I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 236: Sow melons, reap melons, sow beans, reap beans

The incense in the Baosheng Dharma Realm was dissipating at a visible rate. After all the vengeful spirits in Ruyi Temple were converted, the water level in the Blood Lake, formed by the incense, had dropped by more than half.

As the water level dropped, the Blood Lake shrank accordingly. Xu Qing felt a pang of heartache as he looked at the Blood Lake, which had once again become a small pool.

It was a bittersweet experience. At this moment, the infant spirits, having washed away most of their resentment, were circling around Xu Qing, looking like fledglings seeing their old swallows returning to the nest, their affection overflowing.

Xu Qing felt the body was warm, and so was her heart.

However, if these lingering resentments are not completely dispelled, the souls of these infants will still not be able to find liberation.

As the Goddess of Life Protection, Xu Qing could sense the emotions of these children. He said, "Master of this place, I am aware of all the crimes committed by that evil Taoist Baiyun. As the culprit who killed you, he will definitely be punished. This is the promise of Baosheng Temple."

With the blessing of incense, Xu Qing's words seemed to have a response in the darkness. This was the vow made by the Goddess of Childbirth. Upon hearing these words, the last trace of resentment on the infant spirits dissipated.

As a protector of Baosheng Temple, Xuan Yu also felt the loss of incense offerings in the Dharma realm.

"Doesn't Xu Xianjia think it's a pity?"

"What's a pity?"

"Those incense sticks."

Xu Qing paused for a moment upon hearing this, then smiled slightly: "The Cat Immortal Hall was created by you and me to deal with the calamity. Now the incense in the hall is sufficient. As for the incense in the Baosheng Temple, have you ever heard the saying, 'When poor, one should cultivate one's own virtue; when successful, one should benefit all under heaven'?"

“Although we don’t have the ability to save the world, we can help these homeless children find relief. Don’t you think that’s the true meaning of Baosheng Temple’s existence?”

Xuan Yu stared intently at the smiling Baosheng Niangniang before her, as if she could see the soft light reflected on Xu Xianjia's face. At this moment, Baosheng Niangniang truly seemed like a celestial being descended to earth.

At this moment, who could connect the Xu family in front of them with the unlucky funeral director in the coroner's shop?

"Xu Xianjia smells so strange."

"The taste?" Xu Qing asked in surprise.

He raised his wide sleeves and sniffed them. Apart from a faint floral scent and the strange fragrance of blood lake incense, there was no other unusual smell.

"It smells really good, a scent that makes you want others to come closer."

Cats are creatures that have weak family ties. Xuan Yu was separated from the mother cat who raised it when it was very young. To be precise, the farmers who raised the cats had a shortage of food and simply could not feed the extra kittens.

The mother cat was psychic and knew that the farmer would eventually abandon his kittens. In order for her kittens, who had no hunting ability, to stay in the farmer's house, the mother cat left the farmer's house alone one day and never returned.

Although Xu Qing was connected with Xuan Yu, she did not understand this habit of cats, nor did she know that Xuan Yu had these past experiences.

Ultimately, what Xuan Yu felt was nothing more than childhood memories hidden deep within his mind, memories that were almost gone.

At this moment, the zombie and the cat were quite satisfied and did not feel any regret for the loss of incense offerings at Baosheng Temple.

However, there is another saying in the world: you reap what you sow.

The good deeds you sow today may bring unexpected good results in the future.
Meanwhile, a hundred miles away, on the official road to Quyang...

Baiyun Daoren, who had been thoroughly humiliated by the merchants, sat in his carriage, still seething with resentment.

He couldn't understand why, after the Gu family had agreed to let him perfect and repair the Daoist military strategy, they suddenly went back on their word after the Gu family's marriage alliance with the Shang family. Their cold and distant attitude was completely different from before.

"Who exactly is behind this?"

After much thought, Daoist Baiyun could only come up with one possibility: someone must have known about his connection with the capital and informed the Gu family. Otherwise, the Gu family, eager to perfect their Daoist military techniques and restore the former glory of the White Robe Army, would never have easily severed their cooperation with him.

"If someone from the capital comes to inquire, how should I answer?"

Just as Baiyun Daoren was feeling worried and depressed, the disciple driving the carriage suddenly spoke up: "Master, this time when we went to the banquet, the merchants did not donate a single coin of incense, but Zen Master Jinghai of Cizhao Temple received several hundred taels of gold."

"If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off not attending the banquet."

"."

There was a moment of silence inside the carriage, followed by a voice that revealed neither joy nor anger: "Wealth is but an external thing. For us cultivators, the value lies in cultivating our minds and achieving far-reaching goals, and in being indifferent to fame and fortune. Besides, how long can ordinary people enjoy gold and silver?"

"But when you went to the banquet, Master, you gave the merchants a pair of jade locks as a gift. How could they treat you so disrespectfully?"

Before the disciple could finish speaking, the White Cloud Taoist's emotions, which had just calmed down, began to churn again.

"Stop talking! It is the right thing to do to return to the Taoist temple and devote yourself to cultivation."

The old Taoist priest Baiyun took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Those who cultivate the Tao must remain calm when facing important matters; this is what is meant by being composed and at ease.

He was just having a bit of bad luck; as for the businessmen and the Gu family, he had plenty of time to deal with them.

"Amitabha Buddha"

Thinking of this, Daoist Baiyun felt a little better. However, just as he finished uttering a prayer, before he could finish speaking, he sensed that the restrictions set up in the alchemy room in the back hall had been forcibly broken by someone else!
Immediately following was the destruction of the magical alchemy furnace. Daoist Baiyun let out a muffled groan as the connection between the furnace and him was completely severed!
"who is it?!"

"What's wrong, Master?" The disciple driving the carriage stopped the carriage and asked with concern.

"Someone broke into my alchemy room and destroyed my alchemy furnace!"

The White Cloud Taoist's expression shifted between light and dark.

"Could it be that someone wants to steal the pill?" the disciple asked in surprise.

"With your fellow disciples guarding the Taoist temple, who would dare to trespass? Besides, the alchemy room is located in a secret chamber in the back hall, protected by a restriction; how could an outsider find it?"

Daoist Baiyun's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he said hatefully, "There must be some greedy and rebellious fool who stole the elixir from the hall while I was away."

"Huh? Where did you guys get the nerve? Could it be that white-haired god is causing trouble again?"

"You mean Lord Yuan? I smashed his statue a few years ago. Now that the path to heaven is blocked, he can't come down to the mortal realm. And his clone left in Yunmeng Mountain has no incense to sustain it. How could he possibly destroy my alchemy room?"

"Very well, let this humble Taoist priest perform a divination."

Unable to understand the mystery, the old Taoist priest Baiyun simply took out his divination board, lit sandalwood incense, and consulted the heavens.

"The celestial pivot turns, all things return to their origin, stars shift and constellations turn, the secrets of heaven are revealed!"

The deep purple divination plate emitted a faint crimson light. The old Taoist priest Baiyun sensed this, and in an instant, all the hexagrams pieced together a result—

He was a high-ranking official, exceptionally granted the rank of third grade, and enjoyed the emperor's favor. However, his children's palace was empty, indicating that he had no children or heirs. Moreover, all the yang fish in the divination chart were hidden, suggesting that he had the appearance of a woman.

Baiyun Daoist had never heard of a third-rank female official in the current court, and besides, the third rank was hardly the highest position a minister could attain.

Only eunuchs hold the highest rank of the fourth grade, and currently only one person has been exceptionally granted the third-grade official hat: Liao Jinzhong, the Grand Steward of the Imperial Household Department and the Supervisor of the Mirroring Division.

The White Cloud Taoist recognized the half-male, half-female eunuch, but he was clearly dead, and the divination result indicated a dead man.

How could a dead man break into his alchemy room and steal his elixirs? The old Taoist Baiyun frowned, thinking that the divination chart had made a mistake, and that he would try a different method to perform the divination again.

"The dragon soars over the dark sea, the tiger crouches in the bright hall, the vermilion bird carries the prophecy, the black tortoise carries the image, the four symbols generate and restrain each other, the five elements determine the direction!"

This time, Daoist Baiyun used the Four Symbols and Five Elements for deduction. As soon as the incantation was finished, the divination plate spun rapidly, and the blood-red light seemed to be about to solidify into a substance.

Is he a registered disciple of Ruyi Temple, the Leper Taoist?

The divination result left Daoist Baiyun utterly astonished.

What kind of cat or dog is this?
Baiyun Daoist had an impression of the bald-headed Daoist, who was an ugly, delusional bandit who spent his days robbing and plundering but dreaming of becoming an immortal.

How could someone as illiterate and utterly mediocre as him dare to barge into his alchemy room and damage his alchemy furnace, which even earth fire couldn't burn?
Stop joking!

The White Cloud Taoist didn't believe in this superstition. He thought, "Furthermore, I am a man, not a delicate woman."
What is this all about?
No more than three questions, and Baiyun Daoist's blood rushed to his head, his face turned red, clearly he had lost his temper.

"This is the last time, just one last time! Even the bald monk at Cizhao Temple praises my divination skills. How could I not understand my own affairs?"

When the old Taoist priest Baiyun got angry, he simply used all the knowledge he had acquired in his life and drove the divination plate in his hand with all his might to perform divination once again.

"Heavenly fortune, earthly virtue, and human excellence! With the convergence of the three powers, the spiritual embryo manifests!"

The divination plate was reversed, and bright red fetal blood seeped out. It turned out that the divination plate in the Taoist's hand was not made by splitting wood with an axe or chiseling wood, nor was it cast from copper or iron. Instead, it was made by processing and refining the fetus of an infant!

"Let me see what kind of monster you really are."

"Wait! Hold on! I won't count!"

"Boom——"

On a clear, bright day, on the official road, a thunderclap rang out, and the carriage parked in the middle of the road was instantly shattered into pieces.

As the smoke and dust cleared, the ethereal old Taoist priest who had been wearing a cloud-crane robe disappeared, replaced by a ragged, stylishly dressed old man with a dark face.

Judging by his attire and his disheveled appearance, he would be a nine-bag elder even in the Beggars' Sect.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Daoist Baiyun looked at the broken jade talisman in his hand and felt an immense pang of heartache.

"Lord Yuan! It really is you!"

In the eyes of the old Taoist priest Baiyun, who else but the White-haired God Yuan Gong could command heavenly lightning to strike people?

The lightning today was no different from the heavenly lightning he encountered when he was refining the Nine Revolutions Profound Pill.

Baiyun Daoist looked at the charred figure lying on the ground not far in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an acquaintance.

Isn't he his prized student? It's just that now he's so familiar with his disciple that they can't be more familiar than they seem!
After passing by the disciple's corpse, Daoist Baiyun affixed Baiyun Talisman and Crane Rising Talisman to his legs. At the same time, he held a whisk engraved with Xunfeng talisman. After pushing off the ground with both feet and chanting the Returning Clouds Incantation, he flicked the whisk and his whole body soared into the air, crossing mountains and rivers, and sped towards Ruyi Temple.

Yunmeng Mountain, Ruyi Temple.

After clearing out all the demons and Taoists in the temple, the demonic energy on Xuan Yu's body was on the verge of getting out of control. Although Xu Qing had experience in undergoing tribulation, those were zombies after all. He didn't know much about the process of demons undergoing tribulation.

The only bit of experience I had came from the White Fairy at the Hundred Herbs Cave on Yuehua Mountain.

Both the zombie and the cat were encountering this for the first time. Xu Qing had at least survived the lightning calamity, so he told Xuan Yu to restrain his urge to condense the demon core. Then he poured out all the magic weapons and pills he had on him, both usable and unusable.

"Don't panic! Don't panic!"

Sitting cross-legged in front of the Taoist altar, Xuan Yu watched as Xu Xianjia hurriedly set up the altar and performed rituals for him. His previously uneasy heart inexplicably calmed down.

After setting up the ritual, Xu Qing burned a lot of incense for the Heavenly Emperor and the gods of the Thunder Department, the immortals in charge of heavenly punishment and laws. The incense was top-quality, the kind that even the ghost generals and ghost kings of the Yin River Ancient Road recognized. Then came the sacrificial offering of three kinds of animals.

Regardless of whether it was useful or not, Xu Qing made the necessary report according to the established procedure.

Ultimately, monsters are different from zombies and other such creatures.

It is not easy for demons to cultivate, and the calamities they face are far more severe than those faced by humans who are blessed with good fortune. In order to increase their chances of overcoming these calamities, demons are constantly looking for various shortcuts and methods.

One of the most common methods is to attach oneself to human cultivators or sects. Through long-term contact with humans, demons will naturally acquire some 'human energy,' which is the so-called human merit.

Correspondingly, when Heaven senses this merit, the intensity of the calamities it sends down will also decrease.

This is one of the reasons why fox spirits like to form bonds with humans.

In addition, some spiritual beings, on the eve of their tribulation, will follow their nature and seek out temples and monasteries to worship gods and Buddhas, in order to increase their chances of surviving the calamity.

This is somewhat similar to how, before the imperial examinations, candidates would often go in groups to worship the God of Literature and the God of Literature.

Whether it works or not is another matter, but none of the monsters that survived the calamity said it didn't work.

As this practice continued for a long time, it developed into a unique culture where monsters, before undergoing tribulation or even before, liked to gather in front of temples and monasteries to worship gods.

As the head of the Cat Immortal Hall, Xu Qing naturally had to make all the arrangements for Xuan Yu, who was about to participate in the Demon Clan's Grand Examination.

After paying respects to all the deities associated with the Heavenly Tribulation, Xu Qing didn't forget to categorize the various pills and talismans and hand them over to Xuan Yu.

His cautious and meticulous manner, as if he felt that he hadn't prepared everything properly, made him seem even more attentive than when he was undergoing his own tribulation.

Xuan Yu finally couldn't help but speak up, "Didn't we already pay our respects to these deities once before we came out to travel?"

Xu Qing, with an expression of someone who had been through it all, said with deep feeling, "You don't understand. This is called 'the more polite you are, the better.' Bowing a few more times is never a bad thing."

As the two were talking, Xu Qing suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the mountain gate.

"Xuan Yu, your chance for revenge has come!"

Before the words were finished, a whooshing sound came from outside Ruyi Temple. Xuan Yu also sensed the aura that it loathed.
"It's you?"

The old Taoist priest Baiyun landed before the altar. Upon seeing Xu Qing and the girl's faces clearly, he immediately frowned: "Why are you two waiting! Demonic aura! This little girl is a demon!"

"No! This aura... it's the Nine-Lives Mystic Cat!"

The old Taoist priest Baiyun was both surprised and delighted, but when he sensed the evil aura emanating from the young man in front of him, he instantly sobered up.

Looking around, the old Taoist priest Baiyun could not sense any living beings. It was as if everyone in the entire Taoist temple had evaporated into thin air. Only the strong smell of blood lingered in the air, indicating what had happened here before.

"My empire was destroyed by you all!"

Baiyun Daoist reacted quickly. If everything in the Taoist temple was done by Xu Qing and his group, then why was he struck by heavenly lightning when he was deducing the secrets of heaven?
However, Xu Qing and Xuan Yu clearly did not intend to give the old Taoist a chance to think.

"Old man, your time has come!"

(End of this chapter)