“Hasn’t Li Mu been driven out of the inner square because of some mistake he made in there?” The eyes of the beautiful girl with a round face widened.
The Immortal Taoist said helplessly, “Some mistake? Expelled? No attendees to the Immortal-Devil Assembly dare to expel him, unless they are tired of living. I’m afraid few people can even afford to offend that girl with him, not to mention him.”
“Huh?”
The round-faced girl and her bosom friend were greatly surprised, their eyes wide open.
Things seemed to be different from what they had imagined.
The old practitioner who spoke just now bowed and said, “Honorable Taoist Master, was Li Mu invited to this session of Immortal-Devil Assembly? Does he have a strong background?”
The Immortal Taoist said, “He has a strong background for sure, but he did not rely on his identity and background to be here. His power alone is terrifying enough. This time, he got on all of the three lists and ranked first on the Human Rankings List and Earth Rankings List. He is destined to be famous all over the world… Even the Heavenly Legends of immortal sects can’t compete with him. So, you’d better not mess with him.”
“What?”
The practitioners in the outer square were dumbfounded when they heard that.
It was completely different from what they had imagined.
“We’re all mortals. Why is Li Mu so powerful?”
“It sounds like Li Mu has conquered all the practitioners of immortal sects.”
The two girls were stunned too.
Those who gossiped about Li Mu just now broke out in a sweat. At the thought of how they gossiped in his presence, they felt like they had been to hell and back. Now, they understood the weight of his words and knew that they had to behave themselves.
“Honorable Taoist Master, what are the three lists?” The round-faced beautiful girl asked again.
The Immortal Taoist said, “You will know that if you have the luck to be admitted into an immortal sect… Well, if you have the luck and if any immortal sect is willing to accept you as disciples will depend on your performance. Hand in your application cards first.”
On the way down the mountain, Li Mu remained silent.
The Cloud Light Saintess followed behind him with a complex facial expression.
The stupid Husky chased by Yu Jingfeng was nowhere to be found, but given what he’d got, he should not be in danger. With the old faker here in Baoji City, the “old monsters” of the Celestial Court didn’t dare to do anything bad to the dog.
Li Mu walked slowly because he was thinking about something.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, the Cloud Light Saintess, who’d been silent all this time, suddenly said, “I’ve always wanted to ask you something.”
Li Mu turned around and said unceremoniously, “You’re just a maidservant, so you’d better think carefully about who you are. I wonder why you talk so much… What do you want to know? Just ask.”
The Cloud Light Saintess was much annoyed.
Today, Li Mu helped her, whether intentionally or not, consolidate her Taoist mindset that had almost been destroyed by Yu Jingfeng. For that, she began to think better of him. When she saw him walking down the mountain road in silence, she thought that he was in a bad mood and decided to ask him about it. In the end… “This despicable mortal has shown his true colors. He is still annoying.”
After huffing and puffing for a while, the Cloud Light Saintess failed to resist the urge to ask about what she had been wondering. “Why have you been protecting those mortal practitioners all the time? What makes you so determined to protect the mortal world at your own risk? Unfortunately, they are not grateful to you at all, and it seems that they even reject you.”
“Protecting them?” Li Mu asked as he walked, “Who said I’m protecting them?”
The Cloud Light Saintess said, “Don’t you always consider yourself a mortal and forbid the people of immortal sects from killing mortals?”
“As you said, I don’t allow them to kill mortals, but I’m not trying to protect those practitioners,” answered Li Mu.
“Is there any difference between them?” The Cloud Light Saintess asked.
Li Mu said, “There is a big difference. The ordinary people and those shameless practitioners are two different groups in the mortal world.”
“But what’s the point of protecting the mortal world? Ordinary people are more stupid than practitioners. They don’t even know what you have done for them. What you are protecting are just some pathetic weaklings. In the mortal world, there are many heartless and greedy people reproducing like insects. They’re just in a cycle of life and death. That doesn’t have any meaning for this world.”
“Meaning? Are you asking me about meaning?”
Li Mu turned around and stared at the Cloud Light Saintess.
There was a serious look in his eyes shining like stars.
“I don’t want to talk about meaning. There are both good and bad people in the mortal world, but it doesn’t seem to matter whether they are good or bad. The self-righteous practitioners of immortal sects like you treat them like roadside weeds that you can pull out at any time if you want to. Well, it’s really pointless to argue with you about such things. I just want to tell you that the pathetic weaklings and the meaningless mortal world, as you call them, used to be all my memory about my life. Do you get it?”
With that, Li Mu turned around and continued to walk without waiting for the Cloud Light Saintess to reply.
The Cloud Light Saintess pursed her lips.
Obviously, she did not agree with Li Mu.
“You just don’t want to admit it.
“In the end, you will find yourself in a trap.”
Li Mu arrived at Randeng Temple.
The old faker was playing mahjong with Old Zhang and some other old men.
Seeing Li Mu coming in, the old faker promptly said, “I know that you have lots of questions in your mind and won’t stop asking until you get the answers, but can you wait for a minute and let me finish this game? I am going to win this one soon. This might be the first time I have won since I played mahjong with that little Taoist last time…”
Li Mu was speechless.
However, after less than ten seconds, Old Zhang shouted excitedly, “Ha-ha, I won. Master Li, thank you for helping me win again…”
“I…”
The old faker was dumbfounded.
He turned around and glanced at Li Mu, saying, “You are simply a jinx. I lost as soon as you came in.”
Li Mu’s face darkened, looking confused.
Old Zhang said, “Don’t say that. You didn’t win a single game when Little Mu was not here.”
The old faker was rendered speechless.
After the old men left, Li Mu remembered what happened today at the Immortal-Devil Assembly. He asked, “You told me that you were practicing hand-to-hand meditation, didn’t you? Why did you take action?”
The old faker said, “If I hadn’t taken action to intimidate them, you would have already died.”
Li Mu said, “To intimidate them?”
The old faker put away mahjong and changed the subject. “Well, forget about those trivial things. Let’s talk about the immortal palace. Boy, you were too high-profile. You took first place on two lists and even went for Heaven Rankings, but I like that. He-he… It is obvious that the six major Divine Clans and the six clans of traitorous devils have reached a compromise this time. They want to integrate the six keys and open the gate of the immortal palace, and they don’t want to miss the time. They used the three lists of Heaven, Earth and Human to determine the candidates for entry into the immortal palace. That seems generous, but in fact, their purpose is just to find more cannon fodder. He-he, you have to be careful after you enter the palace.”
Li Mu nodded.
“Bi Yan also reminded me of the dangers there.
“Hold on. What do you mean by saying ‘entering the palace’? It sounds as if I were going to become a eunuch.”
Li Mu asked, “Won’t you go with me?”
The old faker said, “For what? I’m living a happy life now. I can drink some wine, take a nap, play mahjong and kill time with my old friends every day… Why should I go there to fight and kill?”
“Well, but you can never win a mahjong game.”
“So what? The most important thing is playing.”
“You have come to Earth to attain Tao, right? Are you going to waste the opportunity for entering the immortal palace?”
“My Great Way is not in the immortal palace.”
Li Mu tried to persuade the old faker for a long time, but he had no choice but to give up. The old faker was firmly determined not to go.
At first, Li Mu wanted to coax the old faker into going to the immortal palace with him. After all, the old faker was like a strong tree to which he could hold on, and it would be stupid if he didn’t try to get the old faker’s help. Now, however, it seemed that he didn’t have much of a chance to have the old faker’s help.
In the next few days, he practiced martial arts in Randeng Temple while waiting for the news about the opening of the immortal palace.
Li Mu and the Cloud Light Saintess both got on the three lists and obtained the qualifications for entering the immortal palace. They just needed to wait for the notice from Jintai Temple.
“The injury in my spine seems to be getting worse.”
In the past few days, Li Mu found that the eight cracks in his spine were affecting his strength more and more greatly, and the pain was getting more intense. It seemed that the Taoist injury had begun to worsen. He had to enter the immortal palace and find the top-grade magic fruits to cure the injury as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would be in great trouble.
Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, a message came from Jintai Temple, informing that the immortal palace was going to be opened.
“My master sent me here to invite you to Mount Tai. Please go to the Southern Sky Gate after five days for the opening of the gate of the immortal palace.” The messenger was an ordinary young Taoist monk from Jintai Temple. He behaved very respectfully.
After arranging everything in Randeng Temple and discussing with the old faker, Li Mu was ready to set off.
Just then, the chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe appeared at the gate of Randeng Temple, led by Luo Liang.
“Mr. Li, Chief Huang said he needed to find you for something important.” Luo Liang felt a little guilty. In order to pursue Huang Ye’er, he had to rack his brains. This time, he brought the chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe here without informing Li Mu in advance, so he was a little anxious.
Fortunately, Li Mu didn’t mind that. He asked, “Mr. Huang, what can I do for you?”
The chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe suddenly fell on his knees before Li Mu.
Li Mu was taken aback. He hurriedly said, “Mr. Huang, what are you doing? Please get up.”
“Mr. Li, I know that you are going to enter the immortal palace. I have a presumptuous request. Please help me, Mr. Li.” The chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe was already an old man. After Li Mu helped him up, he struggled to kneel down again.
Li Mu said, “Mr. Huang, please don’t do this. Just let me know what you need. If I could help you, I would surely do my best.”
The chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe said, “Mr. Li, please take me to the immortal palace.”
“Well…” Li Mu thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but that the candidates for entering the immortal palace are determined by the six major Divine Clans of the Celestial Court. Mr. Huang, I suppose you know how strict the heaven rules of the Celestial Court are. Even though I really want to take you there, I’m not able to do that. Moreover, the immortal palace is full of dangers. Considering your strength, you will have a very slim chance of survival there. I can’t even protect myself, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect you.”
Initially, the chief of the Yellow Dragon Tribe just wanted to see Li Mu in person and have a try. However, when he heard the “heaven rules”, he knew that if he were to insist, he would put Li Mu in a difficult position, and it would be futile.
He seemed to be weighing something, gritting his teeth. After thinking for a long time, he finally made up his mind. He said, “In that case, please help me take something into the immortal palace. Mr. Li, the people of the Yellow Dragon Tribe will always remember your great favor. In return for your help, I will give you a premium gift to help you stay safe and find surprising treasures in the immortal palace.”
