When Ren Qing's consciousness disappeared into Avici Hell, the entire Restraint Officers' Hall boiled over.
For low-level cultivators, the further opening of Feng City represented more opportunities, the resources they could obtain would only grow greater and greater.
Li Tiangang stood upon an empty stretch of land in a corner of Avici Hell. Beside him was Song Zongwu, who had rushed over after hearing the news. The two of them seemed in excellent spirits.
"Old Song, who could have thought that Ren Qing seems to be making waves down in Jingzhou."
The corner of Song Zongwu's mouth curved into a smile. His aura, not seen for quite some time, had become even more condensed, he had completely stabilized his cultivation at the perfected Yin Runner Realm.
"Li Tiangang, Xiangxiang will have to leave sooner or later, whether voluntarily or not."
Li Tiangang sighed and nodded, saying, "Indeed. We must make complete preparations, otherwise there will only be one road left, death."
"The method for nurturing the consciousness of the Eerie Fetus artifact has already found its direction."
"Truly, this is a great era."
Song Zongwu suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and asked, "By the way, are you sure you want to have the Restraint Officers make a move against the Disaster-Dispelling Forbidden Zone?"
"Mm. No matter what, we should first resolve internal troubles. Moreover, the Supernatural Remnants from the Disaster-Dispelling Forbidden Zone can replenish the resources of the Restraint Officers' Hall."
Li Tiangang was fairly relaxed about it, but Song Zongwu could not help but look grave, after all, the troublesome nature of the Disaster-Dispelling Forbidden Zone was well known.
Not long after, certain related missions appeared on the bulletin board.
The entire Restraint Officers' Hall began to operate like a war machine, layer after layer like gears meshing, one could already glimpse its future potential.
Ren Qing knew nothing of this, but even if he did, he would support it.
If the Restraint Officers' Hall could seal the Supernatural Remnant of the Disaster-Dispelling Art, then he could use that art as the primary, with Immortal in the Mirror as secondary, to construct his fourth set of core techniques.
And it would be a set of concealment-type main and subsidiary techniques, greatly enhancing his own survivability.
When his consciousness returned to his body, he did not choose to go to the Crescent Moon Layer.
After all, the New Moon Layer was safer, it was under the control of a decaying Earth Immortal, the Heavenly Dao Worm. Consuming lifespan to advance would not cause a commotion large enough to attract attention.
Ren Qing rested for over half a month, eliminating the weakness brought by the depletion of consciousness, before allowing his mind to enter the Niwan Palace.
The pitch-black, ink-like mutated tree represented the Shadow Ghost Technique. Its branches were lush, complementing the Heavenly Dao Worm; it was already close to the Yin Runner Realm.
The three aberrations of the Shadow Ghost Technique's abilities were:
[Weird Substitution], able to transfer damage onto the shadow.
[No Shadow], able to let the ghostly shadow leave the body for long periods.
[Night Roaming], able to remotely control the ghostly shadow at night using consciousness.
Ren Qing summoned the information stream, and before his eyes appeared the Yin Runner Realm of the Shadow Ghost Technique.
[Do you wish to choose the branch "No Shadow Yin Demon"? This will consume 200 years of lifespan.]
No Shadow Yin Demon... I shall see what the No Shadow Yin Demon truly is.
Ren Qing consumed two hundred years of lifespan. The ghostly shadow beneath his feet began to boil madly, the Supernatural Remnant of the Yin Runner Realm was gradually awakening.
Compared to the time the Butterfly Dream Technique advanced, when all the Supernatural Remnants within his body became lively, the Shadow Ghost Technique was undoubtedly much calmer, mainly because this type of Supernatural Remnant replaced Ren Qing's shadow, rather than parasitizing within his body.
Ren Qing felt not the slightest pain, everything was borne by the ghostly shadow.
He even took the opportunity to look over the aberration branches of the Nightmare Art, intending to further strengthen his dream techniques in preparation for linking the Ghost Market and Immortal Market.
As for the five hundred years of lifespan required for the Shadow Ghost Technique to advance to the Merging the Yin God Realm, there was actually no need to deliberately save it.
Once the Immortal Market was fully opened, there would surely be a period of explosive growth, during which the Heavenly Dao Worm could absorb vast amounts of Nether Yuan.
Ren Qing soon made a discovery, just as he was preparing to continue examining the mutated tree, the cave grew utterly silent, and the ghostly shadow returned to normal.
As he opened his eyes, he lifted his arm, the shadow behind him slowly gathered together.
A monstrous being nearly twenty meters long stretched out its body, rubbing its head affectionately against Ren Qing's palm.
Unexpectedly, the ghostly shadow had formed a corporeal body, its appearance somewhat resembled that of the Heavenly Dao Worm, though it lacked such ferocious mouthparts.
After the Shadow Ghost Technique advanced to the Yin Runner Realm, the ghostly shadow not only became even more concealed; its size could instantly expand to hundreds of meters and it could freely shift between tangible and intangible states.
Most importantly, the ghostly shadow had begun to connect to the subsidiary techniques, causing its manifested body to be dragon-like yet serpent-like, exuding an aura of extreme terror.
Naturally, Ren Qing intended to take the Shadow Ghost Technique as his core, with three subsidiary techniques: the Human Skin Book, Bone Armor Technique, and Heavenly Dao Worm.
The Human Skin Book already served as an auxiliary to the Shadow Ghost Technique, so it was logical to use it as a subsidiary art.
The Heavenly Dao Worm was parasitic within the ghostly shadow, though their systems of cultivation differed, since it was acknowledged by the information stream, it clearly could be fused.
As for the Bone Armor Technique, since the Yellow Springs spiritual root already existed within his spine, it could strengthen the link between the ghostly shadow and his true body.
Ren Qing gazed at the ghostly shadow, muttering to himself, "With the Heavenly Dao Worm as flesh, the Human Skin Book as skin, and the Dragon-Snake Spine as bone."
"Looks like the thing hiding in my shadow is quite the formidable fellow."
He soothed the restless ghostly shadow, then turned back toward the Niwan Palace. Since he was in seclusion, he might as well complete the aberration branches of the Nightmare Art.
Ren Qing did not choose the more extreme aberrations, but continued refining the dream market.
Just as the later series of aberrations for the Taotie Method would all focus on forming inner small worlds, the aim being to turn them into real worlds.
He consumed fifty years of lifespan to light up the first aberration of the Nightmare Art: [Dark Light] .
[Dark Light] 's effect was to make dream techniques more silent and subtle, reducing the risks of consciousness traversal and rendering the Ghost Market and Immortal Market extremely hidden.
The completion of the aberration caused the Supernatural Remnant, Nightmare True Person, to stir slightly, but before any reaction could arise, it was completely suppressed by the Lord of Absolute Darkness.
Seeing this, Ren Qing did not rest, immediately proceeding to the second aberration, [Recall] .
[Recall] allowed him to probe the thoughts of beings within the dream, though only those whose cultivation was lower than his own.
With this aberration branch, Recall, the expansion of the Immortal Market could now proceed without restraint.
As for the third aberration of the Nightmare Art, he had originally intended to choose [Lucid Dream] .
[Lucid Dream] would cause cultivators entering the dream market to enter a lucid dreaming state, allowing them to vaguely perceive their own bodies, enhancing their means of handling danger.
However, after completing the second aberration, he noticed new buds sprouting from the branches of the mutated tree, signifying newly unlocked aberration branches.
Ren Qing casually swept his gaze over them, and it was as if he had seen gold buried beneath the soil, his expression instantly filled with joy.
[Overlapping Dreams] : multiple dreams are stacked together, requiring an extremely strong mastery of dream techniques; otherwise it would result in nightmares.
The emergence of Overlapping Dreams solved the problem of merging the Immortal Market and Ghost Market, laying the foundation for the Restraint Officers' Hall to extend into various regions in the future.
Ren Qing unhesitatingly chose Overlapping Dreams as his third aberration branch. His remaining lifespan was a bit over one hundred and twenty years.
When the Nightmare Art reached the peak of the Ghost Envoy Realm, both the Immortal Market and Ghost Market trembled slightly.
Although the tremor vanished in an instant, in the eyes of all Restraint Officers, it meant that the cultivation of the Ghost Market's Lord was becoming ever more terrifying.
They no longer discussed when Li Tiangang would advance to the Yang God Realm, but were more interested in whether Ren Qing could attain the Yang God Realm within fifty years.
Ren Qing, as the center of these events, was quite content to remain idle. After stabilizing his cultivation for several days in the New Moon Layer, he drew the Nether Yuan into his body.
When his Nether Yuan again reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, the Blood Moon pulled him back to the Crescent Moon Layer.
Ren Qing looked around. The cave's environment was not much different, but the True Yuan in the air was denser, making him slightly uncomfortable.
He examined the situation of the Wuwei Monastery, and his brow furrowed tightly.
The number of memorial tablets within the temple had dropped again, and many Daoist names had changed, clearly, the casualties were increasingly severe.
The Wuwei Monastery had likely begun to cut off its own limbs to survive, abandoning part of its foundations.
That was their greatest current problem, the Heavenly Worm Method cultivators of the Core Formation Stage were only at the Ghost Envoy Realm level, unable to change the situation.
The Wuwei Monastery was inevitably on the defensive, its living space ever further compressed.
As for why the sect had no Nascent Soul cultivators, Ren Qing guessed they had been slain by aberrant-cultivators, forcing the sect to shift to commerce.
Ren Qing could understand the fear the aberrant-cultivators felt, for the very words "Wuwei Monastery" represented supreme prestige.
The Wuwei Monastery had ruled Jingzhou for hundreds of years; if it could display great power again, countless cultivators would flock to it.
He shook his head, then let his consciousness enter the Prison Within the Abdomen.
There, Yuan Si and Old Coffin were instructing the children in cultivation. Most of the latter had already refined Nether Yuan, though not yet reached the Qi Refining Stage.
Ren Qing's soul fragment descended beside them, speaking in an indisputable tone: "In a few days, I will take the children away from here. Be prepared."
The children huddled together, not daring to meet Ren Qing's gaze.
The courtesans wore worried faces, wanting to ask but hesitating, until Old Coffin spoke first: "Immortal Lord, may I ask where the little ones are to go? With their talents, they have promising futures."
"To Qingyan Town. If they wish to return, they can do so through the dream."
After saying so, Ren Qing vanished from the Prison Within the Abdomen, then sat quietly within the cave, waiting for the fifteenth of the month, the day disciples were recruited.
He also refined his Daoist robe and gourd into Half-Corpse Realm Eerie Fetus artifacts.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed.
The mountain gate of the Wuwei Monastery was open wide; the farmers in the fields had stopped working; the clamor of voices surrounded the morning sun.
The gravel before the cave shattered into powder; Ren Qing slowly stepped out from within.
He couldn't help stretching lazily, the bones of his body colliding with one another. Taking a deep breath, the half-meter around him turned to vacuum, it was as if he had been reborn.
Ren Qing wore an unremarkable gray-cloth Daoist robe. Even walking among the farmhouses, he attracted no attention from the villagers.
When he reached the foot of Wuwei Monastery's mountain, hundreds of people had already gathered on the open ground.
Most were peasants bringing their families, the eldest sons inheriting the fields, while the rest were sent off to the immortal sect.
Wuliangzi stood before the mountain path, face full of worry. Turning to the middle-aged Daoist beside him, he complained, "Qingsong, in recent months fewer and fewer rich merchants have come... sigh..."
Qingsongzi replied helplessly, "Too many deaths."
"Let alone them, even we ourselves are a little afraid. Those Tu Di cultivators... they're going mad."
Wuliangzi did not reply; his emotions made his body's aberration show signs of losing control.
The Tu Di cultivators had nearly slaughtered all the shops in the western district of the city. Even several rich merchants who were usually on good terms had been wiped out.
The only reason they hadn't attacked the peasants was because the grain yield had too great an effect, it concerned several factions of Qingyan Town.
Wuliangzi closed his eyes, the veins on his forehead bulging.
As the current generation's sect master, he did indeed know some of Wuwei Monastery's secrets, especially about that Wuwei Monastery which had once suppressed Jingzhou.
Wuliangzi felt that if only the Heavenly Dao Worm eggs hadn't been lost, relying on the original Heavenly Dao Method, how could these aberrant-cultivators have run rampant?
Sigh...
"Senior brother, quite a few potential Dao seedlings have arrived, come take a look."
Qingsongzi nudged Wuliangzi with his elbow, and the latter immediately opened his eyes, seeing over a dozen children walking toward them from afar.
Wuliangzi's face lit up with joy. Although these children's talents didn't seem outstanding, since their physiques showed no signs of aberration, they could certainly cultivate the techniques of Wuwei Monastery.
A dozen new potentials would at least allow them to breathe a little easier.
However, the appearance of the children seemed to draw the attention of certain ill-intentioned beings.
An old woman, seventy or eighty years old, came out of a farmhouse, broom in hand, sweeping the ground, blocking the children's path right in the middle.
The old woman's smile was kind, as though looking at her own grandchildren.
Yet from her increasingly red eyes one could tell she was suppressing something, even her hands trembled slightly.
"Aiya... getting old..."
"When I go too long without eating something, my belly grows hungry..."
The old woman drew from her bosom a baby's head the size of a fist, and began gnawing at it like an apple, blood and flesh flying.
The children hesitated in their steps; the old woman put down the broom and slowly approached.
"In your next life, be human again."
"Hehehehehehe..."
At that moment, a cold, detached voice said: "Do you know... the Dao gives birth to Dao, the Wuwei Dao?"
"Who's there!!"
The old woman's expression turned tense; her whole body suddenly sprouted thick black fur, transforming into a four-to-five-meter-tall giant Tu Di.
Before her stood a man whose appearance was indiscernible.
Though not a trace of aura leaked from him, the old woman felt as if facing a mortal threat.
"Who are you!!"
"Wuwei Monastery's Huang Qi."
Without the slightest hesitation, she cast her strongest spell, shouting, "Eat human hearts, hair like steel..."
"Nowadays, the Wuwei Dao has grown far too weak. What sort of trash drifts in here?"
Ren Qing didn't even glance at her. His right foot stamped the ground, hundreds of meters around sank into boundless darkness.
"This is the divine ability I gained from eating a hundred human hearts; even magic artifacts cannot wound me..."
Before she finished her words, her whole body froze. A vast dragon-serpent maw, dozens of meters long, leapt from the darkness.
Roar!!
Ren Qing still stood where he was; the ghostly shadow returned beneath his feet. Faint chewing sounds could be heard.
He signaled for the children to continue forward, while his own figure vanished, preparing to scout from higher ground for any approaching aberrant-cultivators.
The fight within the farmstead was deliberately veiled by Ren Qing; from afar, all seemed calm.
Yet on Wuliangzi's forehead, the chrysanthemum-shaped mouthpart kept opening and closing, as though foretelling an imminent crisis.
"Something's wrong, Qingsong."
"I'm going to the temple to check the Vault Heaven Artifact, otherwise I can't rest easy."
"Huh?"
Wuliangzi ran up the mountain path into the Daoist temple, rummaging beneath the Heavenly Daozi statue until he found a battered, broken bronze-mirror artifact.
He infused True Yuan into the artifact, the bronze mirror flickered with faint light.
"For something that once belonged to a core disciple, how could it fail at a crucial moment?"
Sweating all over, Wuliangzi kowtowed several times before the Heavenly Daozi statue.
"May the Patriarch bless that the Dao lineage endure..."
The bronze mirror emitted static noise.
"Do you know... Dao births Dao, Wuwei Dao?"
Wuliangzi's breathing quickened as he stared at the bronze mirror, the voice inside was intermittent, yet the message it brought made tears stream down his face.
"Who are you!!"
"Wuwei Monastery's Huang Qi."
Wuliangzi murmured in a trembling voice, "He's returned... finally returned."