After all the fire workers on Hexing Street had died, the Fire Refining Hall received three newly appointed yamen runners.
This was not to expand Tan Street's numbers. They had been promoted from white servants on other streets and were specifically responsible for the work on Hexing Street.
Xiao Wu warmly received the three and introduced them to the affairs of the Fire Refining Hall.
Zhu Ding was about the same age as Xiao Wu. Luck had played a part in his promotion to yamen runner, so he acted with great caution.
The other two were far colder. They did not even acknowledge Xiao Wu, merely nodding before returning straight to their rooms.
As Zhu Ding repeatedly offered his thanks, his gaze fell on a side room not far away.
"This is..."
Wisps of white smoke drifted from the gaps in the side room's windows, carrying a rich medicinal smell.
Xiao Wu said worriedly, "Officer Ren lives inside. He is unwell, so he is taking medicine to nurse himself back to health."
Zhu Ding nodded as if he understood, then Xiao Wu called him away to meet Bo Feng and the others.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged in a bathing tub, his skin absorbing the effects of the medicinal bath as an inexplicable, strange itch spread through him.
He could only endure it. Cultivation was, after all, a tempering of one's will.
Moreover, the silver needed for medicinal baths was far from cheap. Even with the extra money he had received, he still had to be frugal.
As for why the medicinal ingredients were so expensive—
Perhaps it was because the area outside the city was too dangerous. Herb gatherers did not dare venture too deeply, so prices naturally rose with the tide.
Only after fully absorbing the medicine's effects did Ren Qing climb out of the bathing tub.
His entire body was red as a boiled crab, steaming with heat.
After getting dressed, he casually grabbed a pig eye from the table and tossed it into his mouth. Just as he was about to swallow it, Song Zongwu appeared before him.
"Senior Song..."
"Does your eye art require you to eat animal eyeballs?"
"That is indeed the case."
Ren Qing hurriedly explained. He did not want to be linked to the Head-Chopping Case.
Song Zongwu did not pursue the matter. The arts of this world were strange and varied; some even required one to consume filth to cultivate.
Just as Ren Qing was about to say something, he noticed Song Zongwu taking two books from his robes, and anticipation immediately filled his face.
"Time was short. I only found two arts with relatively clear aberration paths. Choose one of them."
Ren Qing happily accepted the books, but his expression soon turned rather strange.
Song Zongwu also reminded him, "If you wish to cultivate the Five Viscera God, it is best to aberrate toward the Headless One path. As for the content after the Yin Messenger Realm, it was too evil, so I removed it for you."
Five Viscera God (Incomplete) It was comprehended by Du Cun, abbot of the Five Viscera Temple, after observing a divine statue. One can cultivate it only with all five viscera intact.
This was the first time he had seen an art with such low requirements. It felt utterly out of place in this bizarre world.
Unfortunately, the cultivation method was incomplete. As for what was so evil about it, he could not tell for now.
"There are not many arts related to the internal organs, and I do not know much about them. This Five Viscera God can barely be cultivated, but you must be cautious."
Ren Qing could not help feeling slightly regretful. Then, when the Five Viscera God's subsequent information appeared, he silently set the book down.
As cultivation of the Five Viscera God deepened, the five viscera and six bowels would gradually develop intelligence. Upon reaching the Yin Messenger Realm, they could even exist independently outside the body.
Ghost Mother: Five Ghosts Moving Five Spirits: Soul Splits into Five Spirits Headless One: Breasts as Eyes The Five Viscera God lacks its subsequent content and cannot be mastered by consuming lifespan.
Ren Qing knew that the effects of this art probably could not be exempted through the Information Flow. After all, the Five Viscera God cultivated living internal organs.
He did not want his internal organs to each have their own thoughts, perhaps even arguing inside his body.
The Headless One was likely similar to Xing Tian: the five viscera fused with the body, breasts serving as eyes and the navel as a mouth. It was truly bizarre.
Fortunately, the art was incomplete, so there was no need to dwell on it. Ren Qing decisively gave up on it and picked up the other book.
Song Zongwu continued, "This one has no serious future consequences. I would recommend that you cultivate this art."
Taotie Method The Taotie Method was inscribed upon the stomach of the exotic beast Taotie and obtained by the Wine and Meat Daoist. Cultivating this method required massive amounts of eating. Once the stomach expanded to more than six times its original size, it could be mastered.
This condition was anything but simple. Even doubling the size of one's stomach would compress the internal organs. For many people, expanding it sixfold would be enough to kill them.
Song Zongwu explained, "The Taotie Method requires an extremely large stomach capacity, so one must possess an unusual constitution. But with your Half-Corpse Realm cultivation, you can give it a try."
"Thank you, Senior Song. Then I will choose the Taotie Method."
Ren Qing's brow relaxed slightly as he quickly flipped through the book. As time passed, he obtained new information.
It could accelerate cultivation by keeping the stomach perpetually full, but the cultivator would gradually lose control of his appetite.
Food Eater: Eats All Things Vice-Stomach User: Attached Strange Stomach Giant Stomach: Stomach as Large as an Ox Thirty days of lifespan can be consumed to master it while exempting the cost.
Song Zongwu nodded and put away the Five Viscera God.
Ren Qing had already felt the benefits of having someone guide him. Song Zongwu understood both arts thoroughly before giving them to him, so he naturally knew their aberration paths as well.
After the Taotie Method aberrated into a Food Eater, even things that could not originally be eaten could be digested, including metals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron.
However, the drawback was that once a Food Eater reached the Ghost Envoy Realm, he would become a Spirit of the Hill, and the degree of bodily aberration would become extremely obvious.
By then, if he ate flesh and blood, his body would gradually grow larger and stronger. Ten meters would be far from the limit.
If he ate metal, his muscles would inevitably mineralize.
If he ate plants, vast amounts of grass and vegetation would sprout over his body.
From the outside, a Spirit of the Hill looked like a walking giant of earth and timber.
Upon reaching the Yin Messenger Realm, it became even more exaggerated. The Spirit of the Hill would aberrate into a Mountain Spirit, completely turning into a mountain peak.
The Giant Stomach was comparatively better, but he would still have to carry a belly several meters wide.
Its ability was somewhat like the Purple Gold Gourd of the Silver-Horned King in Journey to the West. Once something was swallowed into its belly, it would turn into pus and blood in an instant.
The Vice-Stomach User was the most unusual, and it was also the aberration path Song Zongwu recommended for Ren Qing.
Upon becoming a Vice-Stomach User, a second Strange Stomach would grow within the body and form a Mustard Seed Space for storing items.
When flesh was placed inside the Strange Stomach, its rate of decay would be greatly reduced.
Moreover, the Vice-Stomach User's aberration was not obvious. He would merely gain a Strange Mouth connected to the Strange Stomach, which suited Ren Qing's desire to conceal his strength.
Ren Qing had initially resisted it somewhat, but after asking Song Zongwu, he learned that as long as the Strange Mouth was closed, it could not be noticed with the naked eye.
He had no other choice. The Giant Stomach's obese build was ill-suited for combat, while the Food Eater was even more absurd, directly turning into rock and stone.
Seeing Ren Qing put away the Taotie Method, Song Zongwu said gravely, "Ren Qing, your eye art should be able to notice minute details. Help me inspect a corpse."
"What corpse?"
"The one you saw in the Martial Arts Building. That was my son, Song Rong..."
Song Zongwu let out a long sigh, and a complicated expression appeared on his usually placid face.
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