997: The Path to Immortality

Clearly, it wasn't just Murong Tingyu; even Zhu Linglong, Hua Lian, and the others didn't know much about it, and the same was true for Xin Yue from Shihuang Mountain on Burial Emperor Star.

The reason Chu Ying knew that these stone people were actually Cultivators following the Path of Immortality was because Longevity Little Turtle had told him.

At this moment, Chu Ying's eyes flickered as he said, "Let's go in and take a look."

Chu Ying led the way, scouting ahead, with All the women following by his side. Chu Hongyi naturally fell to the rear; she was the most invincible in terms of strength aside from Chu Ying, and even now, Chu Ying might not necessarily be stronger than Chu Hongyi.

With the two of them present, none of the women would encounter any problems.

Soon, as Chu Ying walked into a plaza filled with stone people, he felt that the fluctuations of life energy here were extremely dense. Clearly, these Cultivators following the Path of Immortality were all still "alive," though they were perhaps all in a "deep sleep." They might not be able to sense the situation outside or the arrival of Chu Ying's group. Of course, it was also possible that even if they could sense them, they were unable to respond.

Chu Ying brought All the women deeper to investigate, arriving at a grand and ancient hall. This hall seemed like a library for Cultivation Techniques, housing quite a large number of Legacy Cultivation Techniques, which was quite extraordinary—there were even several Emperor Scriptures. However, these items could not be considered precious to Chu Ying's group, because Cultivation Techniques were the one thing Chu Ying lacked the least.

But it was worth mentioning that Chu Ying discovered a notebook, or rather, a notebook written by a predecessor of this faction that specifically recorded the "Path of Immortal Cultivation."

Driven by curiosity, Chu Ying and all the Beauties began to flip through it.

"The path of martial arts is long and arduous. The road to immortal longevity is distant and without end."

"Dare I ask, is there an Immortal in this world? Do Immortals possess longevity?"

"The Emperor Realm is merely the starting point of the immortal path, yet even Emperors will grow old and die, eventually passing away..."

"Is it possible that there is no longevity in this world? Can no one achieve longevity?"

"I wish to prove Immortality. When heaven and earth are destroyed, I shall not be destroyed. When all things decay, I shall not decay. When the sun and moon wither away, I shall endure!"

"Those who seek Immortality must first transform their Physical Body into [Immortality], known as the Immortal Petrified State. It is not truly 'stone,' but simply the first step in welcoming the immortality of the Physical Body. After entering the state of full-body Immortality, if one can move, one has already surpassed the Quasi-Emperor level. If the 'stone' on the body begins to fall off, revealing the true form, then one is progressing towards the path of the Emperor."

"When the entire head is fully revealed, the Immortal's power is comparable to an Emperor, and their Lifespan exceeds that of an Emperor! This is known as the first stage of Immortality."

"When both arms are fully revealed, one's strength exceeds that of an ordinary Emperor, comparable to the level of a Super Emperor. This is called the second stage."

"If all four limbs are free from the petrified state, one's combat power exceeds the Emperor Realm, stepping into a new stage, known as the third stage."

"..."

After reading this notebook that recorded the "Path of Immortal Cultivation," Chu Ying and all the Beauties by his side were deeply shocked. Of course, Chu Hongyi remained relatively calm; she had no limitations on her "Lifespan" to begin with, and this Path of Immortal Cultivation was clearly a special cultivation system and state, likely a path carved out by those obsessed with pursuing longevity.

She did not care.

The reason Chu Ying was surprised was purely because he suddenly realized in hindsight that the Path of Immortality was somewhat unconventional! His own cultivation was not exactly by the book or following a set routine either. For example, when he was on Origin Star, he stayed in the Cave Heaven Realm for a long time, and now he had cultivated his own Immeasurable World—possessing an entire world within himself!

And this world was still constantly evolving, expanding, and perfecting itself! Was his own path of cultivation considered normal? Naturally, it was also "not normal"!

Therefore, he felt that the "Path of Immortal Cultivation" might not be impossible to reference or learn from.

Xi Yao, Guan Miaoyin, Qiu Lingsu, Nalan Yu, and Beigong Yunni were surprised because they truly felt it was incredible. This was completely different from what they understood about the Achieve Dao and Become Emperor process. Most importantly, after the Emperor Realm, there were actually even higher, stronger, and more mysterious levels.

Although they had secretly suspected its existence—the path of martial arts is endless—they had previously been far from qualified to come into contact with or know about it. Now that they had learned of it just like that, they could not help but be quite shocked and surprised.

"What conditions must these Cultivators following the Path of Immortality meet to enter this petrified state of Immortality?" Chu Ying could not help but feel curious, because the notebook did not contain any content regarding this part. It seemed that in the era of the notebook's author, following the Path of Immortality was very easy and common, so it was not specifically recorded.

After all, the author would not have imagined that it was now a later age; the author of the notebook had likely died long ago, or perhaps had reached an extremely high Realm and existed in other levels of the Universe.

Since he had not figured this out, Chu Ying was not in a rush and continued to explore with all the Beauties.

And just as the group was walking within these ancient ruins of the Qingshan Sect.

Inside a certain gloomy and dark ancient Immortal Cave, a "stone person" sitting cross-legged on a stone bed suddenly moved. At this moment, the stone person, who had been completely petrified with skin made of stone, suddenly had a layer of stone skin fall off its head, revealing its forehead and eyes!

However, the entire head had not completely escaped the petrified state; only the part with the eyes and forehead had been freed from petrification.

"I have finally succeeded in emerging... What year is it now?" A deep, eerie voice sounded.

Judging by the forehead and eyes, this stone person was an old man. As for how long he had lived? It was truly hard to say.

Because for Cultivators who embarked on the Path of Immortality, their Lifespan could no longer be equated with that of normal Cultivators; they could not be spoken of in the same breath.

An Emperor had only a 100,000-year Lifespan, but a Cultivator following the Path of Immortality who turned into a stone person might remain a stone person for 100,000 years, looking like a "dead person," yet they might suddenly have a piece of stone skin fall off one day after 100,000 years and "come back to life."

This was also one layer of the meaning of "Immortality"—the Elementary stage of Physical Body immortality. After all, if one had turned to stone, how could one decay?

"In my Qingshan Sect, is there anyone else like me who has successfully stepped into Immortality?" The old man's eyes were dazed as he slowly stood up from the stone bed.

After the whole body is petrified and one follows the Path of Immortality, one's movements become very slow. This is a major drawback of cultivating the Immortality system! Of course, because the body is petrified, the "Immortality" in the initial stage also provides high defense, but if one encounters an enemy whose combat power far exceeds one's own, one will still be "shattered." Once the petrified body is shattered, that is complete death, and there is nothing more to say.

The old man slowly moved his figure towards the exit of the Immortal Cave. He opened the Restriction of the Immortal Cave and finally saw the light of day again.

"I wonder how many tens of thousands of years have passed..." The petrified old man sighed softly and continued to walk out slowly.

Not long after, the old man suddenly detected "strange" energy signatures; they were not from his Qingshan Sect.

"Have people from a later age arrived?" The old man narrowed his eyes, a ruthless glint rising in his pupils. So much time had passed, and all kinds of cultivation resources were gone. It would be perfect to intercept these ignorant, later-age Cultivators who had intruded into his sect.