Ren Qing Was... a Rare Delicacy

Dou Sangu shrank back, noticing a green fish beside the corpse.

The green fish exhaled mist. Every movement it made carried the bearing of a dragon, its form appearing and vanishing within the haze as it guarded four lush ginseng plants in the medicinal field.

As expected, they were the great medicines he had been yearning for.

Fish Immortal stared with dead fish eyes and forced out an awkward smile.

Dou Sangu hurriedly withdrew his gaze. Would this immortal opportunity condemn him to eternal damnation?

He knew that the endless rain within the city was caused by the imminent arrival of the Prefect. He had no idea what the immortal in the courtyard was plotting.

After all, even Three Incense Lady was only on par with the Prefect in cultivation.

"If he is merely an ordinary Yin Immortal, becoming a target for all would almost certainly mean death. Besides, the immortal in the courtyard's disciples have yet to take form or gain intelligence. As an outsider, there is an eighty-percent chance I'll end up as one of the rats."

Dou Sangu's thoughts were in a tangled mess. In that brief moment, the pit had already been filled more than halfway.

He understood that he had relied too heavily on his innate divine ability. Now that his cultivation was gone, he did not even know how to make decisions.

Suddenly.

All the Black Rat Dao Children stopped working and headed toward the corpse.

Only then did Dou Sangu follow the rats. His staggering footsteps dragged a shallow trail through the earth, but the moment he reached the corpse, he found the surroundings deathly silent.

Crack.

A crisp sound rang out.

The thick bamboo stalk split open, and then the fissures spread rapidly like a spiderweb.

Life returned to Ren Qing's corpse. His five viscera and six bowels began to pulse faintly, and the Imperial Court Scroll unfurled.

Dou Sangu's face was full of disbelief. In the blink of an eye, the backyard transformed into a shimmering expanse of water. Mist billowed upward, intertwining with the clouds like an immortal realm.

Beneath the glow of rosy clouds, even the mist was dyed gold and crimson.

Heaven and earth seemed to turn upside down at that moment. Solemn chants echoed by his ears, ethereal and distant, as though countless immortals were chanting amid the clouds.

The branches and leaves of the green bamboo swayed gently with the ripples, carrying an air of transcendence beyond the mortal world.

Dou Sangu felt his mind go blank. Every worry from before vanished like smoke. His bloated body moved even faster than the Black Rat Dao Children's as he dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead tightly against the dirt.

Phantom pavilions and towers emerged, with upturned eaves and carved beams painted in brilliant colors.

An immortal slowly stepped forth, carrying an indescribable pressure.

Dou Sangu had already cast all hesitation behind him. Forget digging holes—he would be willing to do the bitterest, most exhausting work from now on. What Prefect? What Three Incense Lady? Neither was worthy even to carry shoes for the immortal in the courtyard.

"Mm, I was originally planning to stay a few more days. Didn't expect there to be so many matters to deal with."

Ren Qing's Primordial Spirit returned to his Mudball Palace. After completing Staff Dissolution, both his body and soul had undergone transformation, and he could increasingly sense that his immortal body was only one step away.

Dou Sangu did not dare raise his head. Black Lady's cause of death was still vivid in his mind.

The immortal elder... could not be looked upon directly!!

The blessings and disasters he had agonized over earlier now seemed utterly laughable.

Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. He sensed a demon approaching the coffin shop and immediately used his divine sense to communicate with the Imperial Court Scroll. The illusion silently began affecting the surrounding area.

Anyone looking at the coffin shop from outside would find that everything had already returned to normal.

Any demon trying to locate the coffin shop would lose its bearings before long.

"After six rounds of rebirth through corpse liberation, using immortal arts has become much more effortless than before."

Through the Imperial Court Scroll, Ren Qing could distort others' impressions of the coffin shop. The illusion was already somewhat akin to the formations recorded in his previous life.

"But it seems a little too conspicuous. Should I change locations and continue cultivating?"

As Ren Qing pondered, he noticed the field mouse by his feet and gave it a light kick.

"Speak. Which faction did you come from this time?"

He could not help recalling that field mouse meat was said to be firm and chewy in his previous life, and his gaze gained a trace more scrutiny.

Sensing the malice, Dou Sangu hurriedly knelt on the ground. "This disciple, Dou Sangu, is but a wild demon who accidentally wandered into this immortal abode and thus had the fortune to meet you, Immortal Elder. I only beg that you accept me into your ranks. This disciple is willing to serve you like a dog or horse!!"

Ren Qing was tempted. He seemed to be lacking a contractor with decent intelligence.

Well, then again, this demon clearly had the heart to seek the Dao. And field mouse meat was firm and chewy—keeping him around for unexpected needs would work too.

He waved his hand, signaling the Black Rat Dao Children to send Ren Shanshi and the other back to the side room. At the same time, Fish Immortal used its tail to hand over the cloth bag found on Yan Jing's corpse.

Ren Qing sent his divine sense into the cloth bag. Inside was a storage space about half a meter wide.

"Immortal Elder, you may not know this, but demon cultivators taking human form is much like human cultivators becoming immortals. And it seems that your two disciples are also qualified to participate in the provincial examination."

Quick to read the situation, Dou Sangu promptly spat out his own storage pouch and offered it to Ren Qing with both hands.

Ren Qing took out a notebook Yan Jing had collected. It recorded the details of the provincial examination, as well as methods for refining Transformation Pills. Every line was covered in extensive annotations.

"Mm."

After Staff Dissolution, he had already foreseen one thing.

The road to immortality was not easy. Medicine Dissolution could still take shortcuts by irrigating it with bloodwater, but achieving Yin Immortality was likely unprecedented even within the Immortal Ascension Sect.

"If a Demon Cultivator takes human form, it is equivalent to attaining immortality through a heterodox path. If Frog Immortal Lord can advance first with the help of the Provincial Examination, this poor daoist should be able to receive nourishment in return from his disciple."

Ren Qing did not think Frog Immortal Lord could take human form. After being enlightened, the Demon Cultivator's path no longer held any value as a reference.

But the nourishment in return should be feasible.

Ren Qing immediately dismissed the thought of fleeing. "Let us observe a while longer. This poor daoist is like an idle cloud in body and a wild crane in heart; whether I stay or go is up to me, and none can restrain me."

Besides, this poor daoist had merely been exposed. He had no conflict of interest with the Demon Cultivators, so he would not become the target of everyone's arrows. Medicine Dissolution would remain the focus from here on.

Mm.

Dig the underground tunnel farther inward, so this poor daoist can come and go as he pleases.

Water Mouth City was far from peaceful in the dead of night.

Ling Jian stood on the deck of a painted pleasure boat with his hands behind his back. The outline of his crane head and human body became ever clearer in the darkness.

As the crimson mark between his brows continued to spread, eight bloody eyes slowly opened along both sides of his long neck. Their pupils stood vertical, their gazes profound.

"Yan Jing did not die unjustly."

He did not find Yan Jing's death regrettable. "If he truly is Three Incense Lady's direct disciple, then it is not merely a superior Transformation Pill—the spiritual root he nurtures may even bring forth another creation."

"It is simply troublesome. Every last one of them is thinking of obtaining a superior Transformation Pill."

Ling Jian glanced at the roof of a nearby teahouse, where a figure was greedily panting.

Yin Si had a tiger's head and a human body. From his gaping, blood-filled maw, fetid saliva dripped down drop by drop.

"If I could eat him, I would surely be able to nurture a spiritual root. Ling Jian, you fall far short. Giving it to you would be a waste."

"Heh heh, Uncle will be arriving soon. I can already smell that tiger stench."

Listening to Yin Si's unrestrained words, Ling Jian felt a trace of dissatisfaction toward Yan Jing. If he had told only this young master, how would he have drawn the covetous eyes of so many demons?

Splash.

Ripples spread across the river where the painted pleasure boat rested. A head resembling both carp and flood dragon emerged from the water, with crude short horns growing atop it.

Canglan snorted out watery vapor. "Young Master Ling, why would Three Incense Lady cast her direct disciple out? And the Prefect has delayed the Provincial Examination again. Could there be a problem?"

Before Ling Jian could reply, a seductive female voice spoke. "Brothers, whoever obtains that opportunity must let your little sister here have a taste of a true immortal's disciple too. Tsk, tsk, tsk—he must be exquisitely delicious!"

A window on the second floor of the brothel was pushed open. The owner of the voice leaned against it, her skin whiter than snow, her body beneath gauze faintly visible in the candlelight.

Two fluffy fox tails swayed lightly behind her, their tips hooked around corpses that had long since lost their breath.

"Before refining the Transformation Pill, if I can dual cultivate with him once, why should this elder sister worry about her cultivation being difficult to advance?"

Hu Nizhou licked the corner of her lips, her eyes brimming with besotted, passionate desire.

"Heh."

Ling Jian understood that now was not the time to fight over the superior Transformation Pill. He turned and disappeared into the cabin of the painted boat, while the other Demon Cultivators also gradually vanished into the night.

Though the heterodox cultivators hidden in the dark did not know what had happened, they could vaguely sense the unrest among the demons.

It was as though a rare delicacy had been placed before a table of ravenous gluttons.