“Excellent!”

In the Crystal Palace of Jade Purity, the white-robed youth on the high platform shouted, making East Wood Lord below tremble involuntarily.

Then came Jade Emperor Haotian’s hearty laughter as he repeatedly patted his desk, clicking his tongue in amazement.

“Minister Changeng’s words greatly resonate with my heart!

This matter has concerned me for many years, and today finally a beloved minister offers counsel!

Hahaha!

Why have I only now met Changeng? Haha! The Four Seas can be pacified!”

East Wood Lord kept his head lowered and dared not speak, though his heart was full of praise.

This memorial was what he had received at the South Sea Divine Temple two hours ago.

Upon receiving it, East Wood Lord had immediately rushed back without pause, swiftly presenting it to His Majesty.

How many years had it been since he’d seen the Jade Emperor so happy…

East Wood Lord understood the hidden meaning in each of His Majesty’s words.

[Concerned for many years, today finally a beloved minister counsels on this matter] meant that His Majesty hadn’t thought of this approach either, and felt suddenly enlightened.

This friend Changeng was truly an outstanding person!

“Congratulations, Your Majesty,” East Wood Lord cupped his hands and said, “Now that we have a plan to pacify the Four Seas, winning the hearts of the Three Realms is within reach.”

“Wood Lord’s words are somewhat exaggerated,” the Jade Emperor smiled and said, “Currently several Sage Lords preside over the Three Realms, with the Three Schools of the Dao Path protecting Heaven and Earth’s stability;

Whether they give their hearts to me is not too important, as long as the Three Realms remain stable.”

East Wood Lord was immediately moved, though inwardly he smiled.

Since meeting the South Sea God, His Majesty’s daily words and actions have become much more measured.

Of course, as a minister he dared not say much about this, and could only lower his head and sigh:

“Your Majesty’s broad-mindedness is truly beyond this old minister’s reach.”

Haotian smiled slightly, looking at the still-warm silk cloth before him with eyes full of appreciation and surging emotions.

Recruit the Dragon Tribe to stabilize the Four Seas, and control clouds and rain to display Heaven’s might.

Master lakes and seas to steady Heaven and Earth, borrow naval forces to plan for the Three Thousand Worlds!

This memorial’s counsel let Haotian see the key moment for the Heavenly Court’s rise;

It was like suddenly finding a great door, and after pushing it open, there lay a bright and clear path!

At the end of the memorial, Li Changshou had written two more sentences.

The first was thus—Nothing can be rushed too hastily, one should leverage existing forces and guide circumstances, seeking victory through stability.

The second sentence was quite interesting.

“Adding flowers to brocade is far inferior to sending charcoal in snowy weather…”

Haotian pondered carefully and quickly understood, revealing a confident smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Wood Lord!”

“This old minister is present.”

“Go to Tongming Palace and see how that edict I established is proceeding.”

“Yes, this old minister will go check right away.”

At this, East Wood Lord turned and hurried away, while Haotian sat behind his desk, fingers brushing over this memorial, unable to help smiling again.

“Though the Human Path has few followers, it truly contains many remarkable people.”

When Wood Lord hurriedly returned, reporting that the edict was only thirty percent formed, Haotian nodded slightly and said:

“Trouble Wood Lord to make another trip, collect some superior spirit herbs and precious medicines, and deliver them to Tusita Palace as a gift for the Lord of Dao’s pill refinement.”

East Wood Lord lowered his head in acknowledgment and walked out from the side of the great hall, riding a cloud toward one of the Heavenly Court’s treasure vaults.

“Changeng, Chang, Geng…”

Haotian stood up, stretched his muscles and bones, and stood with hands behind his back beside his desk, gazing at the slowly rotating stars on the Crystal Palace’s dome ceiling.

“This Dao title, could it represent which expert of the Human Path?

Supreme Lord Lao has only a few registered disciples, who would be related to this Dao title?”

In the empty great hall, Jade Emperor Haotian muttered softly, but the slowly drifting clouds across the hall floor could not give him any answer.

This Emperor suddenly thought of something else and carefully examined Li Changshou’s memorial for a while, then took out other memorials from his desk for comparison.

Soon, the Jade Emperor’s eyes lit up, and he casually summoned a piece of silk cloth, picking up his brush to write down several lines of small characters.

Soon, this Emperor summoned the civil officials waiting outside the hall and pushed down the silk cloth he had written with immortal power.

“Inform my Heavenly Court ministers that henceforth, whoever submits a memorial should follow this format.

If there are any mistakes, ten years of merit salary will be deducted.”

As the Jade Emperor’s words fell, the civil official below quickly lowered his head to accept the command.

Just then, a golden light flashed from the golden pearl atop the Crystal Palace’s ceiling and disappeared into the Heavenly Court.

The Jade Emperor naturally knew what this meant.

His words had touched the Heavenly Dao, and because of the ‘memorial format’ matter, Heavenly Dao’s merit was bestowed upon the South Sea God.

The merit condensed into visible golden light, and this merit power was not small.

The Jade Emperor laughed lightly;

He felt that this merit was far too little.

Unfortunately, even as the Jade Emperor, he could not freely allocate Heavenly Dao merit, otherwise he certainly would not have been the least bit stingy.

Meanwhile;

On the treasure ship that had not yet left the East Victory Continent’s borders, strands of golden light suddenly appeared around Li Changshou.

He immediately opened his eyes, his magical power stirring his robes, quickly concealing the golden light…

What the hell?

Li Changshou examined himself internally, looking at his primordial spirit, where golden light shone brilliantly, his little primordial spirit figure completely soaking in a pool of merit!

This suddenly appearing merit was countless times purer than the incense merit he had collected before!

This…

Had his memorial already been seen by the Jade Emperor, who specially bestowed merit as a reward?

Li Changshou quickly refined this merit and, after the merit underwear, began making a small vest for his primordial spirit figure.

His life safety index instantly increased by 0.03%!

During this process, Li Changshou remained mentally tense, his immortal consciousness monitoring everywhere.

Fortunately, the anomaly around him just now hadn’t disturbed anyone on the ship.

The seven sensing stones he had placed in various locations hadn’t lit up either.

Twelve zhang away, in another corner of the ship’s rear deck, You Qin Xuanya had entered a state of complete meditation.

Li Changshou thought for a moment but didn’t move rashly, focusing on refining the suddenly arrived merit power.

‘Your Majesty the Jade Emperor… is too generous!’

Li Changshou praised, knowing this merit didn’t come easily, as it was a reward for planning the entire Dragon Tribe’s great fortune.

He who hadn’t yet formally ascended to Heaven had misunderstood something…

Li Changshou quickly realized another problem.

When merit directly descended, would the Jade Emperor sense it?

If his identity was exposed because of this, it would be a misfortune rather than a blessing, and he would have nothing to be happy about.

‘Should think of some way to let paper puppets temporarily store merit power, then have the Heavenly Dao Lord pay future wages to this subsidiary account…’

Li Changshou calculated with his fingers and soon fell into deep thought.

…

If there was any characteristic that people didn’t need to possess, in Li Changshou’s view, it would be this kind of excessively flourishing curiosity.

He had repeatedly warned Wang Qi not to casually try the Poison Dragon Wine;

Unexpectedly, not even twelve hours had passed before this Junior Brother Wang Qi…

On the second day of heading toward the Middle Continent, as the treasure ship leisurely flew among the clouds, most cultivators on board, regardless of cultivation level or whether they were just pretending, had each found a place to cultivate.

Li Changshou had finished making the merit vest for his primordial spirit and secretly slipped away from You Qin Xuanya’s vicinity to find another corner to stay in.

He had just sat down and taken out a piece of paper condensed from young spirit tree essence, beginning to carefully cut it with his fingers, when Wang Qi came hurrying over with a hunched body.

Wang Qi’s cultivation was already at the fifth stage of Returning to Dao, but now his head was steaming, his face flushed red, divine light flickering in his eyes, with none of his usual unrestrained charm.

“Senior Brother Changshou… that wine, is there, is there an antidote?

I accidentally drank a cup!”

Li Changshou: …

‘No hope left, carry him away, next.’

Of course, such words couldn’t be said directly, as they were fellow disciples after all.

Li Changshou smiled bitterly and said: “What antidote could there be for this wine?

Junior Brother Wang, I warned you countless times, yet you still!”

“I was just a bit curious…”

Wang Qi couldn’t help stamping his foot, “Senior Brother, what should I do?”

“You and Sister Yan’er have already become Dao companions, this matter shouldn’t be so difficult.”

Wang Qi hushed him and said: “Everyone is watching, the Sect Master and Supreme Elders are all looking!”

Li Changshou: …

As if, if the Sect Master and elders wanted to peek at such things, the defensive formations you’ve arranged in your cave dwelling in the immortal sect could block these experts’ immortal consciousness probing!

How powerful late-stage Celestial Immortal consciousness was, Li Changshou naturally knew well.

The comprehensive protective formation array that Master Uncle Jiu Yu had spent heavily to have him create for the pavilion could barely resist it…

Of course, these words couldn’t be said directly, to avoid causing anxiety among the sect’s Dao companions;

If some young disciples who liked seeking thrills and were secretly very bold became ashamed to the point of generating heart demons and deviating, that karma would be too great.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment and said:

“For this matter, why not seek help from the Sect Master, asking him to help refine the yang energy in your body?

The Sect Master cares very much for us young disciples, and this matter can only be taken to the Sect Master, if you go to other elders, you’ll certainly be punished and scolded.”

Wang Qi thought carefully and agreed this was logical.

“I’ve troubled Senior Brother Changshou!”

Wang Qi bowed deeply and sighed in his heart, “I’ll go seek an audience with the Sect Master now, if the Sect Master wants to punish me, I’ll accept it.”

Li Changshou nodded slightly, this Junior Brother Qi did have some sense of responsibility, as after drinking the Poison Dragon Wine, he hadn’t brought trouble to his Dao companion.

Watching Wang Qi hurry away with the hunched body, Li Changshou couldn’t help shaking his head…

What a situation.

Fortunately, he hadn’t given Wang Qi the Masculine Heart Pills, otherwise, Wang Qi wouldn’t just be hunching over like this, he would probably be at the ship’s bow, hugging the rail and dancing gracefully…

Li Changshou closed his eyes to rest, continuing to monitor various places while also paying attention to Wang Qi’s situation.

On this treasure ship, Li Changshou had already found the fastest escape routes.

If they were ambushed on the way and the enemy was strong while they were weak, he could withdraw most quickly to call for reinforcements…

—When strategically retreating, having a legitimate excuse was quite important.

Li Changshou’s immortal consciousness caught Wang Qi knocking on the door of the luxury suite on the ship’s top floor;

After Wang Qi went in, he immediately fell to his knees with a thud, telling Sect Master Ji Wuyou about how he had drunk the Poison Dragon Wine out of curiosity.

Wuyou Daoren was also somewhat puzzled, looked at Wang Qi, and had Wang Qi take out the Poison Dragon Wine.

Then, Ji Wuyou dipped his finger in some wine liquid, carefully analyzing its medicinal properties, and couldn’t help laughing, then asked Wang Qi where this came from.

Wang Qi hesitated for a moment but dared not conceal anything, so he revealed Li Changshou, repeatedly saying that he had gone to ask Senior Brother Changshou for it, and it wasn’t Senior Brother Changshou’s fault.

Wuyou Daoren also couldn’t help being amused and said gently:

“Don’t be nervous, this thing is quite good, and I won’t punish you.

I’ve already sent a message calling your Dao companion, look behind you…”

Wang Qi turned his head to look, and Liu Yan’er had already hurriedly entered the suite, kneeling beside Wang Qi with a bewildered face.

Then, Ji Wuyou smiled with hands behind his back, not giving them a chance to speak, and had already floated out of the suite.

The Sect Master activated the formations around the suite and personally set up a barrier.

Before Wang Qi and Liu Yan’er could react, they were already trapped inside, unable to leave.

After doing all this, Ji Wuyou went to the ship’s top, admiring the majestic rivers and mountains between Heaven and Earth, and couldn’t help sighing:

“Youth is wonderful… cough, cough cough!”

When Ji Wuyou lowered his head while coughing, he happened to see Li Changshou meditating in a corner by this side of the ship’s rail.

This Du Xian Gate Sect Master immediately became somewhat interested and floated down.

Li Changshou hurriedly rose to welcome him, feeling slightly helpless inside, and respectfully called out: “Disciple greets the Sect Master.”

“Mm, no need for formalities,” Wuyou Daoren casually set up a sound-isolating barrier and got straight to the point, “Do you still have that Poison Dragon Wine from just now, and the Masculine Heart Pills you refined?”

Li Changshou immediately took out three bottles of Masculine Heart Pills and six jars of Poison Dragon Wine, putting them in a treasure pouch and presenting them to the Sect Master.

“Sect Master, your primordial spirit injury seems not yet fully healed, using these two items together… would be greatly nourishing…”

“What nonsense are you thinking, how would I have a Dao companion?

It’s been several kalpas, I’ve been alone.”

Wuyou Daoren said in a low voice, “I truly have several old friends who have lived long lives, their attitudes have become indifferent, and they’re very discordant with their Dao companions, often troubled by this matter.

Cough cough…

You’ve done well with this, later when we get there, you and Xuanya just follow behind me, I’ll let you see the real experts of the Three Schools’ immortal sects.”

Li Changshou remained completely unmoved inside but tried to show some excitement as he said softly:

“Thank you, Sect Master, disciple accepts the command.”

Wuyou Daoren smiled with satisfaction, put away the treasure pouch, and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly thought of something.

“Changshou, you and our Human Path’s Sovereign Xuandu…”

Li Changshou’s spirit immediately tensed.

Had his secret contact with the Great Sovereign… been exposed?