No one could understand 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 was happening so far, the Heavenly Court's actions did indeed seem to be following such a pattern.
In places where rogue cultivators gathered, descendants of Immortals and Gods frequently appeared, guiding rogue cultivators toward inheritances that could lead them to immortality and enlightenment.
But what made Ren Qing deeply uneasy 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 find any 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 in various parts of the world.
In the middle of every month, the black market at Ling Mountain Summit would open punctually, attracting an ever-increasing number of rogue cultivators.
Feng Ye squatted in the black market, with bundles of herbs placed on the wooden platform before him.
Following the requirements of his mission, he came every time the black market opened. He would occasionally sell some resources as well, acting as a middleman.
Once news of the false Heavenly Court recruiting disciples spread everywhere, Ling Mountain Summit's rogue cultivators immediately became a mixed crowd.
Consequently, the black market gathered large numbers of rogue cultivators seeking Immortal destiny. Several clashes had secretly occurred, and deaths and injuries were commonplace.
Amid the tense atmosphere, rogue cultivators seeking to protect themselves inevitably banded together for mutual support, using various means to increase their strength.
With Ren Qing's tacit approval, Feng Ye had purchased large quantities of resources called Blood Tumor Grass wholesale from Dream City, and was making a fortune selling them in the black market.
The effect of Blood Tumor Grass was that, within three days of taking it, any wound would grow at several times its normal rate. Blood vessels and meridians would gradually take on the appearance of roots and stems, producing Blood Tumor Fruits.
Blood Tumor Fruits could strengthen the body and also provide a certain degree of suppression against uncontrolled mutation. They even possessed a slight life-extending effect.
To the Restraint Officers' Hall, Blood Tumor Grass was an extremely crude resource.
It originated from the practice of Restraint Officers' Hall cultivators selling their own organs when they lacked resources in the past. Blood Tumor Grass had been cultivated by certain alchemists as a result.
Ren Qing had Feng Ye sell Blood Tumor Grass precisely to attract more rogue cultivators and force the false Heavenly Court to reveal itself 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 Heavenly Court identity. He also raised the cultivation level he displayed from the Ghost Envoy realm to the Yang God realm. Among rogue cultivators, this was already an existence frightening enough to make people wary.
It was also because of Feng Ye that the black market could continue operating smoothly.
Feng Ye made a small profit while also monitoring the black market's movements. He was more than happy with the arrangement, so he set up his stall punctually every month.
He could not be bothered to hawk his wares. He simply threw bundles of Blood Tumor Grass onto the ground in front of him.
Whenever 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.
The naturally kindhearted Feng Ye was already displaying the makings of a black-hearted merchant.
The Yang God realm cultivators stationed at the black market did not dare offend Feng Ye. They had absolutely no connection with the black market's owner. Their ability to throw their weight around at Ling Mountain Summit was mainly due to their relatively profound cultivation.
They had suspected that Feng Ye might have come from the Heavenly Court, but the strength he revealed unintentionally was clearly beyond the Yang God realm.
After Blood Tumor Fruits appeared in the black market, rogue cultivators could grow three every month. As long as they paid attention to their bodies, the side effects were extremely minor.
This demonstrated that, with the Restraint Officers' Hall's current scale, any resource that leaked into the hands of rogue cultivators was an opportunity that could hardly be found elsewhere.
As Ren Qing had predicted, the number of rogue cultivators coming to Ling Mountain Summit had already surpassed a thousand.
Feng Ye honestly relayed the information from the black market, without even withholding how much profit he had made by reselling Blood Tumor Grass.
Once Blood Tumor Grass had become deeply ingrained among the rogue cultivators, Feng Ye withdrew from the forefront and moved behind the scenes.
While cultivating in seclusion, Ren Qing used Spirit Division to keep an eye on Ling Mountain Summit. Judging from the pattern of the previous appearances of the false Heavenly Court, the number of people at Ling Mountain Summit was definitely sufficient.
If the false Heavenly Court truly feared the Restraint Officers' Hall, it would not deliberately use titles to identify itself.
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. A long serpent formed from dragon limbs rolled through the dense fog.
Because of the Heavenly Demon Tribulation, the aura of the dragon limbs was extremely faint, even weaker than that of a Half-Corpse realm cultivator in the black market.
A moment later, Lord of the North Pole Star's avatar descended upon Ling Mountain Summit.
Ren Qing frowned as he looked around, noticing quite a few strange details.
The dense fog was not formed by a technique, but its source actually came from deep beneath the soil. The entire mountain seemed to breathe 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 indeed fog accompanying him. Could some sort of divine ability be affecting this place?"
Ren Qing flashed into the black market and looked at the various rogue cultivators. Quite a few of them wore Daoist robes bearing the words Heavenly Court.
Every rogue cultivator had fruits produced by Blood Tumor Grass growing from their shoulders.
They were willingly serving as incubators for Blood Tumor Fruits just to exchange for a small amount of resources, much like the Restraint Officers' Hall during the Xiangxiang period.
Ren Qing walked around the black market once and discovered that the Heavenly Court's reputation was terrifyingly powerful. The rogue cultivators already possessed a complete mythological system concerning it.
There were all kinds of rumors about the branch-line cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall who had once participated in Jingzhou.
Ren Qing frowned after hearing them. The false Heavenly Court was clearly fanning the flames, deliberately increasing the Heavenly Court's reputation in this world.
They should be trying to force the Restraint Officers' Hall to relinquish the name of the Heavenly Court.
Ren Qing came to Feng Ye's side. Feng Ye was talking to an old man with multiple mouths. The old man seemed to be a representative of the rogue cultivators. His cultivation had only recently entered the Yang God realm and was rather unstable.
"Feng Ye, count the number of rogue cultivators in each realm within the black market."
Feng Ye was startled. Seeing the distorted light and shadow flickering across Ren Qing's body, he realized that 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 filled with disbelief. Was the difference in status between a Heavenly Aberration realm cultivator and Lord of the North Pole Star really this enormous?
He hurriedly bowed with utmost respect. Then he noticed that the surrounding rogue cultivators continued to ignore Lord of the North Pole Star as people constantly passed 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. The silver-gray illuminated by moonlight transformed into a gloomy green resembling the waters of the Yellow Springs.
Ren Qing revealed a cold smile. The aura of this technique was simply too abrupt, as though it had appeared out of 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.
The 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 concealed themselves throughout the black market, ignoring rogue cultivators seeking to trade while waiting for the appearance of the legendary Dragon King of the Four Seas.
It was said that the Heavenly Court recruited several hundred disciples each time, sending them to blessed lands and heavenly paradises to cultivate and explore the Dao of immortality.
Among the rogue cultivators who arrived, Ren Qing noticed a familiar face.
Unexpectedly, Xiang Zhu, whom he had not seen for a long time, had also come to Ling Mountain Summit, where rogue cultivators gathered. He was clearly here because of the Dragon King of the Four Seas.
The rogue cultivators each had their own motives. Some had even come to purchase Blood Tumor Fruits.
Ren Qing stared intently at the dense fog. The false Heavenly Court was practically about to reveal itself, yet it still had not appeared. Everything suggested that it was deliberately delaying.
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 exceptional 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 operating.
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 could not help laughing bitterly.
Under his gaze, a gigantic creature resembling both a serpent and a dragon emerged from the clouds.
Exclamations rang out from the black market. The rogue cultivators' eyes were filled with uncontrollable excitement as they greedily breathed in the gloomy green fog.
At some unknown point, a crude technique had appeared in their minds.
The requirements for cultivating the technique were not high, but they were somewhat bizarre. The cultivator's physique actually had to be Half-Corpse.
However, once the rogue cultivators noticed that the technique could reach the Yang God realm at its peak, all its drawbacks ceased to matter. They could not help cheering.
They greedily inhaled the gloomy green corpse aura. Pustules grew all over their bodies, and their internal organs began to decay to varying degrees. Yet there was no denying that the technique truly concealed nothing.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. Clearly, the Corpse Dragon was the work of Wuming, and there was an eighty percent chance that it had been pieced together from the flesh of the Corpse Immortal.
Wuming's preparations for attaining immortality had already begun to bear fruit.
Incidents involving people borrowing the name of the Heavenly Court were occurring everywhere. Most of them should have been Wuming's doing, while a small portion were factions taking advantage of the chaos.
The black market's owner was very likely merely one of the rogue cultivators Wuming controlled through the Corpse Immortal. To Ren Qing, he was hardly worth fearing.
The technique Wuming was teaching was precisely the "Skeletal Corpse Method," a technique split from the Dead Man's Sutra.
Wait.
Ren Qing realized that Wuming's main purpose was to spread the Dead Man's Sutra, allowing more cultivators to master it.
Wuming was very likely incapable of voluntarily breaking free from his parasitic relationship with the Corpse Immortal. Thus, he intended to use tens of thousands of rogue cultivators to find an opportunity to trap and kill the Corpse Immortal.
Before Ren Qing could act, Xiang Zhu had already chased after the Corpse Dragon.
But as soon as Xiang Zhu approached within a hundred meters, the Corpse Dragon began showing signs of its body and soul collapsing. Within only a few breaths, it turned into countless pieces of corpses that fell from the sky.
"What Heavenly Court? All they do is use flesh puppets to fool people."
Xiang Zhu snorted coldly. His Heavenly Aberration realm cultivation was exposed without reservation. Enraged from embarrassment, he flicked his sleeve and left, shattering the surrounding mountains.
Ren Qing turned to Feng Ye and said, "I'll contact the Corpse Ghosts of the Corpse Branch. Feng Ye, go directly to Dream City and ask them for resources."
"Ah?"
Since Wuming 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 Wuming intended to kill a True Immortal at the height of its power.
But Wuming would not act for the time being. At the very least, he needed 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 ignore the troubles caused by the false Heavenly Court. After all, many of those impersonating the Heavenly Court were not Wuming.
He chatted with Feng Ye for a few moments and 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. In the end, they would merely become skeletons beneath the White Bone Throne.
Wuming had given Ren Qing an excellent reminder. There was actually no need to dispatch cultivators throughout the entire world. Intelligence could be gathered entirely through black markets.
Although rogue cultivators were weak, their numbers were there.
As long as the black markets were distributed widely enough, the rogue cultivators would naturally deliver information from all over the world to Ren Qing's ears.
Seeing this, Ren Qing posted missions in Dream City.
Some cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall had always enjoyed buying and reselling goods. How could they possibly miss the opportunity to profit from the situation?
Before long, black markets began appearing on the outskirts of certain regions.
When it came to doing business, the Restraint Officers' Hall cultivators had the entire Dream City backing them. They were naturally in an invincible position and could easily manipulate prices.
The only thing they had to guard against was the trouble of being robbed by other merchants, since the Restraint Officers' Hall had too little high-end combat power.
Ren Qing deliberately released several hundred bacterial souls to analyze clues from all over the world, digging out information that was useful to him.
He gradually opened more places in the small Heavenly Court, successively bringing selected cultivators inside.
Xiang Zhu had continued searching for the Heavenly Court, seemingly wanting to inquire about Lady White Bone. Yet only a few days after leaving Ling Mountain Summit, his consciousness was pulled into the small Heavenly Court in his sleep.
His appearance inside the small Heavenly Court was not the elephant-headed, human-bodied form he normally possessed, but that of an ordinary hunter.
Xiang Zhu was exceptionally astonished 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 by a Heavenly Aberration realm cultivator. This invisibly added an indescribable degree of credibility.
Xiang Zhu also saw Lady White Bone in the Heavenly Court, whom he had not seen for several years. His expression became filled with emotion, and he stood there blankly for a long time.
However, Lady White Bone had already almost reached the location of the Plague Ministry's palace.
Xiang Zhu was more than half a day's journey away from Lady White Bone. He could only move as close to the Plague Ministry's palace as possible, hoping to make her notice him.
Unfortunately, sound was suppressed within the Heavenly Court. Shouting at the top of his lungs was of little use.
Lady White Bone looked devout as she carefully cleared away the fragments inside the palace, placing one broken divine statue after another before the entrance.
Each divine statue had writing carved across its surface. If nothing unexpected had happened, they were various Ascension Methods.
Lady White Bone regarded them as priceless treasures and immediately committed 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 become one of Ren Qing's targets.
Through the fragments of the palace ruins, she pieced together the secrets that had been hidden thousands of years ago.
Ren Qing's fabricated history of the Heavenly Court combined myths from his previous life. Those myths had been tempered through thousands of years. Even though there were loopholes, most of the contents could explain themselves coherently.
What shocked Lady White Bone 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 that constantly spread outward. The Daode Heavenly Venerable was a mass of shapeless black mist. The Lingbao Heavenly Venerable was covered from head to toe in countless bizarre limbs.
"Could it be that the Heavenly Court was destroyed by the Three Dao Ancestors after they went mad?"
Lady White Bone stared at the mural and fell into a daze. At the same time, she felt a faint pain in her head, as though she had recalled her past encounter with the Heavenly Dao.
While she was distracted, Xiang Zhu also arrived at the Plague Ministry's palace.
The invisible restriction no longer limited the cultivators' consciousness. Aside from the Thunder Ministry palace guarded by the Wind Void People, they could freely travel through the other parts of the Heavenly Court.
The magnificence of the small Heavenly Court left Lady White Bone unable to tear herself away.
Xiang Zhu was likewise horrified by the history revealed by the Heavenly Court. The information represented by merely the tip of the iceberg might even involve the Three Dao Ancestors.
Lady White Bone took a deep breath and then asked, "Xiang Zhu, you should have encountered the Daode Heavenly Venerable before, right? Was it really the strange appearance recorded by the Heavenly Court?"
"I don't know. No cultivator can directly look upon the Three Dao Ancestors. I merely caught an accidental glimpse, and it nearly 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 could also maintain a clear consciousness and comprehend the 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 would still be unable to break free completely.
"Don't worry about that."
"The Heavenly Court has now emerged into the world. The world is likely to descend into chaos soon. If possible, it is still better to have the support of a powerful patron."
Xiang Zhu recounted the events that had occurred outside over the past few years. He could sense that all the factions were quietly making their moves, and 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 surfaces of the statues, they would certainly go mad over them. Who knew how many living beings would be dragged into this?
In the past, True Immortals and Buddhas that could not be seen even once in a hundred years were now appearing frequently, and they could even be seen fighting in groups.
Crisis represented opportunity. But when even Heavenly Aberration realm cultivators feared a crisis, the opportunities it contained were probably enough to overturn the entire world's balance of power.
Boom, boom, boom.
In the Dragon Blood Sea Region, Ren Qing felt the ground tremble slightly.
He immediately contacted his informants in Jingzhou and discovered that the Blood Moon in the sky had turned completely black. A vast and overwhelming aura of Heavenly Demons was suffocating, while not even the slightest trace of Dipankara Buddha Qi could be sensed.
The corner of Ren Qing's mouth twitched. Either Dipankara Tathagata had already been destroyed by the Supreme Heavenly Demon, or.
The Blood Moon fell toward the ground like a meteor. Its pitted surface was covered in depressions, and a thousand-meter-long Heavenly Dao Insect could be seen parasitizing inside it.
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion rang out. A deep crater appeared in the ground, and the Blood Moon was embedded between the mountains. Countless fleshy sprouts emerged from its surface, absorbing the nutrients of the surrounding vegetation.
The hills formed from the Insect Nest Matriarchs rose simultaneously.
But instead of moving toward the Blood Moon, they scattered in every direction.
Ren Qing swallowed. His first reaction was also to withdraw the dragon limbs and, at the same time, pull the nearby cultivators who were on missions into the Stomach World.
Then he saw a Buddha four to five thousand meters tall sitting cross-legged in the clouds.
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 a Tathagata Fruit Position of the Buddhist sect, his body was actually the Supreme Heavenly Demon. Nothing could be more absurd than a black goat wearing Buddhist robes.
After assimilating Dipankara Buddha, the Supreme Heavenly Demon finally fled and returned to the Beast Pen.