Jingzhou

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Jingzhou (荆州)
Status	Active; an unstable, multi-layered territory governed by overlapping Immortal-position rules 539 575
First Appearance	134

History

Heavenly Dao Worm era

Before its collapse, Jingzhou had an unusually high proportion of cultivators, with mortals widely seeking entry into the Dao of Non-action Monastery. The Heavenly Dao Hall once hung in the sky above Qingyan Town, visible to ordinary people. 134 244

The Son of Heavenly Dao was driven mad after the Heavenly Dao Worm catastrophe. His failed attempt to break free from the swarm nevertheless crippled it, allowing the blood moon to invade Jingzhou while the remaining Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm was left isolated. 134 281

Blood moon layers

Jingzhou initially appeared deceptively ordinary to Ren Qing: villagers had never heard of a second moon, and many possessed eighteen to twenty-four ribs rather than the six-rib physique associated with Heavenly Dao Worm parasitism. 240

Its reality was instead divided into layers associated with phases of the blood moon. Anomalies could pull people into deeper layers; the New Moon Layer showed little worm-like mutation, while the Waning Moon Layer was occupied by Anomalous entities. 246 258

The Full Moon Layer contained the blood moon's deeper domain. By this point, the local Heavenly Dao Worms appeared extinct except for the independent Earth Immortal Heavenly Dao Worm. 281

Jailer Hall intervention

The Jailer Hall entered Jingzhou amid the spread of demonic energy and Anomalous phenomena, establishing Wuwei City near the border with the Water Marsh. Jingzhou's resources accelerated cultivator advancement, but its dangers rapidly outgrew the Hall's initial foothold. 282 292 312

As the blood moon's influence intensified, it replaced the sun over Jingzhou with blood-red light. Heavenly Demon aura, Rabbit Toad Cultivators, and widespread mutations made the region increasingly uninhabitable, prompting plans to evacuate Xiangxiang. 365 364

Immortal-position transformation

Jingzhou later became a rainforest-like forbidden zone whose rules were not explained by the Blessed Earth Immortal and Taiyin Star Lord alone. A third, insect-related Immortal position was also involved. 537 539

Within its boundary, Eerie Objects could transform into gu worms; this mutation ceased once they left Jingzhou. The territory's rules also produced abrupt seasonal shifts, dense poisonous vegetation, and insect life carrying traces of spell power. 539

Worm Cultivator cycle

Jingzhou's apparent inhabitants possessed coherent memories and ordinary daily lives, yet many had unusually powerful souls, crude gu worms, and extremely limited lifespans. Ren Qing concluded that the population had been recreated from ancient times through Immortal-position influence. 541

As lifespans depleted, the population suffered rapid bodily decay, memory loss, and death. Rumors that gu worms could extend life drove widespread, reckless conversion into Worm Cultivators. 547

When the Worm Cultivators died, their souls entered a deeper Full Moon Layer. There, the dead reappeared as ordinary people in a violent inner world, unaware of their surface lives; Ren Qing identified the surface Worm Cultivators as “penitents” seeking to return to that inner layer. 556

Buddhist upheaval

The Inner Layer World later destabilized as Jingzhou's lake expanded, mountains enclosed the region, and Buddha energy receded. Cultivators attempting to escape lost the souls from their Niwan Palaces and died immediately. 582

After the crisis, Jingzhou was emptied of cultivators. Ren Qing identified the insect-related Immortal position sealed within its mountains as the Silkworm Mother Insect Immortal, while evidence suggested that Dinguang Buddha energy and the Three Lives Buddha's influence were also tied to the wider scheme. 584 585

Environment and rules

• Layered reality — Blood moon phases correspond to separate layers of Jingzhou; the Full Moon Layer is among its deeper worlds. 246 556
• Forbidden-zone behavior — Its rules can alter climate, ecology, power systems, and even the nature of Eerie Objects. 539
• Gu worm conversion — Eerie Objects become gu worms inside Jingzhou, becoming active but remaining controllable by sufficiently powerful cultivators. 539
• Rapid ecological change — The territory has shifted from mountains, forests, and plains into a humid rainforest filled with oversized vegetation and poisonous insects. 539
• Accelerated lifespan depletion — Ancient inhabitants experience an indiscriminate shortening of life, followed by physical failure, memory loss, and death. 547
• Soul-bound borders — During the Inner Layer World's collapse, crossing Jingzhou's enclosing mountains caused cultivators' souls to vanish from their Niwan Palaces. 582

Inhabitants

• Jingzhou mortals — Early-layer residents appeared physically closer to ordinary humans than the six-ribbed bodies expected of Heavenly Dao Worm hosts. 240
• Dao of Non-action Monastery cultivators — The monastery's remaining inheritance persisted in Qingyan Town despite its decline; its cultivators ranged primarily from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, with Core Formation cultivators scarce. 259
• Anomalous cultivators — The Waning Moon and Gibbous Moon layers housed groups such as the Qingqiu cultivators, who retained overt fox-like demonic forms. 258 269
• Worm Cultivators — Desperate inhabitants fused gu worms into their bodies in pursuit of lifespan and power. Other factions later treated them as resources for Immortal-position experiments. 547 551 552
• Merit Monks and Buddhas — The deeper layers became entangled with Buddhist forces, whose souls and bodies were affected by Jingzhou's changing rules and Dinguang Buddha energy. 582 584

Notable locations

• Qingyan Town — A settlement near the former Dao of Non-action Monastery. Its streets retained artifact and pill shops, though its residents included cultivators and Anomalous beings rather than ordinary mortals. 244 259
• Wuwei City — The Jailer Hall's border stronghold in Jingzhou, built near the Water Marsh and later refined as an Eerie Fetus Artifact. 287 364
• Sanxiang City — A major city where Ren Qing observed factions with disproportionately powerful souls and primitive gu-worm cultivation. 541
• Minghe Teahouse — A teahouse near an execution market that Ren Qing used as a concealed base while operating in Jingzhou. 543 556
• The Inner Layer World — A deeper Full Moon Layer inhabited by deceased Worm Cultivators, where merit, despair, and reincarnation-like passage shape access to further layers. 556