In just a few days, Song Zongwu brought several thousand Jingzhou people into the town.
As a result, more settlement area was needed, causing the city walls to be moved outward by several dozen meters.
After escorting them, Song Zongwu returned toward the interior of Jingzhou, presumably to pursue a Yang God stage opportunity.
By now, the entire Jingzhou was already filled with demon qi; even ordinary plants showed a trend toward demonization.
The danger outside could be imagined.
The city walls were inscribed with techniques that isolated the qi, combined with the uninterrupted true essence emitted by the spirit vein, resulting in minimal influence within the city.
Restraint Officers' Hall was still improving the town; when facing forces related to the Earthly Immortal stage, Li Tiangang was more serious than ever.
The walls were reinforced with various materials; even the ground was paved with refined artifact green bricks, almost to the point of seamless perfection.
Under Qingsongzi's instruction, monastery disciples actively began contacting the Restraint Officers.
The Restraint Officers reciprocated; the town was named "Wuwei City," and a statue of Heavenly Daozi was placed in the most prominent location.
Li Tiangang appeared indifferent toward the Jingzhou people but inwardly was filled with surprise and delight.
Despite the Jingzhou people's bodies having innate anomalies, they possessed extraordinary aptitude for certain Restraint Officer methods, incomparable to Xiangxiang people.
Of course, the disadvantages of Jingzhou bodies were also obvious: a higher likelihood of losing control due to anomaly, and limited cultivatable techniques.
Li Tiangang thought of nearly twenty thousand Jingzhou people, and his breathing became heavy.
It should be known that the proportion of cultivators among them was extremely exaggerated; if fully absorbed, the scale of Restraint Officers' Hall would increase tenfold.
At the same time, Restraint Officers' Hall had not ceased its exploration of the Longevity Forbidden Zone.
After all, Yang God stage was Yang God stage.
If the core technique of the forbidden zone could be clarified, and Restraint Officers' Hall happened to have the corresponding technique or Supernatural Remnant,
then Restraint Officers' Hall could gain an additional Yang God stage in a short time.
Although relying on devouring Supernatural Remnant to advance would deplete potential and be accompanied by various risks of anomaly loss of control,
after all, in Heavenly Abomination stage, Supernatural Remnant no longer existed; how could one advance further?
"I wonder if I'll ever have a chance to advance in this life..."
Li Tiangang bitterly smiled and shook his head, continuing to arrange affairs within the town, getting everyone to move.
However, Ren Qing's whereabouts could not be found.
Ren Qing had actually chosen a secluded place to recover his injuries, while simultaneously studying the meat spheres inside the anomalies and the demon patterns spread throughout the flesh.
Though called "meat spheres," according to the information flow, they should properly be called "Demon Spirit".
[Demon Spirit]
[Requires using a Moonfall as a guide, stimulating the human body with demon qi for thirty-six days, until gradual demonization appears throughout the body, to form.]
The anomalies were created from living humans?
Using living humans to make anomalies, the Blood Moon was even crueler than the flesh-and-blood artifacts of Heavenly Dao Worms; it was hard to imagine where Rabbit-Toad cultivators came from.
Ren Qing examined the pulsing Demon Spirit, sensing the demon qi gradually decaying.
A thought arose: if a similar Demon Spirit could be replicated and integrated into a Demonic Embryo Artifact, would it not be possible to nourish the artifact's consciousness constantly?
Currently, Restraint Officers' Hall's method of nourishing artifact consciousness was too crude.
It was basically no different from blood sacrifice, inefficient and consuming massive resources.
Moreover, the use of Demon Spirits was not limited to this; if transplanted into a Supernatural Remnant's body, it might create a unique Restraint Officer anomaly.
Kunpeng shivered, instinctively burying itself deeper into the lake mud.
Ren Qing immediately began experimenting; according to the information flow, the Demon Spirit should form under the influence of demon qi.
Then it must involve demon patterns.
He looked at the only captured anomaly, Night Watchman, and immediately countless black cords extended from Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen, dragging the latter underground.
Ren Qing had meticulous control over Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen, naturally able to use this to acquire the secrets of the anomaly.
He worked with dual focus: selecting techniques usable as Jailers for the Ghost Market while issuing tasks to capture beasts.
Regardless of whether the creatures bred from Jailer blood were useful, at least the ecosystem could be completed.
Ren Qing immersed himself in exploring the unknown, intentionally ignoring external movements, only using the Soul Butterfly projection to confirm safety.
Time passed like a fleeting white horse; in the blink of an eye, a hundred days had passed.
Night Watchman was constantly dissipating; after roughly a hundred days, it had become extremely weak, and the demon qi contained in the Demon Spirit was almost exhausted.
Ren Qing returned to himself.
His expression seemed dazed; he immediately recorded the content he had comprehended, so as not to forget.
"Refining materials..."
Ren Qing's gaze swept Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen, passing over the living beings inside.
The demon cultivators imprisoned in the jail section felt a strange fear; even a few collapsed to the ground with their legs weakened.
Ren Qing thought for a moment; it was not that they were suitable for refining, but that being held for so long seemed a waste of manpower and resources.
Long-term lack of demon qi supplementation would also cause the cultivators' stage to continuously decline.
Ren Qing suddenly remembered something: previously, his Spirit Division consciousness had gone to the Ghost Market to select three techniques, almost forgotten by him.
He took three manuals from his pocket: Snake Molting Method, Rock Vein Strength, and Ice Crystal Technique.
These techniques were naturally intended for use on Jailers.
Ren Qing valued Snake Molting Method because each advancement involved shedding skin, useful to suppress anomaly loss of control and recover injuries.
Rock Vein Strength and Ice Crystal Technique were somewhat similar to Wind and Sand Method.
Currently, the Sand Man had formed a desert in a corner of Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen; the other two techniques could surely create different environments.
Ren Qing thought demon cultivators could be transformed into anomalies, not limited to beasts.
From the husky, he observed that the anomalies' intelligence would not increase at all; apart from stored provisions, they were useless.
Ren Qing even felt that converting demon cultivators into anomalies fit extremely well with Demon Aberration Method, potentially allowing mass recruitment of cultivators.
He restrained the impulse to experiment, instead prioritizing refining the demon patterns while the Demon Spirit still existed, so he could immediately correct mistakes.
There is always a priority to things.
Ren Qing casually selected a beast; relying on the issued tasks, Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen already contained over a thousand beasts.
He dispersed the beasts' souls to prevent frantic struggles.
Then he dug open the chest and abdomen, revealing the pulsating heart.
Refining a Demon Spirit required using demon qi to draw patterns, thereby nurturing the anomaly; however, the Restraint Officer techniques were uneven, with no unified aura.
Ren Qing thought of the long-idle Ghost Ship, wrapping Nightmare Demon aura around Dragon-Snake Spine, then fully utilizing the Double Pupils in his eyes.
The tiny blood vessels within the heart became visible.
Next, he had to paint on the "tofu," where any unintentional movement could cause failure.
Just as Ren Qing was about to begin, he slapped himself, then looked at the Ghost Shadow beneath his feet, questioning why he was seeking far instead of near.
He directly informed the Ghost Shadow of the refining steps, leaving full control to it.
The Ghost Shadow showed no hesitation, its body enveloped in Nightmare Demon aura, moving over the heart as if dancing on a knife's edge.
But before long, the heart could not bear the aura, exploding.
Mainly because the strange patterns were constantly moving; rigid refining techniques could not even touch the surface.
When Ren Qing dodged the blood mess, the Ghost Shadow had already raised another beast, skillfully cutting open its abdomen; yet seconds later, the heart exploded again.
The speed was so fast that the beast did not even feel the pain.
However, each failure yielded slight progress; whether it could succeed, even Ren Qing was unsure.
Seeing this, he closed his eyes to rest, allowing the Ghost Shadow to work havoc on the beasts within Eternal Prison Within the Abdomen.
Bones gradually accumulated, a faint blood odor wafted out.
The husky sniffed, then showed excitement, ignoring Tian A's grip, running toward the source of the blood.
Upon seeing the mound of corpses, its steps hesitated slightly.
Tian A held the husky's neck, mumbling indistinctly: "Ah... oh... ah... da...n...ger... not..."
The Ghost Shadow finished with the current beast and immediately selected new material, instinctively focusing on the nearest husky.
The husky's expression twisted; its limbs exerted all effort to escape, but against the Yin Runner stage Ghost Shadow, it was insufficient, being bound and dragged over.
Tian A patted the Ghost Shadow with his small hands, trying to stop it.
The Ghost Shadow, although intelligent, was like a pre-programmed machine, directly cutting open the husky's abdomen and quickly carving on its heart.
As the husky screamed, severe pain radiated from the heart; Nightmare Demon aura circulated with the blood throughout its body.
It had trained in imagination techniques and consumed Ghost Wolf blood; its constitution far exceeded ordinary beasts, yet it endured.
Tian A cried while holding the husky's neck; part of the Nightmare Demon aura also entered his body, finally settling in his dantian.
Ren Qing noticed the thoughts transmitted by the Ghost Shadow and immediately opened his eyes.
He helplessly observed the human and dog; the Demon Spirit, dominated by Nightmare Demon aura, constantly influenced the husky, while Tian A, by chance, became the first Nightmare Demon cultivator.
Such a Demon Spirit should more properly be called an "Artifact Spirit."
It seemed that by transplanting an Artifact Spirit into an anomaly, a unique demon cultivator could indeed be created; more trials were needed.
"Forget it, let's play."
Ren Qing signaled the Ghost Shadow to release the husky, rubbing Tian A's head.
Tian A waved thanks, then rode the larger husky as it sprinted away, disappearing within a few breaths.
Ren Qing then captured a wild wolf, transforming it into a Ghost Wolf anomaly; its constitution could endure the engraving of Artifact Spirit patterns.
He organized his experience into a book, then took the pitch-black heart Artifact Spirit to the Ghost Ship sailing in the desert corner.
Ren Qing gestured with the heart on the ship's hull for a long time, then stuffed it into the dragon keel.
The Ghost Ship's keel had long been Nightmare Demonized; contacting an Artifact Spirit of the same origin, they immediately began to mutually devour.
The Ghost Wolf at the ship's bow seemed to develop consciousness, constantly howling hoarsely.
Ren Qing sensed the Ghost Ship was hungry, throwing the Supernatural Remnant of The Taotie Method Ghost Envoy stage; the Demonic Embryo Artifact's aura began to boil.
The Ghost Ship's exterior gradually expanded, with additional menacing bone spikes.
It sailed rapidly on flat land, finally landing in the Wine Lake, splashing countless droplets.
Ren Qing swallowed; due to Lord of Absolute Darkness, the Ghost Ship could use the power of Jailers. If each bow could integrate a corresponding Artifact Spirit, then...
It meant there could be ten Artifact Spirits?