Ghost Immortal

When the old man mentioned the word "strongman," his tone was filled with lingering fear and resentment.

Li Feng keenly noticed this detail.

The old man encountered a rogue cultivator on his trip and was seriously injured.

The fact that he had lost half of his little finger and the gruesome wounds on his arm indicated that he had encountered a fierce battle on the road.

Li Feng couldn't help but wonder if the old man had gotten his hands on that last bit of the good medicine.

The old man had already closed the box again, but the strong smell of blood and an eerie aura still emanated from it.

The contents of the box were the old man's real purpose for this trip.

"Is this what you're relying on?"

Li Feng suddenly pointed to the edge of the mud pit.

The bald old man subconsciously looked in the direction he was pointing.

In that instant, Li Feng launched a sneak attack.

He unleashed his full power of the Lightness Technique, moving swiftly like a blur, bypassing the black mist from the left and rushing straight behind the old man.

The old man reacted just as quickly, adjusting the direction of the body bag almost as soon as Li Feng moved.

Fortunately, the speed of the Lightness Technique far exceeded the old man's prediction. By the time he turned around, Li Feng was already standing beside him.

"Take this!"

Lightning crackled in Li Feng's right palm as he unleashed his strongest palm lightning attack.

This time, instead of hitting the old man's head, he slammed the ground beneath the old man's feet.

The more you struggle, the deeper you sink into the swamp formation. However, the essence of the formation is the spiritual energy circulation formed by the seven spirit stones underground.

If this cycle is broken by external forces, the formation will become ineffective.

Li Feng's palm lightning strike wasn't meant to attack the old man, but to shatter the formation!

Lightning struck the ground, and the patterns of the mud array emitted a piercing buzz.

One of the seven spirit stones was struck by lightning and shattered instantly.

The formation has been broken.

The old man felt his feet loosen, and the suction of the mud disappeared instantly.

He paused for a moment, then his face lit up with joy, thinking that Li Feng had accidentally destroyed the formation.

But that's exactly the effect Li Feng wanted.

Once the formation is broken, the old man will be able to move.

Once a person regains the ability to move, their first reaction is not to continue defending, but to fight back or run away.

The old man decisively chose to fight back.

He pulled his legs out of the mud, staggered to his feet, and swung the body bag at Li Feng with a sudden motion.

The body bag opened, spewing out a second cloud of black smoke.

This cloud of black mist was even denser than before, condensing in the air into a clearer, ghostly human-shaped silhouette.

The ghostly figure stretched out two blurry arms and reached out to grab Li Feng.

Li Feng had been waiting for this moment. He crushed the immobilization talisman hidden in his sleeve with his right hand.

The moment the immobilization talisman shattered, a dark red light shot out from the talisman and struck the old man's body behind the black mist.

The old man froze instantly.

The effect of the immobilization charm is only momentary, lasting only for the time it takes to blink.

But for Li Feng, that moment was enough.

The black mist, no longer under the old man's control, drifted aimlessly in the air.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li Feng rolled past the black mist and rushed directly in front of the bald old man.

When the bald old man recovered from the paralysis caused by the immobilization talisman, what he saw was Li Feng's large face right in front of him, and dazzling lightning in Li Feng's palm.

"Take this!"

Li Feng practically shouted it into the old bald man's ear; the two were just too close.

His right palm pressed against the old man's chest, and lightning exploded from his palm, pouring into the bald old man's chest cavity.

"ah!!"

The old man let out a pig-like scream as he was blasted away by lightning, crashing through the temple wall.

The body bag flew from his hands and landed a few steps away.

Li Feng gave him no chance to catch his breath, and took advantage of his illness to kill him. He rushed up and, without any reason, struck him with another palm strike.

Lightning surged into the bald old man's body again, causing him to convulse and spit out a mouthful of black blood.

Li Feng dared not stop.

This old monster is old but still powerful, and his methods are unpredictable and unpredictable. If given even a moment to catch his breath, he might be able to turn the tables.

Li Feng cast a fireball with his right hand and crushed the second immobilization talisman with his left.

The fireball exploded on the old man's body, burning his festering sores with a hissing sound.

The immobilization talisman froze him for a moment again, and Li Feng took the opportunity to pick up the body bag that had fallen to the ground and throw it far away into the corner.

Then he squatted down in front of the old man and grabbed the old man's neck.

Li Feng unleashed the full power of his five-inch spiritual root, his hand gripping the old man's throat like an iron clamp.

The old man's cloudy eyes widened, his face covered in festering sores, turning bluish-purple from suffocation.

His eyes were filled with terror, and he made gurgling sounds in his throat.

"You just said I was born to make medicine?"

Li Feng stared into the old man's eyes with even more murderous intent than if he were looking at a scoundrel who had stolen his first love.

As Li Feng tightened his grip, the gurgling sounds coming from the bald old man's throat grew weaker and weaker.

His cloudy eyes welled up with fear and resentment, and a pleading look was clearly visible.

But Li Feng did not soften his heart; he had been waiting for this day for far too long.

The bald old man's hands are stained with more than just one or two lives!

"Click."

With a sharp crack, the old man's neck was snapped.

His eyes, which had been wide open at the last moment, gradually lost focus, and his cloudy pupils dilated, quickly turning into two deathly gray beads.

Li Feng released his grip and watched as the old man's body slumped softly to the ground.

The body bag, now devoid of control due to the black mist, lay quietly in the corner, like a dead bat.

The black energy that Li Feng had dispersed slowly dissipated, turning into a wisp of green smoke and disappearing into the air of the dilapidated temple.

Li Feng stood up, took two steps back, and stared expressionlessly at the corpse on the ground.

The old monster who had tormented him for sixteen years finally died.

He couldn't describe his feelings; there was neither the satisfaction of revenge nor the elation of surviving a catastrophe.

Instead, there's a sense of emptiness, like finally buying a gift you've been saving up for a long time.

The moment I actually got it, I instantly lost interest.

He squatted down and rummaged through the old man's belongings.

The old man's robe was tattered, but there was a hidden pocket sewn into his undergarments.

Li Feng used his knife to cut the thread on the hidden bag and pulled out a thin booklet.

The booklet was small, about the size of a palm, with a cover made of some kind of animal hide, dark yellow in color, and rough and tough to the touch.

There were no words on it, only a strange symbol drawn on it.

It resembled an upside-down foot, with toes pointing upwards and ankles downwards, and a thin chain wrapped around the ankle.

Li Feng opened the cover.

The paper inside is rustic, with a yellowish-brown hue and rough edges, clearly handmade.

The paper was covered with tiny, crooked characters, as if written with charcoal sticks. Occasionally, a few lines were painted with some kind of dark red pigment, like blood.

Li Feng turned the pages one by one.

The first few pages describe the origins and rules of the corpse carriers.

Corpse carriers, as the name suggests, are people who make a living by carrying corpses on their backs.

They traveled through chaotic times, transporting corpses back to their hometowns for burial—this was their most basic livelihood.

But what the corpse carriers truly inherit is not the skill of carrying corpses, but the methods of controlling and refining corpses.

Upon seeing this, Li Feng suddenly understood.

The "human pill" mentioned by the bald old man is not actually a Taoist elixir, but rather a "human corpse pill" from the lineage of corpse carriers.

It is an evil technique that refines living people into the essence of elixirs to enhance oneself.

This world is far more complex than Li Feng imagined.

There was a page in the middle of the booklet with a line of bold text.

"The paths of cultivation in this world are as vast as the Milky Way. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are the orthodox paths, while the other schools of thought are unorthodox. Each has its own lineage and its own supernatural powers. However, regardless of whether it is orthodox or unorthodox, the essence of cultivation lies in refining one's Qi. When Qi gathers, supernatural powers will naturally manifest; when Qi disperses, the physical body will decay!"

Li Feng turned to the next page and saw a simple diagram.

The diagram shows several paths for spiritual practice.

"The Confucian school cultivates a righteous spirit, connects with the righteous energy of heaven and earth, and uses the virtues of a gentleman to master countless skills."

"In Buddhism, one cultivates enlightenment and realizes one's true nature, attaining the wondrous state of Bodhi, and using compassion to overcome all kinds of karmic obstacles."

"The Taoist school refines the Golden Elixir, comprehends Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and uses profound methods to become a carefree immortal."

This is the top-tier path of cultivation in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism!

Li Feng had heard the old man with the bald head mention the term "Taoist sect" before, and he thought that there was only one path in this world: cultivating immortality.

It now appears to be a three-way power struggle.

The three schools of thought differ fundamentally in their methods of cultivation; the Confucian school relies on "cultivating qi."

Cultivating a righteous spirit involves reading, understanding principles, and self-cultivation. What is accumulated is a righteous spirit within one's heart. This spirit resonates with the Dao of heaven and earth. When one cultivates to a high level, one's words and actions can trigger extraordinary phenomena in heaven and earth.

The main purpose of Buddhism is to enlighten the mind, practice meditation, and realize one's true nature. After realizing one's true nature, one can break through the illusions of consciousness and become versed in all things.

The Taoist school follows the most orthodox path of the Golden Elixir, relying on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, using the body as a cauldron to refine essence into qi, and refine qi into spirit.

Taoist practitioners are the most common and have the most diverse methods. Fireball, palm lightning, flying sword, and talisman techniques are all basic Taoist methods.

However, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are not the entirety of the cultivation system in this world.

There was another line of small print at the bottom of the booklet:

"Besides Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, there are various other practitioners, including monks, matchmakers, executioners, yamen runners, prostitutes, thieves, beggars, gamblers, and so on. They are divided into upper, middle, and lower classes, and all can enter the Tao. Everyone can cultivate; there are no fixed rules!"

"Among the three religions and nine schools of thought, each has its own unique skills. The corpse carrier is one of the lowest nine schools, belonging to the 'master' category."

Li Feng was stunned when he saw this.

The three religions and nine schools of thought each have their own traditions?

He continued flipping through the booklet, where the details were even more extensive.

It turns out that the tradition of corpse carriers has been passed down for thousands of years. The founder is said to be a wandering monk during a time of war, who created this craft to collect the bodies of his comrades who died on the battlefield.

Over time, the corpse carriers gradually evolved from collecting corpses to controlling them, transforming what was once a arduous task into a form of spiritual practice.

The cultivation methods of the corpse carriers are completely different from those of the Taoist sect.

The Taoist sect relies on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, while the corpse carriers rely on "absorbing corpse energy," which is the yin and evil energy released by the corpse during the decomposition process.

They channeled this yin energy into their own meridians, tempering their bodies and creating incorruptible corpses, thereby gaining physiques and strength far exceeding those of ordinary people.

The bald old man spent his whole life walking this path.

He takes in orphans and prepares medicinal soups, essentially using the essence of living people to replenish the deficiency of yin energy in his own body, so that his energy gathers and does not dissipate, making him more and more demonic as he lives.