Chapter 408: Overseas Recruitment

Ao Jin flew all the way to the South Sea, wishing to see his father. Ao Jia was presiding over the transformation of Water Qi in the South Sea Cave Heaven; though he did not know of worldly affairs, he could see people and understand Cause and Effect.

Seeing Ao Jin, a rare "promising" one among his three thousand six hundred sons, he felt a bit of gratification and only said: "You are unaware that the position of the Poyang Shunji Little Dragon Lord is also an avatar of you and me? The Lingbao Sect Leader had me move the Poyang Dragon Nest to the South Sea Cave Heaven, and it has not yet finished refining, so it is hard to follow you. Moreover, your opponent consists of two God Immortals, and they hail from Luofu Mountain; even if I went, I might not necessarily win."

Upon hearing this, Ao Jin said repeatedly: "The Master is in seclusion refining methods, and you are also in seclusion refining methods, so who exactly should I go to? I have no plan. Sheng Ying has been captured; if he is not rescued, I fear the outcome will be grim."

Ao Jia patted his little head: "You still cannot suppress your temper. In this matter, those two are forcing your Master to come out. I just cast a hex, Heaven Water Litigation; this is a lawsuit hex. Victory lies in virtue, and defeat also lies in virtue. As the saying goes, those who follow the Dao have much help, those who lose the Dao have little help. Qian is the yang-firm and upright; Kan is the dangerous and low-lying. If a gentleman is self-possessed and noble, he will not fall into dangerous situations."

Ao Jia spoke in a string of platitudes. Ao Jin did not quite understand, but he heard Ao Jia say: "Your Master, the Lingbao Sect Leader, once subdued three thousand-year-old clam immortals deep in the South Sea Ocean Trench. He bestowed upon them Mirage Dragon Essence Souls, so they each took human form, obtained the Register method, and established a Sea Blessed Land to herd clams and raise pearls. They each have a thousand years of Daoist Practice and are at the realm of God Immortals. They are skilled in the Water Moon Mirage Illusion Technique and can help you deflate their arrogance."

Hearing this, Ao Jin did not dawdle; he hurried off, arrived at the South Sea Ocean Trench, transformed into a large koi, and dove down.

Don't ask why a koi is in the sea; if you ask, it's *The Adventures of the Little Carp*.

Deep in the ocean trench is an active submarine volcano that spews large amounts of organic matter. The surrounding waters are warm, and every day when the hot springs erupt, those clams that have cultivated Daoist Practice use the hot springs to rush to the sea surface to swallow moonlight. When the hot springs go out, they return to the seabed to mine and refine Heavy Water.

Heavy Water gathers moonlight, and only then are there round, lustrous, large pearls.

These clams, some as large as houses and others as small as wheels, are indeed giant shellfish of the sea.

Among the clams, one could see three that were open, each shimmering with brilliance and forming light. Where the three rays of light overlapped, a prosperous Mirage Scene appeared; it was the Water Moon Cave Heaven, the Mirage Tower Blessed Land.

These three rays of light were like the three primary colors, like the Heavenly Three Treasures of Sun, Moon, and Star, the Earth Three Treasures of Water, Fire, and Wind, and the Human Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

Originally, each layer of the light illusion had many errors and voids, but with the three layers stacked together, it became incredibly real and true.

"A masterpiece is true when it is real, yet the real is also false; like a dream, like dew, and also like lightning."

Drilling into it, Ao Jin felt it was incomparably smooth. He saw inside a Golden Palace residence with coral trees and strange rocks as scenery—magnificent and wealthy, like a palace in the heavens, with thirty-six palaces and seventy-two halls.

It was just sparsely populated, with only occasional attendants and palace maids to be seen.

Ao Jin observed carefully and understood that these attendants and maids were all spirits formed from sea anemones, coral, and seaweed that lived symbiotically with the giant clams. They had no power to evolve a soul in the real world, but in the illusion, a form was vividly fabricated. The illusion connected to the Dharma Realm and reflected reality, so everything was incredibly real.

"Where did you fish-monster come from? Why have we never seen you?"

Two youths transformed from sea hares (sea slugs) blocked Ao Jin.

Ao Jin said: "I am here under the orders of the Lingbao Heavenly Master to invite the three Ladies of this place."

The sea hare youths heard this and dared not be negligent, because the three Ladies often lectured on the Dharma and had once said they were transformed by an Immortal and were disciples of the Lingbao Sect.

They immediately went to report to the three Clam Lady Immortals.

The three Clam Lady Immortals were in the midst of refining their methods: they were Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao.

The three of them had boneless jade bodies, their skin translucent with the luster of pearls. They wore clothes made of mermaid silk and sat cross-legged on sea-stone platforms. Above their heads were twenty-four pearls with five hundred years of heat.

Previously, Xu Jia had taken a fancy to these twenty-four pearls and wanted to refine the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Treasure; after all, the Water Moon Pearl conformed to the changes of the lunar months. Later, after taking in these three clam spirits, he still handed the pearls to them to refine.

After the sea hare youths came to report, the eldest sister, Yunxiao, dared not be slow. She took the initiative to stop refining and took her two sisters to meet Ao Jin.

Ao Jin did not say he was sent by his father, but only said: "I am Ao Jin, the Water Boy of the Water Fire Boy under the Sect Leader. Because the Great Ning is without the Dao and the Mandate of Heaven is about to rise, my efforts to assist in the reform have been obstructed by others, so I have come to invite the three Ladies to help."

"There is no need to call us Ladies. You and I shall address each other as senior and junior fellow disciples. You entered the sect earlier than I, so by logic, I should call you Senior Brother." Yunxiao said: "Senior Brother Ao Jin, you are the Sect Leader's attendant boy; why are you not serving by the Sect Leader's side, but instead getting involved in the red dust?" Ao Jin was only an Earth Immortal himself; how could he dare to be arrogant and let the three Xiao sisters, who had a thousand years of Daoist Practice, call him Senior Brother? He said repeatedly: "Just call me Water Boy."

He explained: "The Master is refining a Divine Ability and Daoism that will benefit the world, so he has no time. I have come down the mountain on the Master's behalf. Who knew that the other side would have two God Immortal experts who have refined exquisite Fire Methods? The Fire Boy who serves the Master with me was greedy for treasure and was captured. I first sought out my father, the South Sea Dragon God, and my father said the three Immortal Ladies have the power to extinguish fire."

Yunxiao nodded. In the past, she did not understand the Heavenly Secrets, but after being taught the Lingbao Register by Xu Jia, she understood much. This treasure land was a "Heaven One Spirit Hole" in the sea, capable of producing Heaven One Pure Water. After the three of them refined the Pure Water, they faintly sensed the lineage of the "Heaven One Water Mother" of the Shangjie.

Under such circumstances, they had actually found a jade book deep in the seabed. What was written in the book was the method to condense Heaven One Pure Water, left behind by a predecessor.

Heaven One Pure Water has the use of synthesizing all things and harmonizing them into one; it is a treasure of the creation of Heaven and Earth. In the Shangjie, it is also one of the Nine Great True Waters. In this Desire Realm, although it cannot compare to the purity of the Shangjie, it is comparable to "Innate Water Essence" and is a treasure at the level of the Five Elements origin.

Because they obtained this creation and washed their bodies, they have now shed their original nature and can move freely without relying on their clam shells at all.

Hearing this, Yunxiao had a plan: "I will go with you personally; my two sisters need not go."

Ao Jin heard this and became anxious: "He has two God Immortals; if the three sisters go together, the chances of winning will be greater."

"No need. My two sisters have not yet shed their shells and do not count as having truly attained Didao. Speaking of which, although we all have a thousand years of Daoist Practice, I have cultivated for over three thousand years. My two sisters have cultivated for over one thousand eight hundred years and one thousand two hundred years respectively. It was I who painstakingly supported them; we are sisters and also mother and daughter, so I cannot let their thousand years of Daoist Practice be destroyed in a single day."

She immediately gathered the twenty-four Water Moon Pearls, intending to go along with him.

However, the two sisters said: "Sister, you look down on us, don't you? If we go, we go together. Otherwise, you carry everything yourself, and what kind of sisters are we?"

Sister and sister, it made Ao Jin's head spin.

Just then, on Lu Song Island, a volcano erupted, spewing golden light and silver light.

It turned out to be the two immortal swords refined by Xu Jia years ago, the Golden Flood Dragon Sword and the Silver Flood Dragon Sword, which were placed in the volcano to be washed and refined.

The two immortal swords transformed into Gold-Silver Twin Dragons, very proud, and wanted to leave the volcano. That volcano was the Daochang of Bi Fang; how could Bi Fang let them escape? She immediately revealed her true form.

Ao Jin saw Bi Fang, and his eyes lit up: "I forgot, this is the expert at playing with fire."

Bi Fang is named "Fire Spirit Mother" and is the essence of the Phoenix lineage; she migrated overseas after the Qin Dynasty.

She caught the two immortal swords, holding one in her mouth and stepping on the other with her feet.

The Gold-Silver Twin Dragons transformed from the two immortal swords coiled back toward her.

"Are you rebelling?"

Bi Fang stepped down hard, but saw three Immortal Maidens and one boy rising from the sea surface.

She squinted her eyes, but she recognized them.

After all, the Great Demons with names and surnames in one Desire Realm basically knew each other in their hearts; it was just that one was fire, one was water, one lived in the ocean trench, and one lived in the volcano, so they had no intersection.

It was just that they all had Xu Jia's Lingbao Register in their bodies.

She said: "Is there something the matter?"

(End of chapter)