Ren Qing stared fixedly at the bizarre and unfathomable Qingyan Town.
No one would notice the shadow within the crack of the wall; for the time being, it was relatively safe.
He suddenly felt a momentary confusion, for in the face of such a situation, he was somewhat uncertain how to blend into Qingyan Town.
Ren Qing's current goal was merely to find a relatively stable environment, then quietly develop the scale of the Immortal Market, thereby extending his lifespan.
And as he was thinking, from a nearby ground tunnel another Morning Street cultivator crawled out, then stood there blankly, staring dazedly at the town.
She had no idea what the outside world's situation was, thinking only that no aberrations existed there, and that its danger was far less than Morning Street's constant peril.
But now, seeing the outside world filled everywhere with aberrations, she was so terrified her courage and liver split apart.
"No, no, no... impossible..."
The female cultivator grabbed her head with both hands; her mind had clearly collapsed, and she did not even notice her fingernails piercing her scalp.
Her legs gave way as she knelt onto the ground, the aura radiating from her body becoming extremely unstable.
That was a sign of qi deviation, True Yuan beginning to lose control, causing her body to gradually disintegrate, her skin melting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The insect-mimicking aberrations over her body grew more and more distorted, and within a few breaths, she could no longer maintain a human shape.
Ren Qing felt she was showing signs of a heart demon imbalance, but in fact it was the flaw of the Heavenly Insect Method.
Because the True Yuan of Heavenly Insect Method cultivators was not obtained through their own cultivation, but by borrowing the aid of the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm.
The female cultivator directly tore off her own scalp, and even while staring at the bloody scene, she couldn't help but give a strange laugh.
"So it really was all illusion..."
"An aberration, it must be an aberration..."
Before the female cultivator could react, a fluctuation of spell power came from within the sentry post, threads shot out instantly.
The female cultivator was tightly bound, and when she tried to resist, she was struck by a venomous sting; soon her vision went black and she fainted.
"Ka ka ka ka..."
"What a pity, such fine material wasted."
Sounds came from within the sentry post, a two-meter-tall spider woman crawled out.
Her upper body was bare, showing graceful curves, while her lower body was that of a black spider, clearly influenced by some aberration.
As she crawled out, several smaller spider-people followed behind her.
No wonder faint traces of spider silk could be seen in the corners around the sentry post, this area was likely under the jurisdiction of a particular faction.
"To think they still dream of coming out from Morning Street... truly seeking death..."
The spider woman's tone carried envy; her face twisted, as though Morning Street were a paradise isolated from the world.
She bound the woman into a cocoon and carried her into the town, apparently toward a building not far from the post.
The area around the wall grew quiet again, as if waiting for new prey to take the bait.
Ren Qing found that the spider-people's techniques were not strong, at most of the Ghost Envoy level, yet they could easily subdue Morning Street cultivators.
This indicated that Qingyan Town had a very systematic countermeasure for sealing Morning Street, one likely maintained for more than ten years.
The Jingzhou people appeared to have to rely on aberrations to live, but the two sides were mutually beneficial, and in fact, it was cultivators, not aberrations, who occupied the dominant position.
Like gods and their believers.
The believers depended on the gods, and the gods likewise depended on the believers to sustain themselves, thus creating this strange symbiosis in Jingzhou.
Though each aberration looked as if it could rival the Yang God Realm, Ren Qing had not seen a single one that had advanced further, very likely, the difficulty for aberrations to ascend was extremely high.
This in turn suggested that they were merely gigantic byproducts of the Rabbit-Toad Technique, far inferior to the Great Dream True Person.
At present, the Blood Moon held absolute advantage in Jingzhou, while the Heavenly Dao Worm was in total retreat.
Yet Ren Qing did not think much of it.
He knew that once large numbers of Jingzhou cultivators, having reached the limits of cultivation through aberrations, began seeking breakthroughs beyond, some of them would inevitably target the aberrations themselves.
The current situation had only been stable for a few decades; it might take another century to ferment, and Ren Qing could not be sure what would happen then.
But he clearly understood the hidden opportunity within it.
The more turbulent things became, the more the Immortal Market could grow, unlike Morning Street's stagnant dead water, without absolute strength it was hard to meddle there.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes.
Did he have the capital to gamble?
Of course he did, Ren Qing possessed the combined resources of Shuize and Xiangxiang, and had even created the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method.
He could fully rely on that method, flying the banner of the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm, and forcibly join the game.
Judging from Jingzhou's current state, the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm was already barely clinging to life.
The New Moon Layer Jingzhou people, under the Blood Moon's influence, showed no trace of insect-mimicking aberration, while the Crescent Moon Layer was occupied by aberrations.
If the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm could truly change the Crescent Moon Layer, it wouldn't have fallen so far.
The risk Ren Qing took in bluffing under its name was minuscule; compared to the profit, it was practically a wolf caught barehanded.
"Mm, but I must..."
He stared at the Morning Street cultivator who had been taken into the town, thinking silently, "I must understand Qingyan Town's power structure."
With a thought, part of the Ghost Shadow flowed into the cracks of the wall bricks, extending into the tunnel connecting inside and outside.
Originally, he had been wary of Hu Yi appearing at night, but this yet-to-descend aberration dared not come beyond Morning Street.
He waited for the Morning Street cultivators to arrive, while continuing to organize the Great Dream Pavilion of the Immortal Market.
Ren Qing also added a task board at the gate of the Taoist temple, posting content regarding teaching the children.
Not long after, Yuan Si appeared in the Immortal Market, his cultivation had advanced considerably, though limited by the Heavenly Dao Worm's inability to ascend.
Seeing the tasks posted, he took a sheet without hesitation.
Immediately afterward, Yuan Si felt his consciousness blur; when he regained clarity, he had already left Liquor Lake, standing on the lakeshore a hundred meters away.
He looked around and found unfamiliar vegetation growing nearby, though there were no insects or beasts.
Following the task's directions, Yuan Si quickly walked toward the prison area.
On the way, he saw a ten-meter giant ghost wolf resting atop a mound, and a husky carrying Tian A Si dashing wildly about.
The more Yuan Si observed, the greater his awe grew.
When he reached his destination, he found that the prison area held dozens, even hundreds of Supernatural Remnants, even with mental preparation, he was still stunned speechless.
The courtesans had already arrived in the corridor ahead; the two silently walked deeper into the prison area.
These courtesans had lived in Furong Tower since childhood, long used to following orders, showing no resistance to unfamiliar surroundings.
From a god's-eye view, Ren Qing watched the Prison Within the Abdomen settle into proper operation, and nodded slightly.
Old Coffin had recently seemed busy in Three-Wood Alley, seldom entering the Immortal Market, perhaps he'd need a few days more.
Even so, merely relying on those two, the Heavenly Dao Worm's cultivation had already slightly increased, the power of the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method was evident.
Ren Qing glanced at his own information flow, after this period of accumulation, combined with the effect of Peach Wine, his lifespan had once again approached a hundred years.
Once he found a stable place to live in Qingyan Town, he could prepare to advance the Shadow Ghost Technique.
For now, Ren Qing could only honestly curl up within the crack in the wall.
By noon the next day, several more cultivators crawled out of the tunnel in a sorry state.
They wore black cloaks of magical fabric that seemed able to block perception, but in the eyes of the spider-people, they were completely visible.
The Morning Street cultivators were soon trussed up like rice dumplings and sent somewhere within the town.
Ren Qing had already attached part of his black shadow onto the shadow of one among them, faintly sensing they were being taken toward the northwest corner.
That place was bustling, the streets crowded with townsfolk and innumerable cultivators.
He waited until nightfall, then immediately activated the Shadow Ghost Technique's "Night Roaming," sending his consciousness into the shadow of that Morning Street cultivator.
Before Ren Qing could make sense of things, he heard a sobbing mutter:
"I don't want to die, how did it come to this..."
The Morning Street cultivator trembled all over, teeth chattering, hands and feet bound by heavy iron chains, unable to move.
He was in a dim room, a thick stench of blood and rot rushing up his nose.
The floor was littered with bones; hundreds of flies buzzed, and the gnawing of rodents on bone echoed faintly.
He, who used to devour flesh and blood in Morning Street, was now so horrified that he gagged uncontrollably, mumbling over and over:
"Don't kill me, don't kill me..."
Ren Qing couldn't quite understand what was happening when suddenly a panel above moved, revealing a giant Dao-child's face.
A giant?
No, wrong.
Ren Qing immediately realized, the Morning Street cultivator he was possessing had shrunk drastically, not that the Dao-child was enormous.
"Add three taels of knot-flower, two taels of parasol wood, and a pinch of elephant rain..."
"Yes, Master."
The Dao-child's face withdrew, and only then did Ren Qing notice that this seemed to be inside a Taoist temple, the Morning Street cultivator was trapped within a pill furnace.
Materials were poured in, and the Morning Street cultivator howled in despair, regretting bitterly ever coming to Qingyan Town, only to end up like this.
"Don't kill me, I'm at the Golden Core Stage..."
Bang!!
The pestle struck down, the cultivator's body instantly turned to mush, beaten again and again until he and the herbs became a dark-red liquid.
Ren Qing swallowed, so the cultivators who escaped Morning Street were being used as alchemy ingredients.
It was clear that the survival prospects for Heavenly Insect Method cultivators in Qingyan Town were grim.
At this sight, he began to gradually dissipate part of his ghost shadow.
A hand covered in black hair reached into the pill furnace, dipping into the liquid.
"The flavor's off!!"
"Xu Zhu, you've ruined an entire furnace of fine medicine!!!"
"N-no, Master, it wasn't-"
Just as Ren Qing's consciousness was about to scatter, he saw the Daoist master in robes lean forward, and bite off the Dao-child's head in one gulp.
"Now that's the flavor."
This Daoist master was an aberration cultivator, within the Restraint Officers' Hall, he would clearly count as one who had lost control to aberration, his soul inevitably affected, turning him insane.
Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body; the first thing he did was use the Butterfly Dream Technique to warn Yuan Si and the others not to leave Morning Street for now.
Over the next few days, a total of seven cultivators crawled out from the tunnels.
Their fates varied, all of them died at the hands of aberration cultivators, some refined into pills, some made into gu, some even used as waste material.
The factions of aberration cultivators were innumerable; Qingyan Town was like a forest of sects.
Ren Qing stayed for over half a month before finally seeing one person who wasn't delivered to an aberration cultivator.