After Restraint Officers' Hall moved into Wuwei City, things quickly returned to their former tranquility.
Compared to the makeshift town that had been pieced together before, Wuwei City as a whole was constructed from magical artifacts. Many buildings stood over a dozen meters tall.
Let alone a population of one million, even several times that number could still be accommodated by Wuwei City.
Li Tiangang divided and planned out the various branches. The Soldier Vein, which had the largest population, occupied the eastern and western districts. The Demon Vein occupied the northern district, while the remaining branches were scattered throughout the southern district.
It was not that the branches held any grievances against one another. The main reason was the differences in the techniques they cultivated.
The streets occupied by the Corpse Vein were inevitably shrouded in yin qi. Living people who stayed there for long periods would gradually develop signs of corpse transformation.
The houses of the Insect Vein were filled with all kinds of jars and containers, and rustling crawling sounds could constantly be heard.
The Cocoon Vein appeared relatively normal, but cocoon-men polishing and refining their skin could be seen everywhere. Their cultivation methods usually carried a hint of self-torture.
Only the Dream City projection in the center of Wuwei City served as the place where cultivators of all branches gathered most frequently.
Of course, many cultivators chose to live directly in Dream City. After all, techniques could not be cultivated within the Longevity Forbidden Zone, and most mission objectives were located in Stomach World.
Ren Qing secluded himself in a courtyard located in a corner of Wuwei City's outskirts.
Through the dream realm, he could sense that the various branches of Restraint Officers' Hall were not as harmonious as they appeared on the surface. In reality, undercurrents flowed beneath the calm facade.
No matter how many resources Restraint Officers' Hall distributed each month, there was always a limit.
To obtain resources, every branch had to demonstrate its value. Otherwise, they would need to be like the Corpse Vein, which practically had no demand for resources.
Ever since the Corpse Vein improved their physiques through Corpse Yin Water, aside from a few zombies occasionally venturing outside, most spent their time lying in coffins.
Ren Qing left the issue of managing the branches to Li Tiangang.
As long as the competition remained healthy, it was not a problem. With over a million cultivators, some friction was perfectly normal, especially when there were no external enemies.
Ren Qing only needed to prevent large-scale conflicts from breaking out.
While waiting for the Heavenly Dao Crack to recover, he devoted most of his energy to refining the Forbidden World.
The miniature Blood Moon was embedded at the location of the Longevity Tree's trunk. It was also fused with the weird item from Avici Hell, making the refinement process extremely difficult.
The Forbidden World relied on the Longevity Tree, while the miniature Blood Moon served as the bridge connecting to Avici Hell, isolating the covered region from the outside world and effectively forming a subtle barrier.
If Restraint Officers' Hall later traveled to regions where techniques were suppressed and could not be used, the importance of the Forbidden World would become evident.
Ren Qing was somewhat uneasy about leaving the refinement entirely to Ghost Shadow, so he split off a portion of his consciousness to assist.
As the miniature Blood Moon gradually disappeared, a heart several meters in size grew from the roots of the Longevity Tree and continued beating steadily over time.
Moon Patterns spread across the Longevity Tree, and Ren Qing faintly developed a connection with the Forbidden World.
By the time Ren Qing finished refining it, more than half a year had passed. Wuwei City had drifted who knew how many miles upon the wind, yet the scenery remained unchanged.
He slowly opened his eyes.
A miniature Longevity Tree floated above his palm.
"Go."
He tossed the Longevity Tree into the air.
Within moments, it expanded to dozens of meters in size. Countless roots extended outward before burrowing into the cracks between the city walls' bricks.
Wuwei City uneasily shook its limbs, but all resistance proved futile under Ren Qing's interference.
Before long, the Forbidden World established itself within Wuwei City once again. The pressure emanating from the Yang God realm weird item inside the forbidden zone gradually vanished.
The cultivators erupted into cheers.
This meant they could once again cultivate techniques within Wuwei City.
Furthermore, the influence of the Longevity Forbidden Zone became almost negligible. Artifact refinement and pill concoction could proceed normally, and they could enter Dream City while sleeping.
Ren Qing had no intention of allowing the Forbidden World to develop an artifact spirit.
The unique feature of the Forbidden World was its ability to attach itself to other artifacts. Like the Crabmen controlled by zombies, it existed as something half-living and half-artifact.
Ren Qing glanced toward the Longevity Forbidden Zone and noticed that the sea of clouds was becoming increasingly dense. Wuwei City no longer needed to maintain its floating state by expelling air currents through its mouthparts.
The sea of clouds seemed to be evolving toward an alternative kind of ocean, and an ecosystem would likely emerge soon.
Judging from the intensity of the winds, Ren Qing could roughly determine the source of the forbidden zone's mutation, though the exact location remained unknown.
The forbidden zone resembled an unstable small world capable of producing unexpected changes at any time.
Ren Qing did not order Wuwei City to head toward the source.
It was better to wait until the forbidden zone stabilized to avoid unforeseen complications.
He immediately entered seclusion again and immersed himself in developing the Ascension Method.
Only when the Heavenly Dao Crack had mostly recovered did Ren Qing return his attention to the final Multitude Yang Immortal technique.
Wuying Ghost was the technique into which he had poured the most effort.
Clearly, Ghost Shadow was the primary technique, yet Dragon Snake Spine had begun to overshadow it.
To fuse all five techniques together, Ren Qing had considered countless possibilities.
He had finally found a few methods that seemed reasonably reliable. They should be able to bring out the techniques' full potential, giving him roughly a fifty percent chance of reaching the Earth Immortal level through the Ascension Method.
[Advance to No-Birth Immortal.?This will consume five thousand years of lifespan]
Before confirming the breakthrough, Ren Qing returned the dragon spine from Stomach World to the outside world.
After all, this little dragon was the weird item of Dragon Snake Spine.
The moment he silently confirmed the advancement, disturbances immediately arose among the weird items.
Wuying Ghost, Human Skin Book, Bone Armor Technique, Netherworld Technique, Dragon Snake Spine.
None of the five weird items were harmless.
Only Bone Armor Technique and Human Skin Book leaned toward support. The remaining three techniques possessed no obvious superiority over one another.
The Heavenly Dao Insect represented by Nether Sea Breathing Art crawled out from Ghost Shadow's body and transformed into a roaming shadow that wandered throughout the house, its multiple heads staring fixedly at Ghost Shadow.
The Heavenly Dao Insect and Ghost Shadow shared both a parasitic relationship and the status of natural enemies.
A tingling sensation arose along Ren Qing's spine.
The dragon spine actually burst through his flesh and skin. It emerged with lightning flashing from its mouth and nostrils, appearing extremely hostile.
The three weird items used the cramped house as their battlefield and fought each other.
Ren Qing had no intention of intervening.
He simply meditated on the techniques repeatedly, ensuring that he remained in peak condition. He showed no concern over the weird items losing control.
As the primary technique, Wuying Ghost absorbed nourishment from the secondary techniques and rapidly grew stronger, soon suppressing both the Heavenly Dao Insect and the dragon spine.
Sensing danger, the secondary techniques instinctively joined forces against Wuying Ghost.
Wood chips flew everywhere. Furniture was shattered beyond recognition, and the floor split apart explosively.
Ghost Shadow's advantage over the Heavenly Dao Insect and dragon spine was not particularly significant. It was even somewhat hard-pressed to defend itself.
At that moment, the Information Flow seemed to sense that Ghost Shadow had fallen into a disadvantageous position and immediately began interfering in the fusion of the weird items.
Ren Qing let out a muffled groan.
His blood-soaked skin was forcibly peeled away. Although new skin quickly regenerated, the pain still made him bare his teeth.
Ghost Shadow immediately swallowed the Human Skin Book weird item into its stomach, causing its strength to surge.
Ren Qing was not worried about Ghost Shadow losing.
The reason was the existence of the Information Flow. At worst, it would merely waste some time.
He enveloped the house with the Disaster-Dispelling Method to prevent any leakage of technique aura.
Hundreds of cultivators moved throughout Wuwei City, yet none noticed Ren Qing's residence. It was as though the place had been forgotten by the world.
The fusion of the weird items proceeded without major danger, though the breakthrough lasted for more than half a day.
Once the advancement was complete, Ren Qing inspected the newly born Ghost Shadow and signaled for the shadow beneath his feet to reveal its true form.
The shadow writhed for several breaths before a bizarre dragon-shaped creature emerged from within.
After devouring the weird items of the secondary techniques, Ghost Shadow still retained the appearance of a coiling dragon. However, its dragon horns had become longer and narrower, flickering with unstable lightning.
It opened its mouth.
Its tongue had actually taken the form of a Heavenly Dao Insect, making it appear incomparably ferocious.
Originally, the lightning of Dragon Snake Spine belonged to the Five Elements of Yang.
However, after advancing to No-Birth Immortal, the lightning transformed from Yang Five Elements into Yin Five Elements mixed with shadows.
The Yang Five Elements consisted of Jia Wood, Bing Fire, Wu Earth, Geng Metal, and Ren Water.
The Yin Five Elements consisted of Yi Wood, Ding Fire, Ji Earth, Xin Metal, and Gui Water.
On the surface, the Yin and Yang Five Elements appeared similar.
In reality, the destructive power of the Yin Five Elements far surpassed that of the Yang Five Elements, with each element carrying terrifying corrosive properties.
Ghost Shadow shifted between reality and illusion while its size constantly changed.
Even Ren Qing did not know how many kilometers long Ghost Shadow's true form could now become. Even the Forbidden Corpse probably could not compare to its size.
The divine ability Dragon Roar Within the Casket naturally improved alongside it.
Not only could it perform pseudo-dragon transformations, but it could also transform into creatures similar to the Heavenly Dao Insect.
The corner of Ren Qing's mouth twitched.
Wouldn't that mean he could use animated severed limbs and employ the Heavenly Dao Insect's abilities to parasitize cultivators?
He could not resist testing Dragon Roar Within the Casket.
His right arm immediately detached from his body.
The arm became extremely similar to a maggot. It even possessed the effects of Worm Root and could grant a host the aptitude to cultivate the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method.
Ren Qing had no intention of inflicting such things upon Restraint Officers' Hall.
However, he could spread a few around when he had spare time.
The more incarnations he possessed, the safer it would be when using Death Gives No Birth.
If he managed things for several hundred years, even Ratnasambhava Buddha would not be able to casually erase him.
Ren Qing summoned the Information Flow and looked at the newly advanced Wuying Ghost.
[Wuying Ghost (Human Skin Book, Bone Armor Technique, Netherworld Technique, Dragon Snake Spine)]
[Strange Object: Five Yin Horned Dragon]
[Divine Ability: Dragon Roar Within the Casket]
A dragon becomes a horned dragon after five hundred years and is already considered a mature adult among dragonkind.
Ren Qing examined Ghost Shadow.
The five techniques had fused together fairly well, which would be critically beneficial for advancing to the Ascension Ladder later.
However, Wuying Ghost was relatively difficult when it came to nurturing an immortal position, so its priority was certainly the lowest.
As for whether to advance The Taotie Method or the Disaster-Dispelling Method next, Ren Qing leaned more toward the former.
The current power of the Disaster-Dispelling Method was already more than sufficient.
However, the strength of The Taotie Method was tied to the efficiency with which Jailers could cultivate independently.
If there were large numbers of high-level weird items, the development of Restraint Officers' Hall would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Ren Qing chose to continue his seclusion.
Restraint Officers' Hall required almost no attention from him, and he still needed to consider how to deal with the arrangements.
He had yet to make up his mind.
Both radical and cautious approaches carried their own advantages and disadvantages.
Ren Qing silently waited for the transformation of the Longevity Forbidden Zone to finish.
He needed to glimpse the secrets of Boqiang's immortal position before deciding whether or not to intervene.
Several months later, the sea of clouds had become sturdy enough to support Wuwei City's weight while it traveled.
The hurricanes carried various bacteria, causing brilliantly colored fungi to grow and making the scenery even more splendid and mysterious.
After determining the source of the hurricanes, Ren Qing ordered Wuwei City to head in that direction.
Wuwei City strode forward on its limbs, moving at an astonishing pace.
After traveling for some time, the sea of clouds had become completely covered in fungi.
Some of the growths had even spread onto Wuwei City's limbs.
Ren Qing felt that he was already very close to his destination.
Yet he still had not discovered the slightest abnormality.
All that stretched before him remained an endless and boundless sea of clouds.