The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 80 The Protectors' Arrogance Turns into Obsequiousness

Inside the Mu Temple, an invisible evil spirit climbed down the stone wall at great speed, leaving behind black handprints and footprints on the ceiling and walls of the stone chamber.

Then, before the ghost could get close to the lantern-carrying youth, a blood-red claw mark flashed through the void.

With a hiss, the body of the shadowless evil spirit immediately split into four pieces and fell to the ground. Behind Li Qing, a graceful and exquisite figure turned her head and glanced at the remains of the body behind her.

The silhouette against the candlelight was extremely moving, suggesting that she was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

Upon closer inspection, however, his movements appeared both light and somewhat stiff, as if he were not a living person!

After dealing with the ghostly creature, Linglong Changzhu quickly floated up and stood behind Li Qing as if to protect her.

Li Qing carried the Qionghua Spirit Lantern and looked around at the stone statues. The clothing from the feudal era on them was no longer recognizable, and many of the statues had their facial features completely worn away. There were even quite a few headless statues.

It was obvious that this temple had been visited before. As Li Qing passed through several connecting corridors and stone chambers, he saw traces of magic left behind in each one.

Aside from the outermost few side rooms, the further inside one goes, the darker it becomes. Li Qing stopped and gazed at the massive stone gate, which was several dozen feet high, for a moment before hesitating.

"Take a look first. If there's nothing in the main hall, then we'll go to the other temples!"

However, the size of each temple far exceeded their expectations.

Bu Lingxu spent two years eliminating the wandering demons one by one, and dealing with the terrifying objects that surpassed the magical artifacts, as well as the obsessions of those ghosts and gods.

Even Bu Lingxu, a former true disciple of the Taiyi Dao, believed that this Yin Palace was enough for Daoists from various countries to explore for hundreds of years.

Such a Netherworld would never have been unknown during the era when the six heavens and gods ruled the world. If it weren't for the long passage of time and the fact that even the gods and gods have their lifespans come to an end, even the Five Immortal Sects might not have been able to match the heyday of this Netherworld.

The deeper Li Qing went, the more familiar he felt. This mountain stone chamber was filled with an aura similar to that of the underworld. The mottled totems on the walls were very similar to the blue bricks on the walls of the Netherworld.

"Could it be that the underworld existed in the mortal realm when it first appeared in the Heavenly Capital?"

"Or perhaps, in the era when the six heavenly spirits ruled the world, the boundaries between yin and yang, ancestral temples and the underworld had already become so blurred?"

As Li Qing delved deeper into the ways of ghosts and gods, she felt that in the past, the boundaries between life and death in Tiandu had been manipulated to the extreme by ghosts and gods.

They lived for no more than a hundred years in this world, but after death they roamed the netherworld for a thousand years.

Ghosts and spirits, what a strange path!
Lifting his foot, he continued towards the main hall ahead. By the candlelight, Li Qing saw layers of murals depicting thousands of chariots and tens of thousands of warships rampaging across the land. The most important affairs of the state were war and sacrifice, and nearly 90% of the mottled murals pointed to those wars and rituals.

These continuous murals are all metaphors praising the power of ancestors and spirits, and are too primitive and cruel.

Upon entering three more inner rooms, Li Qing's brows suddenly furrowed, and she abruptly took two steps back, dodging the dark blue ghostly hand that reached out from the darkness.

The ghostly creature blended seamlessly into the darkness of the corner, raising its claws to pierce Li Qing's chest. As Li Qing dodged, the ghostly hand directly grabbed the Southern Dipper Life-Extending Lamp in his palm.

Suddenly, a shrill wail was heard, and the stone chamber was filled with light. It turned out that the dark blue ghost had touched the Southern Dipper Life-Extending Lamp and was instantly ignited by the cold white life flames, collapsing to the ground and rolling around.

This life-fire is something even more dangerous than fire in stone. It is a strange flame that can burn away the lifespan of a living being, both yin and yang. If this spirit lamp had not been incomplete, this ghostly thing would not have been able to get close to him.

Speechless, Li Qing glanced at the sneaky moth drawn to the flame and sighed inwardly that yet another ghost skin had been wasted.

However, the next moment, illuminated by the fire, he saw the two candlesticks enshrined on one side of the center of the stone chamber!
What truly shook Li Qing was the two red candles on the candlestick.

The moment Li Qing saw the red candle, he felt as if the dragon of his spine had come alive, and purer Yin energy was generated from his dantian.

Even the ghost spine reacted inexplicably to the red candle.

Is it a talisman that coexists in the Netherworld?

Li Qing slowly approached the candlestick and saw that the two red candles were about the thickness of a forearm and a foot tall. The tops of the candles had been extinguished for too long and were covered with a thick layer of black scabs.

“She should be able to use it when setting up an altar for prayer or when addressing the Ghost Mother…”

After a moment's thought, the exquisite and arrogant master moved and took the two candlesticks into her palm.

Nothing unusual happened; the two candlesticks seemed no different from ordinary objects and had no effect on Linglong Chang.

Seeing this, Li Qing took the candlestick from the tyrant's hand again and put it into his mustard seed bag.

Looking again, Yuan saw that the life flame on the dark blue ghost had burned out, and the cold white flame began to turn into orange-red flames. With this change, only a thin wisp of life light slowly drifted into the life-extending lamp!
Seeing that the light had been withdrawn, Li Qing picked up the lamp, took another step forward, pushed open the door of the inner stone chamber, and entered the increasingly deep darkness.

There were more and more stone statues, and from this point onward, the ghost statues seemed to no longer be carved from stone, but rather to be exquisitely carved stone figures. Each ghost statue remained new and unchanged over time.

"This……"

As soon as Li Qing stepped into this hall, she saw scattered beads lying on the ground beneath the ghost statues. The beads were about the size of a thumb, exquisite and translucent with a grayish-white tinge, and a heavy yin energy gathered on them.

Is this a spirit bead?

The sight of the ghostly beads beneath the statues truly startled Li Qing.

He once consumed the Soul Bead made by the Ghost Mother, which greatly enhanced his Yin energy, but the essence of that Nether Bead came from the death of a vengeful ghost!

The vengeful ghosts in the Western Wilderness do not have soul beads when they die; those soul beads are condensed by the Ghost Mother from the remains of hundreds of ghosts. Only when the ghosts and spirits in the Netherworld die will the Netherworld beads be generated.

The Netherworld Pearl was generated beneath that ghostly statue. Does this mean that all the ghosts and spirits in this underworld have died after their lifespans have run out?

"No, that's not right. The vengeful spirits wandering around the perimeter are clearly the original ghosts and gods from the underworld!"

The same applies to the underworld of Qishan in Youtian, and also to the underworld of Penghai. If ghosts and gods have no ancestral temples to worship them, will they eventually degenerate into mindless, wild ghosts...?

When a person dies and becomes a ghost, they first lose one soul. After becoming a ghost, the person is missing one of the three souls, and their personality changes. They become stubborn, but ultimately they still retain their true nature.

Ghosts can only be called gods and spirits if they receive offerings. If they do not receive offerings, they will sooner or later become mindless and wild ghosts, having truly lost their true nature! No wonder those evil spirits in the countryside want the villagers to build temples for them.

As Li Qing pondered, he also picked up the Qionghua Spirit Lamp and urged the mad master to collect the Nether Pearls. However, just as he was looking around, he saw a pair of footprints with a long stride at the half-closed door in front of him, as if the person who came in had entered in a great hurry.

These are definitely not sneaky footprints!
"Has someone been here?"

Li Qing frowned. Only for this reason could there be so few wandering ghosts in this Three Generations Mu Temple. Apart from ghost candles and soul beads, which only ghosts could use, everything else was gone.

I don't know if someone just came here or if the Netherworld Cave was explored before when it was open!
Using the paper to quickly collect the spirit beads on the ground, Li Qing slowly used the lamp handle to pry open the door and moved closer to it.

Just as Li Qing approached the main hall, before he could make any further moves, a sudden, overwhelming pressure swept over him. The pressure from the Purple Mansion was like a gale, even blowing down the wooden frames and bronze cups in the main hall. Only the dome in the underground palace, inlaid with luminous pearls, remained completely unaffected.

"Where did this scoundrel come from? Get out!"

"Didn't you see that I've occupied this great hall?"

A loud shout rose up, whipping up a gale that lashed out at Li Qing's face, striking the Heavenly Mansion Profound Yuan Qi Shield in front of him with a crisp sound like weapons clashing.

The immense force contained within propelled Li Qing backward nearly ten feet, carving two furrows in the ground until he crashed into the stone gate, slamming it shut behind him.

This……

Li Qing gripped the spirit lamp tightly in her hand, using her Heavenly Mansion Profound Qi to resist the wind spell. Although she looked somewhat disheveled, she was not harmed in the slightest!
Through the blurry gale of the Xuan Yuan Qi shield, one could see an extremely spacious and deep stone palace. In the main hall stood thirteen colossal statues, each over fifty feet tall. Warm rays of clear light shone down from the dome, reaching the right side of the massive main palace, where an old man stared at Li Qing with a face full of anger.

This is the supreme elder of the Li family of Pengguo. He had long planned to take over an inner room here, a secret room he discovered three years ago, which must contain some extraordinary treasures.

Therefore, he deliberately calculated and controlled the arrival time of the black ship, ostensibly to invite two Purple Mansions to help his grandson, but in reality he wanted to monopolize a secret room in the Mu Temple. If anyone discovered anything, he had three Purple Mansions here, so why would he be afraid of being robbed?

That Daoist Master Bu Lingxu considered himself a person who looked up to the Yin Gods, and he was a decent person. He wouldn't normally look down on such important artifacts in the Yin Palace...

Damn it, why are people here at this hour? Didn't I leave a spirit beast outside?
The elder of the Li family looked again at the wooden plaque on his waist, and saw that the plaque had not cracked!

"I have not seen any trace of anyone coming from this Mu Temple. It is only natural that I have come here. Please do not worry, sir. I will take my leave now."

Li Qing shook his head innocently, pretending not to know, but in reality, his right hand had already gently pressed on his left sleeve, ready to mobilize the five routes of rampant soldiers.

The old man's eyes were filled with murderous intent. The door had been closed again. If the news had leaked, what use was there for him to explore the secret room?

"Retreat? Where to go? I can tell you're just trying to spy on me."

The old man raised his right hand, and a precious flag rose up. He poured his magic power into the flag and immediately struck Li Qing.

The Wind-Controlling Banner grew taller as it rose into the air, transforming into a size of over ten zhang in the blink of an eye. Surrounded by fierce winds, it resembled a giant tree that could break through a city, threatening to pierce through Li Qing along with his protective aura.

What a ruthless old Taoist priest!

Li Qing's gaze turned icy, and he threw the mountain ghost's red seal petition forward. In the next instant, the petition was instantly burned to ashes by the gale.

Just as the fierce wind spear was about to break through the air, a nine-foot armored madman and a bat-winged flying madman simultaneously blocked the fierce wind spear. Then, the three-headed madman merged half of its body into the ground and twisted its body.

For some unknown reason, the wind spears, which had been attacking with terrifying force, only held off the five groups of rampaging soldiers for a moment before suddenly turning their spearheads and crashing into the underground palace on the other side.

The ten-foot-long spear of gale force crashed into a corner of the palace, instantly exploding into a huge shockwave, but only a palm-sized gap appeared on the stone wall of the Mu Temple.
This wasn't because the old man was weak; rather, the inner palace was a Yin God's dojo, where ordinary fights couldn't even leave a scratch on the walls...

"Is that the Five Ghosts Moving Technique? Or something else?"

The old man frowned, looking at the rampaging army, his anger growing stronger.

That must be a silver-armored corpse, right? As expected, armored corpses are the most stubborn old corpses; they withstood my precious banner strike without a scratch!
Even the flying beast had faint black cracks appearing on its arms, but this armored beast was full of fighting spirit. When its fists collided, the terrifying force caused the air to visibly separate.

"But...why not just avoid that silver-armored corpse?"

The elder of the Li family chuckled and summoned the treasured flag. In the next instant, he disappeared from his spot, directly traversing a distance of over fifty feet, and hurled the flag down, carrying with it a wind-based magical power that was almost tangible.

With a loud bang, the banner unleashed tremendous force, but before it could even touch Li Qing, the gloom in the hall suddenly vanished, and seven figures disappeared from the gloomy, ghostly realm.

Just as the precious flag crashed into the gate, Linglong Changzhu placed one hand on Li Qing's left shoulder and used the other hand to lift the trickling stream of clouds and rain, allowing her to evade the attack by using the ghostly aura of the clouds and rain.

In this ghostly realm, she can freely control the rules and distance changes, almost like teleportation!
Comparable to the Silver-Armored Corpse, the Flying Clan that rides the wind, the Walking Clan with the power to teleport and escape, and the Paper Spirit Clan Master who controls the skinning trickery and the ghostly realm of clouds...

How can this not rival the ordinary foundation of the Purple Mansion?

The banner, unwilling to give up, charged forward. However, the five rampaging soldiers were also empowered by the Mountain Ghost Law - Cloud and Rain Domain, allowing them to move freely within this ghost domain, as if they were trapped in a maze. They blocked the banner's horizontal slash on the right side, and soon teleported in front to block the banner's side slash. The next moment, the armored soldiers rushed forward more than twenty feet, and with an Iron Mountain Lean, they directly sent the Gangfeng Banner flying back into the old man's hands.

Rumble…

This time, the old man looked up in shock, only to see fireflies, each the size of a candy bean, raining down on him, followed by a series of explosions that completely overwhelmed him.

What a protective army! What a torturous spell!

The Li family patriarch flicked his banner, shaking off the layer of dust. His face was gloomy for a moment, but then he suddenly broke into a smile:

"It seems I misunderstood you earlier, young friend. I thought you were a spy under that old ghost Guan."

"How could that plague-ridden old ghost be so lucky as to find such a powerful servant?"

"Hehehe, I wonder if you are from the Plain Robe Dao or a disciple of some other sect in the various kingdoms? Why don't we explore that secret chamber together..."

This old devil was utterly shameless, his flexibility reaching an extreme. Seeing that he couldn't get close to the young man after eight or nine rounds, he immediately changed his tune, gave a sly smile, and invited Li Qing to join him...

(End of this chapter)