The Secret Way of Immortality

All the patients were locked in iron cages within the courtyard, facing an unknown fate of life and death, yet they seemed to be enjoying it.

Ren Qing didn't expect Gao Liang to still be alive, and even thriving.

Normally, Weiwang Town would replace a batch of people every ten to fifteen days, with most patients dying from their illnesses.

Gao Liang had become a celestial master among the patients, with half of his body completely transformed into a horse shape, even his feet resembling hooves.

While chanting scriptures, he clearly noticed Ren Qing.

Ren Qing was merely leaning against a corner, resting with his eyes closed, out of sync with the fanatical patients, showing no signs of madness.

For some reason, Gao Liang felt an inexplicable fire rising in his heart upon seeing Ren Qing.

Due to his weakness, he crawled towards the other man using both his hands and feet, his eyes filled with a desire for blood, planning to secretly cast a spell.

Little did Gao Liang know that a ghost shadow had already缠上了his body. With just a thought from Ren Qing, his head would immediately be separated from his body.

At that moment, footsteps approached.

Gao Liang quickly stopped his movements and hid back in the crowd.

An old man walked over with two men and a woman. It was evident that the latter's foreheads had saplings growing on them, indicating that their disease realm was similar to Liu Qian's.

"I am the five hundred and sixty-third disciple under the Immortal of Longevity, named Yao Daoren."

"Today, I will personally take in a few people to teach them the Dao, while the rest will follow my disciples in cultivation. There's no need to be too disappointed."

The patients didn't dare to make a sound, but their eyes were extremely fervent.

Yao Daoren casually reached out and tapped a few times, selecting a total of four people, including Ren Qing and Gao Liang, who then walked out of the cage.

The other two were old men in their fifties or sixties, practically on their deathbeds compared to the young Ren Qing, and their attitude was naturally obsequious.

A strong man walked out from among the personal disciples and respectfully asked, "Master, how about I escort these junior brothers to foundation building?"

"Hehe, then I'll have to trouble you."

The strong man's name was Chunyangzi. He appeared relatively normal and was quite polite to Ren Qing, but his words clearly carried hostility.

Chunyangzi led them towards the厢房, and the disciples they encountered all lowered their heads.

Ren Qing noticed medicinal herbs hanging to dry by the courtyard wall, but there were no fields in Weiwang Town, so he had the Dream Seed protect himself.

It turned out they weren't medicinal herbs at all, but dried internal organs.

They were just concealed by术法.

Gao Liang glanced at Ren Qing ahead of him, feeling that Chunyangzi seemed most concerned about him. Could it be because of his aptitude?

Chunyangzi didn't rush to their destination, but inexplicably circled around the backyard a few times.

He eventually walked towards the statue of the Immortal of Longevity, his pale face flushing slightly, seemingly very concerned about the so-called cultivation.

However, because Chunyangzi delayed for a moment, when they arrived near the statue, two other personal disciples of Yao Daoren were already there, along with a dozen patients.

Roots hung down from the immortal peach in the hand of the Longevity Immortal statue, wrapped around the necks of the patients, who piously closed their eyes and chanted scriptures.

The statue's exterior looked like it was carved from jade, and it was located in the backyard of the medical center. No grass grew within a hundred meters, but there were several skeletons.

Chunyangzi gestured for Ren Qing and the others to look at the Longevity Immortal statue: "Junior brothers, you're all new to the sect, so let me show you what the Great Dao is."

Gao Liang stared wide-eyed at the Longevity Immortal statue, almost unable to stop himself from kneeling on the ground, his breathing becoming increasingly labored.

At this moment, a personal disciple walked up to Chunyangzi.

The female disciple, whose Daoist name was Fuyao, said with a fake smile, "Senior brother, since you're here, we'll take our leave first."

"Hurry up and cultivate, lest you regret it when the time comes."

After Chunyangzi finished speaking, the two didn't reply and turned to leave the open space.

Before long, screams came from under the Longevity Immortal statue. Some patients experienced violent convulsions and then turned into dried corpses.

Gao Liang and the others were somewhat frightened. Chunyangzi morbidly savored their expressions, but he was dissatisfied with Ren Qing's indifference.

From the real world, Ren Qing saw blood vessels abruptly growing out of the immortal peach of the Longevity Immortal statue. The blood vessels connected to the patients, using them to absorb nutrients.

The establishment of this medical center was likely just to supply the Longevity Immortal statue.

However, when only one patient remained, some kind of liquid was injected into his body through the blood vessels, making him seem as if he had been reborn.

The patient's originally full head of white hair turned black, and the wrinkles on his skin all disappeared, making him feel at least thirty or forty years younger.

Chunyangzi explained, "Their aptitude wasn't enough. Only one person can enter the immortal gate, but you are different..."

"Among you, only the one with the worst cultivation will be turned into nourishment to extend the lives of the others."

He sized up Ren Qing for a long time, wanting to see the fear hidden within the latter, but he was clearly disappointed, and his expression became increasingly twisted.

According to Yao Daoren's instructions, Chunyangzi needed to give the four of them spiritual medicine to pass the foundation building stage, and their life and death would be decided when they cultivated again.

But he concealed this and led the four of them to the bottom of the Longevity Immortal statue.

The surviving patient quickly retreated to a distant corner, obviously already aware of his precarious situation.

Gao Liang and the others relaxed somewhat, after all, Ren Qing clearly had the shallowest cultivation, which could be seen from his still ordinary appearance.

Ren Qing curiously asked, "Senior Brother Chunyangzi, do you also need to cultivate?"

Chunyangzi revealed a fierce look, saying to Ren Qing, word by word, with resentment, "Of course not, but every ten days, one of us must cultivate with Master..."

He swung his arm, and blood vessels缠绕住了the necks of Ren Qing and the other three, directly drilling into their spines, slowly absorbing the blood within.

Chunyangzi muttered to himself in despair, "I'm still alive, I can keep living."

He wore a look of delight, as if preparing to welcome the life and death of the people in front of him, and he wondered who would survive and how interesting it would be.

Ren Qing could feel that the blood vessels were devouring his blood the fastest, and it would only take a few minutes to completely drain him.

He summoned the information stream, his consciousness landing on each of the disease strains.

【Do you want to advance the disease strain—Insomnia, which will consume one year of lifespan】

The Insomnia disease strain should have the least drawbacks and wouldn't affect him.

When Ren Qing consumed one year of lifespan, the whites of his eyes immediately disappeared, and the light around his body seemed to dim.

The Longevity Immortal statue's blood-sucking speed slowed down as a result.

Gao Liang thought that Ren Qing wouldn't be able to hold on for long, but he didn't expect the other two to be somewhat lacking in strength, their hands and feet constantly twitching.

"I..."

最⊥新⊥小⊥说⊥在⊥六⊥9⊥⊥书⊥⊥吧⊥⊥首⊥发！

After a muffled groan, an old man turned into a dried corpse and then died.

Gao Liang could feel a surge of heat pouring into his body. His originally weak and exhausted body gradually began to rejuvenate.

But after a moment, the heat flow came to an abrupt stop, and blood flowed towards the Longevity Immortal statue again.

"How is that possible? Didn't you say one person?"

Gao Liang forced his eyes open, but saw Chunyangzi cruelly staring at Ren Qing. Clearly, he wouldn't give up until the latter was dead.

Just as Gao Liang was stunned, something incredible happened. Ren Qing emitted a strong aura fluctuation, a sign of a breakthrough in cultivation.

Not to mention Gao Liang couldn't believe it, even Chunyangzi was stunned in place.

Until Ren Qing's forehead bulged and a bud emerged from it, Gao Liang's eyes unconsciously closed, and drowsiness unknowingly swept over his mind.

Gao Liang died with lingering resentment in his sleep.

Ren Qing felt the growth of the Insomnia disease strain, which should be able to unleash abilities similar to dream entry, but far inferior to the 无目法.

The most absurd thing was that the disease strain术法was actually based on hysteria.

Without hysteria, the disease strain cultivators would immediately mutate and lose control, and their range of activity would be tightly restricted within Weiwang Town.

Smoke poured out of Chunyangzi's mouth and nose. His fear of Ren Qing made him lose his mind, and he wanted to spit out flames to burn the other man to death.

Ren Qing completely ignored Chunyangzi, only looking up at the Longevity Immortal statue.

The sarcoma on the Longevity Immortal statue's forehead had an imperceptible swelling. It was unknown what would happen when it matured.

Chunyangzi spat violently, but bit off his own tongue instead.

His pupils dilated, and Yao Daoren had appeared beside him at some point.

Yao Daoren was pleasantly surprised, unable to express his greed for Ren Qing, and then asked with a frosty face, "Chunyangzi, oh Chunyangzi, did I allow you to act on your own initiative?"

Chunyangzi desperately kowtowed his head on the ground: "This disciple was blinded by greed. Please spare my life for the sake of my hard work over the years."

Yao Daoren gently helped him up and said in a warm voice, "Chunyangzi, how could I blame you? Come and cultivate with me in a few days."

Chunyangzi was helplessly held in Yao Daoren's hand.

Yao Daoren seemed very satisfied with Ren Qing, not caring at all about the other man's cultivation progress of breaking through two realms in a short period of time.

"Good disciple, from now on, I will send a few people to help you cultivate every ten days."

Ren Qing naturally nodded in agreement to this free benefit. Just from the cultivation just now, he had already earned nearly twenty years of lifespan.

He possessed five disease strains, and it would be easy to consume these lifespans.

Ren Qing didn't care what Yao Daoren's intentions were. Anyway, after his death, his main body could obtain the lifespan, so he would take advantage of the situation first.

Chunyangzi's hands and feet were twisted into pretzels.

He couldn't help gnashing his teeth and said, "I'll be waiting for you in the Yellow Springs. No matter how impressive you are, Yao Daoren, you're just a running dog..."

Yao Daoren directly snapped Chunyangzi's spine, pointed out Ren Qing's residence with a stiff smile, and then flashed away from the open space.

Ren Qing had the ghost shadow spread out in Weiwang Town to prevent accidents.

He felt that the cultivators in the medical center were more like farmers planting herbs, and the immortal arts they taught were a bit perfunctory.

However, Ren Qing had plenty of time to explore the Longevity Forbidden Zone. Currently, his priority was to extend his lifespan, so he went straight back to his house and started cultivating 幽元.

………

Jingzhou.

Song Zongwu walked through the dense forest, covered in wounds. Behind him were mountains of demon beast corpses, and a bloody smell assaulted the senses.

He was missing an arm and two of his six eyes were blind, making him look battered and exhausted.

Song Zongwu bent over, panting, to examine the demon beast corpses, and then seemed to discover some clues, unable to help but mutter to himself.

"I vow never to harbor thoughts of killing, and never to eat meat?"

"This is a big problem..."