On Lesser Jade Peak’s back mountain, Li Changshou stood frowning and sighing beside several nearly withered ancient trees. He reached out and patted one tree’s trunk.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

A breeze stirred the lifeless branches of the ancient trees, seeming to say “It’s nothing, it’s nothing.” In reality, they were probably trembling.

There was no other way. To create more paper warriors for actual combat, Li Changshou had repeatedly extracted tree sap over the past half year, constantly using various methods to restore their vitality. Back and forth…

These ancient spirit trees, which originally could have lived for tens of thousands of years and had hope of birthing wood spirits, were now barely hanging on.

‘Rest well and recover,’ Li Changshou sighed, feeling a touch of guilt in his heart.

He glanced at the newly transplanted tree branches nearby and thought to himself, ‘If you don’t make it, I will take good care of your children.’

Another breeze passed, and the old trees trembled again. Perhaps this was what being touched felt like.

Well, enough joking around.

Li Changshou’s toes lightly touched the ground as his form drifted away like willow catkins in the wind. He floated to the lakeside, coming to rest on the crown of a large tree among the grove.

Closing his eyes in meditation, his simply tied hair and the hem of his robes swayed gently with the branches…

Still as a floating feather when stationary, yet capable of splitting clouds and earth when in motion.

Achieving such effects without using supernatural arts was a state that could only be reached at profound levels of energy cultivation.

Over these past six months…

Thanks to the old trees’ sacrifices, the first phase of the battle preparation plan was barely complete.

Fortunately, those who secretly coveted the Dao Cultivation Gate had given him this preparation time. Otherwise, if large-scale battles truly erupted, he wouldn’t have been able to do much.

In these six months, the original and newly added formations on Lesser Jade Peak hadn’t been updated, but these formations had now completely merged into one.

Throughout the forest, ancient-looking patterns seemed to grow naturally, blending with the mountain vegetation without causing the immediate sense of terror they once did.

Trapping formations and maze formations were for stopping enemies while killing formations were naturally for slaying them. An excellent killing formation shouldn’t alert people to its dangers before they step in.

The grand formation beneath Lesser Jade Peak was now operating at peak efficiency, incorporating every enhancement Li Changshou could conceive.

The paper warrior technique had also been somewhat improved with the help of high-grade treasure restriction scrolls, meeting Li Changshou’s minimum requirements—no longer requiring complete mental focus.

This supernatural art still had a long way to go before fully evolving into an external incarnation technique.

For now, being functional was enough. After all, these were emotionless tools—for spreading poison, breathing fire, chanting scriptures, and indirect control—all-purpose “supernatural products” that could operate around the clock.

Of course, there were still imperfections.

The Poison Spider Hand technique obtained from Elder Wan Linyun was still just beginning to take shape, as he hadn’t practiced it long enough.

This supernatural art essentially systematized and mystified the art of poison deployment, making it more efficient and allowing for more confident execution.

Li Changshou opened his eyes and looked toward the lake, where his Master and Junior Sister were studying escape techniques.

At Li Changshou’s insistence, which his Master couldn’t refuse, the old man had begun practicing earth escape techniques six months ago…

His Junior Sister had started learning the five elemental escape techniques earlier, and under Li Changshou’s strict orders to intensify her training, she was now studying water escape techniques.

Thus…

Occasionally one could see an elegant figure with floating robes and dancing black hair emerging from and diving into the lake surface, trailing droplets of water—quite a pleasant sight.

However…

“Too slow,” Li Changshou frowned and shook his head.

Although he had taught Ling’e all the secrets of swift water escape techniques, she remained deeply interested in “entrances” and “exits,” paying excessive attention to overall aesthetic appeal.

This vain little girl…

Why not add some precious orbs around herself for a soft lighting effect?

Li Changshou couldn’t criticize her about this—after all, his Junior Sister had reached the age of caring about her appearance, and she was naturally beautiful, to begin with…

“When will those people make their move?” Li Changshou muttered to himself, closing his eyes to sense his surroundings.

The sky was high and clear, but human nature remained murky.

Counting the days, it had been over ten months since Jiuwu and the two elders had returned wounded.

The sect seemed to have quieted down again, and the attack incident appeared to have been left unresolved. When Li Changshou questioned Jiuwu about subsequent developments, he had always been vague.

The follow-up investigation likely hadn’t yielded anything. The experts of the three Daoist teachings weren’t foolish—this kind of “borrowing the knife to kill” strategy was basic and quite obvious.

But there was no way to trace who had secretly borrowed that knife.

And rifts gradually formed from these suspicions…

This was the brilliance of those plotting from behind the scenes.

Li Changshou had been pondering the control methods used by those behind the scheme.

[Controlling puppets;

Causing their spirit cores to instantly shrivel;]

What kind of supernatural art was this?

It should be considered an evil technique, right?

There were truly too many powerful figures in the primordial world—one couldn’t even count those in the open, let alone the venomous ones hiding in the darkness.

His divine sense gradually spread out.

The battle preparations were entering their second phase today. He was waiting for Elder Wan Linyun’s communication jade slip, as they would be acting together…

After spending three days in the underground secret chamber considering various possible scenarios that might unfold, Li Changshou immediately went to Medicine Cauldron Peak to meet with Elder Wan Linyun.

His method of persuading Elder Wan Linyun had been quite simple: a combination of dream visitation, oaths, emotional appeal, speculation, and reasoning had quickly convinced the Elder to believe Li Changshou and accept that powerful enemies might attack the Dao Cultivation Gate.

Since that dream visitation from the Old Man Under the Moon, Li Changshou had found the “dream visitation” excuse quite useful.

For cultivators to resonate with the Dao and receive mystical premonitions wasn’t particularly strange.

It’s just that his dream visitations were…

Perhaps a bit too frequent…

Under Li Changshou’s “suggestion,” Elder Wan Linyun had warned the Sect Leader and other elders in his name.

—If this matter had been brought up in Li Changshou’s name, the sect’s level of attention would certainly have been much lower.

However, the effectiveness of these warnings was beyond Li Changshou’s control.

He had already done everything within his power.

“Why hasn’t the Elder set out yet? It’s already the agreed-upon departure time.” Li Changshou muttered, slightly puzzled, his divine sense continuing to probe Medicine Cauldron Peak.

Reflecting on the past half year, he hadn’t done too much;

Most of his time had been spent crafting poison and tinkering with paper warriors in his sealed alchemy chamber.

This round of poison crafting purely pursued potency and quantity. Li Changshou had refined all the poisonous herbs he had bought from Coastal Town, collected in North Uttarakuru, and received from Old Master Wan Linyun into poison pills.

He then specially processed these poison pills into colorless and odorless powder.

Additionally, poison-catalyzing devices similar to the “long sword,” which had low material requirements but were difficult to craft due to their intricate design, were also made in quantity by Li Changshou during his spare time. He equipped Heaven-rank paper warriors numbers one through twelve with several each.

During this period of working with paper warriors, Li Changshou discovered another major use for them—

Immortal power storage devices.

He could infuse immortal power into the paper warriors and directly extract it when needed. If he ran out of immortal power while fighting someone in the future, he could throw out several paper warriors to draw power from them…

A true primordial world power bank!

His main body’s immortal power could recover at any time, and he had gradually filled twelve paper warriors during breaks from refining poison pills.

Thinking carefully though, this use was somewhat redundant.

How could he ever run out of immortal power?

All these years of practicing escape techniques weren’t for nothing…

The final step of the first phase of battle preparations was positioning the paper warriors.

Earlier, he had his Master “risk his life” to venture outside the mountain-protecting formation and place seven paper warriors in hidden valleys and spirit veins, each equipped with numerous original paper people and sufficient poison pill reserves.

Li Changshou’s plan was simple—

If external enemies breached the mountain-protecting formation, he would remotely control these seven paper warriors to outflank from behind, using poison pills to achieve surprise victories and effectively damage the invading enemies!

Additionally, his Master and Ling’e each carried one paper warrior for their protection at all times.

Senior Uncle Jiuwu and Senior Uncle Jiushi had already visited Elder Wan Linyun at Medicine Cauldron Peak.

Elder Wan Linyun followed Li Changshou’s instructions and gave the “Weeping Formula” sealed packet to Jiuwu, using very stern words to ensure Jiuwu would only open it when the sect faced a crisis.

For the second phase of preparations, Li Changshou needed to work together with Elder Wan Linyun to set things up…

Here he comes.

Li Changshou’s divine sense detected a streak of light from Medicine Cauldron Peak—he hadn’t expected Elder Wan Linyun to come directly to Lesser Jade Peak.

Looking down at his current paper warrior incarnation…

It shouldn’t be exposed, right?

As long as Elder Wan Linyun didn’t physically touch this body…

Well, he should still proactively explain to Elder Wan Linyun that this was an incarnation made from paper-cutting techniques.

The more straightforward someone’s nature, the more important it was to avoid deception.

Before Elder Wan Linyun could descend, Li Changshou had already mounted a cloud and risen into the air.

Meanwhile, his true body, which was cutting paper in the underground chamber, also looked up.

He needed to focus his attention on the paper warrior now.

Although he had trained in multitasking for a hundred years, he still might show a distracted expression.

…

Elder Wan Linyun’s warning to the sect must have had some effect.

There were indeed more guards at the mountain gate than usual.

Li Changshou followed behind Elder Wan Linyun, and the immortal guards at the gate bowed simultaneously, saying: “Elder, you’re heading out.”

“Mm,” Elder Wan Linyun showed a cold smile.

The immortals immediately tensed up, lowering their heads to use their formation-controlling artifacts to open the protective formations at the gate, respectfully seeing the Elder off on his patrol.

As for what the Poison Elder was doing outside or what business he had, they didn’t dare to ask at all.

After leaving the mountain-protecting formation, Li Changshou’s connection to his seven pre-positioned paper warriors grew somewhat stronger.

Wan Linyun turned his head to look at Li Changshou, his gaunt face showing a “gentle” smile as he said softly: “Where should we inspect first?”

“Let’s go east first, Elder,” Li Changshou smiled. “We need to conceal our auras—Elder, can you manifest the aura fluctuations of a True Immortal realm?”

“Mm, simple.” Elder Wan Linyun tapped his bronze staff, and his aura changed naturally.

As they rode clouds eastward, Li Changshou continuously observed the surrounding mountains and rivers, quietly contemplating.

The white clouds quickly flew beyond a thousand li from the sect, then gradually slowed as they carefully searched for something…

Elder Wan Linyun suddenly asked: “Look at that valley—it’s quite secluded. Could powerful enemies be hiding there?”

“Elder,” Li Changshou handed a pendant to Elder Wan Linyun, “this is a little device I made in my spare time, called a Detection Stone.

Its only effect is to monitor whether anyone’s divine sense or spirit sense falls upon us.

As you can see now, the Detection Stone is pale green, caused by my spirit sense and your divine sense probing outward.

If the color deepens, it means someone else’s divine sense or spirit sense is watching us.”

“Oh?”

The Elder found this quite interesting and examined the Detection Stone for a while before chuckling, “So it’s made from the juice of color-changing flowers that react to spirit sense.”

“Truly nothing escapes Elder’s wise eyes,” Li Changshou smiled. “Artifact crafting isn’t all about restrictions. As you often teach me, Elder, we should apply knowledge flexibly—isn’t this putting that into practice?”

Wan Linyun stroked his beard and laughed.

After patrolling eastward for a while, they turned north.

Their purpose for coming out was Li Changshou’s desire to scout the terrain.

If powerful enemies were to secretly attack the Dao Cultivation Gate, they couldn’t come flaunting through the air but would use the terrain to sneak close to the sect.

Moreover, the enemy would likely prepare in advance, gathering large numbers of “puppets” beyond a certain distance from the sect before launching a sudden attack.

The second phase of preparations continued the approach of “if I were the enemy,” searching for places where they might hide.

After checking the east, inspect the north; after checking the north, survey the west.

Li Changshou’s true body quickly drew detailed maps of the terrain for thousands of li in all directions in the underground chamber of Lesser Jade Peak.

When the two reached the southwest direction, both Detection Stones changed color simultaneously, the color deepening instantly.

“Changshou, look…”

“Elder, let’s pretend we didn’t notice anything,” Li Changshou immediately transmitted.

And Elder Wan Linyun, who typically preferred an expressionless face anyway, maintained his unchanged expression.

The two continued their previous flight path, riding clouds to inspect various places, while Li Changshou and Elder Wan Linyun almost simultaneously detected something unusual in a dense forest on a sunny hillside.

There were ripples of aura fluctuations.

Elder Wan Linyun transmitted: “Sure enough, someone is spying on our Dao Cultivation Gate. Changshou, you return first, and I’ll go meet them!”

“Elder, startling the grass to scare the snake wouldn’t be wise. Judging from the distance of their hiding place, they’re not yet ready to act,” Li Changshou said. “Let’s finish our patrol and return to the mountain gate, then come out quietly later to catch them off guard—that’s how we can succeed.”

“Indeed, Changshou speaks wisely!”

Elder Wan Linyun looked at Li Changshou, showing his trademark ‘cold smile’ again.

“Though I’m many years your senior, I’m not as skilled at planning these things as you are.”

Li Changshou smiled wryly, “Elder, I just have some minor cleverness. Your achievements in the Dao of Pills are unprecedented in our sect’s history.”

Wan Linyun smiled and shook his head, sighing, “If only my master could have seen this.

Changshou, what’s the next arrangement?”

“We’ll just…”

Thus and so, this and that.

These two poison-bearing figures gradually drifted away from the hillside, completely appearing as if they hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

After they had left for about a thousand li, two divine senses remained locked onto them, only disappearing when they neared the mountain gate…

Li Changshou transmitted: “Elder, there must be at least two Celestial Immortals there. Should we get back up?”

“No need, two more wouldn’t matter.”

Elder Wan Linyun said calmly: “Changshou, you just handle the strategy. Leave the fighting to me.”

“Elder, you forgot that the one following you is just a paper person created through paper-cutting techniques. I also want to witness your impressive enemy-vanquishing style later.”

Elder Wan Linyun smiled and nodded. After entering the mountain gate, they exchanged glances, and everything was understood without words.

Within half an hour, two wisps of green smoke floated out from the mountain gate, quietly concealing themselves underground…

Those gate-guarding immortals were now being watched by two stewards summoned from the Hundred Ordinary Hall, with nobody daring to make a sound or move carelessly.

Some situations, in Li Changshou’s view, required absolute precaution.