Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"Please, please save her!" After saying this, the Third Prince of the Dragon collapsed to the ground, exhausted. The Dragon King and Dragon Queen rushed to his side and helped him to rest.

Li Xiuyuan sighed as he watched the Third Prince of the Dragon leave, then turned and left the East Sea Dragon Palace.

"Girl, girl~"

Li Xiuyuan used his divine sense to call out to Jingwei repeatedly. Upon hearing this, Jingwei flapped her wings and flew to Li Xiuyuan's shoulder, her eyes filled with sorrow. Since seeing her parents last time, Jingwei had become even more heartbroken!

Every day, it relies on willpower to desperately pick up pebbles, unwilling to stop for even a moment, because if it stops, it will remember the sad faces of its parents.

Li Xiuyuan could tell what Jingwei was thinking just by looking at it, and comforted it, "Jingwei, no, little girl, if I told you I have a way to restore your original body, would you be happier?"

Jingwei smiled bitterly. How could there be a way? If there were, Li Xiuyuan, with his amazing abilities, would have used it long ago. Why would it have been delayed until now?

Jingwei knew that Li Xiuyuan was worried about her, so she smiled at him and said, "Grandmaster, don't worry about me. I'm fine now! I'll take good care of myself."

Oh, what a wonderful child! So understanding and considerate!

Li Xiuyuan shook his head, stroking Jingwei's smooth feathers, and said, "No, little girl, I had no way to save you before, but now, I have found a way to save you."

Jingwei turned her head, her small eyes filled with surprise. She finally had a chance to return to her original form! "Grandmaster, is it really true?" Jingwei was so excited that she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Hahaha~ Of course it's true, when has your grandmaster ever lied to you?"

Jingwei shook her head; her master had indeed never lied to her.

“However,” Li Xiuyuan’s tone suddenly changed, and Jingwei immediately straightened her short neck. Could it be that there was some other unexpected event?

Seeing how nervous Jingwei was, Li Xiuyuan patted its neck reassuringly. "Don't worry, you can return to your original form, but the process will be quite painful. After you return to your original form, you will need to take good care of your body. I will find you a master, and you can cultivate with him."

"Grandmaster, it's alright, I can get through this." Now that I can return to my original form, what is there that I can't get through? What does pain matter? Pain is nothing compared to the grief my parents feel day and night.

“Good boy, you must bear with it, and you must not make a sound in the middle. Once you make a sound, your vital energy will leak out, and the consequences may become very serious!” Li Xiuyuan said with a serious face.

Jingwei tilted her head and said solemnly, "Grandmaster, don't worry! I will definitely hold back, I won't make a sound! I won't let Grandmaster's efforts go to waste!"

Li Xiuyuan thought for a moment and fed Jingwei a pill. He had exchanged 30,000 merit points for this pill. Although it could not completely relieve the pain Jingwei was experiencing during the process of restoring her original form, it could at least alleviate it to some extent.

Without asking any questions, Jingwei opened her mouth and swallowed the pill that Li Xiuyuan fed her.

Before long, the elixir melted inside Jingwei's small body, and its powerful energy flowed throughout her body via her meridians.

Suddenly, half a lustrous bead appeared in Li Xiuyuan's hand, shimmering with golden light. Soon after, Jingwei swallowed the bead. Then, Li Xiuyuan began to cast a spell, and Jingwei rose into the air, radiating light.

Jingwei felt her body being pulled in all directions by an unfamiliar force. Her bones grew larger little by little, and the pain of being forced to change her bones, the pain of her skin being torn apart, made Jingwei roll around in the small halo and keep touching the hard circle of light with her head.

Li Xiuyuan felt a pang of heartache looking at Jingwei, who was enveloped in golden light, but at this moment, he could not find any better way than to silently cheer her on in his heart.

Jingwei was in so much pain she wanted to scream. She remembered that when she was little, she once ate something wrong and got a stomachache. She was rolling on the ground in pain. Her father touched her hair, which was covered in sweat from the pain, and said softly, "If it hurts, scream it out. If you scream it out, the pain will go away." Later, she did as her father said and she felt much better. Her stomachache was gone.

Thinking of this, Jingwei wanted to shout out loud. Shouting out loud would make the pain go away, and the pain would fly away. Just as Jingwei was about to open her mouth, she suddenly remembered what her master had said before. If she wanted to return to her original form, she had to endure this pain. So Jingwei tightly closed her mouth.

Despite her bones growing larger and her skin tearing, Jingwei bit her lip tightly without uttering a sound. Sweat soaked her hair, and large beads of sweat kept falling. Every second felt like torture as time passed by her.

Jingwei didn't know how much longer this pain would last; she only felt as if millions of years had passed.

Li Xiuyuan felt heartbroken seeing Jingwei suffering so much. Fortunately, he didn't tell Shennong this time. Otherwise, Shennong would have been even more heartbroken to see his beloved daughter suffering like this!

Finally, the golden light gradually dissipated, and Jingwei, no, now it should be said that Nüwa, who was wrapped in layers of golden light, finally returned to her original form and appeared in front of Li Xiuyuan in human form.

Jingwei slowly opened her eyes. She tentatively stretched out her hands and feet. When she saw her familiar hands and feet, the girl was so excited that she shed tears.

"Grandmaster, I... I've really returned to my original form. I... I'm not dreaming, am I? I'm so afraid this is all a dream. If this really is a dream, I hope this dream never ends!" The girl looked at Li Xiuyuan, thinking this was a dream she had after fainting from the pain.

"Silly child, this is not a dream, it's real! You've really returned to your original form, it's real! You can go home to see your parents now! Shennong and the others will be so happy when they find out!" Li Xiuyuan was so happy that he was almost incoherent.

"I, I," the girl burst into tears. Ever since she became Jingwei, she had been flying over the East China Sea every day, unable to leave and unable to speak. Heaven knows how much torment that was for her. Now she could finally get rid of this torment.

The girl knelt down excitedly before Li Xiuyuan and kowtowed to him to express her gratitude. Li Xiuyuan quickly helped her up and gave her some pills that he had exchanged for merit points to help her recover better.

Chapter 1067 Recruiting Disciples Through Battle

When the girl's health improved slightly, Li Xiuyuan took her back to Chendu.

Along the way, the people of Chendu were very surprised to see the girl. When they learned that the girl had returned to her original form, they were all overjoyed and rushed to tell the news. Soon, Shennong also learned of this news.

Shennong rushed forward and saw his daughter standing safely in front of him. Overwhelmed with emotion, Shennong hugged the girl tightly, tears streaming down his face.

When Shennong learned the whole story, he still felt some resentment towards the Third Prince of the Dragon. However, the Third Prince of the Dragon had already admitted his mistake and even shared half of his Dragon Pearl with Nüwa. Thinking of this, Shennong's resentment towards the Third Prince of the Dragon was somewhat relieved.

After Shennong accompanied the girl to all the places where they lived in Chendu, the master that Li Xiuyuan found for the girl also arrived in Chendu.

"Grandmaster, Nvwa, she~" Li Xiuyuan knew what Shennong wanted to say, and seeing his hesitant look, he said directly: "Don't worry! Nvwa's cultivation with Donghua Dijun will greatly help her recovery. In the future, Nvwa will often come down to see you, and when you attain the Great Dao, you will also have a place in the Thirty-Three Heavens."

After hearing Li Xiuyuan's explanation, Shennong felt enlightened. Soon after, the dignified and elegant Donghua Dijun descended from the sky on auspicious seven-colored clouds. Soon, Donghua Dijun returned to the Thirty-Three Heavens with Nüwa.

Shennong saved countless lives throughout his life, and unlike Fuxi, who transformed from a demon emperor to a human emperor, Shennong's path to enlightenment was much safer than Fuxi's. Li Xiuyuan left Chendu just as Shennong was about to achieve perfect enlightenment. In any case, whether he was there or not, the merits of Shennong's successful enlightenment would be fully bestowed upon him.

At this moment, Li Xiuyuan had another very important thing to do.

The day before Li Xiuyuan left, Shennong told him with great concern that several tribes near the west had experienced a large number of deaths in recent days for unknown reasons. The tribal leaders had also changed from harmonious relations to mutual suspicion, which led to a large-scale war. Shennong sent out several groups of people to mediate.

Every time they were about to succeed, the tribal leaders would suddenly start fighting again for various reasons, just as if they were possessed. The same wars would continue to break out, and the people would complain bitterly.

Soon after, Western missionaries appeared there, and people suffering greatly went to listen to their teachings. Under the promotion of the Western missionaries, more and more people joined the church.

After hearing the messenger's report, Shennong felt for some reason that there was a connection between the two. However, Chen Du was too busy to leave, so Shennong had to ask Li Xiuyuan to go and see what was going on.

Li Xiuyuan invited several highly respected people he had previously sent to recount the events in detail. The more Li Xiuyuan listened, the more he felt that the frequent incidents between those tribes were definitely related to the Western Religion.

Nowadays, the human race is developing rapidly and has gradually grown in scale. Although the Jie Sect advocates accepting all comers, it does not welcome the human race to join. The Chan Sect values ​​lineage and quality over quantity. So the only one that covets the development of the human race is Western Buddhism.

Buddhism has faced many difficulties in its development, and after millions of years, its followers have remained relatively small. Now that it sees the human race prospering, it might very well try to take advantage of them.

With a thought, Li Xiuyuan arrived at the border with the west. He slowly made his way forward, seeing fields strewn with corpses and overgrown with weeds, a scene completely different from what he had seen a hundred years ago.

You must know that a hundred years ago, this place was a prosperous and thriving place, with lush greenery everywhere. Suiren taught people how to use fire, Fuxi sent people to teach the people how to hunt, and Shennong sent people to spread farming. After several generations of emperors, this place was extremely prosperous. But now, it is completely dilapidated, with emaciated homeless people everywhere.

The pedestrians on the road had blank stares; prolonged hunger had made them extremely weak, and some seriously injured people were struggling to move forward. Everyone was muttering to themselves and constantly clasping their hands together in prayer for God's protection.

“Fellow Daoist, I see that you have an extraordinary aura. You must be passing through here on your long journey of cultivation, right?” Li Xiuyuan did not expect that there would be someone in this anxious group who would notice him.

Li Xiuyuan nodded in greeting, and then the man in the drab gray clothes said, "Fellow Daoist, I advise you not to go. You will surely encounter danger if you go."

Li Xiuyuan was puzzled. What danger lay ahead? Could it be that the danger came from these seemingly weak people around him? Even if they were given a knife, they probably wouldn't have the strength to wield it and fight.

"Why? I see that the people here all know how to raise silkworms and reel silk, how to cultivate the land, and some even know the characters recently created by Cangjie in Chendu. They don't seem like uneducated people. Why have they become like this?" Li Xiuyuan had too many questions. Only by figuring out these questions could he think about what to do next.

After listening to Li Xiuyuan's words, the man in gray sighed and said, "Fellow Daoist, you are right. The people here have all accepted the teachings of the Three Sovereigns, but that was in the past. How prosperous this place was before! But now it is a desolate wasteland. Do you know why?"

Li Xiuyuan appropriately displayed a curious expression, as if he wanted to find out more.

As expected, seeing Li Xiuyuan's strong thirst for knowledge, the man coughed lightly and continued, "From some unknown time, a plague broke out in a small tribe. A large number of people were infected, causing great panic. Later, a sage came. He was six zhang tall, with a golden body and a yellow face. Although his appearance was somewhat strange, the sage quickly cured everyone's illness and rescued the tribe from suffering. The people were very grateful to him and begged him to stay. He stayed because of everyone's affection for him. Gradually, he cured more and more people's illnesses. He began to teach, telling everyone the causes of illness and how to avoid getting sick. People believed his words, and this man's status in their hearts was about to surpass that of the Three Sovereigns."

"Oh? This person is that powerful?" Actually, by this point, Li Xiuyuan had basically figured out the man's tricks.

Chapter 1068 Battle

When a crisis occurs in the tribe, they appear and single-handedly turn the tide, their prestige soars rapidly, and they gradually continue to save others from dire straits, becoming a beloved figure. They use certain people or events to elevate their social status and standing in people's hearts. When their social status and standing in people's hearts reach a certain level, it is time to reveal their true colors.

Li Xiuyuan had already guessed who the person pretending to be a ghost was; that person was actually Jieyin.

Jieyin was the leader of the Western Sect, and his junior brother was Zhunti. Both of them were influenced by the Primordial Purple Qi of Hongjun Laozu and became saints in one fell swoop. Later, they took charge of the Western Sect.

It advocates overcoming all evil, urging people to do good, and to do daily spiritual practice to cultivate oneself. But unfortunately, very few people believe in it.

Li Xiuyuan had already understood the whole story and was just about to take his leave when the man in gray grabbed his sleeve. "Fellow Daoist, I've explained everything in such detail, why are you still going? Could it be that you were actually daydreaming and not listening to me at all while I was talking?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiuyuan felt somewhat guilty, as he hadn't actually heard the rest of what the man said.

The man understood immediately upon seeing Li Xiuyuan's expression, and his face changed drastically. "Fellow Daoist, I've painstakingly explained so much to you, why won't you listen? Instead, you insist on continuing onward. Fellow Daoist, take my advice and go back. This is not a place for you. You should return to your comfortable nest!"

Hearing this, Li Xiuyuan felt something was amiss. Who would be so reluctant to let him continue? Logically, when facing a common enemy, those on the same path should support and encourage each other, helping each other move forward. Even if there were great dangers ahead, they wouldn't be so afraid to advance. The man's expression was extremely strange.

Li Xiuyuan never liked beating around the bush, so he immediately shook off the gray-clad man's hand and asked, "Who exactly are you? Don't tell me you're human; your aura is completely unlike that of a human. What do you want? I advise you to speak clearly and think it through before you speak, don't waste my time."

Upon hearing Li Xiuyuan's words, the man in gray realized that he was likely exposed, so he decided to lay everything bare and stop pretending.

"Heh, your eyes are indeed sharp enough to detect that I'm not one of your humans. I've put so much effort into disguising myself, how come I still don't look like one? Aura? No, the aura on my body is specially mixed by me, there's no way I could be wrong." The gray-robed man was extremely annoyed.

Li Xiuyuan stared blankly at the ground. In fact, he would rather have a proper fight, which would be the easiest and most effortless way. With that in mind, Li Xiuyuan's hands began to move.

A small flame faintly appeared in the palm of Li Xiuyuan's left hand. Just as Li Xiuyuan was about to attack, the person in front of him interrupted him.

"Alright, alright, I won't say any more. I'll make sure you can hear me. Now, please move the weapon out of your hand. Also, you have to guarantee my safety!" The gray-clad man said as he pitifully approached Li Xiuyuan.

Li Xiuyuan simply couldn't stand how a grown man could make such a pitiful expression; it was utterly disgusting. Afraid he wouldn't be able to resist, Li Xiuyuan looked down at the dirt on the ground again to distract himself.

Unexpectedly, taking advantage of Li Xiuyuan's inattention, the gray-clad man produced a dagger with a blade coated in potent poison and gleaming with a bluish light, and he slashed at Li Xiuyuan with it.

Li Xiuyuan nimbly dodged the attack, shouting, "Shameless! Utterly shameless! How could you let someone take advantage of your trust like this? Are you sure your conscience doesn't hurt?"

The man in gray laughed loudly as he stabbed at Li Xiuyuan, "Trust? Who needs that? You're so naive! Why didn't you leave when I told you to? Since you didn't leave then, you're not leaving now either! Just stay here and keep me company."

Upon hearing those words, Li Xiuyuan's throat tightened and began to churn. If the other person were a delicate beauty, he might have let her off the hook because of her looks. But now, a man with a weathered face was speaking to him with such eyes and tone.

"Hmph! You're overthinking it! I suggest you wake up from your dream!" Li Xiuyuan said with a disdainful look.

"Oh, it seems you don't like me like this. How about this?" After saying that, the man in gray clothes transformed into a stunningly beautiful woman with delicate features.

"How is it?" The beauty parted her red lips slightly, one hand tracing upwards along Li Xiuyuan's side, the other hand caressing Li Xiuyuan's face.

Li Xiuyuan was stunned by the man's rapid gender transformation. He could actually change his gender at will; truly, the world is full of wonders.

Li Xiuyuan hurriedly slapped the beautiful woman's hand away, "Who exactly are you? Was what I just observed your true form? No, it must be your true form. Then why can you freely switch genders?"

The beautiful woman covered her mouth, a clear laugh escaping from under the handkerchief. Her eyes sparkled. "As for me, fellow Daoist, you can certainly guess. It's alright, feel free to guess who I really am."

Li Xiuyuan closed his eyes and thought for a long time before suddenly realizing that since this person had no gender, it must not have been born as a living being, but rather as some kind of object that had been nurtured by its master for thousands of years before finally gaining its own life. However, Li Xiuyuan really couldn't figure out what kind of object the great beauty was, since there were countless objects that could become spirits.