The Path to Immortality Begins with the Life-Extending Lamp

Chapter 249 Tuna Hades
Longing and sorrow linger, parting is a matter of life and death!
This pair of ghost scissors, imbued with the deep longing and unrequited love of King Mu of Ying, has, over the long and distant years of the age of ghosts and gods, transformed that longing into something distorted. The love for his deceased wife has been twisted into a destructive rage, and has become his means of suppressing all enemies.

Such a demonic scissor, imbued with the "Blood Demon" magic, treads upon the corpses of countless enemies, giving birth to the incomparably terrifying Blood Demon Domain of Everlasting Hatred.

The era of those six ghosts and gods is not far removed from the present world, and the name of the Everlasting Regret Ghost Scissors is not unknown to anyone!
His burial in a secret chamber in Yinghai, and his final resting place in Li Qing's hands, can also be said to be the will of Heaven.

And... all the Qingxu Daoists and Jiazi Qunchang, upon seeing Li Qing's deadly curse, felt a chill run from the soles of their feet all the way to the top of their heads, and their whole bodies trembled.

Predicting one's death and extinguishing all life with a single cut—what a sinister and inescapable forbidden technique!

The sword in Taixu Daoist's hand involuntarily hummed. The Divine Wheel Great Restriction, named "Chandao," was too sensitive and too fearful of the aura of the Long-Hate Ghost Scissors. Before Taixu Daoist could activate it, the Void Heaven Sword rose up around him like a swimming fish, passively activating its ability to protect its master!

"No need to pay attention to it..."

Li Qing frowned and used one hand to suppress the Long-Hate Ghost Scissors that had turned around and was about to cut the Void Heaven Sword in two. He could sense the anger buried deep within the Ghost Scissors' divine restriction. It could even kill a high-grade Yin God, so how could it have been provoked by a mere entry-level magic weapon with only one divine wheel restriction?

Unfortunately, its Everlasting Blood Demon Domain was forcibly suppressed by Li Qing before it could be fully unleashed.

Deep within the Blood Realm dwells more than one Yin God Blood Servant and Blood Demon. Now, Li Qing must exert great restraint whenever he uses it, and he must not allow it to spread unchecked, unless he can truly become a Yin God True Person. Only then will the power of this Ghost Scissors be truly revealed.

The forbidden artifacts of the Ghost Path are always like this: behind the unstoppable and eerie iron law, threats and costs are always present, and the slightest carelessness can lead to the devouring of their master.

Forbidden weapons only submit to the stronger!
Strands of ghostly hair were covered with ghostly scissors to conceal the restlessness within. All things in the universe are mutually restraining, and only this gentle, yin-like touch can subdue that deadly sharpness.

Li Qing slowly put away her long-lasting hatred, her gaze sweeping across the vast, dark expanse before settling on the remains of the corpse demon.

The three-headed, divine, and ghostly corpse was separated from its body at the neck, its soul and spirit scattered. Only the incorruptible yellow aura on the corpse remained, like a dragon, swirling around the old ghost's body, as if mourning its death.

"The meaning of the law called Immortality? That fits perfectly with the evolutionary process of corpses buried in the underworld becoming corpse demons!"

Li Qing gave a light praise, and slightly raised her right hand. The Soul-Summoning Ghost Seal instantly transformed into a layer of black water that wrapped around her, causing her entire right arm to turn black and gold. As soon as the Soul-Summoning Ghost Hand appeared, the wisps of incorruptible yellow energy seemed to be irresistibly drawn in, and they involuntarily drifted over.

The Soul-Summoning Ghost, which summons both souls and ghosts, ranks high on the list of a hundred ghosts, naturally possessing extremely domineering power.

At this moment, the incorruptible yellow aura that had been refined around the corpse demon for nearly a thousand years instantly detached from its remains and wrapped around the summoning ghost hand upon being touched by this "summoning ghost" supernatural power.

The incorruptible do not decay, the immortal endure. This is an extremely rare divine principle, often seen alongside golden-armored corpse gods, but how this spirit-communicating corpse ghost obtained it is unknown!

The ghostly hand summoned the soul, drawing in the incorruptible yellow aura emanating from the old ghost's body. There, the old, yellowish-brown skin on the corpse-like ghost slowly peeled away, revealing the cold, white bones. The underworld law related to "incorruptibility" was now growing in the shape of peony patterns between the ribs, further highlighting its extraordinary and supernatural nature.

"The Yin Spirit Ghost Bone is undoubtedly a rare treasure, and moreover, this old ghost's true form is a skeleton with spiritual power, all its supernatural abilities are contained within this skeletal form, making it difficult even for ordinary magic treasures to break through, thus making it even more precious..."

"Offering it to the Southern Dipper would be a great waste; we should think about it carefully."

Heaven is unjust, treating all things as straw dogs. The more a great cultivator gathers the essence of heaven and earth and transcends the mortal world, the more precious and precious he becomes. Not to mention that this old ghost is one of the few who left behind a supernatural bone talisman.

Offering sacrifices to the Southern Dipper in exchange for a little blessing from the will of the stars? This doesn't seem like a worthwhile trade.

However, there were too many things to deal with at the moment, and Li Qing didn't have much time to focus on the corpse. With a flick of his right hand, he put the flowing "incorruptible yellow aura" and the remains of the corpse ghost into his sleeve, planning to deal with them later.

His gaze, however, was fixed on the dim glow in the distance.

Upon entering this Netherworld, Li Qing discovered that this region had no Netherworld Sun, nor did it possess the continuous blue light barrier that nurtured medicinal fields, unlike the Qishan Region.

Yet on this desolate underworld, the Soul Path Herbs and crystal-like fungi grow wildly, as if they do not follow the light.
If that's the case, perhaps they could survive on the outskirts of Qishan, where there is no protection from the underworld barrier?

Li Qing turned his head to meet the Ghost Mother's gaze. Yingying whispered to her to put away the Netherworld Domain. Then, she walked on the desolate Netherworld Land, squinting as she examined the remaining Soul Grass and Crystal Fungus in the north of the desolate Netherworld Domain.

Nearly half of the desolate underworld has collapsed, but a large area of ​​life still remains in the northern region. Soul grass and crystal fungus depend on each other, creating a blessed land in this boundless darkness.

"It is a Yin-attribute spiritual object - the Moon Condensation Mushroom. This thing cannot grow in the presence of light, and it needs to consume soul power for a quarter of an hour every day. Then, at midnight, it condenses the essence of the moon three times. It is extremely easy to wither and must be watered by a cultivator of the Soul Path. It is difficult to find even in the wild. It is ranked among the top of the third-grade Yin treasure medicines..."

Referring to the mushroom cap, which was the size of a crystal pillar, Li Qing suddenly remembered something. He took out the "Comprehensive Explanation of All Affairs in the Netherworld" that the Yin God True Man of the Hunyuan Immortal Sect overseas had given him years ago, and actually found the origin of this crystal mushroom.

A third-grade precious medicine? But these clusters of Moon-Condensing Mushrooms, growing to tens of feet tall and as thick as a forest of pagodas, must be over a thousand years old.
"Wait a minute, this old ghost doesn't seem to be a Soul Communicator. Where did he get his soul power to nourish him? Could it be..."

Li Qing frowned, picked up a jade scroll, and quickly stepped forward, circling around the clusters of strange soul grass that were several meters tall. After flipping through the jade scrolls, he finally understood.

"Oh...that's right. This cluster of dark green grass is called the Soul-Piercing Grass. After it matures, it releases a kind of Yin energy. If any living being stays near it for too long, it will gradually become exhausted, its heart will weaken, and it will die..."

"It's also a third-grade soul-path treasure?"

"That means this Netherworld must be a fragment of a certain Six Heavens Yin Mountain. The Soul-Stealing Grass and Moon-Condensing Mushroom within it must be man-made companion plants that did not perish during the great calamity of the Six Heavens' collapse. Hundreds of years later, their scale has grown wildly again, forming the current desolate region!"

The Moon-Condensing Mushroom is born from the Yin Soul Power released during the maturity of the Soul-Sealing Grass. Every night at midnight, it generates a certain amount of Yin Moon Essence, which in turn supports the growth of the Soul-Sealing Grass. Thus, in these smaller Yin Mountains of the Underworld, a cycle of reincarnation of a Yin Mountain Blessed Land can be initially established, serving as a warm bed for all ghosts in the netherworld.

This cycle of mutual assistance between ruler and minister is truly wonderful!

Holding the jade slip in his hands, Li Qing couldn't help but applaud the wisdom of his predecessors. He didn't care much about the three-flowered, three-leafed fruit elixir that the old ghost had mentioned that had helped him develop the three-headed, divine skull. However, the remnants of these two types of Yin-attribute, soul-path treasures truly delighted him.

The Three-Flower, Three-Leaf Fruit—who knows what kind of strange fruit it is? If consuming it truly results in the growth of three heads, and even if it grants some supernatural powers, it would still be quite frightening.

"Whether human or ghost, they are only separated by the barrier of life and death. Their original forms are similar, but with three heads and six arms, wouldn't they be monsters?"

If Li Qing's thoughts were known to the Taoists within the Dao Sect who practiced the Three Heads and Six Arms Technique, they would surely argue with him to the bitter end to see who the real monster was.

In short, Li Qing didn't think much of that spiritual herb, and even if she moved it to Qishan, she didn't plan to take it.

However, if the inner cycle left over from this desolate underworld could be transplanted entirely to the Qishan region, the moonlight of the Taiyin would illuminate three hundred miles, creating countless medicinal fields.

Only then will Qishan truly come to life, and only then can it be used to control the owls in the mountains!

However, how can these enormous precious medicinal herbs, scattered across dozens of miles of the Netherworld, be moved to the Qishan Domain?
"Sister Cui, if we were to use the Netherworld Ghost Domain to cut through those dozens of miles of Netherworld Land from this shattered wasteland, swallow it all up, and drag it into my Qishan, would you be confident?"

After much deliberation, they realized that since they neither knew the art of the Heavenly Pot nor the art of moving mountains and rivers, they could only rely on the Dao of the Realm of Law.

The Ghost Mother has always been renowned for her Ghost Domain. Even among the Three Sovereigns Sect True Persons who specialize in the Dharma Domain, Li Qing does not believe that they are stronger than the Ghost Mother, who is blessed by the Netherworld of Qishan, in this realm.

However, the pressure of having the Netherworld Ghost Domain devour dozens of miles of Netherworld land and interfere with and influence a space must be immense. He really didn't know if the Ghost Mother could control it.

"If it's impossible, we'll think of another way... You are far more important than this little underworld, so don't act recklessly."

After hesitating for a moment, Li Qing picked up the Southern Dipper Life-Extending Lamp. Within the Qionghua Spirit Lamp, the eerie blood light instantly transformed into a luminous color, and Li Qing's voice was sincere and gentle.

The more genuine and sincere one's sincerity, the more irresistible it becomes.

The Demon Mother is the same!

But a barely perceptible blush appeared on that cool face, and in the next instant, an even more terrifying and vast Xuan Yin You Ming aura swept across the sky.

The boundless black tide swept down upon this desolate underworld. The northern region, spanning dozens of miles, resembled an island in the middle of a lake in the Black Abyss, embraced by the endless Xuan Yin and Netherworld, and torn apart from the desolate land.

As the Ghost Mother clasped her hands together, the deepest part of the Netherworld surged with profound Yin energy. A black-clad figure, over six hundred feet tall, suddenly raised her head. Darkness was her skirt, and the Netherworld was her ribbon. Beside her tall and flawless Dharma form, the energy of life and death intertwined and entwined.

Her face was stunning, half of her skin was fragrant and her face was fair, and half of her body was white and her bones were white. The beauty of life and death were both revealed on the image of the Ghost Mother. She did not look ferocious at all, but instead revealed a touch of divine beauty.

As soon as the over 600-foot-tall image of the Ghost Mother appeared, all the ghost gods and spirits in the vast expanse of the Netherworld, from the scattered fragments of the underworld, sensed it and looked in that direction.

Even from a great distance, one could still see the Lord of the Mysterious Yin Palace, who controlled life and death, surrounding the Netherworld, dragging the faintly glowing Lu Zhou into the void vortex.

Has yet another malevolent spirit capable of devouring even the underworld been born?
Clearly, spurred on by the gentle promises of her beloved, this small piece of the underworld continent posed no challenge to the Ghost Mother.

"Come home early..."

As she departed, eerie whispers still echoed across the vast, dark sky. After becoming a Yin God, the Ghost Mother's consciousness grew increasingly complete. Even though she had come to this point from being a lonely, remnant soul, she was becoming more and more like a complete person.

The long-cherished wish for her beloved to return home sounded like a gentle, ethereal melody to Li Qing's ears. But after it spread across the vast heavens, all living beings in the past felt fear and dread because of it. It was like a hoarse whisper from the deepest hell, enough to make the souls of wandering ghosts who heard it fly away.

The various Daoists of Qingxu stood there dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the vast Netherworld Continent was dragged into the Netherworld vortex, sinking and disappearing.

They witnessed firsthand the astonishing appearance of the figure with a skirt falling from the netherworld and a phoenix hairpin reaching to the heavens. What was the Lord of Xuan Yin? What was the Ghost Mother of Qishan?

That was someone even the sect's patriarchs had to avoid.

What... what is behind Ghost Gentleman?!

Only now did they realize why the Netherworld was a forbidden zone feared by all the celestial realms. Even though the era of the Heavenly Ghosts had passed, the lingering glow of ghosts and gods from that era still made them beings to be revered.

"In that case, let's leave this place first."

With a deep gaze, Li Qing watched as the Netherworld Vortex completely closed before slightly raising the Life-Extending Lamp and looking around at the approaching energy from the surrounding darkness.

The auspicious cloud transformed its form, and the scroll of the Rebirth Chariot was transformed into a white mist that shot into the sky and traveled tens of thousands of miles away.

Upon arriving at the starting point of the Netherworld, Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, holding the guiding scepter left to him by Daoist Yu Xu in his hand. He looked up and down at the silent Daoists along the way and reassured them a little.

"This time, I intervened at the request of Daoist Yuxu. The fact that my fellow Daoists were spared can be considered an explanation."

"Break this talisman, and Fellow Daoist Yuxu will receive a message. It should activate the Yin-Yang Array in Tiandu to break through the boundary and guide you and me,"

"However... what I cultivate is ultimately different from the five paths of the immortal sects. What has happened here is not surprising, and there is no need to be too afraid. As human beings, we seek the Dao to enter our bodies and achieve immortality; as ghosts, we only hope that our spirits will not be obscured and that our souls will live on forever. Different paths lead to the same destination..."

(End of this chapter)