Immortality begins with meditation puppets

In the Land of Despair, cultivators' divine senses are suppressed by the barrier array, making it difficult to project them hundreds of miles away to investigate the surrounding situation as they normally would.

Su Qing was not immune either, as his divine sense was difficult to project outwards, making it difficult to even send out his bee-scouting puppets for reconnaissance. These puppets had low intelligence and relied heavily on his divine sense for micro-management. However, he was more fortunate than other cultivators:

In preparation for his trip to the Land of No Return, he had long ago crafted the Inspiration Doll. The big-headed doll with an antenna made the puppet radar exceptionally effective.

In addition, his eyesight is far superior to that of ordinary cultivators. His True Eyes of Truth can see for hundreds of miles, and the mist and evil energy within that range cannot obscure his vision at all.

Just like now.

Ahead of him, a large group of shadowy figures that looked like no good, were more than a hundred miles away, yet he could see them clearly.

The large, dark figure, as big as a mountain, stood in the distance. Its face was deathly pale and its body was swollen. It was unknown how many years it had been submerged in the sea to have swollen to such an extent.

The four edema giants were at least at the fourth level of Nascent Soul cultivation in their lifetimes. They must have been pirate kings from ancient times, or old captains from their ancestors.

Su Qing could see that the four giants' mouths were twitching constantly, and they held array flags with patterns of Pixiu, Yazi and other creatures in their hands, as if they were vying with him for control of the four treasure ships.

If it were the pirate kings of Shipwreck Bay in the past, they would have immediately lost control of the four treasure ships and been seized by these veterans in such a situation.

But if they encounter Su Qing, no matter how these four edema giants operate, they are destined to do nothing.

Because Su Qing was skilled at training, after acquiring these dragon ships, he had already transformed the evil patterns on them into Dao patterns. The old pirate kings' attempts to use the same methods they used to deal with evil ships to compete for dominance were of no use.

Behind the four swollen giants, Su Qing could see a line of humanoid undead. Their clothes had long since melted away under the erosion of seawater over the years, but judging from the bluish-purple evil aura emanating from them, Su Qing guessed that they were the pirates who had retired from Shipwreck Bay over the years.

These dead pirates and cultivators achieved nothing in their lives, only worthy of being lowly thugs. Even after death, they were of little use, at most reaching the third-order Golden Core level.

But as the saying goes, "Many ants can kill an elephant." Generation after generation of pirates were sent to this desolate place after they died. To this day, their number is more than a million. To put it this way, Su Qing had never seen so many pirates when he fought against the living pirate king's army!

Then look at the treasure ship, which is being protected by four swollen pirate kings and millions of pirate ghosts.

This treasure ship has a dragon's head and a snake's body. Its hull is covered with a layer of golden light, as if it were cast in gold. It looks incredibly rich and powerful, but also incredibly sinister!

Upon seeing it, Su Qing knew that this ship must be the Qiuniu Treasure Ship that he had longed for and searched for in vain!

Unlike other Nine Dragon Boats, this Prisoner Ox Treasure Boat, although it also has the Five Elders Evil Marks residing inside, in addition to the evil energy, there is also a dark aura lingering around the hull that does not dissipate for a long time. It is likely that in addition to the Five Elders Evil Marks, there is also a high-ranking demon controlling and holding this ship inside.

It was this powerful demon who resided on the Prison Bull Treasure Ship and remotely controlled the other eight dragon ships. Over the years, he had stirred up trouble in the Western Sea, playing pirates and cultivators from birth to death with complete clarity, making them his henchmen in life and death, and using them to harm kind people like Su Qing!

Done!

We've been fighting evil spirits every day, but today we've been attacked and defeated by them!
Upon seeing the formation opposite them, Su Qing's heart skipped a beat, knowing that the situation was not good.

That treasure ship of the Prisoner of the Ox must be coming for me.

He wanted to hunt this treasure ship so that the nine sons could unite to form a true dragon. Isn't this Qiuniu treasure ship the same?

It was even more eager than he was, because apart from the Bixi Treasure Ship, the seven dragon ships in his possession had always been under its control. In a sense, he had taken them from it!

Ugh?
I was ignorant and rude before, and I took other people's things. It's understandable that they were angry. If I had returned it, wouldn't everything have been fine?

Return it? No way!

Su Qing shook his head, banishing this thought that went against his principles, and instead began to seriously consider a plan to defeat the enemy.

"Warning! Warning! The unicycle, the Phoenix-Winged Black Feather Demon, and the Flame Knight have all broken free from my villainous influence and are rushing towards Master at full speed to encircle him. Master, please make a quick decision. Which direction should we turn and run away from here?"

The villain's voice was sharp and tense. He trembled as he tried to crawl into Su Qing's storage bag, just like an ostrich. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, he lost his composure.

Seeing how useless it was, Su Qing suddenly missed her tiger egg, Xiong Er, even more.

With General Tiger and General Bear here, how could Su Qing allow the bandits to be so arrogant!

"All of you, all the dragon ships and the third-tier treasure ships, all of you, are to be placed together, end to end, forming a unified land force. In this battle, the enemy outnumbers us, so it is better to defend than to attack. We will use the treasure ships as strongholds and have a good fight against these evil bastards!"

At Su Qing's command, all the dragon ships and treasure ships moved as if guided by an extension of their own limbs. With the Pixiu treasure ship at the center and the Yazi, Jiaotu, Suanni, and other nine dragon ships forming the backbone, all the third-tier treasure ships converged. In an instant, all the treasure ships formed a continuous line, creating a concentric circle of land battle environment on the sea.

The reason he did this was to take advantage of the fact that the opposing Qiuniu treasure ships were outdated and not equipped with magic cannons, while his own ships were strong and had powerful cannons. As long as he protected the most powerful treasure ships in the inner circle, he could unleash a barrage of cannon fire and destroy the weak ships that had no cannons!

In addition, due to the many tricks and evils on the other side, his three most capable and valiant teams are not with him at the moment. Therefore, he can only rely on the puppet team that is still barely intact in his storage bag for this battle.

Lizard Knights!

Lizard Knights may lack naval combat skills, but given the opportunity to charge into battle, their capabilities may not be much inferior to those of mobile forces or the Demon God Legion!
In reality, there is a significant difference. The most important difference is that the Lizard Knights Order does not have a fourth-tier general leading the troops. There is only a third-tier peak Lizard Commander and dozens of third-tier Lizard Captains, who command over ten thousand Lizard Knights.

In reality, among all the puppets Su Qing currently possesses, the Lizard Knights are already at the bottom. If he doesn't update and replace them, the Lizard Knights may become the first unit under his command to disappear.

With no puppets available at the moment, Su Qing could only rely on his old brothers who had accompanied him through thick and thin. He released the entire Lizard Knights, their cold-faced generals, dual-wielding cavalry, and lizard horses all clad in heavy armor, standing in neat formation. Even before charging, they exuded a chilling and murderous aura.

Some spirit stones were allocated to the Lizard Knights, and they were told to stay put and wait until the pirate evil spirits stormed onto the ship, at which point they would have their chance to show their skills.

Above the Lizard Knights, twelve Golden Roc motherships were already in position. They would assist the Lizard Knights in the battle to defend the treasure ship. Due to the limitations of his divine sense, Su Qing dared not send them to the front line to fight, lest they get out of control and be damaged, which would be undesirable.

Then, the Twisted Tree Spirits were released again, leading the Wood Spirits and other auxiliary workers, who were assigned to each of the treasure ships. Their task in this battle was to control the magic cannons on the treasure ships and bombard those stupid undead!

By this point, he didn't have many puppets left in his storage bag, so he simply took them all out, one by one.

Two-headed mirage dragon, demon woman, abyssal Kui bull, aquatic giant, armored train hero... These puppets, which were originally outdated and should have been retired, were also rehired by him. Led by Qinglian, they served as firefighters on the battlefield, filling in gaps and going wherever needed. Not only the puppets, but even the fire egg, which had not been on the battlefield for a long time and had become a mascot, came to the side of the inspiration doll to cooperate with it in wartime missions such as enemy reconnaissance and spiritual interference.

"Everyone is a soldier! This will be a battle that I, Su Qing, will stake everything on!"

Su Qing tossed a storage bag containing tens of thousands of spirit stones into the Pixiu's mouth, expressing his determination for the battle to his soldiers.

Well, not many puppets can understand his spirit. After all, only Xiong Er and Hu Dan under his command have their own brains and can understand what it means for Su Qing to be willing to spend so much money!
Since we're going to go bankrupt, we should make a fortune!
On Su Qing's side, the Pixiu treasure ship gathered 100,000 spirit stones, and a shower of gold coins spewed out from the dragon head, giving all friendly forces a boost to all attributes such as attack, defense, health, and recovery.

The Qiuniu Treasure Ship, leading the pirate and undead army, had already approached within twenty miles. The two eerie dragon eyes on the Qiuniu Dragon Head glowed with green light as it gazed at the Su Qing fleet that was arranged in a barrel shape in front of it, seemingly in no hurry to make a move.

In just a few breaths, a cloud of blood rolled in from the northwest, accompanied by the howls of demons, which was extremely terrifying.

Su Qing looked around and saw a black-feathered demon with phoenix wings that stretched to the sky and the sea. Half of its body was filled with death energy, and the other half with demonic energy. Its state was constantly changing between life and death, sometimes alive and sometimes dead.

"What a formidable living demon king! He actually possesses some expertise in the Dao patterns of life and death!"

Su Qing's eyes shone brightly as she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hehehe, you junior, your cultivation is pathetic, but your eyesight is remarkable. With such abilities, how did you manage to kill four demons? And almost ruin Fellow Daoist Jiu Kong's long-planned Nine Sons Return to Truth?"

The Phoenix-Winged Black Feather Demon King was clearly possessed by a demon, and unlike what Su Qing had expected, it seemed to have no superior-subordinate relationship with the high-ranking demon residing on the Prison Bull Treasure Ship. In fact, it was a high-ranking demon of the same level as Su Qing!
He's also a ruthless character who has some understanding of the Dao patterns of life and death!

Su Qing inwardly groaned, but outwardly he couldn't show weakness. He stepped onto a blue cloud and soared upwards, landing a thousand feet in the air, slightly above the Phoenix-Winged Black Feather Demon King, and looked down at him, saying:
"My meager abilities are certainly no match for those ancient great powers, but dealing with you undying demons is a piece of cake!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a plump body! Nine Holes, Phoenix Extinction, if you two hadn't made your move sooner, don't blame me, the Fire Demon, for enjoying it first!" Just as Su Qing finished speaking his harsh words, the Phoenix Wing Demon King was about to get angry when a ball of eerie fire roared over, accompanied by a hoarse and unpleasant laugh. At first, it seemed to be a hundred miles away, but in an instant, it was as close as if it were right next to his ear.

As the words were spoken, a curved blade wreathed in eerie green flames swung toward Su Qing with lightning speed and fire-like swiftness. Any Nascent Soul cultivator would surely die if struck at such close range, and even a fourth-level body cultivator would suffer a great loss if caught off guard.

Unfortunately, it encountered Su Qing, and was already aware of her sneaky ambush thanks to the Inspiration Doll's constant location updates.

Just moments ago, Su Qing was described as serene and composed, showing no signs of physical cultivation aggression, and resembling a Dharma cultivator even more than a Dharma cultivator.

Suddenly, his demeanor changed drastically. He turned and waved his hand, the Qilin Arm Puppet covering his entire arm. The Quanxing Refining Furnace burst into flames and spewed out power. The immense power of Jiuli surged out and poured into the Xingtian Blood Axe in his hand. From top to bottom, it clashed head-on with the Ghostly Fire Curved Blade that was coming from bottom to top.

With a loud clang, the violent shockwave caused huge waves to erupt on the sea, stretching for dozens of miles.

Su Qing, positioned high above, held an axe in one hand, pressing down on the skeletal man and black horse from a height of thousands of feet.

"Is this the power a fourth-tier body cultivator can possess? Could this axe be the Xing Tian Blood Axe?"

The Fire Knight, or rather, the high-ranking demonic fire demon, failed in its sneak attack and was instead met head-on by Su Qing's axe. It felt its ancient, divine skeleton, which was now residing in the body of a celestial being, crackling and popping under the combined power of Xing Tian's Blood Axe and Su Qing's unparalleled strength, and it was uncertain when it would be completely destroyed under the strain.

Realizing it had miscalculated, it decisively cried out for help directly to Huang Mie and the two high-ranking demons with nine holes:

“Fellow Daoists, this boy is extremely fierce. He cultivates both physical and magical techniques, and his close combat skills are no less than mine. Moreover, he has gained the approval of Xing Tian’s Blood Axe.”

"We need not be polite to such a vicious person; delay will only lead to trouble. Quickly come to my aid, and with the combined power of the three demons, swiftly slay this fiend! I, the Fire Demon, swear that afterwards, his body is entirely at your disposal, my two fellow Daoists. I, the Fire Demon, will be satisfied if I can even share a drop of my essence with him!"

The Fire Demon had just witnessed Su Qing controlling numerous puppets with her divine sense. Due to past experience, she mistakenly believed that Su Qing was a magic cultivator and wanted to attack her at close range so that she could monopolize the benefits of Su Qing's body.

The mere thought of this angered both Huang Mie and Jiu Kong. Demons are like this; they have no father or ruler, no respect for heaven and earth, and even their companions are full of deceit and treachery. If they encounter a strong enemy, they might be able to cooperate in hunting, but Su Qing is clearly not a strong enemy in their eyes right now. The Fire Demon's attempt to monopolize the spoils is even more intolerable to them.

Phoenix perished, and Nine Holes watched coldly from the sidelines.

Upon seeing this, the Fire Demon immediately began to hurl insults and profanities, but this could not change the fact that even the black horse beneath him could not withstand Su Qing's attack and its legs were broken by the force of Su Qing's axe.

The moment the horse's leg broke, the Fire Demon lowered its body and swung out a wisp of eerie fire with its left hand towards Su Qing, attempting to take the opportunity to sheathe its sword and avoid battle.

It wasn't stupid. It knew that this person possessed strength comparable to a witch and had the deadly weapon Xing Tian Blood Axe in hand. It was one thing to be locked in by his aura and unable to escape, but now that it was about to give up, if it didn't find a chance to escape, it would really be courting death.

The Demon of the Fiery Flame is capable of burning anything. It is formed from the essence of the Fire Demon and has the ability to ignore the protective aura and true qi of cultivators. The Fire Demon hastily released the flames, not expecting to burn Su Qing to death. It only wanted to take advantage of the moment when Su Qing dodged and follow the gaps in Su Qing's qi to escape from the area where Su Qing's body cultivation was considered an enemy.

To his surprise, when the fiery demon landed on Su Qing, Su Qing neither dodged nor avoided it. Instead, a divine phoenix rose above Su Qing's head, swallowed the ferocious fiery demon whole.

Its true form, with eyes wide with rage, arms like writhing dragons, wielded a blood-red axe with even greater speed than before, aiming straight for the demonic essence within the Fire Demon's chest! (End of Chapter)