‘There are changes in Xuandu City, perhaps returning in a century.’

The Grand Master went to Xuandu City. And won’t return for a hundred years?

Upon receiving the jade talisman sent by Little Silver from the Water God Palace, Li Changshou’s Dao heart instantly tensed three degrees, and his entire being was tinged with anxiety.

The Grand Master going to Xuandu City at this crucial moment meant the Human Teaching lost its ‘standard strongest combat power’ support, suddenly increasing the pressure on Li Changshou’s shoulders.

Little Silver coming to the Water God Palace to deliver the message must have been at Lord Lao’s instruction.

The implication was that during the Grand Master’s absence from the Five Continents, all Human Teaching matters would have to be shouldered by him, this minor Law Master.

And when Li Changshou moved against Lu Ya or encountered any urgent situation, he could no longer count the Grand Master among his available combat forces.

By the pond at Black Pool Peak, Li Changshou stood up and paced back and forth.

He wanted to halt Ling’e’s trials, but seeing her small face filled with expectation and seriousness in the pond’s image made him hesitate.

“What’s troubling the Water God?” Baize asked, holding a teacup nearby. “Are you worried about something?”

“The Grand Master has gone to Xuandu City; it seems there’s some trouble there.”

Li Changshou sat back in his previous seat, picking up the white teacup he had refined in his spare time, smelling the fragrance of wolfberry, commemorating the final stage of his previous life.

He had taken good care of his kidneys in his previous life.

Incidentally, Li Changshou secretly observed the subtle changes in Baize’s expression and eyes.

If Baize was concerned about the Grand Master’s threat to himself, it would indicate Baize’s heart wasn’t yet settled, and at this time Baize’s words and thoughts should analyze how much additional pressure their side would bear after the Grand Master’s departure.

If Baize’s heart was already settled with the Human Teaching, he would likely ask…

“Are the Outer Realm Demons in Xuandu City so strong? To require the Grand Master’s garrison.”

Baize calculated with his fingers, then shook his head: “That place is already at the edge of the Heavenly Dao, where its power is too weak, nothing can be calculated.”

Li Changshou smiled and put down his teacup: “I’ve never been there either, don’t know what Xuandu City is like, but there must be beings powerful enough to threaten Hongmeng.

When Pangu God opened heaven and earth, he slew three thousand Primordial God-Demons, those who escaped must be quite troublesome.”

“Rest assured, Primordial God-Demons ultimately cannot achieve sainthood,” Baize said with a smile. “In the Chaos Sea, Dao and Spirit are mixed, the Great Dao is incomplete, making it extremely difficult to perfect cultivation.”

Li Changshou nodded slowly, sighing: “From now on, with the Grand Master gone, this is truly a trial for Ling’e.”

Several black lines appeared on Baize’s forehead as he muttered: “Does the Water God perhaps misunderstand the word ‘trial’?”

“Hmm?” Li Changshou’s gaze swept over.

Baize’s mouth twitched several times: “Ah, suddenly losing the protection of a top expert, Ling’e’s situation is indeed dangerous.”

Li Changshou immediately agreed wholeheartedly.

“Does Sir Baize think I should have Ling’e return to the mountain temporarily?”

“That’s quite unnecessary,” Baize smiled. “What we call training is meant to experience and comprehend, allowing the Dao heart to tend toward completion.

The Water God is somewhat overprotective of Ling’e. Her cleverness, combined with the Water God’s current safeguards, is already foolproof.

Water God, don’t forget that Ling’e still has the Golden Immortal tribulation to face. Bearing appropriate risks now can reduce the dangers of the Golden Immortal tribulation by a fraction. Comparing the two, we should choose the beneficial option.”

“Good point.”

Li Changshou nodded, actually already knowing these principles in his heart. He was merely using Baize’s words to convince himself.

At present, he secretly deployed more paper dolls, adding two Golden Immortal Realm paper dolls and two sets of Heaven’s Spear Earth’s Shield Spirit Explosion Formation to the original paper doll Immortal Bean Soldier Legion.

He also advised: “Sir Baize, if there are any dangerous omens regarding Ling’e, please inform me immediately.”

“Rest assured, Water God, rest assured.”

Baize agreed repeatedly, naturally knowing the Water God wasn’t joking.

The pond showed that Ling’e had now entered a relatively prosperous market town in the East Victory Divine Continent. She dared not directly inquire about Five Phases Observatory’s location, instead settling in the market town first, beginning to secretly collect information about Five Phases Observatory…

For an ordinary Human Teaching Dao-inheriting Celestial Immortal Realm cultivator to find Five Phases Observatory and meet Great Immortal Zhenyuan was no easy task.

Though the danger factor was small, the difficulty was indeed quite high.

The Grand Master’s sudden departure left Li Changshou feeling somewhat uneasy.

The nearly completed ‘Xuanya War Chronicles’ plan was also temporarily suspended by him, letting You Qin Xuanya rest at the sect for now, with the ninth ‘short film’ to be shot later.

Speaking of You Qin Xuanya, Li Changshou had grown increasingly admiring of her over these two years.

From always maintaining a cold expression and being poor at expressing herself—a ‘fake ice mountain’—to today’s increasingly sophisticated acting skills, even successfully deceiving Ling’e before…

Her future was promising, worthy of important tasks.

And by now, You Qin Xuanya completely understood what she was helping Li Changshou accomplish.

—The Super Heavenly Soldier Plan, becoming the Heavenly Court’s army spokesperson, promoting the Heavenly Court throughout Hongmeng’s Five Continents and Three Thousand Worlds.

Li Changshou could sense You Qin Xuanya’s change in attitude:

From initial resistance to gradual acceptance to believing this was her contribution to the stability of Heaven and Earth and the orthodox Dao, she had invested her enthusiasm in it.

But what Li Changshou didn’t know was…

Those words he spoke that dusk, standing by Little Qiong Peak’s lakeside, were taken by You Qin Xuanya as golden advice.

“Xuanya, becoming a role model for many people is not an easy task. One must be strict with oneself, must be mindful of one’s image at all times, maintain righteousness in heart, and act with justice and chivalry.

This matter must continue for at least three to five hundred years; you must ultimately show proper awareness.”

That day, You Qin Xuanya stood by the lake thinking for a long time, until the starry night filled the sky, before making her promise with the most determined tone of her life:

“Senior Brother Changshou, Xuanya will do her utmost in this matter!”

Her words were no longer about ‘helping Senior Brother do this matter,’ which made Li Changshou quite gratified.

From the [Start of Production] two years ago until the recent [Island Escape] involving Ling’e, You Qin Xuanya gained many unexpected benefits.

Among these, the greatest gain was seeing Li Changshou’s ‘many faces.’

His unfettered thoughts, ingenious designs, inconceivable operations, and inexhaustible wonderful ideas truly left You Qin Xuanya dazzled.

The originally somewhat one-dimensional and rigid ‘Senior Brother Changshou’ rapidly became rich and substantial in her heart.

Thus, upon receiving Li Changshou’s voice transmission reminder, You Qin Xuanya couldn’t help but fly out of her cave-dwelling, heading toward Black Pool Peak.

These past few years, You Qin Xuanya often came to Black Pool Peak to polish her acting skills and learn some ‘heroic’ poses.

Seeing You Qin Xuanya flying over, Baize casually opened a gap in the grand formation around Black Pool Peak, allowing her unobstructed arrival by the pond.

A touch of ice blue reflected in the pond, adding a different kind of beauty to this place.

“Senior Brother Changshou, Sir Baize.”

“Xuanya has come? What would you like to drink?”

Baize greeted with a smile, gesturing for You Qin Xuanya to sit beside Li Changshou.

Li Changshou turned his head to look at You Qin Xuanya, smiling: “Is it because of my voice transmission just now?”

“Yes… thank you for your trouble, Sir Baize.”

You Qin Xuanya smoothed the hair by her ears, walked to Li Changshou’s seat, and sat on the wooden stool with her skirts arranged neatly. Her gaze was also drawn to the scene displayed in the pond.

You Qin Xuanya asked softly: “Senior Brother Changshou, is there something I need to improve?”

Li Changshou said: “Things outside aren’t too peaceful lately. You’ve done very well, don’t worry.”

Baize let out a snort of laughter: “Not too peaceful indeed…”

“Aren’t you letting Ling’e return to the mountain?” You Qin Xuanya asked with concern.

“No need for now, things haven’t become that serious,” Li Changshou had just wanted to explain more to her when his spirit stirred slightly—someone was seeking an audience at the Heavenly Court’s Water God Palace.

Li Changshou said: “Wait a moment, there’s some business at the Heavenly Court.”

With that, he closed his eyes, his consciousness returning to the paper doll in the Water God Palace, removing the restrictions around the study.

This time it wasn’t a Heavenly General announcing something outside—the wooden door was directly burst open as the Old Man Under the Moon, wearing bright red celebratory robes, rushed in.

“Water God! Quick! Something’s happened to His Majesty!”

Li Changshou was completely startled.

…

Tap tap tap tap!

Urgent footsteps sounded in the Marriage Palace as more than ten figures hurriedly arrived, heading straight for the rear hall.

But just as they reached the entrance to the rear hall, they were stopped by several proper gods.

“By the Water God’s command, this crucial place of the Heavenly Dao cannot be entered casually. Please wait here for news.”

The dozen or so immortals and gods who had come upon hearing the news stopped in their tracks, each craning their necks to look ahead.

Before the sea of stars formed by the marriage clay figures, Li Changshou, Dong Mugong, Princess Longji, and the Old Man Under the Moon were gathered together, blocking the view from behind. The dense Heavenly Dao power here also blocked divine sense from outside.

At this time, Dong Mugong frowned in thought: “What can be done about this?”

Longji’s slender fingers twirled a lock of hair before her, her small face full of worry.

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, then asked: “How long has this situation been going on?”

“Just recently, no more than a year!”

The Old Man Under the Moon answered with certainty: “This humble one last checked ten months ago, and these abnormal signs hadn’t appeared then.”

“Master,” Longji asked softly, “what should we do? Surely we can’t let the Old Man Under the Moon use his scissors?”

“This, this humble one wouldn’t dare!”

The Old Man Under the Moon was almost crying with anxiety, “How could this humble one have the courage to interfere with His Majesty’s affairs!”

“Silence,” Li Changshou glanced at the rear hall entrance, waving his hand to set up a sound barrier, then frowned as he stared at the clay figure before him.

Wasn’t His Majesty’s mortal incarnation only in his teens?

How did this…

At this time, the clay figure of the Jade Emperor’s mortal incarnation had red strings tied to both hands and feet. Besides the original left-hand red string that was already fixed in a dead knot with the Queen Mother’s mortal incarnation, five more had forcibly appeared!

Indeed worthy of being His Majesty the Jade Emperor, having such grand ambitions at such a young age.

Could His Majesty’s obsession before this incarnation of his divine soul be…

Longji sighed lightly, her expression quite complex: “If Mother knew, how heartbroken she would be.”

“This is a trial descended by the Heavenly Dao,” Li Changshou said seriously. “Your Highness, don’t overthink it. His Majesty and Her Majesty treat each other with mutual respect, and are the model of heavenly marriage for all living beings.”

Dong Mugong hurriedly asked: “Water God, do we have to…”

“No rush, it’s best to let His Majesty make his own decision about this,” Li Changshou thought carefully, then said: “Old Man Under the Moon, let’s see all the women these red strings correspond to.”

The Old Man Under the Moon hurriedly said: “Ah, this humble one will do so right away.”

At once, the Old Man Under the Moon’s fingers moved quickly, and several clay figures flew out from the sea of stars, hovering around the clay figure of the Jade Emperor’s mortal incarnation.

Li Changshou looked at each one—besides the Queen Mother’s mortal incarnation whose marriage fate was already locked with the Jade Emperor, the other five were…

A female guard from a general’s mansion, a girl who played music in a teahouse, two top courtesans from a flower house, and the daughter of a local noble family.

Li Changshou let out a sigh of relief, muttering: “At least they’re all women.”

The three immortals beside him were all startled.

“At least it conforms to the Dao of Yin and Yang,” Li Changshou said seriously. “His Majesty is at the age of awakening love, having such thoughts is normal, no need to make a fuss.

Rest assured, these red strings should fall off on their own.”

Dong Mugong looked worried: “What if they don’t fall off?

If His Majesty has three wives and four concubines during his mortal trial when His Majesty returns, surely the Heavenly Court won’t… this violates heavenly law.”

The Old Man Under the Moon said: “The Queen Mother will surely smash this humble one to pieces!”

Longji also said: “If he forms too many bonds with mortal women, it will indeed put Father in a very awkward position, and it involves the Heavenly Court’s reputation and prestige.

Master, only you can prevent this.”

Li Changshou: …

Li Changshou asked: “Has Her Majesty’s mortal incarnation met with His Majesty yet?”

“They’ve known each other since childhood,” the Old Man Under the Moon said, “but Her Majesty’s mortal incarnation always teases His Majesty’s mortal incarnation. They don’t have any good feelings for each other yet.

According to the story Her Majesty set earlier, they still need two more years before sparks fly and feelings secretly develop.”

“We can’t wait!”

Divine light surged in Li Changshou’s eyes, his white hair floating, as he declared firmly: “Change it now, let Her Majesty and His Majesty’s mortal incarnations meet soon and plant the seeds of affection—this is the superior strategy.”

Dong Mugong asked: “Since there’s a superior strategy, there must be middle and inferior strategies.”

“I’ll implement the middle strategy soon,” Li Changshou said, “which is to secretly move those women away.”

“Then what’s the inferior strategy?” Longji’s eyes were full of curiosity.

Li Changshou: We have promised not to prioritize using the handsome version of Second Senior Brother.

Speaking broadly, this concerned the Heavenly Court’s stability and reputation; speaking narrowly, it was just the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother’s family matter.

If the Queen Mother hadn’t descended to the mortal realm, there naturally wouldn’t be much need for consideration, but with the Queen Mother’s prior decree and her personal pursuit, and the Jade Emperor needing to become the ‘Manager of Time,’ this was somewhat inappropriate.

Li Changshou discussed this with Dong Mugong briefly, settling on strategies for this matter. Dong Mugong would be responsible for dispelling rumors in the Heavenly Court, Li Changshou would descend to arrange various matters, and the Old Man Under the Moon would closely watch for changes in the marriage red strings at the Marriage Palace.

Before the Water God’s incarnation returned to the Water God Palace, Li Changshou opened his eyes by the pond at Black Pool Peak.

You Qin Xuanya was meditating beside him, while Baize had gone to busy himself in the kitchen.

Li Changshou called out to Baize, who floated back carrying a freshly prepared plate of immortal fruits, smiling as he said:

“Has the Water God encountered some trouble? Tell us about it, let this humble Daoist share in the joy.”

“Does Sir Baize know about matters of marriage fate?”

“This, I know a little,” Baize frowned and said, “Though this humble Daoist has never sought a Dao companion or encountered marriage fate, I have seen much love and hatred…

Has something happened with the Jade Emperor’s incarnation’s marriage fate?”

“Truly nothing escapes Sir Baize,” Li Changshou sighed, explaining the matter in detail as they thought of countermeasures together.

“Indeed there are only these three strategies,” Baize said. “The most reliable is the middle strategy. The Jade Emperor descended with the mindset of playing around for one lifetime—even if he pledged lifelong devotion to the Queen Mother’s mortal incarnation, he might still have others in his heart.”

Li Changshou: “Why do I feel like you’re making some subtle criticism.”

“The Water God overthinks, the Water God overthinks.”

You Qin Xuanya asked softly from the side: “Why not keep it simple and talk directly with the Jade Emperor’s mortal incarnation?”

Li Changshou and Baize both started.

You Qin Xuanya said: “The Jade Emperor’s mortal incarnation is in his youth now, at the stage where he needs guidance. Why doesn’t Senior Brother use an incarnation to become a teaching scholar?”

Li Changshou pondered for a moment, carefully considering before saying: “If only the Grand Master were here, having the Grand Master guide His Majesty would be most appropriate.

How about it, Sir Baize?”

“No, no, no,” Baize quickly waved his hands, “This absolutely won’t do. I’d better keep watching over Ling’e’s safety instead.”

Li Changshou sighed: “As a subject, it isn’t very appropriate.”

Just as his words fell, a trace of Dao charm flowed into Li Changshou’s heart.

The Dao charm trembled, the Great Dao rang, and a familiar word silently formed, making Li Changshou not dare show any trace of disdain.

[Go].