Ren Qing's gaze swept across the tombstones at the entrance of the Hidden Treasury Pavilion.
From the engraved information, most of the graves buried disciples of the Wuwei Daoist Altar, while some tombstones were completely blank.
Judging by how weathered the tombstones were, they were at least a decade old.
Seeing this, Ren Qing felt somewhat puzzled.
The Wuwei Daoist Altar was, after all, a sect that had entrenched itself inside a Yang God Realm corpse. It shouldn't be to the point of not even having a burial ground.
Why bury corpses in the Hidden Treasury Pavilion? Perhaps these people died here?
Ren Qing didn't intend to dig up graves for the time being. He walked up to the Daoist hall and pushed with his hand, as expected, the main gate was locked and couldn't be forced open.
He took out the arm of the Dao Ancestor from his robe and inserted the index finger into the lock, giving it a light twist.
Click...
The gate opened in response, dust billowing out, the feeling of long-sealed stillness.
Ren Qing scanned the main hall. What entered his eyes were not bookshelves but maps hanging on the walls, quite similar to the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The map's color had already faded white. The top bore the characters "Jingzhou", the location of the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Below Jingzhou, the location of Xiangxiang was marked, even refined down to the level of towns, it showed that the Wuwei Daoist Altar had once made contact with Xiangxiang.
To the northwest of Jingzhou, east of Xiangxiang, there was a strange place name labeled "Beast Pen."
Ren Qing organized the information from the map and copied it into the Prison Within the Abdomen.
If he ever gained the strength to leave Xiangxiang, he could verify what the outside world really looked like.
There were many towns in Jingzhou, with the central one being Jingzhou City.
After thoroughly checking the main hall and finding no clues, he slowly walked toward the corridor leading to other rooms.
There were drag marks from heavy objects along the corridor, indicating the Hidden Treasury Pavilion hadn't gone peacefully when it was destroyed.
Just as Ren Qing was about to head into the nearest room, he suddenly noticed something off.
The floor of the Hidden Treasury Pavilion was covered in a layer of dust, but there were faint footprints in places he clearly hadn't stepped.
"There are still living people inside the Wuwei Daoist Altar?"
"Or perhaps strange entities?"
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes and observed the footprints closely. He noticed the pressure points on the toes were identical and that no shoes had been worn.
Judging by the depth, they were at least a few months old, perhaps left behind by the blind Daoist.
Ren Qing heightened his vigilance and entered the next room. The plaque above read "Beginner Techniques."
The lighting inside was dim.
There were six bookshelves arranged inside, but two of them were already damaged.
Books were scattered across the floor in disarray, it was clear that when the Wuwei Daoist Altar was destroyed, the sect's disciples had been caught off guard.
Ren Qing casually picked up a technique manual, and the information stream responded immediately.
[Six Livestock Back-Penetrating Fist]
[One of the beginner techniques of the Wuwei Daoist Altar, created by Xiao Chenzhi. Uses the blood of six livestock to nourish the body. Cultivates the body day and night. Once mastered, the physique becomes more compatible with the Heavenly Dao Egg. This method serves as entry into the Six Spirit Method.]
Ren Qing's expression turned complicated. He picked up another spell manual.
[Water Vein Qi Cultivation Method]
[One of the beginner techniques of the Wuwei Daoist Altar, created by Xiao Chenzhi. Cultivated near water sources; the water vapor nourishes the body until the Heavenly Dao Egg can be smoothly communicated with. This method serves as entry into the Water River Classic.]
After checking several, they were all similar, these weren't real spells but beginner body-tempering methods for outer disciples.
According to the information stream, the required lifespan consumption was low.
[May expend five days of lifespan. Mastered with cost exemption.]
The low lifespan cost for beginner techniques was likely because the price was minimal, and after mastering them, the improvement to strength was negligible.
It was similar to the Eight Extremities Leg Technique from the martial arts hall back then, created to help the body adapt to the Divine Leg Sutra Supernatural Remnant through meat consumption.
Ren Qing patiently reviewed all the beginner techniques and then placed them somewhere inside the Prison Within the Abdomen.
Suddenly, he remembered the martial arts archive tower at the government office.
The martial arts manuals there were all incomplete, only external techniques, no internal ones.
Such a situation likely arose because martial arts manuals had been transmitted to Xiangxiang from the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Martial practitioners who cultivated these beginner techniques would gradually adapt their physiques to the Heavenly Dao Egg.
The Wuwei Daoist Altar likely intended to use this to invade Xiangxiang. When the Restraint Officers' Hall discovered the martial methods, they destroyed the internal cultivation sections.
The two factions must have clashed. What the outcome was remains unknown, but the destruction of the Wuwei Daoist Altar is certain.
If the blind Daoist hadn't gone insane, the sect's secret, Dao births Dao, would never have spread to Xiangxiang.
Ren Qing's doubts only grew.
He left the beginner technique room and entered the area where inner disciple spell manuals were stored.
Although the space was larger, it was also far more chaotic. Torn pages were everywhere, along with shredded Daoist robes.
Bookshelves were tilted and collapsed. Walls were dented, clearly, a fierce battle had taken place here.
Though there were no corpses or remains, there was a large area of dark red, dried blood, and the stench of rot lingered heavily.
Few spell manuals remained in the room, only thirteen were intact.
He collected the fragments as well.
Ren Qing took a deep breath and picked up one of the manuals to read.
Titled "Xuantian Method", the first few pages described it as a core inheritance method within the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Ordinary inner disciples couldn't access it at all.
He didn't immediately summon the information stream.
Instead, he used the manual itself to learn more about the Wuwei Daoist Altar, hoping to find clues as to the sect's downfall.
Ren Qing thus learned that the cultivation realms in the Wuwei Daoist Altar differed slightly from those of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The Wuwei Daoist Altar's stages were: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Spirit Division, Ascension.
Corresponding to: Martial Practitioner, Half-Corpse, Ghost Envoy, Yin Runner, Yang God, Heavenly Abomination.
However, above the Ascension stage was another realm, Earth Immortal, showing that the Heavenly Abomination Realm in the Restraint Officers' Hall was still not the end.
Cultivating the Xuantian Method required using the Heavenly Dao Egg to recreate the immortal root.
It was said to be the method that best maximized the potential of the Heavenly Dao Egg.
Ren Qing was briefly intrigued.
The information stream surged.
[Xuantian Method]
[Created by the Heavenly Dao Child. To cultivate, the Heavenly Dao Egg must be implanted in the Qi Sea acupoint within the body. Only once the meridians wither can it be mastered.]
Seeing this, Ren Qing nodded.
He wondered what the cost of entering this technique would be...
[May expend fifty years of lifespan. Mastered with cost exemption.]
"Fifty years?!!"
Ren Qing was caught off guard and startled. Just preliminary mastery cost a full fifty years of lifespan? That was outrageous.
Wait.
He suddenly realized that all of the Wuwei Daoist Altar's techniques were based on the Heavenly Dao Egg, that was the biggest flaw.
The extent of how sinister the Heavenly Dao Egg was was now obvious.
If he used fifty years to master the Xuantian Method, he should be able to break free from the Heavenly Dao Egg.
Ren Qing continued to use the information stream to read further into the manual, but the deeper he read, the more his brows furrowed.
[Qi Refining Stage: The Heavenly Dao Worm is in gradual incubation. The cultivator's body becomes increasingly adapted to the Heavenly Dao Worm, allowing them to absorb True Yuan emitted by all things.]
[Foundation Establishment Stage: The Heavenly Dao Worm, having absorbed sufficient True Yuan, can hatch. The cultivator sheds their human form and can borrow the worm's spell arts and Divine Abilities.]
[Core Formation Stage: The worm nears maturity and forms a cocoon in the dantian. The cultivator's lifespan increases but loses the ability to reproduce.]
[Nascent Soul Stage: The worm breaks out of its cocoon. Though it still resides within the cultivator's body, it can temporarily leave to consume flesh. The cultivator's lifespan greatly increases but is permanently infertile.]
[Spirit Division Stage: The worm can remain outside the body for extended periods and begins controlling the cultivator's consciousness, refining the body into a fleshly magic tool without extinguishing the soul.]
[Ascension Stage: The worm no longer needs the host body and begins preparing to reproduce, seeking suitable environments to establish new sects.]
[Earth Immortal Stage: The worm merges into mountains and the land, creating spiritual veins to accelerate larvae growth and attract cultivators.]
Ren Qing felt a chill down his spine. Compared to the Wuwei Daoist Altar's techniques, the ones he cultivated were practically orthodox.
They were entirely a means of giving everything to the Heavenly Dao Worm, a completely different civilization.
No wonder the north of Xiangxiang was blocked off by a Yang God Realm forbidden zone, perhaps at least part of the reason was to prevent invasion by the Heavenly Dao Worm.
But thinking it through, Ren Qing realized the Heavenly Dao Worm required a lot of time to hatch, let alone reach the Ascension Stage where it could fully separate from the host.
To reproduce, the worm needed not only the Heavenly Dao Egg but also a host cultivator practicing its techniques.
As long as the root was severed, it would be difficult for the worms to spread.
The Restraint Officers' Hall, after breaking the martial arts manuals apart, made it so the Heavenly Dao Egg had to be cultivated from scratch again to find a compatible host.
So on that map in the main hall, though Jingzhou was larger than Xiangxiang, it didn't cover the whole land.
It even marked places like "Beast Pen" and other unknown names, indicating that east of Xiangxiang there were still forces that could resist the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Ren Qing thought of a possibility and felt deeply disturbed.
The various corpses floating in the pond of the Wuwei Daoist Altar, could they be the result of forcibly bursting out in the face of a powerful enemy?
What had this world become?
Ren Qing shook his head. Though he was disappointed at not finding a suitable technique, at least many questions were answered.
If he ever had enough lifespan in the future, he could try cultivating a Wuwei Daoist Altar technique, the information stream should be able to fully exempt the side effects.
After putting away the manual, he searched the remaining rooms for clues.
The remaining few rooms didn't hold manuals, just spaces for disciples to cultivate in seclusion. From the lingering sandalwood, it was clear not all disciples were qualified to enter.
The incense ash had a strange scent, most likely used to stimulate Heavenly Dao Worm growth.
He prepared to leave the Hidden Treasury Pavilion and head to the graveyard outside.
As he unintentionally glanced at a wall, he suddenly stopped.
Twin Nightmare Ghosts' observational power was extremely keen, even the soul-duplicate retained it.
He estimated the layout of the rooms and noticed something odd in the corner chamber. The wall was slightly uneven.
Ren Qing approached the wall and quickly confirmed he wasn't mistaken.
He dug out a green brick, and something clearly triggered a mechanism, with a faint click, click, click...
The wall split open, revealing a half-meter-wide hole, deep and dark, as if leading straight to the underworld.