The immortal is beside me

Chapter 18 Seeking Immortality

The most irreplaceable temptation of cultivating immortality is immortality.

Qin Jiajia suddenly realized something, "Just like those emperors in history who were obsessed with seeking immortality."

"Immortality isn't just sought by emperors. Throughout history, countless people have gone astray in their quest for immortality, but it's the emperors' words and deeds that are most often recorded."

Zhou Qing said, "The world is in turmoil, all driven by profit. For many, 'immortality' is a temptation enough to make them give up everything in pursuit of it. The potential benefits are so great that they can shatter the entire social order."

"If this thing were to be put on the table, and everyone knew that immortality actually existed, then countless people would do anything to obtain the opportunity to cultivate. All thoughts and ethics would be rewritten, and all moral constraints would become empty talk. At that point, there would be no difference between humans and beasts."

His tone remained calm, but Qin Jiajia broke out in a cold sweat and it took her a long time to speak again.

"But... I heard at the bureau before that only those with spiritual roots can practice, and spiritual roots appear randomly. Those who are born without spiritual roots will never be able to acquire them through acquired means."

"That's true." Zhou Qing shook his head. "But many times, people only want to know what they want to know, not the truth."

He didn't believe the pursuit of immortality was wrong. After all, he himself had once been a seeker and had enjoyed the blessings of immortality. From a purely selfish perspective, he actually wished everyone could achieve immortality, thus avoiding the many separations and deaths that come with theories of lifespan.

However, the desire to seek the truth is not only a driving force that pushes people forward, it can also become a disaster that brings disaster to the world.

"About a thousand years ago, when the Central Plains was still divided between north and south, a group of monks practiced some unorthodox methods and needed large quantities of human flesh and blood with metal and stone properties for sacrifice."

"To obtain sufficient materials, they refined a medicinal elixir called 'Five Stones Powder'. A mortal's long-term consumption of it would subtly transform their constitution, ultimately transforming them into their ideal medicine man. However, the side effects were hallucinations and extreme heat and agitation. The more they took, the more severe the symptoms became."

"At first, the monks packaged this medicine as a cheap medicinal powder and distributed it to ordinary people. Once they consumed enough of it, they would take it away and refine it."

"It wasn't long before all this caught the attention of the mortal scholars. They thought a drug had suddenly appeared in the world, and taking it would make people feel ethereal. And if they took it consistently for a while, a monk would descend and take them away."

He scoffed at this, "In their eyes, this is the genuine 'elixir of immortality,' a magic pill that can allow mortals to develop spiritual roots and achieve immortality."

Qin Jiajia opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She had seen the name of Wu Shi San in history books before. It was a product sought after by famous scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It was said that even the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove were its fans. However, she did not expect that there was such an absurd truth hidden behind it.

"After that, Wushisan became all the rage. Scholars and officials rushed to buy it, driving up its price until ordinary people couldn't afford it. It even impacted the entire nation's finances."

"Later, Five Stone Powder became the exclusive property of the princes and nobles. Whenever there was a banquet or sacrifice, Five Stone Powder would always appear as a precious gift. They regarded it as a symbol of status and took pride in it. Of course, under the influence of Five Stone Powder, most of them became insane, living a life of drunkenness and debauchery, and some of them even managed to rule the country."

Precisely because he has witnessed too many similar incidents, he does not have any extra resentment towards the government and the sanitation bureau.

Although it is impossible for all the people inside to be saints without desires, the ability to use order to form the most basic constraints and balance on those monks, ensuring that most people can live freely and not become victims of desire, has confirmed the strength of modern officials.

Without the secret support of these people, it would be questionable whether today's society can maintain normal operation, and he naturally would not be able to live a peaceful retirement life like he does now.

Today's era is not perfect. The ills accumulated over thousands of years still exist in every corner, and hidden desires are still growing, but he still likes this era very much.

Of course, there were times he didn't like.

"So what happened next?" Qin Jiajia asked, "What happened to those cultivators who spread the Five Stone Powder, and those nobles who sought the elixir?"

Zhou Qing picked up the lemonade next to him and took a sip, then answered casually.

"And then they all died."

In the winter of the third year of Tiantong in the Northern Qi Dynasty (567 AD), there was a heavy snowfall in the east.

Snowflakes fell, landing on a bony corpse lying on the side of the road. The corpse lay on its back, its eyes bulging, its dilated pupils reflecting the vast sky, and two figures in the sky passing through the clouds.

A while ago, the Jiuli Sect received a report that a Peach Blossom Spring faction was active in the area, and patrolling disciples were unable to stop them. Therefore, the sect requested the guest official Zhou Wuqing to infiltrate Northern Qi territory to annihilate the enemy, and Saint Ye Qiansheng accompanied him.

".These people died of starvation."

Ye Qiansheng lowered his body and looked around. Under the vast wind and snow, the ground was littered with stiff and cold corpses. Looking outside, he saw withered weeds rotting in the fields, and the few shops had also withered. The whole world was shrouded in a gray and dead aura.

In December of that year, Shandong was hit by a major flood, and countless people died of starvation due to the disaster.

The Northern Qi royal family issued an edict to provide disaster relief, but due to the empty treasury, the relief was shelved within a few days. (Note 1)

“There are only so many good days. When some people have more, others don’t.”

The voice came from the side. Ye Qiansheng turned his head and saw Zhou Wuqing, who was wearing a red Taoist robe, bowing his head in the clouds. He pointed his finger at the air, and the snow below melted immediately, revealing something buried under the snow.

It was also a human corpse, that of a young woman, holding a newborn baby in her arms.

The baby was so thin that only skin and bones were left, but it did not seek its mother's chest, but instead held one of her fingers in its mouth and pretended to suck. It seemed that the woman had been starving for too long and had no milk, so she had to bite her own finger and use blood instead of milk to feed the child.

By this time, the woman and the baby had already become stiff and cold, their last movements frozen into solidified ice sculptures.

Neither of them spoke much as they flew forward side by side. Every once in a while, they could see several corpses covered in snow. Some were still intact, but for most, only limbs were left. The flesh on the limbs seemed to have been cut off, revealing raw bones.

Ye Qiansheng asked, "Brother Zhou, do you think this natural disaster was caused by Peach Blossom Spring?"

"Why do we need natural disasters to kill people?"

The figure moving forward suddenly stopped. Zhou Wuqing looked up and saw a flickering golden star in his eyes.

Following his gaze forward, the surrounding towns were all lifeless and dusty, but among the green hills at the end, there seemed to be a bright golden color flashing.

After walking a few dozen steps forward, the golden spot became larger in the field of vision and eventually turned into a shining altar.

The altar looked like it was newly built, with white jade pillars and golden bricks as tiles. Even without sunlight, the altar was still gorgeous and dazzling, and at first glance it looked like the White Jade Palace in the sky.

Amidst the snow and wind, a sweet voice rang out. A group of people gathered in front of the stage, playing the flute and reciting poems.

In this snowy winter, they only wore light and thin gowns with flying hair, but they seemed not to feel the cold at all, and their faces were full of dreamy joy.

The attendant at the table poured them sake and brought out several palm-sized cloth bags. Opening them, they revealed a multicolored powder, emitting a faint scent of gold and stone. This was the "magic medicine," the elixir known as Wushisan. At today's prices, these bags could buy about 2 dan of grain, equivalent to a month's food rations for families. (Note )

Now, this stuff was scooped up by the servants and put into the wine cups in handfuls, and was drunk up by the celebrities at the table within a few breaths.

A blush crept across their faces, followed by a buoyant joy, and they unconsciously broke into song. Against the backdrop of the snow, the lavishly dressed scholars sang and danced gracefully, their clothes flowing, poetry and music mingling in unison, a truly elegant display of the Wei and Jin dynasties.

"Great Qi is magnificent, with all the gods in the world!"

"The Emperor is benevolent, and the Heavenly Officials bless you!"

"Immortal, come and lead me to immortality!"

The wind carried the prayer song into the mountains, and the clouds around them rippled like water. Though it was the coldest month of winter, the air seemed to be filled with the faint fragrance of flowers. The fragrance spread, and the clouds parted. A god, riding a phoenix and a crane, descended upon the clouds, the Jade Gate plaque gleaming with auspicious light behind him.

"The immortal has appeared! The immortal has appeared!"

People in front of the altar knelt on the ground one after another, and the sound of kowtows was endless. Many people had their foreheads broken and their faces covered in blood, but they seemed to be unaware of it.

The rumors were true. They had taken a real elixir of immortality. Many people spent huge sums of money on it and finally waited for this divine omen from heaven.

"Please, Immortal, lead us to ascend!"

The immortals in the clouds looked down with benevolent and joyful eyes, just like the ancient Yao and Shun gazing lovingly at their people. They descended from the clouds, accompanied by the chirping of hundreds of birds, and, enveloped in auspicious light, ran towards the people below them.

There was a loud explosion, and a ball of blinding flames struck the clouds. A raging fire shot up into the sky. In an instant, the auspicious clouds withered, the birds fell silent, and charred corpses fell from the sky, overturning the wine table on the altar.

There was a brief silence, and then screams rang out. Wine cups fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. Musical instruments fell over and broke into several pieces. Messy footsteps trampled over them and then ran wildly in all directions.

Above the altar, a man in a red robe was floating quietly, holding a long sword that was emitting flames.

Furious cries of killing echoed from the blazing flames, accompanied by the clang of unsheathed swords, and countless figures of monks appeared and disappeared in the sea of ​​fire. Facing the murderous aura that was coming towards him, he raised his longsword with one hand, and the blade glowed with spiritual light.

There was a rustling sound, flashes of flames, the sound of flesh being torn, and screams one after another, and finally everything returned to silence.

The last sound disappeared, and Zhou Wuqing floated down onto the altar.

At this time, the stage had become a sea of ​​hellfire. The people who were offering sacrifices had already scattered like birds and beasts. Only a few ragged nobles were left sitting there, looking at the mess of cups and plates, the mountains of corpses and the sea of ​​blood in front of them with blurred eyes. It seemed that all this happened too fast and they had not yet reacted.

Ye Qiansheng, who was waiting on the side, also landed. She had come with the sect on their orders to supervise the guest officials and prevent them from taking any extreme actions. However, she had not intervened when Zhou Wuqing attacked just now, and only stepped forward to speak now.

"The evil party in Peach Blossom Spring has been eliminated, you..."

Before he finished speaking, the non-commissioned officers in front of him suddenly opened their eyes wide, as if they had just woken up from a deep dream and just noticed the presence of the two.

They climbed up tremblingly, straightened their dusty robes, and put on the blood-stained clothes tremblingly. After they were ready, they bent down and knelt deeply in front of the two men.

"Please, immortal, lead us to ascend."

Ye Qiansheng was stunned.

After a while, she heard a burst of laughter.

It was Zhou Wuqing beside her who was smiling.

"Why do you need guidance?" He looked at the group of nobles kneeling at his feet, raised his sword slightly, and said, "I will send you to ascension now."

"Brother Zhou!"

A white figure appeared in front of him. It was Ye Qiansheng, who was originally standing aside, who suddenly walked forward.

"Brother Zhou, these people are not cultivators. They were deceived by Peach Blossom Land and took the Five Stones Powder to change their physical constitutions. But they are still mortals after all. If we kill them like this..."

"A dog-like thing, is it worthy of being called a mortal?" Zhou Wuqing sneered, "Why, Saint, are you trying to stop me?"

"If you kill them like this, those elders who dislike you will probably scold you for killing ordinary people, which will inevitably cause more trouble."

She lowered her eyes and said, "The war situation is urgent now. A capable person like Brother Zhou shouldn't waste his energy on such trivial matters. As the Saint of Jiuli, I should take advantage of the sect's misfortune. So this time, please let me take action."

The sound of a sword chiming echoed, and a spiritual sword surrounded by a halo appeared in her hand. She stepped forward, a trace of pity flashing in her lowered eyes.

“If there is an afterlife, I would rather be a dog in a peaceful time than a man in a chaotic one.”

The sword flashed and blood splattered everywhere.

At the end of 567 AD, the guest official Zhou Wuqing and the saintly maiden Ye Qiansheng traveled to Shandong. Within three months, they eradicated dozens of local Peach Blossom Spring factions, extinguishing their incense and destroying their lineage. Their name spread throughout the northern region, and bandits were as ferocious as tigers and wolves.

In 570 AD, the Immortal Realm Association was held again, and all sects reunited as an alliance, with Jiuli as the leader, and over monks under their command.

In 572 AD, there was internal unrest in Taohuayuan. The Buddhists and the barbarians all retreated to the south, leaving the remaining remnants in the north isolated.

In 575 AD, the suzerain instructed Emperor Yuwen Yong of Northern Zhou to lead an army of eastwards, aiming for Heyin. The following year, the army marched again, conquering Jinzhou and Bingzhou.

In 576 AD, the Jiuli forces took control of the area east of the Qinling Mountains, pacified remnants, opened the Taishan Cave Heaven, gained the spiritual veins of the Central Plains, and took control of the territory north of the Yellow River.

[In 577 AD, the Northern Qi Dynasty fell]

Note 1. Original text of "Book of Northern Qi": (Tiantong Year ) December Yimao... Shandong Province was hit by a flood, and countless people died of famine. The emperor issued an edict to provide relief, but it was not implemented.

Note 2: There is no authoritative record of grain production in the Northern Qi Dynasty, so the records from the Northern Wei Dynasty are used here.

"Book of Wei: Biography of Li Biao" records: "One-tenth of the households in prefectures and counties were taken to serve as settlements. Each man was required to produce 60 hu of land per year."

"Book of Wei: Food and Money" states: "Men aged 15 and above are entitled to 40 mu of open-air fields, and women are entitled to 20 mu. A man and a woman are entitled to rent out 2 dan of millet."

(End of this chapter)