‘Hmm… I feel like Yang Jian is just waiting for his chance at revenge, using this to mess with my state of mind.’

Had he been led astray by Bian Zhuang?

No, that wasn’t quite right. Watching how Yang Jian managed to find camera angles even while fighting showed that he was quite skilled at this, a veteran recorder.

He had quite the talent for it.

Forget it, it couldn’t be helped. Whatever.

His retirement plans could cast a wide net and catch many fish – there was no need to hang himself on Yang Jian’s tree alone.

Sigh, without maintaining a sense of distance from the celestial soldiers and immortals, where would the most basic authority come from?

Being a general and being a commander were two different concepts. To control the bigger picture, one must stand at a certain height.

This Yang Jian, the not-yet-fully-matured Second Prince True Lord, had truly given him… a little surprise.

Was this a case of lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own feet? A certain ordinary authority god in the Celestial Court could only smile bitterly to himself.

In the center of Xuandu City, at the entrance to the Primordial World.

Li Changshou’s figure was hidden in the air as he sat cross-legged, quietly comprehending.

He kept a strand of consciousness outside – in such a dangerous environment, one couldn’t possibly immerse their entire consciousness in comprehending the Dao.

Even though Golden Roc was faithfully guarding the other end of this passage, several high-level Daoists were arranging the compound formation on this end, and the Taiji Diagram floated above his head while his Primordial Spirit accompanied the Xuanhuang Tower…

Being extra careful wouldn’t hurt.

What great Dao was Li Changshou contemplating?

He wasn’t quite sure, but Xuandu City was quite a special place – it would be wasteful not to take this opportunity to comprehend.

In years past, the Dao Ancestor had merged with the Dao using the Primordial Treasure Creation Jade Plate.

This Creation Jade Plate was also known as the Creation Jade Disc – plate and disc were interchangeable in certain contexts, just as asking “Brother, want to buy a plate?” and “Boss, do you have that kind of disc? The proper ones, who watches the improper ones?” essentially meant the same thing.

This Creation Jade Disc was a treasure born in chaos, from the same era as the Thirty-Six Grade Chaos Azure Lotus, and it recorded Three Thousand Great Daos.

According to Li Changshou’s speculation, the Creation Jade Disc must have been a type of “growing” supreme treasure. Initially, it wasn’t so miraculous, but after collecting enough “information” in the Chaos Sea, it gained the blessing of Three Thousand Great Daos.

When the Dao Ancestor lectured at Purple Void Palace, he taught the Dao that he had comprehended from the Creation Jade Disc.

Last time when he was with the Dao Ancestor, he should have seen the Creation Jade Disc – that tea table used for drinking tea seemed to be the disc’s true form.

In Primordial Legends, when the Creation Jade Disc was countering Pan Gu’s Heaven-Opening Tribulation, it was struck by Pan Gu’s divine axe, and a corner shattered.

From then on, the Three Thousand Great Daos recorded on it became incomplete, and the Creation Jade Disc lost its meaning of “perfect completeness.”

Later, the Dao Ancestor connected with the Heavenly Dao through the Creation Jade Disc then merged with the Dao and mended the Heavenly Dao. The Creation Jade Disc thus became part of the Heavenly Dao, and that missing piece happened to align with the principle of “Heaven’s forty-nine paths, one remains hidden.”

Therefore, the Heavenly Dao remained incomplete, though it was more perfect compared to before the Dao Ancestor’s merger.

This truly was:

Every sip and peck predetermined,

Pan Gu’s schemes run deep indeed.

If the Creation Jade Disc corresponded to the Heavenly Dao, and the Heavenly Dao corresponded to Heaven and Earth, then this gap in Xuandu City corresponded to that imperfect point on the Creation Jade Disc.

What Li Changshou lacked now was comprehension of the Heavenly Dao’s incompleteness.

So after providing the compound formation design and the method for refining formation cores, he left the task of transporting precious materials to Bai Ze, while he hid here trying to comprehend and understand.

However, the results left Li Changshou somewhat disappointed.

Although the Heavenly Dao’s power was concentrated inside and outside this vortex and mysterious enough in itself, what could be comprehended from it was always somewhat strange…

And not quite proper.

Trees have rings recording the years, and so do Heaven and Earth.

The traces of Dao principle evolution left by the constantly growing Heavenly Dao were Heaven and Earth’s rings.

This gap allowed Li Changshou to see some of Heaven and Earth’s rings, to see small parts of the Heavenly Dao’s growth trajectory.

Of course, this information was fragmentary, disordered, and disconnected, but Li Changshou concluded it…

The Heavenly Dao had a form of “thinking” close to that of living beings, able to ponder and deduce many things on their own.

For example, it would study how to promote the reproduction rate of posterior living beings. In the process of posterior beings’ gradual evolution, it would mark the feelings they got from certain events as “pleasure” and let beings regularly pursue these things.

This was what great desire was all about, closely related to the reproduction of living beings.

*Cough*, this was why the Heavenly Dao wasn’t quite proper.

The Heavenly Dao had also pondered how to use living beings to restrict living beings, thus preventing their numbers from rapidly expanding, and subsequently predators and targeted hunting appeared in Heaven and Earth.

Li Changshou couldn’t help but immerse himself in the Heavenly Dao’s evolution, gradually forgetting that he was searching for the meaning of that which was hidden. When inspiration struck, it would transform into personal comprehension, filling what his own Dao practice lacked.

Heaven and Earth were born from One, One was born from Being, Being was born from Nothingness;

The Heavenly Dao was born from Two, Two was born from One, seemingly corresponding to the meaning of Taiji.

Li Changshou took extra precautions, keeping all these comprehensions separate from his own Dao.

After all, he wasn’t sure if there was anything in there that the Heavenly Dao wanted him to comprehend.

At his current level, it didn’t matter if cultivation was a bit slower – stability was essential.

Gradually, Li Changshou’s consciousness of maintaining external vigilance was reduced to just the most basic alertness and defense, as he immersed himself in observing the Heavenly Dao’s evolution “little theater,” striving to seek out the clues he wanted to know.

Unfortunately, what he wished to obtain remained without a trace.

“Is Changgen still cultivating?” atop Xuandu City’s walls, Grand Pure One, who was secretly slacking off, asked quietly with his hands tucked in his sleeves.

Jade Tripod True Person, who was refining formation cores, smiled and said:

“Junior Brother Changgen’s Dao is closely related to the Heavenly Dao. He seems to have been born to balance the Heavenly Dao, so naturally he must cultivate well in such a special place as Xuandu City.”

Grand Pure One clicked his tongue and chuckled, saying softly: “The problem is, getting too close to the Heavenly Dao isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Surely no one really believes that the Heavenly Dao takes protecting living beings and safeguarding all life as its duty.

The Heavenly Dao is just maintaining order itself.”

Jade Tripod True Person frowned and said: “Don’t speak too much of such matters, it’s not quite appropriate.”

“Don’t worry, this is outside Heaven after all,” Grand Pure One smiled with squinted eyes and lazily yawned, “This Xuandu City was once prosperous in ancient times, but now only ruins remain.

In the end, wasn’t it because the Heavenly Dao restricted immortals from exploring the Chaos Sea?”

“Mm,” Jade Tripod responded, continuing to focus on refining formation cores.

“You honest fellow.”

Grand Pure One shook his head, glanced at the figures in other directions, then sat cross-legged beside Jade Tripod, taking two formation cores and beginning to carefully refine them.

To be fair, indeed, reasonably speaking, Changgen’s formation design was truly ingenious, even making full use of the Heavenly Dao’s power to save on spirit stone consumption.

“This fellow, cultivating for just four or five hundred years, how does he have so many strange and wonderful ideas.”

A hint of contemplation flashed through Jade Tripod True Person’s eyes, but he didn’t say much.

‘Outsider…’

On the other end of the city wall, Zhao Gongming, Golden Light Holy Mother, and Yun Xiao Fairy were also working full force to refine formation cores, pondering the same question.

Golden Light Holy Mother seemed to want to speak several times but held back, finally unable to resist transmitting to the siblings:

“What did Kun Peng mean by an outsider?

Although Senior Brother Xuandu vouched for him, Senior Brother Xuandu’s words weren’t very detailed.

That Kun Peng seemed to truly have urgent business with Changgen, it makes one curious.”

Zhao Gongming smiled and said: “If he could tell us, Changgen would have said so. If he doesn’t take the initiative to say it, why should we ask?”

Yun Xiao also said: “I trust him.”

Golden Light Holy Mother slightly furrowed her brow and said: “It’s not that I don’t trust Changgen, this is also out of concern for him.

If none of us know what kind of difficulties Junior Brother Changgen has, and Changgen also doesn’t like to tell us about his matters, how can we help if he encounters trouble in the future?”

Zhao Gongming pondered for a while and sighed: “This reasoning is indeed true.”

Yun Xiao Fairy smiled helplessly and said softly: “He is originally a human being, this cannot be wrong.

You and I have cultivated to today’s level, having long seen through the essence of living beings, why obsess over such things?”

Zhao Gongming hurriedly said: “Second Sister’s words make sense, make sense.”

“But,” Golden Light Holy Mother was about to continue arguing when she was stopped by Zhao Gongming’s glance.

Yun Xiao Fairy stared somewhat absent-mindedly at the formation core spinning in her palm, seeming to have some concerns of her own, though they weren’t convenient to mention.

In the city’s vortex, seven-colored auspicious light arose as an auspicious beast stepped with an elegant gait, treading on seven-colored blessed clouds, carrying two sacks on its back as it approached.

Bai Ze looked at Li Changshou floating directly ahead, was just about to go up and report about the Celestial Temple Holy Maiden’s matter, but hadn’t taken two steps when he heard Great Law Master Xuandu’s voice transmission:

“Changgen is in closed cultivation, is there something urgent?”

Bai Ze hurriedly stopped, not daring to get too close, and after hesitating turned back toward where the Great Law Master was.

It wasn’t anything major, just some matters of love and romance.

And so, half a month later, outside the Breaking Heaven Peak of the Crossing Immortal Gate, a familiar figure came riding clouds from the East Sea, wearing hemp clothes and a short jacket, still sinfully attractive as ever.

…”Little Jade Peak? Where’s the huge Little Jade Peak? Was it moved to the Celestial Court?”

Jiu Yu stared at the spirit lake before her, raised her hand to gesture to the outline of Little Jade Peak, then sighed dejectedly and returned to Breaking Heaven Peak with her head hanging low.

The mountain was not the mountain, the water was not the water, yet mountain and water still met again.

The person remained the same, the heart remained the same, yet things had changed while people had grown different.

Jiu Yu didn’t dare move around much in the mountain, fearing she might accidentally reveal her identity from outside.

She only met with a few senior disciples who remained in the mountain and her only junior sister Jiu Yushi, before leaving the mountain gate somewhat dejectedly.

She had intended to return directly to the Celestial Temple, yet somehow found herself stopping at a beach by the East Sea.

Should she go see him?

Jiu Yu found a shadow cast by a reef and sat on the white sand, lost in thought. The sea breeze brushed through her deliberately shortened medium-length hair as she quietly complained to the waves that came rushing forward jubilantly only to retreat sheepishly…

“So annoying.”

She sighed softly, trying to rest her head on her raised knees, but after several attempts found there was still some distance, leaving her to hug herself even more pitifully.

Sigh…

If she had known today would be so depressing, she should have abandoned Master Uncle’s self-restraint back then and just gone ahead and cooked that fellow!

How else could it become so troublesome now just to see him once?

She stared absent-mindedly at the beach for a while, a short sword appearing in her hand. The sword tip glided lightly across the sand, drawing two simple figures – one raising a hand with bent finger to flick, the other standing on tiptoes with mouth open…

“Awoo.”

Jiu Yu puffed up her cheeks, sitting there spacing out again.

She actually didn’t understand what her original feelings for Little Changshou were. Having cultivated a thousand years earlier than him, besides cultivation, she only knew about drinking and understood little about matters between Dao companions.

At first, it seemed purely like an elder’s care for a junior, but as time passed and they grew more familiar, though there weren’t many deeply memorable moments, the feeling…

The elder’s care gradually changed nature.

Jiu Yu originally understood that her feelings for that fellow were initially more about dependence.

During that period, she had chances to express her feelings, but perhaps because she drank too much, whenever she felt she should have developed feelings for Changgen, various reasons would quickly deny it.

“He’s your martial nephew, you’re almost a thousand years older than him, it’s improper to covet your martial nephew!”

“You just like his wine and pills, just looking for someone to brew wine without spending spirit stones, you don’t like him.”

“What would Ling’e think of her master aunt, isn’t this being disrespectful despite age?”

Hmph, where was she old?

Jiu Yu casually tossed the short sword onto the beach, propping her chin with her hand as she stared absent-mindedly at the sea.

Without realizing it, she took out her wine flask and took several drinks, her eyes already becoming somewhat unfocused…

Original brew, strong stuff – it wasn’t the wine intoxicating the person, but the person intoxicating.

But she knew she was outside and didn’t dare get truly drunk, only seeking that light floating feeling to help herself temporarily forget these troublesome matters.

Soon, she tossed the empty wine flask beside the short sword and combed her long hair in the sea breeze to make herself look not too disheveled.

Her flushed cheeks were like a shy maiden’s, her misty eyes seemed to see through the mortal world and choose a carefree life of drunken dreams.

What should she do in the future? Where was the path ahead?

Jiu Yu couldn’t help recalling her conversation with Master Bai before coming back this time. Back then she had asked Master Bai about the path ahead, and Master Bai’s answer was quite profound.

“No matter which direction you go, walking forward makes it the path ahead. The only difference is in your own choice.”

So Jiu Yu came back, wanting to find that bad fellow to talk with, to leave the choice to her heart’s desire at that moment… success or failure didn’t matter, at least she would have tried.

Go to the Celestial Court then.

Just go as a Crossing Immortal Gate disciple paying a visit, just go see him like that…

“Eh? What’s this? How did my divine sense not notice it earlier?”

Jiu Yu stood up, looking at that uncertain object floating on the sea surface. After careful observation for a while, she finally realized it was a woman lying face down in the seawater, her skirts spread out, drifting with the waves.

The False “Immortal Maiden Drifting with Waves Picture”:

Lying face up in the seawater, skirts and long hair spread out like a boat, as if in sweet slumber, corners of mouth bearing a peaceful smile, fish occasionally leaping around.

The True “Immortal Maiden Drifting with Waves Picture”:

Lying face down, arms spread in a starfish position, long hair bunched up like seaweed, occasional bubbles rising beside her, skirts soaked through looking exactly like cotton wadding, a school of spirit fish butting their heads against her arms, trying to drive her away from their territory.

This?

Seemed to be a qi practitioner, with spiritual power still circulating.

Jiu Yu wasn’t too careless. With a slight wave of her fingertip, the sheathed short sword flew out, bringing the woman out of the water and circling once before dropping her a hundred zhang away, carefully examining her.

Injured?

The other’s breath was steady, spiritual power flowing smoothly, and her dao realm seemed not low either.

Jiu Yu controlled the immortal sword to turn the person over, immediately seeing that quite beautiful face, and couldn’t help but praise softly…

Little Master Aunt never minded whether other immortal maidens were beautiful or not, her advantage wasn’t in her face!

Look at this young woman – originally a delicate face, yet with several parts naturally alluring. The flawless skin and jade-white complexion were standard for immortal bodies, but on this young woman, they presented an almost perfect feeling…

How to say it, too perfect, rather unnatural. Probably bribed some underworld official before reincarnating, and spent several hundred years molding that face.

Jiu Yu frowned and muttered a few words, not daring to approach rashly. She finally decided to set up a barrier nearby and leave, but just as she was about to act, that young woman puffed up her cheeks, turned her head to spit out seawater, weakly opened her eyes, and pouted…

“I have it so hard.”

Jiu Yu didn’t know what came over her, but suddenly grief welled up from her heart, tears dropping down pat-pat;

Images floated up in her mind of a certain heartless martial nephew embracing beauties left and right, and with the wine surging up, she couldn’t help but burst into loud sobs.

“What’s so hard about falling into water? I’m the one who has it hard!”

The young woman blinked, tears falling like broken strings of pearls, saying mournfully: “I didn’t expect to find someone comparing hardships even here, I’m really too miserable.”

Jiu Yu took out her wine flask and took a drink, entering the stage of great soundless grief.

The young woman’s tears swirled in her eyes as she couldn’t help but sit up, hugging herself as she wept bitterly.

Within a hundred-li radius, plants lost color and Heaven and Earth grieved together. Several qi practitioners passing by hundreds of li away suddenly raised their hands to wipe tears from their eyes, recalling the disappointments in their lives, and couldn’t help but shed tears.

Just then, Jiu Yu seemed to hear this strange young woman muttering to herself:

“Oh no, oh no, Little Sorrow is losing control! Let’s exert ourselves quickly! I’ll laugh first.

Hahahahaha, hahahahaha!”

Jiu Yu’s forehead was covered in question marks, but her heart suddenly began to feel excited, and she couldn’t help but burst into laughter, though unable to say why she was happy.

The young woman said to herself amid her laughter:

“Crying and laughing, affecting others already, you all need to control yourselves… let compassion and love smooth out your joys and sorrows.”

As she spoke, pink bubbles appeared around the young woman.

By now Jiu Yu had realized something was wrong. Amid her laughter, she suddenly covered her face, which was burning hot, as scenes of her time spent with Li Changshou flashed through her mind.

‘Hehe, little Shou Shou…’

The young woman suddenly let out an enchanting ‘mmm’ sound, muttering: “Looks like someone has a sweetheart~”

Jiu Yu: …

What was going on?

Why were all these confused things floating up in her mind, and why did these feelings – feelings that should have been so embarrassing – seem so desirable?

This was…

Sorrow, joy, love, great desire.

The power of the Seven Emotions?

Jiu Yu’s heart shook, and she immediately tried to back away, but the young woman suddenly clenched her small fist and raised her head to roar through gritted teeth.

“Rage surging to the crown!”

Whoom–

A wave of wind passed around the young woman’s body, as if orange-red flames ignited around her, instantly drying her immortal robes, her long hair rising to the sky.

Jiu Yu, who was about to retreat, first froze, then felt anger surge in her heart as she gritted her teeth looking at the sky.

“Ya! All those who seduce my martial nephew are my enemies! I was the one who spoke up first!”

“Eh?”

The young woman tilted her head, finger pointing at her mouth, looking at Jiu Yu with complete surprise.

The young woman asked softly: “Master aunt… martial nephew? How stimulating.”

The Seven Emotions’ power instantly balanced, those eyes flashing with seven-colored divine light as if seven souls were simultaneously watching Jiu Yu over there.

Jiu Yu glared at the sky and then glanced at the young woman beside her. A fierce light flashed in her eyes as she turned her head, stomped her foot, and smashed into the East Sea.

Ah ya!

This time she really couldn’t show her face again!