Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

Chapter 288 Hua Jie

The shop owner moved closer to Chen Mo, almost touching his face.

"So, are you going to offer your heart, or your liver?"

"Or you could pay half upfront, as long as you pay some interest, and then pay the other half later?"

Chen Mo looked down at the scissors and suddenly smiled. "You can even pay in installments?"

"The shopkeeper seems nice."

"Of course, I'm very fair in business."

The shop owner was all smiles, his mouth almost reaching his ears.

"However... I'm not one to spend my own money."

As Chen Mo finished speaking, his right hand had already plunged into the other person's chest cavity.

The shop owner's smile froze on his face before it could fully bloom.

"you..

"7

He looked down at the hand piercing his body, his eyes filled with disbelief. "...How dare you?"

"I'll borrow your heart for a bit."

Chen Mo withdrew his hand expressionlessly.

Between my five fingers, I hold a heart that is still beating.

However, the surface of the heart is covered with rings of roots that are deeply embedded in the texture of the myocardium, contracting and expanding with each heartbeat, as if sucking something.

The other end of the root extended from the broken part of the heart all the way to the depths of the shop owner's chest cavity.

Chen Mo's gaze followed the roots back to their source.

From the open chest, one could clearly see that it was filled with plant roots, some of which had even pierced through the lungs, leaving honeycomb-like holes.

He was right; the red flowers these people wore on their chests were indeed suspicious.

The shopkeeper's body had long been hollowed out.

All the internal organs were transformed into fertilizer to nourish the red flower on the right side of the chest.

Only his heart was still beating, barely keeping the host alive.

From the moment he walked into the shop, the person speaking to him was not the tailor shop owner, but that red flower.

At this moment, it seemed to be provoked, and the fine serrations on the edges of its petals suddenly curled up.

It swelled up a size, and the six petals suddenly sprang open from their closed state, each one taut and straight.

From the hole in his chest, countless red threads burst forth, surging towards Chen Mo like a tidal wave.

"A little trick."

Chen Mo snorted coldly, looked down at the still-beating heart in his palm, and slowly tightened his fingers.

The malevolent energy rose from the dantian, surged along the meridians to the fingertips, and then pierced through the bones.

"puff!"

His heart exploded in his palm, shattered into dust from the inside out by the malevolent energy.

Before the roots that had pierced the heart muscle could even react, they turned to ashes along with the bits of flesh and black blood, falling softly through the gaps between the fingers.

Almost simultaneously, Chen Mo flipped up his right palm and struck out at the sky full of red threads.

Thick, inky black mist surged from his palm, sweeping through the entire front hall with a bone-chilling cold.

Wherever the extremely cold and yin energy passed, the fabric on the counter instantly frosted over, and even the remaining oil in the oil lamp on the corner of the table solidified into a lump under the low temperature.

The originally menacing red threads began to twist violently upon contact with the black mist.

The bright red color quickly turned black, turning into pieces of charred residue.

It disintegrated into dust in mid-air before it even landed.

The corrosive power contained within the malevolent energy was utterly unreasonable; it devoured the threads faster than they were ejected.

The black mist spread backward along the silk threads, heading straight for the red flower from the source of the roots.

The shop owner's body began to collapse the moment the silk threads were destroyed.

The already hollowed-out shell lost its last support, and like a deflated leather bag, it collapsed limply to the ground.

Red Flower let out a scream, its six taut petals trembled wildly, and the whole flower shot out from its chest, trying to escape into the back room.

It's too late.

Chen Mo's murderous aura was even faster; the black mist enveloped the entire flower the moment it sprang up.

The roots began to turn black and rot as soon as they came into contact with the black mist, and even the barbs at the flower stamens fell off under the corrosive influence of the evil energy.

He walked forward unhurriedly, his five fingers probing into the black mist, and firmly grasped the calyx of the red flower.

The malevolent energy receded in his palm, and the black mist parted to reveal the withered red flower inside.

The six petals were scorched by the evil energy, their edges blackened and curled, and the veins on their surface no longer moved.

He weighed the flowers in his hand; they were much heavier than they looked.

Although most of its roots were destroyed, the flower itself was still trembling slightly, clearly showing its tenacious vitality.

This is the first time I've ever seen such a malevolent creature, which is suspected to be a parasitic species.

Let's keep it for now; it might come in handy later.

Chen Mo pondered for a few seconds and then took out an ebony box from his storage space.

The safflower seemed to sense the threat, and its few remaining roots twisted wildly. Chen Mo didn't give it a chance to struggle, and directly stuffed the flower in and snapped the lid shut.

After a few dull thuds from inside the box, silence returned.

He put the box into his storage space before looking at the body on the ground.

Without the support of safflower, the shop owner's body was visibly withering away.

His skin turned sallow and grayish, his eyes became sunken, his lips shrank, revealing two rows of withered yellow teeth.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed from a human-shaped shell into a real dried-up body.

Deep within the city lord's mansion, in a sunless cave, something suddenly awoke at this moment.

This is a huge pool of blood, the liquid inside is as thick as paste, and it churns on its own in the windless environment.

In the liquid, fist-sized bubbles kept rising and bursting one by one, releasing a wisp of dark red mist with each burst.

The mist didn't dissipate; instead, it clung to the surface of the pool and spread outwards.

In the very center of the blood pool, a huge flower bud was half-submerged and half-floating.

The flower bud is more than a person tall, and its surface is covered with dark purple fleshy scales.

Thick roots extend from the base of the flower bud, plunging deep into the pool of blood, contracting and expanding at an extremely slow pace.

Like the blood vessels of a giant heart, it constantly draws nutrients from the pool of blood.

There was a half-open crack at the top of the flower bud, and half of Gu Yunzhou's body was embedded in that crack.

His lower body was completely submerged inside the flower bud, and the boundary between the two was blurred.

Human skin extends into the tissues of a flower, and the veins of the flower extend into the blood vessels of the human body.

They are intertwined, and it is impossible to tell which part belongs to the person and which part belongs to the flower.

The person's upper body was completely naked, and their skin was a grayish-white color, similar to that of a corpse.

The vengeful spirits were wrapped around his shoulders and back.

This treasured artifact of the Xuan Yin Zhai sect is a rough, gray-black blanket with an unremarkable appearance.

But if you look closely, you can see blurry human faces constantly appearing and disappearing within the texture of the blanket.

Each face disappears, leaving behind a wisp of extremely thin black mist that wanders along the edge of the blanket before returning to the depths of its texture.

It goes on and on, endlessly.

Just as Honghua was locked into the storage space, Gu Yunzhou suddenly opened his eyes and slowly raised his head.

Their gaze pierced through the darkness of the cave and fixed on a certain direction.

That direction leads directly to the location of the tailor shop in the city.

"Holy Flower Seeds..."

...One flower is missing.

At the edge of the cave, several people dressed in gray robes, who had been sitting cross-legged, opened their eyes at the same time upon hearing this, and knelt down on one knee.

Their robes were embroidered with dark purple patterns of the Xuan Yin Zhai.

Everyone's face was so pale it was unrecognizable, their lips were bluish-black, and the shadows under their eyes were heavy.

Clearly, his body had been permeated with evil energy due to years of practicing wicked techniques.

The leader was a gaunt middle-aged man with sunken eyes and a sparse goatee; he was Cen Du, the steward of Xuan Yin Zhai.

"The Holy Flower seed has disappeared?"

Cen Du's expression changed, but he quickly suppressed the surprise in his eyes. "Sect Master, should I send someone immediately...?"

"No need."

Gu Yunzhou interrupted him, his gaze still fixed in that direction, the blood rings in his eyes flickering uncertainly, as if sensing something.

The vengeful spirit moved without wind, and a corner of the blanket was slowly lifted, revealing the horrifying sight of Gu Yunzhou and the flower bud joined together.

The skin there was cracked, and the cracks were filled with dark purple roots.

The roots wriggled with his breathing, and occasionally a small section would peek out from the crack and then retract.

Cen Du and the other gray-robed men exchanged glances, none of them daring to speak.

Since their sect leader merged with the Holy Flower, his temper has become increasingly unpredictable.

"Did the 'Know-It-All' say how many people came in this time?"

Gu Yunzhou suddenly spoke, his voice regaining some of its usual coldness.

Cen Du quickly bowed, took out a letter from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands.

"Reporting to the sect leader, the all-knowing one just reported that there were five groups of people who came to him to inquire about information this time."

"Yeah?"

Gu Yunzhou stretched out his hand and grabbed at the air with his five fingers.

The letter bounced from Cen Du's palm, passed through the dark red mist above the blood pool, and landed steadily in his hand.

The moment the letter touched my fingertips, the edges of the paper curled slightly and turned yellow, as if something had drawn away a bit of moisture.

He unfolded the letter and glanced at the handwriting.

The cave was so quiet that only the sound of bubbles bursting in the blood pool could be heard.

Gu Yunzhou flipped the letter over and over again, reading it twice from beginning to end.

The vengeful spirits began to wriggle restlessly on his shoulder, and the row of faces along the edge of the blanket appeared more densely than usual.

"hehe."

"The information I released when I set up this scheme was originally intended to catch a few feng shui fish in Kowloon."

"I didn't expect that even people from the spirit world would be attracted."

He loosened his grip on the letter.

The letter fluttered down into the blood pool, but before it even touched the surface, it was enveloped by the rising dark red mist and silently burned in mid-air.

In the blink of an eye, it burned into a small clump of black ash, which scattered into the blood pool and disappeared.

Gu Yunzhou closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them a moment later, the light from the blood rings in his eyes shining even brighter than before.

"But it's alright."

His lips slowly twitched upwards, and a stiff smile reappeared on his face.

"Since we're already here, my sacred flower is just worried about not having enough nutrients."

Du bowed his head, his forehead touching the cold ground. After hesitating for a moment, he finally mustered his courage and spoke.

"Sect Master, I have another matter to report."

Gu Yunzhou didn't speak, but slowly shifted his gaze to him.

Cen Du's back was already soaked with cold sweat. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Sect Master, for the past ten years, we have been capturing people from outside and feeding them into the Blood Pool."

"All things considered, the number has probably exceeded a thousand."

"In the past few years, things were alright. There was chaos and war outside, and people were dying all day long in Kowloon. Even if a few refugees were lost, the police couldn't be bothered to care."

"But in the past two years, Government House has been investigating missing persons cases."

Cen Du paused slightly at this point, carefully glancing up at the other person.

Gu Yunzhou's face was unreadable; he simply said two words: "Continue."

Cen Du gritted his teeth and said the most important thing: "In the past year, it has become increasingly difficult to arrest people."

"In the past, if you just threw a few red flower sachets on the dock, you could attract seven or eight laborers in one night."

"Now those who studied hard have become smarter, and they will go around people who wear red flowers on their chests."

"There are fewer refugees in the walled city now; those with even a little strength have all gone to join gangs."

"The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled, even if captured, could not be extracted much of their essence and blood; if they were put into the blood pool, not even a bubble would rise."

After hesitating for a few moments, he finally raised the most crucial question.

"Sect Master, I would like to ask, why is the Corpse Dissection Technique you cultivate different from the descriptions in the ancient texts?"

"I have consulted the sect's old records. Although the Corpse Dissolution Method involves blood sacrifice, it is mostly done only once every three to five years, and three to five people are sufficient each time."

"But in these past ten years..."

"Are you questioning me?" Gu Yunzhou coldly interrupted him.

Cen Du froze, his forehead hitting the ground heavily: "This subordinate dares not! This subordinate is only afraid that if this continues, sooner or later we will alert the wrong people."

"People from the spirit world have already arrived. What if a Taoist sect comes along, or the Governor's House hires British church exorcists? Then..."

'

Upon hearing this, the gray-robed disciples kneeling behind him held their breath.

They had discussed this issue countless times in private, but no one had ever dared to ask it out loud in front of Gu Yunzhou.

Gu Yunzhou turned his head slightly, his gaze lingering on the roots for a moment.

"Do you know what a Corpse-Dissolving Immortal is?"

The disciples looked at each other, puzzled as to why their sect leader had suddenly brought up this topic.

Cen Du was also taken aback, but he reacted the fastest, bowing and replying, "Reporting to the Sect Master, this subordinate knows a little about it."

"Corpse dissolution is a special method of ascension in Taoist cultivation, in which the cultivator uses the death of the physical body to transform and ascend to immortality."

"Retaining the skin, bones, and internal organs all allow for the dissolution of the corpse. Its essence is to abandon the physical form and allow the spirit to leave the body and ascend."

"You recited the book quite well," Gu Yunzhou said casually, his tone neither praising nor criticizing.

Cen Du lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.

"But those are all old, orthodox methods. Don't they consider that after losing their physical bodies and ascending to immortality, are they still the same people?"

"If the physical body were truly useless, those guys wouldn't have needed to spend hundreds of years building up their bodies."

He sneered, clenching his right hand into a fist.

"I will not abandon my physical body."

"What I desire is for my physical body to merge with the sacred flower, so that the flower is my body, and my body is the flower."

"When the sacred flower truly blooms, I will be able to transform from a mortal to an immortal through this process."

As he said this, the flower bud beneath him trembled violently, and the dark purple scales twitched at an abruptly faster pace.

A series of dense bubbles rose to the surface of the blood pool, and dark red mist surged out from the bursting bubbles, spreading along the water's surface.

"This is not a traditional method of autopsy."

Gu Yunzhou's voice changed from high-pitched to low, "This is my own unique method of flower interpretation."

"Those who abandon their physical bodies are nothing more than stray dogs, their souls with nowhere to rest. Only by reshaping their bodies with sacred flowers can such a transformation be a true immortal metamorphosis."

Cen Du and his disciples felt a chill run down their spines.

They finally understood why Gu Yunzhou had buried himself inside a flower bud, turning into this inhuman, ghostly figure.

"But this method comes at a price."

His hand returned to the vengeful spirit guide, his thin, dry fingers gripping the edge of the blanket.

"I have now reached the seventh stage of enlightenment."

"All the internal organs have long since vanished, leaving only the heart still struggling to beat."

"After the eighth transformation is completed, the heart will be replaced by the roots of the sacred flower, and the physical body will be completely integrated with the sacred flower. At that time, there will be no need to use the essence and blood of outsiders to maintain the body from decay."

"Originally, to break through to the eighth stage, it would have required the essence and blood of at least three hundred people to be enough for the Sacred Flower roots to make the final breakthrough and completely replace the heart."

""

But now...

'

Gu Yunzhou raised his head and turned his gaze back towards the tailor shop, the corners of his mouth curving into a wider smile.

"So many fish have come to Kowloon, which saves me a lot of trouble."

"Those who cultivate possess more than a hundred times the essence and blood within their bodies compared to ordinary people."

"Especially people from the spirit world."

He licked his lips, revealing several cracks on his chapped lips. However, what seeped from the wounds was not candle blood, but a dark purple liquid.

Cen Du knew that the master of the gate did not intend to explain further, and that if he continued to press the matter, he would probably be the next one to be thrown into the blood pool.

He quickly lowered his head and changed his tone: "Sect Master is wise. I will arrange for people to keep an eye on those people's movements immediately."

"No rush."

Gu Yunzhou waved his hand.

"Three days later, the monthly ghost tide will occur in the Ghost Realm."

"By then, the only safe place in the entire Ghost Realm will be the City Lord's Mansion."

His fingers tapped lightly on the vengeful spirit guide.

"No matter how deeply those people hide outside, once the tide of evil rises, they will naturally come to us willingly."

"Once you're inside, whether you live or die is entirely up to me."

Cen Dushu's eyes lit up, and he kowtowed again: "Sect Master is a man of brilliant strategy. This subordinate is foolish and never thought of this."

Gu Yunzhou ignored his flattery, his tone suddenly turning cold as he abruptly changed his tone: "There's one more thing."

Cen Du, who had just straightened up, immediately bent over again.

"Has that old rat been getting increasingly restless lately?"

The temperature inside the cave seemed to have dropped a few degrees.

The gray-robed disciples kneeling behind all shrank their necks in unison.

Cen Du's expression turned even uglier, and the cold sweat he had just wiped from his forehead began to seep out again.

"Reporting to the sect leader, it is indeed true..."

"That monster has recently gone mad for some reason and has set its sights on Chang Le City. This month alone, it has already eaten no fewer than twenty people."

Gu Yunzhou didn't mention the loss, but his face was dark and menacing.

He knew better than anyone what the Rat Woman was.

That monster existed even longer than the city lord's mansion.

Hong had already established itself on this land before Chang Le City was even called Chang Le City.

No one knows how many years it has lived, nor does anyone know how big it really is.

All I know is that it used to be a mouse.

After countless years of cultivation and mutation, Hong has grown to be larger than an ordinary house.

Their strength is terrifying.

Ten years ago, when Gu Yunzhou first came to Chang Le City, he had a fight with Granny Rat.

The battle was so fierce that the sky darkened and the foundation of the city lord's mansion was cracked three layers deep. In the end, it was only by Gu Yunzhou using the vengeful spirit to suppress the monster that it was barely forced back into the depths of the underground.

But it only forced them to retreat.

He couldn't kill it, and the old woman rat couldn't do anything to him either.

Thus, the two sides maintained a delicate balance, each occupying their own territory and keeping to themselves.

"Sect Master, that old hag is becoming increasingly brazen lately."

Seeing that he didn't get angry, Cen Du mustered his courage and continued, "It used to only appear at night, but now it dares to roam outside the city during the day."

Gu Yunzhou finally frowned.

He wasn't afraid of the Rat Woman, but he was at a crucial moment in the fusion of the Sacred Flower, and if that monster took the opportunity to cause trouble, things would become complicated.

Especially now, most of his internal organs have been destroyed, and he can only move with the support of the roots of the sacred flower.

Their strength has decreased by at least 30% compared to the Jeon Hyung era.

"That beast is testing my bottom line."

He muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the crack in his chest, where dark purple roots were slowly wriggling deep within the fissure.

"It sensed the growing strength of the sacred flower and knew that I was about to undergo a transformation, so it panicked."

"That's what I think too," Cen Du quickly echoed. "Although that monster isn't very smart, it's a natural predator that preys on the weak and fears the strong. It must have sensed something and is trying to cause some trouble before the sect leader undergoes a complete transformation."

"Let it be."

Gu Yunzhou suddenly laughed, "If it wants to test us, let it test us to its heart's content."

"If it dares to extend its claws into the city lord's mansion, I wouldn't mind letting it taste the roots of the sacred flower."

"Go."

"Carefully verify the information sent by the all-knowing man. I need to know the origins and practices of every group of people. Not a single detail can be missed."

"Your subordinate obeys."

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