Chapter 288 The Long Path to Immortal Ascension

Before he left, Li Changshou entrusted the last gift that the Heavenly Courts had given him, to Da Yu. He asked Da Yu to hand it to Suiren. Senior Suiren did not have any family members in the Fire Cloud Cave. Li Changshou could have kept the last gift for himself, but he could not bring himself to do that. Moreover, as a fourth-rank legitimate god of the Heavenly Courts, a Daoist in the Tushita Palace, and the Sea God whom the Jade Emperor relied on, would he lack an immortal peach?

Yes.

No matter how many fruits a Connate Spirit Root produced, he would still be lacking!

Unfortunately, Li Changshou had previously thought about it carefully. In order to maintain the image of an “expert of Ren School”, he could not seem too demanding.

He really wanted to eat peaches. According to the rumors in the Heavenly Courts, the immortal peaches could increase the lifespan of cultivators below the Golden Immortal realm. He wondered if it would be effective for his master who was a Turbid Immortal.

Ling’e had yet to become an immortal. Eating the immortal peaches would be harmful and useless for her. It was probably because it could not make up for her weakness. He left the Fire Cloud Cave and headed to the Heavenly Courts. Li Changshou did not immediately search for his “opportunistic numinous treasure”.

Although he was full of respect for the few human emperor seniors, he had to consider carefully and investigate a few times in advance.

He had to believe it but he could not believe everything Moreover, although Fuxi did not locate his main body and tracks, and only gave him a map, if the “destination” was exposed, the location of his main body would be exposed. Li Changshou really had to think carefully about how to obtain that treasure.

He carefully recalled what he had seen and heard.

Of the seven human sages, the person who had left the deepest impression on him was naturally Da Yu, whom he was most familiar with.

After all, they had stood together on the small boat for three days and three nights. According to Da Yu, they had gone through thick and thin together.

Senior Da Yu had given him a Hydrology Treasure Diagram and a Divine Sea-Calming Needle. He owed him a favor.

Senior Fuxi had given him clues to find the treasure, but Li Changshou did not dare to confirm if the treasure was the Copper Coin of Treasurefall.

He felt that Senior Fuxi had predicted his prediction… The pearl that Senior Shennong had given him should be a treasure of the Five Elements. At that moment, he could not determine if it was a Connate item. However, he could rely on it to increase the production and harvest for the Heavenly Courts’ bean-planting business. It would be impossible to bring it back to the Little Qiong Peak. If the pearl was recognized, the flaw would be too obvious. Li Changshou had shown sufficient respect and vigilance to every retired human emperor.

To be able to become human emperors in the past, the seniors were definitely not simple-minded. He did not know if he would still have any interactions with the Fire Cloud Cave in the future. There was a high chance that he would…

When the clouds enter the mist, the Heavenly Wind will not stop him. Not long after, the Zhongtian Sect was in sight. Li Changshou rode a cloud forward. A soldier bowed and verified his identity. He also checked Li Changshou’s jade disc in detail… Li Changshou felt much more at ease when he saw how meticulous and conscientious the Heavenly Generals were. He also gave Hua Ritian a ‘like’! After entering the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, Li Changshou completed his mission and handed over the jade plate that he had obtained from Senior Fuxi. The Jade Emperor officially issued a decree to promote the worship of Heaven and Earth in the South Continent.

With Li Changshou’s Sea God Sect as the foundation, it would not be too difficult to start that matter. However, while guiding the mortals to sacrifice to Heaven and Earth, it would also be easy for the incense offerings of the Dao Sect to be affected… Li Changshou had to take the lead in this matter. In the name of Ren School, he had to discuss it with the eldest disciples of Chan School and Jie School, who were in charge of the sect affairs. In that case, he would not leave any evidence of the Heavenly Courts disrespecting the Saints of the Dao Sect.

Li Changshou wanted to ask the Great Daoist Master to take action on that matter. Now that the Jade Emperor’s decree had yet to be formed, there was no need to be overly-eager. Every decree of the Jade Emperor would take hundreds of years to form.

It was unknown if it was because Li Changshou’s Sea God had returned and the dragon race had obtained a small number of the low-level Deity Positions, but the Heavenly Dao had a deeper connection with the Heavenly Courts.

According to the immortal officials of the Hall of Enlightenment, the speed of the Jade Emperor’s decree had increased by… ten percent. Li Changshou’s trip was naturally not for nothing. Although he had obtained many benefits in the Fire Cloud Cave, he still had to receive rewards bestowed by the Jade Emperor. The number of treasures that the Jade Emperor had given him to decorate the mansion could be ignored. The Heavenly Courts had bestowed a small amount of merit, but it was not as much as when the mission of slaying demons in the South Ocean and the West Ocean was completed.

This matter was considered a catalyst. There would be a large amount of merit to be earned in the future…

Li Changshou informed the Jade Emperor that he would return to the mansion to wait for his announcement. The Jade Emperor smiled and sent him off.

The Heavenly General Hua Ritian was already waiting near the Lingxiao Hall. After meeting Li Changshou, they rode a cloud back to the Sea God Residence together.

The two incarnations looked at each other on the cloud. At the same time, they used the traditional technique of the Heavenly CourtsIn-person Voice Transmission.

Hua Ritian asked, “Sea God, have you seen the human emperor, Suirenshi in the Fire Cloud Cave?”

Li Changshou answered, “Your Majesty, do you have something to tell that senior? That senior seemed to be recuperating at that time. I did not see him.”

“Before I became the Heavenly Emperor, I was ordered by Teacher to train in the mortal world. I also served under Suiren.” The Jade Emperor sighed and said, “I didn’t expect that his injuries have yet to recover.” Li Changshou thought for a while and asked, “May I ask, Your Majesty, how is your cultivation level now? Your Majesty, don’t think too much. I’m just worried…” “Haha, don’t be nervous. It’s reasonable for you to ask that. After all, the things that you have to consider are too complicated.” The Jade Emperor smiled and said, “Let’s put it this way. As long as I’m in the Heavenly Courts, no one can harm me unless Teacher and a few senior brothers and sisters do so personally.” The Jade Emperor’s strength was indeed unfathomable. He was also protected by the power of the Heavenly Dao and was different from other experts… That made Li Changshou feel a little more at ease.

The Jade Emperor asked about dealing with Daoist Lu Ya and asked Li Changshou what good plan he had. Li Changshou had been busy searching for the Copper Coin of Treasurefall recently and did not think much about it. He could only deal with it casually and express his worries to the Jade Emperor tactfully.

It was very likely that there was a Saint behind Daoist Lu Ya. Unless he had something on Lu Ya that could make others speechless and immediately kill him, it would be very difficult to get rid of him…

Simply put, it was very difficult. The pair of officials of the Heavenly Courts kept sending voice transmissions to each other to discuss the matter. When they arrived in front of the Sea God Residence, Hua Ritian was finally satisfied and bade farewell. His Majesty, the Jade Emperor, is quite concerned about the matter regarding Lu Ya.

Li Changshou smiled and raised his eyebrows.

Li Changshou drove the Sea God paper effigy back to the Sea God’s Residence and took out the two numinous treasures that he had obtained from Senior Da Yu.

For him, the greatest function of the Sea-Calming Divine Needle was the power of merit on it.

However, it was not easy to extract the power of merit. Li Changshou did not know how to do it. He could only put away the metal rod temporarily. It really fits that sentence… What’s the use of this metal rod? Li Changshou was rather interested in the Hydrology Diagram. However, after some deductions, he felt that the treasure diagram seemed to be beneficial to the dragon race instead. He was not in a hurry to refine it into a treasure for fighting. Li Changshou put away the treasure map and prepared to shift his attention back to his main body.

Only then did he understand-Later, with the guidance of the painting, he could confer titles to many dragons and become the “Water God” of the rivers and seas! It was another huge merit that he could take but had yet to obtain.

Li Changshou returned to his main body and stood in front of the Pill Furnace, lost in thought.

If the Jade Emperor can bypass me, the Sea God, and secretly kill Daoist Lu Ya, that would be perfect. In that case, he would not have to bear the karma, nor would he have to worry about being “named” by the Saint. The God-Conferment Tribulation would also change slightly. At the very least, the terrifying Seven Arrows Book would be able to leave early. The Heavenly Dao is balanced. There shouldn’t be such an abnormal evil spell.

Li Changshou pinched his fingers to deduce and searched his memories. In the God-Conferment Story, when the people of Zhou Nation were thinking of a way to get rid of Zhao Gongming, it was Daoist Lu Ya who had given the Seven Arrows Book to Jiang Ziya and asked him to perform a sacrifice to kill Zhao Gongming with a curse.

However, in the legends that he had heard, there were no rumors of Jiang Ziya bearing any consequences. The luck of the Son of the Tribulation? The merit of becoming a god? If he were to sum up the final fate of Jiang Ziya, he could only say that Jiang Ziya would become a high official in the mortal world and enjoy wealth and glory. He would not be like Li Jing, Nezha, Yang Jian, and the others, who after severing the mortal ties, would go to the Heavenly Courts to become legitimate gods… Perhaps there was some unknown karma involved.

“I won’t think too much about it.” I’ll take the treasure first.

Li Changshou raised his hand and patted his face to wake himself up. He snapped his fingers at the box on the bookshelf and summoned thick paper effigies. He carefully injected immortal power into each of them.

The treasure-seeking paper effigies would attack for the second time! Li Changshou actually had a question- could the God-Conferment Tribulation that he knew about, go through any changes? He only needed to find the “treasure of destiny” that Big Boss Fuxi had divined for him. He wanted to see if it was the Copper Coin of Treasurefall. Then, he would be able to obtain the answer. If he really obtained the Copper Coin of Treasurefall, the God-Conferment Tribulation in the future would definitely be slightly different from what he knew.

The most likely possibility was that the general direction would not change while the details could be changed. His main body was meditating in the Pill Chamber to recover his immortal power. Li Changshou focused his attention on the paper effigy who was driving the carriage. He led more than twenty treasure-seeking paper effigies and sped towards the southwest. They would have to travel 33,000 kilometers if they headed to the south and 16,500 kilometers if they headed to the west. Therefore, he decided to take a direct route, which was naturally the nearest. The landmark that he needed to find was the “Headless Mountains”, which was a mountain that did not have a peak. There were such mountains all over the Primordial World. Quite a number of them might form during a battle between experts… The paper effigy used Earth Escape to move forward. The first half of the journey was very smooth. After walking through the journey, he easily found the ‘Headless Mountain’ that the elder Fuxi had divined.

However, when he arrived near the mountain, Li Changshou could not help but frown. That place was close to the border between the East Continent and the Middle Continent. It was still within the East Continent. The demonic aura in a radius of 500 kilometers soared into the sky. He could vaguely sense a few powerful auras and pressures. Where is this? Is the treasure that I’m looking for here?

Li Changshou controlled the paper effigy that was driving the carriage and released a small paper kite. The paper kite slowly flapped its wings and emerged from the ground, transforming into an eagle that spread its wings and soared. Li Changshou placed a wisp of his attention on it and carefully observed the surroundings of the mountain.

This should be a town of the demons. The top of the mountain should have been flattened by an expert who used his mystical abilities. He had built a sturdy city stopper. There were various array formations protecting it. The earth meridian spiritual energy was also fully utilized by the array formations. In the town, there were humans, beasts, and birds.

Although there were human Qi Refinement cultivators moving about, there were not many of them. Most of the residents had beasts’ ears… ahem, most of them were demons who had retained some of their characteristics before their transformation. The eagle broke through the clouds and crossed the Headless Mountain, finding a huge river.

After flying along the river for a while, he saw a valley that was enveloped by a huge array formation…

The treasure was there.

The valley was naturally the land of the demons. The scenery inside seemed pretty good. Due to the isolation of the array, it was impossible to see how many experts were inside.

However, according to the distribution of the demon race’s forces, most of the experts of the demon race were gathered at the North Continent, the border of the Middle Continent. This place was not too far away from the Immortal Du Sect. If there were any powerful demon experts, the Immortal Du Sect would have probably instructed their disciples not to go there to train. The first thought that popped up in Li Changshou’s mind was to use the paper effigy Immortal Bean Soldiers to attack that place. He could obtain treasures and obtain merit.

However, he quickly rejected that thought.

Firstly, as one of the two ancient tyrants, the demons had some accumulation of strength. They could easily provoke the older ones if they beat the younger ones. These demons were not comparable to the deep-sea demons. Secondly, he did not know what the treasure was. It might have been hidden somewhere. If it was taken away by the demons when they attacked, it would be troublesome. That matter could not be rushed. He would first gather intelligence and formulate a plan. When it was time to take action, he would strike with lightning speed. There was no need for him to seek both treasures and merit. At that moment, Li Changshou began to secretly gather paper effigies near the Immortal Du Sect, in the South Continent, and in the East Ocean. He also transported a new batch of immortal beans in the Immortal Du Sect.

In just a few days, Li Changshou had already ambushed 100,000 “male soldiers” around the valley. There were also hundreds of paper effigies that had strength that was comparable to the late-stage Heaven Immortal realm and were in charge of deploying the Immortal Bean Soldiers.

Let’s not care about anything else. Let’s surround him first!

Of course, those were just the backup plans. Li Changshou wanted to secretly take the treasure away with the least karma and cost. The gathering of intelligence was also carried out in an orderly manner. Li Changshou had always been patient…

At the same time, Li Changshou was doing something else in the Pill Chamber of Little Qiong Peak.

He was making a few Golden Immortal realm paper effigies!

In the past few days after returning from the Fire Cloud Cave, Li Changshou had been pondering over the guidance of Big Boss Fuxi. Today, he had a complete train of thought and was prepared to give it a try… If he could make a Golden Immortal paper effigy sooner, he would be able to obtain twice the results with half the effort! Li Changshou sorted out the new ideas of the improved paper effigy in his heart. This time, the chances of success were not too high. At most, it was 60% or 70%. He did not know how the final product would turn out… However, if he did not try, he would never break through. Li Changshou opened the pitch-black Pill Furnace and carefully cleaned it. Then, he summoned a few paper effigies that were carrying cloth bags. The paper effigies stood on the wooden table obediently and followed Li Changshou’s thoughts. The paper effigies each took out a pile of herbs and precious materials. The incarnation technique that Big Boss Fuxi had taught Li Changshou opened up a new path. Why did his paper effigies reach a bottleneck?

The difficulty was that when his Golden Immortal realm immortal power was injected into the paper effigy’s body and reached a certain amount, it would become extremely unstable and continuously self-destruct.

Previously, his thoughts had been limited to strengthening the paper effigies and improving the restrictions.

However, after Fuxi’s guidance, Li Changshou found a new path.

Next, he would try to give his paper effigies a core to stabilize their immortal power!

He injected some immortal power into the immortal power core to maintain the stability of the paper effigy’s immortal power. When the paper effigy’s immortal power was depleted, the small portion of immortal power could be used for emergencies. Although that matter was simple, how to refine the core and how to achieve such effects were all difficult questions for his immortal research…

The Dao of alchemy became the first solution that Li Changshou thought of.

The Grand Pure One’s Great Dao of Inaction and the method to balance Yin and Yang could also be used.

Combining the Great Dao of the Saint, the principles of Yin and Yang, the guidance given by Big Brother Fuxi, the reference mystical abilities given by Great Daoist Master Xuan Du, and the rich experience he had gained from immersing himself in the paper effigy technique for many years… It would not make sense if he gained nothing! Li Changshou quickly threw medicinal herbs and precious materials into the Pill Furnace and began the refinement process of the core of the paper effigy.

Half a day later…

With a loud boom, a mushroom cloud slowly rose 1,500 kilometers east of the Immortal Du Sect. Half of a desolate mountain had been blown up.

The spiritual explosion appeared again, but its power was obviously much weaker.