The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 9 Mushishi and Oni-ro (6000-word chapter)

The six sorcerers had different expressions, and a myriad of thoughts were swirling in their minds.

"I despise that wretched beast the most."

The old sorceress spoke with disgust. The barking of a black dog and the blood of a rooster could break psychic spells; those of her lineage who practiced psychic arts wished they could stay as far away from that thing as possible.

"We're brothers, inseparable even by an old dog!" These two burly men were actually brothers, their murderous aura soaring to the heavens, and they simultaneously made their statement.

"If the old Taoist were to make a move, he would definitely kill that old dog on the spot and use his blood as a sacrifice to the Ghost Altar, hehe..."

Seeing his colleagues distancing themselves one by one, the old Taoist priest who raised the ghost child was unwilling to get into trouble. Even though he was unhappy, he did not argue with the girl and the ghost child from Nanguan that day.

"I don't need to say anything more. I was inspecting various towns and villages in Zhuxian County some time ago, as everyone knows!" The last Qi Refining mid-level sorcerer spread his hands and looked helplessly at everyone.

The psychic witch despises chickens and dogs, the twin evil spirits are of one mind, the old Taoist priest who raises ghosts is utterly contemptuous, and the two mid-level Qi Refining cultivators each have their own duties on the surface.

However, Lü Qingshu ignored him completely, arrogantly walking up to the main seat in the hall, her feet on the crane-embroidered chair, and coldly sneered:

"Gentlemen, this matter has blown up, resulting in the loss of more than ten lives. The city is in a state of panic right now, and you can't just walk away like that."

"More than a dozen armored soldiers, layers upon layers of fine steel walls—how could that old dog spirit, barely born with intelligence, possibly get through? How ridiculous."

"If you insist on bringing it out into the open, then inform the military commissioner to take six thousand armored soldiers, seal off the city, and search slowly. Search every inch of the ground!"

Lu Can, as the prefectural magistrate, was the top figure in charge of the military affairs of the region. Did he really want to let these sorcerers, who were pretending to be superstitious, be kept in the dark and become the suckers? Then everyone should just give up.

The state soldiers, clad in armor and armed with sharp weapons, wielding blue scale armor and iron bows, led by hounds and falcons, were ready to see who could hide!

The eldest daughter of the Lü family, standing high above, issued ultimatums, using the Tiannan Temple as a backdrop and the state soldiers under the magistrate's command. Her intimidating power was considerable, and the six sorcerers in the room fell silent instantly.

But secretly, she thought that this daughter of the Lü family was far more formidable than her father, and was about to launch a counterattack right from the start?
"Then let Judge Lü do as he sees fit. The entire Fangshi Mansion will certainly not hold us back!"

The mid-level sorcerer dressed as a scholar lowered his eyes, yet seemed to be in charge of this sorcerer's mansion. He calmly uttered a word and walked out. The other sorcerers hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

However, the two Taoist disciples from the upper temple punched cotton. Lü Qingshu snorted coldly and, together with Li Qing, left the Taoist temple...

Unexpectedly, this seemingly ordinary task took many twists and turns. It was a pity that the so-called cultivation was not a life of seclusion in the mountains, free from worldly disturbances. The various tasks assigned by the temple and the prefectures also required a lot of planning.

Even after leaving the Taoist priest's mansion, Lü Qingshu was still angry and walked silently the whole way.

After traveling to the west of the city and putting some distance between themselves and the Taoist priest's residence, the lantern-carrying man who had remained silent all the way suddenly spoke:
"Is that mid-level sorcerer dressed in emerald green robes a Gu Master? There's a bare-legged centipede wrapped around his sleeve."

"A barefoot centipede? Perhaps that is it!" Lu Qingshu didn't understand, but after careful consideration, she nodded in agreement.

It is said that there is indeed an insect master in the Taoist temple. Could this be the person in question?
"Insect magic is prevalent in the South, isn't it? That animal-creating sorcery that scared away another mid-level sorcerer in the state..."

"It seems they're heading towards the southern chieftain's territory!"

"A sorcerer who has roamed the South would naturally know the whereabouts and details of those lewd and unorthodox methods. I suspect there might be some connection between the two?"

Li Qing didn't really want to get involved in this power struggle between prefectures and counties. The prefect hadn't even shown up, and the sorcerers in the Taoist temple didn't seem to take that Prefect Lü too seriously...

He urgently needed the black dog's spirit blood to conjure another paper figure so that he could begin to activate the white paper spirit sedan he had just acquired.

Is he really going to sit here and wait to see what he'll do and play power games with him? He doesn't have that kind of patience!

Just now, I saw the old Taoist priest who raised ghosts looking at the insect master with a subtle expression of fear. Considering all the connections, it's pretty much a done deal.

"You mean, that guy?"

Lu Qingshu froze on the spot and turned to look at the young man... Was he the Insect Master?
"Looks like I'll have to put that guy to the test!"

After a moment's thought, the female Taoist priest seemed to have made a firm decision. Now that she had identified specific individuals who were suspicious, things would be much easier.

However, Li Qing's next words made her freeze in place.

"No! I don't have time to play games like catching a thief red-handed with stolen goods."

"If you're going to do it, don't wait until tomorrow. If you want to kill someone, you can always fabricate a reason! If he really waits until tonight to deal with that thing, it won't be senior sister's turn to find evidence."

"Either we mobilize troops now and take him down, whether it's real or fake... or if this mission is left unresolved, I'll just give up and return to the mountain as soon as possible!"

Li Qing remained motionless, gently raising the paper lantern that gleamed with a cold light with his right hand, and casting his deep gaze upon the female Taoist priest.

However, if he could obtain the black dog's spirit blood from the quest within the academy, that would be best. If that wasn't possible, he would exorcise evil spirits and ghosts. Although he had spent all his cultivation on the half of the "Southern Dipper Longevity Lamp Method," he still had some Dao points left.

If things don't go smoothly, it might not be a bad idea to try to reach out to Ma Yuan, who has already advanced to the highest level of Daoist cultivation.

Why let the Lü family father and daughter drag you into this vortex?
The world is full of troubles, which can really make people feel depressed.

Upon hearing Li Qing's words, Lü Qingshu lowered her eyes and remained silent.

Even if she comes from the Tiannan Shangguan Temple, possesses abundant true qi, and has sharp flying needles, can she really overturn the entire state's magician's mansion by herself?

Perhaps if she could condense her true qi for a hundred and eighty moments, covering her entire body with true qi, and ascend to the level of a mid-grade Daoist disciple, she could suppress these people after entering the Danqi Academy. But right now, she can only rely on the temple's reputation to protect this living father.

It's a pity that the person who accepted this commission wasn't a mid-level Daoist disciple from the temple, otherwise everything would have been much simpler!

“No, if we mobilize troops to attack him without authorization, the prefect’s attitude will be unclear, and it will break the rules…” The female Taoist priest thought it over and over again, but in the end she couldn’t help but shake her head.

The affairs of the prefectures and counties are different; if they were to resort to force without authorization, the situation would be difficult to resolve.

"hehe!"

"Then it's up to you..."

Li Qing couldn't help but chuckle, no longer wanting to say another word to the female Taoist priest. With the lamps lit in the daytime, casting dim and flickering light, she disappeared into the darkness of this secluded alley in an instant!

Only the female Taoist priest remained standing there, her expression shifting between anger and uncertainty.

"To treat murder as a fabricated crime?"

Is it really necessary to go to such extremes, completely disregarding the rules...?

Until the sun sets in the west, disappearing into the evening.

One of the only two mid-level sorcerers in the Fangshi Mansion, the Colorful-Clad Hermit, was sitting alone on the couch.

The room was furnished entirely with sandalwood, a calming material. Numerous insects and beasts, such as centipedes, spiders, and scorpions, scrambled rapidly across the table, their dense, swarming shadows startling onlookers.

This insect-taming technique, which originated from the Gu poison lineage of the Southern Lands, is a rare skill among the various independent cultivation lineages.

Compared to orthodox methods like Qi cultivation, alchemy, and spirit refinement, the Insect Mastery is practically barrier-free. Once a poisonous insect is created, it immediately becomes a formidable fighting force.

Chunyu Ye started his business with a swarm of carrion bees, working his way up from a beekeeper in the countryside to his current position as a sorcerer in Lanfeng Prefecture. He is quite prominent in the local area!
But as soon as he finished feeding these "little babies", Chunyu Ye's hands suddenly froze.

He is Lanfeng's only insect master. Ants and insects are his henchmen, swarms of bees are his eyes and ears, and cloth hanging from the beams and spider webs are like mirrors, keeping him clear about everything happening around the mansion.

However, just a few breaths ago, more than a dozen of his wasps died suddenly at the same moment, the spider webs hanging in the mansion suddenly shattered, and then an imposing aura rose from outside the courtyard wall.

"The Lü family, the Prefectural Magistrates!"

Feeling the intense, fiery true energy, all the insects and beasts inside and outside the mansion stirred and rubbed their mouthparts together, blending with Chunyu Ye's voice, which sounded like a low, hoarse demonic language, spreading for hundreds of feet.

"Upper String!"

Upon seeing the unusual activity within the residence, a rousing military order immediately rang out, and the state troops from all four directions stepped out of the shadows, drew their bows, and surrounded the entire residence.

Then came another piercing whistle, and the fierce peregrine falcon spread its wings and circled above the dim horizon, while the Southern Hunting Dogs, chained together, completely sealed off the entire neighborhood.

A series of "pfft pfft" sounds suddenly rang out, and streaks of lightning flashed as many soldiers lit torches. Several armored captains, as tall as bears, surrounded a female Taoist priest in blue robes who slowly emerged from among them.

"Chunyu Ye! Born into the chieftainship of the Southern Lands, he practiced insect-raising techniques. Ten days ago, he used the flower-puller who often traveled between Lanfeng and the Southern Lands to lure away his colleagues, and took the opportunity to steal the black dog spirit from the arena, right?"

Lü Qingshu recounted the fabricated charges word by word.

At the same time, her slender fingers moved like dragons and flowers, instantly sending out several streaks of crimson light that swiftly darted away in the twilight. With a series of clanging sounds, they pierced through the rapidly climbing centipede, the hairy venomous spider hanging from the eaves and beams, and the carrion bee flapping its wings in the air. In an instant, all those insidious methods were crushed.

The Crimson Flying Needle, though seemingly fleeting, can take a life from a hundred paces away—a feat that is beyond the imagination of ordinary people, truly a divine technique!
The soldiers and guards present were all amazed by this sight and secretly praised the immortal master's great power.

"After causing trouble during the day, the fellow Daoists didn't hold it against you, but at night you arbitrarily mobilized your military forces, pointing your swords at the Fangshi Mansion, are you going to handcuff all of us old guys?"

"Your Lü family is truly audacious."

"You little brat, who gave you the courage? Just because of that blue coat you're wearing?"

With a creak, the gate to the mansion swung open, and swarms of poisonous insects poured out from the doorway. Combined with Chunyu Ye's chilling, teeth-gritting voice, it was truly terrifying.

But as soon as he made that move, the armored soldiers, whose bows were already fully drawn, instantly turned their bows around, and a rain of fine iron arrows fell in an instant.

Those soldiers can't reason with you. Everyone knows that magic has incredible power, but what kind of magic would it take to stop a rain of arrows from a thousand men?
At the very least, Chunyu Ye dared not confront them directly. He cursed the crazy woman under his breath and had no choice but to pull off the colorful belt hanging on his body. Immediately, a ferocious iron-backed centipede appeared from the ground.

As soon as the giant centipede, over ten feet long, appeared, it grabbed Chunyu Ye and pounced on the ground. As if using a magic spell to burrow underground, the man and the centipede instantly disappeared into the ground, causing the rain of arrows to miss its target.

"Beast Control Bag?"

Lü Qingshu immediately frowned. How could a wandering sorcerer possess such a large iron-backed giant centipede, and also a precious beast-taming pouch?
"Chunyu Ye, you really are no ordinary person! Beast Taming Bag! Could that missing black dog be in your bag?"

The female Taoist priest flicked her finger, and several cinnabar talismans floated out from her sleeve. The cinnabar flame talismans floated into the air, spontaneously combusted without fire, and then quickly transformed into fireballs several feet in diameter that spewed and exploded.

The three fiery talismans exploded, instantly clearing out the poisonous insects in front of the mansion, blasting open the mansion gate, and scorching out a vacuum path.

Looking back, atop the courtyard wall, the giant iron-backed centipede burst through the green tiles, revealing Chunyu Ye, who coldly stared at the unreasonable female Taoist priest. "Hmph, a newly-formed old dog, do you think I would even deign to look at you?"

"Lu Qingshu, is your Lu family really like a mad dog, biting anyone it sees?"

Chunyu Ye flicked his armor, clearing away the shards of tile that were in his way. Giant centipedes coiled around him like a dragon, while corpse bees buzzed in all directions, instantly transforming into a cluster of black clouds, eyeing him menacingly.

Looking at the gate that had been trampled to ashes, he was determined to teach this arrogant girl a lesson.

Mushishi have always been the most deadly beings in this southern land!
The rotting corpses and poisonous bees hissed and flapped their wings, while countless spiders and centipedes crawled all over the ground. As soon as Chunyu Ye made his move, the insect swarm rose up suddenly, and the mouthparts of various insects and beasts rubbed together, making a sound like a flax bag being dragged on the sand.

Crack...

The next instant, a red light suddenly appeared again. The female Taoist priest of the Lü family held the flying needle in her palm and ignored the many insects and beasts. With a few clanging sounds, the red light instantly pierced through the carapace of the Iron-backed Giant Centipede, startling Chunyu Ye into jumping down from the courtyard wall.

Is this guy crazy?
"Insects, do you have a lot of insects? Do you think they can save your life?"

A soft laugh rang out, and the female Taoist priest from Tiannan picked up a tubular magical artifact. Before the crowd could fully see the shape of the long tube, the female Taoist priest pulled the artifact!
In an instant, the foot-long tube lit up with a red light, and the densely packed flying needles, like ten thousand trees in bloom, exploded with explosive fire.

The fire-breathing needles, like a torrential rain of pear blossoms, scattered in all directions, instantly annihilating the insect swarm over a large area in front. Even the iron-backed giant centipede was now riddled with holes, and the strong, burnt smell from the flames quickly spread...

Damn, is it a dazzling display of lights?

Chunyu Ye was well aware of the signature dish of the Tiannan Fourth Academy - the Alchemy and Weaponry Academy. This "Fire Tree and Silver Flower" dish could fetch at least a thousand taels of gold in the capital.

"Your Lü family is certainly powerful and wealthy, humph!"

With over a thousand armored soldiers and these Tiannan Dao followers, Chunyu Ye didn't want things to escalate to the point of no return, so he took a step back.

"My beast-taming pouch, when fully extended, is only a few feet in diameter inside; once it contains the Corpse Peak Nest, it can't hold anything else..."

However, before he could offer that concession, a sudden, loud rumble erupted from the mansion, as if someone had triggered a mechanism within.
Chunyu Ye's face instantly darkened. His bitter expression just now turned into a look of resentment and venom. He looked at the female Taoist priest coldly like a treacherous snake!
"Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass, very well, you are smarter than your stupid father."

As if a mask of hypocrisy had been torn off, Chunyu Ye no longer concealed himself. With a wave of his beast-taming bag, a swarm of insects burst forth, indiscriminately attacking the numerous armored soldiers.

At this moment, the Ironback Giant Centipede had lost its fighting power. Chunyu Ye flicked his sleeve and recalled the giant centipede beast. The two of them leaped back into the mansion, and a series of black clouds of poisonous bees swarmed behind them to block them.

It seems Lan Fengzhou can't stay any longer; he's going to take the treasures and gold and silver from his residence. Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best…

The figure in blue robes ahead was trapped in front of the mechanism in the secret passage of the house, seemingly unaware of the person coming from behind, and stood there in a daze.

But then a pitch-black arm covered in insect armor slammed down from behind, its palm covered in bee stings.

boom!!
The figure in green in front of him was pushed back by his palm. Thinking of the female Taoist priest from the Lü family behind him, Chunyu Ye's killing intent subsided slightly. In a flash, he stepped behind the Taoist priest in green, grabbed the Taoist priest's neck with one elbow, and the red-backed poisonous centipede, human-faced poisonous spider and other creatures all crawled out from his sleeve and climbed onto the Taoist priest in the blink of an eye.

"If you don't want to die, let that crazy woman lead the government troops out."

"Otherwise, young man, I can't guarantee your life or death!"

In a panic, Chunyu Ye grabbed the assailant by the throat from behind and dragged him into a dark room in the house.

Inside was the Black Coffin Nail, a secret artifact of unorthodox cultivation that he had been plotting and preparing for a long time!
The Black Coffin Nail, also known as the Black Dog Nail, is made by taking a section of the spine from the bones of a corpse and sinking it into the body of an old, frail dog. It is then nourished and refined with black dog blood. When the artifact is complete, it will fully absorb the filth and impurity of the dog and be able to break all spells.

The reason that black dog was able to become a spirit was largely due to the food that Chunyu Ye had fed it along the way!

The Lü family? They only stayed at their arena for a while. Do they even deserve to lay a finger on our territory?
The Beast Taming Bag, the Black Dog Nail, and even his Iron-Backed Giant Centipede—which of these items wasn't obtained through battles and fights with the chieftains of the Southern Lands and the Gu practitioners and Daoists of the Six Spirit Mountains in Qingping Prefecture?

If you really anger the Taoists of Tiannan Temple, it will only result in another murder case!
Just as he was feeling indignant.

A chorus of agreement rose and fell.

"Ok!"

The seemingly obedient response had barely reached Chunyu Ye when he was immediately terrified and his whole body went cold!

With a mighty pull of his right arm, the barefooted centipede that was coiled around the head of the person in front of him just unfurled its fangs.

However, an even more terrifying scene suddenly filled his pupils. That was not a Taoist disciple in blue robes at all.
A red jacket and green lining, silk petals fluttering, on a pale white paper, cheeks flushed, eyes painted with corpse ink, a nine-foot-tall figure, head drooping, staring straight at him.

This is clearly a wicked paper spirit!

"not good……"

Chunyu Ye took a step back, putting distance between himself and the strange paper figure, but then wondered where the other Taoist disciple from Tiannan Temple was.
Just as he was about to close the mechanism of the dark room.

A man in blue robes held a lantern, its dim, cold light covering the faint candlelight in the dark passage. The young man who had appeared in the Taoist priest's mansion during the day slowly stepped out.

With a flick of his sleeve, he unleashed his true qi, striking the stone door of the dark chamber. Visible cracks immediately spread outwards, and even the fine iron on the back was deformed and twisted by the blow.

The hidden door could no longer be closed.

In ancient cultivation of Qi, those who entered the path must first refine their essence and nourish their Qi within three years. Those with higher aptitude can kill lions and tigers before even entering the Qi cultivation stage.

Don't be fooled by the fact that these ancient and orthodox Taoist disciples don't seem to have many magical skills. Just this one internal cultivation technique alone would kill an ordinary sorcerer in no time!
This startled Chunyu Ye so much that his pupils dilated as if an earthquake had struck.

“That black dog has been kept by me for three years, and Old Ghost Zhao is aware of this as well.”

"I haven't even bothered Lü Can yet, but you all've come together!"

Chunyu Ye finally stopped hiding it, and with a cold laugh, he dragged the ghostly Taoist in the Taoist's mansion into the vortex as well.

Just as they were about to seize the initiative and persuade the lamp-carrying Taoist disciple.

With a series of whooshing sounds, a flash of white light appeared, and the nine-foot-tall lady suddenly moved, as if she had no weight at all. With a swift movement, her slender hand, like a white blade, swiftly severed all the red centipede and poisonous spider that were trying to sneak up on her.

The paper doll's sleeves, sharp as blades, narrowly grazed Chunyu Ye's ribs, almost severing him in two.

The paper doll technique is as light as a feather, as agile as a ghost, yet possesses immense strength; it is a rare and unusual technique of the Healing lineage.

Throughout the entire Southern Kingdom of Tiandu, very few people have ever encountered this magical paper technique.

"You scoundrel, it really was you!"

No sooner had Chunyu Ye finished speaking than the paper figure moved, and four red-tasseled flying needles pierced through the air, colliding with the poisonous bees hovering around Chunyu, splattering poisonous blood in all directions.

Lü Qingshu, leading two captains in pursuit, was enraged upon hearing this.

Now that things have come to this, Li Qing has roughly figured out the cause and effect of the incident.

It's possible that the insect master named Chunyu Ye had already begun to raise that old dog. When the black dog entered the magistrate's arena and fought and killed hundreds of beasts, Chunyu Ye disregarded the rules and began to reap the rewards. He secretly killed more than ten guards in the arena, creating the appearance that the dog demon had escaped.

However, the riot at the beast arena resulted in the deaths of more than ten guards, and the escape of the dog spirit that could fight tigers and leopards in the Lanfeng Beast Fighting Circle. The prefect, who was unaware of the truth, could not bear the responsibility for this!

If that dog demon goes out of control and harms even one of the common people, the prefect will be punished by the capital for raising a demon and will be condemned by everyone!

"How could such a small matter escalate to this point?"

Chunyu Ye didn't understand. From his perspective, it was just sending his beasts into the beast arena for a baptism.

He was just reclaiming his pet; was that wrong?
"In your eyes, it's just about retrieving what's yours, but to that unsuspecting magistrate, it's a case that could wipe him out of everything!"

"Hand over that black dog demon."

Li Qing lifted the paper lantern, and the paper figure of the female lead seemed weightless, moving lightly with lotus steps, its entire body floating without wind, instantly protecting him.

can.

If it were just an ordinary item, offending the Lü family, the prefectural magistrate, would be a mistake; handing it over would be harmless.

After years of selection, nurturing, and refining, the black coffin nail was almost complete. A nearly finished, vile magical artifact—should it be handed over to someone else?
He can't swallow this insult!

With a flick of his eyelashes, Chunyu Ye lifted his sleeve, and the swarm of bees scattered as if dark clouds were pressing down from above, buzzing towards him.

The rotting corpse wasps were the insect species he started with. After twenty years of nurturing, the wasp colony has been passed down from generation to generation. Now, each of the rotting wasps is as big as a fist, and its stinger is an inch long, far superior to ordinary poisonous wasps.

At the same time, the entire mansion seemed to come alive under the urging of the buzzing sound. Countless insects and beasts gathered in the corners and crevices of the rocks, covering the ground in a dense, swarming mass.

That kind of Mushishi territory isn't something just anyone can enter!

Having long practiced the art of manipulating objects, Lü Qingshu flicked her flying needle, instantly targeting Chunyu Ye. It seemed that such a Gu master was physically fragile, so why bother with a drawn-out battle? Directly beheading him was the best approach!

A chaotic battle erupted in the secret room in an instant.

As the swarm of insects advanced, the blue-robed Taoist disciple holding the lamp and standing to one side had a dark gaze and his thoughts were in constant flux.

The next moment, Li Qing, who was standing guard to the side, made a hand seal with his left hand. Instantly, white smoke billowed throughout the dark room. With a "sizzle," green phosphorescent flames, like thick liquid, splashed and splattered, immediately covering the entire small space.

Fire Erosion Technique!

The phosphorescent flames were fierce and blazed violently in the wind. In just one swipe in this small, enclosed room, the once dense and terrifying swarm of insects was instantly melted into tar.

Wherever the phosphorescent flame touched, it ignited, and the green flames and poisonous smoke surged forth with scorching heat. Even Chunyu Ye and Lü Qingshu were terrified, their faces turning pale and their spirits still unsettled.

Each used their own methods to narrowly evade the violent flames, splitting the earthen layer in the secret chamber to shield themselves. The two shouted urgently in unison:
"Are you crazy?"

"Setting off phosphorescent fire here! Aren't you afraid of melting yourself into charred bones along with it?"

Although this eerie green phosphorescent fire is merely an ordinary fire, it is extremely insidious. Once the phosphorus seed is ignited, it cannot be dispersed by the wind or extinguished by water.

If even a tiny bit gets on it, the skin and flesh will melt instantly. It will only stop when the bone marrow is burned to death and the flame is extinguished. Even Taoist practitioners and sorcerers like them are filled with fear of it!
With a wave of his hand, he conjured paper dolls and ignited phosphorescent flames. How could this be a disciple of the Tiannan Temple? He seemed more like a heretic.

He's too extreme!
(End of this chapter)