Why are all of us who transmigrated at the same time demons?

There are seventy-two alchemy rooms, each with a furnace for refining elixirs; and thirty-six layers of scripture pavilions, each with shelves holding jade slips.

Looking at the base of the palace walls, they are all made of Kunlun white jade;

Look at the eaves, each one hangs a luminous pearl from the East Sea.

Before the Ancestral Hall, cranes have danced for a thousand years; beneath the Altar of Heaven and Earth, tortoises have lain for ten thousand years.

In the left wing, a Taoist priest draws talismans, his cinnabar brush striking with a startling wind and rain; in the right quiet room, a sage sits in meditation, auspicious omens gathering atop his purple-gold crown.

In the herb garden, Ganoderma lucidum exhales mist, and pine and cypress forests exude amber fragrance.

The most wonderful thing is that in the center of the palace stands the Tongming Dharma Platform, on which hangs the Celestial Master's Precious Mirror.

This mirror was left behind by the first Celestial Master of Qingxiao Palace when he ascended to heaven. Every full moon night, it would fly up on its own and patrol the sky above the palace for three hundred miles, illuminating all demons and monsters so that they had nowhere to hide.

Behind the palace stands the Demon-Locking Tower, its body covered with talismans and often surrounded by lightning, suppressing the thousand-year-old demons and monsters subdued throughout the ages.

The blue phoenix boy carried the medicine, and the white deer old man returned with the scriptures.

Where the golden bells on the eaves ring, evil spirits retreat.

When the jade chimes in front of the hall sound, even ghosts and gods fall silent.

Although this Qingxiao Palace is located in the mortal realm, it is blessed by the Three Pure Ones, and successive Celestial Masters have passed down their Taoist teachings here. Within the palace is a Dragon-Tiger Well, its waters flowing to the Dragon Palace of the East Sea; in the courtyard stands a towering cypress, its branches reaching towards the Southern Heavenly Gate. Indeed:

The celestial realm of Xuandu descends to the mortal world, while the Purple Mansion Grotto protects all living beings.

Do not say that the traces of immortals are far away, for true words are transmitted in the Azure Palace.

If you want to know the origin of this palace, you have to go back to 3,300 years ago when the Celestial Master Qingxiaozi traveled here. He saw that the dragon veins of this place were converging, so he used the Seven Star Sword to determine the location and the Five Thunder Law to establish the foundation. It took three generations to complete the palace.

The Palace Master is now the twelfth generation successor. Although he is not as carefree as an immortal, he has cultivated the secret of longevity and brought peace to the people of this region.

At this moment, the evening bell broke the twilight, and the palace lights lit up one after another, like the Milky Way pouring down between the mountains.

The young Taoist disciples followed their master up the cloud-like steps, where they saw the moon hanging over the eaves and stars adorning the painted beams, creating a unique and carefree atmosphere.

However, beneath this ethereal atmosphere lurks darkness.

Outside the Ancestral Cave on the back mountain of Qingxiao Palace, the night wind whistled through the ancient pines, sounding like weeping.

The young Taoist boy who came to serve tea was torn into bloody pieces and scattered outside the cave.

Several senior Taoist priests from Qingxiao Palace quickly arrived and used several secret sealing techniques passed down in Qingxiao Palace to firmly lock the Ancestral Master Cave. They also jointly sealed off the area around the cave, strictly prohibiting anyone from approaching.

"Uncle Li, how exactly is the Celestial Master?" A middle-aged Taoist priest, who was considered a high-ranking member of the Celestial Masters sect, felt helpless and couldn't help but ask the white-bearded old Taoist priest at the head of the group.

The white-bearded old Taoist priest stared at the tightly closed stone door, his eyes filled with unyielding worry and fear. He shook his head, his voice hoarse: "The Celestial Master's situation... is unspeakable and unpredictable."

"What exactly happened?" the middle-aged Taoist priest pressed. He had listened to the Celestial Master preach just a month ago. At that time, although the old man looked old, he still possessed a natural Taoist charm.

"Our Qingxiao Palace lineage inherits the Celestial Masters' tradition, peering into the Heavenly Dao, regulating Yin and Yang, and accumulating immeasurable merit. However... throughout history, our patriarchs, those whose cultivation was so profound that they could communicate with the netherworld, mostly... mostly encountered unclean things in their later years." The old Taoist's tone carried an indescribable sense of oppression.

"Something unclean?!" A chill ran down the spine of the middle-aged Taoist priest.

“Yes.” The white-bearded old Taoist’s voice was even lower. “According to the surviving fragments of the palace records, the first Celestial Master, in his later years, once sat alone in his room and shouted at the sky as if he were arguing with someone, but his disciples could not see anything. He said that it was the price for peeking too much into life and death and the netherworld, and it was our destiny.”

"But the patriarch's skill is so profound that he couldn't resolve it?"

"Resolve?" The white-bearded old Taoist revealed a bitter look. "The seventh patriarch attempted to purify himself with supreme thunder magic. One night... the sky suddenly churned with thunderclouds, but it was not divine power; instead, it was filled with blood-red light, and the roars of something neither human nor beast echoed throughout the palace. The next day, the patriarch disappeared without a trace, leaving only a few strands of... dark red down on the meditation cushion in the quiet room."

Upon hearing this, everyone was horrified. How could a great celestial master, who could repel demons, have met such an end in his later years?

"Isn't there any clear record at all?" the middle-aged Taoist priest asked, unwilling to give up.

The white-bearded old Taoist remained silent for a long time before speaking in an almost inaudible voice: "The Taoist boy who served the seventh patriarch that night was found already mentally deranged and foolish."

"What...did he see?"

"Later, he recounted intermittently that he saw the back of the patriarch's hand that night... with long, thick red hair growing out... and heard a figure in ancient clothing drifting past the window, with heavy footsteps... He just turned around to see what was outside the window, and when he turned back again, the patriarch on the futon... had already disappeared."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of evil wind swept by, causing the pine trees to sway violently, like countless ghostly shadows dancing.

As everyone gazed at the deathly silent ancestral cave, they felt that behind that stone door lay not the human world, but an unimaginable, eerie world filled with ominous signs.

"Alright!" The leader of the group of old Taoists, a Taoist in a purple robe, interrupted everyone's thoughts. He was Jin Yunzi, the second junior brother of the current Celestial Master. After the Celestial Master passed away, Qingxiao Palace now honored him.

"Good and evil are opposed, and they fight each other for life. Even if they end up like this, they will die on the path of subduing demons and monsters. Why be afraid? Why be fearful!"

"If that evil spirit were truly so powerful, why wait until the Celestial Master's later years to attack? Why not just come up here and wipe out our entire Qingxiao Palace?" Jin Yunzi's voice boomed like a bell, dispelling all doubts in the crowd. "It's clear that good will ultimately triumph over evil!"

"The most important task now is to elect the next Celestial Master. The affairs of the old Celestial Master after his death will naturally be handled by us old men." Jin Yunzi looked at the middle-aged Taoist priest in front of him and said solemnly, "The Qingxiao Palace now belongs to you young people. Don't let us down!"

With a casual gesture, Jin Yunzi heard a whooshing sound as a magic sword, seemingly manifested from the seven stars, flew from the clouds in the distance and landed in his hand.

He handed the magic sword to the middle-aged Taoist priest.

"With this sword in hand, gather all the high-ranking martial artists in the Qiankun Hall. Your uncles and I will follow shortly."

"Yes! Don't worry, Uncle-Master!" The middle-aged Taoist took the magic sword, then turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the mountain mist.

Seeing the other party leave, Jin Yunzi turned around and looked at her fellow high-ranking cultivators, whose expressions had turned calm.

He spoke, his tone neither joyful nor angry, yet concealing a deep sorrow.

"Let's go, junior brothers, let's go collect our senior brother's body."

Chapter 257 Demons and Monsters in Chaos: Strange Tales of Grave Digging

Zuzhou, Tianyuan Kingdom.

Deep within the cold, dark underground palace, the air was stagnant, like still water. Only the ancient mermaid lamps swayed with a ghostly green glow, illuminating the grotesque reliefs of ghosts and gods on the four walls.

Qingxiaozi stood before a massive jade coffin made of black ice. The coffin was inscribed with intricate runes and exuded a chilling aura, guarding the once illustrious king of the immortal dynasty inside.

Around the coffin, boxes of high-grade spirit stones were piled up haphazardly, their spiritual light illuminating the underground palace as if it were daytime; countless jade slips and golden books were also scattered around, perhaps containing secret methods that could lead directly to the Great Dao.

This scene is more "abundant" than any blessed land, yet it is also more ironic.

Qingxiaozi stood in front of the coffin, looking at the old man inside who had a lifelike face and was dressed in a magnificent marquis's ceremonial robe. He was wearing a nine-chapter ceremonial robe, his face was majestic, and his body was covered with dark golden short hair, which was a symbol of his achievement in the art of hairy corpses.

And a trace of the indifference he had shown when he looked down on all living beings still seemed to linger at the corner of his mouth.

This indifference completely ignited the volcano that had been suppressed in Qingxiaozi's heart for a long time.

"Hehe...hahaha..." He first chuckled softly, then burst into hysterical laughter, the sound echoing and reverberating in the underground palace like the cry of a night owl.

"My lord! Are you lying here peacefully? While you're dreaming of achieving immortality through corpse liberation, have you ever imagined that a lowly cultivator like me, like an ant, would come before your esteemed coffin?!"

He swung the magic weapon in his hand—the most "destructive" weapon he could forge. He poured all his magical power into it, and the tip of the tool flickered with an unstable, foul-smelling light.

The iron rod struck the barrier with a piercing scraping sound, and the bursts of spiritual light burned his palm, emitting a burnt smell. But he was completely oblivious; the humiliation and anger in his heart had long since overwhelmed the physical pain.

"And what about us?!" he roared, his eyes bloodshot as if they were about to bleed. "We rootless, wandering cultivators have to risk our lives to get a low-grade spirit stone! We have to kneel until our knees are worn out just to read a page of an introductory Daoist book! What right do you have?! What right do you have to cut off all the paths to enlightenment in the world!"

"When you were alive, you monopolized the spiritual veins, controlled the scriptures, and treated us like dirt! You cut off my path and extinguished my hope!" he roared, his voice distorted with extreme rage. "Even in death, you still hog these vast resources, taking them to this cold grave to continue your illusory dream of immortality! By what right?! Is the way of heaven and earth made for parasites like you?!"

He suddenly leaned into the coffin, not to retrieve the aura-filled golden book and jade pendant, but to grab the front of the marquis's magnificent robe!

He touched a piece of cool, smooth silk, which was of the finest quality, yet it made him feel utterly disgusted.

“Look at me!” he roared at the lifeless corpse, his eyes bloodshot. “Look at me, the man you’ve driven to the brink! Look at how this ‘loach’ you call a ‘gift’ will ‘repay’ your ‘favor’!”

He raised his arm high, and the iron rod, gleaming with an eerie light, carrying all his anger, resentment, and twisted will, lashed down fiercely at the king's cold, jade-like face!

"Qiang——!"

There was no sound of flesh tearing apart, only a piercing clang of metal clashing! Sparks flew everywhere!

The eerie light on the iron rod dimmed considerably in an instant, leaving only a barely perceptible white mark on the king's face, without even the slightest damage.

This result, like a cold waterfall, could not extinguish his anger; instead, it fueled his madness and humiliation!

"Can't be hit?! Even in death... I can't hurt you in the slightest?!" His voice was shrill, as if he were weeping blood.

But this only drove him further mad. He no longer sought to harm, but to desecrate! He sought the only symbolic resistance he could muster in this desperate situation!

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

He no longer infused his magic power, but used the iron rod itself, with all his strength, to mechanically and frantically strike and stab that majestic face and that magnificent nine-chapter crown robe again and again!

"This time, it's unfair to attack your Celestial Dynasty!"

"This time, I've cut off my path!"

"Now I realize how blind I was to have ever longed for the path to success that you, a maggot, roamed on!"

"I also long for the carefree life of an immortal, I also long to wield a sword to slay demons and gods, to ride the wind and roam the moon palace... I am Qingxiaozi... Qingxiao who embraces the moon... It is you! It is you who have forced me into this evil ghost that digs up graves and whips corpses!!"

He roared, sweat, tears, and perhaps blood seeping from the cracks in his hands mingling together, dripping onto the cold ground and onto the fine clothes of the corpse he had whipped.

The sound of metal colliding with immortal flesh echoed monotonously and jarringly in the deathly silent underground palace. There was no flying blood and flesh, only a deeper, suffocating sense of powerlessness.

It was as if he were attacking a mountain in vain, knowing it was useless, yet he could only use this self-destructive method to declare his unyielding, even twisted, will.

Sweat and tears mingled with the blood seeping from the cracked tiger's mouth, flowing down his arm and dripping onto the cold jade coffin and the still "perfect" corpse.

Finally, he was exhausted. Leaning on the iron rod, he gasped for breath. Looking at the corpse, which was unharmed except for slightly disheveled clothes, he let out a laugh that was more like a cry.

"Hehe...hahaha...did you see that, my lord? This country bumpkin of mine, even whipping a corpse...can't hurt you..." The laughter gradually subsided, leaving only hollow panting.

He threw down the iron rod and silently removed the golden book and the dragon-patterned jade pendant from the corpse, clutching them tightly in his hand as if he were holding his shattered soul and the last embers of his unquenchable flame.

He glanced one last time at the king he had "desecrated" yet who remained "unharmed," his eyes filled only with a cold, burning despair and resolve:

"Your physical body is immortal... so what? I've dug up your grave, taken your scriptures, and ruined your peace! I'm determined to walk this path! Even if it leads to eternal damnation, it's still better than living on my knees!"

He turned around, staggered, and disappeared into the darkness of the underground palace.

At this moment, the wooden planks at the bottom of the coffin where the celestial king was lying suddenly cracked, revealing a deeper, dark space below. A terrifying humanoid creature covered in ominous red hair and with eerie green light emanating from its eyes emerged from it.

The humanoid red-haired monster looked at the chaotic tomb and let out a terrifying laugh. The laugh sounded like the most malevolent laugh of the deepest ghosts and gods in the underground, filled with the greatest malice towards the living. Anyone who heard it would tremble all over and feel fear in their soul.

The humanoid red-haired monster walked to the seemingly indestructible corpse of the king, grabbed it casually, and the corpse quickly turned into ashes. An ominous aura separated from the dust that the corpse had turned into and held it in his hand.

With a mere flick of his wrist, the essence transformed into a longbow. The humanoid red-haired monster drew back the bow and fired a shot into the void.

The essence transformed into an invisible arrow, piercing through layers of void and striking Qingxiaozi, who was trying to escape the tomb guardian beast.

The arrow did not harm Qingxiaozi in the slightest, but it left a mark on him that was difficult to detect but that he could never get rid of for the rest of his life.

In Qingxiaozi's hands, as he fled, the name of the golden book was revealed.

The words written above are four large characters in contemporary script: "Transcending Tribulation Heavenly Skill".

Chapter 258 Demons and Monsters in Chaos: Walking Alone with a Sword

Qingxiaozi, carrying a precious sword on his back, rode on the back of a blue ox through the forest at night. He held a golden book in his hand, reading it intently.

Although it was dark in the forest and there was only a little moonlight in the sky, Qingxiao had already opened his eyes, so seeing in the dark was no problem for him.

"The more I look at this 'Transcending Tribulation Heavenly Technique,' the more wondrous it becomes, and the more... eerie it is!"

Qingxiaozi had read this golden book, which he had dug up from the ground, countless times, and each reading brought him completely different insights.

Sixty-nine years ago, the tomb he excavated belonged to a king with the title of "Marquis of Zhennan". Among the ten continents, there are countless Dao Kingdoms and Immortal Dynasties, and there are no less than three-digit forces in this ancestral continent alone.

The immortal dynasty that this "Marquis of Zhennan" belonged to was the immortal dynasty from which he came, and its name was "Li".

A century ago, the Le Dynasty was already in a precarious state, which is why he dared to excavate the tombs of kings and nobles without worrying about the tomb keepers and subsequent repercussions.

"This sutra believes that a person's life is a series of tribulations, including minor tribulations that hinder the mind and harm the body, and major tribulations that endanger life and death and even affect future generations. This is called 'immeasurable tribulations.' The 'Heavenly Skill for Crossing Tribulations' teaches people how to seize opportunities amidst tribulations and transcend them."

At first, he continuously transformed his physical body and primordial spirit according to the methods in the "Transcending Tribulation Heavenly Technique". From then on, he made great strides on the path of cultivation. After sixty-nine years, he had become a well-known cultivator in Zuzhou.

But the more he practiced, the more he felt something was wrong. Qingxiaozi carefully pondered the essence of the scriptures, and he vaguely felt that this heavenly skill might not be suitable for someone like him to practice.

Moreover, he has already survived 144 minor tribulations and 24 major tribulations, yet he still has not reached the realm described in the Heavenly Scripture: "The tribulations of heaven and earth are far-reaching, but my life is boundless."

He always felt something was missing, preventing him from ever truly grasping its essence.

"What exactly is missing?" Qingxiaozi pondered to himself. "Could it be that some special physique is required? But the scriptures don't mention it at all!"

"Help! Help! Someone save me... I will reward you handsomely!" The old man's voice was hoarse and rough.

"Please, righteous man, save me and my father! I am willing to repay you with my life!" The woman's voice was charming and moving.

Cries for help came from the depths of the dense forest ahead, but Qingxiaozi didn't even look up. He secretly put the golden book into his storage magic artifact and then replaced it with an ordinary scripture.

Then, he looked at the ox's broad belly with his heel, and the ox cleverly changed direction, walking away from the cries for help.

The blue ox wasn't walking very fast, but it certainly wasn't slow either, and it was very steady. In no time, the blue ox had walked several kilometers away, and the cries for help behind it fell silent.

"Damn it, this old guy isn't falling for it! Wasn't he supposed to be a public-spirited person who loves to stand up for the weak and oppressed?"