Within the Celestial Palace, in the Hidden Palace of the Mystic Hall, in Master Baize’s exclusive private chambers.
Two figures paced back and forth, occasionally passing shoulder to shoulder, their unceasing footsteps reflecting their somewhat unsettled hearts.
Master Baize suddenly stopped, turned to look at the paper Daoist clone that had just flown from his sleeve, and asked softly:
“Water God, are you certain Kunpeng sent someone to deliver a message?”
“Almost certainly… Master Bai, is your Heaven-Concealing Grand Formation effective here?”
“This poor Daoist at least has that much ability,” Master Baize said in a deep voice, then steadied himself. “As long as no obvious Heavenly Dao power is sensed, this place should avoid detection.”
Li Changshou nodded, weighing his words carefully before speaking solemnly:
“The jade ring from Kunpeng’s shed skin contained something forbidden by the Heavenly Dao. I hadn’t even told you about it, Master Bai and Master Taiqing helped me conceal this matter.
Besides Master Taiqing and myself, presumably, no one else knows.
That Celestial Demon worshipped a black shadow, and spoke of commands from the Mother of Celestial Demons, who clearly must be a Primordial Divine Demon, attempting to infiltrate the Degree-Granting Gate to meet me and ask if I wanted to see more matters forbidden by the Heavenly Dao.”
Master Baize hurriedly asked: “Those Heavenly Dao forbidden matters… did Water God look at them?”
“How could I possibly? Not,” Li Changshou winked at Master Baize, then clasped his hands toward the sky and declared loudly, “This poor Daoist works for the Heavenly Court and the Heavenly Dao, naturally would never touch matters forbidden by the Heavenly Dao!
Master Bai, you know me—am I the kind of unstable person who would do such things?”
Master Baize immediately gave a thumbs up, praising: “Vanguard of the Heavenly Dao, defender of righteousness—this poor Daoist naturally believes in Water God.”
The two then exchanged glances and burst into hearty laughter.
“What does Master Bai think we should do next?”
Li Changshou sat back in the chamber’s only round chair, while Master Baize pulled over a stone stool and sat beside him.
“Ah, Kunpeng is truly a great threat,” Master Baize sighed. “Since returning from the Chaos Sea, this poor Daoist has been restless, unable to sleep well, and extremely uneasy.
Of course, this hasn’t affected the many affairs of the Celestial Palace.
When Kunpeng’s shed skin was destroyed by the Water God, this poor Daoist thought that given Kunpeng’s vengeful nature, he wouldn’t swallow this bitter pill, yet also thought that since Kunpeng intended to use his fake death to escape the Sages’ pursuit, he wouldn’t approach the Primordial Realm again.
Never imagined he would have such schemes.
Then, about the Severing Sect Patriarch…”
“Third Master Uncle certainly has no connection to Kunpeng,” Li Changshou stated. “Kunpeng seeking me out could involve various schemes, possibly wanting to entice me to cooperate with him.
Regardless, Kunpeng is utterly evil, and I absolutely won’t have any association with him.
Even if the Heavenly Dao intends for Kunpeng to return to heaven and earth, when the time comes to stand in opposition, I certainly won’t remain silent.
He is a great enemy of humanity, and must not be allowed to harm the mortal world again.”
Master Baize hummed thoughtfully, then asked: “Is it possible that Kunpeng is connected to the Heavenly Dao forbidden matters?”
Li Changshou pondered carefully, a somewhat absurd idea emerging in his heart.
Kunpeng—Senior Lang’s mount or subordinate?
If so, it would match Goddess Nüwa’s statement that ‘he once manipulated the Ancient Immortal-Demon War from behind the scenes.’
But this… was it possible?
Although Li Changshou didn’t think Senior Lang was a ‘good person’, he was still a fellow countryman who seemed to have lived in roughly the same era as himself. He found it hard to accept that Senior Lang would be involved with Kunpeng.
Li Changshou sat thinking for a while, then soon shook his head with a slight smile.
Never mind, he should ask the only remaining witness who could speak about this matter.
Li Changshou said: “Master Bai, I need to trouble you with something.”
“Water God, please instruct me.”
“Write two memorials under my name, and give them to my paper Daoist clone later.
The first memorial should organize Ancient Demon Court Demon Teacher Kunpeng’s crimes, listing them clearly point by point, remembering to detail his acts of harming living beings.”
“Yes,” Master Baize lowered his head in acknowledgment.
Li Changshou thought for a moment, then said: “The second memorial concerns cultivators investigating Outer Realm Celestial Demons in various regions, especially at the edges of the Three Thousand Worlds.
Master Bai, just draft a general outline. We don’t necessarily need to implement this—it’s just to show our position.”
“Rest assured, Water God. Your subordinate will begin writing right away.”
Li Changshou nodded slowly, and the paper Daoist clone closed its eyes as his true body ‘awoke’ on Small Jade Peak.
Setting aside research into applying heart demon slices to spirit power, and what significant implications this method might have for improving the paper Daoist clone system, Li Changshou immediately hurried to the lakeside.
Kunpeng, the Wanderer’s Chronicle, the Heavenly Dao’s guidance…
These were major matters concerning his current life and death—Li Changshou truly couldn’t remain at ease.
His immortal consciousness swept toward the thatched cottage, discovering Spirit Maiden E surrounded by treasure light in meditation. After consideration, Li Changshou didn’t disturb her but activated Small Jade Peak’s layers of formations, left a paper note, and quietly returned to Taibai Palace.
To visit Goddess Nüwa, he naturally needed to go in his true form, otherwise he couldn’t withstand the ‘time stop’ divine ability.
Calling for Tower Lord and summoning Golden Roc, Li Changshou transformed into a young Daoist and followed Golden Roc out of the East Heaven Gate toward the outer heavens.
The entrance to Mother Goddess Palace was hidden in void space. Having visited several times, Li Changshou had roughly figured out its location.
Arriving near Mother Goddess Palace, misty immortal light had already appeared at the entrance. Four graceful immortal maidens flew out carrying palace lanterns and flower baskets, bowing to Golden Roc and Li Changshou.
“Greetings, Star-Lord Taibai.”
Li Changshou emerged from behind Golden Roc, maintaining his young Daoist appearance, and cupped his hands to the four maidens.
“This minor god seeks an audience with the Great Virtuous Mother Goddess, please help convey my request.”
The four maidens smiled gently, and one said: “Star-Lord need not stand on ceremony with us. Mother Goddess has said that you may enter to see her whenever you come. Please follow us.”
As she spoke, the four maidens had already condensed a cloud boat, inviting Li Changshou and Golden Roc forward.
Li Changshou expressed thanks before flying onto the cloud boat. Golden Roc watched his teacher’s back, eyes full of admiration.
This was his teacher’s charm!
Even Mother Goddess…
Li Changshou suddenly turned to look at Golden Roc, slightly frowning, his eyes carrying some seriousness.
Golden Roc immediately extinguished that little thought in his heart, then marveled again.
Could his teacher even sense what he was thinking?
Truly, too powerful…
Li Changshou’s mouth twitched slightly. He could roughly guess what Golden Roc was thinking just from his expression, but it wasn’t appropriate to correct him now.
Suddenly he wondered—was Golden Roc’s current attitude toward him similar to his own when facing the Dao Ancestor?
Both could see through thoughts at a glance, using existing information and understanding of personality to achieve an effect nearly like mind reading, inadvertently giving others great shock, but actually quite reasonable and expected when one thought about it.
Thinking of this, Li Changshou’s Dao heart immediately felt much lighter. A small insight arose, which he also suppressed to contemplate later.
Hmm?
Li Changshou’s brows furrowed slightly as he closed his eyes on the cloud boat, flashes of inspiration crossing his mind.
Simply organizing the Celestial Demon matter, he suddenly reached a somewhat shocking conclusion.
It was known that only Taiqing, himself, and the eliminated ‘Kunpeng’ knew he had obtained the “Wanderer’s Chronicle” and that it was incomplete.
And Celestial Demon Du Shuren wanted to infiltrate cultivators’ hearts layer by layer, intending to reach his side to tell him this sentence:
[Would you like to see what comes next?]
This message most likely referred to the “Wanderer’s Chronicle”, and if it did indeed refer to the “Wanderer’s Chronicle”, then it could confirm that Kunpeng was still alive and had joined forces with the Outer Realm Celestial Demons, wielding a terrifying power.
Continuing from this foundation, what conclusions could be drawn?
The truly frightening aspect lay here!
What did Kunpeng arrange ‘Du Shuren’ to do?
To convey information.
What was the Heavenly Dao’s purpose in arranging the Black Panther to encounter ‘Du Shuren’?
The Heavenly Dao had long known he was secretly monitoring the Black Panther, and there was the previous Red Lotus incident where he directly ignored its transmitted message—a ‘lesson learned.’
The peculiarity here was that if the Heavenly Dao wanted to destroy this demon, a single Purple Lightning Divine Thunder could resolve it, or simply arranging one or two masters to ‘pass by’ would eliminate it.
The Black Panther’s importance was self-evident;
The Heavenly Dao had once confronted him in the Primordial Golden Dipper for twelve years to ensure the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation proceeded smoothly, and that tribulation Heavenly Dao will-transformed Daoist shadow only left his Dao heart when the curtain of the Investiture opened.
There was no reason to let the Black Panther go out to do meaningless things.
It was also known that the Heavenly Dao, except for the Dao Ancestor’s portion and tribulation will, should not possess ‘thinking ability’, acting entirely according to Heavenly Dao rules, with the sole purpose of maintaining heaven and earth’s stability.
The first terrifying realization was—’ The common belief that the Primordial Realm’s Heavenly Dao is impartial may be wrong.’
Li Changshou’s forehead broke out in cold sweat as he suppressed the increasingly unrestrained thoughts in his heart, constraining all guesses and suspicions purely to this matter.
[Did the Heavenly Dao arrange for the Black Panther to lead him there to ensure he would directly contact this demon and receive Kunpeng’s transmitted information?
Turning Kunpeng’s plan, which might have had only a fifty percent chance of success, into one with ninety percent?]
There were two different lines of deductive reasoning, leading to vastly different conclusions.
First, the Heavenly Dao simply wanted him to know Kunpeng was still alive, not caring about the “Wanderer’s Chronicle” itself;
Second, in the Heavenly Dao’s judgment, letting him see the “Wanderer’s Chronicle” would benefit heaven and earth’s stability…
He dared not think further along the second line of reasoning. The frightening conclusions it could lead to implied nothing less than absolute opposition between the Dao Ancestor and the Heavenly Dao’s will.
At that moment, thoughts in Li Changshou’s mind were exceptionally chaotic—press down one thought, and another would emerge.
After Golden Roc was arranged to have tea and fruit in Mother Goddess Palace, Li Changshou went to meet Mother Goddess Nüwa in that tower. His expression held only bitterness, his eyes filled with melancholy as he looked at Mother Goddess Nüwa.
Mother Goddess Nüwa, sitting obliquely before the bookshelf, was somewhat puzzled.
“What’s wrong with you? Could something stump someone like you?”
Li Changshou: …
To be honest, he truly didn’t want to manage so many matters, only wanting to arrange the Investiture of the God Tribulation and then flee with his family.
But the current situation was increasingly escaping his control. A force of ‘blind chaos’ from ancient times had begun to distort his carefully established ‘domain of stability.’
“Mother Goddess,” Li Changshou sighed deeply, “this disciple has always… greatly respected you.”
Nüwa thought carefully, then smiled: “Trying to get close won’t help. First, draw several sequel volumes.
Whatever you want to ask, I will tell you as I see fit.
I have many matters here that even Elder Brother Taiqing doesn’t know about.”
Li Changshou: …
He had a feeling Mother Goddess might also be a behind-the-scenes manipulator, just that her goals were relatively simple.
…
Moments later, in the domain created by Nüwa.
Mother Goddess Nüwa, with loose flowing hair and wearing a simple plain dress, sat cross-legged on a soft couch, holding a cup of fruit wine and taking a gentle sip through a straw.
“You killed Kunpeng’s shed skin and obtained a book? Then Kunpeng sent a Celestial Demon to find you, and the Heavenly Dao helped this demon meet you directly, informing you that Kunpeng has the continuation?”
Sitting in his usual spot, slowly mixing ink colors, Li Changshou nodded: “More or less, that’s it.”
Mother Goddess Nüwa smiled: “This segment could be drawn out, quite interesting.”
Li Changshou smiled bitterly: “Mother Goddess, this matter has absolutely no falsehood.”
“You could catch up to Kunpeng?”
“This disciple’s Dao of Balance equilibrated the extreme speed of the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird and Kunpeng. I specifically called the Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird, and he was also a witness that day. You can ask him to know.”
Mother Goddess Nüwa nodded, her finger gently sliding across her smooth chin, humming thoughtfully: “Then why don’t you try to see if you can catch up to the Chaos Bell?”
Li Changshou immediately smiled bitterly: “If the Chaos Bell were retrieved now, it might suppress the Severing Sect’s great fortune, but such an act would be no different from opposing the Heavenly Dao, and would certainly invite backlash.”
“Then you mean to let Severing Sect immortals fill most of the God-Making positions and tribulation ash pits during the great tribulation?”
“This disciple didn’t say that,” Li Changshou sighed, “but the Severing Sect indeed has many problems.”
“If Tongtian comes to seek your help, how will you handle it?”
“This disciple certainly cannot disobey Third Master Uncle’s decree,” Li Changshou said, “however, this disciple currently absolutely lacks the power to balance against a Sage. Even balancing against Kunpeng’s shed skin was already quite strenuous.
Moreover, this disciple has tried—primordial treasures are unaffected by the Dao of Balance, and the Taiji Diagram itself contains the way of balance.”
Nüwa held her crystal cup and pondered for a while, “First say what you want to ask, I’ll estimate a price.”
“The relationship between Kunpeng and Senior Lang.”
Li Changshou paused, then added: “Whether Senior Lang truly went mad in the end.”
Nüwa blinked: “I won’t charge you consultation fees for these two answers.”
“Oh?” Li Changshou smiled, “Mother Goddess, you truly are…”
“Because revealing the answers to these two questions benefits the Heavenly Dao and my teacher, and won’t make me bear any risks,” Nüwa gave a light laugh, “moreover, you haven’t repaid your five-hundred-year debt, though I’m not in a hurry.”
“Then the answers are?”
“Kunpeng and he were mutually using each other, though most of the time, Kunpeng was controlled by him.”
Li Changshou’s brows furrowed tightly as he smiled bitterly: “Indeed, one can’t view this fellow countryman through one’s concepts.”
“About humanity?”
“Yes.”
“Beings from ancient times naturally feel detached from posterior beings,” Nüwa explained. “As for the second question, I also cannot answer you definitively.
From others’ perspectives, he indeed went mad.
I know that he had plans to achieve sagehood and transcendence. At the time, he suddenly advanced his plans without reason, seemingly desperate to obtain power equivalent to God Pangu’s, even willing to disturb the world’s fundamental pure and turbid forces for this.
If my teacher hadn’t intervened, working with the Heavenly Dao to strike him dead, this heaven and earth would have ended during the second Ancient Immortal-Demon War.”
Li Changshou asked: “Was such urgency due to competition with Grand Master?”
Mother Goddess Nüwa squinted and smiled lightly: “That question comes at a different price. Do you want to know?”
Li Changshou immediately became alert, stood up, and made a Daoist salute to Nüwa, saying: “This disciple spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Mother Goddess, and thank you for your guidance.”
“Your greatest virtue is knowing when to advance and retreat.”
Mother Goddess Nüwa pointed at the table and chair before Li Changshou, “Draw, and remember to make it exciting.”
Li Changshou sat properly, picked up his brush, pondered for a while, and then began immersing himself in artistic creation.
Taking the opportunity, he also calmed his spirit and began organizing various pieces of information he now possessed.
Mother Goddess Nüwa didn’t want to offend Dao Ancestor Hongjun—this was understandable. From Mother Goddess Nüwa’s earlier hints, Li Changshou roughly understood that the Dao Ancestor and Senior Lang back then…
Were both not exactly clean.
There was no absolute black and white in this matter, after all, rules are made by the victors, and right and wrong are defined by the victors.
The Primordial Realm was just that dangerous.
When beings possess the ability to rewrite various natural laws, the world’s essence is reduced to cruelty.
‘Better think about how to escape.’
After who knows how long, the stack of drawings beside Li Changshou had accumulated half a foot high;
Mother Goddess Nüwa yawned, put down the book in her hand, and suddenly asked:
“Regarding the Kunpeng matter, how do you plan to handle it? Do you need me to explain the cause and effect to the Heavenly Dao? For instance, I sent you to the Chaos Sea to search for Kunpeng’s traces.”
Li Changshou’s hand didn’t stop, nor did he raise his head, softly saying: “No need, this disciple has already made preparations.”
“Oh? How have you prepared?”
“This disciple has made a three-step plan. First is to memorialize His Majesty the Jade Emperor, stating Kunpeng’s harm, making Kunpeng a most wanted extremely dangerous criminal of the Three Realms, disrupting Kunpeng’s fake death strategy, and clearly distinguishing our positions.
The second is to conduct activities to clear out Outer Realm Celestial Demons and create a beautiful new Primordial Realm in the regions around the Three Thousand Worlds. The Divine Beast at the Netherworld’s Reincarnation Tower previously made this disciple somewhat uncomfortable, so this time let it atone for its crimes through meritorious service, going to each world to listen to the voices of all beings.
Third, hide for one or two hundred years, only moving about in the Heavenly Court, maintaining relationships with various immortals and gods, and deepening the ruler-minister relationship with His Majesty.
Meanwhile, make some preparations for the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.”
Nüwa’s lips curved slightly, “You truly deserve the name of Stabilizer.”
“Otherwise, besides clarifying attitude and position, what else can this disciple do…”
“You have now stepped into the realm of perfected Dao, not far from severing the three corpses, counting as a great divine power in the Primordial Realm, and have mastered such a Dao of Balance—haven’t you thought about transcending to become a Sage?”
Li Changshou smiled: “Transcendence is always on my mind, but becoming a Sage—better not.
This disciple can also sense that this heaven and earth are approaching some limit, unable to withstand the impact of beings becoming Sages.
Occupying too many resources means bearing corresponding risks; interfering too much with heaven and earth will certainly invite corresponding backlash.
Such instability is destined for destruction.”
“How can you transcend without becoming a Sage?”
“Is becoming a Sage equivalent to transcendence?”
In the time-stopped domain, the Mother Goddess sitting on the soft couch holding a crystal cup and Li Changshou sitting cross-legged behind the low table holding brush met eyes, but this time it was Mother Goddess Nüwa who first looked away.
“What exactly was your original world like, how did two souls drift over, each more inscrutable than the last.”
Li Changshou smiled slightly but didn’t say much, continuing to lower his head and draw.
Outstanding youths like him were plentiful in his hometown.
Of course, those as stable as Mount Tai like him were indeed rare.
[Mount: Feeling offended.]
This Kunpeng had truly created some difficulties for him. Swallowing this anger was certainly impossible—he had to make Kunpeng uncomfortable somehow and make him harass himself less in the future.
Eh?
Maitreya, Kunpeng…
Shed skin, new life…
Li Changshou’s eyes brightened, his brush moving as if divinely assisted, his eyes showing some urgency to complete the work.
“Don’t rush, there’s plenty of time,” Mother Goddess Nüwa said calmly. “After this volume is finished, we can add another.”
Li Changshou immediately steadied his wrist, continuing to dig deep into the details, creating fine work slowly.