Half-Corpse Realm [Double-Pupil User]

[Do you choose the branch of Double Pupils? This will consume one year and six months of lifespan.]

The moment Ren Qing made his decision, blood vessels around his eye sockets burst, a dizzying sensation nearly plunging his vision into darkness, and his clothes were soaked through with cold sweat.

Then the heat in his stomach began to spread, laboriously supporting the mutation of his eyes, and the Pig Eyes were digested completely within a few breaths.

All the blood in his body rushed to his head; Ren Qing immediately felt the effects of extreme blood loss, and the beating of his heart slowed drastically.

On the other side of the wall, the others were sweeping the courtyard, unaware that Ren Qing had already been drained of blood, reduced to a withered corpse.

Ren Qing's consciousness remained clear, and he couldn't help but feel fear, as if he were adrift in an endless, boundless void.

Time lost all meaning.

Ren Qing even suspected he had died from qi deviation, since even the Information Flow had vanished without a trace.

An unknown span of time passed, and a single point of red light appeared in the monotonous darkness.

Ren Qing instinctively stared at the red light, and a profound, mysterious sensation arose from the depths of his heart, gradually restoring his previously unbalanced state of mind.

The red light began to extend, sketching out thread after thread, as if painting on empty air.

Ren Qing suddenly understood.

The red threads were actually the blood vessels that composed the eyes; under the influence of the mutation, his eyes were transforming in a direction beyond the human.

What slightly relieved Ren Qing was that the mutation only revolved around his eyes; at least he hadn't sprouted a hundred eyes or anything like that.

Once the blood vessels had constructed the rough outline, Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body.

His chest heaved continuously as he greedily gasped for air.

Ren Qing subconsciously raised his arm; through the withered skin, he could see his bones, making him look like a corpse that had just crawled out of a coffin.

"So the so-called Half-Corpse Realm is to undergo the process from death to life..."

A breeze blew through the window, and light shone upon Ren Qing's body.

His amber-smooth eyeballs reflected glimmers of light, and his two pupils resembled the symbol for infinity, ∞, adding a touch of mystery.

"The price for advancing to Double-Pupil User is too steep..."

At that moment, blood suddenly seeped from his eyes, flowing through the blood vessels toward the position of his heart.

Bam!

Bam! Bam!!

Bam! Bam! Bam!!!

Ren Qing's heart, which had stopped, began to beat, and its rhythm grew faster and faster, driving the revival of his internal organs.

He regained a bit of strength and forced himself to swallow the Pig Eyes that had been placed at his bedside; the heat further accelerated the flow of blood.

The blood within his Double Pupils, after the mutation, was as viscous as mercury and had already undergone changes unknown to others.

Ren Qing's muscles became full and more resilient, his skin regained its luster, and even his scars had vanished.

He couldn't help but sigh in admiration—breaking through to the Half-Corpse Realm was truly worthy of being called shedding mortality.

It was indeed a complete rebirth.

Just then, a fly, attracted by the Pig Eyes, buzzed around the room and landed on the oil paper stained with blood, greedily licking at the remnants of pork.

The Double Pupils in Ren Qing's eyes rotated against each other, and the flow of his blood quickened accordingly.

He reached out an arm to grab the fly.

The fly, sensing through its compound eyes, easily dodged by fluttering its wings, and even flew around provocatively.

The buzzing was incessant.

The fly landed back on the oil paper, preparing to take advantage of the meal.

Suddenly, Ren Qing reached out his arm again, and as the fly dodged, his feet moved half a step as if by prescience.

He pinched the fly between his fingertips—this was the ability of the Double-Pupil User: to anticipate the enemy's moves.

Ren Qing maintained the Double-Pupil state for a full two hours before his eyes began to feel slightly swollen, and then he reverted them to normal.

Beyond that, his strength and speed had both seen considerable improvement, enough to rival a wild beast.

The Information Flow appeared.

[Ren Qing]

[Age: Seventeen]

[Lifespan: Seven years, two hundred thirty days]

[Arts: Eye-less Method (Double-Pupil User), Human Skin Book]

The surge in lifespan caught Ren Qing off guard, but he quickly understood.

Because of his advancement to the Half-Corpse Realm, all the hidden injuries in his body had been healed, which was why his lifespan had increased by over four years.

Unfortunately, since this body had already undergone one death, it could only recover a portion of its lifespan—four years was already good.

Ren Qing breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and observed the sprout within his mind.

The sprout of the Human Skin Book remained unchanged, but the Eye-less Method had grown into a small sapling.

The branch representing the [Double-Pupil User] stretched upward, its tip bearing a massive leaf, with black-gray veins tracing the pattern of double pupils.

When Ren Qing's consciousness touched the leaf, brief information emerged.

[Twin Nightmare Ghosts: Yin-Yang Twin Souls]

[Will you advance to Twin Nightmare Ghosts? This will consume fifteen years of lifespan.]

Ren Qing helplessly covered his face, the joy of his lifespan rising to seven years vanishing in an instant.

Advancing to Double-Pupil User had taken a year and a half; advancing to Twin Nightmare Ghosts would take fifteen years. By that logic, the next advancement would likely require a hundred and fifty years.

And this was just one technique. Once he had more techniques, even several lives wouldn't be enough to spend.

Fortunately, he could advance through self-cultivation, which was at least a silver lining.

He named the sapling "Mutation Tree."

The Mutation Tree likely originated from the Information Flow, possibly a projection of the technique within the Niwan Palace.

Ren Qing continued inspecting and found that the other branches also yielded information, representing the other two branches of the Eye-less Method.

Hundred-Eyed advanced to [Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord: Devour Souls].

Single-Eyed advanced to [Soul-Snatching Brain Demon: Enslave Souls].

Ren Qing realized that the mutation paths of the Eye-less Method all involved souls to some extent, and he wondered what use Yin-Yang Twin Souls might have.

Suddenly, a thought struck him: in theory, each technique should have a different focus. If he could find a technique that increased lifespan, wouldn't that be a path to the heavens?

But for now, the most important thing was to eliminate that Hundred-Eyed. As long as that person remained, he was a thorn in Ren Qing's side.

If the Hundred-Eyed mutated into a Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord and traced back to him through the Eye-less Method, Ren Qing would have no means of resistance.

Of course, he had his advantages, backed as he was by the Yamen. The Forbidden Guards weren't idle.

Ren Qing hesitated for a moment but chose not to advance the Human Skin Book further. At least he needed to understand the mutation directions of each branch first.

He feared uncontrollable situations. He could still cover his double pupils by squinting, but what if he ended up with no skin at all?

Ren Qing left the room and chatted with Xiao Wu and the others for a while. Seeing that they hadn't noticed anything unusual about his eyes, he relaxed.

Bo Feng, however, sensed that Ren Qing's aura had taken on a sharp edge, as if something had changed overnight.

After leaving the Fire Refining Hall, Ren Qing felt hungry and headed to the Kitchen Courtyard, where he ended up eating several times the usual amount.

Only then did he notice that his digestion had accelerated severalfold, effectively enhancing the lifespan-extending effect of the Pig Eyes.

Unfortunately, buying a large quantity of Pig Eyes would undoubtedly expose him to the Hundred-Eyed, so he had to keep a low profile.

As for eating human eyes, that would likely cause uncontrollable bodily mutation, and since he couldn't sustain it long-term, it wasn't worth it.

Besides, as a normal person, he couldn't bear it psychologically.

Murderous intent flashed in Ren Qing's eyes.

For that alone, the Hundred-Eyed had to die.

Even if he couldn't handle it himself, if he could drag that person out of the shadows, there would always be a Forbidden Guard to strike.