Hu Wen also noticed that countless demonic beasts were besieging Wuwei City, and blood had even dyed the clouds with a tinge of crimson.
It seemed that Jingzhou's situation was even worse than imagined.
Because Ren Qing had Wu Deceit devour his sense of presence, he flew into the city as if no one were there, finally landing before his own courtyard.
The ghost shadow placed the many demonic beasts in the open space, then drilled back beneath Ren Qing's feet.
Hu Wen wanted to speak and ask, "Demon Immortal, I..."
Ren Qing waved his hand and said, "Select some fellow Daoists who still have remaining strength to step forward. The rest of the demonic beasts I will take to recuperate."
"Yes."
Hu Wen hurriedly selected several hundred young and strong ones.
During this time, Song Zongwu and Li Tiangang also arrived beside the open space, their gazes sizing up the demonic beasts Ren Qing had brought from outside.
They had no prejudice against demonic beasts. Moreover, the current Wuwei City indeed needed a large amount of manpower for city defense and artifact refining.
Ren Qing did not hesitate in the slightest, directly taking the aged and frail demonic beasts into Eternal Shackles, dispersing them among the various tribes.
The demonic beasts led by Hu Wen were handed to Teng Ning to assign tasks. After a brief half-day rest, they would have to throw themselves into arduous affairs.
However, the corresponding resources would not be lacking.
If they wished to cultivate Restraint Officer techniques, the vast majority of spells could be chosen, and there would be Restraint Officers' Hall reserves guiding them in entry.
Even Hu Wen and the other demon who had advanced to the Ghost Envoy realm by relying on a strange object could cultivate the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, thereby strengthening their power.
The several hundred demonic beasts were like stones thrown into a lake, not raising the slightest ripple.
But at the same time, it demonstrated the potential of Restraint Officer techniques. Compared to various spells that had requirements for aptitude, Restraint Officer techniques possessed extremely strong inclusiveness.
Ren Qing glanced at the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect within the immortal market. The latter had already begun to touch the bottleneck of the late Nascent Soul stage and might reach completion at any time.
Another Demon King crashed toward the city wall, causing the entire town to tremble.
Song Zongwu hurriedly flashed away, fearing that Rabbit-Toad cultivators might intervene in the battle situation, so he had to be ready at all times.
Li Tiangang looked worriedly outside the city, then reminded, "Ren Qing, go help refine the city wall, otherwise it will be too late."
"Alright, I'll go immediately."
Ren Qing had no intention of idling. He deliberately chose the south city wall, whose progress was relatively slower.
Ready-made artifact spirits had previously been tried by Li Tiangang, but because Wuwei City was composed of tens of thousands of magical artifacts, they were fundamentally difficult to fit.
One could only rely on drawing Moon Patterns to thereby nurture Wuwei City's artifact spirit.
When the surrounding cultivators saw that it was Ren Qing, they subconsciously retreated several meters, only hearing him say, "Go support the other city walls. I will handle this place."
The cultivators looked at one another, feeling somewhat caught in a dilemma.
One had to know that Wuwei City's walls were more than ten meters high, ordinarily refined by more than three hundred cultivators above the Half-Corpse realm.
Yet even so, the progress of refining the city wall into an aberrant fetus artifact was painfully slow.
Moreover, during the intervals of demonic beast assaults, it was not as if no Yin Difference realm cultivators had come to help, but with Wuwei City's size, it was still a drop in the bucket.
The cultivator responsible for command and coordination awkwardly smiled and walked toward Ren Qing, preparing to explain the difficulties involved, but saw Ren Qing step forward.
The ghost shadow immediately dispersed, instantly wrapping the city wall.
The materials piled in the corner were simultaneously covered by the ghost shadow, then disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, the ghost shadow writhing like a living thing.
The cultivators were dumbfounded.
They had never seen such vast artifact refining aura. Even the faint light emitted, when gathered together, was enough to cause stinging pain in the eyes.
The cultivators quickly reacted. The aberrant fetus artifact refining method was actually not so profound. Even reserves, spending half a year, were sufficient to master it.
The artifact refining skill displayed by Ren Qing did not exceed the scope of the aberrant fetus artifact refining method...
Yet he alone was doing the work of over a hundred people. The terrifying fluctuations revealed were clearly the omen of an aberrant fetus artifact about to take shape.
One could only sigh in admiration that Ren Qing was indeed the creator of the aberrant fetus artifact refining method. His degree of mastery had already far surpassed the imagination of later generations.
"Heaven's Fall"
How would the observing cultivators know that the refining was carried out autonomously by the ghost shadow? The reason Ren Qing closed his eyes in contemplation was mainly because he was communicating with the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect within Eternal Shackles.
Ren Qing had in fact already revealed part of the cultivation of the Yang Spirit realm.
It was just that everyone in Restraint Officers' Hall tacitly assumed his artifact refining level was extremely high and did not dare guess in the direction of the Yang Spirit realm at all.
"What are you still standing around for?"
Ren Qing frowned. With several hundred people watching him refine artifacts, he could not focus his attention on the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect.
He also wanted to guide the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect to absorb Nether Yuan and break through to completion as soon as possible.
As long as the Nether Sea Breathing Art reached the Spirit Division stage, he could rely on the increased lifespan to attempt to impact the Yang Spirit realm "Multitude Yang Immortal"境界.
"Move, all of you. Split twenty people to help me transport materials. The rest go support the other city walls in refining aberrant fetus artifacts."
The cultivators hurriedly complied, and in their gazes toward Ren Qing there was a bit more reverence.
Originally, Restraint Officers' Hall estimated it would take more than half a month, but after Ren Qing took over, only a few days were needed to refine a rudimentary form.
The impacts of demonic beasts could no longer shake Wuwei City, thereby alleviating the pressure on the defending cultivators.
Ren Qing did not choose conventional means. After hesitating for a moment, he went to the west city wall, continuing to use the ghost shadow to cover every green brick and refine them together.
Restraint Officers' Hall's plan was to respectively integrate the same strange object into the walls and the ground. The difficulty of refining would undoubtedly be much simpler.
Ren Qing, however, wanted to simply refine it into a whole, so that it would not be defeated piece by piece.
Under his busyness, refining the city walls altogether only took more than half a month, but the final ground was much more troublesome.
Ren Qing did not overestimate himself to refine simultaneously. Instead, he divided the ground into multiple regions and dispersed the cultivators within them.
Otherwise, if the ghost shadow made a mistake, many people within Wuwei City would likely die or be injured.
Because the artifact refining methods displayed by the ghost shadow were too shocking, many cultivators would come to observe during their leisure time.
However, clear-sighted people like Xiao San left after watching for only a moment.
Although Xiao San did not understand the profundity of the ghost shadow, he understood it was not a level he could access and that it was better to remain down-to-earth.
Faint spiritual light flickered.
When Ren Qing completely finished refining, Wuwei City erupted with the aura unique to a magical artifact, even causing the demonic beast tide outside the city to fall into stagnation.
A moment later, Wuwei City's aura converged, and the demonic beast tide then resumed movement.
Ren Qing helplessly shook his head. The fluctuations of Wuwei City would certainly attract the attention of Rabbit-Toad cultivators; who knew what reaction they would have.
But thinking about it, it did not matter. Wuwei City's existence was originally a thorn in the eye and a splinter in the flesh, and even counted as a soft persimmon.
Ren Qing steadied his mind and continued refining, closing his eyes and beginning meditation.
In his mind, the structure of Wuwei City appeared incomparably clear, even including the protrusions on the surface of green bricks and each building.
Seeing Ren Qing sink into contemplation, the cultivators did not dare disturb him and all distanced themselves.
They thought Ren Qing was recuperating, but in fact he was conceiving the pattern lines of the Artifact Spirit Method. The difficulty of covering Wuwei City could be imagined.
If not for Ren Qing having made progress in the Artifact Spirit Method through the Moon Patterns on the altar, completing the inscription in a short time would have been almost impossible.
Only after pondering for several days did he open his eyes, confidence already arising in his heart.
Immediately afterward, Ren Qing excellently demonstrated the steps of the Artifact Spirit Method, and let the many cultivators of Restraint Officers' Hall understand one point.
Being unable to master the Artifact Spirit Method was not because the difficulty was too high, but because talent was insufficient.
Xiao San belatedly raised his head, suddenly feeling that Wuwei City actually had a faint tendency to come alive.
Some cultivators inevitably fell into chaos, thinking only that demonic beasts had broken through the city wall.
Song Zongwu revealed a smile. After spreading his six arms, he suddenly clapped, airwaves rolling out of thin air, immediately restoring calm within Wuwei City.
"Silence, watch carefully, what is the Artifact Spirit Method."
"Rise!"
Ren Qing proactively controlled the ghost shadow, using the ghost shadow as a brush, freely and boldly painting upon the blank paper that was Wuwei City.
The ghost shadow carried various materials, crushing them into powder through its body, leaving dark red traces upon the ground along unique routes.
Ren Qing was responsible for the general direction of the Moon Patterns, while the ghost shadow made the angles and depths more precise.
Even if houses blocked the predetermined inscription route, they would be lifted by the ghost shadow and, after completion, placed back onto the ground, letting many cultivators witness an alternative "moving mountains."
Song Zongwu's brows slightly furrowed, his gaze sizing up Ren Qing, wanting to see through his reality.
It was just that Ren Qing had not yet wielded the Yang Spirit realm as easily as his own arm. He indeed had not fully displayed his strength, fearing that he might accidentally injure other cultivators.
Buzz...
At this time, the defending cultivators blew the horn, but not because a new demonic beast tide was attacking.
On the contrary, the densely packed demonic beasts actually turned and withdrew from Wuwei City, retreating beyond a hundred li within moments.
Song Zongwu and Li Tiangang exchanged a glance. The two instead became tense.
Any unusual action by Rabbit-Toad cultivators might represent the arrival of drastic change, especially at such an extremely critical moment.
Li Tiangang signaled the cultivators not to disturb Ren Qing's refining and to find nearby residences to rest.
After continuous fighting for dozens of days, even though many cultivators were battle-hardened, they were still somewhat unable to endure, just in time to take a breath.
However, there were still several hundred artifact refiners standing atop the city wall, observing Ren Qing's miraculous Artifact Spirit Method, completely beyond imagination.
Their expressions were entranced, watching Wuwei City's refining without regard for food or sleep.
Even when Ren Qing withdrew the ghost shadow, many people had not reacted, leaving their consciousness in a state similar to sudden enlightenment.
Subtle and mysterious pattern lines faintly appeared throughout Wuwei City.
If one stayed within the city for a long time, the soul would brim with inspiration and could even reduce the risk of deviation in cultivation.
Ren Qing had just wanted to inspect Wuwei City's condition and integrate a strange object along the way, but the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect had actually reached Nascent Soul stage completion.
He could only hand matters over to Li Tiangang to handle, since the risk of fusing the aberrant fetus was not great anyway.
Ren Qing impatiently sat cross-legged in the courtyard. The Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect left Eternal Shackles, then flew into the White Bone Glazed Canopy.
He entered seclusion to help the Four-Headed Heavenly Dao Insect absorb Nether Yuan, while also organizing his own system.
He planned first to determine how to maximize the enhancement of his own strength.
But when Ren Qing took time to pay attention to his split soul, he discovered that the giant tree within the Longevity Forbidden Zone had already shot straight into the sky, with no idea how many meters tall.
Most outrageous of all, its branches had actually extended out of the wellhead, the leaves uniformly facing toward Jingzhou.
Ren Qing forcibly suppressed the shock in his heart. However, forbidden zones sometimes did affect the outside world; it should still be considered normal, right?
After informing Song Zongwu, he continued operating the Nether Sea Breathing Art.