Cultivation Through Unorthodox Means

The Divine Foot Technique

Ren Qing opened the first page, a strong urge to gouge out his own eyeballs rising in his chest.

He gritted his teeth and endured the discomfort, carefully reading through the pages.

The text of the "No-Eye Technique" was neatly written, but to him, it felt like wriggling maggots trying to crawl out from the paper.

Half the book was dedicated to the process of eating human eyes raw.

If Ren Qing hadn’t already mastered the No-Eye Technique, he would likely have been deeply disturbed by the contents. It was clear just how strange and unsettling the author, the "Hundred-Eyed Monk," must have been.

By the time Ren Qing finished the book, his clothes were drenched in cold sweat. His eyes were bloodshot and sunken, as though he hadn’t slept for days.

He tucked the book close to his body, but then had second thoughts about the safety of this method. He pulled out a brick from the corner of the bed and hid the book in a secret compartment.

Ren Qing then closed his eyes to rest, quietly organizing the content of the book in his mind.

First, it was certain that, although he had consumed some of his lifespan to master the No-Eye Technique, he was only at the beginner’s stage.

The practice of the No-Eye Technique involved visualizing the boundless darkness of blindness, gradually transforming the eyes to gain inhuman powers.

Ren Qing had thought he had already accepted the eerie nature of this practice, but the last page of the book took things to an even more bizarre level.

To accelerate the transformation, one could hold a fresh human eye in their mouth while practicing, though the cost was that eyes would start to sprout all over one’s body.

Fortunately, Ren Qing had discovered the other two branches of the No-Eye Technique.

This suggested that the information flow could reveal hidden aspects of the technique.

For instance, the single-eye practitioner and the double-eye practitioner.

Also, while the book mentioned that swallowing an eyeball could heal injuries, it never stated anything about extending lifespan, which was likely something the Hundred-Eyed Monk never realized.

Ren Qing had already made his choice in his mind.

Compared to growing eyes all over his body or becoming a cyclops, the double-eyes technique seemed more acceptable. At least it still fell within the bounds of what could be considered "normal."

Without realizing it, Ren Qing had started to adapt to the bizarre nature of this practice.

The rooster crowed.

He massaged his temples and walked out of the room. The gentle spring sunlight dispelled the cold from his body.

A faint burnt smell of roasting corpses drifted through the courtyard.

In the next few days, unless someone in Tan Street died unjustly, the furnace wouldn’t stop. After all, the mortuary had to be cleared quickly.

Xiao Wu sat idly on a stone stool in the yard, reading a book. The three of them took turns keeping watch; only two were needed to tend to the furnace.

“Qing ge’er, I saw you didn’t eat at lunch, so I kept something for you.”

Xiao Wu put down his "Hundred Family Surnames" book and handed Ren Qing a steamed bun.

In his previous workplace as a fire worker, he had often gone hungry, so he was genuinely grateful to Ren Qing for looking out for him.

“I have to step out for a while, but I should be back soon.”

Ren Qing glanced at the furnace again, and seeing no issues, he headed out of the yamen.

Along the way, he encountered various yamen officials, mostly patrol officers rotating shifts. Fire workers and debt collectors were a minority.

After leaving the yamen, Ren Qing headed straight for the butcher shop. Since swallowing eyeballs could extend his life, it was natural that he wanted to give it a try.

As he passed through the crowded streets, he became more aware of his vision. He could easily spot details that had previously escaped his notice.

The stains on the elderly vendor selling candied fruit, a scholar returning from drinking who had his money pouch stolen.

Even the woman applying rouge and powder had a bee resting on the tip of her hair, something he could now clearly see.

The use of the No-Eye Technique became more familiar.

His peripheral vision landed on a beggar by the street, and he couldn't help but frown.

The beggar appeared to be over thirty, hobbling as he extended his hand to passersby for alms, his face showing signs of pain.

Ren Qing noticed that the beggar’s diseased leg was nearly twice as thick as a normal person’s leg and covered in festering boils.

With such severe inflammation, how could he move so freely?

He paused and walked over, taking out some loose change and placing it in the beggar’s broken bowl.

“Thank you, sir. May you live a long life...”

The beggar expressed his gratitude, and Ren Qing’s hand seemed to inadvertently brush against his, causing a rush of information to flood his vision.

[Chen Ergou]

[Age: 28]

[Lifespan: 13 years]

[Technique: Divine Foot Technique (Incomplete)]

Some information about the Divine Foot Technique appeared next.

[Created by the Celestial Remnant Daoist, this technique requires one to have their legs severed in childhood when the bones are still growing. The severed legs are kept in a vegetable barrel and fed with specific medicinal herbs. If one survives for three years, divine feet will grow.]

Ren Qing’s breath became slightly hurried. He no longer headed for the butcher shop, instead wandering around the western district of the city.

It didn’t take long before he made an astonishing discovery.

Most of the beggars by the streets had leg disabilities, clearly practicing the Divine Foot Technique, but this was only common in the western part of the city.

Ren Qing realized he had fallen into a misunderstanding.

If all the techniques in the world were this bizarre and inexplicable, then the requirements for talent were not high at all. And what was a human life worth?

For many powers, passing down techniques could only bring benefits, and they could even use them to control large forces.

On the surface, Sanxiang Town seemed calm, but in reality, who knew how many cultivators were hidden there?

Ren Qing sucked in a cold breath, and the restlessness he had felt from possessing extraordinary powers dissipated entirely.

He returned to Tan Street and entered the nearest butcher shop to the yamen.

The butcher was a burly man, wearing a greasy apron, and he was sharpening his cleaver. The gleam from the blade was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.

Ren Qing was about to speak, but the butcher spoke first.

“Ah Qing, it’s been a few days since I last saw you. I thought something had happened…”

“Oh, my bad, I’ve been chatting too much. I’ll give you two more liang of meat today.”

Ren Qing gave an awkward smile. His previous self was so reclusive that even the yamen officers didn’t know him well, so he never interacted with butchers.

He carefully pried into the story behind the situation.

The butcher’s surname was Zhang, and he was mainly familiar with Ren Qing’s older brother. Before his brother died, he had asked Zhang to look out for Ren Qing, making him one of the few people Ren Qing could talk to.

“Brother Zhang, I’ve been having trouble seeing clearly at night recently. Can I get some pig’s eyes from you to help with my vision?”

“No problem. If you want, I’ll save some for you in the future.”

Zhang readily agreed. The pig’s eyes were typically thrown out for street dogs to eat.

He first chopped up a few pounds of pork belly and wrapped them in oil paper, then began to extract the pig's eyeballs with a small knife.

“Ah Qing, if you had come earlier, I probably wouldn’t have had any pig’s eyes to give you.”

Zhang chuckled, “It’s strange. People have even started paying money to buy pig’s eyes. Can you believe it?”

Ren Qing’s pupils dilated, and he quickly reached out to stop Zhang.

“Brother Zhang, just give me the scattered pig’s eyes. There’s no need to dig them out. It’ll ruin the pig’s appearance.”

“And, don’t tell anyone else that I’m getting pig’s eyes from you…”

Zhang thought Ren Qing was just embarrassed about being seen, and quickly agreed.

But Ren Qing realized that the person who had given the book on the No-Eye Technique to the bookshop owner was still somewhere in town.