Paper-Sorcery of the Uncanny: From the Start, I Give the Red-Robed Paper Bride Her Eyes

There is no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, only the “corpse dust” given off by the bodies of ancient gods above the firmament. Inhaling corpse dust grants strange powers, but the body undergoes irreversible mutations: stitching on skin, scraping out bones, replacing organs… This is the price of cultivation, a one-way road to becoming a monster. Li Ye transmigrated and became a paper effigy apprentice at a funeral home, saddled with massive debts. In a world full of stitched-together freaks and malformed people, he is the only oddity who still looks like a “perfect mortal.” That’s because he cultivates not his body, but the **Paper Effigy Heavenly Scripture**. If the body can’t bear the price, then let paper figures bear it instead! [Paper-Cutting Soldier]: One sheet takes your place in death, and you’ll survive ten thousand calamities. [Painted-Skin Fiend]: Peel skin to make clothes, and wear a thousand faces. [Paper Yama]: Pave the way with underworld currency, and appoint ghosts and gods. On a stormy night, a creditor came to call as a hundred ghosts roamed the streets. Before a coffin at the funeral home, Li Ye used a peerless painted skin and century-old Yin bamboo to craft his first S-rank paper figure. He bit his fingertip and gently touched it to the figure’s brow. “Come to life, my… bride.” …Years later, when the ancient gods awakened and sought to devour heaven and earth, Li Ye stood beneath the firmament, with paper money swirling behind him and an army of billions of paper gods and demons. He adjusted his glasses and smiled warmly. “This Heavenly Dao is filthy. Let’s cut it up and replace it with a new one.”