I can't be a demon.

Chapter 289: Fake Heaven, Xiaoling Mountain

Shen Lian's expression became extremely solemn, and he suddenly realized that the origin of the Ghost Market was not simple.

"Zuo Qianhu, where did you hear this?"

Zuo Yan was stunned. Seeing Shen Lian's serious expression, he quickly explained, "There was a Jinwu Guard from the government who went in and out of the Deep Ghost Market. However, he died soon after returning to the mortal world. He said this before he died."

"One day in the ghost market consumes lifespans that are probably equivalent to one year in the mortal world. If we continue to go deeper, the number will definitely become more and more exaggerated."

"Captain Zuo, what is the deepest level of the ghost market that the Jinwu Guards have ever set foot on?"

"The eleventh floor, right? The tenth floor won't consume your lifespan. Master, you know that the shallower floors are all trading grounds for ghosts who want to ransom their money."

"What's on the eleventh floor?"

"Not sure." Zuo Yan replied helplessly, "That man entered and exited the eleventh-level ghost market for only a moment, but after escaping, he gave us the feeling that he had been trapped for thousands or tens of thousands of years."

He couldn't help but shudder as he described the other person's death.

The corpse was shaped like a child, with wrinkled skin, and its internal organs were failing. The Taoist infant in the body was mysteriously missing.

It is precisely because of the strangeness of the Deep Ghost Market that the imperial court did not deliberately promote the Ghost Market.

"Master Shen, do towns with ghost gates need to respond?"

"Well, on October 15th, let the people temporarily evacuate for one night, just in case."

Zuo Yan nodded. Who could have thought that disasters had been happening before the Little Leiyin Temple was born?

Shen Lian had a lot of thoughts.

If I'm not mistaken, the truth behind the ghost market is deeper than I imagined.

Zuo Yan did not continue to disturb them and immediately said goodbye and left.

Shen Lian watched Zuo Yan leave, then poured three drops of grass wine from the ghost gourd into his mouth. Immediately, the refreshing aroma of the wine boiled between his lips and teeth.

There was no manifestation of longevity, but suddenly the thought became clear.

It was as if a clear spring was watering his heart, and the urgency caused by the limited lifespan disappeared completely, and his body and soul suddenly grew halfway invisibly.

With the added life span from his realm breakthrough, Shen Lian can now live over six thousand years.

Of course, going to the deep ghost market by yourself may not be enough.

Shen Lian's mind moved slightly, and the Cao Huanjiu fell into the mouths of Shen Hansheng and Bai Haibo, but he wrapped it with force to slow down the absorption of the medicine.

Otherwise they would not be able to digest the medicine and turn into Tang Monk's flesh.

"One day in the ghost market is like one year in the mortal world."

"A day in the sky and a year in the earth."

"I originally thought that the end of the ghost market led to the underworld, but it turned out to be... heaven."

Shen Lian looked helpless. Now he thought that the Ghost Market and Heaven had a lot in common.

In his impression, the innate spiritual roots of the immortals and gods in heaven are almost all related to longevity. For example, smelling a ginseng fruit can extend life by 360 years, while eating a ginseng fruit can extend life by 47,000 years.

The peaches have a similar effect, so they are also called "eternal peaches".

According to the records in the original work, the peaches are divided into three grades.

Eating the peaches with tiny flowers and small fruits only makes one attain enlightenment and become an immortal; eating the peaches with layers of flowers and sweet fruits makes one ascend to heaven and live forever; eating the peaches with purple veins and yellow cores makes one live as long as heaven and earth, and as old as the sun and the moon.

The lower-grade peaches lead to immortality, which means becoming a terrestrial immortal or a land-based god; the middle-grade peaches lead to ascension to heaven, which means being included in the class of immortals.

Among the immortals and gods who can participate in the Peach Banquet, which one is not a true immortal?

What they value most is definitely the ability of the peaches to prolong life.

From this we can see that the Heavenly Palace and the deep ghost market have something in common. Even for immortals and gods, their lifespan will quickly pass away when they are in the Heavenly Palace.

The strange Taoist priest who previously tested Yanliang Town was most likely from the Plague Department of Heaven.

According to Taoist scriptures, there are eight departments in heaven, each with specific responsibilities. Among them, the Plague Department is responsible for spreading plague diseases.

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes, and a few cold bugs appeared on his fingertips.

"The Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva of the Little Leiyin Temple has reached a consensus with the Plague Department. Could it be that they want to wreak havoc on the mortal world and increase the number of casualties?"

He brought the cold bug close to his nose and smelled a faint scent of soul.

"It may not be the Plague Department. It may just be the monks of the Plague Department..."

"The ones in the Little Leiyin Temple are fake Buddhas. What do the monks in the Plague Department belong to? Are they fake immortals?"

Shen Lian didn't think that the sudden appearance of the Plague Tribe monks had anything to do with the Heavenly Court. Most likely they were just pirated versions of the Eight Tribes from the Ghost Market. Otherwise, how could they be mixed up with the fake Buddha from the Little Leiyin Temple.

But no matter what, after all, the fake Buddhas and immortals are related to Lingshan Heaven, and their strength should be far above that of the alchemists in the cave.

"Whether it's the heaven thousands of years ago or the ghost market today, why does it shorten lifespan?"

Shen Lian had an illusion that the Heavenly Palace seemed to have life, and the immortals and gods were just parasites attached to it, and the two were mutually beneficial.

"Lingshan is where the Buddhas have fallen into the true scriptures. I'm afraid the trouble they are facing is different from that of the Heavenly Palace."

Shen Lian did not rush forward in his real body. Instead, he cut off a part of his soul and threw it into the tree hole. After waiting for a while, the part of the soul was destroyed without any ripples.

There was no sign at all, just like a stone thrown into the water.

Shen Lian was recovering from the injuries of his soul. The white bone spine on his back extended out, and he used the old method to explore the truth of the ghost market.

Click click click.

As the white bone spine just touched the ghost market, the part in reality turned slightly yellow.

That is the aging of the white bones of the spine.

Sure enough, the other end of the teleportation tree is in the deep ghost market. According to the aging rate of the skeleton spine, one day is indeed equivalent to one year.

Shen Lian has a lifespan of 6,000 years, but he can only stay in the eleventh-level ghost market for more than ten years.

His brows were tightly furrowed. There were no other clues. The ghost eye magic weapon at the end of the bone spine could not see any image, and he could not sense anything with the help of the bone spine.

The back of the tree hole is like a bottomless pit.

"Ah~~"

Just as Shen Lian was hesitating, the mynah bird came to the branch with a look of contempt.

"As the saying goes, Ghost Market is my home, and happiness depends on everyone~~" Without waiting for Shen Lian to speak, the starling went straight into the tree hole. Not long after, the occupation panel showed a prompt that the identification was completed.

[Appraisal completed, Ksitigarbha Yama experience +0.03%]

"By the way, doesn't mynah bird have a lifespan limit?"

Shen Lian hurriedly checked his body and soul, repeatedly confirming that his lifespan would not be affected.

"I guess the silly bird must be a demon with deep cultivation. I heard that the life span of demons is generally longer than that of cultivators. The tenth-level ghost market should not be a problem."

"Silly Bird is always successful in a cave full of ghosts, but I have to be cautious."

Shen Lian continued to nurture his soul, glancing at his career panel from time to time.

The experience progress of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is steadily improving. If the starling works harder, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva can really become a stepping stone for the silly bird.

Two days later, when the soul was healed, another pill fruit ripened.

【Hundred Soul Fruit】

[Born from the banyan tree, taking it can transform your soul. 】

The Hundred Souls Fruit was bred from the corpse of a ten-thousand-year-old demon. Even if its medicinal power had to be discounted to some extent, its medicinal power was definitely far beyond ordinary.

Shen Lian put it into the ghost gourd, and 80% of the patterns on the surface of the magic weapon had undergone drastic changes.

It is estimated that once the Tathagata Fruit is ripe, the Ghost Gourd will be promoted to a treasure.

Shen Lian activated the Purple Palace Quenching Method to increase the efficiency of winemaking, and finally on October 6th, all the elixirs were turned into wine.

The medicinal power acts on the body and soul, but unfortunately most of them are only a dozen drops.

Shen Lian drank it all without hesitation. The power of the medicine rose in his body and soul, and his martial arts golden body also made a crackling sound, removing the dross and retaining the essence bit by bit.

Rumble.

The soul exuded bursts of Taoist charm, and the cold insects in the Niwan Palace disappeared one after another.

The rhyme of Tao was like a substance, and then formed five streams of clear air surrounding the soul, proving that the soul had reached the second step of the ancient land immortals.

The five qi are in full swing.

It took only a quarter of an hour for Shen Lian to digest the medicine, and he felt refreshed when he woke up.

A bunch of miscellaneous elixirs could not help to increase his strength, but his foundation of Taoism made great progress, and his cultivation in the four realms of the divine wandering became more and more solid.

And after removing the impurities from the body and soul, lifespan will be increased by one or two hundred years.

"There are still nine days until the Ghost Market opens. The flow of time in the eleventh level Ghost Market is different. I don't know how long I can stay in there."

Shen Lian crawled into the tree hole, and a dizzying feeling came over him.

.........

The deep mountains and old forests are endless, formed by ancient trees entangled with each other, with thick and twisted branches and thick wood tumors accumulated on the surface.

Spider webs filled the gaps between the branches, and they were filled with dead insects.

One can tell at a glance that each ancient tree has experienced the baptism of countless years.

Amidst a group of ancient trees, there stands a temple abruptly. The eaves and walls are dilapidated, and the scent of sandalwood is everywhere.

The old monk walked with unsteady steps, and after reciting the scriptures, he hurried to the backyard.

There are dozens of fruit and vegetable plants planted in the backyard, but they are covered with flies, clinging to the surface of the fruits and vegetables and licking them greedily.

Ignoring the disgusting scene, the old monk walked to the corner, staring at a peach tree.

The peach tree is two meters tall, with scattered peaches hanging on its branches.

"Amitabha, please let me count the peaches."

The old monk opened his cloudy eyes and frantically scanned the branches. "There are... five peaches, growing well, but unfortunately they are all low quality."

"wrong."

He reached out and lifted the leaves, only to see a new peach emerging from the top of the peach tree.

"Amitabha, my chance has come!!!"

"Let me see, let me use another pair of eyes to see what quality the peaches are."

The old monk looked around, picked up a pumpkin not far away, stretched out his hand and grabbed the bloody pupil in his palm, and the pumpkin broke into pieces.

He fumbled to replace his shriveled eyes.

wink.

Although he looks like a centenarian, his eyes are as bright as those of a 20-year-old.

"It can only last for a month at most. The other organs will need to be replaced."

The old monk looked at the peaches on the branches.

The sun was shining brightly, and the peach skin, as thin as a cicada's wing, seemed vaguely visible, and one could see that there was a narrow Taoist temple inside the core.

There was a little man in each of the Fruit Core Temples, and he trembled with fear when he saw the old monk approaching.

"Quack, quack, quack."

"Don't be afraid, little kid. I will never eat you."

"At least we have to wait until the melon is ripe."

The old monk grinned, his uneven teeth coming from different age groups. I wonder how many corpses it would take to piece together two rows of teeth.

He stared at the newly emerged peaches and his expression became ecstatic.

"Good good."

"The doll inside has a lifespan of at least 6,000 years. I can't bear to eat it."

The villain suddenly opened his eyes and revealed a hideous smile.

“Very fierce!!!”

"If I spend more time and effort to cultivate it, it will definitely be a top-quality peach!!!"

(End of this chapter)