If You Can't Control It, Just Don't! / Ling Shuang, Aren't You Going to Pay Your Respects to the Grandmaster?

(Yes, hopelessly so... but Otto Apocalypse is just that kind of hopelessly incorrigible woman, and she enjoys it.)

Otto Apocalypse understood.

To respond to the wishes of the Lord God, to please the Lord God, to bring happiness to the Lord God... this is what she hopes for.

(... You are embarking on a path called madness, Otto.)

(You don't need to tell me... Now that I'm saying it, maybe I already had this realization when the Lord God saved me from the dark abyss called "Apocalypse".)

(...Hmph.) Imaginary Archive's tone was not pleasant.

She felt... as if she had become the one who unleashed the demons.

It now seems that the old man was indeed binding this demon, but now... a question that was half a joke of his own has awakened this demon.

(No need to belittle yourself.) After clarifying his inner thoughts, Otto's tone immediately became calm. (After all, you have also shown me another path... to share life with the Lord God.)

(...)

(This path is difficult, but I have to try... What if the Lord God choose me?)

(...)

Imaginary Archive felt from the bottom of its heart that Otto was somewhat terrifying now.

What turned you into this?

Is it Liu Bai?

(Alright, now it's time to confess my mistakes to the Lord God.)

Otto stuck his head out of the blanket.

"My Lord God, are you there? I... I have something I'd like to tell you."

"Still not asleep..." Liu Bai's sighing voice came from behind. "But that's perfect timing. I... I also have something I want to say about my student's troubles."

"... About your student? Frustrated?"

Chapter 255 If you can't manage it, then don't!

"... I see. You're worried that the disciples of the Scarlet Bird Immortal might be hostile to him because of his personality?"

After listening to Liu Bai's story, Otto concluded.

... This really relieved her.

It seems that the Lord God's lack of interest is not her fault at all, so there's no need for her to apologize with the resolve to die.

But then again, what is this question about the Lord God...?

"... I feel that Scarlet Bird Immortal is a very easy-going person. Would someone like that cause dissatisfaction among her disciples? Or is it that the disciples taught by this immortal lady are all ungrateful wretches?"

"..."

Liu Bai felt that this question was indeed quite difficult to answer.

"Well... to put it this way, apart from a few individuals, Hua is both a teacher and the enemy who killed his father and mother."

"... Honkai orphan?" Otto raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't Schicksal either execute such a person on the Schicksal or throw them into a monastery for brainwashing?"

"... This is the right choice."

Liu Bai sighed.

"But given Hua's personality..."

"I understand, free-range, right?"

"... It's not entirely free-range, though."

"You even taught them martial arts, right?" Otto's ambiguous smile made Liu Bai feel a little awkward. "It seems that Miss Chi Yuan is really naive... or rather, confident in herself—I think it's the latter."

The strongest in Shenzhou... no, perhaps even the strongest in this world right now.

How could someone like her be defeated by apprentices who are not even a fraction of her age?

Logically speaking, even if you asked Kallen to use her brain, let alone Otto, she wouldn't believe this possibility.

But... it's precisely because it's impossible that it becomes "possible."

Otto knew that some things, though seemingly difficult and complicated, often depended on the first move.

With proper planning and timing, even the biggest disadvantages, if not reversed, can at least be turned into a coin toss by God.

"... The Scarlet Bird Immortal didn't make the first move."

Otto recalled Hua's descriptions of his disciples along the way and knew that this immortal had absolutely no suspicion of his disciples.

"Since that's the case, why not just go all the way and kill all of Scarlet Bird Immortal's disciples?"

"... I don't want to hear your jokes."

Liu Bai remained completely unmoved—he was joking, if he really killed them all, Fu Hua would have to turn against him!

Although they are different in essence, isn't the same as Cheng Kun killing the Golden Lion King's entire family?

At most, Liu Bai meant well—but whether Fu Hua believes that is another matter.

"Besides, even if we wanted to fight, we don't know if we could beat them."

Otto nodded in agreement.

After all, this immortal is the strongest in the Shenzhou, and his disciple... even if he can't reach the level of Kallen, he is at least stronger Elinor. At most, his weapon is a little inferior.

If a real fight breaks out, it's hard to tell who will kill whom. Using underhanded tactics would be even more foolish, since someone with Honkai Energy wouldn't be so easily poisoned.

Moreover, there's a possibility that they might be discovered by a celestial being halfway there.

"... So, framing someone?"

Otto thought for a moment and then said casually.

"Think of a way, find a pretext, and stir up conflict between master and disciple by framing someone... Hmm, that doesn't seem like a good idea?"

Otto thought for a moment, and perhaps, possibly, probably... the only thing that could provoke conflict was Liu Bai?

Even so, framing someone might not completely escalate the conflict.

After all, their own Lord God a ghost; there are conflicts, but not many, and it's not easy to smear them.

Etc.

What if it were me?

The Seven Disciples of Taixu harbored ill intentions towards the guests who had traveled from afar...

You can act arrogant and conceited, deliberately picking fights with your apprentices, and then falsely accuse them...

Based on the immortal's personality, coupled with my own performance during this period and the presence of Lord God, I would have the upper hand even in a face-to-face confrontation.

The likely outcome will be that the immortal orders his disciple to reflect on his mistakes in seclusion—a harmless punishment... But, being wronged without cause, isn't that where the conflict arises?

Upon realizing this, Otto immediately shared his thoughts with Liu Bai.

"... How many heads do you have enough to chop off?"

Liu Bai looked at Otto as if he were mentally challenged.

"If someone loses all patience and attacks you with their sword, I can save you from the first blow, but you'll die from the second."

"... I just think that someone who is willing to endure humiliation and carry out revenge would never draw their sword because of a few provocations, right? After all, there is no room for error in her revenge; one wrong step will lead to an abyss."

"If that's the case, why can't they tolerate such a small conflict?"

"... It's just a gamble, nobody knows if it will be the last straw - and no one says this method can only be used once."

If it doesn't work the first time, try the second time; if it doesn't work the second time, try the third time. If necessary, you can always try a different method in between.

For example, the first time, the person provoked the other party and then retaliated, causing the other party to be punished. Once the other party is released, for the sake of revenge or other plans, they will definitely endure the humiliation and go to apologize, while also probing for the truth.

What if you pretend you're not there and stage your guest room to look like it's been torn apart by a sharp weapon? And then you just happen to return to your room when the other person wants to leave...

Or what if the door suddenly cracked open as the other person knocked, and the person screamed in terror?

Whether it's high-end or not doesn't matter; the point is that if mud gets into your pants, even if it's not poop, it's still poop.

If he continued to pressure them with this method, and they could still tolerate it, then Otto thought he should try his best to humanely annihilate them.

After all, this kind of patience... this child must not be allowed to live!

"I think you really think you have too many brains," Liu Bai said irritably.

"But there's really nothing we can do about this," Otto said with a helpless expression.

The master-disciple relationship in Shenzhou is not as cheap as it is back home.

For apprentices, their master is like their parents, isn't he?

Moreover, it appears that there is currently no conflict between the two sides.

Let alone the saying "neither strangers nor relatives can interfere," even Liu Bai, Fu Hua's master, couldn't say anything about this.

If Liu Bai were to say something to Fu Hua, "Your disciple is planning to kill you"...

Hmm, put yourself in Otto's shoes. What if one day Otto told you, "Your apprentice, the Scarlet Bird Immortal, is planning to kill you"...

Well, they're both my flesh and blood, I can't please either of them, what do you mean by that?

"If the hard approach doesn't work, the soft approach... there is another way, but I don't know if Your Lord God would be willing."

"... What method?"

"The solution is to take away the mastermind or the strongest among the immortal's seven disciples," Otto said softly. "Since we lack the ability to stop them, let's weaken their power to kill their master."

They will definitely have to return to the Ming Empire within two or three years for the sake of Schicksal. As long as the other side is willing to tolerate it, we really can't control them.

But if she can't control it, she'll just leave it alone. She'll take one of the main characters and the behind-the-scenes characters with her, and she'll see how she manages to kill her master!

"However, the downside is... in order to cut off any influence, you probably can't stay here for too long."

Chapter 256 Ling Shuang, why haven't you paid your respects to the Ancestor yet?

"We've arrived. This is Tai Xu Mountain."

Hua stopped in front of the ancient Daoist temple.

"Speaking of which, this architectural style was originally designed by Danzhu Cangxuan... although it has been renovated many times over the years..."

Perhaps because Liu Bai was by her side, Fu Hua was particularly prone to reminiscing about the past.

"Back then, everyone..." Fu Hua shook her head silently.

"...There's nothing we can do about it," Liu Bai said softly.

Although he didn't feel the same way as Fu Hua, he could still understand.

"And in a way, Danzhu Cangxuan did leave behind what they wanted to pass on, didn't they?"

After all, the entire civilization of Shenzhou originated from these two sisters...

"...Too."

Fu Hua didn't dwell on her memories for too long.

She is a very realistic person, and if she hadn't met Liu Bai now, she might not have so many feelings.

After all, Fu Hua had already been sad enough in the past.

Then, a voice sounded from the doorway:

"Master, you're back?"

The group of people standing in front of the Daoist temple still attracted the attention of others—namely, Fu Hua's disciples.

However, since Fu Hua is leading the way now, the arrival of the newcomers is more of a pleasant surprise than an unexpected one.

Otto glanced at the newcomer; he was very young—but upon closer inspection, one could see that the other person already had some barely perceptible wrinkles on his face.

"Chaoyu." Fu Hua nodded to the person who came—his eldest disciple, Lin Chaoyu.

She was indifferent, but Lin Chaoyu seemed used to it.

"Your journey this time... um, and who are these gentlemen?"