The Divergent Path of the Divine Feet Scripture

Ren Qing casually threw a few punches, sending several stubborn Martial Arts School disciples flying, clearly with broken bones and tendons at the very least.

Seeing this, who would dare to sneak attack him anymore?

Chen Lihua's eyes were bloodshot, muttering neurotically under her breath, but she only watched from a distance for now.

Ren Qing paid no mind to the fleeing Martial Arts School disciples at all, his arms crossed over his chest as if waiting for something.

A few breaths later, Chen Yongxing's corpse began to show signs of change.

Suddenly, the body trembled uncontrollably—not a reanimation, but the Eerie Object within gradually detaching from the flesh and blood.

As a crack split open the right leg bone, a mass of viscous liquid crawled out from inside.

Ren Qing's hairs stood on end. Though this wasn't his first time seeing an Eerie Object, it was his first time witnessing one's birth.

It was like Winter Worm Summer Grass, a parasite feeding on its host's nutrients—the thought was chillingly unsettling.

A strange odor spread out, and all the Martial Arts School disciples froze in their tracks, heavy panting rising and falling in waves.

Ren Qing's guess was right: after eating flesh and blood tainted with the Eerie Object's aura, their bodies' instincts could no longer resist the craving for mutation.

In a sense, the tragedy had been sealed years ago when the disciples first consumed Chen Yongxing's flesh.

Ren Qing grabbed the Eerie Object with his bare hands. The thick liquid immediately tried to seep into his flesh, but was blocked by his tough skin.

BAM!!!

The hall's wooden door shattered into splinters.

The Martial Arts School disciples lunged at Ren Qing like zombies, but he dodged them with leisurely steps.

He knew that prolonged contact with Eerie Objects or technique manuals was needed to obtain Information Flow—the Human Skin Book was a precedent.

Information Flow converged.

[Divine Feet Scripture]

[Created by the Heavenly Cripple Daoist. To cultivate this method, one must, during the bone-growing years of youth, sever both legs at the root, trap oneself in a vat, and feed on specific medicinal catalysts. Survive three years without dying, and Divine Feet will grow.]

[Daily consumption of wolf, elephant, and leopard blood accelerates cultivation, but the body will gradually erode, leading to complete beastification.]

Ren Qing focused on the Information Flow while pushing his Double Pupils to their limit.

All the Martial Arts School disciples joined the siege against Ren Qing, having completely lost their humanity, acting like wild beasts.

This was the flaw of the Divine Feet Scripture, especially under Chen Yongxing's reckless meddling—even if the disciples devoured the Eerie Object, their most likely outcome was turning into beasts.

Chen Yongxing's corpse wasn't spared. Several disciples tore into it madly, quickly leaving it unrecognizable.

Among them was his own daughter, Chen Lihua.

Ren Qing dodged attacks while stepping out of the hall into the dim corridor.

He tried not to fight back, only using his arms to block when absolutely necessary, all to minimize traces left at the scene.

The Information Flow continued to gather.

[Leopard-footed: Agile and silent]

[Elephant-Foot User: Heavy and powerful]

[Wolf-Foot User: Travels a thousand miles]

Seeing the three directions of mutation from the Divine Feet Scripture, Ren Qing guessed that Chen Yongxing had been mutating toward the Elephant-Foot User.

Chen Yongxing probably consumed Elephant Blood regularly, but the Eerie Object's restrictions kept him from breaking through to the Half-Corpse Realm.

[Can consume thirty days of lifespan to waive the cost and master]

Ren Qing had expected more lifespan to be consumed, but it turned out to be the same.

It seemed that only when mastering techniques through Eerie Objects above the Half-Corpse Realm would the lifespan cost increase significantly—hardly worth it.

He didn't rush to consume lifespan. Weaving between attacks, he struggled his way to the Martial Arts Hall's door.

Once he confirmed mastering the technique, he casually tossed the Eerie Object onto the wall, and the disciples immediately fought each other over it.

[Ren Qing]

[Age: Seventeen]

[Lifespan: Seven years, two hundred twenty-seven days]

[Techniques: Eye-less Method (Double Pupils), Human Skin Book, Divine Feet Scripture]

He felt his leg veins surge, a primal urge to tear everything apart rising in his heart.

But relying on his Half-Corpse Realm cultivation, Ren Qing forcibly suppressed the mutation in his legs and stumbled through the door.

Jiang Jie and the others were trembling, only to hear Ren Qing shout, "They've gone mad! Run, or it'll be too late!!!"

With that, Ren Qing turned and sprinted. Moments later, the dark-skinned man gritted his teeth and chased after him, the rest following close behind.

They couldn't help glancing curiously at the corridor, only to see the disciples tearing into each other, limbs and chunks of flesh everywhere, even an arm flung not far away.

"Move! Want to live or die?"

Ren Qing urged again, actively helping the weak-legged Jiang Jie along as the group fled in panic.

They ran another few hundred meters before finally stopping, their stamina spent.

Chou Shi had passed, and the sky was just beginning to lighten, but the streets were still empty of pedestrians, most residents still lost in dreams.

The dark-skinned man leaned against a wall, panting. "So many dead. I'm going to report this to the authorities right away..."

Jiang Jie smiled bitterly. "Don't forget, Chen Yongxing has the Bloodhound Gang behind him. People like us can't afford to offend them; we might even end up playing with fire and burning ourselves."

Ren Qing chimed in, "If you ask me, just bury it in your gut. The Yamen will probably handle it soon enough."

"Right, right, right..."

The group was already mentally frayed from the ordeal. Now all they wanted was to return home, so they scattered in different directions.

Only Jiang Jie wanted to get closer to Ren Qing, but the latter slipped into an alley with a few quick moves and vanished before anyone knew it.

On the surface, Ren Qing seemed eager to get back to the Yamen, but in truth, he quietly crept into a distant Tea House, found a spot on the second floor with a wide view, and fixed his gaze on the Martial Arts School.

From the school came the roar of a wild beast, setting off a commotion among the nearby households.

With such a ruckus, the Bloodhound Gang reacted swiftly.

A burly man rushed to the school. Ren Qing estimated he was a full two meters tall, and his legs were far thicker than an ordinary person's—his mutation direction was likely that of an Elephant-Foot User.

The man didn't go inside. After waiting a moment, a woman arrived.

The woman showed no obvious signs of mutation, though she wore a veil. Her legs were slightly long, but still within normal range.

Could it be she hadn't reached the Half-Corpse Realm of the Divine Feet Scripture?

Roar!!!

The woman's body rapidly swelled, sprouting earthy yellow fur all over, transforming into a half-human, half-leopard.

Ren Qing immediately retracted his earlier judgment.

At that moment, a deformed beast charged out from the school's main gate. Its fur was drenched in blood, and its twisted features were barely discernible on its face.

The beast clashed with the Leopard Man, but life and death were decided in an instant.

The Leopard Man bit into the opponent's throat, drove an arm into its body, and yanked out its entrails with force, then dropped the corpse to the ground.

After retrieving the Eerie Object, they wasted no time distancing themselves from the school.

Before leaving, the woman wiped the blood from her lips. She instinctively glanced toward the Tea House where Ren Qing had been, but he was already gone.

The man asked, "Mei, what's wrong?"

Zhou Mei reverted to human form, but her face still bore traces of feline mutation, which was why she wore a veil to deliberately conceal it.

She said coldly, "It felt like someone was watching us from the shadows."

"Probably just overthinking it. This is a residential area after all."

"Mm. Let the Yamen clean up the mess."