Gray-black storm clouds covered the sky, and rain began to fall.
As soon as the rain touched the vegetation on the ground, a faint mist rose up, accompanied by strange sizzling sounds. The bones of animals mixed into the soil dissolved into gelatinous pus under the washing rain before quickly being absorbed by the earth.
The scene looked like a celestial paradise, yet it carried an indescribably eerie stillness.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Heavy footsteps approached from afar.
The Guardian Forbidden Corpse broke through the clouds and strode northwest under the sunlight.
After growing over this period of time, its body had reached roughly 2,500 meters in height, resembling Mount Buzhou piercing into the heavens.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged atop its head with his eyes closed, constantly muttering to himself.
Several months had passed since the Guardian Forbidden Corpse left the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone. During that time, he had not rushed his cultivation and had instead focused on stabilizing his realm.
Possessing an Ascension Method that led directly to the Earth Immortal Realm did not mean one could simply attain immortality.
Ren Qing let out a long breath before frowning up at the clouds overhead.
Yin qi was mixed throughout them, and the stench of rot filled his nose and mouth.
Even though the Guardian Forbidden Corpse had traveled an unknown distance, he could still sense the lingering aftermath of the battle between immortals and Buddhas.
Both immortals and Buddhas possessed the power to reshape heaven and earth. Such might was beyond the imagination of mortals.
Of course, yin qi could not completely exterminate all plants and animals. Within a few years, countless lifeforms adapted to acid rain would inevitably emerge here.
Ren Qing handed control of the Guardian Forbidden Corpse over to the Restraint Officers' Hall. Only occasionally did he check on the situation with his consciousness. The rest of his time was devoted to cultivation.
The Restraint Officers' Hall did not disappoint.
The cultivators worked in an orderly manner within its body. Some gathered resources, while others nourished the various aberrated organs.
Taking advantage of his free time, Ren Qing used his perfected Yang God Realm Dream Technique to completely transform the Guardian Forbidden Corpse's appearance.
It could no longer be compared to its former half-Buddha, half-corpse form.
The main reason was that Ren Qing had realized this world contained a conflict between Daoism and Buddhism, so he deliberately shifted the Guardian Forbidden Corpse toward a Daoist aesthetic.
Though both factions treated mortals as resources, their methods were entirely different.
No matter how extreme Daoism became, it could not compare to the horror of Buddhism consuming all living things. The two sides were destined to be mortal enemies.
At present, the Restraint Officers' Hall could not yet establish itself in this world, so choosing the right side was important.
After undergoing aberration, Nether Yuan had spread through the Guardian Forbidden Corpse's entire body along its blood vessels, naturally giving it an ethereal, immortal-like aura.
The insect eyes originally located on its abdomen had been moved between the ribs due to visibility concerns. Under reflected light, they emitted seven-colored radiance.
Its body was covered in fine pale-green scales under the effects of the Cancer Disease Tree disease seed, mixed with white bones, making it appear as though clad in green armor.
The primary head had grown three eyes. Its appearance was solemn and dignified like a statue. Its gray-white hair had even been tied up using an artifact hairpin.
It resembled one of the Daoist divine generals known as the Six Ding and Six Jia.
Ren Qing had also transformed the secondary head into a flood serpent. Its face was covered in eyes of varying sizes, while the serpent body that served as its neck swayed gently.
Normally, the Restraint Officers' Hall would position the secondary head, known as the Dharma Serpent, high in the sky. The Hundred-Eyed Demon Tiger Zhang Yi would lead it, using the Hundred-Eyed One's abilities to monitor everything within several hundred li.
Calling it the Giant Corpse Buddha was obviously no longer appropriate.
In the end, it was named the Guardian Forbidden Corpse, also referred to simply as the Forbidden Corpse.
If he weren't worried about attracting too much attention, Ren Qing would have even added swirling immortal qi around it.
He also specifically instructed Li Tiangang to transfer a group of turtle demon-kind and use the Dream Technique to teach them the Calamity Evader and Fortune Knower branches of the Longevous Tortoise Technique.
After the turtle demons mastered them, all memories of the Longevous Tortoise Technique were erased.
Their role was to monitor for disasters and dangers to avoid being caught off guard by sudden threats.
Taking this opportunity, Li Tiangang further refined the structure of the Restraint Officers' Hall's affiliated factions.
The Restraint Officers became the Soldier Vein.
The demon-kind became the Demon Vein.
Wuwei Daoist Temple became the Winged Vein.
The Heavenly Dao insect people became the Insect Vein.
The cocoon people became the Cocoon Vein.
The zombies became the Corpse Vein.
Stretching lazily, Ren Qing exercised atop the Dharma Serpent while concern arose in his heart for Song Zongwu and Great Dream Realized Person.
Although it was still far from the agreed date to return to the Longevity Forbidden Zone, he had been unable to contact either of them through the Dream Technique.
Great Dream Realized Person was probably still trapped in seclusion. Ren Qing had no idea whether he had escaped yet.
As for Song Zongwu, Ren Qing's Dream Technique had never once detected his presence. Logically speaking, Buddhist techniques should not allow someone to become a Buddha within just a few years.
There was little Ren Qing could do.
He could only focus on increasing his own cultivation as quickly as possible.
Originally, he had planned to head to the Bottomless Pit and find a safe place for seclusion.
But then Ren Qing suddenly remembered something.
The Buddhist qi had likely already devoured the current Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva and would undoubtedly travel to Cishi.
After all, the mountain ranges of Heaven Above Heaven still contained the sealed Buddhist cultivators of previous generations.
What if the Great Compassion Buddhist qi was searching for a new Buddhist child to inherit its fruition status?
If he retraced his route, wouldn't he be walking directly into danger?
Ren Qing considered himself extraordinarily talented. There was a good chance the Great Compassion Buddhist qi would take an interest in him.
Since Cishi was no longer an option and remaining where he was made no sense either, he simply guided the Forbidden Corpse through nearby regions in search of a suitable place to settle.
Pressing his tongue against the tortoise shell, Ren Qing discovered that the hexagram had finally changed into an auspicious sign.
This indicated that he had completely left the influence of the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone.
The Dead Man's Forbidden Zone had been destroyed, but the aftermath was bound to continue spreading.
In the eyes of many factions, the purpose of the Corpse Mirror was probably already well known.
It would certainly attract the attention of countless cultivators.
Only by relying on the Longevous Tortoise Technique had Ren Qing managed to quietly remove himself from the situation.
Looking around, he soon noticed a deep canyon in the distance.
Due to the temperature difference between the inside and outside, it was covered in dense fog.
It truly was an ideal place for secluded cultivation.
Ren Qing instructed the Forbidden Corpse to sit cross-legged within the canyon. The mist concealed its massive body so completely that even cultivators flying overhead would fail to notice it.
He had not wasted the past few months of travel.
After all, sharpening the axe did not delay the cutting of wood.
He had already organized his future cultivation path.
His lifespan had recovered to one thousand years.
His newly advanced Ascension Ladder Realm had stabilized.
He had even determined the lifespan required for the Heavenly Aberration Realm.
Would you like to advance to the Heavenly Aberration Realm? This will consume 20,000 years of lifespan.
Twenty thousand years.
Extending lifespan through Dream City alone was completely unrealistic unless Ren Qing somehow dragged every living being in this world into Dream City.
But if he could already achieve that, he would have long since become the Zhili Dream Immortal.
Fortunately, he had already uncovered the secret behind undying immortality.
To attain immortality through the Dead Man's Sutra, he estimated he had at least a fifty percent chance of success.
The reason the Dead Man's Sutra granted undying immortality was closely tied to the Heavenly Dao.
The Ascension Methods comprehended through contact with the Heavenly Dao all possessed unique intrinsic properties. These properties had nothing to do with the upper limits of the Ascension Method itself.
The Zhili Technique embodied the principle:
"Diseases originate from dreams. Command all dreams beneath heaven."
The Dead Man's Sutra embodied:
"Ageless, unborn, undying, and imperishable."
Unfortunately, directly cultivating the Dead Man's Sutra not only prevented advancement beyond Earth Immortal, it would also attract the attention of Corpse Immortal, just as it had with Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Ren Qing decided to change his cultivation strategy regarding the Dead Man's Sutra.
He no longer intended to make it his primary technique.
Instead, he would treat it as a secondary technique.
He wanted to erase Corpse Immortal's influence as much as possible.
After explaining the situation to Li Tiangang, Ren Qing headed deep into the intestinal forest and found a secluded corner to enter seclusion.
The first thing he did was not cultivate techniques related to the Dead Man's Sutra.
Instead, he used the Stomach World to strip away the incomplete Dead Man's Sutra within his body.
The moment the Corpse Core vanished from his dantian, the subtle corpse transformation throughout his body receded like a retreating tide.
Ren Qing immediately felt his body temperature rise.
The vitality of his internal organs noticeably increased.
Even the various strange objects within him became restless.
The Dead Man's Sutra did not require lifespan to advance.
Instead, it progressed through the lifespan consumed when other techniques advanced.
Ren Qing's abandoned Dead Man's Sutra was already approaching completion at the Yin Difference Realm, yet he felt no regret whatsoever.
Making the Dead Man's Sutra his primary technique carried too many hidden risks.
As a secondary technique, it was both safer and more adaptable.
Looking into the Stomach World, Ren Qing saw that the Dead Man's Sutra had transformed into a land of withered bones in the northwestern corner, continuously releasing dense yin qi.
This land of bones was perfectly suited for the zombies of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
After leaving the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, zombies could only cultivate using the yin qi they had previously collected. Otherwise, progress in the Corpse Refinement Method became painfully slow.
For the Corpse Vein, the land of bones was equivalent to their foundation within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
After examining both body and soul and confirming that no residual yin qi remained, Ren Qing took out two Restraint Officer techniques.
One already existed within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The other had been created personally by him.
[Bone Teeth Technique]
[Created by Lady White Bone.
To cultivate it, one must smash all the teeth in one's mouth, grind them together with another person's skull into powder, and consume the mixture. Thereafter, each human head consumed will grow one new tooth. Once the mouth is completely filled with teeth, the technique is successfully cultivated.]
Although the Bone Teeth Technique appeared ordinary, one of its aberration paths, known as the Bone Vein Practitioner, transformed bone marrow into something resembling plant roots.
The Bone Vein Practitioner path paired perfectly with the Skeletal Corpse Method.
More importantly, the Bone Teeth Technique shared a fundamentally similar nature with the Dead Man's Sutra, ensuring it would not interfere with the formation of the future Ascension Method.
The technique created by Ren Qing was the Dead Blood Scripture.
It was developed using the Planting Demons Scripture as a foundation and perfected through the tireless deductions of hundreds of bacterial souls.
Using the Dead Blood Scripture to control the Dead Man's Sutra should pose no problems.
[Dead Blood Scripture]
[Created by Ren Qing.
To cultivate it, naturally decayed bones must be ground into powder and injected into the bloodstream through the heart. The process continues until the blood becomes as thick as paste. Surviving the ordeal signifies successful cultivation.]
The aberration paths of the Dead Blood Scripture all pursued poison to the extreme.
In a certain sense, it would have suited Huang Ziwan quite well.
Unfortunately, Huang Ziwan already cultivated two techniques. Adding a third would likely make the Yin Difference Realm unattainable in this lifetime.
The three aberration paths of the Dead Blood Scripture were:
The Corpse Poison Practitioner, whose entire bloodstream transformed into corpse poison. As cultivation advanced, the poison would become increasingly terrifying.
The Corpse Servant Practitioner, whose blood could transform others into corpse servants. However, these corpse servants possessed no intelligence and had no potential for cultivation.
The Withered Blood Practitioner, whose blood dried up while corpse poison spread through flesh and bone. They could cultivate by consuming corpse poison and heal injuries by devouring corpses.
After much deliberation, Ren Qing ultimately chose the Corpse Poison Practitioner path due to its compatibility with the Dead Man's Sutra.
Upon reaching the Yang God Realm stage known as Crimson Land Drought Demon, the corpse poison would transform into pure fire poison, making it even more fitting for a zombie-based cultivation path.
Ren Qing immediately began cultivating the Dead Blood Scripture and ceased paying attention to the outside world.