Chapter 123 The One Who Knows My Heart Is The Sea God of the South Ocean

　　Li Changshou did not hesitate and chose—the third option!

　　I should go and let him get familiar with me without exposing his identity and let him have a good impression of the Sea God Sect.

　　At that moment, Li Changshou analyzed the worst situation that could happen if he took the initiative to form some karma.

　　He was completely unfamiliar with the white-robed man. He did not know his character and temper.

　　Besides, Li Changshou had to consider that he had the background of a disciple from Ren School. If he took too much initiative, the experts of Ren School might dislike it…

　　As his thoughts raced through his mind, Li Changshou’s paper effigy slowly transformed into the white-haired old man who had a kind expression.

　　The paper effigy had used that image when it was sent to the Sea God Sect to investigate. The old man held a horsetail whisk and emerged from a forest. He deliberately hid a portion of his whereabouts, but he also exposed some Primordial Energy disturbances.

　　He was in front of the Sea God Temple and was about to take a stroll in the city when half of the members of the other party immediately discovered Li Changshou’s paper effigy.

　　The old man in the gray robe walked forward and whispered a few words while he was behind the young man in the white robe. The latter smiled and led his subordinates towards the town. He pretended not to notice the old man who had suddenly appeared.

　　Li Changshou immediately understood something. He carried his horsetail whisk and rode a cloud forward, thinking about how he could “hit on” him.

　　He could not possibly say, “Please wait.” He, too, could not casually pick up a brick and say, “Fellow Daoist, did you drop this brick?” He would probably be torn apart by the eight guards. Li Changshou continuously thought about it. He was getting closer and closer to the other party. Soon, Li Changshou noticed a small detail.

　　Among the ten people, the eight guards and the old man were using their immortal powers to wrap the bottom of their shoes. They looked like they were walking, but they were actually levitating and not touching the filthy ground at all.

　　The young man in the white robe was the only one whose white boots were stained with mud.

　　The 12th preliminary round of the preliminary round was ongoing. Li Changshou had already fought his way through the tournament. With his results of 10 wins and 2 losses, he had steadily entered the top 360 places…

　　Ling’e had also clinched eight wins and three losses. Regardless of the outcome of the next match, she could definitely enter the next round.

　　Li Changshou was multitasking. Naturally, he placed most of his attention on the avatar.

　　The matter was indeed very important to him.

　　Li Changshou had been planning to avoid the Great God-Conferment Tribulation for a long time. His most reliable plan before then was to arrange for himself, his master and junior sister to be small officials in the Heavenly Courts.

　　However, it was not completely safe.

　　If he could not obtain the position of a true god before the Great God-Conferment Tribulation, theoretically speaking, he would not be able to completely avoid the Great God-Conferment Tribulation.

　　According to Li Changshou’s observations of the heavenly trend, he deduced that the Great God-Conferment Tribulation could be divided into two parts.

　　The main part would naturally involve the immortals of the three sects. They would go to the South Continent and take advantage of the crusade against the Zhou Dynasty by King Wu to select the righteous God for the Heavenly Courts.

　　The second part was to wipe out the inflating factions of the Dao Sect in the Middle Continent and bring about a great calamity to send most of the Immortal Sect’s experts to the Heavenly Courts to take on the role of Heavenly Generals.

　　Although Li Changshou’s cultivation level was not too high, he had already made preparations before he became an immortal.

　　In the face of the great calamity, the twelve Golden Immortals of Chan School had lost three of their top experts and weakened their Dao. Many members of Jie School had also died and suffered injuries…

　　He had to take the initiative and jump out of the Great God-Conferment Tribulation!

　　Li Changshou had never expected the Sea God Sect to bring about such an opportunity. Moreover, from the conversation between the two main figures, it seemed that they were “examining” the illegitimate gods of the various places. They also recruited one or two of them to expand their own forces.

　　This thought process…

　　There’s nothing wrong with it. It is indeed in line with the current situation in the Heavenly Courts.

　　However, he had to consider everything carefully, from Ren School, the Dao Sect, the Heavenly Courts, to the dragon race. Today, he would first try to come into contact with them. It would be best if he could form a good relationship with them. He would not scheme against them.

　　At the same time, Li Changshou was secretly alarmed.

　　Although the opportunity is good, I can’t force it. I can’t bow down to anyone and be a disgrace to Ren School.

　　“Fellow Daoist?”

　　The benevolent-looking old man landed on a cloud in front of the city gate. He held a book of the teachings of the Sea God Sect in his hand and called the young man in the white robe.

　　“Did you drop this book, Fellow Daoist?”

　　After thinking about it, Li Changshou still decided to use that method to hit on him.

　　“Book?”

　　The young man in the white robe in front of him turned around and looked over. Li Changshou had also “seen” his appearance.

　　He was handsome… slightly ordinary and had an indescribable aura.

　　His eyes, in particular, made him seem like he had experienced the vicissitudes of life and had been polished by the mortal world. He seemed to be able to see through all confusion in the world.

　　The guards immediately moved forward, but Li Changshou had already stopped 100 feet away. He held his horsetail whisk and bowed.

　　On the other side, the gray-robed old man bowed and returned the gesture.

　　The white-robed youth smiled and said, “I’ve never seen this book before. How could I have dropped it?”

　　Li Changshou was rendered speechless.

　　Is he feigning ignorance? In his previous life, he had received nine years of compulsory education. In this life, he had learned and read many sutras of Ren School. He was considered half an expert.

　　Then, the old man that the paper effigy had disguised as smiled and said, “If you don’t take a look at this book, how would you know if you dropped it?”.

　　The young man in the white robe smiled and took a closer look. Those words were profound and vaguely seemed to be related to destiny.

　　“Alright.” The white-robed young man extended his hand.

　　Li Changshou wrapped the book with immortal power and handed it over. That way, the guards would not have to move forward.

　　There were many passers-by outside the city gate. They were all mortals.

　　The young man in the white robe and his entourage seemed to have used some kind of mystical ability which seemed to have caused the surrounding mortals to not notice them. Occasionally, some people would look at them but they would think that the place was normal and quickly look elsewhere.

　　Truth be told, Li Changshou also wanted to get such a mystical ability…

　　The white-robed young man grabbed the book that was titled ‘Teachings Of The Sea God Sect: Hardcover Edition’, and read it carefully. He nodded slowly and smiled.

　　He said, “This book is indeed fated with me. Fellow Daoist, did you recognize me when you came to deliver this book?”

　　Li Changshou muttered to himself. He did not expect the other party… to be so interested in beating around the bush and feigning ignorance.

　　He decided to play along and do what the other party liked. Hence, Li Changshou continued, “My heart did but not my eyes. Fellow Daoist, you should be living in the Nine-layered Celestial Palace, but you appeared here. I think you must have come for my sect.”

　　The white-robed youth raised his eyebrows and said indifferently,

　　“Since you have appeared, are you planning to seek refuge? If that’s the case, why are you appearing as a paper effigy and not your true form?”

　　Paper effigy?

　　The expressions of the Heaven Immortal guards changed slightly. Li Changshou sighed in his heart and thought, This person is indeed worthy of being a Dao Ancestor, Dao Child, and the Junior Brother of the Saints. He could see through the origin of my clone at a glance.

　　Of course, it could also be because of what the gray-robed elder had said…

　　Li Changshou said, “I can’t help it. Your Majesty, please be magnanimous.”

　　That was to confirm the identity of the other party.

　　“Oh?”

　　The white-robed young man’s gaze turned playful. He looked to the left and said, “It’s not nice for us to chat here. Why don’t we go to a wonderful place?”

　　The gray-robed elder took out a painting from his sleeve and slowly unrolled it. It was a painting of mountains and rivers.

　　The white-robed young man took a step forward and disappeared in front of the painting of mountains and rivers.

　　Li Changshou pondered for a while and checked the self-explosion function of the paper effigy, its self-immolation restrictions, and the anti-deduction items on its body. Then, he carried the horsetail whisk and floated forward.

　　As he approached the painting, Li Changshou felt a pulling force…

　　Lights and shadows flashed before his eyes. In a daze, he had already arrived at the place illustrated in the painting.

　　In a pavilion on a mountain, the white-robed young man and the gray-robed old man, who were supposed to be holding the painting outside, sat in the pavilion.

　　Li Changshou pondered in his heart and wondered how he should arouse the other party’s curiosity and form a good relationship with them. Moreover, he wanted to do so while not getting involved with more karma…

　　When he got close, he already had a plan. I’ll feign ignorance and try the effect first…

　　A few hours later, in the dead of the night, three streams of light flew out of the painting. The benevolent old man, who was the paper effigy, bowed and said, “I won’t disturb you any further, Fellow Daoist.”

　　“Please.” The white-robed young man made an inviting gesture. There was a hint of reluctance in his eyes as he said, “Please reconsider what I said just now.”

　　“Fellow Daoist, you should know my difficulties.”

　　The white-robed youth sighed as his eyes were filled with emotions. He bowed slightly towards the person in front of him.

　　Li Changshou returned the gesture calmly. Naturally, he bowed even lower. Then, he left and rode a cloud towards the temple that was not far away.

　　As soon as he left, the obscure Dao runes that covered their tracks became denser.

　　The white-robed youth looked at him for a while and sighed.

　　“I never thought that the one who understands me would turn out to be an illegitimate god! What do you think of this person, General Dongmu?”.

　　“He’s extremely intelligent and has a deep understanding of the world. He’s able to analyze everything.” The gray-robed elder, who was also ‘General Dongmu’, said softly, “The twelve words that that Fellow Daoist has said to Your Majesty, are true in my opinion.”

　　“That’s right. Most of them match my thoughts. I’ve never considered some of the advice that he had given me before.”

　　The white-robed youth reminisced carefully. After a long conversation that lasted a few hours, he felt that he had benefited greatly.

　　However, he also felt that there were many things that were unfathomable, and could not be understood by him.

　　He said that coincidentally they shared the same thoughts, merely because he didn’t want to lose face.

　　Regardless of which perspective he looked at it from, he felt that the Sect Leader of the Sea God Sect was rather powerful. He could not cultivate the cloning technique that he had…

　　There were indeed many people who had hidden their talents in the Primordial World.

　　The white-robed young man said leisurely, “If such a virtuous and upright person can accompany me, the Heavenly Courts will be able to resolve the problem in ten thousand years.”

　　“But Your Majesty…”

　　General Dongmu seemed to want to say something but hesitated. “I’ll think about it carefully. We can’t find out who this person is at all. We only know that he is the Sect Leader of the Sea God Sect in the South Ocean. He has some relations with the dragon race and the Magi. I don’t know anything else.”

　　“I have previously deduced and I have discovered the Dao runes of the Connate treasure, the Taiji Painting, which would suppress his destiny. He should be from Ren School.”

　　The white-robed youth smiled. “This person’s identity is not simple. It’s inevitable that he has some reservations. The reason he used his clone to meet us today should be to form a good fate with me. The Dragon race, the Magi, Ren School… This Sea God Sect is really interesting.” “Let’s go back. This trip has been fruitful. Remember to write a memorial later. The content will be about the recruitment of the illegitimate gods of the South Continent. Then, you’ll link this matter to the Sea God Sect. The other illegitimate gods are only taking merit from incense offerings. Only the Sea God Sect is not bad.”

　　General Dongmu bowed and said, “I will obey your orders… Your Majesty, are you thinking of using a decree to force him to appear?”

　　“No, I will not do something so short-sighted.”

　　The white-robed youth smiled and said, “What he said is right. Those who know me might not necessarily be compatible with me. Those who are compatible might not know me. If he can give me a good plan in the future and resolve my problem, I will give him an incarnate, not to mention the position of the Sea God in the South Ocean. General Dongmu, wait for me to think about it. After that, you’ll come to Sea God Sect to meet him again. The Heavenly Courts lack people and immortals. What they lack the least is merit from Heavenly Dao.”

　　“As you wish.”

　　In the valley below the Heaven-Breaking Peak of the Immortal Du Sect, Li Changshou slowly exhaled and felt that his essence soul was almost blown out.

　　Did I… blow my trumpet too much today?

　　Did I reveal anything just now? Or did I say something that would cause the other party to misunderstand?

　　Li Changshou pondered carefully and checked repeatedly.

　　Today, he was not just fooling around. He had also taken out some strategies to resolve the internal problems of the Heavenly Courts and relieve external pressure.

　　As Li Changshou could roughly deduce the way for the Heavenly Courts to rise, it was not difficult for him to find those strategies. When he revealed the third plan, the nine remaining ones were already in the bag.

　　Judging from the other party’s reaction, he reckoned that he should have achieved his goal of forming a good relationship. Apart from that, he did not plan anything else.

　　What could be the worst effect of this matter?

　　Li Changshou thought about it carefully. It was probably because an expert in the sect discovered that he had secretly made plans for the Jade Emperor.

　　However, Ren School was strong enough to support the Heavenly Courts. The Heavenly Courts were under the protection of the Grand Pure One. As a disciple of Ren School, it was reasonable for him to plan for the Jade Emperor.

　　There were many benefits to that…

　　“Senior Brother?” Ling’e suddenly asked softly, “What’s wrong? You’re sweating all over.” Li Changshou wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, only to realize that he was already drenched in cold sweat.

　　He smiled and said, “I encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

　　Ling’e blinked, her eyes filled with concern. However, she still remembered the three rules and did not say anything. Li Changshou calmly wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. In his heart, he was trying to deduce the future paths of development.

　　He was in a trance… Heaven is above…

　　He seemed to have fooled the young Jade Emperor…