The Secret Way of Immortality

Ren Qing arrived at the location where the insect molts had been buried, but unexpectedly, a Taoist temple now stood there, presumably built to house the Wuwei Taoist temple.

The concentration of true energy in the air was indeed much higher, involuntarily drilling into the body with each breath, allowing for constant cultivation.

Ren Qing went to the backyard of the Taoist temple, where only a few elderly Taoists were cultivating, with no sign of Qing Songzi.

The backyard was densely covered with fungal trees, the tallest nearly ten meters high, and the shorter ones five or six meters.

Without hesitation, Ren Qing opened the异mouth in his palm, instantly creating a suction force out of thin air.

Four fungal trees fell into the Yongjian Cage, and the Taoist temple disciples, hearing the commotion, swarmed towards the backyard.

But by the time they reached the backyard, Ren Qing's figure had long disappeared.

Qing Songzi didn't react much upon learning of this, knowing that such magical means must be the work of Ren Qing, the master of the ghost market.

He had a suspicion that Huang Qi was Ren Qing himself.

Ren Qing returned to the inn in a few breaths, refining magical artifacts within the Yongjian Cage, so as not to attract the attention of others.

Originally, he considered using the Heavenly Dao insect eggs to refine a magical artifact for storing Youyuan.

But thinking about it, it was too extravagant. There were only a few hundred eggs in total, and if a cultivator died outside the city, they would quickly be destroyed by the demonic energy.

After much consideration, Ren Qing decided to use the branches of the fungal trees that had been contaminated with true energy as materials.

As for how to refine them, he completely left it to the ghost shadow to explore on its own. The related materials were readily available in the prison area.

Ren Qing would refine the fungal tree magic items himself, but he currently had no clue where to start.

Ren Qing even considered whether to cultivate techniques related to the Six Afflictions, as it might yield something in the Everlasting Forbidden Zone.

However, he already had four primary and secondary techniques, and he feared that adding more would make it impossible to manage them all.

Just as Ren Qing was hesitating, his separated soul suddenly fell to the brink of death, fortunately protected by the insect body formed from the insect root.

Taking advantage of the Everlasting Forbidden Zone being in the night, he immediately used the ghost shadow's night travel.

A large amount of memory flooded into his mind.

………

Ren Qing's life in the medical clinic was truly comfortable.

The other patients had heavy labor, and at least four-fifths of them died under the statue every ten days due to cultivation.

Ren Qing was completely different. He personally selected those who would cultivate, so there was no risk of them becoming sacrifices.

He specifically sought out madmen with severe hysteria and unexpectedly gained a good reputation in the medical clinic, with many even calling him senior brother.

Ren Qing originally planned to exhaust his lifespan as soon as possible.

But to his surprise, even if he deliberately didn't cultivate, the sapling on his forehead continued to grow.

In just over half a month, the sapling was already almost as tall as the Medicine Taoist.

Ren Qing immediately confirmed one thing: so-called immortal cultivation was based on hysteria, meaning that the source actually came from the Longevity Immortal Statue.

He suspected that the effect of cultivation was to stimulate the growth of the disease seed, and that immortal techniques were just an illusion.

Even if Ren Qing didn't use the information flow to advance the disease seed, the Sleepless Tree Seed would still continue to grow under the influence of the Longevity Immortal Statue.

He glanced at his own information flow.

【Ren Qing】

【Lifespan: Thirteen years and sixty-five days】

【Disease Seed: Sleepless Tree Seed, Cancer, Night Blindness, Night Sweats, Wind-Cold, Hysteria】

Advancing the Sleepless Tree Seed required ten years of lifespan, but Ren Qing estimated that the Sleepless Tree Seed would advance on its own in half a month.

He planned to save enough lifespan and directly advance to the next stage of the Sleepless disease seed, which should allow him to touch upon the secrets of the Everlasting Forbidden Zone.

Unburied Town regained its peace.

But because of Ren Qing's existence, the demand for prisoners greatly increased.

The frequency with which soldiers escorted prison carts to Unburied Town increased, and each time, hundreds of prisoners were driven into the town.

The Medicine Taoist's conditions for accepting disciples were also gradually lowered.

But even so, there were still not enough patients to consume. From the courtyard of the Longevity Immortal Statue, it could be seen that bones were scattered everywhere.

Fortunately, as long as patients suffered from hysteria, they didn't care about life and death at all, and their minds were filled with the ambition to become immortals and attain the Tao.

As the sapling on Ren Qing's forehead surpassed the Medicine Taoist, the latter's attitude towards him became more and more ingratiating, but he still couldn't hide his greed.

Ren Qing, being in a world of hysteria, could feel himself commanding wind and rain.

But as soon as he returned to the real world, he immediately became extremely weak. Even if his lifespan increased greatly, it still couldn't hide the fact that he was terminally ill.

Although the sleeplessness was not a serious illness, it was difficult to restore his spirit through meditation alone.

If it were anyone else, they would definitely lose their intelligence, but Ren Qing didn't show any abnormalities on the surface, appearing a bit too normal.

His lifespan unknowingly reached eighteen years, and the sapling on his head was more than two meters long, already affecting his body.

When the Medicine Taoist reduced Ren Qing's cultivation interval from ten days to five days, he already knew that a variable was about to appear.

On this day.

The soldiers, led by Jin Chengxiang, stood guard outside the town, even more attentively than when the prison carts arrived.

Jin Chengxiang's expression was solemn, and after taking a deep puff of his dry tobacco, he put it back in his pocket.

The adjutant, Hong Zhi, couldn't help but ask, "Jin-tou'er, is it someone from the government?"

Jin Chengxiang looked at the continuous mountain road, and after a long silence, he replied, "How could it be a person? It's an immortal…"

"An immortal?"

Hong Zhi smiled in disbelief, and then said, "Jin-tou'er, it's not like those immortal cultivators in the town, is it?"

Jin Chengxiang looked at Hong Zhi seriously, and the latter's expression gradually fell.

"That's a true immortal. Unburied Town is just a peach garden, and now the fruit is about to ripen."

Hong Zhi was about to continue asking when he suddenly noticed a figure on the distant mountain, and his back was instantly soaked with sweat.

This person's appearance didn't reveal their gender, because they were almost identical to the Longevity Immortal, with a fleshy tumor on their forehead covered with blue veins.

However, they didn't have a sapling, and the hair on their arms was extremely thick.

They walked as if shrinking the ground, and could arrive at Unburied Town in a moment.

Jin Chengxiang quickly said to Hong Zhi, "Go tell the brothers to keep their eyes open, and don't offend the immortal."

Hong Zhi wiped the sweat from his face and stumbled off to inform the soldiers.

Jin Chengxiang waited respectfully for the immortal's arrival. He vaguely remembered that during his previous encounters, he was almost too frightened to speak.

Soon, the other party arrived in front of the town, their gaze scrutinizing Jin Chengxiang.

"Jin Chengxiang, is it?"

"Why have you aged so quickly?"

Jin Chengxiang didn't dare to look up at the immortal, but said in a respectful tone, "Returning to Peach Blossom Immortal, it has been ten years since our last meeting."

"I see. Are you willing to cultivate as a false immortal? I'll give you the position of the medical clinic's doctor."

"This lowly one is not worthy."

Jin Chengxiang knelt on the ground. Once he entered the medical clinic, he wouldn't be able to come out. The terror inside could be seen from the dead and injured prisoners.

"Then forget it."

Peach Blossom Immortal waved his hand and walked towards the medical clinic, but as soon as he reached the entrance of the town, a sound of rushing wind rang out.

An arrow feather was inserted next to his feet.

Jin Chengxiang secretly thought it was bad, probably an烏龍 caused by the soldiers' nervousness.

"Peach Blossom Immortal, this person is unintentional…"

"Say one more word, and you'll die together."

Peach Blossom Immortal disappeared in place, and when he reappeared, he had a soldier in his hand. The latter was trembling, constantly begging for mercy.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah…"

The soldier's expression was twisted, and it was hard to imagine what kind of pain he was suffering.

Right before everyone's eyes, his flesh, blood, and bones gradually collapsed and were squeezed, all pouring into his head.

In just a few breaths, Peach Blossom Immortal had a swollen flesh peach in his hand.

He directly stuffed the peach into his blood basin mouth, chewing it with relish, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth onto the ground.

Peach Blossom Immortal was still a little dissatisfied, and turned to walk quickly towards Jin Chengxiang.

Jin Chengxiang knelt down in a panic, constantly kowtowing his head on the stone bricks, and said in his mouth, "Peach Blossom Immortal, don't kill me…"

Peach Blossom Immortal reached out and stroked Jin Chengxiang's head, and the latter said in despair, "Immortal, I am willing to cultivate as a false immortal."

"Good, I will help you become an immortal."

Peach Blossom Immortal nodded with a smile, and then went towards the medical clinic in the town, but his eyes clearly carried disgust.

As soon as he arrived at the medical clinic, the Medicine Taoist couldn't wait to greet him, and even changed into a clean Taoist robe from his original sloppy clothes.

"Junior brother…"

Peach Blossom Immortal's disgust became even more intense when he heard this title.

The Medicine Taoist smiled obsequiously and changed his words, "Although you entered later than me, but the capable are teachers, so it's not too much to call you senior brother."

"When did even a medicine seedling like you become worthy of worshiping under the Longevity Immortal?"

Peach Blossom Immortal narrowed his eyes, looking more than half similar to the Longevity Immortal statue.

The Medicine Taoist hurriedly explained, "I'm not a medicine seedling. I also have a longevity seed, but I destroyed it myself due to cultivation deviation…"

Peach Blossom Immortal didn't bother to listen anymore.

He remembered that he had revealed some things about the longevity seed the last time he came, and as a result, the Medicine Taoist began to claim to be a disciple of the Longevity Immortal.

Sure enough, he was a hysterical false immortal, and his memories were all fabricated out of thin air.

Peach Blossom Immortal went straight to the backyard, his gaze extremely fervent as he looked at the Longevity Immortal statue.

Coincidentally, Ren Qing was cultivating at the bottom of the statue. When he saw this, he asked with an ugly expression, "Medicine Taoist, what exactly is going on?"

The Medicine Taoist said cautiously, "Senior brother, since there must be a diseased tree seed, isn't it just right to have him replace me?"

"Who do you think you are?"

Peach Blossom Immortal directly grabbed the Medicine Taoist's neck and said in a gentle tone, "You shouldn't have cultivated into a tree immortal, right?"

The Medicine Taoist said with difficulty, "It's still a little short, but senior brother, if you want me to break through, I can do it at any time…"

Ka.

Peach Blossom Immortal directly broke the Medicine Taoist's neck, and then brought him to the bottom of the statue, using blood vessels to connect the latter's spine.

The Medicine Taoist's blood was completely absorbed, and the remaining empty shell fell to the ground.

Peach Blossom Immortal coldly muttered to himself, "Playing petty tricks, almost ruined my important affair. It's really cheap for you to die so simply."

Ren Qing gained a benefit for nothing, and his lifespan soared to thirty-five years.

After he separated from the blood vessels, he heard Peach Blossom Immortal say with a smile, "You will replace the Medicine Taoist, and next is to achieve the tree immortal."

Ren Qing could see Peach Blossom Immortal's ill intentions, and he also knew the conversation between the two through the ghost shadow, but thinking of his own thirty-five years of lifespan, he responded with a face full of smiles.

"There's such a good thing, junior brother, I am naturally willing."

Peach Blossom Immortal's face stiffened.