Chapter 58: People Everywhere Have... Schemes

In the fading light of the setting sun, five Qi Refiners frantically conjured clouds outside the village gate and swiftly flew towards the sea.

The two in front carried a covered mud idol that glowed with precious light.

Behind them, an old Taoist priest and a young Qi Refiner supported Wang Cai, whose legs were trembling.

Wang Cai had a clear, three-inch-deep fist-shaped indentation on his chest. His magic power surged like a tide, refusing to calm down, and as they flew, he would occasionally spit out a mouthful of blood.

Fortunately, he had already reached the God Transformation Realm, so such an injury...

*Splutter!*

Perhaps he really would die.

The old Taoist priest quickly called out, "Wang Cai! Wang Cai!"

Wang Cai, his mouth full of blood, turned to his master and forced a smile, saying in a trembling voice, "Master, I'm fine. We are Qi Refiners... Master, can we... not come to this village anymore after this?"

"No, we won't. We won't," the old Taoist priest said, deeply moved. "Quick, let's find a safe place so you can recover quickly. Also, next time you spit blood, spit it towards your senior brother. I just got this Taoist robe."

Wang Cai weakly replied, "Yes, Master... Can you give your disciple a pill?"

The old Taoist priest sighed, "I only have healing pills, not energy-regulating pills. Endure it for a bit; a meditation session back home will do."

At the village gate, the villagers surged out.

A moment ago, they had all been full of disdain, but now, their eyes gleamed as they watched the five figures in the sky.

A robust auntie whispered, "They can fly?"

"Could they really be emissaries sent by a revered deity to rescue us?"

"Hey, divine envoys, don't leave!"

"Quick, chase them! Chase them!"

A hunter uncle roared, and the crowd at the village gate instantly surged outwards. The gate swayed and then collapsed with a crash.

The five people in the sky turned their heads to look, and all their expressions changed.

They saw a dense mass of strong men and women running at full speed behind them, raising thick clouds of dust from the ground.

It was like a stampede of a thousand horses and ten thousand soldiers, each one shouting something.

"Don't go!"

"Stop!"

Their voices were too mighty, and their shouts were too chaotic!

The old Taoist priest's expression changed dramatically. He grabbed two talismans and flung them out, immediately causing strong winds to surge in the air. Two white clouds swiftly ascended into the sky, quickly leaving the pursuing villagers far behind.

"Master, why are they chasing us? We haven't even sold them any talismans yet!"

The old Taoist priest cursed angrily, "Did you trick the village girls again?"

"Master, we danced all day, and our boss never showed up, so we didn't even have a chance to trick anyone..."

"Cough! Cough, cough!"

Wang Cai said in a trembling voice, "No tricking, absolutely no tricking. Flirting really could kill someone... *Splutter!*"

"Spit over there!"

"I swallowed it back, Master."

"Good, my disciple. Hurry, I'll add more magic power," the old Taoist priest urged, activating his magic again. "This remote place is indeed full of strange things. Let's quickly meet up with our boss, then we can talk about other things!"

Soon after, the two white clouds flew farther and farther into the sky.

The Xiong Village villagers who had been chasing below returned empty-handed, each one dejected and crestfallen.

First, a Sea God ran away, then a Mud God left. When everyone in the village gathered for a meeting that evening, they all felt a bit dispirited.

Was their village so unfavored by the gods?

They were all fragile mortals, and they all needed protection...

Xiong Lingli, the main participant in both incidents, wasn't scolded but was instead punished by having to serve tea and and water to the village elders.

Seeing everyone dispirited, the village chief, an old man wearing a large golden chain left by Li Changshou, gradually formed an idea in his mind.

"Everyone, cheer up!" he said. "Don't we still have a Sea God? Over the years, any natural disasters or misfortunes our village suffered occurred while fishing at sea; hunting generally caused no problems. In my opinion, we should erect an idol for the Sea God and worship him regularly, and we will surely receive his blessings!"

Xiong Lingli's father, one of the few amateur Qi Refiners in the village, was about to speak, but was gently pressed on his sturdy arm by the slender woman beside him, his wife—a rare sight in the village—who motioned him to remain silent.

Soon, the Xiong Village villagers began discussing how to worship and offer sacrifices to the Sea God.

When Xiong Lingli's mother, the slender woman, took out the portrait of the Sea God she had drawn on animal hide while he was asleep...

The villagers immediately became excited and began looking for stones to make an idol under the cover of night, carrying large rocks back into the village.

In the dead of night.

On the bed where Li Changshou had slept, Xiong Lingli was sleeping soundly, spread-eagled.

In the adjacent room, the couple cuddled by the bed.

Xiong Laosan said in a low voice, "Wife, why didn't you let me remind everyone earlier that he was an immortal, not a Sea God?"

"Rituals are merely a source of comfort for everyone," the woman replied. "Why would an immortal care about us? I had originally hoped Lingli could become this immortal's disciple and learn advanced immortal cultivation methods. But I didn't expect the immortal to leave as soon as he woke up."

"Didn't you teach me cultivation methods, wife?" Xiong Laosan chuckled. "Couldn't you pass them on to Lingli?"

"Those are just rudimentary Qi refining methods; they're no match for the techniques of immortals," the woman pondered. "I've always wanted to send Lingli to an immortal sect to become a disciple, but the journey to the Middle Divine Continent is too far, and I couldn't bear for her to endure the hardship."

"How about this, wife, should we have another child?" Xiong Laosan chuckled, "With a younger one, we can let this older one go out and explore, how about that?"

"Oh, stop it. No, the child is next door..."

"I'll go knock her out!"

"No, just be careful."

"Heh heh."

Before long, the sleeping Xiong Lingli heard some familiar noises. She rolled over and continued to sleep.

It seemed she dreamt of being criticized by her clansmen during the day. The young girl quietly sobbed a few times and then fell into an even deeper sleep.

...

A few months later, on that grassland.

After rushing along, realizing the Western Sect hadn't pursued him, and having wandered around the mortal world, Li Changshou finally returned to this place. Three hundred feet from his parents' graves in this life, he dug a simple earthen cave and settled there temporarily. Although the mortal world had dense turbid energy, he had no plans to advance his cultivation recently, so staying here temporarily was fine.

Walking through the mortal world, amidst its bustling scenes, he shouldn't have been in such a hurry, but he feared the Western Sect finding him, so he remained vigilant. The vast Southern Continent, with its splendid mountains, rivers, and rushing currents, had no beautiful scenery that could make him stop his escape art. Countless cities and tribes, over the long eons of the Primordial World, had spawned countless cultural wonders, yet no person could make him glance back for even a moment...

My heart seeks longevity, I do not covet mortal affections.

Sitting cross-legged in the earthen cave, Li Changshou's mind was clear and serene. He contemplated his own path and pondered how to control the power of his Samadhi True Fire. The seed of Samadhi True Fire is ignited by essence, energy, and spirit. Theoretically, reducing the power of his Samadhi True Fire was almost impossible.

However, he could try a few different approaches.

For example, after returning to the mountain, he could ask Ling'e for help to extract a few strands of essence, energy, and spirit, which he would then condense into fire seeds and store within his body. However, Ling'e's cultivation was still shallow, not yet reaching the Void Refinement Realm, so the fire seeds condensed from her would be too weak. Both too strong and too weak were undesirable. And it could easily weaken little Ling'e.

With a flick of his finger, a wisp of Samadhi True Fire appeared in Li Changshou's palm. He began to ponder other methods. A living person couldn't be suffocated by urine; Li Changshou took a few days to comprehend a solution... Just don't use it. *Cough*, that is, just use the Qi Flame. Within the Qi Flame, he could use his primordial spirit's power to simulate the fluctuations of both the Spirit Flame and Essence Flame. Although the power of his Qi Flame alone was quite strong at the moment, it wouldn't be too conspicuous.

Life was probably like this; there was rarely anything perfect. His improvement in strength, along with his methods of concealing and simulating his aura, could deceive even more highly cultivated seniors, but it also left a small loophole with the Samadhi True Fire. After returning, he would have to be constantly mindful of this. Now, even if a True Immortal were to grasp his wrist and deliberately investigate, it would be difficult for them to discern his true cultivation level. The symptom of convulsing upon touching a woman could also be cured when the opportunity arose.

His journey through the mortal world wasn't without its gains for Li Changshou.

'Speaking of earning merit,' he thought, 'inventing things and introducing them to humanity also seems to accumulate merit.'

He stroked his chin in thought for a moment, but soon dismissed the idea. There were still relatively many opportunities to earn merit among humanity, such as in medicine and production tools, where merit could still be gained. But the premise for doing so was to have sufficient strength himself. With his current accumulation, as soon as he gained great merit from the Heavenly Dao, accompanied by unusual phenomena, it would surely be known by the Six Sages. His most likely fate would be for the Sages to discover his origins, and then extract his soul, dissect him...

'Just cultivate honestly,' he thought.

Li Changshou chuckled softly in his heart, dismissing these active thoughts.

'Stability first, then peace and leisure...'

*Huh?*

What is this now?

Without any warning, some faint, blurry images appeared in Li Changshou's mind, and a vague sensation arose within him. In those images, a group of strong men and women were at his feet...

Kneeling and praying?

He quickly performed a divination with his fingers and soon found himself between laughter and tears. What was this about? That Xiong Village actually made an idol of him and sincerely worshipped him as a Sea God? The Heavenly Dao itself had generated a response, and he was now receiving the incense offerings from this place? This felt a bit like being forced into a deal, didn't it?

Li Changshou shook his head with a wry smile. Initially, he hadn't been too worried about this. After all, it was just a village of a thousand people. An ineffectual Sea God they created would naturally stop being worshipped after a few months when it proved useless. This wouldn't involve too much karma.

But soon, Li Changshou realized that things weren't that simple. Wasn't he now essentially a lone person, competing with the Western Sect for incense offerings? If a Western Sect Sage sensed this and directly performed a divination...

No! He had to immediately rush back to the Immortal-Du Sect and return to the territory of the Grand Pure Sage! With an elder covering him, he wouldn't fear those two registered disciples of the Dao Ancestor who went around brainwashing people and poaching talents! Among the Six Sages, only the Three Pure Ones and Goddess Nuwa were considered direct disciples of the Dao Ancestor. Of course, it was unlikely for the Grand Pure Sage to manifest at the Immortal-Du Sect; but as long as the Western Sect had scruples, that would be enough.

Li Changshou immediately became alert and disappeared from the earthen cave, heading towards the East Victory Divine Continent. This journey was much faster than his previous one, and there were far fewer interesting sights along the way. Occasionally, he glimpsed spiritual beasts in the mountains, heard the pastoral songs of children, and even saw an uncle and sister-in-law eloping with their belongings, pursued by a group of villagers, while the ceaseless war continued to shed blood...

Leaving the Southern Continent and entering the East Victory Divine Continent, Li Changshou moved with ease, simultaneously scouting and rushing towards the Immortal-Du Sect. After rushing for two days, when he was still twenty thousand miles from the Immortal-Du Sect, he deliberately slowed his Earth Escape speed to match the limit of a third or fourth stage Void Refinement Realm disciple, slowly approaching his own sect.

After entering the two-thousand-mile range, Li Changshou finally breathed a sigh of relief. Having the protection of an immortal sect was truly a great fortune in life!

However, he had said he was returning home to guard his parents' graves. If he couldn't even last three years, he would likely attract gossip and attention after returning to the mountain. Being unusual was not good. Most disciples would usually stay in the mortal world for two more years to enjoy themselves. Here, he was finally safe.

Li Changshou found a hidden mountain nook near a spiritual mine in the Immortal-Du Sect, intending to cultivate there for two years before returning to the mountain. The Primordial World was truly too dangerous! Human hearts were truly too complex! He clearly hadn't done anything to Xiong Village, yet they had consecrated him, forcing him to contend with the Western Sect for incense offerings!

Now that he had also survived the tribulation, he must henceforth adhere to the principle of dying of old age in the mountains without ever venturing out! The mortal world was also a dangerous place; where could there be a peaceful heaven on earth?! If he went wandering again, he would, he would... Hmm, Primordial World vows were very effective, and these inner thoughts shouldn't be spoken carelessly.

...

"Senior brother!"

Under the willow tree by the lake, Ling'e, who was meditating in loose cultivation clothes, suddenly opened her eyes, her breathing slightly rapid.

"It was just a dream."

Ling'e gently exhaled. She had accidentally fallen asleep while meditating and dreamt that her senior brother was trapped by a group of strong, strange people. The scene was chaotic, and her senior brother was about to be pinned to the ground... Fortunately, she sensed someone approaching outside and woke up from her dream.

Huh?

Ling'e looked up at the figure she had sensed. It was a senior sister who looked somewhat familiar but whom she didn't know. She was flying on a cloud, hovering around Little Qiong Peak, seemingly hesitating whether to enter the isolation array.