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

Chapter 241 Team Tribulation
Great evil often lurks in the shadows, so beware of the needle hidden in cotton; deep hatred often arises from love, so beware of the honey on the blade.

Xu Qing didn't understand why the old woman who had lived with Xuan Yu for many years would scheme like this, but it didn't matter to him anymore.

In the end, Xuan Yu was killed by the old woman. Regardless of the reason, the result has already been achieved. If one day he were to meet the old woman again...
Xu Qing would show no mercy.

No matter how eloquently the other party speaks, you still have to take a blow from their axe!

Once Xu Qing understood the key points, his mind suddenly became clear.

He looked at the reward of the Salvation Scripture, a method of protecting oneself with a virtual spirit, the same method the old Taoist had previously used to defend against attacks through the Taoist temple.

This protective technique is far superior to the substitute method that Xu Qing has learned. The old Taoist's protective technique can use inanimate objects, such as buildings and feng shui layouts, as substitutes, while Xu Qing's substitute method can only use some trees, paper figures, and puppets as substitutes. There is no need to compare the two to determine which is superior.

Xu Qing thought this thing was good!
His replacement tree is still the shady locust tree in the Shuimenqiao villa, but it is clear that the damage he can no longer withstand is something that even ten shady locust trees might not be able to stop, let alone one.

Now that he has the Void God Technique, he can make that ever-trembling yin locust tree retire early and change its feng shui layout to the Shuimenqiao Villa to resist external harm.

Besides the illusory divine technique, the Scripture of Salvation also rewards a low-grade Heaven-level Immortal-Seeking Technique.

The highest-ranking rewards are extremely rare. Xu Qing has only received two or three such rewards so far.

The White Cloud Taoist was bestowed with a heavenly book, and the methods he cultivated were not found in the mortal world. This predestined relationship should have been a karmic entanglement, but it was also a genuine and tangible destiny to become immortals.

Xu Qing seemed to understand something. People have good and evil, things have good and bad, and even heaven and earth have yin and yang. How much more so for immortal destiny?
Therefore, it is clear that these so-called "fate with the gods" are not all good fates, as people imagine.

The Art of Seeking Immortals is precisely a unique technique that can sense any immortal destiny in the world.

This spell can be performed once every twelve years, which corresponds to a cycle. The chances of becoming an immortal in the world are limited. Every cycle, a ritual must be performed to set up an altar and conduct a ceremony. The technique of spiritual travel is used to communicate with heaven and earth and find out where one's chances of becoming an immortal lie.

Whether this predestined connection with the immortals is good or bad is another matter.

Xu Qing frowned slightly.

What's the difference between this and unorthodox spirit writing and summoning spirits?
The latter means no one knows whether the summoned being is a ghost or a deity, while the former means no one knows whether the deity they find will be good or bad.

As Xu Qing was pondering how to exploit the limitations of the Immortal Seeking Technique, he suddenly realized that he was a zombie!
If you encounter rare and precious treasures, that's fine, but if you encounter a truly enlightened master, regardless of whether the other party is good or evil, they probably won't give a good look to a zombie.

Xu Qing remained silent for a long time. This Immortal-Seeking Technique was no different from the Enemy-Seeking Technique in his case. If he encountered a demon immortal like the Holy Maiden, he would definitely not choose to collude with her, and might even fight her.

But if he encounters a truly enlightened master, he probably won't fare well either.

You should know that zombies have always been a signature dish on the menu of exorcising demons and protecting the righteous.

If you come across it, it's a must-order dish.

However, this method is not entirely useless. After all, encountering immortals is not the only kind of opportunity. It could also be encountering lost rare treasures or newly born divine weapons.

Xu Qing couldn't believe his face was so dark. On his first attempt to find a path to immortality, he encountered a master who took it upon himself to subdue demons and protect the righteous path.

Inside the Ruyi Temple, Xu Qing searched high and low and not only found the utensils used for setting up altars and offerings, but also unexpectedly obtained a considerable amount of gold and silver treasures, as well as more than 300,000 shi of grain.

Ruyi Temple and Cizhao Temple are birds of a feather; Ruyi Temple has also done its share of things like seizing land and exploiting tenants.

Xu Qing was not surprised by this. In the Dayong Dynasty, all the large temples and monasteries were owned by wealthy local magnates.

Temples have tax exemption privileges, and some people will even voluntarily "deceive" or "bring their fields into the temple" in order to avoid heavy taxes.

Having tasted the benefits, temples would also spend large sums of gold and silver to purchase land; a medium-sized temple might occupy thousands of acres of land.

If it were a "famous scenic spot" like Ruyi Temple or Cizhao Temple, the land it occupied would be far more than ten thousand hectares.

How many people are there in all the temples and monasteries? Even if all the monks and Taoist priests were combined, and even if the abbot and the head of the temple were to work the land together, they still couldn't cultivate all the land.

What should I do?

Of course, the land is rented out to tenant farmers for cultivation, and high rents are collected!
In this way, without paying taxes, the temples could accumulate more and more money and expand their land holdings.

When there weren't enough tenant farmers, they hired ordinary people to cultivate the land. If they encountered people who had no food or land to cultivate, they made them work for free.

Finally, the senior monks in the temple would say something nice: "The Buddha is merciful and has given you food so that you won't starve to death. You should be grateful and work harder to farm to repay the temple."

The Yongzheng Emperor had the most temples of any dynasty. From the reign of Emperor Longping to Emperor Jingxing, the popularity of sacrificial rites further enhanced the status and prestige of temples.

You might ask, doesn't the imperial court feel the sharp decline in tax revenue?
I can sense it, but I can only turn a blind eye and push all the responsibility elsewhere.

As for why, the reason is quite simple: the people standing behind the temples in various places are not ordinary people.

You can mess with temples, but you can't touch the livelihood of important people!

Since the status of temples cannot be shaken, where does the tax revenue come from?

The only way to exploit the poor is to create various pretexts to collect exorbitant taxes and levies.

Xu Qing understood this principle well. After seeing the gold and silver stored in Ruyi Temple and the hundreds of thousands of grains stored there, he realized a truth.

Everyone says that even innocent people like drivers, boatmen, innkeepers, and spies should be killed, but in his view, those big temples and monasteries, the monks who do not engage in production, and the fake monks and Taoists who occupy vast amounts of land and houses should be eradicated!
When people are idle, they have many things to do. These fake monks and Taoists, when they have free time, are openly cannibalizing people!
After plundering Baiyun Daoren's belongings, Xu Qing simply set up an altar in Baiyun Daoren's house to communicate with heaven and earth.

As the saying goes, cause and effect are cyclical, and retribution is inevitable.

Baiyun Daoren enjoyed committing murder and seizing other people's property. Now, he is beheaded and all his property has been given to others, which is exactly what he deserved.

When Xuan Yu saw Xu Qing worshipping heaven and earth, he also lit incense and bowed.

Demons enjoy worshipping gods, hoping to gain their protection. Demons who are about to undergo tribulation are especially devout.

As the saying goes, even last-minute sharpening of a spear can be effective, though not necessarily quick.

Demons are also evolving with the times.

"What is the Immortal Xuanyu seeking?"

Just as Xu Qing was about to use the Immortal Seeking Technique, he turned around and saw the little girl behind him with her hands clasped together, her eyes closed, muttering to herself.

"I am praying for divine protection."

Xuan Yu opened her eyes, glanced at the cloudless sky, and then looked at Xu Qing.

"The demonic energy within me is becoming uncontrollable, Master Xu."

Just as Xuan Yu was about to say something to Xu Qing, a series of chaotic sounds suddenly came from outside Ruyi Temple.

Xu Qing squinted and saw a monk riding a donkey backwards and an abbot wearing a kasaya enter the temple.

Behind them were twelve monks who looked like Arhats. Each of them was full of energy and blood, and they were all martial artists at the Condensation Realm!

Xu Qing watched indifferently. He had been waiting for these monks to come after Baiyun Daoren sent a distress signal to Cizhao Temple using the mother-child Buddhist beads.

However, there had been no movement for a while, and he thought that Baiyun Daoist's magic had failed, but he didn't expect that these monks would only arrive now. Abbot Dingguang had a compassionate look on his face. His gaze swept over the hall, which had become a ruin. Although there was no joy or anger on his face, Xu Qing could hear the suppressed anger in the old monk's voice.

“I am Dingguang, the abbot of Cizhao Temple. Do you know who destroyed Ruyi Temple, and where the abbot of Baiyun Temple is now?”

Xu Qing, who had been expressionless, suddenly grinned and then whispered like a devil, "I was the one who destroyed Ruyi Temple, and I also killed the abbot's younger brother. The fact that the bare-bottomed Zen Master is here now is just in time to hold his own brother's funeral."

These words caused an uproar among the monks.

The fact that the abbot had a younger brother was a very secret within Cizhao Temple. Apart from the elders who knew about it and were in cahoots with Abbot Dingguang, the rest had all turned to dust.

Abbot Dingguang was not angry when he heard Xu Qing's teasing words. He even breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Daoist Baiyun was dead.

Only when he heard Xu Qing expose his relationship with Baiyun Daoren did he truly lose his temper.

"People say that like father, like son, and this is certainly true. Abbot Cizhou has fathered a 'Bare-bottomed Abbot' and a 'White Cloud Taoist.' Now, the 'Bare-bottomed Abbot' has secretly fathered six more children. It can truly be said that the student has surpassed the master."

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "In the future, the position of abbot can be passed on to one's own descendants."

In Baiyun Daoren's memories, Xu Qing learned many secrets, including the scandalous private life of Abbot Dingguang.

Taking advantage of these secrets, Baiyun Daoren extorted money from his elder brother quite often.

Abbot Dingguang was very concerned about his reputation and was afraid that he would one day fall from the throne of "virtuous and eminent monk". That's why he paved the way for Daoist Baiyun and cleaned up his messes everywhere.

Now that Master Baiyun is dead, Abbot Dingguang feels relieved. But when he hears Xu Qing recount all of his shameful deeds, Abbot Dingguang can no longer sit still!
The abbot, who always appeared compassionate in public, now had a ferocious expression, like a demon.

"You have committed countless atrocities and uttered countless lies. Even Buddha himself could not forgive you. Today, this old monk will act on behalf of Heaven to rid you of this evil heretic!"

Xu Qing ignored him and went to Xuan Yu's side. At this moment, Xuan Yu was sitting cross-legged in front of the altar, trembling all over, and his face was frighteningly pale.

"Xu Qing! I can't hold on any longer, you have to go!"

Xu Qing shook his head slightly. With these monks around, they wouldn't let Xuan Yu go. How could he abandon Xuan Yu and leave alone?

"It's alright, Xuan Yu just needs to do her own thing and doesn't need to worry about anything else."

Meanwhile, Abbot Dingguang watched the young man and girl acting as if no one else was around, but the nameless anger in his heart burned even more fiercely.

"Junior Brother Jinghai!"

Beside him, Zen Master Jinghai, whose name had been called, wore a pained expression.

"Senior brother, I am truly unwell today and it is not appropriate for me to break the precepts."

Zen Master Jinghai had no way to express his suffering. Ever since he met Xu Qing a few days ago, his luck had been quite bad.

Now that he saw Xu Qing level Ruyi Temple and kill Baiyun Daoist, how could he not know that he had encountered a master!

The methods he used on Xu Qing's horse clearly had no effect on him. On the contrary, Xu Qing had secretly used some kind of spell to suppress him, causing him to have a series of misfortunes in the past few days, and even making it difficult for him to enter a meditative state.

Xu Qing was somewhat surprised to see that Zen Master Jinghai had come back unharmed. He had left a trace of the aura of the Fetal Obscurity Pearl on the other person. These Fetal Obscurities all came from the Hundred Infant Pagoda in the nunnery.

The babies in the Tower of a Hundred Infants are all vengeful spirits who were strangled by the nuns while still in their mother's womb.

These vengeful spirits died tragically before they were even born, so their resentment is extremely deep, making them arguably the most vicious type of vengeful spirit in the world.

If an ordinary person is tainted by the taint of the taint pearl, they will die suddenly in no time, just like the dead taking away their soul.

Even a cultivator with a century of experience will suffer for a while if they encounter a period of bad luck.

But the Zen Master Jinghai in front of us seemed completely unaffected, which shows how profound this fat monk's spiritual attainments are!

Abbot Dingguang did not agree to Jinghai's request. He had just lost face because of Xu Qing, and now was the time to regain his authority. How could he let Jinghai back down so easily?
Forced into a corner, Zen Master Jinghai had no choice but to dismount the donkey and walk towards Xu Qing while fiddling with his prayer beads and chanting Buddhist scriptures.

Xu Qing calmly watched the fat monk walking towards him.

Since these monks refuse to lay down their butcher's knives, then let them all face judgment!

With each step Jinghai took, one of the prayer beads in his hand emitted a golden glow, and at the same time, the chanting of scriptures from his mouth grew even louder.

As Xu Qing counted his steps, around the sixteenth, the Buddhist beads in Jinghai's hand had already lit up to a great extent. From a distance of about four or five zhang, Xu Qing could clearly feel the magical energy fluctuations emanating from the beads.

These prayer beads pose a great threat to zombies.

However, Xu Qing still did not react at this time. It wasn't until all eighteen Buddhist beads in Jinghai's hand lit up and the surrounding chanting reached its peak that Xu Qing suddenly smiled.

"Your death is imminent, why are you laughing?"

Master Jinghai stopped in his tracks.

Xu Qing shook his head and said nothing.

Zen Master Jinghai suddenly noticed something strange. He looked down at his feet and saw that the ground, which had been bathed in sunlight, had suddenly turned dark for some reason.

He looked up in confusion, and Abbot Dingguang also noticed something was wrong. The two of them looked up at the sky together and discovered that thunderclouds, which covered a distance of more than ten miles, were gathering overhead and pressing down lower and lower.

At one moment, a flash of electricity appeared, and suddenly a rumble of thunder sounded in the sky.

Abbot Dingguang was shocked: "A lightning disaster? Someone is undergoing tribulation!"

Master Jinghai tightened his grip, disregarding his battle with others. He looked behind Xu Qing and saw that the girl in front of the altar was filled with demonic energy. This girl was actually a great demon with five hundred years of cultivation!

Jinghai is currently in the center of the tribulation, closest to the girl, but he has already been targeted by the tribulation.

Whether human or demon, one must never approach the lightning calamity of another, or one will be judged by the Heavenly Dao.

The Great Way is impartial, and Zen Master Jinghai was completely overwhelmed, both shocked and furious.

Madman! What a madman!
In his eyes, Xu Qing was willing to be targeted by the lightning disaster himself in order to protect the girl, which meant he wanted to perish together with her!
But if you had told them in advance, they might have left.

Why insist on a fight to the death?

Zen Master Jinghai nearly went mad.

Some of the monks who had come with them realized something was wrong and turned to flee. However, before they could even step out of the Ruyi Temple grounds, they were instantly struck by a bolt of lightning and reduced to ashes.

As expected, the unlucky pearl was still not as unlucky as him.

Xu Qing sighed softly, no longer paying attention to the monks. He looked up at the sky and smiled with relief.

Thankfully, it was just a dark thunderstorm.

Having already faced the test of divine lightning, Xu Qing now appeared quite calm and composed.

(End of this chapter)