Lord Laozi's Way of Staying Healthy

The city's water supply was in crisis! Filthy demonic qi was seeping in, and millions of lives hung by a thread!

This sudden crisis was like a torrent of icy water poured over Lin Fan's head, extinguishing the last bit of warmth that had risen in him after the "family meeting" and breakfast had eased the tension. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, not just from fear—though there was certainly some of that—but also from the suffocating feeling of being swept into a raging torrent and... a strange sense of responsibility. He wasn't a savior, but he was the only person in the apartment who could communicate with the outside world in a relatively "normal" way. He was Yuanshi Tianzun's appointed "liaison."

"I understand! I'll call right now!" Lin Fan's voice trembled faintly, but his movements were decisive. He quickly pulled out his phone. His fingers were stiff with nerves, and he nearly failed to unlock the screen. He found Chen Jing's number, took a deep breath, and pressed the call button.

Each ring as he waited for the call to connect struck his nerves like a heavy hammer. Pick up! Come on, pick up!

At the same time, Yuanshi Tianzun and Goddess Nüwa exchanged a glance. No words were needed; they understood each other perfectly.

"Let's go!" Yuanshi barked. The vast Dao rhythm of order surged around him once more, but this time it wasn't meant to suppress or seal anything. Instead, it acted like an invisible coordinate, instantly locking onto the sources of several rapidly spreading foul auras in the city's underground water system! He swept his sleeve—not to use a spatial ability, but to temporarily "assimilate" the rules in the small area surrounding himself and Nüwa through some mysterious means. Light warped, their figures blurred, and in the next moment, they vanished from the apartment! It wasn't teleportation. They moved along the tracks of the rules at a speed beyond Lin Fan's comprehension, heading straight for their targets!

The instant Yuanshi and Nüwa left, countless sword shadows suddenly blazed in Master Tongtian's eyes, like two icy lamps piercing the void! He didn't leave his spot, but the supreme sword intent that had long been suppressed within him awoke like a sleeping beast and erupted with a roar!

"Vmmmm—!"

A sword's cry rang out. It wasn't a physical sound, yet it reverberated clearly in the depths of Lin Fan's soul! An intensely condensed, almost transparent pale-green barrier of sword qi expanded instantly from Tong Tian, like an overturned bowl, firmly enclosing the entire apartment and the small patch of space beyond its balcony!

The Sword Domain! A world unto itself!

Countless tiny sword shadows swam across the barrier like fish, radiating a terrifying aura capable of severing karma and shattering all laws. The air in the room seemed to freeze, filled with extreme sharpness and bloodlust. Birds that happened to fly past outside struck an invisible wall as soon as they neared the building and veered away in panic. Any hostile probing or energy impact from outside would be mercilessly and utterly annihilated the moment it touched the Sword Domain!

Tong Tian sat cross-legged at its center, his face stern, like a divine general guarding the gates of heaven. He had to watch out not only for any demonic creatures that might attack, but also keep an eye on the highly unstable "ticking time bomb" beside him—Gong Gong.

At the same time that Yuanshi and Nüwa left and Tong Tian opened the Sword Domain, Lin Fan's call finally connected.

"Lin Fan?" Chen Jing's voice came through the receiver, calm as ever, with a trace of puzzlement. She hadn't seemed to expect him to contact her first.

"Team Leader Chen! Emergency!" Lin Fan didn't bother with pleasantries. He spoke at top speed, his voice sharp with anxiety. "The city's water supply! The underground water system! Some unknown supernatural contamination is seeping in! It's extremely dangerous! It could affect the entire city's water supply! You need to activate emergency measures immediately, evacuate people from potentially affected areas, and... and we need your cooperation!"

He shouted out all the key information Yuanshi had given him in one breath. His heart felt as if it might leap out of his chest.

Silence fell on the other end of the line. Only Chen Jing's faint breathing told him she was listening. Lin Fan could imagine the shock and disbelief on her face. The news was horrifying, far beyond any ordinary supernatural crime or abnormal incident.

"Lin Fan, are you sure? What's your source? Do you have proof?" Chen Jing remained calm, but she spoke noticeably faster, with the caution and pressure of a professional.

"I... I can't provide evidence your instruments can detect! But this is what... what 'they' sensed!" Lin Fan was sweating with anxiety. He knew it would be difficult to convince anyone without proof, so he could only hope that Chen Jing would be wary of "them" and would trust him based on the foundation they'd established—under duress. "Those things are filthy, filled with destructive energy, and they're targeting the water supply! There isn't much time! Please believe me! If the water supply is contaminated on a large scale, the consequences will be unthinkable!"

He was practically begging.

There was another two-second silence on the other end. To Lin Fan, those two seconds lasted an entire century. He could hear rapid typing and Chen Jing speaking quietly to someone nearby.

At last, Chen Jing spoke again, her voice firm with resolve. "Message received. I'll report this to my superiors immediately and activate the highest-level emergency plan. I'll notify the water and disease-control departments to conduct urgent water-quality monitoring and trace the source throughout the city. We'll issue warnings and evacuation orders as needed. Tell me, what do 'they' intend to do? What kind of cooperation do they need?"

She had chosen to believe him—or, more accurately, she didn't dare not believe him. The unfinished building incident and the abnormal data from that "breath of earth" statue had made her understand how terrifying and unfathomable the two beings behind Lin Fan were. There were now three of them. With hundreds of thousands of lives at stake, it was better to believe the warning than risk ignoring it.

Lin Fan let out a breath of relief and hurriedly said, "Senior Yuanshi and Goddess Nüwa have already gone to intercept and purify the sources of the contamination! But they need to pinpoint them! They need to know the exact routes the contamination is taking and where it's coming from! If you can share your monitoring data in real time, it should help a lot! Also, if the evacuation teams encounter... encounter incomprehensible black fog or abnormal creatures, they mustn't go near them. They should retreat immediately and notify us!"

He told her all the ways he could think of to help.

"Understood. I'll find a way to send the monitoring data through an encrypted channel in real time to... you?" Chen Jing paused, evidently considering how to get the information to beings who weren't human.

"Send it to my phone! I can get them to see it!" Lin Fan said immediately. He planned to use a video call or something similar. It was crude, but it should work.

"Good! Keep your phone on!" Chen Jing ended the call briskly, clearly ready to race against the clock to put things in motion.

Lin Fan put his phone down, feeling the cold sweat soaking through his back. He looked at the apartment enclosed within the pale-green Sword Domain, at Tong Tian standing guard in the center like a stone statue, and at Gong Gong in the corner, still clutching the broken relic and visibly restless under the stimulation of the demonic qi outside. A tremendous sense of helplessness washed over him. This was all he could do. The rest was up to those two saints and the official forces of this world.

Deep beneath the city, in the darkness and damp of the labyrinthine network of pipes.

Yuanshi Tianzun and Goddess Nüwa appeared like ghosts at the junction of a massive main pipeline. The roar of rushing water and the heavy smell of damp and mold filled the space. But now, an even more nauseating energy—foul, rotten, and reeking of sulfur—was seeping through cracks in the pipe walls, like ink dropped into clear water. It mingled with the rushing water and spread downstream at an astonishing speed!

Wherever the foul energy passed, the clear water instantly turned murky and black, with a strange green glow flickering within it. The vitality in the water was swiftly stripped away, replaced by a dead stillness with intense corrosive and destructive power!

"What a sinister method!" Nüwa furrowed her delicate brows. She could clearly sense countless tiny aquatic microorganisms dying in droves. If this contamination reached people's homes, drinking it would kill mortals on the spot—and could even trigger a terrible plague and mutations!

"There's more than one leak." Yuanshi's gaze swept over the crisscrossing network of pipes. His Dao rhythm of order acted like the most precise radar, instantly detecting at least three major sources of contamination, all releasing toxins through separate pipes. "We'll split up. Let's finish this quickly!"

Nüwa nodded and flashed away as a gentle stream of green light, rushing upstream along a severely contaminated branch pipe toward one of the sources. The vast life force of creation radiating from her was like warm sunlight. Wherever she passed, the polluted black water seemed to meet its natural enemy. The foul energy was rapidly purified and dispersed, and the water visibly returned to clarity. But the source was releasing contamination at an incredible rate. She had to find it and either purify it completely or seal it away.

Yuanshi chose the source along the most heavily contaminated main pipeline. He stepped forward, as though there were invisible stairs beneath his feet, and ignored the turbulent current, appearing directly in the heart of the contamination. A hole about a meter wide had somehow opened in the pipe wall ahead. Black fog, thick as tar and roiling with twisted faces and tentacles, poured from it without pause!

"Order must not be defiled!" Yuanshi said coldly. He didn't attack the black fog directly. Instead, he formed hand seals, roused the Dao rhythm of his own origin, and connected with the rules governing the space and energy within a hundred meters!

In an instant, countless glowing runes of order appeared in the air. Like well-trained soldiers, they rapidly interwove and assembled, forming a complex and precise three-dimensional array around the contaminated breach! The moment the array took shape, the surging black fog seemed to hit an invisible, unyielding wall. It was forcibly confined within the array, unable to spread any farther!

"Seal!" Yuanshi spoke another true word. The array blazed with light and began to contract, pressing inward like an enormous furnace of purification, intent on refining and annihilating all the foul black fog trapped inside!

The black fog shrieked and battered the array of order. Foul energy and the array's pure light clashed fiercely, making a sizzling, corrosive sound as the entire underground pipeline shook!

Yet just as Yuanshi thought he could seal the source without trouble, an unexpected change occurred!

The black fog confined within the array suddenly contracted and condensed. It no longer battered the array aimlessly, but transformed into a strange spear as black as ink, wreathed in the anguished cries of countless resentful souls! A point of utter darkness gathered at its tip, as though it could pierce all order and law!

"Break!" A cold, evil will came from the spear!

Whoosh—!

The black spear shrieked as it tore through the soul and stabbed toward the weakest point in the array of order! This attack held far greater power than before. The demon had clearly recognized Yuanshi as a threat and unleashed its true killing move!

Yuanshi's expression changed. With his current condition, the array he had laid might not be able to block an attack this concentrated! If the array broke, the foul energy would erupt all at once, with unthinkable consequences!

At that very moment—

"Boundless Heavenly Venerable."

A calm, unhurried voice, warm and languid as the afternoon sun, suddenly sounded amid the roar of rushing water and the clash of energies.

It wasn't loud, yet it strangely drowned out every other sound, reaching Yuanshi's ears clearly and seemingly reverberating throughout the underground space.

As the voice rang out, a single point of gentle yet utterly pure light appeared soundlessly before the oncoming black spear, like the brightest star in the night sky.

Within the light, something round and translucent, about the size of a longan and giving off a faint medicinal fragrance, could be seen... a pill?

That's right, it was a seemingly ordinary pill!

The next moment, the pill began to spin rapidly. Its pure light flared, transforming into a slowly rotating phantom of a Taiji symbol, the eyes of its yin-yang fish aligned perfectly with the black spear brimming with destructive power.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no roar of clashing laws.

The evil spear, powerful enough to pierce the array of order, touched the Taiji phantom and let out a soft hiss, like snow meeting the blazing sun. Then... it silently dissolved.

That's right, it dissolved! The process spread swiftly from the spearhead through its entire length. The terrifying foul energy and the anguished cries of countless resentful souls within it turned to wisps of smoke and vanished into the air. It was as if that earth-shattering attack had never existed.

The whole process was quiet and swift, carried out with the unquestionable ease of the Dao itself.

Yuanshi's pupils contracted. He turned sharply toward the source of the voice.

On a dry pipe support not far away, a figure was sitting there. No one knew when he had appeared.

He was a thin old man wearing a plain gray jacket, washed until it had faded. His face was ruddy like an infant's, and though his beard and hair were white, they were neatly groomed. A gentle smile rested on his face, and his eyes were clear and deep, as if they contained the profound truths of the universe's birth and death. In his hand was an old-looking enamel mug, steaming faintly and giving off a light tea fragrance.

He sat there casually, utterly out of place in the dark, damp, perilous underground. He could have been nothing more than a retired schoolteacher who had been sunning himself in a park and happened to wander by.

But the instant Yuanshi saw him, a look of unprecedented shock—and something complex and hard to read—finally appeared on his calm face.

"Elder Brother..." Yuanshi said slowly, his voice unexpectedly dry.

The newcomer was none other than the leader of the Three Pure Ones, the head of the Human Sect, the Heavenly Worthy of Supreme Clarity and Virtue—Taishang Laojun!

Taishang Laojun smiled at Yuanshi and nodded in greeting. His gaze swept over the source of the black fog, trapped within the array of order and now restless after its attack had been neutralized. He then glanced toward the other branch pipes where Nüwa was purifying the water and shook his head lightly.

"These stubborn, filthy stains are rather troublesome to clean up," Laojun said placidly, as if discussing something trivial. He raised the hand holding his enamel mug and casually flicked a finger toward the trapped source of black fog.

There was no light, no fluctuation of energy.

Yet the instant his finger flicked forward, the black fog that had been churning and battering the array suddenly shrank inward, then condensed, as though it had been thrown into an invisible furnace. Its foul energy was forcibly stripped away and refined. The evil will within it let out one last desperate wail, and the black fog was finally compressed into a pill about the size of a longan, pitch-black but no longer radiating any aura.

Laojun beckoned, and the black pill drifted lightly into his hand. He glanced at it, then tossed it into his seemingly ordinary enamel mug.

Plop. The pill fell into the tea, bubbled once, then sank without a trace.

At the same time, the other two sources of contamination, marked by Nüwa's and Yuanshi's Dao rhythms, seemed to be drawn by some invisible force. Through thick layers of soil and pipes, they were forcibly extracted and refined. In the end, two more black pills shot through the air and landed in Laojun's mug.

In just a few breaths, the terrifying source of contamination capable of destroying an entire city had been "steeped" in Taishang Laojun's teacup as casually as dust being swept away.

The nauseating foulness instantly disappeared from the underground space. Only the ordinary roar of rushing water remained, along with... the faint fragrance of tea and medicine.

Nüwa had just purified one of the branch pipes and hurried over. She froze at the sight, her beautiful eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

"Elder Brother..." Nüwa called softly too, her voice carrying the wistful weight of someone who felt a lifetime had passed.

Taishang Laojun turned to her, his smile growing a little warmer. "Nüwa Shimei, it's been a long time." He shook the enamel mug in his hand and looked at the three black pills floating inside. With a hint of teasing in his voice, he said, "The 'herbs' of this world are quite peculiar. They're a little too fiery; they need to be simmered over a low flame to bring out their 'medicinal properties.'"

He had called the essence of demonic qi, enough to poison a million lives... "herbs"!

Looking at Laojun's calm, carefree manner, as if he had merely gathered a few medicinal plants, Yuanshi and Nüwa were at a loss for words.

This was the Supreme Clarity Saint, the forefather of alchemy! In his eyes, anything could be used as medicine, and any method could be used to make a pill. Filth? Demonic qi? They were nothing more than "herbs" with especially potent medicinal properties.

"Elder Brother, when did you arrive in this world?" Yuanshi suppressed his shock and asked the key question. Laojun's appearance had been too sudden—and too timely.

Taishang Laojun took a sip of the "tea" in his enamel mug and spoke at an unhurried pace. "A few days after you. When I woke up, I was in a retirement home on the outskirts of the city. I played a few games of chess with some mortal elders and drank tea for a few days. It was rather peaceful. Just now, I sensed the 'fiery energy' here soaring into the sky, with filth spreading everywhere and harming the natural order, so I came to take a look and clean things up while I was at it."

He made it sound trivial, but Yuanshi and Nüwa understood that Laojun must have suffered a cross-world transfer much like theirs. His cultivation was simply profound, and he was especially skilled at conserving his strength and doing nothing needlessly. He might have recovered faster than they had—and been better at concealing himself.

"This world is full of dangers. Not only are we under official surveillance, but filthy demonic creatures like these are lurking about. Elder Brother, do you know where they come from?" Yuanshi brought the conversation back to the matter at hand.

At that, Laojun's warm smile faded slightly, and a profound gleam flashed in his eyes. "This filth is not native to this world. Its origins... bear a striking resemblance to the 'Void Tide' at the end of the Primordial Era, the calamity that caused the world to collapse. It's simply more covert and better at exploiting this world's rules."

The Void Tide!

The words made Yuanshi and Nüwa's expressions change again! It was a cataclysm more terrifying and complete than Gong Gong's collision with Mount Buzhou or the calamity of the Investiture of the Gods! It was one of the ultimate causes of the Primordial Era's final collapse!

"Elder Brother, do you mean..." Nüwa's voice trembled faintly.

"The Primordial Era has passed, but the calamity's energy has not dissipated." Laojun watched the black pills floating in his cup. His voice was calm, but carried the weight of one who had witnessed the passage of countless ages. "Perhaps some 'things' came through with us. Or perhaps they have been here all along, simply waiting for the right moment."

He raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through layer upon layer of earth toward the apartment.

"Junior Brother Tongtian, and... that old friend, are they both there? This isn't the place to talk. We can speak more when we get back." Laojun stood, brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes, and carried the cup steeping three "demonic qi pills." Like an ordinary old man returning home after a stroll, he took a step and vanished from the spot.

Yuanshi and Nüwa exchanged a glance, and both saw a gravity in the other's eyes unlike anything before. Laojun's arrival brought powerful support, but also far more unsettling news—the enemies of the Primordial Era might have come too!

The two didn't linger. With a flicker of their figures, they swiftly left the underground pipe network.

Inside the apartment.

Lin Fan was staring tensely at his phone. Chen Jing had already sent the preliminary water-quality monitoring data through an encrypted link. Several key contamination indicators on the screen were rising abnormally, but only minutes ago, they had all plunged and swiftly returned to normal!

"The contamination... has been contained?" Lin Fan was both shocked and delighted. He could hardly believe his eyes. So fast? The two saints had acted with terrifying efficiency!

Just then, the pale-green Sword Domain around the room trembled faintly like rippling water, then silently vanished. Master Tongtian slowly opened his eyes. The sword shadows disappeared from his gaze. He glanced out the window and snorted. "At least they were quick."

Almost as soon as the Sword Domain vanished, ripples appeared in the space inside the room.

Yuanshi Tianzun and Goddess Nüwa appeared first.

Then, beside them, Taishang Laojun appeared as well, smiling as he held his enamel mug and wore his gray jacket.

His arrival immediately drew everyone's attention!

The moment Master Tongtian saw Laojun, his pupils contracted sharply, and the sword intent that had just subsided stirred again around him. But he seemed to suppress it by force. His face turned even colder, and he looked away as he tossed out a stiff, "So you're here too."

His tone was complicated: surprise, rejection, and perhaps even a trace of awkwardness at the fact that... family had gathered? A feeling he himself would never admit to?

Lin Fan was utterly dumbfounded. Who was this kind-looking old man holding a teacup? He seemed... so ordinary, yet somehow extraordinary! Could he really stand on equal footing with Yuanshi, Nüwa, and Tong Tian? And Tong Tian had just said, "So you're here too"? Could it be...

An unbelievable thought arose in his mind, and he nearly bit his tongue.

Taishang Laojun! Could this really be Taishang Laojun?!

Laojun didn't take Tong Tian's cold attitude to heart. He surveyed the room, first looking at Nüwa's paintings and statues, all imbued with Dao rhythm. He nodded slightly, then looked at Gong Gong in the corner. Clutching the broken relic, Gong Gong had curled up even more warily at Laojun's appearance. A look of understanding flickered in Laojun's eyes.

At last, his gaze fell on Lin Fan, whose face had gone deathly pale as he stared in shock. Laojun gave him an even more genial smile, like a kindly old neighbor seeing a young man he liked.

"Are you Lin Fan, young friend?" Laojun asked warmly, his voice as soothing as a spring breeze. "Your qi and blood seem a little depleted, your spirit has only just settled, and your foundation is still shallow. It can't be easy for you in this turbid world. This is our first meeting, and I have little with me, so please accept this. Hold it in your mouth each day. It will strengthen your foundation, nourish your vitality, clear your mind, and improve your eyesight."

As he spoke, he felt around in the pocket of his ordinary gray jacket and took out a small, clear plastic case that looked like a container for throat lozenges. He handed it to Lin Fan.

Lin Fan accepted it instinctively and looked down. The case held dozens of round, translucent beads about the size of soybeans, each giving off a faint herbal fragrance and a subtle spiritual glow. They looked like... candy?

No, there was no way they were ordinary candy!

Lin Fan could feel that every "candy" contained an incredibly pure and gentle yet mighty force of vitality! It seemed even easier to absorb than the trace of Innate Qi he had summoned, and even more nourishing to the body and mind!

"Th-this is..." Lin Fan stammered.

"Just a few little things I make myself. They're nothing special." Laojun smiled and waved his hand, then raised his enamel mug and took a sip of tea steeped with the three "demonic qi pills." He added, "The secret to staying healthy is consistency. Take one a day with warm water. Don't take too many."

Lin Fan held the box of "candy," his hands trembling. Pills made by Taishang Laojun himself! Even if he called them "little things," they were priceless treasures! For a newly initiated cultivator like him, they were a dream medicine!

"Th-thank you, Senior Laojun!" Lin Fan was so excited he nearly fell to his knees. He hurriedly bowed.

Laojun accepted his thanks without demurring. Then his gaze turned to Gong Gong and the three broken relics in his arms. His smile slowly faded, growing profound.

"Fellow Daoist Gong Gong, it's been a long time. And these fragments of the 'World Boundary Tablet,' the 'Clean Basin,' and the 'Soul Devourer'... It seems our arrival in this world was no accident."

He sighed softly, and the sound seemed to carry the weight of the Primordial Era through the ages.

"It seems we'll have to discuss these matters at length. Young friend Lin Fan, would you mind setting out another place at the table?"

Lin Fan looked at the seemingly ordinary yet unfathomable Taishang Laojun, then at the different expressions on Yuanshi, Tong Tian, and Nüwa, and finally at the special figure in the corner, Gong Gong. His scalp prickled, yet a surge of inexplicable heroism rose within him.

The Three Pure Ones had gathered, Nüwa was there, and an ancestral shaman had awakened—though not in the best condition...

His little apartment really was about to become the "Primordial Era's office on Earth"!

And now that Taishang Laojun had joined his "way of mediation," seemingly the most reasonable yet perhaps the most unfathomable one of all, it was sure to face an unprecedented "challenge."