Ren Qing currently had enough remaining lifespan to advance two techniques to the Ghost Envoy Realm with ease; altogether it would only cost twenty or thirty years.
Rock Vein Strength was rarely cultivated in the Restraint Officers' Hall, precisely because it greatly affected one's own body.
"Stone Body" transformed the body into stone, meaning one could no longer dual-cultivate techniques of different types; the benefit was that cultivation could be performed by relying on stone.
"Stone Heart" was slightly better: its ability was to temporarily transform into a rock giant, but it was said that as the realm deepened, petrification would still inevitably occur.
The final aberration path was called "Molten Stone"; once completed, the blood would be replaced by flowing magma. If one didn't want flesh and bone to completely collapse, petrification was still necessary.
Ren Qing remembered that Little Third's friend Qin Jun followed the Molten Stone aberration path.
He had no need to worry too much; Molten Stone was clearly better suited for Jailers.
Ren Qing then directly advanced "Molten Stone" to the Ghost Envoy Realm form "Molten Stone Volcano"; his body temperature therefore spiked to several hundred degrees.
His height reached a bit above ten meters; his hair and pupils all turned fiery red, and his skin bore burn-like marks from being unable to withstand the magma.
Ren Qing confined Molten Stone Volcano as a Jailer; inside the Eternal Prison Manacle, it formed a small active volcano, with smoke continuously rising from the crater.
He then threw large quantities of high-temperature stone materials into the active volcano, causing the mountain body to slowly expand until it reached twenty-five meters before stopping.
This showed that Molten Stone Volcano had reached the extreme of Ghost Envoy aberration.
Ice Crystal Technique was much the same; Ren Qing naturally selected the aberration path that seemed risky, in order to pursue the high returns that risk brought.
"Freezer" could lower body temperature; upon reaching the Yin Runner Realm form "Millennium Ice Seal," one could even freeze oneself and survive for hundreds or thousands of years.
But this was not the kind of lifespan extension Ren Qing wanted; it merely maintained vital signs, and even the soul would fall into slumber.
Another aberration path was the ordinary "Ice Body," similar to Stone Body, just not as extreme.
Ren Qing chose "Crystal Brain," which aberrated the brain into a crystalline form, discarding all emotion and thereby obtaining absolutely calm thought.
The Ghost Envoy form was called "Thought-Preserving Spirit Crystal"; the cultivator's soul would merge into the brain crystal, whose durability was unimaginable.
Once Thought-Preserving Spirit Crystal advanced to the Yin Runner Realm form "Selfless Spirit Crystal," even if the brain crystal were shattered into powder, as long as a single grain remained, the body could be reborn from it.
Since the gluttonous transformation was composed of the Supernatural Remnants of many techniques, he had to ensure balance in every aspect and achieve unified offense and defense.
The Supernatural Remnant of Thought-Preserving Spirit Crystal manifested as an Ice Crystal Mountain, whose temperature wasn't especially low, but because of its crystalline clarity, it reflected dazzling light.
By using the material-pouring method, Ice Crystal Mountain was likewise aberrated to its extreme.
Ren Qing didn't actually spend much time cultivating techniques.
After having the ghost shadow refine four artifact spirits and handing them to the Restraint Officers' Hall, he planned to try them on the Jailers to see whether Supernatural Remnants could have runes inscribed upon them.
Creatures like the husky-turned-weird did indeed produce artifact spirits, but if one expected demon cultivators to use this to cultivate the Demon Aberration Method, the upper limit would undoubtedly be far too low.
Who knew what realm a husky could reach? Likely it would cap at Ghost Envoy Realm; and Tian A would at most reach the Half-Corpse Realm.
Ren Qing had low expectations for Tian A, but he certainly didn't intend to raise those demon cultivators for nothing.
His gaze swept across the Jailers inside the Eternal Prison Manacle, finally pausing for a few breaths on the relatively lively Kunpeng.
Kunpeng sensed overwhelming malice, shuddered, and dove into the mud.
"Jailers can't die anyway, why is its courage so small?"
Ren Qing moved his mind; countless black ropes bound Kunpeng and, in front of many cultivators, forcibly dragged it to an open area.
The ghost shadow then completely enveloped the trembling Kunpeng, waiting for Ren Qing's order.
Ren Qing signaled the ghost shadow to find an organ resembling a heart inside the Supernatural Remnant, mentally pondering which qi to use to inscribe the runes.
Reasonably speaking, the wine qi contained in the Wine God Technique seemed most appropriate.
He controlled the wine qi emitted from Wine Lake, forming a mist that wrapped around the ghost shadow.
But after searching for a long time, the ghost shadow could not find any organs inside Kunpeng; it was more like a life-form constructed from some kind of flesh mass.
Kunpeng relaxed slightly.
Just when it thought Ren Qing wouldn't continue, he said: "Just inscribe on the surface; no need to overthink it."
Kunpeng felt something was terribly wrong and tried to struggle, but the ghost shadow was already using wine qi to trace lines, mysterious runes gradually emerged across its surface.
Ren Qing stroked his chin; it seemed he truly could refine an artifact spirit.
Kunpeng had thought it would be unbearably painful, but as the cool, slightly intoxicating wine qi fused with its body, it actually felt somewhat comfortable.
But the ghost shadow worked too fast, Kunpeng had barely enjoyed a moment before it was finished.
Ren Qing observed Kunpeng; a wisp of wine qi inside its body grew on its own, even able to absorb external wine qi to cultivate.
If Supernatural Remnants could be inscribed with runes, wouldn't that mean a cultivator's Supernatural Remnant could also be refined into an artifact spirit...
Ren Qing immediately dismissed the idea, turning a Supernatural Remnant into an artifact spirit might not increase strength and would definitely cause aberration loss-of-control.
If the Supernatural Remnant were too powerful, it might even seize dominance.
Ren Qing took some of Kunpeng's blood, then tossed Kunpeng back into Wine Lake. Afterward, he began inscribing runes on the remaining Jailers.
Ghost Wolf: inscribed with ghost-shadow qi.
Volcano: inscribed with smoldering-fire qi.
Python: inscribed with Nether Yuan from the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method.
Ice Crystal: inscribed with the illusory-realm qi of Immortal in the Mirror.
Sand Man: considering its gravel-devouring trait, inscribed with qi released by The Taotie Method.
Ren Qing's eyes swept across hundreds of demon cultivators. Because demon qi conflicted with technique qi, he selected only those whose cultivation had already been exhausted.
Divided evenly, each Jailer received only seven or eight demon cultivators.
The demon cultivators were bound by black ropes and dragged before the Jailers; they could faintly sense the qi emitted by the Supernatural Remnants and felt deep fear.
Teng Ning, whose body was covered in Tu Di black hair, appeared fairly calm, even though a constantly writhing volcano lay not far away.
His mind was filled with scenes of demon qi corroding his soul and devouring his whole family.
When the Jailer's blood merged into Teng Ning's body, he even felt that dying would not be so bad, better than suffering in the world.
But soon a surge of heat appeared in his dantian.
Teng Ning's cultivation recovered to Qi-Refining Realm; some aberrant traits faded, at least he no longer looked as inhuman as before.
Then he noticed a point of light land on his forehead, forming a Butterfly Dream Technique-exclusive mark that allowed him to enter the dream-market while sleeping.
"Ah..."
Teng Ning closed his eyes uncontrollably; his consciousness crossed most of the Eternal Prison Manacle and arrived at the island at Wine Lake's center, where shadows bustled.
Ren Qing enveloped the fairy-city in thick fog; he temporarily did not intend for the demon cultivators to contact the outside world, best to wait until a certain scale formed.
After all, the Eternal Prison Manacle also required a large amount of people to continue construction and improvement.
He then stripped off a demon-weird Dream Seed, placing it at a location adjacent to the ghost market; a new market gradually formed.
Compared to the other dream markets, the demon market was far simpler, containing only a Grand Dream Pavilion that exchanged materials.
The materials were all ordinary items; few involved cultivation.
Currency had to be obtained by accepting missions.
Many demon cultivators gathered at the bulletin board; their expressions concealed anger, because most tasks involved dealing with weirds.
When they recalled memories of their loved ones being slaughtered, their hatred toward weirds was beyond words.
Unfortunately, to accept tasks, one's cultivation had to reach the Golden Core Realm; before that, they could only collect materials to exchange for demon crystals.
Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his body, and he stretched lazily.
Only then did he notice that the outside of Wu Wei City had already been overtaken by dense forest; even the hundred-meter walls were covered in greenery.
The sounds of various beasts echoed everywhere.
On both sides of the central road grew rows of fungal trees, filling the air with dense true qi.
Because even the bricks had been refined into magical tools, the buildings could be stacked layer upon layer, faint signs of high-rises had already appeared.
Cultivators moved through the air by their own means, transporting materials everywhere; clearly Wu Wei City was far from complete.
He finally understood to what extent the Restraint Officers' Hall could build a fortress when prioritizing safety.
Since all refining materials came from cultivators themselves, they could truly be endlessly supplied without considering cost-effectiveness.
And this was only after a few months; imagining Wu Wei City after ten years was difficult.
Ren Qing wandered around the city a few circles and found that there were not many shops, likely because the dream-market existed.
Li Tiangang was nowhere to be found; upon inquiry, he learned Li had gone outside the city to investigate.
Ren Qing spread soul-butterfly projections across the city, then returned to his residence.
With Jingzhou handled by the Restraint Officers' Hall, he could focus on improving his strength. Even if he couldn't reach the Yang God Realm before fully undergoing the primordial transformation, he at least had to close the gap.
The Longevity Forbidden Zone was a shortcut, perhaps it held unexpected gains.
Ren Qing's consciousness entered the ghost market and soon contacted the Great Dream True Person.
Great Dream True Person directly poured all information about the Longevity Forbidden Zone into Ren Qing's mind.
The Restraint Officers' Hall had tried many methods and discovered that only souls could remain inside the forbidden zone for extended periods; even the main body could not sense anything.
Since Ren Qing possessed dual souls, primary and secondary, the task naturally fell to him.
But Great Dream True Person did not insist; the Hall was still focused on Jingzhou, and the Longevity Forbidden Zone was only to be understood in terms of its core supernatural method.
As for Great Dream True Person's divided soul, because it had to maintain its relationship with Grand Duke Taisui, it had to remain in Avici Hell.
And with the aberration degree of his soul, losing a divided soul could cause the main soul to slip into loss-of-control, a price too great.
Ren Qing was tempted; after all, his divided soul could communicate with the Eternal Prison Manacle.
The problem of the main body being unable to sense could be resolved using the ghost shadow's Night Roaming.
Ren Qing simply sent his divided soul to Water Marsh; the two places weren't far apart, and he reached the Longevity Forbidden Zone quickly.
The Longevity Forbidden Zone appeared externally as an ordinary well, exuding a terrifying aura; only a few Restraint Officers guarded it.
These Restraint Officers all had the ability to split their souls; occasionally they sent remnant souls into the forbidden zone, losing them still earned blood crystals.
Ren Qing hesitated for a long time.
The ghost shadow remained in camp; the divided soul entered the forbidden zone.
But to his shock, in only a few breaths the divided soul died. Other Ghost Envoy-Realm Restraint Officers could at least endure for half a day.
But when the main soul absorbed the divided soul's memories, Ren Qing's face was filled with astonishment.
What kind of ghost world was that?