In the thatched cottage, Ling’e pouted as she carefully wiped the water marks from her cheeks with a handkerchief.

Li Changshou gave an apologetic smile, then furrowed his brows tightly and crossed his arms. His immortal consciousness observed the thick-browed, big-eyed youth outside the mountain gate, while three questions arose in his heart:

What’s going on?

This isn’t right, is it?

How is this possible?

This young Li Jing was supposed to be the General of Chen Tang Pass. Husband of Lady Yin? Father of the Three Princes? One hundred percent capable of catching bare-handed… well, perhaps not that last one.

Could it be that the Investiture of the Gods would begin in a few decades?

Obviously not!

The South Jambudvipa had not yet seen the “Dark Bird Giving Birth to Shang,” and from a mortal perspective, the Shang Kingdom—the main target of the Investiture—didn’t even exist in shadow form!

Li Changshou had investigated many times. The mortal world of the Southern Continent was currently in a state of divided warlords following the late Xia period.

Due to its vast territory, different regions developed at varying paces, with some areas still practicing “marriage by capture” at the tribal level, their development entirely uneven.

Moreover, the Investiture of the God tribulation should occur in this order:

[Step One: The Jade Emperor feels offended by disciples of the Three Schools and goes to complain to the Dao Ancestor.

Step Two: The Dao Ancestor summons the Three Pure Ones, having the Three Schools sign the Investiture List, and filling the Celestial Court positions with disciples from the Three Schools.

Step Three: After signing the Investiture List, considerable time passes before Queen Mother Nüwa is offended by King Zhou of Shang’s frivolous poem, deciding to punish the king, thus triggering the great tribulation.

At this point, the Saints realize the tribulation aligns with the succession of mortal authority in South Jambudvipa. The Orthodox School adopts a strategy of “taking disciples to block disaster,” while the Severing School adopts a policy of “sealing off their island and not emerging.”]

Li Changshou had gone over this logic hundreds of times over these years; the probability of error was infinitesimally small.

And just these steps alone would take several hundred years to complete!

Li Changshou stared at the youth kneeling before the mountain gate, falling into deep contemplation.

Better to be cautious and not jump to conclusions—he currently possessed very limited information.

How to obtain more information?

That was simple enough…

Li Changshou calculated with his fingers, carefully analyzing his memories from his previous life.

After reaching the Golden Immortal realm, many details he had forgotten from his previous life could be ‘recalled’ through calculation methods.

Old Pure Yang cultivators like Grand Master, who had lived for countless years, used calculation methods to recall distant memories.

Soon, Li Changshou extracted several pieces of information about Chen Tang Pass’s Li Jing from the Investiture tribulation in his memory.

[Li Jing, General of Chen Tang Pass, an important commander of Great Shang.

Loyal to his ruler and patriotic—though he later defected under pressure, and upright and independent—he occasionally showed cowardice.

Claimed to have studied Dao techniques for many years but failed to achieve immortality, thus choosing to return to the mortal world as a commander—This contradicted his claim of his family guarding Chen Tang Pass for generations.

After the Investiture tribulation, his physical body ascended to the list, becoming Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, Marshal of the Celestial Court. His eldest and second sons, Jinzha and Muzha, followed their respective masters—Vastly Extending Dharma Heavenly Lord and Compassionate Navigation Daoist—to join the Western School. His third son Nezha served the Jade Emperor alongside Heavenly King Li.]

Li Changshou pondered, continuing his thoughts.

Li Jing’s most famous story was his falling out with his third son.

As for Nezha, Li Changshou was naturally extremely familiar with him—he was one of the top troublemaker children in mythological stories.

Actually, from Li Jing’s perspective, when Nezha killed the Dragon Prince and brought disaster to Chen Tang Pass, then accidentally shot dead Stone Maiden’s boy servant, he should have been punished.

Thinking of this, Li Changshou’s thoughts wandered…

As an ordinary human, Li Jing probably had difficulty feeling any “paternal connection” to a Spirit Zhenzhu reincarnation carried by his wife for three and a half years…

Right?

In Li Changshou’s judgment, Li Jing was a typical patriarchist who neglected his children’s education yet refused to accept responsibility for educational failures.

The biggest villain behind the tragedy of Nezha cutting out his flesh and bones was True Lord Taibai, who spoiled his disciple excessively, giving him all sorts of treasures.

After Nezha forged his Lotus Treasure Body, his pursuit and attempts to kill Li Jing, though seemingly a rebellion against patriarchy, went too far.

Hmm?

There seemed to be something here…

It was during Nezha’s pursuit that he stabbed Burning Lamp Daoist with his spear, leading Burning Lamp to assist Li Jing.

Burning Lamp bestowed an Exquisite Treasure Pagoda, with which Li Jing subdued Nezha, later respecting Burning Lamp Daoist as his teacher.

Before this, Li Jing had always claimed to be a disciple of True Person Du’e from Kunlun Mountain.

Considering how these mortal generals liked to boast—claiming two hundred thousand troops as eight hundred thousand—could it be…

Li Jing’s claim of being “True Person Du’e’s disciple” meant he was a disciple of the Du Xian Gate.

He cultivated at Du Xian Gate for a period, felt immortality was hopeless, then returned to the mortal world planning to ride the Investiture tribulation to heaven and gain immortality.

Li Changshou’s eyes lit up!

In this instant, he suddenly felt he had glimpsed the truth behind the myth’s fog!

A more practical question followed…

[So, what can I scheme with Li Jing?]

Li Changshou transmitted his voice to Li Jing kneeling outside the mountain gate:

“Wait patiently for now. I will arrange for you to enter the sect to cultivate shortly. I hope you will cultivate diligently and not forget today’s initial resolve.”

Outside the mountain gate, young Li Jing kowtowed repeatedly toward the gate.

Li Changshou didn’t watch further, sitting there lost in thought.

Beside him, Ling’e finished cleaning her face with a wronged expression. Seeing her Senior Brother alternately shaking and nodding his head, she didn’t dare disturb him and could only quietly slip away to bathe.

Soon, Li Changshou had sorted out his thoughts.

A chess piece delivered to his doorstep—it would be a waste not to use it!

Since he was already opposed to Burning Lamp, he naturally couldn’t give Burning Lamp another chance to act, but he still needed to find a way to acquire Burning Lamp’s Exquisite Golden Pagoda.

Li Jing was an important commander in the army that would attack Shang, and his three sons were excellent talents, especially Nezha, whose Lotus Treasure Body had limitless potential and was connected to the Orthodox School’s Twelve Golden Immortals through True Lord Taibai.

Li Jing’s weakness was obvious—he didn’t care enough about his children and didn’t know how to educate them, using loyalty to ruler and patriotism as a facade to cover his inadequacies and deficiencies.

If Li Jing could cultivate at Du Xian Gate later, he could secretly intervene from the side, letting the “family atmosphere of Du Xian Gate” influence Li Jing, giving him more family responsibility.

In this instant, Li Changshou thought of how to guide Li Jing, how to quickly make him a powerful Celestial Immortal, and how to give him [Old Father’s Double Care].

He even thought of the strategy to prepare for Li Jing when he would leave the mountain.

Its name…

“Prenatal Education”!

…

Du Xian Gate suddenly received a big fish, and Li Changshou, who had been paying less attention to sect matters, temporarily shifted his focus back.

Properly guiding Li Jing would have a rather important effect on the Investiture tribulation—

During the Investiture tribulation, Li Changshou could get more opportunities to intervene;

After the Investiture tribulation, Li Changshou could establish an emotional foundation with the future Marshal of the Celestial Court through their karmic connection from the Du Xian Gate period, thus consolidating his position as a powerful minister and making it more convenient to earn merit.

The Celestial Court had no issues of meritorious service overshadowing the ruler or suspicion between the ruler and ministers.

With the Heavenly Dao’s suppression and the Dao Ancestor’s support, who could rebel against the Jade Emperor?

In fact, after discovering Li Jing, Li Changshou was already considering…

[After condensing his Merit Golden Body, he would cultivate a set of ‘reliable insiders’ for the Celestial Court as the Jade Emperor’s right and left arms, while he would enter a semi-retired state to enjoy immortal life.]

Arranging was an art that had risen in the recent primitive world.

It sounded much better than scheming.

However, Li Changshou soon discovered that Li Jing faced many hardships trying to enter the mountain gate.

First, Li Jing was targeted and ridiculed by other youths seeking discipleship;

Then, after consuming all his dry rations, Li Jing nearly fainted from several days of hunger.

Fortunately, Li Changshou discovered this in time and arranged for an immortal crane to fly over, bringing Li Jing a bottle of hunger-suppressing pills, solving two problems at once.

The trouble Li Changshou faced was finding a suitable master for Li Jing.

Taking him as his disciple was certainly impossible.

With such a large plate of karma surrounding Li Jing, taking him as a disciple would only add troubles. If arranging for Li Jing required taking him as his disciple, Li Changshou would rather give up this ‘tribulation handle.’

After much consideration, Li Changshou felt Elder Wan Linyun was the best candidate.

Elder Wan Linyun appeared cold on the outside but was warm inside. He would certainly terrify Li Jing at first, but as the elder gradually revealed his kindly side, it would make Li Jing feel…

True feelings exist in the world, true love exists in the world!

Paternal love is like a mountain, great love knows no bounds!

However, Elder Wan Linyun seemed to be in closed cultivation at this time, preparing to face his Golden Immortal tribulation.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, having to eliminate this option.

After thinking it through, for someone like Li Jing who would become famous throughout the Three Realms, they should invite ‘True Person Du’e’ to come and take him as a registered disciple.

This way, when Li Jing later mixed in the Celestial Court for an immortal position, his background and resume would look better.

After several days of hesitation, the mountain gate ceremony was approaching.

Li Changshou suddenly felt a slight warning in his heart…

If he couldn’t resolve Li Jing’s master situation, it was very possible that on the day of the mountain-opening ceremony, the Saints would send down an edict, throwing him a character meaning [Take]!

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed!

What to do?

How could he persuade someone he wasn’t familiar with to take a disciple with mediocre aptitude? And give him one hundred percent parental love?

Among those he knew well, there weren’t any suitable candidates…

Ask the Grand Master for help to invite True Person Du’e to Du Xian Gate.

But what would be the reason?

Could he say his calculation methods had suddenly advanced to rival the Saints’, allowing him to calculate that Li Jing would be an important figure in the future tribulation?

He’d probably get beaten by the Grand Master and then have his primordial spirit dissected by the Saints in the Purple Void Palace.

If nothing else worked, they could only push it onto Master Uncle Jiu!

But Master Uncle Jiou himself couldn’t provide much of a ‘father’s dignity’ image and was constantly being lectured by Master Sister Jiu…

In all of Du Xian Gate, was there no suitable ‘Father Li Jing’?

“Yawn…”

A slight yawning sound came from outside the thatched cottage. Li Changshou looked up to see his master riding a cloud toward the back mountain, presumably going to check Master Sister Jiuyushi’s cultivation homework.

His own master…

Even if he jumped out to assert his presence, he absolutely couldn’t take another disciple!

Li Changshou stood up and paced continuously in the thatched cottage, thinking of one countermeasure after another in his heart.

This seemed like just a small matter, but it had wide implications, and no way of handling it seemed completely stable.

He thought carefully, constantly deducing, repeatedly analyzing each possibility he raised;

This time there was no flash of inspiration. Li Changshou just followed his method of forward and backward deduction, immediately backing out when he hit a dead end, changing his approach, and adjusting his thinking method…

First targeting, then diverging, then abstracting…

Gradually, a clear thread appeared in Li Changshou’s grasp.

Working backward from [How to get True Person Du’e to personally come to take a disciple] to [What sufficiently attractive qualities does Li Jing have], Li Changshou suddenly grasped the key point!

Fortune!

Just now, Li Jing’s ability to give him a premonition, make him look at him many times, and even actively inquire, must be related to Li Jing’s fortune!

How could Li Jing’s fortune be poor when he would ascend to the list in physical form?

Moreover, this was the future Marshal of the Celestial Court, the head of a prominent Celestial Court family with a father and three sons all in distinguished positions!

Soon, Li Changshou settled on a plan, and his paper avatar in the Celestial Court also became active, heading directly to the Tushita Palace…

Half an hour later, Li Changshou relaxed slightly and sat back in his round chair, looking at the stack of scrolls before him with a peaceful smile.

[There aren’t so many brilliant strategies that come by chance—they’re all results of mental effort.]

Two days later.

One of Li Changshou’s paper avatars returned from the Celestial Court, bringing back a treasure pouch.

By now, large groups of immortals and mortals had gathered outside Du Xian Gate.

Those sent by immortals to study floated in the air;

Those without sect backgrounds waited on the steps before the mountain gate.

Roughly calculated, there were already two to three thousand children and youths, much more lively than the last mountain-opening ceremony.

Clearly, over these two hundred-plus years, Du Xian Gate’s reputation throughout the Five Continents had improved considerably.

The sect was like celebrating the mortal New Year, with the previous batch of disciples’ sadness at leaving the mountain gate blown to the ninth heaven. The elders and disciples from various peaks who would take disciples this time would casually stroll by the mountain gate.

They would stroll by but not reveal themselves, as if being seen by outsiders would be embarrassing.

Li Changshou internally criticized this briefly, then called everyone from Small Jade Peak over to do a verification first…

He took out a ‘solar corona’-shaped magical device and placed it before the thatched cottage, having his master, junior sister, Master Uncle Jiou, Master Sister Jiuyushi, and Xiong Lingli touch it one by one, placing their palms on it for a moment.

This device came from the Grand Master’s hand and had only one function—to judge a person’s fortune.

Li Changshou had wanted to learn fortune-viewing techniques, but seeing Grand Master had such a treasure, he smiled and coaxed it away.

The circular plate had twelve levels of gradation, marked with twelve progressive colors, from white to red to purple and deep purple.

Ordinary human Qi Refinement practitioners mostly had fortune levels from light red to deep red, as humans were currently the protagonists of heaven and earth, their fortune ascendant.

—Master’s test result was exactly like this, light red.

Jiu and Jiuyushi’s fortune levels were about two gradations higher than the Master’s, also within the normal range.

But Ling’e’s fortune surprisingly reached deep red verging on light purple, which rather surprised Li Changshou.

And when Xiong Lingli’s big hand pressed down, seriously waiting for a while…

“Cousin?” she weakly turned her head and asked softly, “Is this thing broken?”

Li Changshou stared carefully for a while and said, “Look, there is a projection, just the amplitude is small… Don’t be sad, you won’t have bad luck since you’re currently employed.”

Hearing this, Xiong Lingli immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, the five people’s gazes all turned toward Li Changshou.

Li Changshou gave a calm smile, put away the device, and said: “I’ll go find Master Uncle Jiou first to discuss how to use this thing.”

With that, he directly used the earth escape technique, giving them no chance to speak.

Better to be prudent—fortune levels were top secrets, not appropriate to reveal even to his master and junior sister.

Though Li Changshou said he was going to find Jiou, he made a turn and went to the Du Xian Hall instead.

Li Jing’s discipleship plan, as well as his post-discipleship cultivation plan, personality modification plan, and family education training plan, at this moment, had all been steadily…

Arranged by Li Changshou.