The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 60 A Demonic Path Appears from Beyond the Mountain
After about ten days of troop movements within the Corpse Cave, three or four squads of soldiers led a large number of armored warriors to the southeastern perimeter of the Corpse Cave.

The entire ridge was cleared two years ago. All the large graves in the mountain were filled with huge stones and peach wood stakes, which completely ruined the feng shui of this yin place. Naturally, this place became their most secure stronghold.

However, when these soldiers first climbed the mountain, what greeted their eyes was a scene of utter devastation.

On the main mountain of Ximang, separated by a mountain stream, it was as if something had plowed it up. The damage spread from the stream to the main ridge, with broken rocks, cracked soil, charred wood, and even old graves that had been completely blown open. The incorruptible coffins of some wandering corpses were scattered all over the ground...

"this?"

The leading warriors were shocked as they removed their face shields, turned to look at each other, and froze on the spot.

The general's order was for him and his men to remove the large graves from the perimeter of the morgue. It was not necessary to make too much noise; they could simply remove them one by one, slowly and carefully.

After all, the two chief priests of the Imperial Academy have already trapped those several corpse generals in the deepest part of the corpse cave, so there shouldn't be too many changes on the outside.

"But going up to the southeast, I'm afraid those twenty or so large graves have all been dug up?"

While many of the fierce and powerful warriors were secretly surprised, the three priests accompanying the team also began to open their divine eyes with ox tears, willow leaf water and so on, and looked around with great attention.

However, it was seen that a large area to the southeast of the corpse pit had been blasted into scorched earth, with extremely strong traces of fire magic. Large areas of chaotic burial mounds were blown apart, and the remaining embers covered the area, clearing a passage for twenty or thirty miles.

It seems that only a cultivator from the Purple Mansion realm could have caused such a chaotic scene.

"No, that area wasn't completely cleaned!"

A middle-aged sorcerer with eagle-like eyes raised his hand to stop the crowd, frowning as he said:
"On that scorched earth, there are still walking corpses wandering around, and above them, there are still several layers of corpse haze."

Perhaps it was a lone Purple Mansion that unleashed several fire spells to attack the mountain, but ultimately failed and retreated?

Indeed, this is the case in the Corpse Cave. The densely packed, chaotic graves of corpses are piled up in this mountain. A great disaster has occurred. The greater the commotion caused by the casting of the spell, the more likely the blood energy will attract many old corpses to attack.

Instead, the large burial grounds were advanced slowly, without making too much noise, so as not to cause chaos caused by the zombie horde.

"Commander Guan, send a message to the central army camp: a pass has been opened in the southeast. Perhaps we can send another troop of fierce soldiers to widen this pass further..."

The garrison soldiers gazed into the distance for a long time, surveying the vast, scorched area.

From the ravine below to the mountainside, the trees and rocks had been almost completely plundered. It was roughly estimated that about twenty old graves had been bombarded by fire magic, and the remains of many walking corpses were half-buried in the scorched earth.

There were terrifying blood zombies with nowhere to live, wandering around the scorched earth, with black blood flowing all over the ground, and there seemed to be more than one of them!

The person who caused this tragedy.

They have now fled from the southeast of the morgue to the north...

Li Qing sat heavily on the trunk of an old banyan tree, while Zhu used the canopy as a nest to rest.

The attack on the mountain a few days ago was too dangerous. Li Qing stirred up a strong wind and spread the fire in the stone upwards. However, after forcing out many old corpses and killing three high-grade wandering corpses, the fire got out of control and raged towards the center of the corpse cave.

But at that moment, six or seven large tombs nearby on the mountain stirred simultaneously.

The many old corpses immediately set their sights on Li Qing. Li Qing, Zhu Jia, and Linglong Changzhu were all considered to be three high-level Qi Refining cultivators, so they could barely fight.

The Southern Sun God's method of killing was extremely powerful. Taking advantage of this method, he brutally killed three or four old corpses, and the corpse cave in the southeast almost rioted.

The Sunfire Technique was so powerful that a small-scale horde of corpses soon rose up in the mountains. Startled, Li Qing gathered up the bodies of the seven or eight high-grade old corpses, rode a dragon into the air, and then unleashed all of his Xuan Yin Qi, sending down fourteen consecutive Sunfire Techniques that completely covered the horde of corpses below.

However, after hastily stripping away a hundred strands of life-giving light above the horde of corpses, terrifying wandering corpses, almost sprouting wings, attacked, leaping hundreds of feet into the air and chasing Li Qing and Zhu all the way to the north of the corpse cave...

With a soft sigh, the life-extending lamp appeared in Li Qing's hand.

Even though only a hundred rays of longevity light were hastily captured at the time, their quantity and quality were still rare, causing the Longevity Lamp to generate six more magical restrictions. On the originally white, dotted paper lamp, unknown patterns began to spread and grow. The Southern Dipper Longevity Lamp now has fourteen magical restrictions, and the candle flames within are gradually transforming into lotus shapes.

"It's still a bit short. The life fire must be condensed into a thirty-six-petaled Southern Dipper Longevity Lotus before the Demon Star can be used to ward off death..." Li Qing raised the lantern and put it on the ground, becoming even more reassured.

At least in this morgue, if he can refine the Life-Extending Lamp with thirty-six magical restrictions, he will be able to finish the first volume of the "Southern Dipper Life-Extending Manual"!

Just as she was pondering, Linglong Changzhu stepped forward and began peeling the paper off the seven paper corpses laid out on the ground.

Among the seven old corpses, six were wandering corpses and one was a bronze-armored corpse. The exquisite and arrogant master cut off strips of spiritual paper from their bodies, stacked the seven spiritual papers in his palm, and looked at Li Qinglai.

The grotto is filled with old graves, and it seems that it is not advisable to use a large-scale spell like the Southern Ming Sunfire Method. Perhaps it is more important to first refine a paper army.
The exquisite and eccentric master slowly approached and handed the seven pieces of paper to Li Qing.

Something strange happened again in the mountains and forests.

The sound of bells echoed faintly in the forest. Unlike the soul-capturing copper bell on the paper sedan chair, the sound of these bells was continuous, as if someone were shaking a magic bell.

Within a few breaths, Li Qing and the arrogant master turned their heads at the same time, looking at the place where the commotion had occurred.

Along the road, white banners fluttered, and it turned out that weasels, standing upright, were clearing the way. The weasels were about half a person tall, and their darting eyes were quite eerie. Behind the weasels clearing the way, two white snakes carried a palanquin and slowly followed.

A canopy of blue silk was draped over the palanquin, and a man and a woman sat side by side inside it.

The young man had a handsome face with a hint of otherworldly beauty. He wore a plain white scholar's robe with a black crane cloak draped over his shoulders. The contrast between black and white perfectly embodied the principles of yin and yang. The woman beside him had a pair of golden fox ears...

"Not a demon, but a... demonic cultivator?" Li Qing was startled, as if she had remembered something.

There are foxes in Qingqiu Mountain, but they are not demons; rather, they are bound to scholars from the southern lands in each generation.

The Qingqiu fox lineage has a secret method to find a scholar from the South with the aptitude of Purple Mansion and Child Scholar to marry into, so that their offspring can be born with a Dao body and demon blood, cultivate demon magic, and enter the path of immortality. Such Qingqiu Daoists are often called demon Daoists!
The Qingqiu Demonic Path is a major lineage recognized by the Southern Kingdom; it is not a demonic path, but a path of immortals.

But why would the demonic cultivators from Qingqiu come to the southwest?

"My lord, what lies ahead is the heart of that corpse pit, where dangers are even greater. Should we survey the area and then return to camp as soon as possible?"

The first weasel, with a white beard, wore a felt hat and held a shamanic bell. He bowed to the sedan chair but dared not go any further.

The weasel spirit is most adept at sensing, and it could clearly feel the terror in this corpse pit. Layer upon layer of corpse haze covered countless old graves beneath it, a truly terrifying sight that could bury them here.

The couple inside the sedan chair did not answer, but instead both turned their gaze to the old banyan tree.

Beneath the banyan tree stood a melancholy Taoist priest, holding a book in one hand. Beside him seemed to be a beautiful, wicked ghost protecting him, and from behind the banyan tree hung a huge red-crowned dragon head, looking down at him.

Before the Taoist priest were rows of corpses, making him look nothing like a proper Taoist priest...

The young man in the crane-cloak in the palanquin let out a cheerful laugh, lifted the curtain, stepped down from the palanquin, and greeted Li Qing with a cupped-hand salute.

"I am Yan Hua from Qingqiu, Jinping Prefecture."

"I've heard rumors of flying corpses and uncorrupted bones in the Western Mang Corpse Cave. I wonder if this fellow Daoist has ever seen them?"

The strange young man cupped his hands and smiled, then began to inquire about the strange tales of the Southwest from Li Qing.

"Have not heard!"

Li Qing rolled up the spirit paper, put it into his mustard seed bag, and turned to leave.

At this moment, he didn't want to get close to any strangers.

Because the demon mother in the underworld was experiencing a fit of madness, she wanted to deal with that pure-blooded fox demon again...

(End of this chapter)