Chapter 82: Preparing for Battle

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“Changshou! If not for the poisonous pill that was made by Elder Wan Linyun, which you had given me, I would have really died!”

“Ah!”

They were in Jiu Wu’s pavilion in the Nine Jiu Immortals’ residence on the Heaven-Breaking Peak.

Two and a half months had passed since he returned safely from the expedition to the Immortal Du Sect.

Li Changshou waited for Jiu Wu’s injuries to heal and the sect members to stop running fevers before bringing Ling’e along to visit their Uncle-Master Jiu Wu.

His master had been cultivating in seclusion and hence was not disturbed by that matter.

In the past two and a half months, Li Changshou toiled day and night to make the array formations outside and inside Little Qiong Peak reach the maximum performance levels that he could achieve at the moment. He also used up all the treasures he had accumulated previously!

However, he felt a little more at ease staying there.

Just as he was led into Jiu Wu’s pavilion by Jiu Jiu, Li Changshou heard Jiu Wu sighing with emotion while sitting cross-legged on the bed.

Li Changshou bowed to Jiu Wu with a serious expression.

Ling’e put aside the tonic wine she was carrying and was dragged into the room at the side by Jiu Jiu.

Li Changshou had brewed that tonic especially for Jiu Wu. It could nourish one’s Primordial Energy, reduce losses, stabilize one’s essence, and strengthen one’s bones.

Li Changshou sighed and walked to the side of the bed.

As Li Changshou had repeatedly reminded Jiu Jiu, Jiu Jiu did not expose the fact that it was actually Li Changshou’s dream.

Even so, Jiu Wu was extremely grateful to Li Changshou because that poisonous pill had saved his life at the crucial moment.

“Uncle-Master, how are your injuries?”

“I’m fine.” Jiu Wu heaved a sigh of relief and said, “However, two of my fellow disciples had met with a calamity. Their souls are scattered in the Middle Continent and they cannot return.”

Li Changshou nodded and could only sigh while lamenting that the world was unpredictable.

After a while, Li Changshou cut straight to the chase…

“Uncle-Master, how’s the investigation going?”

“I have some clues, but it’s as good as nothing.” There was a hint of helplessness in Jiu Wu’s eyes. “I don’t know what to say… This matter might have something to do with a senior disciple of Chan School.”

“Some people are not willing to let the meeting between the three sects happen successfully. It seems that they are hatching a scheme in secret.”

Li Changshou thought to himself…

This is definitely not that simple.

However, he did not say anything else and only sighed. “This matter is really serious.”

“Exactly.” Jiu Wu shook his head and sighed. “Changshou, tell me about your poisonous pill…”

“Uncle-Master, do you want two more for self-defense?”

Jiu Wu said firmly, “That’s right. I can use immortal treasures, immortal pills or anything you want to exchange for them!”

However, Li Changshou shook his head slowly. With a serious expression, he said, “The poisonous pill that I gave you previously was actually given to me by Elder Wan Linyun. He wanted me to use them to figure out how to refine pills.”

“Uncle-Master, why don’t you go and look for Elder Wan Linyun…”

“Uncle-Master, I will pass the message to you via voice transmission.”

He mumbled.

Jiu Wu quickly nodded and agreed while pondering.

Although Elder Wan Linyun is indeed infamous, his poisonous pills are superb. I learned how powerful they were only after using them once…

Sometimes, poisonous pills can save lives as well as life-saving immortal pills can.

Jiu Wu said, “Alright. I’ll bring Jiu Shi along to see Elder Wan Linyun later.”

Li Changshou nodded slightly before recalling that Elder Wan Linyun had created his mystical abilities.

I shall go visit Elder later and ask him to impart me with the mystical abilities to create poison. 

Li Changshou asked Jiu Wu about many details regarding the attack suffered by the Golden Palace Sect previously in a concerned manner.

Jiu Wu told him everything that he knew.

When Li Changshou asked why the five of them were going out secretly, Jiu Wu said, “I’ve only told the Sect Leader and the elders about this. The sect has also ordered us not to inform any outsiders about this. If it were not for you, I would not have said anything.”

“It was a senior… Ah, I mean, an executive of the sect claimed that an expert from Ren School wanted to see the members of the Immortal Du Sect in secret. He told us some things about the meeting between the three sects and lured the four of us into an ambush.”

“Among those who ambushed us, there were three Heaven Immortals and sixteen Perfected Immortals. Before the battle started, the executive’s body collapsed instantly…”

“When we looked back, we saw that his essence soul had also declined, just like those people who were attacking us. The power of his essence soul and souls were also sucked out of him. I can only vaguely deduce from the identity of the person who ambushed me, that he seemed to be an immortal from the Chan School.”

Li Changshou’s heart skipped a beat, but there was a hint of fear on his face. He sighed with Jiu Wu again.

The two of them mumbled to each other for a long time, causing a few wisps of spiritual senses and immortal senses to detect them.

Soon, Li Changshou asked the last question.

“Uncle-Master Jiu Wu, I found a jade slip in the Dao Repository Hall. It seems to mention something about… some underground earth meridians containing a Teleportation Array that would allow one to escape during danger…”

Jiu Wu smiled bitterly and said to Li Changshou, “Indeed. The elders, Peak Leaders, and executives of the older generation all know about it. However, they did not tell anyone about it.”

“After the calamity of the demons’ sneak attack, which happened ten thousand years ago, the Sect Leader of the Immortal Du Sect also felt that he had to hold back. Therefore, he created a solution to escape for the disciples who were not competent enough.”

“That earth meridian leads to the East Ocean. If a powerful enemy attacks, the disciples of the sect can head underground in the Hundred Mortal Hall and use the teleportation array to leave, so as to avoid being attacked. However, there is a way down only in the Hundred Mortal Hall.

Li Changshou was enlightened, but he smiled to himself and thought…

Now, I can officially announce that there are two paths that were connected to the Earth Meridian Teleportation Array!

He had never seen a jade slip that was related to the escape route in the underground earth meridian.

He had purely dug it out!

Half a month ago, Li Changshou, who was preparing to create an escape route on Little Qiong Peak, dug through the earth meridian below the Little Qiong Peak and almost destroyed the array.

The so-called Earth Meridian Teleportation Array was not complicated. Although it had the word ‘teleportation’, it was not an array for a great shift. It simply used the power of the Earth meridian to allow one to directly move through the Earth meridian and instantly appear thousands of kilometers away.

The sect’s arrangement had really saved Li Changshou a lot of effort.

However, in order to be safe, Li Changshou had left a small Earth Vein Teleportation Array in a more remote location. It was in the opposite direction from the sect’s Greater Teleportation Array.

He had spent the last portion of precious materials he had on that.

Jiu Wu instructed, “This matter cannot be spread to the outside world. It will easily make the disciples panic.”

Li Changshou nodded and agreed. He changed the topic and started talking about recuperation…

An hour later…

Jiu Shi carried a bowl of soup and a bottle of pills while entering from the side.

She said gently, “Wu Wu, it’s time to take your medicine.”

Li Changshou looked at the scene taking place before him and found that it resembled a famous painting from his previous life, which was named “Da Lang, It’s Time For Medicine”. He got up and bade his Uncle-Master and Aunt-Master farewell.

Ling’e floated out from the house and bowed to Jiu Wu and Jiu Shi.

Jiu Jiu had originally wanted to go to the Little Qiong Peak with them. However, she thought that she could not be too heartless, and hence accompanied Jiu Shi to send Li Changshou and Ling’e out. She waved goodbye to the two of them and continued to stay by her Fifth Senior Brother, Jiu Wu’s side…

Even though she wanted to play, it was not an appropriate time to do so.

Li Changshou brought Ling’e to the Hundred Mortal Hall where they paid respects to the portrait of the Grand Pure One together before returning to the Little Qiong Peak…

On the cloud path, Ling’e noticed Li Changshou’s gloomy expression and asked softly, “Senior Brother, is the problem serious?”

“The information I know is too little. I can’t be sure.” Li Changshou sent a voice transmission to her. He continued, “I’ll go into seclusion in the Pill Chamber for a few days to think about this matter. If anything goes wrong in the sect, immediately crush the messenger talisman I gave you.”

“Don’t be afraid of wasting it. I can still refine and produce more.”

“Oh, okay.”

Ling’e nodded wittily and watched Li Changshou leave the Pill Chamber. She stood on the cloud and sighed softly.

Although she wanted to be like Li Changshou and make herself nervous…

He took a look at the various places in the sect, where clouds were curling up. He saw the immortal crane Cheng Xiang which was still as peaceful as before…

Senior Brother, are you… too sensitive?

Ling’e sighed softly and rode her cloud towards her straw hut.

The array formation around the Pill Chamber was activated. At that moment, there was no more spiritual energy in the forest. It was rather calm.

However, if someone with sharp spiritual senses were to stand outside the forest and look inside, their hair would stand on ends…

…

After entering the Pill Chamber, Li Changshou casually dropped a paper effigy and turned into green smoke as he returned to the underground secret chamber.

He took out a stack of blank canvases and spread them out one by one on the ground. He then took off his shoes and walked on them.

It was not because he needed a special “position” to calm down and think…

An hour later, Li Changshou took out a charcoal pen that he made and sat down cross-legged. He wrote a line on the leftmost side of the painting.

“If I’m a schemer…”

Then, he drew two arrowheads. One of them was straight, and he continued to write “The attack had nothing to do with the Dao discussion between the cultivators from Golden Ao Island.”

The other arrowhead pointed to a large area of blank space below. He wrote “It’s related to the Dao Discussion between the Golden Immortals”

After pondering for a while, he drew some arrows from each of the two articles. He listed out all the possible ways that the matter could escalate in and analyzed them one by one…

This time, I can’t let any of the possibilities go, no matter how small it may be! 

“There is not much information that we know of now.”

He only knew that the people from the Immortal Du Sect were very resourceful. They had the ability to control the mystical abilities of the Heaven Immortals and Perfected Immortals, and could instantly kill the puppets.

There should be a few possible motives. 

They might have a feud with the Immortal Du Sect and are after the Immortal Du Sect’s assets…

However, Li Changshou highlighted the most likely motive— Disrupting the meet and sowing discord between the three sects.

He analyzed the source, verified the results, and did not let go of any links.

Li Changshou lowered his head to write and draw. His immortal senses enveloped the entire Little Qiong Peak, and the charcoal pen in his hand became shorter and shorter.

Three days later.

Li Changshou heaved a long sigh of relief. He sat behind the study table in the secret underground chamber. In front of him was a ‘black screen’ that he had conjured with his immortal powers.

On it were densely packed words, symbols, arrowheads, and sketches.

There were dozens of possible “storylines” and hundreds of possible scenarios…

Even if the culprit was unknown, he would be able to find the corresponding “storylines” as long as the other party took the next step!

Li Changshou was not looking for the culprit because he found it to be meaningless.

It was because the other party was probably someone whom he could not come into contact with at the moment. Otherwise, he would die.

Li Changshou only wanted to be able to react quickly when he detected the other party making a move. He wanted to make the right decision…

If he exposed his cultivation level, it would only increase the combat power of the sect by the level of an elder. It would not be of much use.

There were enough elders on the peaks.

It would be impossible for him to obtain the authority to speak in the Immortal Du Sect within a short period of time.

Therefore, he might as well hide his cultivation trump card and secretly protect himself and the sect.

Moreover, the actual effect was that it would be more useful for him to hide.

Li Changshou took out three wooden tablets and a carving knife. He lowered his head and started playing with it.

He used a potion that would disappear after someone looked at it, as ink. He wrote down three plans and placed one in each of the three brocade pouches.

The first plan was to cry.

He had already planted a trump card in his Uncle-Master Jiu Wu’s place. Jiu Wu would look for Elder Wan Linyun later.

The brocade pouch would then be handed over to Jiu Wu by Elder Wan Linyun. He also strictly ordered Jiu Wu to stay in the sect for the time being. If the sect were to be attacked and the mountain-protecting array formation was broken, he had to ensure that Jiu Wu would open the brocade pouch.

He had to actually cry and not just do so perfunctorily.

Li Changshou wrote on the wooden sign:

“I went to the Hundred Mortal Hall to look for the Ancestral Master’s portrait. I cried from the bottom of my heart. It is said that the Grand Pure One of the Immortal Du Sect is ingenious, and was originally not in any conflict with the world, but he was used by someone else. They want to destroy the Ren School, which is part of the Immortal Du Sect, so as to sow discord among the three sects. I hereby seek the Ancestral Master’s help…”

He decided to give the second brocade pouch to Jiu Jiu. However, he could not give it to her directly and could only do so after something major happened.

The third brocade pouch was for his master. He stated in a message on the wooden tablet that he needed his master’s help to cover him. In fact, he wanted his master to escort Ling’e away.

If a sect war were to break out, his master would definitely be in charge. He had to deal with it in advance.

Li Changshou did not need anyone to protect him. After discovering the various signs, his main body would definitely be in a safe place…

After sealing the brocade pouch, Li Changshou shouted,”Prepare for battle!”

Uh, he seemed to be the only person in the entire army.

He casually brushed past the table, and two rows of paper effigies jumped out of his sleeve. They bowed at Li Changshou in unison.

Li Changshou smiled and did it again.

” Prepare for battle!”

The little paper effigies waved their hands with murderous intent.

I’m not going to joke anymore. 

There are three things that I need to do the most now. 

I have to quickly expand the ‘Poison-inducing Dharmic Artifact Vault’ and infinitely increase the amount of poisonous powder.

Strengthening the paper effigy would allow me to split my attention. I cannot devote all my attention to the paper effigies.

I must obtain Elder Wan Linyun’s deep trust. He is a powerful force that is no weaker than a Golden Immortal!

Li Changshou stood up and looked at the black screen in front of him. At the center of the screen, he saw the words “Prime culprit” written on it. His eyes glistened.

I don’t care if you’re from the west or from the north. I don’t care if you have a feud with the Immortal Du Sect, or with the Ren School and Chan School. Even if you don’t want the three sects to get along well… 

As long as you dare to take action!

Hmph!

I’ll dare to run…

…

Half a year later, in the Golden Palace Sect in the Middle Continent.

Three figures flew out of Immortal Island. They were the three Qi Refinement cultivators of Golden Ao Island. They had agreed to return to Golden Ao Island, as they were getting tired of staying there.

Those three people happened to be the ones who went to the Immortal Du Sect the other day.

The other two heard Old Daoist Yuan Ze’s complaints and felt the same way. They decided to return to Golden Ao Island to cultivate.

It would be better to go back and live a carefree life instead of staying here and wasting time!

The white clouds flew for a thousand kilometers, and the old Daoist Yuan Ze stood at the back. His eyes were bloodshot. He took two steps forward and suddenly said, “Fellow Daoists…”

The two of them turned around to look. Suddenly, they heard the buzzing of a mosquito. Before they could react, they felt a sharp pain at the back of their necks and were about to fall over.

The old Daoist priest Yuan Ze held the two middle-aged men and continued to drive towards the southeast as if nothing had happened.

Another half a month later.

The old Daoist priest Yuan Ze rode the white cloud and stopped at a dense forest in the Demon Clan’s territory at the border between the Middle Continent and the East Continent.

As if they had agreed beforehand, black shadows gathered from all over the forest. They surrounded the three of them and knelt down.

The group of figures consisted of demons, humans, and spirits. They were wrapped in black robes and were using all their strength to conceal their auras.

The only thing they had in common was that there were some invisible and healed wounds on their necks.

A demon carried three trays and knelt in front of the three of them. The tray glistened with blood, and there were three blood-colored lotus flowers the size of fists, each of which had seven petals.

At that moment, only Yuan Ze and the other two could see a blood-colored figure flickering and floating around them…

Her face was blurry, and her figure was outrageously enchanting.

She whispered something into their ears and her gentle voice seemed to have entered their hearts.

“Take it… consume it… This is the immortality that you’ve always wanted…”

“The Three Sects’ Meet is meant to suppress the entire sect. You have a way to stop it now… Only you can stop it… Quickly destroy the Immortal Du Sect, the Immortal Du Sect…”

The three Qi Refinement cultivators of Golden Ao Island, led by the old Daoist Yuan Ze, each held a Seven-Petal Blood Lotus and said in unison, “Yes, Lord!”

“We will not fail this time!”

Tens of thousands of kilometers away, in a certain canyon, Daoist Wen Jing, who was sitting cross-legged on a jade-colored cushion, sneered.

She did not bother about it. She turned around and flew towards the west.

She controlled the Qi Refinement cultivators of the sect and arranged for the puppets to attack the five immortals of the Golden Palace Sect in order to attract everyone’s attention.

Then, she would have the Qi Refinement cultivators of the Jie School pretend to be working together with the demons to destroy the tiny Immortal Du Sect…

Her plan would then succeed.

To her, it was just a small scheme. The three Qi Refinement cultivators of Golden Ao Island were her facade.

As long as that happened, the discord between the three sects would continue to worsen regardless of the outcome.

It was both a shady yet open scheme.

As for her…

How could she continue to show her face? If she accidentally provoked her senior from Ren School, she would not have the confidence to escape.

Let’s get out of this mess and return to the Western Sect to watch a good show from afar. That’d be the wisest move.

If I discover that the three of them have succeeded or failed, I’ll just turn them into ashes, leaving behind clues that point to Ren School and Chan School. Then, everything would be over.

If I succeed, what would those bastardly Deputy sect masters reward me with? 

Hmph, what are they going to use to show me respect!?! 

These cowards, if not for the protection you enjoy from the two old masters…

I will suck you all dry sooner or later!

Daoist Wen Jing sneered and disappeared. Only the sound of a mosquito could be heard as she walked away.