Ren Qing's first few coffins were still rather rough, showing his lack of experience, but his skill advanced by leaps and bounds with time, becoming more and more practiced.
The coffin elder's expression was complicated. Although coffin making was not very difficult, to be able to master it after merely watching a few times was truly a rare talent.
It was just a pity that his aptitude was too poor, even reaching the Qi Refining Stage was a struggle.
If he could live a few more years, he might indeed grow a few thoughts.
The coffin elder suddenly felt a bit of pity.
It was not that he intended to help Ren Qing in cultivation, he truly had no ability to do so.
Mainly, he thought that after Ren Qing died, Three-Wood Alley would indeed need a coffin-maker.
However, if the coffin elder had known that, apart from making coffins, Ren Qing was simultaneously perfecting a cultivation method, he probably would have been left speechless.
Ren Qing continued to make coffins, and the coffin elder then walked to his side to give guidance.
But after teaching for half a day, the coffin elder said no more, though he still occasionally paid attention.
Ren Qing found that, although the coffin elder seemed hard to get along with, as long as one went along with his temperament, his thoughts were actually easy to guess.
For Ren Qing, even if he did not obtain the coffin elder's Xuan tian Method, the gains he made in Three-Wood Alley were already far more than he had imagined.
Originally, Ren Qing only planned to estimate Yinghu's situation based on the condition of the corpses, to make advance preparations.
But when he came into contact with the corpses, he realized one thing, actually, many of the common people had mastered cultivation arts, although their cultivation levels varied greatly.
They practiced introductory methods similar to the Qingfeng Qi Refining Method, with Foundation Establishment being the highest attainable level.
But the heteromorphic transformations that occurred in the body after absorbing True Yuan were extremely valuable experiential knowledge.
Because of this, Ren Qing's speed in perfecting the Nether Sea Breathing Art increased by at least one-third, and after repeated modifications, he had barely constructed a prototype.
The main difficulty he now faced was that his own Heavenly Dao Worm's cultivation was too low, he could not possibly emit True Yuan like an Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm.
Ren Qing forcibly suppressed the impatience in his heart and continued perfecting the Heavenly Insect Method.
If the Heavenly Dao Method could succeed, as long as the ghost shadow could withstand the cost, it might even save hundreds of years of lifespan for the Nether Sea Breathing Art to advance, and the immortal market in Jingzhou could also enter proper operation.
During his spare time, the coffin elder became somewhat idle and lost in confusion.
Meanwhile, Ren Qing focused on making coffins and receiving the townsfolk. By dusk, he would leave Three-Wood Alley on his own, even forgetting about the coffin elder in the shop.
The coffin elder wanted Ren Qing to take some grain with him, but the latter completely ignored him.
Yet he did not feel anger, instead, he had a sense of being old and useless.
Ren Qing had already found the direction to perfect the Heavenly Insect Method. Coming to Three-Wood Alley was purely for gathering information, nothing else.
He could feel the Heavenly Insect Method gradually piecing itself together. During this time, he forgot to eat or sleep, unable to even feel the passage of time.
His life became a line between two points.
At noon he would enter the shop, working silently until dusk, leaving without exchanging a word with the coffin elder.
The townsfolk's demand for coffins began to decline, showing that most corpses were remnants from the previous days, with few dying from strange aberrations.
But Yinghu had still not appeared, even making Ren Qing begin to doubt whether this aberration's name had been fabricated.
The coffin elder had been observing Ren Qing all along, yet now could not make sense of his actions. He wanted to speak several times, but forced himself to endure.
After several consecutive days, the coffin elder finally broke the silence.
"Ren Qing, you..."
Ren Qing had been contemplating matters regarding the Heavenly Insect Method. Upon hearing this, he immediately blurted out: "When True Yuan merges with the body, can one control the mutated limbs or internal organs?"
The coffin elder was slightly stunned, could it be that Ren Qing had not even completed the foundation for Qi Refining?
Ren Qing muttered to himself: "True Yuan circulates through the eight extraordinary meridians and is eventually absorbed by the body, there must be a connection."
The coffin elder sighed.
He indirectly realized that Ren Qing had no inheritance, likely had never even come into contact with proper cultivation methods, and thus had not reached Qi Refining.
He wondered about Ren Qing's aptitude, if he had even one-tenth of comprehension, it would be enough.
"There is a kind of method called the Vein-Guiding Method, which can indeed communicate with True Yuan and rebuild the foundation."
"Coffin elder, can you explain in detail?"
The coffin elder looked at the serious expression on Ren Qing's face, wanting to refuse but couldn't help speaking: "Remember, don't spread this outside..."
"Forget it, even if you do, it's fine. By the time you do, I'll already be dead."
"The dantian is the center of the human body, surrounded by thirty-six hidden acupoints..."
Ren Qing silently memorized the Vein-Guiding Method, and his mind instantly opened up, at least saving several months of time. Truly worthy of someone from the Nascent Soul stage.
The coffin elder recited the details of the Vein-Guiding Method, and just as he was about to add more,
He suddenly heard Ren Qing reciting the extremely complex Vein-Guiding Method aloud and even drawing inferences from it, causing the coffin elder's blood to surge to his head.
The coffin elder held onto the wall and sat down, his eyes filled with helplessness. Since his lifespan was nearly spent, after death he no longer cared what floods might come.
"Ren Qing, listen, I'll teach you another method, called the Xuan tian Method..."
The coffin elder spoke with a lofty tone, but seeing Ren Qing's expressionless face, he suddenly felt it meaningless, and most of his momentum dissipated.
"Forget it, I'll just write it down for you."
Through this, Ren Qing obtained the Xuan tian Method, and his speed in perfecting the Nether Sea Breathing Art increased again, and its structure could already be discerned.
The Xuan tian Method's descriptions of higher realms were naturally more detailed.
It was evident that although Jingzhou's Heavenly Insect Method was modified from the Heavenly Dao Method, its realms above Nascent Soul differed vastly.
According to the coffin elder, one at the Nascent Soul stage could completely transform into an immortal infant, and those at the Spirit Division stage could even invite an immortal to possess them, possessing powers of divine mystery.
This was why, even though his lifespan was nearly gone, no one in Morning Street dared to provoke him.
If one possessed an immortal body, the power displayed at Nascent Soul stage would far exceed imagination, and breakthroughs would come more easily.
Ren Qing speculated that the so-called Immortal Body was likely a remnant influence of the Heavenly Dao Method on Jingzhou's people, and should be far inferior to his Yellow Spring Immortal Bone.
Not to mention that once the Nether Sea Breathing Art advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone would further transform.
Ren Qing occasionally asked the coffin elder questions, and many difficulties were thus resolved.
However, the coffin elder was stumped several times, especially regarding Nascent Soul-stage content.
He couldn't help but mutter inwardly, feeling that Ren Qing hadn't even reached Qi Refining yet but was already trying to understand high-level methods, truly absurd.
Ren Qing, in order to complete the Heavenly Insect Method as soon as possible, naturally didn't overthink.
By the time the method was fully completed, more than ten days had passed.
...
[Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method]
[Created by Ren Qing. Cultivation requires taking the saliva of a Heavenly Dao Worm. Once heteromorphosis arises within the blood, the method can be achieved.]
[The method's upper limit is tied to the Heavenly Dao Worm itself, and cannot surpass the worm's cultivation, being greatly constrained by it.]
[Can absorb and cultivate using alien True Yuan, and full digestion can avoid negative side effects.]
...
As for why the pseudo-insect heteromorphosis targeted the blood, Ren Qing mainly considered the blood's proportion within the body, as well as its ease of separation.
The saliva caused no harm to the Heavenly Dao Worm. Upon entry to Qi Refining, the cultivator could strengthen his cultivation by absorbing Jingzhou's True Yuan.
Ren Qing's Netherworld Method, after all, had not reached Earth Immortal level, so he could only employ cleverness.
Because Nether Yuan was composed of True Yuan, the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm could still absorb it at any time, however, Ren Qing secretly left a backdoor.
This allowed his own Heavenly Dao Worm to also absorb Nether Yuan, thereby strengthening itself.
With the information flow secured, he finally felt at ease, though he still needed to be cautious when harvesting Nether Yuan.
He was only experimenting with the Heavenly Insect Method; even failure would not matter.
He could also harvest Nether Yuan through trade, thereby triggering the Butterfly Dream Technique's lifespan-extending effect, indeed, a feasible path...
Thus, there was no need to exhaust the source when obtaining Nether Yuan. Allowing the Heavenly Dao Worm to absorb a portion each time, quantitative change could also lead to qualitative change.
Most importantly, this could lay the foundation for the immortal market.
Ren Qing came back to his senses, feeling refreshed. Yuan Si should have already gathered the children; everything seemed to be going smoothly.
He looked at the coffin elder, since the latter had provided a wealth of information on cultivation methods, greatly helping him, he should at least give the old man some closure.
Nether Yuan flowed out from within the ghost shadow, circulating through the Yongquan acupoint beneath his feet into his meridians.
Ren Qing's created Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method was mainly for others to cultivate, but applying it to himself posed no issue.
The Nether Yuan steadily entered the dantian, and his aura faintly reached the Qi Refining Stage.
When the coffin elder first sensed Ren Qing's aura leaking out, he couldn't help feeling shocked.
He had once heard that those with innate immortal bodies could establish their foundation within moments, their True Yuan incomparably pure.
Ren Qing's exhibited aura, however, was like a roller coaster, just as it approached a peak, it plunged down again, leaving the coffin elder unsure of what to say.
In the following days, the coffin elder was utterly speechless.
Though Ren Qing's cultivation speed wasn't exactly fast, it was exceptionally steady, even though most of his time was spent making coffins.
And just when the coffin elder wasn't paying attention, Ren Qing silently reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Then, as before, he remained there, showing no further growth, as if his aptitude was limited to that point.
The coffin elder suspected that Ren Qing was being lazy, and planned to find an opportunity to wake him up.
But soon, the peace was broken.
Morning Street saw the first corpse killed by Yinghu, and the manner of death was extremely bizarre.
The corpse's flesh and blood were entirely gone, yet its abdomen looked like that of a woman ten months pregnant. When Ren Qing cut open the stomach, the missing flesh was all stuffed inside.
This person had been forcibly swollen to death.
The coffin elder solemnly placed the corpse into a coffin, and after the townsfolk left, he asked, "Ren Qing, have you ever eaten human flesh?"
Ren Qing paused briefly before answering firmly: "No."
"That's good. I suspect Yinghu is related to cannibalism."
The coffin elder shook his head and said, "This time, it's troublesome. If cultivators die because of this, I fear they'll act like cornered dogs..."
Those who participated in the slaughter had all been tainted by human flesh. If panic spread, they would surely try to flee Morning Street.
"But it has nothing to do with us. If Morning Street's blockade is broken, perhaps you could take the opportunity to go outside."
"Of course, be cautious of Hu Yi and Usurper Dragon's taboos, no matter where you are."
The coffin elder muttered to himself, already considering Ren Qing's future path, completely unaware that Ren Qing's face had darkened.
Ren Qing did not know how to define eating human flesh, if refining it in the Flesh Furnace counted...
He silently denied it.
After all, it was a world within his abdomen; it shouldn't affect him.
Moreover, Ren Qing felt that Yinghu's taboo wasn't that simple, otherwise, there would have already been casualties long ago.
The current situation seemed more like someone was deliberately orchestrating it, to throw Morning Street into chaos.