The disturbances of the Ghost Market gradually subsided, and the Restraint Officers' Hall returned to calm.
It even affected the towns outside. Once the various gangs learned that Ren Qing was the newly risen master of the Ghost Market, they all voluntarily scaled down.
After all, at present none of the higher-ups in the Restraint Officers' Hall were from gang backgrounds, and Ghost Envoy stage members were pitifully few, leading to a climate where everyone felt endangered.
In the morning market of Sanxiang City.
Over a dozen fishmongers hurried to sell off their catch in the early morning. Seeing the rising sun at the horizon, they prepared to pack up.
Now was the time when warmth turned back into chill, fresh fish could not be preserved, and waiting longer would mean only feeding dogs.
As they tossed fish guts to the waterfowl swooping down, the fishmongers chatted idly about recent trifles, and some even sang folk songs.
Sanxiang City was undergoing subtle changes, the government easing restrictions on leaving the city.
This caused some gangs to stop collecting protection money, and instead to take up escorting caravans.
The fishmongers cleaned up their stalls, scraped off fish scales, packed them in sacks and set them by the docks, seemingly with other intentions.
After they departed by boat, before long several burly men strode over.
They all wore blue-green coats, with snake-patterned scarves over their right shoulders. Their footsteps were soft and noiseless.
They represented the "Scale Serpent Gang" of the eastern city. The gang had no small number of cultivators, who practiced the Snake Molting Method.
[Snake Molting Method]
[Created by Daoist Mu She. To practice this method one must from childhood soak in a particular medicinal solution, making the whole body as flexible as boneless, before it can be mastered.]
Once grasping the Snake Molting Method, cultivators could accelerate cultivation by eating scales. Fish scales were not as effective as snake scales, but still useful.
The leader took half of the fish scales, then quickly left the morning market, as though deliberately avoiding someone.
The remaining bags of scales stayed in place, until a youth arrived.
Lin Cheng opened his snake pupils. The traces of aberration were no longer obvious, mainly thanks to the Eerie Dust, allowing him to walk freely in town.
He picked up a sack of fish scales, then split open a seam in his palm and swallowed it in one gulp.
The Taotie Method was something Lin Cheng had exchanged for in the Great Dream Art Tower. Its price was extremely cheap, and the required cultivation materials not troublesome.
Originally, the Great Dream Art Tower had no The Taotie Method. For some reason it suddenly appeared, seemingly intentionally arranged by the Restraint Officers' Hall.
Even though the manual was missing portions, leaving only the aberration route of the Secondary Stomach to be chosen, it still attracted many Restraint Officers to cultivate it.
Through the Secret Pavillion one could even find books recording the Secondary Stomach. The Taotie Method was closely connected with Avici Hell, which inevitably set imaginations racing.
Many Restraint Officers had already begun trying to cultivate it, while some still hesitated, unsure what scheme the Restraint Officers' Hall was playing.
Knowing that Ren Qing had mastered The Taotie Method, Lin Cheng cultivated it without hesitation.
He had planned to use bitter yellow grass to assist, but unexpectedly his snake stomach was extremely resilient, and he entered the path easily.
In a few months Lin Cheng reached the Half-Corpse stage, progressing smoothly.
Just as he prepared to leave the morning market, suddenly the light dimmed.
His footsteps paused, retreating toward the direction of the yamen like facing a deadly enemy.
Behind him, a pair of ghastly pale arms holding a lantern emerged from the ground. The faint glow dispersed the darkness, yet was hair-raising.
The lantern tore open a gap, from which flew out a lifelike butterfly.
Lin Cheng could not move at all, staring helplessly as the butterfly landed on him, his back already drenched in cold sweat.
When he came back to his senses, the street had returned to its original bustle.
A trickle of information surfaced in his mind, seemingly about the Ghost Market.
Lin Cheng's expression froze. He had not expected such methods to come from Ren Qing, though was the style not overly grim?
He muttered to himself: "The midnight Ghost Market, with stalls where Restraint Officers sell goods."
Thinking of the newly opened Ghost Market, his heart rose in admiration for Ren Qing.
Though Lin Cheng had gone many times, he had never tried to build ties with him.
In his view, the difference between them was too great. The Yin Runner stage was already unreachable, let alone the master of the Ghost Market.
Yet Ren Qing still thought of him, leaving him a stall within the Ghost Market.
"A stall..."
Lin Cheng was puzzled. Thinking it over, apart from the snakeskin he had shed not long ago, he had nothing to sell.
He went toward home, while the messenger did not pause, traveling through all parts of Xiangxiang.
In the end the messenger returned to the Ghost Market, transforming back into a soul-butterfly that landed in Ren Qing's palm.
Ren Qing nodded secretly.
Binding the Yin God required a full five hundred years of lifespan to advance to Merging the Yin God. Even if he controlled the Ghost Market, reaching it was not easy.
Even when the Ghost Market business was most flourishing, he had only earned two hundred years of lifespan.
It seemed close at hand, but now Ren Qing could clearly feel the decline in traffic. It was hard for another wave of retaliatory spending to arise.
Unless the number of Restraint Officers continued to increase, it was only a stopgap.
But distant water could not quench near thirst. Li Tiangang and the others had only just entered Yellow Sand City, forming even a rudimentary power would not be easy.
Thus Ren Qing used the method of opening the market, to further stimulate Restraint Officers to trade in the Ghost Market. Otherwise, it would be hard to gather enough lifespan in the short term.
Of course this was not a long-term plan. After a peak, traffic would inevitably decline and stabilize.
Apart from this, Ren Qing could also extend lifespan by advancing the Nether Sea Breathing Art.
The Nether Sea Breathing Art, being a Heavenly Dao method, did indeed have wondrous effects for extending lifespan. Upon reaching Nascent Soul stage, it would certainly grant at least several hundred years more.
But the hidden risk was that the Heavenly Dao Worm was parasitic within the ghost-shadow body.
If the Heavenly Dao Worm's cultivation surpassed the ghost-shadow, it could easily cause the reversal of host and parasite, affecting the Shadow Ghost Technique's becoming a core method in the future.
If Ren Qing were to prematurely advance in the Nether Sea Breathing Art, he could only hope the Heavenly Dao Worm did not mutate, or it would surely backfire.
He hesitated briefly, then still did not consider the Nether Sea Breathing Art.
Qingxu Temple was already related to the Heavenly Dao Worm. Who knew if it would draw fire onto himself? Better to wait until the Shadow Ghost Technique advanced to the Yin Runner stage.
But first, The Blindless Method had to reach Merging the Yin God, to construct the first core technique.
Ren Qing steadied his mind, and communicated with the soul-butterflies that made up the Ghost Market.
He had beforehand told Lin Cheng and the others, mainly to let his own people occupy most stalls, thus ensuring no accidents occurred.
At midnight, Ren Qing closed his eyes, simultaneously performing the Butterfly Dream Technique and The Blindless Method.
Changing the rules of the Ghost Market was troublesome. Even with the framework left by Great Dream True Person, the Butterfly Dream Technique alone could not accomplish it.
Ren Qing used an inch of time as the lead, then borrowed the power of the Lord of Absolute Darkness.
The aura of the Lord of Absolute Darkness spread outward from the inn as its center, gradually pervading the whole Ghost Market, like a mist shrouding all.
Rustling sounds arose from nowhere.
All Restraint Officers stood frozen, breathing heavily. For no reason, an inexplicable dread surged in their hearts.
In every shadowed corner, blood-red eyes appeared in unison, as though something lurked within.
Only those Restraint Officers secluded in cultivation within the inn were unaffected.
Lin Cheng stood on the open ground of the Ghost Market, nervously spitting crimson.
Beside him were Lu Xiaoyu, Yi Yanjun, and some unfamiliar Restraint Officers, likely all those Ren Qing had invited to set up stalls.
Ka ka ka ka...
In the center of the Ghost Market a fissure tore open, like a ferocious maw, forcibly expanding the top of the dream-tree severalfold.
Though the decorations around remained the same, the feeling given was entirely different.
As though it truly came from the nether underworld.
The Restraint Officers looked at one another, not knowing at all what was happening, even suspecting that Ren Qing had lost control to aberration.
Just as they were about to leave the Ghost Market, an illusory figure appeared above.
Ren Qing took a form over a hundred zhang tall, his whole body cloaked in black fog, revealing only the profound Double Pupils of his eyes.
Veteran Restraint Officers drew in cold breaths. Their experience told them the anomaly of the Ghost Market was not simple.
It was said Ren Qing's early rise to the Yin Runner stage was due mainly to luck, but seeing even this small portion displayed, they had to admit the horror of his talent.
This apparition was clearly the melding of two methods, and the main component was even a Ghost Envoy stage technique.
Under normal circumstances, it would take decades of painstaking work to wield freely.
In the blink of an eye, Ren Qing's figure disappeared again.
The ears of the many Restraint Officers then heard Ren Qing's soft voice: "At the northeast corner of the Ghost Market, every midnight the Feng Market will open."
"The Feng Market will be led by Restraint Officers. All trades will be interfered with by no one."
Thick fog blanketed the northeast corner. One could only vaguely see a few figures inside.
Lin Cheng suddenly found himself covered by a thin black mist, his form completely hidden, even his voice altered.
Over a dozen stalls appeared before him, all formed from spells.
The Restraint Officers in the Ghost Market had no time to marvel at Ren Qing's great powers, all realizing the business opportunity, and immediately heading to the northeast corner.
As soon as they entered the mist, their figures were concealed.
Inside the market only scattered stalls were selling wares.
Quick-witted Restraint Officers soon occupied the remaining stalls. Since they needn't fear exposing their identities, they hawked like petty vendors.
Ren Qing saw the market moving onto the right track, though the trade volume did not grow much. But all Restraint Officers still followed the rules honestly.
He could only wait patiently, and turned to meditate on methods instead of paying heed. Yet in a few days he felt something amiss.
The efficiency of lifespan extension did indeed show an upward trend, but...
The items sold in the market grew ever stranger.
Like piglets covered with eyes, which regrew quickly after being plucked out, said to be bred by a hundred-eyed Restraint Officer.
Or malicious ghosts kept in vases.
As long as placed into animal hide, the ghost would nightly seek out a certain beast to suck its blood, then spit it back into the vase.
There were even Restraint Officers experimenting with refining pills. Though the effects could not be guaranteed, they were cheap and thus loved by reserves.
Anyway, with the physique of Restraint Officers, they could not be killed by eating them.
In some sense, it did indeed promote the pill-refining development of the Restraint Officers' Hall, though who knew in what direction.
Ren Qing's mouth twitched.
No matter what, at least the goal had been achieved.
To sell shoddy magical tools and pills, Restraint Officers naturally went to exchange materials at the Great Dream Pavilion, making the efficiency of lifespan extension ever greater.
Taking advantage of the market's rise, it would not be long before he gathered enough lifespan.