Several days later, in a corner of Spirit Mountain in the Western Bull Continent.

Daoist Wenjing clutched her left shoulder, her beautiful face pale and bloodless. Her breath was unsteady, making the blood-colored gauze dress she wore appear even more vivid against her pallor.

Behind Daoist Wenjing, a man and woman transformed from Primordial Beasts knelt on one knee, both bearing injuries. The man’s chest was severely caved in, and the bones around the wound completely shattered. Only his magical power kept him standing. Upon closer inspection, the basin-sized wound perfectly matched the shape of an ox’s hoof…

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

Before Daoist Wenjing lay the remains of a Primordial Beast, its imposing aura not yet dissipated. The remnants were over twenty feet long, appearing to be a black-furred ferocious bear. The corpse was incomplete and disfigured, clearly having endured a storm of attacks before its demise.

On the other side of the remains, several figures sat in the shadows—all elderly Daoists wearing patched robes.

One elderly Daoist’s eyes flickered with divine light as he stared at Wenjing’s injured shoulder and asked doubtfully, “The Azure Ox? Lord Lao’s mount? Mere mount managed to beat you all into such a state?”

Daoist Wenjing hurriedly replied, “Vice Sect Leader, that Azure Ox is incredibly powerful, an ancient variant species, most difficult to deal with! He possessed a steel ring, a secret treasure forged by Lord Lao that could capture all kinds of released magical treasures. He also had a fan—with just one wave, he sent us flying beyond the heavens…”

“Outrageous!” A short, stout elderly Daoist beside her emanated killing intent as he scolded, “You failed to retrieve the Yuan Tu Sword, and now you’ve been so thoroughly beaten by a mere mount—what use are you to Spirit Mountain!”

“Vice Sect Leader, it was—it was the Water God!” The woman transformed from a Primordial Beast behind Wenjing immediately cried out. “The Heavenly Court’s Water God intervened. He must have calculated this would happen and laid an ambush around that traitor Iron Fan early on!”

The five elderly Daoists exchanged glances before the one in the middle spoke in a deep voice, “Is this true?”

Wenjing frowned and pressed her lips together, remaining silent.

The woman continued trembling, “Please spare us, Vice Sect Leader, this is absolutely true! That dao rhythm and aura—we couldn’t mistake it. Such paper figures are unique to the Water God in the Three Realms now!”

The elderly Daoists’ gazes instantly grew sharp.

The short, stout elder who habitually played the bad cop immediately scolded, “Hmph! Well, Wenjing, why did you hide this earlier?”

Daoist Wenjing seemed to want to speak but held back, her beautiful eyes showing slight hesitation as if weighing something.

The man transformed from a Primordial Beast and lifted his head to glance at Wenjing’s back. A slight cold smile crossed his lips as he feigned difficulty and said softly, “Vice Sect Leader, please don’t blame Commander Wenjing for this! When the Water God appeared, we panicked. It was Commander Wenjing who destroyed the Water God’s avatar, allowing us to successfully escape and report back to you.”

“What did you say?” One elderly Daoist immediately stood up, eyes wide, and demanded, “Wenjing, did you kill the Water God’s avatar?”

Daoist Wenjing turned to glare at the man, who immediately lowered his head, appearing quite fearful.

A true battle between seasoned actors.

“Outrageous!” The short, stout elder bellowed, “Just days ago, the Master gave strict orders not to provoke Water God Li Changgen for the next hundred years. Wenjing, you knew this, yet you still killed his avatar! That Water God is vindictive and scheming—he will surely seek revenge against our Spirit Mountain!”

Another elder beside him sighed, “Wenjing, don’t you know? Once, a senior brother destroyed one of the Water God’s avatars and suffered targeting from Severing Sect’s Zhao Gongming—and that was before the Water God held power. Now that he’s been appointed as Grand White Star and oversees matters of the Great Tribulation… aren’t you afraid he’ll harbor even more grudges against us?”

Daoist Wenjing slowly closed her slender phoenix eyes, showing traces of helplessness and mockery.

She sighed softly and said, “If I hadn’t killed the Water God’s avatar, none of us would have made it back here. If the Vice Sect Leaders believe Wenjing was wrong, I’ll accept punishment. But ultimately, I feel somewhat unconvinced. He only had a Golden Immortal realm avatar there—if not killing him meant our death, why couldn’t we kill him?”

“Wenjing, who are you giving attitude to? You—!”

Just as the hot-tempered short elder was loudly berating her, a soft sigh suddenly rang out, immediately silencing his booming voice.

A figure in gray robes mysteriously appeared before Daoist Wenjing.

The cosmos showed not a single ripple!

The elderly Daoists hurriedly stood and hastily bowed to this gray-robed figure, all addressing him as “Master.”

Daoist Wenjing’s body trembled as she immediately lowered her head and knelt, not daring to look up at this gray-robed elder.

This aura, this faint pressure…

The Western Teaching’s true pillar, one of the Six Sages—Daoist Jieyin!

“Wenjing pays respects to the Grand Sect Leader!”

“Mm,” Jieyin responded, his hands hanging at his sides and his figure slightly hunched. “Raise your head.”

Cold sweat seeped from Daoist Wenjing’s pale cheeks as her dao heart turned ice-cold.

The Sage’s pressure, the secrets in her heart, such proximity—her dao heart nearly failed in an instant.

But she was, after all, the fierce Mosquito Daoist of the primordial world, a Primordial Beast who had emerged from the Sea of Blood. Her dao heart was truly resilient. As she slowly raised her head, her phoenix eyes’ pupils trembled continuously.

Jieyin’s eyelids were half-lowered, his gaze seemingly able to completely see through Wenjing’s dao heart!

Wenjing dared not utter a sound at this moment, her dao heart completely blank as she forced herself to repeatedly recall the battle in the small world from days ago…

The savage Azure Ox tearing apart Primordial Beasts with his bare hands;

Her destroying the Water God’s paper avatar in a flash…

“Don’t be afraid.”

Jieyin said this, stepped forward, walked past Daoist Wenjing, and came before the man transformed from a Primordial Beast.

“Raise your head.”

The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he hurriedly lifted his head to meet the Sage’s gaze…

After a moment, as Jieyin’s wide sleeve gently swayed, the man’s eyes instantly lost their light. His form suddenly collapsed, turning into a small pile of black sand.

Not a trace of life force remained.

Jieyin spoke slowly, “Wenjing is promoted to First Dark Guardian.”

With these words, Jieyin’s form gradually faded and dispersed with the wind amidst the elderly Daoists’ acknowledgments.

Daoist Wenjing’s face was deathly pale, nearly collapsing to the ground.

But a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth as she bowed deeply toward the depths of Spirit Mountain.

“Wenjing thanks the Grand Master!”

The elderly Daoists’ expressions were somewhat complex, but as they looked at Daoist Wenjing’s graceful figure, they now showed somewhat warm smiles.

The short, stout elder who had scolded Wenjing most harshly earlier flicked his sleeve and walked away.

Half an hour later, in Daoist Wenjing’s cave dwelling.

A mosquito’s buzz passed by as Wenjing materialized and helplessly collapsed onto her bed, letting out a long breath.

That was close…

As if having survived a calamity, she couldn’t help but recall the message she had heard days ago from the Water God… no, the Star Lord now.

[Wenjing, it’s me. The ox spirit before you is Lord Lao’s mount, with strength surpassing yours. Your identity must not be exposed in the slightest, even before Lord Lao’s ox. Take this opportunity to destroy one of my paper avatars, then return to Spirit Mountain with one or two subordinates to claim credit and solidify your position there. Adapt to circumstances as needed, and don’t hesitate to strike at me later.]

On the bed, Daoist Wenjing gently frowned, feeling the impact the Sage’s pressure had given her as her pale complexion quickly returned to a rosy hue.

‘Until when does my lord want me to infiltrate the Western Teaching? And what exactly does he want me to do here?’

First Dark Guardian, one of the Western Teaching’s three great guardians, a position second only to the few Vice Sect Leaders and above ordinary Sage disciples.

Daoist Wenjing sighed softly…

This assignment was truly becoming increasingly difficult.

…

‘I hope Wenjing is alright.’

In a painting scroll on the wall of an underground chamber on Little Jade Peak, Li Changshou’s true form paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

Having Wenjing “rashly attack” and kill one of his paper avatars to claim credit was somewhat too aggressive, and lacking in stability.

Although he believed he had made it flawless, it was still deliberately planned and could easily reveal some flaws.

Well, thinking too much was useless.

Wenjing should have returned to Spirit Mountain by now. She was a Primordial Beast and a veteran of the primordial world—if she encountered danger, she could surely handle it herself. He needn’t worry too much about whether she would be exposed.

Someone as careful about preserving her life as Wenjing, an old-timer of the primordial world, would certainly not gamble with her own life.

Li Changshou still worried that if Western Teaching offered Wenjing too many benefits, would she hesitate when the time came to strike?

His divine consciousness caught sight of Ling’e’s graceful figure approaching on clouds from the lakeside. Li Changshou’s true form sat back in the bamboo chair, closed his eyes to concentrate, and continued handling the aftermath.

The Azure Ox and Iron Fan had also survived this “minor tribulation.”

That day, the scene of the ox brutally beating the Primordial Beasts had stunned Iron Fan…

She knew the Azure Ox was extraordinary, but hadn’t imagined he was this dominating!

Her feared and revered Aunt Wen had been severely injured with one palm strike by the man she had entrusted her life to—the lover she would sacrifice herself to protect…

Li Changshou’s paper avatar appeared after the battle and spoke words to Iron Fan that transformed many of her fixed impressions:

“Iron Fan, you must learn to trust those around you, don’t always shoulder everything alone. Many things that seem difficult to you might be simple matters for Senior Brother Azure Ox.”

Instantly elevating Azure Ox’s family status by several grades!

‘Bros before woes.’

At the battle’s end, under Li Changshou’s subtle guidance, Azure Ox used the Plantain Fan to unleash a Mystic Yin Fierce Wind, sending Daoist Wenjing and the other two Primordial Beasts flying tens of thousands of miles away.

Afterward, Azure Ox quickly left that small world with the still-dazed silver-haired girl and Li Changshou’s paper avatar, returning directly to the Five Regions.

With the Western Teaching targeting Iron Fan, she naturally couldn’t continue wandering freely.

Most importantly…

Azure Ox had roamed wild for so long, it was time to return to his duties.

Under Li Changshou’s arrangements, Iron Fan was sent to the Shang tribe in the South Jambudvipa Continent, placed under Kong Xuan’s care, conveniently becoming a companion for Seven Emotions’ reincarnated form.

Like Ao Yi, Azure Ox would descend to the mortal realm periodically to meet with Iron Fan.

If Lord Lao approved, Azure Ox could even stay in the mortal realm longer.

Half a day ago, Li Changshou had entrusted the Golden Band to Azure Ox to return to Doushuai Palace.

The matter of “Finding the Ox” thus concluded.

Speaking of which, both Azure Ox and Old Man Zhao moved so quickly—did they truly have no concerns about the future Great Tribulation?

Li Changshou could only smile at this, taking advantage of this period of general stability while the Western Teaching was jumping in discontent to review the arrangements for the Investiture of the Gods several more times.

In battling against Heaven, one must be cautious—being a billion times more stable wouldn’t be excessive.

Thus, a rather serious question lay before Li Changshou.

Should he devote some energy to comprehending the Eight-Nine Mystic Art, changing from “casual practice” to “dedicated research” to advance into the final two realms?

Li Changshou had previously noticed that the Eight-Nine Mystic Art wasn’t perfect. For humans lacking the Demon race’s naturally powerful physique, cultivating the Eight-Nine Mystic Art would always have shortcomings.

But Goddess Houtu had already provided the solution to this problem through King Yan.

The Ancestral Demon’s essence blood.

Nine is the extreme of yang numbers, and eight is the extreme of yin numbers, like in the concept of “Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams”—the Eight-Nine Mystic Art had many implications.

Of course, it could also be understood that the name “Eight-Nine Mystic Art” itself represented missing “one point,” unable to achieve nine returning to unity.

This might be Heaven’s Way blocking it, or perhaps even Goddess Houtu couldn’t perfect this technique, ultimately requiring Ancestral Demon blood to compensate for the deficiency.

Li Changshou experimented for several days and discovered the difference in power between the Eight-Nine Mystic Art with and without Ancestral Demon blood was enormous.

With Ancestral Demon blood’s aid, cultivating this mystic art to its peak would grant an additional divine ability—

As long as the primordial spirit didn’t die, the physical body could regenerate at any time!

Though countless body cultivation methods remained from the primordial world, only this mystic art could achieve this point.

Besides delaying his energy and dispersing his insights into the Balanced Dao, what downsides were there to cultivating this art?

There weren’t any—overall, it would provide another means of preservation.

Perhaps practice it for a few decades?

From now until the Six Sages went to Zixiao Palace to discuss the Investiture of the Gods, these decades were a rare gap.

After hesitating for several days, Li Changshou finally decided to adjust his monitoring of the Heavenly Court, Immortal Alliance, and临天殿 to the lowest level he could accept and began focusing entirely on studying the Eight-Nine Mystic Art.

Once he began studying, he became completely absorbed, unable to extricate himself.

Li Changshou abandoned his previous “casual practice” insights and started carefully analyzing and experiencing from the beginning, almost reaching the point of forgetting clouds and neglecting Ling’e.

Consequently, his frequency of leaving the secret chamber decreased significantly.

Every time Ling’e saw her senior brother, she found him either frowning in contemplation or sitting in quiet meditation, rarely so focused on his cultivation.

‘Has Senior Brother… encountered a bottleneck?’

Thinking this, Ling’e could only burn more incense before their master’s tablet, blessing her senior brother to break through the bottleneck soon.

Additionally, Ling’e temporarily sacrificed her cultivation, voluntarily helping her senior brother monitor Immortal Alliance affairs, and sharing some of his miscellaneous tasks.

What shocked Ling’e immensely was that her senior brother maintained this state for over ten years!

Was Senior Brother contemplating how to achieve sagehood?

Was he about to sever the three corpses?

What kind of mysterious gate could block Senior Brother for over ten years?

Ling’e grew increasingly worried.

Fortunately, Li Changshou didn’t remain in seclusion for extended periods, going out every few months to handle various affairs and guide Princess Longji’s cultivation.

Though worried, Ling’e didn’t dare ask much, fearing to put more pressure on her senior brother.

In the sixteenth year of seriously cultivating the Eight-Nine Mystic Art, Li Changshou began refining some spirit pills, taking medicinal baths, practicing some ordinary sword techniques, spear techniques, and fist techniques, arranging some thunder, fire, water, and wind-killing formations, then strolling into them casually to enjoy the formations’ bombardment…

This day, Li Changshou had just walked out from the killing formation outside the pill room, refreshed and clear-eyed, with a faint smile on his lips, mentally calculating the mysteries of the Eight-Nine Mystic Art.

He finally experienced again that comfortable feeling of inadvertent enlightenment from before achieving immortality…

“Senior- Senior Brother?”

“Hm?”

Li Changshou gathered his thoughts and looked at Ling’e in her training clothes beside him, asking gently, “What is it?”

“Senior Brother,” Ling’e asked with full concern, “have you been stuck at a bottleneck too long, making your dao heart unstable?”

Then, Ling’e came closer, massaging Li Changshou’s arms while saying softly:

“You shouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself, cultivation can’t be rushed.

Many immortals get stuck at cultivation bottlenecks for hundreds or thousands of years, Senior Brother you’ve only been stuck for over ten years, it’s very common.”

Li Changshou: …

“I’m practicing a mystic art,” Li Changshou said seriously. “This mystic art’s later stages require borrowing heaven and earth’s power to temper the physical body and primordial spirit, I’m just using formations as a shortcut.”

Ling’e blinked: “Mystic art?”

“Here,” Li Changshou handed over a jade talisman, “gifted by Goddess Houtu, it contains some of my annotations. You don’t need to practice it—just take a look.”

Ling’e asked quietly, “Senior Brother, is it because my aptitude is too poor that I can’t practice it?”

“No, this technique requires enduring some hardship and wouldn’t be very useful for you,” Li Changshou said, “Moreover, if not controlled properly, it would make your… graceful figure change.”

Ling’e’s delicate hand trembled as she stuffed the jade talisman back into Li Changshou’s hand, immediately backing up three steps and cupping her hands to bow.

“Farewell, no need, thank you Senior Brother!”

Li Changshou smiled without speaking, putting away this jade talisman prepared for Yang Jian, and said: “Go call Lingli over.”

With that he floated back to the pill room with his hands behind his back, preparing to start refining spirit pills to strengthen physical body power.

Soon after, Ling’e brought Bear Lingli hurrying over.

Li Changshou asked Bear Lingli a simple question.

[Do you want to become stronger.]

Bear Lingli nodded firmly, her cute face showing some expectation as she said softly:

“Cousin, I’m an idiot at cultivating the primordial spirit path, I can’t comprehend many principles, and haven’t been able to achieve immortality after so many years…

Hehe, I still can’t truly abstain from food, it’s quite embarrassing.”

Li Changshou paused his busy hands and took out a wine flask from his chest, smiling as he said:

“You originally have Demon race bloodline, and now after cultivating Dao techniques for long, it’s indeed proven that you can’t walk this path.”

Bear Lingli sighed somewhat dejectedly.

Ling’e hurriedly said: “Aunt Lingli don’t worry, Senior Brother speaking like this must mean he has a way to help you increase your strength.”

“Correct,” Li Changshou pushed the wine flask over with immortal power, “In here is dissolved half a drop of Ancestral Demon blood power, and it’s the most stable and gentle Houtu essence blood.

I’ve calculated that this is already the limit you can bear.

From now on, drink one mouthful of this wine each month while cultivating this technique.”

As he spoke, Li Changshou took out two scroll paintings from his sleeve and spread them in the air before Bear Lingli.

“To help you comprehend, I’ve made diagrams of the internal spiritual power circulation paths and various cultivation tips, can you understand them?”

Bear Lingli nodded heavily, her eyes full of excitement.

Thus, several decades later…

…

It was now just three years and four months until the day Dao Ancestor had set for the Six Sages to go to Zixiao Palace to discuss the Investiture of the Gods.

Li Changshou had been peacefully cultivating in the mountain these recent decades, which made Ling’e quite happy…

On this day, Li Changshou ended his Eight-Nine Mystic Art research phase and formally emerged from seclusion. He found Ling’e who had just finished comprehending the Dao by the lake, and told her not to go out as he had to leave on an errand.

Ling’e’s lips twitched slightly as she muttered:

“Senior Brother, what you should worry about now isn’t me going out, but someone coming to our Little Jade Peak.”

“Ah, you make a good point.”

Li Changshou sighed softly, looking toward… that “mountain peak” that had appeared by the lake at some unknown time.

“Hm?”

Feeling Li Changshou’s gaze, the peak of that several-hundred-zhang-tall mountain slowly twisted, revealing an enormous “cute face.”

Bear Lingli!

She who was crouching on the ground raised her several-hundred-zhang-long, incredibly thick arms and “slightly” waved at Li Changshou.

Like rolling thunder, a “whispering shout” exploded by the lake, causing waves to ripple across the water’s surface.

“Cou~sin! You’re—out—of—seclusion!”

Ling’e couldn’t help covering her face with one hand, while Li Changshou felt deeply grateful in his heart.

Fortunately, under the Ancestral Demon blood’s effects, this fellow no longer needed to eat, otherwise Little Jade Peak would have gone bankrupt years ago!

Li Changshou asked loudly: “How have you been feeling lately?”

“I’ve become stronger, and bigger!”

Bear Lingli’s face was full of joy as she transmitted very specifically: “Didn’t you say I should go to the Heavenly Court to be a giant-strength guardian deity? When are we going?”

“Just waiting for you to master the transformation technique,” Li Changshou kept his hands in his sleeves while admiring Bear Lingli’s mighty and majestic form with praise.

Tsk, another fierce general.