Immortality begins with meditation puppets

Chapter 378 Divine Runes, Guardian Incense

Debao rubbed his hands together and followed Princess Leopard upstairs step by step, so nervous that he didn't even notice Princess Leopard's swaying hips.

He knew in his heart that Su Qing would not be called the "Twin Heroes of Baiyun" alongside him, but was called the "Twin Heroes of Wanghai" by countless cultivators and Gao Erqiang!
He is a fourth-tier puppeteer, a Yuanmeng True Person, a giant who protects a region, and a hero whose business extends all over the world!

Good heavens! How did Su Qing manage to get by? We're all born of parents, how come he's so capable?

De Bao muttered to himself, but before pushing open the puppet-making room, he took out a beautiful snake-woman he had treasured in his storage bag, a snake that had been used until it was covered in patina.

This is no ordinary beautiful snake; it is a testament to the friendship between Fellow Daoist Su and him!

"Brother Debao, there's no need to be nervous. I'm not the kind of person who would want to be someone's father just because I've reached a high level of cultivation. Between us, we're still equals!"

Su Qing glanced at Wei Debao, who was about to take out the beautiful snake, and nodded to Debao with amusement.

De Bao sheepishly put the beautiful snake back into his storage bag, his tension easing considerably, but he dared not treat Su Qing with the same disrespect as before.

After all, even his uncle-in-law, being a Golden Core cultivator, usually bossed him around and acted like a superior. This was determined by their cultivation levels and statuses, so why should Su Qing be an exception?
"I must have been a bit reckless at the celebration stage earlier. I couldn't help but feel excited to see you, Daoist Su, and had all my nephews and nieces call you their uncle. It was just a joke, so please don't take it seriously, Daoist Su!"

After taking a tour of Wanghai City and gaining a clearer understanding of Su Qing's current strength and status, Wei Debao felt that Su Qing's uncles and nephews probably couldn't be recognized anymore; he could just rely on his uncles Shao, Liang, and Xiong.

Su Qing shook her head, looking directly at Wei Debao and said:
“Brother Debao and I are sworn brothers who have survived the fire pit of Baiyun. I have something to ask you, and I hope you will tell me frankly.”

"Brother Su, feel free to ask. I guarantee that I'll tell you everything I know, whether I know it or not, and whatever I have in my head!" Debao said, patting his chest, seeing that Su Qing's attitude towards him was as usual.

Su Qing pondered for a moment before slowly saying:

"Brother Debao is not unemployed, but rather his family has a secret and powerful profession passed down through generations?"

Upon hearing this, Debao was taken aback. Just moments ago he had been so forthright and eager to speak his mind, but now he was stammering and trying to evade the question.

But seeing Su Qing staring intently at him, as if she had already guessed what he meant, he decided to go all out and stamped his foot, saying:
"It is indeed a secret, passed down from our ancestors for countless millennia, and has never been known to outsiders. How could it not be a secret? But to say it is powerful, it is really not powerful at all."

In my Wei family, there are two traditional professions: male members are incense keepers, and female members are incense deliverers.

Those who guard the incense are immortals and gods, while those who deliver the incense are humans who continue the fire. However, the gods of the Heavenly Court have been out of place for many years, and only evil patterns appear in the world, while divine patterns are nowhere to be seen. Without immortals and gods, for whom does my Wei family guard the incense?
It's just that my older sisters and aunts cultivated the Profound Essence Furnace Technique, which allowed the human race to continue its lineage for a hundred or two generations. It's only because the Yunshan Immortal Kingdom was completely wiped out that the cultivators in that Yunshan Immortal Kingdom, going back several generations, were all related to my Wei family. With them around, my nephews and nieces could go anywhere and beg for food!
"I'm not afraid to tell Brother Su about this, since I've seen Brother Su's attitude towards evil spirits. But this matter cannot be known to others, because my father, and even my father's father, were buried with this secret!"

After Debao finished speaking, his whole body felt itchy all over, as if it had thorns growing on it. He waited anxiously for Su Qing's reply, wanting to know why Su Qing had asked this question.

Su Qing's expression softened. After hearing what Brother Bao said, which was almost exactly what he had guessed, he immediately realized that Er Qiang had really hit the jackpot by making such a good brother as Su Qing.

Because Su Qing happened to be able to protect this brother!

Debao happens to have these thirty-six nephews!
It's not that the seventy-two nieces are useless, but they are only useful to the ambitious male cultivators of Wanghai City, and not very useful to Erqiang.

"Brother Debao, give me a straight answer. Have you passed on your family's martial arts techniques to your nephew?" Su Qing stepped forward and put his arm around Debao's shoulder.

"The Wei family's traditional martial arts were originally divided equally between men and women. The martial arts belonging to the male members were never passed on to outsiders. But back in Baiyun City, when Debao was not sure whether he was alive or dead, I was afraid that the martial arts would be lost, so I also gave a copy to my nephews."

These little brats have been feeding De Bao all these years, making him strong and healthy. They're practicing my family's secret techniques, and they're no less skilled than De Bao was back then. Hey, De Bao only achieved that level of skill by feeding seven of his brothers-in-law. Now that they've been feeding De Bao all by themselves, they've really made him suffer.

The other day, my nephew asked Debao to get him a passion puppet, saying he couldn't hold back his desires. That brat! If he can't hold back his desires, he could at least get a piece of pork. Debao is still using the old snake beauty; where would he get the spirit stones to get him a passion puppet…”

When this comes up, he'll go on and on like a nagging old woman, talking about the hardships of raising his nephews who practice Falun Gong all these years.

Su Qing listened for a long time, not wanting to hear about how bitter his past was, but only wanting him to know how rich he would be in the future!
With a clap of his hands, a row of thirty-six first-tier beautiful snakes, along with a second-tier beautiful snake that made Debao's eyes light up, appeared before Debao.

"These are my gifts for Brother Debao and my nephews. My nieces also have some small gifts, which Qinghe will take them to Langya Lane to collect later."

"This...this is all for us? That's so embarrassing, you must have your nephews come up and kowtow to Uncle Su right now!"

The gift was too extravagant; Debao wouldn't feel at ease without kowtowing a few times. Just as Debao was putting the second-tier beautiful snake into his storage bag and was about to call his nephews up, Su Qing stopped him, saying:
"These puppets are nothing. If Brother Debao is willing to do something for me, I dare not say anything about other things, but I will take care of all the puppets that my nephews will follow Brother Debao in the future!"

"Is it for you, brother? And not for that evil god Gao Erqiang?" Wei Debao obviously realized something and asked for confirmation.

“Those two evil gods are not qualified to serve the Wei family. It’s just that I have some brotherly affection for Brother Wei. I’m asking Brother Wei and his nephews to do a small favor because of our past friendship!” Su Qing said, praising the situation.

Upon hearing this, Debao's expression hardened, and he said in a deep voice:
"I know what Brother Su wants my Wei family to do, but my sisters have entrusted their nephews to me. I can't just ask them to live long and become rich, but I can't just push them into a pit of fire."

We can do the work, but the spiritual contract must be made with Brother Su, signed and sealed, and our spiritual consciousness must be inscribed on the contract to sever all ties with Gao Erqiang.

Those two strong men harmed many people in White Cloud Immortal City back then, and Debao and his nephews still remember it. They never imagined they'd become henchmen of this evil god!

"Of course, I'm the same way. If it weren't for the circumstances that forced me to cooperate with this evil god, I would have killed him long ago!"

Su Qing repeatedly assured De Bao that although they would be working for Er Qiang, their employment relationship would still be with Su Qing, and they would be considered as Su Qing's labor dispatch!
"Wei Debao, the 109th generation descendant of the Wei family, raises three furnaces and lights five incense sticks. With the incense as witness, he leads his thirty-six nephews to form a spiritual pact with Su Qing, the Taoist priest, vowing to serve him for a hundred years. He asks for the protection of the Wei family ancestors and also asks Heaven and Earth to be his guarantor!"

Bang!
As Wei Debao swore an oath, five incense sticks swirled in front of him, and three balls of fire spewed from his mouth. Amidst the pervasive incense smoke, Su Qing smelled a scent identical to that inside the Great Temple in the Sea Cave.

His eyes lit up, and he nodded to himself, confirming that his prediction was correct.

It turned out that he had learned from ancient books about immortals and gods that the so-called ancient gods were actually Dao patterns that transformed into divine patterns, and the divine patterns transformed into gods on their own, or that living beings occupied the divine patterns and became gods.

When Daoist patterns are tainted by evil and vengeful spirits, they become evil patterns; when they are tainted by good deeds and wondrous results, they become divine patterns.

As for Erqiang now, he wants to build a temple and burn incense, do many good deeds, and seek incense offerings. Through good deeds and wonderful results, he wants to transform his evil markings into divine markings, thereby becoming a righteous god of heaven and earth and breaking free from the shackles of evil gods.

A temple can be built and incense can be burned. However, once the incense is lit, it will attract countless evil spirits that covet it, swallow the incense and extinguish the fire, preventing them from succeeding.

This leads to a profession that has been passed down from ancient times.

The incense keeper!
The fire of the furnace is used to ward off evil spirits and protect the incense. When the incense goes out, the fire can be used to light more incense, thus protecting the whole family!
During the battle at Baiyun Immortal City, Su Qing discovered that although De Bao's merit was not as good as Niu Ya's, his ability to kill evil spirits far surpassed Niu Ya's.

For some reason, when I learned about the profession of incense keeper, I suddenly remembered that when I was following the contract in Baoding, I smelled a faint scent of incense.

The idea that the person tending the incense burner, whose inner fire is stronger than others, would have a greater need to release that fire further reinforces this speculation.

That explains his conversation with Debao just now!
“Brother Debao, these two strong individuals were previously threatened by the old evil spirit of Yunshan, which led them to commit such grave mistakes. Now that they wish to repent, we should give them a chance. After all, the countless immortals of Wanghai City will still need their protection in the future…”

As Su Qing finalized the contract, she anxiously gave De Bao some instructions.

"Brother Su, there's no need for further words. Since your nephews and nieces have called you Uncle Su, they're practically family to you. When family members do things together, we're sure they won't shirk their responsibilities!"

Regardless of what the two strong men did, Debao only cared about Su Qing's death.

Su Qing was taken aback, realizing that when she fled from Wanghai in the future, she would have to take Debao and her nephews with her.

Let them try to take advantage of him. With his vast fortune now, why would he be afraid of a few dozen first or second-tier cultivators taking advantage of him?

Can you really bankrupt him?
"Although this matter concerns me, it is ultimately Erqiang's business and also Wanghaicheng's business. All expenses should still be covered by public funds."

Brother Debao, don't stand on ceremony with Erqiang. After you go downstairs, take your nephews to Jia Tianxia to get the latest exorcism armor, to Fobaozhai to borrow the corresponding Buddhist treasures, and to Duanjia Shop to get a few Three Pure Ones puppets... Who will suffer? We can't let our nephews suffer, can we?"

While telling Debao not to be polite, Su Qing silently calculated how to reimburse the expenses. Two times was too little, five times was too much, so three times would be fine.

After all, Su Qing had to use his connections to secure this group of foreign aid players, and those connections were worth at least a thousand or eight hundred spirit stones.
They'll all be deducted from Erqiang's annual bonus! He's in seclusion every day, yet he still earns several thousand spirit stones every year—it's outrageous! If they don't take from him, whose will they take from?!
After explaining everything to Debao, Su Qing silently pondered for a while in the puppet-refining room. Still unable to put her mind at ease, she summoned Ji Yong'en and Ye Suo from the Sword Arrival Hall and asked them to take the ruthless sword cultivators of the Sword Arrival Hall with Debao and his nephews to go on missions in various mortal kingdoms of Wanghai.

(End of this chapter)