Spring passed into winter. The seasons in the Beast Pen were already indistinct to begin with, and with Restraint Officers' Hall deep underground, it was impossible to sense the passage of time.
Ren Qing remained in seclusion within his cave abode the entire time, paying little attention to changes in the outside world.
He only knew that since the flesh tumor had shrunk, the Beast Pen people's settlement on the surface had already been destroyed, and no new black goats had emerged from the Heavenly Demon Nest.
Occasionally, Ren Qing would notice the mountains of materials piled up within the Great Dream Pavilion. The resources plundered by Restraint Officers' Hall were likely beyond estimation.
Compared to the Beast Pen, the gains Restraint Officers' Hall had made back in Jingzhou were like comparing a small witch to a great witch. After all, the strength of the cultivators had undergone earth-shaking changes.
A single sheep demon at the Ghost Envoy realm of the Jianmu Technique could accelerate the growth of nearly ten mu of medicinal herbs every day, not to mention the cave abodes managed by the other branches.
Ren Qing left everything to Li Tiangang while he focused entirely on secluded cultivation.
The first thing he advanced was Disaster-Dispelling Method, using it to increase the area covered by Wu Deceit so that Restraint Officers' Hall's resource caves could continue expanding.
Ren Qing looked at his information stream.
[Disaster-Dispelling Method (Storyteller, Mirror Immortal, Disguise Technique, Longevous Tortoise), Gate of the Non-Immortal (Ancient Storytelling, Immortal Hidden Within the Eerie Mirror, Ten Thousand Faces, One Body, Half a Move Above Heaven)]
[Divine Ability: Walk Among Mortals]
[Since Disaster-Dispelling Method had reached Multitude Yang Immortal, Ren Qing had been occupied stabilizing his cultivation and had not examined the technique's information.]
As he closed his eyes and meditated, information regarding the technique flooded into his mind.
His main focus was on Mirror Immortal and Disguise Technique, as they provided the greatest assistance to him and would even affect the development of Restraint Officers' Hall.
The Yang God realm advancement of Mirror Immortal, Immortal Hidden Within the Eerie Mirror, no longer required a reflective surface to cast. It could directly create an entrance to the Mirror World.
Furthermore, Ren Qing could control whether a duplicate of himself would appear in the outside world.
To him, the Mirror World was equivalent to a cave abode he could retreat into at any time to avoid danger. It was precisely how his main body had entered the Corpse Mirror.
However, the drawbacks of Immortal Hidden Within the Eerie Mirror were equally obvious.
First, the Mirror World did not belong exclusively to Ren Qing. Techniques and magical artifacts similar to the Corpse Realm could freely enter and exit.
Second, the Mirror World contained no resources and was unsuitable for long-term habitation.
Still, regardless of its flaws, having another means of self-preservation was always beneficial. He could withdraw at any moment if danger arose.
Of course, Death Gives No Birth still held the highest priority.
Escaping through death and dissolution avoided future complications, especially when facing beings far stronger than himself.
Ren Qing had not been idle during his seclusion either. Through Ghost Shadow, he had buried large quantities of pseudo-draconic severed limbs underground throughout the Beast Pen, using them as resurrection points.
He intended to maintain this habit permanently. Whenever he arrived in a new region, he would leave behind some Death Gives No Birth contingencies.
Ren Qing then digested the information of Ten Thousand Faces, One Body from Disguise Technique. Its ability was somewhat peculiar.
It still altered the appearances of living beings on a large scale, but its power had become terrifying.
If Ren Qing cast Ten Thousand Faces, One Body on the entirety of Restraint Officers' Hall, he could not only alter appearances but also alter identities.
He could turn unfamiliar men and women into married couples who had known each other for decades, or transform brothers as close as flesh and blood into enemies who wished to grind each other's bones to dust.
Ren Qing felt that the ability of Ten Thousand Faces, One Body could easily cause someone to become addicted to the pleasure of treating all living beings as pieces on a chessboard. Not everyone could resist such temptation.
The cultivators of Restraint Officers' Hall had accidentally discovered Disguise Technique in the tomb of the Hundred-Faced Young Master before it was eventually sold to the Great Dream Technique Pavilion.
Ren Qing digested the information regarding Storyteller, but his brows gradually furrowed.
The Yin Difference realm of Storyteller was called Lecturing Old Master. After hiding within another person's body, it would cause the host's lifespan consumption to double.
The ability of Lecturing Old Master was rather ordinary, but upon reaching the Yang God realm Ancient Storytelling, it carried a deeply unsettling implication.
Ancient Storytelling could indirectly influence the actions of its host.
More accurately, it did not directly interfere with the host. Instead, it could influence the host's blood-related close relatives.
Under the influence of Ancient Storytelling, parents and siblings could inexplicably turn against one another, even employing every possible method to assassinate their own family member. The despair such a situation would bring was unimaginable.
Only a Lone Star of Calamity could create such a terrifying technique, bringing its eerie nature to the fullest extent, leaving people ignorant even of how they died.
If Ancient Storytelling were used on the Insect Nest Matriarch...
Ren Qing could effortlessly control the tens of thousands of Heavenly Dao insect people within the Insect Nest, using the lower ranks to influence the actions of those above them.
Ancient Storytelling was perfectly suited for a mastermind manipulating everything from behind the scenes.
Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on Ren Qing's forehead. The other's mutation path was identical to his own, as their Storyteller abilities were nearly the same.
Could the other's goal be to parasitize the body of the Corpse Immortal?
He had considered this possibility before, but the other's techniques all focused on concealed schemes and hidden arrangements. The Heavenly Aberration realm Ascension Method that the other nurtured would definitely not be compatible with Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal.
Because of that, Ren Qing had not been particularly suspicious. Yet now he suddenly realized that if the other was not coveting the Corpse Immortal's Immortal Position, then perhaps the zombies themselves were part of the layout.
The Yang God realm Storyteller could indirectly control the blood relatives and descendants of its host, and every zombie had been transformed through the Dead Man's Sutra of the Corpse Immortal.
Ren Qing stood up and left his cave abode. Just as he was about to search for the zombies, he calmed himself and instead instructed Li Tiangang to gather the Corpse Vein.
"It's not time for the layout to take effect yet. Earth Immortals aren't that easy to influence."
Ren Qing glanced at the tortoise shell. There were no obvious cracks.
Opening his mouth, he exhaled dense Yin qi. A pool formed before him from condensed ice, filled with gray-black liquefied Yin qi.
His face paled slightly. He then sliced open his wrist, allowing blood to flow into the Yin qi.
Under the effects of Dragon Roar Within the Casket, every drop of blood seemed alive. Mixed with distorted disease strains, it caused the Yin qi to boil violently.
[Yin Corpse Water]
[Condensed from Corpse Fengdu. After consumption, the body gradually approaches the Fengdu Corpse Emperor.]
After confirming the usefulness of Yin Corpse Water, Ren Qing finally relaxed. If it had failed, he would have been forced to directly modify the zombies' constitutions, which would inevitably damage their cultivation aptitude.
Although Yin Corpse Water would cause the zombies and Ren Qing to share fortune and misfortune, at least it would not implicate the Corpse Immortal and thereby allow Storyteller to control them.
Standing beside the pool, Ren Qing carefully considered how he should respond.
A short while later, all the zombies of the Corpse Vein had gathered around the pool. The sound of swallowing echoed endlessly as they stared greedily at the Yin Corpse Water.
Even Corpse Ghost found it difficult to restrain himself, his chest and abdomen rising and falling continuously.
Had they not feared Ren Qing, they would have already thrown themselves into the pool.
Seeing Ren Qing remain silent, Li Tiangang glanced around and realized there were too many people present, so he refrained from asking questions.
Secretly, he contacted Daoist Taihan and Li Yaoyang, instructing them to keep watch over the other cultivators.
Ren Qing's gaze swept across every zombie cultivator, ensuring none were overlooked while searching for traces of Storyteller within the zombie horde.
The facts proved that a mere dozen years was insufficient to influence the Corpse Immortal.
"This is Yin Corpse Water. It can improve the aptitude of zombie bodies. Remember not to drink too much, or your flesh will begin to collapse..."
As Ren Qing spoke, he withdrew his aura. Driven by instinct, Corpse Ghost immediately rushed into the pool and frantically gulped down the Yin Corpse Water.
Tian Fang hurried forward as well, and soon the rest of the zombies threw themselves toward the pool one after another.
After drinking several mouthfuls, Corpse Ghost's body suddenly erupted with the sound of bones colliding. His absorption of Yin qi had indeed increased significantly.
Suppressing the fullness in his stomach, he continued drinking.
Empowered by the Yin qi, the distorted disease strains began mutating the zombie bodies. Meanwhile, the pseudo-draconic blood hidden deep within their flesh gradually erased the traces of the Dead Man's Sutra.
A strange expression appeared on Ren Qing's face.
The Yin qi consumed to modify the constitutions of the Corpse Vein accounted for roughly a quarter of his total reserves.
He could reclaim the Yin qi at any time. Their cultivation was essentially helping him cultivate.
Killing-Life Child reacted a little slower than the others. After hesitating briefly, he approached the pool. Ren Qing immediately stopped one of his bodies.
"Killing-Life Child, don't let this body drink the corpse water. Once everything is finished, go into seclusion in White Bone Land."
Though Killing-Life Child did not understand why, he obeyed Ren Qing without question and joined the process of modifying his bodies.
Ren Qing placed that particular zombie into the Stomach World and sealed it within White Bone Land.
Now that he understood the other's layout, he could use the zombie's body and soul to determine whether the Corpse Immortal had been completely brought under control.
As for why he chose to preserve a clone of Killing-Life Child.
Ren Qing mainly feared that Storyteller's abilities acted too subtly. If used on an ordinary zombie, it might be impossible to notice.
Killing-Life Child was different. Any abnormality affecting one clone would affect the others as well.
Naturally, Ren Qing had no desire to become enemies with that person. The other was simply too difficult to kill.
There was no conflict of interest between them whatsoever. In fact, many of the other's techniques had provided Ren Qing with considerable assistance. In a sense, there was even a master-disciple relationship between them.
Under Ren Qing's watchful eyes, every zombie completed its transformation before returning to construction work throughout the cave network.
Li Tiangang could not help asking, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Massaging the bridge of his nose with a headache, Ren Qing continued, "One year. We leave the Beast Pen within one year. It's time to head to the Longevity Forbidden Zone."
"So urgent?"
"It can't be helped. This is the Beast Pen, after all."
Ren Qing did not know the specifics of the other's plan, but the lair of the Supreme Heavenly Demon was certainly no place to linger. If something truly happened, there might not even be enough time to escape.
A scheme of this scale would need at least several decades, perhaps even a century, to mature. One year was more than enough.
Li Tiangang hurried away. There would be much work ahead. Some of the resource operations already established needed to be transferred into the Stomach World. Reduced production was still better than no production.
Ren Qing could not help but feel conflicted. Having discovered the other's arrangement in advance, he could vaguely guess that the plan involved using the Corpse Immortal to control the zombies.
Yet in this world, only the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone and Restraint Officers' Hall could support the existence of zombies.
Restraint Officers' Hall was an unexpected participant that had entered the game by accident. It definitely had not been part of the original plan.
With the destruction of the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, where could even a single zombie still exist outside? Logically, there should no longer be any pieces left on the board, but...
A complicated expression crossed Ren Qing's face.
The true bodies of several hundred cultivators in the Mirror World all possessed the Corpse Refinement Method. Some had died and transformed into zombies. The moment they left, they would become active pieces upon the chessboard.
These pieces were scattered throughout various factions. The power they could exert was even more terrifying than imagined.
The problem was that Ren Qing hadn't known any of this before.
He was truly the little brother among little brothers