The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 21 Surrounded by a Hundred Ghosts
The rituals for summoning the soul, prolonging life, and borrowing life are performed by offering lamps for extending life!

The most important matters of state are war and sacrifice, which are inherited from the ancient and boundless laws of spirits and gods. This art should have been performed by sacrificing the skulls of nobles...

Now, the thirty-six demonic monsters haven't treated it badly!

The southern capital of Tiandu has always been the area most severely affected by ghosts and gods. As soon as this taboo ritual was performed, the surrounding area of ​​the Corpse Cave immediately changed dramatically.

In the darkness unknown to ordinary people, shadowy ghosts began to roam around the brightly lit camp.

"Are there sacrificial offerings? Blood offerings?"

"Or... which family's exorcism ritual?"

Awakened by a sudden, unseen impulse, the old woman spoke in surprise, craning her neck to look towards the mass grave a hundred miles to the south. Her nose twitched incessantly, as if trying to discern whether it was good incense or something unlucky that should be avoided...

This is the "Third Ancestor Grandmother of the Meng Family" in Nanchong County. The Meng family of Nanchong was originally a large clan in the area, rooted in the south for more than 600 years. Their descendants have never ceased, and their incense has never been burned. Over the years, the ancestral spirits of this clan have naturally proven the existence of ghosts and gods with spiritual power.

Whether ancestral spirits or ghosts, they can only appear in dreams at first. Fools only know that they are supernatural, so they bow down and worship, burning incense and making offerings. Over time, with the constant offerings and the burning of incense, they eventually take form and manifest in another form, becoming local deities.

At this time, male ghosts dared to call themselves generals, and female ghosts called themselves ladies!

Within the prefectures and counties, one must proclaim the Emperor above to earn the respect of the officials; in the countryside, every household that enters must offer a bow.
The weakest of these local spirits are comparable to those at the upper level of Qi Refining, impervious to swords and spears, and unharmed by water or fire, roaming freely in their territory; the ancient ones are so powerful that even Daoists in the Purple Mansion realm have to address them as "Old Madam" or "Ancestor Spirit"...

At this moment, the Third Ancestor of the Meng Clan was peeking out from the ancestral hall of the Meng family in Nanchong, looking around repeatedly, and thought to herself, "What a fool I am!"
"Could it be that some descendant of a family is so ignorant of propriety that they are performing rituals and prayers in that morgue?"

"Is this some kind of suicide attempt? Like an old man hanging himself? He's asking for it!"

Or perhaps I should accept this offering? That way, it won't end up in the mouth of that mindless corpse demon.
The caves are mostly filled with old corpses, but there are also some ghostly figures among them!
As if finding a reason, the ancestral spirit of the Meng clan unconsciously grinned with a chilling smile, and with a movement, it immediately drifted south towards the corpse cave.

Only a few squads of soldiers from the county who had just emerged from the morgue to recuperate, and a few scholars who were skilled in numerology and etiquette, frowned as they gazed into the distance at the Meng family ancestral hall.

"Damn it, that old ghost has gone out hunting again?"

If there are external threats, the local spirits and deities can be of some use and can barely protect the area. But if there are no external threats, these spirits and deities are the greatest calamity!

The path of ghosts is ominous. Even those ghosts and gods who have cultivated a spirit body can still bring disaster to mortals with their every move.

An even more unstable factor is that they have a penchant for ghosts; their obsessions and quirks from life and death often amplify infinitely after they die and become ghosts or spirits, such as lustful ghosts, a homicidal tendency in their dreams, or a necrophiliac...

For example, this third great-grandmother of the Meng family had a particular fondness for stealing food, suffering from a gluttonous disorder. If anyone was unsettled or mentally unstable when she was indulging in this gluttonous behavior, they would easily become her prey.

This is considered one of the less harmful ghosts among the many inhabitants of the South!

Many scholars in the Southern Kingdom disapproved, yet they couldn't touch these massive clans. After all, these matters concerned both the living and the dead, things powerful enough to shake the very foundations of the Southern Kingdom…

And at this moment, in the southeastern part of the Western Wilderness.

During the Dragon Festival march.

The campfire flickered and danced, and the many armored soldiers gazed at the altar. The thirty-six streaks of crimson fire began to slowly ignite, emitting strange white smoke that seemed to drift toward the very center of the altar.

Li Qing knelt on one knee, half-prone, as she planted a restriction on the paper lantern. It was a restriction to keep it burning forever, a restriction to prolong life and avoid death, the most essential foundation of this spell!
Outside the camp, a ghostly wind suddenly arose, stirring up dust and sand, as if something eerie was mixed in with it, causing a sense of dread to rise in everyone's hearts.

Fortunately, the swirling, eerie winds that had been raging around the altar now served as a small shield, as if two whirlwinds had collided, producing a piercing creak. However, this strong wind also overturned and extinguished the braziers within the camp.

Instantly, the entire camp was plunged into darkness, with only the thirty-six crimson flames around the altar still slowly burning, supporting the last piece of paradise.
The armored soldiers who had been calm and composed on the side of the altar could no longer contain themselves. They could already sense the presence of the sinister ghosts lurking around them!
Li Qing remained silent, crouching on the ground, mixing the last of the Sun's Crimson Ink into the flame, intending to activate the magical restrictions within it, ensuring its eternal flame, so that it could support the thirty-six strands of life-giving fire...

He had naturally considered the changes that had occurred, but he was merely a Daoist disciple, so how could he so easily find a secluded and safe spiritual land to refine magical artifacts?
Even if he could find a safe sacred place, he wouldn't have the power to transport those thirty-six demons hundreds of miles away...

"Hmph, sneaking around, huh? Quite a few of them have come?"

With a cold snort, the hood suddenly fell down, shrouding Li Qing's entire face in shadow.

Suddenly, two paper figures appeared, their flowing sleeves billowing as they swung their ghost-slaying whips in all directions. In the next instant, a series of mournful cries rang out from outside the camp.

Li Qing couldn't guarantee anything else, but when it came to exorcising ghosts, he was truly never afraid!

As the wind subsided, the two paper figures swayed and moved stealthily around the altar, seeking out shadowy figures. Then, the cracking of whips echoed through the dimly lit camp.

"My dear grandson, don't be afraid, don't be afraid!"

"That's called 'Willow Wood Ghost Fighting - Step by Step Lowering,' it's a good method." "Grandpa, how about I teach you another method..."

Old Zhao shielded his granddaughter under his sleeve, while he was taking something out of another sleeve.

The armored soldiers were currently huddled together in a chaotic mass, firing crossbow bolts wildly. One bolt grazed the old Taoist's head, startling him into letting out a furious shout:

"You stupid, unruly soldier, what are you shooting at blindfolded?"

Amidst his angry curses, the old Taoist priest continued working, holding a broken razor horizontally in front of his eyes, instructing his grandson to watch carefully.

He closed his right eye tightly, and the spiritual power in his left eye merged with the razor used to suppress the evil spirit. He gestured the razor's position, aiming it precisely at the throat of the ghostly figure that was about to touch him. He first chanted an incantation, held his breath, and then blew on the ghostly figure.

The next instant, the ghostly figure that had just condensed its seven orifices and five bodies was instantly split in two at its throat, falling silently to the ground and turning into a handful of yin energy that scattered in all directions.

"Remember this, it's called the headless razor!"

The old Taoist priest whispered the secret of the incantation to the little girl, but still did not hand her the terrifying razor used to ward off evil spirits.

The next moment, the old Taoist priest took out a black cloth bag from his sleeve. The bag was quite thick and heavy, and it was unclear what material it was made of. Two straw ropes were sewn together at the opening of the bag, making it seem no different from an ordinary bag.

Old Zhao flicked the cloth bag with his right hand, and it suddenly grew to the size of a sack. It flew to the head of a little devil in the distance and slipped inside him whole.

"This is called a locked treasure in a bag!"

This old Taoist Zhao usually looks like a scholar, but the tools in his hands are all strange and cunning. He subdued two ghosts with ease, and these two objects are even somewhat like magic artifacts.

When he was young, Old Zhao did a lot of wicked things and had quite a few deadly items on his hands!

However, life is unpredictable. His only son and wife died young one after another. He always felt that it was this lowly and unorthodox magic that had caused his Zhao family line to end. He originally intended to take this lousy skill to his grave.

He was just trying to survive in the countryside, watching his granddaughter, the only son in nine generations, grow up, and then he was supposed to die. But unexpectedly, someone tampered with his body and sent him in to fill the morgue!
"It seems this skill is no longer viable. Without some deadly expertise, one can really live off this for the rest of one's life..."

Old Zhao smiled as he looked at his grandson, who was curiously examining the black pouch, but a murderous intent rose in his heart.
At this moment, Bai Du had already removed the steel gag from the Yin Wolf's mouth and slapped the Yin Wolf's buttocks.

"Go on, everyone says you're good at fighting ghouls, but let's see how you usually fight them."

As soon as Bai Du released the ferocious wolf, howling and tearing sounds erupted, throwing the camp into chaos...

On the altar, the spirit lamp in Li Qing's hand was finally completed. Inside the lantern, in the ever-burning flame, wisps of silver-white runes swirled and changed deep within the flame. The entire flame seemed to have melted into the lamp oil, almost turning into molten lava!
Just at this time.

The great demons lurking in the darkness could no longer restrain themselves; the thirty-six blood offerings and the longevity fire fueled by the blood and souls of spirits were far too tempting for them.

Even though there are those paper demons, those ferocious wolves, that soaring blood energy, and that oppressive Xuan Yin aura here.

They couldn't hold back any longer!
The dark, ghostly claw stretched for seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-60 meters). Its true form was hidden in the night, making it impossible to discern its appearance, but its bluish-purple arm, resembling that of a dead infant, still sent chills down one's spine at first glance.

Before the ghostly hand even got close, Li Qing flicked his fingertip, and black light shot out. The foul black nail pierced directly through the ghostly claw that stretched out from the darkness. The foul black nail, nurtured by the black dog spirit that had risen from the dead and fought against all beasts, was also quite lethal to ghosts.

A piercing baby's cry broke the darkness, and the arm was instantly retracted.

But this terrifying cry of the ghost infant seemed to have initiated the next stage of change. One after another, hazy figures surrounded it: headless ghosts, drowned ghosts, hanged ghosts, wriggling ghosts, corpse ghosts... all these ghosts wanted to compete with the soon-to-be-completed life-extending lamp for a "longevity flame"!
"Master of Ceremonies..."

"This……"

So many powerful ghosts appeared one by one, some of them even revealing their forms in the campfire. Those old ghosts at the mid-level or even high-level of Qi Refining, just their ghostly aura alone was enough to terrify everyone.

Where had the Dragon Festival soldiers ever seen such a scene? The fact that they didn't immediately cause a commotion was already a testament to their growing experience over the past few days, especially with the presence of the chief priest and the military commander!

Even Old Zhao felt a chill in his heart! He had just made up his mind to go back and take revenge, and now he was already drafting his will?

Life is so unpredictable!
"That's alright!"

A clear, cold voice rang out. Li Qing suddenly stood up, picked up the paper lamp, and two paper figures simultaneously moved in the opposite direction to protect the armored soldiers, as if he had completely given up resisting.
With another soft sigh, the hooded youth in the center of the eerie firelight moved slightly and took out a bronze contract that looked like a marriage certificate from his pocket.

"Ugh……"

"Sister Cui, you must not have had a proper meal in a long time, right? This time, I have prepared a gift for you..."

(End of this chapter)