After Song Zongwu left, Ren Qing pondered the recent major actions of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
It took him quite a while to gather his thoughts, and he resumed cultivation while patiently waiting for Song Zongwu's reply.
To his surprise, two days later, a Nether Crow brought him news.
Whatever deal Song Zongwu struck with the Great Dream True Person, the latter had indeed approved Ren Qing's request to open a shop in the Ghost Market.
However, the Restraint Officers' Hall would offer him no help whatsoever. If Ren Qing wanted to use Twin Nightmare Ghosts to influence the dreamscape of the Ghost Market, he'd have to figure it out himself.
Ren Qing was overjoyed and immediately ended his seclusion to prepare.
The Ghost Market opened once every fifteenth of the lunar month. Running a shop wouldn't hinder his cultivation at all, and it might allow him to earn Blood Crystals and lifespan.
He stroked his chin thoughtfully. If he could gain the approval of the Great Dream True Person through this...
Adding that to Song Zongwu and Zhun, perhaps he could truly become a full-fledged Restraint Officer ahead of schedule.
Of course, that was all speculation. Possessing a soul that could enter the Ghost Market was already an immense challenge.
And he still had to figure out the problem of artifact forging.
With only a few days left until the Ghost Market opened, he calmed himself and stayed in the Secret Pavilion, using ancient texts to study the techniques of artifact refinement.
The Secret Pavilion had no shortage of books on the subject, but he soon found that the relevant texts were kept on the fourth floor.
That level was restricted to full Restraint Officers.
Ren Qing stood at the base of the third-floor staircase, peering upward with frustration.
The head in the jar suddenly opened its eyes and stared at Ren Qing. Bubbles rose from its mouth, and its eerie gaze made his hair stand on end.
Ren Qing hesitated but didn't back down.
With the Ghost Market about to open, missing this opportunity would mean waiting another month, and what if the Great Dream True Person changed his mind by then?
"Senior... is there any chance you could make an exception?"
The head in the jar drank all the water, then rasped in a hoarse voice, "Kakakaka... So you've reached the Ghost Envoy Realm?!"
"Yes, Senior."
Goosebumps rose all over Ren Qing. A cultivator who had dismembered themselves for the sake of training was terrifying to behold.
"Two stones of Blood Crystal. One day, max."
The head made the offer without the slightest room for negotiation.
Ren Qing twitched at the mouth. Painful as the cost was, the fee wasn't unreasonable, just that one day was far too short.
"If you stay silent, I'll take that as a refusal."
"No, Senior."
He obediently retrieved the Blood Crystals. Just as he was about to use the Great Miao Blade to slice off three stones' worth, the crystals flew from his hand as if magnetized.
The head bit off what it needed and spat the rest back.
Ren Qing weighed the returned pieces and found them about right. He smiled awkwardly and climbed to the fourth floor of the Secret Pavilion.
The head watched his retreating figure, muttered something to itself, and fell back asleep.
The fourth floor of the Secret Pavilion wasn't as empty as the first three. Several Restraint Officers were quietly reading in corners.
Ren Qing's arrival didn't draw any attention.
He randomly picked up a book, it covered the properties of various materials.
Aside from that, the fourth floor had texts on the drawbacks of supernatural techniques, like how the Black Arm Method used by Zhang Mu caused poison gas to seep from one's pores.
Ren Qing raced against the clock.
He first found information about Poison Toad Skin, a material producible by many techniques and relatively cheap.
However, fusing it with Flesh Stone required activating its organic properties, then applying evenly heated Flesh Stone powder.
The difficulty lay mostly in handling Flesh Stone, which required extremely precise technique.
Ren Qing felt that, with the capabilities of his Double Pupils, crafting such an artifact wouldn't be difficult.
Beyond that, many of the crafting methods were disturbing.
One common method involved growing artifacts in the wombs of mother beasts, feeding them various materials during gestation to produce lifelike tools.
He wondered if this could be simulated within a dream.
There were also methods like Coffin-Nurtured Tools, Filth-Fed Artifacts, and Ancestor-Sacrificed Implements...
To be safe, he began reading basic books on artifact forging to absorb the experience of those who came before.
He didn't leave the Secret Pavilion until nearly twelve hours had passed, reluctant to go.
Crafting artifacts sounded simple, but was in fact incredibly intricate, it would take great effort to master.
Even just combining materials was like solving complex math problems.
The crafting techniques themselves were almost secondary.
Back at the Corpse Burners' Hall, Ren Qing compiled his notes and took every opportunity to question familiar Restraint Officers for indirect insights.
He even went to Liu Hu's forge to request some basic materials to practice his forging techniques.
Before long, he had grasped the basics.
But before he could delve deeper, the Ghost Market was already at hand.
Ren Qing had no choice. He arrived early at the clearing in the northern forest of the Forbidden Hall and waited, just in time to meet up with Zhang Mu.
Zhang Mu's right arm was wrapped in layers of bandages, pale purple from the poison seeping through.
But this was merely a temporary fix. In time, the poison could corrode even the bandages.
Though a cultivator, Zhang Mu was already over forty and had a family. The downsides of the Black Arm Method were a serious burden.
The two of them waited amid dozens of other Restraint Officers. Soon, that dreamy, illusory marketplace once again slowly appeared.
Now that Ren Qing had advanced in Twin Nightmare Ghosts, he could faintly sense the immense pressure the Ghost Market exuded, no doubt a result of the Butterfly Dream Technique.
His expression grew slightly envious. If he could master the Butterfly Dream Technique, it would greatly amplify Twin Nightmare Ghosts.
But that would come down to fate.
Restraint Officers began entering the Ghost Market. Zhang Mu whispered, "Ren Qing, let's head to the Great Dream Pavilion to buy materials first. We'll consider crafting later."
"Let's go."
Ren Qing returned to his senses. The two stepped in, one after the other.
Looking around, nothing in the Ghost Market had changed. There were only a handful of buildings, and aside from the Great Dream Pavilion and a tavern, the others were desolate.
Guesthouses and similar establishments saw little traffic, their business was clearly poor.
Zhang Mu eagerly went to buy materials. Ren Qing followed close behind.
The moment he stepped into the Great Dream Pavilion, his perspective shifted, it felt like he was in a store filled with materials. Behind the counter stood the hazy figure of the Great Dream True Person.
Ren Qing didn't rush. He calmly stocked up on everything he needed for cultivation.
He replenished his stock of Stone Eyes and bought some wolf blood, spending most of his Blood Crystals in one go.
"Senior Great Dream, I hope I'm not being presumptuous."
Ren Qing proceeded to explain his plan to open a shop.
But the Great Dream True Person gave no response. The distorted light made it hard to gauge his reaction.
After a long while, Ren Qing used Twin Nightmare Ghosts to separate his soul from his body and cautiously observed his surroundings.
From the soul's perspective, the shop wavered between real and illusory, and the Great Dream True Person flickered like he might vanish at any moment.
"Senior Great Dream, how can I open a shop?"
Ren Qing tried to communicate again, but still got no reply.
He stepped out of the Great Dream Pavilion and walked onto the bustling street.
Through the soul's eyes, the Ghost Market's residents seemed completely real, while the Restraint Officers appeared strangely fake.
Clearly, in dreams, reality and illusion were reversed.
Ren Qing slowly made his way toward the edge of the Ghost Market.