Song Zongwu tore apart the robe on his upper body in one grab, revealing the bare skin of his back, which was covered everywhere with dense Buddhist patterns.
Each Buddha was lifelike, as if wrathful Vajra deities struggling to break free from the skin, yet they were firmly bound by Buddhist qi.
All the Buddha figures were old monks riding deer, giving off an inexplicably bizarre feeling.
Ren Qing's pupils shrank slightly.
He was certain that Song Zongwu had not had such exaggerated patterns before; it very likely involved Buddhist techniques, though it was unclear what meaning they carried.
Song Zongwu took a deep breath, and the Buddhist qi he emitted was completely withdrawn.
His gaunt body became full at a speed visible to the naked eye, but his face took on a hint of black-gray, clearly showing that his days were numbered.
"One step lives, one step dies, or step by step living, step by step dying?"
Song Zongwu stood in place waiting for the Corpse Elephant to arrive. The earth trembled accordingly, birds and beasts scrambling to flee into the distance.
Even the demon beasts on the distant mountain peaks could not help but tremble with fear.
They secretly speculated about Song Zongwu's identity. He was familiar with the demon immortal and had been "suppressed" by Buddhist qi inside the White Bone Great Sage; it was very possible that he too was a descended demon immortal.
Stimulated by the Buddhist qi, the Corpse Elephant's speed suddenly increased.
The tremors of the ground intensified, cracks spreading like spiderwebs, and the stench of decay caused grass and vegetation to wither.
It was comparable to the legendary drought demon.
Only after the Corpse Elephant drew near White Bone Mountain did Ren Qing see its full appearance clearly. He could not help but suck in a cold breath, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
The Corpse Elephant was covered in long hair, its flesh completely rotten, carrion birds roosting all over its body, with maggots densely packed everywhere.
What shocked him the most was that the Corpse Elephant's exposed bones were a pale gold color.
Had it been converted by Buddhist qi?!!
Could there be other Buddhist cultivators in Jingzhou?!!
Compared to the Corpse Elephant from a few years ago, it had undergone earth-shaking changes, and its intelligence was faintly discernible.
Roar!!!
The Corpse Elephant's long trunk let out a shrill cry, causing the dark clouds around it to scatter.
Immediately after, countless piercing screams sounded from within its body.
"Save me..."
"Save me..."
"Why won't you come save me?"
"Why..."
Ren Qing's expression turned strange. The source of the sound was on the Corpse Elephant's back.
"Could it be that spine?"
He suddenly realized that before the great upheaval of heaven and earth, he had gone to the corpse zone and even crawled into the Corpse Elephant's body to study the structure of demon markings.
At that time, Ren Qing had casually refined the Corpse Elephant's spine into a ghost embryo artifact...
The answer was soon confirmed. Miserable screams rang out one after another, and the Corpse Elephant's tailbone actually broke free from the flesh encasing it.
Most of the spine was exposed to the air, and the screams became even more piercing.
At the end of each vertebra was connected a half-human, half-elephant demon cultivator, mutually supplying nutrients, forming an extremely bizarre scene.
They should have been the Corpse Elephant cultivators from the corpse zone back then, only now they were covered in blood vessels and meridians, with the brain area being the most densely packed.
It was difficult to define whether they were human, or had already become part of a flesh-and-blood artifact, turning into a kind of alternative lifeform.
The Corpse Elephant cultivators relied on the spine to preserve their consciousness and control the Corpse Elephant's movements.
When Jingzhou underwent its upheaval, they likely discovered that the spine had separated from the Corpse Elephant's main body, so they wanted to cling to life by means of this ghost embryo artifact.
Most likely they tried to refine the ghost embryo artifact, only to be devoured by it instead.
But Ren Qing had to admit that it was precisely because of the demon cultivators' actions that the ghost embryo artifact became complete, making up for its internal deficiencies.
The spine absorbed demonic qi, which the demon cultivators used for storage, allowing the demonic qi to accumulate continuously over time.
In the end, it even allowed the Corpse Elephant, by chance, to break through the Blood Moon's restrictions on aberrations and truly step into the Yang Spirit realm.
The Corpse Elephant cultivators opened their mouths and shouted in unison, "Save me, I beg the Buddha to save me from the sea of suffering, save me..."
Song Zongwu's expression was somewhat complicated as he murmured in a low voice, "Even Buddhas cannot cross the sea of suffering; how could they save the world?"
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes, his heart rate suddenly accelerating.
Why was the Corpse Elephant chasing Buddhist qi, and how did they even know of the existence of Buddhism?
It seemed that from the moment Song Zongwu followed the so-called relics to seek opportunities, an invisible hand had been secretly manipulating everything.
Even Ren Qing, as an onlooker, felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
Could it be that a Buddhist faction was truly interfering?
Song Zongwu seemed wary of something. Even when facing the Corpse Elephant, he did not reveal the slightest trace of Buddhist qi, instead continuously squeezing his body with Restraint Officer techniques.
Ren Qing rubbed the bridge of his nose with a headache.
Even if Song Zongwu were at his peak, he would still be no match for a Yang Spirit realm Corpse Elephant. This trip was likely fraught with danger.
Ren Qing's face was full of helplessness, already considering retreat options.
The Corpse Elephant swept its long trunk toward Song Zongwu, trying to force out the Buddhist qi within him, but the latter nimbly sidestepped the attack.
Song Zongwu let out a low shout.
The sound of bones swelling rang out throughout his body, and he expanded to over four meters tall, his skin taking on a brass-like color resembling a Vajra statue.
Dark, faintly black aberrant patterns covered his skin, and his fangs grew longer and longer.
Even the Hundred Buddha Diagram on his back underwent changes. Each Buddha turned into a ferocious evil ghost, with Buddhist qi suppressed by the nether underworld.
The Corpse Elephant could no longer sense any Buddhist qi, its cries filled with despair.
It stomped the ground repeatedly with its feet, causing nearby hills to collapse, entire swathes of trees uprooted.
Song Zongwu displayed the divine abilities of Yin Messenger consummation, seemingly gaining some kind of physique enhancement, showing that his techniques all acted upon the body.
He stepped forward heavily, creating an even more terrifying momentum than the Corpse Elephant.
Countless碎石 flew into midair, as if gravity had suddenly disappeared.
Song Zongwu appeared above the Corpse Elephant's head, his fist swinging down like a pendulum. The sounds of their collisions echoed endlessly.
Bang!!
A pit caved into the Corpse Elephant's head, rotten flesh splattering everywhere.
Though the injury looked severe, it was nothing to the Corpse Elephant; after all, its body was covered everywhere with similar wounds.
It then swung its long trunk into a hurricane, flattening everything within several hundred meters.
Song Zongwu met it head-on, fists slamming down continuously. The two clashed like sparks colliding with the earth, audible faintly even a hundred li away.
Ren Qing retreated to a safe distance, his thoughts racing.
He could tell that Song Zongwu was already fighting desperately, driving his divine abilities in a near-death state, forcibly squandering his own life.
Yet at the same time, Song Zongwu was exerting all his effort to restrain himself from using Buddhist divine abilities, appearing extremely contradictory.
Ren Qing could find no possibility at all for Song Zongwu to break through his bottleneck. The latter seemed more like he was seeking death, vitality dim, deathly aura pervasive.
Several times Ren Qing wanted to help Song Zongwu, but each time he was met with the latter's resolute gaze, clearly showing that he had long prepared for death.
"If you can't break through, then don't. Even if the body is damaged, you could still cling to life for decades with techniques, maybe you'd even find an opportunity."
But Ren Qing also knew that there was no turning back from attempting to break through to the Yang Spirit realm. Once Song Zongwu gave up, after his essence, qi, and spirit were discharged, there would be no possibility left.
Yet he truly did not want to watch Song Zongwu die before his eyes.
Ren Qing tried to communicate with the Corpse Elephant's spine that had been refined into a ghost embryo artifact, and he really did make contact with the mixed consciousness within.
Dozens of demon cultivators' souls had been forcibly kneaded into a single mass, constantly enduring the erosion of demonic qi, no wonder they were in such agony.
"Save me... save me... save me..."
From the demon cultivators' memories, Ren Qing found the reason the Corpse Elephant sought Buddhist qi.
It was because they had once encountered a mountain composed of glazed crystal. The mountain emitted Buddhist qi that suppressed the demonic qi within the Corpse Elephant, allowing the demon cultivators' souls to gain a brief moment of peace.
After that, the Corpse Elephant had been searching for traces of Buddhist qi.
Ren Qing sucked in a cold breath.
He had previously encountered Liuli Mountain and tried to investigate it with the information stream. As soon as the ghost shadow wrapped around the mountain, Liuli Mountain abruptly disappeared.
Ren Qing had only thought that Liuli Mountain had been accidentally drawn deeper into Jingzhou. Now it seemed that Liuli Mountain very likely possessed its own consciousness?
Or rather, that Buddhist qi possessed its own consciousness?
Liuli Mountain helping the Corpse Elephant, could it be precisely for this moment of encountering Song Zongwu...
Ren Qing did not dare to think further. The methods of Buddhism made cold sweat pour down his back.
Bang!!!
The Corpse Elephant's long trunk struck Song Zongwu's chest and abdomen, sending him flying several hundred meters, smashing a human-shaped pit into a rock wall.
Song Zongwu stood up covered in blood, panting heavily.
He charged toward the Corpse Elephant again, only to be struck and sent flying once more. His injuries worsened, and even his consciousness began to blur.
Countless voices murmured in Song Zongwu's heart, as if the moment he accepted Buddhist qi, the bottleneck of the Yang Spirit realm would instantly shatter.
The Hundred Ghost Diagram on his back grew clearer and clearer. The evil ghosts transformed from Buddhas seemed to come alive, their expressions growing ever more ferocious.
Before Song Zongwu, it seemed that only one road remained.
Choose Buddhist qi, reach the Yang Spirit realm.
A wisp of Buddhist qi drilled out from between his brows. Immediately, within the Hundred Ghost Diagram, an evil ghost transformed into a compassionate Buddha, its momentum beginning to surge.
All of Song Zongwu's injuries healed within a few breaths, and the bottleneck of Yin Messenger consummation actually showed an almost imperceptible loosening.
He and the Corpse Elephant became evenly matched, even faintly suppressing the other.
Ren Qing appeared somewhat at a loss. He wanted to use his consciousness to stop the Corpse Elephant, but Song Zongwu suddenly showed signs of breaking through again.
For a moment, he fell into hesitation.
"You dare!!"
At that moment, Song Zongwu's six eyes flew wide open as he stabbed a finger into his brow.
Ren Qing immediately made a decision, transmitting part of the ghost embryo artifact refining method into the souls of the Corpse Elephant cultivators. The Corpse Elephant froze in place.
He continuously communicated with the Corpse Elephant, trying to make it leave White Bone Mountain, while silently leaving behind a soul butterfly projection.
Roar!!!
The Corpse Elephant roared toward the sky. The demon cultivator souls seemed to see a path of transcendence from the ghost embryo refining method and no longer fixated on Buddhist qi.
It turned and ran toward the distance, mountains and rivers shaking.
Song Zongwu collapsed into the underbrush, the opportunity for breakthrough completely dissipated. In the end, he still abandoned the enhancement of Buddhist qi.
Ren Qing hurried forward.
Song Zongwu was helped up by Ren Qing, then drank several mouthfuls of Peach Wine. His complexion became much rosier, and his qi and blood stabilized.
"Senior Song..."
"Accompany me on a trip."
Ren Qing nodded. Song Zongwu appeared to be in decent condition, but in truth he was relying entirely on Peach Wine to hold on, though his aspiration toward the Yang Spirit realm still remained.
Unfortunately, the breakthrough...
Song Zongwu pointed toward the distant high mountains, signaling for the two of them to go together.