What to do? Wait in the clouds! It’s urgent!

On Heaven’s cloud path, Bian Zhuang maintained a warm smile on his face, continuously using his magnetic baritone to tell various interesting stories about the Heavenly Court to the immortal maiden who was clearly uninterested but still listening patiently.

In reality, Bian Zhuang’s heart was frantically scratching itself, filled with anxiety, and his legs nearly trembling.

He was just a minor Celestial Immortal from the Human Tribe who had only cultivated for a few thousand years—how did he get caught up in such a major event?

When this immortal maiden directly mentioned the Sacred One’s name, a trace of the Sacred One’s dao rhythm appeared around her.

Bian Zhuang felt as if he saw a red embroidered ball swaying gently before his eyes…

He immediately understood—this immortal maiden was the Sacred One’s “envoy”!

According to Heaven’s rules, the Sacred One’s disciples could be stopped freely, but envoys representing the Sacred One absolutely could not be obstructed—they directly represented the Sacred One!

In that instant when Bian Zhuang’s smile stiffened upon confirming this immortal maiden’s identity, he thought of many things…

Half a month ago, the Water God had just tricked the Monster Tribe, eliminating hundreds of thousands of monsters, and even killed a batch of monster experts who had survived since ancient times.

Everyone in the Primordial World knew that in ancient times, Lady Nu Wa had traveled the world with her elder brother Fu Xi and was invited by the Monster Emperor, who had just established the Monster Tribe’s Heaven, to join the Monster Tribe as an honorary member.

After the Monster Tribe was overthrown by the Human Tribe, the Monster Tribe’s treasure—the Monster-Summoning Banner—fell into Lady Nu Wa’s hands. Lady Nu Wa had also stood up to protect the Monster Tribe, and was revered by them as their greatest supporter!

At this timing, at this moment, Lady Nu Wa sending someone to summon the Water God…

‘The Water God might not return from this visit!’

How did he, Bian Zhuang, get everything he had now? Wasn’t it all given by the Water God?

An immortal should remember kindness and reciprocate—at such a moment, Bian Zhuang could only do his best to help the Water God.

But how to help?

What else could he do…

Bian Zhuang smiled and said: “Immortal maiden, look at this bean field—this is where this humble general once farmed. The crops are growing quite well now.”

“General, is this truly the way to the Water God’s Palace?” the immortal maiden asked with furrowed brows.

Bian Zhuang said: “Of course it is. Once we pass ahead there and fly forward, we’ll find the Water God’s Palace…

Immortal maiden, do you know what place lies ahead?”

“General, I can read,” the immortal maiden said seriously. “This is the Doushuai Palace of Lord Laozi, the Great Pure Sacred One’s avatar.

Today I carry sacred orders and cannot pay my respects there.”

“Immortal maiden has great knowledge!”

Bian Zhuang raised his thumb in praise and said loudly:

“The Sacred Mother Lady summoning the Water God! This is a major matter! We cannot delay!

Please proceed, immortal maiden. We’ll reach the Water God’s Palace very soon.”

After speaking, Bian Zhuang deliberately guided the cloud to circle once around Doushuai Palace before turning with the immortal maiden toward the Water God’s Palace.

This was the only clever plan he could think of on the spot.

The heavenly general who had been guarding the gate with him had surely rushed to the Jade Pure Treasure Palace by now…

Deliberately detouring around Doushuai Palace could both notify the Great Master of Law or other high-ranking members of the Human Teaching and also buy enough time for other heavenly generals to report this matter to His Majesty the Jade Emperor!

This was just a bit of clever thinking from him, the Vice Commander of Heaven’s River Navy.

After traveling a while longer, the Water God’s Palace came into distant view.

The immortal maiden from the Holy Mother’s Palace said lightly: “General, does this Water God truly hold such high prestige in the Heavenly Court?”

Bian Zhuang froze for a moment, then smiled and said: “The Water God naturally…”

“General is overthinking,” the immortal maiden said softly. “When my Lady sent me to invite the Water God over, how could it escape the Great Pure Lord’s notice?”

“Well…”

The immortal maiden continued smiling: “General’s loyalty is admirable, but please quickly take me to see the Water God.

If we delay the task my Lady assigned, it would be disrespectful to the Sacred One.”

“Ah, yes, yes, we’ll go right away, we’re almost there.”

Bian Zhuang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and didn’t dare to cause any more trouble, guiding the cloud directly toward the Water God’s Palace.

Meanwhile…

Outside the pill room on Little Jade Peak.

Space rippled slightly as a Taiji diagram’s phantom slowly condensed, and the Great Master of Law Xuandu stepped forth.

“Asleep?”

The Great Master frowned as he looked at Li Changshou lying in the rocking chair, also somewhat troubled.

The Great Master naturally knew that Li Changshou was exhausted from detonating Monster Ascension Mountain.

—After all, he had watched several days of the Heavenly Court battling the Monster Tribe via “Livestream” through the Taiji diagram.

Now Li Changshou was still resting, but the immortal maiden sent by the Sacred Mother Lady was almost at the Water God’s Palace…

Having the Sacred Mother Lady’s envoy wait for Li Changshou to wake would be too discourteous.

“Long Geng… Changshou?”

The sleeping person gave no response.

The Great Master smiled slightly, originally planning to call him a few more times, when he suddenly thought of something. A three-inch small sword flew out from his sleeve, gently stabbing toward Li Changshou’s hand.

If this small sword managed to stab him, he would have found an opportunity to properly lecture this future junior brother!

The small sword emanated a slight sharpness, just enough to cause Li Changshou pain, but when the sword flew within three feet of Li Changshou…

“Who!”

Li Changshou’s eyes snapped open, his form vanishing with a whoosh!

Little Jade Peak began violently shaking as vast Five Elements spiritual power circulated within the mountain body. Formation after formation lit up as eighteen killing arrays and three trapping arrays activated simultaneously!

Looking around the Great Master, a trace of dao rhythm flowed, stopping the “objects” shooting in from all directions.

These objects included but were not limited to:

Dozens of poison-coated blades of various types, several supreme-grade lightning-summoning talismans, three explosive golden pills flying in a triangle formation, over ten miniature array cores…

And even a three-zhang-long, three-chi-wide black cylinder that appeared out of thin air above the pill room!

The dense talismans on the cylinder activated in sequence as the lightning storm power surged. The cylinder’s pitch-black muzzle was already aimed at the figure standing with hands behind back before the pill room…

“This?”

The Great Master’s eyes also went wide.

The restrictions on the black cylinder stopped, and the shaking Little Jade Peak immediately returned to peace. The vast spiritual power within the mountain rapidly calmed, perfectly controlled.

Li Changshou had awakened.

He poked his head out from a tree hollow over ten li away and looked somewhat helplessly at the Great Master by the pill room before quickly flying back on a cloud.

Li Changshou made a ceremonial bow and said softly: “Great Master, this…

This disciple overreacted. Please don’t mind it.”

The Great Master pondered for a moment and said: “It was I who tested you without cause. I should let you set everything up again.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, most can be reused…”

“However, Changshou, um, junior brother.”

“Yes? Please speak.”

The Great Master frowned, staring at Li Changshou before him, and asked the question from deep within his primordial spirit:

“Just how powerful an enemy did you envision for yourself?”

Li Changshou said seriously: “This disciple merely carefully made all the arrangements within his current ability. Being prepared prevents worrying during cultivation.”

The Great Master smiled and shook his head, “You truly are… Well, come with me first.”

Over by the chess room, Jiu Jiu and Little E were hurriedly flying over;

The Great Master directly used immortal power to wrap around Li Changshou and left this place using the Taiji diagram’s power.

Walking through the void, strolling through space-time.

The Great Master was about to speak of important matters when he suddenly came to his senses and glared at Li Changshou.

Could the meaning of those words earlier be that if this fellow had sufficient power, he would even consider Sacred Ones and the Heavenly Dao as hypothetical enemies?

Li Changshou asked softly: “Great Master, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing…

The Holy Mother Lady has sent someone to summon you to the Holy Mother’s Palace. I came specially to remind you, to prevent any offense to the Sacred One.”

Li Changshou’s brows furrowed slightly as he muttered: “The Sacred Mother Lady is entering the fray this early? This seems somewhat unreasonable…”

“Do not rashly speculate about a Sacred One’s intentions.”

Li Changshou pondered briefly, walked two steps forward, and asked:

“Great Master, um, Senior Brother, were you among the earliest batch of humans in the world?”

The Great Master was about to nod when he suddenly read something in Li Changshou’s calm eyes…

A hint of scheming.

…

Moments later, before the Water God’s Palace in the Heavenly Court.

Just as Bian Zhuang arrived with the immortal maiden from the Holy Mother’s Palace, the Water God’s Palace gates opened, and two figures wearing Daoist robes walked out.

The young Daoist on the left was naturally the Great Master of Law, while the white-haired elder in white robes on the right was Li Changshou’s true form after applying transformation techniques, illusion methods, and physical disguise.

Li Changshou’s thinking was very clear—going to see the Sacred Mother Lady as an avatar, or directly placing his true self inside an avatar, wouldn’t be prudent. This method was better.

If the Sacred Mother Lady took offense, Li Changshou would immediately undo his transformation and illusion techniques, reverting to…

His appearance as a minor Human Teaching Law Master.

The immortal maiden stepped forward, bowing slightly to the Great Master and addressing him as Senior Brother, then smiled at Li Changshou:

“So this is the Water God?

My Lady requests your presence. Would the Water God be available to accompany me to the Holy Mother’s Palace?”

“When the Lady summons, one must naturally comply,” Li Changshou cupped his hands. “Thank you for leading the way, immortal maiden.”

“Please follow me,” the immortal maiden removed a jade hairpin from her cloud-like hair, waved it gently to the side, creating an exquisite cloud boat, and courteously invited Li Changshou aboard.

The Great Master beside them spoke: “I have cultivated for many years but never visited the Holy Mother’s Palace to pay respects. Since there’s an opportunity now, why don’t I go along?”

With these words, he stepped onto the wooden boat.

The immortal maiden blinked gently and smiled: “Senior Brother Xuandu truly seems concerned about the Water God.”

She said nothing more after that, standing at the boat’s bow with a palace lantern in hand, steering toward the East Heaven Gate.

Before leaving, Li Changshou spoke softly to Bian Zhuang:

“Thank you for your trouble, General.”

Bian Zhuang hurriedly clasped his hands in salute, not daring to breathe heavily in the Great Master’s presence…

Before the cloud boat left the Heavenly Court, East Wood Duke rushed over with two gift boxes for Li Changshou, saying they were His Majesty the Jade Emperor’s gifts for the Sacred Mother Lady, asking Li Changshou to bring them along.

How could the immortal maiden from the Holy Mother’s Palace not understand?

The Great Master accompanying, East Wood Duke rushing over—both the Human Teaching and the Heavenly Court were showing their support for the Water God…

She merely smiled silently, not saying a word.

The cloud boat smoothly sailed out of the East Heaven Gate, rapidly ascending; yet the boat remained completely stable, without even a whisper of wind.

Li Changshou and Great Master Xuandu closed their eyes to rest along the way, not even communicating mentally; they had already discussed how to handle things while rushing to the Water God’s Palace.

Logically speaking, since the Sacred Mother Lady was “inviting” him over, she surely wouldn’t make things difficult—at most, she would give some verbal warnings.

But Li Changshou feared the Sacred Mother Lady might “not play by common logic.”

Just in case, having the Great Master accompany him provided an extra layer of insurance.

The cloud boat flew extremely quickly to the east of the Eastern Sea, then swiftly flew upward along the Heaven Pillar, plunging into misty clouds.

In an instant, they flew beyond this world into the endless void; the cloud boat sped in a certain direction for half an hour before slowly decelerating.

In just that half hour, they had traveled countless tens of thousands of li away from the Five Regions.

The palace lantern in the immortal maiden’s hand had lit up;

Suddenly they saw a star twinkling in the night sky, and the cloud boat headed toward it.

Looking closer, this star was a gateway that directly “swallowed” the approaching cloud boat…

“Senior Brother Xuandu, Water God, we have arrived at the Holy Mother’s Palace.”

The immortal maiden spoke softly. Li Changshou and Great Master Xuandu opened their eyes to see a sea of clouds shimmering with seven-colored auroral light, with magnificent palace complexes floating at various points throughout.

The immortal maiden continued steering the cloud boat, weaving between various palaces and treasure pavilions.

This place was like a small world, complete with Five Elements and harmonious Yin-Yang. Divine birds soared through the cloud sea, and everywhere among the buildings could be seen the graceful figures of immortal maidens cultivating or playing.

The Great Master and Li Changshou had also stood up, admiring the scenery of the Holy Mother’s Palace;

Naturally, they avoided looking too much at certain treasure pools shrouded in immortal mist, as befitting male cultivators.

As the cloud boat passed by the most magnificent and resplendent golden palace here, the Great Master transmitted:

“It should be fine. If the Holy Mother meant to reprimand you over the Monster Tribe matter, she would receive us in this hall.”

The tension in Li Changshou’s heart eased ever so slightly, but he remained highly alert overall…

Soon, gentle sounds of water could be heard around them.

The clouds gradually receded, and the cloud boat had unknowingly arrived above a quiet pond, creating fine ripples on the water’s surface…

This lake had no visible boundaries, and this water had no known depth. It was like a precious mirror reflecting a brilliant starry sky, naturally calming one’s heart.

A small island appeared ahead. Li Changshou looked up to see a pavilion on the island emanating faint, mysterious, and ethereal dao rhythms that made him want to comprehend them…

Truly extraordinary, as befitting a Sacred One’s dwelling.

The cloud boat stopped, and the immortal maiden led the three onto the island, where a winding jade stone stairway led to the pavilion.

The Great Master walked in front, Li Changshou following behind, eyes straight ahead and breathing steady. He suddenly realized the entire island was carved from a single piece of supreme-grade immortal spirit jade…

Finally reaching the elegant pavilion, the immortal maiden who had brought them here said softly:

“Reporting to My Lady, the Water God has arrived.”

The Great Master immediately took the initiative to bow, saying loudly: “Disciple pays respects to Master Aunt!”

Li Changshou also bowed, saying solemnly: “Disciple pays respects to Master Aunt.”

Suddenly a light laugh came from inside, followed by a voice impossible to describe even one ten-thousandth of—seemingly ethereal and illusory, yet also benevolent and kind, immediately striking one as gentle while containing endless majesty.

The Sacred Mother Lady said:

“Xuandu, go play elsewhere. I will see the Water God alone.”

Play… elsewhere…

Yet the Great Master showed no displeasure, smiling and saying: “Disciple obeys.”

The immortal maiden made a welcoming gesture and led the Great Master back down from the island. They boarded the cloud boat and quickly floated away.

Li Changshou: …

Sacred Mother Lady, what did this mean?

Surely she wouldn’t lower herself to discuss Monster Tribe matters with him? That would be illogical and completely nonsensical.

As if seeing through Li Changshou’s thoughts, that mysterious voice sounded again from the pavilion:

“Do not worry. I did not summon you today for the Monster Tribe’s matter.

The Monster Tribe was cobbled together from myriad spirits. My original tribe was Primordial Beings from ancient times. Those in today’s Monster Tribe who had deep ties with me have long since scattered like smoke and clouds.”

Li Changshou’s brows slightly relaxed, but his heart grew more puzzled.

Why would a Sacred One…

Take the initiative to explain these things to him.

Could there be deeper schemes? But what could a Sacred One scheme against him for?

“Thank you for your guidance, my Lord.”

Then from within the pavilion came these words: “Water God, I have three questions I wish you to answer.”

Li Changshou maintained his bow and said: “Please bestow your questions, my Lord.”

And so that mysterious voice sounded again, this time seeming to carry a hint of playfulness:

“Shouldn’t Ke Zhen’e’s sister be called Han Xiaoying? Why is she Ke Le’er?”