Ren Qing had not experienced such a long and peaceful period of seclusion in a very long time. Not only was the Restraint Officers' Hall flourishing, he himself was also steadily absorbing all kinds of nourishment.
The disturbances in Jingzhou grew increasingly intense, while Xiangxiang instead recovered its former vitality.
Vegetation covered the old official roads that had once led to the towns. After only a few decades, all traces of human habitation had vanished.
The wetlands continued shrinking, while the Endless Forest in the south kept expanding.
With one retreating and the other advancing, Xiangxiang almost seemed to be shifting its location, gradually drawing closer to Jingzhou. Before long, the entire landscape would be unrecognizable.
Ren Qing made no attempt to interfere. After all, once he attained immortality, even reshaping the environment of an entire region would be effortless.
He devoted himself entirely to cultivation. Before he knew it, ten years had passed since his return to Xiangxiang.
To Ren Qing, it had felt like a long and monotonous dream. Even the passage of a hundred years would not have affected him much.
He slowly opened his eyes, and a glimmer of light flashed through the dim cave dwelling.
The cracks covering the tortoise shell had finally healed almost completely, enough to withstand the twenty thousand years of lifespan required for Heaven and Earth Genesis to advance into the Heavenly Aberration Realm.
The weakness brought by the retreat of Heavenly Dao Transformation left Ren Qing feeling somewhat unaccustomed.
An ordinary Weird Immortal without as many immortal positions supporting them as Ren Qing would be like a terminally ill patient, utterly incapable of contending against a Turbid Immortal.
He then patiently meditated for several more days. Only after ensuring his condition was flawless did he summon the information flow for Heaven and Earth Genesis.
[Advance to Heavenly Aberration Realm? This will consume 20,000 years of lifespan.]
He had considerable expectations for Stomach World's promotion into the Heavenly Aberration Realm. After all, the immortal position "Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor" had yet to fully reveal its potential.
With only the Heavenly Court and the Underworld, Stomach World still felt incomplete.
In Ren Qing's view, the potential of Heaven and Earth Genesis, this Ascension Method, far exceeded imagination. It might even become the very foundation upon which he would stand after becoming an immortal.
He took a deep breath as the Heavenly Dao Cracks across the tortoise shell began spreading once more.
Consuming twenty thousand years of lifespan still amounted to more than two-fifths of his current maximum lifespan. The Heavenly Dao Transformation remained severe.
Stomach World itself remained calm, but dramatic changes erupted within the Heavenly Court and the Underworld.
The Heavenly Court had grown only slightly over the past decades, reaching merely twelve or thirteen li across. Yet under the stimulation of the Heavenly Aberration Realm, it now expanded rapidly.
Above the Restraint Officer Palace, a blood-red moon appeared in the sky. Countless strange entities were born beneath it: hundred-meter elephant-headed humans, opossums with human arms and legs, wolves whose skeletons grew outside their flesh...
Although these strange entities appeared ferocious, their flesh and bones were first-rate cultivation resources for practitioners of the Restraint Officer Method.
Within the Heavenly Dao Palace, the spiritual veins began merging together. One could vaguely make out the swelling mountain ranges taking on the shape of Heavenly Dao Insects as they continuously roamed beneath the earth.
Even Daoist Taihan would marvel at the richness of the Nether Yuan.
The Underworld likewise sank deeper as dense Yin Qi erupted upward.
The Yellow Springs resembled a giant dragon twisting through the depths of the earth's veins. What had once been little more than a river had now become a mighty waterway.
Surging waters crashed against the banks, carrying countless Nether Souls with every splash.
The Corpse Vein hurriedly rescued the affected resource sites. Nether Souls could be seen mixed among them, though most remained only at the Half-Corpse Realm.
The Nether Souls had already begun cultivating the Marsh Method, giving them increasingly sinister appearances.
The characteristics of Three Flowers Gathering at the Apex and Five Qi Returning to Origin suited the ethereal Marsh Immortals well enough. On Nether Souls, however, they produced the exact opposite effect, making them appear incomparably terrifying.
Because they could travel back and forth so conveniently, the Nether Souls had once again assumed the roles of Black and White Impermanence, responsible for guiding the souls of the dying from the Mortal World.
During these fifty years within Stomach World, countless people had died. The Underworld had become packed with corpses.
Now that Heaven and Earth Genesis had reached the Heavenly Aberration Realm, the Underworld began evolving into three separate layers, with each lower level becoming even more suitable for cultivation.
Ren Qing silently sensed Stomach World's transformation. The sense of unfamiliarity he once felt toward the strange entity gradually disappeared, as though it had once again become one of his internal organs.
His consciousness involuntarily entered Stomach World.
At the center of the Mortal World stood Wuwei City, now home to at least one and a half million people. Their way of life had largely returned to that of the original Sanxiang City.
The remaining population was scattered throughout Stomach World. The Restraint Officers' Hall alone governed thirteen cities, in addition to countless villages.
The various foreign races had also developed quite well. The demon-kind had already established cities of their own.
The Cocoonfolk gathered beside volcanoes, tempering their skin with blazing heat. Their leader, Sensheng, had already reached the verge of Ghost Envoy Realm perfection.
Ren Qing's consciousness then moved across the boundless Wine Sea, whose biodiversity had already become comparable to the Pacific Ocean from his previous life.
The Merfolk had settled among the coral reefs, though conflicts between tribes still persisted.
They favored ornaments crafted from giant seashells. Judging from the carved patterns, Kunpeng had already become their totem.
Ren Qing spread his consciousness across every corner of Stomach World.
He saw Song Zongwu sweeping the temples within the Heavenly Realm, Li Tiangang handling official affairs, Huang Ziwan beaming after breaking through to the Yin Difference Realm, Miss Bai preparing to advance into the Yang God Realm, Li Yaoyang researching combinations of Gu insects...
Ren Qing could not help but sigh.
Stomach World had now truly become part of himself.
The Heavenly Aberration Realm had been achieved.
**Heaven and Earth Genesis (Return to One)**
**Immortal Body:** Myriad Phenomena Return to One (Pseudo)
**Divine Ability:** Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth
**Immortal Position:** Zhenyuan Earth Ancestor (Pseudo)
Just as he was about to inspect Heaven and Earth Genesis further, his consciousness suspended in the sky suddenly took root.
Countless invisible roots grew thicker over time, piercing straight into the earth until they spread throughout all of Stomach World.
Immediately afterward, tender shoots sprouted from his consciousness, while the trunk surged into the heavens. The clouds became its leaves, and the Heavenly Court resembled bird nests resting among the branches.
Even the Plague Dream Tree within his Mud Pellet Palace intertwined with it.
Apart from Ren Qing himself, no one else noticed the phenomenon occurring within Stomach World.
He quietly observed the giant tree and muttered to himself,
"So Stomach World's Heavenly Dao actually takes the form of a tree."
He fell silent.
As Zhenyuanzi, how could there not be a Ginseng Fruit Tree?
The Heavenly Dao had been born after the strange entity Myriad Phenomena World fused with Ren Qing's body. It was essentially another self, comparable to a clone.
Closing his eyes, Ren Qing absorbed the information transmitted by Myriad Phenomena World, and delight immediately filled his heart.
As the Heavenly Dao, Myriad Phenomena World contained something similar to an immortal position: an "Immortal Office." Though heavily restricted, Heaven and Earth Genesis had only just entered the Heavenly Aberration Realm.
An Immortal Office differed fundamentally from an immortal position. It could not allow someone in the Heavenly Aberration Realm to break through into the Earth Immortal Realm.
Instead, it represented Stomach World's Heavenly Dao recognizing a living being, granting its holder certain blessings.
The blessings primarily affected cultivation itself, including greater clarity of thought, deeper comprehension, a calmer mind less susceptible to cultivation deviation, and a body and soul more resistant to strange entities.
When casting techniques, one would also gain the recognition of the Heavenly Dao, increasing their power by at least thirty percent.
Immortal Offices themselves were divided into different ranks, with each rank determining the degree of Heavenly Dao blessing.
At present, there were three categories.
The Ghost Immortal Office, allowing one's Yin Spirit to transcend after death.
The Human Immortal Office, immune to plague and evil.
The Earth Immortal Office, incapable of dying within the mortal world.
After obtaining an Immortal Office, a cultivator was effectively an immortal, though only while inside Stomach World. Outside, it would have no effect whatsoever.
Ren Qing felt no disappointment. Instead, his breathing quickened.
At the Heavenly Aberration Realm, Heaven and Earth Genesis could bestow only a limited number of Immortal Offices: one Earth Immortal Office, four Human Immortal Offices, and twelve Ghost Immortal Offices.
Among them, the Earth Immortal Office allowed its holder, after dying within Stomach World, to reincarnate through the Heavenly Dao, being reborn from the womb of an intelligent lifeform. As their cultivation advanced, memories from their previous life would gradually return.
As the Heavenly Dao itself, Ren Qing naturally possessed influence over every holder of an Immortal Office.
Even if they were outside Stomach World, he could still sense their precise locations, and could even cast techniques across vast distances through the Immortal Office.
He could strip away an Immortal Office at any time, or promote and demote its rank as he wished.
Rather than considering how to distribute the available offices, Ren Qing's consciousness returned to his true body as he eagerly headed for the Longevity Restricted Zone.
His target was not the Sitting-Deer Fruit Position within the Little Thunderclap Temple.
He stood before the grave mound wrapped in white bones, his expression filled with meaning.
A gust of Yin wind swept by.
Ren Qing vanished from the spot and reappeared before Fengshen Boqiang, whose body continued undergoing endless mutation and distortion.
He stared at the immortal position for a long time before stepping within ten meters.
Ignoring the mind-eroding winds, Ren Qing reached out and touched Boqiang's corpse, instantly feeling an indescribable Heavenly Dao Transformation invading both body and soul.
A translucent seed appeared in his open palm.
Ren Qing attempted to fuse a Ghost Immortal Office into Fengshen Boqiang's immortal position.
He encountered some resistance, but it was slight.
Joy appeared on his face.
He switched to a Human Immortal Office, and the immortal position's resistance immediately became even weaker.
The instant the two merged, Ren Qing sensed the existence of Fengshen Boqiang's immortal position. Although the difference in cultivation prevented him from exerting influence over it, that would change.
Once Heaven and Earth Genesis advanced into the Earth Immortal Realm, the role of the Immortal Offices would only become more significant.
Leaving the Longevity Restricted Zone, Ren Qing stood atop the mountain and stared fixedly toward Jingzhou.
Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal's transformation into a Turbid Immortal had already become inevitable.
If he himself advanced to Earth Immortal, something similar would likely happen.
Ren Qing had no desire to attain immortality only to face an overwhelming danger immediately afterward.
After all, this world was only so large, like a prison from which there was no escape.
Once the curtain was lifted, countless forces would inevitably participate, willingly or unwillingly, in the struggle over immortal positions.
Those in the Heavenly Aberration Realm dared not covet immortal positions because they feared attracting the attention of Turbid Immortals.
Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal was the perfect example.
Though also a Weird Immortal, it had hidden within Jingzhou's earth veins for thousands of years, only to end up succumbing to Heavenly Dao Transformation anyway.
Ren Qing understood well that one of humanity's innate flaws was the herd mentality.
If several people attempted to attain immortality at the same time, then the risk posed by the Turbid Immortals would naturally be spread among them.
How could the Heavenly Aberration Realm experts hiding in the shadows not go mad?
Who wouldn't want to attain immortality?
Even if devouring an immortal position to break through into the Earth Immortal Realm came with certain drawbacks.
Ren Qing had already sensed the coming tide ahead of everyone else.
He could certainly try to stop it.
But doing so would only bring him disadvantages.
He needed fellow travelers.
More precisely, he needed to attract martyrs willing to sacrifice themselves to the Heavenly Dao.
What Ren Qing had always struggled with was whether, when the great tide arrived, he should preserve only himself or become the player moving the pieces across the board.
After Heaven and Earth Genesis advanced into the Heavenly Aberration Realm, that dilemma resolved itself.
Now that he possessed the ability to plant hidden measures within immortal positions, all he needed to do was fan the flames and let the great tide sweep across this world.
It might last for several thousand years.
But Ren Qing had already made the first move.
This game was called...
The War of Enfeoffing Immortals.