Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu

In the white moonlight, a woman dressed in white with a veil on her face moved gracefully like a lotus as she approached Chen Qing's caravan.

She held a dim yellow lamp, its light seemingly faint, yet it overshadowed the moonlight.

"Phoenix Nest Divine Lady?"

Chen Qing gazed at the goddess before him and spoke slowly.

The goddess before him opened her mouth, her voice clear and cold, "Is Lord Wei going to the Phoenix Nest?"

Chen Qing nodded, "Indeed, and who might you be?"

The goddess replied, "Phoenix Nest Divine Lady."

Chen Qing straightened up slightly; those who claimed to be goddesses or divine sons and were around his age didn't need much attention.

However, once they were over a thousand years old, none were ordinary beings.

They were all figures who dominated their peers of their time, unparalleled in elegance.

"What guidance do you have?"

The Phoenix Nest Divine Lady replied, "My master sent me to inquire."

Chen Qing spread his hands, "Please ask."

The Phoenix Nest Divine Lady said, "These are my master's words, not mine."

"My master asked, 'When the dragon raises its head, who can suppress it?'"

Chen Qing's eyes narrowed slightly. He calmed himself and cupped his hands slightly, "Qingxu understood. Thank you, Goddess, for informing me."

These words were already quite clear.

Perhaps, in the eyes of these old folks, he was just like Yan Shiyin.

Both were merely tigers in the mud.

While Ji Dang was the dragon raising its head.

Judging from the previous battle records, he indeed was at a disadvantage compared to Chen Qing.

He was pursued by Yan Shiyin everywhere he went, eventually turning defeat into victory and completely reversing the situation.

But Ji Dang, effortlessly and unscathed, defeated Yan Shiyin.

In this light, he, Chen Qing, indeed couldn't match Ji Dang.

But what if his Light Butterfly became a King Grade?

The Phoenix Nest Divine Lady departed, and Zuo Chuan and Ying Wugang looked at each other, neither daring to ask Chen Qing where to head next.

The Phoenix Nest Divine Lady had already explicitly refused Chen Qing's intention to visit.

After thirty breaths, Chen Qing's voice came from the carriage, "Keep going, I want to tour Yan Country and devour the ghosts of this nation."

A month later, Chen Qing put down the fish soup in his hand. He sat under the sunset, looking at the surging river in front of him.

"Judging by the length of the journey, I should have traveled ten thousand miles by now."

"But my Light Butterfly shows no signs of advancement. Is something off?"

"Ten thousand miles, could it be not ten thousand but ninety thousand miles?"

"Or perhaps I must walk the journey myself."

"The upcoming journey through Lin Country, I'll walk it myself."

Chen Qing stood up, no longer taking the carriage, and began to walk.

The Dragon Cavalry behind him was stunned. Seeing that Chen Qing had started walking himself, they dared not continue riding their horses and dismounted to lead them instead.

Just as they entered Lin Country and arrived at a bustling town, Chen Qing heard a children's rhyme.

"Kill a thousand to succeed, tiger in the mud."

"Kill green to fade, tiger in the grave."

"Tiger, tiger, wants to be king, a 'king' written on its head!"

"Ridiculous little mud tiger, how do you know the difference between cloud and mud?"

"When the dragon raises its head, who can suppress it?"

"When the dragon raises its head, no one can suppress."

...

Zuo Chuan was slightly angry hearing it, "Sir, shall I teach them a lesson and find out who taught them to sing?"

Chen Qing stretched out his hand to stop the furious Zuo Chuan, "What's the point of getting angry with kids?"

"They sing quite well. Go, give them a handful of Copper Coins."

After speaking, Chen Qing wrapped his robe around and continued heading deeper into Lin Country.

It seemed, the hidden sects and sanctuaries of Nanli didn't think highly of him.

There was much less spirit Gu and support.

But Ji Dang was different. Behind him, it was likely the entire cultivation family of Da Yan.

Three days later.

News spread from Nanli that near the South Sea, close to Lin Country and Yan Country, a mountain fire had occurred.

The fire burned a thousand miles of mountains and forests between Yan Country and Lin Country, leaving the ground charred, vegetation to ash, and stones aflame.

Despite numerous cultivators' efforts, the fire remained unextinguished, like a rootless fire, burning without wood.

Within days, not a single blade of grass grew.

Soon, in just seven days, a royal decree came from the South Sea.

Zhao Xuaping was invited to visit the king as a guest.

When Chen Qing received this news, he thought of that red-clad elder sister.

It was she who was venting for him.

In Yan Country, at least someone was sent to explicitly refuse him through a goddess.

Upon reaching Lin Country, these hidden sects didn't even bother sending someone but had children sing rhymes, mocking Chen Qing for not knowing his place and telling him there was no need to visit.

This was a bit excessive.

Chen Qing endured it, but that red-clad elder sister seemed to have a bad temper.

Lin Country was vast. Chen Qing wandered around Lin Country for a month and a half, not yet planning to leave.

Based on the latest news, the raging mountain fire still wasn't extinguished.

Every time Chen Qing heard this news, he would smile slightly.

Yet the hidden sects and royal family of Lin Country were quite stubborn.

Despite Chen Qing slowing down his journey, they still showed no intention of contacting him.

Chen Qing then continued to slow his journey, preparing to truly traverse Lin Country.

What should have been a month's journey, Chen Qing dragged into two months.

On the day Chen Qing left Lin Country and arrived in Iron Country, the mountain fire mysteriously extinguished three days later.

As if it were seeing Chen Qing off.

The moment Chen Qing entered Iron Country, he saw a group of people waiting between two great mountains.

Chen Qing hurried forward, "Who goes there in front?"

These people were human with ox heads, a pair of valiant bull horns on both sides of their foreheads.

They were not from the Demon Clan but human.

Due to the effect of a particular Gu, they took on this appearance.

Is this the Miao God Iron Guard tribe?

Iron Country had a clan that served as Miao God Iron Guards, guarding the Jiuli Miao Temple for generations.

The person at the forefront took a sturdy step forward, "Divine Favored coming to Iron Country, our Miao God Iron Guard naturally must welcome personally!"

"I'm Jin Buhuan, though untalented."

Chen Qing stepped forward steadily and grasped Jin Buhuan's arm, "I seem to have met you before?"

Jin Buhuan appeared in his thirties, "I saw you once when you visited the Miao God temple, it happened to be my duty guarding the temple that day."

"Time is pressing, we can't delay any longer!"

"Divine Favored, please follow me, I'll take you to a place."

Chen Qing asked curiously, "Where are we going?"

Jin Buhuan stroked his beard, "Divine Favored can exorcise, naturally asking you to exorcise."

Chen Qing's eyes gleamed with a burst of brilliance, "What kind of malevolent ghost?"

Jin Buhuan grasped Chen Qing's hand, tapping three times, "Spear Dao Grandmaster!"

Chen Qing withdrew his hand, took two steps back, and bowed, "Please, senior, lead the way!"

Jin Buhuan stepped, the dust flew into clouds, carrying Chen Qing as they soared into the sky.

Everything around them retreated rapidly before their eyes, racing like thunder and wind.

After flying for a day, Chen Qing saw clouds of darkness ahead.

For miles around, it was shrouded in shadow, only dense clouds covering the sky.

On the desolate plain, lifeless, a large number of headless knights rode skeletal warhorses burning with blue karmic fire, wielding long corroded bronze spears, crossing the vast expanse.

"Its name is Ye Fulong."

"Eighteen thousand years ago, he vied for the throne with the Iron King and failed, harboring resentment, thus becoming a ghost."

"Among the Spear Dao Grandmasters, those who left behind obsessions, he is considered one of the strongest."

Chen Qing asked, "Why one of the strongest?"

Jin Buhuan pointed to the north, "The Spear Dao, only in the north, is a Spear Saint."

"Thus, the north is the strongest, others like West Desert, Nanli, Da Yan, the highest realms in the Spear Dao only dare to call themselves one of the strongest."

Chen Qing continued to ask, "The snowy plains?"

Jin Buhuan smiled slightly but did not speak.

The snowy plains were a force in the cultivation world not to be ignored, though seldom mentioned, nor seen. It seemed like a hidden sect.

But no one could deny that it was a super Great Sect.

For this Great Sect had once upended the once dominating and nearly unified cultivation world Jiguang Sect.

Located in the Arctic, under the Ziwei Star's watch, situated at the utmost honor!

Not the Heavenly Emperor but situated where the Heavenly Emperor resided.

Chen Qing retracted his thoughts, looking once more at the massive mountain shrouded in ominous clouds ahead, where a gigantic figure lay, its body immense as mountain ranges.

That giant exuded an eerie ghostly presence.