The sudden change in the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone was not due to the deaths of Restraint Officers within, but rather because the previously consumed Supernatural Remnants had begun to exert their influence.
The color of the rice ears became increasingly gray and dark, and large numbers of flies were attracted.
An indescribable corpse stench spread out.
Jiang Feng had no effective solution. While reporting to the Restraint Officers' Hall, he also ordered the soldiers and yamen runners to begin withdrawing from Annan Town in succession.
The Restraint Officers themselves pulled back to ten li away.
The smoke-choked mountain fires were reignited. Regardless of how the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone might change, the Restraint Officers' Hall's first priority was to turn the surrounding area into a wasteland where not even birds would roost.
Jiang Feng didn't assign Ren Qing any tasks, leaving him relatively free.
Ren Qing thus focused primarily on cultivation.
Unknowingly, his lifespan had already reached sixty-two years.
He felt that the effect of swallowing eyes to extend his lifespan had not slowed even up to sixty years of lifespan, which clearly demonstrated the role of the Flesh Furnace.
Ren Qing's spell system had always centered around the Taotie Method, and the Food-Consuming Immortal Technique was more important to his foundation and foundation-building than he had imagined.
Just as he was about to begin his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage, the Forbidden Zone again underwent a disturbance.
During the night, ghostly wailing sounds suddenly came from the rice field. Under the blowing of a yin wind, the area expanded slowly by at least twenty mu.
At the center of the field, several dilapidated tombstones stood upright.
The rice ears turned withered yellow, and the stench grew more intense.
The Restraint Officers all departed in unison. Since the area of the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone had expanded, naturally they also had to retreat accordingly.
Huang Ziwan couldn't find any trace of Ren Qing nearby and had no choice but to leave first.
Ren Qing looked worried, standing atop a mountain slope near the Forbidden Zone.
He looked at the expanding rice field, it was very likely that the situation had worsened due to deaths or injuries of Restraint Officers within the Forbidden Zone.
Jiang Feng appeared beside Ren Qing. The two of them stared silently at the rice field.
After a long time, Jiang Feng finally opened his mouth: "There's no need to worry too much. The Divine Abilities of those at the Yin Runner realm are beyond our imagination."
Ren Qing nodded slightly.
To locate the core Supernatural Remnant within the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone was no easy task.
According to what Song Zongwu had said, as long as the Supernatural Remnant could be restrained, it could then be forcibly transferred into Avici Hell for containment.
At that point, the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone would naturally collapse without resistance.
However, the intentions of Song Zongwu and the others were so evident, it also meant they would have to face unrelenting attacks from the consciousness of the Forbidden Zone day and night.
Ren Qing then learned that the Restraint Officers' Hall had already dispatched a Yin Runner realm expert to sit in command at the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone to prevent any accidents.
Jiang Feng subtly reminded him that this Yin Runner realm expert was not Shui Hulu.
Seeing this, Ren Qing decided to proceed with his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, since it would be inconvenient to do so under the nose of a Yin Runner realm expert.
Ren Qing greeted Jiang Feng with a simple explanation that something was wrong with one of his spells. Jiang Feng didn't object, since manpower was already sufficient.
He headed into the forest, while Jiang Feng remained to oversee the establishment of the new camp.
Ren Qing chose a cave behind a waterfall as the location for his seclusion. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and no signs of life could be seen.
Since it was the ghost shadow advancing the Heavenly Dao Method, he could separate his sub-soul from his body to act as a sentry around him, so there should be no lapses.
[Proceed with advancement to Ghostly Spirit Root? Will consume 55 years of lifespan.]
Ren Qing first stuffed some eyeballs into the furnace, then silently confirmed.
The Heavenly Dao Worm within the ghost shadow seemed to sense that something was off. It became unusually active, scurrying around inside.
However, since the ghost shadow had undergone a ghost mutation at the Ghost Envoy realm, suppressing a mere Martial Practitioner realm juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm was not difficult at all.
The Heavenly Dao Worm let out a strange screech.
Ssss ssss ssss...
Ren Qing's scalp tingled as he watched the ghost shadow. The latter boiled like scalding water, and the commotion caused stalactites to fall from the ceiling with loud cracks.
There would be no leniency in the cost of exemption granted by the information stream. The method was typically extremely brutal.
The ghost shadow's exterior transformed into that of the juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm, roughly five meters long, its entire body pitch black, and its blood-red eyes gleaming with chilling light.
It stared at Ren Qing, and in a hoarse voice actually spoke: "Do you know..."
A predator-like aura emanated from the juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm, and even Ren Qing felt faintly alarmed.
The Heavenly Dao Worm seemed like it wanted to threaten him, but its voice cut off abruptly.
"Uh..."
Ren Qing looked puzzled. "What?"
He had thought the Heavenly Dao Worm would break away from the ghost shadow. Unexpectedly, its aura kept weakening, and it was obvious its consciousness was being wiped away.
The juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm could no longer maintain its form and soon reverted into a slurry-like ghost shadow.
Only at this point did the downside of the Heavenly Dao Method get fully exempted by the information stream.
The advancement of the Nether Sea Breathing Art officially began.
The double pupils in Ren Qing's eyes rotated, his gaze fixed on the juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm within the ghost shadow.
In a normal breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, the Heavenly Dao Worm would expel the remaining Nether Yuan from the body to help the cultivator build a Spirit Root.
The strength of the Spirit Root depended primarily on the nutrients the Heavenly Dao Worm had absorbed during the Qi Refining period.
But the Heavenly Dao Worm inside the ghost shadow was completely different, it was now just a body, its spiritual intelligence thoroughly erased.
Thus, the method of advancement to Foundation Establishment was somewhat different.
The Heavenly Dao Worm opened its chrysanthemum-shaped mouth, and a spine was forcibly extracted, the pain causing it to tremble continuously.
The ghost shadow forcibly merged part of its body into the Heavenly Dao Worm's spine, causing the spine to transform into a dark gray color, resembling a bamboo shoot rising segment by segment.
The information stream did not simply allow the juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm to remain idle, part of the ghost shadow's body was stripped away again, and through this, the spine was reconstructed.
The bond between the ghost shadow and the Heavenly Dao Worm grew even tighter.
Fortunately, the ghost shadow could regenerate itself, otherwise this would have been a serious injury.
Ren Qing sensed that the juvenile Heavenly Dao Worm was now fully under the ghost shadow's control, but at the same time, it could no longer be easily removed.
He looked at the translucent and radiant Ghostly Spirit Root inside the ghost shadow, which under the influence of the information stream, was slowly integrating into the ghost shadow.
Ren Qing suddenly felt this was a bit of a waste.
He had originally intended for the ghost shadow to focus on developing defensive spells around Ghost Substitute. The corrosive effect of Nether Yuan didn't seem very useful.
The Ghostly Spirit Root had also been formed from the spine. If only it could be fused into the Dragon-Snake Spine...
Just as this thought emerged, the ghost shadow began to boil again, this was because the half-fused Ghostly Spirit Root was being forcibly stripped away.
Immediately afterward, the Ghostly Spirit Root was sent via the ghost shadow into Ren Qing's body.
Ren Qing felt his body temperature drop significantly. The Ghostly Spirit Root flowed slowly along his blood vessels, finally reaching his spine.
He stroked his chin and contemplated.
The information stream seemed to follow Ren Qing's thoughts and, in addition, the Nether Sea Breathing Art wasn't being cultivated by his main body, which allowed it to be interfered with.
Ren Qing used his sub-soul to touch the Ghostly Spirit Root.
Though the sub-soul was rapidly consumed after attaching to the Spirit Root, he could indeed control it with his consciousness.
He pondered for a moment and ultimately did not choose to fuse it into the Dragon-Snake Spine, since if the artifact were damaged, it might affect the Spirit Root.
Ren Qing finally fused the Ghostly Spirit Root with his own spine.
If the Dragon-Snake Spine were compared to a sword, then the spine was its sheath, able to constantly nourish the life-bound artifact.
Over time, the Dragon-Snake Spine would inevitably absorb the properties of Nether Yuan.
Most importantly, according to the description of the Heavenly Dao Method, a cultivator's lifespan would increase along with realm advancement.
He suspected the longevity effect could only be triggered by personally fusing the Spirit Root.
Of course, this meant the ghost shadow had no Spirit Root. Although it could still absorb Nether Yuan via the Heavenly Dao Worm, it would be difficult to store it.
The Heavenly Dao Method could not advance independently, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing...
Once Ren Qing made up his mind, a chilling cold spread from his spine throughout his entire body.
Crystals of ice formed on his skin, and the chill spread across the ground, even causing the waterfall outside to begin freezing over.
The effects of the Ghostly Spirit Root were subtle and far-reaching.
For cultivators of the Wuwei Daoist Temple, a Spirit Root was a prerequisite for advancement to higher realms and for absorbing Nether Yuan.
But Ren Qing had no intention of having his main body mess around with Nether Yuan, if he ever encountered other cultivators of the Heavenly Dao Method, he might be exposed.
However, the Ghostly Spirit Root could enhance his entire skeleton and help nourish the Dragon-Snake Spine.
That was more than enough.
Ren Qing opened his eyes, first touching the ribs on his chest. Seeing that he hadn't turned into the same physique as the people of Jingzhou, he finally let out a breath of relief.
He nervously called up the information stream.
[Lifespan: 47 years]
Ren Qing couldn't help but lift the corners of his mouth.
He had to admit, the Heavenly Dao Worm truly was a very special abomination. It could indeed allow a cultivator to live longer.
Originally, after spending fifty-five years of lifespan, he should have had only seven years left, but unexpectedly, he now had forty extra years. Truly a pleasant surprise.
At the Golden Core stage, the gained lifespan would likely be even greater.
[Proceed to upgrade to Yellow Spring Immortal Bone? Will consume 70 years of lifespan.]
Ren Qing showed no surprise. The drawbacks of the Heavenly Dao Method touched every part of cultivation, at the Golden Core stage, the Immortal Bone would definitely contain hidden tricks from the Heavenly Dao Worm.
The Nascent Soul stage's Immortal Body would be no different.
Only by using the information stream to exempt the Spirit Root, Immortal Bone, and Immortal Body could safety be ensured.
The Wuwei Daoist Temple hadn't died in vain. Judging from their foundational techniques all the way to the Earth Immortal stage, every step was a pitfall of no return.
Ren Qing sighed.
He shifted his attention to the Human Skin Book and other three Half-Corpse Realm spells. Since he had enough lifespan, he might as well upgrade them all at once.
As Ren Qing closed his eyes, his own aura began to leak out, causing the wild beasts around the waterfall to flee en masse.
At the same time, a sheet of paper several meters long flew through the air.
Three people sat firmly atop the paper. Aside from Yin Runner realm Li Tiangang, the others were ordinary Ghost Envoy realm Restraint Officers.
The two Restraint Officers looked rather grotesque in appearance.
One had a gourd-shaped head far larger than normal, giving the impression it could snap off at the neck at any time.
The remaining Restraint Officer wore a full set of silvery-white scale armor. His eyes and tongue bore signs of serpent mutation, his aberration was quite obvious.
This latter one was Lin Cheng.
Although he hadn't been in the Ghost Envoy realm for a full year, due to the recent heavy casualties among Restraint Officers, he had been promoted early to full Restraint Officer.
Lin Cheng glanced covertly at the gourd-headed Restraint Officer.
This man was named Zhong Hulu, who claimed to be a disciple of Shui Hulu, but was in fact merely a tool for verifying flaws in spell techniques.
Lin Cheng instinctively reached into his robe and felt a thick feather.
He had learned from his uncle Zhang Qiu that Zhong Hulu had rushed over specifically after hearing that Ren Qing was in the Food-Consuming Immortal Forbidden Zone.
After confirming the man's goal, Lin Cheng had tried multiple times along the journey to contact Ren Qing, but with Li Tiangang beside them, he had no chance at all.
The three of them remained silent.
Li Tiangang stared at the distant waterfall, his expression suggesting he was trying to investigate something.
"A breakthrough to the Ghost Envoy realm… what a solid foundation..."
He lightly tapped the paper below him and swiftly flew toward the waterfall that had begun to freeze into an ice sculpture.