The Secret Way of Immortality

The commotion in Jing Prefecture gradually subsided, and the Fude Earth Immortal, though not yet completely defeated, finally gained a precious moment of respite.

Ren Qing wandered aimlessly between Xiangxiang and the wetlands, the Disaster Elimination ability ensuring that even Earth Immortals would find it difficult to detect him.

The Ghost Ship had just been refined a few days ago, and the Immortal Ascension Method for the Shadowless Ghost had also been perfected.

He suddenly looked up at the sky.

A seven-colored spiritual light flashed past; it was a giant, skull-shaped magical artifact, and countless cultivators could be seen living inside the skull.

The cultivators resembled skeletons, wearing greenish-blue Daoist robes.

It wasn't that they had no flesh at all; in fact, flesh would constantly grow on the surface of their bones, only to be scraped clean with palm-sized knives.

Ren Qing's gaze followed the artifact, watching it disappear into the endless forest.

This was the second time in recent months that he had encountered a magical artifact passing through Xiangxiang, its destination clearly to the south, undoubtedly with a purpose.

"Could it be related to the Immortal Position that Grand Dream True Man is trying to access?"

Ren Qing frowned slightly. In this era where no one dared to ascend to immortality, even if an Immortal Position were to appear, it would only attract small fry.

He decided to move from stillness, ordering Ghost Shadow to pull the Longevity Forbidden Zone deeper underground, and leaving enough eyes and ears in Jing Prefecture.

Ren Qing had disease seeds in the bodies of every cultivator in the Mirror World.

In theory, as long as ***'s overall plan was fully unfolded, he could share information and then make moves based on the overall trend.

But now most of the cultivators were lying low, so Ren Qing was naturally blind.

He had to figure out the current situation, and the Jailbreaker Hall needed high-level combat power. Grand Dream True Man's talent gave him a good chance of advancing to the Heavenly Gu Realm.

Ren Qing couldn't help but summon the Ghost Ship as transportation. After shrouding the ship with the Disaster Elimination ability, he followed the skull artifact south.

The journey was long, and he could still cultivate techniques inside the ship, without delaying his seclusion.

He now grasped the correct way to seclude himself. If he needed to circulate the complete cycle of technique energy, he could leave it to the Mycelial Soul.

Looking up technique information, hundreds of Mycelial Souls could easily handle it.

Occasionally, he would refine some pills or magical artifacts to assist his cultivation, and Ghost Shadow could mechanically mass-produce them, although the quality was mostly average to above average.

After a complicated refinement process, subtle changes appeared on the Ghost Ship's exterior.

The sails seemed to be integrated with the masts, the wooden structure was more compact, and traces of burning and corrosion could be seen on the surface.

The Ghost Ship had fused with the Taotie Gu fetus of the Yin Calamity Realm, and was divided into hundreds of guest rooms internally, yet there was still some space to spare.

Ren Qing had also tried to modify the Ghost Ship with the Aberrant Disease Seed, wanting to integrate a second Gu fetus.

With the experience of the Forbidden Corpse, it should theoretically be fine, but the Ghost Ship's volume was limited, and the core material was only Yang God Realm Ksitigarbha ribs, resulting in relatively ordinary potential.

He barely found a clue, and specific modifications would require continued assistance from the Disease Seed.

Ren Qing landed on the deck of the Ghost Ship, and the sensation under his feet was not the firmness of wood, but rather the illusion of flesh.

He took a deep look at Jing Prefecture, with its blood moon in the sky and deeply sunken ley lines.

There were definitely many forces watching the two Earth Immortals, so it was good to leave temporarily, stepping outside the box could reveal more information.

A breeze blew past.

The Ghost Ship flew into the sky, and the sound of a few grains of sand blown from the wetlands hitting the ship's hull was concealed by the Disaster Elimination ability.

Ren Qing looked towards the distant endless forest. If he were to pass through on the ground, even a Yang God Realm would be inadvertently swallowed by nature.

His pseudo-dragonized severed limb, although its combat power was not even comparable to the Yin Calamity Realm, contained the aura of a genuine Yang God Realm.

As a result, as soon as the severed limb entered the endless forest, it was assimilated into vegetation.

If Ren Qing were willing to spend time searching in the endless forest, he might be able to find the corpses of Heavenly Gu Realm experts, but it would not be worth the loss.

The Wine-Meat Daoist's corpse had its stomach world dug out, he didn't believe that the corpses in the endless forest would be complete and intact.

The Ghost Ship soon reached the edge of the endless forest.

Ren Qing noticed that as the Ghost Ship blocked some sunlight, the vegetation in the shadows would wither at a visible rate.

The vegetation would eventually turn into corpses.

A hundred-meter-tall towering tree was actually pieced together from thousands of corpses. It was hard to imagine the scale of corpses in the endless forest.

The unique rules of Heavenly Gu Realm corpses were not much different from those of forbidden zones.

Rumble...

The autumn rainy season changed quickly. A few minutes ago, it was clear and sunny, but suddenly it was cloudy and then it started to rain.

After confirming the Ghost Ship's safety, Ren Qing entered the cabin.

The cabin was like a different world, not only were there secluded cultivation rooms, alchemy furnaces, and artifact refining rooms, but the temperature was also constantly at the most suitable level.

Apart from being empty, the Ghost Ship had almost no flaws.

A smile appeared on Ren Qing's lips. The Taotie Gu fetus was indeed fused by himself, but the internal cabins were taken care of by Little San'er.

Judging from the meticulousness of each guest room, it was clear that she had put in a lot of effort.

Little San'er had recently taken advantage of the Ghost Immortal position's blessing to seclude herself, and it would probably not be long before she advanced to the Yin Calamity Realm.

Ren Qing separated a strand of Mycelial Soul. If Little San'er were to encounter Qi Deviation, the Mycelial Soul would mobilize the Heavenly Dao to help her break through.

The Heavenly Dao cracks on the turtle shell should take some time to recover.

He took advantage of his free time to meditate on techniques, and also used the Disease Seed to influence the Ghost Ship's hull, accompanied by the stimulation of techniques such as flames and lightning.

Ren Qing realized that the larger the volume of the Gu fetus artifact, the more strange objects it could accommodate.

The three-thousand-meter-long Forbidden Corpse could even house a forbidden zone in its intestines and stomach, and the number of aberrant organs on its body was simply countless.

The Ghost Ship could only accommodate two strange objects. For the second one, Ren Qing chose the Human Skin Book to enhance the artifact's adaptability to the environment.

The difficulty of fusion was not too great, and soon the sails were transformed into the shape of human skin.

Ren Qing simply took out a large number of Mycelial people from his stomach world and let them be responsible for the daily maintenance of the Ghost Ship, temporarily not summoning cultivators.

Night fell.

Darkness enveloped the world, but the endless forest did not turn into a mountain of corpses and a sea of bones.

However, Ren Qing discovered from the gaps in the bark that there were corpses hidden inside the trees. The entire endless forest seemed to be a burial ground.

The skull artifact slowed down, clearly wary of the endless forest.

They did not notice the Ghost Ship following closely behind. This magical artifact ship with a strange appearance was like a ghost, undetectable.

The journey was relatively peaceful. As long as they followed the rules of the endless forest and did not touch the ground, they would not encounter danger.

Ren Qing was relieved. After the Heavenly Dao cracks reached his expectations, the Shadowless Ghost advanced to the Immortal Ascension Ladder.

【Do you want to choose to advance to the Immortal Ascension Ladder, which will consume five thousand years of lifespan】

The memories of the five techniques were similar, all being about cultivators encountering the Heavenly Dao in despair.

Perhaps because the techniques were related to flesh, blood, and bones, the creators were all born with ailments without exception.

The Shadowless Ghost's creator's skin would ulcerate upon contact with light; the Human Skin Book's creator was born without human skin; the Armor Piercing Art's creator suffered from severe hyperostosis; the Dragon Snake Spine's creator broke his spine at the age of seven.

Slightly different was the Netherworld Art. Heavenly Daozi had not yet noticed the Heavenly Dao Worm at the time, and had created more than three hundred personally transmitted techniques with high spirits.

The memories disappeared. Ren Qing was already familiar with the process. He released the Mycelial Soul to protect his body, and his soul was pulled into the depths of the earth again.

His perspective continued to fall, and he also noticed that the roots of the endless forest were intertwined, forming a distribution similar to human blood vessels.

Before Ren Qing could take a few more glances, a faint warmth enveloped his soul.

Ren Qing felt extremely comfortable, as if he were an unborn baby, in his mother's womb, making him sleepy.

"Tai means great."

A voice that could not be identified as male or female sounded, as if whispering to one's children.

"Shang means honored."

"The High True Ones are the first, and all the sages are respected together, therefore it is called Supreme Old Lord."

"Lao means longevity."

"It is clear that the Old Lord cultivates heaven and earth, and naturally has longevity, therefore it is called Old."

"Lord is an honorable title, the Dao is pure and virtue is extreme, therefore it is called Lord."

Ren Qing looked around, there were only lime-colored outer walls, and the space was shaped like a gourd, with no sign of the Moral Celestial Lord at all.

A strange sense of unease welled up in his heart. He comprehended the Immortal Ascension Method and swam around in the space, looking for any unusual places.

Ren Qing was in the upper half of the gourd, and the entrance above his head was blocked by a stopper.

At the same time as he comprehended the first Immortal Ascension Method, he went towards the lower half of the gourd.

【Leaping Dragon Gate】

【Created by Ren Qing, cultivation requires abandoning the physical body, and the soul seizes an ordinary carp. Only by leaping three zhang out of the water on the eleventh day of the twelfth month each year can it be cultivated.】

【The upper limit of Leaping Dragon Gate can be cultivated to the Heavenly Gu Realm, and can be combined with other techniques.】

Ren Qing was slightly disappointed, but after all, it was the Shadowless Ghost advancing to the Immortal Ascension Ladder, and he had long been prepared for it not to go smoothly, so he didn't care too much.

He continued to comprehend the Immortal Ascension Method, and tried to find a way to escape this ghostly place.

The lower half of the gourd was slightly larger, and a massive amount of white bones could be seen scattered at the bottom.

Ren Qing took a deep breath, and the speed of his soul's movement increased by a third, his gaze almost not missing any area of the outer wall.

He then noticed that in the lower corner of the gourd, there was an inconspicuous crack.

Ren Qing quickly drilled into the crack, passed through a thin outer wall, and came outside the gourd. The warmth that enveloped his soul disappeared.

The statue of the Moral Celestial Lord came into view, and small cracks had spread across its surface.

The statue looked like an ancient Daoist with immortal bearing, his robe was old, but it exuded an indescribable aura of majesty.

Ren Qing had just escaped from the gourd artifact held by the Moral Celestial Lord.

Crack, crack, crack...

The cracks in the statue were expanding, and Ren Qing quickly concentrated on the Immortal Ascension Method.

【Devouring Dragon Art】

【Created by Ren Qing, cultivation requires one or two of flood dragon blood, and infusing the blood into the spine. Only after three consecutive years can it be cultivated.】

【The upper limit of the Devouring Dragon Art can be cultivated to the Earth Immortal, and cannot be combined with other techniques.】

【Immortal Position: Taotie Ferocious Beast】

Ren Qing was stunned for a moment. The Taotie Method did not comprehend the Taotie's Immortal Position, but instead the Shadowless Ghost's Immortal Ascension Method comprehended it.

The Devouring Dragon Art was too different from the Immortal Ascension Method he had expected.

The Shadowless Ghost's strange object was at least a "Five Yin Horned Dragon", which could be considered a young and strong dragon even among true dragons.

The Immortal Position was Taotie, one of the nine sons of the dragon, which was really somewhat inconsistent.

However, Ren Qing had already found the pattern of the Immortal Ascension Method, and there was still plenty of time to comprehend an Immortal Ascension Method suitable for him.

Just then.

Crack, crack, crack...

On the surface of the Moral Celestial Lord, a crack almost ran through his chest and abdomen, and smoky black gas emerged from it, and a strange bleating of sheep could be heard.

Ren Qing was too familiar with this, he had dealt with it a lot in the past few decades.

"Heavenly Demon aura?"

Ren Qing was stunned for half a breath. How could the Moral Celestial Lord be involved with the Supreme Heavenly Demon? What was the thing entrenched in the Beast Pen?

With a slight thought, he couldn't help but look at the gourd in the statue's hand. Perhaps the Supreme Heavenly Demon was once sealed in the Moral Celestial Lord's gourd.

The aura was close to the Moral Celestial Lord because they were originally one.