The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 49 Together in Life, Together in Death (Part Two)
Emerging from the treasure pavilion, Li Qing was genuinely taken aback as he held the three-legged cauldron in his hand.

This bronze inscription and cloud-shaped talisman, which stand shoulder to shoulder with the divination and prophecy, was something he had heard of before, but he never expected to obtain it so easily.

"It seems he was still fooled by that old scholar?"

Li Qing looked back at the old man's behavior and found it even more strange.

However, the art of alchemical texts and prophetic diagrams is inherently difficult to learn and master. Moreover, this is merely a reference artifact rather than an ancient treasure, and its value is at most three to five thousand Dao Zhu!
After storing the three-legged bronze cauldron in his storage gourd, Li Qing turned around and transformed into a torrent of white paper that fluttered in the wind. In the blink of an eye, he left the Treasure Pavilion Market and headed out of the city.

suddenly!

A terrifying aura descended upon the Niwan Palace.

In Li Qing's Niwan Palace, the skeletal beauty sitting on the lotus platform suddenly opened her eyes. In the boundless darkness, the skeletons scattered all over the ground came to life with a series of cracking sounds.

This land of floating bones seems to be being instilled and taken over by an even more terrifying will, which is invading the mortal world from within the divine palace.

The Demon Mother has gone out of control again!

This time, she actually invaded Li Qing's Niwan Palace directly and materialized the inner landscape derived from the White Bone Beauty View - the Floating Li White Bone Land.

The alleys of Nanlifang in Liuhuangzhou were instantly shrouded in darkness, and this deep darkness seemed to be spreading outwards.

[Click, click]

In that boundless darkness, in the inner realm of Floating Dawn, the clamorous skeletons, driven by the Demon Mother, were about to transform into three thousand white-boned skulls to invade the mortal world...

Fortunately, the inner scene, which had not yet fully manifested, vanished without a trace in the next moment.

The neighbors found it strange; hadn't a dark cloud just flashed by?
"Was I seeing things just now?"

Why did it suddenly get dark outside the window for a moment? Or did something float by?

"..."

The strange phenomenon came and went quickly, disappearing completely in an instant, leaving everyone in the neighborhood wondering if they were seeing things.

While the people in the alleys and alleys continued with their own affairs, some drawing water from the well, others grinding ink in their studies, none of them paid any attention to it.

Li Qingcai then emerged from behind an old locust tree on the side of the alley.

However, at this moment, Li Qing was leaning against the tree trunk with her right hand, her face deathly pale.

That ghost mother actually forcibly invaded Li Qing's inner world, wanting to take control of the floating white bones and countless great terrors invading reality.

The path of refining the spirit involves preserving the spirit through visualization, guarding the essence and consolidating the qi, and generating incredible images in the Niwan Palace, which is the inner landscape.

Li Qing was born through the contemplation of the white bones and the mind. In the Niwan Palace, there are skeletons everywhere, and a white bone beauty sits high on a bone lotus... This floating white bone image has now become quite effective, and the spiritual consciousness is growing stronger.

But little did he expect that the Ghost Mother would almost manifest his inner world and use it to invade reality!

If Li Qing hadn't tightly sealed his Heavenly Spirit and Niwan Palace, the skeletons would have been controlled by the Ghost Mother, and once they appeared, the entire market would have been implicated.

What exactly do you want?

Li Qing's voice was extremely angry and deep, as if his hatred was soaring to the sky.

She was like a persistent, gnawing ghost, always managing to bother Li Qing when he was least expecting it.

However, within the Niwan Palace, the skeletal beauty sat expressionless on her bone lotus throne, remaining silent. The vengeful ghost, devoid of spirit or reason, half-alive and half-dead, unable to distinguish right from wrong, was unaware of what Li Qing was saying or doing…

However, the skeletal beauty who descended by the will of the Ghost Mother seemed to empathize with Li Qing's dissatisfaction and anger, and stopped her actions.

After bowing her head for a few breaths, the skeletal beauty stepped down from the lotus throne, slowly stepped forward, and raised her flawless white jade-like fingers to touch Li Qing's wisp of thought.

"I want that!"

"want to……"

This was the first time the Ghost Mother had interacted with Li Qing. In that moment, the Ghost Spirit and the Spirit of Joy intertwined, and the Ghost Mother's simple yet intense possessive desire was transmitted into Li Qing's consciousness.

She only wanted one vengeful ghost from there.

I really want it!
"Is that all?"

Li Qing remained silent for a long time, and the gloom that had been hanging over her heart slowly subsided. Being haunted by a vengeful ghost and the possibility of losing control at any moment was something that ordinary people could not resist.

But this time, it seems, it was simply because that young lady from the Cui family sensed something?
"Okay! If you want it, I'll go get it for you."

"Would you mind waiting here for a moment?"

Li Qing separated two strands of thought and spoke with the white bone beauty in the inner palace of Niwan and on the ground of Fuli white bones.

The skeletal beauty gave no further response, but obediently returned to her skeletal lotus throne. The terrifying aura emanating from the chaotic skeletons scattered across the dimly lit ground vanished abruptly, and they crumbled and scattered on the ground with a clatter…

The situation in the Niwan Palace has calmed down!
This made Li Qing breathe a sigh of relief.

He really had no way to deal with that young lady from the Cui family, but fortunately, his cultivation had improved and his visualization techniques had become more effective.

At least, Li Qing's thoughts about the Divine Palace are now able to communicate with the Ghost Mother in a preliminary way!

The land of floating bones in the inner scene returned to tranquility, and Li Qing slowly released his closed consciousness, freeing his Niwan Palace.

Since that was the case, Li Qing satisfied the Ghost Mother's desires and went to the west of the city to see what kind of vengeful ghost had aroused her desires.
Without hesitation, Li Qing flicked his fingers and made a hand seal, instantly transforming the paper into countless sheets of white paper that fluttered in the breeze. These sheets of paper swirled across the market and landed in front of a sprawling cluster of mansions.

The closer they got to the mansion, the more unstable the skeletal beauty in the inner landscape of the Niwan Palace became, and she tried several times to directly invade the mortal world and attack the mansion.

Li Qing used his thoughts to stop the skeletal beauty's movements, and at the same time, concealed his aura as he entered the mansion.

This is a four-courtyard, two-span mansion. Spring has not yet passed, and red lanterns are still hanging, suggesting it is the main residence of a prominent local family.

The white sheets of paper fluttered through the courtyards. It was midday, and the spring drowsiness was troubling everyone. Many servants and household servants were scattered in the east and west front courtyards. The white sheets of paper were carried by the wind, and only one servant noticed them. He thought they were just blown by the wind and didn't pay any attention to them.

As Li Qing traversed the various courtyards, he suddenly sensed something amiss. He then paused, stopping in front of a courtyard garden in the west wing.

He had initially thought to himself that the mansion was bustling with servants, suggesting a prosperous household, so how could a ghost have befallen his home?
Upon entering the garden, Li Qing immediately noticed something was amiss.

In the courtyard, there was an abandoned ancient well, which may have originally been built to care for the flowers, railings and precious trees in the garden. Now, for some reason, it was sealed off with a strange rock that was more than half a meter high!

"In this well..."

Li Qing was just passing by when he noticed strange energy emanating from the well. Seeing that no one was around, he manifested his form, made a finger gesture with his right hand, and flicked out a wisp of true energy, finding a gap and sending it into the abandoned well.

Before long, with the feedback from the Qi at her fingertips, Li Qing immediately frowned.

At the bottom of that abandoned well, there were five or six skeletons piled up, and it seemed that a considerable amount of time had passed between their deaths.

"The skeletons in the well exude an aura of death, indicating a murder, but these skeletons haven't given rise to any ghosts or spirits, have they?"

In wealthy families like this, servants and maids who owed indentures and encountered unruly masters often suffered such murders.

But it doesn't seem to be related to ghosts or spirits!

In the Niwan Palace, on the land of floating bones, the skeletal beauty controlled by the invading ghost mother had an expression full of eager anticipation.

"If the Ghost Mother reacts like this, then there must be a ghostly calamity in this house!"

Or were these people killed by ghosts? Or perhaps the owner of this mansion kept ghosts?
Li Qing pondered the matter and became more suspicious of the place, so he refrained from making any further rash moves.

He needs more intelligence!

The next instant, the white paper fluttered and scattered out of the mansion. It was midday, and the servants in the house were taking a nap.

Strands of white paper drifted out from the street corner, revealing Li Qing's figure.

Li Qing pondered for a moment, then picked up the paper lantern, made a hand gesture, and used a paper crane to carry thirty-six strands of thought, transforming them into a dream-entering technique that floated into the mansion.

He wanted to enter the mansion's servants in his dream to see what the mansion was really like.

In the western outer courtyard of the house, many servants were on duty with their badges, while the young servants on duty were either resting or taking a nap due to the spring drowsiness.

A young servant in blue robes lay prostrate on the table, and in the hazy light, he seemed to see a paper crane floating by.

Then, her consciousness became hazy, and her thoughts returned to the time she entered the manor four years ago...

The Wang family of Liuhuang Prefecture was a large clan in the area. From Prefectural Magistrate to Assistant Magistrate, Attendant, and County Commandant, members of the Wang family had served in various places throughout the south, spreading their influence and flourishing. This Wang family mansion was one of their branches.

The master of this mansion is only somewhat skilled in business, but he has never entered officialdom. He has acquired a large mansion in Liuhuangzhou.

The servant was sold to Master Wang and entered the mansion as a servant...

Speaking of the Prince's Mansion, the Prince himself was fond of beautiful women, and there were many maids in the mansion, all of whom were of superior appearance.

Since this servant came in, things have been peaceful and everything in the mansion has gone smoothly. The only major event in recent years has been the disappearance of a few extremely beautiful maids. The only slight regret is that one of them was someone he had been secretly taking care of.

Initially, it was rumored that the maid was taken away by a beggar, and then it was said that the maid had boldly run away. Later, several more incidents occurred, and some people said that it was because Master Wang had unusual sexual fetishes, which made him very angry and he severely punished the gossipers in the mansion!
Then rumors spread that the lady was intolerant, but the lady was a rare beauty in the state, how could she not tolerate a few maids...

The paper crane weaves through the barrier between dreams and reality, coldly observing the servant's dream experience.

But that servant was truly an empty-headed thing. Apart from eating, sleeping, and obeying the orders of the mansion, the rest of his memory was just fantasizing about the maids in the mansion.

After spending almost half an hour, Li Qing only managed to see the layout of the mansion and the details of the rumors surrounding each courtyard; she knew nothing else...

"Huh? Five missing maids... I remember the skeletons in the well were also female skeletons?"

That makes sense!

Could it be that Master Wang is using a beautiful woman to raise ghosts? Or has the lady sought out some extraordinary evil magic?
A master who loves his maid, a beautiful wife, and a maid who mysteriously disappears only to have her remains found in an abandoned well—these are the most likely outcomes...

A beautiful ghost? A ghost with a painted skin? Or a vengeful spirit from within the house?
Li Qing's heart skipped a beat, and petals flew everywhere as she vanished into the east courtyard. The easternmost part of the inner courtyard was where Master Wang and his wife usually resided. Hearing the servants in the courtyard say that Master Wang had attended a banquet that day, the only thing that could have caused the Ghost Mother's change of heart was that lady!

Li Qing carefully restrained the Qi of Zhou Tian, ​​making the Qi of his body merge into one, completely isolating him from the outside world, so that there was no Qi leaking out.

He saw the lady's residence in the servant boy's memory!
The torrential paper scraps had just passed through half of the mansion and landed outside the courtyard, but no servants were seen waiting outside.

Just then, a gust of wind blew in, and the lone piece of white paper flew into the window and landed on the incense burner in the room, which had not yet been lit.

There was a beautiful woman adorned with hairpins and ornaments, applying makeup in front of a silver mirror. She had her hair styled in a fairy bun, her eyebrows arched, and she was applying floral decorations to her forehead with a painted flower pattern.

Ignoring the evil wind that seemed to be blowing from nowhere, the woman merely glanced casually at the exquisitely beautiful piece of spiritual paper, a slight smile playing on her lips, before resuming her work.

"Where did this young Taoist come from, using spirit paper as a letter to send me to my room without permission..."

"If the master finds out, won't he beat me to death?"

The woman was charming, holding a paintbrush in one hand, her brows seemingly waving gently in the breeze. She turned to look out the window and gave a disdainful glance. Her soft, reproachful tone and startled gesture of clutching her chest perfectly showcased her alluring beauty.

No wonder that young servant in blue couldn't forget it.

"Oh no!" Li Qing suddenly raised an eyebrow, as if she had remembered something.

He didn't know how long it had been since he had touched ordinary paper. He had always used spiritual paper, and it had become a habit, like being blinded by a leaf.

But anyone with a discerning eye could easily recognize such spirit paper.

The white paper fluttering in the wind was actually a piece of spiritual paper imbued with spiritual energy? And it just so happened to be carried by an evil gust of wind with no beginning or end, landing precisely on the window?
In the mortal world of this prefecture and county, spirit paper is not a common item!
The next instant, a figure appeared outside the waist-high windowsill.

The young man was dressed in a plain blue robe, with an upright posture, a gentle and handsome face, and a hint of melancholy about him. He was different from others, which immediately caught the lady's eye.

"Oh, what a fine young man this is! He's truly blessed with good looks."

The lady put down her eyebrow pencil, and with a gentle laugh, bent down to pick up the white paper that had fallen on the incense burner. With a graceful and smiling demeanor, she slowly carried it to the windowsill, teasing the young man.

When Li Qing saw the woman, his heart sank immediately. She was devoid of the six elements and had no connection with heaven or man.

Moreover, the skeleton beauty statue in the Niwan Palace rose directly from the bone lotus platform, unable to contain itself and ready to take action.

This is the vengeful ghost!
When the lady teased Li Qing and lightly brushed her fingertips across the back of the young man's hand, the two of them immediately reacted as if they had been electrocuted, their expressions changing drastically.

"You are not a human being!"

"who are you?"

The two stepped back and looked at each other across the window. Li Qing's pupils contracted instantly, and the lady's alluring and frivolous expression immediately turned cold.

Before any other action could be taken, a faint light flashed, and the black coffin nail was pulled out, brushing past the woman's hair and immediately tearing a large hole in the other wall.

Li Qing had a clear objective; once he confirmed the ghost's identity, he would unleash a series of deadly attacks.

The woman's beautiful eyes turned cold and murderous. In an instant, ghostly energy swirled around her, as she intended to kill the young Taoist priest before the servants arrived.

"You White Bone Taoist, you actually dared to chase me all the way here."

"This lady..."

This female ghost is clearly not a vengeful spirit; she is intelligent and has managed to remain hidden in this mansion for many years. Could she be one of the ghosts and spirits of Lingnan?
It seems they have some grudges with the Lingnan White Bone Path!
However, before the woman could even utter a harsh word, the boundless, chilling Yin energy of the underworld instantly filled the entire courtyard.

The chilling aura started from Li Qing and spread in an instant. Dew clung to the jujube branches in the courtyard, and frost covered the green tiles. The woman's movements froze, as if her entire body was frozen in ice. A chilling, numb, and powerless feeling instantly overwhelmed her.

The beautiful woman's eyes softened, and she immediately became pitiful and submissive.

"My dear husband, could you please give me a chance?"

"Just now, I was so angry that I lost my temper. How dare I speak disrespectfully to you, my lord!"

"Please spare my life, I'll do anything..."

However, before the female ghost could finish speaking, a jade hand emerged from Li Qing's inner vision of the Niwan Palace - the Floating Li White Bone Ground, crossing the boundary between reality and the Netherworld, and grabbed the female ghost's body.

After a short while, all things fell silent and returned to stillness.

The ghost woman who claimed to be the wife of the Wang family instantly turned into yin energy and dissipated.

The pair of jade hands that Li Qing extended from her inner vision seemed to have obtained something she greatly cherished.

Like a painted mask?
Even Li Qing could feel the pure joy emanating from that place.

It is precisely said that:
The ghost mother, upon hearing this, expressed her feelings, and the young man folded paper to find out her whereabouts.

However, when this demon mother lost control and revealed her aura...

However, a deep-seated malice had long been watching the two of them!

The mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind.

Outside Liuhuang City, there was a Taoist priest in black robes who, through the many streets, sensed the ghostly aura emanating from the Wang family mansion in the west of the city.

"What a ghostly creature, what a ghostly realm! I followed the wisp of lingering Yin energy from Shanyang County and traced it back for a long time before finally finding you!"

"Such a ghost should rightfully belong to this humble Taoist."

The ghostly Taoist stood atop a cloud, a black banner swaying beside him. In an instant, an endless, dark domain enveloped the entire Liuhuang Prefecture.

The resentment of death condensed in the dark clouds that stretched for dozens of miles, transforming into grotesque ghost faces on the edge of the clouds. Those ghost faces and ghost hands struggled and roared silently in the dark clouds.

What a wicked Taoist! In the southern lands, he actually managed to obtain a wisp of profound Yin energy. After searching for a long time, he intended to forcibly seize the Ghost Mother.

He raised his hand and summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, disregarding the laws of the Southern Kingdom and daring to take action in the city.

At this moment, Li Qing stood helplessly in the courtyard, making hand seals and pulling his fingers, trying to withdraw the image of the floating white bones, coax the white bone beauty back to the inner world, and then let the Ghost Mother's will return to the Netherworld.

Little did they know they were being watched all along.
The next instant, the sky changed, and soul-destroying divine light descended from the sky. Those strands of souls, born from the tragic deaths of countless vengeful spirits, resembled an inverted waterfall of the Styx River, sweeping down on the Wang family mansion in one go.

The ghostly Taoist had been coveting it for a long time, and at this very moment, he struck with deadly force!
Li Qing was in the backyard of the mansion, completely unaware of the deadly killing intent descending upon her.

Rumble…

The killing move from the top of the Ghost Mansion fell, instantly causing the mansion to collapse. Fortunately, the inner vision of Fuli, strengthened by the Ghost Mother's will, blocked most of the Soul-Destroying Silk, but Li Qing was still instantly thrown more than ten feet away by the terrifying attack.

In a hazy state of consciousness, I felt an overwhelming pain surge from behind, as if all the bones in my body had been shattered, and I immediately lost consciousness...

With the force of ten thousand souls collapsing from the sky, they fell to the west of Liuhuang City. Such an arrogant and undisguised attack caused the Prefect of the Purple Mansion in Liuhuang Prefecture to have his aura soar to the sky and confront the Taoist in the clouds.
Inside the Hanlin Pavilion, poems and titles resounded, and the scholarly atmosphere formed a protective barrier around the entire pavilion.

Many cultivators, including those at the Purple Mansion level, Masters, and even high-level Qi Refining cultivators in Liuhuang Prefecture, all turned their gazes to the clouds, wondering which unruly scoundrel had dared to break into the prefecture and commit such a heinous act.

Where did he send the laws of the Southern Kingdom? Where did he send them to the various circuits of the state?

hum...

At the same time, only the mournful whispers of ghosts and the wailing of hundreds of ghosts could be heard. Within the dark cloud-shrouded domain, an even more terrifying aura rose up, forcibly dispersing the dark clouds.

Ghosts and demons arose from the netherworld, and white bones fell from the dark sky. One after another, ghosts and demons passed through the road, and the western city of Liuhuang was filled with cries of anguish and the people were desperate.

The people in the streets, seeing the dark clouds pressing down on the city, were filled with fear and scattered to hide. But before they could find shelter, the evil spirits and demons on the other side had already opened up, and the magnificent image of the Demon Mother descended upon Liuhuangzhou.

Li Qing fainted, and the demonic mother within him completely lost control!

With the appearance of this demonic mother, several markets in the west of the city were enveloped in a ghostly aura. All living beings within that aura were twisted and turned into bloody, mangled messes, bones and flesh flying everywhere – a truly horrific sight.
Then there were strands of straw ropes hanging down from the dark sky, suspending the corpses and vengeful spirits, turning them into an upside-down ghost forest beneath the clouds.

"My son!"

"lady!"

"Wuwuwu, no..."

Before the prefect could react and begin the ritual music, and before the vice-prefect could activate his power to protect the people, the underworld had already opened!

Starting from the west of the city, the Netherworld descends, plunging into the realm of ghosts. A ghost mother emerges, thirty-three feet tall, half-alive and half-dead, with a jade-like face and white bones, holding a human figure in her palms.

She felt wronged and heartbroken!
She didn't know why her husband had suddenly become like this, but she recognized where the attack had come from.

The appearance of the Ghost Mother further stirred up the ghostly calamities that already existed in Liuhuangzhou City. A headless ghost, ten feet tall, pulled on a funeral banner and slowly walked out of a coffin shop.

A ghostly figure, formed from yin energy and wielding chains, began to roam the city.
The entire prefecture was shrouded in the Ten Thousand Souls Law Domain, and below it, such a ghostly calamity suddenly erupted, turning the western wards of the city into a land of death, like a living hell!

Meanwhile, the ghostly Taoist priest in the clouds outside the city grew increasingly ferocious, his excitement growing even stronger. The ghost's true form hadn't even appeared yet, but its image was already thirty-three feet tall.
"Hehehe, what a fierce ghost, what a vengeful ghost! This is the kind of powerful ghost I'm going to catch!"

However, the old Taoist priest had not yet uttered a sound of laughter.

The next moment, his right arm snapped with a crack, instantly twisting and breaking. The arm bone broke into more than a dozen pieces, and the flesh was torn apart like a twisted rope, with blood gushing out incessantly.

The curse known as "Twisted" had already locked onto him, the perpetrator.

"How is this possible? They're so far apart, what kind of curse is this?"

The Taoist priest gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain of his fractured bones, but he hadn't expected this great demon to be so ferocious.
Very well, the stronger you become, the more you will assist me in the future.

The Ghost Taoist made a hand seal and shook the Myriad Souls Banner, stirring up boundless dark clouds that covered Liuhuangzhou City, preventing the ghost from escaping.

This evil path, utterly disregarding the prosperity of this state capital, allows the out-of-control ghostly calamity to spread unchecked?
The ghostly ways of Lingnan often transgress the rules!

However, in that silent moment, an old, blackened straw rope had already been put around his neck, another unknown curse.

But he remained oblivious, as if he were blinded by a ghost...

There was a power outage today, so this is the only chapter available.
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(End of this chapter)