The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 20 The Ritual of Borrowing Life for Thirty-Six Years
The deep, majestic mountains resemble ink strokes, their verdant peaks rendered with vibrant ink.

This chaotic burial ground seems to be a masterpiece of nature, appearing from afar like a horizontal piece of black jade.

The only flaw is that in the southeastern branch, it looks like the eyebrows have been burned, revealing a scorch mark covering hundreds of acres.

The instigator was this young man on the ridge, dressed in a hemp robe.

At this moment, the young man in the hooded robe was sitting cross-legged on a crooked old tree, chin resting on his elbow, with a paper lantern held between his fingertips. The dim, cold light illuminated the dim forest, making it extremely eerie.

In the forest, there were two... comical and terrifying paper figures swaying gently. These two paper figures were covered with white paper patches all over their bodies, and even the makeup on their faces seemed to be peeling off in mottled patches. As ornamental objects, they were about to be half-damaged and ruined. Only their two water sleeves, which were as red as blood, were completely undamaged.

However, the tall, hairy corpse that had just crawled out of the old grave at the foot of the ridge was about to be torn in two by the two paper figures, one on each side, wrapped in red silk...

This actually vindicates these two seemingly "battle-hardened" paper figures!
To the north of the mountain range lies an endless expanse of dark, mournful forest, leading directly to the chaotic burial mountains of Ximang, while to the south lies a landscape of scorched, mottled vegetation.

Wolf riders flew across the loose, scorched earth, upon which sat an armored warrior, holding a ghost-headed spear horizontally. The swaying zombie was struck by the spearhead and instantly shattered into pieces.

The knight, however, seemed to have no interest in the scattered zombies. After searching around, he broke away from the main force and charged up the ridge, chasing after the lantern-carrying youth.

"Lord Li, the last two zombies have been captured!"

The call came from afar. Turning around, they saw that the one on the back of the Bone-Burying Wolf was none other than Bai Du, the Empty Commander of the Dragon-Seal Guards. A remarkable man who had fallen from a dignified Commander of a separate tribe to become a "Demon-Catching Vanguard".

At this moment, Bai Du's scale armor was riddled with holes, one shoulder armor was missing, and his strong hands were calloused from the intense riding and stabbing these past few days, making him look almost like a member of the Beggars' Army.

But he had never felt so good.

Bai Du stared intently at the young man on the crooked tree, and an emotion called "admiration" was quietly growing in his heart.

"Oh?"

The young man in the robe on the crooked tree raised his elbow, and the eerie lantern that was hanging there just disappeared instantly. At the same time, the two "battle-hardened" paper figures also floated straight up.

Li Qing squinted at the old grave, scrutinizing it carefully before letting out a soft sigh:

"Then let's explore this further after we've successfully crafted the Life-Extending Lamp!"

Here, the dragon vein runs along the ridge, and the water flows into the stream; it may be a wonderful burial site, or in any case, a large tomb must have been buried here.

After hundreds of years of chaos during the Five Dynasties period, and the disturbances caused by demons, this old tomb, which had been transformed into a chaotic burial ground stretching for six hundred miles, has likely undergone extremely terrifying changes.

He spent two days staking out the old grave on the ridge, and during those two days alone, no fewer than ten vengeful corpses and hairy corpses crawled out of the old grave, which must have been a large tomb.

If he hasn't gathered all six wandering corpses yet, he might have to go down into the tomb to investigate!

However, everything beneath that tomb is unknown, so he'll be more confident once he's mastered the magic weapon.

Then he and Sima Baidu stared at each other. From the depths of the darkness, a thin mist immediately rose under the crooked tree, obscuring a large part of the view, and even the area around the tree was unconsciously covered with a layer of frost.

In a hazy, dreamlike state, a white paper palanquin emerged from an unknown place, its banners drooping, its curtains adorned with embroidered coins, and the copper bells hanging on the palanquin moved automatically without wind, ringing out several times as if from the very marrow of one's bones, making one's body and soul tremble.

"Then I shall take my leave first, Bai Sima."

The young man in the robe boarded the strange paper sedan chair, parted the curtain woven from strings of copper coins and paper threads with his hand, turned his head, and softly called out a reminder.

This sound instantly snapped Bai Du out of his stunned state.

"Oh, very well... Chief Priest, please go ahead. I, Bai, and the other soldiers will follow shortly!"

Bai Duheng pulled on the reins woven from fine iron, restraining the fear-grinding wolf beneath him, and bowed to the High Priest to bid him farewell.

This giant wolf had been tormented by that priest for a long time before it became so docile. Now, seeing the paper sedan chair that had almost crushed it into a meat patty, it nearly panicked.

Two paper figures, one on the left and one on the right, their scarlet sleeves billowing up a corner of the ghost sedan chair. In an instant, a cold wind billowed, swirling up fallen leaves. The paper sedan chair, suspended high, seemed to be the procession of a ghost king. It cast no shadow on the ground, and slowly and indistinctly slid towards the mountain rocks, disappearing without a trace in a moment...

Only the fourteen-foot wolf rider remained, standing aside, watching the paper sedan chair depart.

Ding dong…

The next moment, another loud bang was heard. Without turning his head, Bai Du swung his spear and pinned the white-haired zombie that had appeared out of nowhere to the ground. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the tip of the ghost-faced spear pierced right through the zombie's gaping maw.

He simply lifted the reins and leisurely spurred the ferocious wolf forward. When it got close enough to the long spear that pierced the ground, he swept his arm across, picked up the spear shaft, and with a flick of his wrist, instantly twisted the head of the hairy corpse to pieces.

With the aid of the art of taming jackals, and using such ferocious wolves as mounts, the Dragon-Slaying Sima - White Poison can now unleash combat power approaching that of a warrior.

Looking at the wolf beast beneath him, bound by steel braces, Bai Sima sighed.

"Let's go, the chief priest is waiting for us ahead!"

The ferocious wolf beneath him seemed to understand his words, letting out a howl in response. It immediately leaped down from the ridge, stepping on protruding rocks, turning twice, and in the blink of an eye, it climbed onto an ancient tree below. Its four claws gripped the thick trunk as it slid down, the precipitous cliff, twenty or thirty feet high, was traversed in an instant…

In April, the entire Dragon Banner Army frequently attacked the mountains. On the first day of each month, the Imperial Libationer would teach the Five Arts of Charioteering to the Imperial Libationer. At other times, they would search the mountains, capturing all the mountain spirits, demons, walking corpses, and evil beasts. They roamed freely and enjoyed themselves immensely.

In the scorched earth covering hundreds of acres at the foot of the Southwest Ridge, old graves were all cracked open, and countless vengeful spirits and demons were beheaded and dismembered by the soldiers before being reburied beneath the scorched earth. In short, they were determined to prevent them from becoming a scourge again!

The camp at the foot of the mountain was expanded again, and many armored soldiers lit bonfires, surrounding the two lone wolves that had been captured. The military commander and a centurion were demonstrating to the crowd how to tame the wolves.

"To conquer those jackals and tigers, we must first smooth out their rough edges, temper their temperament, and then subdue them with our blood and energy. Just like the game of waterfowl, we must intimidate them from their most fearful point and subdue them from their most proficient point. As for the rider, that's enough..." Sima-Baidu crossed his arms and leaned against a corner of the camp with his ferocious wolf, which resembled a blue ox, watching the beast fighting in the arena.

These two gray-blue lone wolves were no more than ten feet long and a little over four feet tall, clearly much smaller than the one he was riding.

But after all, it was captured by our own soldiers with great effort. Although it was far inferior to the one captured by the chief priest, it was still of good quality and much better than the scaled horse. It was more than enough to be used!

At this moment, the military commander and the centurion, fully armored, each time they knocked down a wolf beast, the surrounding armored soldiers would erupt in cheers.

Beside the training ground were rows of giant wooden cages, imprisoning serpents, wandering corpses, mountain spirits, wild foxes, and more. This hardly resembled a military camp; it was more like a gladiatorial arena.

However, even though this wild beast caused the camp to reek, the soldiers did not complain at all, but only worshipped the priest who came from above even more.

A paper figure, having committed atrocities, led the warriors to search the mountain, where they dug three feet into the ground of half of the demon ridge, turning it into barren soil, and bound thirty-six corpse beasts.

Such military achievements are enough for him to live comfortably for a lifetime!
Military Commander Bai Du watched the progress of beast taming in the arena, but was filled with doubt.

The thirty-six beasts that the High Priest had mentioned on that day had been gathered, but after returning, High Priest Li did not even glance at the thirty-six monsters. Instead, he went into the main tent alone and remained silent for a long time.

There was only Old Zhao leading a few armored soldiers fiddling with the altar, muttering incoherently about celestial phenomena and terrain, adjusting its position and size. Sometimes the left side was too high, sometimes the right side was too low, making the many armored soldiers extremely irritable.

How strange!
During the day, when Li Jijiu went down the mountain, he was in a great hurry and very anxious. Why is he so quiet now?
The camp was in turmoil, with all the soldiers fighting off wolves and beasts.

At this moment, Li Qing was alone in the Grand Chancellor's tent, sitting cross-legged on a simple bed made of a few wooden planks, taking the last Yellow Sprout Pill and circulating his Qi.

The unique Huangya Dan in the inner courtyard draws upon the Qi of the Five Elements: spring strengthens the liver, summer strengthens the heart, autumn strengthens the lungs, and winter strengthens the kidneys. Earth strengthens the four seasons, and the five Qi gather like yellow sprouts, nourishing the vital energy.

This is a unique alchemical method within the immortal sects, involving consuming elixirs and vital energy to achieve the Great Dao.

Once the pill enters the abdomen, true qi is generated spontaneously. These three yellow bud pills, combined with the qi circulation of the fourth month, have brought Li Qing's circulatory qi to nearly one hundred and sixty quarters.

I don't know if it's because this pill is truly effective, or because of this gloomy, corpse-filled place.

After entering this dark land of the Western Wilderness, Li Qing keenly noticed that his true qi, which was already much more active than that of ordinary people, was flowing even more smoothly.

When he entered the Dao, the instructor said that it normally takes half an hour to circulate the Qi through the 360 ​​acupoints of the body. But outside this corpse cave, Li Qing felt that the speed of his own true Qi circulation seemed to have doubled!
Is it because of the mysterious Yin energy?

Li Qing's true qi has always been biased towards the mysterious and yin nature since he entered the Dao, which makes it difficult for him to cultivate many methods. However, he did not expect that such constraints would actually turn around in this yin place.
Since April, the increase in true qi by ten quarters of an hour each month is already among the level of geniuses in the inner court, even on the mountain!

This time, as he was about to refine the magical artifact—the Life-Extending Lamp—he no longer held back, consuming the last Yellow Sprout Pill in the hope of gaining more true qi and increasing his chances of success. He simply hoped for a smooth and successful completion...

The camp was noisy for a long time.

It was late at night, around midnight.

Throughout the camp, campfires still blazed, and 160 armored soldiers stood ready, marching in unison with their spears planted firmly on the ground. The impending battle immediately unsettled the monsters in their cages.

Could it be that they're about to make a move?
Sure enough, the warriors of the Dragon Banner, in groups of five and ten, forcibly dragged the cages of beasts toward the earthen altar to the north of the camp. The wandering corpses and monsters in the cages still struggled, but their claws and teeth had been removed, so how could they resist?

At this moment, on the earthen altar, Li Qing stood in the center of the huge altar, placing a paper lantern made of pure white paper and rotten silver lamp ribs in the center of the altar.

The altar was divided into thirty-six corners, with a charcoal fire lit at each corner. Although it was built of earth and stone, the altar was extremely meticulous, perfectly matching the six heavens without the slightest deviation.

They watched as the many armored soldiers gathered around and dragged the monsters to their positions at the thirty-six corners.

Old Zhao was so nervous that his voice trembled slightly.

"Chancellor, all ready!"

"It's time to start!"

There were a total of thirty-six spirits of all sizes. This was the grandest ceremony he had ever seen in his life, without exception! Even the grand ceremony for worshipping Heaven in the state had never been of such scale.

Not to mention him, any of the armored soldiers in the arena, even Li Qing who was performing the longevity ritual for the first time, were extremely nervous.

If I follow the steps, I shouldn't make any mistakes, right?
Li Qing reviewed the steps of the ritual in his mind again. He raised his right finger, dipped his brush in spiritual ink, and first dotted the Heavenly Mansion, then outlined the Heavenly Beam, depicted the Heavenly Secrets, sorted out the Heavenly Harmony, revealed the Heavenly Appearance with ink, and finally outlined the appearance of the Seven Killings. It was as if he had dotted a dipper-shaped star map on the six paper lanterns, with a total of fifty-two stars of various sizes.

Looking around the altar, Li Qing suddenly raised his voice and began chanting in an unknown ancient style. He raised his right hand again, and a long knife landed directly in his palm. His chanting was sometimes high-pitched, like a celestial official bestowing blessings; sometimes low, like a ghost official judging lifespans. The chanting, which seemed to be a fusion of ancient witchcraft and prophetic words, sent chills down people's spines and made the great monsters in the four cages even more agitated.

"Chancellor, I'll take over..."

Seeing that the chief priest was about to personally take up the sword, the Dragon Ritual Sima Bai Du immediately stepped forward and was about to speak up to take the long sword in his place.

However, Li Qing completely ignored it. He would never allow anyone to interfere with such an important ceremony!

Starting from the coiled serpent in the due east direction, one could see Li Qing chanting an unknown ghostly tune while his hands moved incessantly.

True Qi swirled around his arms, and he forcefully smashed the sturdy cage with his palm, forcibly dragging out the corpse monsters from the broken wood. He swung his sword and directly severed the head of the big monster. With each head severed, the name of the monster was faintly mixed in with the noisy chanting.

Before the soldiers could even marvel at the fact that this chief priest possessed such extraordinary abilities...

But then, the monster heads and the blood poured into the charcoal brazier, and the ordinary fire that was lit by the burning charcoal was not extinguished. Instead, it turned a deep red color and rose even higher!
Thirty-six blood flames rose high before Li Qing slowly stepped into the altar. A gust of yin wind arose from all sides, sounding like mournful whispers and howls, lingering in everyone's ears. The paper lanterns in the altar remained stable, waiting for Li Qing to step forward...

(End of this chapter)