Wen Yu's pupils dilated. He had never heard of a demon cultivator mastering multiple demon forms. After all, each strand of demonic energy was unique.
Although aberrations all originated from the same source, the demonic energy they carried differed greatly. Rashly absorbing another's energy could cause the body and soul to collapse.
The swirling sand and wind engulfed everything within several hundred meters, and the temperature rose slightly.
Ren Qing's body gradually underwent Sandification. However, he did not transform into a towering sand giant but instead suppressed his aura, spreading it over the entire mountain.
"Impossible, impossible..."
Wen Yu still could not believe what he was seeing. In panic, he turned to flee into the depths of the mountains, but the sandstorm swallowed him whole.
A massive sand fist, over ten meters wide, struck him squarely in the chest and abdomen.
"Ugh..."
His ribs and spine snapped, and his internal organs suffered severe injuries.
Wen Yu's vision went dark, and he lost consciousness.
Ren Qing did not stop there. He slaughtered every living creature near the courtyard, including a group of foxes hiding inside a tree hollow.
Then he gathered all the Ze Sand into his palm and slammed it down, turning the courtyard into ruins.
Ren Qing immediately recalled the Sandman Supernatural Remnant, then used a ghostly shadow to leave the Gibbous Moon Layer, returning once more to the mortuary.
He glanced around at the furnishings, then walked out into the bustling street.
Not long after he left, the mortuary grew lively again. Qingqiu demon cultivators carrying bronze bells silently surrounded the area.
But there was no way they could find Ren Qing, who had mastered the Disaster-Dispelling Method.
Through the projections of the soul butterflies hidden in the shadows, Ren Qing observed that these demon cultivators were almost all above the Core Formation Stage, with many at the Nascent Soul Stage.
Though he would have little trouble dealing with them, the situation in Jingzhou had become too complicated. Whatever lay hidden behind it remained unknown.
Especially the "Rabbit-Toad cultivator" he had once encountered, why had that being vanished entirely?
Ren Qing had thought that the Qingqiu demon cultivators would make a great commotion over the incident.
But unexpectedly, they seemed to have misunderstood something and immediately withdrew beyond the city to Qingqiu Mountain.
Ren Qing predicted that something significant was about to occur in Qingyan Town. The Qingqiu demon cultivators' reckless spread of their Dao was likely an attempt to strengthen their forces.
The sudden disappearance of the Tu Di demon cultivators might also be connected.
Seeing this, Ren Qing decided to wait and observe. He rented a room at an inn and used his soul butterfly projections throughout the streets to monitor the surroundings.
Yet several days passed without the slightest abnormality in Qingyan Town.
During his leisure, Ren Qing turned his attention back to the Demon Aberration Method, hoping to find clues regarding the aberrations. If he could truly turn the Jailer into an aberration, his longevity would increase tremendously.
He cast his gaze toward the Prison Within the Abdomen.
The dozens of people captured from the Qingqiu Immortal Realm were thrown into a secluded corner and trapped there by spells.
The white foxes lived by the shore of the Wine Lake, where vegetation was lush.
Having established a demon cultivation system, Ren Qing was certain they would prove useful someday.
He next turned to the unconscious Wen Yu and, without hesitation, cast a dream technique to peer into his memories.
However, Wen Yu's cultivation was not particularly high among the Qingqiu cultivators. Even at the Demon Core Stage, he was unlikely to have ever come into contact with the Fox Immortal aberration.
Wen Yu's eyes were shut tight, his limbs twitching violently. His soul was trapped in an endless nightmare from which there was no escape.
Dark red lines crawled across his entire body, and the aura of nightmare demons had completely corroded him.
Moments later, as Wen Yu's soul began to dissipate, Ren Qing opened his eyes, but his expression showed disappointment.
As expected, Wen Yu's memories contained little of value. He had not even set foot beyond Qingyan Town to Qingqiu Mountain.
His purpose had merely been to spread Qingqiu's lineage, the fox-skin Dao transmission.
Ren Qing even suspected that the one who had provoked the Fox Immortal's taboo might have been another Qingqiu demon cultivator.
There were countless demon cultivators like Wen Yu. If Ren Qing had not interfered, at least several dozen new ones would have been born in the Qingqiu Immortal Realm.
The demon cultivators' stages resembled those of the Heavenly Dao arts: the Core Formation Stage was replaced by the Demon Core Stage, the Nascent Soul Stage by the Demon Infant Stage, and the rest followed the same structure.
However, compared to the Wuwei Monastery, the method by which demon cultivators spread their Dao was far too simple.
The number of disciples in a Daoist temple could only grow gradually, taught by priests, then by novice disciples, a process requiring years.
But demon cultivation spread like a virus.
Ren Qing coveted the Demon Aberration Method. Even with little information, he could not resist attempting to transform the Jailer into an aberration.
If aberrations could not be controlled, ordinary demon cultivators would become ticking time bombs, and using them to open a demon market would end disastrously.
His method was crude: forcibly stripping away a Demon Aberration Dream Seed and merging it with the body of a Supernatural Remnant.
Ren Qing set his sights on the Kunpeng, who knew only the drunken stupor of Drunken Life, Dreaming Death.
Soon, the Prison Within the Abdomen echoed with shrill screams. The Kunpeng tried several times to flee but could not fly far.
To the disciples outside the Immortal City, it sounded as though an ancient wilderness beast was roaring beyond the walls.
At first, the cries were terrifying, but with time, the disciples grew accustomed and ignored them.
Until a few days later, when the Kunpeng's cries abruptly ceased, leaving the disciples uneasy once more.
Ren Qing's expression was a mixture of joy and disappointment, but mostly disappointment.
He realized that demonic energy was utterly different from the methods of the Restraint Officer and could not easily be converted into aberration essence.
The problem likely lay with the Blood Moon itself. Unless he captured an aberration, simple experimentation would take a long time.
As for the descendants of the Fox Immortal, though they contained traces of demonic energy, it was no greater than that of beasts, save for slightly higher intelligence.
"Aberration, aberration..."
Wait.
A thought struck Ren Qing, he recalled the Night Watchman who appeared on Morning Street after dusk. The weakened Night Watchman would be an ideal capture.
However, The Taotie Method was only at the Ghost Envoy Realm. Trying to imprison the Night Watchman within the Prison Within the Abdomen risked damaging his foundation.
Ren Qing decided to wait until The Taotie Method advanced to the Yin Runner Realm.
Still, it had not been a fruitless effort. He discovered that the split souls had a remarkable adaptability to demonic energy.
Perhaps the key to creating aberrations lay within the split soul.
Even if the demonic energy itself proved of limited use, it could still strengthen the split soul, making it a more stable presence within the Prison Within the Abdomen.
He regarded the split soul as the Immortal Within the Stomach. Currently, it possessed four different spell systems, and few required its full use.
Ren Qing continuously channeled demonic energy into the split soul, which absorbed it slowly without relying on moonlight for digestion.
He knew haste would ruin the process. The split soul already contained two powers at the Yin Runner level, the aura of nightmare demons and the essence of the Ze Immortal, making it inherently complex.
Thus, he carefully controlled the slow absorption of demonic energy.
A bulge formed at the split soul's neck, as if a third head was forming.
Ren Qing also began to draw the illusion of the Ghost Market into the Prison Within the Abdomen. However, involving the hundreds of Restraint Officers who patrolled the streets made it exceedingly difficult.
He had to proceed gradually.
Just as he was settling into the process, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
Across Qingyan Town, aberrations erupted with surges of demonic energy, the colossal tortoise pierced the clouds, and massive tree branches struck the earth.
The once-quiet Qingyan Town had become a domain of demonic revelry.
Cracks spread across the walls of Ren Qing's inn. The building itself began to move toward the outskirts, accompanied by the screams of terrified townsfolk.
He quickly reacted, commanding a soul butterfly projection to hover in midair.
A thick fog rolled over Changning Street, and in the distance, he could faintly see the Corpse Elephant trampling the ground beneath its feet.
The Corpse Elephant's demonic energy was even denser now, comparable to that of the Great Dream True Person.
But aberrations were unlike cultivators. They were constructs of the Blood Moon, formed by some unknown means, and their power was far below that of a Great Dream True Person.
The area around it began to expand. Black mycelium spread across the paving stones, and even Qingyan Town itself seemed to grow larger.
Furthermore, the fog spread outward, covering the entirety of Changning Street.
Once one of the strongest entities in Qingyan Town, the Corpse Elephant now towered over all others.
Ren Qing immediately realized that aberrations also possessed their own hierarchies of power.
The Corpse Elephant had clearly ascended to a higher level, causing the other forces to hesitate and plunging the city into deeper chaos.
However, the expansion soon ceased, and temporary calm returned.
Ren Qing dismissed his plans to head for Changning Street. Instead, he intended to continue extending his lifespan until The Taotie Method advanced to Merging the Yin God.
But as he pondered, he accidentally poured a massive surge of demonic energy into the split soul.
The split soul destabilized, yet before Ren Qing could retract the energy, the Nightmare Fiend Head and Ze Immortal Head suppressed it.
The third head, the Demon Aberration Head, formed instantly, slightly larger than a fist.
The Demon Aberration Head seemed influenced by the other arts: its skin was covered in dark scales, its eyes were serpent-like, and a pair of horns grew from its skull.
Ren Qing did not sense any difference in the split soul, but he could not resist moving the Demon Aberration Head to the center position. The split soul underwent a sudden transformation.
A faint demonic aura spread out. Scales crept across its body, and a serpent tail grew from the end of its spine, cracking and snapping as it swayed.
Ren Qing stared at the split soul in astonishment. It looked almost identical to an aberration.
He quickly shook his head. The Ze Immortal Head came from the cultivation of the Ze Immortal Method, while the Nightmare Fiend Head and the Demon Aberration Head were merely products of the Three Corpses Severed at the Aberrant Food Realm.
In truth, the demonic energy within the split soul was rootless water, it could not form the foundation of a true demon cultivation system.
Moreover, the split soul's potential was now exhausted. Advancing the Ze Immortal Method any further was nearly impossible; he might even have to switch to another art someday.
Still, as long as he had the split soul and the Demon Aberration Dream Seed, the idea of opening a demon market retained some promise.
Ren Qing drew the split soul back into the Niwan Palace, planning to continue nurturing it with the Demon Aberration Dream Seed until the Demon Aberration Head fully matured.
Just as the split soul exited the Prison Within the Abdomen, a vast mental will attempted to enter the Niwan Palace, seemingly to communicate with the split soul.
Ren Qing's pupils constricted. The thought originated from the Corpse Elephant's territory, and from its very center.
After some hesitation, he decided to let the split soul leave the Niwan Palace.
The Corpse Elephant might have mistaken it for an aberration, and he could not afford to miss the lead.
Ren Qing used the art of the Faceless to erase his own presence, fully prepared to sacrifice the split soul. Recreating it would not take long.
Once the split soul emerged into the outer world, a deafening trumpet of an elephant rang out, nearly shattering the newly born Demon Aberration Head.
The sound came from the Corpse Elephant, laced with a strange weakness, and carried only two words.
"Save me..."
Within Qingyan Town, the Corpse Elephant's power continued to grow stronger, completely at odds with the plea in its cry, it was chillingly absurd.