They swiftly got to work on the ocean floor, setting up a trap designed for underwater combat.
The treasured umbrella was still undergoing an upgrade, so it was temporarily unavailable.
Li Changshou, meanwhile, retreated toward the shore, merging with his underground paper avatar before stowing it away. He then hid himself in a forest by the sea.
Closing his eyes and focusing his senses, he monitored every movement within hundreds of miles.
Moments later, a massive tidal wave rose over the ocean, a hundred miles away!
A circular formation emerged on the water’s surface, instantly trapping the giant wave within!
A hundred-meter-long sea demon, unaware of the ambush ahead, charged straight into the hastily arranged entrapment formation. Realizing something was wrong, it immediately began ramming against the barrier in a frenzy!
Six paper avatars appeared from different directions, surrounding the demon. Each scattered bottle of poisonous powder binds the toxins to the demon’s body using immortal energy.
In an instant, the seawater around the demon turned murky. Its body began corroding rapidly, and even its demon soul suffered severe damage!
“Who… are… you…?”
This time, Li Changshou sacrificed his last two bottles of supreme-grade Soft Immortal Powder…
Though this sea demon had a high cultivation level, its resistance to poison was inferior to that of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace’s Second Prince. Its movements immediately became sluggish.
Li Changshou remained on high alert.
The six paper avatars, having emptied their poison bottles, each drew their swords and charged forward in formation. The seawater was suddenly filled with talismans linked by immortal light.
The sword formation and Samadhi True Fire erupted at the same time!
The talisman formation coiled like chains, binding the demon from all directions. Its power surged, sealing, electrocuting, freezing, and scorching the monster…
Already half-corroded by poison, the demon’s defenses were almost completely broken.
Six immortal swords, each wrapped in Samadhi True Fire, slashed through the demon’s body, leaving behind six deep, intersecting wounds!
The Samadhi True Fire seeped into the gashes, using the demon’s essence, energy, and soul as fuel. The flames roared to life!
A blazing inferno consumed the demon’s body within the ocean, yet it couldn’t even let out a scream…
From the trees on the shoreline, Li Changshou clenched his left fist. The six paper avatars, each wielding a flaming sword, plunged their weapons deep into the demon’s body.
Inside the formation, beneath the sea’s surface, firelight exploded!
Columns of water shot into the sky as charred remnants of the demon’s body engulfed in Samadhi True Fire, were blasted into the air. Its demon soul, still trapped within the formation’s chains, was swallowed by the rising flames!
Li Changshou executed his Five Elements Escape Technique—seamlessly shifting from Wood Escape to Earth Escape to Water Escape—rushing toward the trapped battlefield.
By the time he arrived, three paper avatars were seated on the ocean’s surface, reciting sutras of passage, reincarnation, and purification.
Another three were working to cleanse the remaining poison from the seawater, swallowing the polluted water and lingering flames before recovering them for disposal.
The Samadhi True Fire was truly formidable. Within the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the once-massive demon had been reduced to nothing but ash drifting on the ocean’s surface…
Li Changshou surfaced and suddenly thought of a problem.
The Samadhi True Fire was too powerful. If he needed to use it for alchemy in his sect or if someone suddenly asked him about his fire cultivation progress… wouldn’t that be a huge problem?
He had to figure out a way to control its potency.
Ideally, its intensity should be adjustable at will.
Li Changshou flicked out his Soul Capturing Pearl, waved his sleeve, and gathered the remaining ash and water into a sphere in his palm before casually dispersing it into the air.
Surprisingly… that felt quite satisfying.
The chanting continued. Li Changshou gripped the Soul Capturing Pearl and examined the remaining fragments of the demon’s memories.
As expected, this demon was not from the Southern Sea—it originally resided in the Western Sea.
Its ancestors had no particularly remarkable figures, and due to their lack of fate, deep-sea demons had always struggled to rise in power…
This fish demon had slaughtered countless people, sending countless fishermen to their graves. Killing it was an act of justice.
Suddenly, a streak of golden light rose from the sea and merged into Li Changshou’s arm.
A sense of enlightenment surged in his heart—he felt as though his path to immortality had gained an additional layer of protection. The road to longevity now seemed slightly smoother.
This… was merit.
A rough estimate suggested that if he exterminated a few million such monstrous beings steeped in bloodshed, he could forge a body of golden merit…
Or maybe not. It was much more comfortable staying hidden in the mountains.
“Hmm?”
Li Changshou frowned. Among the fragmented memories, he found something unusual.
Attacking villages, pretending to be repelled by clay statues, retreating to the sea to lie in wait…
Then attacking another village, pretending to be repelled by clay statues, and retreating again…
His lips twitched. As the chanting concluded, he swiftly gathered his paper avatars, magical tools, and storage pouches.
He didn’t even bother recovering the formation’s core before hastily dismantling the array, setting up an illusion, and bolting eastward using Water Escape.
This demon was connected to the Western Sect!
It was working with the same people spreading their teachings in Xiong Village!
First, they preached the doctrines of the Western Sect. Then, when the demon attacked, they staged a miraculous ‘repulsion’ using clay statues—gaining a group of loyal believers who would offer incense and faith to their sect.
This scheme… was undeniably despicable.
But Li Changshou wasn’t self-righteous enough to expose it, nor did he want to get involved with the Western Sect.
The two Western Saints were obsessed with converting followers and had a hand in manipulating the upcoming calamity of the Investiture of the Gods.
Before and after that catastrophe, many unnecessary conflicts within the Daoist sects had been orchestrated by these two Saints from the shadows.
After the calamity, the Grand Supreme Elder Lord personally transformed the Western Sect into Mahayana Buddhism…
This was a struggle over the fate of religions—five Saints were tangled in this game!
Even Great Golden Immortals were mere chess pieces in their hands.
As for himself, a mere Tribulation Crossing cultivator?
Nope. No way. Not getting involved. Time to run.
Like a streak of lightning, Li Changshou alternated between Water Escape and Earth Escape, fleeing eastward.
He had previously thought his maximum speed was a hundred thousand miles per day, but in just half a day, he had already traveled that distance.
Fear truly had a way of unlocking hidden potential.
Upon reaching land, he concealed himself, found a quiet spot to alter his appearance, and ensured his disguise was foolproof both physically and through spells.
This time, he transformed into a frail scholar and set off toward the northeast.
Tucked inside his sleeve, his right hand clutched the Soul Capturing Pearl as he carefully examined the demon’s fragmented memories.
Before long, he found something even more useful.
He even overheard a conversation that mentioned ‘Du Xian Sect’—among discussions about the Three Great Daoist Sects.
It was something someone had said to that sea demon…
…
Meanwhile, five or six thousand miles away…
At the entrance of Xiong Village, a group of burly men and women lounged around, yawning in boredom as they watched a handful of cultivators prancing about on a stage.
The cultivators exchanged uncertain glances.
Their leader was supposed to make an appearance by now… What was taking so long?
Did he oversleep? Go to the wrong place?
The ritual dance had been performed three times already, and even the simple-minded villagers were starting to lose interest.
“Ahem.”
An old Daoist cleared his throat and stopped chanting. He shook his head theatrically before raising his voice in an eerie tone:
“By worshiping the True God, one shall receive divine protection—impervious to blades and flames!”
“Wang Cai, demonstrate for everyone.”
The young cultivator named Wang Cai immediately stepped forward, discreetly sticking a talisman onto himself. He knelt before a clay statue, offering incense as golden light flickered across his chest and back.
This talisman was called the Vajra Talisman—a basic spell that could easily block mundane weapons.
Following the ‘script,’ Wang Cai was about to invite someone to try striking him…
But just as he scanned the crowd, a powerful sense of dread gripped him. His instincts screamed in warning.
His eyes fell on a cute little girl with red, swollen eyes in the back. Delighted, he pointed at her.
“You there, young lady! Would you like to test it?”
“Hm? Oh.”
The little girl, Xiong Lingli, looked up, wiped her teary eyes, and stepped forward. Her innocent face was heart-meltingly adorable.
But the moment she squeezed through the crowd, Wang Cai’s legs began trembling uncontrollably.
This…
This…
“Are you sure you want me to hit you?” Xiong Lingli asked softly.
“Y-yes.”
Wang Cai glanced at the old Daoist, who glared at him. Left with no choice, he reassured himself:
She’s just a little girl.
She’s just a mortal.
We’re cultivators…
We… won’t be afraid.
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1