The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 231 Substitute Spirit Puppet
"Elder... why are you urging Fellow Daoist Li again and again?"

"Given the strength of this Northern Army, it's unlikely they're lacking even one Purple Mansion warrior!"

Fairy Mo Ling glanced at the robe that Li Qing had taken off and casually placed on the ship's banner pole, her expression showing a hint of displeasure.

"For no reason."

"You should know that the Second Son of the Li family is not a traditional Taoist priest. His name and title are still displayed in the Netherworld Palace of the Netherworld."

"You're also from Pakistan, so you must know what happened there, right?"

Elder Shi glared at the female Taoist priest, then stroked his beard and gazed into the distance, watching Li Daoren, who was leading the Water and Fire Generals on the battlefield.

Seeing that the female Taoist priest seemed unaware of the true situation within the Five Directions Immortal Sect, the old Taoist priest spoke again:

"The celestial, divine, and ghostly paths of Heavenly Capital are all different from those outside the realm. The path is divided into Yin and Yang, and the starting points of the Yin God and Yang God realms are both related to that Netherworld..."

"This Li Erlang is the most innocent of the five immortal sects, and he will definitely become a prominent figure in the immortal sects in the not-too-distant future."

"Let's see what his true strength is like."

If he has enough spirit, he can naturally ascend to the position of the chess player among the immortals. But if he is just a lucky one who has been favored by the Ghost Mother, he might as well lower his pride and honestly follow the arrangements of the many Yin God True Realm beings. That way, he can also get a good result.

Although Elder Shi was somewhat "abusing his seniority," he didn't harbor any ill intentions. He was simply used to being in a superior position and wanted to overstep his bounds, so he wanted to test Li Qing's abilities...

At this moment, Li Qing, who was being carried to the battlefield by two water and fire spirits, had some thoughts in his mind.

Unlike Taiyue Quhua, Guilang Liqing's relationship with Youtian Mingfu was already common knowledge. Even the Three Immortal Sects overseas had begun to take notice of him, and of course, there would be even more within the Five Immortal Sects.

So, was the Grand Elder of the Three Emperors Sect's instigation and probing also for this matter?
Li Qing, treading on water, fire, and clouds, summoned the Southern Dipper Spirit Lamp with a flick of his palm. He then turned to the two spirit generals, both of whom possessed the most profound cultivation in the Purple Mansion realm, and inquired:
"Which battlefield needs Li's assistance?"

The mountain god transforms in myriad ways, his divine realm suppressing the world. In the distance, a hundred miles of yellow sand are stirred up. In that boundless wilderness, the Xuan Turtle that shakes the mountains raises a thousand feet of spiritual light. Its immense power seems to be lifting up this divine realm and turning it upside down.

Shui Bowei was locked in a fierce battle with the general. With a wave of his hand, a thousand-foot-long water dragon coiled up, resembling a roaring celestial river. It collided head-on with the explosive arrows that were powerful enough to shoot down stars, turning the hundred-mile stretch of yellow sand into dust.

The warships on the side entered the sand, their armored soldiers holding weapons, baring their fangs, and fighting with the auxiliary divine soldiers. Either the dozens of feet tall auxiliary gods were torn apart, their spiritual blood splattered everywhere, or these fierce warriors, armor and all, were turned into mincemeat by the giant spirit hammer.

The occasional wandering assistants and gods also fought with those generals and officers. The metal weapons and spears brought death and disaster, and the gods held supreme authority. On the great river and the chasm of heaven, they turned into a real millstone of flesh and blood.
Flesh and blood armor, spirit blood and divine bodies buried in the yellow sand, warships reduced to scrap metal, burned to ashes by the smoke and fire of war...

"Can Young Friend Li handle those three advisors?"

The fire general, whose entire body was covered in glazed red armor, pointed a finger at several assistant gods to the lower left. The aged voice came from the fire general's mouth, and it was clear without looking that it was the old Taoist priest in command.

However, upon glancing at the area covered by the Blood Demon Commander's Banner, Li Qing seemed to frown slightly, showing some dislike for the bloody aura.

"never mind……"

"Why don't I go and see how the so-called battle between the Mountain God and the Mountain-Shaking Tortoise goes?"

Li Qing is now considered to be at the upper level of the Purple Mansion realm in terms of magical power. In fact, his primordial energy is much more abundant than that of ordinary upper level Purple Mansion cultivators. However, his foundational magical intent is not yet complete, so he cannot be called an upper level Purple Mansion cultivator.

However, even though the Northern Kingdom's divine way had some unique aspects, the few assistant deities at the Purple Mansion level were not of any interest to Li Qing.

This statement was clearly aimed at the Yin God? Even Elder Shi, who was behind him, was somewhat bewildered.

"No! Please don't..." A hurried, aged voice rang out from beneath the helmet of the Glazed Fire General, who was about to dissuade Li Qing. However, the Taoist with starry eyes and a lotus crown had already taken off his robes, clearly wanting to confront the gods. He was unwilling to be bound by this old antique. 
Then, Li Qing lifted the two-foot-long stem of the Qionghua flower with one hand, and opened the magic barrier of the Southern Dipper Spirit Lamp. The illusory images of the fifty-four luminaries were instantly projected within a thousand feet of him, and stars nearly the size of hills hung high in the sky.

Before long, the star shrank rapidly, and the energy within it became increasingly terrifying... In the end, the fifty-four luminaries of the Southern Bright Crimson Star moved high in the sky, transformed into a meteorite and fell to the yellow sandy land, tearing out large craters one after another in this divine realm.

"Nanming Huoyao," that's how Li Qing greeted everyone upon her arrival!

The Ten Directions Embryo Storage Substitute Life Puppet jumped out of Li Qing's body at some point. The three-to-five-inch-tall performer perched on Li Qing's shoulder, nervously looking around.

With this life-saving treasure, this is why Li Qing dared to take such a risk today.

Besides, with the Xuan Turtle at the very front, what does Li Qing have to fear?

The sun of Nanming struck the towering mountain, creating only a few craters that could be repaired in the blink of an eye. However, it startled the gods and soldiers on all sides of the battlefield.

"Hmm? It wasn't that Old Master Shi who made the move?" The Northern Army general, who had just been entangled and bound by the Water Dragon Chant, glanced at Li Qing and thought to himself, "Nonsense." The next moment, the Southern Army general used his strength to break free of the Water Dragon's restraints, raised the sword at his waist, and tore off half a strand of the Water God's hair with one strike.

Once you enter the area, which is hundreds of feet around you, this is the domain of human cultivators. No matter how high and heavy your authority is in the divine realm, if you are approached by this national scholar who is proficient in the Ten Absolutes and Five Arts, even the Yellow Water God would have to frantically use his divine arts to block him and retreat several miles in panic, and he would have to keep his distance from the evil star.

After her first attack failed, Li Qing did not make any further advances. Holding the Southern Dipper Life-Extending Lamp, she wandered among the yellow sand battlefield, communicating with the Xuan Turtle with the imposing soul pressure that still carried three parts of the White Bone Observation Qi, and actually gave instructions on countermeasures.

"Mysterious Lord, you're entangled with this fiend. Let me, Li, cover for you!"

Then Li Qing was seen wandering around this brutal battlefield, the life essences and souls of the fallen gods tempting him like the most delicious food.

Fallen deities actually benefit the practice of the "Southern Dipper Longevity Scripture"?

Indeed, the *Nan Dou Yan Ming Jing* originated from ancient apocryphal and prophetic theology, belonging to the study of the Way of Heaven, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it shares some commonalities with the divine way...

Feeling moved by the sight of the many ancestral temple soldiers falling beside him, and hearing the mournful cries of the many armored warriors who died tragically, Li Qing was not disturbed by these miscellaneous things. Instead, he calmly pondered how his family should break the deadlock.

One must demonstrate one's abilities to deter those with ulterior motives, while avoiding placing oneself under a precarious situation.

"That Xuan Turtle was ultimately just a beast tamer, allowing the mountain god to remain calm and not pose a fatal threat... The Long-Hate Ghost Scissors also had no room to unleash a sudden attack."

"Besides this, what other means do I have that could threaten someone at the Yin God Realm?"

Before he could even finish thinking, the yellow sand suddenly erupted, and a giant sand hand, a thousand feet in size, suddenly stretched out from the ground, covering several miles of space, leaving Li Qing no time to react.

The mountain god in the distance certainly wouldn't let this ignorant insect get away with it. This was a battlefield, not a place for second-generation immortals like him to play around.

With a clasp of the giant sand palms, the immense power emanating from the mountain god's authority finally descended. In the void, it was as if one were trapped in a quagmire, unable to move an inch. All the laws of the universe were weakened to the extreme, and even the mobilization of magical power was extremely difficult. Li Qing was simply stunned by this casual strike from the mountain god.

Li Qing finally experienced firsthand just how strong the so-called divine realm's suppression of immortal cultivators and ghosts was.

'whee!'

An eerie chuckle arose from nowhere, and a sinister smile appeared on the puppet on Li Qing's shoulder. This witch-spirit puppet, made from a surrogate ghost, was now officially revealing its evil rules.

The moment the almost certain death attack made contact with Li Qing, ice flowers rose in the void, and the passage of time rippled. A substitution technique, like a plum replacing a peach, was instantly activated.

It was as if a frame of the past had been ripped out of this vast yellow sand divine realm, or as if the void had been distorted midway. The enormous hand vanished abruptly before it could even touch Li Qing, as if nothing had ever happened.

Even the mountain god who was casting the spell was startled and suddenly turned his head to stare intently at Li Qing.

His magic was stripped away and disappeared in that instant?

The majestic mountain god raised its hand to block the impact of the black tortoise, but was pushed back several miles by the ferocious beast. When it came to its senses, it heard a loud "crack" somewhere on the yellow sand battlefield.

But then, the giant hand of yellow sand, which had disappeared for several breaths, descended upon the two assistant deities at the Purple Mansion Realm in an unbelievable way. With a single strike, the deity instantly crushed the two deities into mincemeat, their flesh and spirit flying everywhere...

"Throughout the Nine Realms and Ten Directions, the womb-borne substitute is a scapegoat!"

"Another scapegoat at the Yin God Realm, or...?"

How could the Southern Kingdom, a land ravaged by countless ghosts for generations, not recognize such a clearly distinguishable substitute ghost technique?
Elder Shi's heart, which was already on edge for Li Qing, tightened even more. Rumor had it that the Ghost Mother controlled the Xuan Yin Mother Qi and could command hundreds of ghosts to travel... In addition, there was the Substitute Ghost who could forcibly attack the Yin God in place of Li Erlang. Which underworld was behind Li Erlang?
Li Qing, holding a lantern, walked through the arena. He turned his head and met the eyes of the mountain gate. When he moved again, dream butterflies fluttered and flew in all directions from his kaleidoscope-like eyes.

When the mountain god cast his displeased gaze upon them, Li Qing's shadow still stood in the divine realm, but the deity could no longer sense Li Qing's presence.

"A scapegoat protecting the path, avoiding our divine realm's dream realm?" 
"Looks like they have quite a powerful background!"

Putting aside this Taoist's strength, temperament, and cultivation, just these few supernatural abilities alone are enough to allow him to roam freely in the capital.

The art of substitution, the spirit entering a dream—this is truly an incredibly rare supernatural power. Observing the incessant thumping footsteps and the layers of ghostly footprints overlapping in the divine realm, the mountain god suddenly rubbed his forehead in realization, and chuckled:

"Oh? I remember now."

"This strange and twisted ghostly law, is it the Southern Ghostly Path? How dare these old fogies who are barely clinging to life even step forward?"

"Heh heh, then let me, this venerable one, annihilate you remnants of the old era right here and now..."

(End of this chapter)