Ren Qing recalled the Sanmu Alley that Daoist Fufeng had mentioned and decided to go take a look.
He had thought he would have to ask passersby in order to find it, but as his gaze unintentionally swept over a corner of Morning Street, he immediately understood.
White spirit money fluttered down slowly.
Three woods as punishment, taking death as the coffin.
In Xiangxiang there was a similar saying: "three woods" referred to the three restraints on the neck, hands, and feet of a criminal, and also referred to the coffin used after the criminal's death.
A coffin was carried out of the alley by four people, swaying as it went toward the residential area.
Unless it was an inexplicable violent death, the residents of Morning Street would still bury corpses in their own backyards, which also made it convenient to worship at any time.
Ren Qing waited until the coffin-carrying procession went far away, then stepped into the alley, only to feel that the light immediately became dim.
The sound of sawing wood echoed in the narrow alley; clearly, the business of Sanmu Alley was indeed good.
The coffin shop was located at the end. Whether it was an illusion or not, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop noticeably, the chill piercing to the bone.
Ren Qing's expression became solemn.
He noticed tangible resentment not far away, indicating that Sanmu Alley not only sold coffins, but also likely contained no small number of corpses.
The area of the coffin shop was not large and appeared quite ordinary; inside were piled unused coffins, and an old man was carving the patterns on one of them.
The old man's height was barely over one meter, and his appearance was exceedingly horrifying.
His four limbs were in various stages of rot, his shoulders showed traces of being sewn with steel needles and cotton thread, and flies buzzed tirelessly beside him.
The old man's face was likewise sewn up, his mouth and nose forcibly sealed.
Ren Qing's arrival did not affect the old man's carving movements in the slightest; only his right hand was somewhat uncontrollable, trembling from time to time.
"Damn it."
A soft complaint came from the back of the old man's head, and only then did Ren Qing notice that there was actually a mouth growing on his neck.
The old man put down the tool in his hand and walked to a coffin inside the room.
"What are you standing there for? Help me move the coffin lid."
Ren Qing took a deep look at the old man.
The old man's voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough not to attract the Usurper Dragon.
The other party definitely possessed cultivation, perhaps even at the Nascent Soul stage, but it was restrained, difficult to perceive with the naked eye.
Ren Qing felt a chill in his heart, why was the Crescent Moon Layer so unfathomably deep?
Before the fall of the Wuwei Monastery, there had only been one Heavenly Daozi who had reached the Yang God Realm; the other core disciples were all at Core Formation.
Perhaps it was due to the Blood Moon?
Yet even if the Blood Moon could elevate cultivation realms, it should not have made the Yin Runner Realm so cheap.
Ren Qing's thoughts were in a whirl, and with both hands he gripped the coffin lid and exerted force.
Once the lid came off, a bone-piercing chill rushed toward him; inside the coffin were stacked numerous limbs, all cut cleanly from the root.
The coffin itself was also a magical implement, somewhat similar to the flesh-crafted artifacts of the Wuwei Monastery, except that its materials did not come from corpses.
"Just call me Old Coffin. You don't look like someone buying a coffin, who sent you?"
As Old Coffin spoke, he pulled off his right arm. Dark-red, foul-smelling blood spurted out, the stench intensely acrid.
Ren Qing tentatively replied, "Fufeng..."
Old Coffin nodded.
He did not attempt to stop the bleeding; instead, he began selecting a usable arm.
When the blood from the wound turned bright red, he grabbed an arm and expertly stitched it on.
"You're not even at the Qi Refining stage, your limbs are worthless, I won't take them."
Ren Qing was slightly stunned. The shop that Daoist Fufeng had taken note of despite his madness was actually one that trafficked in limbs.
"Old Coffin, could you check on Fufeng's limbs?"
"Hmm?"
Old Coffin furrowed his brows, unconsciously scrutinizing the man before him.
In all his years on Morning Street, this was his first time encountering someone interested in limbs, and he couldn't help but feel a trace of curiosity.
But when Old Coffin casually observed further, he discovered that Ren Qing's constitution was extremely strange.
His True Yuan was so faint it might dissipate at any moment, his ribs intact and not appearing as though he was naturally able to cultivate, yet there was an odd...
How to put it, whereas normal cultivators adapted themselves to True Yuan, this person was the complete opposite.
Old Coffin put down his tool and said in a gentler tone, "What's your name?"
"Ren Qing."
"I don't recognize any Fufeng. The limbs are all in the coffin. Look for them yourself."
"Many thanks, Old Coffin."
Ren Qing reached into the coffin artifact and began to grope around; streams of information surged before his eyes, and soon he learned a great deal of clues.
The limbs bore varying degrees of aberration; the techniques cultivated were not all the same, but they seemed to all be adaptations of introductory Heavenly Dao Methods.
Yet without exception, these techniques did not require coordination with the Heavenly Dao Worm.
Then where did the True Yuan come from?
Ren Qing turned over Fufeng's arm at the bottom of the coffin artifact.
The skin of the arm was covered with scars, it seemed Fufeng had cut away the traces of aberration, attempting to slow down the corruption of his body.
"He must have very much wanted to return to the New Moon Layer, even to the point of self-mutilation."
Ren Qing closed the coffin lid again and couldn't help turning to ask, "Old Coffin, what can limbs be exchanged for here?"
Old Coffin narrowed his eyes and replied, "Make a request within my ability."
"Heh heh, but you must first hand over the limbs to me. As for whether the request can be fulfilled, that actually doesn't depend on me."
Ren Qing nodded.
After coming to the Crescent Moon Layer, Daoist Fufeng had been searching for a way to leave, but unfortunately, until his dying breath, he found no clue and had no choice but to seek Old Coffin's help.
But how could Old Coffin possibly achieve that? Daoist Fufeng had ultimately died in a foreign land.
Old Coffin suddenly spoke: "If you wish to sell limbs, you can first improve your cultivation and come to me again after reaching Foundation Establishment."
"I still have matters to attend to, I'll take my leave. I'll strive to reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible."
Ren Qing immediately agreed, but what he actually thought of was the cultivator in the Restraint Officers' Hall who had beastified into a gecko, perhaps he could supply limbs endlessly.
Just as he stepped to the shop door, he turned back and said, "Old Coffin, may I ask, how many aberrant entities are there on Morning Street?"
Old Coffin slightly shook his head: "There are three aberrant entities, one is the Usurper Dragon, fond of eavesdropping, so one must always speak softly."
"The second is Hu Yi, fond of peeping, at night you must keep the lights on indoors."
"And... remember, there are no night watchmen on Morning Street, absolutely no night watchmen three meters tall, if you encounter one, leave immediately."
Ren Qing did not continue questioning; their relationship was not yet close enough.
He quickly walked out of the alley, feeling the blazing sunlight on his face, the chill from Sanmu Alley was thus dispelled quite a bit.
Inside the shop, Old Coffin opened a coffin, took out a book, and began flipping through it. After a long while, he muttered to himself:
"No ribs, blood like silver, skin thin as cicada wings, blue flowers gathered beneath the dome..."
"If not for the record of the naturally born Immortal Bone, I'd have thought I'd struck fortune."
...
Ren Qing was half-convinced by what Old Coffin had said, but one thing was certain, that Morning Street was extremely dangerous and he had to be even more cautious.
The aberrant entities likely possessed Nascent Soul-level cultivation; most importantly, they were No Shadow, leaving no trace, there was almost no way to reach their true bodies.
Who knew how such monsters were formed? And what if their numbers grew further?
Upon returning to the courtyard, Ren Qing immediately began hurriedly arranging defenses.
He reinforced all the courtyard walls, tied copper bells at the exits, and sealed all the windows completely, leaving not a single gap.
Although he did not fear fighting aberrant entities, at the moment it would truly not be worth the cost.
By the time Ren Qing finished, night had already fallen; the street was deserted, and only strange insect cries could be heard.
The candlelight was lit, illuminating the narrow side room brightly.
The ghost shadow stretched out its body, silently guarding Ren Qing.
Ren Qing's attention was within the Prison Within the Abdomen, his soul fragment stood upon the island at the lake's heart, while the Heavenly Dao Dream Seed floated in midair.
Since it was not the true body performing the technique, and since the Heavenly Dao Dream Seed was not a Soul Butterfly, constructing the Ghost Market was indeed somewhat difficult.
He could only keep trying again and again.
When Ren Qing thought of Old Coffin, he understood that there must be quite a few cultivators secretly hidden within Morning Street; thus, the Ghost Market could indeed serve its purpose.
Although he did not intend to expose himself yet, he still had to prepare in advance.
Dim light and shadow condensed over the island in the lake's center; the Heavenly Dao Dream Seed was pushed to its limit, and several dilapidated buildings faintly took shape.
Tian A rode the husky on the shore, howling and yelping, greatly intrigued by the Ghost Market.
But just as the structures were about to take form, the Ghost Market collapsed in the blink of an eye.
Ren Qing did not feel regret; compared with the natural success of the Soul Butterfly, using the Dream Seed to construct the Ghost Market undoubtedly required immense patience.
He continued to focus his effort until, from afar, came the sound of a gong being struck, accompanied by a hoarse, low, strange chant.
"The weather is dry, beware of fire."
Ren Qing opened his eyes and listened carefully, tracking where the night watchman was moving through Morning Street.
The night watchman's speed was startlingly fast; in a single breath it crossed several hundred meters, as though teleporting from nowhere.
However, when it came to the northern part of the street, it seemed to deliberately pause for half a breath.
Ren Qing listened through the wall for several hours, and only when the sound of the gong disappeared did he return his attention to the Prison Within the Abdomen.
As he continued exploring, he attempted to modify the Nether Technique into something similar to the Qingfeng Qi Refining Method, so that True Yuan could be absorbed without relying on the Heavenly Dao Worm.
But no matter how Ren Qing altered it, the information flow never acknowledged it; even copying the content exactly did not work.
Suddenly he realized that he might have fallen into a misconception.
How could the Heavenly Dao Method possibly exist apart from the Heavenly Dao Worm? The two were intimately connected.
If that was the case, then how were the cultivators of Jingzhou able to cultivate Heavenly Dao Methods...
Wait, the Blood Moon hadn't completely erased the Heavenly Dao Worm. It was possible that Jingzhou was still caught between two opposing forces.
The Blood Moon and the Heavenly Dao Worm restrained each other, which in turn provided a gap that Ren Qing could exploit.
[Earth Immortal Stage: The Heavenly Dao Worm merges with the earth and mountains, nurturing spiritual veins to accelerate the growth and development of larvae, and attracting cultivators to come.]
If at the Earth Immortal Stage the Heavenly Dao Worm could spread True Yuan throughout the air, then cultivators living in such a blessed land indeed would not need to rely on Heavenly Dao Worms.
However, the roles of cultivators and Heavenly Dao Worms seemed to have reversed, the cultivators had become the parasites, while the Heavenly Dao Worm provided nourishment.
No wonder there were even Nascent Soul-level cultivators on Morning Street.
In theory, cultivators could even reach the Ascension Stage equivalent to the Heavenly Abomination Realm; but since they lacked parasitic Heavenly Dao Worms, they were far weaker than those of the same realm using the Restraint Officer Method.
Ren Qing furrowed his brows tightly.
If he did not cultivate the Heavenly Dao Method, he would indeed stand out like a crane among chickens.
No, he needed to come into contact with those modified Heavenly Dao Methods, and then create one suited to himself, pretending to blend into the group.