Ren Qing did not rush to master the Dead Man's Sutra. Instead, he first raised the Dead Blood Scripture to the Ghost Envoy Realm.
He instantly felt as though all the blood vessels throughout his body were being scorched by blazing flames. It was clearly visible through his skin that his blood vessels had turned a purplish-black color.
At first, Ren Qing was somewhat worried that the Zhili Technique might react because of this, after all, the Nightmare Art was primarily centered around blood.
Fortunately, just as the information flow had shown, the Zhili Technique could be cultivated alongside other techniques. The Corpse Poison Practitioner path advanced smoothly to the Ghost Envoy Realm.
The Ghost Envoy Realm of the Corpse Poison Practitioner was called the Light-Shunning Poison Corpse, because the heat brought by sunlight would make the blood extremely unstable.
Enduring the tingling sensation throughout his body, Ren Qing proceeded to master the techniques split from the Dead Man's Sutra in one breath.
[One year of lifespan may be consumed to exempt the cost and gain mastery.]
[One year of lifespan may be consumed to exempt the cost and gain mastery.]
The Corpse Refinement Method, Skeletal Corpse Method, and Corpse Brain Method consumed a total of three years. The moment they were mastered, they immediately formed a complete Dead Man's Sutra and caused corpse transformation to appear within Ren Qing's body.
Ren Qing casually mastered the Bone Teeth Technique as well. Although the information flow only displayed three techniques, there were actually still five.
It was simply because the Dead Man's Sutra, as an Ascension Method, had already undergone technique fusion.
[Would you like to advance to White Zombie? This will consume fifty years of lifespan.]
Advancing the Dead Man's Sutra to the Half-Corpse Realm White Zombie required fifty years of lifespan. Fortunately, it did not require any additional lifespan expenditure. He only needed to ensure that the secondary techniques did not surpass the primary technique in realm.
Ren Qing selected the three aberration transformations of the Dead Blood Scripture, all focused on stabilizing the body.
The first aberration transformation was called Corpse Blood.
[Corpse Blood: The corpse poison within the blood can be strengthened through corpse transformation, or weakened in reverse.]
Ren Qing could lower the toxicity in his blood by absorbing vitality, preventing even his breath from poisoning others to death.
The second aberration transformation was called Living Blood.
[Living Blood: Although the blood contains corpse poison, it will not affect the body, and the blood continues circulating through the vessels with the beating of the heart.]
The Corpse Poison Practitioner would normally cause blood flow to slow down, and by the Yin Difference Realm, it would stop entirely.
Many of the techniques Ren Qing cultivated involved internal organs. If the blood ceased flowing, it could potentially damage the foundations of those techniques.
Moreover, whether the Ascension Method he comprehended could coexist with other techniques was very important to him.
The third and final aberration transformation was Poison Consumption.
[Poison Consumption: Corpse poison can be consumed to replenish the blood within the body.]
A zombie's blood truly could not regenerate, even if the blood-producing organs remained alive.
Once Ren Qing completed the three aberration transformations of the Dead Blood Scripture, the Dead Man's Sutra naturally advanced to the Half-Corpse Realm. By consuming another two hundred years of lifespan, it could break through to Hairy Zombie and condense a Corpse Core.
[Would you like to choose the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse branch? This will consume two hundred years of lifespan.]
As the Dead Blood Scripture advanced to the Yin Difference Realm, the Dead Man's Sutra closely followed and broke through into the Ghost Envoy Realm. His flesh immediately became pale, swollen, and corpse-like.
The Yin Difference Realm's process of binding the Yin Spirit involved wearing down the consciousness of the strange object. With the suppression of the Dream Technique, it was completed after only a bit of effort.
Ren Qing glanced at his information flow.
[Lifespan: 854 years]
Without hesitation, he spent five hundred years to advance the Dead Blood Scripture to the Yin Spirit Fusion Realm.
[Would you like to advance to Yin Spirit Fusion? This will consume five hundred years of lifespan.]
Ren Qing looked toward the Mud Pellet Palace.
Within it, the aberration tree of the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse flourished rapidly, quickly growing into a towering giant tree.
The aberration tree of the Bone Teeth Technique, however, was only a newly sprouted sapling.
The aberration tree of the Dead Man's Sutra was extraordinarily unusual. Its shape resembled a corpse, with countless outstretched arms growing like branches.
Ren Qing controlled the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse aberration tree, wrapping its roots around the Bone Teeth Technique and effortlessly turning it into a secondary technique.
Immediately afterward, the roots of the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse aberration tree extended toward the Dead Man's Sutra aberration tree.
The Dead Man's Sutra aberration tree used its numerous arms to block the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse aberration tree.
The two entered a stalemate, though the Dead Man's Sutra held a faint advantage.
Ren Qing frowned.
Even though he had split the Dead Man's Sutra apart again, it was still fundamentally an Ascension Method created through the fusion of three techniques.
Establishing the Dead Blood Scripture as the primary technique would likely not be as simple as he had imagined.
Ren Qing focused all his attention on the Mud Pellet Palace, controlling the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse aberration tree while simultaneously using Spirit Division to advance the Bone Teeth Technique to the Ghost Envoy Realm.
The Ghost Envoy Realm of the Bone Vein Practitioner was called White Bone Spiritual Marrow, causing all the marrow in Ren Qing's body to resemble countless intertwined threads.
The Dragon Spine seemed displeased by this and simply burrowed into the Stomach World.
After activating the Bone Teeth Technique, Ren Qing could extend fine strands of bone silk from his skeleton, using them to bind enemies and absorb their marrow for nourishment.
As a secondary technique of the Dead Blood Scripture, the advancement of the Bone Teeth Technique indirectly strengthened the primary technique.
The Night-Roaming Poison Corpse gradually gained the upper hand.
Its roots pierced into the trunk of the Dead Man's Sutra aberration tree, and a connection between the techniques immediately formed.
After establishing the hierarchy between primary and secondary techniques, the inexplicable unease in Ren Qing's heart vanished completely.
This proved that he had thoroughly severed the traces left behind by Corpse Immortal.
A smile could not help but appear on his face.
Ren Qing thought of the destroyed Dead Man's Forbidden Zone and wondered whether Corpse Immortal's plans had failed because of his interference.
With a strange expression, he shook his head and thought to himself:
"Even if he gained nothing, with his ability to preserve his life, there's no way he'd truly perish."
"The only exception is the Mirror World..."
Ren Qing sighed.
The Corpse Mirror had likely been buried deep underground.
Once several hundred years passed and the beings inside the Mirror World gradually died, strange objects would probably awaken and form a new forbidden zone.
There were thousands of dormant cultivators inside.
Most possessed cultivation above the Ghost Envoy Realm, and some were even Heavenly Aberration cultivators.
Even if they were processed purely as resources, they could help the Restraint Officers' Hall produce more than a dozen Yang God cultivators.
Ren Qing muttered with some regret,
"If only I could enter the Mirror World..."
At that moment, he suddenly realized that the various Mirror Worlds might be interconnected.
By using the Strange Mirror Walker ability, he could potentially open the Corpse Mirror.
As long as he confirmed that Corpse Immortal was not inside, the entire Mirror World would belong to him.
Ren Qing paced back and forth within a few meters of space, pondering how to obtain the Mirror World. It took him most of a day before he finally calmed down.
Naturally, he would not directly use Strange Mirror Walker.
The ability of that technique was to imprison the true body within a Mirror World. There were simply too many unknown variables.
Ren Qing intended to learn from Corpse Immortal's methods and refine an artifact similar to the Corpse Mirror.
He selected several Strange Mirror Immortal strange objects from the Great Dream Weird Dao and handed them all to Little Third, instructing him to attempt refining a Strange Fetus Artifact.
Ren Qing was not in a hurry to enter the Mirror World.
When the Corpse Mirror underwent its drastic transformation, the cultivators who had been forcibly sealed inside were likely already dead.
As for the others, most remained in stable condition and could probably last several decades.
Ren Qing chose to continue his secluded cultivation.
He threw all of his remaining wine ore into the Flesh Furnace, not even leaving a share for Dream City's taverns, and finally gathered another five hundred years of lifespan.
[Would you like to advance to Spirit Release? This will consume five hundred years of lifespan.]
Five hundred years of lifespan vanished in an instant.
Ren Qing now had less than ten years remaining.
The Night-Roaming Poison Corpse advanced into the final realm of the Yin Difference Realm.
Next came the fusion of aberration transformations between the primary and secondary techniques.
Ren Qing glanced into the Mud Pellet Palace.
Three fruits hung from the branches of the Night-Roaming Poison Corpse aberration tree, representing its three aberration transformation branches.
The Bone Teeth Technique had not yet undergone aberration transformations, so its tree remained bare.
As for the Dead Man's Sutra aberration tree, nine fruits hung from its branches.
These represented the cultivation path once taken by Corpse Immortal.
Ren Qing examined them roughly.
Nearly all of the aberration abilities focused on strengthening the body.
For example, Corpse Brain could seal consciousness inside the brain while allowing instinct to control the body.
Another was Corpse Arm, which allowed the arms to unleash strength far beyond normal limits, though it would cause the flesh to collapse.
The nine aberration abilities were not particularly powerful, but neither were they useless.
Their effects were simply narrow in scope, providing enhancements only to the body.
Yet if Ren Qing were selecting the three aberration transformations of the Bone Teeth Technique, he would also focus entirely on strengthening the body and maximizing the advantages of a zombie physique.
Ren Qing quietly closed his eyes and meditated, continuously circulating yin qi through his meridians.
Once the primary and secondary techniques became connected, the yin qi could not only strengthen the Dead Man's Sutra but could also cultivate both the Dead Blood Scripture and the Bone Teeth Technique.
The problem was that for zombies, cultivation through yin qi was extraordinarily slow.
Otherwise, zombies like Tian Fang would not have needed several hundred years just to reach Hairy Zombie.
Suddenly, Ren Qing remembered something and found Daoist Lingxiao's corpse.
After Daoist Lingxiao became a zombie, his Natal Golden Core had transformed into an object of extreme toxicity, so Ren Qing had sealed it within the Stomach World.
Ren Qing dug out the Corpse Core while tossing Daoist Lingxiao's corpse into the Land of Bones.
Whether it could become a zombie once again would depend on fate.
The Corpse Core emitted a strange scent, but the strange object of the Dead Blood Scripture immediately became restless.
It seemed that for zombies, the Corpse Core was an exceptional tonic.
After the medicinal properties of the alchemical path were converted into yin qi, they became even purer.
For Ren Qing himself, directly consuming the Corpse Core felt somewhat wasteful.
After all, a single Corpse Core was enough to create a Yang God Realm zombie.
Yet no zombie currently possessed cultivation close to the completion of the Yin Difference Realm.
As his own strength increased, he would naturally acquire more resources in the future.
Ren Qing did not consume the Corpse Core immediately.
Instead, after accumulating one hundred and fifty years of lifespan, he first completed the three aberration transformations of the Bone Teeth Technique.
[Bone Healing: Bone marrow can be consumed to accelerate bone recovery.]
[Bone Nourishment: Bone marrow continuously nourishes the skeleton, increasing both strength and flexibility.]
[Imperishable: Bone marrow can be used to repair the body.]
All three aberration transformations leaned toward support functions, but they compensated for the shortcomings of a zombie body.
Even the Ghost Shadow Technique benefited considerably.
Ren Qing tossed the Corpse Core into his mouth.
Dense yin qi immediately erupted outward, only to be restrained by the power of the Dream Technique.
The Dream Technique prevented the yin qi from leaking away and precisely directed it toward aberration fusion.
Ren Qing could feel that the yin qi within the Corpse Core was enough to nurture an embryonic divine ability and perhaps even push the Dead Blood Scripture all the way to the Yang God Realm.
The only issue was that absorbing yin qi remained shockingly inefficient.
Ren Qing estimated he would need to remain in secluded cultivation within the canyon for several years.
It was also a good opportunity to settle his state of mind and avoid becoming lost in the temptation of undying immortality.
Before long, he completely forgot the passage of time, only occasionally paying attention to the development of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The cross-legged Forbidden Corpse became covered by thick layers of mountain ash.
From the outside, it appeared to be a naturally formed statue.
The scale of the acid rain gradually diminished.
Plants and animals once again appeared upon the plains.
The effects left behind by the battle between immortals and Buddhas were steadily fading away.
Yet wild beasts instinctively avoided the canyon, as though a natural predator lurked within.
Spring passed and autumn arrived.
Someone sought immortality here.