Three thousand miles southwest of the Crossing Immortals Sect.

In a valley concealed by formations, dark figures sat quietly in meditation;

Outside the formation, several figures hid in various directions, guarding against sudden enemy attacks.

Underground, three or four people were also hidden…

In the deepest part of the valley, three Daoists hung suspended in a triangular formation, each sitting above a seven-petaled blood lotus that slowly rotated.

These three blood lotuses from the Netherworld Blood Sea had already been half-absorbed by each of them.

A trace of mosquito buzzing sounded in their hearts, and the three interrupted their cultivation to listen attentively.

Soon, the three opened their eyes and lowered their heads in acknowledgment:

“Your subordinates obey.”

The mosquito buzzing gradually faded from their hearts.

Old Dao Master Yuan Ze took a gentle breath and said firmly:

“Although our vanguard suffered losses this time, it was because we had not yet perfected our Dao and couldn’t act in time.

Once we receive these blessings bestowed by the master, we definitely can!”

“Fellow Daoist! Hold your tongue!”

The middle-aged Daoist on the left hurriedly interrupted, “Actions speak louder than words. Let us achieve success sooner and complete what the master has arranged!”

“Good!”

Yuan Ze gave an embarrassed laugh, gradually closing his eyes and muttering:

“We are about to consolidate our Golden Immortal Dao fruits. The mere Crossing Immortals Sect will be as easy as catching something in our hands, a sure victory!”

After speaking, a confident and peaceful smile appeared at the corners of Yuan Ze’s mouth…

The two Golden Tortoise Island cultivators beside him, whose primordial spirits and Dao hearts had similarly been corrupted by blood mosquitoes, couldn’t help but frown and exchange glances.

‘He still said it out loud.’

‘Should we… suggest to master… to replace him?’

The two shook their heads, showing contemplation on their faces, but quickly resumed their wooden expressions and slowly closed their eyes to concentrate.

Their consciousness was now entirely occupied by that voice…

[Absorb the lotus, consolidate the Dao fruit, destroy the Crossing Immortals Sect]

They had very few opportunities left for independent thought…

The three blood lotuses began slowly rotating again, streams of blood light flying out and drilling beneath their Daoist robes, filling their void Dao fruits…

“Little Ya, recently there have been villains harassing the sect entrance, and the sect is quite unstable.

Don’t go into closed cultivation for now. If the sect encounters disaster, immediately head to the Hundred Ordinary Hall.”

Standing on white clouds, feeling the cool spiritual wind against her face, You Qin Xuan Ya recalled her master’s instructions in her heart.

Disaster…

As the current chief disciple, what should she do if the sect is attacked?

When powerful enemies attacked the mountain gate, it certainly couldn’t be resisted by disciples like them who hadn’t yet become immortals.

If such a disaster truly occurred, when the mountain-protecting formation was in danger, if disciples from each peak could take care of themselves and not create trouble for the sect’s immortals, it would give the sect more power to defend against external enemies.

She only regretted that she had not yet become immortal and couldn’t share her master’s and grand master’s burdens.

She had to do something.

You Qin Xuan Ya pursed her thin lips, her eyes growing more determined as she turned to fly toward the Hundred Ordinary Hall.

Soon, she obtained permission from the Hundred Ordinary Hall and took an elder’s token, about to notify fellow disciples at each peak about the earth vein escape routes within the sect.

Leaving the Hundred Ordinary Hall, You Qin Xuan Ya thought briefly before heading straight to…

Little Jade Peak.

‘Little Jade Peak only has Uncle Master Qi Yuan, Senior Brother Changshou, and Junior Sister Ling E—three people. It would naturally be the most dangerous place when facing enemies. Going to notify them first is also reasonable.’

You Qin Xuan Ya found an excuse for herself in her heart, flying toward Little Jade Peak with slight unease.

From far away, she saw Ling E drifting back and forth on the lake’s surface, immediately feeling more relaxed. She stepped on a cloud and slowly descended.

Just as she entered Little Jade Peak’s outer isolation formation, she heard…

Croak…

Croak…

Frog sounds were endless near and far, with jade shadows flickering by the lake.

Though it was originally an immortal cultivation spiritual site, it had a kind of relaxed pastoral pleasure.

You Qin Xuan Ya landed by the lake, examining those lively jumping jade frogs with delight in her heart.

Since last time, when Senior Brother Changshou gave her an extremely cute pink spirit beast, it had unexpectedly opened a door to a new world for her.

However because she went into closed cultivation too frequently, that spirit beast accidentally died from neglect, causing her months of heartache as she buried it beneath Breaking Sky Peak…

But since then, You Qin Xuan Ya had become very fond of such cute spirit beasts.

Standing by the lake, she bent down slightly, the water reflecting her intoxicating features and that enchanting delicate figure;

You Qin Xuan Ya gazed at the two small Spirit-Cultivating Jade Frogs, and that usually cold beautiful face revealed a slight smile.

But seemingly sensing her gaze, these two little frogs that had just recently “transformed” simultaneously jumped back into the shallow water by the lake, kicked their legs, and disappeared along with the ripples.

You Qin Xuan Ya raised her hand to adjust the hair by her ear, but her gaze remained very gentle.

Just then, ripples appeared on the lake’s surface, three precious pearls slowly rotating, casting out gentle rays of light.

Afterward, a graceful figure slowly rose from the lake’s surface, holding two water spheres in her hands—the left sphere containing a spirit fish, the right sphere containing a jade frog…

In the soft light, Ling E squinted her eyes and said leisurely:

“Beautiful Senior Sister~

Do you want this delicious Mandarin Fish;

Or do you want this delicious jade frog?

Or perhaps, you still want your cute and virtuous Junior Sister Ling E to help brew a cup of clear tea and make some refreshments?”

You Qin Xuan Ya couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and in an instant, it was as if plum blossoms were blooming and snow lotuses were just opening.

Ling E jumped over from the lake surface and smiled: “Senior Sister, let’s go sit inside. My senior brother went to Cauldron Peak.”

“Alright,” You Qin Xuan Ya responded softly, walking forward a few steps with Ling E.

You Qin Xuan Ya suddenly came to her senses, remembering something, and was slightly taken aback…

Delicious?

“This… that… are they all edible?”

Ling E blinked: “What else?

Mandarin Fish is very tasty, you can fry it, steam it, boil it, make soup, and there’s my senior brother’s secret seasoning!

Jade frogs can be made into jade frog fish heads, tempting jade frogs…

Senior brother passed all his culinary skills to me back then!”

You Qin Xuan Ya immediately frowned slightly, “We have already abstained from grain, why must we eat these things?”

Ling E smiled: “That question, perhaps Uncle Master Jiu Yu can explain.

Alcohol is also useless for cultivation, yet Uncle Master Jiu Yu considers it half her life—isn’t the desire for food and drink the same?”

“That is indeed the reasoning…”

“Empty words prove nothing,” Ling E rolled up her sleeves, took out her seasoning treasure pouch, and headed toward the lakeside stove, “Senior Sister, please wait a moment, this junior sister will show you her skills today!”

You Qin Xuan Ya blinked, just about to speak, but Ling E was already humming a tune, jumping two steps to the stove.

A flame shot from Ling E’s fingertip and a gentle fire started under the stove;

She snapped her fingers, and a spirit fish jumped out from the lake surface as if voluntarily jumping onto the chopping board.

Ling E took out a sharp magical tool, the ‘deodorizing’ dagger, casually stunned the spirit fish, and began skillfully busying herself…

You Qin Xuan Ya curiously came closer, temporarily forgetting her original purpose.

Half an incense time later…

“It looks quite good.”

“Senior Sister, please try it. My skills are no worse than senior brother’s now!”

“Mm…

It smells so good!”

You Qin Xuan Ya held a pair of jade chopsticks, her eyes lighting up;

Ling E had already brought out a low table nearby, produced non-intoxicating clear fruit wine, and was having fish and drinks by the lake with You Qin Xuan Ya.

Soon after, a white cloud came from Cauldron Peak…

Ling E glanced at the cloud’s height and immediately said: “My senior brother is back. Senior Sister, didn’t you have something important to discuss with senior brother?”

“Yes,” You Qin Xuan Ya hurriedly put down her chopsticks and rose to welcome him.

This time, Li Changshou didn’t avoid them, directly drifting over on his cloud.

“Senior Brother! Senior Sister You Qin has been waiting for you!”

“Senior Brother Changshou.”

Ling E called out sweetly, while You Qin Xuan Ya bowed her head and cupped her hands in greeting Li Changshou.

“Sister You Qin needs not to be so formal,” Li Changshou returned the ceremonial bow, “I wonder what matter brings you here.”

You Qin Xuan Ya looked at Li Changshou and spoke about the earth vein transfer formation matter, saying: “If external enemies attack the mountain and the mountain-protecting formation is in danger, Senior Brother Changshou and Junior Sister Ling E should go directly to the Hundred Ordinary Hall, where there are escape routes.

We haven’t become immortals yet. If we stay here, we would only needlessly distract the sect elders.”

Li Changshou frowned and quickly asked: “Sister You Qin, have you already told the disciples at each peak about this?”

“Not yet…”

You Qin Xuan Ya was slightly embarrassed, “I… came to Little Jade Peak first.

I was wondering if Senior Brother Changshou could help me speak about this matter with fellow disciples at each peak.”

Ling E blinked beside them but didn’t say anything.

Li Changshou, however, felt relieved inside and advised: “This matter should be phrased differently. We must never mention the earth vein transfer formation.

Has Sister You Qin considered that the current generation of disciples has been in the sect for several decades to over a hundred years?

If there are spies deliberately mixed in to leak information, speaking so clearly about this matter, if external enemies truly attack the mountain, wouldn’t this cut off the retreat route for sect members and disciples?”

You Qin Xuan Ya was stunned, then gently frowned, “What Senior Brother Changshou says does make some sense.

But if we don’t trust people, how can we make them trust us?”

“The word trust should come after knowing someone,” Li Changshou said seriously, “If you don’t know a person, what basis is there for trust?

Human hearts have twists and turns—it’s easy to know faces, but difficult to know hearts;

Moreover, why does Sister You Qin think there are no cowardly traitors within our sect who might surrender to enemies to save themselves?”

“But…”

You Qin Xuan Ya was at a loss for words, not knowing how to argue, while continuously pondering in her heart.

Li Changshou continued in a gentle voice: “We naturally feel grateful to the sect, but that’s just us—we cannot require others to be like us.

The Dao follows heaven and earth, yet rises from the heart;

Methods define square and circle, stillborn from the heart.

Can Sister You Qin see that in this world, even between master and disciple, father and son, whose Dao is completely the same?”

“Xuan Ya has learned from your teaching…”

You Qin Xuan Ya made a deep ceremonial bow to Li Changshou, her beautiful eyes showing admiration as she said softly:

“It was Xuan Ya who didn’t think things through. Thank you, Senior Brother Changshou, for enlightening me.

Please, senior brother, teach me how to handle this matter.”

“Sister needs not to be so formal,” Li Changshou returned the ceremonial bow, while secretly summarizing in his heart.

Using grand principles turned out to work surprisingly well with this personality type…

Li Changshou smiled and said: “Since the sister wants to notify the disciples at each peak in advance, why not change the message;

Just say that if there are urgent situations in the sect, please ask all fellow disciples who haven’t become immortals to immediately go to Breaking Sky Peak for shelter.

At that time, guiding them to the Hundred Ordinary Hall would be better than having everyone rush there at once.”

“That’s right,” You Qin Xuan Ya’s eyes were full of light as she said softly: “If not for Senior Brother Changshou’s guidance…”

“Sister You Qin was just a bit hasty, with a little thought you would have realized it too.”

Li Changshou smoothly cut off her words, then made a gesturing motion, “This matter is better done sooner than later. Sister You Qin should not delay here any longer.”

“Mm,” You Qin Xuan Ya nodded slightly, bowed to Li Changshou, and hurriedly flew toward Breaking Sky Peak on her cloud.

Naturally, she was going to discuss this matter with the Hundred Ordinary Hall elders again, reminding the elders not to let the information leak.

After Senior Brother Changshou’s enlightenment…

Within the mountain, there might…

Truly be enemy spies!

By the lake, Ling E blinked at Li Changshou, Li Changshou smiled at her and flew to the pill room on his cloud.

A moment later.

Underground in the pill room, in the secret chamber at the desk.

Li Changshou played with the storage ring bearing the Sect Master’s mark that Elder Wan Linyun had just given him, staring at the terrain map he had previously drawn that was spread out on the desk before him.

The storage ring contained a huge quantity of various poison grasses, probably the sect’s reward to Elder Wan Linyun;

And Elder Wan Linyun had stuffed it with lots of poison pills and confusion pills…

Returning the favor, Li Changshou decided to “use public funds for public purposes” with this batch of poison pills, using them to secretly protect the sect.

Now…

Fingers lightly tapping the desktop, Li Changshou began analyzing point by point.

[If I were those guys, which direction would I choose to launch a surprise attack from?]

Half a year later, three thousand miles northwest of the Crossing Immortals Sect’s mountain gate.

Dark figures flew close to the ground, quickly surging through a desolate valley, but these people didn’t notice that on a rock of the cliff beside them, there was a spider web entangled on some loose stones, gently floating in the wind.

At the same time, in the dense forest three hundred miles ahead on their advance route.

A wooden box buried under a tree was gently pushed open, and a paper person covered in cloth packages jumped out, instantly using a wood escape technique to drill into…

The trunk of the neighboring old tree.