Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Mu Ling'er returned home half an hour ago.

Lijia Town is located ten miles from Qing'an County.

The establishment of the Qishan Circuit Inspection Office greatly changed the landscape of the entire Qing'an County.

The old system was completely overturned, and the situation of the three major families dividing Qing'an County was transformed into a warlord system with the Mu family at its core.

However, the original three major families of Qing'an County did not decline as a result; on the contrary, they expanded rapidly along with the booming development of Qing'an County.

As the county town continues to expand outwards, the former outlying areas have become prime locations in the new town, and the three major families own about 30% of the shops in these areas.

Leveraging their respective strengths, the Mu, Wang, and Li families have rapidly expanded their power, with their assets increasing dozens of times over in just over a decade.

As a traditional, long-established family, the Li family has transformed the village into a town, renovated their residence, and built brand-new houses over the years.

Riding the wave of development in Qing'an County, the Li family fully leveraged their local power and used their numerous shops to amass a fortune, resulting in a leap forward in the family's standard of living.

Throughout Lijia Town, everyone, from the elderly to children, participated in the family's business activities, displaying a vibrant spirit and filled with hopeful expectations for the future.

To this day, two people dressed in bright red robes walked into the entrance of Lijia Town one after the other with perfect ease.

The person walking behind looked out over the entire town of Lijia, watching the people coming and going, and was moved, so he spoke up.

"Holy Master, I never imagined that in this degenerate age, within the morally corrupt Qishan Dao, there would still be such devout followers of our sect, willing to go through fire and water, with their entire families following one after another, all to contribute to the great cause of our sect!"

More than ten years have passed, and Venerable Crimson Fire's red hair has become even more vibrant, with even his eyebrows and body hair turning completely red.

(P.S.: Readers who forgot can turn to chapter 41)

He nodded at Zhao Liu with satisfaction, and as Zhao Liu exclaimed in amazement, he turned his head to face Li Family Town. Looking at the energetic Li family members inside, he seemed to see a delicious elixir beckoning to him.

The elixir refined from the same bloodline has an incredibly nourishing taste!

Slurp...

The Crimson Flame Venerable licked his lips, a smile on his face, and pointed at the people of Li Family Town, sighing softly.

"Thinking back on my life, my fate has been full of hardships. I lost my father and mother when I was young, and my entire clan was wiped out."

I finally grew up, stumbling and falling, but what awaited me was a life of wandering and displacement; the world was vast, yet there was no place for me to stand.

Fortunately, I am blessed by Heaven. Whenever I encounter difficulties, there are always kind people who extend a helping hand to me.

In my youth, my teacher taught me spiritual practice, and my teacher's wife soothed my soul. Those were the happiest times of my life, and I still can't forget them to this day.

However, my aptitude was ultimately lacking, and I was stuck at a bottleneck for a long time without making progress. My master and mistress took pity on my feelings and did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves as the pill, merging into the pill cauldron, in order to help me.

The gratitude we feel is beyond words. The only way to repay it is to keep my master and mistress close to my heart and to be filial to them day and night.

In my middle age, I traveled the world and encountered setbacks everywhere. I was often hunted down day and night by despicable people over trivial matters.

However, the villagers are simple and honest, and can understand people's hearts. As long as we "reason with them and appeal to their emotions", countless villagers will voluntarily help us and are willing to dedicate themselves to our great cause.

I have nothing else to repay them with but to restart the alchemy cauldron, start refining elixirs, and leave a good place for the villagers, so that I can do my best to repay their kindness.

Each time the elixir is completed, I am moved to tears, wishing I could instantly become an immortal and lead the villagers in our great cause of the Holy Religion.

The Crimson Flame Venerable spoke with tears streaming down his face, lost in his memories for a long time.

Zhao Liu cried so hard that he banged his head on the ground, his hard forehead breaking several bricks in the process.

More than a decade has passed, and Zhao Liu no longer needs such a low-level tear-inducing method as pinching thighs.

Having traveled the world with Venerable Crimson Fire for over ten years, he had already mastered the art and could express his true feelings anytime, anywhere!

I can't stop crying! I simply can't stop crying!

Having failed to escape, Zhao Liu racked his brains every moment to try and satisfy the Crimson Flame Venerable in order to avoid being refined into a elixir.

Today, Zhao Liu's thinking is so advanced that he can easily resonate with Venerable Chi Huo, and even he himself is unsure whether he is still a normal person.

Yes, shouldn't we stay by the side of our family, our master and mistress, and the millions of other ambitious villagers?

Ultimately, it was because Zhao Liu's cultivation was insufficient. After following the Holy Master for more than ten years, he still had not comprehended the true meaning in the Holy Master's heart!

Now, we've been overtaken by an old man who appeared out of nowhere!

This shouldn't be! This is absolutely wrong!

I must learn the Great Dao of Alchemy as soon as possible, so that my beloved Holy Master will stay by my side day and night, accompanying me at all times. This is the right path!

Thinking about the bright future ahead, Zhao Liu finished kowtowing to Venerable Chi Huo and then kowtowed three more times to Li Family Town.

He was grateful to these simple and honest villagers for helping him, Zhao Liuming, understand the path to the future. How could he ever repay such a great kindness?

Worse still, the Holy Master has already repaid the villagers' kindness, so what is Zhao Liu to do now?

With his head on the ground, Zhao Liu suddenly had a brilliant idea.

We must find out the identities of the villagers, locate their blood relatives who are living elsewhere, and repay this kindness to them. Only in this way can we live with a clear conscience!

Even though this goal is enormous, potentially involving millions of villagers and taking decades, Zhao Liu is happy to do it.

Even if he has to turn on the furnace every day and shed tears every day, he will still repay the kindness of everyone in Lijia Town!

It's never over! It's never over!

After kowtowing several times, Zhao Liu stood up and bowed to Venerable Crimson Fire amidst the astonished gazes of several members of the Li family.

"Master, I have just had an epiphany and was moved by the endless gratitude of the villagers. I was a little excited. Please forgive me, Master."

The Crimson Flame Venerable smiled broadly, his gaze towards Zhao Liu growing increasingly appreciative.

The best thing he did all these years was to take Zhao Liu as his apprentice; this apprentice was truly gifted.

The great elixir he refined using the plague years ago allowed his disciple to enter the realm of the celestial beings, making it his most prized work.

He stared at Zhao Liu for a moment, and sighed inwardly.

"He's still a bit short. A few more years of nurturing will allow his dear disciple to join his master and mistress! As members of the same sect, they should all be together!"

Overjoyed, Venerable Crimson Fire patted Zhao Liu on the shoulder, as if the most enlightened master were instructing his disciple.

"Watch carefully and learn well."

Twelve flags engraved with zodiac animal patterns surrounded the entire Li Family Town, accompanied by the Crimson Fire Venerable waving his whisk.

The blood-red flag rose in the wind, transforming into a ten-zhang-tall blood-red banner that enveloped the entire town of Lijia.

Blue stone bricks, between the fields, in the streets and alleys, on the edges of houses...

Blood-red lines slowly lit up, and a thin mist seeped from the ground, enveloping Lijia Town.