The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 184 Matters of the Southern Kingdom
"The paths of Yuhua and Fangxian were once the leading sects of the immortal realm. Why are they now hiding their true colors and acting in a treacherous manner?"

With a flick of his sleeves, the Yin and Yang energies circulated and intertwined, and the wounds on his arms disappeared along with the wandering black and white energies, as if he had never been injured.

People say that those who achieve immortality can ascend to the gates of heaven!
In ancient times, the capital city of Tiandu produced several divine beings: one was Yuhua, the second was Fangxian, and the third was the Three Immortals from Overseas.

The immortal Taoist can dissolve and vanish, attracting ghosts and spirits. He drinks only the wind and dew, abstains from grains, and rides the clouds and mist, coming and going freely...

Seeking only the arts of immortality, he traveled to the North Sea, to the Ruins of Return, to the Netherworld, and into the Vast Ocean, ultimately attaining the Way of the Immortals and the principle of immortality through the power of alchemy.

The methods of ingesting elixirs, cultivating Qi, and practicing Yin-Yang techniques, as well as the Yellow and White Immortal Golden Elixir method, all originate from this!

The Three Immortal Sects overseas are like two celestial flowers, originating from the same branch.

But the path of ascension is different.

Those who follow this path are naturally born sages, named Xi, and called God.

The divine being, born immortal, attained enlightenment atop Thunder Marsh. He took copper from the Southern Mountain, steel from the Northern Mangshan, wood from Qishan, and spring water from the Nine Rivers, mixing them together. With the offering of charcoal from ghosts and gods and the movement of mountains by the earth deities, he cast the "Immortal Cauldron," drawing upon the primordial energy of the Milky Way beyond the realm, thus establishing the foundation for his ascension to immortality.

This is the true ancestral temple of the primordial world, whose lineage was never severed even during the era when the six heavenly gods and spirits ruled the world!

These three paths are far, far older than the Southern Immortal Sect. In fact, the Five Directions Immortal Sect originated from the ascension of the Three Immortals.

Such an ancestral temple, yet it serves as a henchman of the so-called "Heavenly Palace"—is this not laughable?

The three Yin spirits gathered together, their energies interacting, and they exerted pressure on Yinghuo, each blocking its escape route, intending to capture and detain this person.

"Hmph! What ancestral temple or lineage?"

"They've all died long ago."

When the topic of ascension came up, Yinghuo's double pupils trembled, and terrifying secret power surged and intertwined in the blink of an eye, separating again and transforming into the appearance of double pupils.

When the three beings met those terrifying eyes, they saw four star-like divine pupils. The snowflakes in the void sparkled with starlight, and in the blink of an eye, they transformed into countless strands of clear light, freezing the entire void.

The collision of the Double Pupil Technique and the Feather Transformation Secret Power created a higher level of power, enough to briefly affect time and space. The ten directions of the void were frozen, time stopped abruptly, all sounds were silent, and everything was frozen in that instant.

The void was filled with a bright light, and countless Dao characters were outlined as true talismans, flickering uncertainly within every inch of space. This was the passive manifestation of the true characters of the Great Dao Void under that secret power.

At this moment, if a powerful being were to inscribe the true text of the void talisman, a superior talisman called "Void Great Forbidden Zone" would appear in the world.

"It doesn't matter whether it's an imperial dynasty or a celestial palace, what's the difference?"

"The world is filthy, and the five turbidities are rampant. It is time to cleanse this world and rebuild the capital..."

With a push of her right hand, the Feathered Heavenly Umbrella flew out of her grasp and opened, soaring high into the heavens. Eighteen feathers scattered with immortal light, and the precious umbrella rose into the air, its boundless power encompassing the entire world.

Before the Double Pupil Technique, the three were merely imprisoned in the void, but under the grasp of this Feathered Umbrella, even their spiritual consciousness began to be clouded, their fundamental magical power began to waver, and even their lives were about to be taken away by the treasure umbrella.

"What is this thing? Why is it so dangerous?"

The Old Ancestor of the Palace Guardian was most skilled at avoiding death and prolonging life. His life force surged with a sudden burst of spiritual light, and he knew that this time it was truly a fatal crisis.

Seeing that the two had not made any move, he hardened his heart, bit his tongue, and spat out his heart essence blood, which instantly manifested into a wooden spirit guardian dharma form over a hundred feet long.

What is a gecko? It has snake scales, a dragon's body, and unicorn claws; a crocodile's head, toad's eyes, and a roaring tail. It is destined to be associated with the southwest wood element, and its body moves along the wall, its colors ever-changing.

This old monster may not have any other skills, but his ability to survive is unmatched. If you raise your head three feet above the ground, your spirit will leap into a frenzy, which is a fatal crisis. How could the old monster guarding the palace still want to associate with them? He bit his tongue and immediately activated the technique of cutting off his tail to survive.

But then the hundred-foot-tall guardian dharma image turned its head and twisted, severing the tail of the Myriad Illusions Whip in the celestial light of the sky. Its main body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of illusory dream intent, making it impossible for even Mars to detect its aura.

Moreover, the Myriad Illusions Guardian Dharma Image seemed to have received the blessing of the secret power of the Great Dao, ignoring the laws of this world. With its four paws on the void, it used both hands and feet to climb up, just like a gecko climbing a bamboo scroll. In the blink of an eye, it broke free of its cage and broke through this small world.

"Trying to survive by shedding its tail? Hmph, so it's a head-scale worm!"

The Dharma intent was severed, and in the process of escaping, it also broke through Yinghuo's double pupil secret technique. The secret power of the void was disturbed by the strange energy, so that the Crane Lord and the Venerable Soul, who were originally imprisoned, were also able to escape.

The two deities' expressions darkened. They flew backward to create distance from the female Taoist priest. They used their magic to terrify her terrifying eyes and repeatedly avoided her wandering gaze, no longer daring to be restrained by her.

The old monster has escaped?

Crane Lord and Venerable Soul exchanged a glance, their faces immediately turning pale. The details of Yinghuo's background were beginning to be figured out, and it was the time to try to capture this fellow, but this old monster had to mess things up at this crucial moment.
That person is the successor of the Dao of Ascension. If he were to miss even a few of the ancient scriptures of supernatural powers or the secret teachings of the Dao, that would be an unparalleled opportunity!

How could the two men's changing thoughts escape Yinghuo's notice?

There are plenty of people who covet what is supposedly the remnant of ascension; what is this compared to that?
With a raised eyebrow, Yinghuo's pupils merged, transforming her into a double-pupiled form once more. She simply raised her jade hand and pulled at her hair, revealing her long, black hair cascading down to her waist like a waterfall.

"That brat at the gate is really troublesome. Are you Lord Yin Zu's mount?"

"Neither demon nor Taoist, serving as a protector would be without worry!"

The female Taoist priest picked up a white feather hairpin, nodded slightly, and revealed the origins of the Crane Lord.

After a cold laugh, the woman swept her hairpin across the sky. With this one move, the entire world seemed to turn into a blank sheet of paper under the hairpin. Just like the myth of the Queen Mother of the West in the Northern Heavenly Capital who turned the Milky Way into a single hairpin, this hairpin was equally terrifying. The sea of ​​clouds and the sky were actually torn apart by this stroke, creating a chasm hundreds of miles long.

The crane cried out, striking the northern sky and spreading out. The immortal roared angrily, hanging white bones to strike at the heavens. With supreme secret power, he drew a line in the woman's hairpin, making it spin half a circle in the air.

Rumble…

The sound of the explosion echoed far and wide throughout the capital, splitting the world in two. The immortal light passed through the group of people, causing them to fall to the ground with two loud thuds, as if they were made of clay or wood.

Yinghuo shattered the magic power of the two venerable ones with a single strike. Just as she was about to move again, she suddenly sensed a blazing aura, as bright as the sun, locking onto her from not far to the southwest. It was as if a sharp blade was hanging over her head; the slightest movement would result in her being beheaded.

The fighting spirit that had just risen in his eyes vanished in the blink of an eye, as if doused with cold water, and he lost all interest.

"Humph!"

"The land of Tiandu has changed a lot in the past few hundred years. It is no longer the Tiandu of yesteryear. You all should go out and see for yourselves..."

"Please do not harm this person. Finding a capable person is not easy. Li Yu will come to redeem him, the Yin family's... Ancestor!"

The female Taoist priest tied her hair up and bowed her head to talk to the void. She then gathered her long black hair and slowly tied it into a cloud-like bun. She then gently adorned it with a fairy hairpin. Only at this moment did she look like a normal woman, rather than a ruthless weapon of death!
This was the successor of an ancient Daoist sect, possessing unparalleled profound knowledge. With a single hairpin, he could divide heaven and earth into Yin and Yang, causing even a Yin God True Realm cultivator to bow down and shed blood. Venerable Soul and Crane Lord frowned, seeing that this fiend no longer made any moves, but instead turned southwest and yielded, knowing that it was Ancestor Yin who had taken action.

What is the Heavenly Capital like? The Venerable Soul Old Monster had no idea. He had never left the Southern Kingdom in his life and originally thought that the Yin God was the limit of this life. But the appearance of this person seemed to have suddenly awakened him.

Even among the Yin spirits, there are distinctions of rank. The foundation of the Dao built in the Purple Palace will manifest as true power and strength after the Yin spirits are established. Ultimately, the difference in cultivation and supernatural abilities cannot be concealed!
The two guards watched the woman warily, only to see that she had already recalled the treasure umbrella with a blank expression and turned to head towards the northern border.

Is she really going to swallow this loss and back down?
At this moment, the two Yin Gods exchanged glances and, seeing his resolute retreat, felt most of the pressure in their hearts dissipate.

Crane Lord frowned, and with a flick of his sleeves, the shocking wound on his chest immediately began to heal. He then pointed a finger at the old monster, and the Yin and Yang energies combined with the essence of life, while the black and white energies also acted on the old monster, erasing its hidden dangers and healing its wounds.

This is the supernatural power of Yin and Yang.

In his early years, this old crane followed Yin Zujun to Tiandu, discerning the various energies of the six directions. Later, at Linyuan Immortal Peak, he recited the Yiyuan Qi Scripture daily, observing the Yin and Yang energies and gaining insights, thus achieving the supernatural power of the Two Forms.

If we're talking about killing, this supernatural power is really nothing special. But if we're talking about protecting and defending, even the terrifying Ascension Treasure - Jade Kun Hairpin - that was just now, and the injuries caused by such troublesome Ascension Immortal Light, could be instantly dispelled in the face of these two energies.

"Brother Dao... how should we explain this now?"

Venerable Soul Ancestor shook his head, pushed away the boulder pressing down on him, and felt the black and white energies of creation swirling around him. He immediately changed the subject, looking at the handsome old man with burning eyes, and began to address him as "Brother Daoist."

The northern mountain was shattered, and the nine dragons and the "Dragon Lord" lay limp and unconscious among the rubble. The two aftershocks had shaken off a lot of stone dust, covering them. They were covered in dust and dirt, and if it weren't for the life force still flowing through them, they would have been mistaken for a pile of corpses.

He Jun glanced at her with a stern look, but a plan was already forming in his mind.

Several Radiant Lords from the Heavenly Palace have trespassed into Tiannan and committed crimes. They entered my Immortal Mountain, overturned the Life Lamp, and played tricks on my disciples... I will intercept one of your Radiant Lords and see what happens.

The old man was unpredictable and eccentric. Although he was just an old crane on the top of Linyuan Peak and usually did not appear in the temple, he would not tolerate others bullying him.

The ancestral ruler's time is drawing near; it's nothing more than an opportunity for ambitious figures outside the Heavenly Capital to test their mettle.

In the north, there is the Great Master Tianfu Huandan, who sits in charge of the Taiyue Shangzong and cuts off the Tiandu Gorge. In the south, there is Ancestor Yin, who has been in charge of the Three Prefectures and Cangming for a long time without any disturbance. But what will happen after Ancestor Yin passes away?
The ancient demons of the southwest have received the decree and will not make any further moves for a while. Besides, they are old and frail. With the demon generals and kings of the mountains eliminated, they can no longer leave the mountains.

The southwestern prefectures of Lingnan have long been peaceful and isolated from the South China Sea, so there should be no worries.

More covetous glances? Hmph, that's something for the nobles and officials of Jinling to worry about!

The old crane stepped forward slowly, raised his sleeve, and the nine-headed dragon beasts were all put into his sleeve. With a lift of his right hand, he carried the man in the pile of rubble on his shoulder with one arm.

And let's suppress this scoundrel into the abyss, and see if the Heavenly Palace really dares to withstand the pressure from all the immortal sects and drive all the luminaries to break into Tiannan to capture people.

The two exchanged a glance, about to make a move, when a more terrifying roar suddenly erupted from the northern sky.

A blinding white light shot out for miles, followed by a violent gale that whipped up dust and sand, drowning out even the sound of the explosion.

However, the terrifying aftershocks transformed into an inaudible and invisible tremor, almost like the sound of a soul-suppressing bell, rippling across thousands of miles of prefectures and counties. Any sorcerers or Taoist disciples with even a little skill who sensed this fluctuation immediately collapsed and fainted on the ground.

This was an even more intense fluctuation than the battle between the immortals just now, as if a forbidden magic weapon had been used.

At Jinping Prefecture, a storm was brewing. A series of angry shouts resounded throughout the heavens and earth. Suddenly, the phantom of a ten-thousand-foot-tall immortal cauldron appeared in the vortex. It was a celestial being ascending to immortality, its great power descending upon the world. The three-legged cauldron trembled, carrying the great power of creation and world suppression from top to bottom. After the blow, a piercing cracking sound could be clearly heard. The entire sky was like a spider web, cracking open with many fissures.

It is truly a "sky-splitting" event!
"That is?"

The Venerable Soul Ancestor carefully put away the white bone lantern, looking at the sky that had shattered into a net, filled with astonishment and uncertainty.

"That's right. Legend has it that the ancient path of ascension once forged an immortal cauldron, bathed in the waters of the Milky Way and the essence of the outer realms, and ascended to heaven in ascension..."

"That is an ancient artifact that surpasses any magical treasure in Tiandu today!"

If the Heavenly Palace's "Yinghuo" was indeed a Daoist who had ascended to immortality, could it be that he was using the Heavenly Palace to escape the covetousness of the Great Zhou Dynasty?
After all, every single deity clan in the northern kingdom coveted the chance to ascend to immortality.

The handsome old man, carrying the Dragon Lord on his shoulder, glanced disdainfully at the battlefield to the north, a silent sneer playing on his lips, before turning and heading south.

"This old Daoist will return to the mountain for now. You may send a message to the Lin Yuan Mountain gate regarding the follow-up matters."

"Regarding the matter of the Heavenly Palace beyond the mortal realm, I will have to trouble you, fellow Daoist, to join me in submitting a letter to the Taiyue Upper Sect at the same time..."

The significance of the Five Immortal Sects lies in their interconnectedness. Since Tiannan Temple and Baigudao have been overthrown, they have to rely on the four Great Dao Sects: Qingxu, Sanhuang, Taiyue, and Taiyi. Each of these three Great Dao Sects has more than three Yin God True Persons, who are the true pillars of the Southern Kingdom, the purple-gold beams supporting the sea.

Even if the sky were to fall, these few people would have to step up first!
As for those old fogies in the north who had been hiding in the shadows and had been reluctant to lend a hand, were they only now suddenly overcome by greed and trying to seize the Ascension Dao lineage?

Hmph, he's even more useless than that old monster who avoids death and seeks survival.

Let them suffer a good loss!

Both Crane Lord and Venerable Soul sneered inwardly, ignoring the menacing Mars to the north. One faced west and the other east, and they quickly returned to the mountain gate.

Today, the five immortal sects and thirteen lineages of the Southern Kingdom were all shocked by this battle. From beginning to end, a total of six Yin God True Persons participated in the battle, and they used no fewer than ten magical treasures. The fierce battle lasted for several hours, causing chaos and devastation in the three southwestern prefectures. In the end, the suddenly appearing Ascension Dao Child still managed to leave freely, truly shaming the immortal sects of the Southern Kingdom!
In the past, the Southern Immortal Yin went out to the outer sea and entered the capital, and challenged almost all the realms without being defeated. Now, in one day, an outsider has defeated four Immortals in the Five Directions Immortal Sect.
The aftermath of this battle is still unfolding...

Tiannan Prefecture.

Black and white cranes blotted out the sky as they flew over the top of the Shenyuan River, while Li Qing stepped on the river water, riding the current, and crossed the Ghost River to return.

Li Qing glanced up at the figure in the sky, and her brows furrowed suddenly.
"Which palace has this spirit or beast tamer? Its shadow casts a cloud-like shadow, obscuring the moon. Could its true form be three to five hundred feet tall?"

He still remembered that the Azure Phoenix that Bai Long's chief had lent to Bai Qingye was only... much smaller than this figure!

Unfortunately, before they could clearly see what the celestial bird spanning the sky was actually, the black and white creatures had already entered the celestial mountain.

Li Qing sighed with regret and stepped onto the riverbank, returning to the Lin Yuan Mountain gate.

This trip, starting with the founding ceremony of the Five Poisons Sect at Qingdu Mountain and then seizing the Dragon Talisman Divine Power at Wuxi Longze, has yielded the greatest harvest of Li Qing since he entered the Daoist path.

After battling with the various Daoists, he realized his own shortcomings: though he possessed many techniques, they were scattered and lacked refinement; he had cultivated very few methods and relied too heavily on the Dao of the Wrathful and the Ghostly. On the day he encountered Daoist Yixuan's Yuan Magnetic Domain, all his methods were rendered useless, and in the end he had to rely entirely on the Ghost Mother's assistance, which was truly shameful.

Upon returning to the mountain, he intends to seek out genuine witchcraft and ghost arts, combining numerous ghost incantations to condense a ghost talisman medium. He also plans to further refine his vital energy using the Five Thunder Divine Power Technique…

(End of this chapter)