Setting aside the arrival of six retired Human Sovereigns who descended toward the lake waters with Li Changshou.

Two hours later;

At Mount Taibai Palace, Little Qiong Peak.

Under the lakeside willow tree, Ling E sat cross-legged amidst the misty vapors, her delicate fingers plucking at zither strings, producing melodious sounds without any distinct composition.

The spiritual wind brushed her face, neither increasing her worries nor diminishing her melancholy.

Looking up toward the location of the elixir room, Ling E seemed able to peer through layers of formations to see the silhouette of Senior Brother, who was likely meditating at this moment.

Where has he hidden again?

Ling E’s slender fingers left the zither strings. She raised her hand to hold her chin in contemplation, then picked up a stone tablet to engrave a melody, losing herself in thought while gazing at the lake’s surface.

What was Senior Brother doing outside with his paper avatars again?

If only Senior Brother didn’t have to manage external affairs beyond his cultivation and could spend every day playing music and having fun with her, how wonderful that would be.

She could plan daily meals, and prepare snacks and tea. The two of them could sit or lie down in the thatched cottage playing chess and chatting, waiting for the sun to set westward, then take walks and share their hearts under the moonlight and starlight…

Ling E’s cheeks flushed slightly as she thought of some intimate gestures, like embracing under a tree, or herself falling asleep on Senior Brother’s arm…

As cultivators need to practice in seclusion, Ling E didn’t dare spend too much time being clingy with Senior Brother. By her calculations, being able to spend one month together like this every ten years would be good enough.

If she and Senior Brother could be like those Dao companions at the Ascending Immortals Gate…

“What are you thinking about?”

Li Changshou’s voice came from the side. Ling E instinctively jumped up, hugging her zither and nearly fleeing.

But then, Ling E turned her head to look at her Senior Brother and her attention was immediately drawn to Li Changshou’s current expression.

She asked softly, “Senior Brother, what’s wrong?”

“Hmm?” Li Changshou forced a smile, his brows carrying deep weariness. He raised his hand slightly toward Ling E and sat down on the grass by the lakeside willow.

With the spiritual light gone from his Daoist robe, Li Changshou seemed to lack energy, staring blankly at the lake’s surface.

What happened?

Senior Brother rarely sat directly on the ground instead of crossing his legs…

Details.

“Senior Brother.”

Ling E called out softly, putting away her zither. She smoothed the slight wrinkles in her short skirt and knelt behind Li Changshou, raising her hands to gently massage his shoulders, wondering how to get Senior Brother to share his troubles with her.

She could sense Senior Brother’s low spirits and didn’t dare be too lively, only using these actions to show she was accompanying him.

Li Changshou raised his hand to pat her small hands. “Come sit beside me.”

“Oh,” Ling E stood up and walked to Li Changshou’s side. She sat down with her jade feet together, legs tucked to the side, watching Senior Brother’s profile as she asked softly, “Did something troublesome happen in the Heavenly Court?”

“Troublesome… not really.”

Li Changshou rubbed his brow and sighed, “I just suddenly saw something and haven’t quite recovered from it.”

“Would you like some tea? I made some snacks too…”

“Just stay here with me for a while.”

“Mm,” Ling E didn’t say more, sitting quietly beside him.

Looking at Senior Brother’s tired, helpless, and conflicted profile, she lowered her head and moved closer, leaning against his shoulder, deliberately making her breathing softer.

The lake’s surface reflected scattered light, distant forests filled with deep green. Outside the nearly transparent formation walls of Little Qiong Peak, white clouds dotted the azure sky.

A gentle breeze stirred their hair tips. Ling E quietly enjoyed this rare moment of intimacy;

Although she knew Senior Brother wasn’t in a good mood and she shouldn’t be too happy, she still couldn’t suppress the joy in her heart, wanting this moment to last a little longer.

Unfortunately, her Senior Brother usually adjusted his mood very quickly.

However, this time Ling E was somewhat ‘surprised’ – they had stayed like this quietly for half an hour, and she was almost falling asleep comfortably, yet Senior Brother remained just as dejected.

After much consideration, Ling E still asked with concern: “Senior Brother, can you share what’s troubling you with me? Um… although I can’t help solve your worries, I can at least listen.”

“What troubles could I have,” Li Changshou smiled, most of his disappointment already dispersed. “I’m just wondering whether everything I’m doing now is right or wrong.”

Ling E said softly, “Senior Brother, didn’t you say there are no absolute rights or wrongs, and that being true to one’s heart is what matters?”

Without turning his head, Li Changshou raised his left hand and pressed it on Ling E’s head, ruffling her carefully arranged hairpiece slightly.

“You’re trying to lecture me with those words? With your limited experience, how could you understand what they mean?”

Ling E made a face, “I’m just trying! It sounds quite reasonable! Ah, ah… my face will get swollen if you pinch it!”

Li Changshou administered some light punishment, feeling inexplicably cheerful. Then he sighed dejectedly and simply lay down under the willow tree, using his arm as a pillow while lost in thought, soon sighing again…

Beside him, Ling E first blushed and broke out in a sweat, quickly turning her head to forcefully practice the Heart-Clearing Technique to calm herself down. She then removed the hairpiece Senior Brother had messed up, letting her black hair fall naturally, before taking a deep breath.

Taking advantage of Brother’s vulnerability, attempt two!

She tried to make her movements as natural as possible, slowly changing from sitting sideways to lying on her side, gradually moving closer to Senior Brother’s arm. Not daring to look at Senior Brother’s expression, and not sensing his gaze either, she wanted to rest her head on Senior Brother’s arm…

Three inches… two inches…

Was she going to do this?

Wasn’t this too forward? She was still an immature little immortal maiden, she should maintain some immortal dignity!

That arm Ling E had targeted suddenly moved, immediately causing her delicate body to stiffen. She instinctively thought Senior Brother was deliberately avoiding her, and disappointment was about to well up in her heart;

But then her cheek felt the texture of the Daoist robe’s fabric – she was already resting on Senior Brother’s arm… and it felt quite comfortable.

A gentle breath brushed past, and Ling E’s heart relaxed. Her stiff body also loosened up somewhat. Lying on her side, she could now clearly see the texture of the fabric on Senior Brother’s Daoist robe.

Her two small hands had nowhere to rest, so they could only settle on her chest, pressing against the edge of her inner collar.

Who knows how much time passed, perhaps just a few breaths, or perhaps one or two hours.

Ling E heard Senior Brother’s low murmur…

“I know there are no absolutes in right and wrong, and I know that an individual’s sense of right and wrong is insignificant before Heaven and Earth.

But some things, I clearly know contain more wrong elements, yet because they benefit me and can help me establish a more stable foothold in this world, I want to do them. I deliberately ignore their wrong aspects, then turn around and tell myself that I’m just taking advantage of circumstances, that how this world is has nothing to do with me originally, that this is the Primordial World, and can’t be judged by a single standard.

I’ve always wanted to be an observer, coldly watching this Primordial World, stripping away its Dao, observing its rules, using the principles here to make myself powerful, pursuing transcendence…

During this process, doing some things that don’t align with my own principles, can be ignored, right?”

Ling E frowned deeply and asked softly, “Specifically, what things?”

“Many things, hard to explain clearly.”

Li Changshou slowly sighed, “I shouldn’t be telling you these things, it’s just that I was moved after seeing the tragic state of a senior just now.”

Ling E shook her head slightly, looking up at Senior Brother whose expression had gradually returned to normal, her heart inexplicably tightening.

She found strength from somewhere unknown and actively reached out her hand, moving closer to Li Changshou.

“There’s no should or shouldn’t, Senior Brother, can you tell me more?”

“It’s not a big deal, I just suddenly became oversensitive.”

Li Changshou’s smile became brighter, that door to his heart that had just opened was now silently closing.

He said: “I just saw Ancient Human Sovereign Suiren earlier, he was… well, corrupted by demonic qi, now neither human nor ghost, neither immortal nor demon.”

A strand of spiritual thought flowed, and this scene appeared in Ling E’s heart:

[In the volcano crater sealed by the great formation at the bottom of the lake, the rolling thick smoke dispersed, revealing the magma lake below.

A figure lay on the magma lake, hair disheveled, barely maintaining human form. Six divine swords pierced through his shoulders, legs, torso, and head. He lay on the magma, chains wrapping around his entire body…]

Li Changshou sighed:

“The other Human Sovereigns, most were ancient beings reincarnated, now living comfortably in the Fire Cloud Cave.

Yet this predecessor, who fell into the demonic path to resist the Beast Emperor, fighting alongside former demon soldiers against the Beast Court, must endure the torment of demonic qi corruption and Heaven’s Dao suppression of that demonic qi.

It’s laughable.

Never mind, many things in the world are like this. Being too emotional is unwise. I’ve done what I can to help ease Senior Suiren’s pain.”

More images floated up in Ling E’s heart:

[A female immortal wearing a light gauze white dress, with a holy and dignified countenance, stood above the volcano crater, a gentle halo behind her, pure white holy light radiating from her entire body.

She clasped her hands together, humming some tunes, seeming to be chanting scriptures. Streams of white light poured into the demon body below, counteracting streams of demonic qi.]

Li Changshou fell silent, his eyes carrying some contemplation.

Ling E asked: “Senior Brother, do you think the Heaven’s Dao is unfair to Suiren?”

“Don’t speak carelessly about such things,” Li Changshou made a silencing gesture and said seriously: “The Heaven’s Dao is not the Dao of humanity, but the Dao of the Primordial World.

Although humanity prospers now, in ancient times, the Beast Court was closest to the Heaven’s Dao. Suiren’s fall into the demonic path after the great war also became a hidden danger to the world, so Heaven’s Dao thus suppressed and confined him.”

Ling E blinked, feeling these words weren’t meant for her ears.

Connecting to Senior Brother’s earlier words about ‘many things having wrong elements’, it was clear that Senior Brother didn’t fully agree with how Heaven’s Dao handled certain matters, having diverged from it.

When Ling E casually spread her divine sense around the Heavenly Court, she had heard some news. She knew Senior Brother was the main orchestrator of the Great Tribulation, second-in-command of the Heavenly Court, and the Dao Ancestor’s favorite;

In other words, Senior Brother was currently working for the Heaven’s Dao while using its influence to cultivate.

Understanding suddenly dawned in Ling E’s heart.

Senior Brother had deep feelings for humanity, never showing mercy to major demon beasts, but would give chances for reform to vicious humans;

Though it was a double standard, Senior Brother had said such things while debating with Master Bai, which she happened to overhear when delivering snacks to Black Pool Peak.

Senior Brother had said:

[Master Bai, I am human by nature, so of course I stand with humanity. Don’t talk about grand perspectives – one mustn’t forget their roots. For all the myriad races besides demon beasts, as long as they don’t compete with humanity, I can treat them equally.

The struggle for supremacy in the world is naturally life-or-death.

I cannot enjoy the benefits of humanity’s current position as the protagonist of Heaven and Earth, then turn around and care for those demon beasts who once fought humanity to death.]

From this, one could conclude that Senior Brother had a special emotional investment in Suiren, who had once led humanity to find light in the darkness!

There was only one truth!

Senior Brother, this golden enforcer of Heaven’s Dao, was dissatisfied with Heaven’s Dao’s suppression of Suiren, which sparked resentment toward Heaven’s Dao in his heart!

This was the reason for Senior Brother’s depressed mood today.

But she quickly caught herself, no longer mentioning matters of Heaven’s Dao, and said softly: “Senior Brother, do you remember what you once told me?”

“What?”

“Rather than playing hero when one’s abilities are insufficient, it’s better to stay alive until one stands at the peak above all beings and can set the rules, then rewrite the survival conditions for the weak across the entire Primordial World.

Senior Brother, you’ve already achieved this.”

Li Changshou said calmly: “Don’t take it seriously, that was just something I made up back then to keep you from stubbornly causing trouble everywhere.”

“This…”

“Sigh, get up now, go write the ‘Scripture of Stability’ three hundred times as punishment. I’m going to spend some time with Master.”

Ling E’s little face fell. She had wanted to be lazy and lie there longer, but Li Changshou’s form had already transformed into a wisp of clear wind and drifted away, leaving only a few light chuckles that made her repeatedly roll her eyes.

In Old Daoist Qi Yuan’s thatched cottage, Li Changshou materialized and lit three sticks of pure incense for Master’s memorial tablet, standing lost in thought.

At Fire Cloud Cave, Mei Wenhua was continuing to purify Suiren’s demonic qi.

But Li Changshou had already noticed that her spiritual power could only achieve a ‘relieving’ effect, unable to truly eliminate it.

He had no connection to Suiren and didn’t know him personally, but the moment he saw Suiren in such a state, his Dao heart couldn’t help but tremble slightly, inexplicably becoming dejected.

Ling E hadn’t run away this time…

Of course, Li Changshou remembered what she had said earlier – it was not long after Ling E came to the mountain, and he had been beaten by Master because of it.

The peak above all beings… setting rules… survival conditions for the weak…

In this Primordial World, being able to take care of those he wanted to protect had already left him mentally exhausted – how many more people could he possibly manage?

“Ah.”

Li Changshou clasped his hands behind his back, standing quietly before Master’s tablet, his gaze somewhat complicated.

In the secret chamber beneath Fire Cloud Cave’s lake, Mei Wenhua chanted for three days;

In the thatched cottage of Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou stood quietly before Master’s memorial tablet for three days;

Under the lakeside tree, Ling E, who had scraped the stone tablet three hundred times, sat reading scriptures while occasionally turning to look at the figure in the thatched cottage.

When Mei Wenhua lowered her hands somewhat weakly, gazing with tender eyes at the figure lying on the magma lake, several Sovereign Lords flew over from the side, and the figure below seemed to awaken from a great dream and slowly sit up;

Li Changshou in Master’s cottage gave a light chuckle, his form transforming into a wisp of green smoke and drifting back into Little Qiong Peak’s interior, leaving only a transmitted message for Ling E:

“Don’t mention the Heaven’s Dao in the future, this is the Heavenly Court after all.”

The corners of Ling E’s mouth turned down slightly, but then she thought of resting on Senior Brother’s arm three days ago. She couldn’t help covering her face with both hands, lamenting how bold she had been, yet still squeezed out through her fingers…

“Hmph, saying one thing and meaning another, stupid Senior Brother.”

…

In the underground secret chamber, Li Changshou’s form appeared behind the desk, sitting down gracefully, picking up his brush to concentrate, dividing his consciousness in two.

Half his consciousness was responsible for discussing the next steps with the Sovereign Lords at Fire Cloud Cave, while the other half continued refining the plan laid out before him.

‘Fishing for Big Fish.’

Using the ninth strand of the Eighth Path’s Primordial Purple Qi as bait, promoting and creating chaos, using false to confuse true;

Using the reason that [Xuandu City is a gap in the Heaven’s Dao, the ninth strand of Primordial Purple Qi passed through the world and then directly escaped into the Chaos Sea through Xuandu City and dispersed] as the fishing rod.

Setting up layer upon layer of ambush in Xuandu City, using all his effort to achieve 98% certainty, mobilizing every resource at his disposal, and later going to Biyou Palace to seek help from an ambitious youth;

Creating a fishing line that even Kun Peng couldn’t break free from!

Of course, while this was the general approach, he needed to prepare several backup plans.

How to minimize this matter’s impact on the Primordial World, how to avoid triggering large-scale chaos among cultivators, what to do if other powerful beings in seclusion were drawn out…

All these need to be considered in advance, with countermeasures prepared.

Li Changshou had long noticed his habit that ‘a bad pen is better than a good memory’, and had taken some precautions for it.

Some plans could be written on cloth, paper, or jade tokens – one could even say he deliberately wrote them there;

Like this plan to deal with Kun Peng.

Li Changshou was certain the Heaven’s Dao could and would monitor him, that all these would fall under the Dao Ancestor’s eyes. The birth and completion of this plan would perhaps produce a series of effects, reducing the difficulty when it came time to execute.

But some plans, Li Changshou could only construct in his heart, using characters that only he could understand, guarding against the Heaven’s Dao peering into his Dao’s heart.

For example, in those eleven years he spent in the Mixed Origin Golden Dipper after Master’s incident, Li Changshou had made hundred-year calculations and thousand-year plans right in front of the Great Tribulation avatar – ‘The Disappearance of X’.

From this, he concluded that Heaven’s Dao couldn’t arbitrarily peer into his inner heart.

If Heaven’s Dao could understand what this meant, he, Li Changshou… wouldn’t dare make random declarations.

Dealing with Kun Peng – fifty percent was because Kun Peng’s schemes this time involved his close friends and family, thirty percent was because if Kun Peng continued to act up, it would put him in a passive position.

The remaining twenty percent of reasons were related to this ‘Disappearance of X’ plan.

To some degree, if Kun Peng hadn’t appeared within the Heaven’s Dao’s domain before, he wouldn’t have needed to move against him;

But this Primordial being who had escaped from the Primordial World yet wasn’t content to lurk in the Chaos Sea had returned, which forced Li Changshou to consider either killing Kun Peng or erasing his ‘uncontrollable’ label.

Whether Senior Liang’s character was good or bad, or if he had gone mad wanting to destroy Heaven and Earth, was irrelevant to him, Li Changshou.

But Senior Liang’s tragedy, Li Changshou would not repeat!

The words ‘my fate is in my hands, not Heaven’s’ might sound impressive, but they couldn’t be achieved just by shouting – they required thousand-year layouts, ten-thousand-year schemes, calculated bit by bit.

Li Changshou had already sensed it.

The end of stability was still a desperate struggle – when that 98% reached its limit, perhaps he would have to rely on that remaining 0.2% to survive.

He could ultimately do it…

“Who are you?”

This hoarse and ancient voice suddenly arose in his heart. Li Changshou immediately cleared away his scattered thoughts, most of his consciousness returning to the secret chamber of Fire Cloud Cave, looking at the one who had transmitted speech to him.

Suiren had now stood up, and the divine swords suppressing him had vanished. Wearing tattered hemp clothes, he raised his head to look at Li Changshou’s paper avatar.

Li Changshou’s paper avatar revealed a faint smile and made a Daoist salute to Suiren;

His true body, however, raised his hand to touch his right arm, where a piece of broken jade that could shield against Heaven’s Dao’s probing was tied – it was a fragment of the Human Sovereign’s Fire Virtue Jade.

This karmic debt could be repaid today.

“Disciple of the Grand Pure, Star-Lord of the Heavenly Court, human cultivator Li Changxing, greets the senior!”