Chains descended from the sky and plunged directly into the depths underground. Their target was clearly the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone.
Ren Qing's pupils contracted. Without hesitation, he took complete control of the giant corpse Buddha, causing the fish-like features exposed on its body to fade away in the blink of an eye.
The giant corpse Buddha's legs transformed into elephant feet, while the gastrointestinal region became covered in bone armor.
One step down, and the earth shook.
At this moment, Ren Qing could not afford to worry about anything else. The pressure brought by the chains was overwhelming. The existence targeting the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone clearly possessed Earth Immortal-level strength.
The Restraint Officers' Hall was merely collateral damage. Fortunately, they had fled quickly enough.
As for the other party's objective, that was another matter entirely. What exactly was being schemed within the world inside the mirror to force an Earth Immortal to act personally?
Whoosh!!!
Another chain pierced into the ground, and the corpse lake immediately erupted into monstrous waves.
The lake water formed a tsunami that swept outward in all directions. Any giant beast corpse in its path was smashed into chunks of flesh by the impact.
After fully taking control of the giant corpse Buddha, Ren Qing felt as though he had switched to a different body. He could freely use the techniques connected to the aberrated organs as naturally as breathing.
While he was not capable of fighting an Earth Immortal head-on, he still possessed the strength to battle ordinary Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators.
Ren Qing calmly raised his left hand. The Beast Heart Ghost's ability was pushed to its limit, and with the support of the Cancer Disease Tree disease seed, it began growing wildly.
At the instant the wave struck, his left arm transformed into a Kunpeng hundreds of meters long.
The Kunpeng bird beat its wings and forcibly lifted the giant corpse Buddha off the ground, narrowly avoiding the impact of the wave.
Once the waters calmed, Ren Qing decisively canceled the Beast Heart Ghost's ability.
To put it plainly, the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone had nothing to do with him. There was no reason for him to draw attention to himself. It was better to leave the stage to the one behind it all.
The giant corpse Buddha dropped back into the water. Taking advantage of the momentum, its body collapsed into the lake and within a few breaths transformed once more into the shape of a swimming fish, drifting away with the current.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Chains continued to descend, corresponding exactly to the linear ominous sign.
Ren Qing cast a subtle glance toward the clouds. The black mist of the ominous sign was solidifying, clearly indicating that a true immortal was about to descend upon the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone.
Could it be the Buddhist qi of Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva?
Yet it did not seem to be a Buddhist method.
The chains were deep black in color and stained with patches of blood. Staring at them for too long produced the illusion that one's soul was slipping out of control.
The more Ren Qing looked, the more familiar they seemed. He felt they were somehow connected to the Dead Man's Sutra.
But the Dead Man's Sutra only reached the Heavenly Aberration Realm. How could it possibly involve an Earth Immortal? Could Corpse Immortal still be alive and have obtained another opportunity to advance to the Earth Immortal Realm?
Ren Qing could not help but feel a headache coming on. He was only a Yang God Realm cultivator who had just begun touching the immortal path. Schemes involving immortals and Buddhas were far beyond his understanding.
There was only one thing he could be certain of.
The planner had definitely not reached Earth Immortal. Instead, they were using a Heavenly Aberration Realm mortal body to scheme against immortals and Buddhas.
Ren Qing kept his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth without lowering it. The tortoise shell displayed an omen of "misfortune mixed with fortune," and only three cracks remained.
Judging by the signs, if he became involved, he might gain some sort of opportunity.
A wary expression appeared on Ren Qing's face. He had already cultivated the Zhili Technique that could lead to immortality. Even if there were a method for advancing to Earth Immortal, it would be useless to him.
Better to get away as quickly as possible.
Ren Qing began concealing the giant corpse Buddha's aura while having the cultivators pour Killing Life Pills containing death qi into the pool inside the bladder.
The giant corpse Buddha's flesh gradually withered, and the Nether Yuan within its blood vessels shrank tightly into its heart.
One advantage of aberrated organs was that they could utilize the giant corpse Buddha's negative conditions, placing the organs in a near-death state.
The giant corpse Buddha resembled a newly formed Purple Zombie, with chunks of flesh continuously falling from its body as it moved.
Bang, bang, bang...
Ren Qing looked back.
The final two chains had been knocked aside by the existence within the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, crashing heavily into the ground and sending water spraying everywhere.
The surfaces of the chains were covered in countless tiny chips, from which a gelatinous liquid flowed.
By now, the giant corpse Buddha had already left the battlefield far behind. It had even crossed more than half the distance of the Corpse-Odor Hills and could see the distant Rotten Blood Plain.
The sturdy leg muscles of the Elephant Footed One allowed each step to span several thousand meters.
The cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall stood speechless.
They stared silently at the images displayed on the stomach wall, unsure what to say.
When disaster arrived, there was usually no time to react. Yet Ren Qing seemed capable of foreseeing the future and preparing in advance.
When the chains first descended from the sky, they had all assumed the giant corpse Buddha was doomed.
After all, how could a two-thousand-meter-tall giant escape unharmed from such a calamity?
Yet only a few minutes later, the giant corpse Buddha had already crossed the entire corpse lake.
Fortunately, the cultivators of the Insect Nest had already retreated into the Stomach World. Otherwise, they would inevitably have begun doubting the authenticity of the Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal.
Ren Qing ignored everyone else and kept his brows tightly furrowed.
Heavy sounds echoed from the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, like a beast that had long been imprisoned and was gradually breaking free from the iron cage that restrained it.
This aura clearly surpassed the Heavenly Aberration Realm. It was likewise an Earth Immortal-level existence.
But Ren Qing had personally seen that individual within the world inside the mirror. There was no way that person could have become immortal...
Then he noticed something else.
One of the chains lying on the ground happened to be near a flesh artifact, barely within a hundred-meter radius.
Since Ren Qing had personally faced the Heavenly Dao, the Information Stream no longer required physical contact to function.
Driven by curiosity, he called up the Information Stream.
[Lifespan: None]
[Technique: Dead Immortal Scripture (Perfected)]
[Strange Object: Undying and Imperishable]
[Divine Ability: Soul Hooking and Spirit Seizing]
[Immortal Position: Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal (Incomplete)]
[Dead Immortal Scripture]
Created by Corpse Immortal. Formed after the Dead Man's Sutra reached perfection and forcibly broke through its limits by devouring an immortal position. Through this method, the immortal position cannot be fully controlled.
Ren Qing froze for several breaths before immediately destroying both the flesh artifact and the bacterial soul attached to it, lest Corpse Immortal notice anything unusual.
The Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal referred to the Soul-Hooking Ghost, also known in the underworld as Black Impermanence.
From this, it was evident that there were three paths to immortality.
"A direct Earth Immortal Ascension Method, though such immortal positions are usually already occupied."
"After reaching the Heavenly Aberration Realm, forcibly devour an ownerless immortal position to break through, though the consequences are severe."
"Advance to Ascension Ladder using five or more techniques and, upon facing the Heavenly Dao, gain a slim chance to comprehend an Earth Immortal Ascension Method unique to oneself."
Ren Qing could not help muttering,
"If you forcibly devour an immortal position... then what exactly has Corpse Immortal become..."
Boom!!!
The clouds split apart as countless chains lashed through the air.
Ren Qing could barely make out a humanoid shape.
Its entire body was covered with iron hooks connected to pitch-black chains. Through the gaps, one could see tens of thousands of twisted mouthparts spread throughout its flesh.
Whenever Corpse Immortal swung the chains, the hooks tore at its flesh, causing the mouthparts to shriek madly as if enduring unimaginable agony.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Large numbers of chains plunged into the earth once more, seemingly dragging something toward him.
Ren Qing felt his scalp go numb.
An incomplete immortal position gained through forcibly advancing to Earth Immortal had actually transformed a true immortal into an indescribable horror?
The Heavenly Dao truly had gone mad.
A massive fissure split open at the center of the corpse lake, causing the waters to pour inward.
A pair of arms comparable in size to the giant corpse Buddha emerged first, followed by a familiar head whose flesh was now entirely covered in chains.
Ren Qing quickly recognized the giant.
It was none other than the current Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva.
He had seen the current Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva in the world inside the mirror. At the time, he had merely been a gaunt old monk.
Now, his body was at least a thousand meters tall.
Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva slowly crawled out of the ground, his aura colliding directly with Corpse Immortal's.
Ren Qing then discovered that Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva's entire body was purple-blue in color. His ribs had pierced through his flesh and wrapped around his chest and abdomen, protecting a constantly beating brain inside.
Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva clearly possessed the characteristics of the Corpse Refinement Method, Skeletal Corpse Method, and Brain Pill Method.
Ren Qing's eyelids twitched wildly.
So from beginning to end, it had never cultivated the Dead Man's Sutra itself. Instead, it had allowed Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva to master the Dead Man's Sutra.
It was obvious that after losing its Buddhist qi, Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva was relying on the body of a former Earth Immortal to barely contend against Corpse Immortal.
Wait...
Could all of this have been done to lure out Corpse Immortal?
After all, once Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva mastered the Dead Man's Sutra, it genuinely posed a threat to the immortal position of the Soul-Hooking Ghost Immortal. It was only natural for Corpse Immortal to come.
Ren Qing swallowed.
His act of bringing Buddhist qi into the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone had undoubtedly affected the planner's scheme and likely accelerated the timetable.
Time to leave. Time to leave.
Bang!!
The chains swung by Corpse Immortal became afterimages, carving wound after wound into Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva's body. Blood instantly dyed the corpse lake red.
Massive numbers of departed souls poured from the chains and began devouring Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Dense yin qi spread outward. The bones buried throughout the soil revived one after another, reaching Yang God Realm strength after absorbing the yin qi for only a short time.
The core of Corpse Immortal was undying and imperishable. Even if a skeleton was shattered into powder during battle, the yin qi would restore it completely in the blink of an eye.
Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva possessed only an Earth Immortal body. It lacked an immortal position, and its fruition status had been stripped away along with its Buddhist qi.
There was simply no way it could contend with Corpse Immortal.
Ren Qing did not continue watching the battle.
Even observing the two through bacterial souls caused signs of imminent aberration and loss of control to appear in his main soul.
Meanwhile, the giant corpse Buddha stepped onto the Rotten Blood Plain.
Dark clouds covered the sky, and yin qi condensed into dense fog, making it impossible for Ren Qing to determine east, west, south, or north.
He simply ran in the direction farthest from the forbidden zone.
Suddenly, Buddhist qi surged in from the distance.
Like meteors, streams of Buddhist qi descended into the center of the battlefield. Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva immediately released a horrifying roar accompanied by the chanting of Buddhist scriptures.
What had begun as Corpse Immortal's one-sided domination evolved into a struggle between Buddhism and Daoism.
The corpse lake instantly collapsed downward by a hundred meters, forming a canyon-like landscape within moments. Buddhist qi and yin qi even began altering the surrounding ecology.
Endless skeletons revived, while flesh chambers sprouted from underground.
Within those chambers were monks who cultivated the Great Compassion Maitreya Vajra Sutra. Due to the erosion of yin qi, their appearances had become indescribably terrifying.
Ren Qing had no idea how long the war between Buddhism and Daoism lasted.
Even after traveling for more than ten days, he could still hear the disturbances coming from the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone. It felt as though nothing short of the heavens collapsing would bring it to an end.
At some point, even the Dead Man's Forbidden Zone itself was destroyed by the aftermath.
The area became a wasteland littered with severed limbs and shattered remains of monks and skeletons piled into mountains.
Only after the Buddhist qi completely absorbed the current Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva and discarded a ruined corpse did Corpse Immortal finally stop.
The Corpse Immortal floated in midair. His body was riddled with holes from the iron hooks pulling at him, and one could vaguely see dark, indescribable internal organs slowly writhing within.
He used chains to drag away the corpse of Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva and headed into the dark clouds.
Suddenly, the chains rattled.
Footsteps echoed as someone walked along the chains toward Corpse Immortal.
The footsteps paused briefly, as though their owner were staring at the traces left behind by the giant corpse Buddha.
By the time Corpse Immortal noticed something was wrong, the footsteps had already vanished into the boundless yin qi.
If Ren Qing had witnessed it, he would surely have sighed in admiration.
After plotting for hundreds of years, all that effort had earned was merely an opportunity to parasitize Corpse Immortal.
How difficult it is to become an immortal.