“Big Brother, Sister is already in seclusion.”

In a pavilion on the Three Immortal Islands, Qiongxiao flew over on a cloud and said this.

Hearing this, Zhao Gongming let out a long sigh, sitting there in distress.

“Ah, never mind, such small matters aren’t worth disturbing her meditation.

I’ll just go find Changgeng then. I had hoped to have Second Sister help me think this through.”

Qiongxiao snorted disapprovingly: “Changgeng, Changgeng, that old-man-pretending fellow is always on everyone’s lips. Sister is like this, and now you too, Big Brother!”

“Exactly,” Bixiao added softly from the side, “you could discuss things with us just as well.”

Zhao Gongming stroked his beard with a bitter smile, “Well… some matters between men, if I told you, girls, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Pah, who are you looking down on?”

Qiongxiao rolled her eyes charmingly, said “Watch this,” and gracefully spun around twice.

Amidst glowing colored light and tinkling jewelry, surrounded by rising and falling clouds, the young woman in light yellow silk transformed into a hunched old Daoist, who said in an affected elderly manner:

“Young man, tell this poor Daoist what’s troubling you, haha!”

Zhao Gongming covered his face with one hand while Bixiao doubled over with laughter.

In the end, Qiong and Bi’s superior technique won out, and Zhao Gongming haltingly explained his troubles.

Naturally, it concerned Junior Sister Jinguang…

“You both know, I had no thoughts about Junior Sister Jinguang initially, but with all the fellow disciples joking and teasing, your brother’s dao heart has become somewhat… unsettled.”

“Big Brother, if you’ve developed feelings, just get to know Junior Sister Jinguang properly,” Bixiao said, playing with a lock of her hair. “It’s not that complicated, just a matter of mutual willingness.

You feel awkward now only because you’re concerned about face, but this is between two people, how can others interfere?”

“Indeed,” Qiongxiao’s ‘old Daoist’ stroked his beard and nodded, continuing in an affected elderly manner, “This poor Daoist thinks Big Brother is too influenced by others, which is truly concerning.

We’re not worried about Sister, who has entered matters of the heart and love’s tribulation, mainly because Elder Sister can distinguish clearly, reason things out, and maintain boundaries. She won’t let love’s tribulation affect her cultivation.

Moreover, that fellow Changgeng is truly formidable, with scheme after scheme. Fourth Sister and I both admire him.

But you, Big Brother…

Alas.”

Zhao Gongming frowned: “What’s wrong with me?”

“Your original heart is unsettled, your dao heart unsteady,” Qiongxiao’s ‘old Daoist’ shook his head. “This love tribulation will likely affect your foundation, eventually damaging your dao base and withering your cultivation. The great dao will be far indeed!”

Zhao Gongming’s brows furrowed into the shape of a river, as he stood up and paced back and forth, showing some agitation.

After a while, Zhao Gongming frowned and asked: “Then, can you help me?”

Qiongxiao and Bixiao exchanged glances, and Qiongxiao dispelled her transformation, shrugging: “Neither of us has experienced love’s tribulation, we don’t understand these things. Big Brother, you should go ask your Sea God little brother.”

“Third Sister, Third Sister.”

Zhao Gongming bowed repeatedly, “Big Brother trusts his three sisters and Changgeng the most, please teach Big Brother some methods.”

“Ah,” Qiongxiao said calmly: “There is a way, Big Brother come closer.”

Whisper whisper, like this and that.

After Qiongxiao explained her plan, Zhao Gongming was troubled: “Didn’t Second Sister tell you two to stay on the island and not go out? If you go out…”

“Then forget it, pretend I didn’t mention it,” Qiongxiao sighed softly. “I forgot, Big Brother is quite wary of Sister.”

“How can you call it wariness! We’re all family!”

Zhao Gongming hummed several times, secretly gritted his teeth, paced back and forth again, and quickly nodded:

“Alright then, I’ll take you out for a trip, but we’ll return immediately after this matter is done. No running off!”

Bixiao asked quietly: “Big Brother, are you not afraid of Sister?”

“I’m the Big Brother!”

Zhao Gongming puffed up his chest and raised his head, but after glancing at Immortal Maiden Yunxiao’s meditation spot, he immediately ducked his head, “Of course, Second Sister has the best judgment, and we should fully respect Second Sister’s opinions.

Let’s go, let’s go, don’t make any noise. I’ll tell you the details on the way.”

Qiongxiao’s eyes curved in a smile as she snuck out of the Three Immortal Islands’ formation with Zhao Gongming…

After they left, Bixiao couldn’t help covering her mouth and laughing softly, “I don’t know what’s so good outside, getting scolded every time you go out, why bother running out?”

She also glanced at Yunxiao’s secluded meditation spot, stuck out her tongue, and humming a heavenly tune, floated on a cloud toward Hanzhi’s cultivation grounds.

…

Meanwhile, Li Changshou was flying an overloaded cloud, carrying a group of people out of the Netherworld realm, heading toward the North Uluru Continent.

Ao Yi looked at the eight powerful Shamans and asked with some concern: “Elder Brother Sect Leader, should I go summon some troops from the Dragon Palace to accompany us?”

Li Changshou pondered for a moment before saying: “The East Sea isn’t yet stable, so there’s no need for now.

North Uluru Continent is close to the North Sea, if we need troops, we can summon them from the North Sea without much delay.”

Zhao Dezhu smiled and said: “Little Er, don’t worry, the Northern Heaven Gate’s celestial soldiers can provide support at any time.”

Nearby, Ox Head and Horse Face wanted to speak but held back, wanting to say there was no need to worry with them present, but then remembering that spirit bomb that had lit up the Western Sea Dragon Palace, they decisively chose to remain silent.

Watching their Shamanic Race fight was just for fun; for real killing power, they had to rely on the Water God’s self-destructing avatars;

Three instances of sweeping away thousands of troops in an instant, even Golden Immortals were blown away!

After leaving the Netherworld, Ox Head, Horse Face, and the six powerful Shamans were all very quiet;

Upon flying out of the Netherworld realm and seeing the vast world again, those six Shamans’ eyes brightened, but they weren’t very familiar with Li Changshou and were somewhat restrained, afraid of offending this Celestial Court authority.

Li Changshou and Zhao Dezhu chatted via transmission, sometimes discussing Celestial Court matters, sometimes talking about ancient records of the primordial world.

The Jade Emperor was the existence closest to the Heavenly Dao below the Sages, having very close connections with the Heavenly Dao. He could get direct answers to many secrets, which Li Changshou found very beneficial.

Longi carefully studied the military treatise, while its author Ao Yi gazed absently at the horizon.

Arriving at North Uluru Continent, Li Changshou familiarly headed straight for the Great Shaman’s dwelling;

Just as they were about to descend from the clouds, Ox Head asked: “Water God, is it alright for us to go down? Won’t it violate our oaths?”

Li Changshou said seriously: “You are here by order of the Netherworld Administration to investigate anomalies in Shamanic reincarnation, how could that be a violation?”

“Then, let them wait up here,” Horse Face pointed at the three men and three women behind him, “to avoid awkwardness if they meet anyone.”

“Good,” Li Changshou agreed with a smile, leaving a piece of cloud for the six Shamans, and leading the others slowly down.

The Great Shaman had already walked out from the stone house, still in the form of a middle-aged woman, with two other old Shamans behind her, one male and one female, presumably Great Shamans from other tribes.

In ancient times, the Shamanic Race had twelve great tribes corresponding to the twelve Ancestral Shamans, with the Netherworld Shamans originally being one branch, the ‘Houtu Tribe.’

After the Demon-Shaman War, only four or five Shamanic tribes remained, retreating to the bitter cold lands of the North Uluru Continent.

After all the Ancestral Shamans perished, the Great Shamans became the leaders of each tribe; now these three Great Shamans gathered here could represent the entire Northern Continent’s Shamanic Race.

Why were the other two Great Shamans here?

They were learning and spreading Li Changshou’s ‘initial treatment,’ but they hadn’t expected…

The Celestial Court’s Water God is to come so quickly!

“Water God,” the Great Shaman in middle-aged woman form frowned and said, “We haven’t had time to try the method you gave us.”

“That doesn’t matter, you should still try it.”

Li Changshou’s expression was quite serious as he detailed the two important pieces of information he had obtained from his journey through heaven and earth to the three Great Shamans.

The Heavenly Dao had not imposed punishment making the Shamanic Race infertile;

Everything was normal at the Six Paths’ Wheel, with no anomalies in the souls meant to reincarnate as Shamans.

In simple terms, the problem lay in the pregnancy period of Shamanic women…

The expressions of the three Great Shamans visibly darkened.

The old woman asked in a low voice: “Water God, someone is plotting against our race!?”

“It must be those demons!”

“Alas, we thought the Shaman-Demon conflict had ended, but it seems they still won’t leave our Shamanic Race alone.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Li Changshou said, “We must first determine exactly where the problem lies before we can trace its source.

Great Shamans, may I visit the newly married couples from the past three months across the Shamanic settlements?”

The three Great Shamans, understanding the gravity of the situation, immediately nodded in agreement despite not quite following Li Changshou’s reasoning.

Not just them, but Zhao Dezhu, Longi, and Ao Yi were also completely puzzled about how Li Changshou planned to trace the source.

Ox Head and Horse Face even had some rather bold thoughts…

But back to the matter at hand.

Li Changshou hadn’t expected that in his cultivation journey through the primordial world, he would one day become a ‘gynecological expert.’

For the merit of getting the Netherworld to join the Celestial Court, he’d accept being a gynecological expert – helping humanity’s former allies wasn’t too bad a deal.

Under the Great Shamans’ arrangements, Li Changshou flew to visit several larger Shamanic tribes, finding hundreds of young Shamanic women who had recently undergone marriage ceremonies.

Soon, Li Changshou discovered that among these hundreds of Shamans, a small portion of the women were pregnant.

Li Changshou gathered these pregnant women in one place, observing their reactions, and within half a day had some findings.

One Shamanic woman’s face flushed red as she ran to use the toilet, and when she returned, her pregnancy was gone, yet she hadn’t noticed anything unusual…

Li Changshou instantly understood the general situation.

Someone was indeed causing trouble, using some unknown evil method to achieve the effect of ‘miscarriage.’

The reason these Shamanic women were completely unaware…

Simply put, their physical bodies were too strong. They automatically ignored such minor damage, as the blood energy loss before and after miscarriage was negligible to them.

Moreover, the Shamanic Race had no ‘Divine Farmer,’ and being naturally powerful, they had never developed effective ‘medical arts.’

“What a vicious plot!”

Zhao Dezhu coldly snorted, saying in a deep voice: “Water God, when we catch the black hand behind this scheme, they must be severely punished!”

“Rest assured, General,” Li Changshou said firmly.

Ox Head asked from the side: “Water God, what exactly is happening?”

“Shamanic women’s pregnancies are unstable,” Li Changshou said. “If it were just a small portion, we could attribute it to the Northern Continent’s toxic miasma, but for all to be affected, someone must be plotting behind the scenes.

For ten thousand years, the Shamanic Race hasn’t found the cause – it’s bewildering.”

A tribal leader following the Great Shamans’ orders immediately sighed and said softly:

“Water God, we suspected this before, but we tried everything and couldn’t find the root cause…”

“No rush, let me think.”

Li Changshou walked around the tribe, then found a large rock in the forest outside and sat down.

Taking out a scroll, he began writing down possibilities, analyzing them one by one.

Soon, he sent out several paper avatars, using them to ‘relay divine sense’ and ‘network divine sense,’ taking in all the Shamanic dwelling places.

Each Shamanic tribe’s living area was surrounded by ‘North Origin Cold Pine Forest,’ making them easy to distinguish…

Where exactly was the problem?

Li Changshou first thought of ‘poison.’

He directed his paper avatars to collect samples of common ‘fruits’ and ‘grains’ from several tribes, along with water samples from various sources, bringing them all back to pile around the rock.

Li Changshou called out: “Ao Yi?”

“Here!”

Ao Yi, who had been observing from a treetop, immediately responded, jumping down before Li Changshou.

“Go to the well three li southwest and bring back a bucket of water.”

“Yes!”

Ao Yi acknowledged firmly, disappearing in a few leaps.

“Longi?”

“Teacher, I’m here!”

“Go collect the most commonly used clothing materials from the tribe’s Shamans, as complete a sample as possible.”

“Yes, the disciple will go right away!”

Longi answered, her dress floating as she flew on a cloud toward the nearby stone houses and tents.

“Zhao!

Ahem, cough cough!”

Li Changshou quickly corrected himself, covering his mouth with his elbow and coughing, looking quite embarrassed.

He had gotten carried away and almost started ordering around the Jade Emperor!

Zhao Dezhu smiled slightly and said: “Water God, please feel free to instruct me.”

“Well,” Li Changshou could only forge ahead awkwardly: “General Zhao, I’ve already secretly searched this area and found no traces of formations.

Could I trouble you to search again? Perhaps I missed something due to my limited knowledge.”

Zhao Dezhu nodded with a smile and flew away on a cloud.

Nearby, Ox Head and Horse Face eagerly approached, asking softly: “Water God, what can we brothers do?”

“Carefully taste all these foods and waters.”

Li Changshou said seriously: “I’ve confirmed these items are non-toxic for humans, but I don’t know if your Shamanic Race might have any special reactions.”

“Alright!”

“Moo!”

Ox Head and Horse Face didn’t hesitate, following instructions and sitting down to get busy.

Soon, everyone returned;

Ox Head and Horse Face had finished consuming all the food brought by the paper avatars, while Li Changshou continued writing and drawing on the scroll.

Half an hour later, Li Changshou said:

“Nothing’s wrong with any of these.”

Zhao Dezhu also descended from the sky, frowning: “There are no traces of formations here, nor any spiritual energy flows that might constitute a formation.”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, while Li Changshou stared at his scroll now filled with tiny characters, muttering:

“Looking at it this way, there can be only one truth.”

Longi asked: “Is there something wrong with the Shamanic Race themselves?”

“Then why specifically pregnancy?”

Li Changshou countered thus, and Longi hummed thoughtfully, falling back into contemplation.

Nearby, the local tribal leader hurriedly asked: “Water God, could it be some evil magic?”

“So-called evil magic always leaves traces, mostly involving curses, formations, or sacrificial methods,” Li Changshou raised his hand, pushing the scroll forward. It slowly flew forward, was enveloped by True Samadhi Fire, and turned to ash in an instant.

He slowly said:

“The problem affects the entire Northern Continent’s Shamanic Race. If it were a curse, it would be difficult to target such a large area – even with weak divine souls, the Shamans would sense something.

Therefore, we can conclude this must be related to formations.”

Ao Yi said: “But this area has been checked several times, with no formation traces found.”

Zhao Dezhu’s eyes lit up, and he spoke almost in unison with Li Changshou:

“Earth veins!” “Earth veins.”

…

Half a day later, six thousand zhang below the Northern Continent, Li Changshou and Zhao Dezhu were ‘floating’ in space.

They were in an underground crevice, both staring at the earth vein below that emitted a faint blood-colored light.

The vein was like a frozen river, winding and rugged, leading to unknown destinations.

“Your Majesty, this is the only earth vein that appears beneath all four major Shamanic tribes,” Li Changshou said. “Does Your Majesty want to investigate with this humble god?”

“Of course!”

Zhao Dezhu smiled: “Changgeng is my right hand, such trivial matters shouldn’t require your attention, but the Celestial Court still lacks enough capable people.

Since this is the case, how could my avatar not adventure alongside my beloved minister’s avatar?”

Li Changshou: …

If he didn’t know what the Jade Emperor’s number one avatar usually did, he might have believed these words!

Since they were seeking thrills, might as well go all the way.

“Your Majesty, let’s quietly search along the earth vein and see what big fish we can catch.”