The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 83 The Eternal Regret of the Ghostly Scissors, The Ghost Mother's Protection

The strands of hair, filled with resentment, reflect the fragmented and shattered scene:
There is a deity in Ying called "Mu," who was the first ruler of the world. He used the sexagenary cycle as a generation, and there were fifty-four generations of sacrifices, with monthly and annual offerings made continuously year after year.

"Mu" was eight feet tall, extremely majestic, draped in ancient robes, his eyes filled with reminiscence, his heart ashen.

For half a century, he wandered at night as a ghost and a god; for two hundred years, he wandered by day as a ghost; after a thousand years of offerings and sacrifices at the ancestral temple, he was able to return from his ghostly body to his divine body, standing still with a shadow, sitting across the ocean, and going to the imperial palace, transforming into a wandering ghost king.

He ruled the seas for two thousand years and was known as "King Mu".

When the Heavenly Capital Phoenix Dynasty fell and demons raged beyond the borders, King Mu, as the being closest to the Yang God Realm Heavenly Ghost in the Yinghai Sea, naturally obeyed the orders of the Six Lords of the Netherworld and became the Grand Commander of the Vanguard Army of the Cui Clan of Qishan...

After that battle, the Netherworld fell, the Heavenly Capital collapsed, the Hundred Ghosts ceased to exist, the ancestral temples crumbled, the Heavenly Demon vanished, heroes rose up, the dead became ghosts, and even the dead ghosts gave birth to evil.

In the north, a divine being lowered his gaze, took a step out of the deep mountains, and traveled eight hundred thousand miles to the capital, reorganizing the genealogy of the gods of mountains, rivers, land, and families, calling for reverence for heaven and ancestors, and expelling evil spirits!
In the south, there were hermits who bowed their heads and purified their hearts. They slew dragons in the East Sea, cleansed the ancestral temples in Lingnan, and drove away monsters and demons in the west, thus beginning the era of the Five Immortal Sects entering the world.

When that fallen obsession returned, the Kingdom of Ying had already been destroyed, its people were gone, and the ancestral temple had been without incense for a hundred years. Only the Eternal Ghost Scissors, entangled with endless resentful souls, lay in front of the ancestral temple.

The night-roaming spirits guarding the temple knelt beneath the "ghost scissors," weeping day and night, their cries echoing through the night! The last ancestral spirit also perished, leaving no descendants of the people. As its death approached, it hastily placed the ghost scissors into King Mu's inner chamber and departed for its own end…

These are ghosts and gods who have experienced the destruction of Youtian, but in their limited memories, there are no scenes of the great war between the heavenly ghosts and demons. Otherwise, Li Qing could have seen the legendary "extraterrestrial demons".

That fragmented image was finally frozen in that moment when the inner chamber of "King Mu" was sealed away.

Li Qing stared at the scissors with a solemn expression.

He knew that this was a forbidden relic. The Ghost Lord, who had almost reached the end of the Yin God Realm, contained all his obsessions from life to death in this hair-twisting scissors filled with endless hatred. In the immortal path, this could already be called a magic weapon!

This is a forbidden weapon powerful enough to curse anyone to death, but the price is also extremely dangerous.

Just as he picked it up, the Xuan Yin Qi poured into it, and the terrifying Dharma intent of love and hate entangled rushed straight to the divine palace in Li Qing's mind. The chaotic image of the white bones in that small area was instantly shattered by the Dharma intent of eternal hatred.

In the Niwan Palace, nearly a thousand skeletons had vanished without a trace.

Instead, there was endless darkness, and strands of wet hair hanging down from the black sky, and eerie ghost blood slowly dripping down the ghost hair!

Is it demon blood, or blood from a celestial demon that was once tainted with it?
Li Qing felt a sudden, splitting headache. In that instant, all the thoughts he had cultivated for years were shattered, and resentment and curses swirled in Li Qing's Niwan Palace.

Within the small space of Fuli, only the skeletal beauty leaned against the bone lotus seat, her jade-like face half-dead and her bones withered, staring intently at a certain spot in the dim light. She was not directly impacted by the magical intent and had temporarily retained Li Qing's clear consciousness.

The ghost scissors want to be recognized as a master!

Humanity and the ways of the spirits intertwine, life and death are bound by a karmic bond, and this contradictory young man seems to be very much like its ruler from eight hundred years ago, the "King Mu".

The Mysterious Yin Qi is also a high-grade primordial energy of the Ghost Path, and naturally it easily resonates with many Ghost Path and Soul Path artifacts.

"No, I cannot directly bind it to me, otherwise I will surely die from its backlash!"

Li Qing felt a little anxious. Although a Yin God-level artifact was good, even a Zi Fu Daoist who just unknowingly approached it could be split in two.

However, he is not yet qualified to wield such a powerful artifact, which is tainted with unknown evil blood. His Dao foundation is far from complete. If he were to take over the Niwan Palace, the Ghost Scissors might easily "devour their master" due to their unconscious loss of control.

In her haste, Li Qing's face flushed red for a moment. As her thoughts raced, she gently communicated with the Ghostly Contract of the Underworld, which was shining brightly in another corner of the Niwan Palace.

"Sister Cui, would you please appear and help me?"

Having exhausted all other options, the only thing Li Qing could think of in her subconscious was the Ghost Mother.

Of course, the Ghostly Contract of the Underworld did not disappoint him, and soon, a clear and cold voice faintly came from behind.

"Here!"

The Demon Mother always responds to him immediately!

Within the Penghai Yin Mansion, You Tian's aura directly ignored the barrier projection and entered.

However, the Netherworld Ghost Realm and the Blood Ghost Realm of Everlasting Hatred suddenly clashed violently.

The pure ghost realm of Youtian seemed to drape everything in a deep black light, attempting to forcefully invade this underworld; however, the strands of ghostly hair, covered with terrifying evil blood, were difficult for even the ghost realm of Youtian to break through.

"..."

The figure of the Ghost Mother slowly emerged from the Ghost Realm, staring blankly at Li Qing, who was in danger.

The next instant, a ghostly hand, seemingly carved from cold jade, forcefully reached into it, its magical intent, which seemed to distort all living beings, violently trying to tear apart the eerie ghostly hair. The two clashed violently once again.

Is the Eternal Regret Scissors really that terrifying?

Li Qing was slightly startled, but soon, the powerful Xuan Yin Qi poured into the ghost scissors. There were no magic restrictions in the ghost scissors, but instead, there was a "wheel restriction" constructed from seven densely packed ghost talismans.

The "wheel restriction" resembled a halo around the back of a god's head, which Li Qing couldn't fathom. But it was still just a tool, and it would change accordingly whenever given a command!
Whether it is a ritual implement, a forbidden implement, or a suppressing implement, its purpose in existence is to assist in receiving instructions; this is the most basic rule.

Ignoring the ghost hair on his right hand that was almost entangled into his flesh and marrow, Li Qing forcefully controlled the "Wheel Restriction" magic light within it to subside. He knew that he had to cooperate with the Ghost Mother to escape the trap.

Outside the Eternal Regret Ghost Realm, the Ghost Mother's influence is invading, while Li Qing is gathering the Dharma Light within.

With the inside and outside working together, they managed to break through the Eternal Regret Demon Realm in just a dozen breaths.

Soon, a familiar aura rapidly approached, and a ghostly hand touched Li Qing from behind, suddenly grabbing his right arm as if it were a century-old icy barrier.

The twisted magical intent climbed along Li Qing's right hand, forcefully trying to sever the strands of ghost hair, breaking free from the entanglement of the ghost hair for Li Qing. But at this moment, Li Qing's pupils dilated in shock: the Ghost Mother's right hand was injured!

On that arm, which was as cold as jade, a hideous, bloody gash several inches long appeared!
"This ghost scissors... is it really that terrifying?"

Li Qing had been cautious and had not been confronted by the sharp blade of the ghost scissors. Now, he was in control of the "handle" of the weapon, so he naturally felt nothing.

King Mu, ranked only below the Yang God, was a guardian spirit nurtured by his love, hatred, and obsession. Over three thousand years, he had drunk the blood of countless ghosts, gods, and demons.

Judging from the fate of the old Taoist priest of the Li family in Pengguo, one can know that he was cut in two in an instant by the blade just a few feet away from it, and his body and soul were destroyed.

Even the plain-robed Daoist Master, Bu Lingxu, probably didn't expect that the Penghai Underworld would be so contrary to the natural order. The simply furnished Seven-Courtyard Three-Generation Mu Temple, which didn't even have a temple master, was actually the deepest foundation of this Underworld...

He forcefully concealed the "wheel restraint" from the ghost scissors and then closed the two blades of the ghost scissors.

Sure enough, the Eternal Regret Ghost Realm began to disappear from the mortal world, the originally soaring bloody aura gradually faded, and the blood-stained ghost hair slowly disappeared into the dim black sky. The Xingchang who had been forcibly abducted earlier fell from the ceiling with a "thud".

The Ghost Mother's deep, dark, ghostly abyss expanded rapidly without any obstruction, covering most of the Mu Temple.

Li Qing gathered up the ghost hair that was still spreading in all directions and wrapped it with the ghost scissors again, circle by circle. The ghost hair wrapped around it could contain the killing intent of the ghost scissors.

The ghostly scissors imbued him with hatred, and the ghostly hair extended the curse, much like King Mu and Lady Li Gou, who was unable to let go of her obsession. It could be considered that their wish was fulfilled, and they were entangled in an unconventional way for eternity.

"call……"

With a long exhale of stale air, Li Qing's gaze was now incredibly sharp.

This forbidden talisman was the highest-grade object he had ever encountered since he entered the Daoist path, without exception.

"Let's put it into the Netherworld Palace first. Only that palace is enough to suppress such a ferocious creature and prevent it from going out of control and causing trouble!"

The Ghost Mother couldn't even use the Ghost Realm in the Underworld, so this Ghost Scissors probably isn't much better off.

He then stepped forward a few paces, rolled up the bronze mirror, the silver hairpin, and the two halves of Li Laodao's corpse, and offered them as a sacrifice in the Netherworld.

Li Qing turned around, waved his sleeve to put away the two paper soldiers, and walked quickly to the Ghost Mother.

"This place is not safe. Let's return to the Netherworld. I just found a silver hairpin, which I think you will like."

The commotion caused by the two ghostly realms in the Underworld must have been noticed by the other Purple Mansions. They should move the scattered items into the Netherworld Palace first...

Immediately, the dark and ghostly realm suddenly receded, and Li Qing and the Ghost Mother tore a gap in this underworld and escaped into the Netherworld!

Hurry up and enter the underworld.

Li Qing first took out some spirit paper, wrapped the Long-Hate Ghost Scissors in it, with the blade facing inward, and locked them in the drawer of the algae table in the west wing.

Upon entering the underworld, the black hair that had previously seemed tangled and twisted suddenly stopped moving, resembling the strands of hair spun off from an ordinary woman's head, coiled around the scissors, with nothing else unusual.

He made the right bet. Even though most of the Qishan Cui Mansion had already collapsed, as long as one of its courtyards remained, even ghosts at the Yin God level would have to abide by its restrictions.

The six heavenly ghosts have their own constraints; otherwise, the heavens and the earth would have long been in chaos, and how could the great world of ghosts and gods have lasted for tens of thousands of years?
Each of the six realms of the underworld has its own rules, and all ghosts and spirits are subject to restrictions. The human realm and the ghost realm once overlapped significantly, but each has its own domain.

Only the celestial demons, comparable to the gods of the yang realm, can escape their cage!

"This thing is extremely lethal. I cultivate the rampant Dao army, cultivate the Southern Dipper to prolong life, and cultivate to avoid death and preserve life. I will use this pair of scissors as my most violent trump card, to stop killing with killing, and to protect the Dao."

Unlike the passive protection of the Ghost Mother, this is a "forbidden artifact" that he can control himself.

However, he would need to find time to thoroughly understand how to use the Long-lasting Scissors. At least in the underworld, it should not go out of control, and Li Qing would have ample time to develop it.

After staring blankly at the drawer for a moment, Li Qing quickly turned around and left the west wing.

He had more important things to do.

She picked up the bronze mirror and silver hairpin that had fallen in the courtyard. Both were talismans. Li Qing didn't care about the bronze mirror for the time being, nor did she even glance at the corpse of Old Master Li.

Instead, she held the silver hairpin in her palm and gently wiped it clean.

This is a four-inch-long openwork phoenix hairpin, made entirely of silver and adorned with red gilded feather patterns, which is quite beautiful. It also has complex legal restrictions, seemingly containing six or seven hundred restrictions.

It would be perfect to give it to the Ghost Mother!

Seeing that the Ghost Mother's right hand was injured and she was sitting blankly alone in front of the dressing table in the east wing, Li Qing coughed lightly and stepped into the east wing. He saw that the soul threads in the original soul bottle had already flowed out.

Li Qing first took out three soul bottles from his mustard seed pouch, then pulled out the wooden stopper from one of the jade bottles. The soul threads inside the bottle drifted out like wisps of incense dust, filling the east wing room, and then slowly swirled around the Ghost Mother, merging with the Xuan Yin Qi.

This soul thread might actually be useful to her.

"Some time ago, I noticed that the hairpins and hair ornaments in the east wing were no longer usable, and I couldn't find anything else for the time being."

"I came across a phoenix hairpin today, which suits you perfectly. How about I style your hair and put it on you?"

The young man was troubled by the mysterious book and resented its strangeness, but as his spiritual practice deepened, he often received its protection.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Li Qing reciprocated by offering a gift in return. In the east wing of the underworld, she styled the Ghost Mother's hair and replaced it with a phoenix hairpin...

(End of this chapter)