“Why did Senior Brother choose my answer?”

In a corner of the Stopping Cloud Chamber within the Eight Treasures Cloud Light Cave on Mount Kunlun, Ling’e hugged her slender arms, pondering this deeply philosophical question.

She felt it necessary to understand exactly where she stood in Senior Brother’s heart.

Looking up at the Taiji diagram swirling above, she saw the middle-aged Daoist bound tightly by the dual forces of Yin and Yang from ankles to wrists, even his mouth was gagged…

The Grand Master spoke: “Junior Brother, wouldn’t it be wasteful to simply kill this Baize? Why not recruit him into our Human Dao? He’s a Beast Marshal after all, with decent cultivation. He could serve as a guardian.”

The middle-aged Daoist, whose neck was the only part he could move, nodded frantically.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment before saying, “Senior Brother, that doesn’t seem appropriate. This fellow is one of the Ten Great Beast Marshals of ancient times, a mighty being who once dined at the same table as the Beast Emperor and Kun Peng… Having a Beast Marshal serve as our guardian would reflect poorly on our Human Dao’s image. People would think we’re too arrogant.”

The Grand Master nodded, speaking seriously, “That’s a fair point. Though the Beast Emperor has fallen, we should still show proper respect to the strong. Why don’t we ask him? Perhaps he’d be willing?”

Li Changshou smiled, “Baize is one of the rare refined souls of the primordial world. He would surely rather die than submit. No need to ask. Let’s just kill him, preserving his reputation of living and dying with the ancient Beast Court. Though we could preserve half his divine soul, seal it in a treasured pearl, and use him as a living history book.”

The middle-aged Daoist’s eyes widened, bloodshot with grief and indignation.

Ling’e nearly burst out laughing, as she could almost hear his silent cry: ‘How can you be so inhuman! Please, show some humanity!’

The Grand Master spoke again, “Such crude handling might not be best. After all, he bears no karmic debt, and he does hold the title of an auspicious beast…”

“Alas,” Li Changshou shook his head regretfully, “this auspicious beast has already taken human form.”

The Grand Master clicked his tongue, “Once they take human form, they look like people. Using them directly as ingredients would indeed affect our Dao’s hearts. They say primordial spirit beasts are full of treasures.”

Baize trembled all over, tears glistening in his eyes.

The Grand Master pondered, then said, “What if we let him serve as an elder servant in the Doulu Palace?”

Li Changshou replied, “Wouldn’t that lower our Human Dao’s standards too much? So many beings in the world seek our Honored Master’s protection. That creates karma, which the Master probably wouldn’t like.”

The Grand Master nodded in agreement, sighing, “True, our Human Dao doesn’t need his strategic advice anyway. We have you, Junior Brother, and that’s enough.”

Li Changshou: “Senior Brother, people tend to be sensitive about being called tools.”

“Hahaha! Kill him then, end it once and for all!”

The Grand Master laughed heartily, raising his finger toward the forehead of Baize, who hung upside down in the Taiji diagram.

Tears rolled down Baize’s cheeks as he shook his head frantically, making his body tremble as much as possible within the Yin-Yang bindings.

“Um!”

Seeing her Senior Brother’s gesture behind his back, Ling’e stepped forward decisively and called out softly:

“Grand Master, why not let him speak? A human is saying that a dying person’s words are kind. He only threatened our Human Dao and assisted the remnants of the ancient Beast Court. If he’s willing to make amends… we could use him as an example to set a standard for other beast tribes.”

Baize immediately cast a grateful look at Ling’e.

Li Changshou gave a thumbs-up behind his back, making Ling’e’s cheeks flush red.

It was rare to receive praise from Senior Brother.

The Grand Master waved his right hand in the air, and the Yin-Yang energies sealing Baize’s mouth instantly vanished.

The Beast Marshal was furious and burst out, “Who said I’d rather die than submit? I submit! I appeared this time specifically to submit!”

Li Changshou frowned, “Senior Brother, is this Baize?”

“We must have caught the wrong person,” the Grand Master shook his head. “How could a senior of the primordial world show such a lack of integrity? Let’s kill him.”

“Esteemed disciples of Human Dao, disciples of the Sage, please stop tormenting me!” Baize broke down in tears, “I arranged for someone to send a jade talisman to the Door of Ascension specifically to make contact with Human Dao, trying to seek reconciliation. I’m willing to serve as your guardian, I only ask Human Dao to take me in and stop thinking about eliminating me!”

Li Changshou and the Grand Master exchanged glances, and the brothers suddenly… showed similar smiles.

The Grand Master said, “Fellow Daoist, I’m somewhat confused. If you had just stayed hidden, no one would have thought to do anything to you. Why did you have to help Lu Ya? If not for your guidance, even with the Taiji diagram, I couldn’t have calculated your whereabouts.”

“Ah…” Baize sighed softly and said, “When Lu Ya came looking for me that day, I initially wanted to avoid him. Lu Ya was wrapped in black qi then, his death tribulation had descended. I had promised the Beast Emperor to protect him, so I helped him break through that tribulation…”

“Oh? The Beast Emperor?” Li Changshou smiled, “Fellow Daoist seems to be hiding something. If it were truly because of past friendship with the Beast Emperor, or a promise made to him, you wouldn’t speak of the ‘Beast Emperor’ so lightly. It sounds more like… a prepared excuse. It seems this fellow isn’t being truthful, Senior Brother…”

“It was the Sun Goddess! The Sun Goddess!” Baize’s eyes filled with resignation as he gave a bitter laugh and sighed:

“It was Lu Ya’s mother who once saved my life. On the eve of the Beast Court’s fall, the Sun Goddess already knew they would inevitably lose the war with humanity, so she entrusted her young prince to me, asking me to save him three times. I’ve now saved him three times, so Lu Ya and I are even! The reason I mentioned the Beast Emperor rather than the Sun Goddess was to avoid tarnishing her reputation with this matter, fearing people would gossip. Even without the Lu Ya incident, once Water God achieves his next breakthrough and consolidates his Merit Golden Body, how could he spare someone of beast origins like me? Given Water God’s personality, he would surely eliminate anything unstable for the Heaven Court and Human Dao. I was also using the Lu Ya incident to test Water God’s abilities. To think Water God could use Heaven’s Dao power to wear down the beasts’ patience – this was truly my oversight. Feeling inferior to Water God, I decided to reveal myself. If Water God couldn’t find me today, I would have truly fled to the Chaos Sea to preserve my life.”

These words were spoken with utmost sincerity, enough to move listeners to tears and grief, emphasizing the desperation of having no path forward and being forced to take such measures.

However…

“Junior Brother,” the Grand Master was somewhat confused, “why would you eliminate anything unstable for the Heaven Court?”

Li Changshou’s mouth twitched as he said softly, “This fellow must have imagined it.”

Baize was stunned.

The Grand Master smiled, “That makes sense. Fellow Daoist Baize must have misunderstood something. Given my Junior Brother’s personality, unless Master gives orders, he wouldn’t care about anything except earning merit.”

Baize was bewildered and couldn’t help asking, “If not harboring great ambitions, why would Water God work so hard to maintain good relations with the Severing Sect?”

Li Changshou: …

“That was probably an accident.”

After all, when he first met Elder Zhao, he had strongly refused when Elder Zhao said he wanted to associate with him.

“Then, why did Water God establish the Sea God Religion?”

Baize spoke firmly, “When the Sea God Religion had only five or six temples, I occasionally used my divine abilities to investigate. That day at the Sea God Ceremony, you deliberately sought to befriend Dragon Prince Ao Yi…”

Li Changshou sighed softly, “If I said I was arbitrarily made Sea God by a group of shamans, stuffed with a bunch of worshipper incense, and when I went to resolve the situation, I ran into the Dragon Tribe, and since Ao Yi happened to know me, I could only react passively… Heh, I suppose no one would believe that.”

“Then,” Baize frowned, “deliberately luring beast tribes to gather at Beast Ascension Mountain?”

Li Changshou spoke calmly, “I wanted to obtain the Human Extinction Sword but didn’t want to let those great beasts with heavy karma escape. Since I wanted more merit, I had to attract more karmic beasts.”

“Plotting against Western Jin Chan?”

“A trial from the Grand Master.”

“Befriending mighty beings like Kong Xuan of the Phoenix Tribe?”

“That was my Grand Master’s old friend. I didn’t actively seek his friendship; rather, this mighty being showed me great care.”

Li Changshou paused and frowned as he stared at Baize.

Baize seemed dazed for a moment before asking, “Water God, what… what are your ambitions?”

Li Changshou countered, “Don’t you think that in this dangerous primordial world, being able to live peacefully is already quite difficult? Otherwise, what great ambitions do you think I have?”

Baize mumbled, “Like the ancient Beast Court… achieving the position of Second Heaven Emperor…”

*Pfft!*

Ling’e couldn’t hold back anymore, turning her head to cover her mouth as her fragrant shoulders shook; the Grand Master’s expression also turned peculiar.

Li Changshou countered, “It’s not called Second Heaven Emperor, it should be East Wood Lord. Fellow Daoist, times have changed.”

Baize closed his eyes in silence, and before his eyelids shut completely, the light gradually faded from his gaze.

Li Changshou and the Grand Master whispered nearby:

“This Baize, skilled in divination and investigation, is a superior primordial being and a uniquely gifted sole survivor. He could barely compare to the Old Lord’s bull. What if we used him as a mount?”

“That’s naturally Senior Brother’s decision.”

“Junior Brother, since we’ve decided not to kill this Baize, we might as well find a way to control him. His divine abilities seem quite impressive. In the future, for less important matters, we could just have him offer advice, saving us the trouble.”

“Does Senior Brother have a method to restrain divine souls?”

“Of course,” two streams of mutually generating and restraining energy intertwined in the Grand Master’s palm, forming the shape of a treasure lock.

Li Changshou took out five scrolls from his sleeve, and the two exchanged knowing glances as they looked at the goateed middle-aged Daoist, showing faint smiles.

…

Half a day later, deep in the Eight Treasures Cloud Light Cave.

The oath-taking chants that sounded like sutra recitation finally weakened, and several muffled thunders appeared in the sky as Heaven’s Dao power came and went.

The middle-aged Daoist kneeling beside a treasure pool collapsed weakly to the ground, turbid tears rolling down his eyes, his scattered hair beginning to show rainbow colors.

The teardrop-shaped red mark on his forehead was the sign of his restrained divine soul.

In a flash of light, the Daoist’s form dispersed and condensed into a strange beast.

It looked like a large mountain goat, yet also resembled a soft white-furred elk, with an elegant, slender form. It had an upright horn on its head, surrounded by three rainbow-colored long feathers that completely concealed the horn.

Its four hooves emanated rainbow halos that shimmered in harmony with the light from its feathers.

After the divine beast revealed its true form, Ling’e couldn’t help but praise: “The true form is so beautiful… too bad it’s male.”

Baize’s weakly collapsed body trembled slightly.

Li Changshou smiled nearby, “Congratulations, Senior Brother, on acquiring an excellent mount.”

“Why congratulate me?” the Grand Master smiled, “This Baize matches your temperament, naturally he should be your mount.”

“Senior Brother won’t keep him?”

Li Changshou hurriedly said, “Then why did we go to all this trouble? Let’s just scatter him. I have no use for a mount.”

Baize immediately jumped up, opening his slender pale yellow eyes to glare fiercely at Li Changshou.

The Grand Master laughed, “Don’t be modest, why so polite with me?”

“Senior Brother, I truly have no intention,” Li Changshou said seriously, “Consider, if I rode Baize in public, what mount would His Majesty the Jade Emperor need to find to outrank Baize? Moreover, I usually stay home in my true form and only move about in avatar form. When avatars encounter danger, they self-destruct—having a mount would actually be inconvenient.”

“That… does make sense,” the Grand Master frowned, “Then, bring him back to the Doulu Palace? But we haven’t reported to the Old Lord yet. What if the Old Lord doesn’t like it… Junior Brother, why not place him on Little Qiong Peak?”

“Little Qiong Peak isn’t suitable either,” Li Changshou spread his hands, “I’m not ready to reveal my trump cards to him.”

“Safe Water City?”

“We just arranged for those demon soldier seniors to go there. If we send an ancient Beast Marshal there, wouldn’t that…”

“Enough!” Baize roared, “I’ll fly in the sky by myself!”

“Oh?” With one glance from the Grand Master, Baize trembled and immediately lowered his head submissively.

“This servant means,” Baize mumbled, “if there’s no suitable place, perhaps let this servant move about freely. This servant is skilled at avoiding disasters. When you need this servant to appear, this servant will come immediately.”

The Grand Master shook his head and sighed, “That won’t do either. Wouldn’t that make people say our Human Dao fails to recognize talent and persecutes auspicious beasts?”

Baize lowered his head, tears falling…

Haven’t you persecuted me enough? Enough?

Five layers of Heaven’s Dao oaths, divine soul control methods, forced prohibition on taking human form, repeatedly mentioning “scattering” him… Did they think he didn’t know what Water God meant by “scatter”?

He had wanted to follow Water God to create another great enterprise!

Never mind, never mind…

“Got it,” the Grand Master’s eyes lit up as he took out a jade talisman from his robes and infused it with immortal light.

The Grand Master smiled, “Give this to Little Ji at the Door of Ascension. Keep this divine beast Baize at the Door of Ascension instead of your Little Qiong Peak.”

Li Changshou considered briefly before reluctantly agreeing.

This way, it would be convenient for him to use Baize’s divine abilities for intelligence-gathering work.

It would be somewhat useful.

They had been causing trouble in True Person Du’e’s cave dwelling too often, which wasn’t quite appropriate.

The Grand Master wanted to watch the show and suggested Li Changshou and Ling’e ride Baize back to their sect, but Li Changshou didn’t trust Baize enough yet, worried Baize might try to perish together with him.

So, moments later…

A semi-transparent rainbow divine beast pulled a cloud across the sky above Mount Kunlun, concealing its aura and avoiding Heaven’s mechanisms as it flew swiftly toward the Door of Ascension.

First, there were flying sword rails, now Baize is pulling the carriage—cultivation truly doesn’t deceive us.

On the white cloud, Li Changshou, Ling’e, and the Grand Master sat cross-legged.

Ling’e asked, “Senior Brother, why did you choose my answer back then?”

“Well…” Li Changshou smiled, “Actually, there was only one point—Baize must have planned this for half a year, while I only had half a day to react. So I made an assumption—no matter what choice I made in the end, Baize had already anticipated it. From what he said earlier, he must have been observing me for a long time.”

The Grand Master asked, “Then why not choose the answer I suggested?”

“About that, please don’t be angry, Senior Brother,” Li Changshou smiled, “Senior Brother didn’t think too deeply at the time and maintained a playful attitude, since with Senior Brother’s profound cultivation, even spending eight or ten years hunting down Baize would be a minor matter. Therefore, I treated Senior Brother’s choice as one made without full consideration. Under normal circumstances, that would have been the second most likely option, but it wasn’t suitable for a Beast Marshal like Baize. Instead, Ling’e’s answer, clever but not thoroughly considered, had a thirty percent chance of being Baize’s hiding place.”

Ling’e’s face showed sudden understanding, and then she smiled happily and moved closer to her Senior Brother.

“Only thirty percent certainty?” the Grand Master’s eyes crinkled in a smile, “That’s not like your style, Junior Brother.”

Li Changshou nodded slowly and said seriously, “Indeed, only thirty percent certainty, but this gamble was risk-free. If we found him today, it would save effort; if not, we would have had to hunt him down anyway. However, there’s one thing I still don’t understand… Baize, why did you investigate the Sea God Temple when it was just starting?”

The three looked forward, but the auspicious beast remained silent.

The azure sky was like an inverted lake reflection, as the slender divine beast glided through the air, trailing faint rainbow light, each step leaving a circle of rainbow ripples in the sky.

Did he want to pay attention?

He couldn’t possibly tell them about that time when wanting to make the finest mortal delicacies, he went to the South Seashore looking for ingredients and ended up being cornered at the city gates by a group of musclemen whose arms were wide enough to race horses on—such an incident would damage his refined image.

“I had already seen today back then,” Baize said.

The Grand Master and Li Changshou exchanged glances, their eyes showing traces of admiration.

Li Changshou said softly, “Indeed, we can’t keep him.”

“Let’s scatter him,” the Grand Master silently took out the Taiji diagram, “Now it can be considered cleaning house.”