Immortality begins with meditation puppets

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the air was slightly chilly.

Inside the Wei family compound, Wei Debao, who is over 230 years old, has weathered many storms and been promoted to uncle, still feels like a young man!

He put on the sharkskin armor his fifth nephew had bought him, wore the protective bracelet his third niece had given him, carried the black gold war hammer his seventeenth nephew had bought him, and swallowed a Dragon Essence Tiger Fierce Pill and a Bone Strengthening and Blood Replenishing Pill. Hmm? Which nephew gave him these pills? Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. There are too many nephews and nieces who give him gifts during holidays. Who knows who gave them to him?

After rubbing his shoulders and warming up for a moment, Debao picked up his Xuanjin War Hammer, shouted loudly, and unleashed a burst of energy dozens of feet high, stirring up dust in the courtyard. Under the witness of the dust, he displayed the passion and youth of this two-hundred-year-old boy.

Just as he was practicing with great enthusiasm, enjoying himself immensely, and shouting incessantly, causing his neighbors to curse him from behind the courtyard wall.

The courtyard gate was gently pushed open, and the newcomer, wearing a rich man's hat and an expensive robe, hunched over with his hands tucked in, short and stout like a wealthy groundhog, immediately began to complain:

"I don't know what Master Su was thinking. He's holding a Heroes' Gathering, so why did he have to shut down the city's heating system? I've gotten used to the eternal spring-like climate of Far West City all year round. This sudden freezing weather is a bit hard to get used to. If I hadn't just bought this new Tier 3 Warm Spring Robe, I wouldn't have dared to leave the house."

Yao Guangquan exhaled white breath, seemingly complaining but actually showing off by shaking his robe.

Debao was engrossed in wielding his warhammer and didn't have time to pay attention to him. He glanced at him and then continued playing with his hammer.

Yao Guangquan didn't take it to heart. He sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, took out a tea set from his storage bag, and leisurely brewed some spiritual tea.

"Hey in-law, you're not really planning to participate in the Heroes' Gathering, are you?"

Yao Guangquan sipped his spirit tea, then casually spat out the tea leaves in an arc, before asking Debao, who had been wielding that warhammer with such skill over the decades, how he had truly mastered the craft.

Since arriving in the far west a hundred years ago, Yao Guangquan has followed in the footsteps of Master Su, starting his business by mining in the far western inland sea. Although he is still a minor Foundation Establishment cultivator, he has already amassed a considerable fortune. Even the dowry of 188,888 spirit stones that his beloved son received when he married his niece only made him feel the pinch for two or three years. Once he earned back that dowry in two or three years, he wouldn't feel so bad anymore.

And over the years, he has come to understand life better.

Given his aptitude, and considering the delays he faced in his youth, his chances of breaking through to the Golden Core stage in this lifetime are already very slim. Rather than torturing himself by continuing to cultivate, he might as well face reality and enjoy a carefree life watching his concubines vie for favor and forcing his son to have children.

Because of this idea, he found it particularly difficult to understand Debao's efforts. You see, over the years, Debao's engineering team has taken on countless mining projects, making a fortune for himself. Moreover, because he has many capable nephews and nieces, and with the help of Debao's connections, they have now flourished in various industries in Kaiyuan Immortal City. With the support of these nephews and nieces, even though Debao has never married or had children, his Wei family has already become a rising powerful clan in Kaiyuan Immortal City. In theory, Debao doesn't need to work hard at all.

"What? This gathering of heroes includes demons, witches, and spirits—they're all heroes, but I, who's protecting Bian, can't be considered a hero?"

With a loud shout, Debao threw his warhammer outside the courtyard. Using his exquisite mastery of qi, he made it hover above the head of his neighbor who was cursing incessantly. After the neighbor turned pale with fright, Debao put the hammer back in his hand, satisfied with his achievement.

Although he had to take elixirs to perfect his mastery of the Earth-level combat skill—Whirlwind Top Hammer—he was still very satisfied.

Most of the cultivators who made their fortunes in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom are now like Yao Guangquan, indulging in a life of debauchery, eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring. Very few of them still have the will to improve themselves and strive to cultivate. He is one of the few who can do so.

Yao Guangquan pulled him to sit down and drink tea. After Bao had finished chugging his tea, Yao Guangquan smiled and advised him:

“Brother Debao is certainly a hero, but even heroes don’t need to go to the Heroes’ Gathering. As you’ve seen these past few days, since the news of the Heroes’ Gathering came out, every day and night, powerful cultivators from all over the world have been coming to this city of Jixi, eagerly waiting to prove themselves and make a name for themselves at the gathering.”

"Let alone those of us at the second-tier Foundation Establishment stage, even the third-tier Golden Core stage wouldn't dare claim we could make a mark at this tournament. Even Master Su said that we Kaiyuan cultivators should act according to our abilities. Those whose cultivation and profession are below the fourth tier should avoid getting involved. Just provide good service to the tourists and contestants, earn some money, and raise the profile of the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom. You've managed to show off a mere Earth-level combat skill, but you're still just a second-tier Body Cultivator. You won't become a hero at the Heroes' Tournament; you'll be a stepping stone for heroes, though!"

Yao Guangquan was quite earnest in his advice. If it weren't for the fact that Bao was his in-law, and that he was so greedy for good food that he would have to go to the Heroes' Gathering to get beaten up instead of sleeping in his bed where he had two or three beautiful concubines, he would have come to his courtyard to eat dirt so early in the morning.

Debao was clearly not going to listen to advice; not only did he not listen, but he also started lecturing Guangquan.

"Guangquan, I'm not trying to be mean, but we've suffered, we've worked so hard, and we've finally got the resources and time we need. If we don't work hard at cultivation, what's the point of earning these spirit stones? We can't just play around with women!"

"Isn't it good to play with women? My newly acquired concubines were all introduced by Brother Bao..."

"Hmm, playing with women is good, and those catgirls are of good quality. I checked them out before introducing them to you, brother. But you can't just play with women. You still need to cultivate. Besides, the Heroes' Gathering is a stage that all the worlds are watching. It would be a real shame to miss it!"

"Brother Debao, you just want to show off, don't you? Let me remind you, the Heroes' Gathering is attended by all forces. If you perform well, you can indeed become famous throughout the heavens, but if you get humiliated, you will lose face in all the worlds!"

"Hehe, you don't know this. This Heroes' Gathering is divided into hundreds of categories based on the Hundred Arts. Popular professions like weapon refiner and talisman maker are definitely going to be fiercely competitive. I, Old Wei, am not interested in those. I signed up for the Guardian God category. As far as I know, there aren't many professions related to Guardian God in the entire universe!"

"That's great! Guardians of the gods are primarily responsible for serving the gods and spreading incense. Since it's a service industry, their individual combat strength is probably average. Brother Debao might actually be able to crush everyone here!" Yao Guangquan was delighted to hear this. Upon reflection, it made sense. Debao was such a cunning person. He had already received over a million in betrothal gifts from his niece. If he didn't have some sense of self-worth, how could he have gone to the Heroes' Gathering to humiliate himself?

"Bring your whole family with you then, and my niece too. Just wait and see how I make the Wei family famous!"

Debao, beaming with pride, gulped down two more large mouthfuls of spiritual tea, brimming with confidence for the Heroes' Gathering!
In the far west inner city, next to the Su family mansion, the Ying family compound is many times more magnificent and luxurious than the third-tier spirit house built by Debao's nephews. It covers an area of ​​a thousand acres, large enough for horses and carriages to run. It has several fourth-tier arrays and independent heating to make the climate inside and outside the house completely different. Hundreds of armored lizard knights patrol the house all year round, and it is equipped with the latest monitoring puppets to ensure that no villains have a chance to take advantage of it.

At this moment, inside the courtyard, the armored divine general, the fifth-order deity Yingjue Shen, is inspecting the results of his son-in-law Delong's efforts over the past few days.

"What! You want me to try out the armor myself?" Delong's eyes widened, his anger rising to its peak, and he spoke loudly to his father-in-law!

It's not that he, Delong, disrespects his elders; it's just that his father-in-law has gone too far!

Over the past century, he has endured enough humiliation and hardship.

Although he successfully inherited the Ying family business and took control of the incredibly wealthy Jia Tianxia enterprise, so what?

While Debao indulged in romance and Guangquan was surrounded by beautiful women, he was forced by his father-in-law to retreat into seclusion in the mansion to cultivate his skills, spending his days forging iron in the armor workshop with a bunch of rough men.

Although his cultivation had made breakthroughs in the past century, advancing from a second-tier minor cultivator to a third-tier major cultivator, he had more than a thousand years more lifespan than Debao and Guangquan. His armor-making skills had also improved day by day. Now, even after wearing Liang Haishun's death-bringing cloth and eating his longevity peach, at the cost of a hundred years of his lifespan, he was still able to give full play to the advantages of the Undying Armor's innate divine power and create a fourth-tier unbreakable armor, which theoretically had the ability to withstand fourth-tier attacks.

But so what? Who can understand the pain of a hundred years of solitude?

He thought that after a hundred years of hardship, he could present this armor that wouldn't break through and be able to complete the task. However, he never expected that his father-in-law would be so ruthless as to purchase a fourth-tier heavy knight to test the strength of his armor. He even made him wear the armor himself to test it out!

Is this reasonable?! He's supposed to be Delong's son-in-law, doesn't he care if his daughter is left a widow? He could even use someone else, no, a puppet to test the armor. This is just plain disingenuous of Delong!
This is outrageous!
Delong was furious, but facing his father-in-law, who had been a god for a hundred years and had acted as a deity in Kaiyuan, exorcising demons and solving problems for believers, he could not be angry and could only obediently follow his instructions.

Ying Jueshen disapproved of his trembling, uneasy son-in-law. He couldn't understand how his son could be so bold as to make his daughter insist on marrying him. Was it because he was well-endowed and skilled in bed? That couldn't be right. His daughter had been pampered since childhood and was a frequent visitor to brothels before marriage. She was quite worldly-wise...

Unable to understand what was so good about obtaining the dragon, Ying Jue Shen spoke expressionlessly:

"Pierce your spear and thrust!"

At a single command, the heavily armored knights, tested by the Pingxi Wu Kingdom's army on the battlefield of lust and demons, charged from a hundred miles away with their iron horses and silver spears. Wherever they passed, waves rose from the ground, and rocks were broken. By the time they got close, their silver spears had already accumulated immense power, and they thrust forward, piercing the chest of Debao, who had been waiting for a long time.

Bang!Bang!Bang!
Debao lost his footing and staggered backward, but despite his retreat, the heavy knight's silver spear, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, never managed to pierce through the thin, white armor he wore!

"That was close! I almost died!"

Delong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, feeling extremely fortunate to have survived such a close call. He then realized that his armor had already passed the test of a fourth-tier puppet!

"It's done! Grandpa, I've done it! No destruction, no construction; no armor, no destruction. With this armor, I, Delong, am now a well-known figure in the Tianyuan Armor world!"

Overjoyed, Delong felt that his century of solitude was well worth it, and his century of suffering was nothing. He took two steps at a time and, in front of his father-in-law, began to kiss his daughter. He kissed his beautiful wife until her face was flushed and her eyes were filled with lust. Only then did he reluctantly let go under his father-in-law's murderous gaze.

"You're already smug about forging a fourth-tier battle armor? With your innate talent for the Undying Armor Divine Ability, you should have been able to forge this armor long ago. Yet you still have to cheat by shortening your lifespan with the Life-Saving Cloth, causing me to lose a million incense offerings to Liang Haishun. If you still can't get into the top three of the Armor Forging Ranking, you can expect to be imprisoned for another thousand years!"

Ying Jueshen looked at his daughter, who had forgotten her father now that she had a husband, and his son-in-law, who had forgotten himself while making armor, and was furious.

Despite his harsh words towards Delong, he still values ​​Delong highly in his heart.

Although he was brave but reckless and didn't like to work hard, he was born with great talent and awakened the Undying Armor supernatural power that even the gods of the Three Kingdoms coveted.

With this supernatural ability, he is a natural-born potential armor master. With just a little effort, he will become someone that other armor masters can never reach in their lifetime.

This Heroes' Gathering is the greatest opportunity of Delong's life.

To resolve the internal strife among the cultivators of Tianyuan over resources and Dao patterns, this Heroes' Gathering features various forces offering spiritual treasures, magical artifacts, precious materials, spiritual plants, and even Dao patterns that every cultivator in the world desires!

For example, the top reward for the Puppet Master project team was the Five Elders Dao Pattern and the Disintegration Dao Pattern, which was presented by Master Su Qing.

When he made the announcement, everyone praised Su Zhenren for his magnanimity and generosity. Everyone also knew that he was truly shameless. He took the reward and even participated in the battle himself. Who among the puppet masters of the heavens could snatch this Dao pattern reward from him?
For the Armored Warrior project team, what really excited Ying Jueshen and Shao Delong was the top-ranked Five Elders Dao Pattern—Unyielding—taken out by the ancient Daoist lineage Yuan Shizong!
With its immortal armor and unwavering resilience, no one dared to imagine how powerful the armor that Long Ri would forge in the future would be. In Ying Jueshen's vision, it might even surpass the Ying family's ancestral Yingzhao armor, elevating the Ying family's armor industry to a level beyond their ancestors. Although the Ying family is currently developing extremely well in the Kaiyuan Immortal Kingdom, and its reputation is already better than that of their ancestors in Penglai, armor craftsmanship is the foundation of their family. Breakthroughs in armor are what would bring Ying Jueshen the most comfort, hence he attaches great importance to this matter.

"That Liang Haishun is so talkative. He insisted on telling Master Su that there are too many gods in Penglai now. In order to target them, gods are not allowed to participate in the Hundred Arts Competition. They can only be uniformly classified into the God Group to participate in the battle. Whether it is targeting Penglai or not, I don't know. But it has blocked my way to participate in the Armor Group!"

Thinking of this, Ying Jueshen wished he could crush that old scoundrel Liang Haishun into a peach in his hand! (End of Chapter)