Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
On the mountain at the back of Little Qiong Peak.
Standing beside a few withered old trees, Li Changshou frowned and sighed. He raised his hand and patted the trunk of one of them.
“Thank you.”
A gust of wind blew over, and a few of the old trees’ branches, which were completely devoid of green, swayed gently as if they were saying that they were fine.
Actually, they were probably just trembling.
There was nothing he could do about it. In order to get more paper effigies to engage in actual combat, Li Changshou had repeatedly gone there to obtain tree sap over the past six months. He had also used various methods to restore their vitality.
He conducted various processes…
The old spirit trees, which could have lived for tens of thousands of years and had hope of producing wood spirits, could not hold on any longer.
I’ll just take good care of them.
Li Changshou sighed and felt a little guilty.
He looked at the tree branch that had been planted and resurrected not far away. He began muttering to himself, “If you can’t survive, I will treat your children well.”
A gust of wind blew past, and the old trees trembled again.
Perhaps, they’re touched.
Ahem, I’m not going to joke any more.
Li Changshou tapped the ground with the tip of his toes, and his figure drifted away with the wind.
He floated near the lake and stood on the top of a tree in the bushes.
He closed his eyes and focused. His long hair, which was tied up simply, fluttered in the wind. The bottom of his long robe swayed slightly along with the tree branches.
When it was still, it was as light as a feather. When it moved, it looked like it would shatter the clouds and the earth.
To achieve such an effect without using mystical abilities and Dharma spells was also a skill that could only be achieved when one’s Qi was at a high level.
Over the past six months…
Thanks to the efforts of the old trees, the first stage of the preparation plan was painstakingly completed.
Fortunately, the people who secretly coveted the Immortal Du Sect gave him time to prepare.
Otherwise, he would not be able to do that much if a huge battle broke out.
In the past six months, the newly added array formation on the Little Qiong Peak had not been updated.
However, those array formations had already become one.
There seemed to be ancient patterns growing all over the forest. They merged with the mountains, grass, and trees, and no longer seemed daunting or invoked fear within people.
Trapping Array Formations and Bewitching Array Formations were meant to block enemies. The lethal ones were meant to kill enemies.
If danger could be detected ahead of time and the array could deter others from entering, it would definitely not be an excellent killing array.
The array below the Little Qiong Peak was in the best state that he could imagine.
Due to the fact that he had obtained a high-grade Dharma treasure, that is the Forbidden Secret Manual, the paper effigies had been slightly repaired. It had reached Li Changshou’s minimum requirement. There was no need for him to place all his attention on them.
There was still a long way to go before he could completely transform that mystical ability into an incarnation technique.
For now, he could make do with it.
After all, they did not have any feelings and could cast poisons, cause fires and chant sutras. He could indirectly control them and they were mystical treasures that could be used in various ways, all day long.
Of course, there were also things that did not go his way.
He had obtained the Divine Poison technique from Elder Wan Linyun. As he had not cultivated for long, he was only a beginner.
That mystical ability could be considered to have turned concocting poison into a magical technique.
It allowed him to be more efficient in releasing poison. He was more confident in his ability to do so too.
Li Changshou opened his eyes and looked at the lake to see that his master and junior were studying the escape technique.
Due to Li Changshou’s insistence, his master could not reject him. He started cultivating the Earth Escape half a year ago…
Ling’e had come into contact with the Five-Element Escape Technique earlier. At this moment, she was also studying the Water Escape Technique because Li Changshou had instructed her to train harder.
Hence…
Occasionally, he would see a graceful figure in a fluttering dress, with her black hair dancing in the wind. She would emerge from the lake and fall, causing water droplets to splash up. It was considered a beautiful scene.
It’s just…
“You’re too slow.”
Li Changshou frowned and shook his head.
He had clearly taught Ling’e all the tricks to quickly cast Water Escape, but she was still very interested in “appearing” and “exiting”. She was very concerned about her overall beauty.
This narcissistic little girl…
Why doesn’t she get two precious pearls and put them around herself to give her a soft light effect!?!
Li Changshou could not say anything about that. After all, Ling’e was already at the age where she would tend to be vain. Besides, she was naturally beautiful…
“Those guys are still not going to make a move?”
Li Changshou muttered to himself and closed his eyes to sense it again.
The sky was high, the air was clear, and they were close to the clouds.
After counting the time, he realized that more than ten months had passed since Jiu Wu and the two elders returned with injuries.
The members of the sect seemed to have quietened down once again. The attacks seemed to have ceased as well.
Li Changshou tried to follow up on the matter involving Jiu Wu, but Jiu Wu had only given him vague replies.
It should be that he did not manage to find anything after the investigation.
The experts from the three Dao Sects were not stupid either. The low-level method of using someone else to kill was also rather obvious.
However, it was impossible to find out who the mastermind was.
The seeds of discord were gradually formed from suspicion…
That was the intelligent thing about the culprit.
Li Changshou had been thinking about the manipulative ways of the instigator.
Controlling the puppets would cause the puppets’ essence souls to instantly decline.
What mystical ability was that?
It should be considered some sort of witchcraft.
There are too many experts in the Primordial world. I can’t even count how many there are out in the open, let alone those who have been hiding in the dark.
His immortal senses slowly dispersed.
They were about to enter the second stage of preparing for the battle. He was waiting for Elder Wan Linyun’s messenger jade talisman. The two of them would act together…
…
After staying in the secret underground chamber for three days where he thought about what might happen next, Li Changshou rushed to Pill Tripod Peak immediately and met Elder Wan Linyun.
His method of convincing Elder Wan Linyun was actually very simple.
Li Changshou pulled tricks like conveying dreams, taking oaths, provoking him, making conjectures, and reasoning. The elder quickly believed in Li Changshou and felt that there might be powerful enemies headed for the Immortal Du Sect.
Ever since Elder Moon appeared in his dream, Li Changshou had discovered that using the excuse of others appearing in his dreams was rather effective.
It was not unusual for Qi Refinement cultivators to detect things and have heightened senses.
However, he had just been dreaming about people… a little more frequent than others…
After hearing Li Changshou’s “suggestion”, Elder Wan Linyun reminded the sect master and the other elders using his own name.
If he used Li Changshou’s name, the sect would take it a lot less seriously.
However, Li Changshou could not control the effect of the reminder.
He had done everything he could.
“Elder, why haven’t you left yet? It’s time to set off,” Li Changshou mumbled.
He was slightly puzzled. He had been investigating Pill Tripod Peak with his immortal senses.
He recalled that he had not done much in the past six months.
Most of the time, he would refine poisons and paper effigies in the sealed Pill Chamber.
The poison refinement this time was purely for the increment of power and quantity of the poisonous pills.
Li Changshou refined everything he had obtained from Linhai Town, the poisonous herbs he had obtained from Elder Wan Linyun and from the North Continent, into poisonous pills.
He also treated those poisonous pills specially and turned them into colorless and tasteless poisonous powder.
Other than that, the poison-enhancing Dharmic Artifact, which was similar to a sword, did not have strict requirements for the materials needed. It was just difficult to refine. Li Changshou had also freed up a lot of time to make a few for all the paper effigies, from Paper Effigy No.1 to No.12.
During this period of time, Li Changshou had found a great use for the paper effigies. He realized that he could use them as immortal power storage devices.
He could inject immortal power into the paper effigy and extract immortal power from them whenever he needed to.
If he were to face enemies in the future, his immortal power would be exhausted. He could throw out a few paper effigies and extract his immortal power from them…
Perfected Primordial Connate Treasure!
The immortal power of his main body could be restored at any time. He managed to fill the twelve paper effigies with immortal power during the breaks he took when refining the poisonous pills.
Actually, now that I think about it carefully, it’s pretty useless.
How could my immortal power ever be depleted?
I didn’t train my escape techniques all these years for nothing…
The end of the first stage of preparations was to settle the paper effigies.
Previously, he had asked his master to risk his life to go out. Outside the mountain-protecting array, there were seven paper effigies in the hidden mountains and spirit meridians. Each paper effigy carried a large number of original paper dolls and had enough poisonous pills.
Li Changshou’s idea was simple—If an enemy attacked the mountain-protecting array, he would be able to control the seven paper effigies from afar. He would surround them from the back and use his poisonous pills to achieve victory. He would then be able to kill the enemy!
Besides, both his master and Ling’e had a paper effigy each, which were meant to protect them all the time.
Jiu Wu and Jiu Shi had gone to Pill Tripod Peak to visit Elder Wan Linyun.
Elder Wan Linyun followed his instructions and handed the brocade pouch with the “crying-face” to Jiu Wu. He also harshly and sternly instructed Jiu Wu to open the brocade sachet when his sect was in danger.
Li Changshou wanted to carry out the second stage of preparations together with Elder Wan Linyun…
Here he comes.
Li Changshou’s immortal senses captured a stream of light that appeared on Pill Tripod Peak. He did not expect Elder Wan Linyun to rush to Little Qiong Peak.
He looked down at his paper effigy avatar…
My cover probably won’t be blown.
As long as Elder Wan Linyun does not personally touch this body…
Forget it. I’ll take the initiative to explain to Elder Wan Linyun later that it’s an avatar made of Man-Forming Paper Cutouts.
The more pure-hearted a person is, the more he cannot deceive others.
Before Elder Wan Linyun could fly down, Li Changshou had already flown into the sky.
At the same time, the paper cutout in the secret underground chamber also looked up.
His attention was on the paper effigy.
Although he had been focusing on training for a hundred years, he was not sure if he would look distracted.
…
The reminders that Elder Wan Linyun had given to the sect should be effective.
There were indeed more guards at the gate than usual.
Li Changshou lowered his head and followed behind Elder Wan Linyun. The immortals in charge of guarding the mountain gate bowed at the same time and said, “Elder, are you going out?”
“Yes.” Elder Wan Linyun smiled coldly.
The immortals’ expressions stiffened. They lowered their heads and used the array controller to open the restricting array formation at the mountain gate. They respectfully sent the elder out for patrol.
They did not dare to ask what Elder Wan Linyun was going to do outside.
After exiting the mountain-protecting array, Li Changshou’s detection of the seven paper effigies that he had put in place in the past became stronger.
Wan Linyun turned to look at Li Changshou. A warm smile appeared on his thin face as he whispered, “Where are we going to patrol first?”
“Let’s go to the east first, Elder.” Li Changshou smiled and said, “We have to hide our auras. Elder, can you display the aura fluctuations of a Perfected Immortal?”
“Yes, that’s simple.”
Elder Wan Linyun tapped the bronze staff in his hand and his aura changed.
Li Changshou flew towards the east while observing the mountains and rivers around him. He pondered silently.
The white cloud quickly flew a thousand kilometers out of the immortal sect. It gradually slowed down and they began to carefully search for something…
Elder Wan Linyun suddenly asked, “Look at the valley over there. It’s quite obscure. Could there be a strong enemy hidden there?”
“Elder.” Li Changshou handed the pendant in his hand to Elder Wan Linyun. “This is a little trinket that I refined for fun. It’s called the Sensing Stone.”
“The only effect is to detect if the immortal senses and spiritual senses of others have been focused on us.”
“Look, at this moment, the Sensing Stone is light green. This is the result of my spiritual senses and your immortal senses investigating outside. If the color darkens, it means that the immortal senses and spiritual senses of other people are watching us.”
“If the color deepens, it means that other people’s immortal senses and spiritual senses are watching us.”
“Oh?”
The elder was instantly amused. He grabbed the Sensing Stone and scrutinized it. Very quickly, he could not help but laugh. “It’s actually the colorful flower juice that changes color when you encounter spiritual senses.”
“I really can’t hide from your discerning eyes, Elder.” Li Changshou smiled and said, “Refining is not all about restrictions. Elder, you often teach me to be flexible and there, I’ve done it, haven’t I?”
Wan Linyun immediately stroked his beard and smiled.
The two of them searched the east for a while before turning to the north.
When they came out this time, it was actually Li Changshou who wanted to explore the terrain outside.
If a powerful enemy were to ambush the Immortal Du Sect, they would not be able to walk over in the air. Instead, they would have to use the terrain to approach the Immortal Du Sect first.
Furthermore, it was very likely that the other party would set up the array in advance. They would gather a large number of puppets a certain distance away from the Immortal Du Sect before launching an attack.
The second stage of the preparation of the battle was to continue thinking from the perspective of the other party and to find a place where the other party could hide.
If they could counterattack in advance, their chances of winning would naturally be higher.
After checking the east, they checked the north, followed by the west.
Li Changshou’s main body quickly drew the terrain within a radius of thousands of kilometers in detail, in the secret chamber of the Little Qiong Peak.
When the two of them turned to the south-west direction, the color of the two Sensing Stones changed, and became darker.
“Changshou, look…”
“Elder, just pretend that you didn’t notice anything.” Li Changshou immediately said via voice transmission.
As for Elder Wan Linyun, who liked to keep a straight face, his expression remained unchanged.
The two of them continued flying in their trajectory. They rode the clouds and searched everywhere. Li Changshou and Elder Wan Linyun discovered something strange at almost the same time in a dense forest on a hill facing the sun.
Wisps of aura fluctuated.
Elder Wan Linyun said, “Someone is indeed spying on the Immortal Du Sect. Changshou, go back first. I’ll go meet them!”
“Elder, it’s not good to alert the enemy. From the distance the enemy is hiding, we can tell that they are not prepared to make a move.” Li Changshou continued, “Let’s go back to the sect first before coming out again quietly. We can catch them off guard. That’s the only way to succeed.”
“That’s right, Changshou, you make sense!”
Elder Wan Linyun glanced at Li Changshou and revealed his signature sneer.
“Although I’m older than you, I can’t compare to you when it comes to scheming against others.”
Li Changshou smiled bitterly and said, “Elder, I’m just a little clever. Your achievements in the Dao of alchemy are unprecedented in the Immortal Du Sect.”
Wan Linyun smiled and shook his head as he sighed. “It’s a pity that my master failed to see it.”
“Changshou, what should we do next?”
“Let’s…”
Do that.
The two figures gradually drifted away from the hill, acting as if they did not seem to notice anything unusual.
After they were about a thousand kilometers away, two immortal senses were locked onto them, and only disappeared when they were near the mountain gate…
Li Changshou said via voice transmission, “Elder, there are at least two Heaven Immortals there. Do you want to look for help?”
“It’s fine. Two more won’t matter.”
Elder Wan Linyun said calmly, “Changshou, go ahead with your schemes. I will handle the matters of the battle.”
“Elder, have you forgotten that the version of me beside you now is just a paper effigy formed from Man-Forming Paper Cutouts using mystical abilities? I would like to see you destroy your enemies later.”
Elder Wan Linyun nodded with a smile. The two of them looked at each other after entering the sect. They remained silent.
In less than an hour, two wisps of green smoke floated out of the mountain gate and hid underground…
The immortals guarding the gate were being watched by the two attendants summoned by the Hundred Mortal Hall. None of them dared to make a sound or move at all.
In Li Changshou’s eyes, there were certain situations that he had to be wary of but could not guard against.
