The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 148 The Way of the Five Poisons
Lanfeng Prefecture.

East of the city, a row of fortified villages were built entirely of bamboo, with curved pillars forming the main structure, stretching for several miles.

Numerous beast-drawn carriages were parked in the bamboo village that stretched for miles. Alligator dragons carried platforms, earth dragons carried carriages, and jackals, tigers, leopards, and three-horse chariots took shape. So many strange beasts serving as mounts can be considered an honor for the "Five Poisons Sect" which was about to open!

Led by three or five young Gu Masters at the city gate, Li Qing was the first to find a dragon palanquin.

The earth dragon, also known as the walking alligator, is a unique and strange beast from the southern lands.

It is similar to the alligator dragon, but its limbs are extremely thick and it has red mane and black scales. Unlike the alligator dragon, the earth dragon has extremely strong endurance and can run for hundreds of miles without stopping. It can also carry heavy objects, making it a superior beast to ride!
Many of the southern men might not recognize other things, but they could still recognize the Taoist robes of this sect.

Seeing that Li Qing was dressed in an extraordinary Taoist robe, he must be a senior member of the Tiannan and Ziyang Immortal Sects. So they immediately led him onto the palanquin supported by two earth dragons.

"A child is leading the way in the procession. Please wait a moment while we ride in this palanquin to enter the mountain gate!"

Several poisonous insects bowed to Li Qing, and soon another young man arrived from a distance. He bowed to Li Qing, jumped onto the carriage shaft, and began to drive the carriage.

Li Qing sat down in the palanquin, raised his right hand to part the curtain, gave a glance to the young man driving the carriage in front, and then set off.

Aww~~
With a lash of the whip, the earth dragon roared, and the entire palanquin slowly began to move.

From Lanfeng Prefecture, go to the Five Poisons Mountain, which is forty miles away.

In the azure sky, cultivators riding the wind and clouds drifted through the forests of the mountains, while Taoist priests performed rituals, sitting on banana leaves, passing over the caravan.

This long, winding convoy of exotic beasts, stretching intermittently along the ten-mile-long highway, swayed back and forth, the wooden axles creaking. The carriages were scattered about, and the occasional patrol of cavalry from the prefecture helped maintain order.

Among these carriages were many high-ranking officials and nobles from the prefecture, as well as local tycoons, especially young people, who rode in groups of three or five in carriages adorned with strange beasts, gazing in amazement at the many exotic creatures of the south.

After all, if a branch of a sect could establish its own lineage, and its descendants could join the sect, learn its methods, and master its techniques, that would be excellent!
Tiannan Temple only has thirty to fifty Daoist disciples per generation, and the cultivation of the One Yuan Qi Dao really depends too much on innate talent and aptitude.

Perhaps, a side path in a local area is also a way out!
With two dragons supporting the carriage, Li Qing leaned against the pavilion, occasionally exchanging a few words with the young Gu Master in front of her.

It wasn't until the sun was setting in the west that Li Qing and the others finally reached the Five Poisons Sect's mountain road!

This is a mountain range that stretches from north to south. The central peak has limestone rocks that surround fertile black soil, as if it had been refined by someone long ago.

Along the spiral-shaped mountain road, there are many old trees resembling pines and banyan trees. They did not grow naturally, but rather seem to have been transplanted from the southern land.

Along the way, bees, dragonflies, and butterflies seemed to be everywhere. There were no fewer than a hundred beehives in the caravan alone, and even birds dared not approach the mountain.

"Although our sect is known as the Five Poisons lineage, our patriarch once said that techniques are merely derivatives of methods. Among the Five Poisons, the snake, centipede, and toad are indeed ferocious, and their venomous nature is not necessarily the best solution..."

"Scorpion venom is excruciatingly painful, causing one to fall from a horse; spider venom is like a net in the underworld, stinging and trapping; bee venom is swift and fierce, invading muscles and bones; colorful butterflies scatter pollen, magically turning into poison; the five poisonous creatures of the cicada can absorb all kinds of poisons."

"Among the five poisons, only by taking four poisons and four or five points of spiritual energy can one cultivate a body of poisonous spiritual power."

The young man driving the carriage seemed to have great reverence for the Five Poisons Ancestor. He sat at the front corner of the carriage shaft, holding the reins that bound the two earth dragons, and explained with his head turned.

From the words of this young boy, Li Qing could roughly understand why the chieftains of the Southern Lands all revered the Green Toad Daoist.

Even a young Gu Master who is still naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world has such heartfelt respect for the "Five Poison Ancestor".

He improved the art of poison and gu, replacing the snakes, toads, and centipedes with three types of gu insects: bees, butterflies, and cicadas, thus eliminating the threat and allowing the art of poison and gu to flourish...

There are actually such Gu Daoists in the South; they are truly patriarchs of their respective regions.

As Li Qing was taken aback, she stretched her fingertip out of the window and condensed a drop of spiritual dew, which quickly attracted a spiritual butterfly not far away.

The butterfly wasn't particularly fast, but it seemed to be mesmerized by the drop of spiritual dew, following it all the way into the mountains from the Earth Dragon Window.

As they approached the mountain gate, the convoy gradually slowed down. The spirit butterfly finally caught up and landed on Li Qing's fingertip, gently licking away the trace of spiritual energy from his fingertip.

The butterfly was covered in orchid and phoenix patterns, and its wings were divided into six petals. It was extremely beautiful. When it licked the spiritual dew, Li Qing could even feel an itch on his fingertips...

The bees and butterflies in the mountains are all extraordinary creatures. They seem to be spiritual insects that have been enlightened by spiritual energy, and they can spontaneously seek out spiritual opportunities to grow and thrive.

"This butterfly was released into the mountains a year ago and is called the Phoenix Tail Dream Butterfly!"

"The habitats of the Spirit Butterfly and the Poisonous Bee have always been separated by territory. The Venerable Dao led it more than thirty miles away, but it could no longer find its way back."

The outline of the mountain gate is already visible here. Between the two steep peaks on the left and right, more than 800 blue stone steps lead into the Five Poisons Sect.

The young Gu practitioner stopped the earth dragon's movements, jumped off the carriage, turned to look at Li Qing, and said respectfully.

Within the universe, spirit insects are inherently fragile, let alone in this poisonous mountain environment surrounded by ferocious beasts.

The journey of just thirty miles must have passed countless beehives and cicada nests. Looking at the swallowtail butterfly lingering outside the car window, unable to find its way home, one can imagine that its chances of survival are slim.

"Oh... is that so?"

Li Qing raised an eyebrow, turned to look at the fluttering, swirling butterfly, and was suddenly struck by a sense of awe.

Everything has its origin, and all things are ever-changing. Those with supernatural powers can change the fate of a magical butterfly with a mere gesture.

As he cultivated himself, his spiritual attainments increased, and in a moment of carelessness, he caused the life and death of the mountain spirit butterfly to become beyond its control.

With a single thought from that Yin spirit that day, I was stranded overseas. What difference is there?
The first principle of the Southern Dipper's method of prolonging life is that killing is easy, but prolonging life is difficult. One may possess the art of killing, but one must not harbor any ill intentions...

Magic should not be used recklessly, and karma should not be taken lightly!
"Then what should we do?"

Li Qing flicked his right finger again to provide a landing spot for the spirit butterfly, then turned his head to ask the young Gu disciple below.

"It is but a mere insect, not worthy to disturb the venerable Dao."

The Gu disciple below changed his expression and hurriedly bowed. He had only mentioned it casually, so how could he dare to blame this seemingly extraordinary Venerable Daoist?

Moreover, there are at least eight hundred or a thousand of these swallowtail butterflies in the newly opened Five Poisons Mountain. Before they are refined into Gu, they are merely consumable materials.

If you die, you will die!

"Our meeting is predestined; how about I take it?"

The Spirit Butterfly, whose lifespan is no more than ten years, is but a tiny speck of dust in the grand scheme of things, yet it awakened Li Qing as if from a dream.

Since we've already ruined its fate, let's just go all the way and take it away completely.

The young Gu practitioner below felt a pang of unease. While the spirit insects of the mountains were indeed precious and should not be hunted indiscriminately, the sheer number of these insects that died in the wild was enormous, making it not an insurmountable obstacle. He was about to step forward to explain to the Taoist priest when he looked up again and saw that the carriage had vanished. At the same time, his right palm suddenly felt heavy as a mustard seed pouch was slipped into his hand.

"I'll consider the Spirit Butterfly purchased by myself. Would you please handle the aftermath, young fellow Daoist?"

The young Gu disciple was startled. Following the echo, he looked again and saw that the Taoist had already passed half of the long steps leading up to the mountain gate.

The Taoist priest in cloud robes wore a crown adorned with seven lotus flowers. He held a jade lamp in one arm, its light shimmering. Jade vines entwined around the lamp's handle, and a phoenix-tailed butterfly landed on a jade leaf on the lamp's handle, seemingly mistaking the lamp for a flower.

Li Qing traversed the eight hundred steps in a single step, seemingly disappearing into the distance. In just two steps, he passed through the mountain gate and entered the Five Poisons Sect.

"..."

The young Gu practitioner was terrified by the Taoist's terrifying presence. He unconsciously clenched the mustard seed pouch in his hand. He dared not examine what was inside, but he figured that even a small glimpse of something from such a person would be enough to benefit him immensely.

Bowing once more towards the mountain gate, the young man raised his whip and slapped it against the earth dragon's scales, urging the earth dragon chariot to enter the animal pen...

The founding of the Five Poisons lineage was a joyous occasion for the three prefectures, attracting hundreds and thousands of guests from the prefectures, the capital, and the three immortal sects.
By the time Li Qing entered the mountain gate, night had fallen. The spirit butterfly, illuminated by the lamp, shone brightly. He handed the invitation and contract to the Gu Daoist at the mountain gate. In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, a pair of children led Li Qing into the residence area of ​​the Five Poisons Sect to rest.

However, having only been established for two or three years, the Five Poisons Sect was still quite rough around the edges. Apart from the Spirit Peak Mountain Gate, which was built with the assistance of the Tiannan Law Academy, and the Spirit Insect Field, which the Azure Toad Ancestor had painstakingly arranged, the rest was all in a state of disarray.

Along the way, the pavilions and halls were still empty. There were many flower fields in the mountains, but there were very few spiritual creatures and rare flowers. They were no different from the wild mountains. The mansion area was no different from the mortal world. There were no array foundations or barriers. Only the form was established. The spiritual charm of the mountain gate was also ordinary.

It seems that the Five Poisons Sect still has a long way to go before it becomes a truly powerful unorthodox sect!

Led by the Gu disciple, Li Qing carried a lantern and entered a mansion area. The place was quite lively, with three tiled houses forming a courtyard, similar to the outer courtyard of Lin Yuan.

People have moved into the nearby residences, and the courtyards are dimly lit, with incense often wafting from them; they are all practitioners.

Before he even arrived at the residence, a Taoist from the Poison Gu lineage rushed over and met with Li Qing in the courtyard.

"Your Excellency is the Venerable Youhuang?"

This was a Purple Mansion cultivator from the Five Poisons Sect. Upon seeing the Lin Yuan Golden Notice, he immediately put down his miscellaneous tasks and rushed over.

A man from Tiannan Prefecture, whose Taoist name is Youhuang? This was the first time he had ever heard of him.

But seeing Li Qing so young again, with his primordial energy flowing like smoke and the Daoist charm following him, and his primordial energy penetrating his spirit, he was truly ethereal and ethereal in the eyes of the Gu Spirit, like a cold moon reflected in auspicious clouds, revealing his immortal aura without a doubt!
Could this be a hidden secret of immortality?

The Taoist priest bowed and greeted Li Qing from afar.

"With the grand ceremony just around the corner, it has troubled you to come all this way, Brother Dao. You have truly gone to great lengths."

"Our sect is newly established, and I apologize for any shortcomings in our etiquette. Please forgive me if you are too kind to come and rest here. The ceremony will begin tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and I will come to pay my respects to you again."

The Gu Daoist bowed and immediately expressed his apologies to Li Qing. This person was sent by the head of Tiannan Temple, which meant that he represented the "Heaven" of Tiannan, and he could not be neglected!
The next moment, the Taoist priest slightly raised his right hand, and three or five spirit butterflies shimmered with spiritual light, drawing an arc in front of the garden. Two girls who were just over the age of marriage fell down from the arc of light with some fear, looking timidly at the two people on the left and right.

"The mountain gate has failed to provide adequate hospitality. These two children are pure of heart and innocent virgins. Perhaps they could serve you, fellow Daoist, by cleaning and sweeping around you."

He spoke gently to Li Qing in front of the Gu cultivator, but the moment he turned away, his humble expression vanished.
"You two, take good care of this fellow Daoist from the Upper Temple, and do not make any mistakes!"

The tone of the command filled the two southern girls with dread, and they nodded repeatedly.

Seeing this ambiguous hint, Li Qing not only showed no interest, but the gentleness on her face also disappeared. She stood in the courtyard, frowning as she watched the Taoist priest's departing figure.

A virgin barely fourteen or fifteen years old, taking a young Taoist boy from the mountains as her maid? The practices of this chieftain's poisonous sorcery tribe are truly distasteful…

Li Qing stared expressionlessly at the receding flames outside the wall. After a long while, she picked up the spirit lamp in her hand and entered the main hall.

With a slight lift of his right hand and a snap of his fingers, the four oil lamps in the hall were lit one after another with a pale blue flame.

He hung the life-extending lamp on a corner of the pillar, sat down on the table, opened a scroll of jade talismans, and immediately began to ponder.

"The Five Poisons Sect, while lacking the ruthlessness of the Five Poisons Dharma, has the air of a heretical sect. However... due to the customs of the Southern Lands, laws and regulations are not well-established. Therefore, it should be forcibly restrained by the laws and regulations of the Ten Directions!"

"Otherwise, the children of the powerful families of Tiannan and the descendants of the Ghost Clan will not be able to bear this loss. Even the sons of respectable families in the prefectures and counties will file a complaint with the academy."

On behalf of Tiannan, I observed the grand ceremony of the Five Poisons Sect. Such habits must not be encouraged.

Even among the most arrogant Lingnan White Bone Sect, although some Taoist priests might break the rules by coercing or bribing young Taoist boys and nuns, and there was even talk of using them as alchemy vessels, they would never dare to do so openly. This was the bottom line.

Today he dares to use magic to lure young girls into becoming his "slave," tomorrow he'll dare to lay his hands on sect disciples and respectable young men from local families...

Li Qing took out the jade talisman and, by the light of the fire, wrote the supervisory laws and regulations into the talisman book. He also emphasized that the first step of the Tiannan Temple's assessment of the Five Poisons Sect was also the responsibility of the Five Directions Immortal Sect to supervise the various prefectures of the Southern Kingdom.

Li Qing rolled up the jade talisman and raised his head. During this time, the two girls summoned fireflies and lit up the openwork stone lanterns in the courtyard and the lanterns in the corridor. Then they knelt timidly below the main hall, waiting for their master's orders.

Just now, Li Qing was amazed by the Five Poisons Ancestor's methods and reputation in the mountains, but upon seeing these two Gu disciples, she could only sigh softly.

There are countless brilliant and magnanimous heroes in the world, but as long as they are human or Taoist, they are limited by their environment.

This drawback alone caused Li Qing's evaluation of the Five Poisons Ancestor to drop considerably!
Unable to control the power of a hundred machines, there is always a chance of death.

Putting away the jade talisman, Li Qing looked again at the phoenix butterfly fluttering around the incense table. This spirit insect seemed to have become familiar with Li Qing's Xuan Yin Qi, flying up and down around him. Some faint blue fireflies even fell from between the phoenix butterfly's wings, creating a dreamlike scene.

"Huh? This is..."

"That's right, the Phoenix Tail Dream Butterfly is one of the Five Poisons, and that is its Phosphorous Powder Illusionary Dream Poison!"

Li Qing flicked her fingertips, capturing the tiny specks of fluorescence between her fingers, and comprehended the profound meaning within them.

It was very weak for him, but the Path of Illusions was truly a rare sight!
"My lord, the butterfly's use of firefly powder signifies that this is its most fulfilling moment, and you can now inscribe your soul imprint upon it..."

Among the kneeling girls below, one was particularly bold. Seeing the Taoist priest at the head of the table looking puzzled, she mustered her courage and loudly recounted the method concerning the spirit insect.

"Oh? I see."

"Go out and guard the gate for me!"

With a flick of her fingertips, Li Qing picked up the butterfly and gently dismissed the two girls.

The moonlight is beautiful tonight. After a long journey, it's time to nourish yourself and replenish your energy, so you can prepare for the ceremony tomorrow...

(End of this chapter)