In the elixir chamber.

Li Changshou sat before the alchemy furnace, watching several gently dancing flames while directing part of his consciousness to guide his paper servant across mountains and valleys toward the Southern Continent.

If this were the time of primordial chaos, treasures would have been scattered throughout the wilderness. One could simply walk a few steps and pick up some primordial items.

After all, the entire wilderness was ‘born of the primordial Dao’ back then.

But now, the wilderness had existed for countless eons, with wave after wave of great tribulations descending. Primordial beings, dragons and phoenixes, immortals and demons, and humans had all passed through several great ages…

Undiscovered primordial spiritual treasures were like the Sages themselves—truly rare beyond measure, scarce among the scarce.

However that wasn’t quite right—in the wilderness, there should be quite a few collectors of phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

These days, to seek treasures, one’s best choice would be to go to the Central Divine Continent, where the chances of encountering treasures are higher.

But Li Changshou had no desire to stumble blindly upon opportunities.

Just as when he first earned Elder Wan Lingyun’s favor, it was through careful calculation and meticulous research, then appealing to his interests and laying the groundwork, which finally earned him the poison manual for protection.

Treasure hunting required the same approach—careful planning was essential.

First, he wrote a “Handbook of Treasure Hunting Standards.”

This handbook had only three core principles: calculate the karmic gains and losses, consider matters of conscience, and not bring shame to the sect.

Second, he needed to establish a primary goal.

Li Changshou’s main target this time was the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin, also known as the ‘Treasure-Falling Golden Coin’—an item that consistently ranked in the top three of Elder Zhao’s list of deadly nemeses.

Third, he needed a comprehensive plan.

Before the “Treasure-Seeking Paper Servant Team” set out, the entire treasure-hunting plan was already complete, consuming over ten scrolls of canvas and silk.

Fortunately, he didn’t need to create new Hundred Beauties Paintings or Autumn Palace Illustrations recently, so using these materials wasn’t a problem.

Beyond these three points, Li Changshou had a fourth preparation, namely…

The “Don’t Be Heartbroken Even If You Return Empty-Handed” Self-Consolation Therapy.

This time, Li Changshou didn’t have much confidence in finding the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin. Even before the paper servant team departed, he was already prepared to return empty-handed.

Returning empty-handed without accruing karma would still be acceptable.

Accruing karma with nothing to show for it—now that would be a real loss!

The Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin was a ‘prototype’ coin made by a certain Human Emperor, one of the earliest two copper coins in existence, blessed with karma from the Heavenly Dao and possessing an extraordinary spiritual nature.

Li Changshou possessed two copper coins that had deep connections to the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin;

They were the first version of human copper coins, containing traces of karmic power, practically making them the ‘children’ of the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin.

So this was really…

A journey of copper coins seeking their mother!

Li Changshou truly wanted to go to the Palace of Supreme Purity, hold up his two copper coins, and cry out to the Elder Lord:

“Elder Lord! Please take pity on these two children and let them bring their parents to live together!”

Ahem, just joking.

The Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin could be used for divination, but its strongest power was its ability to attract primordial spiritual treasures.

The coin’s finest moment was during the Investiture of the Gods tribulation when it stole away the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming.

At that time, Zhao Gongming, who had emerged from seclusion due to the deaths of several Heavenly Commanders, was wielding the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming to sweep through several Enlightenment School masters and was fiercely pursuing Vice Patriarch Burning Lamp.

During the chase, Burning Lamp fled to Mount Wuyi, where he encountered two old men squatting in a corner playing chess;

These two old men took one look and, seeing the mighty Vice Patriarch of the Enlightenment School being beaten, immediately sought to curry favor by bringing out the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin to deal with Zhao Gongming’s Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming.

As soon as the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin appeared, both the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming and the Dragon-Binding Rope were instantly stolen away by the coin, leaving Zhao Gongming caught off guard and only able to watch helplessly.

Zhao Gongming rushed to snatch them back, killing one of the old men with a whip strike in the process, but having lost such a powerful treasure as the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming, he was forced to retreat by Burning Lamp.

From then on, the twenty-four Zhenzhus of Ocean Calming fell into Burning Lamp’s hands, which probably gave him the confidence to later betray his school…

By the way, the two old men were named Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao. In the original Investiture of the Gods story, they later ascended to the Celestial Court and became Zhao Gongming’s subordinates—the Treasure-Inviting Celestial Venerable and the Treasure-Collecting Celestial Venerable.

As for later interesting events in the Celestial Court, Li Changshou hadn’t heard about them, though they must have been quite fascinating.

Now, regarding the search for the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin.

To find the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin, the first consideration was to locate its ‘original holders during the Investiture tribulation’—Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao.

Where was Mount Wuyi in the wilderness?

Li Changshou consulted several different versions of the “Central Divine Continent Gazetteer” but couldn’t find any trace of Mount Wuyi. Instead, he found several places called Mount Wuyi in the Southern Continent.

After careful consideration, the main battleground of the Investiture tribulation should have been in the Southern Continent, and when Zhao Gongming was chasing Burning Lamp, it should have been within that range.

From this perspective, Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao’s ‘chance encounter’ didn’t seem genuine—that scene might have been completely orchestrated by Elder Burning Lamp.

There was another question Li Changshou had to consider carefully.

—If he obtained the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin, what impact would it have on the Investiture Tribulation?

Zhao Gongming was killed by Lu Ya’s Seven Arrow Curse, which, while related to the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin, wasn’t too closely connected.

At the time, after Zhao Gongming lost the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming, he borrowed the Golden Scissor instead and was still dominating the Enlightenment School’s side in battle, which created the opportunity for the Seven Arrow Curse to come into play.

But if he took away the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin, there would be no ‘Zhao Gongming borrowing treasures from Three Immortal Island after losing the Zhenzhu of Ocean Calming,’ then…

Perhaps Immortal Cloud Dawn might have less involvement with the Investiture tribulation.

However, as long as Elder Zhao died, those meant to ascend would probably still ascend—this problem remained difficult to solve.

After seven days of searching, the treasure-seeking paper servant team had already explored several locations in the Southern Continent related to the name Wuyi…

As Li Changshou had expected, those were mundane places with no traces of cultivators.

To be thorough, Li Changshou controlled his paper servants to carefully search those areas;

He also had the treasure-seeking paper servant team carry the two ‘first version’ coins that prevented divination, hoping to increase the chances of encountering treasures.

But even so, there were still no findings in the Southern Continent.

“Since this lead isn’t working, we can only pursue other clues.”

Li Changshou sighed softly, skillfully controlling the furnace flames while comprehending the mysteries of ‘pill formation,’ directing the treasure-seeking paper servant team to change course toward the Central Divine Continent…

The time until the Investiture tribulation remained unknown;

Li Changshou hadn’t seen many omens of the Investiture tribulation, and there hadn’t been any major events like the ‘Dark Bird Giving Birth to Shang’ in the Southern Continent.

In the wilderness, time was mostly measured in thousands or tens of thousands of years.

[Among the remaining options, the three most promising were:

A. Search for Cao Bao and Xiao Sheng’s whereabouts;

B. Investigate rumors about the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin;

C. Ask his Grand Master to help divine the whereabouts of the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin…]

Options A and B needed to be pursued, but C was somewhat problematic.

Having the Grand Master intervene in his treasure hunting would be too inappropriate;

It might make the Grand Master think he was indirectly asking for treasures, affecting the image of an exemplary disciple that he had worked so hard to establish.

Thus, when A and B proved ineffective, Li Changshou could only choose option ‘D’:

[Use the Jade Emperor’s name to visit the human ancestors in the Fire Cloud Cave, explore ways for humans and the Celestial Court to coexist harmoniously, and incidentally inquire about the whereabouts of the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin.]

Over the next half year, Li Changshou’s treasure-seeking paper servant team continued searching throughout the Central Divine Continent.

To improve efficiency, more than twenty treasure-seeking paper servants worked separately, collecting various rumors and gathering all sorts of information under the pretense of compiling the “Wilderness Spiritual Treasure Directory.”

In the end, they only collected information about spiritual treasures he had never even heard of, with no trace of the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin.

Instead, the “Wilderness Spiritual Treasure Directory” was turning out quite presentable, nearly ready for publication…

As for the whereabouts of the brothers Cao Bao and Xiao Sheng, their immortal tracks had vanished like wisps of smoke, leaving no clue where to find them.

Though these six months hadn’t been entirely wasted, the meager results still left Li Changshou somewhat depressed.

Nothing could be done—treasure hunting these days was just that difficult.

“Let’s go to Fire Cloud Cave.”

Without further delay, Li Changshou’s Sea God paper servant left the Sea God Palace and rode a cloud toward the Crystal Palace.

Speaking of Fire Cloud Cave, one must mention the famous good-natured figure of the wilderness, the classic cautionary tale in all versions of the Stability Scripture—[Ancestor Red Cloud]!

After Ancestor Red Cloud was ambushed by Kun Peng and reincarnated due to severe injuries, Fire Cloud Cave was left vacant, later becoming the retirement sanctuary for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors after they achieved ‘sagehood.’

The ‘sage’ in Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors referred to wise sages, naturally different from the Sages of the wilderness.

Li Changshou had heard this account in his early years:

After the Purple Void Palace lecture, Red Cloud received a strand of Primordial Purple Qi.

But because of the ‘Purple Void Palace incident where Red Cloud gave up his seat to the Two Western Figures, forcing Kun Peng to unwillingly give up his seat as well,’ Kun Peng lost his chance at becoming a Sage, and thus Ancestor Red Cloud was ambushed by the Demon Teacher Kun Peng.

When Ancestor Red Cloud was mortally wounded, fortunately, the Three Pure Ones and Master Zhenyuan intervened to stop Kun Peng, allowing Red Cloud to escape with a wisp of soul into the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk for nurturing, while the Ancestral Master reclaimed that strand of Primordial Purple Qi.

When the Immortal-Demon war ended and humanity rose, the Three Sovereigns emerged and the Five Emperors took their positions, making humanity the protagonists of heaven and earth.

Rumors said Red Cloud reincarnated as the Divine Farmer.

That strand of Primordial Purple Qi that originally belonged to Red Cloud was divided into eight portions, shared among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors as their opportunity for sagehood, with the Three Sovereigns receiving slightly more and the Five Emperors slightly less.

Therefore, though the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors weren’t Sages, they came close.

They were the cornerstone of human destiny and humanity’s ‘trump card,’ which wouldn’t easily appear unless humanity faced an existential crisis.

Now that the Celestial Court was ascending, the human way was naturally under its jurisdiction, so visiting the human ancestors at Fire Cloud Cave in the Jade Emperor’s name was entirely reasonable.

Most importantly, this wouldn’t add any karma to Li Changshou—after all, he was simply following orders.

The Jade Emperor was quite easy to convince…

Ahem, the Jade Emperor was understanding and completely agreed with Li Changshou’s proposal.

The Jade Emperor wrote a letter stating that as the current Emperor ruling the Three Realms, he would show considerable care for humanity as the protagonists of Heaven and Earth;

Additionally, he hoped humanity would support the Celestial Court’s work, establish the worship of heaven and earth and the Celestial Court among humans, and maintain timely communication if any conflicts arose between humanity and the Celestial Court.

Carrying this letter and the Jade Emperor’s instructions, Li Changshou asked the East Wood Lord to prepare a gift before leaving the Celestial Court for Fire Cloud Cave in the Central Divine Continent.

However, just as Li Changshou’s [Sea God paper servant] flew into the airspace above the Central Divine Continent, a disturbing sound alerted his main body.

Li Changshou divided his attention to look, then slightly furrowed his brow.

He landed his Sea God paper servant in a forest and used the earth traversing technique to hide near the ground veins;

He returned most of his consciousness to Little Jade Peak and quickly left the elixir chamber.

Dong~

A bell rang out on Breaking Heaven Peak, as three Golden Immortal realm auras soared skyward, with figures flying up from various peaks!

On Elixir Cauldron Peak, Elder Wan Lingyun appeared with two other sect elders;

While beside the spirit beast enclosure on Little Jade Peak, Jiu Jiu hurriedly instructed Spirit Moth to take care of Wine Rain Poem before rushing toward the mountain gate with her large gourd.

This bell signaled to encounter enemies.

Li Changshou wasn’t in a hurry, leisurely riding a white cloud toward the mountain gate.

The current situation was about what he had anticipated.

Three thousand li south of the Crossing to Immortality Gate, a massive wooden ship broke through the void, surrounded by seven-colored smoke. The ship was decorated with lanterns and colored ribbons, carrying handsome men and women whose attire was…

At best indecent, at worst unspeakable.

Li Changshou observed for a while, then inwardly made righteous judgments.

Too gaudy.

These people were naturally the demon tribe that Uncle Master Jiu Wu had mentioned before, with extremely complex backgrounds and karmic merit to their names.

Previously when Uncle Master Jiu Wu spoke of that fox demon, Li Changshou had offered him a strategy.

The strategy was quite simple—have the Crossing to Immortality Gate secretly spread information letting this tribe know that the fox demon was safe, but had been captured by a human sect for running a flower house in the Southern Continent that allowed demons to absorb human yang energy for cultivation.

Though simple, the strategy proved quite effective.

Clarifying that the fox demon was safe and unharmed prevented the matter from escalating.

As these demons inquired at various human sects and were told none had captured any fox demon, step-by-step investigation would naturally lead them to the Crossing to Immortality Gate.

Before coming to the Crossing to Immortality Gate, these demons had also thoroughly researched the sect, learning that although it was in the Eastern Victory Divine Continent, it had received protection from the Human Teaching’s Grand Master Xuandu, making its background extraordinary.

Thus, these demons were quite restrained.

They stopped their wooden ship at the ‘sect boundary line’ two thousand li away and sent several Celestial Immortal realm men and women forward, stating their purpose from afar.

It gave Li Changshou another sense of déjà vu of [Don’t shoot, we’re here to ransom captives].

The subsequent events proceeded smoothly.

The Crossing to Immortality Gate had secretly checked on that fox demon and found she was simply cultivating in the underground prison, her cultivation realm even higher than when she was first imprisoned;

An official from the Rewards and Punishments Hall had notified this fox demon that her tribe members would come to receive her soon.

At the mountain gate.

After these demons came forward, presented gifts, and said some pleasantries;

Several elders of the Crossing to Immortality Gate pondered and appeared somewhat troubled, asking these demons to take oaths promising the fox demon would no longer do evil.

After much back and forth and going through the motions, under the watch of many sect members, that fox demon was released from the ground vein prison by several sect officials…

This fox demon seemed quite important, as those demons burst into celebration upon seeing her, with many female demons even crying tears of joy.

Originally, this matter should have concluded there, but to everyone’s surprise…

“May I join the Crossing to Immortality Gate?”

The fox demon asked softly, her gaze unexpectedly pure, her whole being emanating a clear spiritual aura, with little demon energy remaining.

Hidden in the crowd, Li Changshou suddenly had an ominous premonition.

“This?”

An elder frowned and said: “Friend, our Crossing to Immortality Gate is a Human Teaching sect and only accepts human disciples.”

“I can be a guardian spirit beast, or even a servant sweeping the grounds.”

This freshly released fox demon spoke with some urgency, taking several quick steps forward on the clouds under her tribe members’ puzzled gazes, her phoenix eyes revealing a hint of pleading.

“If neither is possible, please let me see the Daoist who captured me and brought me here back then one more time—I have… have some words I wish to say to him.”