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

"Are you here to ask Agni for a blessing?" the young volunteer asked, looking at Song You's thin figure.

Song You nodded, coughed twice, and asked, "What's your name?"

"Mittal." The young volunteer turned and took a white shawl from the wooden shelf. "You're in luck. A few years ago, our Grand Master, who is the highest-ranking person in charge of the main academy and its branches, began to personally oversee the Deep Holy Bath. As long as you can get to that place, you can receive personal guidance from the Grand Master."

Despite this, Mittal did not think highly of Song You, because since the sect leader of the era took over, no one had been able to reach the highest point of the Holy Bath.

Song You took the shawl. The timing was too coincidental. The problems with the holy bath in Xiangtikunji in recent years happened to be personally overseen by the Sect Master of the Era. Thinking of his own ailment, he wondered if the Sect Master of the Era had also done it.

Song You listed this sect leader as his second target. If the Heng River water didn't work, he would find a way to get close to him.

Mittal handed over a clear, sealed plastic bag: "Put your phone and other personal belongings in there and hang it around your neck."

After doing so, Song You hung the bag around his neck and thanked him.

After the chanting in the main hall outside ended, hundreds of cultivators poured out of the hall and walked along the passageway toward the bathing pool. Song You followed Mittal and joined the flow of people.

Walking through the passageway, Song You observed that the eternal lamps were lit on both sides of the stone path. The number of people traveling with him was decreasing, and many cultivators were quietly turning away at the forks in the road, not heading towards the bathhouse at all.

Ahead of the passageway appeared a tiered, open pool. The pool was divided into twenty-four levels, built along the mountainside, each level higher than the last, with water cascading down from the top, making a rushing sound.

"The water in the bath corresponds to the Ganges River water of a year for each level," Mittal explained from the side.

Song You's gaze lingered on the top floor, the twenty-fourth floor. Could it be water from twenty-four years ago? Song You thought it was unlikely. It was more likely a small amount of old water mixed with the current Ganges River water.

Song You stepped onto the stone steps and entered the first bath. His lung fire circulated, and he did not detect anything unusual. The water here was relatively clear, except that the moss at the bottom was a bit slippery.

He continued to go up, to the second floor, the third floor, and the fourth floor.

Upon entering the fifth level, the water was above his knees, and contained some murky, yellowish suspended matter. Song You stopped, feeling a slight tingling sensation on his skin, and his lung fire began to stir.

He focused his attention on sensing something in the water that resembled a lesion, yet was extremely faint. Song You temporarily called it the Henghe Lesion. He was certain that even if someone survived this lesion, they would not be able to establish a root in the Dao.

Song You stood still in the water on the fifth level and began to circulate the secret method of the plow and stove within his body.

He mobilized the lung qi in his chest cavity, forcibly drawing the faint Ganges lesion in the external water and reflecting it onto the outer flame of the lung fire root. The outer flame, stained with the lesion, began to pulsate irregularly, and the originally stable gray-white flame became disordered.

This is the most crucial step: removing the lesion and retaining the essence. Song You controlled the inner flame deep within his lungs to surge out in the opposite direction, forcibly enveloping and destroying the outer flame that had become tainted by the Henghe lesion, following the method in the secret technique.

Using one's Dao Root to burn away one's outer flames is tantamount to forcibly erasing the cultivation one has painstakingly accumulated.

A heavy, dull pain shot through his chest, and his blood and qi seemed to reverse in his lungs. This self-destructive cultivation method was an immense test of his willpower. Song You gritted his teeth, enduring the weakness brought on by the decline in his cultivation. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

The incredible power of the Sinkhole Technique lies in this: the price is extremely high, and only by using this technique can it be effective. This effect is worth the gamble. The small piece of outer flame finally disappeared completely, and Song You carefully observed the state of the inner flame.

The edge of the inner flame seemed to have changed slightly.

Song You suppressed his emotions. This secret technique really worked, but the stripping process was extremely slow, and the changes were negligible. Moreover, the fragment of the secret technique clearly stated that the superposition of characteristics was only possible with a certain probability.

The holy bath lasts all day, giving him ample time to linger there.

Song You continued the process, and half an hour later, the inner flame changed again. This time, Song You clearly perceived that there was a thin filament of flame at the edge of the inner flame, and its color changed from the original grayish-white to the turbid green of the Ganges River, with a change of about one or two percent.

With tangible progress made, Song You patiently continued the peeling process while standing in the water.

Mittal, standing on the shore, watched Song You stop at the fifth level. He had initially thought that this thin foreigner was going to give up, but now it seemed that was not the case. The water flow continued to wash over him, and it took great willpower to stay still in the pool for fifteen minutes.

Mittal was moved by Song You's devout attitude as he stood with his eyes closed. He approached a celibate and told him about his discovery.

Half an hour later, the Henghe lesion in the fifth layer of water was completely drained by Song You, making it impossible for the inner flame to change.

Song You opened his eyes and stepped into the sixth floor. He steadily climbed up one floor after another. With each floor he went up, the turbidity of the water increased, and the concentration of the lesions in the Henghe River also increased.

When they reached the tenth floor, the water was already waist-deep, and the air was filled with a pungent, fishy stench. Several tourists who didn't believe in the rumors covered their mouths and noses, their skin broke out in rashes, and they coughed repeatedly. They finally realized that the rumors were true and quickly left the bath.

Only a few local believers remained in the bathhouse, still praying with their eyes closed.

As darkness fell and the dim yellow light from the wall lamps illuminated the surroundings, Song You stepped into the twentieth-level bath, with half an hour remaining before the holy bath was to end.

The surrounding water had turned a thick, dark green, and a pungent odor assaulted the senses.

Only two emaciated monks remained on this floor, half-submerged in the water with their hands clasped together, chanting incantations. Their skin was an unnatural grayish-brown, and the lesions in the water were eroding their organs, but they endured it with their fervent faith.

Song You examined his internal organs and found that the mutated flame thread had been 95% transformed, with only the final step remaining.

He stepped onto the stairs and entered the twenty-first floor. Grayish-white foam floated on the surface of the water, and the water temperature became unusually cold, with chill seeping into his bones through his pores.

Through the mist, Song You could clearly see a figure sitting cross-legged in the bath on the 24th floor, the highest level. The person was wearing a wide red robe and remained motionless; that must be the Sect Master of the Era.

Song You didn't look at him much, focusing on operating the stoker technique to draw the most concentrated lesions in the water into the remaining outer flame, and then burn them away with the inner flame.

The dull pain in my chest had gone numb, and my physical strength had been pushed to the limit. If it weren't for the lung fire root protecting me, an ordinary person would have collapsed from organ failure long ago after being hit by the Ganges River for the past twenty years.

After the final burning, the section of flame in the inner flame turned completely into a murky green, indicating that it was complete.

Song You let out a long breath and glanced at the two cultivators who were still persevering beside him. He truly admired their ability to resist poison. If they had been born in the Soul Treasury Temple, they might have become true immortals.

He turned around to leave the bath, but after taking only half a step, his legs went weak and a feeling of exhaustion washed over him, causing his body to sway involuntarily.

Two strong hands reached out from the left and right sides and firmly supported his arms. Song You turned his head and saw two Buddhist disciples dressed in yellow monks' robes.

"Please be careful, distinguished guest," the apprentice on the left said, his English pronunciation impeccable. Song You looked at the two men without speaking, letting them support him.

"The sect leader has given instructions," the apprentice on the right explained. "Your arrival here makes you a distinguished guest of our Shantikunji. If you have time, please settle down in the holy land first. The sect leader hopes to meet with you."

Song You considered his current state. His cultivation had regressed, and his physical strength was exhausted; he definitely needed a safe place to recover. Moreover, he was somewhat interested in the sect leader of this era, and this was a good opportunity to test his abilities. So he nodded in agreement.

Following the two apprentices ashore, Song You remembered the tuk-tuk driver waiting outside. He picked up a plastic bag and instructed, "There's a driver named Jat waiting for me outside. Go tell him I'm staying here, give him this money and let him go."

"No problem, we will arrange everything properly. Our esteemed guest need not worry. The Holy Land will provide him with reasonable compensation," the apprentice agreed.

Song You didn't necessarily have to pay for it himself. After agreeing, the two helped Song You through the corridor behind the bathhouse to a quiet courtyard.

Bodhi trees grew in the courtyard, and the room was spacious and clean, with thick Persian carpets. An apprentice brought over a clean double-layered white shawl, two full trays of food, and several kinds of fresh fruit.

Song You didn't stand on ceremony. He changed out of his soaked white shawl, sat down at the table, and began to eat. He needed a lot of high-calorie food to fill the void in his body and start cultivating his outer flames again.

Two apprentices stood by the door waiting for Song You to finish the last piece of bread. The apprentice on the left asked, "Honorable guest, the Sect Master of the Era Sect would like to know when you have time to see him?"

"Let's talk about it when I have time," Song You replied ambiguously after finishing his meal, as he had more important things to do.

The two apprentices exchanged a glance, asked no further questions, cleared away their plates, bowed, and left the room, closing the door behind them.

The room fell silent, and Song You was suddenly back in the Soul Treasury Temple.

Feeling the familiar surroundings, Song You was excited. He was about to test the new properties of the inner flame.