Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 312 Demon Kingdom Abode, Vast and Boundless Horizons
"Fellow Daoist Su, please join me in meeting this True King Tianpeng!"

Tong Laodao is unreliable, and Gao Erqiang is untrustworthy.

In Yu Shili's eyes, a day apart felt like three autumns. Su Qing, who had not only developed a third-level body cultivation and could ride a fourth-level puppet, was a good helper that he could rely on.

"Fellow Daoist Master, please go ahead. I have just finished refining that Old Evil of Yunshan and need to recuperate first. Once I have recovered, I will come to assist you!"

Su Qing spoke humbly and politely to his master, who had been missing him terribly since they last met and had advanced from the Golden Core stage to the Nascent Soul stage.

Seeing that his magical power was weak and his face was pale, and then seeing the Demon Refining Furnace Child scattered all over the ground, Shi Lijing nodded slightly, and with a cloud of demonic energy rising beneath his feet, he went up to the cloud to talk with the True King Tianpeng.

Seeing her leave, Su Qing gave the witch a slight bow, then, with the Fire Phoenix Princess, who had just been exhausted from breathing fire, in his arms, he waved his hand and prepared to lead his fellow cultivators on a quick escape.

"Fellow Daoist Su, what are you doing? Didn't we agree to help my father, the sect leader, drive away that Heavenly King Zhenpeng?"

Although Shi Zhifang was a sycophant, he was not stupid. After leaving the cave, he realized that the fierce tiger beside Yun'er was actually a person.

He wouldn't trust a tiger, and he would be even more tormented if it were a human.

But regardless of whether Su Qing is human or tiger, the fourth-tier puppet he is currently riding is not something his master, Shi Zhifang, can provoke.

Seeing that Su Qing was about to flee with his men, betraying his father, the sect leader, he could only offer a word of advice, which was the most he could do.

"According to my demon lion brother, this True King Tianpeng is the most benevolent and easy to talk to. I think that at most, he will only ask the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom to compensate for the loss of flowers and plants in the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range. The sect leader spoke to him kindly, so there should be no major problem. I am just an outsider cultivator, so I will not go forward to cause trouble!"

Su Qing responded politely and continued running.

As soon as he finished speaking, the demon kings, including the Green Lion King, reacted instantly.

If they're going to run away, it's time for them to run too!
"Fellow Daoist Su is right. We local demons in our demon kingdom all know that True King Tianpeng is the most benevolent and kind-hearted, and treats demons with the utmost kindness!"

"Who doesn't know that True King Tianpeng is most devoted to human cultivators? I've heard that his sons and grandsons have all been sent here to cooperate with your Demonic Sect!"

"Uncle Tianpeng even held me when I was little, and I can prove they're right!"

"If we wanted to fight, why wouldn't we be fighting alongside Tianpeng Zhenwang against your Demonic Sect? Why are we being so friendly with you now?"

"Let's go, let's go, lest the demonic cultivator brothers misunderstand!"

After reassuring Shi Zhifang and the other elders of the Demon Sect, the Azure Lion King and his group of demon kings prepared to make their escape.

But Su Qing stopped him.

"Brother Lion, how can I contact you in the future? I've decided to be your friend!"

"Brother Tiger! When you want to contact Brother Lion, you will be able to!" Wait until you have the strength to be my brother!
The man and the lion worked seamlessly together this time and wanted to cooperate again in the future. They didn't say it outright, but they both knew each other's intentions.

Su Qing wanted to earn the Lion King's spirit stones, and with the Lion King's help, he wanted to earn the spirit stones of all the demons in the Demon Kingdom.

The Lion King disliked that he had no base of operations or strong channels, and would only be willing to cooperate with him to make money after he had developed his business.

He needed to solidify his connection with the Lion King, his only remaining link in the demon kingdom.

Su Qing did not hesitate any longer.

He put the Dragon Island Bixi into his storage bag and shouted to the rogue cultivators behind him:
"Let's go!"

"Where to go?"

"Why even ask? We'll go wherever the money is!"

"No way, we've earned enough these past few days. We can't earn all the spirit stones we want. Wouldn't it be better to find a safe place and take a break?"

"That's true. Everyone has their own ambitions. Now that this matter is over, fellow Daoists can go their separate ways. Those who wish to follow me, please come with me!"

"Wherever Fellow Daoist Su goes, I, Liang Hai, will go too!"

"Wherever Brother 260 goes, I, Shao Delong, will go!"

"My days are numbered, and I can no longer continue to struggle with you all. So I must take my leave of you and go to that mortal realm to find a virtuous woman to start a family!"

"One is too few. With Fellow Daoist Lai's abilities, even ten wouldn't be too many!"

The road is facing the sky, go to one side.

After leaving the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range.

Gradually, some people left the group.

Fellow Daoist Lai had only been in the lifespan-shortening team for a few days when he had already shortened his lifespan by more than a hundred years. Fearing that his lifespan wouldn't be enough to keep him busy, he was the first to leave the team.

The villagers of Gejia Village are almost entirely gone, numbering only a few dozen. Led by Ge Changyuan, they intend to continue cultivating their former spiritual fields under the rule of the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom.

Fearing that it would delay Ge Ling's cultivation, they insisted on not letting Ge Ling come with them, and instead let Ge Ling stay with Su Qing, the master who was both capable and benevolent.

Old Six's leatherworking skills only truly shine near the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range.

Hai Changqing, along with several cultivators, felt that after the two battles in Baiyun Immortal City and this Nascent Soul Cave, they were already ruthless and could join the Demon Sect to make a name for themselves in this soon-to-be-rising Nascent Soul sect.

Depending on each person's path and future development, many fellow practitioners will choose to follow this path.

Most of the fellow cultivators followed Su Qing, preparing to find a place to settle down in the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom for the time being, without discussing what would happen in the future.

······
Time waits for no one, and three years have passed in a flash.

The Immortal Kingdom of Desire, the City of Demonic Smoke.

As one of the main cities of the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom, this city has been prosperous since ancient times, with a constant flow of people.

Today, every household is decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and countless demonic cultivators are spreading the news.

"Good news! Our sect leader has finally subdued that True King Tianpeng, forcing the Demon Kingdom to sign the Cloud Mountain Alliance, ceding three hundred miles of territory, paying fifty thousand spirit stones, and hundreds of third-tier spirit items!"

"Hmph, that True King Tianpeng is so ungrateful! My Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom has just annexed the Cloud Mountain Immortal Kingdom, and our sect leader has even advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, making us a Nascent Soul sect. He has been fighting with my sect leader for three years, how could he possibly get away with this!"

"When should we settle the compensation? It just so happens that the sect is currently expanding westward and building eastward, and cleaning up the mess of the Yunshan Sect has cost a lot of spirit stones and spiritual resources. We can use the compensation from the demon cubs to make up for the deficit!"

"What are you talking about? We're the ones compensating them, not the other way around!"

"Ah, didn't the sect leader defeat the true king Tianpeng? Why should we pay compensation? There's no such thing as the winner paying the loser in a fight!"

"Isn't this just the demon race being unreasonable? However, this alliance stipulates that in the future, my Demon Immortal Kingdom can open an immortal city on the site of the former White Cloud Immortal City to trade with the demon kingdom. What's a little compensation? We'll make them rich in the future!"

This is the busiest and most prosperous street in Demon Smoke City, where all the prominent cultivators in this immortal city reside.

All the cultivators were proud of the Demonic Sect, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that the three-year-long battle between the sect leaders, Tianpeng and Tianpeng, had finally come to an end.

Meanwhile, at the Su family's small shop on the street corner, the owner, Su Qing, suddenly froze, preparing to flee.

Although I had already learned from Brother Lion that the True King Tianpeng had a great temper.

Unexpectedly, he had such a strong temper that he fought with Shi Lijing for three years!
As a shameless teammate who betrayed Shi Lijing.

It's one thing for Shi Li to have gained an advantage in this battle.

Seeing the things he paid as compensation, Su Qing judged that he must have been beaten into submission by Tian Peng, and had no choice but to admit defeat and pay the compensation.

Having suffered such a great loss, even if Shi Lijing were magnanimous, Su Qing would not dare to gamble on his character and would find it difficult to stay in the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom for long.

For the past three years, Shi Lijing has suffered in the east, while Su Qing has lived a comfortable life.

Because the witch was the executive elder of the Demon Sect and a powerful figure, upon returning to the sect, she immediately sent the former Lord of Demon Smoke City back to the sect's main altar to retire, taking over the position of Lord of Demon Smoke City without any hesitation.

Taking advantage of her connection with the witch and having many matters to attend to within the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom, Su Qing and her fellow Daoists temporarily settled down in Demon Smoke City.

There are many things to deal with.

The most troublesome thing is dealing with stolen goods!
Within the White Cloud Immortal City, life was tough, but the greater the risk, the greater the reward. The accumulated wealth of a sect and an immortal kingdom, though mostly corrupted by the Old Evil and blasted into the sky by the Earth Tyrant, was still at stake.

However, a small portion was still divided among Gao Erqiang, Su Qing, and the fellow Daoists who survived from the Immortal City.

The materials that Su Qing's puppets rescued from the Immortal City alone filled more than a dozen second-tier storage bags.

Apart from the materials he could use, he sold most of the rest over the past three years, converting them into spirit stones, totaling more than 5,600.

Although there are still two or three bags of materials that haven't been sold yet, these materials are still relatively clean and can be sold wherever he goes, so there's no rush.

What I'm most eager to learn is what I've gained from Huang Song!

The Huang family of Penglai is utterly shameless!
Since they sent Huang Song out to kill and steal treasures, they were prepared to be killed and have their treasures stolen themselves.

Instead of standing at attention after being beaten, he went so far as to offer a reward in the black market of the Western Sea cultivation world, seeking to find the real culprit who killed Huang Song.

The real culprit who killed Huang Song was that Jade Wall Old Evil, and had nothing to do with Su Qing.

However, the items on his body, such as the nest house, the fan, and the dragon and phoenix belt, are difficult to explain and could easily lead to misunderstandings if not handled properly.

Therefore, he needed to properly dispose of these things before going to the island nation.

Third-tier magical artifacts such as the Yaoguang Fan, and especially fourth-tier spiritual houses like the Juchao House, even if Su Qing disassembled them for sale, they would not be easy to sell due to their high value, extremely high rank, and somewhat clandestine nature.

Fortunately, the Demonic Immortal Kingdom is a den of iniquity, where legitimate business is conducted on the surface, while filthy business is conducted on the black market.

The black market distribution map that Brother Zhifang provided to him earlier was a great help.

For three years, he used the aliases Tong Laodao and Gao Erqiang to sell his goods in the black markets of several nearby immortal cities. He used the aliases of fetal transformation to change his appearance and aura, and after staging several double-crosses that were popular in the cultivation world, he finally managed to sell most of Huang Song's relics.

"Once this nest house is sold today, the mission will be accomplished, and we will no longer be bothered by the Huang family coming to our door!"

Su Qing changed into a strange red robe painted with countless lanterns and human heads, transforming into Gao Erqiang's honest and simple appearance, and stepped down from the second floor of the small shop.

As soon as you enter the building, you can hear the constant shouts of vendors.

"A first-tier, high-grade explosive rune puppet. Don't be fooled by its simple materials; it's covered in runes. Buying it is a sure win. Five thousand spirit crystals is a fair price!"

"Fellow Daoist desires a Lizard Knight? What kind of puppet is that? Qinghe has never heard of it. But Qinghe guarantees that this Exploding Talisman Puppet is no less powerful than that Lizard Knight!"

"Fellow Daoist has excellent eyesight. This human-faced puppet can transform into the appearance of any cultivator. Wear it on your face, and no matter if you commit murder, arson, or robbery, I guarantee no one will recognize your handsome face!"

"Yes, fellow Daoist is a good person and has no intention of doing anything bad, but regardless of whether fellow Daoist is a good person or not, fellow Daoist should not touch Ling'er's butt!"

"Fellow Daoist Li, come out and do something! Drag this lecher out and chop off his hands and feet!"

·······
The area downstairs is a mess; doing business there is like being in a war zone.

This is also why Su Qing was unwilling to develop her career in the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom for long.

There are few good people among these demonic cultivators. Not only did they lay hands on Qinghe and Ge Ling, but they also frequently cheated, swindled, and forcibly seized puppets. There are even some villains who haggle and ask for credit, and they deserve to die the most!
Without a good business environment, and with the Demon Smoke City located in the heart of the Immortal Kingdom and no wars happening nearby, the price of puppets has remained low. As a result, even though Qinghe, Geling, Xiong Er, and other puppet sellers have worked hard for the past three years, their small shop has only earned five or six hundred spirit stones.

One reason for this is that he was afraid of revealing his identity and therefore never created puppets with more distinctive personal characteristics, such as the Lizard series or the Passion series.

"You guys get ready, we're leaving in a few days!"

After Su Qing went downstairs, he waited until Li Hailang, the thug with the red stick, dealt with the unruly demonic cultivators before gathering the other cultivators and speaking.

He casually fed Qinghe, who was rubbing against him like a kitten, a blood lotus flower.

"Are we finally leaving? I've had enough of this place. Making only three or four times the profit per puppet is just outrageous!"

Qinghe swallowed the blood lotus, her face turning as red as an apple, and said excitedly.

She had worked as a shopkeeper in the special environment of Baiyun Immortal City, where rogue cultivators valued their lives more than money. She had experienced periods of exorbitant profits, sometimes tenfold or even dozens of times the initial investment, and thus came to believe that selling puppets should be done with such ruthless profits.

She had long been dissatisfied with the stingy behavior of the demonic cultivators in Demon Smoke City. Of the ten or thirty thousand spirit crystals she earned each day, how much commission did she actually get? It wasn't even enough to pay off Xiong Er's interest.

Yes, since Xiong Er's super evolution, Xiong Er, who has mastered the skills of lending and borrowing, is no longer easy to fool, and has now become Qinghe's biggest creditor.

The key point is that she is now a high-ranking Buddhist monk, not only in terms of status but also as a third-tier puppet. Furthermore, she used her wages to buy a team of blasting war bears from Su Qing for debt collection, making it impossible for even a seasoned deadbeat like her to renege on her debts.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Xiong Er whistled and complained along with Qing He. It also felt that selling puppets in Demon Smoke City was pointless. Why would they sell puppets if they couldn't make more than ten times the profit? Wouldn't it be easier to just rob them?
Of course, more importantly, it's not a good idea for Magic Smoke City to develop its usury business.

Although demonic cultivators love to borrow spirit crystals and spirit stones, and their debt collection teams are indeed good at collecting debts, the mortality rate of demonic cultivators is extremely high. If they borrow money today, they may die in some unknown corner tomorrow.

Furthermore, some demonic cultivators would run away after borrowing money, making them impossible to catch. As a result, they had a lot of bad debts and considered it a profit if they didn't lose money. They desperately wanted to expand their business in a place with more honest people.

Compared to Qinghe and Xiong Er, who were full of schemes and wicked ideas, Ge Ling, who was even more beautiful three years later, had bright eyes full of expectation. She didn't care about the amount of money; at least in a different place, she wouldn't have thieves touching her butt all the time.

The 17th brother led the fire egg on a treasure hunt.

The 260th brother is placed deep inside the store as a mascot.

Li Hailang, holding a red stick, led the Jiuli tribesmen as his henchmen.

These individuals had no objection to leaving the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom. After receiving Su Qing's order, they helped Qinghe and the others put up signs for a clearance sale and got busy.

He summoned Yao Fei, who refused to believe she was a pure-blooded human and had come upstairs every few nights for the past three years to be honest with him.

"Fellow Daoist Su, this is the offering of three hundred spirit stones for this year..."

Seeing Yao Fei's rosy complexion and bright, pretty appearance, Qing He secretly spat, unsurprised by their dirty deal.

Previously, it cost fifty spirit stones to cover the entire night; now it costs three hundred spirit stones to cover the entire year.

Is Fellow Daoist Su's skill so good that it has made Consort Yao so addicted to it?
It's a pity that I, Qinghe, still have debts and haven't been able to go ashore. When I go to that country of a thousand islands, I will work as a manager for Fellow Daoist Su for a few years, save up some spirit stones, and definitely taste Su Qing's flavor!
Working as his shopkeeper and using the bonuses he gives me to play games with him? Bah! Which vixen knows how to play games as well as me, Qinghe!

"Fellow Daoist Yao, please inform Fellow Daoist Liang, Fellow Daoist Helian, and the others that Fellow Daoist Niuya has only recently been married, so please don't disturb him. Let him live a good life in this Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom!"

"After this last job, Xiaodao is going to call it a day!"

······
Some things shouldn't be said carelessly.

The phrase "last vote" should not be uttered lightly.

In a desolate spiritual mountain west of Demon Smoke City, a group of black-robed cultivators huddled together furtively, exchanging information and stabbing each other in the back under the cover of night.

This is the largest black market outside Demon Smoke City.

Aside from not being able to do business in broad daylight.

Shop rents are more expensive, and taxes are even more varied. Doing shady business is more costly than doing legitimate business.

Despite the abundance of shops, it remains the top choice for countless demonic cultivators to open businesses and make a fortune.

A decent person does decent business.

But how many decent people are there in this Demonic Immortal Kingdom?
Illicit trade is easier to do, and it's not just the demonic cultivators of the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom who love to trade on the black market; cultivators from the Thousand Islands Kingdom to the west, the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom, the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, and even the Penglai Immortal Kingdom also love to travel thousands of miles to trade here.

Because there are more scoundrels than good people in the cultivation world, these black markets have become the main source of revenue for the Desire Demon Sect. This is a characteristic of the Demon Sect that it does not need to maintain order and is not responsible for the transactions there.

"Qi Refining cultivators cultivate their life souls, which can be used to refine soul-type puppets or to consecrate soul banners. Each banner costs three spirit stones, and three banners cost ten spirit stones each!"

"Tiger-eared Maiden, of royal blood, certified by the Demon Kingdom. Fellow Daoists with strength, don't miss this opportunity! Seven-day money-back guarantee, one-year replacement guarantee, and if she escapes, we'll help you catch her for free. One transaction, lifetime service. Three hundred spirit stones, honest and fair!"

"A seasoned Spirit Assassin is now accepting orders online. With over fifty years of experience and a perfect record, I can guarantee a kill for Qi Refining cultivators with just three spirit stones. For first-tier Body Cultivators, five spirit stones will suffice. For Foundation Establishment cultivators and second-tier Body Cultivators, prices are negotiable."

"Intelligence is available for sale. A piece of gossip costs 300 spirit crystals and is guaranteed to be true. A report on major events in the Immortal Kingdom costs 10 spirit stones and is not guaranteed to be true. News from other realms costs 100 spirit stones and is guaranteed to be true but not absolutely true."

"A top-grade furnace cauldron, with excellent aptitude and superb technology. It was trained in the Demonic Sect for twenty years and mastered the Xuan Chi Jade Maiden Technique. Buy it and use it; it will keep you completely silent!"

(End of this chapter)