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

Chapter 440 The iron ship knocks at the gate, and a hundred ghosts travel by day

Ganzhou and Yunzhou are located on the border.

Yunzhou is rich in chalcedony and is a distant land of jade. The people of Ganzhou have lived together with the "Yangyue" barbarians for many years. Therefore, the two prefectures have been known as the land of the southern barbarians since ancient times.

When Xu Qing traveled between the two prefectures, he inevitably had to pass through the Lingnan region. But just above the clouds, he saw red vapor rising from Fuzhou and Fanzhou, like flames scorching the sky.

Aside from the unusual celestial phenomena, Xu Qing used geomancy to survey the geomantic energy of Lingnan. He observed that the mountains and rivers were gloomy and lifeless, filled with accumulated yin energy and dark, murky miasma.

These auras lingered, and even from a distance, Xu Qing could feel the chilling despair.

"The aura of imprisonment and slaughter brings calamity and warfare."

Funeral oration texts state: "Evil energy, like a shroud of smoke, encroaches upon the earth's boundaries; this is a sign of the leakage of murderous energy. Soon, war and calamity will surely result, leaving millions of corpses!"
At that time, Xu Qing was burdened with the heavy responsibility of supporting the two states and had no time to attend to other matters. Now that the affairs of the two states were settled, he once again came to the skies above Lingnan.

However, at this moment he saw a white light like a sharp blade in the west, sharp and menacing!

Beside him, Venerable Fuluan, who had come with Xu Qing to investigate, frowned and said, "The white mist is like swords and blades, full of murderous intent. Could it be that a battle is about to break out nearby?"

Xu Qing said with a solemn expression, "This is probably no ordinary battle. Look at the sky."

Following Xu Qing's gaze, Master Fu Luan indeed saw that Mars had lost its luster and was emitting a scarlet light.

As the two were observing, they suddenly heard the sound of surging waves again. Xu Qing looked down and saw that the mountains in the distance were broken, and a torrent of malevolent energy was breaking through the paper-thin earth veins and rushing straight towards the heart of the capital region.

"The earth's veins are out of balance, the five elements are in conflict, and the mortal king has lost his virtue. It seems that the leader and I will have to live for another day."

Xu Qing glanced at the smiling Master Fu Luan, who seemed completely unaware of the seriousness of the problem, and couldn't help but remind him:
"First, broaden your perspective and look at the distant coastline."

Master Fuluan didn't take it seriously, but when his gaze traveled thousands of miles to the coastline, he discovered that thousands of Western iron ships had already approached the territory of the Great Yan Kingdom. Those foreigners traveled along the sea route from south to north as if they were in an empty land, heading straight for the Beijing-Tianjin area.

"Is this... a bandit raiding the pass?"

Master Fuluan looked on incredulously.

Xu Qing's heart stirred slightly, and he asked, "You know about this?"

Master Fulan nodded and said:
"Two thousand years ago, there was a female fortune teller named Xu Fu. When she was born, she held a Three-Life Gemstone in her hand and the room was filled with fragrance. The founding emperor believed that this was an auspicious omen for the Qin Dynasty to unify the world, so he took good care of Xu Fu's family."

"When the founding emperor was nearing his end, he ordered Xu Fu to come to the capital for a consultation, but Xu Fu pretended to be sick and did not come out. He left behind only a prophecy, saying that the dynasty's fortune was about to run out and it would soon perish. He also claimed that two thousand years later, a thief star would come in an iron ship to raid the pass, and even a powerful country would suffer the humiliation of being forced to crawl between someone's legs. Even if the country lost its territory, it would be difficult to recover it in a short time."

"No one believed this prophecy at first. In the eyes of the Qin people, wooden boats could float, but iron boats would sink as soon as they entered the water. How could they possibly carry out the act of raiding the pass?"

"However, after the First Emperor died in Shaqiu, Xu Fu's first prophecy came true."

Master Fuluan sighed, "When I heard news of her for the second time, Xu Fu had already gone to assist Emperor Gaozu and was later granted the title of 'Marquis of Mingci Pavilion' by Emperor Gaozu."

"It was around that time that Xu Fu changed his name to Xu Mofu."

"Xu Mofu?" Xu Qingming was hearing this name for the first time, but for some reason, he felt a strange feeling in his heart that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

What happened to that female fortune teller afterward?

Master Fuluan pondered and said, "She once predicted that Bo Ji would give birth to the dragon son of Emperor Wen, and she also read Zhou Yafu's fortune, predicting that he would be a general for nine years and a prime minister for eight years, but would eventually die of hunger."

"Later, Zhou Yafu indeed quelled the Rebellion of the Seven States and rose to the position of prime minister, but he was eventually imprisoned for his crimes and died after starving himself and vomiting blood."

"It was precisely because of her extraordinary mathematical abilities that Emperor Gaozu was inevitably wary of her. In order to dispel the emperor's concerns, Xu Mofu married someone and had a child. Later, Xu Mofu sensed the complex situation and thus withdrew from public life. After passing on the secrets of physiognomy to her descendants, she went into seclusion and disappeared from the world."

"However, there is one thing that is not known to the world."

Master Fuluan smiled mysteriously and said, "Xu Mofu's husband was just a paper doll to fool the emperor, and the child she gave birth to was just her disciple."

"Master, can you guess what the background of Xu Mofu's disciple is?"

Xu Qing glanced sideways at the Nuo Immortal in front of him. The last one he often had to guess was Hu Baosong from the coffin shop.

Now, the grass on the other party's grave is already two feet tall!
"cough!"

Master Fuluan felt inexplicably uneasy under Xu Qing's gaze, and he quickly replied, "Xu Mofu's disciple is a weasel spirit. The most skilled divination beings in the mortal world are either foxes, weasels, or burrow rats."

"After Xu Mofu went into seclusion, the weasel also disappeared, leaving behind only a mediocre disciple who traveled around as a wandering knight."

Xu Qing suddenly asked, "What does Xu Mofu look like? Conjuring up his appearance so I can see him."

"What's so difficult about that? Since the leader is interested, I'll gladly oblige."

Master Fuluan chuckled and was about to perform a magic trick when he suddenly looked bewildered and asked, "What did she look like again?"

"."

Xu Qing's face instantly darkened. Are you kidding me?!

Master Fulan exclaimed in alarm, "Strange! I clearly saw her before, but why can't I remember her at all?"

Seeing that the other party's expression didn't seem to be faking it, Xu Qing compromised and said, "You must have some impression of her figure, whether she's beautiful or ugly, right?"

"Xu Mofu is a woman."

After pondering for a long time, Master Fuluan finally gave this answer.

"."

nonsense!

Seeing that he couldn't get any useful information, Xu Qing simply put aside the matter of such a strange person appearing in the long river of history.

The most important thing right now is dealing with foreigners trying to enter the country.

Xu Qing said, “Our Central Plains never actively invade others, but those Western barbarians often love to kill and plunder. If we allow these thieving stars to enter the pass, I don’t know how long it will take for our land to recover.”

Master Fuluan frowned and said, “Master, we who are outside the secular world must not meddle in worldly disputes, especially wars. If we do, not only will we be condemned by the laws of Heaven, but we also risk damaging our virtue and incurring karmic retribution.”

Xu Qing chuckled and said, "Karmic fire? Let me ask you, what kind of world is this?"

"This is an age of great calamity!"

Before the Nuo Immortal could answer, Xu Qing said directly, "Cultivators endure the three calamities of thunder, fire, and wind, which are the tribulations of heaven and earth. Now, with the great calamity approaching, the common people of the world are also facing the three minor calamities: war, plague, and famine."

"These three calamities should not have happened, but they were caused by the influence of the calamity, which stirred up the calamity energy and brought about all kinds of disasters."

"When calamity strikes, turbid energy arises, people's hearts become rebellious, war breaks out everywhere, even family members kill each other, leading to violence. If there were no calamity, do you think there wouldn't be a calamity of war before us?"

Xu Qing continued, "The Buddha said, 'Form, existence, decay, and emptiness.' Today, the path to heaven is cut off, and we are already at the end of the existence kalpa."

“If we stand aside and allow the three calamities to occur, human lifespan will be reduced to thirty years in an instant; when famine strikes, we will suffer the calamity of the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year. At that time, there will be no grass in the fields and the roads will be filled with starving corpses.”

"At that time, when people live to be twenty, plagues will break out, evil spirits will roam the daytime, and nine out of ten houses will be empty."

"Within two hundred years, human lifespan will be reduced to ten, and war will break out all over the world. In just seven days, all vegetation will turn to ashes, and all living beings in the world will be slaughtered!"

The lifespan that Xu Qing spoke of was not the lifespan of one person, but the average lifespan of all people.

Once war breaks out, the average lifespan of people will inevitably plummet.

Two hundred years is the final deadline, and it is also an era that Xu Qing has never experienced before.

Now, the calamity has arrived, but people cannot see the crisis two hundred years from now. As the leader of the Great Luo Sect and someone who has seen the future, he cannot allow the calamity to unfold unchecked.

"Xu Junfang, today's crisis is not merely a tribulation for us cultivators, but a calamity for all living beings, a test from beyond the Great Dao. If we can overcome it, we will both reap good rewards; but if we fail..."

"As long as the calamity is not overcome, the Heavenly Path will never open. Forget about attaining enlightenment, it will be difficult for you and me to even escape the killing calamity during the tribulation!"

Most of what Xu Qing said was sincere; the only mistake he made was in the matter of killing.

The killing calamity only targets the living. Once, a celestial maiden experienced the killing calamity and died, transforming into the demon Nüba. After that, Nüba was no longer afraid of the killing calamity.

Because Nüba is already in a state of death, and the dead will never be targeted by a killing calamity.

As a zombie, Xu Qing is not afraid of the world-ending calamity at the end of the current era.

But now he can no longer stand by and watch people head towards their doom.

The cat at the mortuary, the fox at the coffin shop, the female ghost at the Shuimen Bridge villa, and the vivid disciples of the three religions.

Xu Qing is no longer the solitary corpse driver he once was. Now he has a large family and business, and his entanglements with the secular world are becoming increasingly deep.

It can be said that, apart from his zombie body, the three religions are his greatest reliance and wealth.

Now, someone wants to seize his wealth. Do you think he can agree to that?
"Master."

Seeing that Venerable Fuluan still hesitated, Xu Qing frowned and immediately shouted, "Now that the great sect is established, you are destined to go through tribulations before you can achieve anything. You only think that you lost half your life when you presided over the great formation back then, but have you ever thought that that was your future tribulation!" "Two thousand years ago you were afraid of this and that. Now that the road ahead is blocked and there is only one path left to take, what are you still hesitating about?"

Xu Qing was disappointed in him, saying that if the calamity were to pass and the Heavenly Road were to reopen, then he would definitely have to see how much good karma he had accumulated.

This good deed is not simply about doing good deeds, but about making contributions to averting calamities.

At that time, those with high merit will rise, and those with low merit will fall.

Sects like their Great Luo Sect, which do not follow the usual path, are destined to need a great deal of good deeds to make up for their mistakes.

In this way, even if they fall out with the gods of the upper realm, they will have a legitimate reason to act. At worst, they can just open up their own immortal mountain, just like Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou.

As the leader of the three religions, Xu Qing's thoughts were far more far-reaching than those of his disciples.

He is a pillar of support for everyone. Since he is a mountain, he must be tall and able to see dangers and opportunities that others cannot see!
In addition to this, he also has the responsibility of guiding his disciples, pointing them out when necessary so that they are not misled by karmic obstacles.

After a few words, Master Fuluan broke out in a cold sweat.

"Master, it's me."

Xu Qing waved his hand and said, "These things shouldn't be discussed outsiders. Just like the matter of presiding over the grand formation, it was originally your own choice."

“I won’t tell you what the benefits will be, nor will I mention the costs, but since you’ve chosen to trust me, I will do everything in my power to make your journey less arduous.”

Master Fuluan bowed deeply, but said nothing more.

At the mouth of the Tianjin-Gukou Sea, amidst the vast expanse of misty waters, the massive outline of a ferocious iron beast emerges.

In the capital, Zhu Jian, the fifth emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, was still completely unaware of the situation.

Of course, even knowing that foreign warships were at his doorstep, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Because at this moment, outside the imperial city, the remnants of the Yongzheng Emperor, who had been bribed by the American and Nigerian people and turned into traitors, had already opened the gates of the Celestial Empire.

At this time, the Duke of Zhenguo had been dead for many years, and most of the ministers in the court were incompetent and idle. The entire Da Yan seemed to truly live up to the saying "wealth does not last three generations".

Zhu Jian was the fifth emperor of the Zhu family's dynasty.

Xu Qing had repeatedly warned them against using the Hibiscus Cream in Da Yan, and this became the final straw that broke the camel's back for the Zhu family.

Those officials who suggested to Zhu Jian that the use of hibiscus ointment be permitted and not be considered a crime, thus allowing him to still participate in the imperial examinations, were actually the biggest users behind the Great Yan dynasty and the beneficiaries of the hibiscus ointment's profits.

Their foolish descendants have long been infiltrated, and some officials have even turned their homes into opium dens, living a life of debauchery and decadence.

Zhu Qian neglected state affairs and became a monk. Zhu Jian, who was not intelligent, forgot his ancestors' admonitions and listened to the slander of treacherous officials, causing turmoil in the country.

Now, foreigners are knocking on the gates, and remnants of the Yongzheng Emperor are besieging the capital. It seems as if the whole world will be plunged into war at any moment.

However, at the critical moment, paper figures scattering paper money suddenly appeared on the Tianjin-Gucheng coastline.

Thick white fog suddenly filled countless streets throughout Tianjin. Some people opened their doors and saw shadowy figures in white moving through the fog.

Those people were taller than the walls, and when they walked, each step took three zhang (approximately 10 meters). Even though it was May, everyone could hear the howling wind through the door.

Like the biting cold of midwinter, it's even more like a chilling, bone-chilling wind!
On the coastline, a bearded foreigner raised his monocular telescope and gave the order: "The weather has changed. Temporarily halt the plan and maintain the garrison."

Beside him, a Western astrologer wearing a pocket watch asked in confusion, "The stars indicate that the next two weeks will be sunny, so why did fog appear just as we were about to set off?"

"Ha! Who knows? Mr. Miller, why don't you go back to your cabin first? I'll have the soldiers prepare some fine wine from Jerusalem, and we'll wait until the weather clears up."

Before the bearded foreigner could finish speaking, a shower of white paper money fell on his head.

After removing the round paper money with a hole in the center, the bearded foreigner asked in confusion, "What is this?"

Beside him, the astrologer frowned and said, "Before I set off with the ship, I specifically learned about Eastern mysticism. This should be the paper money they burn for the dead, just like the flowers we give to the deceased."

"."

Paper money for the dead is considered unlucky no matter where it's placed.

But the bearded foreigner who commanded the fleet didn't care. In front of their ship's cannons, even the most expensive paper money would turn to ashes!
As if in response to his idea, the next moment large amounts of paper money began to fall over the entire fleet.

On the coast, a cold wind howled, and the surrounding temperature dropped visibly. The bearded foreigner exhaled white breath, and even though he had absolute confidence in his own ship's cannons, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The telescope looked towards the coast again, and this time it finally saw what existed in the mist.

Those were paper figures of straw spirits, wearing veils and clearly exhibiting characteristics of Eastern horror!

The bearded foreigner didn't believe in superstitions and thought they were just some fancy but useless gadgets.

"fire!"

At a single command, destroyers, cruisers, and gunboats began operations almost simultaneously.

However, it had no effect whatsoever.

In front of the paper figure funeral procession, a Nuo immortal carrying a sword box uses his magical powers to move a mountain to the coast.

Naval cannons can shake a city, but they can't penetrate an entire mountain.

Above the clouds, Xu Qing looked at the Western Pope who had suddenly appeared before him and finally grinned.

The Pope frowned as he looked at Xu Qing, whose expression was strange, and said, "Why are you stopping my believers from coming to teach and give alms?"

"Teaching and giving alms? Our Eastern civilization has existed for ten thousand years, while yours has only existed for a few years. Who is teaching and enlightening whom?"

The Pope's face instantly darkened, and he reminded him again, "Those who have come to preach are saints of my church, not me personally. If you try to stop them, you are committing a taboo!"

Xu Qing coldly observed and said, "Who said I made a move? That Nuo Immortal is also a follower of my Great Luo Sect. Followers treat each other fairly!"

"You just stand here and watch! Whoever can't resist making a move first is a coward!"

"."

How could the Pope possibly tolerate this?
He then raised the Holy Grail in his hand, wanting to stop the 'evil deeds' of the Fuluan Master.

Seeing this, Xu Qing grinned and instantly raised the Shouyang Great Axe that he had been waiting for.

"I will not attack unless attacked."

“My territory has never been obtained by invading others, but whenever someone invades my territory, it causes my territory to expand.”

Xu Qing raised his axe and brought it down. The Western Pope stared wide-eyed at the power that should not belong to the mortal world, and was finally awakened to the fear hidden deep in his heart.

He really shouldn't have touched that sleeping lion.

The highest point of Jingshan Hill in Beijing.

Looking down over the entire imperial city, Zhu Jian felt a sense of relief, in addition to regret.

From the late emperors to the prosperous Tiande era, the three exceptionally wise and ambitious ancestors of the Zhu family have done their utmost.

After three generations, the Zhu family, favored by heaven and extremely fortunate, finally became mediocre.

If it were five hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago, he might have been able to remain a ruler who maintained the status quo, but now...
Zhu Jian was momentarily confused, but then his gaze gradually hardened as he said, "The emperor guards the nation's gates, and the monarch dies for the state. Although I may not be a sage ruler, I can certainly be the monarch of my Zhu family!"

After saying this, Zhu Jian had the only personal guard who was with him tie the noose, and then he was about to follow the late emperor in death.

However, at that very moment...

A figure stepped over the obstacles of the chaotic army in the imperial city and went straight to Jingshan Hill.

Xu Qing looked at the chubby boy who had just put the rope around his neck, and it seemed as if she was seeing Zhu Huai'an from the past again.

“I was an old friend of your great-grandfather. I can help you leave alive.”

Zhu Jian was visibly taken aback when he saw Xu Qing descending from the sky and heard what the other person said. Then he suddenly remembered something.

It turns out that what my grandfather said was true; the Zhu family really did know immortals!
Zhu Jian gave a pale smile. Instead of squandering this old affection on himself, he spoke:

"Only by dying here can I be worthy of my ancestors and find liberation."

"If you wish to save them, sir, please save the rest of my Zhu family's descendants. Zhu Jian will be eternally grateful!"

"If there is an afterlife, my Zhu family will repay your great kindness once again!"

(End of this chapter)