The medicinal effect used to befuddle the black goats was not particularly strong, which meant there were towns and villages somewhere around the Heavenly Demon Nest.
Ren Qing patiently followed behind the herd while observing the Beast Pen's unique ecosystem, and he could not help being shocked by the bizarre nature of the Heavenly Demon aura.
Compared to Jingzhou, where every plant had been corrupted by the Heavenly Demon aura and showed signs of transforming into black goats, the Beast Pen was not nearly as extreme.
Aside from the Heavenly Demon aura mixed into the air, the vegetation and soil contained almost none of it.
Ren Qing discovered that the Beast Pen had actually preserved a normal ecological system. He could see the bones of wild beasts and insects feeding within rotting flesh.
It was only that under the subtle influence of the Heavenly Demon aura, all living things had become covered in black fur.
The beasts were even more obvious. Whether herbivore or carnivore, their appearance closely resembled black goats, though otherwise there was little difference.
There were no visible signs of Heavenly Demon corruption in their souls at all.
Ren Qing quietly collected some animals and plants and placed them on an isolated island within the Stomach World.
As a result, he found that even in an environment completely devoid of Heavenly Demon aura, the animals and plants remained vigorous and lively, showing no discomfort whatsoever.
Ren Qing then focused his attention on the black goats born from the Heavenly Demon Nest.
Their bodies and souls did show a tendency toward Heavenly Demonization, but only slightly. Even the structure of their souls remained that of a normal three souls and seven spirits.
This was completely different from the black goats in Ren Qing's impression.
After Heavenly Daozi cultivated the Beast Pen Method, his mind had become incomparably deranged, and no amount of methods could save him.
"Could it be because this place is close to the outer edge of the Beast Pen?"
Ren Qing shook his head. Or perhaps Heavenly Daozi had cultivated the Beast Pen Method incorrectly?
Impossible.
He had examined the Beast Pen Method through the Information Stream before. Its drawbacks were indeed terrifying, and a single mistake could send one into an endless hell.
Ren Qing could only speculate that it was because he was too far from the center of the Beast Pen.
As he pondered, a small town appeared in the distance. A thick stench of blood assaulted his nostrils, accompanied by noisy commotion.
There was no trace of spell techniques within the town. The endless stream of figures were all mortals. Not even a single Martial Practitioner realm cultivator could be found.
Ren Qing initially thought it was merely a settlement of mortals, but he quickly noticed something strange.
Whether young or old, every mortal in the town appeared skinned. None wore clothes, and they walked barefoot across bricks made from bone.
The buildings were piled together from flesh and blood. At a glance, the place looked like a slaughterhouse belonging to immortals and Buddhas.
Although Ren Qing did not know why the Beast Pen people lacked skin, he had already guessed why they used flesh and blood to build houses.
Resources were simply too scarce.
The ground for hundreds of miles around the town consisted of an extremely hard layer of earth. Digging into it would be very difficult for mortals.
At the same time, vegetation was withered and dead, making it difficult to use such materials for construction.
Voices rose and fell throughout the town. Soon, a group of Beast Pen people emerged and guided the herd of black goats toward an open area.
These Beast Pen people appeared to possess a higher social status, with black fur wrapped around their right arms.
Ren Qing mixed among the black goats and freely observed the Beast Pen people while simultaneously using hundreds of bacterial souls to learn their language.
It was as if he were wandering through the mortal world for amusement. He had no need to worry about being discovered by the Beast Pen people.
After discussing among themselves for a while, several strong young men stepped out from the crowd and bound the black goats' limbs with chains made of bone.
After repeatedly confirming the chains' sturdiness, they spread apart the black fur and used it as blades, beginning to cut into the black goats.
A strange expression appeared on Ren Qing's face as he watched the black goats being skinned alive amid agonized screams.
Despite such crude methods, they somehow managed to suppress the black goats' madness, though their intelligence became somewhat dull.
Nor did they waste the black goats' fur. As long as they stuffed it with plants, before long the vegetation would be transformed into flesh and blood.
It was obvious that flesh and blood truly were the most common resource to the Beast Pen people.
Hundreds of bacterial souls analyzed every sentence spoken by the Beast Pen people, searching for patterns in the tonal shifts, allowing Ren Qing to gradually master their language.
Ren Qing noticed that the Beast Pen people referred to the Heavenly Demon Nest as the "Mother Wall."
Every one of them had been born from the Mother Wall, and after death, their corpses had to return to it, forming a cycle of life.
Based on various observations, Ren Qing concluded that the civilization of the Beast Pen people was probably not very old.
Although he did not know how it had formed, the existence of the Beast Pen people was undoubtedly unique, and their use of flesh and blood exceeded all common sense.
Blood carts powered by flowing blood.
Houses that adjusted indoor temperature according to heat changes.
Waterwheels turned by the spasms of flesh.
If things continued this way, who knew what sort of power the Beast Pen people would eventually build from flesh and blood.
Ren Qing also examined the Beast Pen people themselves. Their lifespan generally amounted to only twenty years, yet they possessed neither a childhood growth period nor a period of decline in old age.
Overall, their advantages and disadvantages were both obvious.
Unfortunately, they had been born within the territory of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Ren Qing had no intention of bringing the Beast Pen people into the Stomach World. After all, their reproduction depended entirely upon the Heavenly Demon Nest, and their lifespan was too short.
At present, every branch of the Restraint Officers' Hall was relatively stable. The Beast Pen people lacked the capability to establish a new branch and therefore could not integrate into the collective at all.
Ren Qing decided to use the Beast Pen people as a cover. If any trouble arose, he would be able to detect it immediately. He might as well cultivate in seclusion here.
However, he did not choose to use Walk Among Mortals. Instead, he sent Ghost Shadow deep underground.
Walk Among Mortals could indeed allow Ren Qing to blend perfectly among the Beast Pen people, but it would also create unnecessary complications, running contrary to his plans for secluded cultivation.
Ghost Shadow descended straight to a depth of a thousand meters before beginning to excavate a cave dwelling within the hardened earth.
A faint tremor could be felt within the town, causing the Beast Pen people to panic and hurriedly reinforce their buildings with flesh and blood.
From their conversations, Ren Qing learned that there had once been a great upheaval long ago that caused massive casualties among the Beast Pen people.
It was likely the aftershock caused by Taiyin Star Lord and Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal back then.
Half a day later, a cave dwelling of only one hundred square meters had already been completed.
After transforming into Ghost Shadow form, Ren Qing entered the cave and arranged artifacts that concealed his aura, doing his best to erase any traces left behind by cultivation.
Meanwhile, several Dreamflowers were hidden within the town, allowing him to observe secretly whenever necessary.
The cave was filled with artifacts, the Disaster-Elimination Method continually suppressed his presence, and Ghost Shadow patrolled the surrounding layers of earth.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged within the cave and began organizing all spell techniques related to the dead from the beginning, gradually bringing himself into a state suitable for secluded cultivation.
Using Spirit Division, he attempted to contact Great Dream True Person, but still received no response. Fortunately, the latter's soul appeared intact and he had not died.
Ren Qing immersed himself in cultivation and paid no attention to the passage of time.
When he awakened once more, exactly one month had passed.
His lifespan had very barely crossed the threshold of five thousand years.
Ren Qing did not immediately summon the Information Stream to advance. Instead, he relaxed his state of mind.
The Ascension Ladder required facing the Three Dao Ancestors. Although the Information Stream served as a safeguard, that did not mean there was no danger at all. One careless mistake could lead to madness.
Ren Qing had no desire to stumble despite possessing the Information Stream. It was better to remain cautious.
He lay down with his eyes closed and casually observed the town above.
Immediately, he sat upright and opened his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed.
The once ordinary-sized town had somehow developed into a settlement of tens of thousands of people.
The Beast Pen people still had no contact with cultivation, yet their use of flesh and blood had reached its peak. All kinds of bizarre flesh-and-blood machinery filled the city.
Ren Qing found it somewhat unbelievable.
Even working without sleep or rest, it would have been impossible to achieve such a degree of development in merely one month. There had to be some hidden factor at work.
His expression turned serious as he carefully observed the Beast Pen people.
Soon, Ren Qing noticed something.
The intelligence of the Beast Pen people seemed to be constrained by their population size.
The more Beast Pen people there were, the greater their creativity became. Naturally, their rate of development increased geometrically.
In a certain sense, the Beast Pen people had inherited the characteristics of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Ren Qing could not help but feel wary. If the Beast Pen people were given a few more decades, their strength might become sufficient to threaten the Restraint Officers' Hall.
He continued observing for several more days and discovered that the Beast Pen people were assembling a gigantic puppet from flesh and blood, then covering its entire body with black goat fur.
The flesh puppet resembled a womb chamber, though its interior had been divided into countless separate compartments filled with water containing Heavenly Demon aura.
Ren Qing tried to find clues through the Beast Pen people's conversations and eventually discovered the purpose.
It was to extend their lifespan.
They seemed to be planning to merge themselves into the flesh puppet, linking the lives of the entire race together to obtain lifespans measured in centuries.
Ren Qing patiently waited several more days until the flesh puppet was finally completed.
Using black fur, the Beast Pen people linked their spines together, allowing their blood to circulate among one another before entering the flesh puppet.
Those whose lifespans had already run out truly survived.
However, Ren Qing knew that human blood contained subtle differences.
Before long, all of the Beast Pen people's blood began to decay.
They died in large numbers. Bacteria bred within the blood, and eventually even the Beast Pen people who had never entered the flesh puppet perished as well.
In little more than a month, Ren Qing witnessed the rise and fall of the Beast Pen people. He could not help suspecting that all these changes had been deliberately orchestrated.
He stared at the corpses within the town as the rotting flesh was absorbed into the soil.
The flesh puppet, meanwhile, melted into a gelatinous mass.
The Beast Pen people inside were still alive, but their expressions had twisted into extreme distortion.
Their bodies had fused together into a single mass, while black fur grew from their souls.
As the cold wind howled, a true black goat crawled out from the flesh puppet.
The black goat was composed entirely of a soul body. Its form gradually decomposed into Heavenly Demon aura before finally disappearing, becoming part of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Ren Qing suddenly realized that the Beast Pen people were likely a cultivation method employed by the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Immediately afterward, the ground shook violently.
The town was reduced to fragments of flesh, while in the distance, more than a dozen newly born Beast Pen people were approaching.
Using the scattered flesh, they instinctively built a village without any instruction.
Just like the Heaven Above Heaven of Cishi, it was another endless cycle.
A thought suddenly emerged in Ren Qing's mind.
Could the birth process of the black goat be reenacting the experience of the very first Supreme Heavenly Demon in the world?
He found the idea extremely intriguing.
If he were to interfere with the development of the Beast Pen people, would some unbelievable change occur in the end?
Ren Qing forcibly suppressed the stirring in his heart and instructed Ghost Shadow to dig another thousand meters downward.
After confirming through the tortoise shell that the hexagram remained "Auspicious," he meditated on his spell techniques for a while before finally summoning the Information Stream of the Dead Blood Scripture.
[Do you wish to advance to Ascension Ladder? This will consume 5,000 years of lifespan.]