It was unknown how many Restraint Officers would be drawn to the three-day Ghost Market.
But just by looking into the distance, Ren Qing could see Restraint Officers arriving one after another.
A large number of Restraint Officers poured into the Ghost Market, heading straight toward the Great Dream Pavilion, with some stationed at the entrance of Great Dream Artifact Forging.
Restraint Officers who could master techniques would definitely not be fools.
The actions of the Restraint Officers' Hall made it clear that the upcoming Ksitigarbha Soul Summoning would likely be a life-or-death situation, so they allowed the officers to prepare in advance.
Fortunately, due to the number of missions released during this period, most Restraint Officers had spare blood crystals and could strengthen their abilities in a targeted way.
Some veteran Restraint Officers had already acquired skull artifacts.
They deliberately spread the word, making soul-attack-resistant artifacts the first choice.
Those Restraint Officers who had bought materials from the Great Dream Pavilion also gathered in front of Great Dream Artifact Forging.
Counting the reserves, at least over a hundred people gathered densely.
Ren Qing stood in a daze at the entrance of the Ghost Market, until Lu Xiaoyu patted his shoulder a few times, finally snapping him out of it.
Lu Xiaoyu greeted him somewhat bitterly, "Lord Ren, it's been several days."
"You..."
Ren Qing turned his head and carefully observed her.
He noticed that Lu Xiaoyu's appearance had changed significantly. Her limbs had severely woodified, and green leaves were sprouting in her hair.
Ren Qing sighed and said, "Looks like you've advanced to the Ghost Envoy realm."
"All thanks to your..."
Lu Xiaoyu tactfully shut her mouth and continued helplessly, "I was granted full Restraint Officer status right after advancing to Ghost Envoy realm, but the upcoming missions... I don't dare to imagine."
Ren Qing understood what she meant. The missions faced by reserve officers and Ghost Envoy realm ones were worlds apart, naturally, the chance of death was much higher.
"Having strength is always a good thing."
"It certainly is."
Lu Xiaoyu nodded, her expression slightly more relaxed.
Ren Qing then asked about Huang Ziwan and Lin Cheng.
Lu Xiaoyu had indeed run into Lin Cheng a few days ago. Part of his external aberration had vanished, and his aura was slightly more restrained.
Huang Ziwan might still be in seclusion, but should finish before the Ksitigarbha Soul Summoning.
After saying farewell, Lu Xiaoyu turned and left the Ghost Market.
She had only come to thank Ren Qing after seeing his figure. In reality, she was still short on blood crystals for forging an artifact, and had to take on a task while there was still time.
There were quite a few like Lu Xiaoyu in the Restraint Officers' Hall.
Ren Qing's main body entered the Great Dream Pavilion, while a soul-clone entered the Great Dream Artifact Forging building.
Before he could even push the door open, he suddenly felt an aura acting on the shop, as if he had been split into dozens of copies.
Ren Qing immediately realized that the Great Dream True Person had set the shop to simultaneously receive multiple customers, to better sell artifacts.
His mouth twitched slightly.
But forging artifacts took time. Even though Ren Qing had prepared several skull artifacts in advance, it was still a drop in the bucket.
Ren Qing could only do his best. He first used the Twin Nightmare Ghosts to influence the shop counter and laid out all the artifacts.
Then Ghost Shadow ventured into the Wuwei Daoist Altar.
Ghost Shadow lay low to observe the surroundings. The area near Doushuai Palace was in disarray, but fortunately, no trace of Heavenly Daozi was found.
Then it swam silently toward the Fire Refining Palace, doing its best to avoid detection.
Only after Ghost Shadow safely reached the Fire Refining Palace did Ren Qing finally breathe a sigh of relief. At least he could continue forging artifacts without interruption.
The Tombstone Furnace at the Foundation Establishment stage was revived under the effect of Nether Yuan.
Ren Qing's soul-clone opened the shop, chose to receive five customers at once, and set a rule: each could only purchase one artifact.
The Restraint Officers didn't hesitate, all picked skull artifacts, their expressions brimming with joy.
Ren Qing didn't reduce the materials required, and continued feeding the Tombstone Furnace with them, trying to shorten the forging time as much as possible.
He quickly became fully absorbed in forging, and by the time he regained awareness, seven or eight hours had passed.
Ren Qing's main body walked out of the Great Dream Pavilion and looked toward Great Dream Artifact Forging. The number of people at the door hadn't decreased, in fact, it had increased.
Apparently, some Restraint Officers had returned to line up again right after exiting the shop.
It wasn't that they intended to resell, no one dared offend the Great Dream True Person, but rather, they felt that one artifact wasn't secure enough.
Ren Qing rubbed his temples in frustration. At this rate, even if he worked nonstop for three days, he couldn't supply every Restraint Officer with a skull artifact.
Unless he could advance to the Golden Core stage...
He instinctively summoned the data stream, and immediately gasped.
Unknowingly, his lifespan had already reached seventy-nine years.
Ren Qing thought for a moment. He realized that based on the usual lifespan gained from each transaction, it would've been impossible to reach this number.
It meant that the Great Dream True Person had deliberately given him extra lifespan, possibly even waived their usual commission.
Ren Qing didn't hesitate. He had Ghost Shadow return to the Prison Within the Abdomen and immediately began advancing.
The Golden Core stage of the Heavenly Dao Method was equivalent to the Ghost Envoy realm of the Restraint Officer Method. Apart from the drawbacks that needed removal, it shouldn't be too difficult.
But since it involved the spiritual root in his spine, he had to be extra cautious.
Great Dream Artifact Forging temporarily closed.
His main body and soul-clone left the Ghost Market, planning to find a secluded spot in Avici Hell, to avoid the notice of Yin Runner realm beings.
As for why he didn't leave for the outside world, it was mainly because the Restraint Officers' Hall was likely setting up arrangements for the Other Shore Flower. It was better to stay here.
As Ren Qing walked, he noticed Heshan Town had already been moved into Avici Hell, and Annan Town likely wouldn't be long either.
The village where his mother lived was still in a relatively safe area.
He couldn't help but feel puzzled.
If Xiangxiang was truly destroyed and they had to take refuge in Avici Hell, how would they solve the food problem? Ksitigarbha hadn't mastered the Food-Consuming Immortal Technique, plants couldn't grow at all.
Ren Qing could only hope that the Restraint Officers' Hall had a complete plan.
Soon he found a narrow cave, with no Restraint Officers likely to pass nearby. After crawling in, he sealed the entrance.
> [Advance to Yellow Spring Immortal Bone? 70 years of lifespan will be consumed]
Seventy years of lifespan were extracted from Ren Qing's body. Before he could even feel weak, his spine had already begun to clatter restlessly.
Ghost Shadow rolled inside the Prison Within the Abdomen, and the Heavenly Dao Worm larva frantically secreted Nether Yuan, wrapping itself in it to form a cocoon.
The Golden Core stage was the key point where the Heavenly Dao Worm larva metamorphosed into an adult. Within Wuwei Monastery, it was also referred to as the Human Immortal stage.
After cocooning, the larva would strengthen the host's body to ensure its own safety, thus forming the so-called Immortal Bone.
But for Heavenly Dao Method cultivators, the Immortal Bone was merely the beginning of turning flesh into an artifact.
For Ren Qing, it was completely different. With the data stream waiving the cost, the Immortal Bone had some of its literal "immortal" power.
He couldn't help but cough violently, his face instantly flushing red.
No matter how much he tried to suppress it, the coughing continued, even bringing up blood. The itch and pain in his throat intensified.
Cough!!!
Ren Qing felt like he'd spat something out. He couldn't help but look at his palm, there, a fingernail-sized piece of throat bone had appeared.
He touched the spot on his throat, seemed like a new bone was growing. Could this be the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone? That didn't seem right...
Before Ren Qing could react, the pain and itch spread downward from his throat.
One piece of bone after another was forcibly squeezed out from his flesh. Even his ribs followed suit, old bones were replaced by the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone.
It was clear that this Golden Core transformation was a literal "bone replacement."
Ren Qing was in excruciating pain.
The worst was the skull, but thankfully the Twin Nightmare Ghosts targeted the brain, and his soul-clone could shield it.
By the time he regained consciousness, most of an hour had passed.
Ren Qing closed his eyes and felt the marvels of the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone.
First and foremost, it was far more compatible with Nether Yuan.
That, however, was useless to him.
At Wuwei Monastery, where the Nether Sea Breathing Art was the direct-line technique, the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone was one of the three great Immortal Bones of the sect.
The other two were Xuantian Immortal Bone and Houtu Immortal Bone.
Ren Qing considered that he might interact with Heavenly Dao Method cultivators from Jingzhou in the future, so he had no intention of refining Nether Yuan.
Besides, Nether Yuan was originally a product of the Heavenly Dao Worm.
He primarily valued that the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone allowed Ghost Shadow possession to go deeper, no longer limited to flesh but now reaching the bones.
The Dragon-Snake Spine's virtual-real switching also became more agile.
Ren Qing tested Ghost Shadow possession, externally, there wasn't much change.
But he felt it was no longer Ghost Shadow fusing into him, but himself fusing into Ghost Shadow. The state was incredibly strange.
Ren Qing moved around in the cave and found that his body was no longer confined to human shape. He could hide in shadows like Ghost Shadow.
Even though he couldn't maintain it for long, his survival ability had vastly improved.
He let Ghost Shadow leave the bones and only cover the surface flesh, it still maintained the original Ghost Shadow possession form.
The Yellow Spring Immortal Bone probably still needed some time to fully understand.
He then checked his lifespan and found it had increased by a full 120 years, enough for two more aberrations with some left over.
However, the advancement to Nascent Soul stage would now require 200 years of lifespan, showing how terrifying the waived cost must be.
Ren Qing didn't rush to undergo aberration. Instead, he exited the cave and returned to the Ghost Market.
Since the Restraint Officers' Hall had set a three-day period, it meant the Ksitigarbha Soul Summoning wouldn't begin early. For now, gaining lifespan was more important.
After reaching Golden Core stage, the Heavenly Dao Worm larva should be able to control three Tombstone Furnaces at once.
And the artifact forging speed of a Golden Core Tombstone Furnace was at least 30% faster, greatly improving efficiency.
Ren Qing planned to wait until Restraint Officers' demand for artifacts dropped before completing the Twin Nightmare Ghosts' aberration. There should be enough time.
Thus, after a brief closure, Great Dream Artifact Forging reopened.
The Restraint Officers all breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
In their eyes, even monstrous infants used merely as summoning materials were this terrifying, let alone the upcoming Ksitigarbha Soul Summoning.
And Great Dream Artifact Forging was the source of their lifeline provided by the Restraint Officers' Hall.
Ren Qing didn't know that he had resolved many potential disasters for the Restraint Officers' Hall. Originally, according to Li Tiangang's plan, it would've taken days to suppress the riots among Restraint Officers.
Now that the Restraint Officers hadn't panicked, the various gangs didn't dare show themselves. Xiangxiang's towns remained peaceful.
So even if Ren Qing's forging methods seemed odd, they didn't attract trouble.
Only a few Yin Runner realm cultivators like Song Zongwu truly understood the matter of Great Dream Artifact Forging.