The Secret Way of Immortality

With each breath, Ren Qing's body revealed dense Heavenly Dao纹路 (纹路 - wen lu - patterns/lines), flickering faintly with his heartbeat, appearing exceptionally profound.

After a Heavenly Dao Being reached the Heavenly Guǐ Realm, the Heavenly Dao纹路 were initially imprinted on their flesh and bones, making their body and soul even more closely connected.

Ren Qing even had a feeling that his body and soul were about to merge into one.

If a Heavenly Dao Being wanted to break through to the Earthly Immortal Realm, they had to put in painstaking effort, ensuring the Heavenly Dao纹路 on their body were almost identical to those on their soul, a major project that would take hundreds of years.

He knew that once he went into seclusion, he would likely only awaken upon advancing to the Heavenly Dao Realm, so he was not in a hurry to attempt a breakthrough as a Heavenly Dao Being.

Ren Qing decided to first figure out Song Zongwu's situation, as he was puzzled by the latter's failure to proactively contact the Forbidden Corpses Hall.

Even if Song Zongwu and the others were isolated, it wouldn't prevent them from communicating with Dream City, and going to the Stomach World was not a troublesome matter.

Ren Qing closed his eyes in the cave, sensing the aura of the Immortal Gods of the Forbidden Corpses Hall.

Due to his familiarity with the Dream Butterfly Art, Ren Qing immediately located the position of Grand Dream True Man, who seemed to be with Song Zongwu, deep in the mountains to the north.

The other cultivators were scattered throughout this world, completely isolated from the outside world.

"What exactly have they experienced?"

Ren Qing couldn't help but mutter to himself, then he restrained his aura and walked out of the cave, the entrance of which was a crystal clear stream, with several strange-looking beasts drinking from the water source.

Under the refraction of the sunlight, Ren Qing's body displayed a colorful appearance, then his body and soul simultaneously turned into a Nightmare Demon, transforming into a twisted light and shadow.

He instantly disappeared from the spot, traversing the mountains at a speed invisible to the naked eye, heading straight towards Grand Dream True Man's location.

To prevent Grand Dream True Man from potentially avoiding some kind of danger, Ren Qing tried his best to use the Heavenly Demon Tribulation to remove his presence, and the route he took was also in the remote wilderness, not approaching any medium or large towns.

Ren Qing traveled at lightning speed, inevitably passing through remote mountain villages.

Over hundreds of thousands of miles, according to the rules of the former world, the differences between the bodies and souls of mortals would be very obvious, and even some races would be completely different.

The Water Marsh people and the Xiang Township people were still of the same origin hundreds of years before joining the Forbidden Corpses Hall.

But now it was different, although in Ren Qing's perception, they were all flesh and blood deformities, their life forms were surprisingly consistent.

In the distorted worldview of the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning, there were almost no obvious differences between mortals, at most slight differences in height and skin color due to dietary habits.

Ren Qing deliberately took the old people whose lifespans were exhausted into the Stomach World, wanting to see what changes would occur due to the differences in the Heavenly Dao rules.

As a result, he found that when the mortals from the outside world were in the Stomach World, the distortions would gradually recover, but their cognitions were still deeply ingrained, making it difficult for them to accept their own images.

Ren Qing had a strange feeling that he was out of place in this world.

He took a deep breath, mainly because he didn't have the strength to change the status quo, and after advancing to the Heavenly Dao Realm, the cause and effect of everything would be revealed.

Ren Qing meditated to nourish his spirit, while the Ghost Shadow carried him to his destination.

Several days and nights later, guided by the aura of dreams, a dense forest came into view, in which there were more than a dozen villages.

The villagers lived and worked in peace, unaffected by the aura of dreams.

Ren Qing walked between the thatched huts and came to the ancestral hall near the entrance of the village, which contained several statues of gods in addition to the enshrined ancestors.

The statues were clearly cast based on Grand Dream True Man as a model, and were multi-colored amorphous porcelain, indicating that Grand Dream True Man should have lived in the village for some time.

Ren Qing stared at the statue for a moment, and the villagers entering and leaving the ancestral hall did not notice him.

The Ghost Shadow was divided into smaller parts, forming a large shadow covering the entire village, even not letting go of anything below five kilometers.

Ren Qing then discovered an abnormality, there was a hollow cave underground.

He flashed into the cave, the surface of the surrounding stone walls was engraved with strange paintings, the scenes of the paintings were all distorted and disordered.

From the age of the murals, it could be seen that the state of mind of the person who carved the murals was still very normal at the beginning, then gradually became confused, and finally fell into an indescribable despair.

The faint aura of dreams in the mountains and forests also emanated from the murals.

Ren Qing frowned, staring at the murals for a long time, until the sound of footsteps rang out.

The figure of the person who came was slightly thin, and his movements had a feeling of lifting heavy weights lightly, even if he was weak, he gave people the impression of a sick tiger.

"Ren Qing, long time no see."

Ren Qing turned his head, Song Zongwu stood not far away with a haggard face, his spell aura was at its peak, but he was very颓然 (tui ran - dispirited/dejected).

"Senior Song."

"Things are unpredictable, it's been a while indeed."

Song Zongwu shook his head with a wry smile, Ren Qing was still as sharp as he remembered, it was hard to imagine that the last time they spoke was thousands of years ago.

He directly asked, "Ren Qing, did the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning really bring disaster?"

Ren Qing already understood what the Immortal Gods of the Forbidden Corpses Hall had experienced.

They faced this seemingly normal world, and even if they could maintain a firm cognition for thousands of years, they would inevitably begin to doubt the reality of the disaster over time.

Not to mention Song Zongwu, even Ren Qing couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart.

Aside from the Taoists of Wuzhuang Temple, there was no strangeness in this world at all, and the spells practiced by Taoism did not require disregarding human life.

Compared to the Forbidden Corpses Hall's methods of cultivation, which had harsh conditions and often required tormenting oneself, it seemed more like a demonic path.

Moreover, it was impossible to verify whether the cognition was a problem with the creatures of the new world or with the old world.

However, Ren Qing was only confused for a few breaths, he firmly believed that he could set foot in the Heavenly Dao Realm, so there was no need to deny himself with cognition, lest he become possessed.

Song Zongwu couldn't help but take a long breath when he saw Ren Qing nod.

"That's good, Grand Dream's situation is not optimistic, let's talk as we walk."

"Okay."

The two walked one after the other in the extremely fragmented cave, the murals were completely opposite in two different cognitions.

One side was heading towards despair, and the other was heading towards hope.

"By the way, who founded Wuzhuang Temple?"

"Han Li."

"He was the only one who was not affected by the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning, but in order to try to advance to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal, Han Li could no longer be contacted a hundred years ago."

"What about the others?"

"About two thousand years ago, the Forbidden Corpses Hall almost broke out into an Immortal God dispute in secret, fortunately Grand Dream True Man learned about it in advance through dreams."

"Later, the two of us used the Eight Directions Locking Immortal Formation to seal the out-of-control Immortal Gods."

Song Zongwu recounted the disasters of the past two thousand years with a calm expression, Ren Qing could feel how chaotic the Forbidden Corpses Hall was back then.

When the cognitions of the Immortal Gods began to shift, even if they were locked in a closed environment, they would still fall into madness.

"It's good that you're back, everything will recover."

Ren Qing patted Song Zongwu on the shoulder, he could imagine that after Grand Dream True Man lost control, Song Zongwu was almost alone in fighting against it.

Han Li had not reached the Great Firmament True Immortal, so he could not seal the Immortal Gods at all.

Song Zongwu also did not choose to return to the Stomach World, the Three Realms were not very peaceful at the time, and he was afraid of bringing disaster to the Stomach World.

Ren Qing listened to Song Zongwu's description, and the two unknowingly came to the end of the cave.

Song Zongwu's expression was complicated, the cave was shrouded in dazzling light, and countless chains.

The chains hung Grand Dream True Man in the center of the cave, and from time to time, the unbearable painful wailing could be heard.

Grand Dream True Man had been turned into two parts, like a two-headed monster.

The left half was composed of light and shadow, and the right half was a weak-looking scholar.

Grand Dream True Man was constantly struggling, trying to completely separate his body, but under the effect of the Immortal Body, the injuries slowly healed.

He had endured the torture of body and soul tearing for thousands of years.

Song Zongwu had tried many times to help Grand Dream True Man, but no matter what means he used, he could not suppress the latter's body and soul's alienation.

"Who..."

"Who is it?!"

Grand Dream True Man opened his eyes and looked at Ren Qing with a burning gaze.

The cave instantly quieted down, Grand Dream True Man's pain seemed to be erased, and he breathed heavily with relief.

From the scholar's head's perspective, Ren Qing was in his ordinary appearance, like the gifted cultivator he had known for thousands of years.

From the light and shadow head's perspective, Ren Qing's image was actually a tall Heavenly Dao Tree, even though some of the branches were slightly deformed, on the whole, it had an indescribable vastness.

"It's me, Ren Qing."

With a flick of Ren Qing's hand, the chains broke one by one, Grand Dream True Man knelt on the ground, the two heads looked at each other, but neither could do anything to the other.

"Ren Qing, you're here..."

Grand Dream True Man couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, the millennium of torture was finally over, even though his body and soul were still in a split state.

Ren Qing used the Heavenly Dao Tree to communicate with the Heavenly Immortal position in Grand Dream True Man's body, barely suppressing the latter's body and soul that were about to collapse.

Song Zongwu was afraid that his own presence would cause Grand Dream True Man to deteriorate, so he took the initiative to leave the cave.

Before Grand Dream True Man could speak, Ren Qing took the lead and said, "I understand what you are worried about, Grand Dream, whether or not the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning brought disaster is actually meaningless."

"Sooner or later we will see it, what exactly is behind the sky."

Ren Qing seemed to be reminding himself as well, never let cognition affect his advancement, only transcendence is the path to seek the truth.

Grand Dream True Man couldn't help but laugh, realizing that Ren Qing was no longer willing to be under the Heavenly Dao, the things he was worried about were indeed meaningless.

"Ren Qing, send me back to the Stomach World, I can't calm down here."

"Okay."

Ren Qing sent Grand Dream True Man to the bottom of the Heavenly Dao Tree in the Stomach World, the latter sat cross-legged and continued to comprehend the Heavenly Dao, also attracting the attention of others.

Soon, some Immortal Gods recognized Grand Dream True Man's identity.

They were still unsure about the rumors of Ren Qing ending his seclusion, but now that they saw Grand Dream True Man, how could they not understand.

The Immortal Gods were about to return to their positions, and Ren Qing would eventually ascend to the summit.

Grand Dream True Man was indeed only the first to return to the Stomach World, Song Zongwu, Mu Yi, Li Yaoyang, Corpse Guǐ and others appeared one after another.

Even if they were seriously injured, the other cultivators had to admit it.

This group of Immortal Gods represented the most prosperous era of the Forbidden Corpses Hall, even if occasionally cultivators in later generations passed the Heavenly Immortal Tribulation, the number of Immortals was not comparable to the time when the Immortals competed.

Compared to the decline of the Immortal Path, the Divine Path in the Stomach World had been snowballing.

Even though the number of Divine Path Dharma Seals was very limited, there were still a large number of Incense Immortals in the Stomach World who had been ranked among the Immortals for tens of thousands of years.

The Heavenly Palace was composed of countless small worlds, among which the Heavenly Court where the Incense Immortals lived occupied a quarter of the area of the Heavenly Palace.

It was not because Ren Qing delegated power to the Heavenly Court, but because the Heavenly Dao Tree would weigh the pros and cons.

When the number of Incense Immortals increased, it would also expand the area of the Heavenly Court to prevent the Heavenly Court from becoming overcrowded.

This resulted in the current Heavenly Court being divided into nine heavens.

They used the strength of the Incense Immortals' application of the divine positions as a basis to delineate the scope of the Incense Immortals' activities.

The first three heavens were the residence of the Earthbound Immortals.

The Earthbound Immortals referred to the Incense Immortals who had just ascended, and in order to maintain the stability of the mortal incense, they had to go down to the mortal world with their consciousness from time to time.

The middle three heavens were the residence of the Ascended Immortals.

The Ascended Immortals already had fixed beliefs, and their reputation was spread throughout the Three Realms, and they were the Immortal Gods recorded in myths and legends.

As long as the creatures of the Three Realms did not forget them, even without temples, the Ascended Immortals did not need to spend a lot of effort to obtain incense.

The upper two heavens were the Sun and Moon Immortals.

The Sun and Moon Immortals were the first batch of Incense Immortals to be ranked among the Immortals.

Their image in the Three Realms was already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, including the twenty-four solar terms, praying for rain, worshiping the Kitchen God, and inviting matchmakers...

As long as the Sun and Moon Immortals did not court death, causing the Heavenly Dao Tree to forcibly kill them, the Divine Path Dharma Seal was almost permanent, and the cultivation of several of them was comparable to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal in the Stomach World.

The last heaven of the Heavenly Palace, the Incense Immortals deliberately left for Ren Qing, so they built a magnificent palace, accompanied by beautiful scenery and immortal beasts.

The long-term peace made the Heavenly Court no longer worry about danger in times of peace.

Even the Incense Immortals of the Heavenly Court had regarded the Three Realms as their own, and when they learned that the ancient Immortal Gods were returning one after another, they could not help but panic.

As a result, Ren Qing noticed that the Heavenly Court was secretly probing the Immortal Path cultivators, wanting to find out the reason for the return of the ancient Immortal Gods.

Ren Qing was too lazy to explain to them, and even more reluctant for internal strife to occur at a critical moment.

With a thought in his mind, the Heavenly Dao Tree shook slightly, and the Incense Immortals of the Heavenly Court immediately noticed the abnormality of the Heavenly Dao Tree.

The Divine Path's dependence on the Heavenly Dao Tree far exceeded that of the Immortal Path.

The Heavenly Court then boiled, and the consciousness of countless Incense Immortals left the small world, but they were horrified to find that the Heavenly Court was completely closed.

On the clouds of the second heaven, the four Sun and Moon Immortals who ruled the Heavenly Court were trembling with fear at the aura revealed by the Heavenly Dao Tree.

No matter how high their cultivation was, the Divine Path was only borrowers of the Heavenly Dao rules.

The Heavenly Dao Tree controlled the power of life and death of the Incense Immortals, and the Heavenly Court did not even have the strength to resist.

Ren Qing's gaze swept over the Heavenly Court, raising soldiers for a thousand days to use them for a while, and when the Supreme Heavenly Demon descended, the Heavenly Dao was likely to launch a protracted war.

If he advanced to the Heavenly Dao, he could not avoid being involved.

It was not enough to rely solely on the Immortal Path's Forbidden Corpses Hall cultivators, the Divine Path's Heavenly Court must participate, and it was almost time for the Incense Immortals to contribute.

"Ten thousand years later, the battle of the Heavenly Dao."

Ren Qing then left the Heavenly Court, leaving behind the Heavenly Court Immortals who looked at each other in dismay, and a door connecting to Dream City.

His allowing the Heavenly Court to intervene in Dream City was to allow the Heavenly Court to absorb the Forbidden Corpses Hall's weapon refining experience and create large-scale war machines.

The next ten thousand years in the Stomach World would be preparing for a war.