Ren Qing's soul entered the Stomach World, and the first thing that came into view was Dream City.
Large numbers of cultivators flew around Dream City. Together with the hundreds of thousands of people from the Longevity Forbidden Zone, the city resembled a steel jungle from his previous life.
Seeing this, even Ren Qing could not help but feel a sense of pride. After all, Dream City back then had been nothing more than a street with a handful of shops.
He could not help but think of Great Dream Realman, whom he still could not contact. He wondered how the latter was doing and whether he had escaped danger.
In a certain sense, the higher one's cultivation, the greater the chance of encountering danger.
To many existences, Yang God Realm cultivators were probably extremely precious resources, whether for refining artifacts or concocting pills.
Ren Qing shook his head and instantly arrived at the location of the Rebirth Yellow Springs.
Because the Rebirth Technique's strange object had been damaged, the scale of the Yellow Springs had already shrunk by a third, exposing a riverbed paved with black and white stones.
At the center of the riverbed hung Song Zongwu's head, wrapped by more than a dozen black cords that guided life force into nourishing his incomplete body and soul.
Ren Qing noticed rows of temporary tents erected beside the Rebirth Yellow Springs.
At least a thousand cultivators were busy in the temporary camp, and in the distance he could see merchant caravans transporting resources back and forth to Dream City.
Their primary responsibility was researching how to restore Song Zongwu's soul. The auras produced by various Jailer techniques could be faintly sensed.
Ren Qing landed in an open area, immediately drawing the attention of all the cultivators.
They looked at him with reverence and dared not disturb him. Even their voices subconsciously lowered.
"Carry on with your work."
Li Tiangang stepped out from the crowd. Only after his loud reassurance did the cultivators return to normal.
Han Li and two newly advanced Yin Difference Realm cultivators followed behind him. Ren Qing could tell that the techniques practiced by the latter two were both related to souls.
Ren Qing's gaze showed a trace of surprise. He had not expected Han Li to still maintain a zombie body, and he had even reached the White Zombie level.
He could not help but check Han Li's information flow.
[Age: Sixty-three]
[Lifespan: None]
[Techniques: Blood Fungus Record (Boundless Blood Tide), The Taotie Method (Spirit of the Hill), Corpse Refinement Method (White Zombie), Shadowless Ghost (Yin Ghost Demonic Shadow), Eyeless Method (Double Pupils)]
Han Li had clearly abandoned the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, effectively giving up his chance to control the Winged Vein.
He also had no intention of continuing deeper cultivation of the Eyeless Method.
The same was true for Shadowless Ghost, which remained at the Ghost Envoy Realm, showing no intention of undergoing strange transformation.
However, every sacrifice brought gains. His three techniques already surpassed those of most cultivators. If he cultivated four techniques, merely merging their strange transformations would take several hundred years.
Ren Qing noticed that Han Li's Corpse Refinement Method was somewhat unusual. There were very few traces of a zombie, and he still retained the aura of a living person.
Han Li had most likely studied some superficial aspects of the Dead Man's Sutra and modified the Corpse Refinement Method accordingly.
His physical body was far less durable than zombies of the same realm, but the impact on cultivation efficiency could be compensated through life force, while he still retained endless lifespan.
The cultivators of the Hall of Restraint Officers all treated converting into zombies as a fallback option, yet Han Li had actively chosen to cultivate it, making him an oddity within the Hall.
Ren Qing vaguely guessed how Han Li planned his cultivation system.
The strength of the Blood Fungus Record was built upon blood. Spirit of the Hill also integrated into blood, making blood a weakness.
A zombie body caused Han Li's blood to carry corpse poison, and even excessive blood loss would not affect his ability to act.
The three techniques complemented one another perfectly. Once Han Li reached the Ascension Ladder, he would have a decent chance of comprehending a Heavenly Deceit Realm Ascension Method.
Of course, by the time Han Li advanced to the Yang God Realm, Ren Qing would probably already have attained immortality.
Ren Qing considered that once his body reconstruction was complete, if Han Li still had no intention of cultivating Shadowless Ghost and the Eyeless Method, he would help forcibly separate those strange objects.
With a Yang God Realm Stomach World, stripping away low-realm strange objects was effortless.
Ren Qing greeted them before listening to Li Tiangang explain the discoveries made over the past few years.
Using the Other Shore Flower to restore a soul was clearly unreliable, since the cultivator consuming it needed to possess a complete soul to begin with.
Thus, they could only seek indirect solutions.
Ren Qing browsed through the methods Li Tiangang had compiled. Some were indeed feasible and worth cautiously attempting.
He selected several approaches and then came before Song Zongwu's head.
Han Li said awkwardly, "Senior Ren Qing, I used my blood to examine Senior Song's head. It seems the Mud Pellet Palace has suffered some damage."
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."
Ren Qing understood what Han Li meant. Damage to the Mud Pellet Palace could affect the brain. If the methods used were too rough, memory loss could result.
Li Tiangang showed no concern. After giving Song Zongwu a complicated glance, he returned to the camp and continued assigning tasks related to soul restoration.
Ren Qing released the Regeneration Disease Seed and the Cancer Disease Tree Disease Seed, using the former as the main force and the latter as support.
His consciousness attached itself to the disease seeds and slowly flowed into Song Zongwu's Mud Pellet Palace. As Han Li had said, it was indeed riddled with holes.
Only a Yang God Realm cultivator could survive such injuries. Any ordinary cultivator would have died long ago.
Song Zongwu's remnant soul existed in a mist-like state. The aura of Jailer techniques flickered within it, and fragments of memory could still be seen.
Ren Qing carefully repaired the Mud Pellet Palace while simultaneously forcing control over the weather of the Stomach World.
Raindrops fell onto Song Zongwu's head, carrying the life-extending effects of the wine ore so that the Regeneration Disease Seed would not drain away all of his lifespan.
As the holes were repaired one by one, the remnant soul gradually stabilized.
At that moment, however, Ren Qing's expression turned serious. His movements paused briefly, clearly shocked by the abnormalities appearing within the Mud Pellet Palace.
He discovered that as the Mud Pellet Palace recovered, Song Zongwu suddenly gained additional memories, and they were clearly related to Nameless Ascetic.
At first, Ren Qing assumed it was a backup plan left behind by Nameless Ascetic, intended to seize Song Zongwu's body and be reborn through possession.
But the truth was different.
After examining the memories, he discovered they had been deliberately left behind by Nameless Ascetic.
And if nothing unexpected had happened, Nameless Ascetic had intended to use these memories to convey some crucial information to Ren Qing.
Ren Qing sat upright and continued repairing the Mud Pellet Palace while observing the condition of the remnant soul.
He did not know how much time had passed, but once Song Zongwu's Mud Pellet Palace was fully sealed again, he could not help but let out a long breath.
Ren Qing did not immediately make contact. Instead, he first used the Stomach World's abilities to digest the memories.
He did not want to risk damaging his soul again through carelessness before his body reconstruction was complete.
Only after the Stomach World had finished digesting the memories did Ren Qing examine their contents.
A flood of scenes flashed before his eyes.
The memories recounted Nameless Ascetic's life.
Nameless Ascetic had spent his entire life trying to escape the Buddhist Fruit Position. Once he realized there was no hope for himself, he resolved that even in death he would send Song Zongwu away.
As a child, he had been forcibly sent to a temple by his parents. Later, he became the Buddhist Child of Lingshan Temple, cultivating Buddhist teachings envied by countless monks.
However, after learning of the Buddhist Child's destined fate, Nameless Ascetic began seeking methods to break free from it. The pursuit became an obsession and inner demon.
Ren Qing could not help but feel disappointed, but soon he reached the crucial part of the memory.
From some unknown scripture, Nameless Ascetic learned that by sacrificing mortal lives, one could summon a true Buddha.
The ritual was extraordinarily sinister and required nearly a thousand mortal lives.
At that time, Nameless Ascetic had been nearly insane. He immediately began the sacrifices, though he chose condemned criminals guilty of heinous crimes.
Ren Qing originally assumed the summoned Buddha had been Ratnasambhava Buddha, but he quickly realized something was wrong. His soul body even turned cold because of it.
Nameless Ascetic felt his soul leave his body and begin ascending into the sky.
He felt himself break free from the confines of heaven and eventually arrive before an endless expanse of white light, where a crudely made Buddha statue stood.
"So Buddhism has its own Heavenly Dao as well?"
Watching Nameless Ascetic's memories, Ren Qing could not help but murmur.
Nameless Ascetic gazed directly at the statue, and his soul immediately descended into madness. At the same time, an unimaginably vast Buddhist cultivation method appeared in his mind.
'Ratnasambhava Universal Salvation Sutra'
The details of the scripture were no longer available. Nameless Ascetic had never intended to pass it down.
Yet the true appearance of the statue remained vividly clear.
It was a mass of twisted, chaotic slime, semi-transparent in form. A spine ran through its center, with vague limbs barely visible.
It was difficult to imagine that such an indescribable thing could actually be Buddhism's Heavenly Dao.
Looking at the appearance of Buddhism's Heavenly Dao, Ren Qing could not help but think of lamp oil after cooling, with its congealed wax and pale wick.
"Dipankara?"
The Daoist path had the Three Dao Ancestors as its Heavenly Dao. Buddhism having Dipankara Buddha as its Heavenly Dao certainly seemed reasonable.
Yet when Ren Qing compared Dipankara Buddha to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, he felt a strange sense of dissonance. The two seemed fundamentally different.
Nameless Ascetic's soul then came into contact with Dipankara Buddha.
The madness within his soul was actually suppressed and transformed into what was called "Great Wisdom."
For the following several hundred years, aside from cultivating the Ratnasambhava Universal Salvation Sutra, he traveled throughout various regions. It was because of these travels that he eventually encountered Chen Changsheng.
Ren Qing suddenly realized that Dipankara Buddha's treatment of Nameless Ascetic had been far too normal.
There had been none of the chaos associated with the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
Nameless Ascetic's later madness stemmed from being targeted by Ratnasambhava Buddha, combined with his contact with the Daoist Heavenly Dao while creating Jailer techniques.
Ren Qing looked puzzled.
Perhaps Dipankara Buddha's goal had been to spread the Ratnasambhava Universal Salvation Sutra?
The main purpose of Nameless Ascetic's memories was to inform Ren Qing of the method for contacting Dipankara Buddha through sacrificial rituals.
Once Song Zongwu's soul was fully restored, more memories would likely emerge.
Most important among them was the location of the resources belonging to Lingyin Temple.
Ren Qing realized that if he could uncover the secrets of Dipankara Buddha, he might also discover why this world was so bizarre.
He organized the ritual process into a written record and stored it in a corner of the Stomach World.
Afterward, Ren Qing erased Nameless Ascetic's memories.
Compared to the Daoist Heavenly Dao, Buddhism's Heavenly Dao only required a simple sacrifice.
He did not want the ritual spreading and causing unimaginable disasters.
Ren Qing calmed his mind and continued restoring Song Zongwu's body.
He even improved Song Zongwu's physique, making it more compatible with Jailer techniques.
Skeleton, meridians, blood vessels, organs...
Until Song Zongwu's body was fully restored, and the remnant soul no longer required life force to sustain it.
The strange objects merged into the flesh and absorbed nourishment from the body, but their recovery speed was measured in centuries.
Looking at Song Zongwu, now lacking extra arms and eyes, he appeared like an elderly man peacefully asleep, with no trace of his former ferocity.
Ren Qing no longer had any desire to reminisce with Li Tiangang and the others, so he left the Stomach World.
While keeping track of the Hall of Restraint Officers' research into soul restoration, he also continued contemplating Ascension Methods.
After all, more than half of the body reconstruction period had already passed.
He planned to find a secluded place and enter seclusion immediately after reviving.
Even if immortality remained out of reach, Ren Qing still needed to break through to the Heavenly Deceit Realm as soon as possible.
Otherwise, he would have no way to deal with the Longevity Forbidden Zone, whose depths remained completely unknown.