The Secret Way of Immortality

Unlike previous advancements in术法 (shù fǎ - spells/techniques), breaking through to Earth Immortal required time and patience, allowing the body, soul, and immortal bones to transform together.

Ren Qing meditated with his eyes closed, feeling that with a mere thought, he could bring the world within his stomach to the forbidden zone. The distance between immortal and mortal was even greater than that between the Martial Human Realm and the Heavenly Gu Realm.

After a brief period of earth-shattering changes, the world within his stomach gradually re-established its connections.

Ren Qing noticed that the area of the world within his stomach had expanded tenfold, and the giant tree formed by the Heavenly Dao was growing vigorously, already extending to the Three Realms.

He sent a wisp of consciousness to the mortal realm, and a biting chill rushed towards him. Unknowingly, the world within his stomach was once again in the depths of winter.

Silver frost hung on the branches, and mist enveloped everything. Even the afternoon sun could not dispel the cold.

The beasts in the wilderness were hibernating, having already stored up fat for the winter in autumn, staying in dens isolated from the cold currents.

Even in the snowy environment, there were still hunters venturing into the forest to hunt.

However, they were destined to return empty-handed, as even the relatively intelligent Gu beasts would instinctively hibernate in their burrows.

Birds had vanished from the myriad mountains, and human traces had disappeared from all paths.

When Ren Qing established the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, the seasons became distinct, and all plants and animals in the world had to follow the rules of growth.

Ren Qing flashed away from the wilderness and arrived at Sanxiang City, a hub of population.

The Spring Festival was not far away, so the town was at its liveliest, and the market could attract people from a hundred miles around.

One could see children running and playing, and farmers taking advantage of the leisure to air out their bedding.

Everything seemed orderly.

As the most prosperous town on the continent, Sanxiang City had a long history and civilization, said to date back thousands of years.

Ren Qing had originally intended to observe the transformation of the Heavenly Dao in the world within his stomach up close, but he was attracted by the festive atmosphere of Sanxiang City. He immediately put aside his sense of urgency and wandered through the streets and alleys.

Sanxiang City had changed beyond recognition after hundreds of years of changes.

The most obvious difference was that the diverse crowd in the city was mixed with a considerable number of alien races.

People of the Cishi race with bronze skin, demon race people with beast-like features, cocoon people with bloated bodies, insect people with Gu worms replacing their limbs...

Conflicts between alien races were inevitable, and vendettas were common, but the government of Sanxiang City was doing its best to maintain order.

Such a scene could only be seen in Sanxiang City.

Fortunately, there were strong individuals stationed in Sanxiang City, so there would be no major chaos, and Ren Qing didn't think he could make everyone in the city eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures.

Ren Qing noticed that the Forbidden Corps no longer existed in the mortal realm.

Replacing the Forbidden Corps were Daoist sects founded by cultivators, mainly distributed in the depths of the Hundred Thousand Mountains outside Sanxiang City.

The strength of a Daoist sect depended on how many cultivators ascended through its Daoist lineage. Simply put, it depended on whether the Heavenly Palace had its own backers.

As for the recruitment of disciples, relying solely on Sanxiang City was enough to satisfy their needs.

After all, Sanxiang City had undergone five expansions, and its population had reached one million, making it the most representative town in the mortal realm.

If it weren't for the abundance of resources, it would have been impossible to support the daily consumption of a million people with ancient production efficiency.

Ren Qing's mood was very peculiar now.

Although the world within his stomach was indeed created by him, he had mostly let it develop on its own and hadn't paid attention to it for a long time.

He noticed the prosperity of the world within his stomach, and also discovered the filth hidden in the shadows.

If he couldn't change the status quo, the world within his stomach might become similar to the outside world, gradually filled with despair and bloodshed.

"Flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water?"

Ren Qing arrived at the main street of Sanxiang City. The street was wide enough to accommodate four carriages side by side, and the buildings were at least four or five stories high.

The outside world should have been peaceful and prosperous before the Three Dao Ancestors had their accident.

But even the Heavenly Dao had transformed into an unspeakable existence, so how could the masses of living beings avoid it? Even immortals and Buddhas were just mantises trying to stop a chariot.

Ren Qing quietly waited for the transformation of天地生 (Tiāndì Shēng - Heaven and Earth Living) to complete, thinking about how to intervene in the world within his stomach to avoid repeating his mistakes.

A clear and childish voice sounded: "Grandpa, are you watching the Inviting God ceremony too?"

Ren Qing's thoughts were interrupted, and he turned to look at the person beside him. He saw a thin girl of seven or eight years old standing in the corner, holding a dog with a broken tail in her right hand.

The girl's clothes were tattered, and her right foot was obviously a bit lame, so she mostly liked to watch her surroundings in the shadows.

Ren Qing's image was different in the eyes of different people. In the girl's eyes, he was an old man with white hair and a kind and gentle expression.

He reached out and touched the girl's head, asking in a strange tone, "Which god are you inviting?"

"Replying to Grandpa, it's the Kitchen God."

The girl replied sensibly, touching her shriveled stomach, and the exposed wrist was full of whip marks.

The grain in the world within his stomach was grown by the Fungus People on the plains of the Northwest. Not to mention tens of millions of people, even hundreds of millions would be more than enough.

Ren Qing distributed it to various towns through Dream City, so there shouldn't be a problem with not having enough to eat.

The root of the disaster was what he noticed from the lack of food, which could lead to turmoil in the Three Realms and a catastrophe with millions of corpses.

The girl said softly, "I heard that the Kitchen God examines people's hearts for good and evil. If Grandpa has any grievances, you can worship the Kitchen God."

"Indeed, I should worship him."

Ren Qing narrowed his eyes, watching a luxurious carriage decorated with a gilded Kitchen God statue at the end of the street.

The people supported the Kitchen God, and a massive amount of incense Qi poured into the statue.

The Kitchen God was already on the verge of the Heavenly Gu Realm, about to break through into the Yang God Realm, and was unscrupulously absorbing incense Qi.

Ren Qing directly cut off the Kitchen God's channel connecting to the mortal realm, and with a wave of his hand, the incense Qi turned into nothingness.

He saw more clearly than anyone else that the Kitchen God's intelligence had already formed, so he intentionally or unintentionally instigated incidents in the mortal realm.

Causing many mortals to lose their jobs, and then helping them, thereby collecting incense Qi.

Over time, the situation of the Merit Monk of Jingzhou might appear, where incense immortals would resort to any means for incense, disrupting the order of the Three Realms.

Ren Qing stared at the girl, and her simple experience was clear at a glance.

The girl's parents died because they accidentally ate poison. She was orphaned at the age of five and was taken care of by the Taoist priest of the Kitchen God Temple.

However, the Kitchen God Temple only provided porridge once a day, and she eventually became a beggar, controlled by a gang in the city.

"The Kitchen God should indeed discern good and evil."

"I set the rules."

Ren Qing closed his eyes, and his consciousness merged with the Heavenly Dao of the world within his stomach. In an instant, he felt the seventy-two innate incense immortals of the Heavenly Palace.

"I want to establish a Heavenly Court to let the immortals and gods protect the world within my stomach."

Ren Qing's consciousness rushed straight into the sky, and the Heavenly Dao opened its branches to entangle him. At this moment, he seemed to be able to control every plant and tree in the world within his stomach.

The girl opened her mouth wide, and the old man in front of her suddenly disappeared. A warm current poured into her flesh and bones from the top of her head.

Her disabled right foot immediately improved, and walking became easier.

"Cui'er, where did you go?"

The girl subconsciously looked towards the voice, and saw an old woman with a hunched back staring at her. The latter was the Taoist priest of the Old Man Under the Moon Temple.

"Cui'er, don't run around. Don't forget the temple's sacrifices later."

Cui'er was stunned for a few breaths, then lowered her head to look at her clothes. Her tattered beggar clothes had been replaced by the Taoist priest's robe at some point.

She followed the old Taoist priest in a daze, her mind blank.

Mortals didn't realize that the order of the world within Ren Qing's stomach had completely changed, and invisible rules bound the incense immortals.

At the same time, the incense immortals inexplicably felt fear.

The incense immortal statues enshrined in the temples suddenly opened their eyes, and looked at the mortal realm with a discerning gaze.

The intelligence of the incense immortals would constantly increase after digesting the distracting thoughts of the believers' prayers.

But they themselves had no distinction between good and evil, and were easily polluted by the distracting thoughts of human nature, somewhat similar to the distinction between weirdness and purity in the outside world.

The small worlds where the incense immortals were placed shook violently, and a large number of chains invisibly wrapped the small worlds, preventing the incense immortals from returning to the Three Realms.

Ren Qing originally created the incense immortals only as tools to contain incense Qi, so that he could summon the incense Qi to his body at any time with the Deity Possession Technique.

As a result, with the development of the Heavenly Dao, the incense immortals had formed a unique power system.

To distinguish it from the Immortal Corps, Ren Qing called the incense immortals "Gods".

He had previously hesitated about how to deal with the incense immortals, after all, the Godly Dao was different from the Immortal Dao, and it might be a big trouble.

But now he understood that the role of the incense immortals was actually to manage the Three Realms on behalf of the Heavenly Dao.

The incense immortals must depend on mortals, not let mortals depend on the incense immortals, so that the world within his stomach could become stronger.

Ren Qing's figure appeared in the Heavenly Court, and the incense immortals belatedly felt fear, and knelt down to beg for mercy, accusing the Kitchen God of his evil deeds.

The Old Man Under the Moon shouted in panic: "Heavenly Dao, this little god has been conscientious and never thought of overstepping the bounds."

The Door God pointed at the Kitchen God and cursed: "It's all because of that little old man, saying that mortals are just tools for obtaining incense, as long as..."

"I hope Heavenly Dao will let this little god off, and I will definitely work hard without complaint."

Ren Qing looked at them indifferently, and then a thunderbolt fell in the Heavenly Court, and the incense immortals were covered in karmic fire, making miserable screams.

He was indeed a little afraid that the world within his stomach would become as chaotic as the outside world.

If the world within his stomach was full of weird creatures that only knew how to kill, then天地生 (Tiāndì Shēng - Heaven and Earth Living) would no longer be an aid to him, but a tumor.

Ren Qing didn't want to end up like the Moral Heavenly Lord.

After a while, none of the incense immortals survived.

Only seventy-two jade-like imprints were left in place, autonomously absorbing incense Qi.

Ren Qing picked up the Kitchen God's imprint and carefully examined it. The incense Qi inside had been purified by more than half, barely reaching the edge of the Yin Messenger Realm.

But over time, the imprint would definitely return to the Yang God Realm, and even go further.

As long as he refined the imprint, he could borrow the power of the imprint. In a sense, the imprint was very similar to the immortal positions of the outside world.

However, Ren Qing didn't know if the imprint could reach the level of an Earth Immortal, and it would take time to verify.

He estimated that even if it reached the Earth Immortal level, it would be the Earth Immortal of the world within his stomach.

After all, the imprint was a product of the Heavenly Dao of the world within his stomach. The Three Dao Ancestors didn't recognize it at all, and might even be repelled by the imprint.

Ren Qing set a limit for the imprint. After refining it, he could cultivate through incense Qi, but when believers no longer offered sacrifices, his cultivation would decline.

The imprint was what he left for the mountain gods and stream gods of the mortal realm.

After the acquired incense immortals reached the level of Heavenly Officials and Judges, they would ascend to the Heavenly Court to refine the imprint, and eventually be stationed in the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.

Even the Godly Dao must follow Ren Qing's rules.

Ren Qing directly laid the foundation for the Godly Dao. The acquired incense immortals rose, and the innate incense immortals completely became stepping stones for the Godly Dao.

As for the cultivation path of the Immortal Corps, the path to immortality depended on the Heavenly Immortal Position.

He had a feeling that the Heavenly Immortal Position was definitely related to becoming an immortal and attaining the Dao, but after all, he had only just reached the Earth Immortal level, and like the Godly Dao imprint, it might require a long period of accumulation.

天地生 (Tiāndì Shēng - Heaven and Earth Living) was still transforming, and the giant tree formed by the Heavenly Dao continued to extend its branches, and the top was already pregnant with the fruit of the Heavenly Immortal Position.

Ren Qing summoned the information flow of天地生 (Tiāndì Shēng - Heaven and Earth Living).

[Ren Qing]

[Lifespan: None]

术法 (Shù Fǎ - Spells/Techniques):

[天地生 (Tiāndì Shēng - Heaven and Earth Living) (Earth Immortal)]

[Immortal Body: Oneness of All Things]

[Divine Power: Law, Heaven, and Earth]

[Immortal Position: Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor]

[Immortal Office: Heavenly Dao]

………

Ren Qing felt satisfied, and couldn't help but smile on his ancient and unchanging face.

After countless years of cultivation, he had experienced countless hardships and obstacles.

Relying on the information flow, Ren Qing finally stole a true immortal position from the Three Dao Ancestors.

Even if he was trapped in the forbidden zone of the immortal position, he still felt a constant stream of power, as if he could break the world with one blow.

Ren Qing opened his eyes and found that his body was like a behemoth compared to the corpses of immortals and gods, and could no longer be described in terms of how many ten thousand meters.

His expression became strange, and he noticed the embarrassed appearance of the cultivators who were guarding against him.

Because Ren Qing affected the rules of the cave, the weird creatures were already comparable to the Heavenly Gu Realm, and the cultivators could not survive in the cave for a long time.

The cultivators joined forces to build a fortress in the void.

The ring-shaped fortress made of metal rotated around the cave, and had a complete ecological chain inside. It used vegetation to produce oxygen, and even raised cattle and sheep as meat.

Ordinary plants and animals would be affected by the corpses of immortals and gods after living in the fortress for a long time, and would produce unexpected changes.

The Immortal Corps transferred a group of sheep demons to manage the ecology, thereby harvesting resources.

The Demon Vein was best at obtaining resources. They had opened up many large medicinal fields underground in the animal pen.

The scene in the forbidden zone of the immortal position was indeed a bit like a science fiction movie.

The Eight Directions Locking Immortal Formation around Ren Qing was indeed of good quality. Even though it was close to collapse, it still retained some effect.

He could consider promoting the Eight Directions Locking Immortal Formation, increasing the investment of resources, and it should be able to increase the power of the formation by 40%.

He exerted force slightly with his arms, and only heard the sound of metal tearing.

The broken formation completely failed, and a shock wave swept across the entire forbidden zone of the immortal position with Ren Qing as the center, and the cave shook.

The void fortress that was jointly refined by the Heavenly Gu Realm was vulnerable in front of Ren Qing, and dense cracks appeared at the joints.

The seven caves that were already closed were tilted, but fortunately, the cultivators who refined the immortal position were not affected, only frightened.

"Became an immortal?!"

"Ren Qing became an immortal..."

"The path to immortality has not been cut off. Heavenly Court really found the path to immortality."

Ren Qing's performance also proved that the so-called theory of weird and pure immortals was established, otherwise his appearance would definitely become unspeakable.

Now, apart from his slender limbs, Ren Qing's skin was covered in mysterious patterns, but otherwise, he was much the same as before.

Of course, Ren Qing had not yet unleashed the Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor, nor was he blessed by any other Immortal positions.

If the cultivators were to see Ren Qing when the Five Immortal Bodies and the Buddha Body were united, they would probably immediately dismiss the idea of becoming Immortals and attaining the Dao.

Ren Qing had a feeling that he could break free from the restrictions of the Immortal position forbidden area with a wave of his hand.

He quickly restrained his aura, and the celestial phenomena dissipated, along with the weakening influence on the cave abode.

Now was far from the time to leave the Immortal position forbidden area.

Even if Ren Qing could not take the celestial phenomenon a step further, he had to try to increase his strength as much as possible, otherwise, it would be difficult to survive the dangers outside.

He fell into meditation again, waiting for the Heavenly Dao Giant Tree to complete its gestation.

After such a commotion in the Immortal's cave abode, the strange creatures in the Heavenly Gu Realm disappeared like a tide, returning to their original environment.

The cultivators were stunned for a few breaths, and then quickly took action.

Deafening explosions came from the void fortress outside the cave abode, and small-scale battles had already broken out inside, setting off another wave of Conferring Gods, which would last for an unknown period.

Dozens of cultivators each drove their flying boat artifacts towards the Silkworm Mother Cave.

The Prison Warden Hall would not sell Sand Boat artifacts, but putting second-rate Flying Boat artifacts on the shelves resulted in good sales.

Ordinary artifacts could not withstand the high pressure of the void at all.

The most important aspect of the Gu fetus artifact was that it was made entirely of flesh and bones, so even if it was damaged, it could be quickly restored with materials.

The flying boats landed on the surface of the Silkworm Mother Cave, and the cultivators rushed towards the depths they remembered.

Under the rules of the Silkworm Mother Cave, even plants, trees, mountains, and rocks were actually Gu worms, which could be refined by means of Gu refinement.

They had explored the Silkworm Mother Cave in depth before Ren Qing advanced to the celestial phenomenon.

Later, they were forced to leave the cave, but in the void fortress, they did not give up their research on Gu worms, aiming for the Immortal position.

It should be known that the Conferring Gods had already determined the ownership of seven Immortal positions.

Even if the cultivators who refined the Immortal positions died unexpectedly, the cultivators who replaced them were fully prepared, and there were not many opportunities left.

The cultivators did not choose to go through the mouth and nose passages to the inside of the cave.

The passages were full of swarms of Gu worms, and it was almost impossible to clear them all, so they simply had the Gu worms dig tunnels to go.

They were intentionally or unintentionally separated by a dozen miles, seemingly not intending to meet.

Now that the Conferring Gods had reached the later stage, there was a subtle understanding between them. Knowing that refining the Immortal position might lead to cultivation deviation, they naturally would not want others to be the oriole behind them.

True Lord Si opened his mouth and spat out a Gu worm shaped like a pangolin, which plunged into a pre-selected location.

He calmly arranged formations to cover up the aura emitted by the Gu worm, and then burrowed into the cave.

The soil of the Silkworm Mother Cave was mixed with sporadic insect eggs, and when the temperature rose, they would hatch, so True Lord Si used artifacts to maintain a low temperature.

The game of Gu refinement involved all aspects.

One had to guard against the sneak attacks of fellow Daoists, and also had to be able to deal with various Gu worms, otherwise, it would be impossible to reach the deepest part of the Silkworm Mother Cave.

True Lord Si did not dare to be negligent, and continuously took pills to stimulate his spirit.

Every few meters he advanced, he had to specially release Gu worms to distribute on the cave walls, lest some Gu worms suddenly appear unexpectedly.

True Lord Si was very confident in his methods.

He had previously investigated the situation of the cave in detail, and he was not like a Gu worm cultivator who had just started out. He had been specializing in Gu refinement for more than two thousand years.

True Lord Si was fully focused, and the depth of the tunnel continued to extend.

He did not know how long had passed, but he only felt that the air in the passage became circulated, and immediately commanded the Gu worms on the ground to bury the entrance.

Sure enough, True Lord Si found several cracks in the rock wall not far away. Following the cracks to dig, a worm nest came into view.

His expression not only did not show joy, but became solemn.

Because the worm nest was full of corpses of Gu worms, and the volume was extremely large, indicating that they were likely at the Immortal Guest level or higher when they were alive.

"No wonder it was so smooth, the cave abode had already been taken by someone else."

True Lord Si took out a ceramic jar and grabbed a fat centipede and threw it into his mouth.

The centipede went down his throat to his stomach, and True Lord Si's aura also weakened, and then he moved through the worm corpses.

The closer he got to the Immortal position, the denser the number of worm corpses became.

The injuries of the worm corpses were very similar, obviously from the hand of one person, who had a sense of ease in the swarm of worms.

True Lord Si was frightened, and it was difficult to imagine the horror when the swarm of worms was alive.

He had lost the unrealistic fantasy of the Immortal position. What virtue and ability did he have to compete for the opportunity to become an Immortal, but he wanted to see who it was.

True Lord Si walked for hundreds of miles before he noticed the pressure of the Immortal position.

This place was already littered with corpses. In addition to the Gu worms unique to the Silkworm Mother Cave, there were also terrifying Gu worms cultivated by the cultivators themselves.

He finally knew what a killer worm was.

The Gu worm was shaped like a mantis, with its arms being sharp blades. The blades were detachable, specially refined artifact blades.

The worm armor was sturdy and lightweight at the same time, and the speed of the killer worm must be very amazing.

Even if it could not kill with one blow, the killer worm's mouthparts could also spray steel needle-shaped insect eggs, which would hatch a new generation of adult worms in the enemy's body.

Other types of Gu worms were also more extreme, simply masterpieces.

True Lord Si conceded defeat, actively put away the Gu worms in his abdomen, and came to the end of the worm nest.

His pupils shrank, and he saw Li Yaoyang, composed of four kinds of Gu worms, sitting on the top of a hill covered with worm corpses.

Li Yaoyang had a flying sword refined from worm armor inserted in his chest, and blood gushed out of the wound, dark red mixed with black and purple, and the unique sweet smell of Gu poison permeated the worm nest.

He held the owner of the flying sword in his right hand, with a complex expression on his face.

"Good disciple, if you had used a different Gu poison, I'm afraid I would have really ended up here."

Gu Zhenren was silent. He did not regret assassinating Li Yaoyang, but only felt that the attack was too hasty.

Li Yaoyang exerted force, then put away the corpse, and stared at True Lord Si who came in.

"Don't get me wrong, I just want to see what it's like to become an Immortal by relying on Gu refinement."

Li Yaoyang was too lazy to pay attention to True Lord Si. His Heavenly Gu Realm cultivation was exposed, and he directly absorbed the latter into his stomach world.

He used the aura emitted by the Silkworm Mother Insect Immortal to cultivate, and his efficiency was increasing by leaps and bounds.

He was just waiting for Gu Zhenren to attack, so he did not refine the Immortal position. Now it was almost time, and he hoped to catch up with Song Zongwu and the others.

Li Yaoyang closed his eyes, and the Silkworm Mother Cave began to shrink. The cultivators in the cave fled in panic, and another Immortal position had an owner.

The eighth cave abode was closed.

Then came the ninth Wind God Cave Abode, the tenth Well Water God...

After the twelve cave abodes were all refined, Ren Qing woke up, and a crystal clear jewel "Heavenly Immortal Position" was in his palm.