Ren Qing could not help but ponder to himself. Perhaps, just as he had predicted, the Beast Pen people had truly developed a unique civilization and hidden it somewhere.
Yet from every indication, the Beast Pen people most likely had never come into contact with cultivation.
That made the situation somewhat delicate.
Any force capable of forming under the nose of the Supreme Heavenly Demon must possess something valuable. It might even be able to strengthen the foundations of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
However, spending effort searching for clues seemed unnecessary. It might alert the enemy and create needless trouble.
Still, Ren Qing's attempt to revive Song Zongwu was currently stalled at the issue of restoring his soul.
After several years of experimentation, Li Tiangang planned to use soul-nourishing materials to stimulate the growth of Song Zongwu's main soul.
But the Restraint Officers' Hall lacked any branch specializing in souls, causing progress to stagnate.
Ren Qing did not have any particularly good solution for Song Zongwu either. If souls were truly easy to restore, then one could simply use a soul as the basis for endless division, creating vast numbers of identical souls.
Fortunately, Song Zongwu's Heavenly Soul remained stable and faced no risk of soul destruction.
However, cultivating soul-related vegetation was another problem.
Just like the Other Shore Flower, such plants required absorbing remnant souls to grow. At present, the Restraint Officers' Hall could not obtain remnant souls from the Marsh Desert, and relying solely on the natural deaths within the Stomach World would certainly not be enough.
Ren Qing could not help feeling a headache coming on. After hesitating for a moment, he simply took out Song Zongwu's body and soul and placed them in a corner of the cave abode.
He did not know how much longer Song Zongwu could hold on, but with the time flow of the Stomach World, the remnant soul was certainly being consumed more quickly.
It would be better to leave him in the outside world, where Ren Qing could monitor his condition at any time.
The result surprised Ren Qing.
After Song Zongwu's Heavenly Soul entered the Beast Pen, it unexpectedly began to strengthen.
Although there were no signs of restoration, at least its current state could be maintained.
Ren Qing searched for the source, only to discover that the soil and rocks were completely ordinary materials. The information displayed by the information flow showed absolutely nothing unusual.
The air was even less noteworthy. It had been drawn from the Stomach World and contained no Heavenly Demon aura.
He guessed it was probably caused by the unique laws of the Beast Pen, most likely originating from the Supreme Heavenly Demon's immortal position, something mortals could never touch.
Ren Qing then tried cultivating soul-nourishing vegetation and noticed that even without light or nutrients, the growth rate remained astonishingly fast.
He could not help swallowing.
As expected of an existence on the level of immortals and Buddhas.
Even the residual influence of the Supreme Heavenly Demon alone could create resources of unimaginable value. It showed that immortals and Buddhas could alter their environment unintentionally.
The same principle applied to the Heavenly Aberration realm, though on a much smaller scale.
After Meat and Wine Taoist died, the radiation from his corpse created a vast desert, and the sands themselves nurtured countless remnant souls.
In a sense, the Beast Pen was fundamentally similar to a restricted zone.
Ren Qing looked around and began expanding the area covered by the Disaster Elimination Method.
After all, the Disaster Elimination Method had long since reached the Yang God realm. With the support of four secondary techniques, it could maintain coverage over dozens of li for extended periods.
Ren Qing had Ghost Shadow expand the cave abode, excavating tunnels like an ant colony and adding a planting area at the end.
Throughout the process, he continuously observed the divination signs on the tortoise shell.
Although it still displayed "auspicious with danger," there were very few cracks. Judging from their depth, they were not troublesome at all.
Perhaps it merely indicated a hidden risk such as the cave abode collapsing.
Seeing this, Ren Qing pushed his luck and brought out a batch of sheep demons from the Stomach World. He also released Hu Wen, the leader of the Demon Vein.
It had been a long time since he had seen Hu Wen. He still appeared as a headless fox, but his cultivation had stabilized at the Bound Yin Spirit stage of the Yin Difference realm.
However, Hu Wen's Five Viscera God relied entirely on devouring strange objects for advancement. Reaching a higher realm was essentially impossible.
He had not switched to another cultivation path either, focusing all his energy on managing the Demon Vein.
A strange expression appeared on Ren Qing's face.
The number of cracks on the tortoise shell was decreasing. Moreover, after manpower increased, the divination sign actually began moving toward "great auspiciousness."
When Hu Wen realized he was in an unfamiliar environment, he immediately jumped in fright. Only then did he notice Ren Qing sitting cross-legged before him.
"Demon... Demon Immortal Lord, what orders do you have for this humble one?"
The demon-kind that had followed Ren Qing out of Jingzhou all referred to him as Demon Immortal. They were also the cultivators most supportive of him within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
"Help me cultivate some plants. You can return to Dream City while sleeping. If you need any tools or equipment, just ask Zhou Zuosan for them."
Hu Wen nodded repeatedly before examining the underground cavern. He intended to choose different fertilizer mixtures based on the composition of the soil.
While speaking, Ren Qing observed the sheep demons standing silently in the corner.
He had selected twenty sheep demons at the Ghost Envoy realm, but unfortunately their intelligence was still defective. They did not seem capable of understanding human speech.
Fortunately, as the sheep demons continued reproducing, the intelligence of later generations was gradually improving.
The cultivation technique practiced by the sheep demons was Mu Yi's Jianmu Technique. It was obvious that all of them had varying degrees of plant-related mutations.
[Jianmu Technique]
[Created by Elder Withered Glory. Cultivation requires swallowing water, seeds, and soil into the stomach, then sealing the five senses and the lower orifice until the seed sprouts and becomes a seedling.]
The three mutation paths of the Jianmu Technique correspond to grass, wood, and vines.
The Jianmu Technique requires the cultivator's body to merge with one of those three forms. After mastering it, they can stimulate plant growth through the technique.
Among all branches of the Restraint Officers' Hall, sheep demons were the most versatile agricultural workers, handling almost every task related to vegetation.
Ren Qing informed Hu Wen about the unique properties of the Beast Pen and repeatedly warned him not to act recklessly and risk encountering danger.
He gave Hu Wen a rough map. Even if they expanded the cave abode, it had to remain within the area designated by the Disaster Elimination Method.
Hu Wen readily agreed, his eyes burning with enthusiasm.
Although the Demon Vein had been supplemented by tens of thousands of sheep demons, it remained relatively weak within the Restraint Officers' Hall and rarely had opportunities to distinguish itself.
Now that it had finally been entrusted with an important task, Hu Wen naturally had no intention of wasting the opportunity. He was already thinking about how to demonstrate the advantages of demon-kind.
After chatting with Hu Wen for a while, Ren Qing stopped paying attention to farming matters.
He continued his secluded cultivation, repeatedly circulating Corpse Fengdu through its cultivation cycle, feeling Yin Qi flow through his meridians while preparing to break through to the Heavenly Aberration realm.
The crack on the tortoise shell would likely heal completely before long.
Ren Qing did not have much time. He needed to prevent any accidents from occurring, since the Restraint Officers' Hall had no experience whatsoever to draw upon.
After he entered seclusion, Hu Wen covered the entrance to the cave abode with vines to prevent sheep demons from accidentally wandering in and disturbing Ren Qing's cultivation.
Ren Qing completely emptied his mind, only occasionally checking on Hu Wen's situation.
The planting cave abode had already become filled with all kinds of vegetation, most of it related to nourishing souls and therefore extremely valuable.
Even though the Beast Pen greatly accelerated the growth of such plants, that did not mean they could be left unmanaged.
To maintain a suitable environment, Hu Wen specially wrapped the rock walls with curtain-like magical artifacts to regulate the temperature inside the cave abode.
He also had Xiao San'er forge a light-emitting magical artifact, which was more than sufficient for basic illumination.
The cave abode itself had expanded from only a few dozen square meters to two or three hundred square meters.
During this period, Ren Qing also received reports from Hu Wen. Aside from a shortage of manpower, the vegetation was growing exceptionally well.
At first, Ren Qing transferred five hundred sheep demons from the Stomach World.
Later, after realizing that the divination sign had truly stabilized at an auspicious omen, he simply established a gateway to the Stomach World inside the planting area.
Hu Wen could summon sheep demons through it at any time to maintain cultivation operations.
Ren Qing had absolutely no idea how terrifying the sheep demons' farming abilities truly were, nor how eager Hu Wen was to demonstrate the value of the Demon Vein.
By the time Ren Qing noticed that the crack on the tortoise shell had fully healed, he suddenly realized that the scale of the cave abode had changed beyond recognition.
Belatedly, Ren Qing stood up and pushed aside the vines covering the entrance.
A bustling scene immediately entered his sight.
Rows of glowing magical artifacts hung on both sides of a broad passageway.
Sheep demons moved through it in orderly fashion, transporting fertilizer and soil in carts. Bluestone bricks had already been laid across the ground.
Closest to Ren Qing was a storage cavern covering nearly a thousand square meters, piled high with every kind of farming equipment.
Next to the storage area was a residential cavern for sheep demons. The interior was extremely simple. Dry grass was enough to satisfy their living requirements.
At the end of the passageway, Ren Qing saw three cultivation caverns, each several thousand square meters in size.
The interiors were lush and verdant, completely covered by vegetation. The medicinal fragrance was so strong that it almost became pungent, making Ren Qing's nose itch faintly.
Nearly ten thousand sheep demons were busy in the cultivation areas. New caverns were still being excavated, and plant production would soon increase severalfold.
Ren Qing did not know what to say.
Hu Wen had indeed expanded only within the designated area, but the speed of progress far exceeded expectations.
Covered in dust, Hu Wen headed toward the storage area. After noticing Ren Qing, he immediately hurried over.
"Demon Immortal Lord, what do you think...?"
Ren Qing stared at Hu Wen's flattering smile and managed to squeeze out a few words of praise.
Hu Wen immediately beamed with joy.
To ensure the task was completed perfectly, he had the sheep demons rest only two hours each day. The rest of their time was spent working.
Fortunately, the sheep demons were not particularly intelligent. If it had been another type of demon-kind, they certainly would have complained.
"Demon Immortal Lord, the number of sheep demons isn't enough to maintain cultivation. It would be best to allow other demon-kind to come into the outside world. Otherwise..."
Ren Qing shook his head helplessly.
The divination sign on the tortoise shell clearly displayed "great auspiciousness," proving that Hu Wen's actions were indeed correct.
This was the first time he had ever encountered a great auspicious sign. Even the opportunity to harvest Yang God realm cultivators had only produced an "auspicious with danger" omen.
Clearly, the Beast Pen could be transformed into resources in ways that went far beyond simply accelerating the growth of soul-related vegetation.
"Fine. I'll have all the branches of the Restraint Officers' Hall participate..."
Hu Wen's expression stiffened as he wondered whether he had done something wrong.
"Hu Wen, you've done well. The Demon Vein will continue to be responsible for cultivation."
"Many thanks, Demon Immortal Lord."
After speaking, Ren Qing turned and walked back toward his cultivation cave while simultaneously contacting Li Tiangang and instructing him to arrange for cultivators to enter the outside world.
As for himself, he intended to advance to the Heavenly Aberration realm.
Ren Qing was extremely curious.
What exactly did the path leading to immortality look like?
Guests from the four directions gather at Heaven's Gate, sooner or later joining the ranks of immortals.