Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 291 Evil, Demon, or Human? All Enter the Cave; the Jade Wall Cave is Freezing Cold

Jade Wall Immortal, the pillar of the Fu Dao Sect in the past, single-handedly led the Fu Dao Sect to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, where it could rival the Penglai Immortal Kingdom. He was an extremely powerful being.

Such a cave dwelling, which was left behind by the Fu Dao Sect, must have been a blessing to the descendants of the Fu Dao Sect. Even if it is not a descendant of the Fu Dao Sect, it should at least be a person, right?
Even a Daoist puppet like Master Tong, whose existence is so convincing that even Golden Core cultivators can't distinguish him from a human, requires Su Qing to draw biomimetic runes to deceive them.

Even though the old evil spirit of Yunshan coveted the Dao patterns of the Five Elders and the Nascent Soul spiritual objects inside the Nascent Soul Cave, he simply left them outside the cave, waiting for someone else to retrieve them for him.

Gao Erqiang, a clearly evil spirit, a distinctly malevolent being, dares to enter the cave now. Isn't he afraid that the Jade Wall Immortal will manifest and shatter him on the spot?
Amidst the astonishment of the demon kings, demonic elders, Su Qing, and the rogue cultivators of White Cloud City, Gao Erqiang turned and bowed respectfully to the assembled demons and cultivators, sincerely saying:

"As everyone knows, Xiaodao has always been a good person."

Hey, do you even need to talk to us?
Let's see if you believe in the lingering regrets of the Jade Wall Immortal!

Master Yu Bi may have been dead for too long, which has made him somewhat confused. He actually believes that Gao Erqiang is a good person.

After it safely entered the cave, Su Qing even looked back at the towering Cloud Mountain Demon that covered the surrounding area, fearing that it might have the unfounded idea that if Gao Erqiang could enter, it could too.

Fortunately, Old Evil Yunshan was self-aware and had no intention of challenging the lingering remnants of True Man Yubi.

They only sent three Golden Core cultivators from the Yunshan Sect, including Master Xiashan, and more than twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators from Yunshan Sect into the cave.

These people are probably the last remaining members of the Yunshan Sect. The fact that Old Evil Yunshan has not corrupted them so far is probably because he is keeping them to explore the cave.

"It's pitiful. With so few people, not only is it nearly certain death for them to enter the cave, but even if they come out, they'll be turned into evil spirits!"

The White-Faced Green Lion King shook his head and said that although the demon race and the human race occasionally had some dirty tricks, they were mostly conflicts of interest and often cooperated with each other for the sake of interests. However, when it came to evil spirits, whether it was a human or a demon, they would fight them as soon as they appeared, without any room for compromise.

"How can the true kings of the demon kingdom tolerate Gao Erqiang and this old evil spirit until now? Why don't you come and eliminate this evil spirit sooner!"

Su Qing asked in confusion, "Although these two evil spirits mostly harm the human race, Gao Erqiang has also harvested many demon beast heads. If this Yunshan Old Evil were to advance to the Nascent Soul stage and become a fourth-order Great Evil, and were to settle near the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, it would also be a great scourge to the demon race. The True King of the Demon Kingdom should have taken action to eliminate the evil long ago."

Upon hearing this, the White-Faced Green Lion King glanced at the Nascent Soul cave and said:

"Because this Jade Wall True Man is not completely dead yet, he once said that as long as he is alive, as long as there is a true disciple of the Talisman Dao Sect, neither the True King of my Demon Kingdom nor the Nascent Soul of Penglai can interfere with the affairs of the Talisman Dao Sect's territory."

This is also why the two evil spirits dared to wreak havoc here for so long, without worrying about being wiped out by our True King and the Nascent Soul cultivators of the human race!

"Isn't this Jade Wall True Man completely dead? Where are the true disciples of the Talisman Dao Sect? A Nascent Soul who has been dead for thousands of years is nothing but a wisp of remnant spirit. Does his word still carry weight? Do you think my clan's True King and Penglai Nascent Soul would listen to him?"

Su Qinghu’s eyes were full of disbelief. Yu Bi Zhenren was powerful in life and his words carried weight, but he has been dead for thousands of years. Vajra Buddha was also powerful in life, but after he died, Su Qinghu still broke his legs and shaved his bones, and he didn’t dare to utter a sound.
The White-Faced Green Lion King chuckled, thinking to himself that his Tiger Brother was quite naive, probably having stayed in the Demon Kingdom for too long and never having witnessed the methods of human cultivators.

"That Jade Wall Immortal is skilled in talismans. It is said that he possesses the inheritance of three major talismanic traditions: Spring Wood, Mother River, and Living Gold. He has extremely high attainments in these three types of talismans and is also a fourth-level talisman maker, a fourth-level array master, and a third-level puppeteer."

With his abilities, plus the accumulation of the Fu Dao Sect back then, even if he himself died and only a wisp of remnant spirit remained, who would know how many talismans he had hidden in his cave, or how many array puppets he had left behind?

It should be known that Nascent Soul cultivators possess the ability to possess another's body and be reborn. Even our clan's True Kings and high-ranking Nascent Soul cultivators, if they are not careful, may fall victim to his schemes and have their bodies possessed. Of those who entered the cave today, when they emerge, one of them will undoubtedly be possessed by that Jade Wall Immortal. Tiger King, you must be extremely cautious!

The Lion King's words startled Su Qing, making her realize the greatest potential danger within the Nascent Soul Cave.

It makes sense. This Jade Wall Immortal made such a big fuss, as if he wanted others to know that his cave had been revealed. Given his former ruthless and domineering nature, he would not do something as good as sharing the treasures of his cave with those who are destined to receive them.

If he truly wanted to do good, back when the Fu Dao Sect was in decline, he opened his cave and shared it with the sect members. The Fu Dao Sect would have had more fourth-tier talismans and fourth-tier formations to protect them. How could they have ended up being destroyed and their people dying?

However, even if such a powerful being wanted to reincarnate, he should have chosen those Golden Core cultivators. He wouldn't even look at a second-tier body cultivator or Foundation Establishment cultivator like me, so there's no need to worry too much.

After all, if I were really too pretty and that old man took a liking to me, the thousands of substitute dolls I had would keep him busy for a while.

Thinking of the substitute dolls lying in his storage bag, Su Qing felt reassured. The substitute dolls could exempt him from certain death, which was his greatest reliance for entering the cave. With the dolls there, even if the Nascent Soul Demon was dead but not yet dead, he was not too afraid.

"Tiger King, don't worry too much. We'll just stay here and watch quietly. Once those people from the Desire Demon Sect come out and give me the rubbings of the Five Elders' Dao patterns, we can return to the Demon Kingdom to report back."

Seeing that the Tiger King and his brother remained silent for a long time, the Lion King spoke words of comfort.

His gaze, however, was fixed on the Fire Phoenix Demon King opposite him.

It wanted to see if this fake Phoenix King could still sit still!
Just as it had predicted, once most of the people had entered, the Fire Phoenix Demon King stepped out from the crowd.

"Phoenix King, what are you doing? This cave is off-limits to our demon race!"

Behind the Fire Phoenix King, there were still some demonic beasts who were confused. When they saw the Fire Phoenix Demon King heading towards the cave, they spoke up.

"You're still in the dark! What did I tell you? This Fire Phoenix King is a fake. She's not a phoenix, she's human, so of course she can enter this cave. Only you bunch of blind fools wouldn't listen to me and have been following this imposter around like a servant ever since!"

Upon seeing the Fire Phoenix King heading to his cave, the Green Lion King clapped his hands and laughed, mocking the flock of flying beasts for their inability to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and for recognizing anyone as their king.

Before he could finish laughing, he suddenly saw his Tiger King brothers rush out with the Fire Phoenix Demon King.

"Brother Tiger, what are you doing?"

The Lion King's laughter abruptly stopped. Brother Tiger was a true brother, as he had verified with the Demon-Revealing Mirror.

Therefore, when the Tiger King stepped forward at this moment, it did not think of itself as a human being rather than a tiger.

"Brother Lion, you may not know this, but Little Tiger once had a strange person brand a fourth-order bionic rune on his body, which allows him to transform into that human form. Today, I will go and deceive that human dead Nascent Soul."

The benefits within this cave shouldn't all be taken by the humans; my demon race must also get a share. Brother Lion, please wait here for Little Tiger to emerge from the cave. If there's any harvest, Little Tiger will certainly offer it all to you, Senior Brother!"

The Tiger King openly revealed the bionic runes beneath its fur, leaving the Lion King dumbfounded.

"Brother Tiger, I am happy for you with this extraordinary encounter, but... but could it be that all those little demons behind you have been branded with fourth-order bionic runes?"

The white-faced green lion king pointed at the green frog, the old tortoise, and the silver fox following behind the fierce tiger king. The lion's paws trembled slightly, clearly indicating that it was not at peace with itself.

"That's natural!"

"Please let the Lion King know that the strange man was unusually generous. When he encountered any of the demonic beasts that day, even the most beautiful ones were given a share, and he branded them all with fourth-order bionic runes!"

"He kept saying that humans and demons are all one family, and that it doesn't matter if humans become demons or demons become humans!"

"Rest assured, Lion King, we will follow Tiger King and surely obtain the secret treasures of the cave for you!"

Before the Tiger King could speak, the demonic beasts behind him began to speak one after another, leaving the Lion King bewildered and feeling that something was amiss.

Before it could even process what was happening, it saw the Tiger King leading his demon horde, one after the other, into the cave.

"Could it be that the Winged Tiger Clan is still carrying out the human infiltration plan from ten thousand years ago, imitating humans, entering the human immortal kingdoms, and cultivating hidden demon warriors to overthrow the human immortal kingdoms and achieve the great revival of the demon race?"

The Lion King suddenly realized that this must be the case. Since no fifth-tier demon emperor had been born in the demon kingdom for a long time, the demons in the demon kingdom had divided into several factions when discussing matters.

Among them, the Blue Lion clan has always had a very radical attitude towards humans, believing that humans are untrustworthy and refusing to communicate and cooperate with them too much.

Unexpectedly, the Winged Tiger clan felt that the radical Lion clan was too conservative. They were so radical that they forcibly kidnapped human rune masters to create biomimetic runes for their demons, in order to infiltrate the human immortal kingdom! "Thinking about it this way, I wonder how much strength the Winged Tiger clan is hiding behind the scenes. After Brother Tiger comes out of his cave, I should have a good chat with him!"

The Green Lion King thought he had figured out the key to it and muttered to himself.

Because the Tiger King led the demon beasts away, the flying demon beasts who had previously been skeptical of the Fire Phoenix Demon King's identity now believed that the Fire Phoenix Demon King was real.

Even the Fierce Tiger King can brand runes, and even those first and second-tier lesser demons can brand runes. So what's wrong with the Fire Phoenix Demon King branding a rune? Is there anything wrong with that?

·······
Regardless of what the demon kings and monsters outside the cave think.

At this moment, Su Qing, who had just entered the Nascent Soul Cave, was nervously following behind the witch, glancing around nervously.

The other cultivators were even worse off than him. After entering the cave, they kept a close eye on the direction 260's head was turning, trying to find a less dangerous place to hide in this perilous cave.

To be honest, the scenery inside the cave was actually quite acceptable.

The cave is a hundred feet high and wide enough for horses and carriages to run through. The walls on both sides are made of jade and inlaid with bright jewels and gemstones, making the entire cave shine brightly. There are also various beautiful talismans on it. If a cultivator from the You family were here, he might be able to comprehend some of the talisman inheritance.

Despite being called the Cave of the Dead, the cultivators walked for several miles as if they were strolling through a celestial abode, looking around without encountering any danger.

They were not in danger, but that was because the soldiers in front of them took many bullets for them.

Along the way, they would see demonic cultivators embedded in the jade wall from time to time, dead beyond any doubt. They would also see demonic cultivators turned into stone pillars, ice pillars, or ashes. In short, none of the demonic cultivators they saw were alive.

Oh, no matter what form it takes, its head is gone. This must be the work of the array puppets in the cave, or perhaps it's Gao Erqiang who came in later and started doing the same old thing.

Many of the demonic cultivators died, and they died tragically, but each of them was at least at the Foundation Establishment stage and was a disciple of a major sect with many tricks up their sleeve. Their deaths served as a warning to Liang Haishun and the others, whose strength was inferior to these demonic cultivators. Liang Haishun and the others were naturally trembling with tension and urged Brother 260 onwards.

"Brother 260, do you still want to continue? Or should we just call it a day?"

“Brother 260, you’ve only known Fellow Daoist Su as your boss for a few years. You should sell him off when necessary. He doesn’t mind, so don’t be coy!”

"How about we stay here and protect Fellow Daoist Su's retreat!"

The cultivators were filled with trepidation, because they knew that their current smooth progress was due to the fact that the demonic and evil cultivators ahead were still far away. The real danger would come when they encountered them!
However, Brother 260 ignored the urging of the other cultivators, his body instincts made him continue walking, and the other cultivators could only grit their teeth and follow him all the way.

So, Su Qing followed the witch, Brother 260 followed Su Qing, and all the cultivators followed Brother 260.

The procession walked in an orderly fashion through the long jade passage and arrived at an open area covered in ice and snow.

An unbearable cold seeped into the cultivators' bodies and souls. As far as the eye could see, everything was a vast expanse of white. The majestic palaces and thousands of spirit houses were frozen in ice and snow. There were countless cultivators of the Fu Dao Sect who had been dead for countless years, seemingly unaware of their condition, frozen inside ice pillars. Because their bodies were not fresh enough, even Gao Erqiang did not want to look at their heads.

This must have been the former stronghold of the Fu Dao Sect. Because Master Yu Bi made a mistake in comprehending the Immortal Divine Ice, all the cultivators here suffered an undeserved disaster. If Master Yu Bi had not used his great power to seal this place and turn it into a cave before his death, the entire Fu Dao Sect would have been doomed!

Su Qing and the witch had anticipated this. They simply told the cultivators, especially Shao Delong, to keep their hands to themselves and not to touch things indiscriminately, before walking straight ahead.

The cold intensified as they went further. Su Qing and the witch had fire to protect themselves, so they were not in any trouble. However, the other cultivators were in a terrible state. Even with Fellow Daoist Li's strong liquor and Su Qing's protection, they were still shivering from the cold and could not go any further.

"That's enough, my instincts are telling me not to go any further!"

Brother 260 raised his hand and said something that made all the cultivators breathe a sigh of relief.

Su Qing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

He wasn't afraid of 260 betraying him; on the contrary, he wanted to sell out his teammates as soon as possible.

After summoning a squad of lizard knights to break the ice and clear a safe house for the cultivators, Liang Haishun set up the formation.

After Yao Fei cut her wrist to bleed him, she summoned the Iron-Eating King Beast and the Blood Killing Armor for him. She then took the Life-Saving Cloth from Helian Xian and bid farewell to the cultivators, following the witch as she strode forward.

The biting wind was piercing and bone-chilling, scraping flesh and bones; it was no longer the kind of cold that could be caused by normal celestial phenomena, but rather a true injury bearing Dao patterns.

In other words, Su Qing's internal furnace fire was strong, and he wore a lot of armor, especially the fire runes drawn on the tiger egg, which blocked most of the cold air for him. Otherwise, just traveling would have taken half his life.

In contrast, the witch wearing the Fire Armor had it much easier, but her divine sense was compressed by the cold air and could only cover a range of more than ten miles. She had not yet found Huang Song's location.

"Damn it, even puppets can't withstand this chill!"

Seeing that the lizard riders he had released were stiff and unable to move, Su Qing cursed under his breath and recalled them all.

Seeing this, the witch took out the Golden Iron Beast from her storage bag and took over the responsibility of scouting for the lizard knight.

The Golden Iron Beast is a highly prized puppet widely known in the cultivation world of the Western Sea.

It has no head, a square body, four arms and eight legs, and its whole body is made of metal and stone. Its arms are also similar to battle swords, strong and durable, making it suitable as a pioneer.

Seeing the twelve golden iron beasts exploring the surroundings in groups of three, Su Qing abandoned his plan to deploy the Cloud Sky Roc ship and instead focused his gaze on the Floating Light Palace ahead.

This magnificent hall is a hundred feet tall, shimmering with light and color. It displays both array lights and shimmering talisman lights, and must have been the main hall of the Talisman Dao Sect in the past.

Among this complex of buildings frozen by immortals and gods, this palace still retains its former appearance.

It is the most eye-catching place and the most likely place where the Jade Wall Immortal passed away, where the Nascent Soul Spiritual Object is hidden, and where the various inheritances of the Talisman Dao Sect are kept.

Huang Song must be here too!
Su Qing wanted to discuss with the witch and come up with a few clever plans to deal with Huang Song when they encountered him later.

But after the witch arrived at this cave, she became taciturn and silent, like a taciturn person. With her teammates withdrawn, even if Su Qing had any ideas, it was useless if she didn't respond. She could only talk to herself and pretend that the witch was listening.

"The entire Desire Demon Sect, including its elders and guest elders, comprises fourteen Golden Core cultivators, making it the strongest force within the cave!"

"According to what you said, Huang Song is secretly colluding with the Old Demon of Joy, which may be a variable. When he makes his move, the Desire Demon Sect will probably suffer a small loss."

"We know nothing about the strength and methods of those three evil cultivators from the Demon Tree Immortal Kingdom, but they must have some ability to be sent here to snatch chestnuts from the fire. We have no connection with them, so it's best not to offend them."

"The people of Yunshan Sect on Xiashan Mountain have also condensed top-grade golden cores, and their strength should not be underestimated. Moreover, they are willing to serve as vessels for Lao Xie and are willing to risk their lives for him. It is normal for them to do any crazy things. They are even more vicious than demonic cultivators and evil cultivators. We should stay away from them."

"Gao Erqiang and Tong Laodao have both dealt with me, so they are two people I can rely on. But if it comes to the struggle for Dao patterns, I'll fight even my own father without hesitation. They probably won't be polite to us either. You and I should not have any ideas about that Immortal God Ice!"

"Since we came to this cave to kill, no matter how good the Dao patterns are or how wonderful the Nascent Soul artifacts are, we shouldn't have any designs on them. We should focus on killing, and forget about stealing the treasures!"

Su Qing analyzed the various forces that had entered the cave one by one. The witch listened with pursed lips, only speaking at the end to ask:

"Why doesn't Fellow Daoist Su mention the Talisman Dao Sect's inheritance? You're not even interested in Dao patterns or Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects, yet you're interested in this sect's inheritance?"

"It is, after all, the legacy of a Nascent Soul sect. Demonic cultivators and evil cultivators have no interest in it. It would be a pity if it were to be lost forever. If I have the opportunity, I would like to take a look at it and let this sect's legacy be revived!"

Of course, your affairs are of utmost importance. To gain this lineage is my fortune, to lose it is my fate; I have no particular desire to possess it!

(End of this chapter)