Evading the Three Calamities

The consciousness of the Bodhi Tree flowed into Su Qing’s mind…

A moment later, Su Qing couldn’t help but knit her brows slightly.

A look of surprise crossed her face.

Contained within the information just transmitted was a substantial portion dedicated to the Bodhi Tree grumbling about Su Qing.

However, though it was full of complaints, the tree hadn’t actually resorted to insults. It was, in its own way, quite civilized.

As for the reason behind the grumbling…

It seemed the Bodhi Tree knew that part of what Su Qing had said earlier was merely to tease it.

As for how it knew she was teasing…

Su Qing suspected it was likely because their consciousnesses had been linked earlier. In that moment, some of the thoughts in her heart had been accidentally heard by the tree.

But, of course!

The message the Bodhi Tree sent back wasn’t just a collection of snarky remarks. It also contained genuine, vital information. It was just that the grumbling took up a large amount of space.

Once Su Qing finished processing the tree's complaints…

The image of her prideful, tsundere master suddenly surfaced in her mind.

He sat cross-legged, holding his horsetail whisk. A strand of Bodhi prayer beads flickered faintly on his wrist, just as he had looked when he delivered sermons in the Puti Daoist Academy.

Her master’s eyes were half-open, gazing at Su Qing as he began to speak slowly, chanting the mnemonics for the nameless cultivation method he had taught her.

Actually… that cultivation method had a name.

It was just that her master had never mentioned its true name to Su Qing in the beginning.

Su Qing closed her eyes, quietly listening to her master’s illusory image recite the technique's secrets.

However, a deep confusion filled her heart…

She couldn’t figure out for a moment why her master had gone to the trouble of using the Bodhi Tree to recite these mantras to her once more.

After all, with her current level of cultivation, it was impossible for her to have forgotten the foundational incantations. At her level, she could probably recite the entire thing backward without making a single mistake.

As she pondered, the brief mnemonics came to an end.

Once the chanting ceased, the master’s phantom spoke again.

"Yingqing, you must remember. This technique is called the 《Dapin Tianxian Jue》. it is an extraordinary manual. This path is overbearing; once mastered, you will exist outside the Five Elements and transcend the Three Realms. You will be unbound by Heaven and Earth, though your presence will be difficult for gods and ghosts to tolerate."

"Because this technique is so aggressive, its practitioner must face the Three Calamities every five hundred years! Remember well, do not forget… These Three Calamities are no ordinary Heavenly Tribulations. They can only be evaded; they cannot be resisted. You must hide; do not face them head-on!"

Her master seemed worried that Su Qing would be stubborn enough to try and tank the calamities with brute force, emphasizing repeatedly that they could not be resisted.

When Su Qing heard this…

A jolt of shock went through her heart.

A moment ago, she had wondered why her master would recite the incantations again. Now, she understood completely.

This time, her master was truly giving her a wake-up call.

If she carefully calculated the time… she had been practicing this Dapin Tianxian Jue for three or four hundred years now.

Even by a conservative estimate, say three hundred years… she only had about a hundred years or so before the arrival of the Three Calamities.

In reality, that time might be even shorter. Decades… a century? Both were possible.

Though it was said the calamities came every five hundred years, it was never stated that they would arrive exactly on the dot. They could come later, or just as easily arrive early; the timing was not fixed.

Therefore, Su Qing needed to start preparing for how to evade them right now.

Once she realized this, she let out a long sigh.

Because of her long, leisurely lifestyle, she had nearly forgotten such an incredibly important—and lethal—matter.

"I can't let things like this slip," Su Qing thought to herself.

She felt a sudden sense of vigilance. While a quiet, peaceful life was indeed comfortable, she couldn't allow it to make her oblivious to lurking dangers.

"Still… the Three Calamities. How exactly should I go about hiding from them?" Su Qing rubbed her chin, her mind racing.

As if her master’s phantom could hear her worries, he spoke again.

"Yingqing, do not forget why I taught you the Seventy-Two Transformations."

At these words, Su Qing reached a sudden realization.

That was it…

From the very beginning, her master hadn't taught her the Seventy-Two Transformations for the sake of combat. He had told her clearly when she first learned them…

Those seventy-two changes were spells designed specifically to evade the Three Calamities.

"So, I can use the Seventy-Two Transformations to hide? But how should I apply them exactly?"

Su Qing arched her eyebrow, thinking deeply.

"I should go find the Old Mother of Mount Li tomorrow and ask her. With her vast erudition, I'm sure she can point me toward the right path."

In the past, Su Qing had been thin-skinned, feeling embarrassed to pester her seniors with various questions…

But now, she had grown quite thick-skinned. There was no more room for embarrassment.

Besides, something this important allowed for no hesitation.

Once she had made her decision, Su Qing naturally stopped worrying about it. She would figure out the rest tomorrow.

Stretching her arms, Su Qing turned and headed back into the house.

Leng Xiang and Ao Ying likely wouldn't be back for quite some time, so Su Qing decided to get a good night's rest to prepare for her visit to the Old Mother of Mount Li the next day.

A dreamless night passed.

The next morning.

At the crack of dawn, Su Qing rose early. To her surprise, Leng Xiang was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

Clearly, by the time they had returned from their dream-walking the previous night, it was already very late, and Leng Xiang hadn't bothered to sleep.

Su Qing walked into the kitchen and asked, "How did things go?"

Leng Xiang nodded. "My side went very smoothly… but Ao Ying… it seems she terrified the craftsman who was carving her statue."

Su Qing couldn't help but burst into a laugh. "Well, that’s not surprising. After all, to outsiders, she's a white dragon that specializes in devouring the wicked! Appearing suddenly in someone’s dream is bound to be a bit frightening."

Leng Xiang smiled faintly. "So, since she returned, Ao Ying has been feeling extremely mopey."

Su Qing shook her head slightly. "I'll go comfort her in a bit. On another note, am I still in time to order breakfast?"

"I've just started. Whatever the Master wants to eat, I can still make it."

"In that case, let's have some fried tofu! Oh, and some youtiao as well."

"We still have tofu, and fried dough sticks are easy to prepare. Understood, Master," Leng Xiang agreed after a brief thought.

"I’ll leave it to you, then!"

With that, Su Qing left the kitchen and headed toward Heaven Lake to comfort poor, dejected Ao Ying.

Consoling Ao Ying didn't actually take much effort. After all, she was quite easy to coax.

Within a short while, Su Qing had cheered her up and led her back to the house for breakfast.

The breakfast was exactly what Su Qing had requested.

While they ate, Su Qing took the opportunity to tell Leng Xiang about her plan to visit the Old Mother of Mount Li.

Leng Xiang naturally had no objections regarding their destination, but she did find it curious.

"Why did Master suddenly think to visit the Old Mother?" she asked.

Su Qing rubbed her chin. She didn’t mention the Three Calamities directly, saying only, "There are some matters I'd like to consult Senior Old Mother about. Will you come with me, Leng Xiang?"

"Naturally," Leng Xiang nodded. "As the Master's weapon, I should remain by your side at all times."

Su Qing smiled and didn’t say anything more.

After breakfast.

Leng Xiang transformed into a hairpin and settled into Su Qing's hair.

Su Qing cast a spell and stepped onto her Somersault Cloud, flying toward the Old Mother of Mount Li's home on Mount Li.

Midway through the flight.

Su Qing rubbed her chin, wondering, "Come to think of it, given how gifted she is at divination, does she already know I'm coming to see her today?"

With that thought in mind, she sped up slightly.

Before long, she arrived in the vicinity of Mount Li.

She descended through the clouds, landing in the bamboo forest outside the Old Mother's Hall.

As expected…

A little Daoist boy was already there waiting for her.

Seeing Su Qing, the boy hopped down from where he was perched and said, "The Old Mother said you'd be coming today. I didn't expect you to actually show up this early."

Su Qing smiled. "The Old Mother remains as prophetic as ever."

"Hmph, I'm not sure if 'prophetic' is the word. After all, there are things even she can't foresee."

"Yet she always seems to foresee me coming to find her."

"Maybe it's because you're easy to calculate?"

"Let's go with that!"

"By the way, did you bring me anything good to eat?" The little Daoist boy gave a sly grin. "Hehe, you promised you'd bring treats every time you visit."

Su Qing chuckled helplessly. "Of course I did. Here, sticky cakes from Long County."

"Sticky cakes? Rice cakes?"

"They’re basically the same thing. Long County just calls them something different. They taste the same to me," Su Qing said, shaking her head slightly.

The boy seemed to ponder this but didn't press the matter further. "Alright, alright! Come on, I'll take you to see her! The Old Mother has been waiting for a while!"

Su Qing nodded and followed the boy into the academy grounds.

On the way, Su Qing couldn't help but think to herself, "Wait… if she knew so clearly that I was coming, could it be because of my master again? Did he anticipate I'd look for her?"

Su Qing couldn't quite tell… but she didn't care much, either.

After all, she wasn't the one losing out.

Shortly after, she arrived at the side hall. After handing over the Cold Fragrance Sword to the boy, she pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

As anticipated, the Old Mother was indeed there waiting for her.

However, to her great surprise… there was another senior waiting alongside the Old Mother.

Su Qing stared for a moment, then blurted out instinctively, "Senior Laojun? What are you doing here?"

Taishang Laojun let out a hearty chuckle. "It's all because of your master! That stubborn old tsundere kept insisting he wanted you to find your own way to survive the Three Calamities… then a moment later, he came scuttling over to beg us to give you some guidance."

Su Qing’s mouth twitched slightly at the news…

Her master was truly something else.

Well, it definitely suited his personality.

"But… how did you seniors know for sure that I would come here?"

"A simple flick of the fingers!" Laojun replied jovially.

Su Qing rolled her eyes. Fine, that was to be expected.

"Alright, alright, come sit down," the Old Mother laughed, beckoning Su Qing over.

Su Qing complied and took a seat before the two seniors.

"Seniors… how exactly should I use the Seventy-Two Transformations to avoid the Three Calamities?"

Since they both knew why she was here, she decided to get straight to the point to avoid wasting their time.

Laojun stroked his beard and smiled. "Well… it's both difficult and simple, depending on how you look at it."

Su Qing: "..."

Great. It looked like even if she didn't waste their time, Laojun would waste it himself with his love for being cryptic.

Fortunately, Laojun wasn't the only senior present. The Old Mother was there too.

The Old Mother cut through Laojun’s nonsense and said, "Ignore his rambling. Evading the natural disaster is not actually that complicated."

"You only need to use the Seventy-Two Transformations to assume a different form and remain that way for a period of time. However, while you are in hiding, you cannot use your magic recklessly… or you will be easily discovered."

"Personally, I recommend you transform into a mortal and stay in the human world for a few decades…"

"This will not only let you bypass the Three Calamities but also serve as a trial of your temperament."

"Of course, the final choice is yours."

"We seniors can only offer you some advice."

"One warning, though: even while undergoing trials in the mortal world, you must never allow yourself to be swayed by mortal desires… specifically, do not fall for a mortal."

The Old Mother laughed loudly. "Hahaha, but this is old news. Surely you understand this much already."

Su Qing listened intently and nodded. The method to avoid the calamities was indeed simpler than she had imagined.

The only real issue was the restriction on using magic freely… but that wasn't too big of a hurdle.

"I see. It is much simpler than I thought," Su Qing remarked.

Laojun pouted and laughed. "If it were really that easy, life would be grand… anyway, once it’s time for you to hide, you’ll understand."

"Senior, what do you mean by that?"

"Didn't I say it? I'm not telling!" Laojun said merrily. "Alright, besides that question, is there anything else? While we're both here, we might as well help answer them for you."

Su Qing nodded slightly. "Actually, I do have a few more!"