Chapter 36 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Li Changshou stood in a neutral position on an ordinary-looking white cloud. He drifted at ordinary alt.i.tude and returned to the Little Qiong Peak in an ordinary manner.

Yet, his heart felt far from the peace he was expressing.

At first, he had successfully averted the responsibility of leading the team. He had not expected Youqin Xuanya to kick the role back to him out of nowhere.

Soon after that, she had even locked the door shut and placed two Heaven-Immortal-grade seals over it.

Fortunately, Li Changshou had already dumped the blame on Jiu Wu. He painted himself to be an innocent victim who had been played by his uncle-master. Now, he was not in that much danger.

As for ruining Jiu Wu’s reputation, he could not be blamed. Jiu Wu had set up the trap first. Li Changshou had only accidentally kicked the short Daoist’s head when he was trying to climb out of the pit.

In any case, n.o.body would stand up and fight against one of the Nine Jiu Immortals. One could say that the matter had come to a close.

Li Changshou pondered deeply in his heart why Jiu Wu would do something like that.

‘Perhaps the short Daoist found it fun.’

Jiu Wu had tried to encourage Li Changshou to make a name for himself while they had been drinking together the past few times. Jiu Wu had said that this would give him important opportunities to be nurtured.

Li Changshou could also feel that this uncle-master had a strange sense of responsibility towards him. For some reason, he wanted to make Li Changshou expose the fact that he was in the Sixth Stage of Void Return by leading the team this time. From there, he hoped the sect would pay more attention to Li Changshou, and do more to nurture this outstanding disciple into an immortal seedling.

‘Yet, to do it this way… is meaningless! You’re purely causing trouble for me!’

Li Changshou could not help but rub his temples.

His cultivation level was his biggest trump card. Even revealing a bit of his true cultivation level would increase the threat to his safety. Other people would begin to pay attention to him and even fear him.

The Immortal Du Sect looked harmonious on the outside, but there were many undercurrents. There were only that many resources inside the sect and yet the number of disciples on the various peaks kept increasing. The compet.i.tion between the peaks was extraordinarily intense.

‘Do you think I don’t know how my master got injured back then?’

He did not have the exact evidence for it. However, after theorizing and verifying, he concluded that someone in the sect had set up his master!

Even after this, his master refused to talk about what had happened. Li Changshou guessed that the person who had plotted against his master was still relatively powerful in the sect. He must have wanted to paralyze Li Changshou’s master and break the Little Qiong Peak’s line of succession. However, Li Changshou’s master had worked hard to get back on the cultivation path and had not given that rascal another chance.

Immortal Du Sect’s rules were very strict. Disciples who had not ascended to immortality but who wanted to go out on expeditions had to first report to the Bai Fan Hall to make preparations. They were only allowed to step out of the mountain-protecting array after they got permission.

If these people were immortal seedlings who harbored great potential, the sect would even send Essence Immortals or Perfected Immortal out with them.

80 to 90 years ago, Li Changshou had already guessed that his master had probably gotten injured under one of a few circ.u.mstances.

First, he had gone out on an expedition.

Second, he had been in a compet.i.tion within the sect.

The chances of it being the latter were higher.

A few thousand years ago, when Jiu Wu had entered the sect, he had taken Exalted w.a.n.g Qing as his master. He had started in a better position than most and advanced extremely quickly. He was from the strongest line of succession in the Heaven-Breaking Peak. He had been so sheltered that he could not see ‘dogs’, who would do anything for personal gain, in the sect.

Yet, Li Changshou could not help but guard against them. The Little Qiong Peak was the weakest in the sect. This made it necessary for Li Changshou to see through the peaceful environment and hold back one—cough—two, three… or even ten moves.

‘Forget it. What has happened has happened. There’s no suitable way to turn down this role.’

If he pleaded illness or said that he was showing signs of Qi Deviation, there was an 80% chance that the experts in the sect would step in and investigate his claims.

If he acted like he was having an epiphany at such a critical juncture, and insisted that he needed to go into seclusion to cultivate, there was a 90% chance that someone would inspect his body as well.

‘What if I beat Ling’e until she is half-dead and then say that I have to remain behind to take care of her?

‘Er, I’m just joking, I’m just joking. I couldn’t bear to hurt her. After all, she is the adorable junior sister whom I watched grow up…

‘Alright.

‘I have a backup plan.’

In four days, he would depart for the East Ocean. As long as he did not speak unnecessarily and allowed Youqin Xuanya to become the true and indisputable leader of the younger team, Li Changshou would be able to remain inconspicuous.

For this, he decided… to adopt a certain persona. He would act elegantly, maintain a mild temperament, and dress plainly.

‘Speaking of which, when Youqin Xuanya went to the North Continent the last time, she probably suffered some kind of trauma. She went into seclusion for several years once she returned to the Heaven-Breaking Peak, and kept achieving breakthroughs in her cultivation level. She is now already in the Eighth Stage of Void Return. She has far surpa.s.sed her senior brother from the Heaven-Breaking Peak, who had been at the top in terms of cultivation.

‘That’s probably why Youqin Xuanya dared to step up today and take over the role by force.’

Achieving continuous breakthroughs was something that one could chance upon but not seek. It was not necessarily a good thing either. For all Li Changshou knew, this was a foreshadow of the Heavenly Tribulation that Youqin Xuanya would have to endure in the future.

The principle of more haste less speed applied to cultivation as well. The realm that Li Changshou was in was the same. He had to advance slowly and steadily, step-by-step, one breakthrough at a time.

About 60 years ago, when he had broken through the Void Return Realm in secret, Li Changshou had witnessed how the Heavenly Tribulation had disintegrated someone from his sect.

After that, he had begun to suppress his own cultivation level. He focused on comprehending the details at each realm, constantly revising what he already knew in order to learn more.

He made sure that he had a complete and solid grasp of every bit of progress. Only then would he take the next step. Also, he would do so cautiously so that he could increase the chances of survival through the Heavenly Tribulation.

At that time, Li Changshou had already made up his mind. Even if it took him 200 years to set a firm foundation, he would do whatever was necessary to prepare for the Heavenly Tribulation.

Yet, for some reason, his cultivation progress did not slow down because of this decision. Instead, it became increasingly hard for him to suppress his cultivation.

This was probably the unique trial that the Great Dao wanted to put him through.

…

When he returned to the Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou saw his junior sister cultivating.

Li Changshou remained silent under a tree, and then shook his head and blessed Jiu Wu. He hoped the latter would have children soon, and that whether they turned out to be male or female, they would be eight feet tall.

Then, Li Changshou turned around and went back to business.

He began to create a folding Faraday Cage.

His master’s Heavenly Tribulation had already proved that the Faraday Cage could fend off and weaken the lightning’s power.

The Faraday Cage Li Changshou had made for his master had been blasted apart after channeling the first bolt of lightning away. However, he knew that the Heavenly Dao definitely permitted this thing.