As long as one is calm enough, nothing happened

As long as one is calm enough, nothing happened

Pfft...

Pfft...

Whenever one arrived in a new environment and planned to stay for any length of time, checking the "emergency exits" was actually a very good habit.

Take the Hall of Hundred Affairs at the Du Xian Sect. Aside from the main hall entrance people usually used, it had two side doors, one rear entrance, and a small directional teleportation array known to very few. Its destination was likely the sect leader's place of Secluded Cultivation.

Li Changshou had already scoped all of these out when he was still a little brat, the second time he followed his master to the Hall of Hundred Affairs to collect their monthly stipend.

And now they were on Dragon Palace territory. Leaving aside the fact that the dragon race was a foreign race and had conflicts of interest with the various immortal sects over the Eastern Sea, this place itself sat atop a grand formation. Who knew whether this Water Lotus Terrace contained some lethal array...

So...

The first thing to do!

Shouldn't it have been to find an escape route in case a crisis erupted?

Before the martial uncles and martial uncles had even said anything, six out of the eleven disciples, himself included, had picked up the fruit before them and started eating?!

Where were your usual rules?

Every one of you was an immortal seedling. Had the Du Xian Sect wronged you all these years, or owed you something?

Or had someone put a curse on you that made your whole body ache if you did not eat grapes?

Ahem, damn...

Even the grapes before several martial uncles and martial uncles now had bare little stems...

Forget it. It has nothing to do with me.

Li Changshou sat upright and proper, as though nothing had happened. He closed his eyes and focused his mind, temporarily giving up on this batch of fellow disciples.

His spiritual sense spread out as he began searching for this place's "emergency exits" on his own.

On the way to the seating area, Li Changshou had already felt out the rough terrain. Now, he was studying the properties of the Water Lotus Terrace's formations and any possible gaps here.

Though water was everywhere here, Wind Escape Technique was clearly more suitable for escaping with one's life.

First, Water Escape was slower. Li Changshou had only begun cultivating a little over ten years ago, and his command of it was not as practiced as his Wind Escape Technique.

Second, the winds over the sea were strong, and...

All of a sudden...

A double-barreled blast that had been desperately suppressed, failed to be suppressed, and then erupted in full release!

Then came that strange smell immediately spreading through the air, a faint fragrance carrying an inexplicably sour tang...

She had probably taken beauty-preserving pills yesterday... the smell of Youth-Preserving Grass... The alchemist had failed to temper its medicinal properties to perfection.

Qi Refiners had long since stopped eating the five grains. Their bodies contained no Impurities and were as crystalline and translucent as the flesh of these grapes, so even the slightest trace of Impurities stood out glaringly.

It was just that this smell was somewhat... absolutely extraordinary.

Li Changshou cracked his eyes open and looked toward the source of the sound, discovering that this double blast had been the work of a certain senior sister.

That senior sister was sitting there with perfect composure. If not for the fact that both hands were desperately pressing down on the hem of her skirt, she truly looked as though nothing had happened.

The two junior brothers beside her were so embarrassed they did not know whether to sit or stand. Even their lips had begun to tremble!

This was a lesson too.

Fortunately, the Dragon Palace was only playing a prank and had not directly poisoned or cursed them...

Everyone had passed wind before, hadn't they?

Though everyone here had begun Bigu at the sixth stage of Qi Refinement and should have long learned to control the turbid air in their bodies.

At this moment, among the Du Xian Sect's twenty-seven people here, eight wore strange expressions, while three had already suffered breaches at the rear gate and made sounds.

Youqin Xuanya suddenly rose to her feet and hurried over to the two most senior martial uncles here, whispering a few words to them.

Those two martial uncles were truly broad-minded. Only now did they notice the little trap hidden among the fruits before them.

Li Changshou truly felt helpless.

What sense of security could there be in following a team like this?

With teamwork at this level, he might as well deploy two more paper effigies himself...

He should go out less in the future. Once he returned, he needed to find a way to settle Martial Uncle Jiu Wu and make absolutely certain that he never caused him trouble again.

Youqin Xuanya raised her head and glanced toward Li Changshou, then bit her lip. Her face flushed slightly red as she hurried back to her seat as though fleeing, closed her eyes, focused her mind, and endured with all her strength.

She was actually not too bad. Like Li Changshou, she had only eaten one grape.

But the difference was that Li Changshou had done it deliberately. He had wrapped the grape in Dharma power and allowed it to release the barest trace of its medicinal effect within his body, so he had merely burped.

Afterward, Li Changshou had inconspicuously spat out that grape, but Youqin Xuanya had not done the same.

Very soon, another brave fellow lost control.

Not long after...

A chain reaction?

Mm, this junior sister's face had turned crimson. She was probably starting to question her life.

After all, in everyone's impression, little fairy maidens had to be poised and could not leak air.

Another burst...

Excuse me, Senior Sister, what kind of force had you used to squeeze your sphincter for you to hold in a sound with such turning notes and rising pitch?!

Li Changshou could not help lowering his head and pressing a hand to his forehead. He had not expected that he possessed the hidden skill of snarky commentary.

There was no helping it. He had been forced into it.

At this moment, a martial uncle transmitted his voice:

"Pay attention, all of you. There are traps among the fruits before you. The Dragon Palace wants to make us lose face. Those grapes absolutely cannot be eaten, and the wine beside them cannot be drunk either. That wine was brewed from these grapes!"

Wine?

Since he had never planned on touching the wine, Li Changshou had subconsciously overlooked the fine liquor in the Night-shining cup beside him.

At the same time, Li Changshou instantly felt a gaze fixed upon him.

Following the direction from which that gaze came, he saw Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu sitting there with her entire body trembling slightly. Her large eyes stared at him as though begging for help, and her cross-legged sitting posture had already changed into a duck sit.

The wine cup before her was completely empty, without even half a drop remaining!

Well...

Personal preferences were understandable.

But...

Martial Uncle, why did you suddenly stand up? And why were you walking over here?

Li Changshou had no time to say anything before Jiu Jiu rushed over with lightning speed, carrying her Meditation Cushion and placing it beside him. Her eyes were full of apology.

That gaze clearly said:

Sorry, Nephew! Your martial uncle will desperately make it up to you after we return!

Then this martial uncle sat three feet away from Li Changshou. Yet with a light tap of her left hand against the lower hem of Li Changshou's Daoist robe, the hem began to gently rise, fall, rise, fall...

And in time with this Pacing, sounds came from Jiu Jiu, sitting properly three feet away—

A lively rhythm.

The Clam Maiden beside them was trying so hard not to laugh that she was nearly biting through her lip!

Looking utterly unaffected, Li Changshou could not help muttering:

"Sigh, not many people have come over yet. If we set up a couple of small soundproof and sight-blocking formations here, the Dragon Palace probably would not say anything.

"After all, we still need to discuss how to arrange our forces for the exchanges between the various sects."

Instantly, a female True Immortal in front who had eaten grapes caught the signal and loudly declared, "Next, we will discuss how to arrange our forces!"

As she spoke, she casually tapped the air above them, directly raising a transparent barrier with immortal power that enclosed all twenty-seven people.

The martial uncle who had first transmitted a warning to them sighed helplessly.

"Why aren't you dealing with it already? Honestly!"

In an instant, more than ten people wore rather awkward expressions, and the sounds of pfft, poot, poot began without end.

Li Changshou glanced at Martial Uncle Jiu Jiu beside him and found her staring at him with utter disdain, as if she were saying, How can a child like you be so careless about such things?

The sounds on her side had not stopped at all, while the lower hem of Li Changshou's robe behind him continued to rise, fall, rise, fall...

Li Changshou expressionlessly looked up at the sky.

Little Martial Uncle, did you really think that whenever someone passed wind, it could actually blow their clothes up?

At last, after a bout of "intense drumming," the waters gradually calmed.

Figures descended one after another into the neighboring seating area. They were the "delegation" from the Carefree Eastern Woods Sect, a lineage of Jie Teaching from the Eastern Continent of Divine Grace.

The two True Immortals leading them cupped their hands and gave a Daoist salute to the Du Xian Sect's people. The two martial uncles at the front of Li Changshou's side returned the salute with forced smiles, and both sides settled into their seats in peace.

Hearing that there was no longer any movement within the Soundproof Barrier, a True Immortal from the Du Xian Sect raised a hand and dispersed it, then said as though nothing had happened:

"You eleven must remember everything we just instructed you about. Do not make any mistakes."

Li Changshou and the other disciples answered in unison, "We will heed Martial Uncle's and Martial Uncle's teachings."

Just then, a sea breeze swept over, blowing from the Du Xian Sect to the Carefree Eastern Woods Sect.

Several clanging sounds rang out as several young disciples on the other side pitched forward and backward.

A bright-eyed, white-toothed little girl's expression changed, and she cried toward the front, "Third Martial Uncle, there's Demonic Aura!"

A female immortal smiled as she rebuked her, "What a fuss over nothing. That is the fishy smell of the sea."

"There are so many Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals below, and Clam Maidens are standing nearby... Do not say such things. This is Dragon Palace territory."

At once, the eight Clam Maidens beside the delegations of the two immortal sects, who had already been holding back, each had immortal light rise around them as they shrank back into their clam shells. The eight pure-white shells swayed in unison.

Li Changshou watched his fellow disciples' reactions with great interest, secretly gathering much information from them.

For instance, Poisonous Xuan Ya was truly innocent. Her neck had flushed pink with embarrassment, yet she was still breathing deeply, trying to salvage the "disaster" she had caused.

Meanwhile, the martial uncles and martial uncles who had lived for over a thousand years were all old hands. They remained perfectly calm, without the slightest unusual expression.

A martial uncle from the Du Xian Sect promptly transmitted his voice to the other twenty-six people:

"As long as we are calm enough, we can act as though nothing happened."

All the disciples immediately adjusted their states.

Li Changshou withdrew his gaze from surveying the surroundings, looked at Jiu Jiu, who had returned to her own seat, then shifted his attention to a large closed clam shell nearby.

Were these Clam Maidens hiding because they were afraid of getting hit?

Without the disturbance of the Primordial Wilderness percussion ensemble, he began concentrating on studying the principles behind the formations here and the fastest route to escape should an emergency occur.

"Idle winds swept across the courtyard; I sang aloud in abandon.

"Unaware of the Immortal Forest's loneliness, I brewed wine and stirred the emerald waves."

Above the white clouds, the newly ascended immortals of the Du Xian Sect returned slightly drunk after the banquet, singing a short song.

Old Daoist Qi Yuan first landed outside his Eldest Disciple's door and called out twice. Finding no response, he looked again at his younger disciple, who was diligently cultivating in Secluded Cultivation. Only then did he sway back toward his grass hut.

Just as he was about to push open the door, Qi Yuan seemed to think of something and smiled. "I've been in Secluded Cultivation for these past ten years and haven't properly wandered Lesser Qiong Peak.

"I should go look at the scenery everywhere. This lineage left behind by Master—I can count myself as having temporarily preserved it."

With a soft sigh, Qi Yuan clasped his hands behind his back and drifted toward the nearby woods.

Had the old Daoist taken one more step forward and pushed open the Wooden door before him, he would have seen a letter left on the table.

And the same letter had not only been left on the table. One had been carefully placed on the Meditation Cushion where the old Daoist meditated, on the bed, and in a spot on the roof beam where it could be seen simply by raising one's head.

Li Changshou had been afraid his master might not see it.

Yet Li Changshou had miscalculated this time. His drunken master had not gone directly back to his beloved little house...

The contents of the letter were actually very simple. It congratulated his master on becoming an immortal, then explained that Li Changshou had been dispatched by the sect to the Eastern Sea and would likely only return in seven or eight days. Lastly, it told his master not to go to the back for the time being, as many illusion and trapping formations had been set up near the newly built alchemy chamber.

Before leaving, he had activated most of them...