The Corpse Elephant's bone marrow had been drained, and the Dragon-Snake Spine had also grown quite a bit of flesh; suddenly he developed an interest in the anomalous entity itself.
Whether the demon market opened or not, understanding how anomalous entities formed was very tempting.
Ren Qing's gaze was full of ill intent; his whole body turned into a shadow and drilled into the flesh, not attracting the demon cultivators' attention in the slightest.
The internal structure of the Corpse Elephant was extremely unusual, and it was certain that it had not been born naturally.
Nor was it some special anomalous object; it was clearly a magical implement crafted by the Blood Moon, something that could be seen from the information stream.
[Demon Soldier]
[A magical implement gestated by the Blood Moon, used to store and release demonic qi.]
Ren Qing saw that the flesh was filled with inexplicable patterns, whose source should lie at the center, allowing the Corpse Elephant to emit powerful demonic qi.
In comparison, the bones were far too ordinary, likely only used to support its body; there were no organs or blood vessels to be seen, and it did not need to consume food.
Ren Qing maintained his concealment and simply followed the patterns toward the source.
After searching carefully for several rounds, he found the source of demonic qi in the Corpse Elephant's chest and abdomen, it was actually a fist-sized flesh ball.
The flesh ball pulsated continuously, and with each contraction and expansion, massive demonic qi burst forth.
Ren Qing pushed his Double Pupils to their limit, and added the Dream Seed to enhance his vision; the complicated patterns within the flesh ball immediately came into view.
He couldn't help becoming absorbed; the flesh ball resembled some kind of refined magical implement, but far more complex than the Weird Fetus Refining Method.
Ren Qing drew the patterns into a book, maybe someday he could attempt to replicate them.
Unfortunately, the patterns were constantly shifting; recording them by eye alone was unrealistic, unless he had a physical object to compare with at all times.
Ren Qing reached out toward the flesh ball several times, but he forcibly held himself back each time.
If anomalous entities were this easy to handle, they wouldn't be spread all throughout the Crescent Moon Layer; damaging the flesh ball could very well cause the Corpse Elephant to erupt in a frenzy.
Fortunately, Ren Qing knew there was a Night Watchman inside Morning Street; when he had the chance, he would go grab one to dissect and see what use this flesh ball had.
He returned to the Corpse Elephant's spine, then took out various materials from the Prison Within the Abdomen, and began carving with the help of the Dragon-Snake Spine.
Ren Qing chose one section of the spine, and the Corpse Elephant had hundreds of vertebrae.
His movements were extremely precise; although they left marks, the Corpse Elephant would only feel tingling, not enough to cause a commotion.
Ren Qing ground the materials into powder and spread them over the vertebra, then nourished them with demonic qi, treating everything according to the standards for refining fleshly magical implements.
The Corpse Elephant was already decayed, and since the bone was a peripheral component, he actually succeeded in refining it.
Although, to be safe, Ren Qing used the most crude refining method, resulting in an aura that was extremely faint.
But a magical implement was still a magical implement, entirely separate from the Corpse Elephant's own system.
Ren Qing still had no intention of stopping; he used the ghost market to exchange for Ze Sand, and evenly coated it over the vertebra, turning it into a Demonic Embryo Artifact.
Only then did the Corpse Elephant notice something unusual, but it merely squirmed slightly, not realizing anything.
Ren Qing was considering whether to fuse a Supernatural Remnant into the vertebra, but the Demonic Embryo Artifact itself began slowly assimilating the surrounding bone.
"There's actually something like this..."
Seeing this, he did not continue refining.
Ren Qing was very curious what reaction the zombie demon cultivators would have upon discovering two consciousnesses inside the Corpse Elephant, and the Demonic Embryo Artifact could also be easily controlled.
Logically speaking, demon cultivators would indeed benefit more from relying on Demonic Embryo Artifacts.
Ren Qing let out a strange laugh; to him this was merely a dispensable hidden move, and the Demonic Embryo Artifact would still need some time before completing assimilation.
But in any case, it would leave plenty of trouble between the demon cultivators and the anomalous entities.
If everything went smoothly, Ren Qing could even consider returning to the Corpse District to refine the Demonic Embryo Artifact to the level of a Half-Corpse.
He quietly slipped out of the Corpse Elephant's body, and after looking around, found the mine had returned to calm.
With one-third fewer Half-Corpses, the efficiency of constructing the altar was even lower, and their excavation speed couldn't even keep up with the wounds healing.
The zombie demon cultivators would definitely go gather corpses next; otherwise, the number of Half-Corpses would be far from enough.
This showed that Wuwei Monastery needed to recall its external disciples as soon as possible lest mass casualties occur.
Ren Qing remembered the surviving disciples mentioned by Song Zongwu and began searching throughout the mine.
He quickly found the aura of living people inside one of the mounds, and could faintly sense the presence of black bugs, they should be the disciples of Wuwei Monastery who had gone down the mountain.
Most likely because the elders needed fresh blood for cultivation.
The Daoist disciples were bound to chains, placed inside sealed black coffins; blood continuously seeped from the wounds at their necks.
Ren Qing had just intended to store them in the Prison Within the Abdomen when one coffin suddenly moved, and a black bug pried open the sealing rivets one by one.
Taking advantage of the elders suppressing the Corpse Elephant, Han Li carefully crawled out of the coffin.
He had already awakened long ago thanks to the Great Dream True Person, but knowing it was not the right time, he hid in the coffin and silently waited.
Now that the Corpse Elephant was in upheaval, Han Li seized the opportunity without hesitation.
He controlled the black bug to merge himself with the shadows, quietly sneaking along the corner of the wall out of the mound, only to freeze in place.
The underground tunnels were unbelievably complex; to reach the outside world, he had to pass through chain after chain and then dig to the surface barehanded.
Han Li thought about it and knew it wasn't realistic.
He forcibly calmed himself and immediately began planning his escape.
First, he had to rescue his fellow disciples; even without gaining helpers, it would at least draw the demon cultivators' attention and give him some chance.
Second, he had to throw the situation into chaos.
Han Li spat out a finger-thick rivet, not taken from the coffins, but a rarely seen magical implement.
He looked around and fixed his gaze on the nearby spine.
Seeing this, Ren Qing's eye twitched; the rivet magical implement must have been taught by Coffin Elder, capable of unleashing cold qi and then exploding.
A very sinister magical implement.
Han Li slipped into the other mounds, only to find that the disciples there did not have black bugs; although their bodies were still alive, their souls had already dissipated.
His expression darkened; his limited methods had reached their limit.
Han Li was also a ruthless man; seeing no opportunity, he simply returned to the mound, intending to hide in the coffin and wait for a better time.
But as he lifted the lid, he touched a chain at his feet.
Han Li's expression drastically changed; the chain rattled, and one of the elders moved toward him, the foul corpse stench filling the air.
He immediately reacted, placing the rivet magical implement between his brows.
Han Li planned to use the cold qi of the magical implement to feign death and see if he could deceive the elder; of course, one slight mistake meant death.
But just as he activated the implement, a pebble knocked the rivet aside.
Right after, Han Li sensed a familiar aura emerging; he ran out and saw a vague figure standing not far away.
"Immortal Venerable..."
Ren Qing's body rapidly expanded, turning into a ghost wolf in just a few breaths; the strange mouth in his palm swallowed Han Li into the Prison Within the Abdomen.
ROAR!!!
Dust fell from the ceiling of the underground cave.
The elder's eyes bulged, and he shouted in a hateful tone: "We have no ties with Bingxing Mountain, why have you come into our territory?"
Ren Qing was not going to explain; he pushed off with his legs and leapt into the air, the Dragon-Snake Spine tail sweeping, reducing the nearby mounds into powder.
"How dare you!!!"
The elder's bluish-purple skin flushed bright red, fangs growing from his mouth; in his exposed chest and abdomen, a human face could be seen wriggling.
He lunged at Ren Qing, unleashing the full force of his Demon Infant–stage cultivation.
But when he approached within a hundred meters, he suddenly sensed something wrong, the body of the "Charging Wolf cultivator" before him grew even taller.
The ghost shadow possessed the ghost wolf; the two auras filled Ren Qing's eyes with bloodshot veins.
Even facing a true Demon Infant, Ren Qing would not have trouble, much less an elder whose soul was divided into four portions, his cultivation entirely shortcut.
BAM!!
He vanished into an afterimage, and when he reappeared, he was already at the tip of the elephant trunk, holding a pulsating pitch-black heart in his hand.
"How is this possible, Bingxing Mountain..."
The elder collapsed to his knees, a half-meter-wide hole torn through his chest.
Ren Qing intentionally left the elder alive; with one avatar gravely wounded, the zombie demon cultivators were sure to take desperate measures, attempting more extreme methods to break through the Demon Infant stage.
He crawled up the rock wall using all four limbs, the Dragon-Snake Spine drilling open a passage toward the outside world.
The first reaction of the zombie demon cultivators was to move the Corpse Elephant deeper underground, and news regarding Bingxing Mountain was also spread.
Qingyan Town's situation grew increasingly chaotic; naturally, no one paid attention to Wuwei Monastery anymore.
Ren Qing returned smoothly to the mountain gate; from afar, he saw the Daoist monastery had grown in size several fold, but faint fog enveloped the mountain, preventing demon cultivators from seeing it clearly from afar.
The fog was naturally a technique arranged by Song Zongwu using materials.
The disciples who had gone down the mountain were returning to Wuwei Monastery with their families in tow; anyone with foresight could tell heaven and earth were about to undergo drastic change.
Ren Qing's breathing grew heavy.
The number of people in the Immortal Market was bound to surge, and the Prison Within the Abdomen was becoming insufficient in area, perfect timing to use this to advance the Taotie Method.
The only pity was that the Yang God realm required at least a thousand years of lifespan; the Butterfly Dream Technique would inevitably weaken in effectiveness, otherwise he could have focused solely on one technique.
Ren Qing released Han Li from the Prison Within the Abdomen; before the latter could speak, he said first: "I have a task for you."
Han Li lowered his head respectfully and replied: "Immortal Venerable, please speak."
"Go to Morning Street and capture an anomalous entity for me. The details will be explained when you reach Three-Wood Alley."
Han Li's mouth hung open; wasn't the Immortal Venerable forgetting that he was only in the Foundation Establishment stage?
Ren Qing projected the contents of the Taotie Method's Secondary Stomach using a soul butterfly, and then tossed him a magical implement capable of concealing one's aura.
"If there is a problem, go to the Immortal Market and inform Coffin Elder. Do not act recklessly."
Han Li had just opened his mouth to ask something when Ren Qing disappeared completely.
He rubbed his chin in thought; suddenly the earth shook violently again, and the long river spanning Qingyan Town began expanding.
A whale's cry echoed across the sky.
The river widened to more than ten meters, splitting the city into two halves and spreading outward across Jingzhou.
Ren Qing paused slightly.
If he could refine anomalous entities himself, could he produce a similar effect and thereby influence the environment?
He glanced at Mount Qingqiu, the altitude had risen by at least a thousand meters in a short time, and this influence was gradually spreading to nearby mountain ranges.
Reasonably speaking, what kind of environment suited the Restraint Officer Method?
Or perhaps, before going into seclusion, he should create a few forbidden zones to test the effects?