*Dong—*

The bell within the gates rang again in the early morning.

The disciples from various peaks who had been summoned before—forty-eight in total, riding thirty-two clouds—flew toward the Baifan Palace from all directions.

The difference between the number of people and clouds roughly indicated the number of Dao companions.

Li Changshou, as one of the two leaders for this external expedition of Du Xian Gate disciples, found nothing unusual about this.

This was simply the way of their sect, and he had long grown accustomed to it.

Over these past two years, every time they gathered at Baifan Palace, he had heard Senior Sister Yan’er call out “Brother Qiqi” so many times that his heart… no longer stirred at such matters.

This time, he would finally get to see what had become of major Human Path sects like the Xiaoyao Immortal Sect after Sovereign Xuandu and the Matchmaker had worked their influence!

Optimistically speaking, among the many lineages of the Three Schools, their Human Path lineage should have the highest average appearance rating!

—Women beautify themselves for those they admire, men style themselves for those they fancy—that was roughly the idea.

In truth, with a Senior Brother of the Dao School above who worried about the Human Path’s prosperity, Li Changshou wouldn’t be surprised by any oddities that appeared below.

During his last conversation with the Great Sovereign, Li Changshou had tactfully reminded him that trying to prosper the Human Path through matchmaking and reproduction was actually quite inefficient.

He wasn’t sure if Sovereign Xuandu had taken this small suggestion to heart.

Since then, Li Changshou had privately given the Great Sovereign a golden, radiant, yang-energy-filled title—

Humanity’s Oldest Bachelor!

Sovereign Xuandu was said to be among the first batch of humans molded by Goddess Nuwa.

According to Human Path texts:

At that time, Supreme Lord Lao had already obtained a strand of primordial purple qi and achieved the way of the Three Corpses, but was one step short of becoming a sage. By chance, he saw Goddess Nuwa creating humans and, after divination, knew that humanity would have an extraordinary destiny closely tied to his own.

Thus, Lord Lao established the Human Path to protect humanity, received merit from the Heavenly Dao, and instantly became a sage.

After becoming a sage, as a gesture, Lord Lao casually pointed at one among the first batch of humans—today’s Sovereign Xuandu—and took him back to Mount Kunlun to pass on his teachings.

Therefore, the Great Sovereign’s honorary title of [Oldest Virgin]…

Was well-founded, well-deserved, and indisputable!

Of course, this was just a joke.

Li Changshou had known very early on that Sovereign Xuandu was a deeply hidden expert, a well-deserved Senior Brother of the Dao School.

To date, the Great Sovereign had shown his power in public twice, and each time he had displayed the mighty reputation of Supreme Lord Lao.

Li Changshou had read detailed accounts in Human Path texts…

During the Second Great War between Shamans and Demons in ancient times.

Before the Five Elements Treasure House of Earth Immortal Ancestor Zhenyuan, Sovereign Xuandu, with the Heaven Earth Mysterious Yellow Spiritual Tower above his head, directly faced Demon Emperor Donghuang Taiyi, who wanted to exterminate humanity to forge the [Shaman-Slaying Sword].

In that bloody battle, he stopped the Demon Emperor;

Sovereign Xuandu protected some of humanity’s foundation and indirectly demonstrated the Sage Lord’s methods, making the flourishing Demon Tribe dare not act recklessly against humanity anymore.

—At that time, Sovereign Xuandu hadn’t even been apprenticed for a full kalpa, yet his displayed power had matched Donghuang Taiyi.

The Great Sovereign’s second recorded display of power was during the Third Great War between Shamans and Demons, humanity’s counterattack…

At that time, the Shaman Tribe had exhausted all their powerful fighters, the Demon Court’s experts were nearly all dead or wounded, but the Demon Tribe’s Heaven hadn’t fallen. Humanity’s not-yet-fully-developed experts fought with their backs against the wall, seizing the opportunity to launch a death blow against the Demon Tribe.

In this great battle, Sovereign Xuandu had appeared.

Stepping on the supreme treasure Taiji Diagram, crowned with the Mysterious Yellow Spiritual Tower, holding a Heaven Earth Ruler, he alone invaded the Demon Court, grievously wounded Donghuang Taiyi, and forced the primordial treasure [Donghuang Bell] into the Chaos Sea, preventing Donghuang Taiyi from passing this treasure to Demon Tribe powerhouses!

In that battle, humanity had wagered their entire race’s fate;

Either overthrow the Demon Tribe’s Heaven and become the protagonist of Heaven and Earth, gaining the Heavenly Dao’s recognition.

Or be forced by the Demon Tribe to the brink of racial extinction!

What happened afterward became legends of the primordial world, and that man never had another chance to display his power…

The primordial world also gradually stopped mentioning his title.

This Senior Brother of the Human Path, born human, protecting humanity on behalf of the Human Path, himself without name or surname…

Now appeared to be just a somewhat ordinary young cultivator, always squinting and smiling slightly, spending most of his effort on this [Human Path Multi-Birth and Multi-Nurturing Ten Thousand Year Plan]!

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Baifan Palace was already near.

The honorary title Li Changshou had given to Senior Brother in his heart was naturally something he wouldn’t dare tell anyone, even if it killed him…

In half a year, the Du Xian Gate group would set out for Middle Continent.

The frequency of summoning the forty-eight disciples to Baifan Palace had also changed from once a year previously to once every three months now.

According to Middle Continent and East Victory Continent customs, at such grand gatherings, there would inevitably be “disciple dueling” segments for entertainment.

At that time, the younger the disciple’s lifespan, the higher their cultivation, and the greater their abilities, the more face their lineage would gain.

Like You Qin Xuanya, who had reached the eighth realm of Returning to Dao at such a young age, excelled in combat, possessed divine abilities, had excellent looks and figure, and was about to transcend to immortality—such contemporary young disciples could bring much glory to Du Xian Gate.

Meanwhile, Li Changshou’s surface disguise was of a disciple approaching two hundred years old, unstable at the fourth stage of Returning to Dao and barely managing the third stage, with passable looks, and aside from formations and movement techniques, everything else could only be considered ordinary…

He definitely wouldn’t be arranged to go on stage!

Therefore, Li Changshou went with the flow and placed himself in an “errand-runner” position.

During each gathering of disciples for discussion, Li Changshou never expressed any opinions and consistently maintained his quality triple response:

[Senior Sister You Qin is correct;

Senior Sister You Qin makes sense;

We have all noted down the elders’ teachings]

Li “Increasingly Steady and Ordinary” Wujing was online again!

After “completely recovering,” Li Changshou had already handled many such situations consecutively. Deceiving superiors… ahem, managing relationships up and down had become increasingly skillful, accumulating much experience for future work in the Heavenly Court.

In this aspect, Li Changshou always maintained his own measure.

He maintained a certain distance from the immortal seedlings and outstanding disciples of various peaks, yet they were still familiar enough to exchange greetings and forget about it afterward.

Now, Li Changshou’s disguise within the sect had naturally transitioned to the third stage.

The first stage was being transparent, maintaining a very low profile, but aside from monthly provisions, he could only go to the Dao Collection Palace to dig through the trash heap, unable to obtain many resources;

The second stage was natural disguise, maintaining the impression of a poor-quality immortal seedling, making himself appear less conspicuous, but many “phenomena” could be more reasonable.

The third stage was his current going-with-the-flow, being a humble, steady, trouble-avoiding “vice” leader…

Today, the forty-eight disciples gathered once again in the corner of the great hall, taking their positions in neat rows.

You Qin Xuanya and the top eight ranked disciples of the sect sat on meditation cushions in the first row.

Li Changshou sat in the corner, ready at any time to respond to the elders’ errand tasks…

This time was like previous times, following the same procedure;

The sect’s First Elder of External Affairs, Elder Ge, came together with several Celestial Immortal realm elders, sat opposite the disciples, and revealed kind smiles.

Elder Ge said gently: “How have you done with the assignments given previously?

Bring them out.”

“Yes,” the disciples nodded in unison, each taking out a two-foot square wooden box from their hairpins, rings, belt jade buttons and other storage treasures, bringing out scroll after scroll.

They each opened their scrolls, revealing dense small characters inside.

Elder Ge said: “Xuanya, go check if their copied [Disciple Rules] reach the number of Heaven’s Array.”

“Yes,” You Qin Xuanya responded quite seriously, standing up to walk back and forth, checking the homework of her fellow disciples of the same generation.

Soon, You Qin Xuanya reported: “All have reached the requirement.”

“Good,” Elder Ge nodded slowly and said: “This [Disciple Rules] content is quite good, containing many methods for handling different situations, which you must always keep in mind.

In three more months, you will accompany the Sect Master, elders, and officials to Gold Palace Sect in Middle Continent.

I won’t repeat the previously emphasized points.

Today we’ll continue from last time, having several elders explain the last three chapters of [Disciple Rules].”

At this, the disciples lowered their heads in acknowledgment, and several elders spoke in turn, explaining in detail the latter half of the over three thousand character [Disciple Rules] to the disciples.

Li Changshou: …

How seriously the sect took this Three Schools gathering, he had distinctly experienced during this period.

But this piece was actually just some of his experiential remarks, no need for such over-interpretation.

What made Li Changshou most helpless was that the elders would have him write reading reflections on his own work, do reading comprehension of his own work…

Most importantly, he was often judged to have answered incorrectly, rarely passing.

…

In the pavilion beside the spirit beast enclosure on Small Jade Peak.

“Ling’e, are you really sure you don’t want to go to Middle Continent together?”

Jiu Yu pressed her wine gourd, sitting on the window-side bed, turning her head to look at the forest outside, asking quite seriously.

Ling’e, who was cleaning bowls and chopsticks nearby, smiled and nodded, saying: “My cultivation is too low, it’s better to cultivate steadily on the mountain.”

“Earlier an elder wanted to recommend you, why did you refuse?”

Ling’e smiled without speaking, deftly eliminating the evidence of wrongdoing, summoning a stream of spirit spring water to wash her delicate hands.

Jiu Yu didn’t ask further either, lying there and yawning, continuing to look at the scenery outside the window.

Because of attending the Three Schools Origin Flow Conference, Jiu Yu had also been admonished twice by sect elders to pay more attention to her conduct.

Thus, Jiu Yu adjusted from her usual casual state to her serious mode for going out, and her entire bearing showed some changes.

Proper with a touch of melancholy, her profound gaze revealed the precipitation of a thousand years of youth;

At this moment, drinking a mouthful of fine wine from her gourd by the window, she was emanating depth from within…

Before meeting her interesting little junior nephew Li Changshou, she had always maintained such bearing, but later, gradually, because of being taken care of too well, she had indeed become somewhat too joyful…

Ling’e floated back into the room carrying a fruit plate, also took off her embroidered shoes, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the scenery outside.

After thinking for a moment, Ling’e still wanted to help reduce some unnecessary troubles for her senior brother.

So, Ling’e said softly: “Master Uncle Jiu, if my senior brother sits alone in the corner…”

Jiu Yu said: “Don’t worry, I’ll go tease him then!”

“Please temporarily ignore my senior brother,” Ling’e sighed and said, “My senior brother is actually very shy when outside, with an especially thin face.

If women get too close to him, he feels that under public scrutiny…”

“Is that so?”

Jiu Yu suddenly recalled Li Changshou’s strange condition when they went to North Continent years ago.

Ling’e nodded quite seriously, and made a few more requests to Jiu Yu;

Jiu Yu pondered for a moment, then very seriously agreed.

After all, at that time, Master Wangqing would also be going along, so she definitely wouldn’t be able to… be too agitated.

…

“The Three Schools Origin Flow Conference will be held at Gold Palace Sect in Middle Continent in the coming days, Ao Yi.”

“Disciple present.”

By the treasure pool on Golden Tortoise Island, a physically imposing middle-aged cultivator stood before Ao Yi.

This cultivator had proper features, neither angry nor intimidating, giving people quite a gentle feeling, speaking unhurriedly;

This was none other than Ao Yi’s master, Black Cloud Great Immortal, first among the Seven Immortals attending Supreme Lord Tongtian.

Ao Yi asked: “Does Master want disciple to attend this event?”

“Yes,” Black Cloud Great Immortal responded, nodding and saying, “This Three Schools Origin Flow Conference concerns the Dao School’s destiny, you are my only disciple, you need to go on my behalf.

This item is for you.”

Black Cloud Great Immortal took out a small jade tortoise shell and placed it in his disciple’s hand.

“The Three Schools share the same origin, this is what I often hear the Sage Lord say, the Sage Lord doesn’t want to see us have any conflicts with the Enlightenment School.

You must remember this, if our side needs to discuss anything together, just hold this item in your hand, and I will naturally sense it.”

“Yes, disciple obeys.”

Ao Yi very respectfully responded, and Black Cloud Great Immortal revealed a slight smile, raising his hand to pat Ao Yi’s head.

A stream of clear qi poured into Ao Yi’s crown, Ao Yi was startled, insights arose in his heart, his entire body’s realm was slowly rising, the bloodline power within his body instantly boiled!

The master strokes the crown, imparting mysterious realms.

Enlightenment dawns, Dao methods arise naturally.

Shortly after, Ao Yi hugged the jade tortoise shell, his form sinking into the treasure pool.

Black Cloud Great Immortal revealed a slight smile, his figure dispersing with the wind, from beginning to end not attracting the attention of other cultivators on Golden Tortoise Island.

Half a day later, Zhao Gongming stepped on a white cloud, hurriedly heading toward Golden Tortoise Island…