The mountains surrounding Wuwei Monastery had all been absorbed into Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen, along with more than ten thousand citizens of Qingyan Town.
The light emitted by the fire-sun, though not very hot, caused the nearby plants to grow at an extremely exaggerated rate; every day, the monastery disciples had to spend time clearing weeds.
Aside from this, Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen hardly appeared different from the outside world, only more peculiar, after all, demons and ghosts were everywhere.
The demon cultivators were confined in the prison area, only provided with basic water and food; in the short term, Ren Qing definitely would not release them back into the outside world.
Han Li stood outside the mountain gate, his gaze fixed on the distant flesh walls, then shifted his attention to the Dream Market at the center of the lake.
He had originally thought the Immortal Market was contained within some sort of magical artifact, but unexpectedly it was within the stomach.
Han Li could not help but recall the The Taotie Method taught by Ren Qing; although he only knew part of it, the two were likely derived from the same origin.
A burning heat welled up in his heart, and he subconsciously muttered a few lines of The Taotie Method.
At this moment, Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen shook; including Han Li, the monastery disciples all felt an increased suction in the air above.
Then the disciples' bodies flew up into the air, followed immediately by the populace.
Han Li did not know the situation outside, only hoping there would be a foothold for Wuwei Monastery; otherwise, it would be better to remain in the stomach.
In a daze, he realized he had already left the stomach world; the noise in his ears came from all directions.
Forcing himself to calm down, Han Li looked around and was immediately shocked by the scene before him, standing dumbfounded in place.
It was a town formed by foreign-style houses; many shops lined the streets, with dozens or hundreds of Earthly Immortals walking among them.
There were even shops for forging artifacts; a man with unusual Double Pupils attended to customers.
A hundred-meter-high wall surrounding the town was under construction; more than a dozen Restraint Officers nimbly engraved mysterious patterns on its surface.
Obviously intending to refine the wall into a magical artifact.
Such a feat left people dumbfounded.
What confused Han Li most was that the other side of the town was an endless desert, even the howling of wind and sand could be heard.
This location was very likely on the edge of Jingzhou.
However, he then noticed faint residual demon qi in the surroundings, and the amount of true essence was almost imperceptible.
Han Li felt little regret about this.
Children growing up in Morning Street had very little sense of belonging to Wuwei Monastery; secretly, they all called themselves disciples of Immortal Venerables.
Even if Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method could not be cultivated, they could simply focus on The Taotie Method and Shadow Ghost Technique.
Han Li looked up at a nearby reserved cultivator holding a book.
Li Tiangang stood on the eaves, frowning slightly; the number of Jingzhou people Ren Qing brought was far more than expected.
The populace alone numbered more than ten thousand, dressed as if they were refugees from a disaster.
"Ren Qing, that kid, vanished after letting the people down. Was he injured so badly?"
Li Tiangang shook his head, shouting to a gaunt man not far away: "Xu Nian, there are too many people; the town's area needs to expand."
"Good!!"
Xu Nian spat into his palm, then slapped the ground hard.
Wrinkled white bony arms drilled up from the ground, dragging walls outward, extending for over a hundred meters before stopping.
Li Tiangang took out sheets of paper, unsealed the houses contained within, and the town's scale immediately increased considerably.
The monastery disciples watched the Restraint Officers' methods, exchanging astonished glances.
The populace involuntarily felt fear.
Li Tiangang looked satisfied; although he had been informed of Jingzhou's situation in advance, after all, it involved Earth Immortal Stage beings.
He wanted to quickly subdue Wuwei Monastery's disciples, so as not to waste energy on internal strife, sending a warning with some intimidation.
Then, under Li Tiangang's guidance, the Restraint Officers arranged lodging for the populace and selected more than ten constables to maintain order.
Qingsongzi also voluntarily had the monastery disciples help distribute supplies, seemingly trying to integrate Wuwei Monastery into Restraint Officers' Hall.
Yet, he could not help but feel somewhat confused, especially after coming into close contact with the Restraint Officers, discovering that no one cultivated true essence.
The anomalies also appeared as if acquired later.
This indicated that Restraint Officers' Hall was likely an external force, not the Earthly Immortals Wu Liangzi had mentioned.
Qingsongzi did not feel anger; without Restraint Officer support, Wuwei Monastery's Dao tradition would likely have already been destroyed in Qingyan Town.
However, as the monastery leader, each word and action could decide the lives of hundreds, an invisible pressure that made it hard to breathe.
"Senior Brother, if it were you, what would you do?"
As Qingsongzi was at a loss, his shoulder was heavily tapped; turning, he saw an unfamiliar man.
The man's skin was charred and covered with cracks, looking heavily wounded and unhealed.
Qingsongzi's Ghost Envoy god messenger followed behind him, and the two walked toward the town center.
"Qingsongzi, do you know the history of Wuwei Monastery?"
"In books..."
"That is only what the sect wants you to see."
Ren Qing narrated Wuwei Monastery's rise and fall from an observer's perspective, and the choices Heavenly Daozi made to escape fate.
Qingsongzi gradually became absorbed; the mental images constructed differed entirely from the records in the texts.
He felt Ren Qing was not lying; the impatience in his heart gradually faded.
They arrived at the town center; a deep pit had been dug in the ground, for unknown purposes.
Ren Qing remained silent, waiting for Qingsongzi to digest it himself.
If Wuwei Monastery harbored ulterior motives, Restraint Officers' Hall would surely clear it, affecting the Immortal Market's collection of Nether Yuan.
He could only help Wuwei Monastery integrate into Restraint Officers' Hall as much as possible.
Qingsongzi remained silent for a long time before saying: "This world is far more dangerous than I imagined; even the founder struggled countless times."
"Senior Brother Wu Liangzi was right; we no longer have a hundred years..."
Qingsongzi complained endlessly, as if Ren Qing were Wu Liangzi.
During their conversation, four Yin Runner level Restraint Officers had quietly gathered beside the pit; ordinary cultivators would not dare approach.
The remaining Yin Runner level officers had not come to Jingzhou; after all, Xiangxiang still required Restraint Officer garrisons to prevent supply mishaps.
Apart from Li Tiangang, there were also Bai Guniang and Li Yaoyang.
The last Yin Runner level officer was unfamiliar; his wrinkled face had no features, looking more like a farmer, likely newly promoted.
He nodded at Ren Qing, then a mouth opened on his chest and abdomen: "I am Xu Yizhou, cultivating my Escape Technique."
"I am Ren Qing; my cultivated techniques are many, so no need to list."
Ren Qing considered for a moment; in his memory, his Escape Technique resembled Five Elements Escape, allowing extremely fast traversal of various terrains.
Xu Yizhou wanted to continue politely, but Li Tiangang grew impatient.
He hurriedly urged: "Ren Qing, your Molted Husk, transform it into a spirit vein quickly; then we can make arrangements."
Li Yaoyang added: "Brother Ren, you may not know, the demon qi here is growing stronger; if not separated, it will easily corrode mortal body and soul."
Ren Qing did not dawdle, directly retrieving the Molted Husk from Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen.
The Molted Husk was obtained from the shedding of a Earth Immortal stage Heavenly Dao Worm; its appearance was half-human, half-insect, incomplete but radiating a terrifying aura.
Ren Qing was fine; after all, the Ghost Shadow within him protected by the Heavenly Dao Worm.
But to Li Tiangang and the others, the oppression brought by the Molted Husk was indescribable, far beyond the corpse of a Meat and Wine Taoist.
Qingsongzi opened his mouth wide; though a black worm possessed him, he barely stood in place.
The Nether Yuan circulating in his dantian became extremely active, instinctively absorbing the true essence emitted by the Molted Husk to strengthen himself.
"Could this be a spirit vein?"
In the texts, spirit veins could create a blessed land, with spirit herbs growing all year and attracting cranes.
Li Yaoyang endured the pain in his eyes, staring at the Molted Husk with burning gaze.
His techniques also related to insects, but his cultivation level was far lower, and the Heavenly Dao method was not Restraint Officer techniques, leaving little to borrow.
Li Tiangang enclosed the surroundings with paper, preventing sudden loss of control.
Ren Qing threw out Dragon-Snake Spine, entwining the massive Molted Husk.
Dragon-Snake Spine was his life technique, known to many, yet now appeared as a bizarre young dragon.
Ren Qing was about to place the Molted Husk into the pit, when the light twisted; the others were accustomed to this.
The phantom of Great Dream True Person appeared, staring at the Molted Husk as if contemplating.
Ren Qing could not put the Molted Husk down, and had to suspend it mid-air with Dragon-Snake Spine.
After a long while, Great Dream True Person took out a black seed the size of a sesame seed, evenly sprinkling it on the Molted Husk.
Everyone felt a chill; these were clearly Taisui fungus spores, and Great Dream True Person seemed to be preparing something extraordinary.
Only Qingsongzi did not understand.
No one dared ask; after placing the Molted Husk into a pit hundreds of meters deep, soil was used to cover it again.
Li Tiangang said: "Estimating it will take some time for the spirit vein to form..."
Before he finished, the soil surged as if full of earthworms; then a strange fungus tree sprouted.
The fungus tree was pure black, its trunk full of fingernail-sized holes with countless wriggling maggots inside.
Faint true essence radiated from the fungus tree, clearly replacing the function of a spirit vein.
The fungus tree could continuously reproduce; in some sense, it was even more useful than a spirit vein but would also affect the Molted Husk's longevity.
Qingsongzi twitched his mouth; promised spirit vein blessed land, but the scene was completely different.
"The fungus tree concerns the Yang God forbidden zone."
Great Dream True Person said in a deep voice: "I consulted Restraint Officers' Hall records; a century-old record mentioned a forbidden zone named 'Longevity'."
"Possibly related to a Longevity Daoist, perhaps also Grand Duke Taisui; using Taisui fungus should reveal part of the forbidden zone's information."
He removed a branch of the fungus tree, then disappeared.
Ren Qing squinted.
Hearing the word "Longevity," his heart raced violently, nearly causing the Nightmare Art Supernatural Remnant in his blood to go out of control.
Ren Qing could not help but look toward the marsh, barely seeing the anomaly from the forbidden zone.
Dense black clouds hid in the wind and sand; if observed closely, they appeared illusory, while whispers of despair echoed in his ears.
Ren Qing returned to himself; after greetings, the surrounding people had long left, and an inexplicable chill crept up his spine.
He smiled helplessly, thinking it might be better to just go into seclusion.