The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 16 "Dragon-Signature Soldiers"

Military Governor's Office.

Holding a scroll of official orders in his hands, Li Qing sat on a long staircase with a surprised expression, gazing in all directions. Of course, he was not the only one there.

There were about a dozen old, weak, sick and disabled people on these long steps, all of whom were sorcerers from various places!
"Damn it, these officials in the capital are living the high life, yet they're forcing me to fill the corpse pit? Can I swallow this insult? I'll cast a curse on them to wipe out their entire lineage sooner or later!"

"Damn it, who says otherwise? There must be some villain trying to harm me. I've seen the state's roster, and I'm not on it at all."

"Gan..."

The noise and commotion were incessant as many itinerant sorcerers, shamans, and witches from all over Tiannan Prefecture were forcibly conscripted.

The sorcerers from all sides did come, but the ancestors of the prefects and governors of the prefectures and counties also suffered a lot. They were verbally abused day and night by these rural sorcerers, and some even actually used despicable means to retaliate.

This caused great suffering to the guards and servants of the governor's mansion.

It was Li Qing, a Taoist disciple wearing the blue robes of the Tiannan Shangguan Temple, who was sitting alone here, and naturally attracted a lot of attention in secret.

Just then, five or six armored soldiers arrived outside the governor's mansion. They were all in their early twenties or thirties, tall and strong, wearing standard red and black armor. They walked into the governor's mansion and looked like elite soldiers.

Whenever the various military camps went on campaign, they would often invite sorcerers and Taoist priests to serve as military advisors.

It is because the southwest is so uncivilized that there are quite a few who study charioteering and archery among the Six Arts of the Imperial Academy, but very few who study rites, music, calligraphy, and mathematics.

If it were to say that these armored soldiers were to fight against mountain spirits and monsters, such as the Yin Corpse Old Python, they would be first-rate fighters. With steel silver spears, iron bows, armor-piercing arrows, and bone-crushing spears, ordinary spirits and monsters would have to take a detour when they saw such an army.

But when it comes to those unreasonable evil spirits and demons, they are ignorant of etiquette, music, books, and mathematics. Apart from asking some priests for help, they are really helpless!

The soldier on the side had good eyesight and spotted the man in the Shangguan-style blue robe mixed in with a group of smoky, old, weak and sick scholars.

The armored soldier quickly stepped forward, nudged the leader, and whispered:
"Lord, Lord, look over there! They're Taoist disciples from the Upper Temple!"

The Tiannan Shangguan Temple, which governs an entire prefecture, has always had an excellent reputation. It seems that this troop of soldiers also had a preconceived notion about the temple's name. Upon seeing the Taoist priest in the blue robe, they immediately took a second look.

Upon seeing him, the leading armored soldier immediately straightened his posture, his expression becoming serious. He strode forward to the Taoist priest in blue, removed the tiger-shaped helmet from him, and, showing slight respect, cupped his hands in greeting, saying:

"The fellow Daoist from the Upper Temple?"

"I am Bai Yangshu, a military officer of the Dragon Banner Army. Fellow Daoist, are you here? Would you like to find a team to enter the Western Wilderness together?"

When the military officer approached and asked, Li Qing remained neither humble nor arrogant, thinking to himself: Dragon-scepter guards? Tiannan Prefecture actually has guards?

The guards were the personal guards who protected the troops.
In the main tent of the general in the army, a flag is always raised. The personal guards are called the guards, who are also elite guards trained by the general.

Using the Dragon Festival as a symbol, could it truly be something extraordinary?
Seeing Li Qing nod slightly, the military officer chuckled and invited:

"Brother Dao, what methods do you possess? Why not join my Dragon Banner Military Department and join me in attacking the Western Barbarian Chaotic Burial Mountain? What do you say?"

"Okay!" Li Qing nodded in agreement without much thought.

"You... are most skilled at exorcising ghosts."

Ghosts at the lower and middle levels of Qi Refining were not difficult for him to deal with. As for stronger ghosts, they would turn around and run away as soon as they sensed the aura of the "Netherworld Covenant" on him, as if they were tigers and wolves meeting on a narrow road!

Li Qing is skilled at exorcising ghosts, and can also drive away large ghosts.

Huh? Exorcising ghosts?

Upon hearing that this Taoist priest was most skilled at exorcising ghosts, the armored soldiers' expressions softened even more.

"Good, good, good! It's great that you're good at exorcising ghosts!"

"Xiao Yi, go to the manor and help this fellow Daoist complete the contract with my Dragon Gate. Those fellows just love going through the motions and wasting time. Fellow Daoist, how about we go to the Dragon Gate's headquarters to rest for a while..."

At this moment, the military officer seized the opportunity and had the armored soldier take Li Qing's Taoist register into the mansion to sign a contract. The other armored soldiers quickly stepped forward and roughly pushed aside several old shamans who wanted to approach, clearing a path for the two of them.

Seeing how domineering the Dragon Banner soldiers were, Li Qing frowned slightly, but he thought that this was how people in the army were always. He just went into the Western Barbarian Corpse Cave on the way and didn't bother to make a fuss.

Riding in a carriage with several armored soldiers, they traveled all the way out of the capital. Just as the moon was about to rise, they stopped in front of the camp outside the city.

However, upon entering the Dragon Seal Army Ministry, Li Qing's expression became even more puzzled.

"The Dragon Fang Clan... is this it?"

Looking around at the roughly ten tents and the large camp built of logs, several donkey carts were parked to one side, and a lamp was lit every few feet.

Although it looked clean and tidy, Li Qing couldn't help but feel that there might be something wrong with it.
This camp is too small! It can probably only hold 200 people at most, just the troops of a single army... Oh, this must be the camp of this Marquis of Junqu!

Until.

The commander of the other branch of the Dragon Ridge tribe came out of his tent to greet him, first bowing to Li Qing, and then leading him into the central army tent.

"I am Bai Du, the county magistrate of Longjie County. I was recruited by the prefecture and formed a group of respectable young men from the county into an army, which is called the Longjie Guards."

"Brother Dao, please!"

So, these Longjie soldiers were just a small county-level army unit from Longjie County?
After patiently listening to the introduction by the other commander, Bai Du, Li Qing was completely bewildered. He turned his head to look at the stern military officer beside him, who had lost his fierce and imposing demeanor and was now smilingly apologizing to the man who had been persuaded to come forward, explaining the reason for the situation...

Damn it! Could it be that those few shamans already knew the details of these "Dragon Banner Soldiers" and came up to warn them, which is why they were pushed and shoved aside by this group of seasoned soldiers?
What a bunch of bastards! The naive Li Qing was tricked into joining this group of seasoned veterans on his first trip out of the mountains.

He needs to obtain spirit creatures such as foxes, wolves, and ghosts to perform the rather sinister longevity lamp ritual, which will require him to stay in the corpse pit for a period of time, and he cannot just stay on the outside.

Even a small force might not be able to penetrate deep into their territory!
Seeing the displeasure on the face of the Taoist disciple, the commander of the separate department cursed his subordinate inwardly, but his words were extremely sincere and he did not hide anything.

"If you have your own plans for entering the Western Wilderness, you might as well travel with us."

"Don't underestimate our small force. Compared to the massive imperial army, we have far fewer constraints. We don't have to report to the Western Mang army every day, no matter how small the matter..."

"If you stay here, brother, one-tenth of the spoils of war can be given to you."

"When the time comes, completing the designated task will also help you find some spiritual items and materials..."

The Taoist disciples of Tiannan Shangguan were far superior to the sorcerers and old shamans in the prefecture. Bai Pi, being from an official family, knew a great deal about Shangguan.

Such a person must have many ways to ward off evil spirits. If we can keep him here, his chances of repaying his debts will be much greater.

The military commander still wanted to keep this Taoist disciple, and to this end, he offered one-tenth of the entire army's military merits as a reward.

It should be understood that the "corpse-filling pit" in Tiannan Prefecture is not just a joke; it is a real place where people's lives are used to fill the pit!
The military officer and several armored soldiers on one side also apologized repeatedly, and while offering kind words of advice, they assured Li Qing again and again, which made Li Qing's expression look a little better.

The soldiers of Tiannan Prefecture have already entered the Western Barbarian Corpse Cave. The troops that are called up later are all recruits from various prefectures and counties. The differences between them are not too great; they are all small groups of soldiers.

However, recruiting soldiers also has its advantages. One only needs to sign a military contract or attack and destroy a designated target. There are no restrictions, and one can forage for wild herbs and other resources in the mass graves to fund the army...

While everyone in the main tent was still apologizing and making promises to Li Qing, the armored soldier named Xiao Yi quickly returned carrying two military orders. Accompanying him were an old man and a young man, who seemed to be sorcerers or something similar.
"Honorable Commandant, General!"

The young soldier stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and presented two military orders from the Governor's Office.

These two military orders, one a fake military sacrificial order from the Taoist priests of the upper temple and the other a fake supervisory order from the local shamans, have already been issued by the governor's office and their effects have been achieved; the die is cast!
That night, the Dragon Ritual Ya Department set up two more large tents specifically for the two military advisors. The military commander repeatedly apologized and offered them a great deal of food and drink, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

With things as they were, Li Qing could only silently roll up the military order and enter the main tent of the chief priest alone. He had thought that these dragon-stamped guards were the orders of some captain or general...

By the morning of the second day, just as dawn was breaking, two armored soldiers were already on duty outside the tent, having prepared hot water and other necessities, which was quite thoughtful.

Li Qing gave a slight thank you and was still taking care of daily affairs in the tent, but the camp was already in the middle of training. In the distance, the commands sounded like a chorus of bells. They practiced their muscles and bones in the morning, then carried out battle drills and practiced archery. By the time they finished one set of training, it was already 9:00 AM.

Just as Li Qing was circulating his Qi, a knock sounded at the door outside the tent.

"Does the Venerable Master of the Upper Temple have any free time at this moment?"

An old man in hemp clothing slowly approached from not far away. When he was still a few feet away from the main tent of the chief priest, he asked the guards in front of the tent.

Before the guard named Xiao Yi dared to speak, the green-robed Taoist figure in the tent stood in front of the tent, flicked his finger, and caused the tent doors to split in two, each hanging high.

"Old practitioner, please come in!"

Li Qing looked at the sprightly old man and raised his sleeve to welcome him into the tent.

The two exchanged a perfunctory greeting. It turned out the old man's surname was Zhao, and he had inherited his ancestors' methods of exorcism. He was a traveling "sorcerer" who knew herbal medicine, exorcism, feng shui, divination, and soul-suppressing arts. The two would be working together in the Western Wilderness, and this visit was also to get acquainted.

Before leaving, the old Taoist priest suddenly presented him with two sets of robes.

"Shangdao may be new to the sect... but his background and identity should not be revealed lightly."

"At that mountain of corpses, there are soldiers from the Tiannan Prefecture, recruited soldiers, old sorcerers, Taoist disciples from the Upper Temple, and many desperate and vicious people hiding there."

"Those powerful people always like to make money without any initial investment..."

He witnessed firsthand how this Taoist disciple was tricked by this seasoned soldier, and he was probably quite naive!
After a brief suggestion, the wandering Taoist priest took out two clean and neat robes from his sleeve, which could be considered a gesture of goodwill.

In mass graves, where there is no law prohibition, it is often heard that vicious people start their fortunes here without any capital, and that righteous people fight and quarrel among themselves. The scenes are unsightly, so it is always advisable to avoid such places in advance.

Disciples of sectarian groups have always been wealthy, making them easy targets for others.

Although Li Qing had little experience venturing into such a dangerous and chaotic place, his intelligence allowed him to quickly react. By the time he looked up to express his gratitude, the old man had already left the tent.

He accepted the favor.

Li Qing used some magic to see that the robe was clean from head to toe, without the slightest imperfection, and even looked as if it had just been made. He immediately put it on and put away the robe with the mark of Tiannan Shangguan.

Stepping out of the main tent, Li Qing suddenly seemed to remember something and asked:
"Xiao Yi, do you know which village that old Taoist Zhao is from?"

Upon hearing this, the guard assigned to stand guard at the Grand Master's tent immediately straightened up and told the "Grand Master of the Upper Temple" the information he had learned before making a pact with Old Master Zhao the day before.

"Old Zhao is a sorcerer from Sanxiang in Fuzhu County. He can exorcise evil spirits, perform divination and geomancy, and carry out rituals. He is quite famous..."

When it came to Zhao Laodao's identity, Xiao Yi seemed to know more. After hesitating for a while, he sighed again:

"Master Zhao, the Zhao family line has ended, and his only grandson can only stay by his side. Normally, a village sorcerer like him wouldn't need to answer the summons, but... it seems the great sorcerer of the county was unwilling to come, so they switched the roster with him..."

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it!"

(End of this chapter)