Taoist priests in the supernatural world

Chapter 109 The Death of Ogawa, Complete Ascension

Once this thought is grasped, everything becomes clear.

The scattered clues in Huang Bai's mind suddenly came together at this moment.

There has always been a mysterious force in the world that subtly influences the course of history.

People call it the will of Heaven.

Perhaps it is some higher being, separated from the human world by mountains and rivers, who manipulates the rise and fall of dynasties.

Huang Bai looked up at the bright moon in the sky.

The night was deep, the bright moon shone brightly, and its cool moonlight cast a silvery glow on the windows of the boudoir.

In a daze, it seemed that there really was a celestial being from the Moon Palace looking down on the mortal world and watching the rise and fall of emperors.

Perhaps, this world also has an upper realm.

The upper realm influences the change of regimes in the human world periodically through the elixir of immortality and the alchemists of the Queen Mother of the West.

The rise of a new dynasty is like adding fuel to a furnace.

The collapse of a dynasty is like the transformation of a medicine.

Emperors, generals, powerful figures, common people, and even those with special destinies may all be merely ingredients in this grand alchemy.

Through this kind of Qi sacrifice, which is similar to the Zhou Tian technique, they extracted the most dramatic changes in Qi during the change of dynasties, and thus refined the so-called elixir of immortality.

This makes them extremely dangerous.

They would not only regard Huang Bai as an alien being, but would also surely wish to kill him as soon as possible.

Huang Bai withdrew his gaze and continued to peruse the Zhou Tian Shu left behind by Xu Fu.

This method, as he had previously guessed, is a technique of using external forces for cultivation and alchemy.

Beginners often use the natural energy of famous mountains and rivers to refine elixirs.

Alchemists only need to find the acupoint, set up the furnace, and use herbs, wood, metals, and minerals as medicine to refine elixirs that are stronger than ordinary pills.

Going a step further, one can attach oneself to high-ranking officials and nobles. If one can borrow their fortune to cultivate, there will be fewer obstacles when refining elixirs.

Those at a higher level will set up a grand feng shui formation.

Using a city or region as a furnace, mountains and rivers as fire, the people's fortune as medicine, and the rise and fall of dynasties as a turning point.

Some even dared to use the fortune of the entire dynasty to refine elixirs.

Of course, this level of skill is beyond the capabilities of ordinary sorcerers.

Even Huang Bai is only just beginning to understand it.

Huang Bai closed the silk book and his gaze returned to the three elixirs of immortality in the jade box.

Huang Bai tapped the jade box lightly with his fingertips, seemingly lost in thought.

"Since immortality carries risks..."

"It would be better to discard its longevity-enhancing properties and retain only the medicinal power of the elixir."

"Will this be used as the inner elixir of the Zhou Tian Technique, and for the third stage of transformation and rebirth?"

Immortality without power is worse than no power at all.

The Queen Mother of the West, a sorcerer, used the fortune of the human world to concoct an elixir of immortality.

With these clues laid out together, Huang Bai was naturally not naive enough to swallow the pill directly.

Rather than risk seeking immortality that is subject to others, it is better to refine away the immortality-enhancing properties within the medicine and only extract its essence to replenish one's own external alchemy path.

Huang Bai quickly made a decision and looked up at Song Wuji.

"Wuji".

Song Wuji immediately stepped forward, bowed, and obeyed: "Immortal Elder."

Huang Bai said, "I plan to go into seclusion in Zhongnan Mountain and cultivate in seclusion. I will leave the affairs outside to you. You will secretly cooperate with Ying Zheng."

Song Wuji's expression turned solemn, and he quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Rest assured, Immortal Elder, I will certainly act with caution."

Huang Bai stored the elixir of immortality into the Muchen Pearl.

Then, his figure transformed into a golden light, leaving Mount Li and flying towards Mount Zhongnan.

In the time that followed, Song Wuji followed Huang Bai's instructions and went into seclusion on the mountain, secretly cooperating with Ying Zheng to prepare a backup plan.

He was originally a Taoist alchemist who observed qi, and had followed Xu Fu for many years. He knew how alchemists concealed their tracks and also knew which places within the Qin court were suitable for planting people.

While covering for Ying Zheng, he also kept an eye on Fang Xiandao's movements for Huang Bai.

Later, he met Yi Xiaochuan.

Faced with this modern man who was eager to go home, Song Wuji casually remarked that he wouldn't be able to return for another sixty years.

He also gave Yi Xiaochuan a Taiyin Refining Pill made by Xu Fu to help him refine green eyes and square pupils.

Yi Xiaochuan believed he had gained the chance to live forever, so he returned to Mangdang Mountain to rebuild the legacy left by Liu Bang.

At the same time, Fang Xiandao and Shuang Zou did not immediately search for Huang Bai.

Instead, he secretly supported various forces, preparing to use the fall of the Qin state to help himself ascend to the ranks of immortals.

Several years later.

Ying Zheng embarked on his final tour.

His face was obscured by layers of curtains on the imperial carriage.

Inside the curtained tent, wisps of smoke rose from the bronze incense burner.

The sandalwood incense wafted through the air, swirling and lingering within the curtains, yet it still couldn't suppress the putrid stench.

Ying Zheng was no longer the young and vigorous man he once was. He was only in his early forties, but he looked like an eighty-year-old dying man.

His hair was completely white and withered like frost, his skin was loose, the veins on the back of his hands were bulging, and his body was covered with dark age spots.

The stench of decay emanated from deep within the flesh, like spoiled salted fish.

Even if the finest sandalwood incense burns in the bronze censer, it cannot conceal the stench.

Ying Zheng had not shown his face for more than ten days, but a putrid stench emanated from his imperial carriage.

The accompanying officials and guards dared not ask any questions, but rumors had already been circulating in private.

Deep within the curtained walls.

Ying Zheng leaned against the soft couch, slowly opened his eyes, and a glint of shrewdness flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Mission accomplished... only the offerings need to be in place."

This trip was not to seek immortality, but to find an opportunity to settle his assassins and relatives.

Over the years, Ying Zheng had secretly dispersed all the core members of the royal family.

Some of the truly loyal Qin people were also transferred away from Xianyang under various pretexts and hidden in places such as Guanzhong, Bashu, Longxi, and Beidi.

Some of them became local minor officials, some became retainers of powerful figures, and some simply changed their names and went into hiding in the mountains.

They will only reunite when circumstances change drastically in the future.

As for the more conspicuous Fusu, we will arrange for him to slip away later.

"As for Hu Hai..."

A cold glint flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes.

"Let this beast fend for itself."

Hu Hai, Li Si, and Zhao Gao had conspired together early on, thinking they had done it secretly.

Do you really think he doesn't know?

Since that's the case, they will be the ones to take the hits.

Just then, the coachman's very soft voice came from outside the carriage.

"Your Majesty, Liu Bang has been captured."

"Return journey."

The convoy immediately returned.

The wheels rolled over the dirt road, and the curtains swayed gently.

late at night.

A figure descended into the dimly lit cave.

This person was none other than Ying Zheng.

Torches were burning inside the cave.

The flickering firelight cast intermittent light and shadow on the cave walls.

More than a dozen black-clad assassins were already guarding the cave.

These men were all trusted confidants personally selected by Ying Zheng. Upon seeing Ying Zheng enter, the shadowy figures immediately knelt on one knee.

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty!"

Ying Zheng waved his hand casually.

No need for formalities.

His gaze fell on the center of the cave.

A young man was tied up there.

The man was bound hand and foot, his mouth stuffed with a strip of cloth, his face filled with terror, and he was struggling incessantly.

"You are Liu Bang?"

Ying Zheng reached out and removed the gag from Yi Xiaochuan's mouth.

As soon as the strip of cloth was removed, Yi Xiaochuan shouted urgently:

"No! I am not Liu Bang! I am Yi Xiaochuan!"

"I don't want to change history, I just want to go home!"

Even now, he still wants to defend himself.

He didn't understand why things had come to this.

All I wanted to do was go home.

Liu Bang died, Lü Su left, Gao Yao also left, and Xiang Yu gradually drifted away from him.

He was gradually pushed into Liu Bang's position.

At that moment, footsteps could be heard outside the cave again.

Everyone turned to look.

Upon seeing the visitor, Ying Zheng immediately stepped forward and bowed.

"Immortal, has the elixir been successfully refined?"

The visitor was Huang Bai.

He glanced at Ying Zheng, then looked at Yi Xiaochuan, who was tied to the ground.

"Not yet, I've come to visit my fellow villager."

Huang Bai walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Hello, Yi Xiaochuan, a modern person from 2010."

"Did you watch the hit movie 'Let the Bullets Fly' before you came?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Xiaochuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning.

"you……"

How did you know?

"So you're a time traveler too..."

He kept this secret in his heart for a long time.

In this world, his tendency to act somewhat recklessly stems partly from modern people's natural sense of superiority over the ancients.

No matter how rich the emotions of the ancients were, in their eyes they were nothing more than a few words in history books.

Liu Bang, Xiang Yu, Lü Su, Lü Zhi, and Gao Yao all seem to be figures from history or fiction.

Knowing some of the future outcomes, he subconsciously felt that he was more clear-headed than people of this era.

Now, Huang Bai's appearance has completely shattered his vague sense of superiority.

It turns out that he and Gao Yao weren't the only time travelers.

Moreover, this time traveler is stronger than him.

Yi Xiaochuan, as if grasping at the last straw, hurriedly asked:

"I...I don't want to change history."

"I just want to go home. Do you know how to get home?"

Huang Bai looked at him and said calmly, "If you're afraid of changing history, you shouldn't stand out. Just stay with your loved one and secretly investigate how to get home."

"You had many chances to escape, but you didn't cherish any of them."

Yi Xiaochuan's face was pale and his lips trembled.

Huang Bai continued:

"But you always want to stand out, and you can't help but meddle in other people's fates."

"You've changed so many people's lives, yet you're afraid to bear the consequences of those changes."

"When the time came, they backed down again."

Yi Xiaochuan wanted to refute, but found himself speechless.

Huang Bai saved Yi Xiaochuan twice.

On both occasions, Yi Xiaochuan had the opportunity to retire to the mountains with his beloved.

With his friendship with Xiang Yu and with the knowledge of modern sages, even if he couldn't become a king or a hegemon, he could still be a moderately wealthy man.

Unfortunately, things don't happen more than three times.

Huang Bai did not continue speaking.

He turned to look at Ying Zheng.

"Let's begin."

A glint flashed in Ying Zheng's eyes.

"Yes."

He slowly stepped forward and ordered his men to set up the altar.

Inside the cave, the black-clad assassins moved swiftly.

They brought out bronze lamps, arranged bronze plates, spread out silk scrolls and talismans, and sprinkled the prepared medicinal powder on the ground.

The medicinal powder landed and quickly outlined circles of cold, sinister runes.

The four bronze lamps were lit one by one.

A small altar was placed in the center.

The altar is engraved with patterns of the moon, constellations, and the five directions of imperial energy.

Seeing this, Yi Xiaochuan finally realized something was wrong and began to struggle frantically.

"No! What are you trying to do?"

"Huang Bai! You can't do this! We're both modern people, you can't treat me like this!"

Huang Bai stood aside without answering.

Only Yi Xiaochuan's terrified screams, the soft crackling of flames, and Ying Zheng's gradually calming breathing remained in the cave.

The firelight flickered.

A cold, eerie light shone from the altar.

One night passed.

As dawn breaks in the east, rays of light shine in all directions.

The stone door of the cave slowly opened.

A handsome man with disheveled hair and blue eyes emerged from the cave.

He was tall and straight, with vigorous blood and energy, and his face still retained some of Yi Xiaochuan's original youthful handsomeness.

Those eyes were completely different now. They no longer held the desire to escape or detach, but rather the coldness and authority of someone who had long held a high position, as well as a long-suppressed ambition that had been rekindled.

This person is no longer Yi Xiaochuan.

Ying Zheng looked down at his hands, slowly clenched his fists, and then slowly relaxed them.

The vitality in a young body flows through every limb and bone like a surging hot current.

The long-lost spirit of high spirits returned to him.

Ying Zheng looked up at the eastern sunrise and slowly spoke:

"From this day forward, I am Liu Bang."

"Liu Bang, son of the Red Emperor!"

Huang Bai stood at the cave entrance, watching Ying Zheng adapt to his new body.

"I remember when I led my troops into Guanzhong, during the transition between the old and new dynasties, people from the Yin-Yang School were sure to appear."

Ying Zheng turned around, cupped his hands, and said:

"Yes."

Afterwards, he led his assassins into the mountains and disappeared.

Huang Bai then turned and left, returning to Zhongnan Mountain to continue refining elixirs.

He had little interest in the change of secular regimes.

Ying Zheng not only inherited Yi Xiaochuan's body, but also Yi Xiaochuan's knowledge of modern history.

An emperor who swept across the land, a man who knew the course of history.

If this still doesn't allow us to reunify the world, then we're probably ready to die.

Ying Zheng's original body was then returned to the imperial carriage.

The next day, the emperor's entourage found him dead in his carriage.

Thus, the First Emperor Ying Zheng died in Shaqiu.

Hu Hai and Zhao Gao falsely claimed to have received an imperial edict to ascend the throne, forcing Crown Prince Fusu, who was far away on the frontier, to commit suicide.

Historians throughout history have never been able to understand this.

Why would Fusu, who possessed great righteousness, military strength, and prestige, so easily choose to commit suicide, while generals like Li Xin, Wang Ben, and Neishi Teng, who swept across the six states, disappeared amidst the chaos at the end of the Qin Dynasty?

It's also unclear why Liu Bang always had some unknown but suddenly outstanding generals and strategists around him.

They couldn't understand why Liu Bang, a native of Chu, was able to quickly gain the approval of the powerful clans of the Three Qin regions.

Even after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, most of the powerful families in Guanzhong retained their original assets and titles.

The historian searched through the bamboo slips and could only attribute it all to fate.

The truth has long been buried deep in the river of history.

It will never be known to outsiders.

……

The day Liu Bang entered Guanzhong.

It was noon on this day.

Purple mist hangs in the sky above Zhongnan Mountain.

The purple aura rose from the mountain peak, surging like clouds, and vaguely condensed into the shape of a lingzhi mushroom.

Under the sunlight, it appears purple with a hint of gold.

From a distance, it looks as if a giant purple fungus is growing on the summit of Zhongnan Mountain.

The people of Guanzhong all looked up at the sky.

Some people knelt on the ground, their faces filled with shock.

"immortal!"

"The gods have appeared!"

"Purple mist forming a mushroom—this is an auspicious sign!"

"Liu Bang is indeed destined by Heaven!"

"Peace has been restored throughout the land!"

Among the crowd, the spies who had been placed in advance began to speak and guide the conversation.

Upon seeing the purple aura rising, he immediately shouted loudly.

"The tyrannical Qin dynasty is over!"

"When Liu Bang entered Guanzhong, the gods appeared!"

"This is Heaven's will to ensure the safety of Pei County and Guanzhong!"

In no time, Liu Bang's good name spread throughout Guanzhong.

In the center of the crowd.

Ying Zheng, in disguise, stood in front of the chariot as Liu Bang, dressed in military attire.

He was tall and straight, with heroic features, and a sword at his waist, making him look imposing and extraordinary.

The people of Guanzhong looked at him with a mixture of fear and expectation.

Ying Zheng looked at these people; he knew the people of Guanzhong and the laws of Qin all too well.

A qualified monarch should not act solely according to his own preferences, but rather in accordance with the times.

Back then, the Qin army, with its fierce and powerful forces, desired military merit and wealth, so he swept across the six kingdoms.

Now that the people are disgusted with war and with the Qin laws, then let us abolish the Qin laws.

The mere laws of our ancestors could not stop this monarch who was forging a new path.

Ying Zheng stepped forward, his voice carrying far and wide.

"Today I will make three agreements with the elders."

"Those who kill shall be executed, those who injure or steal shall be punished, and all other Qin laws shall be abolished."

Upon hearing this, the people of Guanzhong fell silent.

Then, the crowd erupted in a thunderous cheer.

"Long live!"

"Long live Liu Bang!"

The people cheered endlessly, fearing only that Liu Bang would not become the King of Qin.

At the summit of Zhongnan Mountain, in a secluded cave.

A figure slowly walked out.

The moment this person appeared, a dazzling golden light instantly illuminated the mountains and forests.

Golden light surged forth from the cave entrance in all directions like a tide.

He wore a pure gold bird-faced crown on his head.

The crown is shaped like a divine bird spreading its wings, with a golden pattern hanging down on the forehead, landing precisely between the eyebrows.

His pupils were as bright as the sun, with golden light flowing in them, making it almost impossible to look directly at him.

Her golden hair fell down to her hips and swayed gently in the mountain breeze.

His entire body was covered in pure gold feathers.

The feathers are not inanimate objects, but rather they open and close gently with each breath, shimmering with layers of golden light.

Its wings spread out to the sides from behind.

The light flowed and shone brightly, the golden rays were intense.

This is the appearance of a fully ascended winged sun being.

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