The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 42 The Dragon Emerges from Seclusion
Another frost has fallen, winter has gone and spring has come.

In the Lin Yuan Mountains, things change every day, and the Daoist Hall has expanded to its seventh hall.

At this time, wandering scholars from Tiannan Prefecture and sorcerers from the state also entered the outer academy as nominal disciples.

The outer courtyard was much noisier than before, with more and more figures in blue robes coming and going along the bluestone path.

However, several months ago, the first news came from Ximang County: the Imperial Guard and Tiannan Prefecture had joined forces, with the warriors of Tiannan as their spearhead and the seventy-two routes of soldiers from the Imperial Guard as their blades, to storm the main peak of Ximang, behead two corpse generals, destroy the Blood Corpse, break the Golden Armor Corpse, and capture the Bronze Armor Corpse...

This battle resulted in the excavation of nearly a third of the large tombs in the Western Wilderness Corpse Cave, which greatly shocked people's hearts.

In the southwestern mountains, however, they encountered repeated setbacks. Demons had established strongholds in those mountains, ruling over the mountains and carving out their own territories, turning the hundred-mile-long mountain range into a manor. Any old beasts in the mountains, whether they had become spirits or awakened their powers, were all dragged into the strongholds to be used as lesser demons. This kind of operation formed a vast network of demons!

The Wan Court and the Danqi Court, working together, temporarily captured the two demon mountains. However, the deeper they went, the less confident the heads of the two courts became.

The southwestern mountains number over 100,000. After the collapse of the ancient dynasty, many demons and monsters hid in the mountains and have now formed a powerful force, known as the Seventy-Two Small Fangs and the Thirty-Six Large Fangs. The continuous mountain ranges are each called a general or a king.

Even with the combined efforts of both academies, they could only field eight or nine Purple Mansion cultivators. How could they possibly subdue the horde of mountain demons? Even clearing the outer perimeter was risky; they feared going too far and provoking an even stronger backlash!

However, the abbot of Linyuan Immortal Peak personally set off for the southwest with the Divine Mountain Seal, determined to annihilate the demonic mountain in the southwest.

The Taoist priests of the various academies were in even more distressed. The Imperial Edict Academy of the four academies had entered the Western Barbarian lands to eliminate the corpse calamity; the Law and Order Academy was negotiating with the Poison and Gu Bureau in the Southern Lands.

With just the Myriad Law Court and the Alchemy and Weaponry Academy, wouldn't this be a matter of risking lives? Even if the Myriad Law Court is always the strongest in combat and the Alchemy and Weaponry Academy has the most wealth, they can't withstand such a drain!

The problem isn't scarcity but inequality; naturally, this discontent spreads...

This day.

Suddenly, for some unknown reason, clouds gathered at the mountainside of Linyuan Mountain. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, large raindrops began to fall in a pattering drizzle, soaking the young Taoist servants who had just finished their lessons in the courtyard.

"How could the weather change so quickly? Just a moment ago it was clear and sunny!"

Several young Taoist boys dressed in black robes were playing in the mountains. The girl in the lead was showing off the magic she had recently practiced, using the grass and trees to escape and turning her energy into fire. However, the small flames she had just spat out were extinguished by a heavy rain.

They hurriedly returned to Rudao Hall through the shade of the trees. However, as they ran along the roadside trees toward the courtyard, they unknowingly arrived at the edge of the mansion area.

Those scattered residences, even specially separated by flowers and plants, were the kind of treatment that could only be allocated after one had entered the Dao and become a disciple.

"How did we end up here?"

Just as the group was grumbling about the changing weather, they suddenly saw a mansion ahead. The azure-like barrier of the Daoist temple was being activated. This mansion was a private Daoist temple, and according to the "Daoist Temple Law," one could not approach or disturb the person's cultivation without the Daoist master's permission.

Just as the person was about to leave the mansion, a bolt of lightning as thick as a tree trunk suddenly descended from the clouds, instantly extinguishing all the mansion's protective barriers with a deafening roar.

"Sweet potato!"

"Look, could someone have been struck by lightning and died over there?"

A young girl serving as a ceremonial attendant pulled her companion up, pointed at the mansion with its vermilion gate, and exclaimed in surprise.

As the young Taoists turned their gazes in that direction, they saw a pair of cold, vertical pupils suddenly rise from within the courtyard wall. Then, a terrifying dragon appeared, with six forked horns like a crown, vermilion scales, a serpent's neck, a jackal's mouth, and a sword-dragon's tongue.

Suddenly, the red dragon's round head leaped outward, covering a distance of several dozen feet in the blink of an eye. Just as it pounced in front of the girls, the two girls on either side immediately closed their eyes and fainted from fright.

Before the red dragon even got close, two of the three young Taoist disciples fainted. For a moment, it didn't know what to do. It turned its head and stared longingly at the young man who was standing at the gate staring at it.

"Hululu~"

The red dragon uttered a fawning sound that it shouldn't have made, and actually turned to ask for help.

At this moment, the only Taoist boy who hadn't fainted from fright finally came to his senses and looked at the great dragon, which was entirely crimson and seemed to be constructed of fire jade.

It has a dragon's head, a scaly body, a phoenix's tail, and a red mane growing on its back, but no feet.

Is this a dragon? A dragon from the Fire Dragon lineage?

A dragon with horns but no feet is called a qiulong; a dragon with feet but no horns is called a chilong; a dragon with scales on its back and horns is called a jiaolong; a dragon possessing all the characteristics of a dragon is called a true dragon; a true dragon with wings is called an yinglong...

"Oh dear, so it was raised by a senior brother! That was terrifying!"

Lan Qingyu patted her chest repeatedly. That was terrifying! The giant dragon suddenly flew over, its mouth wide enough to fit three people. Who wouldn't be scared? Then, the dragon turned and hid behind the slowly approaching youth, its crystal-clear eyes filled with innocence, as if none of this concerned it…

"It's him!"

As soon as Lan Qingyu saw the newcomer, she was suddenly startled as a not-so-distant memory overlapped with the person in front of her.

This is the person she saw in the Yuan River when she first entered the sect, sitting alone on a bamboo raft crossing the Ghost Abyss.

Is his name Guilang-Liqing?
"How are you all?"

Li Qing slowly approached, flicked her finger, and immediately two streams of true qi flew out in an arc, landing on the two girls dressed as Daoist children.

The two young disciples received this true Qi and their minds immediately became clear. After opening their eyes, they suddenly stood up and saw that the great dragon had already gone far away and was peeking out from behind a senior brother in blue.

"It's...it's alright!" Under the gaze of that ferocious creature, the group could only reply softly.

"There is thunder here; you should leave as soon as possible!"

Seeing that the young Taoists had regained consciousness, Li Qing glanced at the candle, gave them some advice, and then turned around and grabbed the phoenix tail of the red dragon, forcibly dragging it back into the courtyard.

Unexpectedly, even a dragon transformed from a mortal would be struck by heavenly lightning.
Li Qing returned to the courtyard and closed the vermilion gate again, but the barrier was damaged and the gate was now completely exposed to the sky.

Fortunately, the thundercloud only lasted for one strike before it dissipated with a roar; otherwise, it would have really taken some effort.

It wasn't until Li Qing brought Dan Qiu back to the courtyard, sat on the stone table there, and poured a cup of tea that the people not far from the mansion slowly came back to their senses.

What did we just encounter?
But the gates of the mansion closed again, and the young Taoist disciples had no choice but to return to the initiation hall with trepidation...

The path of the candle's transformation into a dragon involves spiritual jade marrow, cinnabar dragon ginseng, and dragon-taming jade. Although these are not extraordinary treasures of heaven and earth, they are more than enough for it at this time!

At this moment, it has transformed into a fiery dragon and has fully acquired the appearance of a dragon. Now, "Candle" is twelve zhang long, with a slender body, a dragon's head and a phoenix's tail. It can control the wind, ride the clouds, and manipulate fire magic. If it were in the mortal world, it would already be qualified to be a mountain god.

Its dragon body, which could originally sit upright in the hall, is now probably too big to fit in the main hall.

After pouring herself a cup of tea, Li Qing tapped the teapot with her fingertip, and the tea seemed to rise into the air like a trickle, falling directly into the open dragon mouth of "Candle".

Clearly, the candle, having tasted the tea, thoroughly enjoyed the flavor, its tail wagging frequently, clearly delighted.

While Li Qing played with it, she began to make plans in her heart.

We need to move to a larger mansion to set up our practice center. The candle's cultivation has reached a new stage. It used to refuse to leave Li Qing, and the room was no longer big enough for it, so the two of them could only cultivate together in the main hall.

The art of controlling size? That's a supernatural power too, how could it be so easy to learn?

A beast-taming bag? Where did such a large beast-taming bag come from? The temple does have beast-taming bags that are a few feet in diameter, but they'd probably only be good enough to be used as hats for it...

At this moment, Li Qing had just completed the complete circulation of the Qi in the Zhou Tian system. The Zhou Tian system was filled with the Qi of the Primordial Chaos for 360 seconds. With this, the circulation of Qi in the Zhou Tian system was greatly improved, and the speed of breathing of true Qi was also greatly increased. If they were to fight again, there would be no need to worry too much about how much true Qi was left.

Previously, whether fighting the Black Dog Demon, the Corpse Slaughtering Cave, or eliminating the Skinning Demon, Li Qing would first draw up his magic and hold it in his palm, holding it back until he could unleash it. Once he made a move, he would strike directly at the core, targeting its weakness, and ensuring that it would be killed!
Having been a Taoist for less than six years, spending three years cultivating life and three years practicing qi, Li Qing had already traversed a path that ordinary Taoists might not be able to complete in more than ten years.

With a flick of his fingertip, a wisp of fire within the stone suddenly appeared. The true fire seed had long been nurtured and grown strong in his dantian. With just a thought, it could transform into fifty-two suns and stars. The extremely compressed wisp of fire within the stone was even more powerful than before.

After a long period of seclusion, the Paper Spirit Cult had also thoroughly refined itself using the Four Laws of the Mountain Spirit, bringing the Paper Spirit Cult, which was heading towards unorthodox and unorthodox paths, back onto the orthodox path of natural witchcraft.

The trip to Qingping Prefecture clearly did not significantly affect Li Qing's temperament. Indulging in excessive feasting and pleasure, inviting friends from all over the world, and reveling in the mountains and rivers were not what he sought.

Training
However, after practicing the White Bone Visualization Diagram and lighting the Life-Extending Spirit Lamp, the number of times the Netherworld Pact went out of control became extremely rare. Perhaps when he achieves the Purple Mansion realm, the sharp blade hanging over his head can finally be removed.
Li Qing tilted his head back and drank the cup of tea. He looked at the two faceless paper figures playing with the "candle" under his control, and nodded with a slight smile.

Just as I was about to set off, I went to the Works Department to request a different residence or temple. If the residence or mansion was too small, even a pagoda forest or a cave would be fine!
Suddenly, a streak of light flashed in the sky. Seeing that the mansion was no longer protected, it fell straight down from the clouds, heading straight for Li Qing.

He simply activated his magic power, and with a flick of his right hand, he took the jade talisman into his hand.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out:
"Is the retreat over?"

"Come to my Cloud Heaven Treasure Pavilion!"

"There's a problem in the courtyard, related to that demonic mountain. Why don't you take a few of the courtyard's best fighters and go deal with it?"

(End of this chapter)