On the way back to camp.
Ren Qing could not help asking Song Zongwu about the Corpse Scripture Song Rong had muttered about before his death.
Song Zongwu murmured the words to himself several times, his brow tightly furrowed. "Could it be the Dead Man Forbidden Zone..."
Ren Qing's thoughts stirred. "What is the Dead Man Forbidden Zone?"
Song Zongwu shook his head. "I only know of it through hearsay."
"No one had mastered any Art related to the Dead Man Forbidden Zone for a long time. However, it was said that beyond the Ten Thousand Mountains north of Sanxiang City lay a Forbidden Zone stretching beyond sight, called Dead Man."
Seeing that the Corpse Scripture involved extending one's lifespan and attaining immortality, Ren Qing could barely suppress the flutter in his heart.
But when he learned that the Dead Man Forbidden Zone might be at the Yang God Realm, he silently shut his mouth.
Even a Ghost Envoy Realm Forbidden Zone, after devouring a great number of Eerie Objects, could threaten the life of a Yin Messenger Realm Jailer.
From this, one could see how unimaginably terrifying a Yang God Realm forbidden zone was.
Still, Ren Qing believed that it did not matter if the Corpse Scripture had been lost. So long as Eerie Objects still existed in this world, he would sooner or later be able to master it through Information Flow.
Ren Qing did not rush to figure out the Demon Seeding Scripture. He planned to wait until the uproar Song Rong had brought subsided somewhat. In any case, they could not seal the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone anytime soon.
The two neared the camp.
Ren Qing discovered that the camp was even more chaotic than he had imagined.
The main reason was that the formation of the Hundred-Eyed Forbidden Zone had swept most of the prisoners inside.
Though the Hundred-Eyed Forbidden Zone had only just formed and not many had died, it had still thrown the prisoners into panic.
The Hundred-Eyed's ability was to create illusions. Once it formed a Forbidden Zone, it could make prisoners feel an unimaginable terror of the abyss. It was already a stroke of luck if they had not been scared out of their wits.
Even after things settled down, they had tried to flee the Karst Cave, causing a disturbance.
Several dozen prisoners had now been detained in the camp under the watch of Forbidden Guards.
Even Xu Shilin was there overseeing them, a dry tobacco pipe clenched between his lips, making him look old beyond his years.
The prisoners trembled from head to toe. Some had fainted on the ground, foaming at the mouth, while the stench of incontinence spread through the air.
Ren Qing hurried forward to learn what had happened. After hearing the details, he immediately rubbed his temples with a headache.
The prisoners seemed to have developed claustrophobia. If they were sent back into the Karst Cave now, they would likely go limp all over. Mining was clearly unrealistic.
Song Zongwu spoke up. "The worst part is that the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone is sinking. If we cannot finish excavating within ten days, the Karst Cave will collapse first."
Ren Qing opened his mouth, then carefully said, "How about using Gu Insects?"
"Li Yaoyang's Gu Insect possession only lasts half a day. These prisoners would all die of exhaustion. Besides, the excavation still needs to be wrapped up, so we have to be even more careful."
Ren Qing pondered a solution. Should he try treating their claustrophobia?
Song Zongwu handed the stone statue to Mu Yi, who protected it with vines, then carried an iron pickaxe and entered the Karst Cave first.
"What are you thinking about? Arrange for the yamen runners to guard the prisoners quickly, then follow us into the cave to excavate."
Ren Qing let out a somewhat helpless sigh.
So this so-called cleanup of the mess was merely preparation for intense mining, meant to keep him from resisting.
Ren Qing truly had no other choice. If something happened with the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone, he would not even know how he died.
Huang Ziwang also obediently entered the mine, though his complexion looked rather grim, nearly turning dark purple.
Just thinking of having to dig continuously for at least seven or eight days made his heart pound in terror.
Under Ren Qing's arrangements, the camp gradually became orderly.
The prisoners were locked in spacious wooden huts and strictly guarded by yamen runners, while everyone else joined the mining work.
Even Forbidden Guards had to do manual labor, so how could the yamen runners dare complain?
Besides, once the work was done, they could leave sooner. How could the wilderness compare to the comfort of Sanxiang City? The level of danger was clearly worlds apart.
The Eerie Objects had left the yamen runners on edge. One look at the dozens of prisoners on the verge of madness was enough to show how terrifying they were.
Not long after Ren Qing entered the Karst Cave.
He found that the surrounding stone walls were trembling slightly, accompanied by falling stone dust. There was indeed a risk of collapse.
Seeing this, Ren Qing had the yamen runners force the prisoners to make wooden supports for bracing the space inside the Karst Cave. Perhaps they could hold out a little longer.
Ren Qing then headed for the mine, leaving the camp in Wang Wen's care.
The Forbidden Guards had already begun digging with great fervor. They no longer cared about tempering themselves, pursuing nothing but efficiency.
Song Zongwu's four arms turned into afterimages as he advanced like a humanoid excavator, the broken rocks flung behind him falling in a storm of wind and rain.
Ren Qing threw himself into the mine and began swinging his blade without pause.
After his battle with Song Rong, his use of the blade had finally barely crossed the threshold. The frequency of his strikes became increasingly steady.
Streams of blade light burst forth.
Ren Qing darted and shifted through the narrow mine tunnel, his figure seeming to chase the blade light as the shrieks of air being torn apart gradually echoed around him.
Before he knew it, Ren Qing's excavation speed had faintly caught up to Huang Ziwang's. Seeing this, Huang Ziwang could only work even harder.
The two put their backs into it so fiercely that the yamen runners could barely transport the rubble in time, forcing them to increase the number of wheelbarrows.
This continued for five days.
Ren Qing immersed himself in mining. Whenever he exhausted his strength, he immediately swallowed Pig Eyes to recover his stamina.
Meanwhile, it was as if the Disaster Aversion Forbidden Zone had noticed that Camel Peak Mountain was being hollowed out, and the disturbances it caused grew increasingly violent.
The cracked wooden pillars in the Karst Cave had to be replaced every day. Even with more than a hundred yamen runners and prisoners combined, there seemed to be too few hands.
As Ren Qing dug deeper, the stone walls grew harder, while his blade technique steadily improved.
The Pig Eyes that had originally been enough for several months vanished at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Ren Qing simply abused his authority and had Hunter collect the eyeballs of all kinds of wild beasts. With Song Rong dead, there was no longer any need for so many concerns.
He had intended to keep digging until the work was finished, but an accident interrupted his rhythm, forcing him to stop for the moment.
To his surprise, the Human Skin Book had touched upon an opportunity for breakthrough through this passive cultivation.
A tingling sensation spread through Ren Qing's skin from within to without. Even if he wanted to suppress the advancement, it was difficult to do so.
That would definitely affect his excavation work. If it went on too long, the other Forbidden Guards would eventually notice something amiss.
Fortunately, whenever Ren Qing rested in the cave, he would go chat with Huang Ziwang.
From him, Ren Qing learned that Skin Refiners did not undergo much aberration. Even when they fought each other, they might not necessarily notice it.
Ren Qing then began preparing to advance the Human Skin Book.
Naturally, he could not do so inside the mine. He had no way to explain why he could advance on his own, so he could only go outside the camp.
Taking advantage of the deep night, Ren Qing went to a place he had selected beforehand in the mountain forest.
Not only was the place rather remote, there were no Gu Insects nearby acting as eyes. Because of the Beast Tide, even wild beasts were difficult to spot.
In the lonely night, only the cries of night crows could be heard.
Ren Qing felt somewhat uneasy.
Advancing on his own would very likely plunge him into tribulation. Fortunately, advancing a low-realm Art did not carry much risk.
But what exactly was a Skin Refiner's ability?
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