Chapter 170: Danyangzi

"Hahaha! So that's it! Now I understand!"

With a wide grin, Danyangzi stood atop the carnage, laughing wildly. At last, he understood.

He had finally grasped the true meaning of "slaying the three corpses," a concept the elder Shouxing had explained to him in the Outer Heavens. He had previously misunderstood, mistakenly believing he had to transform Li Huowang into the three corpses and then eliminate them.

To seek immortality, one must first purge the three corpses, become free of desires, and achieve a serene mind and clear spirit.

It turned out that there was no Li Huowang at all; Li Huowang was merely a part of his past, his inner demon, one of his three corpses.

It was Li Huowang, tainted by the mortal world, who had been obstructing his path to immortality. Now that Li Huowang had completely become him, it signified that one of the corpses had been slain.

His previous act of taking medicine, it seemed, was when another corpse was slain, which was precisely why he had become a half-immortal.

Feeling immensely pleased, he laughed as he stepped forward, raising his sword to slaughter the remaining people. He always felt the urge to kill whenever he was joyful.

There was still one more corpse whose slaying method was unknown, but Danyangzi already had a premonition that he could now pass through the South Heaven Gate.

No one else in the cave was a match for Danyangzi. Soon, he was the only living soul left in the entire grotto.

Stopping, Danyangzi lowered his head to examine his youthful body once more. He couldn't help but laugh aloud again, exclaiming with uncontainable joy, "Heh heh! This Daoist Master is finally going to become a true immortal!"

As he laughed, the illusory monk beside him, whose face was filled with bewilderment, gradually faded away.

His laughter didn't last long, however, before Danyangzi suppressed the joy in his heart. It was not yet time to celebrate.

Without the sustaining power of the intercalated Five Elements, Danyangzi's damaged body, which lacked internal organs, was on the verge of collapse.

He couldn't die now; he still needed to merge with his original body.

"Hmph! A mere inner demon thinks it can thwart my grand journey to immortality? This Daoist Master is an immortal now!"

Danyangzi quickly pulled out a bell from his robe and began shaking it. Everything around him descended into chaos, and several You Laoye swiftly appeared before him.

"“Zhouchiwo! Lantano! Yinxianchataore!”"

Once Danyangzi had imperiously given his instructions to the You Laoye, they swiftly flew away.

When they returned, they carried a cinnabar brush and yellow paper, along with a piece of wood, a clod of earth, a torch, a flask of water, and a gold ingot.

The staggering Danyangzi then turned and located, among the corpses on the ground, one person for each of the five elemental fates: water, fire, earth, wood, and metal. He raised his sword and severed their heads.

Danyangzi pried open the mouth of one head and stuffed the gold ingot inside, then sealed the mouth with yellow paper. With one hand, gripping the cinnabar brush as if clenching a fist, he rapidly began drawing on the yellow paper.

As the final stroke was completed, the head immediately began to creak, squirm, and contract. Its skin, hair, and facial features gradually sloughed off, leaving the head shrunken by more than half its original size.

Danyangzi picked up the head and, with a pull and a push, inserted it into his chest.

Following this exact method, the remaining four heads likewise entered Li Huowang's hollow chest, taking the place of his original internal organs.

Once the final head had settled into the position of the heart, Danyangzi nodded in satisfaction. This dark method, which he had stolen from the Lion Dance Palace, wouldn't last long, but he only needed it for a brief time.

With a triumphant expression, Danyangzi retrieved the Heavenly Book, gazing at it with a sense of profound emotion. Though he recognized not a single character upon its pages, it was this very book that had guided him to immortality.

"I wonder if I'll encounter that immortal again after passing through the South Heaven Gate. If so, I must express my profound gratitude."

It was solely due to his assistance that he could enter the South Heaven Gate and achieve longevity comparable to heaven and earth.

"You utterly worthless piece of garbage!"

The sudden, unexpected curse caused Danyangzi's expression to freeze. He swiftly turned his head towards the source of the sound, yet the surroundings were empty; there was no one, no movement.

"Who is there! Come out, or this immortal will make you regret it! If I'm pleased, I might even leave you a complete corpse!" Danyangzi's furious voice echoed through the cave, but there was no response.

Danyangzi, his expression seething with malevolence, let out a cold snort. He picked up the Heavenly Book in his hand and strode towards the cave entrance.

This cave is quite strange, and the previous God of Joy was not someone to be trifled with. It was unwise to linger here.

It would be best to leave here first and find a quiet place to await the return of his original body.

No matter who it was, as long as he ultimately achieved true immortality, everything in the mortal realm would be nothing but ants!

When Danyangzi stepped back out into the battlefield, he found the outside eerily quiet.

There wasn't a single living soul left in the entire grotto; everyone was dead. This entire Manichaean stronghold nestled within the mountains had been utterly annihilated.

"You baldy! Do you really think you can become an immortal? You dog, you're not worthy!!"

With a "whoosh," the long sword Danyangzi had thrown struck the hard grotto wall, embedding itself deep and vibrating with a hum.

Now Danyangzi could no longer contain himself. "Ring-ring-ring!!" A piercing bell sound rang out, and a multitude of You Laoye filled the air, circling Danyangzi.

At his command, the You Laoye frantically spread out in all directions, searching for the person who had spoken earlier.

Yet after searching for the duration of an incense stick, the You Laoye — capable of ascending to heaven and descending into the earth — surprisingly found no one, not even underground or within the walls.

"What exactly is happening? Could the Zuo Wang Dao have set an ambush for this immortal?" Danyangzi, his expression shifting between dark and uncertain, murmured to himself as he surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings.

After these two occurrences, Danyangzi no longer dared to lower his guard. He pointed his Daoist bell, and the You Laoye swiftly flew out of the cave, dispatched to search for his original body.

Meanwhile, he himself remained in place, holding his sword, waiting.

When two incense sticks' worth of time had passed, Danyangzi heard movement outside. His heart instantly surged with joy, and he swiftly turned his head to look.

However, he discovered that the one walking in from outside the cave was not his original body, but a woman dressed in an exceedingly peculiar fashion.

He had traveled extensively for many years and seen a great deal, but he had never encountered women dressed in such attire anywhere.

Her clothes appeared to be silk, she carried an unusual square box under her arm, and her hair was coiled into a bun.

She appeared to be in her forties, with a round face, large eyes, and short hair. She looked somewhat fatigued.

"What is this person's origin? Were those two curses just now directed at me? To arrive at such a critical moment, could she be an old enemy?"

As Danyangzi's thoughts raced, he saw the woman offer him an apologetic smile.

"My dear son, I'm late because the hospital had some procedures to process. Your external injuries have nearly healed, so your father and I have found you a new hospital."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Danyangzi saw the bright grotto around him rapidly collapse and shift in color, brilliant white quickly engulfing his surroundings.

Objects also began to rapidly accumulate on his own body, which should have been standing within the grotto.