Chapter 602: This Time For Sure

After this incident, it's best not to have any public interactions with Wen Jing.

Li Changshou pondered this in his heart, standing quietly on the white clouds in front of the Ling Shan mountain gate, his thoughts rising and falling like waves.

Throughout Ling Shan, large groups of heavenly soldiers were carefully searching back and forth.

Fortunately, few fierce beasts or demonic beasts were found inside the Ling Shan mountain gate. If a chaotic battle had erupted there, with thunder rolling and earth fire surging...

The Western side would likely have to undertake major reconstruction efforts.

Using his immortal sense to scan the surroundings of Ling Shan, Li Changshou noted that a total of 236 fierce beasts and demonic beasts had been captured by the heavenly soldiers, most of them severely wounded by heavenly punishment and rendered harmless.

Some were familiar faces, having participated in the earlier battle at the Dong Hai eye.

Perhaps driven by their own despair or by orders from Ling Shan, they all tried to fight desperately, but they couldn't organize an effective resistance.

Even so, tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers were killed or injured, with most being fatalities.

The heavenly court generals who had come today all bore some wounds.

There was no way around it—the heavenly soldiers' own strength was too low, and these demonic beasts and fierce beasts launched deliberate sneak attacks. Even with the protection of heavenly dao power, those ambushed found it hard to survive.

The events unfolding on Ling Shan today were inevitable and would spread far and wide.

After all, they had been maintaining a live broadcast via copper mirrors.

Of course, on the surface, the Heavenly Court would still follow Li Changshou's advice, giving Ling Shan sufficient face and upholding the dignity of the six saints.

As Li Changshou deduced the various possible outcomes, he made a new discovery.

This operation on Ling Shan, with the fierce demons being exterminated, not only greatly weakened Ling Shan's strength but also had a deeper, far-reaching impact.

With large groups of heavenly soldiers forming battle arrays and coordinating with heavenly dao power, they could steadily capture experts at the Jin Xian realm. With the addition of one or two masters, they could easily subdue a Da Luo Jin Xian.

The situation for cultivators in the Hong Huang world had become delicate starting today.

True freedom and ease were no longer possible without restraint.

In the future, assessing the Heavenly Court's strength couldn't rely solely on the number of experts or great divine abilities; the heavenly dao could intervene at any time, adding too much uncertainty.

According to Li Changshou's calculations, the secret realm beneath Ling Shan should still harbor at least a hundred fierce beasts and demonic beasts.

But after this battle, Ling Shan would either abandon them or keep them under control, making them unusable.

The strategic objective was perfectly achieved.

"Teacher!"

Jin Chi Da Peng Niao flew in from afar, saluted Li Changshou with a fist, and said:

"The areas outside Ling Shan have been thoroughly searched, with no escapees.

Should we search inside Ling Shan as well?"

"That's enough for today," Li Changshou replied calmly. "Take these fierce beasts and demonic beasts to the Tian Fa Hall for individual interrogations. I'll report to Yu Di His Majesty first, then proceed with the executions.

Make sure the entire three realms know about this."

"Yes!"

Jin Peng saluted with his fists and accepted the order. He turned to relay Li Changshou's command, and the heavenly soldiers and generals quickly withdrew from Ling Shan, forming hundreds of battle arrays as they escorted the fierce beasts back to heaven.

In the secret depths of Ling Shan, the place where the saints cultivated,

Zhun Ti Sheng Ren slightly raised his head, a faint light flashing in his eyes, as his left hand began to lift.

"No need."

A soft sigh came from beside him, and the dark energy gathering in Zhun Ti's left hand immediately dissipated.

Jie Yin Sheng Ren said: "The heavenly dao is operating as it should. We just need to wait quietly."

"Very well."

Zhun Ti slowly nodded and added: "Senior brother, is this Li Chang Geng truly acting on the teacher's decree? Back then, the teacher promised us that as long as..."

"Does it matter whether it is or isn't?"

Jie Yin smiled faintly, as if the losses to Western Teach today had nothing to do with him.

This saint continued:

"The heavenly dao must humble and temper a force before it rises. The great prosperity of the West will come after this great calamity.

What we need to be vigilant about now are Tai Qing and Yu Qing.

Those two dao friends won't easily let us gain the upper hand."

"Very well," Zhun Ti Dao Ren said no more, closing his eyes to meditate, with a faint haze of light surrounding him.

On the cloud road, Li Changshou, riding the clouds, furrowed his brow slightly.

Earlier, a gentle ripple in his dao heart suggested impending danger, but after being fully on guard, he only felt a chill run through him, with nothing unusual happening.

Was that a saint trying to strike at him just now?

Li Changshou's mouth twitch ed a few times.

He had been so thorough, giving the Western Teach so many ways out, yet those great and lesser saints still harbored such strong killing intent...

Oh well, better to keep hiding.

Anyway, he had done what needed to be done. For the follow-up handling of the three thousand worlds, let Jin Peng take the lead, send the Heavenly Court soldiers for more training, and he could stay in the background controlling everything.

In the coming years, he would focus on cultivation, sleep, discipline Ling E, and casually read the great Hong Huang works left by Master Lang, while secretly using the Kun Peng spacecraft's Hong Meng Zi Qi to observe the Hong Huang heavenly dao...

Safe and comfortable.

On San Xian Island, in that secluded pavilion,

"Sister! Sister-in-law came out alive from Ling Shan!"

Bi Xiao ran along the clouds and leaped through the window into the pavilion, joyfully shouting while holding a message jade slip.

In the pavilion, behind the screen, the sound of water echoed softly.

Yun Xiao Xian Zi, who was bathing in the mist, stood up upon hearing this. By the time she stepped out from behind the screen, she was already dressed in a light green robe, her black hair drying and styling itself into a phoenix tail shape, making her fair and slender neck even more striking.

She looked at Bi Xiao with a hint of helplessness and said gently:

"Don't speak like that. If he dared to go, he must have made thorough plans."

"Hehe, I'm just worried for you, sister."

Bi Xiao grinned and made a face. With her youthful and pure dao heart, she feared nothing under heaven and earth—except being told to kneel by her elder sister.

This was a common flaw in Jie Teach.

Bi Xiao asked softly: "Sister, is sister-in-law really helping the ancestral master with this?"

"Mm," Yun Xiao Xian Zi walked to her dressing table, gazed at herself in the mirror, thought for a moment, and replied: "It's hard to say. He hasn't discussed these matters with me."

Yun Xiao's pavilion originally had no dressing table, but for the sake of pleasing her beloved, one had appeared.

Bi Xiao took an immortal fruit from her sleeve, bit into it, and sighed: "Now that sister-in-law has moved to the Heavenly Court, we can't go play there anymore."

"The Heavenly Court is still accessible," Yun Xiao said, "but with the great calamity ongoing, it's best for us not to wander around—that's one reason. Going there might also invite idle gossip from Chan Teach and make things difficult for him—that's the second."

"Sister, you're so cautious about having a dao companion."

Bi Xiao laughed: "In my view, the struggles of great teaches are one thing, and personal matters are another. Just go boldly to the Heavenly Court and let them talk.

Who cares about them?"

Yun Xiao frowned slightly, and Bi Xiao instantly fell silent, adding quietly:

"I mean, others can't affect our dao hearts."

"Go and cultivate," Yun Xiao said gently.

"Ah," Bi Xiao shrank her neck, turned, and floated out the window. She patted her chest and vanished in a flash.

Yun Xiao sat in front of the mirror, lost in thought for a while, then sighed softly. She hung the copper coin she held in her hand on the edge of the copper mirror, her gentle gaze growing firmer.

As long as they survived the great calamity,

There would be no more constraints.

Following the Ling Shan operation, the Heavenly Court's prestige soared, officially surpassing the saintly teaches.

Li Changshou led the heavenly soldiers and generals in a triumphant return, while the two saints of Ling Shan never made a move from start to finish. The disciples of Ling Shan offered no resistance, allowing the Heavenly Court to take away the enforcers they had secretly cultivated for years.

Three days later, at the Zhong Tian Gate, the fierce beasts and demonic beasts were executed.

The scene was spectacular, with the Heavenly Court inviting numerous great powers and divine beings from Hong Huang to witness.

At noon that day, massive corpses and endless blood stained layer upon layer of white clouds, and a bloody rain fell on a barren mountain in Zhong Shen Continent.

This seemed to foreshadow the end of one Hong Huang era and the beginning of another.

The era of the three realms.

Nine days later, heavenly soldiers entered the western and southern regions of Nan Zan Bu Continent. Heavenly Court immortals and gods manifested in various places, overthrowing the incense fire cults dominated by Western Teach in one fell swoop.

A month later, the five continents were officially unrestricted.

The Heavenly Court's eight divisions dispatched 100,000 troops each, merging with a million from the Dragon Palace water army, and marched grandly into the three thousand worlds, heading toward the nearest incense fire divine kingdoms.

This was a campaign destined to be long and drawn-out.

The Heavenly Court directly intervened in the battles of the three thousand worlds, but under Li Changshou's fine control, they adjusted the advance speed to ensure equal losses for the Xian Meng and the incense fire divine kingdoms.

At the same time, the Heavenly Court began secretly increasing support for the Lin Tian Hall.

The matters of Lin Tian Hall were known in detail only to Li Changshou and a few key Heavenly Court ministers, like Dong Mu Gong.

Three months later, the Heavenly Court announced the deployment of troops to guard the northern and southern borders of Xi Niu He Continent.

Western Teach's influence over the five continents dropped to its lowest since ancient times.

Half a year later, good news came from the three thousand worlds: the combined forces of the Heavenly Court and Dragon Palace destroyed an incense fire divine kingdom, establishing the first outpost directly under the Heavenly Court's control and securing a foothold.

But the three thousand worlds were vast, and relying solely on Heavenly Court garrisons was unrealistic at this stage.

Li Changshou's strategy was to steadily develop the Lin Tian Hall's forces amid delicate balances, aiming to bring eighty percent of the greater thousand worlds under Heavenly Court jurisdiction within three thousand years. They would implement Heavenly Court law, enforce separation of immortals and mortals, and preserve the path for mortals to seek immortality.

In Li Changshou's view, this wasn't much of a grand plan.

It was just going with the flow.

But what left Li Changshou a bit frustrated was that he...

After doing so much and working so hard—not to mention risking his life repeatedly, at least putting in the effort without credit—the heavenly dao still wouldn't give him that final bit of merit to complete his Gong De Jin Shen.

And the issue he had worried about earlier was starting to happen bit by bit.

Incense fire merit, Heavenly Court merit salary...

It was all being restricted.

After setting up the three thousand worlds' layout, another thirty-plus years passed.

Li Changshou naturally visited Tai Qing Palace, spending twenty of those years there receiving guidance.

Spending over twenty years with his teacher, saying they didn't chat or scheme together wouldn't be believable—his Tai Qing teacher was quite chatty.

But as for what they discussed, there wasn't much substantial content. The teacher said around three hundred sentences in total, scattered over time, touching on the evolution of the heavenly dao and the great calamity...

Anyway, those in the know would understand.

Upon returning from Tai Qing Palace, Li Changshou secluded himself for ten years, during which he kept a close eye on the changes in his own merit.

He confirmed repeatedly, waiting with a sliver of hope, until today, when he was absolutely certain.

His Gong De Jin Shen was stuck at ninety-eight percent.

Gong De Jin Shen meant "merit perfection," with no room for modification—it had to reach the exact value set by the heavenly dao to transform.

On this day,

Li Changshou looked inward at himself, gazing at the merit treasure pool in his spiritual platform, which was nearly full but never quite reaching the brim. He frowned and pondered, then sighed in resignation.

What could he do?

Was he supposed to stand up and criticize the heavenly dao, shout that the heavenly dao boss wasn't human, and run off with a pile of merit to challenge the Fate Jade Disc?

Then go to Western Teach for some debt transfer?

That...

It was now basically confirmed that the dao ancestor wasn't giving him the merit, contrary to what Xuan Du Shi Xiong had said—about not wanting him bound by the heavenly dao.

Hadn't the dao ancestor released the eighth and ninth strands of Hong Meng Zi Qi precisely to tie him down?

The dao ancestor was clearly unwilling to let him use the Gong De Jin Shen to establish a connection with the heavenly dao and delve deeper into it.

This was probably for the sake of maintaining the stability of the heavens.

"Sigh."

In front of the pill room, Li Changshou slumped in a rocking chair, his eyes dull and lips pale, exuding an air of dejection.

It was like a fairy fish that had been cooped up for thirty years, finally stepping out to bask in the sun and avoid getting moldy.

Ling E, who was cultivating by the lake, blinked and flew over on a cloud. Dressed in a grass-green short skirt and embroidered shoes resembling sandals, her pretty face bare of makeup, she looked fresh and charming.

She jumped down from the cloud and landed to the left of the chair, hands behind her back as she leaned forward to closely observe Li Changshou's lifeless expression.

This was a rare sight.

"Senior brother, what's wrong?"

Li Changshou waved his hand feebly and sighed: "Immortal life, even with longevity, isn't always joyful. There are many helpless things in the world, and one's intentions can never be perfect."

Ling E blinked, though she didn't want to pry, she still asked softly:

"Did you... argue with Yun Xiao sister?"

"It's not her fault," Li Changshou lifted his left hand and gently patted Ling E's head. "Don't ask too much. I haven't made you copy scriptures lately—is that making you think you're a grown-up little fairy now?"

"Not at all!"

Ling E didn't know why, but she suddenly felt inexplicably happy. From her sleeve, she pulled out a miniature rocking chair, blew a breath of fragrant immortal energy on it, and it grew to normal size, placed beside Li Changshou.

She lay down on it with a smile, propping her chin with one hand, and winked at her senior brother.

"Senior brother, if you're feeling down, just look at me.

I can help lift your spirits, you know."

Li Changshou glanced at her, originally wanting to enjoy the famous scene of "Little Qiong Peak in the Mist" again, but he sighed wearily and lay there staring at the sky.

Clouds drifted lazily, mist swirled gently.

Failing to condense the Gong De Jin Shen after all this longing was indeed a blow.

Although he now had the "Hong Meng Zi Qi" as an alternative path to comprehend the heavenly dao, it still felt stifling.

The heavenly dao playing tricks, the dao ancestor playing dumb—who could he complain to?

So what was the point of keeping this merit inside him?

Li Changshou's expression turned thoughtful. Beside him, Ling E, who had been biting her lip and about to unleash her "E Charm Great Law," restrained herself, not wanting to disturb her senior brother's thoughts.

Soon, Li Changshou slapped his thigh, his eyes full of determination.

Not giving him the Gong De Jin Shen, was it?

Fine, he didn't want it anymore!

Playing it safe, it was because his own virtue wasn't complete, so he wasn't worthy—nothing to do with the heavenly dao or the dao ancestor.

Li Changshou turned to Ling E and asked: "Defensive treasures or offensive ones—which do you prefer?"

Ling E blinked, quickly catching on.

This was a test, a common one, just a little quiz.

"Escaping-type treasures!"

"Oh? Ambitious."

Li Changshou praised, and from his sleeve, he took out a silver shuttle. Golden light surged in his palm, his face full of concentration.

He wasn't skilled at refining, but he was good at scavenging odds and ends from Dou Shuai Palace.

Though his dao realm was barely passable and his divine abilities so-so, re-refining a casually made treasure from Lao Jun was still challenging.

But balancing the yin-yang and five elements within it, and adding some top-grade ancient materials, wasn't too hard...

Half a day later,

The silver shuttle glowed with five colors, a yin-yang double fish slowly rotating at its base, drawing constant admiration from Ling E beside him.

Holding this treasure, one could greatly enhance five-element escaping techniques;

Entering it would create a self-contained dao realm domain, allowing free entry and exit from the Hun Dun Sea.

Then, Li Changshou engraved a "Shou" character on the side of the shuttle and handed the engraving tool to Ling E.

Ling E's face flushed, she bit her lip, and carefully wrote an "E" character, already on the verge of "sizzling with smoke."

She asked softly: "That question earlier wasn't a test, was it?"

"Mm, all these years, I haven't made anything proper for you to defend yourself," Li Changshou took the shuttle back, his eyes flickering with divine light.

To stand firm, one must be ruthless!

Only by daring to give up can one gain!

Brilliant golden light surged in his palm, and Li Changshou gritted his teeth as he pushed forward, pouring a massive amount of merit into the silver shuttle.

Appear!

Post-heaven top-grade merit escaping treasure!

Golden light rose, bathing Little Qiong Peak in a golden glow.

After a moment, Li Changshou exhaled lightly, his eyes calm, and placed the shuttle, now encircled by treasure light, in Ling E's palm.

"Go ahead and play with it."

Ling E: ...

"Senior brother, is this really for me?"

"We're family—what's mine is yours," Li Changshou stretched lazily, feeling much lighter, his dao heart suddenly clear.

Though he had used up sixty percent of his accumulated merit, creating a top-grade merit spirit treasure and giving it to his junior sister was quite satisfying.

A rare indulgence.

To keep things balanced, he'd use the remaining merit to refine a Yun Xia little robe and take a trip to San Xian Island.

Suddenly!

A thunderous rumble!

The sky over the Heavenly Court changed, a golden cloud covering the Tai Bai Palace backyard. It unleashed a hundred kinds of auspicious signs, instantly transforming into a golden pillar that struck down without warning, enveloping Li Changshou!

Merit!

Vast and pure heavenly dao merit!

At the same time, Li Changshou's heart shook with the great dao, forming several large characters that plastered his yuan shen.

This time, for sure.