[Do you wish to advance to Ascension Ladder? This will consume 5,000 years of lifespan.]
Ren Qing took a deep breath. Only after pausing for several breaths did he expend his 5,000 years of lifespan, allowing the Dead Blood Scripture to advance toward Ascension Ladder.
His heartbeat quickened, and the Corpse Core within his body began to grow restless.
Immediately afterward, a piercing shriek rang out. All the blood in his body felt as if it were flowing backward, while his body temperature instantly soared to seventy or eighty degrees.
Before Ren Qing could adapt, his temperature began dropping sharply again.
Frost formed on the walls of the cave abode. As he breathed, faint yin qi drifted from his mouth and nose before being blocked by the magical artifacts.
The Ghost Shadow wrapped around the cave abode, ensuring that no trace of spell aura leaked outside.
From excruciating pain to complete numbness, Ren Qing's flesh and bones decayed at a speed visible to the naked eye, resembling a corpse that had been dead for many years.
Memories of himself creating the Dead Blood Scripture surfaced before his eyes, and the corners of his mouth could not help twitching, overcome by a strange sense of incongruity.
When the dream-path techniques advanced to Ascension Ladder, the experiences Ren Qing witnessed from their creators had all been extraordinarily dangerous and bizarre.
To comprehend those techniques, they had to face the Heavenly Dao directly, something that could not be looked upon. Their body and soul inevitably suffered irreversible mutations.
His Dead Blood Scripture, however, was completely different.
The entire sequence consisted of Ren Qing sitting cross-legged indoors, occasionally flipping through books and piecing together various bits of knowledge.
Once he was more or less finished, he simply handed the rest over to the bacterial souls to complete while he lay flat on his back resting with his eyes closed.
Ren Qing found it both amusing and fortunate. Thankfully, he had not created many techniques, and even fewer cultivators practiced them.
Otherwise, if the techniques spread outward, then when future cultivators advanced to Ascension Ladder and witnessed Ren Qing's experiences, so different from ordinary cultivators, they would likely realize how unusual he truly was.
The Restraint Officers' Hall remained relatively closed off for now. Its techniques could not spread into the outside world, so all practitioners came from its various branches.
By the time they reached Ascension Ladder, Ren Qing would probably already have attained immortality, so it would not affect his path to becoming an immortal.
The scene within his mind shifted.
Before him appeared a mass grave covered in white bones. Thousands of crows circled overhead, occasionally pecking at rotting flesh.
Not far away stood a city comparable in size to Sanxiang City. Its dazzling lights and bustling nightlife made it appear exceptionally prosperous, while merchant caravans flowed endlessly through its gates.
Every few days, a batch of unclaimed corpses would be transported there.
Most came from the lowest professions. Having a straw mat wrapped around them was already considered fortunate. No one cared whether they lived or died.
Ren Qing stared at the mass grave for a while, attempting to uncover clues from several thousand years ago, but he truly found no traces of cultivators.
Not until late at night, when several courtesan corpses were brought out from a brothel.
They had all died unnatural deaths. During life, they had even been famous throughout the province.
One of the female corpses still seemed to retain some signs of life. Her face was covered in wounds and mangled flesh, while her chest rose and fell faintly.
She desperately cried for help, yet she was still thrown into the mass grave.
Wild dogs prowled nearby, crows croaked overhead, and the fear in her heart transformed into venomous resentment.
Ren Qing could feel the unwillingness deep within her heart. As a courtesan, she had once attracted countless admirers, surrounded by powerful officials and nobles eager to flatter her. Yet now she had fallen to a fate where not even her bones would remain.
Who knew how much time passed.
A crow landed on her body and tried to peck at her flesh, but she suddenly sat upright and bit into the crow, frantically sucking its blood.
The woman's expression was incomparably savage. Her desire to survive was overwhelming, so strong that even her failing organs began recovering.
Under such circumstances, she remained in the mass grave for several days. During that time, her flesh gradually dissolved and peeled away until nothing remained but gleaming white bones.
The world lost a peerless courtesan, yet gained a Lady White Bone.
Ren Qing suddenly realized that extreme emotions might make it easier to come into contact with the Heavenly Dao, allowing one to enter the path through the Restraint Officer Techniques they comprehended.
The Heavenly Dao itself drove people insane, and cultivators themselves were equally extreme. How could they possibly create normal techniques? Thus the path of strange cultivation was born.
Before Ren Qing could recover from Lady White Bone's experience, the scene before him changed once more into memories of himself tirelessly dismantling the Dead Man's Sutra.
Compared to Lady White Bone, Ren Qing felt as though he had gained everything without effort.
Taking advantage of the brief pause, he steadied his mind and prepared to encounter the next Heavenly Dao.
The implications of Ascension Methods were simply too significant.
He reviewed everything he had organized several times over before patiently waiting until movement arose within his soul.
A vast and majestic aura filled his body and soul.
Ren Qing felt as though his soul were about to leave his body and did not dare resist the will of the Heavenly Dao.
His soul seemed to be dragged into an abyss, plummeting rapidly toward the depths below.
It passed through tangible layers of earth and stone before finally arriving within endless void.
The sound of scripture recitation echoed out.
It was clearly different from the tone he had heard when facing the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, though the specific contents remained impossible to discern.
Even though Ren Qing had already advanced to Ascension Ladder once before, he still could not help feeling nervous.
Compared to ordinary cultivators, whose life and death hung in uncertainty, Ren Qing had prepared far more thoroughly and still retained his sanity.
The scripture recitation abruptly ceased.
Then it transformed into clearly audible hymns of praise, sung in childish voices devoid of emotion.
"The Supreme Dao Lord of the Highest Clarity, the Exalted Saint Above All."
"Born from the essence of Jade Heaven and the purple vapors of auspicious clouds."
"Jade radiance shines brilliantly, golden light reflects true reality."
"Condensed transformation nurtures excellence and gathers spirit into form."
"The Dao Lord broadly proclaims scriptures and registers, transmitting them through ten thousand generations!"
"Transmitted through ten thousand generations!!!"
Ren Qing's mind trembled.
It seemed that the mutation path of the Dead Person Techniques had little connection to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
The being he was about to face this time was...
One of the Three Pure Ones, Lingbao Heavenly Venerable!!!
Boundless and twisted radiance erupted within the darkness.
The hymns became hysterical, giving Ren Qing the absurd feeling of watching a theatrical performance where immortals and gods had suddenly entered the stage.
How should he put it?
It was like a clumsy imitation of immortals and gods by mortals.
The statue of Lingbao Heavenly Venerable appeared.
Its entire body was covered in gold leaf, though much of it had already peeled away, exposing the clay body beneath.
The statue of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable had seemed rather ordinary, even its robes and ornaments crudely made.
Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's statue, however, was carved with considerably greater care.
Ren Qing quickly suppressed his stray thoughts.
No matter what incomprehensible entity Lingbao Heavenly Venerable truly was, it was definitely not something he could afford to provoke.
Crack...
Fractures spread across the statue's surface.
Black dust-like tendrils emerged from within, transforming into hands and claws moments later. The flesh seemed incapable of maintaining a fixed shape.
After only a single glance, countless memories of artifact refining flooded Ren Qing's mind.
These memories possessed an extremely high degree of repetition and soon began blurring his understanding of artifact refining, distorting the aberrant fetus artifact refining method beyond recognition.
The new aberrant fetus artifact refining method resembled a cruel torture that toyed with life itself.
Only after tormenting living beings into madness did the actual artifact refinement begin.
Ren Qing's eyelids twitched wildly, and he immediately ignored the changes to the aberrant fetus artifact refining method.
The Stomach World contained a backup copy of the original method.
Once this was over, he could deal with Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's artifact-refining method later. At the very least, it could not be allowed to spread.
He began reviewing the details of the Dead Person Techniques.
Using the Dead Blood Scripture as the foundation, he dismantled the Bone Teeth Technique and Dead Man's Sutra before integrating them into it.
Naturally, the core of the Dead Person Ascension Method had to be Immortality.
Resisting the pressure radiating from Lingbao Heavenly Venerable, Ren Qing relied upon his extensive preparations and completed the Ascension Method in only a short time.
The wails and pleas of countless souls echoed out, as though cultivating this method would grant control over all souls.
The information flow surged.
[Death Manor Method]
[Created by Ren Qing. Cultivation requires dividing one's own soul to construct a manor. A total of five hundred soul bricks are required. Only after the manor is complete can the technique be successfully cultivated.]
If cultivated normally, the Death Manor Method would require tearing apart one's soul at least five hundred times.
Even if one did not go insane, their soul would scatter and perish.
The difficulty of an Ascension Method far surpassed that of ordinary Restraint Officer Techniques.
The Death Manor Method possessed the potential to cultivate all the way to Earth Immortal and could accommodate other techniques.
A delighted expression appeared on Ren Qing's face.
Every aspect of the Death Manor Method had met his expectations.
The time required had been several times less than when he comprehended the Dream Immortal's toe-separation technique.
As for immortality, so long as the core element of the Ascension Method remained unchanged, no matter what immortal position it ultimately produced, true immortality would not be affected.
It was only that the specific form of that "immortality" might differ somewhat.
[Immortal Position: Wheel-Turning Ghost Immortal]
Wheel-Turning Ghost Immortal?
Ren Qing froze briefly before realizing.
The Wheel-Turning Ghost Immortal likely referred to the Wheel-Turning King among the Ten Yama Kings of the Underworld.
As a ghost king of the Underworld, its status far surpassed that of the Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal, Black Impermanence.
Within the Underworld, the Ten Hall Wheel-Turning King was responsible for judging the good and evil of souls from the various halls and managing matters of reincarnation.
Yet Ren Qing found himself somewhat conflicted.
Although the Wheel-Turning King did not possess sole dominion over dreams like the Dream Immortal, the authority tied to life, death, and reincarnation touched every aspect of existence and was supreme in scope.
Still, he felt he had not fully drawn out the potential of the Dead Person Techniques.
Ren Qing looked up toward the statue of Lingbao Heavenly Venerable.
Within the fractures, countless limbs shifted endlessly between arms, tendrils, and claws.
He could vaguely see a malformed and horrifying body seeping outward.
Fortunately, judging by the statue's degree of damage, it would still take some time before it completely shattered.
At present, the fractures only covered Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's upper body.
Steeling himself, Ren Qing erased all memories of the Death Manor Method.
So long as the Death Manor Method remained in the world in any form, he would be unable to once again borrow the Heavenly Dao to comprehend an Ascension Method unique to the Dead Person Techniques.
Ren Qing continued reorganizing the Dead Person Techniques.
He replaced the core element of the Ascension Method, changing Immortality into Undying and Imperishable.
The Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal's version of Undying and Imperishable was certainly incomplete.
Otherwise, the True Immortal who once held that immortal position would not have died.
What Ren Qing pursued was eternal Imperishability, revealing the ambition he held for this Ascension Method.
Under such circumstances, comprehending the Ascension Method naturally became far more complicated.
Fortunately, with the Heavenly Dao's support, the process never stagnated.
Crack crack crack...
The fractures across Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's statue continued expanding.
A head emerged from within.
Its face lacked all features, yet was covered in purple-red suction cups.
Ren Qing could feel the pressure bearing down upon him.
Rather than slowing him, it accelerated his progress.
Finally, at the instant the fractures spread across the statue's lower body, the new Ascension Method was completed.
There was even enough remaining time for one more attempt.
Ren Qing summoned the information flow.
He skimmed through the contents at a glance, only confirming the Ascension Method's upper limit, compatibility, and immortal title.
[Immortal Position: Fengdu Corpse Emperor]
The moment he saw the words Fengdu Corpse Emperor, his soul immediately returned to his body.