Chapter 47: Sutra of Planting Demons
Song Rong did not speak, but mouthed the words "Dead Man’s Scripture" a few times, his eyes filled with a burning craving.
Once he saw that Ren Qing had memorized it, he let out a loud laugh and closed his eyes.p>Song Rong showed not the slightest hint of resentment. Despite his pursuit of Immortality, he faced death with a magnanimity far beyond that of an ordinary person, as if dying here was the fulfillment of his greatest wish.
Just as Ren Qing was about to ask about the Dead Man’s Scripture, he heard footsteps gradually approaching.
He instinctively looked back, only to see countless black beetles swarming toward them, their buzzing deafening.
The beetles swarmed together, coalescing into a human figure from which Li Yaoyang slowly emerged.
"Don’t be so quick to take a life, or you’ll create a new Forbidden Area."
Mu Yi also emerged from the bushes.
The two ignored Ren Qing and went straight for Song Rong, planning to subdue him first to avoid any impact on the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area.
But Song Rong was already set on dying. The moment the Forbidden Guards appeared, his Vitality dissipated at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Before his death, he shot a mocking glance at the arriving Forbidden Guards, as if in silent mockery.
"This is bad!"
Immediately after, Song Rong’s skin began to boil, morphing into a series of twisted human faces and causing the surrounding vegetation to rapidly wither.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
The sound of a heartbeat rang out. Song Rong’s heart showed signs of reviving—this must be the bizarre mutation of another one of his Magic Techniques.
Ren Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly. ’Could a Magic Technique like this act on the internal organs, like the Five Internal Organ Gods?’
Li Yaoyang walked over to Song Rong’s corpse with a grim expression and bent down to examine it.
"He went down too easily, didn’t he?"
"If he turns into a Forbidden Area here, and the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area absorbs two Mysterious Objects as a result, its size will become absurdly large."
Mu Yi nodded. "His Lifespan was exhausted. He had already resolved to die."
At that moment, the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area seemed to sense the Mysterious Object. The entirety of Camel Peak Mountain began to shake with increasing violence, and cracks started to spread across its surface.
"What a waste."
Li Yaoyang took out a pocket-sized Jade Bottle and poured a fingernail-sized maggot into his Palm.
The maggot was grayish-white and emitted the smell of quicklime. As it crawled, it left behind a trail of powdery slime.
Li Yaoyang stuffed the maggot into Song Rong’s mouth, and the corpse immediately began to convulse.
The corpse’s flesh and blood gradually petrified, turning into a motionless stone statue moments later.
It was as if someone had pressed pause on the two nascent Mysterious Objects. The tremors on Camel Peak Mountain also came to an abrupt halt.
Ren Qing felt a pang of lingering fear. It was a good thing Forbidden Guards were stationed on Camel Peak Mountain. Otherwise, even if Song Rong had failed, he would have still caused considerable trouble.
Li Yaoyang gave Ren Qing a slight nod.
However, he had clearly forgotten ever seeing Ren Qing before. He simply asked with a puzzled look, "A Fireworker? Why not a Forbidden Guard?"
Mu Yi said flatly, "Ren Qing is exceptionally talented. He has Elder Song to guide him."
"Hehehe..."
Li Yaoyang chuckled and said no more. The warning in Miss Mu’s words was unmistakable; she clearly didn’t want him to take an interest in Ren Qing.
Ren Qing’s gaze remained on Song Rong’s petrified corpse as he contemplated the Magic Technique mentioned before his death: the Dead Man’s Scripture.
"Since the Disaster Mitigation Forbidden Area is showing abnormal activity, I’ll go check on it. Miss Mu, you stay here and wait for Elder Song."
"I’ve already notified him with the Thousand Sound Skill. They’re still dealing with the Mysterious Object at the camp."
Li Yaoyang turned and left. Staying any longer would be a waste of time.
Ren Qing waited until Li Yaoyang was a good distance away before asking curiously, "This corpse... is it considered alive or dead right now?"
"It’s dead. Li Yaoyang’s gray-worm can temporarily seal a Mysterious Object, but it will have to be dealt with again after we return to the Government Office."
His interest piqued, Ren Qing asked, "So it’s not dangerous anymore, right?"
After receiving an affirmative answer from Mu Yi, Ren Qing approached the statue and lightly touched its skin with his Palm.
A chill seeped out from the statue, but it was immediately dispersed by the heat generated by the pig’s eye.
Conscious of Mu Yi’s presence, Ren Qing withdrew his hand. While waiting for Song Zongwu to arrive, he began processing the information about the Mysterious Objects in his mind.
[Human Skin Book]
[Created by Eunuch Huang Ling. To cultivate this Skill, one must completely flay their skin, ingest a specific medicinal catalyst to regrow it, and repeat the process seven times to complete the cultivation.]
[Already acquired. Cannot be mastered by consuming Lifespan.]
Ren Qing was slightly disappointed. ’It seems I can only choose one path of mutation for my Skills.’
’But the world is full of countless bizarre Magic Techniques,’ he thought. ’It’s impossible to master them all in one lifetime. Why get hung up on the Human Skin Book?’
The other was the Magic Technique Song Rong had used to control the pack of beasts.
[Sutra of Planting Demons]
[Inscribed on the Celestial Demon Stele. To cultivate this Skill, one must transform their blood into a Demon Seed. This requires expending ten times the blood volume of a normal person within twenty days to succeed.]
Ren Qing clicked his tongue. ’That means losing half my blood every day.’
’Even if my body could produce blood fast enough, the constant blood loss would lead to organ failure, and possibly even death.’
’And that’s not even considering potential side effects of the Demon Seed.’
Ren Qing did not rush to spend his Lifespan.
For one, learning a Skill from a Half-Corpse Realm Mysterious Object would cost a full year of Lifespan.
He needed to at least subtly probe the Forbidden Guards to learn about the Sutra of Planting Demons’ path of mutation. If the risks outweighed the rewards, it would be better to just give up on it.
Furthermore, Ren Qing learned from his casual chat with Mu Yi that the Mysterious Object wouldn’t be taken back to Sanxiang City anytime soon.
After all, if something were to happen in transit, it would surely affect thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people.
If Ren Qing wanted to make a play for the "Sutra of Planting Demons," he had more than enough time.
He wouldn’t have to risk being discovered by the Forbidden Guards, either.
Back in the Prison, he could use the excuse of accidentally ingesting a Mysterious Object. But now, this Mysterious Object hadn’t even fully formed. If Ren Qing were to master the Sutra of Planting Demons out of thin air, he would have no way to defend himself.
Ren Qing asked about the situation to the north, but Mu Yi only said that there were numerous Forbidden Areas north of Sanxiang City and she knew little else.
Over an hour later, Song Zongwu’s figure finally appeared on Camel Peak Mountain.
Seeing him, Mu Yi tactfully took her leave.
Song Zongwu’s expression was complex. He gazed at Song Rong’s corpse for a long time, then began to chant the Rebirth Spell.
Ren Qing could tell that while the spell was meant to guide Song Rong’s soul to rebirth, it was chanted more for the hundreds of people who had died because of him.
’The reason Song Rong gave up his life so decisively,’ Ren Qing thought, ’was probably because he didn’t want to face Song Zongwu.’
The two were not close, but they were father and son, connected by blood thicker than water. That invisible, karmic bond was inescapable.
After Song Zongwu finished the ritual, the moment he opened his eyes, it was as if all worldly impurities had been washed away from him, replaced by an abstruse and profound aura.
Ren Qing understood that Song Zongwu’s Mental Realm had broken through to a new level.
The Asura Skill was intrinsically linked to the Buddhist Sect, so his Mental Realm was likely tied to his Cultivation.
Song Zongwu wrapped the stone statue in a cloth, then said, "Let’s leave first. There’s a mess back at the camp waiting for you to clean up."
"Huh?"
Ren Qing thought about how he still needed to rely on the man, so he could only agree.
The two of them hurried back toward the camp.
The path was littered with the corpses of countless beasts. ’If this was all made into cured meat,’ Ren Qing mused, ’I wouldn’t have to worry about food for at least half a month.’