The Secret Way of Immortality

The giant rabbit toad wanted to reclaim the small blood moon, but merely approaching the arm caused abnormalities, with its skin beginning to ulcerate extensively.

Ren Qing knew the arm came from the Longevity Forbidden Zone, and its strength couldn't exceed the Heavenly Ghoul realm.

However, despite both being in the Heavenly Ghoul realm, the giant rabbit toad and the Man in the Well were worlds apart; the former had no chance of resistance whatsoever.

This also indicated that the giant rabbit toad, as a spirit of a magical artifact, was more functional, mainly emitting demonic aura and creating small blood moons.

“Ugh…”

The vine-composed arm instantly collapsed, and the small blood moon actually traversed thousands of miles in just a few breaths, transferring outside the Longevity Forbidden Zone.

The Man in the Well held the small blood moon, observing it.

The giant rabbit toad frantically rushed towards the marsh, uttering threatening screeches, but its flesh began to disintegrate under the effects of the disease.

Right before the eyes of the Jail Enforcement Hall members, the giant rabbit toad transformed into a pool of pus.

The giant rabbit toad, which had been invulnerable to all techniques not long ago, couldn't even resist against the Man in the Well, who had advanced to the Heavenly Ghoul realm through the Jail Enforcement Art.

The Unrestrained City, located on the ruins of Crane Mountain Town, was quite dangerous, and cultivators spontaneously fed their flesh to the mouths on the ground, intending to leave as soon as possible.

Seeing that Ren Qing seemed to know something, Song Zongwu couldn't help but ask, “Ren Qing, tell me quickly, what exactly is the situation in Xiangxiang?”

Ren Qing couldn't help but answer with a complex expression, “Actually, the tens of thousands of people in Xiangxiang are now within the Longevity Forbidden Zone.”

Grand Dreamer remembered previously asking Ren Qing to explore the Longevity Forbidden Zone; it seemed the latter had discovered a lot of information through the ability of his dual main and secondary souls.

While inspecting the Unrestrained City, Ren Qing described the Longevity Forbidden Zone.

Currently, the three towns of Xiangxiang were already situated around the giant tree, adjacent to Weian Town, conveniently within the area of its protection.

The forces of Xiangxiang and Weian were still in contact, but with a split soul mediating relations, the atmosphere wasn't too tense.

Ren Qing's long-standing doubts about the giant tree were also verified.

The people could obtain information about body cultivation from the giant tree and could also use the aura it emitted to suppress the hysteria from the Longevity Immortals.

As the giant tree became taller and taller, the area it covered also increased.

Ren Qing was somewhat confused at the time; if the giant tree was deliberately controlled by someone, why waste nutrients to grow it to a height of several thousand meters?

Now he understood that the Man in the Well had probably made preparations in advance, intending to pull the population of Xiangxiang into the forbidden zone at any time.

He just didn't know if the other party's identity was actually the founding master of the Jail Enforcement Hall.

Ren Qing was about to tell Song Zongwu and Grand Dreamer his guess about the origin of the Jail Enforcement Hall, but for some reason, he smelled a strange odor in his nose.

Immediately afterward, the sound of cultivators coughing came, and even the Unrestrained City shook.

Grand Dreamer quickly reminded, “Be careful, the air is poisonous!”

But in just a short breath, thousands of cultivators fell to the ground with blackened faces, and at the same time, they developed a persistent high fever.

Seeing this, Ren Qing quickly signaled the Ghost Shadow to open its maw and swallow the entire Unrestrained City into the Everlasting Cage, leaving only three Yang Soul realm cultivators.

He discovered that the Unrestrained City seemed to be infected with a stubborn disease, and it wasn't until they were in the stomach world that the cultivators recovered.

Ren Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

The disease produced by the Six Afflictions Art was formed by spells; as long as it was isolated, the symptoms could be alleviated, and even cured in a short time.

If it were the Grand Taisui Sutra, it wouldn't be so simple, after all, this technique nurtured colorless and invisible pathogens, and even the caster might not be able to undo it.

Ren Qing signaled Song Zongwu and Grand Dreamer not to act rashly.

Based on his understanding of the Six Afflictions Art, part of the Man in the Well's consciousness must be nearby, which caused the aura of the technique to leak.

Even the Heavenly Ghoul realm artifact spirit, the rabbit toad, was enough for them to handle, let alone the genuine Man in the Well, so they could only respond to all changes with constancy.

Moreover, the Man in the Well shouldn't have any malicious intent; at least his actions regarding the small blood moon were clearly helping the Unrestrained City escape.

The three held their breath, guarding against each other, ready to evacuate at any time.

Right before their eyes, countless vines drilled out of the ground, forming a half-meter-sized mass, and after flesh was generated, it transformed into a human brain.

The brain exhibited more than a dozen characteristics of brain diseases, its blood vessels appearing cyan-purple, accompanied by brain matter flowing out.

The Ghost Shadow under Ren Qing's feet was hundreds of meters long; as long as he sensed something was wrong, the Ghost Shadow would immediately pull away his main body.

Grand Dreamer and Song Zongwu had also prepared their own methods.

The blood vessels on the surface of the brain continuously oozed blood, and then the nearby air began to distort, and the sounds of insects within a hundred miles abruptly stopped.

Birds and beasts fled in the opposite direction, collapsing to the ground and turning into pus if they were even a step late.

Ren Qing and the others were horrified, suddenly discovering that their own brains were slightly wriggling, as if an invisible hand was stroking them.

Before they could escape, strange memories appeared in their minds.

Ren Qing swallowed a mouthful of saliva, muttering to himself, “This method of telepathy… is really hardcore…”

The memories brought by the brain were very fragmented, showing that the Man in the Well was also not optimistic.

The three were all in the Yang Soul realm, and the speed of digesting memories was very fast; in the blink of an eye, they analyzed the cause and effect, and their expressions became shocked.

The Man in the Well's name was “Chen Changsheng,” and he was the founding master who created the Jail Enforcement Hall.

Chen Changsheng was born in the Longevity Forbidden Zone, living in a world where the Three Immortals of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity used the lives of mortals as nutrients to plant diseased trees.

The Three Immortals, as Longevity Species, possessed unchanging lifespans and hysteria-inducing poisons that created disasters.

He wanted to change the situation, but he found that the Longevity Species could easily be resurrected, and mortals were also eager to become diseased trees.

Chen Changsheng couldn't find a way, so he had to focus on cultivation in the deep mountains, hoping to shatter the void and go to the Upper Realm as soon as possible.

After hundreds of years of arduous cultivation, he finally set foot in the Yang Soul realm, leading his disciples to ascend with great enthusiasm, arriving at the Boundless Marsh.

The result was predictable.

Chen Changsheng traveled to many places, completely shocked by the madness of the Upper Realm.

Whether it was the Heavenly Dao Worm of Jing Province or the Supreme Heavenly Demon of the Beast Pen, mortals had completely become consumables for cultivation; in comparison, the methods of the Longevity Species even seemed too immature.

Chen Changsheng chose to lead the disciples of Yellow Sand City to Xiangxiang, operating for hundreds of years to form the prototype of the current Jail Enforcement Hall.

His reason for returning to the Longevity Forbidden Zone was simple: to advance to the Heavenly Ghoul realm.

Because the Longevity Forbidden Zone had a very unique rule: immortals transformed from strange objects could break through their own limitations by relying on the fruit of the diseased tree.

As long as Semi-Corpse realm immortals consumed Tree Immortal fruits for a long time, they could reach the Ghoul Envoy realm.

Theoretically, the Yang Soul realm was the same.

No one knew the Longevity Forbidden Zone better than Chen Changsheng, so naturally he knew how to seize this opportunity; first, he had to become a Longevity Species.

The Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity Longevity Species were all transformed from strange objects.

If Chen Changsheng's body and soul went to the Longevity Forbidden Zone together, he would not be able to transform into a Longevity Species; only by severing the body and annihilating the soul could he do so.

Using the spiritual light in the remnant soul to carry strange objects into the Longevity Forbidden Zone, using the strange objects as the body, he could sneak in as a member of the Longevity Species.

Chen Changsheng resolutely chose to cultivate the Beast Pen Art, using the characteristic of the Supreme Heavenly Demon to treat the body as firewood, severing the foundation.

Before the remnant soul entered the well, he simply erased the traces of his existence to prevent the descendants of the Jail Enforcement Hall from searching for him.

The Avici Hell was also left by Chen Changsheng, a technique obtained from the corpse of the Wine Meat Taoist, but the strange object transformed into a form similar to smoke and dust due to the Beast Pen Art burning the body.

Ren Qing guessed that the Beast Pen Art was given to Chen Changsheng by the Heavenly Dao Child, and in the end, the two embarked on completely opposite but equally crazy paths.

Now Chen Changsheng had been in the well for hundreds of years, and he should have successfully advanced to the Heavenly Ghoul realm.

But it was obvious that he was affected by some inexplicable influence, causing him to be trapped in the Longevity Forbidden Zone, and even his consciousness became blurred.

Chen Changsheng's act of pulling Xiangxiang into the Longevity Forbidden Zone was not entirely to protect them; more of it was actually to "save himself."

Just as Ren Qing and the others were stunned, Chen Changsheng's brain began to collapse.

A voice enduring madness rang in their ears: “Wait until… Heavenly Ghoul… come to Longevity again… hidden inside…”

Bang!!!

The brain completely turned into flesh paste, and the pathogens formed by the Six Afflictions Art were also rapidly dissipating, but the mountains and forests were already in a mess.

Ren Qing subconsciously looked towards the marsh, vaguely able to see the thousand-meter giant still standing there, probably delaying time.

The three were silent for a moment.

Song Zongwu took the lead in saying, “This place is not suitable for staying for long; let's disperse.”

Grand Dreamer said in a deep voice, “Regardless of whether or not we advance to the Heavenly Ghoul realm, we will return to Xiangxiang in a hundred years to discuss how to deal with the Longevity Forbidden Zone.”

Ren Qing immediately agreed; from his words, it could be heard that Grand Dreamer and Song Zongwu probably had already made some decisions in their hearts.

Grand Dreamer, as expected, would look for the traces left by the Grand Taisui Taoist, trying to break through the bottleneck by using the dead Heavenly Ghoul realm cultivator.

Song Zongwu was obviously from the Inspiration Temple; Buddhist techniques were not so easy to suppress, and currently using the Asura Art was only a temporary solution.

As for Ren Qing, staying in Xiangxiang was indeed meaningless.

The Jail Enforcement Hall had thousands of cultivators in the Everlasting Cage, and the Longevity Forbidden Zone could also be taken care of by relying on the split soul, without affecting the efficiency of prolonging life in the slightest.

The Rebirth Art within the Longevity Forbidden Zone could be taken advantage of by the split soul to find an opportunity to obtain it.

Ren Qing gave each of them a wisp of Soul Butterfly projection; in the future, if the Dream Art made a breakthrough, the range of influence would become larger and larger, and they could even be contacted through the Dream Market.

Grand Dreamer turned and walked south.

Song Zongwu was a little worried about Ren Qing, so he asked, “I am preparing to go to the Inspiration Temple; if you have no plans, you can come with me.”

“Senior Song.”

Ren Qing looked at the clouds in the north, and said in a firm tone, “I want to find the Scripture of the Dead; I want to be immortal!”

Even if cultivating the Scripture of the Dead would turn him into a living dead, as long as his lifespan was infinite, he could become an immortal.

Song Zongwu's expression was dazed, recalling that Song Rong had once said similar words.

He said with a wry smile, “That's just a rumor; no one knows if it's true…”

“Goodbye in a hundred years.”

Before Song Zongwu could finish speaking, Ren Qing had already set off towards the north.

The storytellers in the teahouses all had stories about immortality, and the Jail Enforcement Hall's books also had relevant records, most of which involved the Scripture of the Dead, but no one knew the source.

Song Rong believed that there was a Scripture of the Dead in the far north when he was a child, and even took action, resulting in a depleted lifespan.

At this moment, a deafening movement came from the marsh.

Chen Changsheng's actions had completely angered the blood moon.

Chen Changsheng was seen pinching the small blood moon, and the distorted flesh tissue covered it, turning the small blood moon into a beating sarcoma.

He absorbed the small blood moon into the Longevity Forbidden Zone, embedding it in the center of the giant tree.

Crack crack crack crack…

The blood moon's mouth kept opening and closing, and half of its body had already emerged from Jing Province, while the rest was tightly entangled by the Heavenly Demon aura.

It swallowed several sand dunes in a row, and the remnant souls already present in the marsh sand were refined into magical artifact puppets in a short time.

When the blood moon opened its mouth again, tens of thousands of rabbit toads poured out from it.

However, the marsh was similar to an endless forest, caused by the influence of the Heavenly Ghoul realm corpse on the environment, so the remnant souls were not naturally formed.

Therefore, the rabbit toads that were refined became extremely distorted in appearance, many of them without limbs, completely a mass of wriggling flesh.

But the rabbit toads' role was to spread demonic aura, and then the entire marsh boiled.

If a single demon beast was compared to a drop of water, then the current number was almost the scale of an ocean, making people feel scalp tingling.

Chen Changsheng reached out and摘下 the Wine Meat Taoist from the clouds, and then inserted it into his chest and abdomen, nourishing it with countless pathogens.

“My name is Chen Changsheng, my name is Taboo, my name is Ksitigarbha…”

He slammed his hands hard on the ground, and after a loud noise, a sky-covering plague of pathogens spread out, and a fishy wind howled wherever it passed.

Demon beasts rushed into the plague range like moths to a flame, and pathogens eroded their bodies, collapsing in batches.

The deaths were grotesque, causing the corpses to pile up into mountains.

But even so, it could not stop the demon beasts, after all, all things could become demons, as long as the demonic aura was endless, the corpse could climb up countless times.

After continuous resurrection, the cultivation of the corpses also skyrocketed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Many rabbit toads relied on devouring the flesh and blood of demon beasts to produce intelligence, and sat cross-legged to cultivate the Moon Worshiping Art, and soon reached the level of Ghoul Envoys.

Of course, because the remnant souls in the marsh sand were too unstable, even if the rabbit toads' cultivation reached the Yang Soul realm, their lifespan could not be maintained for a few hours.

A rabbit toad stood out, it tore open its skin and flesh, and the body revealed swelled against the wind, and soon it turned into a new Heavenly Ghoul realm rabbit toad.

With the addition of the giant rabbit toad, the demonic aura contained in the air was even more concentrated.

The demon beasts' resistance to the plague was greatly increased, and they had come within a hundred meters of Chen Changsheng, and were about to drown him.

Chen Changsheng calmly pulled out the corpse of the Wine Meat Taoist, using the corpse as a petri dish for the plague, releasing boundless pathogens.

The flesh and blood all over his body gradually collapsed, just relying on the corpse to delay time.

The entrance and exit of the Longevity Forbidden Zone had disappeared, possibly hidden in the depths of the marsh, or in an inconspicuous corner.

However, the traces left by the war would last forever, especially the corpse of the Wine Meat Taoist, which had completely become a breeding ground for pathogens, estimated to last for hundreds of years.

Ren Qing was on the edge of the marsh, and could not help but look up at Jing Province.

It had been shrouded in the Heavenly Demon aura, and the movement of the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm had returned to calm, and it was likely to fall into a deep sleep again.

The blood moon, which was severely damaged by the Buddhist sect, could not do anything about the Supreme Heavenly Demon, and feeling like it was falling was only a matter of time, but it would be deadlocked for a long time.

The Heavenly Dao Child did not know if he had expected the result of Jing Province.

Ren Qing did not have the idea of intervening, nor did he have the joy of surviving the disaster.

He faced an unknown path ahead. Chen Changsheng's memories were too fragmented, and he didn't know how many years had passed in the outside world.

The Yang God realm was barely enough to protect himself, but looking at the Heavenly Abominations capable of destroying an entire region, and the Earth Immortals who could change the environment with a wave of their hand...

Ren Qing suddenly felt insecure.

The Blood Moon, the Heavenly Dao Worm, the Supreme Heavenly Demon, which one of them couldn't recreate the world?

Finally finished writing, crying to death.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, only this chapter today. I need to sort out the next volume [Dead Man].