The erosion of demon beast corpses by heavenly demon aura was merely the opening act. The atmosphere in Jingzhou grew increasingly oppressive, as if a storm were about to descend.
Ren Qing informed Li Tiangang of the matters concerning heavenly demon aura, not even withholding the fact that the Lower Crescent Moon layer had been occupied by heavenly demon aura.
The Restraint Officers' Hall quickly responded.
However, they did not further restrict hunting. Instead, they issued missions to delineate hunting zones, encouraging cultivators to leave the city to hunt, which in turn revitalized the various escort agencies.
Wuwei City seemed to return to the most prosperous period of hunting. Every day, hundreds of demon beast corpses were delivered to the slaughterhouse.
Those cutting the corpses were replaced by Restraint Officers at or above the Ghost Envoy realm, mainly to inspect whether there was heavenly demon aura inside the corpses.
As it turned out, quite a few similar demon beast corpses were indeed discovered.
Using this, the Restraint Officers' Hall locked onto the source of the heavenly demon aura, which should be near the Bottomless Pit three hundred li to the northwest.
Ren Qing's guess had been correct. It was very likely that some aberrant creature contaminated with heavenly demon aura had descended to the Waning Moon layer and was gradually affecting the environment.
For Jingzhou, a heavenly-demonized aberrant creature was equivalent to a tumor within the body, constantly drawing nourishment to strengthen itself.
The Restraint Officers' Hall decisively closed the gates of Wuwei City, completely announcing the blockade of all routes leading to the outside world, entering a pre-disaster state of alert.
Regarding this point, many cultivators had actually anticipated it long ago. After all, from every angle it was clear that Jingzhou was becoming increasingly unstable.
Naturally, the Restraint Officers' Hall would not waste manpower to eradicate heavenly-demonized aberrant creatures. At most, they would ensure that the surrounding area was not affected by heavenly demon aura.
Many Restraint Officers who had arrived in Wuwei City not long ago felt somewhat helpless.
They had failed to reap the dividends of Primordial Wilderness transformation, yet now had to face the imminent drastic changes in Jingzhou, no matter how one looked at it, they had suffered losses on both ends.
The only thing worth being glad about was that the frequency of demon beasts attacking the city had clearly increased.
Even by relying on city defense alone, cultivators could obtain large quantities of valuable materials, and the danger was not as high as going out hunting.
As a result, guarding the city became a sought-after task. Every day, cultivators would wait by the notices in the dream market.
The city gates were gradually sealed, and deliberately refined into one with the city walls.
Ren Qing continued to return to his room to cultivate in seclusion. As more civilians in the Longevity Forbidden Zone cultivated body-refining martial arts, the efficiency of lifespan conversion also increased.
Lifespan: eight hundred and seventy-five years. He was already not far from the thousand-year requirement to advance to the Yang Spirit realm.
In addition, with the stockpiled wine ore, once Ren Qing's lifespan reached nine hundred and fifty years or more, he could basically begin preparing to break through the bottleneck.
However, the calm was quickly broken. Under Li Tiangang's summons, all Yin Messenger realm cultivators in Wuwei City came to Ren Qing's residence to deliberate.
The newly advanced Yin Messenger realm cultivators were a man and a woman. The man was named Chen Haoyu, cultivating the Divine Stride Sutra, Elephant-Step aspect, with a rather rugged appearance.
The woman was named Li Mo, cultivating the Smoke and Mist Method, capable of controlling high-temperature smoke.
Although they did not recognize Ren Qing, they had heard of him to some extent.
Ren Qing was the youngest Yin Messenger realm cultivator in the history of the Restraint Officers' Hall, and also the one most likely to advance to the Yang Spirit realm after Song Zongwu.
It was said that his appearance was as terrifying as a nightmare.
Yet when they arrived at the courtyard, they found that Ren Qing looked more like a scholar, his deep eyes seeming capable of seeing through everything in the world.
"Brother Ren, it's been a few days since we last met."
Li Yaoyang greeted him and sat down nearby Ren Qing.
Miss Bai chose a position near the corner. Her appearance resembled that of a refined young lady, yet behind her was a ferocious flesh-and-blood flying sword.
Qingsongzi entered the courtyard somewhat stiffly and sat at the doorway.
His cultivation relied entirely on a tilt of resources to reach Great Perfection of the Golden Core realm. There was still a stretch of road before the Nascent Soul realm (Yin Messenger realm).
Moreover, Ren Qing's Nether Sea Breathing Art had yet to step into the Spirit Division stage, so the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method was fundamentally unable to break through.
Chen Haoyu and Li Mo, meanwhile, were trembling with apprehension, wishing they could stand with their backs against the wall.
Upon seeing Li Yaoyang, Ren Qing suddenly asked with realization, "Li Yaoyang, when did you advance to Fusing Yin Spirit?"
Li Yaoyang replied with a bitter smile, "I couldn't hide it from you after all. It's been a few months."
"I imagine Miss Bai won't be far behind either, right?"
Miss Bai tilted her head and pondered for a few breaths, then said in a puzzled tone, "A-Jian hasn't eaten enough Aberrant Fetal Artifacts yet. Probably another half year."
Ren Qing nodded slightly.
Whether it was Li Yaoyang or Bai Bai, both had already found shortcuts in cultivation.
Li Yaoyang had advanced to Fusing Yin Spirit entirely by cultivating gu insects through demon beast corpses. If Miss Bai's natal flying sword could digest Aberrant Fetal Artifacts faster, she would likely reach Fusing Yin Spirit as well.
Counting the Yin Messenger realm cultivators stationed in Xiangxiang, as well as Mu Yi and the others exploring the southern forests, the Restraint Officers' Hall should have over twenty Yin Messenger realm cultivators.
From this, it was evident.
Give the Restraint Officers' Hall another hundred years, and Yin Messenger realm cultivators would probably not even fit within the courtyard, and Spirit Release would not be limited to just a handful of people.
Foundation, foundation indeed...
Ren Qing managed the dream market. No one was clearer than him about just how many resources the Restraint Officers' Hall had plundered, saying it had increased by dozens of times would not be an exaggeration.
Unfortunately, converting resources into strength required at least a hundred years.
Ren Qing suddenly thought of something and softly said to Li Yaoyang, "Brother Li, could I ask you to do me a favor?"
"We've been through life and death together. Brother Ren, feel free to ask."
Ren Qing took out four dead eggs of Heavenly Dao Worms from Eternal Shackles and handed them to Li Yaoyang.
Over the years, he had tried to stimulate vitality within the dead eggs, but without any results. Directly refining them into artifacts felt somewhat wasteful.
Ren Qing actually had some confidence that he could refine living Heavenly Dao Worms into flesh-and-blood artifacts similar to spirit veins.
At that time, how terrifying would it be for Eternal Shackles to gain a hundred additional spirit veins?
In terms of the richness of true essence alone, Eternal Shackles would be enough to be called an "immortal realm," and the Heavenly Dao Worms within the ghost shadows would find it difficult not to advance to Earth Immortal.
Ren Qing temporarily lacked the energy to continue researching the dead eggs, so he simply handed a few to Li Yaoyang, who happened to be extremely knowledgeable about gu insects.
Li Yaoyang took the Heavenly Dao Worm dead eggs. At first, he did not pay them much attention, but the instant his skin touched the dead eggs, his expression drastically changed.
"This is..."
Ren Qing smiled without replying, as Qingsongzi was present.
Regardless of how badly the Wuwei Daoist Temple had been ravaged by Heavenly Dao Worms, to many Daoist temple disciples, Heavenly Dao Worms were still supreme innate spirit treasures.
Li Yaoyang put away the Heavenly Dao Worm dead eggs and said thoughtfully, "There is a type of gu insect called Sacrificial Life. It can share vitality through parasitism. Perhaps it really could hatch them."
His voice carried a tremor.
Heavenly Dao Worms were existences capable of reaching the Earth Immortal Stage. The opportunity for him to break through to the Yang Spirit realm might very well be hidden within them.
Ren Qing patted Li Yaoyang on the shoulder and said, "Brother Li, try cultivating the Heavenly Dao Method or the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method."
Li Yaoyang nodded, and Qingsongzi moved closer upon seeing this.
"If you wish to cultivate the Heavenly Dao Method, I can accept disciples on behalf of my deceased master."
Qingsongzi was well aware of the awkward position of the Wuwei Daoist Temple within the Restraint Officers' Hall. Not only did it lack a Yin Messenger realm cultivator in residence, but among the new generation of disciples, only Han Li could barely be considered presentable.
Thus, seeing such a good opportunity, he thick-skinnedly seized the chance.
Seeing Li Yaoyang hesitate somewhat, Qingsongzi added, "Aside from the three core disciple cultivation methods, the Heavenly Dao Method also includes one that only successive sect masters could cultivate..."
"You mean Dao Dao Dao?!!"
Qingsongzi asked respectfully, "Immortal Ren Qing, you also know Dao Dao?"
"Yes. I learned of it from Patriarch Heavenly Daozi, but I don't know the details."
Ren Qing raised his brow slightly. He had thought that Dao Dao Dao had long since vanished into the vast ocean of history along with the destruction of the Wuwei Daoist Grounds.
Dao Dao Dao was created by Heavenly Daozi. Cultivation required three Heavenly Dao Eggs to respectively replace the brain, left lung, and heart. Only by not dying could one successfully cultivate it.
Dao Dao Dao, like the Taotie Method's Secondary Stomach, could transform into a small internal world. The Wuwei Daoist Grounds itself had been formed by Dao Dao Dao.
It could not be more suitable as a secondary technique for Eternal Shackles.
Qingsongzi's breathing stalled for several breaths. Recalling the shops in the immortal market that recorded large amounts of Heavenly Dao methods, he believed Ren Qing's words for the most part.
Li Yaoyang could not help but say, "Fine. I am willing to join the Wuwei Daoist Temple, but I have one condition."
Qingsongzi asked in delight, "Immortal Li, please say it."
"Give Brother Ren a copy of Dao Dao Dao."
Qingsongzi agreed without hesitation.
Dao Dao Dao required three Heavenly Dao Eggs to even begin, and according to the Restraint Officers' Hall, it still had flaws. It was basically a sect master method in name only.
Moreover, within the Wuwei Daoist Temple, Ren Qing's status was extremely transcendent. Some even believed he was the reincarnation of the patriarch. A mere scroll of Dao Dao Dao was nothing.
With Ren Qing and Li Yaoyang present, Qingsongzi's spine straightened considerably. He even moved his seat from the doorway to beside the wall.
"Ahem, ahem, ahem..."
Li Tiangang strode into the courtyard, and everyone immediately stopped their discussion.
The purpose of summoning the Yin Messenger realm cultivators was mainly to determine the general strategy of the Restraint Officers' Hall in Jingzhou, so that when sudden changes occurred, opinions would not be divided.
Ren Qing proposed using forbidden zones to surround the blind spots around Wuwei City, and even completely sealing off routes to the outside world if necessary.
This quickly gained the approval of Li Tiangang and the others.
In fact, after the Restraint Officers' Hall conducted sweeps around Wuwei City, more than twenty cultivators had died outside the city. Among them, eight had mastered Restraint Officer methods and may have already formed forbidden zones.
In environments filled with demonic qi, the activity of aberrant objects after revival would be partially weakened, causing forbidden zones to form slightly more slowly.
The reason Yin Messenger realm cultivators were stationed in Wuwei City was precisely to deal with aberrant objects.
Originally, within ten days of a forbidden zone forming, Yin Messenger realm cultivators would leave the city to reclaim the aberrant objects, preventing severe damage caused by the forbidden zone.
Now there was no need to reclaim them. They even planned to allow forbidden zones to integrate more aberrant objects.
Additionally, the city walls needed to be expanded. Two more layers would be built inside the city, so that if the outermost walls were damaged, the city would not collapse in a rout.
Such an abundance of physical labor was precisely where demon cultivators could be put to use.
The several hundred demon cultivators in Eternal Shackles would head to the outside world within a few days. Women, children, and the elderly would remain within the tribes.
If necessary, Ren Qing even considered subduing demon beasts that cultivated Restraint Officer methods, though at present the Restraint Officers' Hall was not lacking manpower.
They spent several hours before finalizing the specific details.
The Yin Messenger realm cultivators each departed. Only Qingsongzi lingered briefly, copying a copy of Dao Dao Dao before hurriedly returning to the Daoist temple.
Ren Qing flipped through Dao Dao Dao once, then summoned the information flow.
[Can consume fifty years of lifespan to exempt the cost and master it.]