A thousand-year-old female ghost caused chaos in the immortal realm. No one knew what deep grudge she held against the Immortal General, nor why her father trusted her so deeply that he would risk his life for her. It was an inevitable outcome.
Therefore, when Shui Miao heard the words “your father,” he already had a rough idea of what had happened.
Shui Miao deeply trusted Bu Lu, because Bu Lu had no reason to deceive him.
Bu Lu reached out and patted Shui Miao’s shoulder. “We’ve investigated thoroughly. According to rumors, your father broke into the Jade Void Sect’s Hall of Sacred Laws to steal the Jade Void Heart Sutra and was killed on the spot by the Grand Elder, who was guarding the hall. In reality, however, the Grand Elder deliberately framed your father. He summoned him to the Hall of Sacred Laws and then falsely accused and killed him.”
“Grand Elder! I will never rest until I destroy your soul and avenge my father’s death!”
Shui Miao immediately knelt and swore vengeance, for the murder of a father was an unforgivable offense.
“Ah!”
Bu Lu quickly helped Shui Miao up. “My friend, revenge can wait ten years. You must focus on improving your strength and cultivation. Don’t let hatred cloud your judgment. But besides this, there’s another matter concerning the thousand-year-old female ghost. We’ve discovered that she once had a deep and passionate relationship with the Immortal General. Their bond was extraordinary and difficult to understand.”
Originally, the thousand-year-old female ghost was named Bai Lian, born into a wealthy family.
The Immortal General, Li Mu Sheng, had been a cowherd in her family.
Bai Lian was outgoing and often played in the mountains, where she met Li Mu Sheng. Because he was honest and obedient, Bai Lian gradually fell in love with him. Despite their vastly different social standings, the clever Bai Lian always found ways to sneak out and talk with Li Mu Sheng without being discovered by the elders.
One day, a wandering Daoist noticed Li Mu Sheng’s extraordinary bone structure and took him as a disciple.
Though Li Mu Sheng was simple and honest, he was eager to learn, and he shared everything he learned with Bai Lian.
Bai Lian was exceptionally intelligent and learned quickly.
Ten years passed, and the Daoist master decided to test Li Mu Sheng. He told him that far to the west, beyond ten thousand miles, there stood a mountain so tall its peak was hidden in the clouds. Atop this mountain grew a millennium ginseng. If he could find and consume it, he could ascend to immortality and join the ranks of the immortals.
The Daoist had two purposes: first, the long and arduous journey would test Li Mu Sheng’s willpower.
Second, it would serve as a test of his character.
Upon hearing the news, Li Mu Sheng was overjoyed and immediately told Bai Lian. Bai Lian was equally thrilled. That very day, she wrote a letter to her father, explaining her relationship with Li Mu Sheng over the years and her desire to pursue the Dao. She promised that once she attained immortality with the millennium ginseng, she would return to repay her parents for raising her.
Bai Lian packed gold and silver and set off with Li Mu Sheng.
The Daoist was actually an incarnation of Laozi, the Supreme Elder, who had long recognized Bai Lian’s spiritual roots. Pretending not to know, he taught both of them.
On the journey, Laozi secretly removed Bai Lian’s gold and silver. Without money, the two were forced to beg. As they faced various hardships, their true natures were revealed. Li Mu Sheng was kind-hearted, honest, and willing to endure hardship. Even when starving, he refused to steal food, even from unguarded orchards. Bai Lian, however, was full of cunning ideas. She would do anything to achieve her goals. Yet her feelings for Li Mu Sheng were rare and precious. Once, when Li Mu Sheng fainted from hunger, Bai Lian bit her wrist and used her blood to revive him.
Moved by this, Laozi stopped deliberately creating obstacles for them after the test.
After enduring countless hardships and experiencing the coldness of the world, they finally reached the mountain peak and found the millennium ginseng.
However, upon seeing the ginseng, Li Mu Sheng was moved by its vibrant life. It looked like a little child, and he felt pity. He realized the ginseng had lived for a thousand years, enduring great hardship. How could he bear to kill it and eat it?
Li Mu Sheng immediately declared that he would cultivate on the mountain and leave the ginseng untouched.
Bai Lian disagreed. After enduring so much hardship, how could she ignore the ginseng now? She refused to sit and meditate while it lived. That kind of foolish act was not for her.
For the first time, Bai Lian and Li Mu Sheng argued at the mountain peak.
She asked Li Mu Sheng to pull the ginseng, but for the first time, he refused her.
Angry, Bai Lian pushed Li Mu Sheng aside and pulled the ginseng herself, then told him to come down the mountain with her.
Li Mu Sheng, heartbroken, decided to meditate on the mountain and never return.
Seeing this, Bai Lian, frustrated that Li Mu Sheng would not listen, left the mountain alone.
Laozi was deeply saddened by Bai Lian’s actions.
Yet, he wanted to give her one more chance.
So, Laozi transformed into a little girl who had sprained her leg while gathering firewood on the mountain, begging Bai Lian to help her down.
But Bai Lian was only thinking of finding a pot to cook the ginseng, to eat it quickly and become immortal, then return to save the girl.
So, she did not help the little girl.
Seeing how calculating Bai Lian had become, willing to do anything for immortality, Laozi was deeply disappointed, yet still wanted to give her one last chance.
So, Laozi transformed again, this time into an elderly woman cooking at home.
Bai Lian finally found a house and begged the old woman to borrow her stove, but the old woman refused. In desperation, Bai Lian pushed the woman aside, causing her to fall and hit her head. Bai Lian thought to herself that she could save the woman after becoming immortal.
Laozi was deeply disappointed and decided to abandon Bai Lian.
Bai Lian placed the ginseng in the pot, but in a blink, it turned into a pot of mud!
Terrified, Bai Lian confirmed that the ginseng had indeed turned to dirt, and then, like a madwoman, she climbed back up the mountain.
By then, Li Mu Sheng had already been guided to immortality by Laozi.
Seeing that Li Mu Sheng’s body had no breath, Bai Lian was heartbroken. She even embraced his corpse and jumped off the mountain!
Laozi had not expected Bai Lian to be so devoted.
At Li Mu Sheng’s request, Laozi decided to give Bai Lian one final chance.
Li Mu Sheng followed Bai Lian’s instructions, rescued her, and gave her a pill.
After taking the pill, Bai Lian immediately became immortal.
Bai Lian went to find the little girl who had sprained her leg, but the girl had already been eaten by wolves. She tried to save the old woman, but she was already dead.
Bai Lian buried them and returned home with Li Mu Sheng. Using her magic, she conjured a mountain of gold for her family.
When villagers came to pay their respects, Bai Lian acted like a nouveau riche, conjuring countless treasures of gold and jade.
That very day, she conjured a bridal chamber and wanted to marry Li Mu Sheng.
But Li Mu Sheng told her that she could not distinguish right from wrong, recklessly conjuring gold and silver, severely disrupting the natural order of the Three Realms. Her stubborn nature made her unworthy of immortality. He said he would wait for her in the immortal realm, hoping she would change her heart and truly understand the Dao.
Li Mu Sheng followed Laozi away.
Laozi also took away Bai Lian’s powers, returning her to her original state.
Bai Lian was deeply resentful and, unable to accept this, hanged herself.
Because she had cultivated, her soul was extremely strong. She appeared to her parents in a dream, asking them to build a special copper coffin for her burial.
From then on, Bai Lian became a female ghost.
She devoted herself to cultivation, did many good deeds, and after decades, finally became a ghost immortal.
Bai Lian was granted a chance to enter the immortal realm.
She found Li Mu Sheng, but by then, Li Mu Sheng had already married a fairy maiden.
Enraged, Bai Lian caused chaos in the immortal realm.
As punishment, the immortal realm severely punished her and forbade her from ever returning.
Unable to vent her anger, Bai Lian believed the immortal realm was deceitful, corrupt, and controlled by a group of scoundrels. She hated Laozi even more for separating her from Li Mu Sheng. Returning to the mortal world, she changed completely, cultivating furiously, seeking treasures in the realm of demons to enhance her power, obtaining the Phantom Demon Mirror, and vowing to overthrow the immortal realm.
But how powerful was the immortal realm? Could such a small ghost immortal truly overthrow it?
After failing several times, Bai Lian gradually calmed down. She began to think, to accumulate strength, and to seek various ways to destroy the immortal realm.
Among her strategies was to recruit talent and cultivate allies.
For example, the痴Buddha was a puppet she had created.
For example, Bai Feng and Chen Yi Ren were allies she had found.
The dwarf Bu Lu had hired dwarven experts to investigate everything from Laozi. Laozi had mixed feelings toward Bai Lian, always wanting to give her another chance, so he never completely destroyed her. The Immortal General felt guilty toward Bai Feng and thus always spared her.
Considering all these complex relationships and for Shui Miao’s safety, Bu Lu had not told him the truth. Today, he spoke because he had learned that the thousand-year-old female ghost had once again been severely wounded and could no longer threaten Shui Miao’s life.
Bu Lu was a true friend.
He not only told Shui Miao everything but also planned to help him quickly improve his cultivation, find treasures, and completely break free from the thousand-year-old female ghost’s grasp.
After learning so much, Shui Miao felt deep sympathy for the thousand-year-old female ghost.
In Shui Miao’s view, it was all Laozi’s fault. He should have directly pointed out Bai Lian’s flaws and told her to correct them. Instead, he spoke in riddles, separating the lovers and causing Bai Lian to struggle and make mistake after mistake.
But at this moment, what Shui Miao cared about most was the Grand Elder—why had he killed his father?
Shui Miao once again begged Bu Lu to ask his clan to investigate the Grand Elder’s motives.
“What are you doing here, Shui Miao?”
Just as Shui Miao finished speaking with Bu Lu, Bai Lian, the thousand-year-old female ghost, suddenly appeared in the room. With a flick of her finger, she easily broke through the formation set by two dwarven experts.
By now, she had completely absorbed two Golden Immortals and fully restored her power.
“Bai Lian! You’ve actually absorbed Golden Immortals!?”
Suddenly, a golden light flashed in the room. An old dwarf appeared, holding a wide golden blade. His expression was serious as he looked at Bai Lian.
This dwarf was Bu Xiang, the third-ranked expert among the three great warriors of the Honest Dwarven Clan, known as the Blade Saint Bu Xiang.
“You… know me?”
Bai Lian was slightly taken aback. She had never interacted with dwarves before.
Bu Xiang nodded. “Bai Lian, devoted and emotional, yet abandoned by a heartless man. Bai Lian, intelligent and brilliant, yet rejected by the immortal realm. We dwarves do business across the human, ghost, and divine realms. The immortal realm is now hunting you—you are a wanted criminal there. Naturally, I know something about you.”
“So what? Do you plan to capture me and hand me over to the immortal realm for a reward?”
Bai Lian spoke coldly. Her aura was completely different now—there was a golden glow and heavy immortal energy around her.
“Haha, we dwarves don’t lack for money or treasures. We’re not interested in rewards.” Bu Xiang smiled lightly. “But I also know that Laozi has always been giving you a fourth chance. Yet now you’ve broken the rules, absorbing Golden Immortals and committing such a grave mistake. I fear you may have no way back now.”
“I don’t care about his chances. Who are you, and how do you know so much?”
Bai Lian gathered her immortal energy, exuding a murderous aura, ready to fight at any moment.
“Looking for a fight?”
Bu Xiang’s eyes gleamed, and he grinned.
The dwarves not only loved doing business but were also fiercely warlike.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage