The Secret Way of Immortality

Chapter 313: The Birth of Sage Ren 1.0

The cultivation method that Xu Sanliang displayed was somewhat similar to the Jailer Art, except it lacked the uncanny object, possibly evolving from the Six Afflictions Art.

It would probably be unrealistic for Ren Qing to find the uncanny object of the Six Afflictions Art; inheriting it through a technique would be best.

After Wang Ling fed Ren Qing some dry provisions, she hurriedly left again.

Only Xu Sanliang and Ren Qing remained. The former, already exposed, didn't bother hiding anymore and simply lay down on a boulder in the corner of the courtyard to rest.

Ren Qing's lips twitched, but he ignored the man and swung his fist again.

He practiced the Tiger Restraint Fist at an extremely slow pace, the essence of the tiger completely absent, causing Xu Sanliang to feel disappointed.

"Could it just be the accidental display of fist wind?"

Lost in thought, Xu Sanliang didn't notice the ghost shadow touching him, causing Ren Qing to pause momentarily.

【Xu Sanliang】

【Age: Thirty-one】

【Lifespan: Fifty-eight years】

【Affliction: Pneumothorax Affliction】

【Body Martial Art: Gale Swordplay (Half-Corpse)】

Pneumothorax is the accumulation of air in the chest cavity, usually manifesting as coughing and asthma, and can even be life-threatening in severe cases.

As for the so-called Body Martial Art, it was indeed related to the Six Afflictions Art.

【Gale Swordplay is derived from the Six Afflictions Art, capable of stimulating the growth of one's own affliction to achieve a barely controllable state.】

Ren Qing was invigorated, realizing that the imagined cultivation in Unburied Town was indeed for planting trees, while Body Martial Arts were the genuine techniques.

Perhaps the soldiers abolished Body Martial Arts to prevent afflictions from losing control within the range of the Longevity Statue.

He suddenly had a bold idea.

Ren Qing had created the Netherworld Heavenly Worm Art. Even without prior exposure to Body Martial Arts, he could sense many similarities between the two.

As the Body Martial Art's realm increases, it would stimulate the growth of the affliction within the body.

Wouldn't the affliction be equivalent to a black worm? When the cultivation reaches a certain level, the affliction might transform into the uncanny object of the Six Afflictions Art.

Ren Qing would then naturally grasp the Six Afflictions Art.

Moreover, compared to directly advancing an affliction through the information stream, Body Martial Arts could barely control the affliction, preventing it from going berserk.

However, to confirm this, Ren Qing needed to obtain the Body Martial Art's manual.

Ren Qing's mind raced, and his punching movements became awkward, causing Xu Sanliang to frown repeatedly, eventually turning his head and ceasing to watch.

But soon, Xu Sanliang noticed that although Ren Qing was weak, he could stand up again and continue after a short rest each time he exhausted himself.

Ren Qing didn't overdo it, stopping completely after practicing for about half an hour.

Xu Sanliang hesitated, but remembering that Ren Qing couldn't speak, he closed his mouth and walked out of the courtyard.

As dusk approached, Ren Qing felt the gazes on him disappear completely.

Wang Ling returned home shortly after, showing signs of dirty work with dust in her hair, but her expression seemed happy.

The two casually ate something and then went to sleep separately.

Because Wang Qi was not home, they could only eat some stale dry provisions, but it was better than going hungry.

Thus, five days passed.

Ren Qing still practiced his fist techniques without fail, and his body gained a thin layer of muscle, preventing him from looking like he was on the verge of death.

However, his height remained unchanged, not because he had stopped progressing, but because most of the nutrients were absorbed by his bones to transform into worm bodies and to strengthen them with the Hard Bone Affliction.

There was nothing he could do. At this rate, it would probably take half a year to make up for the deficit.

Xu Sanliang came to check in every morning, occasionally watching Ren Qing's inconsistent Tiger Restraint Fist, and mostly smoking his old pipe.

Ren Qing silently filled his stomach using the ghost shadow, without letting the other man notice.

However, his patience was gradually wearing thin, as his lifespan was decreasing and he couldn't break through to the Foundation Establishment stage of the Netherworld Heavenly Worm Art.

Fortunately, on the seventh day, Wang Qi finally returned to Unburied Town in a disheveled state.

The sores on Wang Qi's skin had increased, and he cleaned them repeatedly with water, but couldn't suppress the rotting smell emanating from them.

Seeing this, Xu Sanliang frowned and said, "Old Wang, you must take care of your body."

"Thank you for your concern. Of course, I am aware of my own body…"

Wang Qi bowed and looked at Ren Qing, who was now able to practice the fist techniques with agility, and couldn't help but say with relief, "While my words still hold weight, send Shanlu to the Martial Art Coffin."

"Sanliang, what do you think?"

"Well, although Shanlu's affliction hasn't manifested yet, simple martial arts…"

"I don't want him to learn Body Martial Arts. That stuff is too wicked. Shanlu only has a few years left to live anyway; practicing Body Martial Arts will only hasten his death."

Xu Sanliang didn't care about Wang Qi's offense, but was surprised that the man cared so much about Wang Shanlu. Could they really be related by blood?

Wang Qi hesitated for a few breaths and said, "Just have him follow you at the Qingfeng Hall then."

"Alright, I can take care of him."

There was one thing Xu Sanliang didn't say: he felt that the ordinary martial arts taught at the Martial Art Coffin were not much better than the fist techniques Ren Qing was practicing haphazardly.

But at the same time, he didn't want to bury Ren Qing's talent.

"Then thank you."

Wang Qi then walked out of the courtyard, said to be given a body conditioning by several elders after each time he finished driving away the plague.

Xu Sanliang stared at Ren Qing for a long time, planning to take him to the Martial Art Coffin in a while.

The main reason was that Ren Qing was too thin. Practicing martial arts required lifting heavy objects to temper the body, so he should first nourish his qi and blood.

But Xu Sanliang didn't notice the glint of sharpness in Ren Qing's eyes when he lowered his head.

It happened to be dusk, and Ren Qing felt the main soul's consciousness land in his body, receive the branch soul's memories, and then leave the Longevity Forbidden Zone.

Seeing Wang Ling and Ren Qing preparing to eat dinner, Xu Sanliang walked out of the courtyard.

He made a special trip to the Qingfeng Coffin, found the master who taught martial arts, and told him about Ren Qing's situation.

The master's name was Xu Fu. Although he had a high status in the Qingfeng Hall, with hundreds of disciples over the decades, he was still quite respectful in front of Xu Sanliang, who practiced Body Martial Arts.

Hearing that Ren Qing was gifted but physically weak, had excellent comprehension but was also idiotic, he couldn't help but be stunned for a few breaths.

In the end, he agreed.

Xu Fu considered Ren Qing to be a demented child plagued by illnesses based on what he had heard, and considered how to temper his body so that he wouldn't die in the Qingfeng Hall.

Little did they know that Ren Qing had already obtained the Imaginary Creation Art.

The main soul was extremely efficient, bringing the Imaginary Creation Art to the branch soul in no time, and even optimizing the difficulty of mastering it.

However, the main soul had obviously overthought it. Ren Qing directly summoned the information stream.

【Gluttonous Great Stomach Art, created by Ren Qing, is one of the Non-Action Dao Arts. It enhances digestive ability by devouring meat, and upon reaching completion, the flesh all over the body becomes extremely delicious.】

【Can consume one day of lifespan to waive the cost of mastering】

The drawbacks of the Gluttonous Great Stomach Art obviously did not include delicious flesh, leading to only a one day lifespan cost. One did not know whether to celebrate.

Ren Qing was not confident in mastering the Imaginary Creation Art in one day, so he simply mastered it directly using the information stream.

The long-lost feeling of fullness came, followed by strange gurgling sounds from the stomach, and the rate of gastric acid secretion began to accelerate.

Ren Qing stuffed meat into his mouth, and a warm current continuously acted on his entire body.

He couldn't help but show joy, and directly drank a few mouthfuls of peach wine, only to find that the lifespan increasing effect was almost comparable to the main body.

It was a pity that the Imaginary Creation Art could no longer be advanced.

Ren Qing then swallowed the corpse food without hesitation, and his lifespan immediately increased by one hundred and eighty days, with his total lifespan almost breaking two hundred days.

The deficit was also visibly replenished, and the speed of transforming worm bodies was even faster.

Ren Qing couldn't sleep anyway due to the Insomnia Affliction, so he simply meditated while occasionally eating some meat.

The next morning, Xu Sanliang came to the courtyard as usual.

He glanced at Ren Qing casually, and then casually took out his smoking pipe from his pocket, but his pupils suddenly dilated when he lit the pipe.

Xu Sanliang stood up and examined Ren Qing, his brows tightly furrowed.

With his cultivation, he couldn't be mistaken. Ren Qing had clearly grown half a palm taller and gained six or seven pounds of flesh in just one night.

Xu Sanliang muttered in disbelief, "Could it be that a certain affliction suddenly manifested? Thinking about it, it's really possible…"

He had encountered it before, with an affliction causing earth-shattering changes in the body, making the cultivation of Body Martial Arts twice as effective with half the effort.

However, an affliction similar to Ren Qing's had never been seen in Unburied Town, at least.

Perhaps multiple afflictions were influencing each other?

But Xu Sanliang couldn't help but sigh. If Wang Shanlu had excellent talent in Body Martial Arts, it would be too difficult for a demented child to understand the content of the techniques.

He sat back on the boulder and shook his head, muttering, "Forget it, it's really as Old Wang said, Body Martial Arts are too wicked. Wang Shanlu might become possessed as soon as he starts cultivating."

However, Xu Sanliang silently shortened the time to take Ren Qing to the Qingfeng Hall from the original ten days to about five days.

But soon, he couldn't sit still anymore.

Because Ren Qing only spent a short three days to grow to over 1.8 meters tall, and his muscles obviously began to support his skeleton.

The essence of the Tiger Restraint Fist he performed directly transformed from a sick tiger into a strong, adult tiger.

Xu Sanliang was somewhat apprehensive, mainly fearing that the affliction on Ren Qing's body would lose control, but fortunately, his aura hadn't changed.

And while he hesitated, another two days passed unknowingly.

Xu Sanliang was completely numb.

Ren Qing's body length had actually exceeded two meters, and his entire body was covered with distinct muscles, like they were carved out of marble.

Seeing the air torn apart by Ren Qing's punches, the corners of Xu Sanliang's eyes couldn't help but twitch.

He suspected that if he didn't use the Gale Swordplay, he would be beaten to death by Ren Qing's punch, and at the same time, he didn't know how to report to the elders.

Xu Sanliang wiped the sweat from his forehead and decided not to disturb the elderly elders before Wang Qi had finished recuperating.

He didn't know if ordinary martial arts still had any meaning for Ren Qing, but it was clear that he couldn't delay any longer and had to take him to the Qingfeng Hall as soon as possible.

Wang Ling's attitude wasn't affected, but she felt much more at ease on weekdays, and no longer personally fed him every meal.

In fact, Ren Qing's growth spurt had already ended. He would continue to grow, but not to such an exaggerated extent.

He felt somewhat regretful. Confucius was a burly man of nine chi and six cun, standing at 2.2 meters tall. He was no match for a scholar.

However, there was no upper limit for afflictions. In theory, they could continue to act on oneself indefinitely.