Dao Palace Five Viscera, Six Vaults Immortal Thief

The Eight Extraordinary Skills, or rather, immortal skills.

Without the realm of an immortal yet wielding an immortal's techniques, was no different from a child carrying gold through a bustling market. A common man was innocent, but possessing a jade was a crime.

That was the source of chaos, and the curse of longevity as Lin Xian saw it.

If Quanxing obtained the Eight Extraordinary Skills, they would not be children carrying gold, but lunatics holding nuclear bombs. They acted without restraint and could only add more chaos to chaos.

"Stirring shit?" Xia He's face darkened, rage welling uncontrollably within her. She could not help mocking him. "Senior, aren't you collecting the Eight Extraordinary Skills just like us? I wonder when you will attain longevity and become an immortal?"

"I remember giving you face just now." Lin Xian remained calm and did not indulge Xia He. He grabbed her directly and threw her into the courtyard. Face-first, she smashed a huge crater into the ground.

The Shrouding Method made the physical body invincible. Even without circulating their divine power or techniques, Life Spring cultivators possessed terrifying strength. With a casual blow, Xia He, one of Quanxing's Four Madmen, was sent flying without the slightest ability to fight back.

Looking at Xia He bleeding endlessly in the crater, Lin Xian showed not a trace of emotion. His eyes were as pure as an infant's as he said indifferently, "What is longevity? Why become immortal? You ask me, but has your Quanxing ever considered these questions?"

"In the eyes of ordinary mortals who lived less than a hundred years, gifted people like you, who fly through the sky and burrow through the earth, are immortals."

"In the eyes of gifted people, cultivators like me, who fly through the air and tread upon golden bridges, are like True Immortals."

"Do you know what kind of existence qualifies as an immortal in my eyes?"

"A brief year cannot compare to a great year; a cicada does not know spring or autumn. There are heavens beyond heavens, immortals beyond immortals, and the Dao is boundless."

"The Four Madmen, Quanxing—you merely indulge your desires. You have techniques but no Dao. A group that pursues desire and chases techniques dares mention the Immortal Dao to me?"

Lin Xian flicked his finger, and countless Divine Runes shot forth like chains, suspending the battered Xia He, like a rag doll, upside down from a tree in the backyard.

Xia He coughed blood, her eyes filled with red veins. She felt as though every bone in her body had been broken. After being beaten repeatedly, even a clay figurine would have some temper, much less an uninhibited member of Quanxing.

A vicious aura arose from within her. At that moment, she no longer cared about her life and only wanted the momentary satisfaction of venting her rage. She cursed loudly, "You old monster, you bastard! What are you pretending to be so lofty for? Aren't you just as greedy for the Eight Extraordinary Skills as we are?"

"You hypocrite, what difference is there between you and us Quanxing? We're all black mud in the same swamp."

"I think you look even more like Quanxing than I do."

"Quanxing? I am not Quanxing." Lin Xian laughed casually and raised a slender, fair finger to Xia He's head like a gun. "You are still following in Wugensheng's footsteps, while what I have comprehended has already surpassed Wugensheng."

"It may be the same Immortal Ascension Road, and the early stages may perhaps be identical, but the further one walks, the more vastly different the Longevity Methods one comprehends become."

"Stones from other hills may be used to polish jade."

"The Eight Extraordinary Skills are merely stepping stones for me, not my method of becoming immortal."

"Whether I have them or not merely affects how quickly I walk."

"If you want to die, I can grant your wish right now."

"I am not some delicate Zhang Lingyu. I have plenty of methods and strength."

Hanging from the tree, Xia He froze. Her heart pounded wildly, and fear began to creep into her. Could this old monster really be close to becoming immortal?

Did he truly not want the Eight Extraordinary Skills?

Did she no longer have any value to him?

"You must be joking, Senior." Xia He wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth while hanging from the tree, revealing a broad, brilliant smile. "A wise man submits to circumstances. This junior is willing to serve you."

"That's more like it." Lin Xian nodded in satisfaction, then waved his hand and removed the restraints of the Divine Rune chains. Smiling, he said, "This old man is no demon king. Work hard, and once the matter is done, I'll let you go."

"But if you mess it up, I'll hang you on Mount Longhu for three days and three nights, then kill you, this Quanxing demoness, in front of Zhang Lingyu."

"Tell me, will Perfected Lingyu choose to swallow his anger, or betray Mount Longhu and die alongside a Quanxing demoness?"

"Don't think about running. I can find you at any time through my cooperation with the company."

"In modern society, surveillance cameras are everywhere."

Xia He suddenly stopped breathing. A chill rose from the soles of her feet, surged up her spine, and shot into the crown of her head. Her entire body trembled, and only four words echoed in her mind.

"Kill the man by attacking his heart!"

Sure enough, compared to her, one of the Four Madmen, Lin Xian was more like Quanxing.

He did not care if people cursed him. He only cared whether the job got done.

He was an utterly unrestrained heavenly demon!

"Yes, Senior." Xia He was terrified. This time, she reined in every seductive gesture and bowed respectfully, offering him a sincere salute.

Quanxing feared no death and acted as it pleased. The only thing that could command Quanxing was another Quanxing.

Watching Xia He's departing figure, Lin Xian did not care in the slightest. From beginning to end, he had never regarded Xia He as important.

Swaying back into the room, he hummed a tune. "The mortal world's rivers and lakes have their own three thousand measures of fate. Eight bushels return to Longhu; heaven, earth, mountains, rivers, and the Five Thunder Righteous Method belong to one man, who dwells alone upon a peak in the heavens..."

In this world, he had only one opponent.

What two great heroes? What Four Madmen? They were not worth mentioning. No matter how many marvelous methods or divine abilities one possessed, they could be handled with a single slap—at most, another slap. For more than a hundred long years, the Old Celestial Master alone had suppressed the entire world.

When facing the Heaven-Connecting Daoist, no amount of caution was excessive. It would be best to prepare some tricks outside the board.

Sitting cross-legged indoors, Lin Xian observed his inner lake. Qi-State Origin-Flow circulated on its own as he discussed and analyzed matters with System 10086. After a long while, they both agreed that among the Eight Extraordinary Skills, there were two best suited to the Shrouding Method system and should be acquired first.

The first was naturally Qi-State Origin-Flow. Lin Xian had integrated it into the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm, where the Qi Infant transformed into a star god, ruling over the cosmic Sea of Bitterness. It assisted cultivation, refined essence into qi, nurtured the profound and mysterious Innate Qi, and nourished his body.

The other Eight Extraordinary Skill was the Six Vaults Immortal Thief.

This technique could not only strengthen the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm, but was tailor-made for the Dao Palace Secret Realm.

The Dao Palace differed from the Sea of Bitterness. It was divided into five realms and cultivated the five viscera: the divine treasury of the heart, the divine treasury of the liver, the divine treasury of the spleen, the divine treasury of the lungs, and the divine treasury of the kidneys.

The Six Vaults Immortal Thief was the pinnacle of body refinement. The "Six Vaults" referred to the six fu organs—the large intestine, small intestine, stomach, triple burner, gallbladder, and bladder—which formed the foundation for a perfect absorption and digestion system.

System 10086's ethereal voice rang over the inner lake.

"The Six Vaults Immortal Thief, also known as Sage Thief, has three primary functions."

"First: perfectly digest food and convert its nutrients into qi."

"Second: seize the fortune of heaven and earth, absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth for one's own use."

"Third: by absorbing the vitality of heaven and earth, one can assimilate with heaven and earth and conceal oneself."

A glint flashed in Lin Xian's eyes, and he could not help praising it. "Digestion, seizure, concealment... It truly is the extraordinary skill most suited to the Shrouding Method system. Its compatibility is even higher than Qi-State Origin-Flow's."

If this extraordinary skill could be used properly and integrated into the Shrouding Method scriptures, it would certainly greatly increase the cultivation speed of the Dao Palace Secret Realm.

Primordial Essence Qi generated life, while acquired essence qi nourished it.

Primordial Essence Qi accompanied a person's birth and marked the beginning of one's personal heaven and earth. When form existed, spirit was born; when form decayed, spirit perished.

Acquired essence qi, however, needed to be refined and obtained, filling the spirit and nourishing life.

The Six Vaults Immortal Thief was precisely the best method of refining essence qi. Its great flaw after successful cultivation was a change in one's psyche: unable to find anything one wished to do, the heart would become incomparably hollow.

Lin Xian guessed that this was because life cultivation was excessive while nature cultivation was insufficient. The six spirits would lose their masters, and in the end, one would become a walking corpse, like a puppet waiting to die.

Simply put, the Six Vaults Immortal Thief could refine qi, but it could not transform it into spirit.

Cultivation in the Dao Palace Secret Realm was precisely the cultivation of five deities, corresponding to the five elements. The Sea of Bitterness divided yin and yang, while the Dao Palace manifested the five elements.

One would become the master of one's body and mind, honoring oneself as the supreme deity.

My past self recites scriptures for this life, praying for eternity; my future Dao self is unpredictable and filled with miracles; my present true self sits in command of this life, untouched by all methods.

Only when the two were united could one perfectly refine qi and transform spirit!

Qi-State Origin-Flow combined with the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm refined essence into qi; the Six Vaults Immortal Thief combined with the Dao Palace Secret Realm refined qi into spirit.

Lin Xian laid out his conjecture in full and conducted another deduction with System 10086.

Aside from its various functions, the system was also a portable supercomputer, an external optical computer deeply bound to its host. Its understanding of Lin Xian's body was no less than Lin Xian's own.

System 10086's ethereal voice sounded. "This path is theoretically feasible. The success probability is 86%."

Lin Xian nodded, then fell silent for a moment. He looked up at the sky, bared a row of snow-white teeth, and grinned. "System, perhaps this is your true purpose."

To provide correct guidance on the path of cultivation, ensuring the host neither deviated nor strayed as he raced forward upon a perfect road.

System 10086 paused. Thinking of its authority, it could replace rewards of the same tier but different effects according to the host's progress.

For example, if a mission reward was Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, one of the Eight Extraordinary Skills, and the host came from a talisman school, System 10086 could not change the Eight Extraordinary Skill Connecting Heaven Talisman into the Five Thunder Righteous Method. However, according to the host's needs, it could replace Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements with another Eight Extraordinary Skill, Connecting Heaven Talisman.

At that moment, System 10086 could not help but fall into deep thought. Could this be the system's true essence?

To measure the cultivation path taken by the host, issue tempering missions at every bottleneck, observe the host's flaws and shortcomings, and ultimately provide the correct solution.

After a long while, System 10086 slowly spoke. "The host only needs to complete missions. The system has many things to consider."

"Carry out missions properly and strive to let me upgrade into an advanced system soon."

Lin Xian: ???

Why did that sound so familiar?

"Brother System, you've gone bad."

Lin Xian clutched his chest in grief, lamenting the decline of morals in the system world, then turned to pressure Lu Liang.

The system relied on him to complete missions, while he relied on Lu Liang to complete the money-making mission.

"Little Lu, how much have you earned?" Lin Xian silently appeared behind Lu Liang to inspect his work.

Lu Liang was nearly scared to death. He even forgot to switch his computer screen, revealing the balance displayed on it: 648.

"Why is there only a little over six hundred?" Lin Xian asked in confusion. "Is Quanxing really that poor?"

Under the pressure of being subcontracted layer upon layer, Lu Liang wore a tearful expression. Spreading his hands helplessly, he said, "Senior, you were urging me so hard. I thought that if I wanted to make big money, I had to take a gamble, so I invested the money. I can't get it back now."

"What did you invest in?"

Lin Xian suddenly had an ominous feeling.

"A-shares." Lu Liang flipped through a finance book, pushed up his glasses, and recited from it. "It says here..."

"Give up. Not even immortals can save you." Lin Xian shook his head. "How much do you have in your other cards?"

"A little over three thousand altogether." Lu Liang checked his phone and broke into a cold sweat at the account balance.

With only this much money, would this old monster kill him in a fit of rage?

He had heard Xia He's screams just now.

At that thought, Lu Liang's heart went ice-cold.

"Enough. Throw that book away and come with me to Nadutong." Lin Xian glanced down at his phone and read the message Zhang Chulan had sent him. He said calmly, "The World Association has sent someone. Feng Zhenghao has personally come to recruit Zhang Chulan as his son-in-law."

"Feng Zhenghao is one of the Ten Elders." Lu Liang was immediately shocked. A mere Zhang Chulan could... No, something was very wrong!

Like an electric current flashing through his mind, Lu Liang looked at the man before him, lowered his head, and instantly understood. The head of the three-hundred-billion World Association had not come solely for Zhang Chulan—he had come for this old monster.

Xiang Zhuang performed the sword dance, but his true target was Liu Bang.

"Senior, are you planning to ask the World Association for money?" Lu Liang sighed in relief. With the World Association as a rich backer, this old monster should let him go now, right?

"What would I want money for?" Lin Xian looked astonished. "I'm looking for Feng Zhenghao to see Spirit Summoning and Dispatching. I only kept you around to earn some travel and meal money, and to take a look at the Soul-Clarity Technique. You didn't really think I was going into business, did you?"

Lu Liang fell utterly silent. When he came back to himself, his face suddenly changed as he realized something. "Spirit Summoning and Dispatching, the Soul-Clarity Technique..."

"They're just the Eight Extraordinary Skills." Lin Xian clicked his tongue. "Why make such a big deal out of them, as though they were some taboo?"

"If Zhang Zhiwei knew the Eight Extraordinary Skills, would anyone dare steal them?"

Lu Liang shook his head. Robbing the Old Celestial Master? Did they want the Eight Extraordinary Skills or their lives?

"Then can the owners of the Eight Extraordinary Skills defeat Zhang Zhiwei?" Lin Xian continued.

Lu Liang hesitated for a moment, but still gave his answer. "Probably not."

"Then there you have it." Lin Xian said leisurely, "Immortal techniques are immortal techniques only in the hands of immortals. In the hands of mortals, they can only be techniques that invite chaos."

"Then you—no, sir... are you an immortal?" Lu Liang's attitude completely changed at that moment. It was no longer pretense. His eyes burned with an inner fervor.

This had nothing to do with status or position. It was a gifted person, a cultivator's instinctive yearning for the Immortal Dao.

"An immortal? First become invincible in the mortal world." Lin Xian laughed loudly and summoned Cosmic Divine Runes. A Sun-Moon Immortal Bridge immediately appeared beneath his feet, like golden and silver glass, like a rainbow spanning the heavens. Carrying Lu Liang in one hand, he streaked across the sky.

As a cultivator at the Life Spring Peak, he could not travel north to the North Sea at dawn and reach Cangwu by dusk, but flying for an hour or two was no problem. Further on, however, he would need to take the high-speed rail to conserve divine power.

If he advanced another step and broke through to the Divine Bridge, his body would be like a fighter jet. He could enter the blue heavens and roam the world, flying easily for a day or two before he could truly display some of an immortal's bearing.

Further above that, Lin Xian guessed Zhuge Kongming was probably at the Other Shore realm, a legendary near-immortal.

The ascended immortals of this world should not be weaker than the Dao Palace Secret Realm.

However, without seeing them firsthand, he could not know the details. Realm did not equal combat strength.

As always, strength was forged through battle.

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