The strange phenomenon in Jingzhou indicated that Taiyin Star Lord was showing signs of breaking free.
Through the Earth Immortal Office, Ren Qing was also able to verify this quite clearly. He discovered that Taiyin Star Lord's consciousness actually showed signs of recovering.
If nothing unexpected happened, demonic qi should soon spread into the Surface Layer World.
If the mastermind did not hurry, Jingzhou would probably undergo a drastic change, and Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal would no longer continue peacefully eating vegetarian food and reciting Buddhist scriptures.
In a very short period, signs of the situation in Jingzhou spiraling out of control had already appeared.
This showed that True Immortals were not easy to scheme against. Moreover, Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal and Taiyin Star Lord were both Turbid Immortals who had lost their intelligence.
But for Ren Qing, the more chaotic Jingzhou became, the better the opportunity to make secret arrangements.
He had left informants throughout Jingzhou's multilayered worlds. He discovered that some factions feared Jingzhou changing drastically and had begun withdrawing one after another.
Seeing this, Ren Qing used Matchmaking Immortal's red threads to bind them to one end of the Small Heavenly Court. At any moment, he could pull them into the dream realm.
They themselves had no idea that they had attracted Matchmaking Immortal's attention. They merely assumed that they had been affected by a True Immortal.
Lady White Bone and the other Heavenly Aberration realm cultivators had also become considerably quieter. They had certainly considered a way out, but leaving was not realistic.
The arrow was already nocked on the bowstring. Even Ren Qing could not guarantee that he could suppress the greed in his heart.
For now, Jingzhou still needed time to ferment. No one knew who would emerge victorious, but Ren Qing had already extricated himself. He would never lose out.
Ren Qing prepared for his breakthroughs. Only after all five techniques reached the Heavenly Aberration realm could he ensure that there were no flaws whatsoever inside or outside his body and soul.
He patiently secluded himself for several months, adjusting the Heavenly Dao Crack to its optimal state.
To advance to the Heavenly Aberration realm, 20,000 years of lifespan had to be consumed.
The first technique Ren Qing advanced was Heavenly Demon Tribulation, purely because this technique had powerful self-preservation capabilities and was suited to the tense situation he was in.
Moreover, the Strange Object of Heavenly Demon Tribulation, Wu Deceit, was located outside his body.
Wu Deceit was different from the Ghost Shadow. It possessed a certain degree of autonomy. Even though it was formless and intangible, that did not mean it was completely harmless.
Although Ren Qing did not think Wu Deceit would rebel, the fact that it constantly wandered outside his body was indeed the sole flaw of Heavenly Demon Tribulation.
Only after Heavenly Demon Tribulation advanced to the Heavenly Aberration realm and Wu Deceit fused into his body could it be considered completely perfected.
Ren Qing closed his eyes and rested his mind for a moment before silently confirming the information flow. Instantly, the completely healed Heavenly Dao Crack extended to one-sixth.
All five techniques simultaneously became stronger, clearly receiving the blessing of the Heavenly Dao.
Wu Deceit let out a silent roar. After sensing the threat coming from the information flow, it immediately attempted to flee from Ren Qing, who was sitting cross-legged.
But how could the information flow allow Wu Deceit to have its way? It forcibly dragged it to Ren Qing's side.
Ren Qing felt an indistinct sensation against his skin. Immediately afterward, Wu Deceit began seeping into his body bit by bit through millions upon millions of pores.
The three techniques that had already reached the Heavenly Aberration realm began suppressing Heavenly Demon Tribulation.
His consciousness seemed to leave his body, spreading without limits to every corner of the world. He then saw scenes both familiar and unfamiliar.
When Ren Qing opened his eyes, his gaze burned as he looked toward the northwest. He seemed faintly able to sense that Corpse Immortal, which Covered Heaven and Sun, floating within a mass grave filled with yin qi.
Wuming was only one step away from completely parasitizing Corpse Immortal.
Wu Deceit's roar abruptly stopped, and the Strange Object fused into his body.
At the instant Heavenly Demon Tribulation broke through its bottleneck, Wuming happened to take a deep breath, and his body and soul completely parasitized Corpse Immortal's Mud Pellet Palace.
One was the cultivator who had created Disaster-Dispelling Method. The other was the cultivator who had innovated upon Disaster-Dispelling Method and comprehended the Earth Immortal Ascension Method.
The gazes of the two seemed to meet across the void.
Regardless of what happened in Jingzhou afterward, Ren Qing understood that the great tide sweeping across this world was about to begin. Whether one could ascend to immortality would depend on the next several hundred or thousand years.
Ren Qing was confident. The Buddhist sect might be a variable, but it absolutely could not stop him from becoming an immortal.
He closed his eyes and examined the condition of his body, only to discover that Wu Deceit had unexpectedly fused into his skull. This meant that Dao Gives Birth to One should begin transforming from this point onward.
Ren Qing guessed that because Zhili Technique was guarding his Mud Pellet Palace, Heavenly Demon Tribulation could only settle for second best and choose his skull as its core.
He activated Heavenly Demon Tribulation, and countless faces of living beings appeared before his eyes.
With a thought from Ren Qing, he could use Heavenly Demon Possession to forcibly descend into the body of any living being connected to him. Distance was no longer an issue.
Heavenly Demon Tribulation seemed capable of complementing Zhili Technique as well.
Ren Qing could not help taking out a strand of bacterial soul and playing with it in his palm. The moment his thoughts stirred, the bacterial soul instantly disappeared.
At the same time, Pig Daoist, far away in Great Buddha Heaven, trembled all over.
Pig Daoist had long since lost the arrogance he displayed when he first entered Jingzhou. He remembered Fleshly Tathagata's instructions to head to Great Buddha Heaven, so he had remained there waiting.
Pig Daoist also did not dare act recklessly. He simply hid in a remote temple and pretended to become a monk, becoming one of the tens of thousands of monks.
No one had discovered that Pig Daoist was the infamous extraterrestrial demon of Great Buddha Heaven.
Pig Daoist transformed himself into an ordinary-looking appearance, wore a cotton-and-hemp monk's robe, and sat devoutly praying before a Buddha statue. In reality, his thoughts were focused on the Small Heavenly Court in his mind, which had remained completely motionless.
He felt that the key to breaking the deadlock might be the Heavenly Court under Dragon King of the Four Seas.
However, what puzzled Pig Daoist was that after he arrived in Great Buddha Heaven, the vertical eye between his brows had been silent for a long time, seemingly no longer possessing any binding power.
Pig Daoist's mind was filled with thoughts of escaping Jingzhou. But after noticing the movements of Lady White Bone and the others, he was unwilling to return empty-handed and wanted to profit from the situation afterward.
Thus, he focused his efforts on removing the vertical eye.
While Pig Daoist was deep in thought, his Three Souls and Seven Spirits inexplicably began showing signs of leaving his body. Before he could react, his soul suddenly vanished from his Mud Pellet Palace, and everything around him transformed into a bizarre, dazzling scene.
By the time he recovered his senses, he had already arrived in a land shrouded in white mist.
Familiar scriptures surged into his ears, mixed with praises of Lingshan Tathagata, as though dragging Pig Daoist back into a nightmare he could never bear to remember.
Pig Daoist swallowed nervously and discovered that his body had actually taken on the appearance of a statue. Beneath his feet was the Lingshan transformed from Fleshly Tathagata.
Without the slightest hesitation, he fell to his knees with a thump.
"Great Lingshan Tathagata above."
"This old pig followed your instructions and went to Great Buddha Heaven. I have never been negligent..."
Pig Daoist hurriedly explained, but he only heard several murmurs from Fleshly Tathagata before his Three Souls and Seven Spirits once again left the range of Lingshan.
In an instant, he returned to his original body, as though it had merely been a dream.
"Senior Brother Wuneng, did you fall asleep while striking the wooden fish?"
A teasing voice sounded.
Pig Daoist looked at the little novice monk beside him in a daze before hurriedly getting to his feet.
"It's nothing, nothing. Senior Brother still has something to do, so I'll be leaving first."
Pig Daoist hurried out of the main hall. As he walked, he instinctively touched his chest, only to find a jade seal the size of his palm.
"Earth Immortal Office?"
Some memories had appeared in his mind. They should be a task Fleshly Tathagata had assigned him.
"You want me to meet Fude Tathagata? Are you kidding me?"
Pig Daoist's face was filled with bitterness. Although Fude Tathagata appeared every day to expound the Dharma, he was not someone an ordinary monk like him could come into contact with.
He was on the verge of tears when the vertical eye between his brows suddenly began to grow slightly warm.
Pig Daoist noticed that he had gained control over the vertical eye. It contained an enormous amount of Buddhist qi, which he could easily release or retract at will.
"Great Lingshan Tathagata above."
"This old pig really does have a chance..."
If he transformed into a several-hundred-meter-tall half-man, half-pig form and concealed himself with Buddhist qi, mixing among the Buddhas should be completely seamless, right?
Pig Daoist narrowed his eyes and decided to go along with the plan.
He intended to first contact the other Heavenly Aberration realm cultivators who had come with him. Perhaps they would hit it off immediately, and that way his own safety would also be guaranteed.
The Earth Immortal Office returned to its ordinary state, resembling an ordinary seal.
Ren Qing intended to continue making moves with this idle piece, Pig Daoist, and see what changes would occur next. There might even be an unexpected surprise.
If he could deal with Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal, then he would have accomplished most of his objective.
Ren Qing settled his mind and then began advancing Ancestral Lineage Derivation to the Heavenly Aberration realm.
To advance to the Heavenly Aberration realm, 20,000 years of lifespan had to be consumed.
The Strange Object of Ancestral Lineage Derivation was the Ghost Shadow. Although it was likewise located outside his body, as his shadow, the Ghost Shadow could still be considered part of his body.
The advancement of Ancestral Lineage Derivation proceeded as calmly as Ren Qing had expected.
The Ghost Shadow did not resist. Viscous black liquid seeped into Ren Qing's body through his pores, allowing the information flow to fuse it with his flesh and blood.
Ren Qing stopped suppressing Ancestral Lineage Derivation, and his body immediately began expanding rapidly.
From a burly man just over two meters tall, he ultimately became like a mountain. Only when he approached two hundred meters did his form finally settle into its most natural state.
Heat poured from Ren Qing's dragon head, and a layer of feathers unexpectedly covered the scales covering his entire body.
He felt a tingling pain spreading from his back, as though limbs were being gestated within it. Soon, his skin bulged outward.
Puff...
The bulge split open, and a pair of dragon wings formed from black mist emerged.
Ren Qing wore a strange expression as he controlled the dragon wings and flapped them. With ease, he generated a hurricane from nothing, while also causing the surrounding shadows to surge continuously.
After Ancestral Lineage Derivation reached the Heavenly Aberration realm, his bloodline could finally be considered that of a true Yinglong.
The greatest difference between an Yinglong and a True Dragon was the pair of wings growing from its back. It could soar through the Nine Heavens, and thunder and astral winds could no longer shake its body or soul.
Ren Qing's Yinglong body was slightly different, mainly because it could freely travel through shadows.
He could vaguely sense that after combining five Immortal Positions, his body seemed to be on the verge of undergoing some kind of transformation, but it was still quite a ways off.
Ren Qing took a deep breath and returned from his dragon-headed, human-bodied form to his ordinary appearance.
Black liquid seeped from his pores and fell to his feet, once again transforming into the Ghost Shadow. Countless miniature Yinglongs could be seen within it.
Zhili Technique gave Ren Qing countless divided souls, while Ancestral Lineage Derivation allowed him to create countless clones.
In terms of overall versatility, perhaps only the Three Dao Patriarchs could compare with Ren Qing.
Ren Qing arrived in midair above Dragon Blood Sea Region and lightly cut his wrist. Merely a few drops of blood fell into the seawater, and it immediately began boiling.
The dragon-kind within Stomach World also began undergoing a frenzied transformation.
His gaze swept across Stomach World, and he noticed that the island where the Insect Martial Artists had originally been settled had already recreated the cultivation system of Gu refinement.
But the Insect Martial Artists had chosen to fuse the Strange Objects parasitizing their bodies with the Gu insects they refined.
Quite a few of the Gu insects had been refined from dragons. Because of Ancestral Lineage Derivation, they had risen like a chicken or dog ascending to Heaven, transforming from Scaled Carp into Water Snakes.
Several years had already passed for the Insect Martial Artists in Stomach World.
Their lives could absolutely not be considered peaceful. After all, an island was not a continent. Not only were resources limited, they also had to endure attacks from all kinds of giant beasts in the ocean. Danger lurked everywhere.
The only thing worth celebrating was that the salt content of the Sea of Wine was not high, so after simple boiling, the seawater could be drunk directly.
The one leading the Insect Martial Artists was Blackwater Daoist. This was mainly because he had accumulated enough prestige while relying on Ren Qing in the Inner Layer World, so after arriving in Stomach World, he naturally became their leader.
The village they had established on the island was already beginning to take shape, but materials suitable for constructing houses were scarce, so the structures were exceptionally crude.
It somewhat resembled the demon-kind tribes of the past.
However, the demon-kind had Ren Qing opening a back door for them. After allowing them to participate in transactions within the dream market, they had become organized on a large scale in just a few short years.
Nowadays, the demon-kind tribes had entire stretches of towns. Because their reproduction rate was far higher than that of ordinary humans, their scale was far beyond what humans could match.
Blackwater Daoist stood atop a cliff, looking at the vast and boundless ocean as he sighed.
He had tried several times to organize people to go out to sea, but every attempt ended in failure. Several people had even been lost, nearly affecting his position as leader.
"Relying only on the forest of Insect Gu Island, with the amount we consume for lighting fires and cooking every day, it'll be exhausted within a few years. Sigh..."
Blackwater Daoist helplessly shook his head. A Gu insect crawled out of his mouth and nostrils.
The Gu insect had the face of an infant, but its body resembled a beetle. It emitted the aura of the Ghost Envoy realm and appeared extremely unstable.
If he still possessed Yin Difference realm cultivation, he would have no need to fear sea beasts at all. Unfortunately, after arriving in this world, he had to cultivate his techniques from scratch.
The Insect Martial Artists had finally found the threshold of Gu refinement, but lacking materials to nourish the Gu insects was another troublesome problem that was difficult to solve.
Just as Blackwater Daoist was sighing, the Gu insect suddenly underwent a mutation.
The Gu insect's spine turned outward. Amid a teeth-grating sound, a white-bone dragon tail emerged from its back.
Blackwater Daoist was still in the Ghost Envoy realm, but the Gu insect's potential was now completely different.
He was utterly bewildered and could not help looking toward the village. He noticed quite a few Insect Martial Artists gathering together, clearly showing that this was not an isolated case.
"Many thanks to Dragon King of the Four Seas for his protection..."
Blackwater Daoist seemed to realize something. He hurriedly fell to his knees before the statue of Dragon King of the Four Seas atop the mountain, thanking the immortal for bestowing his blessing upon the Insect Martial Artists and allowing them to go out to sea safely.
Ren Qing smiled at this sight and silently activated Zhili Technique.
More than a hundred Insect Martial Artists were selected. Under the effects of Zhili Technique, their consciousnesses were pulled into the dream city, which was both real and illusory.
Blackwater Daoist had just been kowtowing when, in a daze, he was already standing before the gates of the dream city.
There were no guards at the city gates. Everyone coming and going was a strange-looking cultivator, so the Insect Martial Artists did not seem particularly strange among them.
"Daoist Priest, what should we do?"
Master Liaoqie approached Blackwater Daoist, who only then realized that there were more than a hundred people who had come with him.
"It must be an immortal opportunity bestowed by Dragon King. Let's enter the city and talk."
Blackwater Daoist remained calm. More than a hundred people entered the dream city in a grand procession, cautiously observing the situation within.
The size of the dream city's streets was completely determined by the number of pedestrians.
If tens of thousands of cultivators were on the same street, it would become extremely broad. Conversely, it could even shrink into a narrow alley.
The reason Ren Qing had designed it this way was mainly because too many cultivators were speculating on shop prices.
The cultivators of Restraint Officers' Hall were all people who pursued fame and profit. Not long after the market opened, they had already begun speculating on shop prices. Thus, Ren Qing simply made the streets flow like living creatures.
When the Insect Martial Artists stepped onto Chenchen Street, its merely ordinary area immediately expanded several times, attracting the attention of the various shops.
Blackwater Daoist was immediately surrounded from all sides, with everyone scrambling to lead them into their shops.
The Insect Martial Artists looked at one another in bewilderment. They had no idea what the resources the shopkeepers were introducing were, and they did not even dare ask about the prices.
Chen Ben's eyes rolled, and he said with a smile, "Fellow Daoists, this should be your first time in the dream city, right? You all look unfamiliar."
"Indeed."
After receiving Blackwater Daoist's answer, the other shopkeepers returned disappointed to their stores. After all, newcomers simply did not possess Blood Crystals.
Chen Ben, however, still did not leave. He stroked the white beard beneath his chin with his thin right arm.
"Shopkeeper, you..."
"Hahahaha, let's just consider it making a friend."
Chen Ben took out a complicated map of the dream city and forcibly stuffed it into Blackwater Daoist's hands. He then limped back toward his own shop.
Blackwater Daoist opened his mouth wide, then began examining the map of the dream city.
The map marked the locations of various functional buildings, such as the Great Dream Pavilion, which contained everything in the world; the Great Dream Technique Pavilion, which possessed the Three Thousand Great Dao; and the Great Dream Artifact Forge, which sold magical artifacts.
Chen Ben's shop had also been deliberately marked on the map. What it actually sold were ordinary items such as earth, wood, and grass seeds.
His target customers were Insect Martial Artists who were still at the beginning of their cultivation. Blackwater Daoist was indeed very interested in the merchandise in the shop.
Unfortunately, his purse was empty. Blackwater Daoist had never even seen what a Blood Crystal looked like.
"How about this? Let's split up and look around to see if there's any work to do in the dream city."
Master Wutou nodded awkwardly in agreement. "That makes sense."
They split into more than a dozen groups and scattered through the streets and alleys of the dream city, like drops of water falling into the ocean, unable to stir up even the slightest ripple.
The short night soon passed.
Once the bodies of the Insect Martial Artists awoke, their consciousnesses also left the dream city.
They spontaneously shared the clues they had collected. In the end, they discovered that even if all the Insect Martial Artists went to the dream city, they would still remain insignificant.
The dream city was no longer in its early stages. There were not many opportunities anymore.
The jobs the Insect Martial Artists could take were all the lowest-level manual labor. Even after working for a month, they could not earn more than a few Blood Crystals.
The highly profitable industries such as artifact refinement and alchemy had a threshold even higher than they had imagined.
The dream city's core industries, meanwhile, were controlled by the six great branches of Restraint Officers' Hall. They could produce resources in large quantities, so Blood Crystals naturally flowed in without end.
According to the information Blackwater Daoist had gathered, all six great branches supposedly had immortals stationed among them, and some even had Earth Immortals who had opened blessed lands and grotto heavens.
They felt as though an enormous boulder was pressing down upon their heads. Although they wanted to rely on the dream city to attain the Dao and become immortals, making progress was extremely difficult.
After hesitating for a long time, Blackwater Daoist said, "The Great Dream Pavilion can purchase materials. Let's first try hunting sea beasts and exchange them for Blood Crystals."
"The dream city sells everything. Perhaps we can sell the Gu insects..."
"No."
Blackwater Daoist shook his head in refusal, then said seriously, "Our Gu refinement technique is unique. Even if we want to exchange it for resources, we should wait until we have sufficient strength first."
The other cultivators had no objections and immediately agreed.
The awkward position of the Insect Martial Artists in the dream city was not an isolated case. This was also the problem encountered by the many factions that would later join Restraint Officers' Hall.
The six great branches controlled more than seventy percent of Restraint Officers' Hall's resources.
Fortunately, Restraint Officers' Hall had a complete mission system. Even low-level cultivators could climb upward by spending some time, and with the Insect Martial Artists numbering in the tens of thousands, they would find it even easier.
Ren Qing had always been busy with matters concerning Fleshly Tathagata and had completely neglected the development of Stomach World. Only now did he discover that a bottleneck had appeared.
Stomach World's resources were already sufficient for self-sufficiency. In theory, the next hundred years should have seen an explosion of Yang God realm cultivators.
But by then, even if Ren Qing had not attained immortality and the Dao, he would at least be in the later stages of the Heavenly Aberration realm. The assistance of Yang God realm cultivators would be limited.
Given Stomach World's peaceful trend, producing even one Heavenly Aberration realm cultivator would be extremely difficult.
Ren Qing's gaze fixed upon cultivators such as Daoist Mu Snake imprisoned in the Underworld. Did he really need to recruit these Heavenly Aberration realm cultivators from outside factions?
He frowned and pondered how to improve the strength of Restraint Officers' Hall.
Suddenly, an idea emerged in Ren Qing's heart, and once it appeared, it could no longer be stopped. It continued brewing, eager to be tried.
What if he released this pack of hungry wolves from Restraint Officers' Hall's cage?
With their extraordinary talents, some of them should be able to distinguish themselves very quickly. It would also prevent future Immortal Positions from having to be selected only from the branches.
Heavenly Demon Tribulation at the Heavenly Aberration realm could allow Restraint Officers' Hall cultivators to descend into dragon limbs. In theory, they could instantly reach any location in this world.
While pondering, Ren Qing used his own flesh and bones to refine magical artifacts. In only a moment, a large number of bead-like bone artifacts had taken shape.
The artifacts were named "Immortal Keys." After being refined, they would fuse into the Mud Pellet Palace.
As long as they were activated with the Restraint Officer Method, the Immortal Keys could open a passage leading to Stomach World.
Ren Qing grabbed his own arm and twisted hard. The entire limb was cleanly removed, after which he threw it onto an empty patch of ground nearby.
The arm gradually collapsed, then transformed into thousands upon thousands of small snakes.
The small snakes scattered in all directions. Before reaching their destinations, they would travel without rest and without sleep, and there was no need to worry about them dying.
Ren Qing did not stop. He continued transforming his body into dragon-kind.
He closed his eyes and communicated with his techniques, repeatedly confirming that Heavenly Demon Tribulation could use dragon-kind to remotely bring cultivators from Restraint Officers' Hall into the outside world.
However, the cultivators' bodies had to contain a trace of dragon blood. Otherwise, if they had no connection to Ren Qing, activating Heavenly Demon Tribulation would be extremely strenuous.
Thus, when refining the Immortal Keys, Ren Qing simply added a trace of dragon blood into them, saving him the trouble of having dragon blood affect the cultivators' foundations.
Before long, the dream city gained several missions concerning the outside world.
The requirements for accepting these missions were not high. Even Half-Corpse realm cultivators could meet them. However, the varying degrees of danger were obvious.
For example, one could travel alone to the Surface Layer World of Jingzhou and head underground to search for an Insect Martial Artist named Gu Immortal.
Or one could investigate the outskirts of Cishi and collect useful information.
The rewards for these outside missions fluctuated greatly, and there was even no upper limit.
Ren Qing's first release consisted of only five outside missions. The most difficult mission was in Great Buddha Heaven of the Deeper Layer World.
Ironically, the Great Buddha Heaven mission required the cultivator to assist Pig Daoist, but it happened to be accepted by Tang Sheng, who was passing by.
The Gu Immortal mission was accepted by Han Li.
The main reason was the prestige of the two. Only after they had chosen their missions did the other cultivators come forward to examine the details of the outside missions.
Ren Qing was slightly helpless. However, once dragon limbs were spread throughout the various regions, outside missions would likely become permanent, and there would be no quota restrictions.
As long as one had courage and resourcefulness, one could earn Blood Crystal resources far beyond what ordinary cultivators could obtain.
Everyone at home has tested positive, and there is simply no way to take care of them all. I still have to go to work.