Ren Qing's strange objects became increasingly active. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
From the initial Martial Practitioner realm, where one first grasped a Restraint Officer technique, to the Heavenly Aberration realm, where one fused with a strange object, the entire process was one of suppressing the strange object.
By the Bound Yin Spirit stage of the Yin Difference realm, the consciousness of the strange object had already been erased.
Yet now, Ren Qing had the illusion that the strange objects were reviving. However, he still controlled his techniques as easily as moving his own limbs, with nothing unusual appearing at all.
He could not help extending an arm, his right hand continuously changing.
Its flesh turned bluish-purple, corrosive corpse qi causing crackling sounds in the air. A few breaths later, white bones grew out and covered the entire arm. Then blood seeped outward...
Ren Qing casually switched between the five techniques fused into Corpse Fengdu. The strange objects within his body were incomparably cooperative and had become even stronger.
His expression froze.
Had he really been mistaken?
Could it be that consuming lifespan only benefited strange objects and carried no drawbacks at all?
An uncontrollable thought arose within Ren Qing, urging him to continue consuming lifespan, nourishing the strange objects while pursuing immortality.
But after only a moment, he realized something was wrong and immediately suppressed the agitation.
At that moment, the information stream gradually began exerting its influence. Roars echoed from within Ren Qing's flesh and bones. They were the reactions of the strange objects to the fusion process.
Ren Qing's brows knit tightly as his consciousness observed the transformation of his body.
The strange object of Corpse Fengdu resided within the corpse qi spread throughout his entire body. Under the influence of the information stream, it was being forcibly stripped away bit by bit.
Ren Qing could see the yin qi attempting to hide deep within his body, yet it remained unable to escape the information stream's immense power. The roars grew increasingly shrill.
For ordinary cultivators attempting to break through to the Heavenly Aberration realm, merely locating the strange object was already extremely troublesome.
As for stripping it away, that was a danger with virtually no chance of survival. One careless mistake could cause the strange object to completely lose control.
When advancing to the Yang Spirit realm, failure did not necessarily mean death. The Heavenly Aberration realm was different. It had blocked the path of countless cultivators.
Ren Qing finally understood why Chen Changsheng had chosen to return to the Longevity Restricted Zone.
Chen Changsheng's technique originated from the Longevity Restricted Zone. Using it to advance into the Heavenly Aberration realm would undoubtedly be much safer and would not completely cut off his path to survival.
Unfortunately, the Longevity Restricted Zone seemed to conceal something that had trapped Chen Changsheng there for several hundred years.
At present, the Restraint Officers' Hall had already spent more than a century inside the Longevity Restricted Zone, exploring thousands of miles beyond the towns, yet they still had not discovered Chen Changsheng's body or soul.
"Ugh..."
Ren Qing's thoughts became chaotic. As the strange object gradually separated from his body, the pain it brought was beyond imagination.
His body trembled uncontrollably. The cushion artifact beneath him instantly shattered, and the ground sank half a meter.
That was with Ghost Shadow absorbing most of the force. Otherwise, the entire cave dwelling would have collapsed.
Knowing that the breakthrough could last a very long time, Ren Qing endured the pain and established contact with the other four strange objects, using them to regain control of his body and prevent excessive disturbances.
Under the combined suppression of the strange objects, Ren Qing's condition finally stabilized.
Dense black qi seeped from his pores. It was the mist-like strange object of Corpse Fengdu. Countless human faces were being born within it.
The artifacts placed in the corner by Ren Qing suddenly stirred, producing sounds of clashing metal.
Artifacts were originally refined from flesh and bone. Influenced by the Corpse Fengdu strange object, they immediately began showing signs of corpse transformation.
The artifacts started assembling themselves into humanoid forms, only to be swallowed by Ghost Shadow moments later.
Ren Qing felt that the riot of the Corpse Fengdu strange object was definitely caused by consuming lifespan. It certainly concealed secrets related to the path to immortality.
Then, under the coercion of the information stream, the black qi slowly flowed back into Ren Qing's body.
This time, the fusion was even more thorough.
Regardless of the Corpse Fengdu strange object's wishes, the Heavenly Aberration realm was a process of completely devouring the strange object.
Ren Qing's skin turned bluish-purple. Fangs protruded from his mouth. His fingernails carried corpse poison, while his bones continuously stretched.
He was originally around 1.9 meters tall. In the blink of an eye, he exceeded two meters, finally stopping at 2.5 meters. An astonishing sense of oppression radiated from him.
The core of Corpse Fengdu was Undying and Imperishable. The enhancement it granted to physical constitution was self-evident, extending even to the soul.
The robes Ren Qing wore disintegrated into dust. Yin qi formed an imperial robe that seemed both real and illusory, while a pitch-black imperial crown appeared atop his head.
The Fengdu Great Emperor governed the underworld, an existence equivalent to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.
Ren Qing had not even become an immortal yet. He had merely touched the surface of the Heavenly Aberration realm, yet he already felt the terrifying nature of the Fengdu Corpse Emperor.
His pale eyes pierced through the surrounding rock, seeing the zombie laborers excavating the cave network.
Ren Qing felt that with a mere thought, he could strip the yin qi from the zombies and reduce them to lifeless corpses.
Having sensed an inexplicable danger, Corpse Ghost did not dare linger near the cave dwelling. He fled into the Stomach World in panic, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
Ren Qing let out a long breath and closed his eyes tightly, remaining motionless.
The breakthrough to the Heavenly Aberration realm was not yet complete.
He realized that after fusing with the body, a strange object seemed to form a special constitution.
A vision appeared in Ren Qing's mind.
Upon an endless plain of bones, he sat upon the central Throne of Skulls, gazing down upon all living beings.
Unwilling to let the immortal position of the Fengdu Corpse Emperor influence his state of mind, he silently recited his techniques.
Time gradually passed.
The cultivators no longer sensed any leaking aura, and the cave dwelling where Ren Qing was secluded had gradually been forgotten.
The various branches each managed their own resources and began expanding outward.
Over the past year, the Restraint Officers' Hall had experienced an explosive increase in Ghost Envoy cultivators, especially within the Demon Vein, which controlled the greatest amount of resources.
They treasured this hard-won opportunity.
Though both belonged to the Restraint Officers' Hall, the Longevity Restricted Zone, despite possessing hundreds of thousands of cultivators, could not compare to them in terms of resource supply.
Many cultivators in the Longevity Restricted Zone earned resources through Dream City, but those resources ultimately originated from the Stomach World.
Occasionally, cultivators passing by Ren Qing's cave dwelling discovered that the surrounding rock had transformed into white bone and emitted faint yin qi.
Zombie cultivators could feel their technique progress accelerating simply by approaching.
Had they not feared disturbing Ren Qing, large numbers of zombie cultivators would likely have gathered there.
Even the Yang Spirit cultivators could not determine what kind of technique Ren Qing was cultivating in seclusion. They only knew it far surpassed anything at the Yang Spirit realm.
Li Tiangang felt a faint sense of worry.
If something happened to Ren Qing, the Restraint Officers' Hall would be trapped forever beneath the Beast Pen.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
The sound of a heartbeat suddenly echoed from within the cave dwelling.
Immediately afterward came the sound of air tearing apart, while countless cracks spread across the rock walls.
Even cave dwellings several miles away had fine dust falling from their ceilings.
Li Tiangang noticed it immediately and promptly gathered all cultivators at the Yin Difference realm and above before rushing toward the source.
Dozens of cultivators stood outside the cave dwelling.
The vines covering the entrance had long since withered.
They hesitated over whether to enter when footsteps suddenly approached from afar. A towering figure slowly emerged, and the temperature plummeted to freezing.
"All of you, disperse. I'm fine."
Upon seeing the more than two-meter-tall Ren Qing, the strange objects within the cultivators instinctively rejected him. Their expressions became dazed for a moment.
Li Tiangang and Li Yaoyang exchanged glances.
An unbelievable thought arose in their minds, and their breathing quickened involuntarily.
Could Ren Qing have already broken through to the Heavenly Aberration realm?
The crowd gradually dispersed.
After all, the various resource sites throughout the cave network still required maintenance. Every hour of delay resulted in major losses.
Ren Qing's expression was complicated. While restraining his aura, he cast a disguise technique, compressing his body back to its original height of 1.9 meters.
He gave Li Tiangang and Li Yaoyang a slight nod, effectively confirming his advancement to the Heavenly Aberration realm.
Li Tiangang laughed bitterly several times.
After confirming Ren Qing's breakthrough, his shock vanished, leaving only helplessness.
Ren Qing was not even a hundred years old yet, was he?
Could it be that he intended to become an immortal in only two or three hundred years?
Li Yaoyang, meanwhile, was overjoyed.
Meeting Ren Qing while still having abundant lifespan remaining was a blessing.
Ren Qing could help the Restraint Officers' Hall reach higher levels and obtain resources beyond imagination.
Without waiting for the two to process everything, Ren Qing turned and returned to his cave dwelling. He could not help sighing to himself:
"When will the muddy Jing and the clear Wei ever be separated?"
"When will the muddy Jing and the clear Wei ever be separated..."
Who could have imagined that true immortals in this world were actually divided into two types?
"Strange Immortals" and "Turbid Immortals."
If Ren Qing advanced normally to the Earth Immortal realm and completely mastered the immortal position of the Fengdu Corpse Immortal, he would belong to the category of Strange Immortal.
However, if he frequently came into contact with the Heavenly Dao, causing the immortal position to mutate, he would become a Turbid Immortal, an indescribable existence devoid of intelligence.
One could tell what Turbid Immortals were like simply by looking at the appearance of the Corpse Immortal. Their style differed little from the Three Dao Ancestors.
Whenever Ren Qing consumed lifespan to advance his techniques, he was dragging the immortal position toward the abyss.
Corpse Fengdu benefited the most from this process and had nearly gone berserk because of it.
Fortunately, the information stream protected him. Otherwise, even if he managed to suppress it, it might have attracted the attention of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
The crack on the tortoise shell indicated that the Fengdu Corpse Immortal had already come very close to becoming a "Turbid Immortal."
As for why Turbid Immortals were far stronger than Strange Immortals, it was mainly because they more closely resembled the Three Dao Ancestors born from the Heavenly Dao.
One could even say that becoming a Turbid Immortal was itself a process of transforming toward the Heavenly Dao.
If Ren Qing consumed lifespan beyond the limit, the Fengdu Corpse Emperor would become a Turbid Immortal, effectively rendering that immortal position completely useless.
Thinking carefully, every true immortal he had encountered without exception had been a Turbid Immortal.
Then where had the Strange Immortals of this world gone?
Or were they hiding somewhere?
Ren Qing examined the tortoise shell attached to the roof of his mouth.
The crack currently occupied half of its surface.
It was not that advancing to the Heavenly Aberration realm had restored part of the crack.
Rather, the upper limit had increased from twenty thousand years to around fifty thousand years.
Ren Qing named this crack the "Heavenly Dao Crack."
After all, becoming a Turbid Immortal was a process of drawing closer to the Heavenly Dao, one that required paying an extremely terrible price.
Fortunately, advancing the other four techniques to the Heavenly Aberration realm would also indirectly increase the limit of the Heavenly Dao Crack, preventing him from being trapped forever at this realm.
Ren Qing closed his eyes and stabilized his cultivation.
His current strength was influenced by the process of Heavenly Dao transformation, giving him a surreal feeling.
If this continued for too long, he might lose himself in the power brought by becoming a Turbid Immortal.
Ren Qing planned to wait until the Heavenly Dao Crack recovered to one-third before considering advancing his other techniques, lest his body and soul transform toward the Three Dao Ancestors.
He had already vaguely sensed that once his body and soul reached a certain threshold, mutation would occur.
He might even become an indescribable non-human entity.
The only fortunate thing was that the Heavenly Dao Crack healed at a reasonably fast pace.
Ren Qing had only just entered the Heavenly Aberration realm.
To reach the next realm after Heavenly Aberration...
[Advance Dao Gives Birth to One?]
[This will consume forty thousand years of lifespan.]