The Secret Way of Immortality

The candlelight treated the Great Compassion Buddha Qi as firewood, burning it away in short order, then disappearing like the moon in the water or a flower in a mirror.

Candlelight represents the Heavenly Dao of Buddhism, which is not so easily eradicated.

Ren Qing could sense that the candlelight had probably returned to Dipamkara Buddha; where the latter existed was beyond the imagination of mortals.

What made him wonder was Dipamkara Buddha's bizarre appearance. Was it a sign of deepening Heavenly Dao transformation, or had he not completely turned into a "monster" like the Three Dao Ancestors?

Ren Qing continued to dissect the Deer-Riding Arhat, stripping away the souls contained within the Buddha Qi.

A position of Buddhahood was like a candy ball wrapped in countless layers; to know the secrets at the center, he had to remove all the souls one by one.

However, the souls were rooted in the Buddha Qi, their relationship similar to fish in water.

Water could exist without fish, but fish would die if they left the water.

Ren Qing had come into contact with the Buddha Qi of the Laughing Lion Arhat and the Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva, and he knew that ordinary Buddha Qi did not contain souls; Buddha Qi with souls was the most crucial part.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi he was stripping this time contained a large number of souls. If the Deer-Riding position had intelligence, it would probably kill him immediately.

Ren Qing's actions were akin to stealing the foundation of the Deer-Riding Arhat.

He felt no remorse about this. After all, now that the Deer-Riding position was in his hands, it shouldn't think about seeing the light of day again until he had squeezed it dry.

He calmly researched it for several months in his cave. The Dream Flowers, one by one, showed signs of transformation as they absorbed the Buddha Qi, and dozens of golden beetles were scattered around.

After the Dream Flowers absorbed a certain amount of foreign aura, they should transform again. One of the golden beetles was already subtly different.

During this time, Ren Qing had used several methods to try to strip away the souls, but with little effect.

There were some gains. The Deer-Riding position originally emitted the aura of a Heavenly Guile realm, but now it was gradually falling towards the Yang God realm.

Of course, the essence of the Buddhist positions was the successive generations of cultivators who had been devoured.

If the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi could find a group of mortals who believed in it, it could recover quickly. Tens of thousands of souls were nothing to Buddhism.

Ren Qing also checked the information stream of the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi.

【Deer-Riding Arhat】

【Age: 7,385】

【Lifespan: None】

【Technique: Immovable Sutra (Ninety-Eight Buddhas)】

【The Immovable Sutra was created by the Deer-Riding Arhat. Cultivation requires the approval of Buddha Qi. Mastering it grants temporary wisdom from ten lifetimes, and a Buddhist disciple can be reborn ten times.】

Although the Deer-Riding Arhat was 7,385 years old, it did not mean that it had been in such a strange state for thousands of years. It was likely that some reason had triggered the great change in Buddhism.

The more Ren Qing came into contact with Immortals and Buddhas, the more he felt that undercurrents were surging in this world.

Becoming an Immortal or a Buddha might be a trap, but if he wanted to gain control over himself, this was a path he really had to take.

Ren Qing held a wisp of Buddha Qi in his hand and slowly dissolved it with Yin Qi, causing the souls mixed within to suffer unspeakable pain.

The souls became incredibly distorted, and faint, miserable screams could be heard.

Ren Qing stopped pouring in Yin Qi and frowned as he examined the Buddha Qi.

If he chose to erode the Buddha Qi with Yin Qi, even if he could strip away the souls, the complete Three Souls and Seven Spirits would probably become a mass of paste.

Ren Qing sighed and took the Buddha Qi to the underworld in his stomach.

The Buddha Qi floated above the River Styx, and the dense death Qi enveloped it, immediately producing crackling sounds and causing a great commotion.

The zombie cultivators were already used to it. A similar situation had occurred some time ago. Realizing it was Ren Qing, they dared not pay any attention.

Death Qi could protect the souls, and its effect was indeed slightly better than Yin Qi.

As the Yin Qi eroded the Buddha Qi, the souls broke free, unable to wait as they plunged into the River Styx, gradually being nourished and strengthened.

Ren Qing was slightly helpless because once the souls were thrown into the River Styx, retrieving them would damage them, as they were too fragile.

Moreover, death Qi was very limited. He didn't know how many years it would take to strip away all the souls.

Ren Qing did have enough time, but if Song Zongwu was delayed any longer, he might lose his mind.

How exactly could he find Song Zongwu among tens of thousands of souls…

Wait, the Nameless Ascetic's plan should have been discussed with Song Zongwu. He would definitely have anticipated the difficulties he might encounter.

As the Treasure Birth Buddhist Disciple, the Nameless Ascetic shouldn't have been completely helpless against the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi.

After thinking for a moment, Ren Qing risked taking out Song Zongwu's body, then slowly brought the wooden box closer to the head where the Heavenly Soul was located, with Yin Qi ready to cut off the erosion of the Buddha Qi.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi reacted as expected.

“O honored elder, and O Aclarya, you come into the world on behalf of the Buddha, you great disciple…”

A voice praising the Deer-Riding Arhat came from the wooden box, as if there was a small world inside, where monks sat and discussed the Dharma and cultivated Buddhism.

The murmuring stopped abruptly, and the candlelight burned even more fiercely.

Even the wooden box was ignited and turned to ashes in the blink of an eye. The high temperature caused the rock walls to melt, and magma-like liquid flowed slowly.

Ren Qing had the protection of the Human Skin Book. After decades of cultivation, his adaptation to high temperatures had far surpassed others in the same realm.

But he still felt a stinging pain in his eyes, and the heat spread from his flesh and blood to his internal organs, his spine like the wick of a candle.

As the candlelight burned brighter and brighter, the crackling sound of burning and the pungent smell of burning would affect his body and soul.

Ren Qing realized that the Heavenly Dao transformation of Buddhism was related to the five senses. It was invisible and inaudible. Any action that came into contact with the candlelight would lead to an acceleration of the Heavenly Dao transformation.

The Heavenly Dao cracks on the surface of the tortoise shell silently expanded slightly.

Ren Qing took a few steps back. The current Heavenly Dao transformation was still within an acceptable range, equivalent to deducting dozens or hundreds of years of lifespan.

“Song Zongwu!!!”

A familiar voice shouted from the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi, as if asking himself, or reminding Ren Qing.

Ren Qing quickly tapped the center of Song Zongwu's eyebrows, guiding the Heavenly Soul to the outside world, and a soul with an angry expression appeared in the Buddha Qi.

Dozens of beetle Dream Flowers increased their speed of absorbing the Buddha Qi. The constantly decaying Buddha Qi could no longer resist the power of the Toe Separation Technique.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi then fell to the Yang God realm, and the Dream Flowers' absorption efficiency became even faster, fearing that the position of Buddhahood would interfere with Song Zongwu.

Song Zongwu's soul struggled desperately, and the candlelight actually gathered within his soul, causing the Heavenly Dao transformation of the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi to sharply decrease.

The most⊥new⊥small⊥say⊥in⊥six⊥9⊥⊥book⊥⊥bar⊥⊥first⊥release!

Ren Qing watched Song Zongwu take the initiative to accept the Heavenly Dao transformation, but did not stop him.

Several of the golden beetles began to transform because they were full. Their bodies were obviously larger, and their surfaces were covered with mysterious golden silk patterns.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi became increasingly thin, but it could no longer be stripped away when it reached the Yin Messenger realm, indicating that the souls of the past Buddhas were deeply rooted within it.

It lasted for half a month before Song Zongwu's soul broke away from the Buddha Qi.

The Heavenly Dao transformed soul drilled into the Niwan Palace of his body, and the flesh and bones took on the texture of wax oil the moment the soul was complete.

Ren Qing was about to check on Song Zongwu's condition when he heard the latter say in a deep voice.

“Ren Qing, don’t move me. Being burned by karmic fire is the only way to prevent being targeted by Buddhism.”

Buddhism seemed to call Heavenly Dao transformation being burned by karmic fire, but in essence, it was the same thing, the process of the body and soul moving closer to the Heavenly Dao.

The Three Dao Ancestors and Dipamkara Buddha had different appearances, and the forms of Heavenly Dao transformation were also different.

Seeing this, Ren Qing took Song Zongwu to the world in his stomach and placed him next to the River Styx in the underworld, using death Qi to suppress the Heavenly Dao transformation.

Song Zongwu was still relatively stable. Most of the karmic fire had disappeared, and the absorbed karmic fire shouldn't completely spiral out of control.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi was no longer a threat. What he feared was definitely the other existences of Buddhism, perhaps even the Treasure Birth Buddha.

Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. Could it be that the Nameless Ascetic had already gotten rid of the Deer-Riding Arhat back then, only to be immediately targeted by the Treasure Birth Buddha?

There was definitely some connection between the various positions of Buddhahood…

After the Heavenly Dao transformation disappeared, the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi lost its restraints and turned into a colorless and formless gaseous state, wanting to escape from the cave.

Ren Qing would naturally not let go of the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi. Moreover, it was easy to handle in the Yin Messenger realm.

He moved the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi to the Longevity Forbidden Zone, then released the restrictions on the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi and used the Disaster Elimination Method to remove its presence.

The intelligence of the Great Compassion Buddha Qi would only consider the advantages and disadvantages of things, let alone the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi, which was only in the Yin Messenger realm.

After confirming that it could not escape the Longevity Forbidden Zone, the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi immediately went to the Little Thunderclap Temple.

Inside the temple, the Fake Tathagata was explaining the fallacies of the Dharma, and the monks of Spirit Sense Temple sat in the corner, piously understanding the meaning of the scriptures.

The Deer-Riding Buddha Qi circled the temple and then entered Liao Shan's body.

Liao Shan only felt a dense Buddha Qi emerge from his dantian, his flesh and bones turning bronze, and dozens of Buddha patterns appeared on his back.

From now on, even if Liao Shan didn't cultivate, the Buddha Qi would continue to rise until he achieved consummation and was devoured by the position of Buddhahood.

Of course, the process might last for hundreds of years, and he might die prematurely if he was not careful.

The Fake Tathagata said, “Liao Shan, you have become a Buddha…”

Liao Shan nodded without joy or sorrow. Under Ren Qing's control, the futon under his feet turned into a five-colored lotus throne and rose to be on par with the Bodhisattva.

The Deer-Riding position wanted to use Liao Shan's body to restore his cultivation, but the Fake Tathagata would constantly steal the Buddha Qi, rendering the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi's efforts useless.

As long as the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi could not reach the Heavenly Guile realm, it would be no threat.

Even if Liao Shan died, there was still a pile of Buddhist disciples in the Little Thunderclap Temple who could endlessly fleece it, and the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi had no temper at all.

Ren Qing planned to put his energy into stripping away tens of thousands of souls and studying the Deer-Riding Arhat, which would probably take a lot of time.

What made him most envious was the ability of the Buddhist positions to transfer the Heavenly Dao transformation.

If the Buddhist positions were not so difficult to control, Ren Qing wouldn't mind being an Arhat or Bodhisattva and handing over the Heavenly Dao transformation to Dipamkara Buddha for handling.

Ren Qing swallowed his saliva. He seemed to see many opportunities in the Buddhist positions.

Even if he could solve the problem of the Heavenly Dao transformation of True Immortals, this world wouldn't be so chaotic, but Buddhism was only a temporary solution.

The karmic fire was accumulating on Dipamkara Buddha's body and would eventually erupt like a volcano.

Ren Qing suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart. He hadn't even become an Immortal or attained the Dao, and considering the affairs of Immortals, Buddhas, and the Heavenly Dao was indeed a bit early.

While he was squeezing the Deer-Riding Buddha Qi dry, he banished the souls within the Buddha Qi to the River Styx.

There is one more chapter, please wait