Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art

Ren Qing looked at the talisman faintly circulating within his middle dantian and knew his guess had been correct.

"The Supreme Induction Scripture mentioned it before: 'Those who seek to become Earth Immortals must establish three hundred good deeds.' If this poor Daoist can recreate an Earth Immortal lineage, doesn't that make me a great philanthropist?"

He quickly calmed down again. An ordinary middle dantian resembled a walnut; he had no idea whether his Human Skin Scroll could refine qi. Otherwise, it was all empty talk.

He tried the Qi Consumption Method once more, his divine sense extending outward with every breath.

Yet he still found no spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Ren Qing was not disappointed in the slightest. As he used the Qi Consumption Method, the Human Skin Scroll began to glow faintly.

He could not wait to leave the cave abode.

The night had grown deep. The cold cut to the bone, and the wind carried the biting chill of late winter.

Ren Qing closed his eyes to compose himself, facing east as he continued maintaining the Qi Consumption Method.

Who knew how much time passed before the horizon gradually took on a pale, fish-belly white.

The instant Ren Qing opened his eyes, crimson dawn clouds tore through the night like a spilled rouge box, dyeing half the sky in dazzling splendor.

As the rosy light grew brighter, it became a ribbon of interwoven gold and red that echoed with his divine sense.

Ren Qing raised his gaze, opened his mouth, and swallowed.

An indescribable sight unfolded. A faint strand of the dawn glow at the horizon peeled away, winding and flowing as it was swept into his body by divine sense and rushed toward his middle dantian.

"Got a hint of lime to it."

Ren Qing worked his teeth as though savoring the dawn glow melting across his tongue.

The Human Skin Scroll abruptly unfurled. Its blank surface was adorned by the rosy glow, sketched over with a trace of color.

No spiritual qi of heaven and earth?

Burp.

Ren Qing inexplicably felt full. Sure enough, the lone surviving volume from his previous life had not deceived this poor Daoist. Earth Immortals fasted from grain and dined on dawn clouds. I hadn't cultivated the wrong thing, hadn't cultivated the wrong thing!

He continued concentrating as he guided the rosy glow into his body, feeling the dawn hues on the Human Skin Scroll grow increasingly distinct.

But his joy did not last long.

As the sun completely leaped over the horizon, the dawn glow turned into a scorching blazing sun in an instant.

"Ugh."

Ren Qing groaned. A burning pain suddenly surged through his five viscera and six bowels, while the Human Skin Scroll seemed to have been scorched by a raging fire, a corner of its edge forcibly burned away.

Even its outline began to blur, and it had nearly been destroyed beneath the sunlight.

"This is bad!"

Ren Qing hurriedly stopped the Qi Consumption Method and used his divine sense to envelop the Human Skin Scroll, nurturing it with utmost care. Only then did its burned edges slowly recover.

The process was somewhat slow, however, consuming more than thirty percent of his divine sense.

Ren Qing frowned slightly. He realized that the Human Skin Scroll was currently too fragile. He still needed to temper his immortal foundation step by step, or he would ultimately have no affinity with the Great Dao.

"According to the cultivation stages of the Painting Immortality Method, becoming immortal is divided into sizing the cloth, outlining, coloring, and mounting the scroll."

What Ren Qing had done before—washing the Human Skin Scroll with divine sense—was sizing the cloth, while producing talismans was outlining.

The Human Skin Scroll needed to absorb the breaths of heaven and earth to fill its blank spaces, corresponding to coloring.

"Still, Zhou Can's Painting Immortality Method is clearly already utterly different from this poor Daoist's. Those unorthodox side paths use the heart's blood of living people to water themselves and add color."

After Zhou Can digested another dozen or so people, he would complete the coloring and take the final step—mounting the scroll to become immortal.

"Coloring can barely serve as a reference, but I'll have to explore mounting the scroll and becoming immortal myself. No matter. With this poor Daoist's talent, it's only a matter of time."

"First, let's see whether dawn glow can be used for attack."

Ren Qing connected his divine sense to the Human Skin Scroll and effortlessly seized control of that lone trace of dawn glow.

He opened his mouth and spat.

The dawn glow was minuscule, yet incomparably dazzling, splashing outward in an instant.

The cold wind froze, and rosy light covered the entire backyard.

The uncleared snow, the ice chips lodged between the stone steps, and the icicles hanging from the eaves all vanished without a trace the moment the dawn glow touched them, leaving behind only barren, damp earth.

"Such meager dawn glow already has this much power. If it were sunlight instead, the ground would turn straight into lava."

Ren Qing fell into thought. Its only flaw was that once the dawn glow was used up, he needed to nourish the Human Skin Scroll with divine sense to replenish it. He still lacked a lineage that could strengthen divine sense.

"This poor Daoist truly is an orthodox immortal of the Daoist school. Even the most bizarre immortal methods turn uniquely elegant in my hands."

It was simply that he was deep within territory controlled by the Immortal Ascension Sect. Now that his path was growing ever more out of place with the unorthodox side paths, he could not help feeling somewhat guilty.

"Unorthodox side paths are condemned by all. How could this poor Daoist let them shake my Dao heart?"

After some consideration, Ren Qing decided that the Human Skin Scroll did not suit the identity of an orthodox Daoist immortal, and middle dantian was somewhat undeserving of its name. He might as well call it the Imperial Court Scroll.

After thinking further, he said, "Then the Painting Immortality Method shall be called... the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art."

The thought had barely settled when he discovered the difficulty of cultivating the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art.

If he relied only on the dawn glow at sunrise every day, it would take until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse to complete the coloring.

Just as he was racking his brains over it,

Ren Qing's peripheral vision fell upon the well in the courtyard, and he returned to the cave abode.

Water splashed everywhere as Trash Fish Dao Child emerged from the surface with jubilant cheers. In just a few days, he had grown to two or three jin in weight, though his appearance remained as slapdash as ever.

His large and small eyes rolled wildly, his features crooked and lopsided, making him look utterly grotesque.

Toad Dao Child remained in hibernation, his body already a full circle larger than a millstone.

Ren Qing kicked Trash Fish Dao Child aside and watched the rising vapor.

He opened his mouth and swallowed.

"Water vapor tastes a little sweet, like candied fruit."

Ren Qing felt the water vapor enter his body. He had assumed it would smoothly add color to the Imperial Court Scroll.

Instead, it caused the Imperial Court Scroll to become exceptionally insubstantial.

Ren Qing hurriedly dispersed the water vapor, noticing that in only a few moments, the Imperial Court Scroll had faintly become damp.

"It isn't that the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art has limitations. It's mainly because the Imperial Court Scroll was refined after the fact, so it currently cannot contain multiple kinds of heavenly and earthly breath."

"Come to think of it, the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art absolutely has tremendous potential."

"Water vapor, smoke vapor, miasma, cold air, cloud vapor, even foul air."

Ren Qing instinctively looked toward the dry latrine in the backyard. Fear actually arose in his Dao heart. It was difficult to imagine what foul air would taste like in his mouth. Could it be...

Better not mention it.

This poor Daoist's Dao heart probably could not yet withstand swallowing foul air.

"Once this poor Daoist has consumed the myriad breaths of the world, the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art will likewise transform in countless ways. Recreating the great divine abilities recorded in the texts of my previous life may not be impossible."

Ren Qing planned to focus on consuming dawn glow first, hoping to advance another step before unforeseen changes arose at the Immortal Ascension Assembly.

According to the news relayed by Black Rat Dao Children everywhere, Water Mouth City had been peaceful lately.

He looked toward the sun gradually rising at the horizon, calculating what time tomorrow would be best for absorbing dawn glow. At the same time, he needed to put the subsequent Mortal Shedding and Corpse Liberation on the agenda.

Garment Dissolution already had its inner lining prepared, while Coffin Dissolution required a coffin.

Neither condition was troublesome; he merely needed to make some arrangements.

As Ren Qing sorted through his own Dao Path, he felt his heart become clear and unimpeded.

While he was deep in thought, Ren Shanshi entered the coffin shop in a hurry with a grim face. His brows were knotted into a lump as he selected coffins on his own, sighing repeatedly.

"Father, why do you look so worried? Did something happen?"

"Head Constable Chen Qi is dead. You weren't here earlier, so I already made a trip to the Chen household."

Ren Shanshi rubbed his hands, stiff with cold, his tone carrying a trace of sorrow.

"Dead?"

"He drowned."

Ren Qing sensed that something was wrong. In only a few days, three constables had died at the yamen. Even if all of them had died in accidents, there had to be something strange behind it. Could it be the Immortal Ascension Sect?

"A-Qing, come with me to deliver Head Constable Chen's coffin to the Chen household. We can at least fulfill our final duty to him."

"Mm."