Immortal Ascension Technique

The person who had shattered his vessel had been found, yet Danyangzi could not feel happy in the slightest. His expression was complicated as he looked at Zheng Kun's mangled remains, then viciously kicked them away.

"I practically raised you like half a son! And this is how you treated me?!"

The entire cave fell silent as death, leaving only Danyangzi's ragged breathing.

This continued for the time it took to burn two sticks of incense. Danyangzi slowly raised his hand and pointed straight at Li Huowang amid the crowd. "You, come here. Kowtow to the Founding Ancestor."

Li Huowang paused slightly, then finally walked over under everyone's gaze. He knelt before the three statues on the wall and paid his respects.

After completing the three rites and nine kowtows, Li Huowang, holding three sticks of incense, already understood what the man intended. "From now on, you are this Daoist master's last disciple!"

"Yes, Master." Li Huowang was so excited that his heart and liver nearly trembled. The moment had finally come. Don't worry, Leper Head. I'll definitely help you attain the Dao and "ascend to immortality"!!

"Come with me. Your master has something for you to do." Danyangzi carefully cradled the fragments of Vase Head in his palm.

Following behind Danyangzi, Li Huowang revisited an old place and returned to his quarters.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~!" The black threads wrapped around the Stone Slab flew like long serpents, burrowing into Danyangzi's sleeve. The so-called Heavenly Book was completely revealed before him. "Can you understand what it says?"

Li Huowang put on a show of examining it closely, then asked with some confusion, "Master, didn't you tell me before that one could only ascend by cultivating both the Inner Elixir and Outer Elixir? But that's not right. There's nothing here about an Inner Elixir."

"Hm? What?!" Danyangzi's expression shifted unpredictably as he looked toward Vase Head's corpse.

"Absolutely true," Li Huowang said firmly.

Heaven knew what nonsense Vase Head had made up before. If he failed to keep the lie going, he would surely be exposed. Rather than that, he might as well come clean and overturn everything to start again.

Besides, he was not making this up. It was the truth. The Immortal Ascension Technique Danyangzi had spoken of before had indeed been fabricated by Vase Head. It was completely fake.

Of course, what he made up next would not be real either.

Danyangzi pondered with an uncertain expression. At first, he had not wanted to believe Li Huowang, but the more suspicious he grew, the more doubts he found.

No wonder he had failed to ascend after all this time. No wonder that girl had said the writing in the Heavenly Book changed and could not be memorized by rote. So that was what had been going on.

"Crack—ptui!" Danyangzi spat a revolting glob of green phlegm directly onto Vase Head. He turned to Li Huowang. "Then tell me, what does this Heavenly Book say?"

"Um, it's a set of internal cultivation techniques. It says that at the moment when the old year has not yet passed and the new year has not yet arrived, one must cultivate while taking several kinds of Outer Elixirs at once. Only then can one intercept that stream of Spiritual Energy from the Immortal Realm, which the Heavenly Dao pours into the Mortal Realm, absorb it into one's body, attain the Dao, and ascend to immortality." Li Huowang stared at the Stone Slab, his brows tightly furrowed as he spoke with great seriousness.

"There are several pills to take as well. For example, there's a Pill Formula requiring two taels and four qian of cinnabar, one qian of Bai Qianzi, one tael and two qian of arsenic, and Lord You? Master, what kind of medicinal ingredient is Lord You?"

Danyangzi did not answer. He merely looked silently at Li Huowang. "My boy, Nannan could deceive me. You wouldn't deceive me too, would you?"

Li Huowang's answer was resolute. "Master, this is a method for ascending to immortality. How could I deceive you? I want to ascend too!"

"Good!" Danyangzi slapped his hands together heavily and burst into laughter. "Then this time, master and disciple will ascend together."

Li Huowang's expression froze for a moment, then became wildly ecstatic. "Is that true? Master, can we really do that? Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!!"

Danyangzi studied his expression carefully. Finding nothing amiss, he nodded in understanding.

"Mm. There's no rush for the pills. First tell me that cultivation technique. Once master and disciple have both practiced it until we know it well, we can refine the Outer Elixirs. There is still some time before the New Year."

"Yes, Master!" Li Huowang then told Danyangzi of a so-called Inner and Outer Grand Circulation technique.

That day, Li Huowang remained in Danyangzi's room for a long time and did not return until deep into the night.

Li Huowang walked through the tunnel carrying a lantern. His joyous plan was proceeding smoothly, and he would soon achieve his goal.

After being stifled for so long, something good had finally happened.

When he arrived at the Material Room, he found that, as expected, the others were still awake.

The moment they saw Li Huowang, everyone surged toward him in a swarm, excitement in their eyes. They all understood what today's events meant. Li Huowang had deliberately passed information to them earlier.

"Don't worry. Wait for my good news. You'll be able to go home very soon."

The instant Li Huowang said this, everyone was so overwhelmed that they nearly cried aloud. They could finally go home.

"Senior Brother Li, you're my reborn parent! You're a Living Bodhisattva!!" One polio sufferer with impaired hands and feet dropped excitedly to his knees, about to kowtow to Li Huowang.

He seemed to set an example, and the others followed suit.

After Li Huowang persuaded them for quite a while, he finally brought this farce to a stop. "If not for all of you at noon today, I would have been finished. Shouldn't that mean I ought to kowtow to you instead?"

Once they climbed back to their feet, every one of them was beaming, as happy as if it were New Year's.

Looking at the smiling faces before him, Li Huowang felt a trace of warmth rise in his heart. In this unfamiliar world, these strange-looking people counted as his companions.

"Senior Brother Li, I acted pretty well, didn't I? That Leper Head was like a Fool—I had him wrapped around my finger." Gouwa patted his shriveled chest and grinned foolishly as he claimed credit from Li Huowang.

"Indeed, you acted well. If you hadn't done that, Danyangzi would not have let the matter rest so easily."

While the others crowded around Li Huowang, chattering questions one after another, someone was worried about something else.

"Senior Brother Li, are you all right? He really didn't make things difficult for you?" Bai Lingmiao came over and asked anxiously.

Hearing that, Li Huowang recalled Danyangzi's words about ascending together. The matter of Danyangzi intending to use him to test the pills was something he alone needed to know. There was no need to tell her.

"He's even having me translate the contents of the Heavenly Book for him now. What could happen to me? Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine."

After chatting for a while, Li Huowang's expression turned serious. "The first day of the month is almost over. Those Lord Yous will soon return from the market. Let's keep this short. I still need your help with something. Did your grandfather tell you any other stories before?"

He had not yet fully made up the immortal ascension pill described in the Heavenly Book.

Cinnabar alone, that mercury ore, could no longer satisfy him. He needed to add other things into it—the more bizarre and wicked, the better.

He had not forgotten Danyangzi's strength. He had to make sure Danyangzi died thoroughly enough that there was no coming back.