The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 182 Fengdu and the Heavenly Palace

"Oh? Someone from the Heavenly Palace?"

Suddenly, a soft exclamation came from the side of the main hall. A man dressed in a brocade robe raised his hand, lifted the beaded curtain, and slowly entered the main hall.

"Since it's the Heavenly Palace extending its tentacles, then this sect has no reason not to take action."

"What do you say, Ghost Lord of Fengdu?"

Upon hearing this, Li Qing looked up and saw a young man in brocade robes. His voice was clear and bright, his spirit was high, he was nine feet tall, and he moved with ease. He wore a comical hanged ghost mask on his face.

But he was actually a Taoist priest?
This person exuded a pure fragrance emanating from the depths of his Golden Elixir cultivation, and as he walked through the desolate Fengdu region of Youtian, he was practically a walking medicine.

When that person appeared, he also glanced at Li Qing.

The Golden Elixir lineage of the Taiyue Shangxing Sect has shone brightly for four thousand years, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth into the dantian and spiritual treasures. This is an undeniable testament to the mastery of alchemy.

Li Qing, dressed in a seven-star lotus crown, a Taiyi descending robe, cloud-ascending shoes, and a gourd hanging from his waist, also fully displayed his family background.

The two disciples, both from the Five Directions Immortal Sect, glanced at each other, then immediately turned their heads away.

This kind of attire, which is practically an open secret within the immortal sects, makes it impossible for anyone to hide their identity from each other!

"In this Fengdu Heaven, there is actually a Daoist disciple of the Taiyue Shangxing Sect? And he seems to hold a rather high position?"

How could Li Qing not be surprised by such an unexpected turn of events? But seeing a fellow townsman in a foreign land always brought a sense of reassurance.

The Ghost King of Fengdu, who was at the head of the table, was not annoyed when the Golden Core Daoist addressed him by his name. He merely glanced at the bizarre hanged ghost mask and his lips twitched slightly.

"You think you can handle this by yourself?"

"After all, he is the renowned Sword Lord of Baqiu, and he is no pushover who can become a governor in the Southern Kingdom. With both of them now exiled to Youtian, I'm afraid that if one thing happens, it will have far-reaching consequences..."

Fengdu Ghost King then gave the guy a couple more reminders.

This kid from the Golden Elixir Path is not bad.

It inherited the incense offerings of the ancient Lingbei clan - the Jiushui Qu clan, and was located in the Yinshan Mountain, a water palace with a radius of seventy miles. It was backed by a drowned ghost that roamed the Yin Abyss day and night. This fierce and savage creature possessed the combat power of a Yin god when it entered the water.

This young master Qu, back when True Monarch Tianyi walked through the Netherworld and used the Great Luo Heavenly Finger to defeat many Netherworld ghosts and gods and plunder the Underworld, took in a headless corpse that was considered terrifying even in the Yin God Realm!
Do you know why he harbors such malice towards that Heavenly Palace?

That headless corpse was injured during a hunt by the Heavenly Palace, losing its roots and its yin energy; this enmity is irreconcilable.

Upon hearing of the Heavenly Palace's whereabouts, the young master of Youbo Yin Mansion naturally became interested!
Vengeful ghosts are not so easy to tame, especially those old ghosts that are inherently terrifying. They need to be fed and entertained, and they need incense and offerings. If they get angry, you have to smooth them down. If they get too cocky, you have to put them down. You have to grasp every bit of the right balance. Only in this way can you control such ferocious creatures...

But ultimately, their common enemy—the Eleven Luminaries Palace—will be a good spice in their relationship.

"The sword cultivators of Baqiu can hardly be considered core members of the Heavenly Palace, can they? Doesn't the Ghost Lord believe me?"

"Of course, it would be great if Fengdutian could send someone to help."

Young Master Qu chuckled and tilted his head, causing the comical hanged ghost mask to shake off, revealing a long tongue.

He really wanted to attack those two Yin God True Persons at the same time.

Li Qing stood silently to one side, quite surprised to see such a man with such a commanding presence.

You should know that he had to rely on the ox-headed corpse and horse-faced spirit in Qishan to set up the entire Qishan and barely managed to drive away the two Yin God True Persons.

But this person, who also had not yet attained the Yin God status, actually wanted to hunt down two Yin God Real Persons at the same time.

Moreover, the Ghost King of Fengdu at the head of the table tacitly approved of this person's actions!
"Ha, you're quite the smooth talker."

Fengdu Ghost Lord glanced at Young Master Qu noncommittally, chuckled, and looked away.

After standing up and dusting off her sleeves, the eyes behind the goddess mask swept across the old ghosts in the hall and the clan leaders behind the beaded curtain before finally settling on Li Qing.

"The affairs of the Netherworld are the domain lords and the spirits and deities of all realms!"

“Our ancient Fengdu Remnant Prefecture gathered hundreds of spirits and gods, and six ancient ghosts from the heavens, in one hall. There were soldiers and sacrifices, and we called ourselves Fengdu Heaven.”

"You've also experienced this seasonal gathering. How are you? Would you like to go to Fengdu?"

Fengdu Ghost Lord spread his arms wide, and the red candles in the hall immediately shone brightly, illuminating the faces of the ghosts and gods. With a gust of divine wind from his right sleeve, he stirred the beaded curtain of the inner chamber, and the figures of several clan leaders who did not wish to show their faces flashed by.

This is a force composed entirely of great demons and spirits; of course, the scope of Fengdu Heaven is limited to this boundless, dark sky.

Here, they are undoubtedly the local tyrants!
The Ghost King of Fengdu sent a messenger to Lingnan, asking the "Five Ghost Generals" to act as matchmakers and invite Li Qing to the Netherworld. Isn't this the moment he's been waiting for?

Strange Tales of Jiangnan, Ghostly Tales of Osmanthus, Ghostly Betrothal at the Cui Mansion, Ten Miles of Dazzling Red Makeup...

This might be an ancient clan from the Six Heavens, lost in history, seeking to re-enter the world through a forbidden pact. The ghosts and gods of the Netherworld and the Celestial Gate of Heaven, however, hold opposite views; they are happy to see this happen.

After all, with the Six Heavens now in ruins, the various underworlds are adrift in the abyss, and resources are scarce. Only through trade and communication between these underworlds can they make further progress!
However, after pondering for a moment, Li Qing asked a very surprising question.

"How does Fengdu Heaven compare to the Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace?"

What will be the strength of Fengdu Tian, ​​which is linked by Fengdu Ancient Prefecture?
To be frank, Li Qing was very interested in the transactions just now, whether it was the spirit plants from the underworld or the two powerful ghosts and the one-horned ghost.

Leaving aside the scale and foundation of Fengdu Heaven, what exactly is their relationship with the Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace? Are they close, neutral, or hostile?

Just now, among those many ghosts and gods, when the topic of the Heavenly Palace came up, some were wary, some hated it, but the majority did not want to cause trouble.

But the masked hanged ghost was clearly going to cause trouble for the "Heavenly Palace".

Given Li Qing's grudges with certain individuals in the Heavenly Palace, he needed to thoroughly investigate Fengdu Heaven's attitude!
If their attitudes are ambiguous, he might as well seek out Taiyi Dao, the Yang Clan of the East Sea, and others to obtain more information about the Six Heavenly Ghosts... "Heh! You ask how I compare to the Heavenly Palace?"

When asked this question, the Ghost King of Fengdu first looked around at the ghosts and gods inside and outside the two halls, then shook his head and chuckled.

"Shenyao Taiyi and Ziyao Tianyi are both Grand True Persons of the highest rank of Yin God. The Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace is less a lineage than the private domain of these two fiends."

"If we're going to talk about the Heavenly Palace, we can't avoid these two people. If you want to compare Fengdu Heaven with the Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace, I can only say that it is slightly inferior."

Perhaps he could summon a few high-level old ghosts, like the Crimson Demon and the Luxurious Corpse Demon... but Fengdu Heaven is ultimately not a tightly unified organization.

The many ghosts and gods in the hall nodded repeatedly.

Although Fengdu Heaven has now gathered four or five Yin Gods and old ghosts, as well as several clan underworlds with the foundation of Yin Gods, plus the unspeakable foundation of Fengdu Remnant State, it can be considered the largest domain in the current Netherworld, named after "Fengdu Heaven", one of the six ancient heavens.

However, compared to the Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace, it is certainly inferior.

Those are the combined strength of two powerful cultivators who can stir up storms and change the world.

There are only two Great True Immortals in the Southern Kingdom of Tiandu: Great True Immortal Yin, who is eternally guarding the southwest, and Great True Immortal Tianfu Huandan, who has severed the Tiandu barrier. Moreover, Ancestor Yin is nearing the end of his life...

"However, we are not afraid of the Heavenly Palace."

"I had already considered this before sending this letter to you, and you should be able to see that!"

Fengdu Ghost King's words were practically a tacit agreement with Li Qing.

Since he knew the identities of Venus and the Prefect, there was no reason why he didn't know that the two Yin Gods had been banished to the Netherworld by Li Qing. Given this background, how do you think he would treat the Eleven Luminaries?

The actions of that young master Qu in the previous incident are the best proof of this!

Clearly, everyone present, whether they were the fierce ghosts, the ghostly creatures of the underworld, or the clan leaders, had already discerned the secret message between the Ghost King of Fengdu and the newlyweds.

Who is this person who is so patiently advising the Ghost King?

Could it be that he has a past connection with the Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace?
The many ghosts and gods turned their gazes to a corner of the hall, once again bringing Li Qing, with his raven-like face, into the center of attention.

"is it?"

"In that case, we have nothing more to say. I wonder how much the Ghost King will collect for the annual offerings during the three festivals and four seasons? And how much feedback will he bring to our sect?"

With a flick of his sleeve, Li Qing's dull, silvery-gray eyes looked directly at the Ghost Lord, and he asked with his hands behind his back.

As long as it's an enemy of the Heavenly Palace, whether it's a hidden enemy or not, the basic conflict is compromised!
"What is the nature of your Netherworld? How large is it? Has it been fully developed?" Fengdu Ghost Lord raised an eyebrow and asked again.

The annual tribute depends on the strength of the Underworld Lord himself; the annual tribute is not fixed.

After a moment's thought, Li Qing's expression remained unchanged, and she spoke without hesitation.

"A Yinshan Daoist temple, probably less than fifty li in circumference, is all ruins and remnants, with only a few scattered small medicinal gardens, which are almost extinct..."

"Hmm... there are quite a few large demons wandering around!"

He described the boundless Qishan region as being fifty li in circumference, and the ruins and remains were indeed similar to what he described.

The Qishan region has been desolate for too long; where can it possibly scrape together the resources for annual tribute?

"That's it."

The woman behind the mask of the Ghost King and Goddess of Fengdu hesitated for a moment, as if she had sketched out a general image in her mind.

The Yinshan Underworld, spanning fifty li, was originally built in the style of a Taoist temple and palace, but now it is filled with ruins and remnants, and its medicinal gardens have collapsed...

This does fit the situation of a small clan in the south that had been discontinued for a long time, and it is not much different from the original Youbo Water Mansion Yinshan.

Clearly, according to Li Qing, the Qishan Underworld could not afford the annual tribute to "Fengdu Heaven," and those old ghosts of the Netherworld could not possibly control the Daoist treasures of the Heavenly Capital.

"Here's what we'll do: you take a thousand black-scaled tails, three hundred catties of Yin Spirit Rice seeds, and each of you take a hundred silkworms."

"Payment every three years, repay four times the amount, until the ninth year, when payments are made for several more years."

After careful consideration, Fengdu Prefecture ultimately only provided Li Qing with a so-called support measure that was not very significant.

After all, this is already the limit.

There are quite a few ghosts and gods in Fengdu Ancient Prefecture. With people eating and horses chewing, they still need to collect incense offerings from some desolate mountains and villages in Tiandu. The landlord's family really doesn't have much surplus food!

"In that case, our sect's Netherworld Water Palace will be catching and controlling the great tide of ghost fish next year. Now that you have just entered the Underworld, everything is in need of being rebuilt..."

"Fellow Daoist, would you be willing to enter the Netherworld Water Palace to assist us? Our sect can offer half of the giant scales we captured as a token of our gratitude. What do you say?"

Seeing that the Ghost King of Fengdu was troubled by the man in the raven mask, the young master Qu, who was wearing a hanged ghost mask, suddenly spoke up.

He roughly figured out the background of the man in the raven mask: a member of the Southern Immortal Sect who had just acquired a Netherworld Palace and hadn't had time to manage it yet.

Young Master Qu was having a headache over the upcoming bountiful harvest from the Water Mansion. His old ghost subordinates were incapable of handling the matter, and he didn't want to expose his identity in the Heavenly Capital.

Having already found a Netherworld Dao Lord with a slightly closer connection, who also comes from one of the Five Immortal Sects, perhaps we can take our cooperation a step further?

So this young master Qu directly invited Li Qing by name.

"Okay, let's put it up for commission..."

(End of this chapter)