Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Taotie Technique and 5 Viscera God
After all the Fireworkers on Hexing Street died, three newly appointed Government Constables arrived at the Firework Hall.
It wasn’t an expansion of the force on Tan Street. Instead, these men were specifically assigned to handle the work on Hexing Street, having been promoted from the ranks of White Servants on other streets.
Xiaowu warmly welcomed the three men and began explaining the workings of the Firework Hall.
One of them, Zhu Ding, was about Xiaowu’s age. His promotion to Government Constable had been a matter of luck, so he was extremely cautious.
The other two were far more aloof. They paid Xiaowu no mind, simply nodding before heading straight to their rooms.
As Zhu Ding thanked him repeatedly, his gaze fell on a side room not far away.
"What’s that...?"
Wisps of white smoke drifted from a crack in the side room’s window, carrying a thick medicinal smell.
Xiaowu said with a worried look in his eyes, "Constable Ren lives in that room. He’s been unwell, so he’s recuperating with medicine."
Zhu Ding nodded as if he half-understood, and then was called away by Xiaowu to meet Bo Feng and the others.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged in a bathtub, his skin absorbing the effects of the medicinal bath. He could feel a strange, inexplicable itch spreading over him.
He had no choice but to endure it. After all, cultivation was itself a trial of one’s willpower.
Besides, the silver coins needed to buy the medicinal bath were not cheap. Even though he had received an extra sum of silver coins, he still had to be frugal.
As for why the medicinal herbs were so expensive...
It was likely related to the dangers outside the city. Medicine gatherers didn’t dare venture too deep, so the prices naturally soared.
Only after his body had fully absorbed the medicinal effects did Ren Qing climb out of the tub.
His entire body was like a boiled crab, flushed red and steaming.
He got dressed, casually grabbed a pig’s eye from the table, and tossed it into his mouth. Just as he was about to swallow, he saw Song Zongwu appear before him.
"Elder Song..."
"This Pupil Skill of yours requires you to consume animal eyeballs?"
"That’s right."
Ren Qing hurriedly explained. He had no desire to be linked to the beheading case.
Song Zongwu didn’t press the matter. The world’s Magic Techniques were strange and varied; some even required consuming filth to cultivate.
Just as Ren Qing was about to say something, he noticed the other man taking two books from within his robes, and his face immediately filled with anticipation.
"Time was short, so I only found two Magic Techniques with relatively clear mutation paths. Choose one."
Ren Qing took the books with a joyful expression, which quickly turned a little strange.
Song Zongwu also reminded him, "If you’re going to cultivate the *Five Internal Organ Gods*, it’s best to mutate toward the Headless path. As for the content beyond the Yin Messenger Realm, it was too perverse, so I removed it for you."
[Five Internal Organ Gods (Incomplete)]
[Conceived by Du Cun, abbot of the Five Viscera Temple, through observation of a divine statue. Can only be mastered if all five viscera are intact.]
It was the first time he’d ever seen a Magic Technique with such a low requirement. It felt completely out of place in this bizarre world.
It was a pity the Cultivation Technique was incomplete. As for how perverse it was, he couldn’t tell yet.
"There aren’t many Magic Techniques related to internal organs, and I don’t know much about them. This *Five Internal Organ Gods* is barely viable for cultivation, but you must be cautious."
Ren Qing couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but when the subsequent information about the Five Internal Organ Gods appeared, he silently put the book down.
[As cultivation of the Five Internal Organ Gods deepens, the five viscera and six bowels will gradually develop Spiritual Wisdom, even becoming independent of the body upon reaching the Yin Messenger Realm.]
[Ghost Mother: Five Ghost Transport]
[Five Spirits: Soul Divides into Five Spirits]
[Headless: Breasts as eyes]
[Five Internal Organ Gods is missing subsequent content. Lifespan cannot be consumed to master.]
Ren Qing knew that the effects of this Magic Technique probably couldn’t be waived by the Information Flow, since the Five Internal Organ Gods was all about cultivating Creatures within one’s organs.
’I really don’t want my internal organs to each have a mind of their own, let alone start arguing inside my body.’
The Headless path was probably similar to Xingtian, where the five viscera fuse with the body, the breasts become eyes, and the navel becomes a mouth. It was truly bizarre.
Fortunately, the Magic Technique was incomplete, so he didn’t have to agonize over it. Ren Qing decisively gave up on it and picked up the other book.
Song Zongwu continued his introduction, "This one has no severe repercussions. I’d actually recommend you cultivate this Magic Technique."
[Taotie Technique]
[The Taotie Technique was inscribed on the stomach of an Exotic Beast Taotie and was obtained by the Wine and Meat Daoist. Cultivating this technique requires a massive amount of eating until the stomach expands to more than six times its normal size, at which point it can be mastered.]
This condition was anything but simple. A stomach doubling in size would already compress the internal organs; for most people, six times the size would be fatal.
Song Zongwu explained, "The Taotie Technique requires an enormous amount of stomach space, so one’s constitution must be out of the ordinary. However, with your Cultivation at the Half-Corpse Realm, you can give it a try."
"Thank you, Elder Song. I’ll take the Taotie Technique, then."
Ren Qing’s brow relaxed slightly. He quickly flipped through the book, and as Time passed, he acquired new information.
[Can keep the stomach in a constant state of fullness to accelerate cultivation, but the Cultivator will gradually lose control of their appetite.]
[Food Eater: All things can be eaten]
[Secondary Stomach User: Subsidiary Abnormal Stomach]
[Giant Stomach: Stomach as large as an ox]
[Can consume thirty days of Lifespan to master and waive the price.]
Song Zongwu nodded and put away the *Five Internal Organ Gods*.
Ren Qing was already feeling the benefits of having a mentor. Song Zongwu wouldn’t have brought him these two Magic Techniques without a thorough understanding of them, which naturally included knowing their mutation paths.
After mutating into a "Food Eater" via the Taotie Technique, one could digest things that were originally inedible, even metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron.
The drawback, however, was that once a Food Eater reached the Ghost Envoy Realm, they would become a "Hill Spirit," and the degree of physical mutation would be extreme.
Eating flesh and blood would cause the body to grow and expand; ten meters tall would be far from the limit.
Eating metal would inevitably cause the muscles to mineralize.
Eating plants would cause flora to sprout all over the body.
From the outside, a Hill Spirit would look like a walking giant of earth and wood.
It became even more exaggerated at the Yin Messenger Realm. The Hill Spirit would mutate into "Mountain Spirits" and completely transform into a mountain peak.
The Giant Stomach path was somewhat better, but one would still be stuck with a stomach several meters wide.
The ability was a bit like the Silver Horn King’s Purple Gold Gourd from *Journey to the West*; anything swallowed into the stomach would instantly be reduced to a pool of pus and blood.
The Secondary Stomach User was the most unique path, and it was the mutation direction Song Zongwu recommended for Ren Qing.
Mastering the Secondary Stomach User path would cause a second Abnormal Stomach to grow inside the body, forming a Jiezhi Space that could be used to store items.
Flesh and blood placed inside the Abnormal Stomach would decay at a drastically reduced rate.
Furthermore, the physical mutation of a Secondary Stomach User was not obvious. It would only add an Abnormal Mouth connected to the Abnormal Stomach, which was beneficial for Ren Qing’s plan to hide his true strength.
Ren Qing was a little resistant at first, but after asking Song Zongwu, he learned that as long as the Abnormal Mouth was closed, it was unnoticeable to the naked eye.
He didn’t have any other choice. The obese physique of the Giant Stomach was not conducive to combat, and the Food Eater was even more absurd, turning one directly into rock.
Seeing Ren Qing put away the *Taotie Technique*, Song Zongwu said gravely, "Ren Qing, with your Pupil Skill, you should be able to perceive fine details. I need you to help me examine a corpse."
"What corpse?"
"You’ve seen it at the Martial Arts Tower. That is my son, named Song Rong..."
Song Zongwu let out a long sigh, a complex expression appearing on his usually placid face.
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