Vampire Cultivation Notes

The golden statue will likely need a physical vessel in the mortal world to assist in echoing the future Taihuang Heaven.

Li Jieqing lightly touched the statue, and the craftsmen on either side quickly responded.

Flying swords have no guard, magical swords have no edge.

But in reality, the people of Taipingfang basically use a mix of flying swords and magical swords; they're all self-taught and don't really distinguish between them.

Li Jieqing only gained some knowledge by robbing the Wanbaoge library. However, this didn't stop him from casually stuffing some incense into the statue when checking if his own family's offerings were inside.

"...I wonder what mission the immortal has descended the mountain for? My village will certainly obey and carry it out."

Li Longxiu saw Li Jieqing, who had finished examining the statue, out of the craftsman's house. At the same time, he sent someone to find the fortress lord and carefully flattered him.

Over the years, he had only heard of fallen immortals who did whatever they wanted, but he had never seen one as kind as the one before him. How could he not be careful?

"Don't worry, I don't mean to make things difficult for you."

Li Jieqing came here today not only to prepare for the Golden Body Cultivation of the "Invisible Heavenly Sword," but also for another matter.

That's why he deliberately showed up.

"I have heard that there is a chaos among the immortals in the country, causing the people to suffer displacement and the lives of the living to be in dire straits. Now that I have taken refuge in your esteemed place, I must take this matter seriously."

"In this Jinwu Prefecture, I wonder where immortals linger? What is the general situation in the surrounding prefectures and counties? Please inquire about this so that if any fallen immortals come to visit, I can make preparations in advance."

The so-called "fallen immortals" mentioned by the people of the Great Xin Dynasty are naturally the cultivators who, seven years ago, were terrified when the White Tiger stormed into Taiping Market and monsters roamed freely, and fled into the mortal world.

With the path to immortality severed, many people suffered mental breakdowns and began to act arrogantly and domineeringly in the mortal world.

But now that the Ruyi Sect has returned and driven away the demonic beasts, any cultivator who still has a shred of ambition should consider heading north again to find a spiritual place to cultivate.

However, whether Taipingfang City was actually rebuilt or not, and how the Seven Foundation Establishments of Ruyi Sect treated Xiaoxin Island, cannot all be determined by mere speculation.

Li Jieqing doesn't want to get close to Taipingfang City right now, so his only source of information is naturally to ask the cultivators who are still in the mortal world.

He was definitely not the only cautious and prudent rogue cultivator.

"Speaking of fallen immortals... there is one in the county."

Li Longxiu replied, "That man, called Jinwu Shangren, moved here about three or four years ago. He has already recruited many officials and noble families as his henchmen and has taken advantage of the situation to establish his own independent regime. Not long ago, some people from the county came on horseback because Jinwu Shangren was fighting with some people and demanded that we, the villagers, betray the court and surrender by offering three thousand shi of grain, one hundred women, and ten jin of gold and silver."

"Oh……"

Jinwu, is he still a superior?

Li Jieqing swept his whisk, stood below the steps, and laughed, "You all just focus on preparing your troops for battle. If that Golden Wutong Master comes out, I'll have a word with him."

After Master Baozhou died, indeed, there were Masters everywhere.

To rob only ten catties of gold and silver here is far too stingy.

Cultivators have always treasured jade, which can nourish their qi and absorb spiritual energy, but what are gold and silver compared to that?

According to Wanbaoge's Mysterious Treasure Trove, some Foundation Establishment True Persons and even Golden Core True Lords who want to refine magical treasures take worldly gold and silver to refine the artifacts, often requiring hundreds of tons to refine just one ounce.

However, materials of that caliber are naturally irrelevant to cultivators who hide in the mortal world, namely the so-called Golden Wutong Master.

Li Jieqing, however, felt that it must have been that person's subordinates acting on their own initiative, using the name of the Fallen Immortal to seize benefits everywhere.

Otherwise, no matter how depraved they are, robbing mortals, they should at least want beautiful jade.

Upon hearing this, Li Longxiu hesitated for a moment before bowing and saying, "If the Immortal Master truly has a heart to save the world and help people, I am willing to fight against the enemy in the fortified village!"

Li Jieqing nodded, took a step, and rode away on the wind.

Even if the visitor is not an ordinary person, it doesn't matter if we encounter a rare cultivator who loves gold and silver.

He, the authentic Taoist Wangyue, should make his appearance before all fellow practitioners.

……

……

July is the time of intense heat.

Wei Zexiang, relying on the terrain of the fortified village, fought several battles and actually drove out the troops sent by the powerful families in the prefecture, which greatly boosted his morale. He then took over the land of the surrounding displaced people and formed an alliance with the county, making his expanded territory quite impressive.

In times of chaos, there are always those who seize the opportunity to rise up.

As Wei Zexiang grew in power, Li Jieqing's reputation as the "True Immortal Gazing at the Moon" also spread, attracting many more worshippers.

"...Good rain! After months of drought, with the harvest seemingly impossible, thankfully this timely rain has arrived!"

As the drizzle fell between the furrows of a field, it covered hundreds of acres of land, causing farmers to catch the raindrops in their hands, almost to the point of tears.

The rain clouds in the sky kept coming, moving from one patch to another to irrigate other parched fields, so that the rain and dew were distributed evenly.

Those on the ground who knew what was happening pulled their companions aside and said, "This must be the power of the Moon-Gazing Immortal. It is said that the immortal subdued the demon and made a great vow to ensure that this place would have good weather and abundant harvests."

"In that case, we should go and pay our respects at the temple in Weize Township!"

"...Let's go together!"

heaven.

Upon hearing this, Li Jieqing strained his ears. Although he already had little magic power left, he still used the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique one more time before finishing and turning back.

He is now proficient in using the Little Cloud Rain Technique, and irrigating hundreds of acres of land at once is no problem.

The only problem is that my mana is being used up a bit too quickly.

Being a deity these days is really not easy.

In the mortal world, spiritual energy is scarce and difficult to absorb into the body. The only way to replenish magical power in a short time is to use spirit stones.

If Wei Zexiang weren't so special, and if he weren't cultivating his golden body, exchanging those few dozen or a few hundred shi of mortal food for those precious spirit stones would be a really bad deal.

Moreover, there are many cultivators hidden in the mortal world, and wasting one's magical power in this way is a bit ostentatious.

……

The Wangyue Zhenxian Temple, which was built two months ago.

Li Jieqing secretly went behind his own statue and cast several incantations into it, continuously absorbing the incense offerings that gathered there.

This time, the collected items no longer shimmered with blood, but were pure gold in color. They had no shape, existing only within the statue, slowly absorbing incense offerings to grow stronger.

If there are no mistakes in the practice, the seed of this golden body has been formed.

It's just that it's growing too slowly. At this rate, it seems unlikely that it will reach the level of "wanting to fly far away and believing in the Supreme Emperor" for a long time, even if it takes another seven years.

However, once cultivation is on the right track, the immortal Li Jieqing is not afraid of not being able to learn it.

There's no need to stay here all the time. When you leave the mortal world to cultivate in a spiritual place, you can come back to visit from time to time.

"I'm only at the eighth level of Qi Refining now, but I hope I can complete it before breaking through to Foundation Establishment..."

Li Jieqing quietly left the temple, where incense was burning brightly, after removing his hand from the statue.

In fact, if the belief in the True Immortal of Gazing at the Moon were directly promoted to the entire Great Xin Dynasty, just like the statue of the King of the Heng hundreds of years ago, the speed of cultivation of the Golden Body would definitely increase greatly.

Moreover, it's simple to do this kind of thing.

All he needs to do is fight a few fallen immortals and let the people of Wei Ze Township unify this chaotic world, then he, the True Immortal Wangyue, can hitch a ride on this success.

However, that would be too conspicuous, and the sudden appearance of a massive amount of secular faith would attract the attention of the Ruyi Sect, which would be a net loss.

The people of Taipingfang Market don't understand things like incense and vows, but most people in the Ruyi Sect do.

Heaven knows if they even know how the Invisible Heavenly Sword is cultivated.

Li Jieqing preferred to play it safe.

The outer perimeter of the fortified village.

Under a hollow banyan tree.

Li Jieqing parted the aerial roots of the banyan tree, held a volume of the local county gazetteer sent by Li Longxiu to the villagers of Weize Township, and sat down.

This was sent along with the items when Li Longxiu inquired about matters in Jinwu Prefecture.

One of the volumes is quite interesting.

The story goes that about seventy years ago, in the Li family of Weize Township, there was a child prodigy. Although his family was poor, he could read at three, recite poetry at five, and understand the classics at ten. He told his clansmen: "I aspire to achieve fame and fortune, to benefit the people of this region, and to bring comfort to my elders and fellow villagers..." People considered this extraordinary, and his relatives and friends generously donated money to help him prepare for the imperial examination. However, on the day of the examination, he vanished without a trace. Everyone said he had gone to seek immortality; the boy never appeared again. Later generations commented: "This was due to the shortsightedness of women; rumors spread like wildfire. There was nothing wrong with him..."

After reading it, Li Jieqing shook his head and closed the county gazetteer.

It's hard to give a proper evaluation.

How can you make up such nonsense for yourself when you're from the same hometown?

What do you mean by "disappeared without a trace"? I only ran away to seek immortality after serving my parents in this life until they were buried.

What else is called "本无介卿"?

Is the child prodigy a myth?

That is to say, this child prodigy went to cultivate immortality. Otherwise, if he had become a high-ranking official at that time, he would have first dealt with this 'descendant' who was talking nonsense with his eyes wide open, and let him see whether the child prodigy was really that amazing.

In short—Li Jieqing will not return this county gazetteer.

He was born in Weize Township and was a relative of Li Longxiu, perhaps even a descendant of a few branches of the same family, because he found the name of Li Longxiu's grandfather, who had served as a county magistrate, somewhat familiar.

However, Li Longxiu's family had completely forgotten about such distant relatives. Seventy years had passed, and the traces of an ordinary person had been completely buried. Only Li Jieqing's child prodigy behavior, which he deliberately displayed in his childhood, was recorded as a strange and interesting story in the county annals.

With this sum of money withdrawn, the legend of the Li family prodigy in Wei Zexiang was no more.

"I don't know how wonderful this is, sir..."

Muttering as he put away the county gazetteer, Li Jieqing stood up.

Under the banyan tree, a group of mischievous children suddenly came from the temple, playing and laughing as they approached, holding cakes and pastries.

Upon seeing Li Jieqing there, but not recognizing him, a mischievous boy, in high spirits, licked a biscuit and asked, "...Who are you? Where do you come from?"

The temple was already very popular, with many people from other places coming to worship.

Li Jieqing tilted his head and smiled, then swept the whisk across his face.

"From where we came, to where we are going."

After saying that, he disappeared.

……