The Protagonists' Chat Group: Beyond the Boundaries — Chapter 387

Chapter 387: Xu Que Views the Hundred Beauties in Old Age Painting

The power of the Heavenly Dao itself has its limits, and the collective might of the chat group superseded it.

The members of the group each wielded Heaven-Defying abilities, and they collectively attacked Dao Ancestor Hongjun relentlessly.

Had Dao Ancestor Hongjun not already undergone a complete Fusion with the Heavenly Dao, he would have been slain in the very first exchange.

However, even with the cosmic support, he was ultimately no match for the combined transcendental power.

The light symbolizing the Heavenly Dao grew increasingly dim under the barrage.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun’s aura gradually weakened, his form flickering.

He was irrevocably defeated.

His entire being could no longer maintain the pure Heavenly Dao form of the large, radiating light sphere.

He reverted to his familiar Daoist appearance, only now his pristine robe was visibly stained with blood.

A bitter, melancholic smile appeared on his ancient face.

“Big Brother, I’ve come for you at last!”

Li Changshou spoke gently, yet he delivered the final, decisive blow to Dao Ancestor Hongjun’s fading existence.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun completely dissipated, his essence scattering between Heaven and Earth.

Watching the supreme figure disappear, Li Changshou sighed, a mixture of regret and necessity washing over him.

In the end, Hongjun’s undoing was the obsession of not wanting to be lonely—a human failing in a divine being.

He recalled the original personality, Senior Lang. Lang’s biggest obsession was his inability to prevent Pangu Great God from splitting Heaven and Earth, resulting in Pangu’s tragic death.

He later discovered that Pangu’s death was a script he himself had inadvertently set. The self-realization that he had caused the death of his first friend drove Senior Lang mad.

Lang went mad because of the script he set, and the residual personality, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, became the detached script controller, attempting to preserve what was left through absolute control.

“Dao Ancestor Hongjun made the same fundamental mistake as the Heavens in my world!”

Li Qiye also sighed, looking at the space where the Dao Ancestor had vanished.

“He thought he could judge everything, that his isolated judgment was the only viable standard, and that everything in the human world, all living beings, should be judged solely by him…”

“But he failed to grasp that all living beings should, and ultimately must, judge themselves!”

The other group members looked at the deceased Dao Ancestor Hongjun. They had their own profound thoughts on the nature of destiny and control, but they wisely chose not to voice them aloud.

Li Changshou took action, using his power to envelop the entire universe of the great battlefield. He then used the Taiji Diagram to refine it, completely obliterating and purifying the space.

Although he expressed verbal regret for Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the necessary procedures for eliminating a supreme enemy could not be omitted.

To prevent any possibility of Dao Ancestor Hongjun resurrecting, the battlefield needed to be thoroughly cleansed.

After obliterating the space once, Li Changshou toured the Heaven and Earth again, meticulously searching for any hidden moves or latent consciousness left by the Dao Ancestor.

Finally, after confirming everything was perfectly in order, the great battle was solemnly concluded.

Subsequently, Li Changshou officially invited Shi Jian to create a replacement Heavenly Dao System for the world.

This bespoke Heavenly Dao System would maintain the smooth, natural operation of the Primordial World without interfering with the independent fate and free will of living beings.

Crucially, it would also constantly generate pure energy to nourish the Primordial World.

Since they were sworn brothers, Shi Jian did not extract any energy for himself from this Heavenly Dao System’s operation.

All the energy generated by the system’s function would be converted directly into rich Spiritual Qi, continuously nourishing the now-free Primordial World.

Thus, the core crisis of this Primordial World was finally, completely settled.

“Thank you, my brothers, for helping me today!”

Li Changshou sincerely thanked everyone in the group chat.

The people in the group waved their hands, indicating it was a small matter of mutual aid.

Li Changshou cleared his throat twice, then spoke again: “Now that the tyrannical Heavenly Dao is destroyed, there are no other pressing matters in my world. Next, I plan to stay in this world for a period of time, then travel to the myriad Heavens to seek the Dao with a clear mind!”

“In a few days, I will formally marry Yunxiao and Ling’e. I humbly invite all Fellow Daoists to stay and bear solemn witness to the ceremony…”

Upon hearing the announcement of marriage, a strange, knowing look flashed across the faces of the people in the group.

Speaking of marriage, a considerable number of powerhouses in the group were already married.

However, many of them had quietly accomplished this great life event without notifying the other members of the group.

With a certain person named Luo and a certain person named Xiao as prime, infamous examples…

Everyone’s gaze subtly shifted toward the mentioned individuals.

The certain individuals whistled innocently, pretending nothing was amiss.

“Marriage is a profoundly good thing!”

Xu Que responded immediately, seizing the opportunity to stir up trouble. “But I suggest, before the ceremony, you must have an ultimate bachelor party!”

Upon hearing the words “ultimate bachelor party,” Li Changshou’s heart instantly skipped a beat.

He immediately felt that an unpredictable disaster was about to strike his meticulously planned life.

“Boss, please don’t mess with me!” he pleaded with a bitter smile.

Shi Jian stepped forward and put his arm around Xu Que’s shoulders, then looked at Li Changshou: “It’s a good thing that you’re getting married. Don’t worry, I’ll personally keep a very close eye on this guy for you and won’t let him cause any trouble!”

Xu Que was instantly displeased upon hearing this: “What are you talking about? What do you mean ‘won’t let me cause trouble’?”

“If we’re not having an ultimate bachelor party, then we’re not having one. But why resort to personal attacks!”

He swayed his body. A shimmering light passed over him, and he instantly changed into a new set of formal clothes, exactly like those worn by wedding company staff.

“Leave your wedding arrangements to me… I guarantee it will be the most magnificent, memorable chaos-free event in the Primordial World!”

Li Changshou: (Visible internal panic)

He instantly regretted inviting the people in the group to stay for his wedding.

Later, on Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou stood in his familiar alchemy room, which had been quickly converted into a lavish bridal chamber. He felt a profound sense of surprise.

Xu Que, for once, was surprisingly reliable in his work.

Li Changshou had been a million times uneasy about letting the variable that was Xu Que handle his wedding arrangements.

However, he couldn’t resist Xu Que’s persistent nagging, and Li Changshou himself felt a slight guilt about the Hundred Beauties Painting distraction.

So, he had reluctantly entrusted his bridal chamber decoration to Xu Que.

It must be said that Xu Que, utilizing his System’s advanced decorative functions, did a pretty good job decorating the bridal chamber. It had a very festive, high-quality feel to it.

However, very quickly, Li Changshou’s eyes narrowed, focusing on the massive red wedding quilt covering the bed.

What kind of patterns were actually printed on this large red wedding quilt?

Spring… Palace… Pictures?

No, what kind of bizarre, complex, multi-person intimate poses are these?!

The poses were truly Heaven-Defying in their explicit detail. How are there even more than two people depicted in the suggestive scenes?

“Xu Que!” Li Changshou roared, his face burning crimson.

“What’s up, my dear brother?” Xu Que appeared before him with an impossibly innocent, wide-eyed expression.

“What kind of lewd patterns did you put on this wedding quilt?” Li Changshou demanded angrily, pointing a trembling finger.

Xu Que, however, showed a mischievous smile, giving him a knowing, suggestive wink.

Li Changshou sighed, helpless but still deeply uncomfortable: “This is my bridal chamber, can’t you make it a bit more proper… How embarrassing would it be if any outsiders saw it!”

Xu Que, feigning genuine confusion, replied: “Isn’t this the usual, traditional style for bridal chambers? It’s a place for ultimate intimacy. I was thinking of you, to make it easier for you and your wives to… sleep together.”

“I even specifically chose patterns with multiple people—to reflect your situation!”

“It’s all purely to break down their psychological defenses, to make it easier for you to act decisively!”

“Embarrassing if outsiders see it? This is your bridal chamber, where only you and your two wives will stay. What’s embarrassing about just the three of you seeing it?”

“Or…” Xu Que’s face shifted to a far more mischievous, piercing smile.

“Do you perhaps want to bring other people to your bridal chamber tonight!”

“Hmph, hmph, I’ve noticed you and that Jiu Jiu have been flirting a bit recently. Could it be that you want to bring her in to view the quilt?”

Xu Que had struck the nail on the head, exposing Li Changshou’s deepest, most hidden desire.

As soon as these words came out, Li Changshou instantly became profoundly annoyed. It wasn’t just because his deeply hidden thoughts were exposed, but also because Xu Que’s words—while true—had angered his sense of propriety.

Seeing his friend’s embarrassment, Xu Que smiled even more mischievously.

He then dramatically threw out another new, perfectly plain quilt.

“Don’t blame me for not reminding you, but this specific red wedding quilt with the patterns was specially customized by me from the Pretending-to-be-Cool System. It has a unique, subtle psychological suggestive ability…”

“Even the most reserved Goddess or Immortal, if they truly like you, will subtly, unconsciously accept the suggestion of immediate intimacy!”

“With my innate ability, I naturally don’t need this thing, otherwise, how would it be your turn to use it? But since you mind the content, then I’ll change it for you!”

Xu Que intended to yank away the large, suggestive red wedding quilt.

Upon hearing the suggestive ability description, Li Changshou unconsciously placed his hand firmly down on the quilt to hold it in place.

Xu Que tugged, but could not pull it away. He looked at Li Changshou, feigning confusion and innocence.

Li Changshou’s normally placid face flushed a deep red. He stammered: “Since it’s your kind intention, then… then I’ll reluctantly accept it and keep it.”

Seeing this, Xu Que smiled triumphantly.

He turned and walked out of the bridal chamber, muttering loudly under his breath:

“Bitches are just pretentious.”

Li Changshou: (Exasperated silence)

After a period of time, Li Changshou’s grand banquet began.

Almost all living beings closely related to Li Changshou attended this massive banquet, from Saints to common Immortals.

Everyone followed the wedding banquet procedures of the Primordial World, giving Li Changshou a complete, traditional set of ceremonies.

Subsequently, the living beings of the Primordial World and the people in the chat group tacitly started to pull Li Changshou aside to pour him wine repeatedly.

Besides Li Changshou, Yunxiao and Ling’e were also gently pulled aside and plied with potent wine.

The wine served at the banquet, in addition to the finest Immortal brew from the Heavenly Court, also included a special custom brew Xu Que had bought from his System.

The wine Xu Que had purchased had no other magical effects; it simply made one extremely, irresistibly drunk.

It guaranteed that even powerful Immortals or Saints would be completely knocked out after just a few cups.

Soon, many people at the banquet were drunk and sprawled out everywhere, giggling and incoherent.

Li Changshou looked at Yunxiao and Ling’e, whose faces were flushed a deep, intoxicating red from the wine. With great composure, he prepared to take them back to Little Qiong Peak.

Before leaving, Xu Que mysteriously handed something to Li Changshou—a small, potent bottle.

Li Changshou glanced at it. Good gracious, it was a special “cure” for heart disease—a powerful tonic to maintain stamina!

His face instantly darkened: “Do I look like I need this thing?”

He angrily kicked Xu Que away.

Xu Que scratched his head: “Then how about a limited-time experience card for One Qi Transforms Three Pure Ones (a reference to Taiqing’s supreme technique, often used for clones)?”

Li Changshou: (Irritated silence). “I already know that technique, you little devil.”

After chasing Xu Que away with a promise of later revenge, Li Changshou naturally helped the two intoxicated women back to the alchemy room—now their bridal chamber.

Yunxiao and Ling’e were drunk, but not completely so.

When they saw the suggestive patterns on the large red wedding quilt, their faces—already flushed from the wine—turned an even deeper crimson.

Li Changshou pulled the two of them close and spoke some deep, heartfelt words, finally allowing his thousands of years of suppressed emotion to surface. After a moment, the two women softly whispered that they wanted to bathe.

Not long after, the two returned, having changed into seductive dresses that clearly were meant to increase attack speed.

Li Changshou quickly glanced at the ensemble: a loli outfit plus a queen outfit!

He didn’t have time to ponder where these two reserved women got such styles of clothes.

Li Changshou only felt a powerful, surging Heart Demon entering his body, urgently needing someone to suppress the chaotic turmoil within.

Yunxiao and Ling’e, seeing his Heart Demon enter his body and his need, instantly became extremely worried for his spiritual safety.

They quickly took turns, with gentle hands and mouths, suppressing the chaos and need of his Heart Demon…

In short, Li Changshou feigned ignorance and lived a supremely happy life, with both arms around his beloved wives.

In the days that followed, his state of mind had been wonderfully peaceful—a profound tranquility difficult to describe in words. The cosmic burden on his shoulders was finally gone, as if his clear, rigid Dao Heart, maintained for thousands of years, had finally softened and unraveled into true contentment.

Facing the endless teasing of the group members, he merely smiled it off, accepting the joy.

Xu Que’s only final comment on his married life was: Always in sage mode. He’s beyond saving.

After Li Changshou’s marriage celebrations, the people in the group stayed for a day or two before making their departure. It was their honeymoon period, and they naturally didn’t want to be the intrusive third wheel.

Before leaving, Li Changshou solemnly handed his treasured Hundred Beauties Painting, which he had guarded for thousands of years, to Xu Que.

“I’m entrusting this Hundred Beauties Painting to you, my brother. To preserve a little surprise for you, I’ve placed several layers of Restrictions on it. Remember to slowly open them and view the painting yourself after you go back!”

Xu Que took the Hundred Beauties Painting, his face unable to conceal his intense joy. He was genuinely too curious about this legendary masterpiece.

“Okay, I understand,” he responded.

He then said to Li Changshou: “I see that besides your two current wives, you still seem to have other ambiguous relationships and desires…”

“Since you’ve already married two, it wouldn’t hurt to marry a few more. I have a definitive ‘Love Manual’ that I personally compiled here. If you learn it, I guarantee you’ll be able to perfectly manage all your harem relationships!”

“As long as you can grasp one or two tenths of my true teachings, having both arms around them is just the basic, introductory level. Even a front and back attack will not be a problem for your new married life!” Xu Que’s face was utterly serious, but the content of his advice was wildly inappropriate.

Li Changshou knew Xu Que’s true value as a master of chaos and infiltration.

He reached out and took the “Love Manual,” then, with lightning speed, hid it away in his deepest pocket.

“Brothers in heart…” The two exchanged a look of deep, shared affection and cunning.

The other people in the group chuckled inwardly when they saw this scene. Li Changshou’s Hundred Beauties Painting was truly a unique, disturbing masterpiece of the human world.

After bidding farewell, everyone dispersed and returned to their own worlds.

Xu Que rushed back to his own world, then solemnly took out the Hundred Beauties Painting.

“Those guys in the group have traveled to all the Heavens; what kind of cosmic beauties haven’t they seen?” he muttered to himself.

“Yet they praise this Hundred Beauties Painting so much… I’m going to see what’s truly going on beneath the surface!”

Xu Que looked at the painting, then began to meticulously remove the Restrictions on it.

The Restrictions Li Changshou set on it were not inherently difficult, but there were a great many of them—hundreds of layers.

Xu Que was unusually patient; he truly anticipated this Hundred Beauties Painting with the eagerness of a child.

As the last Restriction was finally opened, a painting came into his full view.

Green mountains and clear waters, elegant pavilions and terraces nestled among peach blossoms and willow trees. A winding path led to a distant palace. The entire scroll depicted one hundred women in various poses, some walking, some standing, some dancing, some reciting, all within an endless, harmonious feast.

Upon seeing this, Xu Que’s face instantly showed disappointment.

This was just an ordinary, if technically masterful, beauty painting, wasn’t it? There was nothing particularly special or overtly sensual about it. Why was it praised so highly? He was profoundly confused.

However, in the blink of an eye, the painting violently changed.

The women on it rapidly and gruesomely aged, then turned into one hideous old hag after another.

The original painting was indeed a technically stunning beauty painting, but Xu Que’s expectations were so high that it led to his initial disappointment.

Now, the Hundred Beauties Painting had been transformed into the Hundred Beauties in Old Age painting.

The original beauties had all profoundly changed.

Some became grotesquely corpulent, their waists as thick as water buckets.

Some hunched their backs, stumbling forward with gnarled canes.

Some dozed in filthy wicker chairs, drooling onto their fine clothes.

Some secretly farted in a garden corner, covering their noses and feigning innocence while their faces strained.

Some coughed violently as they walked, spitting out a mouthful of black phlegm onto their embroidered shoes.

Xu Que found it difficult to describe the absolute horror and disgusting perversion he had witnessed for a moment.

This painting had become so profoundly perverted that even he, a self-proclaimed connoisseur of perversion, found it utterly repulsive.

He was still reeling in shock when, suddenly, the content of the painting changed again.

The people in the painting underwent more changes, distorting rapidly toward mechanical forms.

The Hundred Beauties in Old Age painting became the Mecha Hundred Beauties in Old Age painting—all the hideous hags were now half-machine, their metal parts rusted and broken.

Xu Que only felt an agonizing, stinging pain in his eyes, as if he had been struck blind.

“My eyes! My eyes!”

“I was so foolish, truly a fool!”

“I only knew to guard against the outsiders, but I completely forgot to guard against the absolute master of caution in the group!”

“Li Changshou, damn you to eternal perdition!”