The Secret Way of Immortality

Ren Qing did not kill Chongshui Zi. The latter's technique was very special. Even if only a fist-sized body remained, his aura still survived.

He imprisoned Chongshui Zi in the prison on the third level of the underworld, and used the power of heaven and earth to suppress his injuries, secretly extracting the other party's memories.

Because Chongshui Zi's size was too small, his intelligence was also reduced to the level of a beast, and he had no chance to resist at all.

It didn't take long for Ren Qing to digest Chongshui Zi's memories completely.

He noticed that rumors about the Jing Prefecture opportunity had been circulating as early as hundreds of years ago, but not many cultivators took it to heart at the time.

It was not until Ren Qing, wearing the guise of the Heavenly Court, leaked the information that he helped to increase the authenticity of the rumors, attracting a large number of forces to Jing Prefecture, and ultimately forming the strange and unpredictable situation in Jing Prefecture.

Ren Qing was dumbfounded, as he seemed to have inadvertently hindered the mastermind behind the scenes again.

If it weren't for his actions, Jing Prefecture would definitely not have gathered so many Heavenly Gu Realm cultivators, and perhaps only the Insect Nest would have been the sole power.

With the Insect Nest's ability, if they were to recklessly expand their reproduction, the scale of Insect Warriors in Jing Prefecture would only be even more terrifying than it is today.

Ren Qing didn't know what would happen in Jing Prefecture in the future, but he still focused on keeping a low profile.

He stayed in the Minghe Tea House all day long, and even brought the zombified Yellow Dog Er to the outside world, allowing Yellow Dog Er to continue working as a waiter.

The dire situation in Jing Prefecture did not affect Ren Qing's cultivation at all.

He had already begun preparing for the advancement of the Toe Separation Technique, planning to use this to build a real Heavenly Court and gradually bring various forces into the game.

Yes, it would be best to confirm the identity of the Forbidden Soldiers Hall as descendants of the Heavenly Court.

Ren Qing closed his eyes and pondered, while Yellow Dog Er, as always, poured tea and water, his slightly dull mind noticing the changes in Xiangxiang.

After witnessing the power of the immortals, the Insect Warriors abandoned their original prejudices.

They regarded the depletion of their lifespan as a test from the true immortals, and their secondary personalities did not even come into play, with most of their negative emotions dissipating.

Of course, one could still detect the Insect Warriors' stubbornness in various towns of Xiangxiang.

They fanatically worshiped the Dragon Totem, and every few steps there was a half-meter-high Sons and Grandsons Temple, displaying statues of the Four Seas Dragon Kings.

The Insect Warriors also became more and more like dragons after refining the Gu insects.

While other forces were stimulating the Insect Warriors, trying to influence their minds, Xiangxiang seemed incredibly calm instead.

After the various forces in Xiangxiang cooperated and achieved a win-win situation, in the remaining few years, they almost developed the Insect Warriors to a level similar to the Body Cultivators of that year.

Not only did they form a complete power system, but the resource points also became increasingly scaled.

Ren Qing even temporarily took Li Tiangang and other cultivators back into his stomach world, lest their cultivation efficiency be reduced for a long time.

Imperceptibly, the lifespan of the Insect Warriors depleted again.

Outside of Xiangxiang, cries of anguish could be heard everywhere, because the Heavenly Gu Realm cultivators were deliberately amplifying the Insect Warriors' despair.

After all, the more extreme they are, the easier it is to come into contact with the Heavenly Dao.

Ren Qing conveniently completed the second Immortal Conferment Ceremony in his stomach world, granting a total of nine Ghost Immortal positions, all to elders of the Forbidden Soldiers Hall.

They were Sun Mao, who had been stuck in the Yin Messenger Realm for hundreds of years; Bai Guniang, who was preparing for her second breakthrough; and the Head in a Jar and the Little Man in a Bottle.

Although the Head in a Jar and the Little Man in a Bottle belonged to the same person, Ren Qing still granted them each a Ghost Immortal position.

He could feel that the two were becoming more harmonious, and if they could merge into one, there was a real hope of breaking through the Yang God Realm, which was like a high wall.

In addition to the Soldier Vein, the five branch veins each received a Ghost Immortal position, all of whom were high-ranking cultivators selected by Ren Qing.

The Forbidden Soldiers Hall was inherently a place where the strong were respected, and since the source of the Immortal positions came from Ren Qing, it was impossible for there to be a situation of worrying about inequality rather than scarcity.

It was very likely that once the Heaven and Earth Life advanced to the Earth Immortal stage, the Ghost Immortal positions would no longer have a quota limit.

Clang, clang, clang…

The bronze bell of the Golden Light Temple was rung.

Ren Qing opened his eyes, his expression grave as he looked at the Insect Warriors sitting cross-legged on the street.

Even as they were old and dying, they were still chanting the name of the Dragon God.

Ren Qing stared at the Insect Warriors' information flow, the lifespan countdown slowly reaching zero.

The Insect Warriors' bodies and souls turned to ashes, disappearing into the heavens and earth without warning, and the vast Jing Prefecture became silent again.

Ren Qing raised his head, his gaze fixed on the slightly incomplete round moon.

He had always had a doubt, did Jing Prefecture still have layers now?

After experiencing the once true and false Jing Prefecture, Ren Qing did have a sense of unreality, which was not diminished even though he knew the layout.

The so-called opportunity in Jing Prefecture had to be established on the premise that there would be no deviation in cognition.

After careful consideration, Ren Qing deliberately selected more than a dozen strands of fungal souls that were only in the Ghost Servant Realm from the branches of the diseased tree and hid them in the Insect Warriors' Niwan Palace.

He felt the fungal souls disappear together, but the Toe Separation Technique could not communicate with them.

Ren Qing stared at the moon, quietly waiting for the full moon to arrive.

Back then, the blood moon hung over Jing Prefecture, and the more broken the moon, the more illusory the world it was in, with the innermost layer indeed being a full moon.

A dozen days passed quickly, and the moon finally reached a state like a lunar disk.

Ren Qing had given the fungal souls instructions in advance: if Jing Prefecture was truly layered, then they would take certain actions after the full moon.

The dozen or so fungal souls would find an opportunity to merge with each other, thereby barely reaching the Yang God Realm.

Ren Qing's expression changed slightly, because he discovered that the bridge between the Toe Separation Technique and the fungal souls was indeed becoming clearer.

"So, it really is a scheme within a scheme…"

He then descended his consciousness to the unknown fungal souls, and only felt as if he had passed through a thin barrier, and a familiar yet unfamiliar world came into view.

Sure enough, under the influence of the Lunar Star Lord, Jing Prefecture was still a multi-layered world.

The fungal souls were standing in a remote alley, the streets were full of bustling crowds, and a pale red light could be seen from the moon overhead.

Ren Qing discovered from the details of the town that it was exactly the same as the Three Xiang City he had come into contact with when he first arrived in Jing Prefecture, except that there were not many people inside.

He couldn't help but look around and soon discovered that the people in the inner Three Xiang City were those Insect Warriors who had died from the depletion of their lifespan.

The first batch of Insect Warriors was the largest.

The people seemed very normal, without any trace of Gu insect transformation, but the order in the inner world was more chaotic.

Ren Qing had only been there for a moment when he discovered many human tragedies happening.

Because they were too hungry, young and strong beggars were eating young children and old people, steaming their flesh in utensils.

Gamblers dragged women to brothels, selling their relatives when they had no money.

The people obviously did not have the memories of the outer world, living day by day, making the inner world seem like a purgatory.

It was very likely that after going to the inner world, they would be forcibly instilled with a certain identity until they returned to the outer world, when they could recover their memories.

Ren Qing noticed the Black Water Taoist.

In the inner world, the Black Water Taoist was a middle-aged stallholder selling fish, shamelessly greeting the people passing by.

Working hard to sell fish, all he could think about was his sick child at home.

He needed money so badly. Not long ago, his wife had just died of a cold, and his child had also contracted a disease because of it, and his life was about to be lost.

After working for a day, the Black Water Taoist took out the money he had saved from his pocket and calculated that it was almost enough to buy a dose of medicinal herbs.

After packing up the stall, he rushed to the pharmacy.

As a result, he was blocked by local ruffians. Even though the Black Water Taoist desperately protected his money, he was beaten violently and robbed.

The Black Water Taoist knelt on the ground covered in blood, and the despair on his face was beyond words.

Ren Qing hid in a nearby corner and did not interfere in order to understand the situation.

He frowned as he looked into the distance, where an old monk wearing gold, silver, and jade was smiling, pacing in place as if waiting for something.

Seeing that it was getting late and the Black Water Taoist had regained his strength and stood up, the old monk immediately came to him and put his hands together.

"Amitabha."

"This humble monk is Wushan. Judging from the benefactor's appearance, you have encountered suffering, right?"

"Master, my child needs three taels of silver to buy medicine, or he will die if he is not treated…"

The Black Water Taoist cried bitterly, and Wushan stroked his head, fully displaying the demeanor of an enlightened monk.

"Take it, meeting is fate."

Wushan saw from the corner of his eye that a monk also wearing brocade clothes was approaching him, and quickly took out the silver and handed it to the Black Water Taoist.

The Black Water Taoist thanked him and took the silver, ignoring his injuries, and rushed to the pharmacy.

"Wushan, you should know that this person is the merit that I carefully arranged, right?"

"Kongchan, finders keepers."

Wushan showed a disdainful expression and took out a string of relics emitting golden light from his arms, totaling thirty-six, of which twenty-three were lit.

"When my merits are fulfilled, I will be able to ascend to the Western Paradise first."

"Amitabha, it can be seen that your cultivation is still too shallow, Kongchan. How can you lose merit? You should go and enlighten yourself for a few more years."

After Wushan finished speaking, he left, completely ignoring Kongchan, whose face was livid.

Ren Qing was thoughtful, quietly left the alley, and wandered around Three Xiang City, discovering that there were as many as thousands of monks in the city.

On the surface, they were doing good deeds, but in reality, they were all prostitutes and thieves.

The local ruffians who robbed the Black Water Taoist were deliberately arranged by Wushan, and even the silver given was just passed from hand to hand.

After the Black Water Taoist was delayed for a moment, the pharmacy was closed when he went to the pharmacy. No matter how much he shouted, no one paid attention to him.

He had no choice but to return home, but his child had already frozen to death on the bed.

According to Ren Qing's guess, as long as the Black Water Taoist was still alive, he would experience all kinds of suffering in the hands of the deceitful monks.

Until he committed suicide.

In Buddhist scriptures, the sin of suicide is no less than that of killing. After death, one will surely fall into boundless hell, unable to be reborn.

"So, the real layout of Jing Prefecture is like this…"

The Insect Warriors screened in the outer world actually had nothing to do with their cultivation or state of mind.

The main reason was that they were suffering in the inner world, and chose to commit suicide in despair, and their souls came to this purgatory in the outer world.

The Insect Warriors were more like "atoners."

They atoned for their sins in the outer world in order to return to the inner world.

And those monks who did evil for merit had an extremely strong desire to go to Paradise, and could slaughter their entire family without hesitation for this.

Ren Qing could feel the monks' madness.

Perhaps they were the "extremists" who would eventually come into contact with the Heavenly Dao.

The so-called Paradise was just a deeper layer of Jing Prefecture, and merit was the key.