Xu Sanliang saw that Ren Qing had finally obtained body martial arts. After asking and learning that it was the "Iron-Grinding Sword Method," he hurriedly left Qingfeng Hall.
Ren Qing could tell that although Weiwang Town currently maintained calm on the surface, since the matters behind it involved the Three Immortals of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, there were definitely undercurrents surging.
From the occasional funeral wails that rang out, it could be heard that inexplicable deaths and injuries were increasing.
Ren Qing had long felt that traveling back and forth every day was too troublesome, so he simply moved into Qingfeng Hall, deliberately choosing a relatively remote corner for his side room.
The place where he tempered his body also changed from the training ground to the open space in front of the side rooms, which instead made Xu Tu and the others very unaccustomed.
The open space was paved with green bricks, and all weeds were completely removed.
Ren Qing glanced at the sky; there were still several hours before noon.
He maintained the horse stance posture while cultivating the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method. Nether Yuan circulated through his meridians in a full cycle, and his consciousness immersed itself in the contents of body martial arts.
The cultivation methods of body martial arts differed greatly, truly bizarre in variety.
For example, the Iron-Grinding Sword Method required holding an iron ball in the mouth. After saliva transformed into molten iron, it was swallowed into the abdomen, thereby turning the bones into metal.
The Night Roaming Sword Method was simpler, requiring only gazing at the moon.
However, after summarizing, he discovered that although body martial arts methods took different paths, they led to the same destination. Cultivation mainly stimulated disease types, but was not as frenzied as delusion cultivation.
Ren Qing still remembered those madmen in Weiwang Town. Under the effects of delusions, their bodies all developed uncontrollable pathological changes.
Although Xu Sanliang and the others also had pathological changes, they were controlled within a reasonable range.
This was equivalent to the distinction between benign and malignant.
However, according to the information flow, body martial arts only barely controlled disease types, and there must certainly have been many cultivators whose disease types went out of control.
After cultivators died, what disease types would become was unknown...
It was also unclear how Weian Town handled dying body martial cultivators. Could it be that the diseased tree directly devoured the corpse and transformed it into a head?
Ren Qing compared the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, which was also derived from the Restraint Officer path. The safety of the black insects and disease types was simply not on the same level.
The state of the black insects was relatively stable, and because they were derived from Heavenly Dao insects, they had an uncontrollable dependency on the host.
The drawback was that they were controlled by the Heavenly Dao insect matriarch of the ghost shadow, and cultivation required absorbing true essence.
Ren Qing currently lacked the ability to perfect the Restraint Officer path, but he could indeed try working on body martial arts. Perhaps he could even create a method himself.
Of course, he first needed to obtain more body martial arts.
"Shanlu."
Xu Fu hurried over along the path. When he saw Ren Qing lifting stone balls while holding a horse stance, an expression of astonishment inevitably appeared on his face.
Ren Qing exhaled half a meter of white breath. The Nether Yuan circulating in his meridians returned to his dantian, faintly giving him a premonition of imminent completion.
"Shanlu, I've brought auxiliary cultivation implements."
Xu Fu took out a cloth bag containing more than ten ping-pong–sized iron balls. From the collision sounds, they were extremely solid.
Given the price of ironware in Weian Town, this bag was nearly equivalent to the same amount of gold.
Ren Qing nodded and reached out to take it. A trace of pain flashed across Xu Fu's expression, but he still generously released his grip.
[Age: fifty-three]
[Lifespan: twenty-one years]
[Disease Type: Asthma disease type]
[Body Martial Art: Gale Heavy Sword (not entered)]
Ren Qing relied entirely on Xu Fu for food and drink, and also had to request cultivation resources. Even with thick skin, he felt somewhat embarrassed.
If he could speak, he would certainly ask about the cultivation method of the Gale Heavy Sword to see if he could help Xu Fu master body martial arts.
Xu Fu was unaware of Ren Qing's thoughts.
In fact, resources were distributed every year by several clan elders. Originally, Qingfeng Hall only had him cultivating body martial arts, and he had failed to master them for many years, which led to extreme scarcity of resources.
Now that Ren Qing was here, resources would increase considerably. Wool came from the sheep, so it was not a losing deal.
Even if Ren Qing graduated upon reaching the Half-Corpse realm, he would still affect resource allocation within five years.
"Shanlu, for your first cultivation session, remember not to exceed the time of one incense stick. Then increase it by half an incense stick each day, to explore your own upper limit..."
Xu Fu looked at Ren Qing's extraordinary physique, and admiration involuntarily arose in his heart.
One must know that body martial arts were not better the more one mastered. Long-term cultivation would cause disease types to risk going out of control.
As for how long one could cultivate before reaching the limit, it mainly depended on individual constitution.
In theory, after surpassing forty years of age, cultivation time would decrease year by year, and the probability of mastering body martial arts would naturally grow lower and lower.
Someone like Xu Shiwang, although he had already reached the Ghost Envoy realm and his lifespan was far from exhausted, in fact no longer practiced body martial arts. His energy was focused on nurturing and maintaining his own body.
Ren Qing found this somewhat absurd.
Body martial arts still depended on resistance; once old and weak, there was no further possibility.
Too real...
Wait, if vaccines from his previous life could be brought over, wouldn't it be possible to achieve a supreme immortal body, cultivating as easily as drinking water?
Or create fabricated techniques to strengthen immunity.
Ren Qing quietly suppressed these stray thoughts. Such fabricated techniques could bring transformation to the Forbidden Zone, and might even lead to large-scale emergence of high-realm cultivators.
It was still necessary to deliberate carefully and understand more secrets within the Longevity Forbidden Zone first.
Ren Qing placed an iron ball into his mouth and used his tongue to press it against the upper palate, positioning the iron ball beneath the tongue to avoid accidental swallowing.
Xu Fu hurriedly reminded him, "You must attempt to communicate with the 'disease type' within your body that governs cultivation, thereby gradually controlling body martial arts..."
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly stared dumbfounded at Ren Qing. The latter's entire body trembled, and a terrifying aura was revealed without concealment.
"He's already entered the beginner stage?"
Xu Fu did not know what to say. His decades of hardship seemed to lose all meaning. Perhaps this was simply the difference in talent.
Bitterness appeared on his face. To avoid disturbing Ren Qing, he could only leave the side room area.
Ren Qing did not pay attention to Xu Fu. The Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method began circulating in cycles, while he simultaneously cultivated body martial arts, fully carrying out multitasking.
Approximately every half hour, he swallowed molten iron once, and the quality of his bones improved.
However, Ren Qing felt that as body martial arts meant to restrain disease types, they were not particularly balanced.
The growth progress of disease types was always slightly faster than body martial arts, causing the burden on the body to increase correspondingly as realms rose.
This kind of cultivation was a technique of courting destruction. How did the founding ancestor manage to ascend?
Ren Qing cultivated for over three hours without feeling any so-called limit, which showed just how solid the foundation of this body was.
During this period, Xu Fu occasionally came to check on Ren Qing's condition, but the frequency clearly decreased, seemingly frightened.
When noon arrived, Qingfeng Hall's disciples returned to the side room area. They took out tables and chairs, and menials brought over the food.
Ren Qing practiced martial arts outside the side rooms, so his meals naturally changed location as well.
Qingfeng Hall's disciples had already somewhat grown accustomed to the pressure brought by Ren Qing. This was also one of the reasons Xu Fu let them interact with each other.
Ren Qing did not stop cultivation. It was best not to interrupt the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method midway, otherwise it would damage cultivation.
The jade pendant artifact he brought into the Longevity Forbidden Zone stored Nether Yuan that could at most barely reach the Golden Core stage, so it was better not to waste it.
It was precisely because of Ren Qing's thought that he seized a fleeting opportunity.
"Senior Brother Wang Shanlu, eat something before continuing to practice?"
Zhao Liangxin said softly. Seeing that Ren Qing still had his eyes closed and showed no reaction, he helped serve him some food, then each sat by the stone table.
As the only one among the disciples in the Force-Gathering realm, Zhao Liangxin had more or less been exposed to information about body martial arts, and could not help but look toward Ren Qing.
With Senior Brother Wang Shanlu's talent, mastering body martial arts should not be anything surprising.
The Nether Yuan in Ren Qing's lower dantian grew increasingly abundant. Eventually, as it circulated in a full cycle and accepted everything like the sea, it began developing toward condensation and liquefaction.
He continued absorbing Nether Yuan until it showed a trend of grains of sand piling into a tower.
Only then did Ren Qing stop the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method. His cultivation had thus reached the perfection of the Qi Refinement stage, and he could prepare to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Zhao Liangxin felt the mysterious aura emitted by Ren Qing. Even though it vanished in an instant, his heart still burned with fervor.
He wondered when he would be able to come into contact with body martial arts.
The other disciples were unaware, discussing rumors and gossip within Weian Town.
Ren Qing listened intentionally or unintentionally, and quickly discovered something off.
The yamen seemed to be urgently recruiting city guards.
Decisions in Weian Town were controlled by clan elders. Although guards appeared to maintain order, they were definitely related to the reconstruction of Weiwang Town.
Xu Tu and the others from poor backgrounds were very interested, but unfortunately the yamen required guards to be at least twenty years old.
Weian Town was also repairing dilapidated houses everywhere, and at the same time conducting population statistics. There was a sense of impending storm.
Ren Qing analyzed the authenticity of the information. The time left for his own development was likely not much.
Although he did not know what would happen, it was foreseeable that it would be full of dangers.
After everyone finished lunch and dispersed, Ren Qing casually stuffed some food into his mouth, then once again assumed the horse stance, closed his eyes, and sank into contemplation.
He stared at the body martial arts section in the information flow and silently confirmed.
Advance Iron-Grinding Sword Method, will consume one hundred days of lifespan. Ren Qing did not plan to save lifespan anymore. Since the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method had reached Qi Refinement perfection, he was confident he could advance to the Foundation Establishment stage within ten days.
Strengthening power took priority, lest the foundation he had painstakingly accumulated vanish into nothing.
Even if he had to re-nurture split souls, Ren Qing planned this time to obtain more body martial arts first, then find a remote mountain forest to idle-grind cultivation.
As for why he chose the Iron-Grinding Sword Method, it was mainly because the Night Roaming Sword Method affected the eyes and was very easy to expose.
The Iron-Grinding Sword Method affected the bones, at most causing some increase in body weight.
Ren Qing's bones immediately began to thicken, yet were forcibly compressed. A faint metallic luster spread across the surface of his bones.
Ka ka ka ka...
More bone spurs drilled out of his back, and his tailbone began to ache slightly.
Ren Qing subconsciously touched his tailbone, only to find a finger-sized tail. The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He had just said that the Iron-Grinding Sword Method had relatively light mutation traces. Now it seemed that upon advancing to the Ghost Envoy realm, it was very likely to grow a white bone-like tail.
In the following days, all Martial Instruction Halls were almost completely sealed.
They seemed to have anticipated something. The entire Weian Town suddenly became chaotic without warning, and the number of funerals increased as a result.
When Heaven intends to destroy something, it first makes it go mad, seemingly welcoming the imminent arrival of the "immortal."