Sect Leader! Please strengthen our Dao Sect!

After Magistrate Li left, a long silence followed. Finally, Wu Lianshan spoke, "Thank you!"

"Magistrate Wu, you're too kind. You and Magistrate Liu have been kind to me, and I can't just ignore it."

"However, County Commandant Wu should still be careful. Your mind is too restless, which is somewhat abnormal."

Shen Shanshui frowned as she looked at Wu Lianshan, but couldn't discern anything unusual about him.

[Warning: Your friend Wu Lianshan is deeply affected by the nascent Dao Fruit and is at risk of becoming a demon.]

[Your friend Liu Jiujiang has been slightly eroded by the nascent Dao Fruit. Please take preventative measures as soon as possible.]

As the system notification sounded, Shen Shanshui was slightly taken aback, and a chill ran down his spine.

Another nascent form of the Dao Fruit?

"County Commandant Wu, have you and Magistrate Liu met with anyone recently? Or have you encountered anything?"

"Why do you ask that?"

Wu Lianshan looked puzzled. Could it be that Shen Shanshui had seen something?

Shen Shanshui hesitated for a moment, but despite not wanting to get involved, he still spoke up.

"It seems something is influencing Wu County Magistrate."

He didn't explicitly state the form of a nascent Dao Fruit, but rather kept it vague. After all, it would be suspicious if a Foundation Establishment cultivator could see the origin of it.

Wu Lianshan frowned deeply and pondered for a long time.

"Old Liu and I went to Jiangling City for a work report six months ago, and we took the opportunity to deal with some old issues, but it shouldn't be..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Lianshan paused, then gave Shen Shanshui a deep look.

Shen Shanshui felt a little uneasy under that gaze, wondering why Wu Lianshan had suddenly stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

"Fellow Daoist, please return. Thank you for your help!"

Shen Shanshui didn't pry into the matter. He wasn't a gossipy person, and besides, the matter wasn't that simple. A slight reminder was already more than enough.

Watching Wu Lianshan transform into a streak of light and disappear before her eyes, Shen Shanshui couldn't help but sigh softly.

"Is County Magistrate Wu being righteous, or is he trying to avoid involving me?"

Wu Lianshan must have discovered something to keep quiet. What kind of person could make the other party so wary?

……

Jiangling City, East Tower Academy, lake island.

Li Dongzhu, dressed in a scholar's robe, was meditating when she suddenly opened her eyes and quietly watched the middle-aged man slowly walking towards her.

The man had a decent appearance and looked relatively young, but his every move exuded an air of decay and old age that was not appropriate for his age.

"Cough cough..."

The man coughed a few times, his face turning slightly pale.

"Your injuries have healed? You're leaving seclusion already?"

Li Dongzhu glanced at the man, noticing his unfriendly tone.

"Hehe..." The man wasn't annoyed at all; instead, his gaze toward Li Dongzhu became even more kind and gentle.

"Are you still angry with me, you little brat?"

"I'm getting my comeuppance now. I was just thinking of coming back to see you, but I never expected to be caught off guard and get ambushed and beaten up by those two little brats. It's really embarrassing."

Those two kids are really something. Maybe I should have made a good connection with them back then.

"That's what you deserve. You're in the midst of the five signs of decay, and instead of preparing for it, you dare to move around so carelessly?"

Li Dongzhu was still annoyed, but a hint of worry couldn't help but show in her beautiful eyes.

The man walked over to the other person, and like an ordinary person, he struggled to sit down beside her.

"He misses his daughter. She's been sulking with me all these years and doesn't want to leave Jiangnan Prefecture."

"Since you don't want to leave, of course I, as your father, will come to see you."

"You don't need to find me annoying. Your dad... I've reached the end. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to bother you again."

The man raised his hand to gently stroke his daughter's soft, black hair, but then he noticed that Li Dongzhu's eyes were already filled with tears as she turned her head away.

"Silly girl, why are you crying?"

"The Five Signs of Decay of Heaven and Man in the Golden Core stage can extend one's life by two thousand years with each passing of the stage. Your father has lived for over four thousand years, which is more than enough."

"Is there...no other way? Can't the elders in the clan help you?"

Li Dongzhu's voice trembled, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to remain calm.

The man spread his hands, appearing remarkably nonchalant, as if he had truly seen through life and death.

"Heaven cherishes life and will always leave a glimmer of hope, though it is always so faint..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Li Dongzhu became anxious and pointed at him, saying loudly, "If you have the chance, go for it! Isn't a cultivator's cultivation something that comes from competition?"

What are you doing interfering with me? What good would it do to just glance at me? Why... why don't you spend your time on things you should be doing?

Li Dongzhu became increasingly angry as she spoke, and towards the end she was almost screaming.

The man looked at his angry daughter and paused for a moment, then a relieved smile appeared on his lips. He gently reached out and wiped away the tears from the corners of Li Dongzhu's eyes.

"You're a grown woman now, be more dignified. Don't be as impatient as you were when you were a child."

"How can I be at ease if you don't want to go back with me?"

"Do you know that a storm is brewing in Jiangnan Prefecture...?"

Li Dongzhu calmed herself down and stared straight at the man.

"Do you know why I was angry with you, and why I disregarded my status and interfered in your petty squabbles back then?"

And... who tampered with my memories? I shouldn't have gone down the path of impulsiveness.

The man shook his head, not wanting to answer the question. But perhaps Li Dongzhu's gaze was too intense, and he was also nearing the end of his life, so he finally relented.

"It was my fault for bringing you to Jiangnan Prefecture. With your talent, you should have been forging ahead on the path of flesh and blood to achieve the Golden Core."

"But you chose the wrong time to break through; you absolutely mustn't do it in Jiangnan Prefecture! Compared to a Golden Core True Monarch with profound potential, the clan needs someone more... a Nascent Soul Dao Venerable who is about to condense their Dao Fruit!"

Li Dongzhu's beautiful eyes widened, and she remained silent for a long time, unable to calm herself down. She bit her red lips tightly with her pearly teeth.

"Is it...him?"

The "he" that Li Dongzhu is referring to is none other than the current prefect of Jiangnan Prefecture, who is also Li Dongzhu's uncle!

"God knows..."

……

……

Spiritual practice transcends the years.

The day Shen Shanshui returned to Tianyi Mountain, the Yin Fire Disaster broke out in full force.

It took Shen Shanshui more than half a year to deal with this disaster.

The weather is getting colder and winter is approaching.

Since breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, Shen Shanshui has missed several summer landscapes.

Inside the main hall of the Immortal Sect, Shen Shanshui's breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible. Like an old monk in deep meditation, his Daoist robe was even covered with a layer of dull dust, and he hadn't moved for an unknown amount of time.

Those who don't know the situation might think that Shen Shanshui has already passed away.

However, his condition was not good at this time. The continuous burning of the Yin Fire was causing his soul to be on the verge of extinction.

Shen Shanshui's consciousness, which was initially clear, gradually sank and became blurred.

Of the three calamities, the calamity of Yin Fire is the most dangerous.

Compared to the calamity of Yin Fire, cultivators can still utilize their divine sense during a wind calamity.

Under the calamity of Yin Fire, cultivators are like lambs to the slaughter. If they are ambushed at this time, they can only perish with resentment.

Therefore, before Shen Shanshui went into seclusion, he deliberately set up numerous trapping formations outside the main hall. Although they couldn't stop a truly powerful enemy, it made him feel better at all.