Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 327 Working Phoenix, Thief Bear

Princess Huofeng was licentious and immoral, showing no signs of being a wise ruler.

He lay on his side on the fragrant couch, his jade feet exposed, wearing only a light gauze robe. To his left and right, two exquisitely beautiful women, completely naked, served him attentively.

Upon entering the banquet hall, what one saw and heard was unbearable to look at. Even Su Qing couldn't help but feel sorry for her third uncle and worry about the future of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom.

With this princess, how could the Fire Phoenix Kingdom not perish?

"The princess is full of wisdom and resourcefulness. She has strategized and planned, eliminating the Phantom Legion on the outside and punishing the villains of the Immortal Kingdom on the inside. She has settled all scores with ease. After the major events were settled, she went to this friendly neighboring country alone to promote good neighborliness between the two countries, seek the well-being of the people of the Immortal Kingdom, and create peace for the country."

With a princess in the Fire Phoenix Kingdom, how could it not prosper!

Su Qing kept her eyes straight ahead, lowered her gaze, and loudly flattered the princess.

"If I were truly as good as Fellow Daoist Su described, you wouldn't have left without saying goodbye, causing me to travel thousands of miles to this Ksitigarbha Buddha Kingdom just to have a look at you!"

Princess Fire Phoenix dismissed those around her, acting as if she were the master of this place. Even the abbess Xi Sui, at her signal, respectfully and slowly withdrew. Only after she and Su Qing remained did she sigh.

Upon seeing this, Su Qing thought to himself that the princess's relationship with the Buddha statue seemed to be quite unusual, and he immediately felt that he had been somewhat reckless in accepting the invitation.

What I didn't expect was that, even outside of Princess Fire Phoenix's territory, she still had the ability to create brothels and dens of iniquity!

Unaware of the princess's true nature and intentions, he could no longer deal with her as casually as before, and could only reply respectfully:
"It's not that I left without saying goodbye, but that the Phantom Leader was too powerful. I fought him for a long time. Although I managed to keep him from getting away and causing trouble for the princess, I also exhausted many of his puppets and was injured by his endless Taoist techniques. I have little strength left to fight again."

If it weren't for an unknown fellow Daoist who happened to pass by, seemingly having a grudge against the Phantom Leader, and who shielded me from that fiend, ultimately reducing him to ashes, I would never have had the chance to meet the princess today!

"Oh, so the Phantom Leader wasn't killed by you, fellow Daoist. In that case, the Illusory Robe isn't in your hands either?"

Princess Fire Phoenix did not believe Su Qing's nonsense. Although she did not know how Su Qing killed Yin Ganyu, who possessed the Illusory Formless Robe, she knew perfectly well that Yin Ganyu had died at her hands.

"Did the princess actually want the Illusory Robe of No Reality after her actions yesterday?" Su Qing asked, his expression shifting.

"It's not just for that illusory garment. If the Prince of Pingxi dares to bewitch my third uncle and spy on the affairs of my Fire Phoenix Kingdom, the Ancestor can also send my third uncle to the Prince of Pingxi's mansion, using him as a proxy, and make the Prince of Pingxi pay the price."

As for the Phantom Troupe, it is absolutely necessary to kill the ringleader, sever his arms, teach the Thousand Islands Immortal Kingdom a lesson, and let the Western Sea cultivation world know that my Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom is not someone to be trifled with. In fact, if it weren't for Fellow Daoist Liu's kindness in saving me, the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom would have had to pay the price for protecting Jia Chunqiu earlier.

Besides, the Void and Reality Robe is indeed something that the Ancestor and Feng Shen desire. This item, along with the Four Void Elders and the Sumeru Bowl in the Ksitigarbha Buddha Kingdom, are collectively known as the Three Treasures of Void and Reality, involving the secrets of the Four Imperial Dao Patterns and the Void and Reality Dao Patterns.

Tens of thousands of years ago, my Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, Earth Treasury Buddhist Kingdom, and Yuanlai Tower gathered the three treasures together, hoping to unite them and share the Dao patterns, but to no avail.

Later, a celestial divination master surnamed Tong interpreted the celestial secrets and learned that the illusory and real Dao patterns are unique Dao patterns that cannot be shared by many people. Moreover, the opportunity had not yet arrived at that time, so it was difficult to unite the three treasures.

According to him, when the Four Elders of Emptiness show signs of vigorous growth, when the robe of emptiness and formlessness changes hands a hundred times, and when the Vajra Zen monk holds the Sumeru alms bowl, that will be the time when the Three Jewels unite!

Now, the four phoenixes of my Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom are showing signs of transforming from juvenile fire phoenixes into young fire phoenixes. In this Earth Treasury Buddhist Kingdom, the chief disciple of that accomplished Zen Master has also become a Vajra Warrior Monk through the Vajra Supreme Method of the ancient Buddhist sect and has been bestowed with a Sumeru alms bowl.

The second of the three signs has already appeared. The Illusory-Realm Robe, when it came into Yin Ganyu's hands, had changed hands ninety-nine times. Therefore, my Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom is determined to obtain this Illusory-Realm Robe. So, fellow Daoist, do you still dare to say that this Illusory-Realm Robe is not in your possession?”

Princess Fire Phoenix's eyes gleamed, and she released the Four Elders of Emptiness. With the Four Elders' perception of the Void and Reality Robe, she was practically revealing that Su Qing was currently possessing the Void and Reality Robe.

But since she hadn't made it clear yet, Su Qing dared to say no.

"So this precious garment has such a great karmic connection to it. If I had known this earlier, I would have risked my life to snatch this treasure from that passing fellow Daoist. How could I have just watched him leave with the garment!"

Su Qing remained calm and composed, even flashing an innocent smile at the four Void Elders who were pressing their noses against her.

What are you sniffing for? You're phoenixes, not dogs! How annoying!
Seeing his behavior, Princess Fire Phoenix did not reveal her true intentions to him, nor did she have any thought of stripping him naked and forcibly taking away his precious clothes.

This was also within Su Qing's expectations. Otherwise, he would never have had the idea of ​​donning the treasure robe and becoming the leader of the Phantom Troupe. For him, this treasure was meant to be won by the highest bidder. Whether he sold it to Yuanlai Tower or to Princess Fire Phoenix, it made little difference to him.

As for the so-called Void Dao Pattern, although he coveted it, it was not originally in his plans. There was no reason for him to risk a life-or-death confrontation with Princess Fire Phoenix and insist on keeping this precious garment just for the sake of that Master Tong, who was supposed to be the old Taoist Tong, whose divination was not always accurate.

The reason he refused to admit it was because Princess Fire Phoenix's words did not imply that he should hand over the Void and True Robe!
Perhaps within the Fire Phoenix Kingdom, someone desires this garment of illusory reality.

Was it that the Fire Phoenix Ancestor, who was nearing the end of his life and about to abdicate, who, having failed to obtain the Phoenix Boiling Sea Dao Pattern, wanted to use this illusory and real Dao Pattern to transform into a god and ascend to heaven, emulating the Jade Wall True Man, and taking a risky gamble in his last hundred years? Even if he failed to transform into a god, he would not hesitate to let his Nascent Soul inheritance be severed.

Or are they the four Void Elders before us, yearning for the Three Treasures to unite and transform into Dao patterns?
In short, for Princess Fire Phoenix, who has not yet reached the Golden Core stage and has little time to comprehend the Dao patterns and Nirvana Fire, combining the three treasures would not be of much benefit to her.

Either the ancestor is gone, or the spirit object that formed the infant is lost.

Either the Four Elders of Emptiness are gone, or a life-saving legacy is lost.

She didn't want it, but she had no choice but to ask Su Qing.

Furthermore, Su Qing was required to cooperate with her in putting on a good show, so that the Four Elders of the Void and the Fire Phoenix Ancestor would know that she had done her best.

"Since you are so stubborn, it must be because you have some connection with me. However, since the matter of the precious garment is of great importance and cannot be influenced by my personal feelings, I have no choice but to offend you!"

Princess Fire Phoenix let out a cold snort, and Su Qing's heart tightened immediately. He scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, expecting five or six Fire Phoenix elders to jump out from the banquet and surround him.

Unexpectedly, all that appeared were a bunch of second and third-tier princesses and tigers!

This immediately made him realize that the one who wanted to obtain the Void Cloak was none other than the Four Void Elders, not the Fire Phoenix Ancestor.

It makes sense. With his days numbered, even if he obtained the Dao patterns, he wouldn't have time to comprehend and control them. It would be even more difficult than Jade Wall True Person comprehending the Immortal God Ice. Furthermore, given the precedent of his failure and the resulting destruction of his entire sect, the ancestor should have no such delusions.

Thus, the Void Phoenix that was derived from these four Dao patterns no longer wanted to work for the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom. It wanted to combine the three treasures and integrate the power of the Dao patterns, attempting to establish its own sect and become an existence similar to Gao Erqiang and Tong Laodao.

How can this be done?

Both being capitalists, they all love their employees.

Su Qing thought about what Xiong Er might do if he ever wanted to leave him and go it alone, and immediately understood what Princess Huofeng was thinking.

Who would be willing to let go of the phoenixes that have been raised by their families for hundreds of thousands of years?
Even if it were just a Dao pattern, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Even with a Dao pattern, without comprehension and good fortune, one might not be able to comprehend anything. But these four young phoenixes can be passed down from generation to generation as a treasure to protect the country and the clan.

Having experienced similar feelings, I naturally put my heart and soul into the performance.

With his skillful acting, deceiving the demonic cultivators, tricking the Lion Brother, and teasing the four young phoenixes was a piece of cake.

With eight hands and four spears, and nine tails and nine swords, he slaughtered the princess's puppets, causing them to flee in disarray. Even when the princess summoned the nuns of all ages in the nunnery to help, their spears moved like dragons, killing them with screams and groans.

As for the four elders of the Void, although they were anxious and worried, the four young phoenixes danced and circled in front of the princess, but they had no ability to stop Su Qing. They were good at defense but not offense, so they could only rely on others to have a chance to obtain the other two treasures.

This is also why they signed a contract with the Fire Phoenix Kingdom and have served them ever since.

Unfortunately, they were unaware of the dangers of cultivation, and they didn't know that there was such a thing as going through the motions without putting in any effort.

Seeing Su Qing's fierce and menacing appearance, emanating a Daoist aura that terrified them, and how he had nearly killed his allies, breaking through the encirclement to snatch Qinghe back from Princess Fire Phoenix, and then leaving triumphantly.

The Four Elders of Emptiness looked at the remains of puppets scattered on the ground, as well as the countless dead and injured nuns and female cultivators, and did not see any reason why Princess Fire Phoenix was holding back her strength.

After all, they were in a foreign land, and it was already quite an achievement that Princess Fire Phoenix helped them chase them all the way here. We shouldn't ask for more.

Princess Huofeng and Xi Sui stood together, their beautiful eyes watching Su Qing leave with Qinghe in her left arm and Liang Hai in her right, without any intention of chasing after him.

After they disappeared to the edge of the sky, the princess spoke sincerely to the Four Elders of Emptiness:
"As previously agreed, I will use myself as bait to lure the Phantom Troupe and seek the treasure robe for the Four Elders. If successful, the two treasures will be combined, and with the help of the Joyful Clan, we will seize the Sumeru Bowl of the Fulong Temple. If we fail, the Four Elders will be won over and sign a Daoist contract with me, which will be used to protect me and the country after the Ancestor passes away."

"It seems the time is not yet ripe. The precious robe is unwilling to align itself with the four elders, thus it was lost before our eyes. However, I can promise the four elders that after they sign a Daoist contract with me, if they ever encounter that scoundrel Su Qing again, I will surely kill him without mercy and win back the precious robe and alms bowl for them!"

······
"These four fire phoenixes have truly followed the wrong person. If they continue to cooperate with the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom, even after tens of thousands of years, there will be no possibility of the three treasures being united!"

Su Qing, who put on a show for free, in exchange for Qinghe, and made Liang Haishun happy for half a day and earned three or four spirit stones, sentenced the fate of the four Void Elders in the Digging Dragon.

We only call you the Four Elders of Emptiness if you exert your efforts.

In reality, they were nothing more than the four idiots who had been deceived by evil people for over 100,000 years without realizing it.

"Woo woo woo!" Xiong Er whistled, also looking down at the four idiots of nothingness.

If you're going to acknowledge someone as your master, be decisive. If you're going to sell yourself, be efficient. Trying to break the contract in front of your master? There's no such thing as a free lunch. Xiong Er never thought about leaving his master to work on his own. He only wanted to serve his master to the death!

Pleading loyalty is useless.

Su Qing didn't believe it.

Given that Xiong Er's skills are mostly unorthodox and that he likes to associate with all sorts of people to learn new skills, and that after entering the Western Sea, he becomes surrounded by all sorts of people, he is easily led astray into the sinful path of betraying his master for personal gain.

For its own good, Su Qinglian added another layer of divine consciousness imprint to it. Besides him, Tiger Egg, as one of only two puppets to develop self-awareness, was also not spared.

Compared to Xiong Er, Hu Dan is a good comrade.

They are always prepared for war, ready to respond to emergencies, and ready to fight in times of war; they are never idle.

After comprehending the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Mountain Sword within the Heavenly Sword Crossing the West Diagram and becoming a master of the Nine Swords Style.

Tiger Egg was not satisfied. He controlled nine swords with his nine tails, gripped the swords with his tiger claws, and held the swords in his mouth. He showed a tendency to progress towards the Ten Sword Style and the Eleven Sword Style.

"Focus on your cultivation. Once things are more stable in the future, I'll definitely provide you and Liu Yin with a separate house!"

Su Qing drew a picture of a pie for Tiger Egg, patted Tiger Egg on the shoulder, and strolled out of the quiet room.

I went outside for a look around.

Xiong Er stared with his bear eyes and wandered around like a hooligan.

Because Rao Tingshan and Li Kuishan, both at the third level of the Golden Core stage, returned to the Earth-Digging Dragon, even though it and Qinghe could deceive others with their cheating methods, they could not deceive these two. Since their cheating failed, they had no good cards to play.

Rao Tingshan was really going too far. As their savior, Xiong Er was not only not grateful, but they also did not express their gratitude.

Upon returning to the Digging Cage, they immediately added several more locks to all the spirit cages overnight and arranged for personnel to patrol the area day and night.

Who are they trying to protect themselves from?

Are you trying to keep your distance from me?

Xiong Er, who originally planned to start his operation before getting off the vehicle, spent the last few days leading Li Hailang to search and investigate the Digging Dragon, but they found no loopholes whatsoever.

Hey! This Rao Tingshan, he might as well have died in the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom!

"Otherwise, before we get off the bus, let Boss Su..." Li Hailang made a throat-slashing gesture. Robbing cultivators was his old profession, and wanting to make a fortune with Xiong Er, he instinctively wanted to kill and rob.

"Woo woo woo!" Xiong Er shook its head in refusal. For a high-ranking bear like it, who had mastered master-level thief skills, proficient business skills, and king-level lending methods, there were many ways to make money. It disdained to do things like killing and robbing, which had no technical content.

Su Qing ignored the little commotion between the man and the bear and walked straight toward Rao Ting Mountain.

"I was just about to go find Fellow Daoist Su, but I was afraid of disturbing his cultivation..."

When Rao Tingshan saw Su Qing coming over, he immediately greeted her with a wry smile.

"Oh, I wonder what business you have with me, my friend? If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know!"

Offering help is fine, but lending money is out of the question. Su Qing knew that Rao Tingshan had been extorted by the princess in the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom and was scrambling to raise money to cover his losses, so she was extremely wary of him.

"I don't know how to tell you, fellow Daoist..."

Rao Tingshan's tone was hesitant, and his expression was awkward, much like the prelude to someone asking for money, which made Su Qing wary. "To be honest, fellow Daoist, I went to sea to gamble for wealth and fortune. It is precisely because I have no wealth and fortune that I go to gamble for it. Do you understand what I mean?"

“Even if you’re not rich, you shouldn’t steal!” Li Kuishan, who had followed, spoke up when he saw Rao Tingshan stammering and unable to speak.

Rao Tingshan glared at him and quickly tried to cover it up, saying, "It can't be called stealing, but if Fellow Daoist Su is short of spirit crystals and spirit stones, given the kindness of Fellow Daoist Su in saving us before, we can pool our resources and give you thirty or fifty spirit stones for emergency use. There is really no need to harm the ordinary members of the caravan."

"What makes you say that? Is it because the caravan was robbed, and you're suspecting me? I haven't left my meditation room these past few days. Don't make baseless accusations!"

“It wasn’t said that you made it, but your puppet…” Rao Tingshan’s gaze fell on Xiong Er, who was still banging on the spirit cage.

Xiong Er!
That's really hard to say!
Su Qing began to feel somewhat insecure. Although he had repeatedly warned Xiong Er not to attack the caravan before getting off the vehicle, he wasn't sure if Xiong Er would be able to do so.

Rao Tingshan raised his hand and beckoned Xiong Er over, telling him to explain to Xiong Er himself. If it really was Xiong Er, he would teach it a lesson today!
"Woo woo woo!" Xiong Er's face turned red with rage, and he flew into a rage, his bear paws moving in a blur.

"Brother Xiong said he didn't do it. He lent out many of the spirit stones of the crew members on the ship. He has principles when it comes to stealing; he won't steal from his clients!"

Li Hailang translated for Xiong Er, saying that not only Rao Tingshan and Li Kuishan wouldn't believe what he said, but Li Hailang himself wouldn't believe it either.

But Su Qing believed it, because he was connected to Xiong Er by spirit and could feel Xiong Er's anxiety, anger, and resentment at that moment.

They were indeed wronged!

"This was not the work of my puppet. I've watched it grow up since it was a child, and I know its temperament perfectly well. There must be another thief in the caravan!"

Su Qing stood up to support Xiong Er.

Seeing this, the group of victimized team members behind Rao Tingshan, though still glaring angrily at Xiong Er and convinced that this thief was the criminal, dared not speak out due to Su Qing's tyranny.

Rao Tingshan and Li Kuishan, though dissatisfied, couldn't afford to fall out with Su Qing over such a trivial matter, so they waved their hands and said:

"Let's leave the earlier part behind. The journey ahead will take more than a month. I only hope that you will keep this puppet under control."

"Waaah!" Xiong Er cried out in even more grievance upon hearing this.

Su Qing was helpless. It was Xiong Er's bad reputation that made him a suspect in this situation. He deserved it. To clear his name, they had to find the real thief.

"Could it be Fellow Daoist Qinghe who did it?" After Rao Tingshan and Li Kuishan left, Li Hailang muttered to Su Qing from behind.

Su Qing glanced at the quiet room where Qing He was and shook her head slightly.

Qinghe preserved her innocence with Princess Huofeng, borrowed spirit stones, and was even given many good things such as magic robes and magic tools by the princess. Su Qing wondered whether she had truly preserved her innocence or had traded it for something else.

He went to the princess's place and not only paid off Xiong Er's debt, but also swallowed a third-tier spirit-nourishing pill. He is currently meditating and cultivating in the quiet room, so it couldn't have been her doing.

(End of this chapter)