This Martial Uncle Wasn't Some Great Villain After All

This Martial Uncle Wasn't Some Great Villain After All

In the brief moments after surviving his tribulation, Daoist Master Qi Yuan went through a complex and lengthy journey of the heart.

At first:

'Heh, this poor Daoist actually underwent Liberation by Violence before the heavenly tribulation and became a Turbid Immortal...

And before everyone's eyes, I used that Liberation by Violence immortal pill so decisively, generously undergoing Liberation by Violence to evade the Calamity of Death...

Hehehe, I won't be able to hold my head up in the sect ever again.'

Right after that, Qi Yuan recalled the scene of his disciple kneeling before him that day and pressing this immortal pill into his hands.

'Forget it. This was all Changshou's painstaking effort.

As his master, I was always thinking of proving my resolve through death beneath the heavenly tribulation, yet I overlooked how desperately my two disciples wanted me to live.

This immortal pill must have been difficult to obtain. Changshou must have suffered greatly for it. He had only just broken through to the Void Returning Realm in the Northern Continent—how could I waste such painstaking effort of his?

So what if I am a Turbid Immortal?

The road ahead has not been sealed off. This is far better than becoming a Ghost Immortal or having my soul scatter to the winds. In the future, I can even protect my two good disciples. That is enough.'

Thus, Old Daoist Qi Yuan cupped his hands toward Li Changshou in a Daoist salute.

More figures flew over from all directions, offering Qi Yuan congratulations;

Old Daoist Qi Yuan was stunned at first, but soon returned their greetings with practiced ease, chatting about old times with friends he had not contacted in many years.

'A Turbid Immortal is still an immortal. I can live happily for tens of thousands of years.

If I cultivate diligently and become a True Immortal, then take in a few more disciples, I can still carry forward the lineage of Lesser Qiong Peak!'

Daoist Master Qi Yuan gradually broke into a beaming smile.

Just then, amid the crowd surrounding him with congratulations, Qi Yuan suddenly heard a voice transmission from his Eldest Disciple...

"Master, if anyone asks what pill you used for Liberation by Violence, tell them it was the Melting Immortal Pill.

The pill formula for the Melting Immortal Pill is recorded on a piece of sheepskin tucked in the corner of the second-to-last bookshelf in the northwest corner of the outer hall of the Daoist Canon Hall.

If anyone later asks whether you have spare Melting Immortal Pills, you may promise no more than three. Try to give them only to immortals you trust, who are close to you, and who need the Melting Immortal Pill.

This thing is difficult to make, and it can directly poison immortals to death. It is very easy for it to bring trouble upon you."

Qi Yuan paused, then looked through the crowd at his two disciples. He quickly nodded with a smile, indicating that he had remembered.

Li Changshou finally set aside the last stone weighing on his heart. Feeling refreshed and at ease, he smiled at Ling'e. "Junior Sister, stay here and keep watch. If Master asks people to tea later, remember to be diligent."

Ling'e hurriedly asked, "Senior Brother, where are you going? Aren't you going to congratulate Master?"

Li Changshou smiled. "I'm going to rest for a while and wait until Master finishes being busy.

According to sect custom, becoming an immortal is a major event. There will certainly be many people coming to congratulate Master, so there is no need for us to hurry."

"Mm!" Ling'e said softly, "Senior Brother, go rest quickly. You've worked hard during this time. I'll watch over Master's side!"

Thus, while quite a few immortals rushed toward Lesser Qiong Peak, Li Changshou quietly slipped away and returned to the pill chamber.

He did not activate the grand formation surrounding the area, merely opening the formations within a hundred zhang around the pill chamber;

He moved out a Rocking Chair and sat before the pill chamber, looking at the distant woods and nearby waterscape. His eyes half-closed, he gently rocked back and forth.

After being busy for so long, Master had finally passed the heavenly tribulation.

With Master's experience of tribulation this time, he had gained a few more points of certainty about heavenly tribulations. Once his accumulation grew deeper, he could stop suppressing his realm and begin taking the risk of undergoing tribulation.

Still, he could not undergo tribulation within the sect. Otherwise, at least half the trump cards he had painstakingly accumulated over a hundred years would be exposed.

That said, Master's strength before undergoing tribulation had truly been poor. The Melting Immortal Pill had almost instantly melted Master's body and soul...

With his eyes closed, Li Changshou softly hummed the Immortal Music that had appeared when his master transformed into an immortal. Before long, he entered a half-asleep, half-awake state of comprehending the Dao.

Breathing and circulating his energy, his spirit merged with heaven and earth.

A lotus with nine petals floated out from his chest. Its colors were vivid, lifelike and brilliant; within its lotus pedestal and petals lay the One's own Dao Li Changshou had comprehended, profound and natural, beyond words.

The little lotus quietly vanished in the wind, but it seemed to serve as a catalyst. More and more lotuses drifted out from around Li Changshou, circling him, while a trace of tranquility appeared in his narrowed eyes.

Yet he quickly came back to himself, dispersing the lotuses around him and sealing away the aura he had nearly exposed just now.

The pill chamber was not truly safe either. Cultivation still had to be done in the underground secret chamber;

For all he knew, a Celestial Immortal expert on Venerable Wangqing's level might casually sweep Lesser Qiong Peak with their immortal sense...

After reclining in the chair for a short nap,

A white cloud flew over from the direction of the lake before the mountain.

Li Changshou immediately opened his eyes and looked into the distance. Seeing the short Daoist standing atop the cloud, he hastily shut down the formations around the pill chamber and rose to greet him.

"This disciple greets Martial Uncle Jiu."

Jiu Wu smilingly scolded him:

"Your master is over there hosting a banquet for guests, yet you're hiding here and sleeping in! Your junior sister's little thin legs are nearly run off!"

"This disciple does not enjoy lively occasions, so I can only let Junior Sister, the more capable one, do more work."

Li Changshou replied with a smile. Once Jiu Wu neared the pill chamber, he activated dozens of formations around them again and cupped his hands. "Martial Uncle, please come inside."

"No need. There isn't time this visit. This poor Daoist is leaving on a trip shortly, so I came by to tell you two things," Jiu Wu said, waving a hand. He took a Jade Card from his sleeve and tossed it to Li Changshou.

Jiu Wu said rather smugly, "Take a look. What is this?

Don't say this Martial Uncle only drinks your Old Bai Gan without seeking benefits for you, his 'booze-and-meat friend'!"

Li Changshou: ...

Booze-and-meat friends? They had only drunk together seven or eight times over the past two years.

And every time this Martial Uncle came calling, it was on the night before the Ganges Water Old Bai Gan brewed for Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu was to be taken from the cellar!

Li Changshou caught the Jade Card in his left hand and let it float beside him, sending a wisp of spiritual sense inside to examine it.

Hm?

The first volume of the "Wu Wei Scripture"?

Li Changshou was mildly surprised. He looked up at Jiu Wu on the cloud. "Martial Uncle, is this... appropriate?"

"What's inappropriate about it?" Jiu Wu said with narrowed eyes and a smile. "There is an unwritten rule in the sect: the top twenty disciples of each generation in cultivation may comprehend the first volume of the Wu Wei Scripture in advance. Ordinary disciples must wait until they become immortals before they may comprehend the first volume.

You should be at the sixth stage of the Void Returning Realm now, right? You can definitely rank within the top ten in the sect.

This poor Daoist remembers that when you drank with me last time, you seemed to have broken through a Minor Realm."

Last time...

Li Changshou felt somewhat helpless as well. To avoid undergoing tribulation too early before he was fully prepared, he had been suppressing his realm and refusing to reach Return to Dao Nine.

Yet a few months ago, while drinking and composing poetry with Jiu Wu, inspiration had suddenly struck, and he had accidentally comprehended the Dao...

Fortunately, he had left himself three Minor Realms as a buffer, and Jiu Wu had already been drinking himself into a haze at the time.

Jiu Wu continued, "Rest assured, this poor Daoist did not reveal the fact that your cultivation has reached Void Returning Six.

This first volume of the Wu Wei Scripture is the reward for this mission. I worked hard to secure it for you from the elder of the Transmission Hall, and I brought it over in advance.

Well? Do you want to cultivate it?

This is the true mountain-guarding Dao inheritance of our Du Xian Sect!"

Li Changshou was indeed tempted by the Wu Wei Scripture, but...

"Martial Uncle, this disciple still wishes to cultivate peacefully in the mountains for now."

The corners of Jiu Wu's mouth twitched slightly. He sighed and raised his head to the sky in a theatrical pose. "Fine. This Martial Uncle isn't some great villain either. I cannot force you to do such a thing.

Sigh, it's just that the rankings of the sect's disciples should probably be remade, to plug the gaps and fill the omissions..."

Li Changshou considered for a moment, clearly weighing the pros and cons. Then he slowly nodded and said in a low voice:

"This disciple will still appear with cultivation at the second stage of the Void Returning Realm. I will also follow Martial Uncle's instructions and do my best to remind our fellow disciples traveling with us. As for whether they listen, that is beyond this disciple's control."

"Haha, don't worry. They'll have to listen even if they don't want to," Jiu Wu said, tossing the Jade Card back. "Take it. Comprehend it well, and reach the Dao Attainment Realm soon."

I knew it. This little thief won't bite without bait. The Transmission Hall elder approved this scripture to be passed to him a year and a half ago. Good thing I deliberately held it back for just this moment.

With that, Jiu Wu turned atop his cloud, a faint smile on his lips as he flew back the way he had come.

Li Changshou gazed at the Jade Card in his hand, lost in thought.

Suppressing his realm had become increasingly difficult over the past two years. Once he stepped into Return to Dao Nine, it would be beyond his control; with the Wu Wei Scripture, he could find some secluded place in the vast Eastern Sea...

And the first volume of the Wu Wei Scripture had come easily enough. It was not some cheating, fatherless first-volume edition like the Dragon-Subduing Nine Palms...

This round, at least, he had not lost out.

On the second day after Qi Yuan became an immortal, at dawn.

Lan Ling'e sat before the now-empty thatched cottage, exhaustedly pounding her own shoulders;

Master had gone to another peak last night to feast with a group of Martial Uncles she had never even seen before. It had taken her two hours to clean the inside and outside of Master's thatched cottage.

"Stupid Senior Brother, he doesn't even know to come help!"

She had just complained when the corner of Lan Ling'e's eye caught sight of a Large Gourd flying in from the horizon, and her cheeks immediately puffed up.

Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu had come to find Senior Brother again...

There was definitely something going on between those two!

Over the past few years, the longest this little Martial Uncle had gone without visiting Lesser Qiong Peak was merely twelve days!

Hmph, they were both female Qi Refiners. Was being in the True Immortal Realm really that amazing?

No, being able to develop to such a scale in the True Immortal Realm was rather outrageous too...

Lan Ling'e immediately looked as though tears might spill from her eyes.

Senior Brother definitely likes...

"Excuse me?"

A greeting suddenly sounded from behind her. Lan Ling'e instinctively jumped up, her skirt fluttering as she pressed a handful of silver needles with her backhand and warily looked toward the voice.

Then Lan Ling'e froze slightly.

The newcomer wore an ice-blue one-shouldered dress and carried a broad-bladed Greatsword in its sheath across her back. Her simply tied long hair swayed gently, and that stunningly beautiful yet icy face looked very familiar...

"Does Senior Brother Changshou live here?"