Shedding the Mortal Shell, Corpse Liberation

Ren Qing did not maintain the Yellow Mud Eye for long. After withdrawing it, he pressed down the brim of his bamboo hat.

By now, quite a few passersby had come forward to ask about the price of the mountain ginseng, including two martial men from an escort agency. He could faintly hear them arguing with each other.

Ren Qing did not step forward. Though the path to immortality was unorthodox, it required almost no resources.

He had no need for spiritual materials at present. He was merely curious whether flowers, birds, fish, insects, and other creatures, once fully transformed into sentient beings, could be enlightened and taken in as Daoist attendants.

After considering it briefly, Ren Qing turned and walked toward the fishermen by the docks.

The fishermen were boasting with spittle flying everywhere. Seeing Ren Qing approach, one of the bearded men hurriedly said, "Sorry, sir, the black carp has already been reserved. You can take a look at the other fresh fish."

Ren Qing pointed instead at the black carp's belly. "Are the roe for sale?"

The fishermen froze. The restaurant that had reserved the black carp truly had not asked for the roe. They had planned to keep it themselves and pickle it, never expecting someone to specifically buy it.

The bearded man's refusal reached his lips, yet for some reason, he began discussing the price instead.

"Sir wants fish roe? That stuff may not be worth much, but it did come from an old black carp..."

Ren Qing took out twenty or thirty copper coins from his robes and stuffed them directly into the fisherman's hand.

"No need to weigh it. Pack up all the roe."

The fishermen readily agreed. Compared to the black carp's size, the roe was plain and unremarkable. Since it had yet to fully develop, much of it was even rather pale in color.

Ren Qing took the cloth bag, weighed it in his hand, then headed for another part of the market.

"Wonder if they can hatch? Forget it, it's only an experiment anyway."

For this trip, the fish roe was merely an interlude.

Carrying the cloth bag, Ren Qing purposefully turned toward the other end of the market. The meat stalls before him were comparatively deserted.

When the butcher saw someone approach, he wiped the grease from his hands on his apron. "What'll it be, sir? Pork belly or ribs? Freshly slaughtered pig, fresh as can be."

Ren Qing glanced over the boning knife beside the chopping block and nodded in satisfaction.

The blade was narrow and thin, polished until it gleamed, its handle wrapped in strips of darkened cloth.

"How much for that knife you use to strip meat?"

The butcher raised his eyes in astonishment. The boning knife had been with him for nearly thirty years. Though it was no treasure, it fit his hand perfectly. Naturally, he could not possibly sell it.

He had just been about to refuse when he caught sight of Ren Qing handing him a piece of broken silver.

The butcher's words lodged in his throat. He instinctively accepted the silver, but by the time he came to his senses, the space before him was empty. Ren Qing had vanished, taking the boning knife with him.

"Damn ghosts."

He shuddered as the cold wind blowing at him seemed to burrow into his bones.

Ren Qing had long since passed through the market. He made his way expertly through streets and alleys, casually tucking the boning knife at his waist without minding the fishy stench on it.

"As expected of the immortal realm. Even ordinary mortal iron can contain Sha Qi."

Through the Yellow Mud Eye, Ren Qing saw faint black qi coiling around the boning knife. It was precisely the key he needed to shed his mortal shell.

Most of the Daoist inheritances Ren Qing had acquired in his previous life had been badly incomplete. Only the method of attaining immortality through corpse liberation was comparatively whole. Perhaps that was because, in the age of dwindling Dharma, corpse liberation had been one of the few remaining paths with any hope of attaining immortality and the Dao.

Over the thousand years since spiritual qi had dried up, there had been more than a dozen recorded methods of corpse liberation.

Ren Qing did not know how many people in his previous life had achieved immortality through corpse liberation, but he had committed its methods to memory and even painstakingly studied the particulars of every type.

Thinking of it now made him somewhat nostalgic.

Back then, he had secluded himself in a psychiatric hospital for five years. It could truly be called enlightenment at Dragon Field.

"The common methods include Liberation by Violence, staff liberation, garment liberation, coffin liberation, water liberation, fire liberation, and medicine liberation."

In his previous life, Ren Qing had relied on swallowing medicinal pills to achieve corpse liberation. After all, the other methods were nearly impossible to carry out in the modern age. But in the immortal realm, the conditions for corpse liberation were exceptionally easy to satisfy. The baleful artifacts required for Liberation by Violence were something every butcher in Water Mouth City had at hand.

"Corpse liberation combined with shedding the mortal shell will surely turn this poor Daoist's fleshly body into an immortal physique."

"But..."

Ren Qing's brows drew tight. He simply did not have enough money. And to be cautious, he could not deliberately use his divine sense to influence mortals. His funds were already nearly exhausted.

No, he had to let the old man earn more money. He still needed to switch professions.

Lost in thought, Ren Qing took a roundabout route to the mouth of an alley near Wish-Fulfillment Abbey.

Looking up, he could see streams of worshippers coming and going along the street, while the smoke from incense and candles curled into the sky.

The worshippers were old and young alike, their foreheads pressed to the icy ground as they murmured prayers with devout sincerity.

Wish-Fulfillment Abbey's gates, however, were tightly shut. A wooden placard hung before them, reading: "Ritual in Progress, No Visitors Accepted." Yet it could not stop the waves of prayers rising outside.

Ren Qing passed through the crowd and observed the Daoists entering and leaving the abbey gates.

The Daoists were all thin and gaunt. They truly were Song Baizhou's disciples, yet some change seemed to have occurred at Wish-Fulfillment Abbey, leaving them restless and distracted.

He also discovered that, without exception, they had all entered the Yellow Mud Immortal Ascension Method.

It was clear that within the Immortal Ascension Sect, disciples were nothing more than spare consumable materials.

"There are quite a few outsiders as well."

Ren Qing also noticed quite a few unfamiliar faces among the worshippers. Most were already middle-aged, dressed like martial artists of the jianghu, and there were even elderly people in their seventies or eighties.

They must have practiced martial arts in their youth, but now they were already shuffling along unsteadily.

Yet they still came forward, kowtowing once every ten steps.

Ren Qing had no idea through what channels they had learned of Wish-Fulfillment Abbey. Clearly, they had come for the path to immortality.

"Could the government of the immortal realm really be nothing but decoration, letting the Immortal Ascension Sect run wild?"

Ren Qing clicked his tongue inwardly. The imperial court seemed to be called something... Da?

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Suddenly.

The sound of hooves drew closer from afar. The crowd hurriedly moved aside, clearing a path.

A blackwood carriage rolled over slowly, its body steady and smooth. Silver bells hung from its four corners, while the guards, clad in tight-fitting martial attire, rested their hands on their sword hilts and expressionlessly pushed aside the believers before them.

Ren Qing frowned slightly. Even high-ranking nobles had come to Water Mouth City to seek immortality?

A slender jade hand gently lifted the carriage curtain, revealing half a face.

The young woman looked no more than sixteen or seventeen. A bright red mole marked the space between her brows, while her complexion was so pale it seemed nearly transparent. When the cold wind blew, beads of blood seeped from her skin.

Though there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people nearby, her gaze rested on Ren Qing for several breaths.

The woman released the curtain and sat back down within the dim carriage.

The carriage continued onward and soon stopped before Wish-Fulfillment Abbey, waiting alongside the others for its gates to open.

Ren Qing's expression darkened. With a cold snort, he slipped deep into an alley.

"What was that supposed to mean? Did she think this poor Daoist was exceptionally handsome and couldn't resist taking a few extra looks?"

The chill in his eyes deepened. He did not think she had seen through his true nature; he could be certain that all the wealthy nobles who had come to Wish-Fulfillment Abbey were ordinary mortals.

"She definitely has no cultivation. Her life force is dim—she probably has only a few days left to live."

"Women only hinder one's Dao heart."

Whether in this life or his previous one, Ren Qing had always kept women at a respectful distance. Still, this confirmed one thing: outsiders came to Wish-Fulfillment Abbey for an immortal opportunity.

They were all frail, aging mortals. If they failed to become immortals, death was their only road.

Perhaps this was also one of the Immortal Ascension Sect's methods of recruiting disciples.

"After this poor Daoist sheds his body and is reborn, I'll see whether the Immortal Ascension Sect has any other Daoist lineages to inherit."