Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu

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The mountains were veiled in night rain, and iron horses trod the icy river.

Zuo Chuan walked through the rain curtain, letting the rain soak him, "Lord Wei, there's a mortal nation ahead engaged in a battle, should we bypass them?"

Chen Qing poked his head out and glanced at the sky, "Waging war in this weather?"

"Let's circumvent them with the main troops, don't get involved. I'll take a look."

Chen Qing turned into fog and flew out, reaching the battlefield's edge in just a moment.

He saw the battlefield where both sides had already formed their lines, with thousands of riders crossing the rain puddles, their long spears glistening coldly.

Chen Qing used the Fog Gu to conceal his presence and stood quietly at the battlefield's edge, silently watching the changes in the battlefield.

His gaze always lingered on the dead.

Compared to these mortals, his eyes could see much more.

When a mortal died, Chen Qing intended to observe his soul, only to find a stream of spiritual energy flashing by, capturing the mortal's soul.

Chen Qing glanced sideways; it was a Taoist in a red robe collecting souls on the battlefield.

Presumably, he had also instigated this war.

An Evil Cultivator?

Just a bit lacking in cultivation.

Chen Qing stepped forward and instantly appeared beside the red-clothed Taoist.

His eyes, with a scrutinizing gleam, fell on the red-clothed Taoist.

The red-clothed Taoist was visibly startled, "Which fellow Daoist are you?"

Chen Qing didn't answer, only asking, "What was the last thought of this mortal before he died?"

The red-clothed Taoist took two steps back, evidently very wary of the suddenly appearing Chen Qing.

Chen Qing was slightly impatient, turning his head to continue watching the battlefield.

The number of the dead on the battlefield was countless, and with the red-clothed Taoist no longer collecting souls, his observation became much easier.

From Wu Country, along his way, he had witnessed countless deaths, not ten thousand but at least eight thousand.

Including insects, beasts, trees, and flowers, who knows how many there were.

If it were just observing the death of all things, then he should have reached Enlightenment long ago.

Could it be the ultimate exploration of the path of life and death?

To understand life and death, asking these newly dead would naturally yield the greatest insights.

Because they had just felt death in its most real form.

A flying soul arose, and he looked somewhat bewildered at the battlefield, then rushed toward the enemy.

His body passed through the enemy, suffering burns from the blood qi.

At that moment, he realized he was already dead.

"Am I dead?"

Faced with bewilderment.

Then he called out to his comrades on the battlefield, "Dodge quickly!"

"Yes, stab him!"

He shouted for an entire hour before suddenly realizing, "I'm already dead, what's the point of doing all this?"

"Go back and check on my wife and son at home, I wonder what they'll do after I'm dead."

The flying soul drifted toward the direction of his home. Chen Qing reached out and grabbed the red-clothed Taoist.

The red-clothed Taoist wanted to resist but found that under Chen Qing's pressure, his spiritual energy couldn't move at all.

At that moment, he realized he had encountered a Foundation Establishment.

"Senior, can you spare my life?"

"I'm already seventy and only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. I just want to establish a foundation!"

Chen Qing glanced sideways, "I'm more curious about what happens when mortals die. Come with me."

After pursuing for half a day, Chen Qing landed with the red-clothed Taoist in a secluded small village.

The mortal soul first went to the private school, watching his son study there for an afternoon, then dumbly following his son back home.

Chen Qing pointed at the mortal soul, asking, "Are there many mortals who come home like this after death?"

The red-clothed Taoist said, "Most who die in war are like this."

"A small number remain near their foes due to resentment."

"And some, close to places where yin energy gathers, turn into ghosts."

Chen Qing watched as the mortal soul touched here and there in his courtyard, asking, "What are the most common thoughts for such mortals after death?"

The red-clothed Taoist, knowing he couldn't resist, complied obediently, "What else could they think of, just wanting to live."

"Except for those whose hearts have died, almost everyone's strongest thought after death is unwillingness."

"They want to live."

"Don't want to die."

Chen Qing stayed with the red-clothed Taoist in this secluded mountain village for seven days, witnessing the mortal's soul transition from attachment to family to unwillingness.

Finally, it helplessly dissipated in its own home.

His resentment was not strong enough to turn into a ghost.

Chen Qing took the red-clothed Taoist through the streets, encountering a beggar.

This beggar had lived by begging since childhood; now, though not forty, he looked like an elderly man.

Walking unsteadily, he seemed to know he couldn't last much longer and calmly sought an abandoned temple to await death.

Living was a burden for him, perhaps death was better.

The red-clothed Taoist said, "Begging all his life with nothing to cherish, he would have the least regrets after death, and his soul would dissipate the fastest."

Chen Qing asked, "Such a mortal soul is not strong. How do you usually make them stay in the world?"

The red-clothed Taoist embarrassedly said, "Um, it's all some ancestral methods."

"Such spirits, we incinerate them with flames that can torment souls, making them suffer greatly."

"In this way, they can be refined into vengeful spirits, making them linger in the world."

Chen Qing pointed at the beggar's soul, "Show me."

The red-clothed Taoist was stunned for a moment, "Isn't that wrong?"

Chen Qing nonchalantly said, "Don't worry, I'm not a good person. I just want to see."

The red-clothed Taoist shook his head, "No, performing such magic isn't right, disrupting the natural order."

Chen Qing reached out, gripping the red-clothed Taoist's left hand, crushing the bones.

The red-clothed Taoist cried out in pain.

"I told you, I'm not a good person."

"So since I said it, you'd better comply."

The red-clothed Taoist nodded repeatedly, "Understood, understood, I'll do it right away!"

The red-clothed Taoist captured the beggar's soul, and put it into his gourd.

Inside, black flames rose, causing the beggar, who thought he was freed, immense pain.

The flames seared the soul, like a dull knife scraping flesh, the agony unbearably acute.

"I'm already dead, why is it still so painful, shouldn't have thought of dying!"

"Shouldn't have died!"

The beggar had no idea Chen Qing and the red-clothed Taoist were performing magic.

"Senior, you see, just like this, you can incite strong resentment in them, then refine them into vengeful spirits, subdued by my Ghost Gu."

"But such vengeful spirits aren't very powerful, quite mediocre."

Chen Qing nodded, "Anything else you want to say?"

The red-clothed Taoist said, "I'm not some evil ghost, just worried, my life span is about to end, afraid of nearing death."

"So I was forced into this!"

"I'm truly not an Evil Cultivator, Senior."

Chen Qing asked, "Why are you afraid of death?"

The red-clothed Taoist said, "Because death is an unknown, no one knows what happens after death."

"But while alive, there's always a chance for everything!"

Chen Qing vaguely understood something but couldn't quite grasp it.

So he glanced at the red-clothed Taoist, "These days, I've seen quite a few mortals after death."

"Now, I'm more curious about how cultivators appear after death."

The red-clothed Taoist's face turned pale immediately.

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