The Secret Way of Immortality

As Ren Qing's split soul, resembling that of a black goat, returned to the Niwan Palace, it was already nearing loss of control.

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed actively transformed into a Daoist robe, draping itself over the split soul and eagerly absorbing the tainted aura of the Heavenly Demon.

Ren Qing felt somewhat helpless; the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed was the first magical artifact to undergo metamorphosis, but its progress had now stalled.

The aura of the Heavenly Demon was simply too difficult to obtain; he couldn't possibly go to the Wuwei Dojo every time.

He shifted his attention to the Dao Ancestor statue within the abdominal prison. Originally solemn and dignified, it now appeared somewhat sinister.

Ren Qing attempted to create an Imaginary Art, but the statue showed no response.

However, the husky became extremely frightened, barking incessantly as if the Dao Ancestor statue was about to devour it in the next moment.

Only when Ren Qing locked the statue in a sealed cell did the barking subside.

He was not in a hurry to explore the secrets of the Dao Ancestor statue, simply imprisoning it and paying it no further attention.

The sky was already darkening, and the sun would soon set. He wondered how Liu Chuan was doing.

Ren Qing waited patiently for a long time, until the moment his soul connected with the ghost shadow, and his consciousness descended upon the yellow sand city in the Gobi Desert.

He opened his eyes to find himself in a room. Judging by the decor, it seemed to be a Daoist temple, but the furniture was carved from rock.

The dim candlelight crackled.

Corpse oil, already containing many impurities, emitted a strange, burnt odor.

Ren Qing was not accustomed to the eyesight of this body; it was simply too blurry.

He rubbed his eyes, and his expression immediately turned extremely gloomy. After only a day, his stomach now resembled that of a woman nine months pregnant.

Ren Qing quickly used the ghost shadow to understand the situation, which was not much different from that of the imprisoned guard, Luo Mingmeng.

His lungs were extremely swollen, transformed into a glass-like substance containing liquor.

Could the so-called ascension to immortality mentioned by Shasanzi be the process of turning oneself into food?

Ren Qing secretly denied it.

Impossible.

After all, Liu Chuan had died of dehydration, a completely different situation. Most likely, the cultivators of the yellow sand city had noticed the damage to his soul and discarded him as a pawn of unknown use.

"Hic..."

Ren Qing hiccuped.

His mouth was filled with a strong alcoholic smell, giving him a faint feeling of nausea, and a stinging pain arose in his head.

It was like waking up from a hangover.

Ren Qing was about to get out of the cold bed, but the lung's transformation made his breathing heavy, and his saliva already contained traces of blood.

He could not summon the information stream, but he could feel that his lifespan was likely counted in days. After all, with such a transformation of the internal organs, how could a mortal possibly survive?

If he wanted to live a few more nights, it seemed he could only try to cultivate techniques.

However, the entry requirements for the Imprisoned Guard Art were too high, and he could not master it in a short time. Only cultivating an Imaginary Art seemed more reliable.

Ren Qing endured the pain and began to inspect the room.

He discovered that the room seemed to have originally been Liu Chuan's residence, but that must have been before he withered and died.

His belongings were neatly arranged, and people often came to clean, as if deliberately preparing for Liu Chuan.

Ren Qing was very puzzled by this.

Then, his attention was drawn to a seemingly ordinary jar in the corner. He could faintly hear strange rustling sounds coming from inside.

A crack was open in the jar's lid, revealing a pair of blood-red eyes.

A terrifying aura poured out.

Seeing this, Ren Qing shook his head.

In this frail body, he was afraid he would have no resistance against the strange object, and it seemed he could only transfer the ghost shadow out before he died.

But he was somewhat unwilling. This place was clearly in the heart of the yellow sand city, and perhaps he could find clues to the techniques.

Ren Qing closed his eyes, treating it as a last resort, while his split soul came to the Dao Ancestor statue in the abdominal prison, simultaneously chanting the Imaginary Art.

He folded his arms across his chest, standing quietly in front of the jar.

The jar's lid slowly opened, the sound of sharp teeth grinding against each other, and bones colliding, rose and fell.

"Eat you, I want to become immortal."

"Eat you..."

The strange object inside stopped abruptly, its gaze showing some doubt, because the movements made by the thin child in front of it were even greater than its own.

With each breath Ren Qing took, his mouth was full of a fishy smell, and his stomach bulged at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if filled with flesh and blood.

His height, originally at most one meter two or three, rapidly increased, muscles covered the thick bones, and within a few breaths, he had transformed into a burly man.

The strange object made an incredible sound: "You are not Liu Chuan, you..."

Ren Qing opened his eyes, and a fierce aura swept over him.

His head was almost touching the top of the house, his height was at least two meters three or four, and his whole body was full of strength.

Moreover, his lungs were covered with thick muscles. Although breathing was still difficult, it no longer affected making large movements.

Ren Qing touched his stomach and couldn't help but sigh: "Forcibly digesting thirty-six hearts, I was almost burst."

The Dao Ancestor statue was indeed the source of the Imaginary Art. He simply used it to allow Liu Chuan's body to cultivate the Pure Yang Flawless Art.

He had thought that Liu Chuan would die in the process of mastering the Imaginary Art, but the stomachs of the Gobi people were very peculiar.

Seemingly only the size of a fist, they could actually hold twenty or thirty pounds of food, and the digestion speed and efficiency far exceeded that of ordinary people.

As a result, the Pure Yang Flawless Art's effect was maximized, forcibly reaching the level of a half-corpse realm Imprisoned Guard who had mastered a physical body technique.

"Eat you, eat you, I want to become immortal... immortal..."

The strange object in the jar seemed to have lost its mind. After drilling out, it disappeared, only muttering to itself constantly.

Ren Qing narrowed his eyes.

He already knew what the three realms of becoming immortal by eating himself represented, so he understood what kind of strange object was being raised in the jar.

Then, a stinging pain appeared in Ren Qing's right arm, and the flesh and blood on it quickly withered and disappeared.

The strange object laughed loudly: "It's really delicious, eat you, become immortal!!!!"

Ren Qing looked at his empty arm with a smile, and said in a strange tone: "I wonder how much deliciousness there is, Liu Chuan."

"Who exactly are you..."

"Guess."

Black liquid flowed from Ren Qing's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Compared to the invisible strange object in the jar, he was more like a demon.

Most of the ghost shadows left his body, and there were few left in the Niwan Palace, so he could only control part of his body, but it was still enough.

The ghost shadow forcibly merged into the shriveled right arm, and a terrifying force surged up.

The strange object inexplicably felt fear. Clearly, the man in front of it had just been a child at its mercy, how could he have become so terrifying.

It wanted to escape, but it was too late.

Ren Qing bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood towards his right arm.

The blood gradually revealed the true form of a transparent strange object, its overall composition being water vapor, but its upper body was humanoid.

The strange object's face was distorted, and its ears and forehead had chrysanthemum-shaped orifices, with sharp teeth inside, and a tongue stretched out to lick its lips.

Its appearance faintly showed traces of Liu Chuan.

It was using the orifices to forcibly absorb the flesh and blood of Ren Qing's body.

But the strange object's lower body was like clouds and mist, mixed with specks of light, indeed having an indescribable immortal aura.

Liu Chuan let out a shrill scream, only feeling that his whole body was tightly entangled by the ghost shadow, and then a large hand grabbed his neck.

Ren Qing leaned over and asked: "What are the names of the three realms of becoming immortal?"

"Uh..."

"Sorry, I grabbed too tight."

Ren Qing loosened his grip a little, Liu Chuan coughed constantly, and his eyes showed suppressed resentment, still wanting to break free.

"Speak quickly."

Liu Chuan noticed the strong killing intent, how dare he resist again, trembling and said: "I only know the first realm, self-eating."

"Self-eating, somewhat interesting."

"I'll tell you the immortal technique, as long as you let me go..."

"Forget it."

Ren Qing grabbed Liu Chuan's neck again, and said mockingly: "You haven't even achieved the self-eating realm, how would you know anything about becoming immortal."

Liu Chuan's pupils dilated, and a cackling sound came from his mouth.

Ren Qing had guessed eight or nine out of ten.

The so-called self-eating realm was to separate the water in the body through certain means, turn the water into a Ze Ren, and then raise it in a jar.

The Ze Ren would feed on the main body, and only if it could absorb the three souls and seven spirits could it be considered to have reached the complete self-eating realm.

Liu Chuan's Ze Ren had clearly not been fully absorbed, so a soul and three spirits remained in the main body's Niwan Palace.

Ren Qing was surprised after possessing the body why the other souls and spirits had disappeared.

He suddenly thought that Yan Feng's body had already lost all its souls and spirits.

This showed that Li Tiangang had previously tried to bring Yan Feng back to the camp again, resulting in an accident and the souls and spirits being swallowed.

Perhaps the Ze Ren produced by the Imprisoned Guard cultivators would be even stronger, otherwise even Li Tiangang would not be able to do anything about it.

Ren Qing felt a slight headache, and looked again at Liu Chuan, whose neck was about to be broken, his eyes becoming chilling.

"Liu Chuan, you've had a stroke of immortal luck meeting me, I'll help you become immortal."

"Ooh ooh ooh..."

Liu Chuan desperately wanted to resist, and a chill enveloped his whole body for a moment. He had never seen such a horrifying scene.

Ren Qing pried open Liu Chuan's mouth, forcibly extracted the remaining one soul and three spirits, and stuffed the ghost shadow mixed in.

Liu Chuan didn't want to absorb it at all, but the arm grabbing his neck burst with veins, as if it was about to crush his body.

He had no choice but to swallow the souls and spirits, and the fog slowly spread to his upper body, but the color was slightly dim.

When all the souls and spirits had been absorbed, Liu Chuan transformed into a man wearing a green Daoist robe, the orifices on his forehead and ears turned into lotus shapes, and an immortal aura was unreserved.

Liu Chuan's illusory body passed through the arm holding him and hid trembling in the corner.

Ren Qing still maintained the action, the ghost shadows in the Niwan Palace were not enough to control the body, most of them were in Liu Chuan's body.

But he felt that as long as the main body of the ghost shadow came near Liu Chuan, it could easily control the latter's life and death.

"Wait, I will come to find you."

Liu Chuan wanted to say something, but the ghost shadow surged in his body, as if it had put on layers of shackles.

The door of the room opened, and several Daoists walked in with expressions of surprise, obviously alarmed by Liu Chuan's achievement of the self-eating realm.

But what came into view was a huge body, the pressure it brought was unparalleled.

They were so frightened that they took several steps back, and then they noticed that the man had turned into a corpse, and Liu Chuan knelt on the ground with a crazy expression.

"Don't kill me, I don't want to become immortal, I don't want to become immortal, don't kill me."

The sun rose.

Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body.