Shrouding the Heavens: The Ultimate Daoist Venerable

Chapter 110 Alternative Immortality
The reason why Liang Yu's true form is coming to the underworld now is twofold: firstly, he has another idea that he wants to discuss with the Lord of the Underworld; and secondly, he wants to discuss future plans.

This time, Liang Yu was in a hurry to get on his way, so he didn't make any noise and no one knew where he was going.

Soon, he entered the underworld without a sound.

The Underworld Lord said, "Fellow Daoist Wuji, is there anything that requires your true form to come? Can't this physical body do it for me?"

Liang Yu retracted his words and said, "There are two main things I've come here for. The first concerns longevity, and the second concerns the future."

The Underworld Lord, struggling to maintain his body as he was about to fall into a deep slumber, said, "Immortality? What immortality?"

Liang Yu asked, "Does Fellow Daoist Mingzun know where my Daoist temple is?"

The Underworld Lord said, "Isn't it Wuji Immortal Mountain, or do you mean Divine Tea Mountain?"

Liang Yu smiled and said, "That's right, it's Shencha Mountain. Why is Shencha Mountain famous? Because the Enlightened Ancient Tea Tree lives there. After I took over, I studied it and found that this Enlightened Ancient Tea Tree is inseparable from this extraordinary mountain and has almost become one with it. Therefore, as long as this tree is taken away from this mountain, it will inevitably lose its life essence until it dies."

The Underworld Lord still didn't understand Liang Yu's meaning. He frowned and said, "What's wrong with that? The world is full of wonders, and we've seen plenty of strange things."

Liang Yu said with a smile, "In this life, my main body has not been idle. I have also studied Wuji Immortal Mountain and the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree. Or rather, this is the core purpose of my destruction of Xuanqiong Divine Mountain to nourish Wuji Immortal Mountain."

The Underworld Lord suddenly perked up: "What? You destroyed the Xuanqiong Divine Mountain?"

Now he was fully awake. Xuanqiong Divine Mountain was the ancestral land of the Holy Spirits, a truly wondrous place, comparable to Kunlun Immortal Mountain and Immortal Mausoleum. Each of these wondrous places was a miracle that could not be replicated in the universe.

Destroying such a wondrous place will incur divine retribution!
Liang Yu chuckled and said, "Why are you so surprised, Fellow Daoist Mingzun? It's nothing but external possessions. Compared to the immortality we pursue, it's insignificant."

The Underworld Lord rolled his eyes, too lazy to bother with Liang Yu. Indeed, as Liang Yu said, the Xuanqiong Divine Mountain was of little use to them. First, the Underworld Lord didn't need methods like transforming into a Holy Spirit, so the mountain was useless to him; second, even if Liang Yu wanted to transform into a Holy Spirit, both the Primordial Ancient Star and the Boundless Immortal Mountain could meet the requirements, so he didn't need the mountain either.

However, the destruction of this strange place still pained the Underworld Lord, as if he himself had lost his entire fortune.

Seeing this, Liang Yu continued, "This time, I studied the Wudao Ancient Tea Tree and came to a conclusion. Countless years ago, the Wudao Ancient Tea Tree suffered unimaginable damage. Therefore, out of its survival instinct, it bound itself to the Shencha Mountain, which was still in its infancy at the time, forming a symbiotic relationship."

"The Divine Tea Mountain accelerated its evolution by acquiring the secrets contained in the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree; while the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree bound itself to the Divine Tea Mountain, using the immortal characteristics of this extraordinary place to maintain its own immortality."

"However, although the two have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship, there is still a primary and secondary role. One is the icing on the cake, and the other is a lifeline in times of need. After all, Shencha Mountain can do without the Wudao Ancient Tea Tree, but the Wudao Ancient Tea Tree cannot leave Shencha Mountain."

"This is why this ancient tea tree cannot be transplanted."

The Lord of the Underworld pondered for a long while before asking, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Liang Yu laughed and said, "Look at us, people who can hardly achieve immortality on our own, aren't we like this ancient tea tree that is willing to pay any price to protect itself?"

The Underworld Lord was greatly shocked. He looked at Liang Yu: "You mean, to achieve a different kind of immortality by parasitizing in these extraordinary places?" Liang Yu waved his hand: "What parasitism? That sounds too awful. But that's exactly what it is. Originally, I wasn't very confident either, but who told us to decipher the core laws of these extraordinary places?"

"Judging from the situations of fellow Daoists Changsheng and Zhenyu, as long as these special scriptures are cultivated to their extreme and the laws contained therein are used to transform oneself into the corresponding physique, then there is a high probability that these strange places will regard them as part of themselves."

"Then, we can use the method of binding and coexisting with the ancient tea tree to integrate with this wonderful place, thereby achieving an alternative longevity effect."

The Underworld Lord said, "This method is useless to us, but it may be useful to fellow Daoists such as Changsheng, or to some people in future generations."

"But humans are not immortality elixirs. Immortality elixirs possess the property of immortality, but humans do not. The immortality they obtain through this method is ultimately like water without roots. As long as they cannot generate these substances on their own, sooner or later, these immortal substances will lose their effect on them."

"Wouldn't this become a new method of self-sealing? Fellow Daoist wants to eliminate forbidden zones, but this method will create new forbidden zones, although they will be less harmful."

Liang Yu sighed, “Therefore, I hope that Fellow Daoist Mingzun can help me with this research when he has time. I only know how the Enlightened Ancient Tea Tree is made, but I haven’t figured out how other life forms should coexist with this wondrous place. Perhaps by improving the research, we can achieve new results. Moreover, it would be a pity if we made new discoveries but couldn’t put them to use.”

The Underworld Lord said, "Then I can only say I'll try my best. After all, because of researching these things with you, my lifespan after my transformation was shortened. I won't be able to help you after that."

Liang Yu smiled and said, "It's good that Fellow Daoist Mingzun is willing to help. Next, I'll talk about the future."

"Fellow Daoist Mingzun, Fellow Daoist Lingbao will complete their transformation in about several thousand years. Fellow Daoist Daode will be born in about ten to twenty thousand years."

Upon hearing this, the Underworld Lord was slightly startled. Liang Yu had told him about Lingbao Tianzun's past over the years, so hearing that he was about to awaken made the Underworld Lord feel somewhat guilty. However, he had little to do with Daode Tianzun, so he didn't feel anything about him.

Liang Yu then asked, "Fellow Daoist, how much longer will it take before you can walk among mortals in your peak condition?"

The Underworld Lord pondered for a moment, then said, "Within ten thousand years."

Liang Yu said, "With me, you, Fellow Daoist Lingbao, and Fellow Daoist Daode here, can we wipe out the forbidden zone in one fell swoop and eliminate any future troubles?"

The Underworld Lord said, "We may have enough combat power, but they won't wait for us to destroy them. These Supreme Beings are very well hidden. If they are determined to hide, we may not be able to find them all."

"Even if we can find them all, there are still nearly ten forbidden zones left. We can't hide our actions from them. If they see they have no chance of survival and start destroying the universe to take down their own people, that would be a catastrophe."

Liang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "That's true. It seems we'll have to wait a little longer."

The Underworld Lord said, "Fellow Daoist Wuji, I will go into slumber now. We will make further plans after the transformation is complete."

"Oh, and remember to save one of those three Kunlun Immortal Mountains for me."

(End of this chapter)