As the fox maiden departed from Du Xian Gate, her beautiful eyes still held traces of bewilderment.

Li Changshou watched her retreating figure while comprehensively evaluating the future implications of this matter in his heart, pondering what else he could do.

Karma was such a thing – whether to sever it or not, one would surely be troubled by its chaos. If problems arose later, his little life would be finished.

Hmm, by now he should have severed the karmic ties with this fox maiden. Although his methods were somewhat extreme, it was ultimately better than letting the matter continue to develop.

The Qingqiu Clan…

Li Changshou had read about this clan in ancient texts. They had gained some fame since ancient times.

They were a rather romantic branch of demon-kind, neither fighting nor competing, solely focused on composing touching love stories.

As it was said:

Among the many great beings of the primordial chaos, only the romantics left their names behind.

‘The Qingqiu Clan shouldn’t have any connection to the Three Demons of Xuanyuan’s Tomb. With so many fox demons in the world, it couldn’t be such a simple coincidence.’

Li Changshou pondered deeply, contemplating the question he had been considering all along.

Xuanyuan’s Tomb was the mausoleum established with the Yellow Emperor’s garments after he returned to the Fire Cloud Cave, which was occupied by demon-kind during the Investiture of the Gods tribulation.

According to the Investiture of the Gods story Li Changshou knew, that when the great tribulation began, Goddess Nüwa felt offended by King Di Xin of Shang and used her demon-summoning banner to gather various demons. She ultimately chose the Three Demons of Xuanyuan’s Tomb – the Nine-Tailed Fox, the Pipa Spirit, and the Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit – to disperse Di Xin’s energy and accelerate Shang’s collapse.

That Nine-Tailed Fox possessed the body of ‘Su Daji, daughter of Duke Su Hu of Ji Province,’ and wrote a classic love story of ‘sole favor in the imperial harem’ with Di Xin…

Ahem, together they wreaked havoc on so many ‘virtuous ministers’ of the Shang state, leaving behind endless infamy for later generations!

‘So, what was the name of that Nine-Tailed Fox in the story?’

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh at himself.

Thinking about these things was futile. Even if he found the Nine-Tailed Fox in advance, he couldn’t do anything about it, nor would he want to – this was a matter that had nothing to do with him.

He should instead think about how to interact with the human ancestors when he meets them at the Fire Cloud Cave later and take the opportunity to ask about the whereabouts of the Treasure-Collecting Copper Coin.

Li Changshou’s [True Body] paper incarnation stood before the mountain gate, watching those departing demon cultivators.

On Little Jade Peak, the various Du Xian Gate immortals had already dispersed.

It was expected that various couples would experience conflicts in the coming days.

To stabilize the sect’s atmosphere, Li Changshou had already transmitted standardized answers to various questions to Jiu Wu, asking him to quickly spread them within the sect.

For example…

If the old couples in the sect encountered questions like “Did you become close to me back then because of cultivation loneliness?” they should use a standardized format to answer:

“My dear, during those days we were apart, it wasn’t loneliness that made me miss you, but missing you that made me lonely.”

Whether it would work or not, Li Changshou couldn’t guarantee, but it was better than stammering and not knowing how to handle it…

In the thatched cottage, Jiang Liner doesn’t expose ‘Qi Yuan’s identity and debates the question of ‘loneliness versus love’ with Jiu Wu, Jiu Shi, and Jiu Jiu.

Finally, fearing Li Changshou might slip up, Jiang Liner actively suggested letting Qi Yuan return to reflect quietly for several hours, then left Little Jade Peak with the Jiu disciples.

Li Changshou opened the outer isolation formation and sat on the meditation mat, breathing a slight sigh of relief.

Beside him, Ling E pondered for a moment, her pretty face full of gravity.

How come she saw her Senior Brother’s usual expression on her Master’s face?

Li Changshou swept his divine sense across various places, carefully sensing with his spiritual perception, then restored his paper incarnation to its paper form, calling out: “Help your Senior Brother put away this paper person.”

Ling E beside him blinked, thought briefly, and understood what had just happened.

“Senior Brother, you helped Master reject such a beautiful potential Master-Wife, won’t Master blame you?

That fox maiden was quite devoted!”

The paper person transmitted Li Changshou’s voice: “Nonsense, how can you casually call her Master-Wife? This is such major karma, Master hasn’t even met her!

Three hundred recitations of the Stability Scripture.”

“Oh,” Ling E made a face, quickly putting away the paper person into her sleeve pouch.

Just as she finished storing the paper person, Li Changshou’s figure flew back to Little Jade Peak from the mountain gate direction.

Li Changshou landed on his cloud before Ling E’s thatched cottage, sat in his exclusive armchair, and continued pondering potential future problems.

This matter was truly a case of man proposes, heaven disposes…

“Senior Brother…”

Ling E’s little head leaned over from the side, her pretty face full of seriousness, only a foot away from Li Changshou’s face.

“Hmm?”

Ling E’s face reddened, but she said very seriously: “I’m not lonely at all!

The Stability Scripture three hundred times, totaling six hundred times, this junior sister will do it herself!”

After speaking, she smiled proudly, even showing some challenging looks toward her Senior Brother.

Li Changshou: …

Three years without discipline, and now she’s getting cocky!

Just then, Master’s spiritual barrier around his thatched cottage was withdrawn by Li Changshou, and the cottage door was immediately pulled open. A beautiful woman rushed out holding a duster, letting out an elderly roar:

“You disobedient disciple! Come here!”

Li Changshou quickly pointed at Master, while activating the multiple isolation formations added during Little Jade Peak’s renovation.

With a ‘poof,’ that beautiful woman transformed back into Old Daoist Qi Yuan’s appearance, furiously rushing to Li Changshou’s front with a trembling beard and raised duster.

Li Changshou pulled Ling E and skillfully… hid behind his junior sister.

“Master, disciple has already settled the matter!”

“What did you settle?” Qi Yuan’s eyes bulged as he scolded: “And that nonsense about not mistakenly giving true feelings to loneliness, where did you learn such twisted logic from!”

“Isn’t it all from Master’s excellent teaching?”

Li Changshou laughed twice and hurriedly said: “Master, the disciple was just prescribing the right medicine, cutting off her wishful thinking.”

Old Daoist Qi Yuan angrily said: “If you did something wrong in this matter, just admit it. Couldn’t you just explain clearly and apologize?”

“Master, this matter cannot be resolved with mere apologies, that would only make things more chaotic.

Moreover, the disciple never did anything to her, there’s nothing to apologize for, she just overthought things…

Master, don’t be angry, it hurts the liver- cough, hurts the foundation, hurts the foundation.”

“Today I will-!”

Qi Yuan raised his duster to strike, while Li Changshou used Ling E as an axis to dodge in the ‘King Qin Circling the Pillar’ method, making Ling E burst into giggles.

Suddenly, Li Changshou thought of Jiu Yushi and Xiong Lingli in the neighboring cottage and decided in his heart to help Master fulfill something.

“Aiya!”

Li Changshou’s feet wobbled, and he immediately fell forward toward the door.

Old Daoist Qi Yuan rushed forward with a raised duster, fiercely whipping the buttocks he had been hitting since Li Changshou’s childhood, while righteously educating:

“Be upright, be kind to others!

How did I teach you!”

Ling E covered her mouth and giggled watching from the side. Given her observation, her Senior Brother was still a paper person, so naturally, she wasn’t worried.

But then, Ling E also thought of Little Uncle-Master Yushi who came to the lakeside with her, and suddenly understood something.

She cleared her throat and rushed forward two steps, spreading her arms to face Old Daoist Qi Yuan.

“Master, if you want to hit someone, hit me, then!”

Qi Yuan’s raised duster suddenly couldn’t fall. After a moment’s stalemate, he could only let out a light sigh.

“Ai! Fine!

Changshou, remember, no matter how great your abilities, you must not look down on others. No matter how strong your divine powers are, you must not become proud and complacent!

Demon-kind are not virtuous, don’t get too involved with them!”

Pa!

Li Changshou, lying on the ground, forcefully clasped his hands above his head, “Disciple respectfully follows Master’s teachings!”

Ling E hurriedly said: “Disciple thanks Master for the mercy of not hitting!”

“I’m going to closed-door cultivation.”

Old Daoist Qi Yuan shook his head, holding his duster, floating back to his thatched cottage, leaving only a vicissitudes-filled back that wrote countless stories.

At the windowsill of the neighboring cottage, two heads that had peeked out to observe this side also weakly withdrew.

“Senior Sister Xiong, Senior Brother Qi Yuan is so fierce…”

“Yushi, that’s our Little Jade Peak’s Peak Master, and that’s not fierceness, it’s dignity.”

“Mm, I feel Senior Brother Qi Yuan is a good person.”

Hearing these words, Ling E, who had just helped her Senior Brother stand up, exchanged glances with him;

Senior Brother raised an eyebrow, Junior Sister blinked, everything was understood without words.

“Senior Brother, do you need medicine?”

“No need, it won’t be absorbed anyway, ahem, your Senior Brother is going to closed-door cultivation in the pill room now.”

Li Changshou sighed lightly, made a white cloud, shamelessly lay down on it directly, and floated back to the pill room.

…

Having resolved this somewhat vexing matter, Li Changshou slightly reorganized his thoughts, halted the activities of his various paper incarnations, and returned his consciousness to the [Sea God] paper incarnation hidden underground.

Later, he would still need to prepare a gift of thanks to send to his old friend, the Old Man Under the Moon.

In the future, he should avoid causing trouble using Master’s appearance; it would be more prudent to use fictional characters instead.

Using the earth traversal technique to emerge from underground, Li Changshou’s consciousness drove the paper incarnation wearing the Sea God’s appearance, continuing toward the Fire Cloud Cave’s location.

The Fire Cloud Cave was hidden somewhere in the Middle Divine Continent, not visible to ordinary people, just like the Three Immortal Islands.

—Though one might know the Three Immortal Islands were in that patch of sea mist, without the method to enter, one couldn’t find even a trace of them.

When Li Changshou first wanted to locate the Fire Cloud Cave, he calculated with finger divination and realized this place… was beyond his shallow calculation abilities to determine.

But now with the backing of the Heavenly Court, finding the Fire Cloud Cave wasn’t much of a challenge.

Riding clouds, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers;

After half a day’s journey, a thousand-li marsh appeared before his eyes.

Li Changshou flew straight up high above the marsh, then reversed direction in midair, plummeting toward the marsh. Just before his form would have hit the water’s surface, his divine sense spotted a wisp of cloud condensing in mid-air.

So he halted his descent and steered his cloud toward this vapor…

This was the specific method recorded in the Heavenly Court’s archives for finding the Fire Cloud Cave.

Flying before this cloud cluster, Li Changshou sensed strands of mysterious Dao rhythms ahead, and heard faint string music in his ears, as if there was an unknown paradise ahead.

Within the clouds seemed to be an invisible gateway, forcing Li Changshou to halt his steps.

Li Changshou announced in a clear voice: “Heavenly Court Envoy, by His Majesty the Jade Emperor’s command, coming to pay respects to our human ancestors.”

As his words fell, he heard a light laugh in his heart, and an Eight Trigrams disc appeared floating before him, its eight rings gently rotating, the inscribed lines flickering with faint light.

‘Solve it to enter.’

Li Changshou made a Daoist salute, condensed a water-fire taiji in his left hand, and slowly pushed the taiji diagram forward into the center of the Eight Trigrams disc.

Then, as yin and yang circulated, the Eight Trigrams disc began to flicker with light, and Li Changshou heard another message in his heart:

‘Disciple of the Human Dao may enter.’

That invisible gateway immediately vanished, revealing a mountain cave ahead.

The cave was extremely deep, yet brightly lit within.

Li Changshou made another Daoist salute, carrying the generous gifts prepared by Dongmu Gong from the Heavenly Court’s treasury, and stepped into the cave entrance.

His heart remained full of vigilance, ready to disperse himself at any moment.

After sixty-four steps forward, the view suddenly opened up before him.

Before him was still a great marsh, seemingly the same body of water he had seen earlier, yet also like a mirror image of it.

The marsh was divided into left and right regions. In the left region floated seven immortal mountains, each with different scenery, mostly quite peaceful.

The right region, however, was an unbroken chain of mountains connected, covered everywhere with palaces and pavilions, emanating waves of women’s laughter and the music of zithers and flutes…

Very clearly, the left side was the relatively normal residence area of human ancestors, while the right side was the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s family quarter.

Although Suiren Shi, who led humanity in struggle and preserved humanity’s spark, along with Fu Xi and Shennong as the Three Sovereigns, had somewhat more merit;

The Yellow Emperor was the life winner among the “retired human sovereigns”!

All three thousand consorts were brought into the Fire Cloud Cave.

Everyone living in harmony, filled with laughter and joy, becoming a great community that could live forever in happiness and freedom?

This was just… too impressive.

Li Changshou couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, yet dared not comment frivolously on the ancestors. He carried his gifts while looking around, unsure which peak to visit first.

Just then, Li Changshou spotted a flat-bottomed boat in a corner of the marsh. His eyes lit up, and he flew over on his cloud.

From afar, he could see a strong man wearing a straw rain cape fishing on the boat, but getting slightly closer, he heard the strong man softly… sobbing.

“Senior, Senior?”

Li Changshou called out from a distance. The fishing strong man hurriedly wiped his face and turned to look, revealing a dignified yet unhappy square face.

“Who are you? What are you doing? How did you get in?

What’s all the shouting about? This is the Fire Cloud Cave!”

Hearing the robust voice with its accent from some region of Jambudvipa coming from this strong man, Li Changshou was momentarily at a loss for words.

…

‘Was I really, just lonely?’

In a quiet chamber on that huge wooden ship, the fox maiden lay sprawled on the bed with a somewhat bewildered expression, six snow-white fox tails manifesting behind her, gently swaying.

She was remembering, and pondering.

No, this couldn’t have been just loneliness!

The fox maiden sat up supported by her pair of snow-white jade arms, her expression somehow excited;

Raising her hand toward the side desk, she summoned brush, ink, and silk through the air, spread them on the bed, and began writing and drawing.

‘Our Qingqiu Clan enters the Dao through emotion, could it be that so many ancestors and elders in our clan were all because of loneliness?

No, perhaps I was moved by loneliness at first, but now you truly exist in my heart.

Daoist Qi Yuan…’

As her thoughts raced, her delicate fingers moved, and an image appeared on the silk.

In a dim prison cell, an old Daoist figure stood silently, gazing at the snow-white fox demon within.

The fox maiden wrote the two characters “Qi Yuan” at the side, then seemed to lose all her strength, slowly lying down beside this scroll, using demon power to protect it, her delicate fingers lightly touching it.

After half an hour passed like this, the fox maiden slowly rose, and sat cross-legged, with the scroll floating before her, gently swaying, its figures seeming to come alive.

A strand of Dao rhythm appeared around the fox maiden as she softly murmured:

“I don’t understand why my heart was moved by you.

Perhaps it was a backlash from my charm technique, or perhaps that bit of unintentional gentleness you showed me.

But I will go understand my true heart and true intention.

If the answer lies in the Dao, I shall seek it in the Dao. You were right – if I can’t even understand my own heart’s intention, I cannot refute your claim that it was ‘just loneliness.’

I, Qingqiu Xinlan, would not be worthy of cultivating the Dao of Emotion.

But Daoist, you were wrong…

Emotion is not loneliness, emotion is the true heart.”

As she murmured, the Dao rhythm around her actually began to rise continuously, a blurred graceful shadow appearing behind her, this shadow raising its head to gaze into the void as if questioning something.

Gradually, after an unknown time, this Dao energy filled the chamber, even alerting her clan members.

A seventh snow-white fox tail silently manifested behind her…

‘Daoist Qi Yuan, I will surely come seek you again.’