Delirium patients each acted independently, forming one bizarre and grotesque force after another, and they even produced large numbers of wooden seats.
In the world of delirium, the crude wooden seats instead resembled the Buddha's nine-grade lotus thrones, emitting dazzling light.
Yet it was precisely the effect of delirium: it not only stimulated the growth of disease types, but could also make patients feel as if they were personally within an immortal realm, on the verge of attaining the Dao and becoming immortals at any moment.
When the Longevity Immortal statue was completely formed, all the delirium patients gathered on both sides of the spacious streets. They gazed at the Longevity Immortal statue, as sacred as if worshipping immortal Buddhas.
The ranks of delirium patients grew ever stronger, as citizens were continuously eroded and lost control to delirium, joining the embrace of delusional cultivation.
However, these citizens were originally people who admired immortals, so their willpower was particularly weak; the majority of people were still able to endure it.
Roots extended from the tip of the immortal peach held in the Longevity Immortal statue's hand, landing beside a cultivator whose disease-type mutation appeared the most severe.
The cultivator burst into loud laughter and without hesitation reached out to touch the roots.
"Fellow Daoists, I shall ascend to immortality first!!!"
Seven-colored light radiated from all the pores of his body. Nearby cultivators could not help but kneel to the ground, their expressions becoming extremely fanatical.
Ge ge ge ge ge...
The cultivator's spine abruptly bulged outward, his limbs trembling incessantly.
Yet his expression still maintained fanaticism, as if what awaited him was a metamorphosis of feathered ascension into immortality, stirring longing in onlookers' hearts.
Soon cracks split open along his spine, and a newborn cultivator slowly drilled out.
His original appearance had been incomparably grotesque, yet now he seemed restored to normal, with white hair and a youthful face, wearing a neat Daoist robe.
He perfectly matched everyone's impression of an immortal.
The cultivator floated lightly toward the top of the Longevity Immortal statue. The remaining fellow Daoists all watched him depart, their eyes filled with uncontrollable admiration.
But what was the scene in the real world?
One could see that the roots extended by the Longevity Immortal statue had already sucked the patient dry into a human husk.
From flesh and bones to the soul, not a trace remained. The so-called feathered ascension into immortality was nothing more than the delusional fantasy of delirium patients.
In the eyes of the surviving body martial cultivators, Weian Town was shrouded in unspeakable despair.
Relying on body martial arts, they could barely resist the erosion from delirium aura, and thus each hid in concealed cellars within houses.
Body martial cultivators came from various martial instruction halls and in fact knew somewhat about the secrets of the Longevity Immortal statue: once it finished absorbing nutrients and nurturing fruit, it would completely wither.
Under such circumstances, naturally no one would resist the threat from the Longevity Species.
Ka ka ka ka...
The Blackstone Pavilion, reduced to ruins, suddenly collapsed further. From beneath crawled out a man covered in wounds, blackened blood smeared along his path.
Xu Sanzhang panted heavily, his consciousness muddled like paste.
He had no idea what had happened before being struck heavily on the head by falling stones, the building debris burying him beneath.
Under the influence of delirium aura, Xu Sanzhang appeared dazed and confused.
He struggled to climb to his feet, sweeping his gaze across the devastated Blackstone Pavilion, momentarily not knowing where to go.
Just moments ago he had been worrying about Weian Town's future; now the town was almost razed to the ground.
In the distance, the Longevity Immortal statue that pierced the heavens loomed within hazy dust, and one could still see patients continuously climbing upward.
However, the majority of patients ended by falling and shattering into pieces.
Xu Sanzhang staggered toward Qingfeng Pavilion. Compared to the severely damaged Blackstone Pavilion, Qingfeng Pavilion, being on the outskirts, should be in better condition.
Looking at the surrounding wreckage and the rotting limbs of corpses in courtyards, a dense sense of despair arose in his heart.
"Taboo... taboo..."
Xu Shiwang's mad voice entered his ears, and Xu Sanzhang immediately came back to his senses.
He subconsciously walked a few steps toward the source of the sound, only to feel a wave of chill rush toward him, instantly sweeping away distracting thoughts from his mind.
In his astonishment, Xu Sanzhang discovered that it was Wang Shanlu himself.
"How is that possible..."
Because Ren Qing did not conceal his aura, the Half-Corpse realm Iron-Grinding Sword Method was fully exposed, mixed together with two other Martial Practitioner realm body martial arts.
Xu Sanzhang had never imagined that Ren Qing could reach in just a few days what ordinary people cultivated for decades. He stood there dumbfounded.
A thought stirred in his mind, and he suddenly realized that the rancid stench he had previously smelled on Ren Qing seemed similar to the scent of Nanfeng's corpse.
"It seems Nanfeng should indeed have been silently killed by Shanlu."
Xu Sanzhang could not help but show a bitter smile. Nanfeng had been smashed to death with a single punch, just how exaggerated was Wang Shanlu's strength?
"Attain the Dao and become immortal!!!"
"Attain the Dao and become immortal!!!!"
The rioters' carnival continued. Patients spread out in groups, clearly with more than ten heading toward Blackstone Pavilion.
Xu Sanzhang hurried over to Ren Qing, intending to protect his cultivation.
If his guess was correct, Ren Qing should be at the critical juncture of breaking through a realm; he could not allow those madmen to come and disturb him.
Thump... thump... thump... thump...
Heavy heartbeats resounded.
An aura like tangible substance radiated from Ren Qing, with black-gray smoke and dust continuously drifting and gathering, appearing incomparably terrifying.
Xu Sanzhang already sensed something was wrong, and at this moment his intelligence was gradually affected by delirium.
Why would the approaching patients feel fear? Instead, like fireflies drawn to light, hundreds swarmed toward Blackstone Pavilion.
Seeing this, Xu Sanzhang's arms sprayed forth thick streams of air, while patients not far away crawled rapidly on all fours, resembling demons in chaotic dance.
Although most patients were transformed from mortals, the delirium aura was genuine and could easily cause his disease types to lose control.
Once mortals were absorbed by the Longevity Immortal statue, if the nutrients were still insufficient for fruit maturation, the immortal would certainly make a move against body martial cultivators.
Only then would true chaos erupt, with all cultivators willingly slaughtering one another for survival quotas.
Xu Sanzhang had already prepared to die; it was far better than falling into the immortal's hands, and he did not wish to attempt ignoble survival.
"Attaining the Dao and becoming immortal, could true cultivation in this world really be like this?"
He sighed helplessly, legs exerting force as he charged into the crowd. With a raise of his hand, several wind blades flew out, cutting several patients cleanly in half at the waist.
Yet the patients did not hesitate in the face of death; instead they became even more resolute, chanting "attain immortality through the Dao."
As patient casualties increased, the three Longevity Species atop the Longevity Immortal statue lowered their heads and spoke with thunderous voices.
"The immortal Dao is impermanent."
"Fortune Immortal is dead."
"Prosperity Immortal is dead."
"Longevity Immortal shall rise!!!"
The actions of the Longevity Species were clearly accelerating the growth speed of the Longevity Immortal statue.
Patients immediately prostrated themselves on the ground, stuffing the corpses of fallen companions into their mouths indiscriminately, their mouths full of bloody flesh scraps.
Xu Sanzhang could not help but feel despair; he even felt an urge to join them.
He staggered out of the encirclement, barely reaching a relatively open area, then lay flat on his back without strength to move.
Xu Sanzhang sorrowfully realized that the patients he killed were nothing more than pawns of the immortal, completely unable to affect the situation.
Amid Xu Shiwang's repeated hoarse roars, an additional layer of desolation invisibly enveloped Blackstone Pavilion.
The roots of the Longevity Immortal statue coiled around patient cultivators whose disease types were sufficiently mature, quickly adding hundreds of gaunt corpses.
Body martial cultivators observing in secret revealed expressions of shared doom.
A swelling bulged on the Longevity Immortal statue's forehead, not like the previous nurturing of aberrant beings, yet faintly one could see a swimming humanoid form.
With the tacit approval of the Longevity Species, the statue continuously devoured patients from Weian Town, corpses lying strewn haphazardly in street corners.
Xu Sanzhang held his breath; no one knew what the Longevity Immortal statue would ultimately form.
At this moment, a gale rose out of nowhere. Violent fluctuations emitted by Nether Yuan flashed past, then returned into Ren Qing's body.
Ren Qing opened his eyes, only feeling Nether Yuan become extremely abundant.
Several-meter-long serpentine black shadows writhed beneath his feet, then submerged back into the shadows.
The Information flow surged.
[Lifespan: thirty years fifty-five days]
[Disease types: Giantization Disease Type, Hard Bone Disease Type, Flesh-Increasing Disease Type, Sleeplessness Disease Type, Cancer Disease Tree Disease Type]
[Body martial arts: Iron-Grinding Sword Method (Half-Corpse), Night Roaming Sword Method (Martial Practitioner), Giant Strength Palm Method (Martial Practitioner)]
The Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, after all, was merely derived from the Heavenly Dao method, so its lifespan-extending effect was naturally discounted. Originally, Foundation Establishment should have granted around forty years; now it was only thirty.
However, for Ren Qing, thirty years of lifespan was enough for him to fully develop, not to mention that body martial arts also had lifespan-extending effects.
He did not hesitate to expend one hundred days, causing the Giant Strength Palm Method to advance to the Half-Corpse realm.
Ren Qing's spine emitted crisp sounds; if not for the suppression of the insect body, his physique would likely have visibly grown taller.
He glanced at the Longevity Species out of the corner of his eye, then squatted beside Xu Sanzhang.
The expressions of the Longevity Species showed no change. Even though they could sense the Nether Yuan radiating from Ren Qing, they still did not place him in their eyes.
Ren Qing was immersed in advancing realms, yet he still knew of the surrounding changes.
He heard the Longevity Species speak of the Fortune and Prosperity Immortals' deaths, inevitably feeling puzzled about what changes had occurred within the Longevity Forbidden Zone.
Perhaps before the Ancestor ascended, he had completely suppressed the Fortune and Prosperity Immortals?
Then why not simply suppress the Longevity Immortal as well, so later generations' Longevity Forbidden Zone would not have become so chaotic, evolving into a peach garden that cultivated aberrant beings?
Ren Qing shook his head, forcibly suppressing stray thoughts; there was no time to investigate these matters.
Delirium aura could indeed be isolated by dream-seed artifacts, but it treated symptoms rather than the root cause. Staying long-term in Weian Town would inevitably lead to madness.
Ren Qing tapped Xu Sanzhang's brow, using Nether Yuan to restore his consciousness, though he was still on the brink of collapse.
"Where in Weian Town is the Chen Clan Martial Instruction Hall that teaches body-forging body martial arts?"
Xu Sanzhang barely opened his eyes, raised a hand to point southwest, then his mouth filled with incoherent rambling, his delirium condition was evidently severe.
Ren Qing hurried toward the Chen Clan Martial Instruction Hall and soon found the disease tree recording body martial arts.
He successfully obtained the body martial art related to the flesh-increasing disease type, named "Golden Bell Body-Forging," and directly chose to advance it to the Half-Corpse realm.
Giantization, flesh-increasing, and hard bone, three disease types complemented one another, undertaking drastic transformation of his body, his aura growing ever more robust.
Ren Qing looked at the information flow. Advancing from the Half-Corpse realm to the Ghost Envoy realm required ten years of lifespan; advancing a single body martial art to the Yin Constable realm would likely be difficult.
Advance Giant Strength Palm Method? This will consume ten years of lifespan
After confirming, he endured intense pain and looked at the information flow again, only to see that advancing to the Yin Constable realm had become over a hundred years.
Although reaching the Ghost Envoy realm with the Giant Strength Palm Method restored five years of lifespan, it was still a mere drop in the bucket compared to what the Yin Constable realm required.