What Is The Heretical Dao of Cultivation

Ren Qing stayed in the Fire Refining Hall for a full seven days before going out for a walk.

The occasional few corpses that had died miserable deaths were all handed over to the Li brothers and Xiao Wu. The three of them had already become thoroughly adept at it.

Ren Qing's main purpose was to work out the cultivation method of the Human Skin Book and test the effects of various animal eyeballs.

Unlike the Eye-less Method, which relied on visualization, the Human Skin Book required external stimulation. The simplest method was beating the body.

If he could prepare a specialized medicinal bath, it should produce remarkable results as well.

Of course, the Human Skin Book surely had even more bizarre cultivation methods. Ren Qing naturally would not attempt them by skinning himself.

As for eyeballs, the larger they were, the better the effect. Pig Eyes truly offered the best value for money.

At the same time, he quietly considered advancing to become a Double-Pupil User, though he had already prepared himself to spend another year and a half of lifespan.

Still, he could not help but feel somewhat wary of such a bizarre power system.

Thinking of the things Song Zongwu had said, intentionally or otherwise, in the cell, Ren Qing decided to verify his suspicions.

He made some preparations, hiding a sharpened short blade at his waist and carrying several Pig Eyes with him before heading toward the Martial Arts Field.

Ren Qing had originally planned to bring Xiao Wu along, but White Servants were barred from entering many places in the Yamen, including the Martial Arts Field.

The Martial Arts Field was shared by the east, south, west, and north districts, and it covered an enormous area.

From afar, Ren Qing could see quite a few constables practicing with blades and spears, while the watching Yamen Runners repeatedly cried out in approval.

His appearance caused the constables to glance his way. After all, Fire Refining Lictors rarely came here.

However, they soon stopped paying attention to him.

The constables' attention was all focused on the two men sparring in the open space.

The two wielded blunt wooden swords, their movements exquisitely fluid as they shifted and leapt about. Both employed sword techniques that balanced offense and defense.

After watching for a few moments, Ren Qing found it dull.

He headed toward the Martial Arts Building at the edge of the field. It housed many martial arts manuals for tempering the body, though only Yamen Runners were permitted to study them.

Ren Qing pushed open the door, and the rotten stench of damp books rushed straight at his face.

He could not help coughing a few times, drawing dissatisfied looks from the others inside.

Looking around, Ren Qing was somewhat disappointed by the so-called martial arts secret manuals. They looked no different from an ordinary bookstore.

Three rows of bookshelves stood scattered about, the books upon them exceedingly old, with some even damaged.

Ren Qing casually picked one up. The cover prominently bore the words "Clear Wind Swordplay."

After flipping through a few pages, he could only describe it as utterly unremarkable. The explanations of the techniques were detailed, but this was not at all the kind of martial art that cultivated both inner and outer aspects he had imagined.

Without much hope, Ren Qing summoned the Information Flow. The result caught him by surprise.

Clear Wind Swordplay (Incomplete)

Created by Daoist Master Clear Wind. It contains thirty-six forms and is known for its speed and steadiness. After cultivating its Internal Cultivation, one's sword strikes become even more nimble.

Clear Wind Swordplay lacks its Internal Cultivation section and cannot be mastered by consuming lifespan.

The muscles throughout Ren Qing's body tightened slightly. Refusing to believe it, he picked up manual after manual, only to find nearly identical results.

Every manual in the Martial Arts Building was marked "(Incomplete)." Had the Yamen deliberately removed parts of the martial arts?

Ren Qing narrowed his eyes in thought. What exactly did this mean?

The styles of martial arts and Arts were as different as clouds and mud. By ordinary logic, should not the widely spread teachings have been martial arts that strengthened the body?

And it was not quite right to say that bizarre cultivation methods could allow one to become an Immortal and attain the Dao.

Even Song Zongwu only had a lifespan limit of just over three hundred years. Compared to the risks involved, the increase in lifespan was far too little.

Besides, how many people could truly live out their natural lifespan?

Ren Qing rubbed his temples with a headache. He felt that he had inadvertently brushed against the bizarre truth of this world.

Unfortunately, he still had no clue where to begin.

Ren Qing steadied himself. What Song Zongwu wanted him to see should not have been these things. After all, no second person knew of the Information Flow.

Following the order of the shelves, Ren Qing patiently flipped through the manuals one by one, returning each to its shelf after seeing the Information Flow's prompt.

His actions looked rather strange, naturally making the other constables in the room increasingly displeased.

Before any Constable could step forward to warn him, Ren Qing took a thick book and went to a corner to read quietly.

The book was called "Chronicles of the Thatched Cottage." Its contents told absurd tales of ghosts and gods, though the stories were rather dry.

After searching around, Ren Qing found that it was the only book that was not a cultivation manual.

He carefully read every line. Before he knew it, several hours had passed.

Only when the evening sun shone through the window did Ren Qing raise his head, a hint of surprise appearing on his usually placid face.

Around the hundredth page, the contents of "Chronicles of the Thatched Cottage" suddenly changed, beginning to use myths and legends to allude to anomalies and cultivators.

Through it, Ren Qing learned of the cultivation realms: Martial Human, Half-Corpse, Ghost Envoy, Yin Servant, Yang God, and Heavenly Anomaly.

Once someone like him had mastered an Art, their body would gradually undergo Aberration. Before they had yet shed their mortal flesh, they were in the "Martial Human" realm.

Once the first Aberration was complete, they reached "Half-Corpse."

Moreover, different cultivation methods led to vastly different directions of Aberration.

The Eye-less Method alone had three paths: the Hundred-Eyed, the Single-Eyed, and the Double-Pupil User, let alone other Arts.

"Chronicles of the Thatched Cottage" also answered a question that had troubled Ren Qing for a long time.

"To cultivate bizarre Arts, one usually has to pay an enormous price. With such a high threshold, could there truly be no shortcut?"

In truth, there was a shortcut, and it lay with Martial Human realm cultivators.

After cultivators died, they would produce Eerie Objects, and ordinary people could use those Eerie Objects to master Arts.

However, this was limited to Eerie Objects left behind by Martial Human realm cultivators. Above the Half-Corpse Realm, the risks became far greater.

For example, when a Martial Human realm cultivator of the Eye-less Method died, their eyes would transform into Eerie Objects. By consuming them, one could save forty-nine days.

But if such a cultivator wished to advance their Art, they would have to rely on an Eerie Object from the next realm, which was equivalent to losing all potential.

Arts mastered independently had no such limitation.

What shocked Ren Qing most was that Forbidden Zones were actually closely tied to Eerie Objects.

When cultivators above the Half-Corpse Realm died, their Eerie Objects would develop intelligence and move within a certain range, thereby forming Forbidden Zones.

Ren Qing subconsciously touched his eyes, a chill running down his spine.

So the Dungeon Forbidden Zone had been formed because a cultivator of the Human Skin Book had died inside it.

Wait.

Since the degree of a Forbidden Zone's weirdness was related to the cultivator's realm, how terrifying would a Forbidden Zone be if a high-realm cultivator who had mastered multiple Arts died...

It was impossible to imagine.

Ren Qing finally understood why Song Zongwu had guided him in this manner.

The transformation Ren Qing had displayed in the dungeon was closely connected to the Human Skin Book. Song Zongwu had mistakenly believed that Ren Qing had accidentally eaten a Human Skin Fragment and thereby entered the Martial Human realm.

Putting himself in Song Zongwu's shoes, a Martial Human realm cultivator near the end of his lifespan, who had reached that realm through an Eerie Object, had no potential whatsoever.

Why would there be any need to recruit him into the Forbidden Guards?

Song Zongwu's actions had already been benevolent to the utmost. He had prevented Ren Qing from exposing his Martial Human realm cultivation due to ignorance and thus catching the attention of certain people.

For Ren Qing, the lower his presence, the better. That way, no one would notice when he broke through to the Half-Corpse Realm.

The contract would have to wait another two days. My mentality had exploded.