“Wood Lord, this memorial must be delivered steadily into His Majesty’s hands. It absolutely cannot be lost or let other outsiders know of it.”

The day before the calligraphy and painting appreciation gathering at Lesser Jade Peak, in the Sea God Temple;

Li Changshou carefully instructed the Heavenly Court’s top deliveryman before him.

This memorial mentioned the Western Faith’s arrangements – it was a matter of great importance and absolutely could not have any errors.

After much consideration, Li Changshou finally decided to inform the Jade Emperor of the details, and in the memorial, hinted to the Jade Emperor that he had already planted hidden pieces on the Western side.

Moreover, this hidden piece could serve His Majesty the Jade Emperor in the future…

Seeing the Sea God’s expression so serious for the first time, East Wood Lord didn’t dare to be careless. He solemnly agreed and repeatedly sealed the memorial scroll.

Having dealt with official business, Li Changshou revealed a smile, changed his tone, and suddenly became…

Less serious.

“Wood Lord… there’s another small matter I’d like to trouble you to look into.”

East Wood Lord’s eyes immediately lit up, and he stepped forward half a step, barely restraining himself from grabbing this Sea God avatar’s elderly hand.

The Sea God had a request!

If it was a request concerning the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor had already given instructions – whatever could be given should be given!

If it was some private matter, East Wood Lord was even more eager to repay his previous debt to the Sea God and develop a closer relationship!

“Speak! Sea God, quickly tell me!

What’s this about trouble? Your matters, Sea God, are my matters!”

Why is he so excited…

Li Changshou steadied his mind and smiled: “Actually, I’ve recently been studying two types of pills. I’ve searched through all the Human Path texts but found no records of these two types of pills.

Has Wood Lord heard of any spiritual medicines that could have the effect of the Old Man Under the Moon’s Mutual Yearning Treasure Tree?

And what non-precious spiritual root medicines have the effect of reshaping immortal bodies?”

Having spoken, Li Changshou couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

He only wanted to find spiritual medicines for ‘reshaping immortal bodies’, but to be safe, he deliberately used the ‘Mutual Yearning Treasure Tree’ and other such treasures that easily aroused others’ misunderstandings and interest as cover.

As for pills with effects similar to the Mutual Yearning Treasure Tree, he already had the Heroic Heart Pill and Heart Fire Burn, which were sufficient for now.

Hearing the Sea God’s words, East Wood Lord was also stumped. He stroked his beard in thought before quickly answering:

“Regarding treasures that reshape immortal bodies, this poor Daoist has heard of several, such as the Eight Treasure Heart Lotus in the Jasper Pool.

But that lotus flower is beloved by Queen Mother, and its effect is for resurrection. Using it merely to reshape immortal bodies would be somewhat wasteful of heaven’s treasures.”

Li Changshou smiled: “Wood Lord, what I want to research is a type of pill, not just one or two pills. I dare not use such precious treasures.”

“This matter, after this poor Daoist delivers the memorial, I shall go around to inquire and investigate.”

East Wood Lord seemed to want to say more but held back, merely giving Li Changshou a meaningful smile before making a Daoist salute to Li Changshou and hurriedly taking his leave.

He must have misunderstood something;

However, it was Li Changshou who deliberately caused him to misunderstand something…

After leaving the Sea God Temple, East Wood Lord immediately concealed his traces.

Finding an empty corner, East Wood Lord deployed the ‘concealment’ divine ability he had cultivated over the past two years. Then after repeatedly searching the surroundings with his divine sense and finding no suspicious figures within thousands of miles, he finally shot into the sky with a whoosh, rushing at full speed toward the South Heaven Gate!

The South Jambudvipa Continent was a mixed bag, and the primordial world’s ways were treacherous – East Wood Lord had experienced all this before.

If he ran even slightly slower, two strong men might suddenly jump out, cry “aiyou aiyou” a couple of times, and fall right in front of him!

This kind of thing, he did not want to experience a second time!

‘Safely returned once again.’

Reaching the South Heaven Gate, East Wood Lord relaxed slightly, revealed his form, recovered his usual calm appearance, and flew toward the gate.

The host of heavenly soldiers and generals guarding the majestic heavenly gate all bowed in salute together.

East Wood Lord nodded in acknowledgment without saying much and floated inside.

A sword flowing with colorful light hung directly above the South Heaven Gate.

This sword was named the ‘Evil-Slaying Spirit Heaven Sword’, forged by the Jade Emperor using Heavenly Court merits. There were five in total, suppressing the five great heavenly gates and merging with the Heavenly Court’s grand formation.

If anyone impersonating a proper deity of the Heavenly Court tried to enter the South Heaven Gate, these five treasure swords could distinguish them on their own and strike directly.

Even those with Golden Immortal cultivation would be severely wounded here!

After entering the South Heaven Gate and taking the path through Tongming Palace, East Wood Lord flew for quite a while before reaching the Crystal Palace.

Arriving before the Jade Emperor’s throne, East Wood Lord presented Li Changshou’s memorial and stood below the high platform, eyes lowered submissively, waiting for His Majesty to speak.

This time, as East Wood Lord expected, the Jade Emperor’s reaction was the same as usual—

First laughing twice, then praising the Sea God a few times, followed by a light sigh and long contemplation.

Every time His Majesty read the Sea God’s memorials, it was roughly this process.

“Wood Lord,” the white-robed youth on the high platform smiled, “go immediately to the Heavenly Court’s reserve troops and select forty thousand elite heavenly soldiers. Have them train and practice formations daily for the next ten years without slacking.”

“Your old servant obeys!”

The Jade Emperor nodded slowly and smiled: “Did Long Geng tell you anything else this time?”

East Wood Lord didn’t hesitate, repeating word for word his conversation with the Sea God.

The Jade Emperor’s attention was immediately diverted somewhat…

“Spiritual medicines with effects similar to the Mutual Yearning Tree? Hmm?”

The Jade Emperor raised his eyebrows slightly and then revealed an expression of sudden realization.

The Jade Emperor smiled: “This Long Geng truly exhausts all possibilities in his calculations. Even matters of marriage between men and women can be used to create grand schemes. He is indeed formidable.

That I could gain such a person’s assistance is truly due to Elder Brother Taiqing’s favor. Haha, hahaha.”

East Wood Lord lowered his head and said: “It is still Your Majesty’s true insight.

Your servant had thought the Sea God was refining these types of pills for his use, and hadn’t considered so deeply.”

“Long Geng is not that type of person,” the Jade Emperor waved his hand and said, “First go mobilize the troops.

Afterward, Wood Lord, go make a trip to the Old Man Under the Moon’s palace. Give him more merits and have him move a Mutual Yearning Tree spiritual root to bestow upon Long Geng.”

“Your servant obeys.”

…

“Ah… to want mountain ranges to rise from the ground, how could it be easy.”

In the pill-refining room, Li Changshou shook his head and sighed, continuing to watch over the pill furnace.

Li Changshou’s divine sense detected Ling’e, who had been doing needlework for three days and two nights, carrying several brand new dresses to Master’s thatched cottage…

These long dresses and undergarments were personally designed by Li Changshou and carefully sewn by Ling’e.

They could only be considered ordinary magical treasures with poor protective effects, but double the usual restrictions were used for blocking external divine sense probing!

This was to ensure others couldn’t see through the clothing’s mysteries with divine sense or eyesight.

Certain areas of these clothes were made several layers thicker…

Soon, a burst of praise came from the thatched cottage, and Jiang Lin’er immediately set up several layers of immortal power barriers.

Li Changshou immediately withdrew his divine sense, not daring to offend.

Shortly after, Jiang Lin’er walked out proudly, head held high and quite confident.

This time it was no longer straight up and down…

Ling’e couldn’t help covering her forehead with one hand, wanting to advise Master to be more low-key, but unable to say the words.

“Master, shall your disciple make several more for you?”

“Mm! Go ahead! I’ll walk around the mountain! Thank you, little Ling’e!”

At that, Jiang Lin’er walked with hands behind her back.

She first went to Old Daoist Qiyuan’s thatched cottage for a turn, lecturing her second disciple.

Old Daoist Qiyuan was scolded until completely bewildered, but could only lower his head and listen, not daring to raise his eyes to look at his master.

Jiang Lin’er rolled her eyes and came to inspect the pill-refining room, looking proudly at Li Changshou.

Though this method treated the symptoms but not the root cause, it had at least somewhat pulled Little Senior Master back from the path of utter viciousness.

Li Changshou smiled: “Master’s dress is quite suitable, with outstanding bearing.”

Jiang Lin’er immediately smiled like a crescent moon, speaking sincerely: “Was this your idea? I heard Ling’e mention it.”

“This… was just some temporary measure your disciple thought of.”

“Mm, you did well this time, your Master thanks you!”

Li Changshou: …

“Don’t be so formal, didn’t we talk about this last time?

I treat you like a brother, you treat me as your Master, we each speak our own way!”

Jiang Lin’er hopped over with hands behind her back, looking at Li Changshou’s pill furnace and softly praising: “This furnace of yours isn’t bad.”

“It was bestowed by Elder Wan Lingyun.”

“Oh?” Jiang Lin’er coughed and said quietly: “Changshou, can you help design some armor for me? With some outward curvature here.”

Li Changshou thought briefly and smiled: “In the mortal world, your disciple once saw some female commanders wearing such armor. This should be simple to make.”

“I’ll leave this matter to you then!”

Jiang Lin’er patted Li Changshou’s shoulder, then squinted and smiled, asking: “How have you prepared for this calligraphy and painting exhibition?”

“Master, please look,” Li Changshou pointed to the side, and scroll after scroll flew out, piling into a small mountain nearby, “Later your disciple will hang them up in front of the thatched cottage.”

Jiang Lin’er nodded: “Mm, no need to be too meticulous, just arrange them casually. Who else did you invite?”

Li Changshou smiled: “Your disciple hasn’t decided yet. Whoever has the fate to pass by here, let them come take a look.”

“Is that so,” Jiang Lin’er’s eyes rolled, but she didn’t say much more, casually picking up a scroll and opening it for a look, soon softly praising.

“You even have this skill? Truly impressive.”

Li Changshou smiled without answering.

Jiang Lin’er soon left the pill-refining room, her steps still very light when walking.

After Li Changshou finished refining this batch of poison pills, he went to the front of the thatched cottage to start arranging, hanging up all the paintings and calligraphy he had done over these years. They were all landscape paintings, without a single figure.

Li Changshou was also worried that some figure he painted might suddenly appear in paper avatar form in the future, revealing some flaw…

Such small details that could be attended to, he naturally wouldn’t overlook.

By the next day, Li Changshou had already arranged a simple maze formation and isolation formation in the open space in front of the lakeside thatched cottage.

Jiang Lin’er was invited into the formation by Li Changshou under the pretext of appreciating paintings.

Shortly after, Forgetting Emotions Superior arrived as agreed.

Li Changshou bowed in greeting and inconspicuously passed over a bundle of bamboo slips, transmitting:

“Superior, these are from Brother Jiu Wu who asked your disciple to give them to you.

Brother Jiu Wu feared you would be embarrassed and didn’t dare present them directly.

There are eighteen topics here, some jokes. If the atmosphere grows cold and you don’t know what to say, just randomly look at one.

Every topic should be something my Master is interested in.”

Forgetting Emotions Superior raised an eyebrow and imperceptibly tucked the bamboo slips into his sleeve, casually giving two treasure pouches to Li Changshou before entering the maze formation exhibition with an expressionless face.

In the pouches were two neat piles of spirit stones of excellent quality, worth a considerable amount.

Li Changshou smiled and walked to the side, giving one pouch each to Ling’e and Bear Lingli, transmitting:

“Begin.”

At that, Ling’e began playing the zither with a lowered head, while two paper people made by Ling’e began playing the xiao and di flutes.

But as soon as the music started, Li Changshou immediately called for it to stop, taking out a music score from his chest and handing it to Ling’e, “Play this.”

“Senior Brother, you’ve composed a new tune?”

Ling’e’s eyes lit up and she immediately opened the score for a look, softly murmuring:

“‘Making a Pair of Yearning Swallows’? Mm, the melody isn’t difficult…”

“Play it.”

Li Changshou nodded with a smile, walking to the lakeside with hands behind his back, placing a meditation cushion under the willow tree, and sitting down comfortably.

Cheerful music soon came from behind, and Li Changshou hummed along with the familiar tune in his heart, fingers lightly tapping his knee.

The two figures in the maze formation ‘exhibition’ behind finally began talking and laughing today.

It’s just that the eighteen bamboo slips didn’t seem quite enough – in the blink of an eye, Forgetting Emotions Superior had already used three…

…

Meanwhile, in the Central Divine State, Mount Emei.

In a secluded area behind this blessed land, in a cave-dwelling surrounded by immortal light.

A martial male immortal sitting on a lotus platform suddenly opened his eyes.

He frowned and counted on his fingers to calculate, soon stroking his grown beard while humming lightly…

“Strange, what matter involves this poor Daoist and even touches upon the Enlightenment Teaching’s side?”

This person was naturally Elder Zhao, a senior outer disciple of the Severing Teaching, Zhao Gongming.

Zhao Gongming pondered for a while, but even with careful calculation could not determine the specific matter.

This wasn’t his teacher giving him a warning, but purely a premonition while comprehending the Dao…

But having reached Zhao Gongming’s level and accumulated long years of cultivation, though his calculation methods couldn’t be called absolute, they were still formidable.

Zhao Gongming quickly calculated roughly where this matter would occur—

At the boundary between the South Sea and the West Sea.

Regarding matters involving the Enlightenment Teaching, Zhao Gongming didn’t dare be careless, especially since relations between the three teachings had just recently eased.

At once, he quietly left his cave dwelling, concealing his aura and traces, secretly heading to the West Sea and continuing south.

Half a day later, Zhao Gongming began searching back and forth through this vast sea region, spending some effort before finally finding a hidden grand formation.

Approaching the formation, Zhao Gongming sensed what seemed to be fluctuations of battle within.

What was going on?

Zhao Gongming summoned two Sea-Calming Divine Zhenzhus, letting these two pearls embody yin and yang energy circling around him, quietly melting open a gap in the formation to look inside.

This look proved consequential – Zhao Gongming first couldn’t help but laugh in surprise, then flew into a great rage!

He saw three Daoists there, two of whom were working together. Zhao Gongming had some impression of them – they seemed to be Western Faith experts whom he and Sister Qiongxiao had ‘bumped into’ in Western Oxhead State!

And these two were now actually imitating what he and Qiongxiao had done – one lying motionless on the ground, one loudly berating another old Daoist.

They- they were even putting what they learned into practice!

That old Daoist being scammed was completely bewildered, standing there at a loss for what to do.

“This victim… seems to be Senior Brother Yellow Dragon from the Enlightenment Teaching?”

Zhao Gongming didn’t hesitate long, immediately charging into the formation with a great shout, his twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Zhenzhus blazing with light!

How dare they use the exclusive tactics that Sea God Brother had developed for him, Zhao Gongming, to bully a Dao Path expert!

This was too much!