The Secret Way of Immortality

The City of Non-Action resembled a giant crab, brazenly traversing the sea of clouds. Its limbs rose and fell, scattering spores with each movement.

Numerous cultivators could be seen patrolling atop the city walls, primarily to guard against attacks from the Immortal Species.

However, to the surprise of the Prison Warden Hall, the Immortal Species had vanished without a trace since the upheaval in the Immortal Forbidden Zone, leaving it eerily silent.

Although the Immortal Species attacked the city every few decades, at least some stragglers could usually be seen wandering outside the city walls.

The City of Non-Action had been traveling for over half a year, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a vast and boundless sea of clouds.

Under such circumstances, there was no chaos within the Prison Warden Hall, as the Heavenly Guile Realm expert was present, eliminating concerns about sudden changes in the Forbidden Zone.

Ren Qing also maintained his elusive demeanor, disappearing after stabilizing his newly advanced Shadowless Guile, only occasionally seen near the temples in the Cishi district.

The Prison Warden Hall gradually began to digest the resources obtained from the Beast Enclosure, distributing them reasonably among the various branches, naturally accompanied by covert and overt struggles.

But regardless, this was a world where the strong were respected, and as long as Ren Qing was present, internal strife that affected the foundation was impossible.

As they approached the source of the hurricane, the City of Non-Action's pace became increasingly heavy.

Bang…

The City of Non-Action's limbs crashed down, and the faces on the walls appeared somewhat distorted.

Except for the city interior, which was protected by a barrier, the exterior was almost entirely covered by fungi. Although each fungus was only the size of a palm, their accumulated weight grew increasingly heavy.

Although the fungi were not deadly, they caused the City of Non-Action immense pain.

It reluctantly endured under Ren Qing's invisible pressure, but ultimately could not bear it any longer.

The City of Non-Action simply stopped in its tracks, refusing to move forward no matter how the Prison Warden Hall nourished it with flesh and blood, essentially giving up on itself.

Li Tiangang, looking somewhat helpless, quickly dispatched cultivators to the outside world to clear the fungi, as they might bury the City of Non-Action.

The fungi were like barnacles on a whale, difficult to remove on their own, and there wasn't even a rock in the sea of clouds to provide leverage.

When refining the City of Non-Action, Ren Qing had not intended to develop it into a war machine, so the City of Non-Action had no magical means whatsoever.

Since the matter involved the Six Afflictions Art, Li Tiangang naturally needed to inform Ren Qing, but the message disappeared without a trace.

Ren Qing was probably busy dealing with Song Zongwu's affairs, so he didn't want to disturb him and instead directed the various branches to head outside the city.

Currently, Li Tiangang was the only one in the Prison Warden Hall who could issue orders to the various branches.

The other Yang God Realm experts either lacked credibility or, like Li Yaoyang, were immersed in refining Gu worms all day long, hardly paying attention to worldly affairs.

Song Zongwu was qualified, but since regaining partial consciousness half a month ago, his body and soul had suffered another accident, and he remained unconscious.

Li Tiangang had Han Li assist him and eventually divided several hundred cultivators who mastered fire-attribute spells to clear the fungi attached to the City of Non-Action.

The City of Non-Action had only been in the sea of clouds for a year, but the fungi were already two meters thick, difficult to peel off with sharp weapons alone, so they could only be burned directly with spells.

The cultivators were fully armed, their bodies wrapped in robes, and even their mouths and noses were covered with specific magical instruments to filter out the spores in the air.

The Immortal Forbidden Zone involved Immortal positions and was no longer a pure Six Afflictions Art, likely harboring some unspeakable danger. Caution and prudence had always been the Prison Warden Hall's principles.

The cultivators' spells varied, but their bodies all contained fire-infused organs.

For example, their skin was like lava, covered in cracks, with scalding, viscous blood flowing between the skin and flesh.

Flames spewed out, landing on the wall with a sizzling sound.

The spores were tiny, but each one would burst open with a crackling sound, instantly forming a sheet. If it weren't for the fire-resistant robes, they would probably be injured.

Han Li shook his head, wondering if it was his imagination, but he seemed to hear strange noises in his ears.

It was as if someone was chanting Boqiang…

Large patches of fungi on the west wall were burned away by the flames. The spores, as if possessing intelligence, drifted in the opposite direction but were quickly caught up by sparks and soon turned to ashes.

The City of Non-Action trembled, not because of the burning pain.

After all, as a Guile fetus artifact of the Yin Difference Realm, ordinary fire would not harm it. It was mainly because of the comfort brought by the disappearance of the fungi.

"Old Wang…"

A cultivator with a blood-red lizard tail frowned and asked, "Do you feel like the smell is a bit strange?"

"What's strange?"

"It smells like meat…"

The two looked at each other. They didn't take it to heart. It was normal for anomalies to appear in the Forbidden Zone. What was just a meaty smell?

After hearing the cultivators' jokes, Han Li couldn't help but frown tightly.

He wandered through the cracks in the wall, but he still couldn't dispel the strangeness in his heart, so he had to take a few pieces of charred fungi and send them into the city.

Li Tiangang didn't know much about the Six Afflictions Art, so he eventually gave it to Ren Qing.

Ren Qing was currently in Cishi Street, his body emitting dream art fluctuations, in front of Song Zongwu, who was cross-legged and chanting scriptures.

Song Zongwu's state was very delicate. His remnant soul had regained consciousness with the help of the Soul Brain, but his consciousness didn't seem to be in his body.

This caused him to be immersed in chanting Buddhist scriptures, neither improving nor deteriorating.

Ren Qing used the wonders of the Toe Separation Art to sense Song Zongwu's thoughts, trying to find the reason for the problem with his consciousness.

He used the most basic method, like constantly trying and failing when creating spells, completely checking the remnant soul again and again with the Toe Separation Art.

But it was also the only way. Song Zongwu only had a wisp of Heavenly Soul left, which couldn't withstand the Fungal Soul turning into a Nightmare Demon and descending into his dream.

Fortunately, Ren Qing's spells had all reached the Unborn Immortal level, and he had plenty of time to waste.

Moreover, Ren Qing had mastered the Toe Separation Art for a long time, but he still couldn't be considered proficient, so he took the opportunity to patiently refine the spell in preparation for the Heavenly Guile Realm.

He occasionally tried to communicate with the Great Dream True Man, but the situation was equally unfavorable.

The Great Dream True Man's consciousness might have gone to a deeper level of dream, causing him to barely sense the other party's existence.

Ren Qing had been in the outside world for decades, but the Great Dream True Man might have been in a dream for ten thousand years, not knowing what kind of crisis he had encountered.

He had cast a divination for the Great Dream True Man, and the divination revealed misfortune with good fortune, the good omens faintly outweighing the bad, showing signs of turning danger into safety.

He couldn't pinpoint the Great Dream True Man's exact location and could only wait for the hundred-year deadline. If the latter escaped, he would definitely come to Xiangxiang.

A chattering sound rang out.

A bird-like Guile beast landed on Ren Qing's shoulder, trying to hand over the item it was holding, but the latter ignored it.

It stretched out its beak to peck at Ren Qing, but suddenly sensed a trace of terrifying aura and quickly flew to the windowsill, covering its head with its wings.

Ren Qing's consciousness had successfully contacted Song Zongwu's Heavenly Soul. With the fragility of the remnant soul, he naturally couldn't be distracted at the critical moment.

After a moment, he withdrew the Toe Separation Art.

There were gains, but not much, and it also involved the Inspiration Temple.

Ren Qing digested the memory fragments. The scene seemed to be in a magnificent temple, the perspective coming from the Buddha statue on the altar.

He could hear the monks chanting scriptures, the same as the ones Song Zongwu was chanting.

Ren Qing came back to his senses, took a deep breath, stared at Song Zongwu, and then cut off the Soul Brain's nerves, causing Song Zongwu to fall asleep again.

Song Zongwu's consciousness was difficult to awaken, definitely not because he was trapped in a dream, but because he was affected by the two souls and seven spirits being devoured by Buddha energy.

To replenish his souls and spirits, it was necessary to go to the Inspiration Temple and kill the so-called Deer-Riding Arhat.

Ren Qing pinched the bridge of his nose with a headache, but who knew where the Inspiration Temple was? This Buddhist temple had no fixed abode and wandered in the deep mountains and old forests.

It was euphemistically said to be seeking fate to recruit disciples, but in reality, the Heavenly Guile Realm's strength was not enough, and they dared not stay in one place for a long time.

It could be seen that the dangers of this world were indeed not something mortals could grasp.

Ren Qing himself had experienced life and death many times, relying on his various trump cards to save his life, let alone the Great Dream True Man and Song Zongwu.

The two probably didn't know how to play it safe and suffered heavy losses as soon as they left the novice village.

The Great Dream True Man went to find the corpse of the Grand Duke of Jupiter, and Song Zongwu returned to the Inspiration Temple, both of which involved the Heavenly Guile Realm…

Ren Qing had no choice but to continue to use Song Zongwu's remnant soul, trying to discover the traces of the Inspiration Temple.

He opened his eyes, casually took the letter from the bird-like Guile beast. Inside were fungal ashes and the cause and effect, a stench unique to burning corpses assaulting his nostrils.

"Hmm?"

Ren Qing's expression changed. He rubbed the ashes with his fingers and found something similar to bone ash. The information flow also revealed "remains of corpses."

Seeing that the ashes were collected by Han Li, he asked him to bring some fresh fungi.

Ren Qing hadn't carefully examined the fungi because they were too ordinary, and the Immortal Forbidden Zone had only recently completed its transformation, and he was busy stabilizing the Shadowless Guile.

He cast the Toe Separation Art while waiting for Han Li's response.

Before long, Han Li trotted to Cishi Street, obviously realizing that the anomaly in the Immortal Forbidden Zone was extraordinary.

As soon as he entered the temple, he noticed the coffin containing Song Zongwu's body and soul, and his footsteps subconsciously slowed down.

Song Zongwu had saved many disciples of the Non-Action Taoist Temple in Jingzhou back then and had also taught Han Li. His expression became complicated.

"Senior Ren, look…"

Han Li suppressed his distracting thoughts. If even Ren Qing, as a Heavenly Guile Realm expert, was powerless, then he, a newly promoted Yin Difference Realm expert, could only cause trouble.

Ren Qing took the cloth bag handed over by Han Li, the surface engraved with moon patterns, to prevent the spores produced by the fungi from scattering.

"This disciple was delayed by something. I also found a strange corpse, all packed in a storage bag."

After Han Li finished speaking, he didn't disturb Ren Qing, turned around and exited the temple, choosing to wait outside the door, ready to be called in again at any time.

Ren Qing glanced at the corpse in the storage bag and couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation.

The corpse was like a skinned bird or beast embryo, but its feathers rustled, its face was distorted, and its limbs had varying degrees of degeneration.

He examined the corpse and confirmed that it was indeed an Immortal Species.

After asking Han Li, he learned that the corpse was originally located in a deep pit at the foot of the City of Non-Action, and it seemed that it had just emerged from the ground not long before it died.

Ren Qing immediately noticed a blind spot.

When he first came to the Immortal Forbidden Zone, the Immortal Species were creatures formed from Guile objects, but later, the Immortal Species with intelligence became increasingly rare.

The Immortal Species attacked the city thirty years ago, mixed with a few Yin Difference Realm experts, but in the last attack, they directly turned into Guile beasts without intelligence.

"…"

Ren Qing remembered the statues of the Gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity he had seen before, indicating that in the earlier times, the Immortal Species possessed a power far surpassing that of humans.

It was difficult to say whether the disappearance of the power involved Chen Changsheng.

But the Immortal Species were indeed degenerating.

There is one more chapter, please wait.