Cultivation towards immortality, starting from being a fisherman

The visitors from the Little Golden Light Temple had informed him, Su Ping knew of the origins of Daoist Gui Lingzi.

The man turned out to be an Inspector, just like himself!

No wonder he didn’t recall this person’s name from his memory.

After all… who would bother to record the name of a cultivator who believed his path of cultivation was hopeless, and chose to retire from the world?

Gui Lingzi’s city is named Golden Wind City, which is a straight-line distance of five to six hundred kilometers from where Su Ping was located in Golden Sparrow City!

Gui Lingzi had served as an Inspector much longer than Su Ping. Having failed to break through in the later stages of Qi cultivation ten years ago, he became disheartened and chose to retire back to his hometown.

According to the Little Golden Light Temple, Daoist Gui Lingzi enjoyed beauties and operas, as well as fine wines and dishes.

He had holed up in Golden Wind City without leaving for the past few years.

Yet, in the past two years, he had changed his ways; not only had he left the city, but he also chose a mountain where he built a Taoist Temple and declared himself the temple master.

Daoist Gui Lingzi also began mass-training loose cultivators and martial artists, and employed a large number of farmers, taking over vast tracts of farmland. Without saying it has incurred heaven’s wrath and human resentment, it’s still made him loathsome and detestable to all.

The prominent families in Golden Wind City even spread rumors, claiming that Daoist Gui Lingzi had turned evil, delighting in eating infants and drinking human blood…

Hearing this, Su Ping knew why the Little Golden Light Temple was so eager to come and ‘tattle’.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, taking over farmland – that’s overlapping with the business of the Little Golden Light Temple.

The saying ‘competitors are enemies’ applies in the Immortal Cultivation World as well.

As for those rumors, Su Ping would have been indifferent to them before.

Now, seeing how desperately the other party was sending loose cultivators everywhere to gather people.

Su Ping had some suspicions about his fellow Inspector. There’s a good chance that he might truly have fallen into evil, or have been tempted by the influence of Evil Qi Jade Scrolls.

All these bizarre actions seemed to be preparations for a blood sacrifice!

“Five to six hundred kilometers, not too far, but also not too close.”

“If it were just for the Blood Spirit Crystal it wouldn’t matter, but if it’s a Sacrificial Array for summoning evil spirits, then even I could be in danger!”

Having gathered enough information, Su Ping already had a plan in mind.

He went back to his cultivation room, and after tinkering for the better part of a day, he prepared a storage bag full of Sweet Gunpowder Bombs.

Only then did he call forth the Spiritual Rats White and Grey.

He took out some Purification Spirit Medicine, and evolved the two Spiritual Rats, adding ingredients to turn them into Self-Destruction Rats.

He had White and Grey take the storage bag and, leading the Self-Destruction Rats and a horde of common rats, went to the Taoist Temple where Gui Lingzi resided to look for an opportunity— hoping to find a chance to redeem him!

After the incident at the Nine Leaf Mountain Workshop, Su Ping was well aware of the recent rampant chaos within the upper echelons of the Immortal Sects.

He understood that for Inspectors like himself, unless the target of vengeance was clear,

then whether dead or alive, it didn’t matter much; the current Immortal Sects had no time to thoroughly investigate the circumstances.

Moreover, the relationship often fades after a person’s death within the Immortal Sects.

Without any benefits, the chances of someone within the Sects taking up the cause on behalf of the dead are minimal.

Not to mention, if his suspicions were correct.

If the Immortal Sects sent someone to investigate, chances are they would uncover even more alarming intelligence.

Su Ping didn’t believe for a second that the higher-ups of the Immortal Sects were oblivious to the methods of blood sacrifice, and the existence of those Evil Qi Jade Scrolls.

He was just a Fishing Man with a slight odd hobby, known for his kind heart.

And he didn’t have an alibi!

It seemed unlikely anyone would suspect him!

……

On a mountain outside Golden Wind City,

stood a splendid three-storied Taoist Temple.

The temple was named Guiling Temple, the place where Daoist Gui Lingzi practiced his cultivation.

On this particular day, many little Taoist priests were tremblingly kneeling outside the main hall, keeping their heads down, ignoring the roaring and cursing coming from within.

After a while, two bloodied loose cultivators scrambled out of the main hall in a panic.

“You can’t even handle such a small matter, a bunch of fools!”

Inside the main hall, Gui Lingzi, who was as thin as an old monkey and wrapped in a slightly oversized blue Taoist robe, was screeching with bloodshot eyes.

Unlike the robust Su Ping, he was ninety-five years old.

Taking into account the internal injuries caused by his failed breakthrough, and the accumulated Pill Poison,

Gui Lingzi could sense that if he didn’t find a solution, he would soon succumb to old age!

But he didn’t want to die; he still wanted to live, to indulge in more beauties and delicious food!

He wanted to enjoy for a longer time the fearful, envious glares from the people around him.

“There’s still a chance; I can certainly do it.”

Gui Lingzi muttered to himself, subconsciously picking up the Jade Scroll he wore as an ornament around his neck and pressing it against his forehead.

Dozens of seconds later, Gui Lingzi bent his back and left the Taoist Temple.

He planned to choose livestock from the back mountain, hoping to gain more hints from the great existence through sacrifice!

Squeak squeak squeak!

The Spiritual Rats White and Grey arrived at the Taoist Temple with a group of rats, releasing them to gather information.

As the rats dispersed, Su Ping, who was far away reading in Frost Moon Villa, was able to see the layout and various secrets of Guiling’s Taoist Temple.

Some rats reached the underground space of the temple’s main hall.

There, they found countless layers of skeleton bones.

There were bones of chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, as well as old people and children.

Using the rats’ eyes to scan the surrounding area of this underground space, he noticed the blood-red patterns on the walls, resembling ghostly talismans.

Su Ping confirmed that this place was indeed a blood sacrifice altar.

There was a high probability that Gui Lingzi was the worst possibility: an Evil Cultivator tempted by an Evil Spirit!

“Evil Cultivators must be exterminated by everyone!”

Su Ping muttered to himself as another group of rats discovered Gui Lingzi at the back mountain.

Seizing the opportunity, Su Ping put on his hat, draped his robe, and took up his fishing gear, heading to Frost Moon Lake to fish.

The Spiritual Rats White and Grey followed the rat paths to the underground chamber beneath the main hall.

Then… They took out bomb bags wrapped and sealed in oilskin from the storage bags, placing them under the skeletons that covered the floor.

After leaving two Self-Destruction Rats as fuses, they quickly left the Taoist Temple with the now empty storage bags.

The entire process could be described as swift as lightning.

By the time Gui Lingzi the Taoist returned from the back mountain, his craziness had subsided somewhat.

The Spiritual Rats White and Grey had already fled to the outskirts of the mountain.

“Someone in the secret chamber?”

“No, not a person, it’s… Demon Rats?”

Gui Lingzi returned to the Taoist Temple and discovered the abnormality in the secret chamber thanks to his amazing Five Senses.

At first, he thought the altar had been discovered by a powerful spiritual pet and instinctively wanted to run.

After staying outside the hall for several seconds, he noticed no extra movement.

He gradually sensed that the source of the spiritual power was indeed rats, but their spiritual power was extremely weak.

Gui Lingzi started to imagine a scene where two Demon Rats accidentally broke into the secret chamber and were frightened and stupefied by the altar’s setup.

As for the bags that showed no sign of spiritual energy…

Gui Lingzi, whose attention was mostly on the Self-Destruction Rats, didn’t sense them at all.

“Is my luck turning around?”

“If I capture these two Demon Rats alive, I could sell them for at least a hundred spirit stones!”

“With the spirit stones, I could buy more materials needed and complete the sacrifice ahead of schedule!”

Thinking of the sacrifice, Gui Lingzi completely lost his reason.

With a swoosh, he left behind an afterimage, entering the main hall amidst the unsurprised gaze of the other Taoists and walked into the underground secret chamber after lifting a stone slab.

“The fish has taken the bait!”@@novelbin@@

While fishing, Su Ping’s eyes lit up as he pulled up a large grass carp in front of the maids and servants.

At the same time!

Gui Lingzi discovered the two Demon Rats with their eyes glowing a bewitching blood-red, showing no fear of him, a Qi Cultivation Middle Period cultivator!

Upon seeing him, they not only didn’t run away but instead screeched and charged at him, not retreating but advancing!

Gui Lingzi was startled for a moment, but a strong sense of crisis immediately came over him, causing him to instinctively shake, and several amulets stuck on his chest and back were activated.

Bang!

The Demon Rats hit the shield and turned into a mass of rotten flesh.

But!

Before Gui Lingzi could see clearly or understand why the Demon Rats had done this…

The two Demon Rats exploded before him!

This instantly triggered a chain reaction, causing the explosives underneath the bones at his feet to detonate as well!

Boom!

Amidst the shaking of the earth and mountain!

A mushroom cloud burst from beneath the main hall of the Taoist Temple.

In an instant, the whole main hall was blown to smithereens!