The old man seemed to teleport, floating in front of Wang Longhu, curiously circling around him while observing intently.

It seemed he wanted to see what was so special about Wang Longhu.

Wang Longhu suddenly threw a punch, but his fist passed through the old man's body, hitting the air lightly like it struck cotton, having no effect whatsoever.

Wang Longhu frowned; if there really were ghosts in this world, why would people need to live? Wouldn't there be countless ghosts in the world?

Perhaps noticing Wang Longhu's confusion, the old man kindly smiled and said, "Young friend, there's no need to be puzzled. Since you can feel my presence, it means you have already reached that stage. In over six hundred years, even Wudang hasn't seen another person like you. I will clarify your doubts."

"Over six hundred years! Are you a Daoist from Wudang?" Wang Longhu was shocked by this statement.

Although he had reached the realm of 'seeing the divine without decay,' Wang Longhu didn't dare claim he could truly exist for six hundred years.

For the unexpected and the changes in this journey are too many, as the saying goes, the heavens are unpredictable, and misfortune may come at any moment.

However, this soul-like form of the old Daoist before him seemed to have achieved just that.

Rewind history six hundred years back, and it seemed to be around the Ming Dynasty.

"I am Sun Biyun, Daoist name Master Xu Xuan. In my youth, I studied Daoist alchemical texts, obsessed with learning the art of immortality, and thus entered Huashan to apprentice under famous teachers, receiving the secret teachings of the Huang-Lao and the 'Zhou Yi.'

I also loved to browse various books and later cultivated in Shaohua Mountain, where I met Zhang Sanfeng who taught me Daoist skills and later moved to Wudang.

As for talent, I was always inferior to Zhang Sanfeng, so during the Yongle Period, my physical body could no longer sustain itself and was on the verge of collapse."

Hearing the identity of the old Daoist, Wang Longhu was so shocked he couldn't utter a word.

Sun Biyun, a well-known Daoist from the late Yuan to early Ming Dynasty.

According to records, he had supposedly passed away in meditation back in 1417, yet now his soul still lingered in the world. How was this possible?

"In the fifteenth year of Yongle, I knew my time had come, but Zhang Sanfeng suddenly appeared secretly at Wudang, granting me a technique, allowing me to use Lv Zu's sword, abandon my body, and become immortal, existing perpetually in the world,

however, as a price, I must protect Wudang for three thousand years, unable to leave the place where Lv Zu's sword resides,

Since then, Zhang Sanfeng completely disappeared. You are the first person after him able to sense my existence, perhaps you will also have the opportunity to find out where Zhang Sanfeng and those few others eventually went."

The old Daoist spoke slowly, with great certainty, and Wang Longhu's sixth sense didn't detect any deceit in his words.

This meant that the soul-like form of the old Daoist before him was indeed the long-deceased Sun Biyun, and everything he said was true.

Regarding the matter of Lv Zu's sword, Wudang indeed possesses such an item.

To the left of Nanyan Palace in Wudang, above the money-struck golden bell, there's a Fengshui sword from the early Ming period. This sword has existed since the construction of Nanyan Palace.

Now, over 600 years have passed, and that sword on the cliff shows no signs of decay, clearly indicating that it is something extraordinary.

"So, Daoist Sun, in your current form, are you an immortal? How is it different from a ghost?" Wang Longhu asked, puzzled.

Sun Biyun smiled faintly, "It's true that the human body has three souls and seven spirits, but they must rely on the physical body to survive. Once the body dies for more than seven days, it completely vanishes from the world.

There are no ghosts in this world; without a physical body, the soul and spirit have no energy to maintain themselves, thus they can't escape the body and continue to exist in the world, and those who can achieve this are immortals.

The technique Zhang Sanfeng gave me is the technique of Corpse Immortal. Have you heard of Corpse Immortal?"

Wang Longhu nodded, "I've heard of it, but don't quite understand it."

Previously, when chatting with the Alliance Leader of Heaven and Earth at Mount Fuji, the Alliance Leader mentioned that back in the day, Hong Xiuquan's army excavated several imperial tombs in Jiangning, discovering three items left by ancient martial artists.

The Outer Canon of the Yellow Emperor, Da Yi Pill, and the Daoist method of Corpse Immortal.

"During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a Daoist named Ge Hong who proposed the 'Immortals Can Be Learned Theory,' advocating that immortals have three categories: Celestial Immortals, Earth Immortals, and Corpse Immortals.

By the Tang Dynasty, the Lv Zu Dan Ding Sect further divided them into Celestial Immortals, Divine Immortals, Earth Immortals, Human Immortals, and Ghost Immortals.

I am not from the Daoist Dan Ding Sect, so I will only explain Ge Hong's theory to you,

Celestial Immortals are those who can physically ascend, maintaining the body and mana, ascending as Celestial Immortals.

Those who can only maintain the body, unable to preserve mana, yet their soul can leave the body and roam beneath the sun are Earth Immortals.

If their Dao cultivation is insufficient, unable to maintain the body, and their time has come, they can attempt the method of Corpse Immortal.

Abandon the body to ascend, leaving no corpse, relying on an object to ascend, known as Corpse Dissolution.

The Daoist scriptures record many methods of Corpse Dissolution; the 'Supreme Secrets: Corpse Dissolution Chapter' says: Apply drugs on charcoal to make others see the form and burn to death, known as Fire Dissolution.

'Daoist and Spiritual Immortal Records' mentions: Duan Jizheng, an hermit, learned Taoism from Master Sima later in life; he drowned crossing the Qin Chuan, believed to be Water Dissolution.

Yao Chang first sent men to Longyou, meeting Jiagu's two disciples, covering over a thousand miles. It was the day to eliminate Jiagu. Jiagu sent a letter to Chang; Chang ordered Jiagu and the two disciples' coffins opened, finding no corpses, only a bamboo staff each, known as Soldier Dissolution.