The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 4 View from Tiannan
It was autumn, and the mornings and evenings in Linyuan Mountain were slightly cool.

Li Qing also returned to her own courtyard under the cover of dusk, carrying all her belongings.

Tiannan Temple has a Yin God Ancestor, eleven Purple Mansion Taoists in four courtyards, and nearly four hundred Taoist disciples of the upper, middle and lower ranks. With the addition of many Taoist boys, servants and miscellaneous servants, the number of people in the temple is over a thousand.

Those who successfully cultivate Qigong and become registered Daoist disciples each have a small courtyard with five rooms in total, which is spacious enough for them as practitioners.

Li Qing's courtyard was conveniently located on the southwest edge of Lin Yuan Mountain. In addition, he had always been aloof and rarely interacted with other sects, so his courtyard was always deserted.

Meng Yunshan's journey took about twenty days, during which he missed two Taoist lessons, but the gains from this trip exceeded the sum of his four years of Taoist practice.

After removing the life-extending paper candle from the lantern and placing it in the main hall, Li Qing began to tally up her gains.

The commission from Meng Yunshan, a Qi Refining expert, yielded 128 Dao Merit Points and 128 Dao Zhu, which was already two or three times more than a typical high-level mission. Ma Daotu was quite capable.

Many thoughts flashed through Li Qing's mind in an instant before he took the mustard seed pouch out of his robe.

Heaven have mercy! Four years have passed since he entered the temple, and this is still his first mustard seed bag. Although it is just the most ordinary mustard seed bag in the temple, only four feet in diameter.

What troubled Li Qing the most was the scroll "The Secret Record of Paper Spirits," a complete secret art of papercraft!
As soon as he took out the secret record engraved on the soft ghost skin, Li Qing immediately examined it carefully from head to toe several times.

The art of paper spirits originated from paper-making in Lingnan, incorporating unorthodox witchcraft and southwestern heretical practices, thus forming its own unique lineage.

This "Paper Spirit Secret Record" only records the essentials of refining four types of ritual implements: paper sedan chairs, white incantation banners, paper figures, and paper lanterns, as well as the spells used to control them.

"The complete set of secret manuals should be a high-grade Qi Refining technique. Indeed, if the quality were any higher, Ma Daotu wouldn't have the guts."

Li Qing shook his head, dismissing his unrealistic hopes. He hadn't even fully mastered the Life-Extending Lamp Technique yet, but he had already obtained a complete paper-based secret manual. How could he dare to have any other expectations?

The only regrettable thing is that the paper flower bridge requires at least two paper figures to be refined before it can be initially activated, but he only has one paper figure in his hand.

He desperately needed a protective magic technique, so he took a liking to this finished paper magic artifact. However, after carefully examining the paper magic manual, he found that the white paper sedan chair seemed to be of little use at the moment!
"I'm afraid the next step will be to try refining that paper figure." Li Qing's thoughts raced, and she immediately made up her mind.

The tiger skin of the mountain lord is impervious to water and fire, so let's keep it for later use. As for the remaining fragments, there's only that last cup of Yang-type spiritual blood.

He did not intend to exchange that last cup of spiritual blood for Dao coins. Since he began practicing Qi cultivation, the influence of the Yin Pact and the Netherworld Dream had become increasingly severe, and he needed to keep some spiritual items to prolong his life.

Otherwise, just like that day on Mengyun Mountain, when they were about to set up the Liujin Formation to fight the ghost, they were caught in a ghost dream and almost made a terrible mistake...

He removed the bundles and other items from his sleeves, storing what needed to be stored away, and putting frequently used items such as willow whips, spirit paper, and spirit blood into the mustard seed bag.

At this moment, he had no time to calm his mind and practice his qi, nor to study the secrets of the paper doll. During his previous "battle" with the mountain lord, the phosphorescent seeds in his life-extending candle had been exhausted, and he needed to go to the wild fox market in the residential area outside the courtyard to replenish some.

Not to mention that the Flame Dao Spirit Fire is extremely rare in the world, and the Heavenly Thunder Seed is not popular in the southern region, the Flame Talisman and Thunder Register are still a bit too expensive.

The phosphorescent fire was a spark of fire essence naturally generated in the rocks of the mountains and could not be considered a spiritual object. However, for Qi Refining cultivators like him who could control fire to some extent, the explosive burning of the phosphorescent fire was as powerful as a talisman, and it was also Li Qing's current trump card.

The key is, it's cheap!
Although the seeds of phosphorescence are not easy to preserve, Li Qing can hide three portions of phosphorescence seeds under his paper candles. The first thing he does when he returns to the mountain is to replenish the phosphorescence seeds to a full level, so that he can have enough sense of security.

After taking care of everything in the courtyard and closing the doors and windows, Li Qing swept the talisman across the courtyard wall, opened the restriction, and left the small courtyard... Tiannan Temple occupies the entire Linyuan Mountain. The residences of the various Taoist disciples alone are like a mountain town, built along the mountainside, stretching endlessly.

Amidst the crisscrossing paths, one often sees figures in blue robes, sometimes in twos and threes, sometimes alone, hurrying to and fro with little interaction.

"Brother Li Dao!"

As soon as they stepped into the southern section of the mansion, a call rang out from a nearby stall. A black-clad servant, also around seventeen or eighteen years old, immediately stood up and waved to Li Qing.

In front of him was a gray coarse cloth spread out, on which were placed various bottles and jars, and many ginseng roots with wet mud still on them were laid out flat.

Ginseng can nourish the essence and help Taoists maintain their health. When they have no classes, these apprentice Taoist boys often travel to the counties and prefectures near Linyuan Mountain to buy or dig up these medicinal materials.

Among those many bottles and jars were Solomon's seal seeds and turnip seeds... and hidden in those completely sealed earthenware jars were the seeds of phosphorescence.

Li Qing usually buys three phosphorescent seeds from his stall. One fire talisman costs more than ten zhu, while three phosphorescent seeds only cost two zhu.

"Is it going to be three rounds this time too?" the black-clad servant asked with a smile.

"Hmm... I'll take all of these, including the turnips." Li Qing pointed clearly, marking the items she wanted one by one.

Among his fellow disciples, only a handful had cultivated true qi, and only Li Qing was able to go down the mountain alone to do missions. The life of a novice Daoist when he first entered the Dao was truly difficult, and Li Qing was considered the main source of Daoist coins for his fellow Daoists.

Because Li Qing's cultivation method is different and his nature is yin, he doesn't really need the yang medicines like Huangjing and ginseng. Instead, he uses sweet and bland medicinal materials such as turnip seeds, poria, and calamus to cultivate his qi. Just by looking at these old medicines, you can tell that they were prepared for him.

For Daoist missions, the amount of Dao merit and Dao coins required for a low-grade mission is only a few dozen, and for a mid-grade mission it is only a dozen or twenty. Only the Ghost Master Li Qing, who specializes in exorcising ghosts and eliminating spirits, has such a skill.

The three-colored turnip seeds in the field, plus the three phosphorescent seeds, amounted to only a little over ten zhu (a unit of weight), which was a rare treat for those Daoist novices who were still in the apprenticeship stage.

"These medicinal seeds are quite heavy. Would you like us to deliver them to your courtyard for you, fellow Daoist?"

The black-clad servant hurriedly accepted the dozen or so Dao coins handed over by Li Qing. He didn't count them, but asked a few more questions, showing great care and consideration.

Li Qing, however, did not respond. With a flick of his sleeve, he slightly stirred his true qi and put all the sack of medicinal seeds and three canisters of phosphorescent fire into his mustard seed bag.

She left a silent refusal only after everyone else had turned and left.

"no need!"

This method of transferring the mustard seed startled all the servants at the stall. Mustard seed bag!
Li Qing's methods are becoming increasingly bizarre.

One can only sigh; the distance of a single realm is like the difference between heaven and earth.

True Qi—only by refining True Qi can one open the door to cultivation and activate all magical artifacts and Taoist methods.

The Tiannan Shangguan Temple has over a thousand disciples. They are required to enter the Dao for twelve years. If they do not achieve the Primordial Qi, they can only descend the mountain and continue their cultivation. The concepts of fate and destiny are truly too illusory...

(End of this chapter)