemed a bit naive, after careful consideration, Li Changshou felt that this was all he could do.

"Senior Brother, are you busy?"

Ling E's voice transmission came from the side, and Li Changshou gathered his thoughts, smiling and shaking his head.

Outside the array, Ling E, who had carefully dressed up, arrived on a cloud. Remembering the earlier scene, her face flushed slightly, but her gaze was firm, and her demeanor resolute as she flew through the layers of arrays and landed on the other side of the alchemy room door...

And waited.

Li Changshou rocked his fan gently, with a faint smile, continuing to ponder the subsequent arrangements.

The enemy was in the Chaos Sea.

"Why the long face?"

In a corner of the Original Water God Residence, on two swaying swings, a young man and a young woman were rocking back and forth, side by side.

On the left swing, the girl was charming and adorable, with a pair of small rabbit ears on her head and a sweet smile on her lips. Her jade feet under her short skirt were slender and delicate, yet gave off an air of strength.

This was, of course, the girl Jade Rabbit.

At Jade Rabbit's question, Nezha sighed softly, leaning against the swing's ropes, his eyes losing their spark.

"I probably am no longer Uncle's favorite junior."

"Hmm?" Jade Rabbit looked puzzled, slowing her swinging. "Why say that? Lord Taibai values you highly."

"You don't understand," Nezha sighed. "It's like how lately, that guy Bian Zhuang has been given important tasks by Uncle, even handling confidential matters that he won't tell me about.

After Ao Yi broke through to the Jin Xian realm, he took on multiple roles, from the Tian River Navy to the instructor of the Dou Department heavenly soldiers, and even monitoring the fallen dragon clan water gods.

And don't even mention Junior Brother Yang Jian—he was protected by Uncle to smash Ling Shan... that scene, that prestige.

Ah, but I was the one who came first."

"Um..."

Jade Rabbit thought for a moment and smiled. "Actually, Lord Taibai still values you a lot.

Look, in Yang Jian's matter, you were entrusted with a crucial role to stir his emotions, even staging a brotherly parting and a life-or-death battle.

In my eyes, that's already quite impressive."

"Junior Brother Yang Jian wasn't my match two hundred years ago."

Nezha sighed in dejection, scratching his head. He had wanted to change the subject and avoid these troubles, but the jumbled thoughts in his heart made him feel even more downcast.

The feeling of being surpassed was indeed unpleasant.

Especially since Nezha had recently been stuck at the realm before Jin Xian, no matter how he meditated, he couldn't achieve perfection.

Even as a third-generation disciple of Chan Jiao, a grandson of a Sheng Ren, and a nephew of Taibai, he couldn't make the bottleneck vanish.

Nezha knew that if he asked, he could get pills to break through the bottleneck. With his own accumulations, passing the Jin Xian calamity wouldn't be hard.

But first, he didn't want to;

Second, Nezha had a broad perspective, having interacted with many great experts in the world.

Even his own master, whose cultivation seemed a bit lacking, was still a genuine master in the Hong Huang context.

Jin Xian was just a starting point—nine grades of Jin Xian, six turns of Da Luo, and the severing of the three corpses...

If he broke through with external help, he would surely be stuck early on later.

Nezha sighed. "What's the point of longevity if I can't stand tall in the world?"

Jade Rabbit quickly said, "If you put it that way, do we little immortals just idling in the Tian Ting even need to live?"

"I'm my master's disciple, after all," Nezha said helplessly. "Now that Junior Brother Yang Jian has far surpassed me, my master must be under a lot of pressure.

Though my master is kind, speaks gently, and is very warm to people, he's actually quite competitive at heart.

I should at least bring him some pride."

Jade Rabbit recalled the rumors in the Tian Ting and the scenes she had seen through the cloud mirror technique while following her master.

"The master you're talking about—is it Taiyi Zhenren of Gan Yuan Mountain?"

"Yeah," Nezha blinked. "Do I have another master?"

"Oh, never mind then," Jade Rabbit instantly fell silent, turning her head and rolling her eyes.

This guy was fine in every way—kind-hearted and a bit simple—but he just had a knack for misunderstanding people in all sorts of bizarre ways.

"Rabbit, let's spar! I'm itching for a fight!"

Jade Rabbit's mouth twitched slightly. She stood up with a smile, her eyes showing a hint of disdain. "If I kick you, don't cry."

"Please!"

Nezha made a inviting gesture with one hand, suppressing most of his cultivation to make himself slightly weaker than Jade Rabbit.

Jade Rabbit untied her cloth bundle and put on a pair of fitting cloth shoes. With a nimble flip, she landed in the open space, toes touching the ground, her whole body enveloped in a lively aura.

Instantly, all eyes in the Water God Residence turned to watch.

Watching Jade Rabbit and Nezha spar had become a regular show for the heavenly soldiers and generals here.

In a nearby courtyard, Qin Xuan Ya appeared in an ice-blue dress, standing on the courtyard wall to quietly enjoy the scene.

Lately, she had been focusing on cultivation. The Tian Ting was worried about retaliation from Western Teachings, so they hadn't let her go out to exorcise demons and promote herself, leaving her quite idle.

Before long, Qin Xuan Ya's figure vanished, as if she had never been there...

Smack! Smack!

"That's enough for today! This rabbit has to go back and attend to her master!"

With that playful remark, Jade Rabbit hummed a cheerful tune, lightly tapping her feet and disappearing toward the Moon Palace in a few leaps.

In the backyard of the Water God Residence, Nezha lay on the ground with a sigh, his body covered in little rabbit footprints.

He wasn't really hurt—after all, he was incarnated from the Spirit Pearl, with a very tough physical body.

If he were truly clueless, it would be Jade Rabbit lying there; he had deliberately held back, just to...

Feel that each time he got kicked by the little rabbit, the pain in his body brought a slight enhancement.

Others might say he was dense, but he would just laugh at their inability to see through it.

This method of strengthening his physical body was unique to the Tian Ting and his own secret technique.

He, Nezha, was quite clever!

"No, if this keeps up, Uncle might forget about me entirely."

Nezha pondered for a moment, sat up, and stroked his chin in thought.

Following his master's teachings, his senior uncle's guidance, and the examples he'd seen over the years in the Tian Ting, he should now take the initiative to find some work in front of his uncle.

Even if it was just sweeping the floor, sprinkling water, or watering the flowers, it would be better than his current idle state.

With that decided, Nezha sneaked over to the Taibai Palace area, found a floating barren mountain in the sea of clouds, and quietly cultivated there, waiting for the right opportunity...

After waiting and waiting, half a year passed in the blink of an eye. Finally, Nezha sensed an anomaly near Taibai Palace.

It was Jin Peng returning from the Three Thousand Worlds to report!

Nezha's eyes lit up, and he quickly flew over, thinking that if he could join Jin Peng on an adventure in the Three Thousand Worlds, that would be a great assignment.

However, plans don't always go as expected.

As soon as Nezha arrived at Taibai Palace, he saw Jin Peng reverting to his original form inside the array, with his uncle busily attaching various saddles to Jin Peng's head, legs, and back.

Nezha stepped forward, but heard Li Changshou say warmly,

"Don't get too close. Though this is refined by Laojun, its power hasn't been tested yet. I don't want you getting hurt later."

"Oh... oh!"

Nezha agreed and quickly jumped back several hundred zhang. Then he waited quietly for half an hour, witnessing Jin Peng's first flight with the new treasure.

That speed made the very fabric of the universe tremble, and the golden trail left in its wake couldn't even connect properly.

Li Changshou showed a satisfied look and began recording notes with a jade talisman.

Nezha waited for a while, but seeing he couldn't join the conversation, and not wanting to interrupt, he simply bowed and left to take a stroll by the Tian River to clear his mind.

How could a real man give up so easily?

Nezha rallied his spirits and soon returned to the barren mountain, beginning another long wait.

Over the next year or so, Nezha witnessed dozens of Jin Peng's attempts, as if Uncle Chang Geng was working tirelessly to help Jin Peng break through his speed limits.

He didn't know how to help, so he just stayed nearby and observed.

Nezha resolved that if there was any messenger work later, he would jump at it!

One day, Bian Zhuang hurried over on a cloud, and Nezha's eyes lit up. He quietly followed from behind and entered the main hall of Taibai Palace with Bian Zhuang.

Sure enough, his uncle was holding a jade talisman—definitely some courier task!

Nezha quickened his steps, bowed first, and said,

"Nezha pays respects to Uncle!"

"Mm," Li Changshou smiled warmly and asked, "Is there some trouble, or do you have questions about your cultivation?"

"Not at all," Nezha said eagerly, his eyes full of anticipation. "I'm just a bit idle."

"Then go play with Jade Rabbit more," Li Changshou beckoned to Bian Zhuang and handed over the jade talisman. "Same place, same rules. Be careful to hide your tracks."

"Yes! This subordinate obeys!"

Bian Zhuang responded firmly, bowed his head, and left hurriedly, looking a bit tense.

Nezha opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. Seeing Li Changshou's gaze turn to him, Nezha scratched his head with a chuckle and bowed before leaving.

His retreating figure looked rather forlorn.

Li Changshou watched Nezha's somewhat dejected back, a hint of amusement in his eyes, but he said nothing more.

Letting Nezha face a little setback wasn't a bad thing. With his great destiny, if he was stuck at a bottleneck, it was either the Heavenly Dao testing him or a flaw in his cultivation.

The future Nezha didn't need to be pushed too hard right now.

The only thing that worried Li Changshou about Nezha was the way he had been reincarnated.

Nezha's path likely held a calamity, but he didn't know when it would arise.

That aside, the saddles for Jin Peng had worked quite well, and the next step was field testing in the Chaos Sea.

Besides Jin Peng, there were a bunch of arrays to handle, and he wasn't sure if the twenty-year preparation period would be enough.

For Jin Peng to test the saddles in the Chaos Sea, they chose a location far from Xuan Du City.

Li Changshou figured that Kun Peng was probably secretly watching Xuan Du City's every move, so testing near there would be too risky.

It wasn't that he didn't want to disturb his senior brother and sister-in-law!

He wondered how Kong Xuan was progressing. It had been some time now. If everything went smoothly, he might soon have to prepare for being called "Shu Shu."

Sigh, what about Wen Jing?

To make Wen Jing completely loyal to Ren Jiao, he might have to make some empty promises later.

Then, when Wen Jing absorbed the Golden Lotus and lost three grades of the Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus, and it was time for rewards based on merit, suddenly Kong Xuan and the Grand Mage appeared embracing each other...

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Stepping back, even if the Grand Mage sacrificed himself for Ren Jiao's stability and the teacher's integrity, reluctantly dealing with those two extraordinary female immortals and getting intimate with Wen Jing Daoist...

'You... why are you so skilled at this?'

That scene...

Only a child would shout about wanting it all; adults knew they couldn't handle it.

Wen Jing and Kong Xuan were no push-overs. If those two fought, his senior brother would just sleep it off, and with the teacher's single word of advice, it would all fall on him to clean up!

On second thought, his own two elders were more reliable. As long as he was careful in his daily life, nothing major would go wrong.

With these complicated thoughts, Li Changshou's paper Daoist hid on Jin Peng's back and arrived at their chosen testing ground.

The opposite corner from Xuan Du City, the other end of Hong Huang.

The Heavenly Dao barrier's main function was to block Chaos creatures and Chaos aura. For Hong Huang beings approved by the Heavenly Dao, as long as a great expert led the way, entering or leaving the barrier wasn't difficult.

For example, if Kun Peng weren't afraid of heavenly punishment and wanted to return to Hong Huang, he could go from any direction.

But those innate gods and extraterrestrial demons wanting to enter Hong Huang could only do so through the Heavenly Dao gap at Xuan Du City. Other directions would be blocked or even destroyed by the Heavenly Dao's power.

Once they arrived, it should be safe, though variables couldn't be ruled out entirely. But...

Where would so many variables come from in Hong Huang? The world was vast—surely they wouldn't run into some illicit affair here.

Li Changshou took out the prepared treasures, first having Jin Chi Da Peng demonstrate his full speed and record the baseline. Then, he had Jin Peng equip the saddles one by one for testing.

The results were surprisingly good.

Especially the "Hong Huang version jet device" Li Changshou had conceptualized, which could push Jin Peng's speed to another level for a short time after reaching maximum velocity.

It just consumed a lot of precious materials.

After Jin Peng tested it three or four times, Li Changshou felt the pain and called a stop, having Jin Peng memorize the sensation and move on to testing the other saddles.

Thus, the main force for pursuing Kun Peng was secured.

After half a month, once Jin Peng adapted to the saddles, Li Changshou planned to head back.

But Jin Peng said, "Teacher, may I try using all these treasures at once to see where my limit lies?"

Li Changshou wouldn't refuse. He kept his paper Daoist inside the Heavenly Dao barrier and let Jin Peng fly freely.

It was on this flight that Jin Peng brought back a message that left Li Changshou puzzled...

"Teacher, when I returned just now, I scouted a place that resembles the secret lair of Kun Peng we found before. It's set up very similarly to Kun Peng's lair, with fluctuations of complete Dao principles, but not from Kun Peng's Dao.

Should I investigate it in detail?"

"No," Li Changshou instinctively rejected the idea. "Better to be cautious. I'm just a manifestation here, and if you get into danger you can't handle, it won't do."

He thought for a moment and asked, "How far is that place from Hong Huang?"

"I can reach it in a moment's flight, but it's not exactly close," Jin Peng replied.

"Keep an eye on it from a distance. Don't rush to investigate—just observe from afar for any creatures entering or leaving. Report any signs of activity immediately and retreat without engaging."

"Yes!"