'First Plan to Help Master Through His Tribulation'

'First Plan to Help Master Through His Tribulation'

Qi Yuan did not return to Lesser Qiong Peak until midnight, after drinking.

Li Changshou had not seen his master this happy in seven or eight years. Qi Yuan even hummed some little tune he had picked up somewhere as he walked.

As he passed Li Changshou's door, Qi Yuan called out:

"Changshou? Are you cultivating?"

"Reporting to Master, this disciple is resting. I relaxed my mind today and plan to cultivate again tomorrow."

Li Changshou, who had been meditating cross-legged on his straw bed with his eyes closed, opened his eyes and replied. Just as he was about to get up and open the door, he heard his master say with a smile:

"Rest, then, rest. Your master will continue his secluded cultivation as well.

You did well this time. You used your evasion techniques to save your junior niece Youqin Xuanya from Sky-Breaking Peak. It truly brought glory to our Lesser Qiong Peak.

But don't become complacent because of it. Cultivation must remain your priority. Don't go overboard studying evasion techniques. Your own Dao realm is the foundation!"

"This disciple understands," Li Changshou answered from inside.

Old Daoist Qi Yuan stroked his beard and smiled, then added, "Good. Properly stabilize your realm.

Cultivation cannot be rushed. Only by advancing steadily and holding each position firmly can one possibly pass through the great bottlenecks.

Rest now. Your master is going into secluded cultivation.

Ling'e has also been worrying herself sick over you these past few days. Remember to comfort her more tomorrow."

"Yes," Li Changshou answered warmly.

Qi Yuan laughed twice, hummed his little tune, and returned to his own Thatched Cottage, activating several arrays around it.

Secluded cultivation required peace and quiet. Soundproofing arrays and warning arrays were indispensable.

Li Changshou glanced at the jade boxes in his Storage Magic Tool and let out a soft breath. After a few more days of preparation, once he had built the Alchemy Room he had long been planning, he could begin refining Melting Immortal Pills.

As long as he successfully refined a Melting Immortal Pill and persuaded his master to keep it at hand during his tribulation, Master's chances of surviving the heavenly tribulation could reach ninety percent.

The Heavenly Tribulation for Becoming an Immortal was an unavoidable trial and ordeal for all Postnatal beings who sought immortality.

Once heavenly lightning descended, life and death would be decided.

Since ancient times, no one seeking immortality through tribulation had dared claim absolute certainty of surviving the heavenly tribulation.

Moreover, Master's Dao foundation had been damaged by an injury in his early years. His cultivation had never been particularly stable, and the strength of his soul was half that of ordinary cultivators at the ninth stage of Return to Dao.

If he did not think of another solution, Master would face certain death against the heavenly tribulation.

Yet Master was desperately eager to Pass Tribulation and Become Immortal...

Qi Yuan was not only his and Ling'e's master. He was also the peak master of this generation of Lesser Qiong Peak, the only peak master among Du Xian Sect's many peaks who had yet to become an immortal. The elders' and peak masters' discussions never even notified Lesser Qiong Peak.

By comparison, Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu, who had entered the sect several years after Master, was already a True Immortal and had left Master far behind...

Before becoming immortals, Qi Refiners of the Human Race could not live beyond three thousand years. That was a fixed law of the Great Dao. Qi Yuan could in fact live for at least several hundred, perhaps over a thousand, more years.

But Li Changshou knew that Master did not want to suppress his realm, nor did he want to gamble on whether he could become an immortal only once his lifespan was running out.

At times, Li Changshou could even sense that Master already harbored the desire to seek death beneath the heavenly tribulation, to gamble for his Thread of Life with the resolve to die!

It sounded rather stirring, but in Li Changshou's eyes, such thinking was both stubborn and foolish.

That was why Li Changshou had spent fifteen years preparing in secret...

That was why Li Changshou had violated his own principles for the first time, leaving the shelter of the sect and traveling to the Northern Continent of Julu. And after discovering Immortal-Resolving Grass, he had only briefly considered matters before taking the risk of plotting against the Three-Eyed Green Wave Snake, Yuwen Ling, and the others.

The core of Li Changshou's first plan to help his master through his tribulation was refining Immortal-Resolving Grass into a Melting Immortal Pill.

When Master underwent his tribulation, as long as he could withstand the first heavenly tribulation and generate his first wisp of Immortal Spiritual Energy, he could directly swallow the Melting Immortal Pill, use it to feign death, and initiate Self-destruction, thereby evading the subsequent heavenly tribulations.

If immortals failed their tribulations, they could become Turbid Immortals after Self-destruction.

Though Turbid Immortals were far inferior to normal Primordial Immortals in cultivation and divine abilities, they possessed the same lifespan and could continue cultivating upward.

According to Ancient books, Turbid Immortals could at most cultivate to the True Immortal Realm. Thus, this was also called the Earth Immortal Path, distinguished from the Heavenly Immortal Path.

In this first plan, Li Changshou had even mapped out Master's retirement:

After becoming an Earth Immortal and accumulating several hundred years of cultivation, Master could go to the Heavenly Court, which had only just begun and was badly in need of manpower, and obtain some idle post. He could become a Land God, mountain god, or River God in some small place. So long as he received even a little incense offering, his lifespan would exceed that of an ordinary True Immortal by quite a bit.

If Master could accomplish something further and earn merit from the Heavenly Court, he might even outlive some Celestial Immortals...

Incidentally, Master could build up connections in the Heavenly Court. Once he and his junior sister were sufficiently prepared, they could also take idle posts there, establish themselves as veterans within the future administrative body of the Three Realms, and then retire in peace.

A perfect plan.

"Refining this pill isn't particularly troublesome.

If I can ask a True Immortal like Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu for help and prepare several batches of ingredients, I should be able to refine it eventually.

But..."

Master was the typical sect Qi Refiner—too proud to admit weakness. Convincing him to use this method to save his life would truly be harder than finding Immortal-Resolving Grass.

Still, as his disciple, he had to bear this karmic burden. It was a responsibility he could not avoid.

If it truly came to it, he could only coax and deceive him, coat the Melting Immortal Pill in sugar, and call it a life-saving immortal pill...

At that thought, Li Changshou showed a faint smile.

Amid the chirping insects outside his window, he began reviewing his experiences from this trip and reflecting on his shortcomings.

His methods for dealing with Primordial Immortals were insufficient, and he had not handled matters quickly enough.

Paper Cutting into Human Form still had room for improvement. The avatars he created could never truly pass for the real thing.

His transitions between the Five Elements Evasion Techniques were still somewhat sluggish. When he entered the roots of that Old Cypress Tree, he had exposed some fluctuations within the earth...

After reflecting on himself for a while, he had plenty of time to make up for those deficiencies. After all, Li Changshou no longer had any pressing reason to leave the mountain. He only needed to cultivate obediently within the sect.

As for his own heavenly tribulation...

He was in no rush. Without a ninety-nine-point-nine-percent certainty, he would absolutely not take that step.

That remaining zero-point-one percent was for the possibility that the Heavenly Dao might suddenly lose its mind.

Thud!

A pebble struck the wooden wall of the Thatched Cottage. Li Changshou counted on his fingers and realized that, without noticing, it had already passed the hour of the tiger.

Rising to his feet, Li Changshou left his Thatched Cottage and strolled toward his junior sister's residence next door.

During the ten years since his junior sister had entered the sect, whether it was teaching, tutoring, or guidance in life, most of it had taken place during the hour of the tiger.

Upon reaching the Thatched Cottage, Li Changshou gently knocked on the door. The Wooden door opened a crack on its own, and he pushed it open and entered.

Pink curtains greeted him, and even the carpet underfoot had been replaced with a pink pattern.

Behind the translucent screen, a familiar graceful figure lay diagonally upon the bed, facing inward. Her gauzy dress allowed certain alluring sights to appear and disappear through the fabric.

The most precious thing was that hazy beauty—enough to stir the heart without becoming vulgar.

Yet Li Changshou did not even spare her a second glance. He walked straight to the main seat in the central room, sat down, and said calmly:

"Stop pretending to sleep. Such a demure sleeping posture doesn't suit you when you're actually asleep."

A sweet, coquettish voice came from behind the screen. "Senior Brother, I was just learning to prepare Soft Immortal Powder. I'm a little dizzy now, my head is spinning, and I can't do anything. My body is all soft, and I have no strength at all."

Li Changshou nodded and made to rise. "Then we'll talk tomorrow. It isn't anything important, anyway."

"No!" Ling'e instantly dropped the act and switched to a slightly displeased complaint. "Sit down! I'm coming out right now!

Hmph, you have to explain clearly today why you came back so late!"

After a rustling sound, Lan Ling'e quickly changed into a long dress and emerged from behind the screen. She sat on the left side of the table and glared at Li Changshou with a little anger.

Li Changshou smiled helplessly. "I did encounter some unexpected trouble. Do you know Yuan Qing of Sky-Breaking Peak?"

"Mm." Ling'e blinked. "He was that Sky-Breaking Peak disciple who went to Northern Continent with you, Senior Brother. He ranked second in cultivation among our generation, and they said he was quite gentle."

"Remember this: a man's gentleness is always merely an appearance.

He stirred up some trouble this time and wanted to plot against Youqin Xuanya, but Youqin Xuanya killed him instead."

Li Changshou shook his head as he sorted through the scenes he had seen in the memories of those remnant souls. "What he did was the very definition of sacrificing the greater for the lesser. He abandoned his identity as a Du Xian Sect disciple just to concern himself with the fleeting Royal Authority of the Mortal World."

Ling'e propped her chin on her hand, leaning sideways against the square table as she softly asked, "Senior Brother, what exactly happened?"

Li Changshou explained slowly:

"That Youqin Xuanya is the Sixth Princess of a kingdom in the Southern Continent's Mortal World. Yuan Qing was an illegitimate son of an influential family in that kingdom's Mortal World, known as the Fourth Young Master.

Yuan Qing's mother should have been a concubine of that influential family, but she was rather forceful and was also the daughter of another influential family, so she had some influence herself.

Then those people set their sights on the Sixth Princess, who had been sent to Du Xian Sect to study under a master.

As long as Yuan Qing could marry the Sixth Princess, he could become the royal son-in-law of that Mortal World kingdom, gain more influence within his own family, and perhaps even scheme for the kingdom itself. So they exhausted every means to have Yuan Qing enter Du Xian Sect alongside her.

But Yuan Qing himself was far too disappointing. After sixty years, he had still failed to win the beauty. The group behind him found their circumstances increasingly precarious and finally lost patience, deciding to take a desperate risk..."

Li Changshou briefly explained what had happened to his junior sister.

"In the end, they tried to steal a chicken and lost the rice besides. Both families will be implicated. Their ruler will likely uproot them completely to soothe Du Xian Sect's anger."

Seeing the thoughtful expression on Ling'e's little face, Li Changshou asked gently:

"Little E, what can you learn from this story?"

"Mm—"

Ling'e pondered for a moment, then declared firmly, "Women must never become concubines! Otherwise, even fighting for authority within the family is so difficult!"

Cough!

Li Changshou could not help raising a hand to his forehead. "Anything else?"

"Yuan Qing's planning was far too crude, and the branch family of those Mortal World nobles seriously underestimated Du Xian Sect's strength and the value of Du Xian Sect disciples."

Ling'e analyzed the matter with great seriousness. "I think the correct approach would be to suppress Youqin Xuanya, endure for several thousand years until becoming a Celestial Immortal, then leave the mountain and secretly become the hidden dark ruler of that Mortal World kingdom. You could plunder its wealth and offer tribute to the sect, raising your status and importance within the sect. You would flourish in both the Mortal World and the immortal sect!

Trying to rise through becoming the ruler's son-in-law is far too fanciful. What these rulers lack least is offspring."

Li Changshou: ...

"Forget it. Just take this as an amusing story.

Your family is also influential in the Mortal World. I originally wanted to remind you to take warning from it."

"Hehe." Ling'e covered her mouth and smiled. "Don't worry, Senior Brother. Without you, Ling'e won't go anywhere."

Li Changshou could not help shaking his head with a light laugh. "Take out your medicine pouch. I'll refill it for you. You must have used some of it up this time, right?"

Ling'e immediately looked guilty. She slowly sat up straight, pressed her pair of fair, slender legs together, folded her hands atop her knees, and let her eyes wander as she pretended to be...

Well-behaved, adorable, and on a Spiritual Travel Beyond the Body.

She had only, only wasted a little of the poison powder and pills Senior Brother gave her when she went out this time... that was all.