The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 77 Bu Lingxu

"Oh? You're saying you were tricked and kidnapped from Tiannan Prefecture and taken to the open sea?"

The Daoist Master in plain clothes raised an eyebrow and stared intently at Li Qing, seemingly trying to discern the truthfulness of his words.

Based on his experience, Li Qing was nothing more than a victim of schemes by other competitors within the sect, namely the Purple Mansion Foundation Establishment cultivators from Lin Yuan Mountain!
Or perhaps he was simply unable to defeat the other disciples of Lin Yuan Mountain and was expelled, and he is just using this as an excuse to claim that he still has the protection of Tian Nan Temple, just to borrow their power.

"Is he saying this on purpose because he's afraid someone will harm him while he's alone out in the world?"

The Daoist Master in plain clothes did not develop any ill feelings towards Li Qing because of this.

When he looked at Li Qing, it was as if he were seeing his past self.

Those with ordinary talent diligently cultivate without ceasing, striving only for the first innate energy, yet after sixty years of mediocre life, they find it difficult to build a foundation for their Dao and attain the Purple Palace. Those with exceptional talent can gather spiritual energy in an instant, but they also face other troubles.

"Using the usual methods for advanced Qi cultivation, it would take two or three years to figure out the route from the outer seas before returning to the south."

"If you have truly been schemed against like this, there are only two possible reasons!"

"First, your cultivation pace at Tiannan Temple has been maintained for the past few years, and your position has influenced the mastermind behind the scenes."

"He couldn't tolerate you, so he devised a plan to expel you from Tiannan, thus breaking the deadlock!"

"Secondly, the person behind the scenes has taken a liking to you and your 'special' qualities, and wants to make you leave and distance yourself from Lin Yuan Mountain. By then, things will have changed, and you will no longer have the attachments of your youth. Who knows, you might even have a confidante later on... These are all old tricks for intercepting people, and they never fail!"

"Those old guys in the South are nothing more than these few shady dealings."

The Daoist Master in plain clothes sneered, his words seemingly implying that he looked down on the Five Immortal Sects as well.

With his temperament, when threatened and suppressed by others in the Taiyi sect to forcibly seize the Immortal Peak, he dared to take away all the Daoist scriptures and resources on the peak, lead his trusted followers, retreat overseas to establish his own sect, and even set up a small lineage!
He certainly had enough confidence to look down on the petty scheming of the various sects in the Southern Kingdom.

"But there's nothing to be afraid of. Once we've cultivated the Purple Mansion Dao Foundation, we can just cut down that mastermind with a single strike when he reappears."

"Given your special abilities, as long as that thing doesn't get out of control, it'll be enough to protect you. It's only a matter of time!"

"You just need to keep cultivating, and one day you can personally shatter all those schemes, right?"

"Or, if you join my Plain Clothes Path, I, Bu Lingxu, will shield you from any schemes devised by the Yin Spirit!"

The Daoist Master in plain clothes, his eyes filled with interwoven principles of law, looked at Li Qing's dense Yin energy flowing around her, and said indifferently.

This child possesses the potential to become a ghost or deity in the underworld!
Perhaps some shameless old man really did want to forcibly cut off the lineage of Tiannan Temple?
This kind of thing is not uncommon among different lineages.

Bu Lingxu felt a slight unease, and then carefully examined the Taoist in front of him. The Taoist's aura was cold and gloomy, and the divine light in his eyes was concealed. It seemed that there was an unyielding stubbornness in his heart.

Seeing that Li Qing was no ordinary disciple of the immortal sect and had encountered some misfortunes, the Daoist Master in plain clothes couldn't help but offer him more guidance.

Back in his day, he was riding high in the Taiyi Sect, a prominent figure who got in the way of others. Yet, after only thirty years of cultivation, ranking among the top eleven true disciples of the Golden Palace, he still suffered the ostracism and oppression of those mediocre and insignificant people.

But what about now? Relying on that one peak of resources, he crossed borders for nineteen years and directly attained the highest level of the Dao Foundation. But what happened to those people?
Once you enter this path, your spiritual attainment and supernatural powers become the standard by which everything is measured!

These condescending and disdainful words truly dispelled the fog of confusion surrounding Li Qing...

So, was it a premeditated scheme?
Li Qing had already guessed this before, but now that Bu Lingxu had revealed it to her, her heart felt even colder!
"Please thank the Daoist Master for his guidance!"

"However, the Plain Robe lineage is, after all, the orthodox Huangting Neijing school. I am foolish and cannot comprehend those two volumes of Huangting Neijing Neijing. I can only follow this path with the Yuanqi Lun..."

Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.

Besides, he was only tricked into going overseas; he still doesn't know what happened inside the temple.

Such a polite refusal was naturally not unexpected by the Daoist Master in plain clothes, Bu Lingxu.

He's a prodigy! That's how they are. If it were him, he would have refused outright, unwilling to be someone else's servant.

"That's fine too. Let's go into the temple and take a good look around!"

"There's no need to address me as Dao Master. My name is Bu Lingxu, and we are of the same generation for the past sixty years. You can just call me Senior Brother."

Bu Lingxu raised his right hand and flicked his finger lightly. The scenery around the four people in the hall changed abruptly. It seemed that palaces, pavilions, trees, rocks and mountains all changed freely in this eight-way landscape.

In a short while, they were moved from the inner hall of the mountain gate to the Cloud Sea Pavilion on the top of Suyi Mountain.

This supernatural power resembled the Six Jia Qi Men, or the ability to shift stars and change constellations, bringing the ends of the earth to within reach. In the blink of an eye, it allowed the four people in the hall to move across the void.

This is the way of the external landscape of the Yellow Court!

Corresponding to the inner cultivation of spirit and the nourishment of primordial energy, the outer vision discerns the heavens and the universe. Harmony between the inner and outer is the Great Unity.

Looking up at the universe, we can discern its laws and principles, though we do not know their names. We call them the Way of External Observation.
Each true disciple of the Taiyi Dao has different external supernatural abilities, but they are all their interpretations of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Bu Lingxu's external landscape supernatural ability is a reflection of his nature: his body is still but his mind is moving; when his mind moves, the world moves; wherever his thoughts reach, his steps will follow.

I can travel to any continent or sea at will, and mountains will come to me even if I do not see them.

This is utter arrogance!

"Senior brother has comprehended the secrets of the universe and has the ambition to embrace the four seas. His wondrous supernatural powers have become increasingly refined. He is probably among the top ten in the sixty-year lineage of the Five Directions Immortal Sect."

The Purple Mansion Daoist, who had remained silent until now, was now worshipping Bu Lingxu with fervent devotion.

This was the most talented member of their Jiangzhen lineage, still a top figure even without the Southern Taiyi Sect, capable of shaking the entire maritime region with a mere wave of his sleeve. But Bu Lingxu simply chuckled and said:

"Junior brother, you still value empty reputation. What use is the title of being among the top ten true disciples if you only know how to kill?"

"If you want to fight with altar techniques, mobilize troops, or cultivate knowledge... that little sword immortal from the Taiyue Sect, who was arrogant and presumptuous after entering the Pure Microcosm, was still beaten like a dead dog and thrown out by that unknown old Taoist priest from the Purple Mansion on the roadside who used magic and summoned thunder soldiers."

He truly understands the fundamental reason for the continuation of the Dharma lineage.

Supernatural powers are finite, and magical arts are incomplete. A Taoist's true strength lies in his registers, his laws, his authority, his protective army, and his enduring followers…

Those who are only good at fighting and brawling will never amount to much!

Unfortunately, the younger disciples at this age don't understand; they only think about achieving success in their cultivation and going back to slap the face of the Taiyi Sect.

Gazing silently at the plains and waterways beneath the clouds, Bu Lingxu gently shook his head. With a flick of his sleeve, a pot of hot tea and four porcelain cups suddenly appeared on the tea table in the pavilion.

With a flick of his right hand, Bu Lingxu instructed Li Qing and the other two to bow and take their seats, listening attentively to the teachings of this Daoist master in plain clothes!
"Today I met the two Taoist priests from the East China Sea who came on black ships. When they travel back and forth to the outer sea in the future, they will ask me to send some spiritual paper and Zhencui Taiyue Taoist coins."

"There's no need to make things difficult for those Taoists who risk their lives at sea. My Plain-Clothed Taoist sect doesn't need a few measly coins."

These overseas countries do not produce high-quality spiritual paper, and the Taiyue Mountain-shaped Dao Zhu is cast from the spiritual gold of Tiandu Jiuhua. It is always good to collect and store more of it.

However, the way the junior disciples of Suyi Temple wanted to make the two Taoists Pei Jiu bleed was rather unseemly!
Bu Lingxu raised his hand to stop them from making any further moves, preventing them from causing trouble.

"Yes!"

The man in the brocade robe behind him, with a thoughtful look in his eyes, assumed that Li Qing had come as a persuader. He gave him a meaningful glance and then bowed in agreement.

Since the Daoist Master had spoken, they abandoned that idea.

The female Taoist priestess surnamed Yan on the side only followed the orders of her senior brothers and sisters, so naturally she had no objections.

However, Li Qing felt uneasy when he saw the White-Clad Daoist Master start talking about the official affairs of the White-Clad Dao right in front of him, and he wanted to find an excuse to leave.

Why are you saying these things to my face, when I am just a wandering Taoist priest?

Are you trying to force me to stay here?

Li Qing's worries were quickly interrupted by the next sentence from the Daoist Master in plain clothes.

"The plan is to have you thoroughly clear the ruins of the Phoenix Dynasty Ancient Ancestral Temple from the sunken island in the sea in a few days when the tide recedes. The two families will also be traveling with you as usual, and there will inevitably be some conflicts between them. Please don't go too far!"

“Since Junior Brother Li has the opportunity to go, why not take a trip there? It’s a Yin-level ancestral temple, and it still has some Yin-level protective objects with thousands of restrictions. They are quite valuable treasures for you.”

"When you test the waters with those two families, you must accept the consequences of your bet. You are not allowed to use your power to intimidate others, and you are not allowed to retaliate..."

Bu Lingxu had already visited the Yin Mansion-level Ghost Temple several times in his early years. Apart from imprisoning some powerful ghosts to create soldiers, there wasn't much of value to him there.

Having emptied the foundation of one of Taiyi Dao's immortal peaks, he no longer cared about ordinary things. However, his followers and fellow disciples could often train there.

He knew that these junior brothers had picked up the habits of the Immortal Sect and were somewhat arrogant, so he was giving them a heads-up!

The Peng family and the Su Yi Dao have always been respectful to each other; their relationship must not be damaged...

"Senior brother, are you referring to a former dynasty's ancestral temple at the Yin Mansion level?"

Li Qing raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected to receive such an invitation while visiting the Suyi Dao sect.

"Yes, it's a former dynasty's underworld, and some evil spirits at the Qi Refining stage or Purple Mansion stage roam freely. The various Daoists from Peng Kingdom often enter it as well. The two Black Ship Daoists who brought you into the Lie Kingdom will most likely go there at the invitation of the Li family of Peng Kingdom!"

"After all, the Li family of Penghu came from the East China Sea, so they should have some kinship ties."

Bu Lingxu nodded and casually pushed a jade slip containing miscellaneous notes about the underwater underworld in front of Li Qing.

It was also because this young Taoist was lucky that he happened to meet the female Taoist priest surnamed Yan in that manor. If he hadn't given face to the Taoist priest in plain clothes, he might have missed this opportunity.

At least those two Purple Mansion Daoists on the black ship would never take him there.

On this white-clad, sacred peak, after giving instructions regarding the black ship and the sunken island underworld, Bu Lingxu inquired with Li Qing about the current changes in the Southern Kingdom, the progress of the war in Jiangbei, and whether the Southwest was stable...

The conversation on the mountaintop lasted only a few cups of tea's time. After the group had briefly viewed the sea of ​​clouds, the two Purple Mansions transformed into streaks of light and hurried away, leaving Li Qing and the female Taoist priest surnamed Yan alone in the Cloud Pavilion, descending the mountain along the treacherous mountain cableway.

"Our senior brother must have done it on purpose again, leaving us stranded on this cable car..."

The female Taoist priest surnamed Yan was utterly speechless and secretly complained to Li Qing about it!

This mountain peak isn't particularly high, but it's quite treacherous. The key is that there's a barrier or restriction at the mountain gate, making it impossible to escape through the air. You can only follow the stream by stepping on the rocks, which is just torturing people for no reason.

Hearing the female Taoist priest's words, Li Qing shook his head and chuckled. His primordial energy surrounded him, yet he walked on the cable car as if on flat ground.

Taiyi True Transmission, Stepping into the Void!

He is a very charismatic Taoist priest, and from our brief encounter, he seems to have a very friendly attitude towards the Five Directions Immortal Sect.

He comes from a very high social standing, is decisive, and speaks frankly. Li Qing is not afraid of his schemes, but given his abilities, he will likely be among the future hegemons of these overseas nations within half a century...

(End of this chapter)