[Should Heaven and Earth Genesis advance to Dao Gives Birth to One? This will consume 40,000 years of lifespan.]
Ren Qing took a deep breath. He knew very little about the "Dao Gives Birth to One" stage of the Heavenly Aberration realm. All he knew was that it was the process by which the immortal body gradually took shape.
The Heavenly Dao Crack immediately stretched longer, and he felt time suddenly come to a standstill.
Ren Qing's thoughts became incomparably clear as his consciousness entered a boundless expanse of profound darkness, where the contents of Heaven and Earth Genesis replayed over and over in his mind.
Who knew how long this state lasted? Could it be that advancing to Dao Gives Birth to One differed from breaking through a major realm and would not produce any unforeseen abnormalities?
Just as Ren Qing tried to peer into the darkness in search of the aura that would let him break through the bottleneck, a tingling pain erupted from the final segment of his spine, as though countless crawling insects had burrowed into it.
Dao Gives Birth to One was inherently connected to a cultivator's spine. It was said that the Immortal Position would begin merging from the coccyx before eventually spreading to cover both body and soul.
But Ren Qing had never imagined that the transformation of Dao Gives Birth to One would come so abruptly.
His entire body trembled uncontrollably as blackish-gray impurities spewed from his mouth and nose, while his mortal body gradually transformed into an immortal body.
His flesh also began to contract, while his several-meter-tall body continued growing taller.
Bang, bang, bang, bang...
The sound of bones colliding rang out. Ren Qing discovered that his skeleton had actually dissolved into liquid, causing his body to collapse limply onto the ground.
The Ghost Shadow hurriedly moved to protect Ren Qing in case any danger appeared.
Immediately afterward, even his spine began dissolving.
Ren Qing's consciousness seemed to enter an endless void where time had lost all meaning. At this moment, eternity reigned supreme.
He could no longer sense his strange objects, yet his awareness of his flesh and bones became incomparably detailed.
When the last segment of his spine dissolved, the liquefied bones suddenly converged into a bizarre and indescribable immortal seed.
The immortal seed was only the size of a fingernail. It resembled an infant, occasionally letting out faint cries as though it possessed life.
Seeing that the immortal seed had taken shape, Ren Qing reached out to it with his consciousness. The crying instantly stopped.
The immortal seed entered his stomach and intestines, absorbing the aura of his soul before taking root and sprouting, transforming his digestive organs into something resembling jade.
Strength returned to Ren Qing's body, and a terrifying pressure flashed by, indicating that the Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor had begun merging with his body.
The darkness remained unchanged, yet his consciousness felt as though it were soaring across heaven and earth.
Ren Qing saw himself encountering The Taotie Method when he became a Corpse Burner. He also saw the birth of Stomach World, from the most basic Mustard-Seed Space all the way until it developed rules of its own and became filled with living beings.
Long before he had cultivated the primary and secondary techniques of Stomach World, he had already laid an exceptionally solid foundation for attaining immortality.
Every time Ren Qing broke through a bottleneck, the information flow would help refine his cultivation methods.
Although the Ascension Method was not entirely one he had comprehended himself, in a sense, the difference was insignificant. That was why his foundation had become so solid.
"Shouldn't I be saying something right about now?"
"With my head thrown back in laughter, I step beyond the gates. How could people like us ever belong among the weeds?"
As enlightenment welled up within Ren Qing's heart, he suddenly sensed, within the pitch-black space, that an unseen gaze was fixed upon him.
Instinctively, he raised his head, his consciousness staring unblinkingly into the darkness.
Ren Qing suddenly found the situation strangely familiar. Hadn't it been the same when facing the Three Dao Ancestors? If nothing unexpected happened, then what came next was probably...
"The Zhenyuan is the innate spiritual root hidden within the acquired."
"The spiritual root returns to its origin. The innate and the acquired become one, forming the perfect Taiji."
"Twenty-eight ounces make one jin. Whole and complete without deficiency. Round and flawless, brilliant and radiant."
Ren Qing became somewhat nervous. Could it be that advancing to Dao Gives Birth to One in the Heavenly Aberration realm would also bring him face to face with the Three Dao Ancestors? If so, wouldn't he be in serious trouble?
The only thing reassuring him was that the information flow still showed no abnormalities, proving that everything remained within reasonable bounds.
A tiny point of golden light flickered before gradually taking the shape of a blurry human figure.
Ren Qing tried his utmost to see it clearly, only to discover that the figure resembled the Zhenyuanzi from his memories, yet carried an unsettling uncanny valley sensation that made it feel neither real nor fake.
Zhenyuanzi wore a purple-gold crown upon his head, a crane-feather robe over his body, and a silk sash around his waist. His skin resembled that of a child, his appearance surpassed that of a beauty, a whisk rested in his right hand, and his left formed a Daoist hand seal.
He looked at Ren Qing with a smile before opening his mouth, and the atmosphere changed completely.
The corners of Zhenyuanzi's mouth split all the way to his ears, revealing rows of sharp fangs. Faintly visible within was an interior that had already been hollowed out by decay.
Only then did Ren Qing realize that this was the manifestation of the Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor's Immortal Position. What he needed to do now was merge it with himself.
The grotesque appearance of Zhenyuanzi's body originated from Ren Qing's gradual devouring of the Immortal Position.
Ren Qing hesitated for several breaths. Seeing that the advancement had somewhat stalled, he was just about to touch Zhenyuanzi with his consciousness when a shrill scream rang out.
Zhenyuanzi let out agonized howls. His once ethereal, immortal bearing slowly shattered before Ren Qing's eyes. His Daoist robes and magical treasures became worn and tattered, while large quantities of blood seeped from his skin.
He stretched out both hands, trying to grab Ren Qing in the distance, but his bones suddenly snapped apart.
Ren Qing's scalp tingled as though an invisible force were tearing Zhenyuanzi limb from limb, forcibly extracting every single bone from his body.
It wasn't long before Zhenyuanzi's body had become completely mangled.
Ren Qing checked on his physical body and discovered that his spine was regenerating at an astonishing speed, with the rest of his skeleton gradually taking shape as well.
However, the bones derived from the Immortal Position were not hard like iron. Instead, they resembled tree roots, woven together from countless fibers.
By the time most of his skeleton had recovered, not a trace of life remained within Zhenyuanzi. Suspended in the darkness, he resembled a corpse that had been dead for countless years.
This signified that the advancement to Dao Gives Birth to One had succeeded. The Immortal Position would now gradually be completely devoured by Ren Qing.
Ren Qing opened his eyes and carefully examined both body and soul.
His bones appeared ordinary, yet even an Earth Immortal would find them difficult to destroy. He had finally taken the first true step on the road to immortality.
He was also curious what changes would occur once his other Immortal Positions began merging. Could multiple Immortal Positions ultimately become one?
The information flow surged.
[Lifespan: Infinite]
[Cultivation Methods: Heaven and Earth Genesis (Return to One)]
[Immortal Body: Myriad Phenomena Return to One (Dao Gives Birth to One)]
[Divine Ability: Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth]
[Immortal Position: Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor (Pseudo)]
[Immortal Office: Heavenly Dao]
Ren Qing did not examine the changes within Stomach World first. Instead, he communicated with the Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor and discovered that he could already wield the power of the Immortal Position.
However, he had only reached Dao Gives Birth to One. Once he reached One Gives Birth to Two, he would likely begin assimilating Zhenyuanzi's flesh until the immortal body was fully complete.
Ren Qing flashed away from the Ghost Ship and found a secluded mountain range.
He rested with his eyes closed for a long while before activating the divine ability Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth. Instantly, the sunlight overhead was swallowed by shadow.
A mountain several hundred meters tall floated in midair. It had clearly come from Stomach World, and faint figures could even be seen at its summit.
Compared to the previous Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth, there was now not the slightest trace of illusion.
He no longer needed to rely on his own body to summon objects from Stomach World, though the range was still limited to within ten li.
Even so, Ren Qing knew the mountain remained only a projection. Even if it were destroyed in the outside world, Stomach World itself would remain completely unaffected.
Ren Qing controlled the mountain and smashed it downward with all his strength, instantly creating an enormous crater in the ground.
The cultivators on the mountain were startled, thinking Ren Qing had summoned them, and immediately flew over on their magical artifacts.
"It's nothing. I was just testing a divine ability."
Ren Qing canceled Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth, and both the mountain and the cultivators disappeared simultaneously.
It was easy to foresee that as his cultivation continued to improve, Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth would eventually allow Stomach World itself to descend into the outside world for extended periods.
He had a feeling that after completely refining the Immortal Position, the cultivators summoned through Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth would still retain the blessings of their Immortal Offices.
Ren Qing continued exploring the capabilities of the Immortal Position.
He then attempted to activate his immortal body. Rustling sounds of vegetation growing immediately came from within his spine, followed by his body rapidly increasing in size before the naked eye.
Within moments, Ren Qing had already grown to over one hundred meters tall. His bone structure was almost identical to Zhenyuanzi's, differing only in facial appearance.
He looked himself up and down. Mirage-like mist surrounded his body.
Within the mist could be seen a bustling mortal world, the Underworld, the Heavenly Palace, and countless cultivators flying all around.
Birds and beasts fled in every direction, instinctively sensing an indescribable aura of terror.
After transforming into the Myriad Phenomena Immortal Body, Ren Qing felt as though his strength had become inexhaustible. Unfortunately, having only just entered Dao Gives Birth to One, he could only maintain the immortal body for several hours.
Of course, the immortal body's greatest function lay in manipulating laws similar to those of forbidden regions.
However, Dao Gives Birth to One had only just begun merging with the Immortal Position, making such abilities impossible to wield. He was still far from possessing the heaven-and-earth-altering powers of a true immortal.
Ren Qing glanced at the information flow. Advancing to One Gives Birth to Two required only 50,000 years of lifespan. At this rate, attaining immortality was merely a matter of time.
[Should One Gives Birth to Two be advanced? This will consume 50,000 years of lifespan.]
His consciousness then entered Stomach World, where he noticed that both the Heavenly Palace and the Underworld had merely expanded in size before he connected with the Heavenly Dao.
As expected, the number of available Immortal Offices had increased. There were now twenty-four Ghost Immortal Offices, six Human Immortal Offices, two Earth Immortal Offices, and one Divine Immortal Office that particularly caught his attention.
The remaining twelve Ghost Immortal Offices would likely be distributed to the cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall. Three Human Immortal Offices would be reserved for the Immortal Positions within Jingzhou after they merged with his own.
He had no plans for the Earth Immortal Offices yet. The Flesh Tathagata created using an Earth Immortal Office had only just finished absorbing the Sitting-Deer Buddhist qi and reached the Yin Difference realm.
Ren Qing had the Flesh Arhat continue absorbing Joy Buddha qi, causing the distorted face of the Joy Arhat to appear across its body.
He had not yet used the Flesh Tathagata to transfer Heavenly Dao transformation. He would likely wait until it advanced to the Yang God realm before attempting it.
Ren Qing shifted his attention to the Divine Immortal Office and was suddenly surprised to discover that it existed as a physical object, growing directly from the branches of the Heavenly Dao.
The Heavenly Dao resembled a tree, though only Ren Qing could perceive it.
His consciousness approached the Divine Immortal Office and examined it intently. A flood of information immediately poured from the Heavenly Dao into his memories.
His expression grew increasingly strange because the Divine Immortal Office could actually contain a trace of the Heavenly Dao.
Ren Qing attempted to use the abilities of Dao Dao Dao, infusing lightning into the Divine Immortal Office. The blank fruit immediately developed profound patterns.
[Immortal Office: ???]
[Formed by Heaven and Earth Genesis. After refining it, cultivating lightning-attributed techniques becomes twice as effective, and one becomes immune to heart demons.]
"How about... God of Thunder?"
[Immortal Office: God of Thunder]
The so-called God of Thunder was the legendary Lei Gong, possessing a human head and a dragon's body. When he struck his own abdomen, thunder would rumble.
Ren Qing stripped the lightning from the Divine Immortal Office, infused it with other laws, and after naming them, various different Immortal Offices immediately came into being.
"If someone had never encountered an Immortal Position, they might mistake a Divine Immortal Office for one."
It was simply that the laws contained within a Divine Immortal Office were far too weak to compare with a true Immortal Position.