The gigantic corpse Buddha had only just stepped into the Corpse-Odor Hills when problems began to occur one after another.
Within the mountain-like piles of corpses were hidden an unknown number of living beings. At every moment, they were watching the gigantic corpse Buddha.
Fortunately, there was the external bone armor brought by the Hard-Bone Disease Seed for protection.
Even though the bone armor only covered the lower half of the body, for living beings to climb up to the abdomen through the corpse qi was almost impossible.
However, it also gave Restraint Officers' Hall a lesson.
If the gigantic corpse Buddha were to collapse in the Corpse-Odor Hills, exposing the cultivators to the outside world, massive casualties would instantly occur.
They could not help but feel as if a sword had been placed over their heads. While obtaining resources, they also realized the risks hidden within.
Before they knew it, several days had passed.
The temporary camp had turned into a bustling market, with busy figures visible everywhere.
After Han Li accepted a mission in Dream City, he immediately rushed to the temporary camp without stopping, then shouted at the top of his voice.
"The mission is to nourish the liver. Reward is three dou of Maitreya Oil. Still need twenty-six people!"
After the organs of the gigantic corpse Buddha fully fused with Martial Practitioner realm strange embryos, they could already begin a new round of nourishment, laying the foundation for the Half-Corpse realm.
This resulted in another manpower shortage in Restraint Officers' Hall.
Not long after Han Li finished speaking, the cultivators noticed a palm-sized silver-white token hanging at his waist and responded one after another.
"I... have a basic understanding of artifact refining."
"A few days ago, I participated in nourishing the intestines."
"I have immense strength and can carry heavy loads."
Han Li looked around. The cultivators in the temporary camp all knew each other, and there was no possibility of falsification, so he selected enough people.
He then hurried away. Similar situations continuously played out in the temporary camp.
The mission acceptance system of Restraint Officers' Hall had undergone a tremendous change, mainly due to reforms issued by Ren Qing.
As a result, most cultivators were no longer able to accept missions.
In times of peace, missions indeed did not need specific requirements. All cultivators could accept them, since efficiency was not a concern.
Now it was different. Time was far too precious.
Cultivators would inevitably accept missions beyond their abilities, and when they could not complete them and had to seek assistance, efficiency would become extremely low.
After Ren Qing deliberately increased the conditions for accepting missions, only thirty to forty cultivators met the requirements, yet efficiency showed a surge.
Of course, everything has two sides.
Cultivators without any particular skills could not participate in missions at all, while those with skills could easily earn abundant rewards.
Ren Qing's solution was to open the various books on artifact refining and alchemy in the Great Dream Technique Pavilion, allowing cultivators to borrow them for free.
Even if one's talent in artifact refining was poor, as long as they understood the steps of nourishing artifacts, they could still participate in some simple missions.
Of course, the rewards would be relatively lower.
Seeing this, the Cishi people gradually began to join Restraint Officers' Hall, though due to their temperament, they inevitably felt out of place among the other cultivators.
Regardless of their willingness, as the area controlled by the gigantic corpse Buddha continued to expand, the Cishi people, who held a numerical advantage, would certainly become a crucial part of Restraint Officers' Hall.
As for the rootless Cocoon People, their attitude was even more decisive, and it could be seen that Sen Sheng was a very clever person.
He knew that to raise the status of the Cocoon People in Restraint Officers' Hall, they had to reach the Half-Corpse realm, so he made use of their physical advantages.
The Cocoon People grew a layer of human skin every year, and with a lifespan far exceeding ordinary people, they became harder to kill the older they got.
Multiple layers of human skin gave them exceptional talent for cultivating the Human Skin Book.
The mutation paths of the Human Skin Book were "Skin Refiner", "Skin Stripper", and "Beast Herder".
Aside from the Beast Herder, which required grafting and stitching animal skins onto the body, the other two were extremely suitable for the Cocoon People, practically tailor-made.
Skin Strippers cultivated by peeling off their own skin to generate pain, while their skin also gained a recovery speed far beyond normal.
Those Cocoon People with dozens or hundreds of layers of human skin could break through to the Half-Corpse realm in a short time.
As for Skin Refiners, they cultivated by using external force to temper the skin, but they feared injuring internal organs, so they usually restrained their strength.
The thick skin of the Cocoon People meant they had no such concerns. Layer upon layer of skin was like wearing numerous magic robes.
Ren Qing could already imagine how difficult it would be to kill a Cocoon Person at the Yin Difference realm, Ghost God Beneath the Skin, after living for several hundred years.
Of course, Cocoon People had weaknesses, and so did Skin Refiners.
For example, internal organs, soul, soul gate, facial features...
But weaknesses could be compensated for, so even the picky Li Tiangang was very optimistic about the potential of the Cocoon People and occasionally personally guided them.
Restraint Officers' Hall had the patience to wait decades for the Cocoon People to develop, but Sen Sheng was eager for quick results.
After reviewing the techniques in the Great Dream Technique Pavilion, Sen Sheng ultimately found an obscure technique for the Cocoon People to dual-cultivate, showing his ambition.
[Year-Year Technique]
[Created by a centenarian before death. Cultivation requires medicinal catalysts to stimulate wound healing. Only when the temples turn white can it be successfully cultivated.]
The Year-Year Technique was a technique that consumed lifespan to accelerate wound healing. As the realm increased, the lifespan consumption became increasingly terrifying.
If that were all, the Year-Year Technique would not have been neglected.
The main issue was that while consuming lifespan, it also aged the body.
Lifespan consumption could be replenished. Restraint Officers' Hall had many methods to extend life, but bodily aging was troublesome even for the Yang Spirit realm.
To restore one's peak condition would likely require a large amount of resources.
For cultivators, it was not worth the cost. Only the Cocoon People could use the drawback of the Year-Year Technique to continuously accumulate layers of skin.
Even though they would inevitably suffer from aging, aside from the elderly Cocoon People, the rest all began cultivating the Year-Year Technique.
It was estimated that before long, Restraint Officers' Hall would gain another batch of Ghost Envoy realm cultivators.
Under Ren Qing's direction, Restraint Officers' Hall was like a machine fitted with brand-new parts, gradually releasing energy far beyond imagination.
In a certain sense, Restraint Officers' Hall was the cells inside the gigantic corpse Buddha.
As the gigantic corpse Buddha underwent mutation and artifactization, it produced more resources, and ultimately the beneficiary was still Restraint Officers' Hall.
Of course, the intestines and stomach region did not lack unfortunate individuals.
Daoist Yuhua, this Heavenly Dao Insect, had become an outsider. He tried several times to join Restraint Officers' Hall but was rejected. He wanted to mix into mission teams, but no cultivator dared to accept him.
He could only continue transporting the excrement of strange beasts in the intestines.
After staying for several days, Daoist Yuhua could not help but miss life in Heaven Above Heaven. At least there, he did not have to deal with filth every day.
In the Insect Nest, such tasks were done by insect beasts cultivated from dead eggs.
He repeatedly comforted himself that his current sacrifice was for the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Insect, and that he could attain the Dao and become immortal in the future.
Unfortunately, nothing could change the stench emitted by the excrement.
Daoist Yuhua could not help but sigh deeply. Since he had no limbs, he directly stored the excrement into a storage pouch.
Although transportation became easier, the storage pouch could not block the foul odor, causing the medicinal pills used for cultivation to develop an increasingly strange smell.
He scattered the excrement at the roots of trees, poured some materials to aid nutrient absorption, and only then left the intestines in a sorry state.
Before Daoist Yuhua reached his residence, he suddenly noticed a person standing before him.
The other party appeared ordinary, yet emitted a detached aura unique to Heavenly Dao techniques. His cultivation felt unfathomably deep.
Daoist Yuhua was stunned for a few breaths before reacting.
"Above is the Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal. This junior Yuhua is an elder of the Insect Nest Daoist sect. It is my honor to meet the true body of an Earth Immortal for the first time."
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes and examined Daoist Yuhua.
The Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal was a term used across Xiangxiang to refer to local earth deities, indicating that the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Insect also had a divine title similar to "Taiyin Star Lord".
Through Daoist Yuhua's memories, Ren Qing already understood this.
The Insect Nest worshipped the Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal, which was equivalent to the Dao Ancestor of Wuwei Daoist Temple. The Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Insect was likely more than one, and "Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal" was more like a general term.
Ren Qing took out a dead Heavenly Dao Insect egg from his sleeve and tossed it to Daoist Yuhua.
"See if this egg can hatch."
The method developed by Li Yaoyang could at most revive the dead egg. Hatching it was clearly far from possible.
After Daoist Yuhua received it, his expression turned extremely terrified.
Could it be that this person was not the Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal, but had accidentally obtained some dead eggs? Then how could the Nether Yuan in the Stomach-Within World be explained...
His thoughts became chaotic, and he nearly lost control.
Seeing Daoist Yuhua's concerns, Ren Qing's shadow wriggled, and the gray-black head of the Ghost Shadow Heavenly Dao Insect emerged.
The pressure from the higher realm of Heavenly Dao techniques nearly forced Daoist Yuhua to kneel, instantly clearing the distracting thoughts in his mind.
Ren Qing knew that the insect eggs of the Insect Nest and Wuwei Daoist Temple were essentially similar, differing only in cultivation systems.
Daoist Yuhua's face flushed red as he respectfully said, "Replying to the Blessed Virtue Earth Immortal."
"It is indeed a dead egg. Normally it can only cultivate mindless insect beasts, but Earth Immortal insect eggs contain vitality, so they can hatch."
He did not hesitate to explain the Insect Nest method to Ren Qing.
Ren Qing had previously obtained Daoist Yuhua's memories through the Stomach-Within World, but there were still omissions, which were now filled in.
Moreover, since it involved his next plan, he had to be more cautious.
Ren Qing was responsible for refining and perfecting the skin and bones, while Restraint Officers' Hall handled the heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Among them, the most important was naturally the heart.
But since it involved the heart, it was necessary to determine a substitute for blood.
Ren Qing planned to take this opportunity to have the gigantic corpse Buddha cultivate the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, using liquefied Nether Yuan as blood to circulate through the body.
On one hand, the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method would be restrained by Ren Qing's Nether Sea Breathing Art. On the other hand, it could prepare for refining a small world in the future.
Of course, to prevent abnormalities in Buddha Qi, the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method should be modified, improving it toward a Buddhist direction.
Ren Qing intended to use the molted shell of the Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Insect as material to refine a Nether Yuan small world, to serve as a Daoist field for high-realm Daoist temple disciples.
But relying on the molted shell alone would not be enough. With about a hundred Heavenly Dao Insect eggs, it would be sufficient, though a massive amount of Nether Yuan would still be needed.
Ren Qing felt that with the size of the gigantic corpse Buddha, if it cultivated the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method, the Nether Yuan produced would be extremely vast.
Filling the blood vessels would require a large amount of Nether Yuan, but the cost could easily be recovered, and the surplus Nether Yuan could be used to refine the Nether Yuan small world.
Seeing Ren Qing's satisfied expression, Daoist Yuhua quickly proposed joining Restraint Officers' Hall.
Ren Qing agreed, and also attached a disease seed to Daoist Yuhua to monitor his actions at all times and prevent any trouble.
He gave a copy of the Insect Nest method to Li Yaoyang, then headed toward the heart region.