The commotion in Jingzhou gradually subsided. The Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal, dead yet not truly dead, had finally gained a precious chance to catch its breath.
Ren Qing wandered without a fixed abode between Xiangxiang and the marshlands. With the Disaster-Dispelling Method, even Earth Immortals would find it difficult to detect his presence.
The ghost ship had just been finished a few days ago, and Wuying Ghost's Ascension Method had also been perfected.
He suddenly looked up at the sky.
A seven-colored spiritual radiance flashed past. It was a gigantic skull-shaped magical artifact. Countless cultivators lived inside the skull.
The cultivators looked like skeletons clad in cyan-green Daoist robes.
It wasn't that they lacked flesh entirely. In fact, flesh constantly grew over their bones, only to be scraped clean with palm-sized knives.
Ren Qing's gaze followed the magical artifact as it disappeared into the Endless Forest.
This was already the second time in recent months that he had encountered a magical artifact passing over Xiangxiang. Its destination was clearly the south. There had to be a purpose behind it.
"Could it have something to do with the immortal position Great Dream Realman is currently in contact with?"
Ren Qing frowned slightly. In this era where no one dared ascend to immortality, even if an immortal position truly appeared, it could only attract minor figures.
Deciding it was time to act after remaining still for so long, he had the ghost shadow drag the Longevity Forbidden Zone deeper underground while also leaving behind enough watchers in Jingzhou.
Every cultivator within the Mirror World carried one of Ren Qing's disease seeds.
In theory, once the grand trend fully unfolded, he would be able to share intelligence through them and place his pieces according to the changing situation.
But for now, most cultivators remained inactive, leaving Ren Qing effectively blind.
He needed to understand the current situation, and the Restraint Officers' Hall also required high-level combat power. Given Great Dream Realman's talent, there was a considerable chance he could reach the Heavenly Aberration Realm.
Ren Qing immediately summoned the ghost ship as transportation. After enveloping the vessel with the Disaster-Dispelling Method, he followed the skull artifact southward.
The journey was long, but he could continue cultivating techniques aboard the ship without delaying his seclusion.
He had now mastered the proper way to cultivate in seclusion. Whenever a Grand Zhou Cycle requiring technique aura circulation was needed, he simply left it to the bacterial souls.
Reviewing technique information was something several hundred bacterial souls could easily handle.
Whenever he needed pills or magical artifacts to assist cultivation, the ghost shadows could mass-produce them mechanically, though the quality generally remained at the upper-middle tier.
After undergoing an elaborate refinement process, the ghost ship's appearance had changed subtly.
The sail seemed to have fused with the mast. Its wooden structure had become much denser, while scorch marks and corrosion scars covered its surface.
The ghost ship had already fused with a Yin Difference Realm Taotie Method bizarre fetus. Its interior had been divided into over a hundred guest rooms, yet there was still unused space remaining.
Ren Qing had even tried modifying the ghost ship with deformity disease seeds, hoping to fuse a second bizarre fetus into it.
With the forbidden corpse as precedent, there should theoretically have been no problem. Unfortunately, the ghost ship's size was limited. Its core material was merely a Yang God Realm Ksitigarbha rib bone, leaving its potential relatively mediocre.
He had only just begun to find a direction. Further modifications through disease seeds would still be required.
Ren Qing landed on the ghost ship's deck. The sensation beneath his feet lacked the firmness of wooden planks. Instead, it gave the illusion of stepping on living flesh.
He took one last deep look at Jingzhou, where the blood moon hung overhead and the earth veins had sunk deep below.
There had to be countless factions keeping watch over the two Earth Immortals. Leaving temporarily was for the best. Only by stepping outside the situation could he discover more information.
A gentle breeze passed by.
The ghost ship soared into the sky. Several grains of sand blown from the marshlands struck its hull, yet every sound was concealed by the Disaster-Dispelling Method.
Ren Qing looked toward the distant Endless Forest. If one attempted to cross it on foot, even Yang God Realm cultivators could be silently devoured by nature itself.
His pseudo-dragon severed limbs, though weaker than Yin Difference Realm cultivators in combat, undeniably carried Yang God Realm auras.
Yet the moment they entered the Endless Forest, they were assimilated into vegetation.
If Ren Qing were willing to spend enough time searching through the Endless Forest, he might even discover Heavenly Aberration Realm corpses. It simply wasn't worth the effort.
He had already dug Meat and Wine Daoist's corpse out for the Stomach World. He didn't believe the corpses inside the Endless Forest would remain intact.
The ghost ship quickly entered the Endless Forest's territory.
Ren Qing noticed that whenever the ghost ship blocked even a small amount of sunlight, the vegetation beneath its shadow visibly withered.
In the end, every plant transformed into a corpse.
A towering tree over a hundred meters tall had actually been pieced together from several thousand corpses. It was difficult to imagine just how many corpses the Endless Forest contained.
The unique rules possessed by Heavenly Aberration Realm corpses were actually not all that different from forbidden zones.
Rumble...
The rainy season in late autumn could change without warning. Just minutes earlier the sky had been clear, only for dark clouds to gather and rain to begin falling.
After confirming the ghost ship's safety, Ren Qing entered the cabin.
The cabin felt like an entirely different world. Cultivation chambers, pill furnaces, artifact refinement rooms, everything was fully equipped. Even the temperature remained at the most comfortable level.
Aside from being empty, the ghost ship was nearly flawless.
A smile appeared on Ren Qing's lips. Although the Taotie Method's bizarre fetus had been fused by himself, the interior of the ship had been entirely handled by Xiao San'er.
Judging from the meticulous detail of every guest room, considerable effort had clearly been invested.
Not long ago, Xiao San'er had entered seclusion under the enhancement of the Ghost Immortal Office. He would likely advance to the Yin Difference Realm within a few years.
Ren Qing separated a strand of bacterial soul. If Xiao San'er were to suffer cultivation deviation, the bacterial soul would mobilize the Heavenly Dao to help him break through.
The Heavenly Dao Crack on the turtle shell would still require some time before fully recovering.
Taking advantage of the lull, he contemplated his techniques while simultaneously using disease seeds to alter the ghost ship's hull, stimulating it with flames, lightning, and other techniques.
Ren Qing realized that the larger a bizarre fetus artifact became, the more bizarre objects it could accommodate.
The three-thousand-meter forbidden corpse could even contain a forbidden zone within its stomach. Countless mutated organs covered its body.
The ghost ship could only contain two bizarre objects. For the second one, Ren Qing chose the Human Skin Book to improve the artifact's adaptability to different environments.
The fusion process wasn't particularly difficult. Soon, the sail transformed into human skin.
Ren Qing simply took out a large number of Fungus People from the Stomach World and assigned them to maintain the ghost ship daily. For the time being, he no longer planned to recruit cultivators aboard.
Night fell.
Darkness enveloped heaven and earth, yet the Endless Forest did not transform into mountains of corpses and seas of bones.
However, through the cracks in the bark, Ren Qing discovered corpses hidden within every tree. The entire Endless Forest resembled a colossal burial ground.
The skull magical artifact slowed its speed considerably, clearly wary of the Endless Forest.
They failed to notice the ghost ship following closely behind. The eerie vessel was as undetectable as a phantom.
The journey remained relatively peaceful. As long as one obeyed the Endless Forest's rules and avoided touching the ground, no danger would arise.
Relieved, Ren Qing waited until the Heavenly Dao Crack had recovered sufficiently before advancing Wuying Ghost to the Ascension Ladder.
[Advance to the Ascension Ladder? This will consume 5,000 years of lifespan.]
The memories of the five techniques were largely similar. Every creator had encountered the Heavenly Dao in the depths of despair.
Perhaps because the techniques were related to flesh and bones, every creator suffered from severe congenital illnesses.
The creator of Wuying Ghost developed ulcerating skin whenever exposed to light.
The creator of the Human Skin Book had been born without human skin.
The creator of Armor-Plating Technique suffered from severe bone hyperplasia.
The creator of Dragon Serpent Spine had broken his spine in a fall at the age of seven.
Nether Sea Breathing Art was somewhat different. At the time, Heavenly Daozi had not yet discovered the Heavenly Dao Insect. Filled with ambition, he created over three hundred direct lineage techniques.
As the memories faded, Ren Qing was already thoroughly familiar with the process. He released bacterial souls to protect his body while his soul was once again dragged deep underground.
His perspective continued descending. He even noticed the roots of the Endless Forest intertwining to form something resembling a network of human blood vessels.
Before he could observe further, a faint warmth enveloped his soul.
Ren Qing felt extraordinarily comfortable, like an unborn infant resting within its mother's womb, making him increasingly drowsy.
"The Great means vastness."
A voice beyond the distinction of male or female echoed out, as though gently speaking to its own child.
"The Supreme means exalted."
"None among the lofty immortals surpass him. All sages honor him. Thus he is called the Supreme Lord Lao."
"The Old means longevity."
"It signifies that Lord Lao cultivated both Heaven and Earth, naturally possessing endless longevity. Thus he is called Old."
"The Lord is a title of reverence. His Dao is pure and his virtue supreme. Thus he is called Lord."
Ren Qing looked around. All he saw were ash-gray walls. The space resembled the interior of a gourd. There was no sign whatsoever of the Daode Heavenly Venerable.
An inexplicable sense of unease welled up inside him. While comprehending Ascension Methods, he swam through the space, searching for anything unusual.
Ren Qing was currently inside the upper half of the gourd. The opening above had been sealed shut with a stopper.
Just as he comprehended his first Ascension Method, he headed toward the lower half of the gourd.
[Leaping the Dragon Gate]
[Created by Ren Qing. Cultivation requires abandoning the physical body and having the soul possess an ordinary carp. Every year on the eleventh day of the twelfth month, the carp must leap three zhang out of the water before the technique can be completed.]
Leaping the Dragon Gate can be cultivated up to the Heavenly Aberration Realm and is compatible with other techniques.
Ren Qing was somewhat disappointed. However, since this was merely Wuying Ghost advancing to the Ascension Ladder, he had long prepared himself for setbacks and paid it little mind.
He continued comprehending Ascension Methods while trying every possible means to escape this place.
The lower half of the gourd was somewhat larger. At its bottom lay an immeasurable sea of white bones.
Ren Qing took a deep breath. His soul accelerated by another thirty percent as his gaze carefully searched every inch of the inner wall.
Soon, he noticed an inconspicuous crack near the lower side of the gourd.
Without hesitation, Ren Qing slipped through the crack. Passing through a thin layer of the wall, he emerged outside the gourd, and the warmth surrounding his soul instantly disappeared.
The statue of the Daode Heavenly Venerable came into view. Tiny cracks had already spread across its surface.
The statue depicted an immortal-like elderly Daoist. His robes were old and worn, yet he radiated an indescribable aura of majesty.
The gourd artifact held in the Daode Heavenly Venerable's hand was precisely the one Ren Qing had escaped from.
Crack... crack... crack...
The cracks covering the statue rapidly expanded. Ren Qing immediately focused all his attention on the Ascension Method.
[Dragon Devouring Art]
[Created by Ren Qing. Cultivation requires one tael of flood dragon blood, which must be infused into the spine. After three consecutive years, the technique is complete.]
Dragon Devouring Art can be cultivated up to the Earth Immortal Realm but is incompatible with other techniques.
[Immortal Position: Taotie Ferocious Beast]
Ren Qing stood frozen for a moment.
The Taotie Method had failed to comprehend Taotie's immortal position. Instead, Wuying Ghost's Ascension Method had unexpectedly produced it.
The Dragon Devouring Art differed far too greatly from the Ascension Method he had originally envisioned.
After all, Wuying Ghost's bizarre object was the Five Yin Horned Dragon. Even among true dragons, it would have been considered a dragon in the prime of its life.
Yet the immortal position it produced was Taotie, one of the Nine Sons of the Dragon. The mismatch was truly bizarre.
However, Ren Qing had already grasped the pattern behind the Ascension Methods. There was still plenty of time, more than enough to comprehend an Ascension Method suitable for himself.
At that very moment,
Crack... crack... crack...
A massive crack split open across the Daode Heavenly Venerable's chest and abdomen. Smoky black qi billowed out from within, accompanied by strange bleating sounds.
Ren Qing was all too familiar with it. He had dealt with it constantly over the past several decades.
"The aura of a Heavenly Demon?"
He froze for half a breath. How could the Daode Heavenly Venerable possibly be connected to the Supreme Heavenly Demon? And if so, what exactly was the existence imprisoned inside the beast pen?
A thought stirred in his mind, and he looked toward the gourd in the statue's hand.
Perhaps the Supreme Heavenly Demon had once been sealed inside the Daode Heavenly Venerable's gourd.
The reason its aura resembled that of the Daode Heavenly Venerable was because they had originally been one and the same.