I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 421 A true master doesn't reveal their abilities; one who reveals their abilities is not a true master.

In the second year of Tiande, in Yaozhou.

When Xu Qing led his disciples to this place, almost all the villages and towns outside the county seat were deserted, with ruins and barren mounds of bones everywhere.

With her eyes lowered and brows drooping, Xin Yuan chanted Buddhist scriptures incessantly along the way. Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke, who came from Zhongzhou, had only heard of the disaster in Yaozhou, but never imagined it would be so tragic!

"I have been cultivating in seclusion in Zhongzhou for over a hundred years. Even when I emerged from seclusion, Zhongzhou was not like the hellish scene before me."

Beside him, Venerable Fuluan interrupted, "Fellow Daoist Xie, do not forget that the Central Plains was already cleansed of the root of the Corpse Demon by our sect leader decades ago, and the Yin River's spiritual power was drawn back to nourish it. If it weren't for our sect leader, the scene before you would be the Central Plains as it is today!"

Xie Qiongke felt a mix of fear and relief.

Under the nest, have the eggs finished?
If the Central Plains were destroyed by disaster, even he, a true immortal, would likely find it difficult to remain unscathed.

In comparison, the cult leader who dared to go against the tide in the face of overwhelming calamity was truly a god descended to earth!

Little did Xie Qiongke know that Xu Qing's motivation for doing all this was simply to protect himself.

The ultimate goal of stability is to strike first, crush all potential enemies who threaten you, and continuously accumulate your own resources until you become the player on the chessboard. Only then can you be considered stable!
If Xu Qing continues to remain in a corner of the world, allowing himself to be surrounded by enemies, that will definitely not be the right choice, and he will not have a good ending.

After all, as the sect leader, he couldn't possibly be constantly present in the celestial halls and temples. Under these circumstances, he had to plan ahead and eliminate all potential threats to ensure his own safety.

How could Xie Qiongke, who was all alone and only concerned with his own cultivation, possibly guess Xu Qing's good intentions?
"Fellow Daoist Xie has secluded himself from the world to cultivate, never leaving Zhongzhou, so naturally he is unaware of the changes in the outside world. In today's world, apart from Beijing and Tianjin and Zhongzhou, how many other regions have not been affected by the evils of this world?"

Tianjin is a vital transportation hub, with countless official cargo ships and private merchant boats passing through every day.

Although Xu Qing spends most of his time in Tianjin, being at the heart of the world's trade hub allows him to see all sorts of people from all over the country.

Similarly, he was able to see a revolving lantern of corpses from all over the world without leaving his house.

These people's revolving lanterns together weave a scene of a chaotic world filled with demons and monsters, and a great calamity. The shocking scene is something that probably no one else but Xu Qing could see.

Xie Qiongke was speechless. Someone as closed-minded as him could hardly understand the state of mind at this moment.

In Yaozhou, Xu Qing collected corpses along the way. The group traveled more than 300 li, and most of the villages and towns along the way were dilapidated, with no paths leading to the fields and no sound of chickens or dogs.

Before even entering the city gates, Xu Qing saw desolate graves scattered everywhere outside the prefectures and counties, with many people looking numb and sorrowful, going to the new and old graves to pay their respects.

Zhang Pingsheng stepped forward and asked, only to learn that today was the day for the local people of Yaozhou to worship their ancestors and clean their homes.

At the gravesite, a wandering Taoist priest happened to pass by. The priest saw Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke dressed in Taoist robes, helping others everywhere. He thought they had met fellow Taoists, so he went up to greet them.

"Judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be locals. Could it be that you've also come to Yaozhou to earn money through weddings?"

Before the two could answer, the Taoist priest shook his head and said, "I advise you to go back as soon as possible. Yaozhou has been ravaged by a plague, and there are poor people everywhere. I am leaving the city today to seek a living in Tianjin!"

Xie Qiongke asked curiously, "What is an epidemic? The world is so vast, why do you insist on coming to Tianjin to make a living?"

The Taoist priest with the goatee sighed, "Yaozhou governs six prefectures and forty-three counties, but since the year Jiazi, Heaven has not blessed this prefecture. First, there was a torrential downpour that lasted for three months. Under the turbid waves, all the large and small weirs and dams collapsed."

"During the disaster, no one was spared, not even the fields and houses of the common people or the granaries of the imperial court! After the disaster, drowning victims were scattered throughout the prefecture, and cries of agony could be heard everywhere. When I first arrived, the earth's energy was also disturbed, and an epidemic broke out, even more severe than the flood. Of those who survived, less than one in ten remained. When the epidemic struck, the tragedy was beyond description!"

The goatee-bearded Taoist priest recalled the past, and fear was still visible in his eyes.

"The plague caused the flesh and bones to erode. Anyone who contracted the disease, whether alive or dead, would develop black spots on their body. Within a few days, their flesh would become emaciated and they would turn into a foul-smelling skeleton."

"This disease is beyond the reach of doctors and shamans, and even we sorcerers who exorcise evil spirits and ward off disasters have no effective talismans to use."

The Taoist priest could not hide his frustration and finally sighed, "It is a pity that people are so ignorant. They only know about natural disasters and man-made calamities, but they do not know that there are demons and monsters causing trouble beyond this world!"

Finally, the thin Taoist shook his head and said, "My Taoist cultivation is low. I originally came to Yaozhou to practice medicine and help the world, and to earn some money for cultivation, but I almost got myself into trouble! Now I have been traveling in Yaozhou for more than 30 years and I have figured out the cause of the disease here."

"The disaster in Yaozhou was not a natural disaster, but rather a result of the presence of demonic energy hidden in a place that was difficult to see with the naked eye. Otherwise, the plague would not have been so severe, nor would it have lingered for decades."

"I have been wandering since my youth and am now over sixty. In the past year or two, I have felt that my cultivation has not progressed at all. I suppose this is my fate."

The thin Taoist sighed softly, then said, "Fortunately, I have heard that demons have fled to the capital and the Central Plains, where there must be some pure spiritual energy. I can find a secluded place to build a temple, take in one or two disciples, and pass on my skills."

Xu Qing used his Qi Observation Technique to observe the thin Taoist, only to find that the man was clear-headed and upright, a dutiful cultivator who adhered to the righteous path and did not stray into evil ways.

In a world where evil is on the rise and the Tao is declining, a cultivator who can resist the temptation to switch to evil practices and remain steadfast in emptiness and stillness is even rarer than a rooster that can lay eggs!
Looking at the thin Taoist's cultivation level, it's only about a hundred years, just reaching the third realm of Xuanmen, the level of Punishing Souls.

However, if the other party is willing to go along with the corrupt practices and switch to unorthodox methods, even if he cannot compare to a Nascent Soul True Person like Xie Qiongke, he will not be too far behind.

"May I ask your Daoist name, fellow Daoist?"

"I am Qingweizi, a recluse. May I ask where your immortal mountain is, fellow Daoists?"

Xu Qing laughed heartily and said, "We are cultivators of the Great Luo Sect, and the entire world is our training ground!"

"Since you are a person with aspirations to save the world, why not join us in continuing to practice good deeds and cleanse the world of impurities in Yaozhou?"

Qingweizi sized up Xu Qing and the others. Could these two Taoists, a monk, a young man, and a girl be from the same mountain sect?
Putting all that aside, the people in front of him didn't seem to be people with any special skills or abilities. At least in Qingweizi's eyes, Xu Qing and the others were just ordinary people without any special skills or abilities.

"The path of good is difficult to follow. I have been practicing it for over thirty years. Listen to my advice, everyone: the illness of Yaozhou lies elsewhere, not in its outward appearance. Even if we exhaust our efforts, it will be like trying to catch fish by climbing a tree—ultimately futile!"

Having said all he wanted to say, the thin Taoist bowed to Xu Qing and the others, and prepared to leave.

Xu Qing thought for a moment, then suddenly called out to the thin Taoist and handed him something: "If you go to Tianjin, you can take this membership certificate to any brothel. Whether you stop to rest or seek out religious ceremonies, someone will be there to receive you."

Qingweizi took the iron certificate, puzzled, and said, "Jinmen is a quiet place, a rare place to escape the world. Since you fellow Daoists are from Jinmen, why don't you cultivate here instead of coming to this evil place to be defiled?"

Instead of answering, Xu Qing asked, "What was your reason for coming to Yaozhou in the first place, fellow Daoist?"

Seeing the thin Taoist frown, Xu Qing smiled and said, "Our purpose in coming here is no different from your purpose in coming to Yaozhou."

"It's quite a coincidence that we followed you here today just as you were thinking of leaving. The karmic connection between us is truly wondrous."

After Xu Qing finished speaking, he turned around and led Zhang Pingsheng and the others to continue their journey into the heart of Yaozhou.

The thin Taoist remained silent for a moment, then suddenly turned around and followed Xu Qing, retracing his steps in the direction he had come from.

"Didn't you say you were going to Tianjin to escape the world? Why are you back?" "I haven't even figured out how to escape the world yet." Among the group, the thin Taoist who looked the most mature smiled and said, "Besides, I can't rest easy seeing you young people putting yourselves in danger, so I might as well accompany you on this trip."

"."

The Venerable Fuluan, who had lived for over two thousand years, glanced at Qingweizi but ultimately remained silent.

Instead, the monk Xinyuan, who had been focused on chanting sutras, suddenly spoke up: "Daoist Master, you truly have the heart of a Bodhisattva. From now on, I, this junior monk, will rely on your protection."

"Easy to say!"

The skinny Taoist priest, carrying the Seven Star Sword on his back, readily agreed.

Shi Yue, who was standing next to Xu Qing, chimed in, "Me too! Daoist Master, your magic is profound. If you encounter a three-headed, six-armed monster in the future, you can't abandon me and run away by yourself!"

This girl.
"No way! Let alone a demon with three heads and six arms, even a demon with nine heads and eighteen arms would have to ask the Seven Star Sword in my hand for permission first!"

At this moment, a group of old fogies, whose lowest level of cultivation was no less than a thousand years and whose youngest girl was even a decade older than Qingweizi, all seemed to have conspired together to pretend to be young and inexperienced.

Qingweizi, a novice Taoist priest in his sixties, is now like a little dog mixed in with a pack of wolves. He not only takes on the responsibility of leading the way, but also takes on the obligation of taking care of the younger generation.

However, after Qingweizi accompanied Xu Qing and the others on their journey for more than a month, he belatedly realized that something was amiss.

How come this young Xu is so skilled at collecting corpses? Even if he collected ten thousand corpses, he wouldn't be this adept.

Moreover, the other party was not only adept at collecting corpses, but also highly skilled in burial, water burial, cremation, and even cliff burial!

This is experience that a young person in their early twenties could have accumulated?

Then there were the two middle-aged Taoist priests, Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke. Their methods of exorcising evil spirits and curing diseases were so miraculous that even if Qingweizi stared wide-eyed, he couldn't figure out how they solved people's problems.

If these two people's skills are nothing special, then what kind of strange people are the Spiritual Spirit Master and the Monk Xinyuan, who are known for their unerring divination, their ability to perform rituals for the deceased, and the manifestation of Buddha's light?

Qingweizi tried to subtly probe the truth, but the disciples of the Great Luo Sect in front of him were all adept at feigning ignorance.

Helpless, Qingweizi had no choice but to ask Shiyue, who seemed the most well-behaved and sensible.

The little girl, about five or six years old, spoke in a childish voice:
"What is the Taoist priest talking about? Shiyue doesn't know!"

Qingweizi shook his head, temporarily suppressing his doubts.

Regardless, the disciples of the Great Luo Sect before us are at least genuinely trying to mend this broken world.

The third year of Tiande.

Xu Qing, who had traveled to almost all of Yaozhou, finally stopped in the Fen River basin.

After a year of accumulation, the incense offerings of the Da Luo Sect have exceeded one million. Although it is still not as popular as the Baosheng Temple and Maoxian Hall, the incense offerings of the Da Luo Sect are still among the top in the entire Da Yan region.

The person who made the greatest contribution to the Great Luo Sect during that year was not one of the sect's members, but rather the thin Taoist Qingweizi whom Xu Qing met when he first entered Yaozhou.

During his thirty years in Yaozhou, that Taoist priest had accumulated extremely high prestige. Wherever Xu Qing and his group went, they received a lot of attention because Qingweizi, their 'leading elder,' was in the group.

The people of Yaozhou trusted Qingweizi, and consequently, they were also willing to accept Xu Qing's Da Luo Sect.

Xu Qing had to admit that although Qingweizi's Taoist skills were not very good, when it came to walking in the secular world and dealing with all kinds of people, he was even inferior to Fuluan Shangren, who had lived for two thousand years.

"We have known you for quite some time now. Would you be interested in joining our Great Luo Sect to accomplish something significant together?"

To jointly undertake a major undertaking?

On the banks of the Fen River, Qingweizi frowned, almost blurting out, "Are you planning a rebellion?"

Qingweizi then began to persuade Xu Qing and others: "The world is riddled with problems and cannot withstand further turmoil. Moreover, the Emperor of Da Yan is already a rare and wise ruler. We must not have such thoughts!"

"."

Xu Qing quickly interrupted, "The great undertaking I mentioned is not a rebellion. Rather, it is to purify the Yin River demonic influence, restore Yin and Yang, and bring clarity back to the entire world!"

Qingweizi's eyes widened, somewhat unable to believe his ears. He asked to confirm, "When you say you're purging the demonic aura, do you mean you want to eliminate the Yin River demons that caused the disaster in Yaozhou?"

"Exactly! Not only that, the original intention of our Great Luo Sect was to strive for the Mandate of Heaven, to do what immortals and Buddhas dare not do, and to do what saints and sages dare not do, such as to completely overturn this turbid and evil world and bring peace back to the world!"

Or perhaps we should talk about rebellion instead.
Qingweizi finally discovered the source of the strange feeling that the Daluo Sect gave him.

These people are a bunch of lunatics who are even crazier than him!
"Fellow Daoist, please don't joke. Even those reclusive immortals and Nascent Soul cultivators haven't shown themselves to save the world. How can you and I possibly withstand the crushing calamity with our combined strength?"

Xu Qing laughed heartily, and Zhang Pingsheng and the others beside him also smiled.

Qingweizi's face flushed red, and he said with some anger, "What I said came from the bottom of my heart. It's fine if you don't appreciate it, but why do you have to ridicule me?"

Xu Qing put away his smile, and the next moment he took out the new array plate produced by Cat Immortal Hall, took off into the air, and began to set up a brand new array on the Fen River!

Seeing this, Zhang Pingsheng didn't sit idly by. When Xu Qing needed to build a dam and change the landscape, he unleashed his full power and displayed his supernatural ability to move mountains and unload ridges in front of everyone.

Monk Xinyuan had a keen eye for life and spared no effort in preparing for the important events to come.

Qingweizi was dumbfounded, never expecting that the reclusive master he had spoken of was actually right before his eyes.

"Fellow Daoist Xie, could it be that you are also..."

Before Qingweizi could finish speaking, Xie Qiongke also flew up and began to assist the sect leader in setting up the purification array.

Qingweizi's cultivation was too low; he could only stand by the river and watch helplessly, unable to offer any assistance.

At one point, he suddenly turned his gaze to Shi Yue, who was standing to the side. Could this little girl be acting like him too?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!
If even a young girl is more skilled than him, then he might as well just leave the monastic life and go home to farm!

(End of this chapter)