Longevity Candle

Chapter 28 Candlelight Illuminates the Darkness
Under the cover of night, Yao Yao was fast asleep, still clutching the green lamp.

Jiang Zhu sat cross-legged on the roof and removed the halo from the back of his head: "What use is this merit to me?"

This was the merit he gained from saving people in Qingjiang, but it was scattered by the fate of the nation, and he fell into a deep sleep, where even God could not find him.

Heaven and earth are fair; merit may be delayed, but it will not be withheld.

Wait a minute, God seems a bit unfair.

Jiang Zhu thought about how he had slaughtered the river bandits and yet had not been burdened with any karmic retribution.

Although the bandits were evil, it was still a fight between mortals. As someone who had entered the path of immortality, he could not kill them before they provoked him.

However, God did not give him karma, but only the merit of doing good deeds.

Does this count as...favoritism?
"I wonder how the Qingjiang spirit is doing. The karma he has suffered is too great," Jiang Zhu sighed softly.

He finally understood why the elves and spirits had secluded themselves from the world and abandoned incense and temples.

National destiny!

After the founding of the Great Qian Dynasty and the reigns of several emperors, the nation's fortunes nearly reached their peak.

According to Bai Shuang, when the nation's fortunes reach their peak, an evil immortal master will enter the world, bewitch the emperor, seek spirits, and pursue immortality.

However, Ayan's appearance provoked the Emperor of Qian Kingdom.

For generations, the emperors of the Qian Kingdom have been collecting relevant information in their quest for immortality.

Before the immortal master or Taoist priest could come to bewitch him, the impatient Emperor Yong'an, relying on his limited understanding, attacked the elves.

As a result, they managed to trap the Qingjiang spirit, but were powerless to do anything about it.

Jiang Zhu had gone there, but he wasn't as powerful as the Qingjiang spirit, so they decided to target him instead.

The idea is good, but unfortunately Jiang Zhu is not a normal elf.

He had already made preparations: he destroyed the treasure ship, shared the burden of the nation's fate, helped the spirits of the Qingjiang River, and would return to the Green Lamp to slumber whenever danger arose.

Unexpectedly, even the merits of heaven and earth could not find him in this deep sleep.

A butterfly flapping its wings a hundred years ago has created a great storm more than a century later, and it is unknown how long this storm will last.

"The Qingjiang incident resulted in heavy losses, a complete lose-lose situation, with only Baihe and me as the beneficiaries." Jiang Zhu said, "I wonder if Qian Kingdom can recover, and if so, how long will it take?"

The Qingjiang disaster had a huge impact, with countless people losing their lives.

The spirits of Qingjiang suffered karmic retribution, and the Qian Kingdom also suffered heavy losses, including in terms of population, fertile land, and the economy. The impact was too great.

The white crane and he saved people and mitigated the natural disaster, so they naturally received merit. They also helped the spirits of Qingjiang to reduce their karma.

That's why the spirit of Qingjiang thanked him.

A flash of azure light appeared in his mind; it was the Qingjiang spirit's gift of gratitude.

Blue light transformed into information, flooding into the mind: The sun rises in the east, its form perfectly round, illuminating the azure sky, giving birth to all things, and harnessing thunder and lightning...

The Moon Palace, the Taiyin, shines with radiant light. Its form is circular, its luminous glow boundless, mysterious and profound, vast and nurturing, illuminating heaven and earth, reflecting the entire universe…

In my mind, the voice of the Qingjiang spirit rang out: "This is something I collected from the common people. It should come from the Taiyin and Taiyang spirits. I don't know why it was left in the human world. It can gather the essence of the sun and moon. I have studied it for many years, but I have only been able to create water from the Taiyin. I have not yet been able to create thunder from the Taiyang..."

The moon generates water, and the sun generates thunder!
"Its object is perfectly round, illuminating the azure sky; its object is circular, its shimmering light endless; the interplay of yin and yang is called the Dao. It is said that the sun, which illuminates, is a huge black sphere, and the moon, which shines, is a white hollow ring. They are the embodiment of the Great Dao."

"Azure sky" refers to the heavens, and "unending night" refers to midnight. It means that the sun shines brightly on the azure sky, making it daytime, while the moon shines dimly on the unending night, illuminating the darkness..."

Jiang Zhu listened to the remnants of the Qingjiang spirit, and the subsequent use of thunder was the creation of thunder from the sun.

A black sphere appeared in his mind, but its surface was filled with golden light; this was called Zhuzhao.

A hollow silver ring, bathed in moonlight like gauze, is called Youying.

The essence of the sun and moon between heaven and earth quickly gathered and entered the dantian, transforming into magical power.

The magical power within his body rapidly condensed, constructing miniature candlelight and ghostly glow.

"This is quite suitable for me. Could it be that I have some connection with the two great spirits, Taiyin and Taiyang?" Jiang Zhu pondered.

Then, he shook his head: "I don't want to think about it anymore. I don't know where those two ancient elves are. I can't waste my time thinking about such things. I should accumulate magic power as soon as possible." He glanced at the sleeping Yao Yao and threw down the merit in his hand. The green lamp rejects merit, so he couldn't bring it into the green lamp. Meeting was fate, so he simply gave it to this little girl.

If the girl awakens in the future and commits evil deeds, he can take back the merits and blessings, and temporarily use her as a vessel for merits.

After all, he wasn't sure if his merits would run wild after he fell asleep.

The merit transformed into golden light, entering her brow. The sleeping Yaoyao let out a comfortable hum.

"Sigh, I'd rather be rewarded with more magic power."

Jiang Zhu looked up at the sky, but unfortunately, the heavens seemed not to hear him.

During meditation, magical power accumulates. Within the dantian, a ghostly light surrounds a candle, which in turn generates thunder, while the ghostly light generates azure water.

"The sun generates thunder, the moon generates water, and that's how it works?"

Jiang Zhu found it somewhat unbelievable; the Qingjiang spirit had studied it for many years but had not been able to master it.

I simply gathered the light from the darkness, and it happened naturally.

Could it be that I am the son of the Yin and Yang?
Two ancient spirits gave birth to a green lamp?
Just thinking about it makes me think... it's pretty outrageous.

The sun rises and the moon sets.

The woman went to work, and Grandmother made breakfast. Yao Yao also woke up.

"grandmother."

She still held the green lamp, sitting obediently in front of the stove, helping her grandmother start the fire.

"Yaoyao is such a good girl. When Grandma goes to the peach orchard later, do you want to help Grandma pick peaches?" Grandma asked.

"Okay, Yaoyao will help Grandma pick peaches." Yaoyao swallowed hard; she hadn't eaten peaches in a long time.

Breakfast consisted of a bowl of thin porridge with dried small fish.

After the meal, the woman went to the riverbank to check the fish traps, while Yaoyao followed her grandmother to pick peaches.

"Yaoyao, why are you still holding the green lamp?" Grandmother asked.

"This was given to Yaoyao by her older brother. With it, Yaoyao won't be afraid of anything." Yaoyao said innocently, "Grandmother, can you make a bamboo tube for Yaoyao? That way, Yaoyao can carry the green lamp on her back."

"Alright, Grandma will make a bamboo tube for Yaoyao to hold a green lamp," Grandma said with a smile.

The peaches in the peach orchard are ripe, their fragrance is intoxicating, and each peach is large and juicy.

Yao Yao sat under a peach tree, munching on a peach, watching her grandmother pick peaches.

The real reason for asking her to come was to let her eat peaches, so she wouldn't run around.

thud

"Ouch."

Yao Yao cried out in pain as a bright red peach fell from the tree and hit her on the head.

"Yaoyao, what's wrong?" Grandmother rushed over and asked with concern.

"It's a peach, it hit my head." Yao Yao had a bump on her head, but she didn't cry. She picked up the peach and said, "Grandma, look how big it is!"

This peach is bright red, as big as a child's head, and surprisingly, it's undamaged. It also has a captivating aroma that makes your mouth water.

"I've never seen such a big peach before," Grandmother exclaimed in surprise. "This peach should fetch a good price... It must be delicious, Yaoyao, why don't you eat it?"

Seeing Yao Yao swallowing, she abruptly changed the subject, her tone quite indulgent.

“Yaoyao won’t eat them. If we sell the peaches, Father will come back.” Yaoyao said obediently, “I want Father to come back.”

Grandmother felt a pang of sadness and wiped away her tears: "Good, Yaoyao, you're such a good girl. We'll sell the peaches and bring your father back."

Jiang Zhu opened his eyes and saw this scene. He was blessed with merit and protected by heaven and earth. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be blessed with good fortune for the rest of his life.

Let her be a blessed young girl for life.

(End of this chapter)