In the golden glow of the setting sun, five Qi Refiners hurriedly took to the skies outside the village gates, riding their clouds in a flustered escape toward the coast.
Two of them carried a statue, its sacred light concealed beneath a cloth.
Behind them, an old Daoist and a young Qi Refiner supported a trembling man—Wang Cai.
A distinct fist-shaped dent, three inches deep, marred Wang Cai’s chest. His internal energy surged chaotically like crashing tides, refusing to settle. As they flew, he would occasionally cough up fresh blood.
Fortunately, he had reached the Nascent Soul stage—this kind of injury shouldn’t be fatal…
Pfft!
Maybe it would be.
The old Daoist immediately called out, “Wang Cai! Wang Cai!”
Blood dripping from his lips, Wang Cai turned his head and forced a weak smile at his master. His voice trembled as he said, “Master, I’m fine. We are Qi Refiners, after all…
Master, can we… never come back to this village again?”
“We won’t, we won’t,” the old Daoist replied, clearly shaken. “Let’s find a safe place so you can recover.
And next time you cough up blood, aim at your senior brother! I just bought this Daoist robe.”
Wang Cai weakly muttered, “Yes, Master… Can I have a healing pill?”
The old Daoist sighed. “I only have wound-healing pills, not ones for stabilizing your Qi. Bear with it—just meditate once we get back.”
At the village gate, the villagers rushed out.
A moment ago, they had regarded these outsiders with disdain. Now, their eyes gleamed as they watched the five figures disappearing into the sky.
A robust middle-aged woman whispered, “They can fly?”
“Could they be divine envoys sent by the gods to save us?”
“Hey! Divine messengers, don’t go!”
“After them! Hurry!”
A burly hunter let out a roar, and the villagers surged forward like a flood. The village gate trembled before collapsing with a loud crash.
The five figures in the sky turned to look back, and their expressions changed instantly.
Behind them, a dense crowd of muscular men and robust women charged at full speed, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
It looked like an army of thousands galloping forward, their voices thundering:
“Don’t leave!”
“Stop right there!”
The villagers’ booming shouts were deafening.
The old Daoist’s face turned pale. He swiftly pulled out two talismans and flung them into the air. Immediately, a fierce wind howled, lifting their white clouds higher and higher, swiftly leaving the villagers behind.
“Master, why are they chasing us? We haven’t even sold them any talismans yet!”
The old Daoist snapped, “Did you two deceive the village girls again?”
“Master, we were dancing all day, waiting for Boss to arrive—we didn’t even get the chance…”
Cough! Cough, cough!
Wang Cai’s voice trembled as he interjected, “Never… trick… anyone again… some people… really can kill with a single glare… Pfft!”
“Spit that way!”
“I swallowed it back down, Master.”
“Good disciple.”
“Let’s move. I’ll use more energy.” The old Daoist pushed his magic power further. “This backwater place is full of strange happenings. We need to find Boss and regroup before anything else!”
Before long, the two white clouds drifted far into the distance.
Below, the pursuing villagers came to a frustrated halt, sighing in disappointment.
First, their Sea God had run away. Now, even their Earth God had left. When the villagers gathered for a meeting that night, morale was at an all-time low.
Did the gods look down upon their village?
They were mere mortals—fragile and in need of divine protection…
Though Bear Lingli had played a key role in both events, she wasn’t punished. Instead, she was assigned to serve tea to the village elders.
Seeing everyone’s low spirits, the village chief, an elderly man wearing a massive golden chain gifted by Li Changshou, made a decision.
“Everyone, lift your spirits! Don’t we still have a Sea God?”
He continued, “For years, the disasters we’ve faced have mostly come from the sea, not from hunting on land.
In my opinion, we should build a shrine for the Sea God and offer regular worship. Surely, we’ll receive divine protection!”
A few amateur Qi Refiners in the village, including Bear Lingli’s father, wanted to object. But before he could speak, a rare slender woman in the village—his wife—gently pressed down on his thick arm, signaling him to stay silent.
Soon, the villagers began discussing the specifics of worship and offerings.
Bear Lingli’s mother, the slender woman, then produced a beast-hide painting of the Sea God—one she had sketched while he was asleep.
Excitement swept through the crowd. That very night, they began gathering stones to carve a statue.
—
Late at night.
On the bed where Li Changshou had once rested, Bear Lingli sprawled out, snoring in deep slumber.
In the next room, her parents sat together by the bed.
Bear Laosan murmured, “Wife, why didn’t you let me tell them that was an immortal, not a god?”
“Worship is just to bring comfort to people’s hearts. Do you think an immortal cares about us?”
The woman sighed softly. “I had hoped Lingli could take him as her master and learn true cultivation.
But he left the moment he woke up.”
Bear Laosan chuckled. “Didn’t you already teach me cultivation? We can pass it down to Lingli.”
“That’s just a crude Qi Refining technique—nothing compared to what true immortals practice.” She hesitated before adding, “I always wanted to send Lingli to a sect to learn, but the journey to the Middle Continent is too far… and I can’t bear for her to suffer on the road.”
“How about this, wife? Let’s have another child!
If we have a second one, the firstborn can go out and explore however she likes.”
Bear Laosan grinned mischievously.
“You’re awful… No, the child is in the next room—”
“I’ll knock her out!”
“Stop it! Just be careful.”
“Heh heh.”
—
A few months later, on the vast grasslands.
After traveling in a hurry and confirming that the Western Sect was not pursuing him, Li Changshou wandered through the mortal world for a while before finally returning here.
Three hundred feet from his parents’ graves, he dug a simple earthen dwelling and settled in.
Despite the dense worldly energy, he had no immediate plans to advance his cultivation, so staying here posed no issue.
Wandering through the mortal realm, he had seen countless bustling cities and breathtaking landscapes.
But nowhere in this vast Southern Continent had he found a sight worth stopping for.
No person had made him turn back, even for a moment.
My heart seeks eternal life; I do not long for worldly attachments.
Sitting cross-legged in his humble cave, Li Changshou emptied his mind, contemplating his Dao and refining his control over the power of Three True Flames.
The essence of the Samadhi True Flame is ignited by essence, energy, and spirit. Theoretically, lowering the power of his own Samadhi True Flame is nearly impossible.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152