Ghost Back, Path of Longevity

Due to the Demon Subduing Prison's location beneath the earth, perpetually deprived of sunlight, its long-term inhabitants share a distinct characteristic.

That is, their skin is pallid, with prominent blood vessels and blue veins.

When Ning Xiu found the head jailer in the main hall, he looked remarkably haggard after not seeing him for some time.

Dark purplish-black circles around his eyes, combined with his deathly pale complexion, truly brought a saying to mind.

'Looking like a ghost.'

"Uncle, how did you become like this? If you really can't withstand the Evil Qi entering your body, you should apply to the higher-ups for a transfer from the Demon Subduing Prison instead of stubbornly enduring it here," Ning Xiu said in surprise.

"Get lost, I'm a Sixth Rank in the Medical Path, and you're telling me I can't withstand Evil Qi entering my body?" the head jailer retorted immediately.

But at that moment, he noticed Ning Xiu's cultivation level, and his expression instantly became astonished and shocked.

"You, you're a Martial Dao Seventh Rank?"

Ning Xiu smiled and said, "Indeed."

"How long has it been? Not even half a month, right? Did you receive an Anointing?"

In the Martial Path, there is indeed such a thing as Anointing, but the conditions for its use are extremely harsh, and the cost-effectiveness is very low, so it is rare to see anyone using it.

The person who receives the Anointing will lose all the Internal Energy in their body, and when it is poured into another person's body, only one or two tenths of it will remain.

Therefore, it is generally only when Martial Dao seniors are about to pass away that they will indifferently pass it on to their most beloved juniors in the family.

In other cases, most martial artists would never be willing to do so.

"Uncle is joking, how could I have such good fortune? It's all due to diligent cultivation," Ning Xiu said.

"I've heard that some people with extraordinary talent, as long as they choose the right path, their cultivation progress will become rapid, far surpassing ordinary people. Could it be that you..."

The head jailer shook his head. "Forget it, let's not talk about this. What brings you to the Demon Subduing Prison this time? Do you want to execute Evil Spirits again?"

"Uncle understands me. Then please help arrange it. Now that I am a Martial Dao Seventh Rank, Uncle, please handle it as you see fit. Don't lower the standard just because I'm young."

"Last time you came, I thought you were thinking of helping the Demon Subduing Prison share the pressure. Today, it seems you definitely have some kind of fetish.

"Never mind, I happen to have a tough nut to crack on hand. Your timing is perfect. First, help me execute this tough nut, and today I'll arrange a satisfying experience for you."

Ning Xiu asked curiously, "What Evil Spirit is it that you would call it a tough nut?"

"It's not an Evil Spirit. It's Fang Tianhu, a Martial Dao Demon who fell from grace halfway through his life. He's a Martial Dao Sixth Rank, and his Hardening Skill is unparalleled.

"I've found three or four old executioners who couldn't execute him. Go and give it a try. He's in cell 380 in the Di Zone. Whether you can do it or not, come back and tell me, and then I'll arrange something else for you."

"Alright, I'll go try," Ning Xiu nodded and agreed.

The Demon Subduing Prison has four zones: Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang. The Huang Zone and Xuan Zone mostly hold Lower Three Ranks Demons or Evil Spirits.

The Di Zone is specifically used to hold dangerous targets of the Middle Three Ranks.

This was Ning Xiu's first time coming to the Di Zone, and he couldn't help but express his high praise for the environment and smell of the Di Zone.

Compared to the Xuan and Huang Zones, which were covered in blood and grime, the Di Zone was much better. Skillfully finding cell 380, Ning Xiu directly pushed the door open and walked in.

Immediately, a huge figure came into his view.

His head was as big as a wheel, and his shoulders were extremely broad.

At least two women could sit on each of his shoulders at the same time.

This person was clearly sitting cross-legged on the ground, but his height still reached an astonishing seven feet.

Ning Xiu was very sure that even if he activated the Heavenly King State, he wouldn't be as tall standing as this person was sitting.

He was like a giant, with everything about him surprisingly large.

His hair, which hadn't been washed or groomed for a long time, had fallen to his knees and was knotted into ropes and clumps.

His fingernails and toenails were as long as beast claws, which was very creepy.

Could this be a prehistoric wild man dug out of some mountain gully?

Such a thought couldn't help but emerge in Ning Xiu's mind.

And what was more concerning was that this person's body, inside and out, was pierced with hundreds of specially made black iron chains.

The places where these chains pierced were all acupoints on Fang Tianhu's body. From Ning Xiu's perspective as a martial artist, these chains could effectively suppress Fang Tianhu's ability to exert force throughout his body. It seemed that his Internal Energy had been crippled.

Coupled with the suppression of these chains on the body's strength, Fang Tianhu couldn't cause any trouble even when locked up here.

"Hmm... another new face. How laughable. The vast Demon Subduing Prison can't even find an executioner who can chop off this old man's head," the man said, grinning.

His voice was like thunder, echoing throughout the cell, deafening.

Ning Xiu walked to the table where the torture instruments were placed and began to choose the tools that were suitable for him to use.

"You were a good Martial Dao Sixth Rank martial artist. Decades of Hardening Skill cultivation wasn't easy. Why did you have such a crazy idea to fall from grace halfway through?" Ning Xiu asked, picking up a bone-cutting knife with a serrated blade.

Before coming, Ning Xiu had seen Fang Tianhu's personal information from the head jailer.

Male, 69 years old, practiced martial arts since childhood, not a member of the Demon Subduing Bureau. He established his own sect in Baisha Prefecture, the 'Iron Tiger Sect', and widely accepted disciples. The disciples then accepted more disciples, and Fang Tianhu's grand-disciples and great-grand-disciples became more and more numerous.

For twenty years, he was unparalleled in Baisha Prefecture, and he could be considered a famous Jianghu sect in the area.

It is unknown when, but Fang Tianhu's body began to grow larger and larger. In just a few years, he went from his original five-foot height to growing rapidly, to the point where his original house could no longer accommodate him.

His wives and concubines were terrified by the sight.

His children were equally perplexed.

The disciples of the Iron Tiger Sect hired carpenters to expand Fang Tianhu's house, building it as luxurious and tall as a palace.

This matter was quite famous within the Iron Tiger Sect back then.

As his size began to increase, Fang Tianhu's behavior also became strange. He started going to the uninhabited areas of the sect's back mountain to practice his skills.

Moreover, no one was allowed to approach that place during this time, with violators being killed without mercy.

Although the disciples of the Iron Tiger Sect were puzzled, they didn't think much of it due to Fang Tianhu's prestige.

This situation continued for a long time until one day, several of Fang Tianhu's enemies in the martial world secretly sneaked into the back mountain of the Iron Tiger Sect, intending to surround and kill Fang Tianhu. It was then that they stumbled upon Fang Tianhu's secret.

Fang Tianhu, who was practicing alone in the back mountain, was unclothed. On his back, there was a hideous and ferocious ugly ghost mask.

This ghost mask could actually speak human language and communicate with Fang Tianhu. It was clear that it was teaching Fang Tianhu some kind of cultivation technique, and Fang Tianhu chose to cooperate and accept it.

On the ground, there were also a large number of stone heads of common people, including women and children, each with traces of abuse on their bodies. It was obvious that Fang Tianhu had done this, using these innocent people to help himself cultivate.

Cultivating the techniques taught by an Evil Spirit was a definite sign of falling into depravity in Great Shang.

Therefore, those few enemies abandoned their assassination attempt and went directly to the government to report the news, allowing the Demon Subduing Bureau to capture Fang Tianhu on the spot.

No matter how strong Fang Tianhu's Martial Dao Sixth Rank was, or how tough his Hardening Skill was, he was no match for the Bronze Leopard Demon Subduing Captain leading the team. He was directly captured and escorted back to the Demon Subduing Prison.

Hearing Ning Xiu's words, Fang Tianhu snorted coldly, "The temptation of the Path of Longevity, how could someone like you at Martial Dao Seventh Rank understand? This old man only regrets coming into contact with it too late, only learning of the existence of this path when I was old and nearing death. These decades on the Martial Path have been a waste of time."

"Path of Longevity?" Ning Xiu asked in confusion, "Is there such a thing among the Three Thousand Great Paths?"

"People only know that walking the Three Thousand Great Paths can slay demons and eliminate evil, stop the chaotic world, and redeem the common people, but they don't know that only when they reach old age will they realize what they want most."

Fang Tianhu looked at Ning Xiu, "The Three Sages of the Demon Subduing Bureau are all First Rank or above supreme beings. The Buddha Saint, a great Arhat, died after 320 years, the Immortal Saint Heavenly Monarch passed away after 366 years, and the Martial Saint Ancestor died after 411 years. None of them reached the age of 500.

Even those god-like figures are like this, which shows that the potential of the Three Thousand Great Paths is only so much. It's not as good as my Path of Longevity."

Hearing what he said was quite interesting, Ning Xiu also learned for the first time that the Three Sages who created the Demon Subduing Bureau had lived for so many years. If he had transmigrated a hundred years earlier, he could have caught up with the Martial Saint being alive.

Ning Xiu said, "Isn't living for three or four hundred years already quite long? How long do you still want to live?"

Fang Tianhu stroked his beard, with a proud expression, "Compared to the Path of Longevity, the Three Sages are completely mayflies compared to a giant tree. The Lower Three Ranks of the Path of Longevity can obtain a small lifespan of five hundred years, the Middle Three Ranks extend life for a thousand years, and the Upper Three Ranks have ten thousand years of longevity."

Ning Xiu flicked his knife, "The limit is only ten thousand years? Then in the end, you still have to die."

Fang Tianhu immediately explained sternly, "You have to understand, I'm cultivating the Path of Longevity, not the Path of Eternal Life.

And who can say for sure what the world will be like after ten thousand years? Perhaps new secret methods of prolonging life will appear, and I can continue to survive by relying on the wealth and power accumulated over ten thousand years."

Ning Xiu shook his head, "Presumably, these are all things that the Evil Spirit that bewitched you into falling into depravity told you, right?

It's really senile confusion. Now, even the toothless babies in Great Shang know that prolonging life, wealth, and strength are the three major entry points for Evil Spirits to bewitch people.

Returning to one's roots, spring going and winter coming, birth, old age, sickness, and death, everything is a natural law. If you greedily try to change your fate against the heavens, you will inevitably end up in a state that is neither human nor ghost."

"How can a sparrow know the height of the sky? You have been indoctrinated and educated by the Demon Subduing Bureau's set of ideas, so you cannot understand the mysteries of the Path of Longevity. It's really a pity. If you had some wisdom and knew how to distinguish between black and white, I would have planned to teach you the set of Longevity techniques I have learned, so that you could understand the true great path of this world."

As Fang Tianhu spoke, his entire face became extremely agitated and distorted. Ning Xiu quietly used the Spiritual Eye Qi Observation Technique to check.

He saw Evil Qi lingering around the other party's body, attacking his heart. Three black lines extended from his left chest all the way to the top of his head, indicating a deathly appearance.

In this state, not to mention cultivating to the Lower Three Ranks to obtain a small lifespan of five hundred years, it was uncertain whether he could even live to next year.

Fang Tianhu was 69 years old, and with his seventieth birthday just around the corner, he didn't know how many years he had left to live. He felt regret and longing for lifespan and life.

Therefore, under the bewitchment of the Evil Spirit, he chose to fall into depravity and concentrate on cultivating his so-called Path of Longevity. It must be said that this was also a helpless move.

Pouring Internal Energy into his palm, Ning Xiu's executioner's blade quickly became extremely red, and even slowly emitted white smoke. This was a manifestation of the blade's temperature constantly rising.

Previously, the prison warden had sent several executioners to execute Fang Tianhu, but they all failed because the other party had cultivated Hardening Skill for decades.

Ning Xiu planned to take a different approach and start from other methods.

"Choosing to cultivate Evil Spirit techniques is just your own business. This crime is not punishable by death, and you can be assigned to work in the mines for thirty years to repent.

But while you were cultivating, you also murdered seventy-two people, harming your own kind, harming others and yourself; you are simply worse than a beast.

Ning Xiu glanced at Fang Tianhu, and then slashed his ankle with a knife.

Hiss!!!

The scorching blade came into contact with the human flesh and skin, and a reaction occurred instantly.

But after a few breaths, there was only a charred cut on Fang Tianhu's leg, and no blood flowed out.

This made Fang Tianhu's face immediately show a disdainful smile, "Those old executioners couldn't kill me, so what can you do? My decades of Hardening Skill were not cultivated in vain. Unless you bring Demon Subduing Captains above the Sixth Rank, don't even think about killing me."

Ning Xiu frowned, this shouldn't be. With the Internal Energy of the Great Sun Profound Scripture, even copper and iron could be cut off.

Even if you are at Martial Dao Sixth Rank with profound Hardening Skill, this knife shouldn't have only this little effect. Even if you bring a Buddhist Sixth Rank monk with a minor Golden Body.

Ning Xiu didn't believe that the other party could ignore his knife so much. Obviously, there must be some reason why Fang Tianhu was acting so invulnerable.

As long as he could break this reason, he could complete the execution of this person.

At this moment, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Ning Xiu's mind.

He remembered a point recorded in the file of Fang Tianhu's information.

Those few enemies who went to the authorities to report the crime clearly stated that they saw a Ghost Back behind Fang Tianhu.

And this ghost face could speak human language and converse with Fang Tianhu. Perhaps this was the reason why Fang Tianhu was invulnerable to blades and spears, and not just relying on the Hardening Skill he had cultivated for decades.

Thinking of this, Ning Xiu immediately detoured and walked behind Fang Tianhu, intending to find out what was going on.

"What are you doing?" Unexpectedly, Fang Tianhu immediately showed some vigilance when he saw Ning Xiu's actions.

"What's the panic? I heard you have a Ghost Back; let me see it." Ning Xiu walked behind Fang Tianhu, who immediately tried to dodge.

But the area where this person could move had long been fixed, and he couldn't do it at all at this time.

This allowed Ning Xiu to easily see what Fang Tianhu's back looked like.

It was indeed an extremely hideous and fierce ghost face, and the overall appearance even looked seven parts like a Prajna.

Around this ghost face were covered with various Immortal Path Suppressing Talismans.

Those with a Ghost Back are not common in the Demon Subduing Prison.

However, people whose bodies are integrated with Evil Spirits generally possess some unknown special abilities.

Ning Xiu immediately used the Internal Energy of the Great Sun Profound Scripture to heat the Execution Blade again, and then threw it forcefully at Fang Tianhu's Ghost Back.

Sizzle!

Unexpectedly, this time the Execution Blade easily pierced into Fang Tianhu's body, although only a few inches deep, but this directly verified Ning Xiu's previous guess.

The reason why Fang Tianhu's body was so invulnerable to blades and spears was because of this Ghost Back.

"Ah!"

Just as Ning Xiu was watching, the ghost face slowly opened its eyes and began to speak.

"Do not harm this seat. This seat can impart to you the Path of Longevity. Dynasties rise and fall, seas dry up and rocks crumble, and this seat can allow you to become a witness to their demise."

Ning Xiu was surprised: "It can still speak even when covered with the Demon Subduing Bureau's Talismans. This Evil Spirit's background is probably not small at all."

Hearing the other party call itself "this seat," Ning Xiu immediately thought of something.

In the areas outside the state controlled by the Great Shang Dynasty, those great demons and evil cultivators who lived in seclusion in certain mountains and caves liked to refer to themselves as "this seat" or "this venerable."

This ghost face on Fang Tianhu's back, and the Path of Longevity in its mouth, are probably not simple.