Changing into loose deep blue Daoist robes, preparing several face-changing masks for quick disguises, and concealing her true appearance to make her face appear rounder…

A common junior sister was thus created!

Senior Brother had said that the best disguise is being ordinary.

Basic ordinariness means appearing unremarkable externally, without any attention-drawing peculiarities;

Advanced ordinariness means behaving by an ordinary persona, doing things that most Qi cultivators would do;

Ultimate ordinariness means maintaining ‘ordinary’ in one’s Dao heart, harboring no extraordinary thoughts, while possessing the power to steadily overcome ordinary obstacles at any time.

—Excerpt from “A Lesson from Senior Brother”

After tidying up and examining herself in the mirror, Ling’e nodded with satisfaction and began checking the treasure pouches laid out on the table, as well as the pouches within pouches.

She prepared triple the necessary amounts of commonly used bewitching drugs and soul poisons.

Emergency antidotes, pills for replenishing immortal power, and healing wounds were also prepared for most scenarios and tripled as well.

She also prepared three portions of the [Changshou Dao Poison] that Senior Brother had repeatedly insisted she bring—made from Dragon King blood and a certain primordial fierce beast’s toxin—which made Ling’e somewhat uneasy…

Did this suggest that she might encounter Golden Immortal realm experts during the training Senior Brother arranged for her?

Thinking of this, Ling’e couldn’t help but sigh as she stored these pouches one by one into three storage treasures…

Among these were also some hidden trump cards.

Such as the miniature formation discs and sixteen linked self-destructing paper dolls that Senior Brother had made—all excellent items Ling’e had learned to use but never actually employed.

Going to such lengths just to make her go out for training…

Wasn’t cultivation on the mountain pleasant enough?

What joy could there be outside? Wasn’t the sky still the same sky?

Ling’e sighed again. If this training was truly training, it would at least serve a purpose, helping strengthen her Dao’s heart and temper her will through danger.

But knowing Senior Brother’s personality, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he would be hiding underground tracking her!

Was this training?

This was just a comprehensive assessment arranged by Senior Brother!

After silently grumbling for a while, Ling’e picked through her treasure repository, finally choosing a superior-grade immortal treasure sword as her companion weapon.

Ever since Li Changshou started accumulating wealth through pill-making, Ling’e had never lacked magical treasures. She had several defensive spirit treasures and six or seven soul-protecting magical items.

But carrying a ‘mainstream quality’ sword could demonstrate that she had some strength—preventing others from treating her like prey—while also achieving the effect of neither flaunting nor concealing wealth.

Ling’e tried various poses with the sword—hugging it, holding it, carrying it on her back, shouldering it—before the crystal mirror. Finally satisfied, she carried the sword to the thatched cottage door and pulled it open.

Outside, the sunlight was bright, and Li Changshou stood with his hands behind his back;

Elder Daoist Qi Yuan also stood holding his whisk, smiling as he watched Ling’e.

“Master! Senior Brother!”

Ling’e stepped lightly, jumping in front of Li Changshou and properly cupping her hands in salute to her master.

“Disciple will now set out to make her way in the world!”

“Good, good.”

Qi Yuan nodded with a smile and instructed: “The outside world is not as peaceful as the mountain. Though you are a Golden Immortal seedling of our sect and your cultivation is decent, you must be cautious when traveling outside. Don’t meddle in others’ affairs or invite unnecessary karma. Beyond these mountains are other mountains, beyond people, are other people—Heavenly Immortals don’t count for much in the primordial world.”

“Disciple will remember Master’s teachings.”

Ling’e called out crisply, then looked to Li Changshou and asked softly: “Senior Brother, do you have any other instructions?”

“For this journey, I give you three tasks to complete within three years. After completing them, you may travel freely in the mortal world and towns.”

Li Changshou took out a jade talisman and handed it to Ling’e.

Ling’e blinked. She had thought Senior Brother would be more subtle, finding ways to create challenges for her. She hadn’t expected him to directly give her tasks.

The difficulty of the training immediately decreased somewhat—at least the objectives were clear.

Ling’e glanced at the jade talisman and saw a line of large characters glowing within:

[Go to Chen Tang Ancient Town at the southern continent’s border and eliminate one hundred demons above the True Immortal realm.]

One hundred!

Black lines covered Ling’e’s forehead as she looked up at her Senior Brother, her beautiful eyes showing some grievance.

“Senior Brother, you’re serious about this.”

“If not serious, should I be joking?”

Li Changshou said calmly: “The purpose of this training is to let you experience how difficult survival is for living beings, to help your Dao heart advance further toward perfection.

Junior Sister, cultivation is not easy, and achieving longevity is even harder. You have always cultivated on the mountain, taking this peaceful environment for granted.

But the right to survive is not inherent from birth—humanity’s present state was won back by ancestors with their lives. The first task’s purpose is for you to experience this.

Give it your all!

Without understanding the meaning of survival, no amount of preparation will withstand the strike of heart demons when facing the tribulation of longevity.”

Ling’e nodded weakly, feeling she had been force-fed a bunch of profound principles whose specific meanings she didn’t quite grasp.

“Then Senior Brother, I’ll head down the mountain now.”

“Take this, in exchange for the human-form paper doll I gave you.”

Li Changshou handed over the Sect Master’s command token given by the Void Sect Master, and Ling’e took out the paper doll from her sleeve to return to her Senior Brother.

Her lips were slightly pursed, her eyes full of reluctance.

Li Changshou said gently:

“With this token, none will trouble you when leaving the mountain gate. You need not explain much to others—do not easily reveal your whereabouts.

Remember, from the moment you leave Little Qiong Peak, you must rely on yourself for everything.”

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother, I understand!”

Ling’e took a light breath, rallied her spirits, cupped her hands to Li Changshou, then bowed again to Master Qi Yuan, saying:

“Disciple takes her leave!”

Then she turned, mounted her cloud, and flew toward the mountain gate.

“Ah—”

Elder Daoist Qi Yuan watched Ling’e’s departing figure and heaved a long sigh:

“In the blink of an eye, Ling’e is already able to go down the mountain for training. When I first brought her back, she was just a tiny child.

Changshou, is her cultivation sufficient? Is the place where she’s going to slay demons dangerous? Have you prepared to protect her from the shadows?”

“Please don’t worry, Master,” Li Changshou smiled and said, “Though I can’t say there’s no risk at all, I will do my utmost to keep Ling’e safe and sound.”

Qi Yuan said seriously: “This master knows you are extraordinary now, but you have only this one junior sister.”

“Yes, yes, Master need not worry,” Li Changshou bowed repeatedly, giving abundant assurances until Qi Yuan finally set his mind at ease and returned to the thatched cottage to continue… cultivating.

Subsequently, Li Changshou’s true body returned to the pill room, his divine consciousness locked onto Ling’e’s figure.

After Ling’e successfully flew out of the mountain gate, Li Changshou transferred his consciousness to the [Coachman] paper doll outside the mountain gate, sensing Ling’e’s position and following unhurriedly using the earth travel technique.

Ordinary·Ling’e Guardian Paper Doll Army·Launch!

…

Fledglings must eventually learn to spread their wings and fly, clouds must drift away from their place of origin.

Li Changshou wasn’t trying to make Ling’e leave his side—he purely wanted to give her more life experience.

If conditions allowed and Ling’e’s strength and vigilance were sufficient, it wouldn’t be a bad example of primordial world romance for her to travel for a thousand years like Ancestral Master Jiang Lin’er, then turn back to her starting point because of one person or one matter.

It would actually be unfair to Ling’e to not let her go out and see the world now, to keep cultivating on the mountain and enter the retirement phase of life prematurely.

Li Changshou had made the decision to send Ling’e out for training long ago, having considered various consequences and mustered sufficient determination.

She was not anyone’s attachment, nor should she be a decorative piece.

She should understand that the world is not limited to what she sees before her and that life’s choices can be diverse and varied.

Of course, the choice of Dao partner should still be more steadfast.

Li Changshou, with a somewhat complicated mindset of minor entanglement, sent one paper doll to Black Pool Peak to… begin secretly observing along with Baize.

Two thousand li after leaving the mountain gate, she had already flown beyond the nominal boundary of the sect’s territory.

Ling’e flew on her cloud at a high altitude, spreading her divine consciousness to its maximum range, maintaining sufficient vigilance.

Training was a small matter—satisfying Senior Brother was the big one!

She couldn’t fail because of a small…

“Help!”

Suddenly, an urgent cry was carried back by the wind-speaking spell;

Ling’e’s divine consciousness also noticed a crude concealment formation at the edge of a dense forest.

Her divine consciousness gathered and easily penetrated the formation barrier like flowing water, and Ling’e immediately saw… a somewhat unsavory scene.

Oh ho! A classic scene from cultivation stories!

A male immortal at the True Immortal realm was bullying a female immortal at the Prime Immortal realm, already at the stage of “Go ahead and scream, scream louder, no one will come to save you no matter how loud you scream.”

Black lines immediately covered Ling’e’s smooth forehead as she silently steered her cloud around the area, feeling that this wasn’t so much the male immortal insulting the female immortal as it was…

Senior Brother insulting’s intelligence level!

Once upon a time, this was exactly Senior Brother’s teaching case, just with slightly different cultivation realms for the main subjects.

What’s this, had they reached the stage of playing with nostalgia already?

Ling’e shook her head inwardly while maintaining just the right amount of hesitation in her expression.

Suddenly, some thoughts arose in Ling’e’s heart, with the female immortal’s despairing and indignant gaze repeatedly surfacing in her mind, causing Ling’e to fall into slight inner conflict.

Would Senior Brother use such a shallow trick?

No, how could that male immortal doing such evil deeds not set up a sound-blocking formation?

Such a crude concealment formation—was this male immortal’s Dao heart twisted? Did he want people to see, or what?

Various signs indicated this was indeed a trial arranged by Senior Brother.

But what if this situation was real…

Though the best answer would be to ignore it, if this was truly something within her power to help, yet she chose not to save someone in danger, would her Dao’s heart truly remain untroubled?

What to do?

The options Senior Brother had given her years ago kept surfacing in her mind as her cloud gradually came to a stop.

‘Ling’e, remember, when faced with indecision, try to break free from your thinking framework and seek new options.’

New options…

Fine then!

Though there was an eighty percent chance this was just an appetizer trial right after leaving the mountain gate, such a minor training exercise should only account for a very low score in the overall evaluation.

Ling’e muttered while pinching her chin, when her divine consciousness suddenly swept across several playful demon beasts in the forest, immediately brightening her beautiful eyes.

Shortly after, the True Immortal realm male cultivator, who had reached the “the more you resist, the more excited this poor Daoist becomes” stage, suddenly felt dizzy, with his immortal power circulation speed suddenly slowing.

He immediately jumped up, holding his already unbuttoned Daoist robe closed, looking around.

“Who! Who’s plotting against this poor Daoist!”

Grunt… grunt…

Without warning, a burst of demon qi erupted a hundred zhang away, rapidly approaching him.

The True Immortal realm cultivator whirled around to see a wild boar with glowing red eyes, over three zhang long, charging toward him through rolling clouds of dust!

The male True Immortal immediately tried to take out his treasure but found he could barely grip his sword handle…

“Damn it!”

He cursed and turned to flee on his cloud, but for some reason the wild boar demon beast locked onto him, stirring up black winds as it pursued relentlessly.

A fresh breeze blew past, and all the restrictions on the female immortal’s body were released.

She hurriedly stood up, covering her collar, her disheveled face full of bewilderment. Then she heard a voice of indeterminate gender:

“Leave quickly, that demon beast drank a love potion and will surely torment that villain for a while.”

The Prime Immortal realm female immortal hastily said:

“Thank you, benefactor! Please help me completely—how else can I escape this villain’s poisonous clutches? I’m willing to be your servant…”

“If you can’t escape even now, then that’s probably just your fate. Farewell.”

“Ah! Benefactor!”

On a distant cloud, Ling’e used wind travel techniques to swiftly leave the area.

That female immortal must have been Senior Brother’s paper doll, right?

Based on Ling’e’s understanding of Senior Brother, that cry for help with its ‘victim manipulation’ from the female immortal just now was the real trial content!

Hmph!

Even if this wasn’t training, faced with this situation and such demands, Ling’e wouldn’t have continued helping anyway.

They were strangers—doing one good deed was enough, why should she be responsible for the rest of someone’s life?

Now!

Ling’e smiled smugly as she flew freely in the wind, her mental state becoming increasingly expansive.

After traveling a thousand li, Ling’e checked the detection stone on her body and found no divine consciousness watching her. She then glanced at the mountains below.

Was Senior Brother not monitoring her with divine consciousness? Or did he have a way to bypass the detection stone? Or was he simply not protecting her from the shadows at all?

Had to prepare for the worst…

Ling’e hummed softly and continued flying her cloud toward the southern continent’s border, trying to avoid the towns she passed, restraining her curiosity…

But this world was truly too beautiful.

Looking left and right, it was not the mountain ranges surrounding Little Qiong Peak—her view extended without limit;

Looking up at the sky, the blue heavens and white clouds seemed unchanged, yet somehow became infinitely vast.

The breeze coming face-on carried birdsong, human voices, and the low growls of small beasts;

In the distance, hundreds of birds spread their wings above deep mountains and dense forests, cultivators hurried to and fro on clouds, and human figures moved through valleys full of spirit grass and shallow flowers.

Strange faces, unfamiliar backgrounds…

A slight smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of Ling’e’s mouth as she began to pause before some beautiful scenes.

She would carefully sniff unfamiliar flowers while holding antidote pills;

She would poke colorful snakes with minimal cultivation using her spirit treasure sword, then get chased across half a hillside by small snakes with morning tempers.

She took off her cloth boots to wade barefoot through clear mountain streams;

Using transformation arts, she became a thumb-sized immortal fairy dancing with two butterflies on flower petals, not knowing what dance she was doing.

At night she lay on an empty lake surface, her waterfall-like dark hair spread out, imagining herself as the lake goddess, almost merging with the sea of stars below.

During the day she found an uninhabited place full of wild mountain flowers, casually set up four or five layers of concealment formations, played the zither for a while, hummed little tunes, imagined frolicking there with Senior Brother, then lay on the grass giggling foolishly…

“So this is the outside world.”

Ling’e raised her small hand and gently grasped at the sky.

“Hmph, nothing special. Time to get down to business!”

Humming a tune she’d worked out herself, Ling’e retrieved her formation bases, carefully checked everything around, then stealthily left on her cloud like a thief, continuing along the busy cloud roads toward her first training destination.

At Black Pool Peak, beside the pond.

White Dragon and Li Changshou each held a cup of wine, watching the scene reflected on the water’s surface, their smiles never fading.

“Sir White’s method is truly a hundred times more wonderful than divine consciousness scanning.”

“Haha, just a minor technique, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning!”

White Dragon waved his hand and smiled: “But Water God, have you arranged Ling’e’s later trials well?”

“I haven’t arranged anything,” Li Changshou smiled and said. “This time when she goes out, I want to let her see what the primordial world should be like.

I’ll only guide her to some places and secretly provide thorough protection.”

White Dragon frowned and said: “What if Ling’e encounters some Great Luo expert? We’re too far away—what if we can’t help in time?

This doesn’t seem secure.”

“No matter,” Li Changshou said calmly. “I’ve already asked the Great Law Master to help watch over her, and the paper dolls following in her footsteps are also sufficient to handle any enemy short of Sage’s disciple.”

White Dragon was momentarily speechless, then sighed: “Are you sending your junior sister out for training, or hoping she’ll cause trouble?”

Li Changshou smiled without speaking, then said: “That wild boar demon from before was unexpected even to me.

Sir White, do you have any experience with artifact crafting?

Recently I’ve been conceiving a type of ‘magical device’ for transmitting messages, but my understanding of artifact crafting is insufficient and I’ve hit a bottleneck.”

“This… I know a little, a little.”

White Dragon took out a feather fan from his sleeve and gently waved it, discussing the crafting of space-time treasures with Li Changshou while watching the scenes in the lake water.

Li Changshou was naturally multitasking at this time, though he had temporarily paused the activities of his Heavenly Court Water God paper doll.

Half a day later, Li Changshou and White Dragon’s discussion stopped as they both stared at the scene in the water.

Ling’e lingered outside a busy town for a long while, hesitating greatly before finally stepping inside.

Li Changshou’s paper doll army was immediately blocked by the Reverse Five Elements Great Formation;

Li Changshou immediately selected a Golden Immortal realm paper doll, transformed into an old woman, and entered a cloud.

After entering the town, Ling’e’s detection stone instantly turned orange-red, and she could not determine whether Senior Brother’s divine consciousness was present.

The old woman Li Changshou had transformed into maintained a distance of no more than a hundred zhang from Ling’e, yet remained undetected by her.

Li Changshou looked down at the detection stone on the old woman’s paper doll…

This light purple color… perfectly authentic!

On the bustling street, Ling’e’s large eyes immediately lit up as she looked east and west at various stalls, inevitably entering some immortal treasure halls selling ready-made clothes.

‘This girl, dazzled by the colorful world, who knows if it will affect her Dao heart’s stability.’

Soon, Li Changshou felt he had worried too much.

“Just this one dress costs three hundred spirit stones?”

Ling’e looked at the female shopkeeper before her with surprise and frowned:

“Though the materials are decent, the edges are somewhat rough, and the color combinations aren’t done very well. You’ve deliberately skimped on fabric at the waist and shoulders. The cost is at most ten spirit stones, yet you want to sell it for three hundred!”

The female shopkeeper hurriedly said: “Fellow Daoist, this isn’t just clothing—it has many restrictions carved into it that can withstand a Prime Immortal’s strike.”

Ling’e frowned: “You call these restrictions?

I fear even the weakest Prime Immortal could break through with one palm strike.”

The shopkeeper smiled: “How about this, fellow Daoist—I can see you’re knowledgeable. I’ll quote you a reasonable price: thirty spirit stones?”

“Hmm…”

Ling’e hesitated, then gritted her teeth: “Twenty-five.”

“Deal!”

A moment later, Ling’e left the immortal treasure clothing shop with a satisfied smile, storing the immortal dress in her storage treasure.

The wind-speaking spell brought over some mutters from the female shopkeeper, but Ling’e pretended not to hear, her mood completely unaffected.

No choice—most of her monthly allowance these past years had gone to exchanging spirit herbs with Senior Brother for pill refining, so she naturally had to be frugal with spirit stones and couldn’t spend wastefully.

Behold the excellent traditions of Little Poor Peak!

By the Black Pool Peak pond, White Dragon frowned as he looked at Li Changshou and muttered:

“Second disciple of the Human Sovereign, Little Law Master of the Human Sovereign, Heavenly Court Water God, Wisdom Star of the Dao Gate, savior of the Dragon and Shaman tribes, bell-ringer of the Demon tribe, guardian of the Great Virtue Later Earth, future Dao partner of Immortal Lady Yun Xiao, honored guest of the Holy Mother Palace…

Just this?

Aren’t you afraid little Ling’e will be deceived by someone for a few spirit stones?”

Li Changshou snorted, ignoring White Dragon as he closed his eyes to make some arrangements while testing Ling’e’s on-the-spot reactions.

Half an hour later, Ao Yi led several elder dragons from the East Sea. They concealed their whereabouts, used transformation arts and illusions to blend into the town, and found Ling’e listening to music in a teahouse.

Ao Yi had transformed into Ke Le’er’s appearance, carrying a tray and drawing gazes from all around as she gracefully approached Ling’e and bent down to say:

“Sister-in-law, brother ordered me to bring you some travel money.

Even though you left in anger, you shouldn’t lack for expenses.”

Ling’e continued cracking melon seeds without stopping, not even turning her head as she said hoarsely and calmly: “Fellow Daoist has mistaken me for someone else. My husband is my Senior Brother—he doesn’t have any sisters.”

“Sister-in-law is speaking in anger again.”

Ao Yi pushed the tray toward Ling’e’s hand. Ling’e looked down and immediately saw a bracelet-type storage treasure, as well as the large character pressed beneath it…

Steady.