Wet viviparity

Chapter 737 Huge Loss, Ma Lingyuan
"Golden Boy, stop talking nonsense!"

Within the nest of branches, amidst the bright golden light, the Pleiades Star Lord said, "In the previous additions and subtractions, you had the upper hand. According to the tacit agreement of the contest, this time it will naturally be my turn to make the move. I can't let you have the upper hand in everything."

“It’s fine if the great immortal wants to take action, but he shouldn’t have left me uninformed.”

Ji Ming suppressed his anger and kept his emotions under control, expressing his dissatisfaction while maintaining respect and composure.

He knew he could use this incident to vent his anger and express his attitude, but if he continued to get angry and acted unforgivingly, it would displease the Pleiades Star Lord, and in the end, he would definitely lose more than he gained.

Ultimately, the gap between him and the Star Officials is immeasurable, and one must always be mindful of the appropriate degree of interaction with them.

"I always felt you had some tricks up your sleeve, but I just couldn't see them."

Upon hearing this, Ji Ming remained silent, a gesture that prompted Xing Guan to say with a hint of apology, "That artist was indeed part of my scheme, but you should also know that I will not violate the ironclad rules of this bet."

"I know that."

Ji Ming nodded and said.

The performer was indeed not the old golden rooster in disguise, but rather the white ape Ma Ling who guarded the peach grove on Ziding Mountain.

Ziding Mountain is the Daoist temple of the Three-Life Old Star Lord in the mortal realm. However, the Old Star Lord often enjoys a carefree life on Yingzhou Island and rarely even takes care of his own Yanshou Palace, let alone Ziding Mountain in the mortal realm.

In general, all affairs within Ziding Mountain are handled by the divine generals and spirit officials of Yanshou Palace.

As time went on, Ma Ling, who was guarding the peach orchard, got along very well with the officials and generals in Yanshou Palace. Seeing that he was unrestrained, he gradually reverted to his wild nature and often disguised himself as a wandering entertainer.

That would have been fine, but Ma Ling insisted on claiming to be a hermit immortal and wanted to grant mortals a great fortune.

So he created the "Immortal Ladder" so that people could climb up the ladder to Ziding Mountain and explore the opportunities within.

"Is the Great Immortal so anxious because he has already concluded that I have gained the upper hand in the last round of adjustments?"

"Whatever you want, whatever you want."

The Pleiades star official spoke vaguely.

Seeing that the Pleiades Star Lord was giving him a free pass, Ji Ming didn't dwell on it. However, he had to gently warn the Star Lord about his preemptive strike without prior notice, otherwise continuing the contest would be of no benefit to him.

Just as Ji Ming was about to declare his principles, a tiny purple ray, as thin as a hair, flashed through the branch nest and hovered in front of him.

Before this purple light, Ji Ming felt his primordial spirit pounding uncomfortably, as if he were standing on the edge of a knife. He said, "This is your divine technique, Star Official—Taiyi Golden Light!"

"No, it's the Taiyi Golden Needle."

"That's what the Pleiades official corrected me on.

Ji Ming was stunned for a moment, recalling that when he asked the Star Official to consecrate the relic bottle, the other party used this divine method, and he blurted out "embroidery needle" at the time. The Star Official felt that the name was appropriate for the divine method, so he changed it to Taiyi Golden Needle.

"This golden needle was refined by me at sunrise in the east, when the sky and earth were in a state of transition, using the breath of yin and yang in harmony. It can be considered your compensation."

The so-called breath of yin and yang in harmony is also known as innate purple qi.

Like the Starflow Elixir, this item is a rare spiritual object that promotes the refinement of the Sun and Moon. Last time, at the Master's celebratory banquet, the Master received a portion of innate purple energy. Ji Ming had been thinking about it for a long time but was too embarrassed to ask for it.

Ji Ming took the golden needle and stared at the purple light within it.

"Is this a bit too expensive?"

The quality of the innate purple energy here far exceeded Ji Ming's imagination.

It should be understood that in this world, nothing that can be connected with the heavens is simple, especially since this is a kind of innate energy, and its refining process is by no means as simple as the star official mentioned in a few words.

Inside that nest, the Pleiades star official laughed and said, "You can return it to me if you don't want it. Anyway, I have done my part. Even if you return this golden needle, you can't find fault with me in this matter anymore."

Upon hearing this, Ji Ming suddenly realized that he didn't know whether to take the golden needle or not.

This was a valuable item, and one he needed for his current studies. However, the fact that the Star Official was using it to compensate him made Ji Ming believe that the Star Official had deliberately made this mistake to give away the golden needle. Despite his hesitation, Ji Ming accepted the golden needle.

He realized that whether he accepted the offerings or not, it wouldn't affect the star officials.

"What are your plans within that ladder to immortality? Or rather, what kind of method of reduction do you intend to use the ladder to achieve?"

"Don't rush, let's observe first."

Below the stage, the crowd was initially deathly silent, then gasps of surprise rose and fell.

A few daring and nosy individuals in the crowd, their hearts burning with excitement at the legend of the peaches, were the first to rush forward, using both hands and feet to climb the vine ladder.

Black Owl felt a chill run down his spine. After learning about Ma Ling and the Immortal Ladder, he glanced at the performer on stage and thought to himself that this was clearly an ape demon, yet he could transform into a Taoist infant. His skills were truly extraordinary, and he was indeed worthy of being the old demon who guarded the Peach Blossom Forest.

With a flick of his Taoist robe and a whisk tucked diagonally into his waistband, Black Owl followed the others, stepping on green vines and ascending the ladder.

At first, the green vine felt cool and solid to the touch, like ordinary wood. But when you climb to ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), the wind suddenly becomes fierce, howling like a cry and scraping your face like a knife.

The city below had shrunk to a blurry chessboard, and the sounds of people and the hustle and bustle of the city were swallowed up by the wind. When he climbed another hundred feet, he suddenly felt as light as a feather, and his arms seemed boneless. Looking up, he could see a strange light at the end of the vine ladder, flowing with gold and shimmering with jade.

At the crack in the clouds, a glimpse of glazed eaves and railings flashed by, and celestial music, like strands of golden thread, pierced through the gale and entered the ears.

"Heavenly Palace! Southern Heavenly Gate!"

The climbers ahead roared with ecstasy, their voices distorted and twisted.

Amidst the surging clouds, the majestic Heavenly Gate stands tall, adorned with golden nails and vermilion gates, and auspicious beasts perched upon it.

Black Owl glanced at it and knew that those few junior cultivators who had rushed up first were ignorant and had mistaken this gate for the Heavenly Gate.

This gate is the gateway to the deep mountains of Ziding. There is a hazy glow around the gate, and there are even exotic flowers and rare herbs. There are also giant trees standing inside the gate, with gnarled branches like iron, and hanging from the branches and leaves are huge peaches.

More people climbed up from the bottom of the ladder.

"Ma Ling! Ma Ling!"
Although I don't know what kind of business you have with Old Golden Rooster, Ziding Mountain is not your backyard. Although I have never been there, it doesn't mean I don't know what's going on there.

You have repeatedly set up ladders to immortality in the mortal realm, treating Ziding Mountain as your own backyard. This time you have allowed me to enter this mountain, which is a good excuse to explore the treasures within. If any treasures are lost in the mountain, I will retrieve them in my true form, thus allowing my true form to gain merit for nothing.

Even if you have a powerful background, you'll still be punished for letting a thief into your home.

The more Black Owl thought about it, the more feasible it seemed, and he immediately leaped into the doorway.

Unexpectedly, two people arrived at the bottom of the ladder first. The two people rode on a demonic bird. One carried a gourd on his back and the other carried a fan. They flicked their wide sleeves at the same time, and a black light flew out from each sleeve. They intertwined and twisted at the bottom of the ladder, breaking the ladder directly.

"We will only say this once: the true disciples of the True Spirit Sect are here. All idlers, please retreat immediately!"
On the back of the demonic bird, the person carrying the fan opened his wide mouth and gave a very authoritative command.

Despite the order, several bold ordinary people rushed into the gate like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.

At this moment, the Taoist priest carrying the gourd snorted coldly, chanted a spell, and the gourd behind him emitted a wisp of light.

As soon as the silk light reached the air, all light and color disappeared. Those mortals, including the few cultivators who had stayed behind, were all melted away like wax in a fire. Before they could even let out a scream, their entire bodies turned into wisps of green smoke and were sucked into the gourd.

"Haha, now it's quiet."

The Taoist priest carrying the gourd laughed heartily.

"Jiang Zheng!" Suddenly, a yellow tiger leaped out of the wind and shouted to the Taoist carrying the gourd, "Long time no see, brother. Why are you carrying such a sinister gourd? Could it be the gourd you got from Brother Xiao back then?"

"I'm too lazy to care about you."

Jiang Zheng, who was carrying a gourd, looked unnatural. He urged his demonic bird to fly into the gate with his fellow disciple with the wide beak.

(End of this chapter)