“Report—”
A call from the front hall made Li Changshou, who was contemplating important matters, slightly furrow his brow.
He had just returned to Small Jade Peak and hadn’t even had time to casually say to his junior sister: “It’s nothing, just overthrew a Sage.”
How could there be another matter at his door?
His consciousness swept through the Five Heaven Gates, seeing no visitor’s shadow anywhere.
Li Changshou cast his gaze toward Venus Palace’s front, where he saw the messenger celestial general holding a jade talisman with both hands, waiting with a lowered head. He sent out a [Venus Star Lord] paper avatar to meet with the messenger celestial general.
“Star-Lord!
An old Daoist just left this jade talisman at the Central Heaven Gate, saying it must be delivered to you immediately, then bid farewell and left.
His cultivation was profound, we dared not be careless and rushed to deliver the message!”
“Oh?”
Li Changshou wrapped the jade talisman in immortal power and smiled, “Thank you for your trouble, General.”
“This lowly general doesn’t deserve such thanks!”
The celestial general responded firmly, bowing and taking his leave;
As he left, he made a small fist-pumping gesture, seeming quite excited.
Li Changshou held the jade talisman, and after confirming there were no traps or schemes within, carefully looked inside.
No aura, no dao rhythm—the other party had deliberately hidden their identity, but within the jade talisman was a special mark, attempting to let him know their identity.
A nine-petaled lotus?
No, this should be a ten-grade lotus platform, missing one petal.
Back when he was preparing contingencies for Nezha’s situation, he had worked with True Lord Taiyi to create several lotus seed treasures, preparing for Nezha’s lotus treasure body.
Better safe than sorry.
Later, when Nezha’s tragedy was successfully resolved, the lotus that True Lord Taiyi had cultivated grew to nine petals but never reached completion.
This matter was known only to himself, Taiyi, Yuding, Yang Jian, and a few others. The old Daoist was likely True Lord Taiyi in disguise.
Why not contact him through paper avatars, but come directly to the Heavenly Court to deliver the message?
There must be some issue here.
Li Changshou hummed softly as he read the simple contents within.
Senior Fellow Taiyi was asking to meet him at a town in the Central Divine Continent, even setting a recognition code.
[Good brother, one blanket.]
This made Li Changshou seriously doubt True Lord Taiyi’s understanding—or perhaps expectation—of the brotherhood between Jade Rabbit and Spirit Zhenzhu Child!
Or perhaps it was the perfect universal gossip attribute of… being a master in the primordial world!
However, this phrase was even more convincing of True Lord Taiyi’s identity than the lotus mark.
Li Changshou pondered briefly, feeling this senior fellow must truly have important business to discuss. He sent a nearby paper avatar to the town, but his main body had no intention of moving at all.
Did they think killing a Sage was so easy?
This battle had greatly depleted his spirit and energy. Without Cloud Maiden’s leg pillow, he wouldn’t be getting up for quite a while.
Unfortunately, the previous situation hadn’t been appropriate.
Cloud Maiden had also returned with the Severing Sect immortals for their “meeting,” unable to stay behind to exchange some words of encouragement between dao partners.
Because of the Sage’s fall, the power of living beings had weakened, and the power of the Great Tribulation had diminished with it. Li Changshou could now openly protect Cloud Maiden, Azure Maiden, and Jade Maiden.
It’s just that Cloud Maiden was shy, and probably wouldn’t agree to such special treatment…
As for Li Changshou’s paper avatar arriving at the town, he deliberately released a bit of his dao rhythm, and soon heard a transmitted voice.
“Good brother.”
Li Changshou replied slowly: “Sharing the same blanket.”
This drew many sidelong glances from immortals on the street.
After connecting with the code phrase, he was called by True Lord Taiyi to a private room in a wine house, stepping through layer after layer of barriers.
Throughout the town, everyone was talking about the Sage’s fall.
Flying figures in the sky and running immortal scholars on the ground told everyone they met, spreading the news that the Sixth Sage had been slain by a Dao School disciple, the atmosphere quite celebratory.
In the private room, Li Changshou and True Lord Taiyi exchanged glances. The two disguised old Daoists raised their wine cups and each took a sip.
“What’s the matter?”
Li Changshou asked in a low voice, “What couldn’t be said in the jade talisman message?”
“It’s not secure,” True Lord Taiyi’s eyes showed some struggle, “This matter is quite troublesome, especially during this Great Tribulation, who knows what consequences it might trigger.”
Li Changshou smiled, “Since when did Senior Fellow learn to sell mystery?
This hesitation and cautiousness isn’t like your free-spirited nature.”
“Tsk,” True Lord Taiyi’s eyes flashed with brightness as he said softly, “Geng, don’t you think some immortals and deities in our Orthodox Teaching seem a bit off?”
Li Changshou suddenly understood—was this about discussing Manjusri, Samantabhadra, and others who clearly showed goodwill toward Western Teaching?
Li Changshou already had the answer: Western Teaching had made a secret deal with the Orthodox Teaching long ago, with several Western Teaching disciples entering the Jade Void Palace and taking Honored Lord Original Beginning as their master.
This should have been some kind of deal between Second Uncle Master and the Western Teaching’s Two Sages, with Illuminated Sage likely being part of it.
As for the specifics, Li Changshou couldn’t figure them out.
Just as Li Changshou was about to respond along these lines, True Lord Taiyi made another ‘tsk’ sound and said softly:
“Don’t you think there’s something wrong with Senior Fellow Yellow Dragon?”
Li Changshou: …
“Senior Fellow Yellow Dragon?”
He’s the most honest one in the entire Orthodox Teaching!
“That’s right, Yellow Dragon—let’s just call him Yellow.”
True Lord Taiyi made a gesture for silence, then switched to voice transmission to tell of a small incident that had happened not long ago.
“We returned to the Jade Void Palace and were called to the small courtyard for instruction. Master didn’t scold us, just told us to cultivate our character more and not lose our virtue.
After leaving the Jade Void Palace, I saw Senior Fellow Yellow looking depressed as he headed away from Mount Kunlun, so I followed behind, wanting to find a chance to console him.
Always being captured, always being suppressed in magical battles—it’s not his fault. He mainly lacks a few handy magical treasures, his initiative in combat is poor, and he’s too soft-hearted…”
At that time, True Person Yellow Dragon had traveled straight toward the Central Divine Continent, but instead of returning to his cave dwelling at Magu Cave, he went to a hidden valley.
That valley was a natural formation, with layers upon layers of mist inside, and concealed some unsettling aura.
True Lord Taiyi didn’t dare investigate too closely and just waited quietly outside. After only half an hour, Yellow Dragon flew out beaming with joy, his depression completely swept away.
“It was as if he had suddenly become a different dragon.”
True Lord Taiyi tapped his fingers on the table and said softly, “There must be some hidden story here.”
Li Changshou thought briefly before saying, “This is after all Senior Fellow Yellow’s private matter, perhaps… hehe.”
“This poor dao worries there might be some other explanation,” True Lord Taiyi said softly, “If you said he had a dao partner hidden in his Magu Cave, keeping a secret love nest outside would make sense.
But Senior Fellow Yellow himself has never shown much interest in such matters—all these years I’ve never heard him discuss any female immortal.”
Li Changshou said, “In that case, let’s go take a look in secret first. Random guessing won’t get us anywhere and might lead to misunderstandings.”
“Good,” True Lord Taiyi said, “Later we’ll leave the city one after another and meet in the forest six hundred miles outside the city.”
Li Changshou agreed, and they left the private room one after another.
Thus, half a day later.
Two young immortals came laughing through the clouds, landing on the cliff beside that valley—they were Li Changshou and True Lord Taiyi in disguise.
True Lord Taiyi, transformed into a young Daoist, laughed several times:
“This place is rich in spiritual energy, where earth veins converge, and remarkably free of cultivators’ presence—marvelous place, truly marvelous!”
“Senior Fellow,” Li Changshou, transformed into a youth, reminded him, “This might be someone’s residence, perhaps we should call out first.”
“Right!”
True Lord Taiyi shook his sleeves and called out toward the valley in a clear voice:
“This poor dao is Xingxing Zi, passing by this place with my junior fellow Chang Zhang Zi. Seeing this treasure ground’s beautiful scenery, we wish to stop here for a while. I wonder if any fellow Daoists reside here?
If any fellow daoists are present, please give us some indication, to avoid disturbing you later.”
As he spoke, True Lord Taiyi deliberately revealed his “Golden Immortal” dao rhythm and quietly waited for a while.
To be honest, when True Lord Taiyi wasn’t wearing red robes, his flamboyance was cut in half, and he wouldn’t randomly start fights.
Sayings like ‘my mouth has its ideas’ and ‘this poor dao just can’t control his mouth’ were a form of mockery.
The valley was completely quiet, with only one peak inhabited by spirit beasts within thousands of miles.
By now in the Great Tribulation, the Central Divine Continent had indeed become quite desolate—the previous sight of immortals flying everywhere was now rare.
“Junior Fellow, no one’s here,” True Lord Taiyi laughed, then rode his cloud carrying Li Changshou downward.
Suddenly, clouds and mist churned in the valley, blocking their path, and the two instantly lost their sense of direction.
But who were these two?
Taiyi of Mount Qianyuan, one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Jade Void Palace, was unmatched in his verbal skills, precise in starting battles, and wonderful in positioning—able to retreat safely every time, truly a first-class fierce character of the primordial world.
As for the other, no explanation was needed—the term “paper avatar” said it all.
Before Li Changshou could point the way, Taiyi was already laughing and saying:
“There’s a natural formation here, how wonderful!
Is anyone down there?
My fellow brother and I mean no offense, we’re just looking for a cave-dwelling to settle in!”
As he spoke, True Lord Taiyi rode his cloud back and forth, swaying to and fro, skillfully passing through the maze formation and bursting into a paradise realm.
It truly was a paradise realm.
Though still within the valley, its ‘volume’ was several times larger than it appeared from outside; the sky was clear light blue, with no trace of the earlier mist.
A clear stream flowed at the valley bottom, connecting to a pool at the valley’s end, with dense forests along the riverbank full of countless spirit birds and beasts.
Li Changshou and True Lord Taiyi simultaneously explored everywhere with their immortal consciousness. They exchanged glances, finding nothing unusual.
This was just some beautiful scenery, no cave dwellings, no cultivators, not even demon beasts…
A breeze blew past, carrying a strand of dao rhythm that made both True Lord Taiyi and Li Changshou feel slightly uneasy as if some danger lurked within.
Li Changshou transmitted: “I’ll scout left and right, Senior Fellow please wait.”
Taiyi nodded slowly as several streaks of light flew from Li Changshou’s sleeve, transforming into forms nearly identical to his, flying in all directions.
Burrowing through earth, water, and forest, Li Changshou quickly turned the place upside down but found nothing unusual.
He did find several fallen dragon scales on a riverbank, bearing Yellow Dragon True Person’s aura.
Li Changshou said seriously: “Senior Fellow, this place seems to be merely Senior Fellow Yellow’s hideaway, a quiet place to retreat.
We may have overreacted.”
True Lord Taiyi nodded slowly, also seeing no flaws.
“I must have overthought it. Let’s head back.”
Li Changshou said: “Why not go ask Senior Fellow Yellow directly? That might be more productive than our random searching here.”
True Lord Taiyi nodded in agreement, no longer dwelling on the matter, and left together with Li Changshou.
On the way, True Lord Taiyi showed embarrassment, repeatedly saying things like ‘how hasty of me.’
However, after True Lord Taiyi and Li Changshou’s paper avatar had left, in a riverside thicket, a paper avatar that Li Changshou had previously left through another paper avatar quietly revealed itself.
He hid in a tree trunk, staring at the nearby riverbank, his eyes showing contemplation.
Senior Fellow Taiyi had coincidentally been of great help this time.
If his deduction wasn’t wrong, this matter was of great importance. Not only was there no benefit, but it might touch the Primordial Lord’s sore spot—he couldn’t involve Senior Fellow Taiyi.
This place didn’t just have a dragon race aura.
The unease they felt came from an ‘instinctive’ trepidation.
After brief consideration, this paper avatar of Li Changshou remained motionless in the tree trunk while his consciousness returned to the Heavenly Court, immediately sending out two jade talismans.
One went to the East Sea Dragon Palace, and one to Eight Treasures Cave on Mount Kunlun.
Within days, as cultivators across the Five Continents discussed the great matter of the Sixth Sage’s slaying, they also began talking about several small matters from that day.
Some busybody made a power ranking of Orthodox and Severing Teachings’ direct disciples in magical combat, very objectively placing True Person Yellow Dragon at… fifth from the bottom.
When this news reached the Jade Void Palace and Magu Cave, Yellow Dragon True Person, already somewhat depressed, felt even more inexplicably gloomy.
Coincidentally, True Lord Taiyi and True Lord Yuding invited him to a feast these days, speaking words of encouragement both directly and indirectly during the banquet, even specifically saying they wanted to exchange some treasures with him.
How could he, Yellow Dragon, not understand his fellow brothers’ good intentions?
But could he accept the treasures?
Of course he could, it just meant losing face.
Yellow Dragon True Person didn’t take those treasures, returning to Magu Cave after the banquet.
Two days later, on a dark and windy night.
Yellow Dragon True Person concealed himself and left Magu Cave, finding that valley somewhat far from Magu Cave. After looking around and waiting quietly for a while, he entered the natural formation.
He went straight to the riverside, passing those previously shed dragon scales. Just as he was about to step past, he suddenly noticed a jade talisman lying quietly among the scales—one of his usual styles, bearing his aura, a completely blank message talisman.
“When did I drop this?”
Yellow Dragon True Person muttered, taking the jade talisman in hand as he stepped toward the water before him.
A door seemed to quietly open beneath the river, but the water flowed quietly with no abnormality.
Yellow Dragon True Person stepped in, gradually becoming semi-transparent, ‘submerging’ step by step into the middle of the river.
There were indeed mysteries hidden beneath the river.
This was an extremely profound space-time technique, like mustard seed space.
But no matter how small the mustard seed space appeared externally, it still had a certain ‘volume’ existing in the original space-time.
The space-time technique here, however, completely attached space to the primordial world, having no direct connection with the primordial world yet maintaining connections beyond spiritual energy.
The only term Li Changshou could think of was the shallow and inappropriate ‘alternate dimension space.’
Underwater was an extremely complexly structured cave dwelling, with countless formations arranged throughout—trapping formations, killing formations, maze formations, poison formations, all complete.
Even an ordinary Great Luo would have trouble if they took a wrong turn.
These formations weren’t based on the common formation concepts after ancient times, incorporating large amounts of ‘talismans’—a common technique in ancient formations.
Yellow Dragon True Person turned left and right, making his way expertly to the deepest part of the cave, finding a secret chamber.
Pushing open the stone door to enter, the chamber contained a painting and some simple furniture. In the painting, an azure dragon soared skyward, its domineering, mighty aura striking one’s face.
Yellow Dragon True Person lit three sticks of incense, sat on the meditation cushion before the painting, and slowly sighed.
“Ah… Mother, am I really that useless?”
In the painting, the azure dragon’s eyes flickered with light, and the dragon slowly flew out, transforming into a three-foot-long old azure dragon, its eyes sparkling with brilliant light.
“Child, did you bring friends?”
Yellow Dragon started, hurriedly saying: “Mother, I came alone. Your existence isn’t tolerated by the Heavenly Dao, how could I dare expose you?”
“Ahem,” a light cough came from Yellow Dragon’s sleeve, as a blue light flew out—it was that message jade talisman.
The message jade talisman trembled slightly, transforming into Li Changshou’s form, who made a Daoist bow to the dragon from the painting.
“Supreme Clarity disciple, Heavenly Court’s Venus Star Lord Li Changgen, pays respects to Dragon Mother. Please forgive my sudden visit.
Senior Fellow Yellow Dragon, I apologize.”
“Ah, this!”
Yellow Dragon quickly stood up, staring speechlessly at Li Changshou, finally squeezing out:
“Junior Fellow, how did you find this place?”
Li Changshou briefly explained the cause and effect, then made another Daoist bow to Yellow Dragon, saying solemnly:
“Senior Fellow, please don’t blame me. I just wanted to confirm something with Elder Dragon Mother. If I had told Senior Fellow directly, you certainly wouldn’t have agreed.”
“This… this…”
“Child, step back first.”
The azure dragon said slowly: “This old one is merely a remnant soul, hiding here precariously, wanting to see where the primordial world will go.
Since the Sage-Slayer has come seeking, this old one will tell all I know.”
Li Changshou pursed his lips, feeling this title… was quite dramatic.
The azure dragon asked: “What does Star-Lord wish to ask?”
Li Changshou said: “About the battle between Luohou and the Primordial Lord, and where Luohou fell.”
The dragon fell silent, staring at Li Changshou, saying nothing for a long time.
“You want to become the second Demon Ancestor?”
“To be honest with Elder, I have no interest in being a failure.
Whether the Demon Ancestor or the gopher beside Pangu’s divine body back then,” Li Changshou smiled, “I just want to find something quite important to me.”
“What?”
“I cannot say.”
Dragon Mother said: “Then I cannot tell fellow Daoists where it is. Fellow daoists can investigate the Four Seas Dragon Palaces.”
Li Changshou said: “The Dragon Palaces have no record of where the Demon Ancestor fell as if someone deliberately erased it, and of those who participated in that battle back then, it seems only Elder you can be found to have traced.
This is the East Sea Dragon King’s answer.”
Dragon Mother slightly frowned, saying softly: “Today’s dragon race has chosen to stand on your side?”
Li Changshou’s brows furrowed slightly, contemplation flashing in his eyes as he looked toward Yellow Dragon True Person.
Dragon Mother immediately understood, “Child, go wait outside.”
Yellow Dragon couldn’t help but stare for a moment, but quickly and obediently made a Daoist bow, turning to leave the cave.
This?
What was going on?