Ren Qing quickly calmed himself down, realizing that the Corpse Mirror was far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.
Although the "Mirror Immortal" was extraordinarily powerful, that did not mean there was no upper limit to its abilities. If the caster were merely at the Heavenly Aberration Realm, it would be impossible for it to affect even the Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Could the creator already have attained immortality?
Ren Qing subconsciously rejected the thought and carefully examined the corpse that pierced straight into the heavens.
The corpse's abdomen had been hollowed out, yet the flesh showed no signs of decay whatsoever. It was obvious that its cultivation in life had exceeded imagination. Only after being refined into the Corpse Mirror could it possess such terrifying properties.
According to Ren Qing's estimate, the corpse had at minimum once belonged to an Earth Immortal.
With the miraculous abilities of the Strange Mirror Walker, even the most dangerous regions could be explored silently and unnoticed. Obtaining resources would be effortless.
Ren Qing even suspected that the owner of the Corpse Mirror had infiltrated the core territories of many factions before, moving through them as though entering an uninhabited land thanks to the cooperation of multiple techniques.
Obtaining an immortal's corpse probably would not have been difficult for such a person.
Unfortunately, the immortal corpse had already been completely refined into the Corpse Mirror. It was unrealistic for Ren Qing to learn its true origins through the Information Stream.
Still, Ren Qing already had some guesses regarding that person's purpose.
Turning the Mirror World into something akin to a refuge and imprisoning those lingering on the brink of death there, it was likely all for the sake of immortality.
Perhaps they hoped to draw inspiration from cultivators above the Heavenly Aberration Realm.
Ren Qing could not help but admire their methods.
If it were him, standing on the verge of exhausting his lifespan, even knowing the Mirror World had been arranged by some unknown cultivator, he would still step inside without hesitation just to continue surviving.
The Corpse Mirror was a naked conspiracy, one side willing to strike, the other willing to be struck.
Ren Qing's heartbeat quickened uncontrollably. If that were true, then perhaps the Mirror World concealed secrets related to attaining immortality.
It took him a long while before he finally calmed down.
After all, with the Information Stream, Ren Qing had already confirmed his own path to immortality from the very beginning. Longevity itself was what he truly sought.
He indeed intended to explore the Mirror World eventually, but there was no rush.
More than a dozen Dreamflower-formed Double Pupils opened across Ren Qing's forehead as he slowly circled the Corpse Mirror, transcribing the Dead Man's Sutra engraved upon it.
The characters were twisted and chaotic. Even Ren Qing could not decipher their meaning.
If not for the Information Stream confirming that the contents were indeed the incomplete Dead Man's Sutra, he would have mistaken them for artifact-refining inscriptions similar to Moon Patterns.
Ren Qing had tacitly allowed Daoist Yuhua to contact Daoist Taihan partly because of the issue of deciphering the script.
To complete the Dead Man's Sutra, he first needed to understand the meaning behind the characters. Otherwise, attempting to interpret them line by line would be no different from searching for a needle in the ocean.
That was why he had sent Daoist Yuhua to probe for information related to the script.
As for whether Daoist Taihan would join the Hall of Restraint Officers, Ren Qing did not particularly care. Mainly because he did not wish to become too deeply entangled with the Insect Nest.
Through Daoist Yuhua, Ren Qing had learned of the Insect Nest's true strength. Aside from lacking an Earth Immortal, the number of cultivators above the Yang Spirit Realm far surpassed the Hall of Restraint Officers.
Although the flaws of the Insect Nest Method made attaining immortality little more than a fantasy, the support of their long lifespans still allowed Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators to emerge.
Within the Insect Nest, Yang Spirit Realm cultivators were called "Broodmothers." Their duty was to guide lower-realm Heavenly Dao Insectfolk and strengthen their respective branches.
Once a Broodmother advanced to the Heavenly Aberration Realm, they became a "Matriarch" within the Insect Nest.
Daoist Yuhua had never come into contact with a Matriarch before, but judging from the relative strength of the various branches, he estimated there were at least three.
Cultivating the Insect Nest Method did not require the cumbersome restrictions of the Hall of Restraint Officers, so advancement naturally came far more easily.
Of course, cultivators of the Hall of Restraint Officers were vastly stronger than Heavenly Dao Insectfolk at the same realm. Each path had its own strengths and weaknesses.
Since the Insect Nest had stationed a large number of cultivators within the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, it meant that at least one Heavenly Dao Insect Mother had entered the Mirror World.
Ren Qing was thankful he had not revealed his true identity. Daoist Taihan only knew of the fictitious "Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal." There was no way he could connect that title to the remote Xiangxiang or the obscure Hall of Restraint Officers.
Give the Hall of Restraint Officers another hundred years, and its strength would surely become even more terrifying than the Insect Nest's.
Its latent potential was steadily transforming into true power. More and more cultivators were advancing into the Yin Difference Realm. It was only a matter of time before the Corpse Ghost returned to the Yang Spirit Realm, and Li Yaoyang also had hopes of advancing.
Even Li Tiangang, whose cultivation had stagnated for years, would have at least a thirty percent chance of breaking through if he consumed the Natal Golden Core.
However, the Natal Golden Core contained Lingxiao Daoist's soul, so there was certainly a risk of failure.
And once the Natal Golden Core was completely digested, Lingxiao Daoist's true body would leave the Mirror World. Who knew what complications that might bring.
For the moment, Ren Qing had not informed Li Tiangang. In his spare time, he merely continued examining the Natal Golden Core to see whether the hidden drawbacks could somehow be avoided.
He knew Li Tiangang would never pass up the opportunity to advance into the Yang Spirit Realm. But if the man died because of it, the blow to the Hall of Restraint Officers would be immense.
Ren Qing shook his head and continued transcribing the Dead Man's Sutra. The characters had already accumulated into a thick volume several times larger than ordinary Hall of Restraint Officers techniques.
At the same time, he noticed that the script on the upper half of the corpse had become increasingly sloppy.
It seemed that while engraving the text, the creator's mind had already been on the verge of collapse due to some unknown reason.
Even though Ren Qing could not understand the language, he could still guess that many of the repetitive phrases were likely the creator's own mutterings.
This reminded him of the hastily created Corpse Refinement Method, which itself had likely been born because of the flaws within the Dead Man's Sutra.
Like a madman, Ren Qing stared fixedly at the Corpse Mirror, as though he could sense the creator's deteriorating mental state. Even he himself was being subtly influenced.
Without realizing it, he became completely immersed.
Eventually, he unknowingly walked to within a hundred meters of the Corpse Mirror and sat among swarms of carrion insects, silently staring at the Dead Man's Sutra.
More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that period, the town remained eerily peaceful. Perhaps because of Ren Qing's earlier show of force, the other factions no longer dared provoke him.
When Ren Qing finally regained his senses, he realized that he was already standing before the hollow opening in the corpse's abdomen, instinctively preparing to step into the Mirror World.
Fortunately, Ghost Shadow wrapped itself around his legs while the Nether Yuan of the Heavenly Dao Insect stimulated his flesh, snapping him awake.
Cold sweat covered Ren Qing's forehead. Even as a Yang Spirit Realm cultivator, merely facing the corpse of a dead immortal gave him the illusion that his body and soul were no longer under his control.
He stared into the boundless darkness before him.
Beyond it lay the Mirror World.
Pools of blood were scattered all around. Although they dripped from the immortal's corpse, they possessed no value whatsoever.
Within the blood lay more than a dozen skeletal remains, now nothing more than breeding grounds for carrion insects.
After inspecting them, Ren Qing determined that the skeletons belonged to the cultivators who had entered the Mirror World all those years ago. They had likely been affected by the Corpse Mirror and slaughtered one another, most dying at the hands of their fellow cultivators.
"What if... I sent my bacterial soul into the Mirror World? Could I use it to uncover the truth there?"
The thought became increasingly difficult to suppress.
To Ren Qing, the opportunities hidden within the Mirror World might rival even the Dead Man's Sutra itself.
After pondering for a long time, he finally decided to give it a try.
But to be safe, he first intended to examine that mysterious memory.
Through Dream City, his consciousness arrived within the Longevity Forbidden Zone. He then controlled the roots of the Longevity Tree to dig out the artifact-transformed secondary brain buried there.
Ren Qing gazed at the vividly lifelike secondary brain and contacted Mu Yi in the town.
He instructed Mu Yi to bring over a Ghost Envoy Realm cultivator whose technique involved the soul, while clearly explaining the potential dangers and rewards of the task beforehand.
Since risks were involved, the rewards were naturally abundant.
The compensation alone would be enough to support a Ghost Envoy Realm cultivator through three aberration transformations. With enough luck, they might even attempt to break through into the Yin Difference Realm.
Anyone with eyes could see the dangers hidden in the mission, but heavy rewards inevitably drew brave volunteers.
In less than half a day, several hundred Ghost Envoy Realm cultivators accepted the task. Mu Yi eventually selected one whose technique was related to souls.
The cultivator nervously arrived beside the Longevity Tree, seeing Ren Qing's face emerge from the trunk while Wang Ling swept fallen leaves nearby.
As Ren Qing's nominal older sister, Wang Ling had taken over caring for the Longevity Tree ever since his clone left the Longevity Forbidden Zone.
To her, the Longevity Tree was Wang Shanlu himself.
Using tree roots, Ren Qing lifted the secondary brain and placed it before the cultivator.
"Senior Ren Qing, please allow me to prepare for a moment."
The cultivator took a deep breath, pulled out several borrowed Dharma artifacts from his robes to protect his soul, and only then reached for the secondary brain.
With trembling hands, he touched the brain, causing his soul to leave his body immediately.
Once inside the secondary brain, the cultivator quickly noticed the memories within and also discovered that Ren Qing had laid down numerous safeguards to prevent accidents.
Regret surfaced in his heart, but thoughts of the rewards steadied his resolve once more.
His soul began absorbing the memories.
Strange and indescribable scenes flooded his mind, causing veins to bulge across his forehead.
A moment later, the cultivator opened his eyes, his gaze filled with shock.
"Senior Ren... I saw... ah... a dim place. There were upside-down..."
"Forget it. I'll look myself."
Ren Qing shook his head.
A Dreamflower landed between the cultivator's brows, extracting the memory from his soul while also erasing all information related to the Mirror World.
"Go collect your reward from Mu Yi."
After speaking, Ren Qing departed from the Longevity Forbidden Zone, though he left the Dreamflower behind.
The Dreamflower protected Wang Ling's body and soul, guaranteeing at least a natural lifespan of a hundred years while also enhancing her Body Cultivation and comprehension.
Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body, and he immediately began examining the memory.
The memory lasted only a few breaths.
It appeared to have been recorded when Lingxiao Daoist first entered the Mirror World, while still within the transitional zone between the Corpse Mirror and the outside world.
Inside the Mirror World, everything seemed reversed.
The positions of internal organs were swapped. Left and right hands were inverted as well.
Ren Qing once used Dreamflower to examine remnants of the giant corpse Buddha's memories.
At the time, he had seen countless corpses hanging upside down in the sky.
The giant corpse Buddha had identified that place as the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, but after Ren Qing truly entered the zone, he never encountered such a sight.
Now he finally understood.
The place with the hanging corpses was actually the Mirror World.
It seemed that everyone entering the Mirror World became one of those hanging corpses, waiting for their external substitute body to die before they could break free.
The number of corpses was staggering.
At the very end of the memory, Lingxiao Daoist himself was suspended upside down in midair.
Ren Qing sharply noticed traces suggesting that someone had once lived within the Mirror World.
Without question, it had to be that mysterious creator.
He licked his lips.
The Mirror World truly did seem full of opportunities.
Perhaps he could find the complete version of the Dead Man's Sutra there, saving himself the trouble of painstakingly reconstructing it piece by piece.
Or perhaps even techniques related to the Disaster-Dispelling Technique.
"There's one more chapter. Please wait."