From martial arts sects to immortality sects

Chapter 69 Repaying Kindness, Reputable Sects

Night falls.

Li Qingqiu stepped out of the pit. He looked up at the night sky, where the stars were shining brightly and the night was beautiful, which calmed his mind.

He stepped forward, determined to find the mysterious entity Jiang Zhaoxia had mentioned tonight. This was a spirit mine, the most important place for the Qingxiao Sect, second only to the Thousand Spirit Blessed Land, and he could not afford any mistakes.

What the sixth level of the Qi Nourishing Realm cannot solve, naturally must be solved by the seventh level of the Qi Nourishing Realm.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Qingqiu stepped onto the mountainside as if walking on flat ground, and then darted into the forest.

Waiting idly is inefficient, so Li Qingqiu plans to conduct a thorough search of the surrounding area. According to Jiang Zhaoxia, the feeling of being spied on only occurs at night, which is why he has been waiting until now.

The mountains and forests at night echoed with the sounds of frogs and insects, and occasionally the cries of wild birds, making the forest seem eerie and sinister.

At this moment, his pupils were shimmering with a faint purple light. After cultivating immortality, he had gained night vision. Not only that, he could also see the tiny insects on the leaves and branches of the trees along the way.

Li Qingqiu believed that the being who could escape Jiang Zhaoxia's pursuit was either a martial artist, another cultivator, or a ghost invisible to the human eye.

It's unlikely that he was a cultivator. Although he had obtained two magical artifacts, proving that cultivators had once existed on this land, they had long since disappeared. If they were truly cultivators, they wouldn't have left this spirit mine unattended for so long, let alone allowed the Qingxiao Sect to develop to its current state.

If it is a ghost, the fact that it didn't make a move when Jiang Zhaoxia was chasing it suggests that it's not very strong, and may even have no offensive power.

However, his search took two hours.

Li Qingqiu was almost ready to give up.

He stopped in front of a stream, turned his head, and his eyes narrowed.

Looking upstream along the stream, a naked boy was squatting by the stream beside a patch of grass. His hair was messy and reached his shoulders. He was waving one hand in the stream, but it didn't make a ripple.

It really is a ghost!

Since practicing the Soul-Binding Spell, Li Qingqiu has been able to see ghosts. The ghosts of the people he has killed have also appeared, but those ghosts lingered near the corpses for seven days before dissipating without a trace.

Those ghosts seemed to have no memory of their past lives. Even when they saw Li Qingqiu, who killed them, these ghosts did not show any change in expression, nor did they approach him.

The separation between the living and the dead is clearly not just an empty phrase; the living cannot see ghosts, and ordinary ghosts cannot see the living.

Unusual ghosts may be different.

The little devil seemed to sense Li Qingqiu's gaze, turned his head to look at him, and the moonlight shone through the woods, illuminating the little devil's face.

What a handsome child!
This was Li Qingqiu's first impression of him. He looked about the same age as Yuan Li and Zhao Zhen, with handsome features, which could even be described as exquisite. He had a pair of big, watery eyes that, combined with his fair skin, made him look pitiful.

The human and the ghost stared at each other for about three breaths. Suddenly, the ghost's face became ferocious, its eyes widened and quickly turned blood red, transforming from cute to terrifying in an instant.

He charged directly at Li Qingqiu, landing on all fours like a wild beast, moving with incredible speed, appearing and disappearing in an instant, and was right in front of Li Qingqiu.

Li Qingqiu raised his hand, grabbed the little devil by the throat, and lifted him into the air. His body did not tremble at all.

The moment he saw the little ghost, Li Qingqiu silently activated the Soul-Binding Spell, otherwise he would not have been able to contact the soul. At this moment, his right palm was surrounded by primordial energy, emitting a silver-blue light.

The little devil was not frightened by Li Qingqiu's chokehold. His face remained ferocious as he kept grabbing at Li Qingqiu with his hands, his nails sharp as claws, but he could not catch Li Qingqiu no matter what he did. Even when he touched Li Qingqiu's arm, it would just pass right through.

Li Qingqiu began chanting incantations. He had no way to deliver these wild ghosts from suffering; he could only tame them into ghost slaves.

As he chanted the incantation, the little demon let out a sharp, piercing scream that made him frown.

This was Li Qingqiu's first time taming a ghost, and lacking experience, he could only follow the incantations and mental techniques.

During this process, Li Qingqiu establishes a soul connection with the little ghost and reads his memories.

Soon, Li Qingqiu frowned. No wonder this little devil was so violent; it turned out he had suffered inhuman torture in his previous life.

He did not stop the Soul-Binding Curse because of this. The Soul-Binding Curse is torture for the living, but for such a wild ghost, it may be a kind of liberation.

Moreover, allowing the little devil to continue wandering around will become a hidden danger for the Qingxiao Sect in the future.

From the time the little devil could remember, he was imprisoned in a huge pit connected to many dungeons and other orphans. Every day, they would be soaked in large vats filled with boiling potion. The little devil and the orphans would cry out in pain from the scalding water, but the caretakers wearing demon masks ignored them and even forcibly pushed them back in.

In addition, these orphans are often beaten, ostensibly to strengthen their bodies.

This went on for three or four years.

Until one day, a man broke into the dungeon and rescued these orphans. This man even picked up the right arms of the orphans and examined them one by one until he found the little devil.

"Son, your father is here!"

The choked voice in the little devil's memory was both incredibly familiar and distant to Li Qingqiu.

The little ghost's father carried him and fought his way out. Unable to save all the orphans, he sent them to the mountains and forests. He could only carry the little ghost and run in another direction. The people wearing demon masks chased them for a whole month. During this time, the little ghost and his father were constantly injured.

After finally reaching Taikun Mountain, the little devil couldn't hold on any longer.

"Chuan'er, hang in there a little longer. Once we reach the sect, your father will use the secret medicine left by your grandmaster to treat you."

"You'll definitely be happy to see your senior brother, and he'll definitely like you and take good care of you."

"Chuan'er, what do you like to eat? Your senior brother loves roasted eggs, would you like some?" "Chuan'er..."

In the end, on that rainy night, the little devil named Lin Chuan died in his father's arms, his heart filled with resentment before his death.

He resented the world, resented those who abused him, resented his father for arriving so late, and even resented the senior brother his father spoke of, feeling that the senior brother had robbed him of his life.

Li Qingqiu looked at the little devil in his hand with a complicated expression.

This brat's father was none other than his master, Lin Xunfeng.

No wonder he wandered around this area. Lin Xunfeng buried him here instead of bringing him back to Qingxiao Sect.

Li Qingqiu suddenly realized why his master always went down the mountain. It wasn't just to help others; he was looking for his son. He brought his junior brothers and sisters up the mountain, perhaps out of compassion for his son.

He also recognized the faction from which the people who imprisoned Lin Chuan came.

The Demonic Sect!

The Seven Fiends of the Demonic Sect and Xu Polu, the previous protector of the Demonic Sect, all wore similar masks.

The emperor's greed has brought calamity upon children throughout the land. Li Qingqiu was implicated, and Lin Chuan suffered a terrible fate. Countless other children in the world are undoubtedly suffering as well.

Master's insistence on seeking immortality suggests he has lost hope in this world.

Li Qingqiu realized that he didn't understand his master at all. His master seemed carefree, but only he knew what he had endured and how much pain he was in.

Thinking of this, Li Qingqiu felt that perhaps he should also shoulder some responsibility, not for any other reason than to repay his master for saving his life and raising him.

……

After resolving the issue of the haunted spirit mine, Li Qingqiu returned to Qingxiao Mountain. Along the way, he pointed to the scenery and talked to himself. Some disciples found this strange but dared not ask any questions.

Little did they know, a little devil was sitting on Li Qingqiu's shoulder; it was none other than Lin Chuan.

After becoming Li Qingqiu's ghost servant, Lin Chuan's ferocity dissipated considerably, and he regained his original consciousness. He revered Li Qingqiu and served him as his master. Although he lost his freedom, he was at least no longer a vicious wild ghost.

Li Qingqiu did not hide his identity and quickly developed feelings for Lin Chuan through his relationship with Lin Xunfeng.

"You can enjoy the mountain from now on, as long as you don't get close to any living people. You can tell me what you want."

Li Qingqiu said with a smile that he did not regard Lin Chuan as a ghost slave, but as a real junior brother.

Lin Chuan looked around curiously, his big eyes blinking incessantly, showing great interest in everything.

Suddenly, he pointed at the figures on the martial arts stage and asked, "Senior...brother, what are they doing?"

Li Qingqiu replied, "They are exchanging martial arts skills, not actually fighting. They are using the exchange to find their own shortcomings."

"Senior brother... I don't want to play, I want to learn martial arts too..." Lin Chuan said timidly, but his tone revealed a firmness.

"Sure, I'll teach you, senior brother."

Li Qingqiu replied with a smile that he had originally planned to help Lin Chuan cultivate immortality. If he could become a ghost immortal in the future, wouldn't that be a way out?
Upon hearing Li Qingqiu's agreement, Lin Chuan's face lit up with a bright smile.

As they approached the mountain gate, a prompt appeared before Li Qingqiu's eyes:
[Given that your lineage has officially joined the ranks of the five major sects in Guzhou, gaining widespread fame and proving that the Qingxiao Sect has entered a new stage of development, you are awarded a legacy reward.]

Li Qingqiu raised an eyebrow.

Why are there five major sects?
Which two major sects are missing?
It seems there's more to this trip to Baidi Palace than meets the eye.

He didn't think too much about it; he would know once Xu Ning and Yang Jueding returned.

……

Half a month later, Yang Jueding, Xu Ning, and their five disciples finally returned, without a single casualty.

Inside Lingxiao Courtyard, Li Qingqiu, Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, Li Sifeng, Li Sijin, Yang Jueding, and Xu Ning sat around a long table, with Zhang Yuchun pouring wine for each of them.

"Tell me quickly, were there any exciting stories at the banquet at Baidi Mansion?" Li Sifeng asked impatiently.

This kid couldn't stay in the spirit mine, so he ran back a few days ago. After being beaten by Li Qingqiu, he stayed on Qingxiao Mountain for the time being.

Li Qingqiu looked at Yang Jueding and sensed something was amiss.

Qingxiao Sect became one of the five major sects through this trip, and no one was seriously injured. Logically speaking, Yang Jueding should have been very excited and would have shown off immediately.

Yang Jueding glanced at Xu Ning, whose expression was aloof, and hesitated before speaking.

"Speak up, are you mute? Did you go out and get beaten up?" Li Sifeng asked impatiently, standing up and glaring at him.

Lin Chuan, floating behind Li Qingqiu, imitated Li Sifeng's movements, even down to his expression.

Yang Jueding took a deep breath and said, "The prefectural government has already posted notices declaring Qingxiao Sect as one of the new five major sects, a prestigious and righteous sect recognized by the imperial court..."

(End of this chapter)