Immortality begins with meditation puppets

On the World's Pinnacle.

The two immortals, Subduing Tiger and Subduing Dragon, were arguing fiercely.

"Fu Hu, have you forgotten what your mother taught us? When you're out in the world, treat others with sincerity. In your dealings with others, you should be open and honest with yourself. Look at you now, you can just spout nonsense."

"What Styx Robe? That black cloth is just a replica we created by reflecting the Styx Robe onto the Mirror of Reincarnation. Look how scared Master Su is! He kindly helped us tow the boat, and his price was fair. He didn't try to rip us off. What you're doing is so despicable!"

Master Jianglong, wielding the aura of an elder brother, lectured his younger brother, intending for him to take the Mirror of Reincarnation to Master Su and explain the situation properly, lest he frighten the kind-hearted master into something terrible.

Looking at his frank but foolish elder brother, Master Fuhu felt utterly exhausted but had no choice but to explain:
"It's a wonder that you, my elder brother, have lived for thousands of years and still remember your mother's instructions. But for thousands of years, you've been busy playing with snakes and haven't experienced much of the world. You don't know the wickedness of people's hearts."

You should know that Master Su is a man of great righteousness, and when he saw us in distress, he immediately came to our aid.

What I saw was Master Su leading a treasure ship puppet, surrounding us from all sides and attacking us. If it weren't for the fact that you and I brothers have some skills, do you believe he would have robbed us on the spot?

"But he didn't rob anyone, so he's a good person. We were even fortunate to have him help tow the boat along the way. When it comes to making friends, we should judge by actions, not intentions. Fuhu, you've chosen the wrong path!"

Master Jianglong earnestly tried to guide Fuhu onto the right path. Over the years, he had been so busy playing with snakes that he had neglected to teach his brother. He should take advantage of this opportunity to work together to give him a good lesson in benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. He, Master Jianglong, was always good at judging people, and the benefits of being friends with that Fellow Daoist Su were definitely greater than those of being his rival!

Fu Hu was unconvinced. His elder brother had really gone mad from playing with snakes. For thousands of years, if it weren't for Fu Hu working hard outside and smoothing things over inside, the two brothers would probably have been playing with snakes forever, and wouldn't even have been able to gather enough resources to advance to the fourth level of True Person.

"Brother, don't rush to scold me. You know I have a Thousand-Eyed Pigeon, right? After encountering Master Su and his group, I released this pigeon. Do you know what it saw? Just now, three hundred miles away from us, Master Su's men, along with a group of puppets, were sneakily lying in ambush in the sea!"
Who were we ambushing? Were we ambushing you and my brothers? If I hadn't pulled out the Styx Robe and scared them, you and my brothers would probably be sunk to the bottom of the sea by now. Su Qing is just a rogue cultivator, without parents, without anyone to rely on, rising rapidly in the past hundred years entirely on his own. If you think he's naive and kind, you're sorely mistaken!

"Perhaps Master Su was worried about the road ahead and sent people and puppets to scout ahead? Maybe it's just a misunderstanding!"

The Dragon-Subduing Immortal said awkwardly. He wasn't really stupid. He realized that when Su Qing came to their ship earlier, there was a bear-like puppet on the Dragon Island Bixi next to them with shifty eyes, looking at them. He thought his second brother was right. This Immortal Su might really have the intention to rob and kill. But as the older brother, he couldn't admit his mistake and had to stick to his guns.

Fu Hu didn't dwell on it, but instead gave his elder brother a serious look in the cabin and solemnly instructed him:
"The emergence of the Land of Despair is a golden opportunity for my Thousand Islands Immortal Kingdom to overtake others. The great calamity has begun and spiritual energy is recovering. My Styx Sect is already one step behind the Penglai Sect!"
The elders allowed us to bring out the Mirror of Reincarnation, one of the Seven Treasures of the Styx River, and even had us replicate the Styx Robe beforehand, hoping that my brother and I could achieve a breakthrough in the Land of Despair. At the very least, elder brother, you must seize the opportunity to advance to the fifth rank. Such an opportunity is irreplaceable; we brothers must grasp it. Once we reach the Land of Despair, elder brother, you must act with caution!

"Don't worry, second brother, I know what I'm doing. When we get to that place of desolation, ignore everything else and just focus on those two cloud dragons! Once I reach the fifth level, I'll guarantee you a lifetime of wealth and honor!"

Concerning his own future path, Master Jianglong's expression turned serious. He had been lying low on Fangzhang Immortal Island for thousands of years, and now it was finally time for him to show his skills!

Unable to bear watching his elder brother, who stood with his hands behind his back posing like a Taoist master, Master Fuhu silently returned to the cabin to make preparations. The pseudo-Nether River Robe was not the real Nether River Robe. In order for it to unleash its power, in addition to the fourth-tier treasure ship specially prepared for it, other treasures and weapons were also needed to cooperate with it in order to allow it to show the power of the Nascent Soul level.

This is a delicate task that only Fuhu can do himself; you can't rely on his simple-minded older brother.

Sigh, Fu Hu did all the work, all for the sake of helping him advance to the fifth rank. He didn't expect Fu Hu to guarantee his wealth after advancing to the fifth rank; he just hoped that Fu Hu wouldn't have to support him in the future!

······
Giant Corpse Island is more than 500,000 miles away from the Land of Extinction. At the speed of Su Qing's treasure ship fleet, it would normally take more than ten days to reach the destination. However, due to the presence of the two burdens, Fu Hu and Jiang Long, the speed inevitably slowed down. According to Xiong Er, who also worked as a navigator, it would take about twelve or thirteen days to reach the edge of the Land of Extinction.

"Quickly use the nunchucks, hmph hmph ha hee. Quickly use the nunchucks, hmph hmph ha hee. Martial arts practitioners, remember, the benevolent are invincible. Who is practicing Tai Chi, creating such a whirlwind?"

On Dragon Island's Bixi, Xiong Er was training the nunchaku team. Each of the third-tier nunchaku, inspired by the battle song specially instructed by Su Qing, wielded the nunchaku with impressive skill. Under the spur of their instructor Xiong Er, they also developed a strong sense of teamwork. With hundreds of them forming a group, they could not be said to be comparable to fourth-tier Nascent Soul cultivators, but they could definitely satisfy their clients!

Yes, these approximately one hundred nunchucks were not prepared by Su Qing for himself, but rather were goods he intended to deliver to the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom.

Before they headed to Giant Corpse Island, Su Qing received a message from Yun'er through the Heavenly Talisman Token, saying that the Desire Immortal Kingdom was under great pressure.

It turned out that the Earth Demon Heaven was a monster. Originally, everyone was preparing to attack him from both sides, but it followed the forces of the Pingxi Martial Kingdom and launched a pincer attack on the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom and the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom from both sides.

Led by his second evil god, Wanmutong, a million-strong army of evil spirits bypassed the Earthly Treasury Kingdom of Ksitigarbha through the demonic underground passages within his evil kingdom, and crushed all the large and small immortal kingdoms between the Earthly Treasury Kingdom and the Fire Phoenix Kingdom, heading straight for the Fire Phoenix Kingdom.

More tragic news arrived: the old Fire Phoenix of the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom was assassinated in Phoenix City by the fourth-tier Spirit Assassin of the Pingxi Martial Kingdom, wielding the Fish Intestine Sword, a weapon of human slaughter.

With the tragic death of the old phoenix, the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom was thrown into chaos. The Fire Phoenix Princess, who had hastily ascended to the throne, killed countless people amidst her arrogant laughter, subdued various forces, and quickly stabilized the situation. However, the fatal flaw in her cultivation level could not be remedied.

The only option is to rely on the Four Elders of Emptiness to protect the Immortal Kingdom from external enemies. However, it is no longer possible to send supplies and personnel to support the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom as before.

Wanmutong, who had already been promoted to a fourth-order evil god, did not primarily target the Fire Phoenix Immortal Kingdom. After seeing that the Immortal Kingdom was powerless to intervene in the war between the Demon Sect and the Pingxi Martial Kingdom, he immediately led his army eastward at full speed. The eastward and westward movements of the Pingxi Martial Kingdom's army greatly angered Shi Lijing.

According to Yun'er, even Shi Lijing's own son, Shi Zhifang, has been sent to the front lines by his father, the sect leader, so one can imagine the pressure he is under.

This message, however, was from Shi Lijing, who had placed an urgent order with her. Puppetry, armor, magical artifacts, pills—he wanted as many as he could, and the price was negotiable, as long as he could deliver them quickly. Su Qing didn't hesitate. Urgent orders were priced three times the market rate, an industry norm. Such lucrative business was offered to him, and there was no reason to refuse. Even if Su Qing were to risk his life in the Land of Despair, he had to earn this money first!

He packaged the business of armor, magic weapons, pills and other items to various shops such as Jia Tianxia in Wanghai Immortal City. He sent a message to his elder brother Erqiang in advance, asking Erqiang to send a wisp of divine power avatar to make the trip. The benefits were obvious. The sensible Ying Jueshen and others would not let Su Qing, the middleman, suffer, nor would they dare to let Gao Erqiang suffer.

Meanwhile, he was busy forging nunchucks.

The materials used to create this puppet were quite simple; they were brought to him by Shi Lijing when they met on Langya Immortal Island. They were all third-tier generals from the Pingxi Martial Kingdom whom they had killed.

He contracted to do the work but not the materials, and for every nunchaku he delivered, Su Qingchun earned over ten thousand spirit stones.

Knowing that Shi Lijing must be in a hurry, Su Qing did not disappoint him. After completing the forging of his own Demon God Group, he set about refining it. After working for several days, he finally finished refining this batch of nunchucks.

After watching Xiong Er train his troops for a while, Su Qing waved his hand:

"That's enough. While improving customer experience with the first batch of goods is important, we're the ones who have to pay for this training exercise. It's more important to get rid of them quickly and let the sect leader vent his anger!"

“Master, you should save where you should and spend where you should. Although training the troops for one day will consume more than a thousand spirit stones, the longer you train, the stronger these puppets will become. If the customer experience is good, you can easily raise the price of the next batch of puppets and make up for this expense!”

Xiong Er, who had just started working part-time as an instructor, was clearly not satisfied yet. The main reason was that his master no longer allowed him to fish or hunt, and he dared not mess with the two brothers, Jianglong and Fuhu. Xiong Er had no income on the boat, and his only job was as an instructor. He didn't want to be unemployed after only a few days of receiving his wages.

Su Qing had no time to pay attention to Xiong Er. Following the secret method that Shi Lijing had taught her, she activated the talisman seal and began to connect with the mother-child talisman guiding stele in the Desire Immortal Kingdom.

The myriad shimmering lights danced like fireflies and butterflies above the Bixi of Dragon Island, then, as if guided by something, surged to the right side of his body, swirling in a circle before flowing out of the cave.

Looking at the black hole that connects to the Demon Sect's headquarters, Su Qing could imagine how anxious Shi Lijing must be standing on the other side of the black hole. However, he did not rush to deliver the goods to the door, but silently watched the black hole without making any move for a long time.

Only after one, two, and three bags of spirit stones fell into the black hole did he allow the nunchucks, lined up in a long queue, to jump into the hole one by one. Payment before delivery was Su Qing's rule. No matter how urgent the other side was or how profitable the order was, he could not make an exception, lest he spoil his master's respect for him.

After all the nunchucks were delivered, seeing the black hole slowly shrinking and about to close, Su Qing urgently threw in Tiger Head Runner, Swift Traveler and other puppets. These puppets were prepared for the witch Yun'er. He had long ago given Yun'er the Four Lions of Emptiness for protection, and with this batch of escape puppets, she should be able to be well protected.

"A million spirit stones in just a few days! My dear brother, your money-making speed is truly enviable!"

Tong Laodao, who had been watching the entire delivery process from the sidelines, was extremely envious. He just wished that his good younger brother Su Qing would take him under his wing. Even selling mines didn't earn him as much!

"It's all thanks to the kindness of friends from all sides. There's a war going on over there, and they urgently need the goods, so we quickly refined them for them. Don't worry about it, dear brother. Once things are settled in the Land of Desolation, I'll definitely arrange the hundred treasure ship puppets I promised you!"

Su Qing smiled and exchanged a few subtle words with Tong Chang. The two then shared their views on the current situation in the western inland region, both believing that the key to this battle lay in which country, the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom or the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom, would be unable to withstand the pressure first.

The Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom is suffering greatly from the combined attack of the Western Martial Kingdom and the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom, whose stronghold was empty, was also dealing with the siege of the Punishment God Kingdom (formerly Wanghai Immortal City, renamed the Punishment God Kingdom after the supreme and benevolent Punishment God ascended to the throne, at the unanimous suggestion of all the cultivators in the city) and the Ksitigarbha Buddha Kingdom.

"In my opinion, since the Earth Demon Heaven dared to send out troops, it must be confident that it can defend the Demon Tree Evil Kingdom. It has been operating the Evil Kingdom for a long time, and its foundation is unfathomable. In addition, it has colluded with the Demon Buddha and the Pingxi Martial Kingdom, so it must have obtained some powerful methods from them. It is really not easy to deal with!"

Su Qing recalled the towering demonic tree he had seen when he passed through the Demonic Tree Kingdom years ago. Even though he was no longer the same person he was then, he was still wary of it. Just by looking at how it had risen from nothing and stood firm in the West Sea for many years as an evil spirit, without ever being wiped out by any forces, he knew that its methods and character were far beyond those of the likes of the Heavenly Mother of the West Sea!

"In the early years, I also dealt with this evil god. It is true that he has some skills, but he is far inferior to Fellow Daoist Gao. The position of the God of Punishment and Killing that he attained may have a great cause and effect behind it. If I am not mistaken, he was born from evil patterns, but he may very well be the reincarnation of an ancient great god."

Of course, the two strong ones are only just beginning to become strong. They are certainly no match for the Earth Demon Heaven now. However, the Earth Treasury Buddhist Kingdom and Fulong Temple are the orthodox Buddhist sects, which have been passed down since ancient times. Their foundation is far superior to that of the Earth Demon Heaven. With them joining forces with Fellow Daoist Gao, the Earth Demon Heaven will not be able to cause any trouble.

Of course, the most important thing is the foundation you laid for the Divine Kingdom of Punishment and Slaughter, my dear brother. This foundation has allowed the kingdom to prosper in all its industries, with ample reserves of armor, magical artifacts, puppets, and elixirs. With this as a backing, the Demon Tree Immortal Kingdom, having exhausted its main forces, won't last long. At the very least, the Desire Demon Immortal Kingdom will definitely outlast them!

Tong Chang, on the other hand, had great confidence in the Xing Sha Divine Kingdom and the Lust Demon Immortal Kingdom. Su Qing knew without a doubt that the old Taoist had calculated it with a crystal ball. She also knew that the old Taoist had recently used this great war to have his Lanxiang Madam, whom he had left on Langya Immortal Island, sell off her goods at the Xing Sha Heaven Kingdom's Langya Workshop through Ling Ying, who was her old friend, and make a fortune from the war.

"While they're fighting fiercely over there, things aren't peaceful in the Land of Despair either. My dear brother, I still need to prepare some strategies, so I won't go into details with you today!"

Su Qing didn't ask in detail which deity Er Qiang was, because he knew the old Taoist wouldn't dare tell him. He was a busy man who made tens of thousands of yuan every minute, so how could he have time to chat with the old Taoist in detail?

"You go ahead and do your work, don't worry about me. Make some good stuff so I can feel at ease. This crystal ball is terribly hot every day, it makes my heart sink. I'm only at ease if my good brother makes some puppets!"

Tong Chang dared not delay Su Qing's mission; after all, this journey to the Land of Desolation could mean the difference between his own life and Su Qing's, if he went wrong! (End of Chapter)