The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 230 Gods and Immortals

Across the mighty Yangtze River, the vanguard of the Southern Kingdom has already clashed with the enemy. The unique humanistic energy of the Southern Kingdom is intertwined with the divine way of the Northern Kingdom, and neither side is at a disadvantage.

The selection of officials by feudal lords and the appointment of ministers and high-ranking officials were the learning of clan nobles in ancient times. Through the education of humanities throughout the ages, the Six Arts of Humanity are no longer confined to one family or clan, nor are they limited by one's inherent qualities. Every person from the southern prefectures has the opportunity to cultivate themselves.

That giant carried the divine mountain on his shoulder, breathing wind and bathing in fire, while the Water God manipulated the long river, turning it into a wildly dancing water dragon. Between the divine realms of mountains and water, all the laws of nature were forbidden. Leading divine soldiers to assist him, tens of thousands of troops brutally attacked this heaven-reaching barrier.

Here stood hundreds of warships, each with armored warriors wielding sharp weapons. The rams of the warships transformed into the sharpest spears, piercing straight into the divine realm constructed by numerous divine soldiers.

The deafening shouts of battle filled the air, and the sight of clashing metal and flying flesh was horrifying.

"The divine realm of that deity imprisons all paths, making it difficult for us cultivators to mobilize our magical power, greatly diminishing our Daoist techniques..."

"But the weapons of human cultivators, with their murderous aura and soaring blood energy, also give the gods a lot of headaches."

Elder Shi stood with his hands behind his back on the deck of the rear warship, gazing at the imperial army's divine soldiers who had begun their attack, and spoke with a meaningful tone.

Divine arts are slightly superior to immortal arts in combat, but they are not at an advantage when facing the menacing sharpness of the warship and the magic-breaking golden spear.

The divine way values ​​authority, and within a divine realm, one can attain the highest position;

The pursuit of immortality through the path of immortality, emulating the heavens and earth in search of eternal life, is the most elusive of all.

Humanity seeks only a skill within the Way, and when that skill approaches the Way, it possesses unparalleled power.

"To contend with that deity, one must avoid its divine domain and use other methods to find the deities' weaknesses and kill this fiend."

"You should have witnessed the power of those gods."

"But our Three Emperors Sect cultivates the Law Domain, the ultimate Law Domain, capable of colliding with the divine domains of the gods. We possess the immeasurable, superimposed Primordial Magnetic Heavy Domain, powerful enough to crush any divine domain, and the Seven Fiends Filthy Domain, which specifically corrupts people's magical artifacts and divine arts..."

Speaking gently and slowly to Fairy Mo Ling, this Grand Elder truly intended for her to stay in the Three Emperors Great Dao Sect for a long time, and began to instruct her.

Li Qing's mind was not on the conversation between the two. At this moment, he was looking at the tens of feet tall Divine Palace Assistant and Ancestral Temple Divine Soldiers, and his eyes narrowed.

Those beings, resembling mythical creatures, were nothing short of terrifying to the armored warriors of the Southern Kingdom and the priests of the Ba Kingdom.

The towering, divine giants stirred up huge waves of quicksand that crashed against the shore, occasionally knocking warships to the bottom of the river. Their divine domain, which covered a region of land, was like a law that had infected reality, turning dozens of miles around into a barren, red sandy wasteland. The sand and the waves intertwined, which was too illogical.

When the divine realm of the mountain god clashed with the vanguard, the violent yellow sand surged and buried dozens of warships thousands of feet deep in the quicksand in the blink of an eye. Yellow sand waves surged and turbid currents churned, and screams and sneers rang out at the same time, but they were all buried by the violent collision.

At this moment, the Xuan Turtle, as large as a mountain, also began to move. This was a beast of the Yin God Realm, the natal contracted beast of the Northern Army General. It had been on duty in the Yangtze River for decades. Seeing that the Yellow Sand Mountain God was so arrogant, the world-shaking Xuan Turtle put up its four legs and forcibly crashed into the Dharma Domain with its head, which was no less than any mountain.

The Northern Army general at the summit of Xuanding held the Heavenly Wolf Bow, surveying all directions with disdain. Behind him, the Langmen Command Flag of the central army rapidly changed, and the numerous warships instantly transformed, forming a cone-shaped formation led by the Xuan Turtle and penetrating into this divine realm.

"Operate! Drill through!"

The flag bearer on the back of the black tortoise roared, and the war drums immediately began to beat rapidly, shaking incessantly. The "military salute" and "military music" of the Six Arts of Humanity were performed together. An inexplicable aura descended from the sky and blessed the many armored soldiers. The blood and qi of these soldiers visibly increased by more than 40% in an instant. Each of them was like a tiger or wolf descending from the mountain, full of savagery and gluttony.

Under the laws of nature, the fundamental principle is survival of the fittest.

Strength and violence are things that every living being must never give up pursuing, because they are the claws and weapons bestowed upon every living being by the Way of Heaven.

Humanity is the same. Humans have followed the ancient rites of the Zhou and Shang dynasties, from the wild mating under the mulberry tree and the sacrifice of slaves to the head sacrifice, to the Six Arts and Eight Virtues of today... Even with abundant virtue, these have not become means to bind humanity. As the saying goes, "Heaven's movement is ever vigorous; so should a gentleman constantly strive for self-improvement."

The term "shi" (士) simply adds a rein to the original, natural clan way.

Behold, the Northern Army general, with his bow drawn to its fullest extent, unleashed an arrow that shot forth like a meteor from the heavens, trailing a long, fiery tail as it streaked across the sky. As it fell from the divine realm, a deafening roar echoed outwards, causing the entire divine realm to tremble at this display of power.

The elite soldiers of the central army peeked out from the hidden doors of the warship. These soldiers also drew their longbows and unleashed a barrage of magic-piercing arrows, tearing apart the massive body of the assistant god and causing a torrential downpour of blood from the sky.

The Mountain-Shaking Tortoise clashed with the Mountain God, and the power of the majestic earth once again fought fiercely. The Northern Army general kept firing his crossbow, and this divine realm was almost destroyed. Finally, the Water God also set his sights on it.

"Hmph! Go and turn over this yellow sand and dig out the men below."

As General Wolf threw the Blood Demon Banner onto the earth, boundless blood boiled, and the divine realm within a ten-mile radius was instantly shattered by the crimson blood. A white-haired gatekeeper emerged from the side, bowed to the backdrop above, raised the blood banner with both arms, and waved it. The Northern Army soldiers were then blessed by the blood, and for every divine soldier they killed, their spiritual blood was drawn into this blood and fed back to the head of the god-slayer.

What was once a majestic and godlike being was now nothing more than a blood-soaked furnace in the face of these tyrannical warriors.

Such armored warriors are completely different from the fierce warriors of the south. In this Northern Army alone, there are nearly a hundred vanguard soldiers at the Zishi level, each one a brave and elite warrior...

"The Blood Demon Marshal's Banner is the treasure of our Northern Army. It was forged by a third-realm guardian deity of the Northern Kingdom and can effectively counter that divine realm." "However, this battle should not be too difficult. It seems that the imperial dynasty is just conducting routine attacks and will retreat when the time comes."

On the rear warship, several lightly armored soldiers approached Li Qing and his group, explaining in a low voice.

The world-shaking Xuan Turtle, the national hero and general, the banner of the Blood Demon Marshal, hundreds of warships, and elite armored soldiers—this is only a part of the Northern Army.

Although the high-level combat power still requires the intervention of the three Daoist sects, for those below the Yin God level, the ancient Taoist path of the Southern Kingdom is the true "human path" that should be vigorously promoted.

"Yes."

“Just watching won’t do any good. Why don’t you go down and have a go at it, young friend? That way, you won’t be caught off guard when facing the gods of the Imperial Dynasty!”

"Besides, you were originally a student of the Red Bean Academy, but you dropped out to become a Taoist, so you can be considered half one of our own with the two armies of the Southern Kingdom..."

Elder Shi nodded in agreement, stroked his long beard lightly with his right hand for a moment, and then turned to urge Li Qing on again.

The three major sects will reveal their true colors in this round of the Immortal Sect Competition. From now on, the five major sects, along with the Six Spirits Mountain, Qingqiu Mountain, and the Yu Gui Zhong Clan, will no longer be allowed to simply enjoy themselves. They must take on the responsibility of guarding this insurmountable barrier.

Otherwise, even the three Great Dao Sects wouldn't be able to fill this bottomless pit of the Heavenly Abyss!
At that time, all cultivators of Li Qing's generation, from the Purple Mansion level upwards, will have to fight against the imperial dynasty to the north.

The path of gods and the path of immortals can only have one that resembles the six celestial spirits of yesteryear, hanging high in the sky.

This repeated encouragement made Li Qing somewhat suspicious, but looking at the blurry divine realm in the distance, with its rolling yellow sand, turbid currents, and giant waves, he was indeed eager to try it out.

Although the gentry on the side were not from the Jiangnan Red Bean Academy, they were still scholars from the Hanlin Academy. Upon hearing what Shi Laojun said, they all looked at Li Qing with strange expressions.

Are the students at Hongdou Academy specializing in the path of immortality? Having spent three years in elementary school and three years in advanced school, they spent their entire youth entering the academy, so their friendship as classmates can be considered that of half-family.

"The First Elder is truly..."

Li Qing glanced at the old immortal, feeling utterly helpless. However, he should go up and test the current gods' combat strength.
She then rolled down her cloud sleeves, removed the Dharma robe, revealing a rather capable brocade inner garment, and looked at the group again.

"Where should I go then? Won't I disturb the many soldiers of the Northern Army, and instead be met with a barrage of magic-breaking arrows?"

In that case, even Li Qing wouldn't be able to withstand the dense barrage of armor-piercing arrows.

Several men were eager to try, but the soldiers in the rear guard dared not agree on their own. Firstly, swords and spears had no eyes, and if something went wrong, it would be unbearable. Secondly, if someone suddenly broke into the battlefield, it would inevitably make the soldiers among them feel constrained.

Frankly speaking, looking at Li Qing's face and those mesmerizing yet clear eyes, he didn't seem to be that old, and many scholars really didn't believe him.

"We appreciate your kindness, but..."

Just as the scholar was about to refuse, Elder Shi in the distance pointed and summoned the two attendant generals, Water and Fire. As soon as the two spirit-taming generals, who were at the pinnacle of their purple mansions, boarded the ship, things became quite chaotic on the rear fleet.

The Grand Elder stopped the scholar from speaking further and ordered the Water and Fire Generals to lead the way, taking Li Qing into the battlefield.

“You are Guilang-Liqing, a disciple of Tiannan Temple, and the only person in the immortal sect who can communicate with Youtian.”

"Let me presume to take over your duties. Your elders question Huang Ting every day but ignore all matters, but you are different; you will inevitably be drawn into it."

"In my opinion, the conflict between the immortals and the gods stems from the remnants of the dying ghosts and the newly risen Heavenly Palace of the Luminaries..."

"The next battlefield should be the Netherworld!"

Just as Li Qing frowned and rushed towards the battlefield with the water and fire cloud, Elder Shi's voice transmission immediately rang in his ears.

Yes! How could the Ghost Prince, the only one among the Five Immortal Sects of the Southern Kingdom who openly acknowledges his connection with the Ghost of the Netherworld, not be drawn into the great changes of the future?

The Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace intends to reopen one of the Six Heavens, the Netherworld, to re-examine the principles of Yin and Yang. Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, the Netherworld will be a place that all forces in the Heavenly Capital must obtain.

The gods of the North will not let this go, and the immortals and humans of the South are equally unwilling to be outdone. The Eleven Luminaries Heavenly Palace wants to move into the Netherworld, but will the many old ghosts led by "Fengdu" agree to it? Will the people of the Four Seas sit idly by and wait for their doom?
Li Qing will be one of the breakthroughs that the Five Immortal Sects have found through a combination of persuasion and coercion. Young Master Qu will no longer be turned a blind eye by the Great Master of Heavenly Talisman Rejuvenation Pill.

At this moment, rather than being begged and demanded, they would rather make their own mark and take control of the situation!
This elder has gone to great lengths, but at the same time, he also wants to find out which side the ghost god behind Li Qing belongs to.

There aren't many ancestral temples for the Cui surname among the six ancient clans. It's impossible for the Qishan Cui clan to be such a behemoth that it ruled for a single day, but there are only a few branches of the Cui surname left...

(End of this chapter)