The Human Skin Book [Skin Refiner]

Ren Qing sat cross-legged in the dim cave, trying to find the opportunity to advance to Skin Refiner.

He had thought that once he neared the bottleneck, advancement would come naturally.

But before he knew it, over half a shichen had passed, and aside from the persistent tingling in his skin that hadn't faded, there was no sense of breakthrough at all.

Ren Qing's mouth twitched, and he opened his eyes.

He suddenly realized the most crucial point.

That was, although Ren Qing had three techniques that had reached the Half-Corpse Realm, in truth, he had no experience advancing any technique at all.

If he groped around on his own, advancing in a short time would definitely be tough, and he might even encounter a sudden mishap while mining.

Ren Qing gritted his teeth, then took an oil-paper bundle out from his Strange Mouth.

The powder inside came from poisonous herbs that could be found near the mountain forest, dried and ground into powder, mixed with a bit of iron sand.

All of it was made with Zhou Qianwu's help; he hadn't paid much silver, just symbolically given some dry rations.

Ren Qing took off his clothes, then harshly rubbed the powder against his skin's surface. A fiery, stinging pain spread through him.

Hiss...

Ren Qing sucked in a breath of cold air. If he didn't have to advance to Skin Refiner tonight, he wouldn't use such an extreme method.

He had no intention of stopping until the skin all over his body turned a deep red, the poison gradually seeping into his marrow.

The tingling from the Human Skin Book grew more intense.

Ren Qing tried to calm his mind, feeling the gradual transformation of the technique, occasionally swallowing some beast eyes.

After over half a shichen, the pain from the poison began to fade, but he still didn't sense any opportunity for advancement.

Ren Qing shook his head, slightly disappointed.

Just as he was about to continue applying the powder, he suddenly felt his blood flow rapidly, and an unfounded fear surged into his heart.

The bats in the cave flew out in droves, and insects and rodents did the same.

Before Ren Qing could suppress the fear, a violent tearing sensation erupted from his skin.

He couldn't help but look at his arm; the skin on it flowed like mucus, appearing extremely strange and eerie.

Ren Qing's pupils dilated, and he suddenly realized something.

This was similar to what happened after a cultivator died, but he never expected it to happen to himself now.

His skin seemed to be undergoing a process of eerie transformation, trying to merge with his flesh and blood.

"What kind of underworld aesthetic are these techniques?"

Ren Qing instinctively grabbed his skin with his hands, trying to stop the eerie transformation, but the human skin only became more active.

Whispers sounded in his ears.

He finally understood why Song Zongwu had been surprised that he advanced to the Half-Corpse Realm without anyone protecting him—there truly was a hidden, unspeakable terror within it.

Ren Qing steadied his mind; as a last resort, he could consume his lifespan to force the advancement.

Then he visualized the Eye-less Method.

The whispers turned into miserable screams, and the aura of the Double-Pupil technique directly suppressed the eerily transforming human skin.

Only the eerie could counter the eerie.

Seeing this, Ren Qing swallowed a large number of eyeballs, and his stomach began to churn.

For the first time, he tried to visualize both the Taotie Method and the Eye-less Method simultaneously. Unexpectedly, with his mind highly focused, he succeeded.

The human skin returned to normal, showing no trace of its earlier eerie transformation.

By the time the morning sun appeared as a white line, the consciousness within the human skin had been completely extinguished, signifying that the advancement to Skin Refiner was complete.

Compared to forcing the advancement, Ren Qing had weathered the calamity, and his aura had become more stable.

The Information Flow surged.

[Ren Qing]

[Age: Seventeen]

[Lifespan: Six years, two hundred eleven days]

[Techniques: Eye-less Method (Double-Pupil User), Divine Feet Scripture (Wolf-Foot User), Human Skin Book (Skin Refiner), Taotie Method (Vice-Stomach User)]

The Information Flow showed no abnormalities, indicating that autonomous advancement of techniques was feasible, though it inevitably came with risks.

From then on, all of Ren Qing's techniques had reached the Half-Corpse Realm. The next step was to integrate and master each technique.

In his mind, the Mutation Tree for the Human Skin Book had new developments.

The three directions of mutation for the Ghost Envoy Realm were, respectively:

[Substitute Ghost Skin: Bear wounds without dying]

[Boneless Blood Demon: Flesh and blood formless]

[Human-Faced Beast Demon: Merge skin to transform into a beast]

Ren Qing thought for a moment. It seemed that after the Skin Peeler advanced into a Boneless Blood Demon, its control over flesh and blood would become even more terrifying.

The Herdsman, on the other hand, should use some method to transform into a beast form. Based on the lifespan consumed, the cost required for exemption was the greatest.

As for Ren Qing's Skin Refiner, although it lacked offensive means, it perfectly compensated for his defensive shortcomings.

To test the Skin Refiner's ability, he found a relatively thick tree branch and struck his right leg hard with it.

The branch snapped with a crack.

But Ren Qing couldn't help frowning. He noticed a faint bruise forming on his leg, indicating it hadn't fully blocked the blow.

His skin did feel tougher, but his expectation had been immunity to blunt force.

Ren Qing shook his head with slight disappointment. Just as he was about to return to the camp, he suddenly realized that the injury could be controlled by his consciousness.

The bruise vanished from his leg and reappeared on his right arm.

His expression turned to surprise. It was clear that the Skin Refiner's potential was in no way inferior to the Herdsman or the Skin Peeler—perhaps even superior.

Besides enhancing skin toughness, the Skin Refiner's main function was controlling injuries.

Ren Qing picked up the Great Miao Saber and slashed hard across the back of his hand.

He then noticed that wounds caused by sharp weapons could also be transferred, though the depth of the injury could not be changed.

This meant...

Weak points like the throat and groin were effectively rendered nonexistent.

Moreover, once he advanced to the Ghost Envoy Realm in the future, the ability would surely improve further, granting terrifying survivability.

No wonder it was called "Substitute Ghost Skin."

If he could also master some technique for rapid recovery, he would be practically unbeatable.

Ren Qing couldn't help feeling deeply satisfied.

With the experience of autonomous advancement, if he wanted to master the Demon Seeding Scripture later, he wouldn't need to deliberately consume lifespan to reach the Half-Corpse Realm.

Once the matter of sealing off the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone was settled, he could accumulate lifespan and prepare to break through to the Ghost Envoy Realm.

Ren Qing stretched his muscles and, taking advantage of the faint dawn light, returned to the camp.

Most of the Yamen Runners were already awake, diligently chopping wood.

The prisoners had even less sleep.

But compared to entering the karst cave, they would rather do high-intensity labor outside—at least they wouldn't face the risk of death at any moment.

Song Zongwu had just come out of the karst cave to grab some food. Seeing Ren Qing, he asked, "Where did you go so early?"

Ren Qing smiled sheepishly and replied, "I had nothing to do, so I went hunting."

"Hang in there for a few more days. The excavation of the mountain is going pretty smoothly."

"Alright, I'll go right away."

Ren Qing quickly ducked into the karst cave.

Song Zongwu watched his retreating figure and muttered to himself, "Something feels different about him. Could it be related to the Human Skin Book?"

"Or did he break through to the Half-Corpse Realm with the Taotie Method? That would be..."

Song Zongwu shook his head, thinking that once the excavation was done, he would explain the pros and cons of the Ghost Envoy Realm to Ren Qing.