The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 115 Hearing Familiar Sounds, My Heart Yearns to Return

The encirclement and suppression by the Hunyuan Immortal Sect finally ended in failure. The man-eating "Celestial Venerable" was not only not seriously injured, but also obtained the true essence of Tai Sui while cutting off his tail to survive.

What can be done about fate?
However, the fact that the Tai Sui Yin Shen fled to the North Sea can be considered as having accomplished half of its goal of protecting the nations.

Thirty-six Yellow Turban warriors entered the sea, retrieved the Yin-Yang Yuan Magnetic Divine Mountain, and slowly carried it back to the continental side.

The various Hunyuan Daoists remained silent in the arena, but all seemed to maintain a certain distance from Li Qing!

It's no wonder they were panicked; this person's methods were truly terrifying. The indiscriminate attack on everyone's forbidden ghost artifacts, the densely packed ghost hair, still left them with lingering fear. The gaze cast down from the Netherworld was even more terrifying...

“Li Jun, you are indeed frightening. No wonder when you were still in the Qi Refining stage, when villains were targeting you, they only dared to trick you into coming to the outer sea, where you were lost and had nowhere to go.”

Pei Jiu looked around at the many wandering knights and gave Li Qing a thumbs up.

"Given this situation, who would dare to use force? I wouldn't dare either!"

Pei Daoren's words drew gasps of amazement and agreement from the crowd, who all approached him.

For these wandering knights, ghosts and gods were too far removed from their lives. Even the paper shamans and faceless shamans under Li Jun's command were not considered anything of the mortal world by them, and there was nothing to fear about them anymore.

Even more shameless individuals stepped forward, cupped their hands, and bowed with laughter, saying:

"Lord Li was originally the son of Emperor Gaozong, and we owe you countless lives."

"If you ever encounter any difficult tasks in the future, remember to inform us brothers. It would be best if you could offer some reward money, but if not, we are still willing to die for Lord Li!"

Those wandering knights, who were joking and laughing at the first half of their sentence, suddenly knelt down on the ground with a thud, making it impossible to tell which of their words were sincere and which were just jokes.

Seeing this, the two Taoist priests, Pei and Guan, were not annoyed, but instead praised them highly.

This is the spirit of the chivalrous wanderers of the South: a slight disregard for hierarchy and social status, perhaps a touch of crudeness and greed, but always placing gratitude and loyalty above all else. Coupled with their practice of retaining and supporting scholars, they are truly welcomed by various immortal sects, unorthodox sects, and even independent cultivators from clans.

Moreover, they owed Li Qing several life-saving favors, and this debt of gratitude could, in a sense, become a basis for their promotion!
As for the Daoist priests, they were even happier to see some of their sons be noticed by Lord Li and brought back to their clans or sects to serve.

Everyone was still just putting on a show, and they were about to put down the Hunyuan Daoist and head to the abbot's quarters...

Suddenly, several powerful auras descended from the sky, directly blocking the Flying Swallow Dharma Boat.

A flowing cloud-like sleeve descended from above, stabilizing the void and causing the ten miles of smoke and clouds to swirl. In the next instant, the entire Dharma boat was captured by the abbot-level figure on the cloud platform.

Of course, the process was not too weak. The entire process of the Flowing Cloud Sleeve Technique capturing the flying boat was quite uniform, and there were no violent fluctuations in the energy!

After about ten breaths, the Flying Swallow Dharma Boat finally stopped at a corner of the Cloud Platform. On one side of the Cloud Platform Dharma Altar, the four Taoists, all of whom were at the Purple Mansion Upper Foundation level or above, turned their gazes toward Li Qing.

"May I ask which immortal mountain you are, fellow Daoist? Would you please come in and have a chat?"

Among them, a Taoist priest with flowing sleeves, resembling a narcissus, invited Li Qing in a clear voice. With a flick of his finger, a cloud ladder immediately rose in the sky, with cloud steps extending to the feet of Li Qing and the other Taoist priests.

Li Qing did not refuse and slowly descended the cloud ladder.

He truly hadn't expected the battle between the two Yin Gods to end so quickly; he had originally thought that the Tai Sui Yin God was only slightly inferior.

The Immortal Sect's True Man, with his divine thunder and forbidden suppression, and the Grand Duke of Jupiter, with his Yin God carrying a mountain to his aid—shouldn't this have been a fierce battle? Why did it end so hastily?

Although the final outcome of the battle could not be clearly determined, this result should not be too bad!

Descending the cloud ladder step by step, Li Qing landed before the various Daoists of Hunyuan and bowed to them.

"Greetings to all the venerable immortals of the Immortal Sect!"

"This humble Taoist priest... Tiannan-Liqing."

“Donghai Pei Jiu/Guan Yunzhong”.

The various figures exchanged glances, and the next moment, their gazes returned to Li Qing.

Tiannan seems to be a newly established prefecture, but there are no Six Heavens clans there, are there?

They had clearly sensed those two terrifying ghostly figures that flashed by, and the ghostly hand that finally descended to the mortal world to clean up the mess was also a ghost god who had reached the pinnacle of daytime travel.

Moreover, the path of ghosts and gods takes much longer to reach the same level as the path of immortals, and it is difficult for any ghost and god clan that has existed for more than a thousand years to support such a person.

The four Daoist masters of the Purple Mansion frowned in thought. When they saw the Taiyi Dao's True Cloud Robe on Li Qing's body, they became even more suspicious that he might be lying.

"Tiannan? You mean that Taoist temple in Tiannan?"

On the distant sacred mountain, the female Taoist priest stepped onto the cloud platform and walked towards Li Qing with a puzzled expression, pondering as she went.

"Oh right, that rough man just now said you were tricked into going overseas years ago?"

"About two years ago, it was rumored that the Venerable Yin of the Southern Kingdom overturned half of a mountain of bones because of a matter concerning his disciples. Was it because of you?"

The female Taoist priestess slowly approached from behind Li Qing, and in just a few words, she managed to analyze Li Qing's background and connections with Tiannan Temple.

When the female Taoist priest came within two feet of him, Li Qing felt a slight sense of unease and looked up to meet her gaze. He saw that the female Taoist priest's face had lost all the fierceness from the battle just now. Her jade-like face was like a friendly neighbor's plum blossom, making people feel close and fond of her at first sight.

"Hey! You little Taoist priest, you're overstepping your bounds!"

"Put away that pretentious air of your Jiangnan gentry."

Upon seeing the shimmering light in the Taoist priest's eyes and the aloof, scholarly air he exuded in his every move, the female Taoist priest immediately raised her hand to stop Li Qing from answering and quickly distanced herself, taking two steps back in disdain.

If she wasn't mistaken, the relationship between the female ghost and the Taoist priest was extraordinary; their auras were intertwined.

When things don't go smoothly, she says "Good sister, please help me"—what a touching display of affection!

Even the female ghosts in the Netherworld are seduced like this, so this Taoist priest is definitely not a good person!

This sudden rejection left Li Qing completely bewildered.

No, why are you so disgusted when you come closer to ask me questions?
This female Taoist priest reminded Li Qing of Bai Qingye, the capricious head of the outer courtyard in Lin Yuan Mountain! The two were practically identical.

However, upon hearing that Yin Zu had started a war with the White Bone Sect, Li Qing's eyelids twitched immediately.

White Bone Mountain, White Bone Mountain again. Just mentioning White Bone Mountain made his spine itch, and he immediately felt a surge of resentment.

But soon, Li Qing suppressed the fierce glint in his eyes, straightened up, and bowed to the female Taoist priest, asking:

"What you say is true. You are from Tiannan Temple on Linyuan Mountain. However, I wonder how the conflict between Tiannan and the White Bone Path ended?"

The White Bone Path has two Yin spirits, while the Tiannan Temple only has Ancestor Yin. I've heard that Ancestor Yin is not far from passing away, could it be...?

Li Qing really didn't know much about the Yin Gods, and thought that, like the Purple Mansion, it was determined entirely by quantity.

"How else can this end? Do you think the White Bone Path can defeat your Yin Ancestor?"

The female Taoist priest glanced at the Taoist priest with annoyance, took the whisk from the boy who had quickly come over from the side, fiddled with the whisk a few times, and then turned to ask the question again.

"By the way, young Taoist, what have you been doing overseas for the past year or two?"

"You should go to Fangzhang Immortal Continent and make a jade talisman record, so that you won't cause trouble here overseas."

After saying this, the female Taoist priest pointed at Li Qing with one finger, while reminding the several altar masters behind her.

This Taoist is not a mere cultivator of the Purple Mansion level in the open. He carries a cursed weapon and is protected by ghosts and gods of the Netherworld. When he unleashes his power without restraint, who below the level of Yin God can control him? The elders in charge of the area are likely to have another headache.

Moreover, judging from his actions of daring to seize the treasure while the two Yin Gods were locked in a fierce battle, he is probably another troublemaking wolf cub!

The many altar masters were startled and responded in unison, becoming even more wary of this seemingly aloof Taoist.

"Isn't that unnecessary? My friends and I are on our way to the Beast Taming Immortal Sect, and we will soon be returning to the Southern Kingdom on the sect's Beast Ferry."

Having wandered for over a year in these more than 300,000 miles away, and now suddenly hearing about the conflict between Tiannan Temple and Baigudao after his disappearance, Li Qing felt uneasy.

At this moment, his desire to return home has never been stronger!

When the Yin Shen Zhenren asked questions, not only Pei Jiu and his group, but even the altar masters dared not interrupt. They waited for Li Qing and the female Taoist priest to exchange answers several times before the Taoist priest finally lost interest in this person.

He turned and walked towards the outside of the cloud platform, then spoke kindly and comfortingly to the Taoist priests:
"It's alright. There's no need to force him to stay if we can't subdue him right away. I've already figured out the details of this Yin spirit. He's just the Jiazi Tai Sui... His secrets have been revealed. If he dares to return overseas again, I'll ask my senior brother or uncle to take action and destroy him."

The female Taoist priest waved her hand, flicked her whisk, and headed towards the treasure ship.

This time, the Tai Sui Yin Shen broke through the encirclement and fled. The six altar masters died in one of their respective areas, and some of their subordinate Taoists were also injured or killed. However, their original goal was to drive away the monster and protect the people of all nations. Therefore, this was already a merit.

Seeing that the Yin God True Man was no longer pursuing the matter, and that all the Hunyuan Daoists were beginning to clean up the battlefield, Li Qing and the others breathed a sigh of relief and took their leave. They boarded the Flying Swallow Dharma Boat and headed straight for Fangzhang Immortal Continent, north of the Lieguo Sea.

Pei and Guan, the two Taoists, had just acquired the flying boat and originally planned to use a portion of the supplies from their route to invite Li Qing and the others to escort them back to the East Sea.

After all, now that they have the magic boat, the journey that would have taken a year and a half can be completed in a few weeks. It is not much slower than the Beast Taming Immortal Sect's Beast Ferry. Moreover, with an additional trustworthy Purple Mansion, the journey will be much safer.

But at this moment, Pei and Guan, the two Taoists, inadvertently overheard some rare secrets circulating among the common people in the prefecture.

Two years ago, Tiannan Temple and Baigudao had a dispute over "Li Jun". It turned out that Baigudao in Lingnan was no match for Tiannan Temple in the southwest border region.
Li Qing's disappearance at sea and his subsequent entry into the Beast Taming Immortal Sect to ride a flying beast may also have had his own purpose.
Upon hearing these many secrets, the two Taoist priests no longer intended to force Li Qing to stay with them.

Daoist Pei pondered what kind of beast-taming cage to choose for Li Qing, while Daoist Pei was even more straightforward, planning to give him the provisions originally intended for Li Qing's escort as a parting gift.

During their year and a half at sea, they went to the deserted island of the Flying Head Clan to collect old medicines, chatted and laughed around the campfire at night, and had brief conflicts in the secret realm of Peng Kingdom's Yin Mansion. However, each of the three left a red line, and they did not overstep the boundaries of each other, which made their relationship even better.

They had also witnessed the dragon's battle, fought a life-or-death struggle with the bandit cultivator, and at the same banquet, they saw the old Taoist priest, with utmost courtesy, kill without shedding blood, slaughter all the warriors, and dismantle that massive bandit cultivator fleet into nothingness.

This taught the three of them a profound lesson!
Now that we are about to part ways, I feel a little lost.

However, all good things must come to an end. Men should not be hypocritical. Many of these heroes are from the East Sea and are not outsiders.

Why not enter the abbot's quarters and properly observe the customs and atmosphere of the immortal sect? We will surely meet again someday!

(End of this chapter)