Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art

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

"The Scripture of the Supreme's Responses mentioned it before: 'Those who seek to become Earthly Immortals must perform three hundred good deeds.' If this Daoist can recreate an Earthly Immortal lineage, doesn't that prove I'm a great good man?"

He quickly calmed down. An ordinary middle dantian resembled a walnut; he had no idea whether his Human Skin Scroll could cultivate qi. Otherwise, everything would be empty talk.

He tried the Vapor-Feeding Art again, his divine consciousness extending outward with every breath.

Yet he still could not perceive any spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Ren Qing was not disappointed in the slightest. As he performed the Vapor-Feeding Art, the Human Skin Scroll began to emit a faint glow.

He could not wait to leave the cave dwelling.

The night was already deep, the cold biting to the bone, the wind carrying the fierce chill of late winter.

Ren Qing closed his eyes to rest his mind, facing east as he continued maintaining the Vapor-Feeding Art.

Who knew how much time passed before a fish-belly white gradually spread across the horizon.

The instant Ren Qing opened his eyes, crimson morning clouds pierced the night like an overturned rouge box, dyeing half the sky in incomparably brilliant hues.

As the rosy clouds grew brighter, they became bolts of gold-and-red silk, echoing his divine consciousness.

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

An indescribable sight unfolded. A faint strand of the rosy clouds at the horizon separated out, winding and flowing as it was swept into his body by divine consciousness and rushed toward his middle dantian.

"Even has a hint of lime flavor."

Ren Qing worked his teeth as though savoring the rosy light melting across his tongue.

The Human Skin Scroll suddenly unfurled. Its blank surface became dotted with the rosy glow, sketching out a touch of color.

No spiritual qi of heaven and earth?

Burp—

Ren Qing inexplicably felt full. Sure enough, that lone surviving fragment from his previous life had not deceived this Daoist. Earthly Immortals lived by fasting and feeding on rosy clouds. I didn't cultivate the wrong thing, didn't cultivate the wrong thing!!

He continued focusing as he guided the rosy light into his body, feeling the color on the Human Skin Scroll grow ever clearer.

Yet his joy did not last long.

As the sun completely leaped above the horizon, the rosy clouds transformed into a blazing sun in an instant.

"Urgh."

Ren Qing let out a muffled groan. A searing pain suddenly spread through his organs, while the Human Skin Scroll looked as though it had been scorched by flames, one corner of its edge burned clean away.

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

"Not good!"

Ren Qing hurriedly stopped feeding on qi and wrapped the Human Skin Scroll in divine consciousness, carefully nurturing it. Only then did the burned corners slowly recover.

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

Ren Qing frowned slightly. He realized that the Human Skin Scroll was currently far too fragile. He still needed to temper his immortal foundation step by step, or else the Great Dao would ultimately remain beyond his reach.

"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 previously done by using divine consciousness to scour the Human Skin Scroll was sizing the cloth, while the talismans it had produced were the outlining.

The Human Skin Scroll needed to absorb the breath of heaven and earth to fill its blankness, which corresponded to coloring.

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

Once Zhou Can digested another dozen or so people and completed the coloring, he could take the final step—mount the scroll and become immortal.

"Coloring can barely serve as a reference, but this Daoist will have to figure out mounting the scroll and becoming immortal on my own. No matter. With this Daoist's talent, it is merely a matter of sooner or later."

"First, let's see whether rosy light can be used for offense."

Ren Qing used his divine consciousness to connect with the Human Skin Scroll and effortlessly took control of that sole wisp of rosy light.

He opened his mouth and spat.

The rosy light was minuscule, yet exceptionally dazzling, instantly splashing outward.

The cold wind stagnated, and rosy light enveloped the entire rear courtyard.

The uncleared snow, the ice chips wedged in the cracks of the stone steps, and the icicles hanging from the eaves all vanished without a trace upon contact with the rosy light, leaving behind only barren, damp earth.

"Such a mere wisp of rosy light has this much power. If it were sunlight instead, the ground would turn directly into magma."

Ren Qing fell into thought. Its only flaw was that once the rosy light was exhausted, he needed to nurture the Human Skin Scroll with divine consciousness to replenish it. He still lacked a lineage that could strengthen divine consciousness.

"This Daoist truly is a righteous immortal of the Daoist path. Even the most wicked method of becoming immortal becomes so strangely elegant in my hands."

It was just that he was, after all, in the heartland occupied by the Immortal Ascension Sect. His path was now growing ever more incompatible with those unorthodox ways, leaving him inexplicably a little uneasy.

"Everyone has the right to condemn and destroy unorthodox paths. How could this Daoist allow that to shake my Dao heart?"

After some thought, Ren Qing decided that the Human Skin Scroll did not suit the identity of a righteous Daoist immortal, while calling it a middle dantian was somewhat undeserved. It would be better to call it the Imperial Court Scroll.

He thought some more. "Then the Painting Immortality Method shall be called... the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art."

Only after the thought crossed his mind did he realize how difficult it was to cultivate the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art.

If he relied solely on the rosy light at sunrise each day, who knew how many years it would take to finish coloring it.

Just as his head began to ache over it.

Ren Qing's gaze swept over the well in the courtyard, and he returned to the cave abode once more.

Water splashed everywhere as the Trash Fish Dao Child burst joyfully from the surface. In just a few days, it had grown to two or three catties, though its appearance remained as haphazard as ever.

Its one large and one small eye rolled wildly, its features all crooked and misshapen. It looked utterly bizarre.

The Toad Dao Child remained dormant, its body now a full circle larger than a millstone.

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

He opened his mouth and swallowed.

"The water vapor has a candied sweetness to it."

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

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

Ren Qing hurriedly dispersed the water vapor, noticing that in those brief moments, the Imperial Court Scroll had already begun to feel faintly damp.

"It's not that the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art has limitations. The main issue is that the Imperial Court Scroll was refined after the fact; at present, it cannot contain multiple kinds of heaven-and-earth qi."

"Thinking about it carefully, the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art definitely has tremendous potential."

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

Ren Qing instinctively looked toward the dry latrine in the back courtyard. Fear unexpectedly rose in his Dao heart. It was difficult to imagine what foul vapor would taste like in his mouth. Could it be...

Better leave that for later.

This poor Daoist's Dao heart probably still could not withstand swallowing foul vapor.

"Once this poor Daoist has tasted the myriad qi of the world, the Vapor-Feeding Immortal Art will likewise be capable of endless transformations. It may not be impossible to recreate the great divine abilities recorded in the texts of my past life."

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

According to the information conveyed by the Black Rat Dao Children scattered about, Water Mouth City had been peaceful lately.

He looked at the sun gradually rising at the horizon, calculating what time tomorrow would be most suitable for absorbing the dawn glow. At the same time, he needed to put the subsequent rebirth through corpse liberation on the agenda.

The garment liberation already had its inner lining prepared, while the coffin liberation required a coffin.

Neither condition was particularly troublesome; they simply required some arrangements.

As Ren Qing sorted through his own Dao path, his heart felt entirely unburdened.

While he was lost in thought, Ren Shanshi hurried into the coffin shop with a grim face, his brows twisted into knots. He picked through coffins on his own, sighing again and again.

"Dad, why the long face? Did something happen?"

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

Ren Shanshi rubbed his hands, stiff with cold, his voice carrying a trace of melancholy.

"Dead?"

"Drowned."

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

"Qing, come with me to deliver Head Constable Chen's coffin to the Chen residence. It'll count as honoring our final bond."

"Mm."