Finding an excuse to conceal the true purpose of this journey to the Chaos Sea wasn’t difficult.

Li Changshou had long kept this hidden move in reserve, waiting to fulfill his promise to Sovereign Tongian to intercept the Chaos Bell with the Kunpeng Ark.

As the esteemed Sovereign of the Stability Sect, he couldn’t possibly go into battle unprepared.

However, this journey would take at least fifty years before returning…

Li Changshou was quite worried.

The Investiture of the Gods Tribulation wasn’t far off now. If he left the Primordial Realm for too long and couldn’t respond in time to changing situations, wouldn’t he be sacrificing the greater for the lesser?

Catching the Chaos Bell was, in Li Changshou’s view, truly a “minor” matter.

This wasn’t out of disrespect for the Chaos Bell – it was, after all, one of the Three Primordial Treasures. If he showed even a hint of contempt, Elder Tu would teach him a lesson in the blink of an eye.

It was purely because Li Changshou wasn’t optimistic about this mission, estimating that he and Sovereign Tongian only had a thirty percent chance of catching the Chaos Bell.

Seventy percent chance of failure – rounded up, wouldn’t that just be wasting effort?

The more he communicated with Elder Taiji, the more Li Changshou understood the mystical nature of the Three Primordial Treasures, particularly the extraordinary power of the Primordial Axe that once accompanied Pangu.

The Pangu Banner had the sharpness to cleave open the Chaos Sea;

The Taiji Diagram established the rules of Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, positive and negative;

But that Chaos Bell, once wielded by the Eastern Sovereign Taiyi, no one could accurately say what mystical properties it possessed, only that rumors claimed it could traverse the River of Time.

If those rumors were true, that was indeed frightening.

Back then, Eastern Sovereign Taiyi seemed to only use the Chaos Bell as a defensive treasure.

Yet the Chaos Bell had repeatedly matched wits with Sovereign Tongian, crying “Haha, you can’t catch me!” as it eluded the Sage through the Chaos Sea for several Great Kalpas…

Li Changshou suspected this treasure wasn’t simply sentient – even with the Kunpeng Ark, the outlook wasn’t optimistic.

How should he handle this matter?

When he’d previously agreed to Senior Uncle Tongian’s request, he hadn’t expected Senior Uncle Tongian would delay it until today.

“What’s wrong, Changgeng? Are you having difficulties?”

“No, there are no difficulties,” Li Changshou quickly made up his mind and said with a smile, “Disciple had already made preparations for this matter, just waiting for Senior Uncle’s call.

Though the timing is somewhat late now, at least it’s not happening during the descent of the Tribulation.

However, Senior Uncle, disciple has two requests. First, to set a deadline for how many years before we must return – disciple worries about losing control of the Heavenly Court situation.

Second, this matter should be kept as low-profile as possible, disciple fears that if news of my departure from the Primordial Realm reaches the Western Religion, they will target the Heavenly Court again as they did last time.”

Sovereign Tongian smiled and said, “Very well, Changgeng, you are prudent in your actions. You arrange it as you see fit.”

“Thank you, Senior Uncle.”

The pool waters rippled as Li Changshou sat at its edge and cupped his hands, secretly directing his paper avatars to busy themselves in various locations.

Half a day later, Li Changshou left the Biyou Palace, exchanged a few jovial words with Duobao Daoren, who had come to see him off, and then turned toward the Heavenly Gate in the high sky, as if nothing else was happening.

In Biyou Palace, Sovereign Tongian had vanished again.

But before leaving, he had summoned Golden Spirit Holy Mother, though no one knew what Sovereign Tongian had instructed her.

A moderately interesting play was quietly being staged in the great Primordial Realm theater.

Half a month later, in the Palace of Venus.

The Golden Peng Bird hurriedly returned from the Three Thousand Worlds, reporting that Outer Demons had recently been causing trouble there; from the edges of the Three Thousand Worlds to somewhat interior regions, hundreds of incidents of Outer Demons attacking cultivators had occurred recently.

Thus, Li Changshou drafted a memorial and brought it to the Crystal Palace Hall, presenting this matter before all the Heavenly Court immortals.

The Jade Emperor had, of course, already received Li Changshou’s secret report regarding Sovereign Tongian’s intention to acquire the Chaos Bell, and turned a blind eye to the matter, approving Li Changshou’s memorial—

[Campaign Against the Outer Demons!]

This sounded very much like a Heavenly Court matter.

This campaign was no ordinary one – it wasn’t about sending Heaven’s armies to fight in the Chaos Sea; non-Golden Immortals couldn’t withstand the crushing pressure of chaos energy.

To resist chaos energy required a complete personal Dao – Golden Immortal Third Grade was the minimum requirement for entering the Chaos Sea.

The Jade Emperor appointed Golden Winged Great Peng as Commander-in-Chief and Ao Yi, Deputy Commander of the Heavenly River Navy, as Vice Commander, ordering Mei Wenhua, Mei Dixian, Mei Tianbing, and Mei Xinqing as generals to exit through Xuandu City into the Chaos Sea to search for the Demon Sovereign.

In public, Li Changshou gave Golden Peng Bird a stack of paper avatars and several treasure pouches, instructing him that venturing into the Chaos Sea required much preparation and to avoid being reckless in seeking achievement.

That Demon Sovereign was a Primordial Divine Demon, one who had escaped Pangu’s Divine Axe back then; just hearing these credentials made it clear how formidable an opponent they would be.

Soon, news of this “major event” spread throughout the Primordial Realm.

Outer Demons were the bane of most Yuan Shen Dao cultivators, and the Heavenly Court’s actions earned praise from many cultivators.

With great pomp and circumstance, amid thunderous gongs and drums;

Golden Peng and Ao Yi, leading the Four Mei Generals and thirty thousand elite Heavenly soldiers, marched grandly toward Xuandu City.

Another month later, the Heavenly Court contingent arrived at the entrance to Xuandu City; the thirty thousand Heavenly soldiers made camp there, guarding this entrance and exit;

Ao Yi remained in Xuandu City to coordinate support.

Only Golden Peng Bird led the Four Mei Generals into the Chaos Sea, swiftly vanishing without a trace.

“What is Little Junior Brother up to?”

The Grand Master gazed in the direction where Golden Peng Bird had vanished, standing on the city wall somewhat puzzled.

Beside him, Kong Xuan, in a light blue dress exuding subtle charm and allure, pondered briefly before saying with a smile, “Why didn’t you just ask him earlier?”

“Ahem,” the Grand Master straightened up and said nonchalantly, “One must maintain some dignity as Senior Brother.

Besides, he only transmitted a few words of instruction to me earlier without appearing in person, then hurriedly entered the Chaos Sea. I suppose he must have some urgent matter.”

“You certainly have it easy as Senior Brother,” Kong Xuan said softly. “Spending your days here sleeping and cultivating, not having to worry about the affairs of the Three Teachings.”

“The capable bear more burdens,” the Grand Master stretched lazily, replacing the recliner behind him with a soft couch and lying down comfortably.

Kong Xuan walked over gently, her slender finger lightly tapping beside the Grand Master’s leg, causing his cloth shoes to remove themselves.

Then, she sat in meditation in the space left on the couch.

The Grand Master yawned and said, “The Primordial Realm is so vast, why don’t you go explore it instead of staying here watching over me?”

Kong Xuan’s lips curved slightly: “I won’t interfere with anything, just go ahead and sleep.”

“Just worried you might get bored,” the Grand Master said with squinting eyes and a smile, quickly closing his eyes and beginning to snore.

Kong Xuan gazed down at the Grand Master’s face, a slender finger approaching within a hair’s breadth of him but not quite touching, slowly tracing his features.

‘If only I could enter your dreams.’

She murmured, her beautiful eyes full of tenderness, leaning against the couch’s armrest, lost in thought.

Ao Yi at the bottom of the city wall: …

What kind of immortal couple was this?

Was the Human Teaching so lacking in numbers?

Any random member could single-handedly challenge anyone below a Sage of the Western Religion!

Though as the most trusted brother of the Sovereign, his brother, Ao Yi felt he shouldn’t have such thoughts.

But seeing Sister Kong Xuan and the Grand Master interact like this, Ao Yi felt… sorry for the Western Religion!

Deeply sorry.

Shaking his head, Ao Yi looked at the Yin-Yang Formation on the ground beside him and stayed alert, ready to guard against any enemy attack at any moment.

His Sovereign Brother had mentioned that this unremarkable-looking formation was extraordinary.

Ao Yi didn’t know the formation’s specific purpose – it wasn’t for protection, killing, teleportation, or searching. It contained the Great Dao of Yin and Yang, its profound principles obscure and difficult to comprehend…

To be safe, Ao Yi didn’t try to understand the formation, but sat cross-legged beside it and set up a simple concealment barrier outside.

Another seven or eight days passed in the Primordial Realm.

In the Chaos Sea, a black shadow spread its wings and glided past. Due to the chaotic nature of the Dao laws in the Chaos Sea, one couldn’t describe how massive its form was or how swift its speed was.

In any case, it was very large.

If any Primordial Realm expert who had competed for the Primordial Purple Qi at Xuandu City back then saw this form, they would be incredibly surprised at why Kunpeng had returned to his original state.

The Kun fish had once again transformed into the Peng bird.

Inside the Kunpeng Vessel, in an ancient stone hall near the heart meridian, Golden Peng stood silently while the Four Mei Generals knelt on either side;

Li Changshou, who shouldn’t have been there, sat on a cushion, frowning as he watched the slowly rotating Taiji Diagram before him.

As the Yin and Yang energies slowly rotated, blurry images began to appear in the Taiji Diagram, gradually becoming clear, showing scenes from Little Qiong Peak.

With a thought from Li Changshou, the image enlarged slightly, showing Ling’e sitting by the pool, holding a stone tablet and giggling “hehe” softly.

Half of the tablet was carved with the Scripture of Stability, but the remaining part was carved with Li Changshou’s image.

This girl…

Well, he’d just have to punish her more when he returned.

Another thought and the Yin and Yang energies guided the Taiji Diagram to show a two-hundred-zhang tall jade statue of an immortal maiden, naturally a scene from within the Three Immortal Islands.

—This was, of course, with Cloud Void’s permission.

Another shift in thought and the scenes in the Taiji Diagram began to change rapidly, like flowing light and phantom shadows.

From the demon soldiers’ quarters in the South Sea Divine Dragon Teaching to the several major tribes of the Shamanic Race in the Northern Continent, from before the Crystal Palace Hall of the Heavenly Court, to the Eighteen Layers of Hell in the Youming Fengdu.

The strands of Yin and Yang energy remaining in the world became Li Changshou’s eyes.

To fulfill his promise to Sovereign Tongian, Li Changshou had specially borrowed the Taiji Diagram from Teacher Taiqing, using its power to monitor the Primordial Realm at any time.

And not just that.

The Taiji Diagram commanded the Great Dao of Yin and Yang, and fragments of the Yin-Yang Dao and Heaven-Earth Dao were scattered throughout the Chaos Sea;

Li Changshou would collect these fragments along the way, piling them up at various points along their route, wrapped in tiny Chaos Spirit Formations created by Senior Lang.

This way, if anything happened in the Primordial Realm, Li Changshou could ride the Taiji Diagram and grasp the Heaven-Earth Ruler, returning to the Primordial Realm at maximum speed.

Beyond this, Li Changshou had prepared some small gadgets, the most important being time-measuring magical artifacts.

Within Kunpeng’s body, unaffected by chaotic Dao laws, these artifacts could function normally.

Ding-ling-ling—

A bronze bell suddenly shook gently nearby. Li Changshou raised an eyebrow, had the Kunpeng Vessel slow down, and said to Golden Peng: “Go receive several Senior Brothers and Sisters from the Severing Sect for me.”

“Yes, Master!”

Golden Peng clasped his fists in acknowledgment, turned into a golden light, and flew out of the great hall, exiting through Kunpeng’s internal passages onto its back;

Soon after, Golden Peng returned in his true form, with three figures on his back – Zhao Gongming, Golden Spirit Holy Mother, and Turtle Spirit Holy Mother.

These three Severing Sect experts looked east and west, and upon confirming this was indeed the former Demon Teacher Kunpeng, their jaws nearly dropped.

After joining up with Li Changshou, they couldn’t help but ask questions nonstop.

Li Changshou naturally wouldn’t mention Senior Lang’s matters, only simply explaining that Kunpeng had been subdued by him and now lacked normal consciousness, functioning like a treasure ship.

Turtle Spirit Holy Mother praised: “Even a fierce character like Kunpeng was defeated by Junior Brother Changgeng, truly… I don’t know how to describe it.”

Zhao Gongming stroked his beard and smiled: “This place isn’t bad. You all discuss the important matters first, I’ll find a corner to cultivate for a while. I’ve started to get some insights into that treasure Changgeng gave me lately.”

“Don’t rush, Elder Brother. Is the Green Pine Sword here?”

“I have it,” Golden Spirit Holy Mother turned her delicate hand, and amid green light, the Green Pine Sword appeared in her palm.

Li Changshou bowed to the Green Pine Sword and said: “Please point us in a direction, and we’ll go chase after Senior Uncle Tongian right away, striving to return as soon as possible.”

The Green Pine Sword trembled lightly, floating up on its own, its tip pointing diagonally upward.

Li Changshou took out the jade talisman controlling the Kunpeng Vessel and lightly tapped his finger several times, and the stone hall gently trembled as Kunpeng flapped its wings and soared toward the deeper regions of the Chaos Sea.

Li Changshou said: “When we return, don’t forget to catch the Demon Sovereign – we must play our parts completely.”

Golden Peng bowed his head in acceptance, while the Four Mei Generals dared not move, just kneeling there radiating sacred light.

In a corner of the stone hall, Zhao Gongming had already fallen into enlightened meditation, with the Lesser Heaven-Earth Ruler slowly rotating around him.

Golden Spirit Holy Mother smiled: “It’s rare to see him so diligent.”

“Where opportunity lies,” Li Changshou smiled and mumbled softly, “I thought Cloud would come too.”

“Master specifically instructed that Junior Sister Cloud Void shouldn’t move this time.”

Golden Spirit Holy Mother’s eyes held a hint of mischief as she teased him: “This time we’re doing serious business. Master feared you two would be too focused on romance and let the treasure escape.”

After speaking, Golden Spirit Holy Mother winked at him, then went with Turtle Spirit Holy Mother to Zhao Gongming’s side to meditate as well.

Li Changshou smiled and shook his head.

Didn’t they know the principle of ‘men and women paired together, work efficiency doubled’?

Li Changshou sat back on his cushion, half his consciousness comprehending the Primordial Purple Qi within Kunpeng’s divine soul, half watching the Taiji Diagram to observe various parts of the Primordial Realm.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to conduct the next stage of [Mental Power Training].

Currently, his realm advancement has relatively slowed, no longer having small breakthroughs every few months. It was time to dig into his potential in various aspects.

The Chaos Sea was endless, and who knew where the Chaos Bell was hiding;

Previously, Sovereign Tongian had spent so long searching for the Chaos Bell in the Chaos Sea, surely the journey to catch up this time wouldn’t be short either.

Following the previous plan, Li Changshou continuously left ‘buoys’ made of Dao law fragments, letting that bit of ‘legacy formation’ left by Senior Lang shine forth its light and heat.

Thus, twenty-three years later.

Hum! Hum!

The Green Pine Sword floating in the center of the great hall suddenly flashed with brilliant sword light, awakening all the experts within.

Li Changshou stood up, following the Green Pine Sword’s guidance, and began directing Kunpeng to change direction.

Intercept the Chaos Bell!

…

Unfamiliar sky, unfamiliar territory, unfamiliar hills.

‘Where is this?’

The breeze wandered, brushing past the old Daoist’s form, leaving him somewhat dazed.

Images floated up in his mind, seemingly his memories, but these memories were incomplete and disconnected.

It seemed his memories had once shattered into pieces, and only a small portion had been pieced back together.

Qi Yuan?

This seemed to be his Daoist title.

The old Daoist pondered silently, his vacant eyes reflecting the golden sphere floating in the treasure pool before him, as he looked down at his faint form.

Soul? Divine soul?

He seemed to have been swallowed by a flame and then lost consciousness.

‘Master!’

‘Master~’

“Changshou… Ling’e…”

The old Daoist muttered softly as several images surfaced in his mind – a boy and a girl, from childhood to adulthood.

Just then, a gentle golden light floated over from the side, enveloping the old Daoist’s ethereal form, gradually smoothing his furrowed brow as those images in his mind arranged themselves in order like a dream and played through once.

“This poor Daoist isn’t dead?”

Old Daoist Qi Yuan fell into deep self-doubt. He had been burned by a Golden Crow’s mouth of true fire, his Impure Immortal body and divine soul as fragile as thin paper.

No, not even as good as the thin paper his eldest disciple used to make paper avatars.

He sighed inwardly. Though most of his memories were still missing, the crucial ones remained…

“Fellow Daoist has indeed passed away.”

Suddenly hearing such a gentle voice, Old Daoist Qi Yuan froze, turned to look, then hurriedly stood up and bowed to the female immortal standing on the distant hill.

“This Qi Yuan, cultivator of the Salvation Gate, greets Senior and thanks Senior for the grace of saving my life!”

“Fellow Daoist is too polite,” Houtu said gently. “No need to thank me, I was merely repaying a favor to Fellow Daoist Changshou.”

“May I ask Senior, you are…”

“Houtu of the Shamanic Race.”

“Great Virtue! Hic!”

Old Daoist Qi Yuan’s eyes bulged as his legs went weak, and he fell to his knees.

But then, his eyes showed a hint of relief.

Having experienced life to death, soul scattering, then death to life, and soul reassembling, his Dao’s heart had undergone significant changes.

Houtu raised her hand in a virtual helping gesture, distantly supporting Old Daoist Qi Yuan to his feet.

“Fellow Daoists need not stand on ceremony. This is within the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc. Though your soul is now well, you may stay here for some time longer, accumulating some fortune and absorbing the merit Fellow Daoist Changshou gifted you.

Fellow Daoist Changshou has always been concerned about your situation; this way he can be more at ease.”

“Ah, yes,” Qi Yuan answered honestly, then hurriedly asked: “Senior, are Changshou and Ling’e well?”

Houtu spoke: “They are naturally well. Fellow Daoist Changshou now ranks tenth in the Heavenly Dao sequence, his position in the Heavenly Court second only to Fellow Daoists the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother.

Fellow Daoist Ling’e seems to have also gone to the Heavenly Court, cultivating in Fellow Daoist Changgeng’s Palace of Venus, rarely showing herself.

However, there is one matter for Fellow Daoists to consider carefully.”

“Please speak, please speak.”

“Currently Changshou oversees the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, conferring godhood on Heaven’s behalf. You are the master who raised him, and the Heavenly Dao shows that after your reincarnation, you will also enter the Tribulation as a rather important member…”

Qi Yuan’s gaze became somewhat blank, seeming unable to process this information.

After listening to Houtu’s explanation for a while, Qi Yuan said directly: “Senior, why don’t you just tell this junior what to do that would be best for Changshou.”

“Drink more bowls of Lady Meng’s Soup before reincarnating, forget the previous life.”

Qi Yuan hurriedly agreed: “Senior, rest assured, this junior won’t mind drinking several more bowls when the time comes.”

“Fellow Daoist, rest now,” Lady Houtu said gently. “Wait for him to come next time, then you can reincarnate.”

“Many thanks to Great Virtue Houtu for pointing the way.”

“Mm.”

Houtu responded gently, her form dispersing with the wind, vanishing from sight.