The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 69 Strange Tales from Overseas Islands

As the heroes from all corners of the world disembarked from the ship, Li Qing silently followed behind the two Zifu, listening to their banter.

But once Li Qing's skill in mobilizing troops was revealed some time ago, he couldn't hide it no matter what!
The two Purple Mansion warriors took the lead, and the remaining heroes exchanged glances. Then they split into two groups: one to guard the shore, and the other to go forward along the main road to serve as a scout.

"Young friend Li, have you ever heard of the Flying Head Clan?"

As the group walked toward the center of the island, the Purple Mansion Ship Lord suddenly asked Li Qing a question.

Flying Head Clan?
Li Qing was puzzled and hesitated for a long time before tentatively answering, "Could it be the legendary Headless Barbarians?"

The Purple Mansion Ship Lord tossed the magic sword into the arms of the chivalrous man behind him, shook his head and sneered, "Hey? The folk legend of the headless barbarian is nothing but a misinterpretation born of fear among the common people."

"The Flying Head Clan is a prominent clan on these islands!"

"The Flying Head Clan is born with its soul residing in the upper dantian - Niwan Palace. After death, as long as the skull remains, they can live. Even ordinary people among them can live to be over 180 years old."

"The young Flying Head Clan can even separate their head from their neck, soaring hundreds of feet into the air to collect the rare medicinal herbs from the cliff tops."

"If you ask about seaweed in normal times, the Flying Head Clan has the largest stock!"

Upon hearing this, the Purple Mansion Ship Lord became furious, cursing and swearing at the foolish Taoist who had come into contact with this Flying Head Clan.

"Damn it, I don't know which bastard sent the visualization method to this Flying Head Clan, which has led to the emergence of many great witches in the Flying Head Clan over the years."

"This Flying Head Clan already has its three souls and seven spirits gathered in the Niwan Palace. With this additional meditation practice, wouldn't it be like adding wings to a tiger? In the blink of an eye, life and death can be taken... Now, he's becoming increasingly cunning in his business dealings."

The saying goes, "He who possesses a sharp blade will naturally harbor murderous intent."

The Flying Head Clan of today is not what it was decades ago; the price of the medicinal herbs in their tribe has skyrocketed. If they had dared to raise prices like this before, several of their people would have been killed.

It's not a good time to resort to intimidation now, otherwise, if a fight breaks out, no one will be happy!
The two Purple Mansion Ship Lords led seven or eight high-grade cultivators straight up the mountain. The recent situation of the "Flying Head Clan" revealed in their conversation surprised Li Qing, who secretly realized that this was the origin of the Flying Head Clan.

Humans have three souls, which are projected onto the physical body, thus giving rise to the seven spirits.

This soul has landed in the Niwan Palace, which is exactly in line with the "Searching for the Gods" in the Yellow Court Inner Landscape Refining Spirit Great Dao. It's just that subconsciously, one is visualizing one's own seven soul gods!

That explains it; a strong soul and powerful spirit allowed him to survive a fatal head injury...

Following the gravel path into the mountains, one finds rows of wooden villages, with many hemp clothes drying on bamboo poles in the villages, not too different from the villages in the southwest.

Upon seeing the group heading up the mountain, the figures squatting by the roadside immediately began chattering away.

Li Qing looked closely at these people and saw that they were no different from ordinary people, except that they lived overseas and their skin was a little darker and they had a blood line around their necks!
Speaking of this circle of blood lines, Li Qing recalled a strange tale.

Its title is "Lu Pan".

During the previous dynasty, there was a ghost god in the Jiangnan region who was worshipped by the ghost judge of the prefecture. In his previous life, he was surnamed Lu and was also known as "Judge Lu".

This Judge Lu, following his own wishes, was a generous drinker with exceptional eloquence. He had once befriended a scholar who, despite being otherwise excellent, was unable to write fluently due to a blocked mind. So, he personally selected a "wise heart" for the scholar. From then on, his friend's literary talent greatly improved, he could remember anything he saw, and he could compose poems and essays with ease, which pleased Judge Lu even more.

Later, while the scholar was drinking and making merry with Judge Lu, he lamented his wife's ugly face and thought of the man's heart transplant. When the wine flowed freely, he immediately asked Judge Lu to perform surgery on his wife's face. Judge Lu, who truly considered the scholar a close friend, jokingly agreed to the request.

They searched far and wide in the underworld and finally found a beautiful woman from a noble family who had been murdered by bandits.

Several days later, at midnight, someone knocked on the door, but instead carried a small object wrapped in his clothes. Upon arriving at the scholar's house, he beheaded the scholar's wife with a single, cold stroke of his blade, and then pressed the beautiful woman's head against her neck...

This is the strange tale of Judge Lu's head transplant!
What is despicable is that the scholar's wife had long since died, and the one who took her place was a beautiful woman from an official family who had been resurrected after death.

Moreover, the woman had a blood ring around the place where she had her head transplanted, which she always covered up with beautiful ornaments.

It is unknown whether this "Lu Pan's head swap" is related to the rumored head-dropping barbarians and flying-headed clans...

While Li Qing was pondering this.

Excitement erupted from the Fei Tou clan's village, clearly indicating that this tribe had already had considerable dealings with the Black Ship cultivators, and they thronged around them as they entered the village.

Several chivalrous figures were leading the way, seemingly having already notified the village. The village itself was quite straightforward and unpretentious, resembling a rural marketplace.

One by one, the members of the Flying Head Clan picked out the medicinal herbs that their families had long stored up, laid them out on a coarse cloth, and then began to offer them to the public for selection!
Two or three sea heroes who understood the language of the flying head immediately stepped forward to bargain with them. Before long, the heroes were surrounded by a large group of people and argued heatedly.

Sudden.

Li Qing was startled and turned around abruptly, only to see six or seven men and women slowly walking over from one side of the mountain stronghold.

He had always been practicing the visualization of the White Bone Beauty, and his mind was extremely full in the Qi Refining stage. He immediately sensed the terrifying divine sense of those great witches!

Seeing how sensitive the young man in the hooded robe was, the others could only nod their heads, half in doubt and half in goodwill.

After all, although these outsiders severely drove down the price of Ganoderma lucidum in the village, without them, the village's life wouldn't be as good as it is now, and the villagers wouldn't need ironware or be able to afford fine silk clothes...

Among these high shamans, there were mostly women, and they were all quite young. As soon as they entered the village, they crossed their arms and stood to one side, looking these outsiders up and down.

The villagers from all sides seemed to respect them to the point of fear, not even daring to exchange glances. After agreeing on the price, they silently knelt back on their own hemp cloth side, behaving themselves properly.
These high shamans likely held extremely high positions within their tribes, perhaps even exercising oppressive rule.

Li Qing silently stood behind the cultivators on the black ship, waiting for the outcome of the battle... Not long after, other great shamans also arrived from other villages. Behind them were small mountains of sacks filled with various herbs and corals. Instead of being transported by carts or horses, they floated in mid-air, slowly drifting over as these flying-headed great shamans moved.

This divine thought, which so freely manipulates objects, is silent, invisible, and without the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power or energy.

If this divine thought were truly used for an attack, those below the Purple Mansion level would have no idea how to defend against it.

As dusk approached, the shaman in the last village finally finished his transaction.

However, what astonished Li Qing the most in this subtly confrontational transaction was not the divine sense of the Flying Head Clan, which was close to the Inner Realm Refining Spirit lineage, but the black ship cultivator.

Just now, the ship owner was saying that the Flying Head Clan has become increasingly fond of haggling in recent years.

With a flick of his wrist, he poured out several small mountains from his mustard seed bag, containing linen, silk, numerous iron pots, and sharp tools...

However, with these mundane items, which probably add up to no more than six thousand baht, they exchanged them for coral and sesame seeds worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of baht!

"No, how can this be called Fei Tou Shi raising prices?"

Even Li Qing, an observer, felt that they truly lived up to their name, the Black Ships.

They stayed in the village until evening, and the many heroes, each with a bulging bag of mustard seeds hanging from their waists, were about to leave.

Sudden.

A witch from the village blocked Li Qing and the others with her arm across her. She looked at the young man for a long time and thought he was very handsome!

Hesitating until the sun was almost setting, the headless clan's shaman finally mustered her courage, held up a flower crown that looked like it was made of rotten silver, and offered it to Li Qing.

The witch appeared to be about eighteen or nineteen years old, dressed in a purple silk robe. Apart from the red thread around her neck, she looked exactly like a woman from the Southern Kingdom, resembling a girl from the neighborhood of the Six Counties. She held up a crown in front of her, her eyes clear, eagerly awaiting Li Qing's reply.

This left Li Qing looking around, unsure of what to do.

What does she want to do?
"Hahaha! Young friend Li, you've caught the eye of the village's witch!"

"If you accept this silver crown, you can stay in this village. Perhaps the young men can come and visit you both when they come and go in the future!"

The ship's captain seemed to be in high spirits, laughing and joking with Li Qing on either side.

"Otherwise, just don't accept gifts from others."

Whether overseas or in the south, where education is lacking, people like this witch have no need for poetry, books, or proper etiquette for betrothal. If they hit it off, they simply exchange tokens of affection face to face.

If you don't have that intention, then don't make promises lightly or overstep your bounds.

Li Qing naturally understood this principle, shook her head slightly, and immediately stepped back a few paces.

The witch's actions abruptly halted at that decision to back down. Her eyes welled with tears, as if she were deeply aggrieved. She put away her silver crown, turned, and ran back towards the village...

The many high shamans in the village and the monks on the black ship all burst into laughter at this little incident.

Young people like this have all gone through this.

After a busy day, and bidding farewell to the Flying Head Clan, the cultivators finally left the village and returned to their boats, carrying large and small mustard seed pouches.

The Purple Mansion Ship Lord strode freely at the forefront, then pulled out a wine gourd from somewhere and tilted his head back to gulp down a mouthful of fine wine.

"Hahaha, it seems that the headless clan has accumulated quite a lot of supplies over the years!"

Their black ship business operates on routes known only to their own people in many island tribes and overseas small countries, and these routes are never made public.

If you're in the same industry, even if it's an accidental collision... cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents!
There was absolutely no room for leniency.

As for Li Qing? He's obviously a newbie from some sect in Jiangnan. They probably want him to do this, but he has no interest in this black market business, so it doesn't matter to him.

On the contrary, they felt uneasy having a Taoist priest who could mobilize a powerful army on the ship!
The burly man from the Purple Mansion laughed heartily, then took one from the mustard seed pouch at his waist and casually tossed it into Li Qing's arms.

"Our rule here is that whoever sees it gets a share; this bag is yours."

"Don't be fooled by how quickly our supplies have arrived. The ocean is vast, and who knows what sea monsters or evil spirits might lurk there? What if we also encounter a bandit cultivator who doubles in on us? There are plenty of powerful figures overseas..."

"After more than a year of back and forth, what I actually earned was barely enough to support this group of young men!"

"Alas! Cultivation is difficult, and achieving great things is even more difficult."

After what seemed like a heartfelt remark, the burly man from the Purple Mansion tilted his head back and gulped down a large mouthful of wine.

Of course, with such a huge income from the comings and goings of a black ship, it's impossible for it to be as pitiful as he claims. Li Qing guessed that these guys were probably living more comfortably than the heads of the twelve sects in the Southern Kingdom.

Li Qing wasn't particularly envious; she simply considered it an opportunity to broaden her horizons...

(End of this chapter)