No one knew the reason, but rumors concerning the Heavenly Court were becoming increasingly bizarre.
It was said that the Heavenly Court possessed the inheritances of countless ancient immortals and gods. Now that it had emerged into the world, these inheritances would gradually be spread, reconnecting the severed path to immortality.
Judging by what the Heavenly Court had done so far, there did indeed seem to be such a trend.
In places where rogue cultivators gathered, descendants of immortals and gods frequently appeared, guiding rogue cultivators in their search for inheritances that could lead them to immortality and the Dao.
What made Ren Qing deeply unsettled, however, was that all of this was actually the work of the false Heavenly Court.
The false Heavenly Court's methods were extremely aggressive, yet its targets were limited to rogue cultivators, as though it intended to recruit large numbers of low-realm cultivators.
Ren Qing had dispatched quite a few cultivators, but they had never managed to catch a trace of the false Heavenly Court.
The false Heavenly Court's methods were extremely covert. It seemed to possess an ability similar to Heavenly Demon Possession, allowing Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators to appear anywhere in the world.
In the middle of every month, the black market at Ling Mountain Summit opened punctually, attracting an ever-growing number of rogue cultivators.
Feng Ye squatted in the black market, with bundles of medicinal herbs laid out on the wooden platform before him.
Following the requirements of the mission, he came every time the black market opened. He also occasionally sold some resources, acting as a middleman.
Once word of the false Heavenly Court recruiting disciples spread everywhere, the rogue cultivators at Ling Mountain Summit immediately became a mixed crowd.
As a result, large numbers of rogue cultivators seeking an immortal opportunity gathered at the black market. Several conflicts had also broken out in secret, and casualties were commonplace.
Amid the tense atmosphere, rogue cultivators seeking to protect themselves inevitably banded together for warmth, using various methods to strengthen their power.
With Ren Qing's tacit approval, Feng Ye had gone to Dream City and purchased large quantities of the resource Flesh-Tumor Grass wholesale, then made a handsome profit selling it in the black market.
The effect of Flesh-Tumor Grass was that, within three days of taking it, any wound would grow at several times its normal speed. The blood vessels and meridians would gradually take on the form of roots and stems, producing blood-tumor fruits.
The medicinal effects of the blood-tumor fruits could strengthen the body and also suppress uncontrolled mutation to a certain degree. They even possessed a slight life-extending effect.
To the Restraint Officers' Hall, Blood-Tumor Grass was an extremely crude resource.
It had originated from the behavior of Restraint Officers' Hall cultivators selling their own organs when they lacked resources in the past. Blood-Tumor Grass had subsequently been cultivated by certain alchemists.
Ren Qing had Feng Ye sell Blood-Tumor Grass precisely to attract more rogue cultivators and force the false Heavenly Court to appear at Ling Mountain Summit.
At the same time, he truly intended to control the black market and turn the numerous rogue cultivators into his informants.
Feng Ye made no attempt to conceal his identity as a member of the Heavenly Court. He also raised the cultivation he displayed from the Ghost Envoy Realm to the Yang God Realm. Among rogue cultivators, this was already enough to make people fear him.
It was also because of Feng Ye that the black market was able to operate smoothly.
Feng Ye made a small profit while keeping an eye on the black market's movements. He was more than happy with the arrangement, so he showed up to set up his stall on time every month.
He could not be bothered to hawk his wares. He simply dumped the bundles of Blood-Tumor Grass in front of him.
When a rogue cultivator came to ask about the price, Feng Ye would enthusiastically explain the effects of Blood-Tumor Grass, as well as which medicinal catalysts could make the blood-tumor fruits growing from their wounds plumper.
Feng Ye, who had originally been simple and kind by nature, was already displaying the makings of a shady merchant.
The Yang God Realm cultivators stationed at the black market did not dare offend Feng Ye at all. They had absolutely no connection with the black market's master. Their ability to throw their weight around at Ling Mountain Summit was mainly because their cultivation was relatively profound.
They had wondered whether Feng Ye came from the Heavenly Court, but the strength he revealed inadvertently was clearly beyond the Yang God Realm.
After Blood-Tumor Fruits appeared on the market, rogue cultivators could produce three every month. As long as they paid attention to their bodies, the adverse effects were extremely minor.
This demonstrated that with the current scale of the Restraint Officers' Hall, any resource that leaked into the hands of rogue cultivators was an exceedingly rare opportunity.
As Ren Qing had predicted, the number of rogue cultivators coming to Ling Mountain Summit had already exceeded a thousand.
Feng Ye faithfully relayed the information from the black market, without even withholding how much of a price difference he had earned from selling Blood-Tumor Grass.
Once Blood-Tumor Grass had become deeply rooted in the hearts of the rogue cultivators, Feng Ye withdrew from the front lines and moved behind the scenes.
While cultivating in seclusion, Ren Qing kept an eye on Ling Mountain Summit through the Spirit Division. Judging from the pattern of the false Heavenly Court's previous appearances, the number of people at Ling Mountain Summit was definitely sufficient by now.
If the false Heavenly Court truly feared the Restraint Officers' Hall, it would not deliberately reveal itself using divine titles.
Ren Qing felt that the time was ripe, so he performed Heavenly Demon Possession and sent a strand of Heavenly Aberration Realm bacterial soul to the black market at Ling Mountain Summit.
Light and shadow twisted as a long serpent formed from dragon-like limbs rolled through the thick fog.
Because of the Heavenly Demon Tribulation, the aura of the dragon-like limbs was extremely faint, even weaker than that of a Half-Corpse Realm cultivator in the black market.
A moment later, the avatar of the Lord of the North Pole Star descended upon Ling Mountain Summit.
Ren Qing frowned as he surveyed his surroundings, noticing quite a few strange details.
The thick fog was not formed by a technique, yet its source actually came from deep beneath the soil. He could see the entire mountain breathing like a living creature.
"It seems that when the false Heavenly Court's Dragon King of the Four Seas first appeared half a year ago, there was also fog accompanying it. Could it have been caused by some sort of divine ability?"
Ren Qing flashed into the black market and looked at the various rogue cultivators. Quite a few of them were wearing Daoist robes bearing the words Heavenly Court.
Every rogue cultivator had fruits produced by Flesh-Tumor Grass growing from their shoulders.
They willingly served as breeding grounds for the blood-tumor fruits, merely in exchange for a small amount of resources, much like the Restraint Officers' Hall during its Xiangxiang period.
Ren Qing made a circuit through the black market and discovered that the Heavenly Court's reputation was terrifying. A complete mythological system had already formed among the rogue cultivators.
There were all kinds of rumors about the branch cultivators from the Restraint Officers' Hall who had once participated in the affairs of Jingzhou.
Ren Qing frowned as he listened. The false Heavenly Court was clearly fanning the flames, deliberately increasing the Heavenly Court's reputation in this world.
They were probably trying to force the Restraint Officers' Hall to give up its claim to the name Heavenly Court.
Ren Qing came to Feng Ye's side. Feng Ye was conversing with an old man who had several mouths. The old man appeared to be a representative of the rogue cultivators, and his cultivation, which had only recently entered the Yang God Realm, was rather unstable.
"Feng Ye, count the number of rogue cultivators in each realm in the black market."
Feng Ye was startled by Ren Qing. When he saw the latter's body flickering with distorted light and shadow, he realized that the Lord of the North Pole Star had arrived.
"Greetings, Lord of the North Pole Star. I'll take care of it immediately."
The old man was utterly incredulous. The difference in status between a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator and the Lord of the North Pole Star was actually this enormous?
He hurriedly bowed with the utmost respect. Then he noticed that the surrounding rogue cultivators continued to completely ignore the Lord of the North Pole Star as people came and went through the crowd.
Before the old man could say anything, Ren Qing's figure had already vanished from the spot.
The fog surrounding Ling Mountain Summit suddenly changed color slightly. It transformed from the silver-gray illuminated by moonlight into a dim green resembling the waters of the Yellow Springs.
Ren Qing wore a cold smile. The aura of this technique was far too abrupt, as though it had appeared from thin air. It was obvious that the false Heavenly Court had been plotting this for a long time.
The rogue cultivators devoutly knelt on the ground, unable to stop themselves from praising the Heavenly Court.
This strange phenomenon continued for several hours. During that time, several hundred rogue cultivators arrived at Ling Mountain Summit, most of them in the Ghost Envoy Realm.
They hid throughout the black market, ignoring the rogue cultivators seeking to trade, waiting for the appearance of the legendary Dragon King of the Four Seas.
It was said that the Heavenly Court recruited several hundred disciples every time, sending them to blessed lands and grotto-heavens to cultivate and pursue the immortal Dao of eternal life.
Among the rogue cultivators who had arrived, Ren Qing noticed a familiar face.
He had never expected Xiang Zhu, whom he had not seen in a long time, to come to Ling Mountain Summit, where rogue cultivators gathered. He had certainly come for the Dragon King of the Four Seas.
The rogue cultivators each had their own thoughts, and some had come to purchase blood-tumor fruits.
Ren Qing stared intently at the thick fog. The false Heavenly Court was practically about to emerge, yet it still refused to appear. It seemed almost as though it were deliberately stalling.
Time slowly passed.
Ren Qing suddenly smelled a strange stench of decay in his nostrils.
The stench was extremely faint. If Ren Qing had not mastered Corpse Fengdu and possessed an extreme sensitivity to the aura emitted by the undead, even a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator would have been unable to distinguish this peculiar smell.
He looked toward the sky above Ling Mountain Summit. A black shadow seemed to be stirring faintly within the dark clouds, and Ancestral Lineage Derivation inexplicably began to operate.
Feng Ye looked at Ren Qing in confusion and could not help asking softly, "Dragon King of the Four Seas?"
Ren Qing did not answer. His eyes remained fixed on the dark clouds. He had already understood who was behind the false Heavenly Court, and he could not help laughing wryly.
Under his gaze, a gigantic creature resembling both a snake and a dragon emerged from the clouds.
Exclamations rang out from the black market. The rogue cultivators' eyes were filled with barely restrained excitement as they greedily breathed in the dim green fog.
At some point, a crude technique had appeared in their minds.
The requirements for cultivating the technique were not high, but there was something rather strange about them. The cultivator's physique had to be a half-human Half-Corpse.
However, when the rogue cultivators noticed that the technique could reach the Yang God Realm at its peak, all its drawbacks became irrelevant. They could not help cheering.
They greedily breathed in the dim green corpse qi. Pustules grew all over their bodies, and their internal organs began to decay to varying degrees. Yet there was no denying that the technique had indeed concealed nothing.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. It was obvious that the Corpse Dragon was the work of the Nameless One, and was most likely pieced together from the flesh of the Corpse Immortal.
The Nameless One's plans for attaining immortality and the Dao had already begun to bear fruit.
Incidents involving people impersonating the Heavenly Court were occurring frequently in various places. Most of them should have been the work of the Nameless One, while a small portion were factions taking advantage of the chaos.
The black market's master was very likely merely one of the rogue cultivators controlled by the Nameless One through the Corpse Immortal. To Ren Qing, it was not worth fearing at all.
The technique taught by the Nameless One was precisely the "Skeletal Corpse Method," split off from the Dead Man's Sutra.
Wait.
Ren Qing realized that the Nameless One's main purpose was to spread the Dead Man's Sutra, so that more cultivators would master the Dead Man's Sutra.
The Nameless One was very likely unable to voluntarily detach himself from his parasitism of the Corpse Immortal. Thus, he intended to use tens of thousands of rogue cultivators as bait and find an opportunity to kill the Corpse Immortal.
Before Ren Qing could make a move, Xiang Zhu was the first to chase after the Corpse Dragon.
The moment Xiang Zhu came within a hundred meters of it, the Corpse Dragon showed signs of its body and soul collapsing. Within only a few breaths, it turned into a large mass of corpse fragments that fell from the sky.
"What Heavenly Court? All it does is fool people with flesh puppets."
Xiang Zhu snorted coldly. His Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivation was exposed without reserve. In humiliation and anger, he flicked his sleeve and left, shattering the surrounding mountains in the process.
Ren Qing turned to Feng Ye and said, "I'll contact the corpse ghosts of the Corpse Division. Feng Ye, go directly to Dream City and request resources from them."
"Ah?"
Since the Nameless One wanted to spread the Dead Man's Sutra, Ren Qing had no reason to stop him.
The two sides could each get what they wanted. Ren Qing was very interested in the Corpse Immortal's "Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal," and he also wanted to see how the Nameless One intended to kill a True Immortal at the height of its power.
However, the Nameless One would not make a move for the time being. At the very least, it would have to wait until a suitable immortal position was found.
Ren Qing decided to let the Dead Man's Sutra spread and develop, but that did not mean he would leave the false Heavenly Court's affairs completely unattended. After all, many of the impersonators had nothing to do with the Nameless One.
He chatted with Feng Ye for a few moments, then instructed the Wind Void People to take control of the black market as quickly as possible.
Ren Qing did not mind using the black market to sell techniques that could increase Yin Qi, allowing more rogue cultivators to begin cultivating the Dead Man's Sutra and become undead.
As the Fengdu Corpse Emperor, Ren Qing's Dead Man's Sutra was completely countered by his immortal position.
No matter how many zombie cultivators there were, they could never shake the Fengdu Corpse Emperor. Their final fate would merely be to become bones beneath the White Bone Throne.
The Nameless One had given Ren Qing a timely reminder. There was actually no need to dispatch cultivators throughout the entire world. Intelligence could be gathered entirely through the black markets.
Although rogue cultivators were weak, their numbers spoke for themselves.
As long as the black markets were established widely enough, rogue cultivators would naturally deliver news from all over the world to Ren Qing's ears.
Seeing this, Ren Qing posted a mission in Dream City.
Some cultivators in the Restraint Officers' Hall already loved the business of buying and reselling goods. How could they possibly miss the opportunity to fleece the masses?
Before long, black markets began appearing on the fringes of various regions.
When it came to doing business, the cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall had the entire Dream City as their backing. They were naturally invincible and could easily manipulate prices.
The only thing they had to guard against was the trouble of black-market robbery, since the Restraint Officers' Hall had too few high-end combatants.
Ren Qing deliberately released several hundred strands of bacterial soul to analyze clues from all over the world and extract information useful to himself.
He gradually opened up more spots in the small Heavenly Court, successively bringing selected cultivators inside.
Xiang Zhu had been searching for the Heavenly Court all this time, apparently trying to find out about Lady White Bone. Yet only a few days after leaving Ling Mountain Summit, his consciousness was pulled into the small Heavenly Court in a dream.
His appearance within the small Heavenly Court was not that of a human body with an elephant's head. Instead, he was dressed like an ordinary hunter.
Xiang Zhu was extraordinarily shocked by the existence of the small Heavenly Court.
The main reason was that the small Heavenly Court was extremely realistic and could not be shaken even by a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator. This invisibly added a degree of credibility that was difficult to put into words.
Xiang Zhu also saw Lady White Bone in the Heavenly Court, whom he had not seen for several years. He could not help feeling deeply moved and stood there in a daze for a long time.
At this moment, however, Lady White Bone was already close to the palace of the Plague Division.
Xiang Zhu was more than half a day's journey away from Lady White Bone. He could only move as close to the palace of the Plague Division as possible, hoping to make her notice him.
Unfortunately, sound was severed within the Heavenly Court, so shouting and making a fuss were of little use.
Lady White Bone had a devout expression as she carefully cleared away the debris inside the palace, placing the broken divine statues one after another before the entrance.
Words were carved across the surfaces of the divine statues. If nothing unexpected had happened, they were various Ascension Methods.
Lady White Bone treated them as precious treasures, committing even the incomplete Ascension Methods to memory.
The source of the Ascension Methods naturally pointed directly to the Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal. Even if Lady White Bone could cultivate them, she would ultimately still fall into Ren Qing's hands.
Through the fragments of the palace ruins, she reconstructed the secrets of thousands of years ago in her mind.
The history of the Heavenly Court fabricated by Ren Qing was combined with the myths of his previous life. Those myths had been refined through thousands of years of transmission. Even if there were gaps, most of the content could still explain itself coherently.
What shocked Lady White Bone the most was that according to the murals recorded within the palace, the true forms of the Three Dao Ancestors were all indescribable monsters.
The Primordial Heavenly Venerable was like bubbles endlessly spreading outward. The Daode Heavenly Venerable was a mass of shapeless black mist. The Lingbao Heavenly Venerable's entire body was covered with countless strange limbs.
"Could the Heavenly Court back then have been destroyed by the Three Dao Ancestors after they went mad?"
Lady White Bone stared at the mural in a daze. At the same time, she felt a faint pain in her head, as though she were recalling her former encounter with the Heavenly Dao.
While she was lost in thought, Xiang Zhu likewise arrived at the palace of the Plague Division.
The invisible restriction no longer limited the cultivators' consciousness. Aside from the palace of the Thunder Division guarded by the Wind Void People, they could move freely throughout every other part of the Heavenly Court.
The grandeur of the small Heavenly Court captivated Lady White Bone completely.
Xiang Zhu was likewise deeply unsettled by the history revealed by the Heavenly Court. Even this mere glimpse of information might involve the Three Dao Ancestors.
Lady White Bone took a deep breath before asking, "Xiang Zhu, you should have come into contact with the Daode Heavenly Venerable before. Is it really the strange appearance recorded by the Heavenly Court?"
"I don't know. No cultivator can look directly at the Three Dao Ancestors. I merely happened to catch a glimpse, and it almost caused my body and soul to lose control and collapse."
How could Xiang Zhu know that Ren Qing could not only look directly at the Three Dao Ancestors, but also maintain a clear consciousness and comprehend an Earth Immortal Ascension Method from them?
"Lady White Bone, where exactly is your true body trapped?"
Lady White Bone's expression became solemn as she remembered the dark and damp Third Layer of the Underworld. Even if she could escape the prison, she still could not completely break free.
"Don't worry about that."
"Now that the Heavenly Court has emerged, the world will likely descend into chaos soon. If possible, it is better to have a powerful ally backing you."
Xiang Zhu recounted the events that had occurred in the outside world over the past several years. He could sense that all the factions were secretly making their moves and that a calamity was indeed about to emerge.
Lady White Bone looked toward the small Heavenly Court, where more and more figures were appearing.
Once they saw the Ascension Methods engraved on the statues, they would certainly go mad over them. Who knew how many living beings would be dragged into it?
In the past, True Immortals and Buddhas whose traces could not be seen for hundreds of years were now appearing frequently. They could even be seen clashing in groups.
Crisis represented opportunity. But when even Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators feared the crisis, the opportunities it contained would likely be enough to overturn the entire world's balance of power.
Boom, boom, boom...
In the Dragon Blood Sea Region, Ren Qing felt the ground begin to tremble slightly.
He hurriedly contacted his informants in Jingzhou, only to discover that the blood moon in the sky had turned completely black. An overwhelming aura of Heavenly Demons was suffocating, yet he could not sense even the slightest trace of Dipankara Buddha Qi.
The corner of Ren Qing's mouth twitched. Either Dipankara Tathagata had already been eliminated by the Supreme Heavenly Demon, or...
The blood moon fell toward the ground like a meteor. Its cratered surface was covered with depressions, and inside it was a thousand-meter-long Heavenly Dao Insect.
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion rang out. A deep pit appeared in the ground, while the blood moon became embedded between the mountains. Countless fleshy buds grew across its surface, absorbing the nutrients of the surrounding vegetation.
The hills formed from the Insect Nest Matriarch simultaneously rose upward.
But instead of converging toward the blood moon, they scattered in all directions.
Ren Qing swallowed. His first reaction was also to withdraw the dragon-like limb, while simultaneously pulling the nearby cultivators who were out on missions into the Stomach World.
In the clouds, a Buddha several thousand meters tall was sitting cross-legged in midair.
Dipankara Buddha held a flower between two fingers. He wore an immaculate white kasaya and Dharma robe, while tangible Buddha Qi radiated from every part of his body.
Yet as the Tathagata fruit of the Buddhist sect, his body was actually the Supreme Heavenly Demon. Nothing could be more absurd than a black goat wearing a kasaya.
After assimilating Dipankara Buddha, the Supreme Heavenly Demon finally fled back to the Beast Pen.