The Immortal of Plague begins by establishing the root of lung fire.

Jia Chunfang turned her head and looked Song You up and down.

"Do you hate me for not saying so sooner?" Jia Chunfang asked.

Song You bowed his head and clasped his hands in a humble manner: "Disciple is grateful for Master's guidance. If Master had not brought me here today, and if I had found any fragments or incomplete texts in the future and rashly tried to practice them, I would be the one lying in those ruins today."

Jia Chunfang stretched the dough twice and patted Song You's shoulder with her palm.

"Caution is the best policy." Jia Chunfang withdrew her hand. "You are now half my apprentice, and the pharmacy is short-staffed; we can't afford to lose you for nothing. In the future, if you encounter any cultivation methods you haven't seen before, do not attempt them on your own."

"The Taoist roots and techniques in the temple have been passed down through generations, with clear lineages. Those objects of unknown origin may look tempting, but they are actually death warrants."

"Your disciple will remember this," Song You replied.

Song You gathered his thoughts and shifted his gaze from the roaring beast, discovering that the effect of the last burst of energy was far greater than he had expected.

As long as it's not a fatal blow, he has an extra safety net in the cultivation world. If he handles it properly, he can completely use the differences in the rules between the two worlds to avoid fatal calamities on his cultivation path.

But Song You still had another doubt. Judging from Jia Chunfang's words, the cultivation method was not deliberately spread by them, but rather they waited for the cultivators to make mistakes on their own.

Jia Chunfang raised her hand, signaling for silence.

Song You looked up and saw that the area around the ruins was empty, and the inner disciples who had been on duty had all retreated.

Instead, there were several gaunt old men dressed in elders' robes, who were extremely sick and coughed incessantly.

Elder Zhongzao's mountain of flesh was prominently displayed, with his sedan chair parked at the edge and several young Taoist disciples standing by.

Song You's gaze shifted, and he caught sight of a boy standing beside Elder Zhongzao. It was the boy who had been singled out in the Transmission Hall. The boy had already mastered his skills and was wearing a brand-new gray Taoist robe with a black wooden plaque at his waist.

Their eyes met; the boy's eyebrows furrowed, and hostility lurked in his eyes.

Song You lowered his eyelids slightly, withdrawing his scrutinizing gaze. The boy had only just entered the school, yet he had already shown hostility towards him.

This kid has high talent, and now that he's being given special training by Elder Zhongzao, he's become arrogant.

In a cannibalistic place like Pozang Temple, those who wear their emotions on their sleeves will not live long.

"The time is ripe. Fellow disciples, please make your move," an elder leaning on a cane said.

As soon as the words were spoken, the three elders stepped forward in unison, opened their mouths, and flames erupted forth. The flames did not disperse, but instead intertwined in mid-air, condensing into three thick chains of fire, with barbs growing from the ends of the chains, which pierced firmly into the beast's collarbone and hind legs.

The wild beast roared and struggled, and the fire chains snapped straight.

This fire control method far exceeded expectations. Song You studied it for a long time but couldn't fathom their level of expertise.

Jia Chunfang and Elder Zhongzao made a move.

Jia Chunfang's body rose into the air, a whooshing sound emanating from her chest. This was a characteristic of transforming her entire lungs into a furnace, the Furnace Realm.

A ball of eerie green flame struck the beast's back. The moment it made contact, the bone spurs on the beast's back began to dissolve, emitting a pungent stench.

Elder Zhongzao did not get up. He sat in the sedan chair, raised his fat arms, and a black blade formed in mid-air. The surrounding space deformed due to the high temperature.

It is worth noting that Elder Zhongzao's Furnace Realm exerted a pressure several times stronger than Jia Chunfang's.

Among the elders, the difference in their strength is obvious.

The black blade cleaved down silently, silencing the beast's roar. Its massive body split open, no blood flowing, only charred, mangled flesh at the cut.

Its body disintegrated, transforming into dozens of small beasts of varying sizes. These small beasts retained the deformed characteristics of wild beasts and scattered in all directions.

Jia Chunfang flashed away and chased after a small beast that looked like a tiger.

A small rabbit with three ears and deformed, thick hind legs was kicked away by Jia Chunfang and flew straight towards Song You's face.

"Let's do it," Jia Chunfang said.

Song You dared not be negligent. He mobilized the external flames in his chest cavity, and flames were exhaled from his mouth, transforming into a fire shield in front of him.

The little rabbit crashed into the fire shield, making a sizzling sound. It didn't flinch, but opened its three-lobed mouth and exhaled a stream of black miasma.

The miasma contaminated the fire shield, causing the flames to dim rapidly.

This thing looks unremarkable, but it's extremely effective in actual combat.

The rabbit-like beast's attacks were not just physical scratches; the black miasma was highly corrosive.

When Song You's sleeve was touched by the miasma, the fabric instantly rotted and turned to ashes. A little bit of it touched his skin, and a red rash immediately appeared, accompanied by excruciating itching and pain.

He manipulated the outer flames, burning away the skin and flesh directly from the surface of the rash, the smell of burning filling the air. In the Po Zang Temple, there was no room for affectation.

Song You sidestepped to avoid the following miasma, then gathered the remaining lung fire at his fingertips with his right hand and aimed directly at the rabbit's eyes.

The rabbit kicked off with its hind legs with incredible speed, dodging the fingertips, and its sharp claws slashed towards Song You's throat.

Song You tilted his head back, his claws grazing his chin, leaving a trail of blood.

He didn't back down. He grabbed the rabbit's hind leg with his left hand, his knuckles cracking from the force. More miasma spewed from the rabbit's three-lobed mouth. Song You held his breath, and with the lung fire gathered in his right palm, he precisely shoved it into its throat.

The high temperature erupted inside the sealed cavity, directly carbonizing the rabbit's internal organs.

Grayish-white flames burned inside the rabbit's body, causing it to convulse and emit sharp hissing sounds.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure approaching along the edge of the ruins.

It was that boy, approaching silently.

The quality of his cultivation was extremely high; his crimson flames were a level higher than Song You's grayish-white lung fire. He chose this moment to approach, knowing that Song You was busy fighting a rabbit and had no time to spare.

Song You caught a glimpse of the shadow on the ground out of the corner of his eye.

As the sun began to set, the boy's shadow stretched long, its tip just touching Song You's heel.

Song You didn't turn his head, but tightened his grip on the rabbit, and said loudly, "Junior brother, do you need help?"

The boy paused, the dough changed slightly, and the fire in his hand flickered a few times.

"No need," the boy gritted his teeth and replied, then turned and pounced on another fleeing small animal.

Song You watched coldly; this kid was trying to take advantage of the chaos to do something underhanded. A newborn calf, his hostility was written all over his face; he was still too young.

Jia Chunfang had just taken him on as a half-apprentice, and she would never tolerate anyone undermining her labor in front of her.

The boy was talented, but he didn't know how to leverage his abilities. He left, but the feud had already been formed. If this kind of person isn't dealt with sooner or later, he'll become a problem.

The little rabbit stopped struggling in Song You's hands, its body becoming transparent, flickering between light and shadow.

The last vestige of life was drained away by the lung fire, and the rabbit vanished, turning into a wisp of gray air.

The airflow didn't dissipate; instead, it followed Song You's arm and seeped into his pores.

Stop.

Song You tried to stop it, but Jia Chunfang stopped him. Seeing that some elders were doing the same, he let the air flow into his chest.

He looked inward and noticed subtle changes in his body.