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

Chapter 348 The Legacy of Tushan Village, the Nine-Tailed Fox Inheritance

"Senior sister, how have you been?"

Xu Qing smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

The female Taoist priest said with a hint of reproach, "You came back without saying a word. Don't you consider me your senior sister anymore?"

"How could that be? I'm just tired from the journey and thought I'd rest for a night and get some rest before coming to see my senior sister."

Xu Qing chuckled and walked into the coffin shop.

Smelling the familiar scent of coffin wood, Xu Qing couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly.

This is the taste of home!
If it weren't for Daoist Yizhen behind him, he probably would have already lifted a coffin on the spot, lay down inside, and dozed off for a while to relieve the fatigue of the past ten years.

"I see that my junior brother looks tired. Could it be that he is still worried about the matter of Baiyun Cave?"

Xu Qing asked in surprise, "How does Senior Sister know about the White Cloud Cave?"

Master Yizhen said gently, “During these years of your travels, Xuanyu has been working hard on the affairs of the temple all by herself, and there is no one to confide in. So she can only come to me occasionally to tell me her feelings as her senior sister.”

Suddenly, Master Yizhen smiled and said, "After Junior Brother left, he caused Xuan Yu a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean by that?"

The female Taoist priest stopped and stood in the quiet passageway leading to the backyard, saying, "Xuan Yu is a cat demon. Demons are born with their nature, carefree and unaware of the length of time. Even a year feels like a day."

"But worldly affairs are extremely complicated, and the affairs of the hall are also inextricably linked to worldly affairs. When Xuan Yu is in the midst of it, he will naturally feel that time is slow."

"I remember Xuan Yu telling me five years ago that those five years felt like fifty years, and that he wished he could have met Master Xu sooner."

Xu Qing was stunned. He had always run his business according to human habits and never thought that such habits would be completely contrary to those of demons. He also never expected that Xuan Yu, who always used years and months to record the days, would also experience human senses.

"But junior brother need not worry, Xuan Yu is now accustomed to worldly cultivation."

"This cat has never said any of this to me," Xu Qing muttered to himself.

"Perhaps it's because I don't want you to worry," Master Yizhen pondered.

"."

Xu Qing smiled gently, then gathered her thoughts and looked at the female Taoist priest in front of her, asking, "Senior Sister, how has your cultivation been these past years? Have you found a method to cultivate?"

"."

Master Yizhen lowered his eyes and remained silent. After a moment, he sighed and said, "The Hu Yang clan's lineage relies on Tushan Village. The path my father spoke of lacks supporting evidence. Only by cultivating in the mortal world can one comprehend the Dao of Fate."

"But now, in this turbid and evil world, this mortal world is like a vat of filth, with demons running rampant everywhere. Only in Tianjin can a trace of purity and righteousness remain."

"Over the years, my master has been searching for the reason for the birth of this wisp of pure energy, but unfortunately he has never found a clue."

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, about to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by a rooster's crow.

"Guoga? Guoga! Guoguoguoga!"

While strolling in the backyard, Jinluan spotted Daoist Yizhen chatting with someone in a quiet passageway. At first, Jinluan was unsure of the appearance of the middle-aged man beside the Daoist, but after sensing the subtle connection between the immortals of the Immortal Hall and the sect leader of the Immortal Hall, it confirmed the identity of the middle-aged man in front of it.

They are undoubtedly its providers!
Upon seeing the incredibly robust Jinluan, Xu Qing also sensed something unusual.

"Why is this chicken still in the Cat Fairy Hall?"

"."

Master Yizhen blushed, cleared his throat, and said, "My master has always been reluctant to owe favors. The incense offerings that my junior brother helped Jinluan with his tribulation are something that the Five Elders Temple is temporarily unable to repay. So we have to leave this golden rooster in my junior brother's hall to repay the debt."

Pay off the debt? This chicken is lazy and gluttonous, practically a glutton. His family is small and doesn't even have an employee canteen. How can he afford to support it?

“I remember Jinluan joined the sect three or four years ago. Hasn’t it accumulated enough incense offerings to repay its debts over the years?”

The golden phoenix flapped its wings, held its head high, and looked quite pleased with itself.

Xu Qing heard what the chicken said, and Jin Luan said: "After deducting its food and drink, the incense it earns has already accumulated a huge sum of twenty thousand!"

Xu Qing remained silent.

Twenty thousand is not even a fraction of what other immortals earn in a year.

Xu Qing pressed for details and learned that, with the help of the Sweeping Hall, the foolish chicken had built a Phoenix Hall, which was known among the people as the Chicken Immortal.

For the first month before Jinluan started operating the temple, she didn't care about the amount of incense offerings. She just asked the villagers to catch insects for her as offerings. In return, she would cleanse people of evil spirits and occasionally call back the frightened souls of lost children.

It wasn't until a month later, when Liu Su'e tallied up the performance of each branch, that she discovered Fengxian Hall, which had the lowest number of worshippers.

Even so, it was only because those who had received the favor of the Celestial Hall took the initiative to catch insects for the Golden Phoenix, set up a memorial tablet, and burn incense to make offerings that there was not even a thousand strands of incense.

After discovering the problem, Liu Su'e specifically sought out Xuan Yu to provide special guidance to Fengxian Hall, intending to improve Jin Luan's business capabilities.

These days, who uses insects to worship deities? Steamed buns or fruit offerings are much more convenient than insects.

Not to mention the poisonous miasma and wolves and tigers that can be seen everywhere in the mountains, even if there are insects in front of people, some people are naturally afraid and dare not catch them, let alone offer them as a sacrifice.

The key point is that this stupid chicken is also very principled; it only helps catch insects for itself and only to people who live close to the Golden Chicken Mountain Hall.

It's not willing to go if it's too far away.

You might say it's lazy and gluttonous, but it's actually quite diligent. It'll work as long as you catch bugs for it. But if you say it's hardworking...
No other deity in any temple is as picky about food as it is!

In the end, it was Master Yizhen who heard the news and gave Xuanyu a suggestion: replace the insects offered with rice grains. If the family was too poor to have rice grains, then use small stones instead.

After all, everyone in the chicken farming industry knows that chickens need to eat small stones to aid digestion.

The golden luan has gotten so fat; it would be good for it to aid digestion.

Logically speaking, with Master Yizhen and Saotang working together to supervise, the incense offerings Jinluan owed should have been paid off by now.

But as luck would have it, this silly chicken's Golden Chicken Mountain is quite close to Monkey Mountain, the two are right next to each other.

Monkeys are so clever!
Chickens and monkeys see each other all the time. When the monkeys heard that Jinluan loved to eat insects, they said, "That's easy! You give the incense you earn to our temple, and we monkeys all over the mountains will help you catch insects."

As long as there's enough incense, they'll even save the lice on the mother monkeys for you.

Who is Jinluan? A food-eating creature that can't resist insects.

The two branch halls hit it off immediately, and from then on, Jinluan used most of the monthly incense offerings to satisfy her own appetite.

Over the course of three years, Fengxiantang earned a considerable amount of incense offerings for the main branch, but the chicken itself didn't save much in salary.

Seeing that the golden phoenix weighed over two hundred pounds and was even larger than the burrowing bird of Cengba Kingdom, Xu Qing was completely speechless.

Beside him, Daoist Yizhen sighed, "After Jinluan survived the calamity, for some reason, she comprehended the method of Qiankun Navigation." "In her early years, Master often had Jinluan listen to scriptures and comprehend the Dao, so that it could awaken its bloodline power in the future and possess the supernatural ability to purify a region of filth."

"Who would have thought that so many years of hard work would end up with such a bizarre and unorthodox supernatural power that can devour the heavens and earth and store the universe within it."

"."

Xu Qing observes his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose.

He wasn't sure if Jinluan had awakened her supernatural ability of eating widely because she had been starving with him in the Yin River for so long.

Who would have thought that this chicken, because of one big meal, would actually live frugally for so many years?
Xu Qing felt that this matter had nothing to do with him.

"Speaking of which, I must thank you, Junior Brother. Without your meticulous care, it would have been a long time before this spirit bird could break free of its shackles and realize its true nature."

"Golden Phoenix, the true self?"

Xu Qing looked at the rooster with its foolish yet clear eyes. Could this rooster really comprehend the Dao?

Master Yizhen nodded and said, "Perhaps it was its destiny. After devouring many evil things, it found its own path of specialization."

Xu Qing recalled the Gu worms cultivated by the Yin Shi Fa Wang. Some of them were born demon spirits, and their cultivation was truly outrageous. They could eat and drink without thinking about anything else, and somehow they could still comprehend the way of life.

“If you have any magical artifacts or treasures that have been tainted by filth, you can put them into the Golden Phoenix Pouch. The filth will disappear on its own in no time.”

Xu Qing shook his head. This function might have miraculous effects on cultivators who uphold the righteous path, but it had no practical value for him, a zombie who was evil beyond measure.

Upon arriving at the backyard, Abbot Jingxu was playing chess with Sister Tao, looking deeply troubled.

At this moment, Tao Sanmei couldn't wait to end the game. This Yuan Shen Zhenren was shameless, targeting her like a thorn in his side!

Wasn't it just that a couple of years ago, when the Emperor of Dayong ordered an assassination attempt, a certain gossipy old woman couldn't resist consulting the oracle, which resulted in her incurring the wrath of the emperor and incurring a great debt of incense offerings?
It's no big deal. Just work for the temple for a few years and you'll pay it off.
How could he be so petty, always bullying her, a younger generation?

"The sect leader has returned!"

Upon seeing Xu Qing, Peach Sister felt as if she had been granted a pardon and ran behind the sect leader, enveloped in the fragrance of peach blossoms.

Furthermore, the trunk of the peach tree itself has straightened up considerably, as if it has found a strong backer.

The abbot of Jingxu Temple snorted coldly, ignoring Xu Qing, and instead said meaningfully, "The falling flowers are willing, but the flowing water is heartless. Some people may have been thinking about you for more than ten years, but they may not even remember you."

"Look, it's almost past noon."

Xu Qing ignored the old woman's sarcastic remarks and, following proper etiquette, bowed and greeted her:

"It's been many years, but the old abbot seems to be in even better spirits than before."

The abbot of Jingxu Temple finally looked up at Xu Qing.

Although she was a primordial spirit, she did not have a physical body. Over time, even with deliberate avoidance, she was still affected by the evil world and dared not use her magic and supernatural powers at will.

During the years she lived in Jingxia Street, her spirit body became increasingly clear and ethereal, and she could even walk freely in Tianjin without entering the box.

She sensed that this anomaly was related to a wisp of pure energy that had been born in Tianjin, but no matter how hard she searched, she could not find the source of that pure energy.

It couldn't possibly be in the Jingxia Street, where monsters roam.
In the eyes of the abbot of Jingxu Temple, these immortals and demons were able to uphold their original intentions and persist in righteous cultivation because they were influenced by this pure and righteous energy.

If anyone were to say that this ethereal and aloof spirit originated in Jingxia Street, the abbot of Jingxu Temple would absolutely not believe it.

Looking at Xu Qing, whose cultivation was as deep as a still pool, without a trace of ripples, the old woman couldn't help but frown.

You have to understand that ordinary people can't see the changes in her, so this kid can't possibly be a Nascent Soul cultivator as well.
Shaking her head, Abbot Jingxu dismissed that impossible doubt. This young man who had been traveling for ten years and had not returned was probably just saying a compliment. How could he possibly have noticed her changes?

"Stop flattering me. I owe your temple a debt of gratitude, and I will repay it in full sooner or later."

When the old woman spoke of repaying the debt, her tone noticeably softened. The old abbot suddenly realized that if the debt was repaid, wouldn't he have to leave Jingxia Street and return to the Five Elders Temple?

This feels like it's better to owe someone a favor.
The abbot of Jingxu Temple was itching to do something; otherwise, he might consult the oracle another day.
Xu Qing had no idea what this reclusive old lady was thinking; he hadn't come here to care for an elderly person.

After exchanging greetings with Tao Sanmei and the old Taoist priest, Xu Qing led Daoist Yizhen into the side room, closing the door tightly and bolting it. He also had his senior sister set up an array to prevent outsiders from probing.

The abbess of Jingxu Temple frowned, walked back and forth at the entrance, feeling that something was not quite right. But based on her understanding of her disciple and the blazing sun overhead, she could tell that something was amiss.

In broad daylight, the two of them wouldn't do anything outrageous.

Tao Sanmei stared intently at the door of the side room, her mind a mystery.

Inside the house, Daoist Yizhen followed Xu Qing's instructions and arranged all kinds of formations without asking any questions.

The female Taoist priest still remembered her father Hu Baosong's instructions—you can listen to Xu Qing's words, but you can't believe them.

Master Yizhen felt that listening to her junior brother was the right thing to do, and even felt that her junior brother's words were not entirely untrustworthy.

After all, besides her master, she only had this cheap junior brother left to her by Hu Baosong. If she didn't believe what her junior brother said, she could basically cut off her path of cultivation in the future.

The fox cultivated her spiritual path through affinity; if she didn't take this path, she truly wouldn't know where to go from here.

"Junior brother, just say what you have to say. Your senior sister will definitely believe you!"

Xu Qing blinked. He hadn't even said anything yet, so why was he already making his stance clear?

Xu Qing didn't pay any attention. After pondering for a moment, he took out a pile of treasures from the Tushan Collection, which were radiant with precious light, from the landscape map.

Foxlight Mirror, Moon Worship Banner, Twin Swords with Threads, Yu the King's Zither, Illusion Moon Pearl
Master Yizhen sensed a faint connection between those treasures and his own bloodline, and exclaimed in shock:
"Where did you get these things, Junior Brother?"

Aside from digging up the ancestral graves of the Hu Yang family, Master Yizhen couldn't think of any other possibility.

Xu Qing coughed lightly and said, "When the Great Yong Dynasty was about to fall, various forces fought along the Yinhe Ancient Road. I was hiding everywhere and accidentally entered a Tushanji site, where I obtained some of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan's legacy."

"I don't need these things, so I can bring them back for my senior sister to use."

"The Tushanji Ruins?" Master Yizhen's furrowed brows relaxed.

But when Xu Qing imparted the complete lineage of the Populus euphratica family, Daoist Yizhen fell completely silent.

"You really didn't go to the Populus euphratica ancient tombs?"

"I didn't go. What would I do there?"

"Did this really come from the Tushanji site?"

"of course!"

"."

It seems that my father's dying words were correct; I cannot completely trust what Junior Brother Xu said.

(End of this chapter)