HomePull StringsChapter 744: The Connection Master

Chapter 744: The Connection Master

“Paying respects to Elder Lord.”

Li Changshou’s fake Virtual Bodhi stood up, made a Daoist salute to the Elder Lord, and casually placed the spirit herb into the jade box.

Don’t misunderstand—he wasn’t asserting ownership of the spirit herb.

Whether from ‘Virtual Bodhi’s’ position or his true identity, neither would dare compete with the Elder Lord for spirit herbs.

He held out the jade box, using immortal power to push it toward the Elder Lord, his face showing slight regret but little hesitation.

This move was very Virtual Bodhi-like…

What kind of divine being was the Elder Lord? What kind of boss?

If the Elder Lord simply took the spirit herb today, it would diminish his face;

Though there was once a Saint who played with face until it became elastic, the Elder Lord’s virtue was held in high esteem—he wouldn’t take advantage of a junior.

Even if this junior had once opposed the Path Teaching and Heavenly Court.

The Elder Lord needn’t concern himself with such matters.

Sure enough, the Elder Lord slightly raised his hand to let the jade box float above the green ox’s head, calmly asking:

“What pill do you want?”

‘Virtual Bodhi’ lowered his head and said: “Offering such herbs to the Elder Lord is certainly more appropriate than wasting them in this junior’s hands. Please accept them, consider it forming a positive connection.”

“Pills,” the Elder Lord said flatly.

The implication was that he didn’t want to form such a connection with Virtual Bodhi.

Li Changshou was also amused inside.

These two teachers at home were too lovable.

‘Virtual Bodhi’ raised his head, staring at the Elder Lord, a trace of ‘strange’ light passing through his eyes.

The Elder Lord slightly furrowed his brows… unable to understand the meaning of this gaze.

Virtual Bodhi said in a deep voice: “Elder Lord, this disciple indeed lacks one type of pill. Previously, this disciple was injured, had his Dao realm sealed and Dao foundation unstable, hoping the Elder Lord could bestow a precious pill to stabilize the Dao foundation.”

“Oh?”

The Elder Lord looked at the jade box before him, then looked at Virtual Bodhi, dismounting from the ox’s back.

“Come here.”

The green ox mooed once then transformed with flowing light into… a boy servant.

Little Silver!

The Green Ox wasn’t at home! Had he gone down the mountain to play the role of Ox Demon King?

Li Changshou’s true body’s mouth twitched frantically several times, he couldn’t help but raise his hand to cover his eyes while driving Virtual Bodhi’s false body forward.

Little Silver carried two meditation cushions, not even looking at Virtual Bodhi, placing them on the grass nearby.

The Elder Lord sat properly on one cushion, while ‘Virtual Bodhi’ lowered his head as he approached, hesitated slightly, but still sat opposite the Elder Lord.

The Elder Lord said calmly: “Extend your hand.”

That expression reminded Li Changshou of traditional Chinese doctors he’d seen in his previous life.

Obediently extending his left hand, the Elder Lord placed a finger on his palm, his expression somehow seeming disdainful. He quickly shook his head slightly, gesturing for the boy servant Little Silver to return the jade box to ‘Virtual Bodhi’.

“No cure.”

“This?”

‘Virtual Bodhi’ hurriedly said: “Elder Lord, although this junior has committed many wrongs, that was ultimately due to youthful ignorance and pursuit of fame and gain. Now I understand the principle that all ultimately return to emptiness, please Elder Lord…”

“The Dao realm is also emptiness.”

The Elder Lord said flatly, stood up, pushed down the jade box containing the spirit herb, and walked to one side.

Little Silver transformed, taking the form of a green ox, then carried the Elder Lord, slowly returning the way they came, their forms disappearing into the clouds and mist.

‘Virtual Bodhi’ appeared lost, sitting in place stunned for a long while, until the meditation cushion before him turned to dust and dispersed. Only then did he sigh, putting away the jade box in his hand.

The entire process appeared to have no abnormalities whatsoever.

The Elder Lord disdained to act against Virtual Bodhi, this old guard of the Western Teaching, while Virtual Bodhi was quite respectful toward the Elder Lord. Moreover, everyone knew the Elder Lord was a Primordial World authority in pill and artifact refinement, so his attempt to trade spirit herbs for pills was quite reasonable.

Finally, the Elder Lord showed displeasure, perceiving that the Heavenly Dao had sealed ‘Virtual Bodhi’s’ Dao realm, which pills could not solve, so he just said “No cure.”

Naturally, the Elder Lord wouldn’t mock Virtual Bodhi either. After expressing “no cure, farewell, no need to see me off,” he rode away on his ox, quite stylishly.

But in reality…

When the Elder Lord’s finger touched Virtual Bodhi’s palm, spiritual perceptions rippled in his Dao’s heart, somewhat like treasure spirits communicating with living beings.

Now, as the green ox walked through void space, the Elder Lord carefully savored those spiritual perceptions, showing no expression.

What had Li Changshou said?

He had immediately recited the Heart Fire Burning formula to prove his identity, then immediately spoke of his plans.

‘Elder Lord, this disciple borrows Virtual Bodhi’s shell to compete with the Dao Ancestor.

There is one matter requiring the Elder Lord’s help… regarding that spirit monkey Wukong, he is this disciple’s disciple, and also the Dao Ancestor’s chess piece. This disciple wishes to give him more benefits, so when facing the Dao Ancestor’s calculations, he’ll have more power to resist.

Don’t worry about his character—though the monkey is arrogant, his heart has compassion for living beings.

Later he will cause trouble while drunk in the Heavenly Court and will go to disturb the Tusita Palace. Please prepare some pills to help increase his strength.

This disciple has buried a great formation in him, used to protect him at critical moments—the more spiritual power, the stronger this formation.’

The Elder Lord’s mouth twitched slightly as he rode the Green Ox (Silver Version) to the next herb-gathering location.

And when these spiritual perceptions arose in the Elder Lord’s heart, in the depths of Li Changshou’s Dao heart, a strand of transmitted sound also circled, finally slowly dissipating.

That was the spiritual thought the Elder Lord had actively transmitted to Li Changshou when he touched his palm.

Compared to Li Changshou’s long discourse, this spiritual thought was very brief, but the sentences within made Li Changshou’s nose tingle with emotion.

‘Supreme Pure is well, fundamentally of one heart, long knew of your return.

Don’t be too tired, if matters prove impossible, break then rebuild.’

This…

Li Changshou’s heart naturally trembled.

This brief contact, brief communication, yet made his heart much more at ease.

The Elder Lord should be a hidden piece left by his teacher, superficially having no connection to his teacher, just a manifestation embodying the Supreme Pure Saint’s will to ‘protect the Heavenly Court’ from years ago.

Even deceiving the Heavenly Dao, making it believe the Elder Lord’s existence was beneficial and harmless to the Heavenly Court and Heavenly Dao.

However, in reality, the Elder Lord and Supreme Pure were of one heart and mind… their relationship was very mysterious.

Li Changshou suddenly thought of something, a Taiji Diagram appearing in his heart; this Taiji Diagram slowly rotated, and in the eyes of the yin-yang fish, two figures appeared.

Teacher and Elder Lord.

Ah—

That’s it, the Great Dao of Yin and Yang!

Teacher and Elder Lord should be two sides of one body, and Teacher had already achieved dividing his Dao heart in two, each calculating the Dao of Yin and Yang, then combining them into one, forming the supreme Great Dao!

Teacher and Elder Lord were indeed two living beings, and due to the opposition of Yin and Yang, these two beings were perfectly divided, unable to interfere with each other;

But because of the principle that Yin and Yang aid each other and coexist, these two beings were essentially one being—Supreme Pure!

Only this way, dividing oneself, one side representing Yin, one side representing Yang, mutual generation and restriction, fusion, and separation, could one deduce the Great Dao of Yin and Yang to its ultimate!

During that battle in the Purple Void Palace, the Elder Lord had actually participated—what went wasn’t the Elder Lord, but the Elder Lord’s Great Dao!

The reason Supreme Pure Teacher could suppress the other five Saints and win against the Dao Ancestor in battle was that when Supreme Pure and Elder Lord’s Great Daos combined, they could briefly enter the realm of Yin-Yang Unity, Limitless Primordial!

The teacher’s combat level was comparable to a Limitless Primordial Saint!

Unfortunately, Teacher wasn’t a true Limitless Primordial Saint, and couldn’t bear to extract half the Primordial World’s spiritual energy to achieve his own Great Dao Saint position.

—Extracting half the Primordial World’s spiritual energy to become a Saint was a definite conclusion reached by ancient experts and great practitioners working together.

But the ‘spiritual energy’ here didn’t just refer to the various attributed and non-attributed spiritual energy floating in the Primordial World, it also included the spiritual energy stored as magical power and essence within living beings.

When living beings’ power was at its peak, to achieve true Sainthood, one had to slaughter powerful living beings and release the spiritual energy they occupied.

Supreme Pure Teacher always could, but Teacher never did.

Sigh…

Without becoming a true Saint, one couldn’t sever the Dao Ancestor’s connection to the world’s origin;

Becoming a true Saint would cause devastating losses to the Primordial World, with living beings’ power falling to rock bottom with no way to rise.

If Teacher initiated the catastrophe of becoming a Saint, experts would escape, and the world’s spiritual energy would still end up controlled by a minority of powerful beings—that would be the end of the road for Primordial World practitioners.

Li Changshou suddenly somewhat understood why Teacher had always been unwilling to take many disciples.

Today, the Elder Lord had probably deliberately come to see him.

To let him not worry too much, not labor too much, everything had the Teacher’s support, letting him confidently pursue another path.

Hmm…

The teacher was awesome.

“Sigh.”

‘Virtual Bodhi’ sighed as if dejected, but was actually expressing his inner feelings.

He raised his head to look toward the Five Continents, his expression somewhat gloomy.

Next stop, continue planting nails.

To not disappoint Teacher, and for the Pangu’s dying wish that Teacher carried.

The final battle.

It was very close.

“Sister, tea is ready.”

In the sound-isolating formation in a corner of the great hall in the Kun Peng secret realm.

Ling’e wore a grass-green short dress, her long hair bound in a maiden’s coiffure, jade pendants at her waist jingling, the necklace on her snow-white neck emanating faint immortal light.

In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed, yet Ling’e remained unchanged.

After all, she was already a Golden Immortal, and her days here were quite leisurely.

Senior Brother had been sitting cross-legged in the center of the great hall, secretly plotting his plan to oppose Heaven in the Primordial World, taking all matters upon himself.

She watched with concern, yet couldn’t help much, only able to quietly accompany him at his side, waiting, preparing.

If Senior Brother lost, she would carefully comfort him, and help him dispel his emotions.

If Senior Brother won, she would cheer and encourage them from the side, letting him feel the atmosphere of victory.

With two soft taps, teacups were placed on the low table in the middle of the soft couch. Ling’e sat down naturally, propping her chin while watching Sister Yun Xiao, who smiled in thanks beside her.

Yun Xiao was manipulating a miniature formation disk, pondering ways to improve it while Li Changshou was preoccupied.

Compared to Ling’e, Yun Xiao’s changes were even more minute—after all, she was also an Innate Expert. These less than a thousand years had passed in nearly the blink of an eye.

Yun Xiao had finally experienced that feeling of having one’s beloved right beside them, yet unable to converse—quite depressing.

But she maintained light makeup daily, wanting that person to see her at her best condition whenever he opened his eyes, just like now.

Her long hair was coiled in cloud-like buns, her face fair and crystalline, from her delicate fingertips to her brow corners, all naturally gentle and ethereal.

Not just immortal men, even Ling’e could often become entranced watching Yun Xiao, never tiring even after thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Yun Xiao’s fingertip movements paused slightly as she smiled gently at Ling’e, asking softly: “Was that earlier commotion Senior Brother Xuandu returning?”

“Mm,” Ling’e sighed, slowly laying on the low table, her forehead against the surface, “This time out, he killed some more old villains of the Primordial World, gathering quite a bit of true spirit power.

Everyone is full of motivation now, all thinking that if we accumulate like this, one day we can fight our way back to the Primordial World.”

Yun Xiao put away the miniature formation disk, and two jade talismans written by Li Changshou appeared in her hand, as she asked softly:

“What do you think?”

Ling’e said listlessly: “Senior Brother will win…”

Yun Xiao smiled gently and continued: “To be able to contend with the Dao Ancestor to this degree, he has already made us proud. We’ll just quietly wait for him to finish these matters, then live in seclusion here with him, and all will be well.”

“Hee hee hee,” Ling’e suddenly giggled.

Yun Xiao said gently: “Don’t laugh like that, we should maintain our dignity at all times.”

“Sister!” Ling’e sat up, blinking her clever beautiful eyes, “Let’s prepare the wedding items in advance!”

“This… people might mock us,” Yun Xiao smiled, “saying we’re eager to get married.”

“Who cares about them,” Ling’e said, “According to Senior Brother’s previous plans, there are only a few years left. Senior Brother has shown expressions of light laughter and teasing several times recently, clearly, he’s very close to success.

Based on this junior sister’s long-term observation experience, Senior Brother’s chances of victory are definitely over ninety-five percent now, otherwise, he wouldn’t occasionally show relaxed expressions.

Sister, let’s make some preparations in advance. When Senior Brother wakes up, we can immediately start the gongs and drums, how about it?”

Yun Xiao hummed softly and said gently: “It’s not impossible, just be careful when opening formations, don’t let others see.”

Ling’e excitedly said: “Should we ask Aunt Jiuyou and the others to help?”

Yun Xiao thought briefly, shaking her head: “No, besides you and me, even Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao cannot enter this hall. Let’s not cause him trouble.

He said before that the Kun Peng secret realm might have the Dao Ancestor’s spies. I’ve thought it through carefully and feel this must be the case.

The Dao Ancestor would indeed do such things, otherwise he wouldn’t be at ease with so many Heaven-opposing beings gathered together.”

Ling’e asked quietly: “Sister, who do you think is most suspicious?”

“Several junior brothers and sisters,” Yun Xiao looked toward where Li Changshou was, saying softly, “This matter isn’t settled yet, let’s wait until he wakes up to discuss it.

We only have these experts left. If people become anxious because of this, it would be quite worthless.

He probably doesn’t want to investigate this matter, using such spies to make the Dao Ancestor complacent.”

Ling’e appeared thoughtful, carefully recalling for a moment, then said quietly: “There are indeed several people who have asked me about Senior Brother’s condition, showing a bit too much concern about this.”

Yun Xiao smiled gently, continuing to study the jade talismans in her hand, saying softly: “Don’t think too much about it, just see how he decides.”

“Mm,” Ling’e sighed lightly, propping her chin while watching Yun Xiao’s profile, “Sister, do you want to go play cards with them for a while? You’re always in the hall, don’t you feel bored?”

Yun Xiao laughed softly, saying gently: “I’m still an Innate Being, having passed through endless years.”

As she spoke, she looked toward Li Changshou’s form, her eyes finally showing a hint of worry.

“What’s wrong, Sister?”

“Just afraid that as time passes, the novelty fades, and the feeling of never tiring of looking at each other disappears, he might feel some depression in his heart.”

“Sister’s overthinking it,” Ling’e giggled, “He definitely won’t tire of looking!”

Yun Xiao smiled without speaking, saying: “Just worried about such things, can’t help these random thoughts lately.”

Her words were gentle, her breath soft.

The two continued chatting casually about their thoughts within the sound-isolating formation, sharing each other’s uncertainties.

In the center of the great hall, Li Changshou still sat quietly cross-legged, showing no changes himself, except occasional traces of smiles at the corners of his mouth, his brows no longer slightly furrowed.

Heavenly Court, Imperial Stable.

The monkey put on a grand red official robe, walking with his hands behind his back, looking left and right everywhere, proudly going to the main hall.

Not bad, not bad, today’s heavenly horses were also very spirited.

Later, continue herding horses by the Heavenly River!

This Heavenly Court gave him a minor position of Imperial Horse Tender, thinking he knew nothing; an official raising horses for the Jade Emperor, wasn’t that just like an old horse monkey raising black bears for himself?

Hmph, this Great King will scout around for now, find a good place in the Heavenly Court, and tomorrow after subduing the Heavenly Court, bring the monkey children and grandchildren here to enjoy good fortune.

The monkey shook both hands, his wide sleeves falling to reveal furry paws, saying grandly:

“Someone come! Open the horse stables for this official!”

Just as the monkey’s voice fell and a nearby immortal official was about to respond, a shout came from outside the ‘Imperial Heavenly Stable’:

“Come! Prepare a horse for this Marshal!”

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