The Secret Way of Immortality

Jing Province, the inner world.

The ecological environment, ravaged by various forces, has become incredibly devastated.

In the southwest corner, all the plants and trees are covered with eyeballs, in the north, piles of white bones have formed mountains, and in the east, corpse oil continuously seeps from the ditches.

All these strange phenomena stem from the intangible influence of术法on the inner world.

As the 'Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage' approaches, the various forces have become even more frantic, even engaging in inexplicable behaviors that harm others without benefiting themselves.

It seems illogical, but how many cultivators actually care about logic? They're all lunatics anyway.

Xiao San'er and Zhou Wu have been in the inner world for over half a month without realizing it.

The two of them have been collecting Gu worms in the more remote areas of Jing Province, with no intention of snatching food from the tiger's mouth at the various forces' territories.

Xiao San'er is helping his brother Zhou Wu obtain blood crystals to prepare for his future advancement to the Yin Messenger Realm, and he also wants to come into contact with more strange objects to find ways to improve the Strange Fetus artifact.

The Jail Envoy Hall cultivators in the inner world have already formed a considerable force, and they communicate information with each other, relying on the Immortal Keys to transmit content.

The two suspect that forces from the deeper world are secretly instigating the inner world, wanting more cultivators to take risks and ascend.

Such a blatant scheme is very effective on this group of madmen.

Many cultivators may appear calm and collected on the surface, but in reality, they are thorough opportunists at heart, with extreme styles of behavior.

What's more, most of the cultivators who come to Jing Province seeking opportunities have been stuck at their bottlenecks for hundreds of years. If they can't break through as soon as possible, their chances will only decrease with time.

Xiao San'er sighed. According to the information received from the Immortal Key, some forces have begun to kill each other, just to obtain the chance to ascend.

Perhaps in a few days, slaughter will become the main theme of the inner world.

Fortunately, it has nothing to do with them. Xiao San'er knows his own limitations.

Although he was lucky enough to advance to the Yin Messenger Realm, his skills are all in artifact crafting. Even his术法are designed to complement artifact crafting, making him not very strong in combat.

The cicadas in the mountains and forests continue to chirp, and the Gu worms are mixed among them.

Distinguishing Gu worms is not an easy task, but for the two of them, it has long been a familiar routine.

Xiao San'er had used magical artifacts to set up the mountain forest in advance, so there was no need to worry about strange cultivators approaching. He chatted with Zhou Wu.

Zhou Wu is not much older than Xiao San'er, but his mental outlook is completely different.

Xiao San'er still looks like he's in his early twenties, but Zhou Wu's temples are graying, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes highlight a strong sense of vicissitudes.

As they chatted, they talked about the Jail Envoy Hall's setbacks in the inner world.

Even though most of the Heavenly Gu Realm cultivators have ascended to the deeper world, and the remaining Heavenly Gu Realm cultivators are seizing the time to prepare for ascension, they haven't shown their faces for a long time.

But the Jail Envoy Hall is still retreating steadily in the face of the Yang God Realm cultivators stationed in the inner world.

The cultivators who accept external missions are of varying quality, unable to demonstrate the overwhelming power they had in the surface world, and the Heavenly Court will naturally be looked down upon.

Some forces even completely treat the Heavenly Court as a joke, not caring about the rumors at all.

Zhou Wu asked worriedly, "San'er, many fellow cultivators have died, right?"

"There haven't been many deaths or injuries, but it is said that a certain force has deliberately imprisoned dozens of cultivators to force the Heavenly Court to take action. I don't know what the result will be."

"I wonder where they are imprisoned?"

Zhou Wu was a little worried. Among the cultivators who descended to the inner world, there were many who were familiar with him, and they all had wives and children to take care of.

Xiao San'er couldn't help but complain, "Brother, don't worry about this. If you can't advance to the Yin Messenger Realm within a hundred years, it will be very difficult to break through the bottleneck again."

Zhou Wu looked at his younger brother's anxious expression and couldn't help but smile wryly.

He doesn't care at all whether he can advance to the Yin Messenger Realm. He's already exceeded his expected age. He can foresee his death and dissipation.

Even if he dies and dissipates, Zhou Wu doesn't plan to transform into a zombie. Eternal life is not a good thing, but more like a curse.

But when he thought that his death would indeed be a bit cruel to Xiao San'er, he nodded and said, "Alright, I'll give it a try anyway."

"Yeah, there's definitely no problem."

Xiao San'er smiled. Zhou Wu, among the batch of body-tempering cultivators in Changsheng Village back then, could actually be considered an outstanding figure.

It's just that Zhou Wu's ambition is neither arrogant nor humble, and his attitude towards cultivation is completely laissez-faire, which eventually led to his progress gradually falling behind.

After receiving Zhou Wu's reply, he couldn't help but feel much more relieved.

Xiao San'er held a magical artifact and used the No-Sight Art, while Zhou Wu used his agile and nimble skills to cooperate, making the efficiency of capturing Gu worms extremely high.

Now that Dream City has been perfected by Ren An, it has become much more humane.

Usually, if a strange object has never been recorded by the Grand Dream Strange Dao, the value of the blood crystals is generally between five and ten times higher.

The two chose to sell unique Gu worms to the Grand Dream Strange Dao, and used the repetitive ones to craft artifacts.

It has to be said that Jing Province is indeed a treasure trove full of gold. Not to mention strange objects, even some plants and trees are being snapped up by Dream City.

They worked hard for several days, and the blood crystals they earned were higher than the benefits of alchemy and artifact crafting.

It's just that the area of the mountain forest is limited after all, and Gu worms are easily overfished. Xiao San'er thought it was about time to change places.

Just as they were preparing to move, their footsteps suddenly paused slightly.

The Immortal Key placed on his chest emitted bursts of warm light, and then transmitted some information to them, which was clearly an order to assemble.

The condition for the Immortal Key to issue orders is that one must first have an Immortal Title.

With Xiao San'er's Ghost Immortal Title, the originator who could transmit orders to him must be a Human Immortal Title.

Contrary to his usual behavior, Xiao San'er quickly turned around and said, "Let's go, let's go take a look first."

Zhou Wu asked in confusion, "The meeting place should be the force that imprisoned our fellow cultivators, right? Could it be that the seniors are planning to take action?"

"I'm not very clear, but it's definitely not to be missed. We might even be able to get a share of the pie."

As Xiao San'er spoke, he took out a disc-shaped magical artifact. The two quickly stepped onto the magical artifact and turned into a streak of light, flying towards their destination.

At this moment, all the Jail Envoy Hall cultivators in the inner world gathered towards the destination according to the information in the order.

What attracted the Jail Envoy Hall to swarm in was actually a valley surrounded by thorns.

A dozen cultivators wearing "Heavenly Court" style Daoist robes were tied up by thorns, hanging upside down in mid-air, with blood dripping continuously.

Apart from them, there were also hundreds of loose cultivators, their bodies already covered in blood and flesh, and their mental states were on the verge of collapse.

The force to which the valley belonged was called "Suffering Temple".

It seemed to be a Buddhist force, but the术法it mastered was more closely related to the Daoist sect, but it was dressed in an awkward monk's attire.

The Dharma name of each generation of Suffering Temple's leader is "Suffering Monk", and the disciples are called "Suffering Monks".

Although there was no Heavenly Gu Realm cultivator sitting in charge, the number of Yang God Realm cultivators was not small, as many as seven.

Not only did they dress up as monks, but they also tied thorns around their joints, so that they would experience unspeakable pain whenever they moved.

Their backs were also covered with a large number of whip marks.

The Suffering Monk looked seventy or eighty years old, with white hair and no beard, holding a string of iron lumps in his hand, the sharp burrs making his palms bleed.

The Suffering Temple's术法"Deliverance from Suffering" is very special. The creator did come from the Buddhist sect, and could assist in cultivation by absorbing the suffering of others.

Their morning classes every day involved torturing each other, and in the evening they tortured the imprisoned cultivators.

In the beginning, the Suffering Temple did not dare to offend the Heavenly Court. According to the long-circulated saying, the Heavenly Court had more than one or two Heavenly Gu Realm cultivators.

But after contacting them, they discovered that the Heavenly Court did not seem as terrifying as imagined.

The Suffering Monk decisively captured dozens of Heavenly Court cultivators, hoping to use this to cultivate术法, but he did not expect that things would go against his wishes.

He pinched the iron lumps hard, the pain making his expression become enjoyable.

What the Suffering Monk enjoyed most was the wailing echoing in the valley. The loose cultivators' vigorous vitality could ensure that they were repeatedly tortured.

But the Heavenly Court cultivators had no reaction at all, all with a look of wandering beyond the heavens.

It's not that they were immune to torture, but that they had already thrown their souls into Dream City, and could not feel the abnormality of their bodies at all.

Even if the Suffering Monk killed them out of anger, their souls could still go to the Yellow Springs. It was better to cultivate as a Nether Soul than to be buried in a foreign land.

Moreover, the higher-ups of the Jail Envoy Hall had clearly stated that they would come to encircle and suppress the Suffering Temple.

The disc-shaped magical artifact quietly stopped next to the valley. Xiao San'er and the others chose to wait in place, and set up some sealing arrays along the way.

Before long, dozens of people arrived one after another, and they immediately joined the arrangement of the array.

Although Gu Zhenren did not have an Immortal Key, Han Li notified him to go to the valley.

He deliberately arrived more than half an hour late, and only showed up to build the defense line together when he saw that the situation was still safe.

The Suffering Monk had already noticed the Heavenly Court cultivators outside the valley when the array began to take shape.

But the external missions issued by Ren An did not restrict cultivation at all, resulting in even Half-Corpse Realm cultivators participating, making the scene extremely absurd.

No one would believe that the well-known Heavenly Court would be a pile of crooked melons and cracked dates.

The Suffering Monk was full of disdain in his heart, so he did not intend to take action, preparing to lure out the big fish behind the Heavenly Court before making a decision.

He did not know that when Xiao San'er and other cultivators began to set up the array, the Jail Envoy Hall's most skilled city defense system had already taken shape.

Even with only a few Yin Messenger Realm cultivators, plus dozens of Ghost Envoy Realm cultivators, they could withstand the firepower of the Yang God Realm cultivators, and even fight back.

The Jail Envoy Hall also had an advantage, being able to continuously replenish supplies through Dream City. No force could compare with them in terms of protracted warfare.

The Suffering Monk waited for a while, gradually realizing that something was wrong.

Under the arrangement of Xiao San'er, the chief artifact refiner of the Jail Envoy Hall, the defense line outside the valley had begun to converge towards the direction of a cage, and a large number of metal pillars stood in various places in a mysterious manner.

A faint mist enveloped the area, and birds and beasts fled in unison.

The valley was already shrouded in darkness, with only the faint light produced by the burning flames.

The Suffering Monk's expression turned ashen. The development of things was beyond his expectations. If he did not mend the fold now, the array might really take shape.

"Go and cut off the heads of the Heavenly Soldiers, refine them into thorn puppets, and then release them."

"Yes, Master."

The Suffering Monks immediately agreed and rushed towards the center of the valley where the upside-down cultivators were, with the unpleasant smell of blood rushing towards them.

Their expressions were greedy, and they could feel the术法becoming active.

The loose cultivators shivered, fearing that the Suffering Monks would carry out a new round of torture. The whipping magical artifacts could amplify the pain a hundredfold.

The thorns binding them had already pierced deeply into their flesh, preventing the wounds from healing.

If one used their soul to perceive, they would find that the loose cultivators' souls unconsciously emitted an aura, like blood-red misty dust.

The Suffering Temple cultivators would inhale the dust into their mouths and noses with each breath.

The dozens of Jail Envoy Hall cultivators were all located in the outer periphery, and the Suffering Monks looked at them with deep disgust.

They had no reaction to pain at all. How could there be such freaks in the world?

The Suffering Monks first verified the number. There were a total of fifty-six Heavenly Soldiers, and their cultivation was generally not high. It was hard to imagine that they would come to the deep Jing Province.

"Bring them all down, and remember to ensure the integrity of their bodies."

The older Suffering Monk looked at them and then said with admiration, "Heavenly Soldiers are indeed good materials for refining thorn puppets. Their bodies have reached such a degree of alienization without losing control, which shows that they have unlimited potential!"

"Uh, Senior Brother Bo Nan, could it be that the Heavenly Court has high-level cultivators guiding them..."

"Shut up."

Bo Nan said with a cold face. If the Suffering Monk heard this, it would not be as simple as whipping. He might even have to swallow several pounds of iron lumps.

The pain of the flesh was nothing. The feeling of churning internal organs was worse than death. In the end, even his cultivation would be wasted for the most part.

The other Suffering Monks did not dare to say more and quickly took iron rods to hook the Heavenly Soldiers down.

One Heavenly Soldier after another was piled on the open space, as casually as corpses in a mass grave, with carrion maggots crawling all over their bodies.

"Senior Brother, the number is wrong."

After hearing this, Bo Nan asked, "Where is the number wrong?"

"Senior Brother, aren't there fifty-six in total? We have already taken them all down, but it seems that there is still one hanging..."

He pointed to the top of his head. Above the valley covered with thorns, he could vaguely see a tall figure, seemingly watching the surroundings.

Bo Nan frowned and squinted at the figure.

A sense of fear arose in his heart, and he couldn't help but retreat a few steps, because the figure seemed to have six thick arms.

"What the hell?"

Bo Nan blinked, but the figure suddenly disappeared.

In the next moment, several Suffering Monks flew out, and a half-meter deep pit appeared on the ground. A man like a demon god walked slowly.

Six arms and six eyes, nearly three meters tall, burning with orange-red flames all over his body. Although there was no heat at all, it was frightening.

"This old man hasn't been out for a long time. I'll take this opportunity to practice."

"Where did you come from?"

"Heavenly Court."

Song Zongwu opened his mouth and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "Fire Department, Fire Virtue Star Lord."

He disappeared from the spot and poked Bo Nan's forehead with a finger. The latter was like being hit by a siege hammer, his brain went blank, and then he fell into endless darkness.

In the eyes of others, Bo Nan's head suddenly separated from his neck, killing several people in a row.

Song Zongwu rolled and moved, and the ground was full of the Suffering Monks' broken corpses, but he did not stain his Daoist robe with a drop of blood.

His expression was cheerful, and the aura of术法was undisguised.

Counting the days in the Stomach World, he was afraid that he had not taken action for a hundred years, and he had been suppressing the injuries of his body and soul every day.

The karmic fire was more terrifying than imagined, and his body and soul were constantly at risk of alienating.

If Ren An hadn't had the means to transfer the karmic fire, Song Zongwu estimated that it would take at least hundreds of years of exploration to barely stop the drawbacks brought about by the karmic fire under the effect of the Immortal Title.

After more than ten years of seclusion, Song Zongwu was finally barely able to balance the karmic fire, so that he would not be restrained in battle.

He used the Immortal Key to take the severely injured cultivators of the Prison Guard Hall into the world within his stomach.

"Good, Fire Virtue Star Lord, good, Heavenly Court."

The Suffering Monk's tone revealed neither joy nor anger as he thrust his arm directly into his chest, manipulating his heart, causing his vital energy to surge.

In the center of the valley, filled with rogue cultivators, more than a dozen arms emerged from the ground.

Withered old men crawled out, each possessing the cultivation of the Yang God realm, their skin and flesh covered with crimson ants, causing them unbearable pain in both body and soul.

"Immaculate, why have you not yet ascended?"

"We said before, do not awaken us until you go to the inner Jing Prefecture."

"Immaculate, is it worth it for a cultivator who has not yet reached the Immortal Guest realm?"

They were all elders of the Suffering Temple, barely clinging to life, seeking an opportunity for a breakthrough, but generation after generation, there was no hope.

Now they were already nearing the end of their lifespan, and each awakening came at a significant cost.

It was evident that the Suffering Monk was very wary of Song Zongwu, feeling that he was unlike anyone else in the same realm, which was why he resorted to this tactic.

Multiple auras of the Yang God realm erupted, which the Prison Guard Hall cultivators within the defensive line naturally noticed.

Gu Zhenren felt as if facing a formidable enemy, the Gu worms within his body writhing in fear.

But he looked at the surrounding cultivators, who seemed indifferent, as if they weren't worried at all that Song Zongwu would die as a result.

Bang!!!

The valley shook violently, sinking at least a dozen meters, causing air to rush in.

Song Zongwu's muscles tensed, and he leaped into the air, smashing a heavy punch into the Suffering Monk's abdomen with a sneer.

The Suffering Monk showed no intention of resisting, even deliberately opening his arms.

He admitted that Song Zongwu's strength far exceeded the ordinary, which was why he awakened the elders to hold the line, but his own techniques would definitely give the other party a big loss.

The Suffering Transference could transfer the pain the Suffering Monk received to Song Zongwu.

The Suffering Monk believed that Song Zongwu could not kill him with a single blow, but the feedback of pain would definitely make the other party unable to move.

As soon as the fist touched the Suffering Monk, his internal organs began to tear, blood vessels ruptured, and blood uncontrollably spewed from his orifices.

He pushed the Suffering Transference to the extreme, applying it to the unresisting Song Zongwu.

But the Suffering Monk discovered that Song Zongwu merely raised an eyebrow, without any abnormality, as if he couldn't feel the pain.

"How is this possible..."

"You probably don't know what it's like to be entangled by karmic fire, do you?"

"I was tormented for nearly a century."

The Suffering Monk's pupils dilated, and the strange flames burning on Song Zongwu's fist burrowed straight into his flesh and bones as soon as they touched his skin.

He let out a hysterical scream, and then his body became completely numb, his three souls and seven spirits gradually extinguished.

Right under the elders' noses, the Suffering Monk died, his soul scattered.

The two exchanged blows for only a few breaths, and from the outside, it seemed as if the Suffering Monk had taken the initiative to meet the enemy with his chest and abdomen, and then there was no movement.

The Suffering Monks looked dazed, the pain suffered by the Suffering Monk before his death was too intense, benefiting them greatly.

The Great Elder said coldly, "All of you go and tear apart the defensive line, or prepare to swallow iron lumps."

The Suffering Monks dared not be negligent and rushed towards the direction of the formation.

The Prison Guard Hall cultivators were ready, using the terrain and formation advantages to fight the incoming Suffering Monks.

Boom boom boom...

Song Zongwu swooped down and became entangled with the six elders.

The Earth Listening Technique could bring unparalleled perception, coupled with the blessing of the body, allowing him to exert the perfection of the Yang God realm in a short time.

The Shura Law emphasized physique, breaking all laws with one force.

Although the Buddhist techniques had been erased, due to the karmic fire, there were still invisible remnants, becoming his third technique.

In terms of combat power, Song Zongwu was the first among all the Yang God realm cultivators in the Prison Guard Hall.

Gu Zhenren's lips moved slightly, he had seen the foundation of the Heavenly Court clearly, the Heavenly Soldiers were handling enemies several times their number with ease, and the Fire Virtue Star Lord was unilaterally crushing seven cultivators of the same realm.

"Fire Virtue Star Lord, the Suffering Temple has no intention of being your enemy..."

Crack crack crack.

Song Zongwu directly twisted off the neck of the speaking elder, kicking his head like a ball, and easily catching the attacks from all directions with his remaining arms.

He was not without flaws, in fact, due to the techniques, his whole body was full of flaws.

The most terrifying thing about Song Zongwu was that he could use flaws to lure opponents to attack, and his six arms formed an impenetrable net.

As the battle continued, the enemy would become hesitant.

The Great Elder swung his thorny whip, but his expression became wooden and stiff, and another headless corpse beside him knelt to the ground.

"Don't kill..."

Before he could finish speaking, his neck was grabbed by Song Zongwu, and the Yang God realm cultivators of the Suffering Temple had already turned into corpses, dying in the same way.

"Your techniques are good, a cultivator in the Immortal Department of the Heavenly Court will definitely like them."

Song Zongwu chuckled dumbly, threw the Great Elder into the underworld of the stomach world, and then imprisoned him in the third-floor prison.

To prevent the loss of technique content, he selected a few Suffering Monks with Yin Difference realm cultivation, and the rest were handed over to the Prison Guard Hall cultivators to deal with.

The cultivators surged into the valley like wolves and tigers, the resources of the Yang God realm were already precious.

Little San'er had no intention of competing, and came to Song Zongwu and asked, "Senior Song, will you be stationed in the inner Jing Prefecture next?"

Song Zongwu was still tense, his six eyes solemnly standing on the high ground of the valley.

He did not receive a reply from Song Zongwu for a long time, so he looked in the direction of the other party's gaze, but saw a shadow floating in the clouds.

"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, you really treat us as soft persimmons."

A flat, manta ray-like behemoth revealed itself, clearly transformed by a Heavenly Aberrant realm cultivator, its body exceeding a range of five hundred meters.

The cultivators in the valley were petrified,

Song Zongwu showed a regretful expression.

"Unfortunately, I wanted to use the Yang God realm cultivators of various forces to practice, and only when my energy, spirit, and spirit reached their peak would I have a slight chance of fighting the Heavenly Aberrant realm."

"Now... there is no chance of winning."

Song Zongwu closed his eyes and communicated, his thoughts reaching Ren Qing in the deep world.

After a long journey, Ren Qing and the others finally approached the location of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Pilgrimage, and a crystal-clear lake could be seen not far away.

When the Pig Taoist saw Ren Qing stop, he couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Ren Qing continued walking as if nothing had happened, but the ghost shadow under his feet separated a little bit of his body, coming from the stomach world to the inner Jing Prefecture.

The manta ray cultivator shouted wildly, "The Four Seas Dragon Kings appear!"

"I want to see the inheritance of the ancient immortals and gods!!"

A low roar came, and an even larger shadow enveloped the manta ray cultivator.

Ying Long stared at him indifferently, showing an unparalleled aura, just the tenfold difference in size showed that it was difficult to match.

"........."

The dragon's head opened its bloody mouth and swallowed the manta ray cultivator in one gulp.

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