The flow of time in the surface world and the inner world was synchronized.
According to Ren Qing's estimation, given the number of casualties in the inner world, it shouldn't be long before the Insect Warriors revived for the third time.
Ren Qing's Spirit Division kept an eye on Blackwater Daoist, and he found that spreading the names of the Heavenly Court's gods and immortals was proceeding relatively smoothly with the help of the Mute Gu.
Seeing this, he put his energy into the matters at hand, the most important of which was expanding the cave dwelling.
After the bacterial soul connected to Dream City, he could directly commission artifact refiners to complete the Corpse Mirror artifact. Not long ago, he had brought the Fungus People into the inner world.
The currently somewhat cramped cave dwelling was densely packed with enormous numbers of Fungus People.
The Fungus People, like the disease strains, were too weak as individuals and simply weren't acknowledged by the rules of the Immortal Position.
Of course, there were also special individuals among the Fungus People, but he had not brought them into the inner world.
With a thought from Ren Qing, the Fungus People tribe began excavating the cave dwelling under his instructions while also raising Gu insects, causing the cave dwelling to change with each passing day.
According to his plans, the new cave dwelling was similar in scale to an animal pen, divided into various areas, with countless Gu insects inside that consumed a large amount of resources every day.
Ren Qing lived in the very center. After all, his body had already reached thirty to forty meters in size.
The Gu insect at the Ghost Envoy realm was like a long snake without scales, or like an earthworm, emanating dense corpse qi that made it difficult for the Fungus People to approach.
Moreover, as long as they were Gu insects, their bodies would slowly grow larger in the inner world, which involved some mysterious rule added by the Immortal Position.
[Corpse-Control Ghost Beast Gu]
[After refinement, it can control corpses by spewing corpse qi, causing the corpses to transform into Buried Corpse Gu. It requires two hundred jin of rotten flesh every day for sustenance.]
It can be nourished with corpse qi and advance into the Rebirth Corpse Ghost Gu.
Ren Qing looked at the busy Fungus People, then took a cluster of fresh souls that had just died yesterday out of the Gu insect's Mud Pellet Palace.
He had devoted most of his energy to studying souls, wanting to understand how the rules of the Immortal Position divided the memories within souls into layers.
Ren Qing's consciousness slowly seeped into the interior of the soul, moving extremely carefully to ensure that the soul would not be damaged in the process.
After continuing for several days, when the soul had become somewhat thin, he put it into the Underworld's Yellow Springs.
Mortal souls were indeed far too fragile, and the slightest carelessness could cause them to scatter completely.
Ren Qing took out another soul. According to the death rate in the inner world, even outside the Laba Festival, corpses were constantly appearing every day.
He only needed to attach the disease strains around towns and villages to obtain them with ease.
As Ren Qing repeatedly investigated the souls, the cave dwelling also expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye, reaching a hundred li before he knew it.
More and more kinds of Gu insects were being raised, and the Fungus People also planted the food needed by the Gu insects.
Suddenly, the ground began to tremble slightly. Ren Qing in the inner world opened his eyes and instinctively raised his head to look.
In the inner world, torrential rain began to fall, while in the surface world, meteors streaked across the sky.
Brilliant fiery clouds covered the sky, while smoke and dust enveloped every part of the towns. The bodies and souls of the Insect Warriors were gradually being nurtured by the rules of the Immortal Position.
Ren Qing released his consciousness and finally drilled into the core of the mortal soul.
He saw a tattered page of a book floating within it. Something seemed to be vaguely written on it, but it was impossible to make out.
"I didn't expect the person behind this to really be a Buddhist, and..."
Ren Qing's expression became solemn. The other party's ability to seal the memories of souls through methods similar to a Fruit Position showed that they were definitely more than just a Buddhist disciple.
The person behind this had absolutely discovered as well that the Buddhist Fruit Position was constructed from scriptures.
Then where had the person behind this obtained the souls of the ancient people?
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. But since that was the case, the matter of the Insect Warriors would be easy to resolve. All that remained was to wait for the Heavenly Court's gods and immortals to be spread.
His consciousness returned to the surface world, while the bacterial soul independently controlled the Gu insect's body.
After Ren Qing's main body awakened, the first thing he did was transform into a thousand-meter-long true dragon and charge directly into the thick fiery clouds in the sky.
"What are you going crazy for?"
The disturbance caused by the Dragon King of the Four Seas immediately drew the attention of the various forces that had been silent for a long time.
All the Heavenly Aberration realms simultaneously released their auras. For a moment, the winds and clouds surged, as though a earth-shattering battle was about to begin.
Feng Ye was no less imposing. Dense metallic feathers grew all over his body, transforming him into a human-headed, bird-bodied figure floating above Crane Mountain.
Wuzhi chanted scriptures, his gaze fixed on Feng Ye. His apprehension toward the Heavenly Court grew even stronger, accompanied by intense greed.
He had not entered Jingzhou particularly early, but he had been lurking in the shadows for a long time.
Wuzhi had always been observing the strengths of the forces that entered Jingzhou. The greatest threats were the Insect Nest and the Heavenly Court. Entities like Lady White Bone, on the other hand, did not need special attention.
No matter how strong an individual was, that did not mean they could obtain the opportunity.
Among the many forces Wuzhi had investigated, the Wind Void People were the most inconspicuous. Their overall strength was not great, and the number of Yang God realms among them could be counted on one hand.
Their leader, Feng Ye, had a somewhat unstable Heavenly Aberration realm cultivation, lacked combat experience, and was timid by nature.
If not for the Dragon King of the Four Seas guarding them, the Wind Void People would have been devoured completely long ago.
But Wuzhi had never expected that after only a few years, Feng Ye would undergo such a dramatic change, as though he had been completely reborn.
"Could it be... that the Heavenly Court truly exists?"
"I wonder if there is a True Immortal's inheritance. If that is really the case..."
Wuzhi's eyes grew increasingly fervent. He had originally wanted to use the opportunity in Jingzhou to break away from Buddhism, but he had never expected to discover the existence of a shortcut.
Rumble!!!
The sky above Sanxiang City transformed into a sea of thunderclouds, and immediately afterward, purple-black clouds began spreading outward.
Ren Qing's actions were far too strange. His sudden attack without the slightest warning left the various forces unable to understand the situation, and they stared fixedly at the clouds.
After a few breaths, the thunderclouds had already covered all of Xiangxiang, yet they still showed no sign of stopping.
"Dragon King of the Four Seas, are you planning to raise the banner of the Heavenly Court and go to war with us?"
Pig Daoist's voice rang out. His body was a wild boar as large as a mountain, with a grotesque face on both the front and back of his head.
Lady White Bone chuckled. "Dragon King of the Four Seas, if you want to deal with someone, just tell this one. Hehehehe..."
A dragon head emerged from the clouds, and the pressure of the true dragon descended upon all the Heavenly Aberration realms.
Their expressions became ugly because their bodies and souls actually felt the pressure, further demonstrating the terror of the Dragon King of the Four Seas.
"Have you not noticed that everything in Jingzhou makes perfect sense?"
As Ren Qing spoke, he continued spreading the thunderclouds. They had already begun to extend into the surrounding regions, causing the situation to become increasingly tense.
Pig Daoist said solemnly, "What do you mean?"
"Jingzhou is like an opportunity waiting for people to come and take it. With your experience as Heavenly Aberration realms, why have you not noticed that something is wrong?"
Ren Qing's words caused them to fall into thought. It seemed that the unseen rules, combined with their ambitions to become immortals, had deeply affected their states of mind.
Elephant Lord snorted coldly.
He paid no attention to the thunderclouds above his head. His hostility was not directed at Ren Qing either. After calming down, he simply found the whole thing extremely laughable.
Jingzhou was like a bamboo basket propped up by wooden sticks, a crude trap designed to lure sparrows.
Ren Qing took the opportunity to cover Jingzhou with thunderclouds. Rain containing faint disease strains poured down, washing over the Insect Warriors.
The Heavenly Aberration realms could sense that the rain posed no threat to them. It was merely wearing away at the souls of the Insect Warriors, and its purpose was unknown.
"Amitabha."
"Dragon King of the Four Seas, you've crossed the line."
Wuzhi could not care about anything else. This was the best opportunity to deal with the Dragon King of the Four Seas. As long as he obtained his soul, he would be able to learn the truth about the Heavenly Court.
He released dense Buddhist qi, and his body visibly swelled at a speed that could be seen with the naked eye. He transformed into a giant and charged toward the thousand-meter-long true dragon.
Ren Qing calmly met his attack. For a moment, the ground collapsed and thunder scattered in all directions.
In fact, even if Wuzhi had not attacked, Ren Qing would have killed him anyway. After all, the person behind this was also a Buddhist cultivator, so there was inevitably the possibility of unforeseen variables.
Ren Qing simply took advantage of this opportunity to absorb the Buddhist qi of the Infinite Will Bodhisattva, which he could leave for the Tathagata of the Fleshly Body afterward.
The other forces remained silent and made no move, but when Feng Ye tried to assist Ren Qing, he was entangled by the Heavenly Dao Insect People, who were clearly planning to sit back and watch the fight.
The rain became sparse, and the Insect Warriors gradually awakened while clutching their heads.
"Ugh."
Among them were a few ordinary mortals who had not refined Gu insects. Their expressions were all extremely bewildered, and they stared at one another helplessly.
The memories of the surface and inner worlds were entangled in their minds, causing their heads to ache unbearably.
Quite a few Insect Warriors laughed and cried at the same time. On one hand, they were relieved to have escaped their sea of suffering, while on the other, they empathized deeply with what they had experienced in the inner world.
"Hm?"
Lady White Bone realized that something was strange about the Insect Warriors in the Ghost City. She reached out and directly seized one person, extracting his soul and swallowing it into her abdomen.
The memories of the inner world surged into her mind.
All the forces learned from the Insect Warriors that Jingzhou was divided into multiple layers, and that the person behind this had never intended to let them have even a sip of the soup.
All the Heavenly Aberration realms simultaneously looked toward Ren Qing, while the Blood Bat Matriarch directly emerged from the ground.
The blood bat spat out a cloud of blood mist without hesitation, but its target was not Ren Qing.
"Blood Bat Matriarch, you?"
Wuzhi turned his head in astonishment and was uncontrollably pulled toward the Blood Bat Matriarch. The corrosive mist caused his flesh to peel away.
Ren Qing smiled as he restored his dragon-headed, human-bodied form and returned to Sanxiang City.
Elephant Lord held a hundred-meter-long stone pillar and quickly approached Wuzhi. Several other Heavenly Aberration realms were also eager to make a move.
If they wanted to obtain the opportunity, they had to enter the inner world, and only Ren Qing could accomplish this.
The Buddhist cultivators were the greatest uncertain factor, so whether for personal reasons or practical ones, they had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Feng Ye was dumbfounded. Just a moment ago, everyone had been on the verge of a fierce battle, so why had they suddenly begun cooperating wholeheartedly? Could the struggles between forces really be this complicated?
He could not help but feel deeply frustrated. Without the Dragon King of the Four Seas, he probably would have died several times already.
Lady White Bone called out loudly, "Dragon King of the Four Seas, this one wants to know what we should do?"
Ren Qing glanced at Wuzhi, who was being crushed unilaterally, and replied, "I imagine you all know that the souls of the mortals in Jingzhou actually come from tens of thousands of years ago."
"If you want to enter the inner world, you must let the mortals in the inner world know your names."
"Coincidentally, many gods and immortals of the Heavenly Court were renowned at that time. As long as you change the way you perceive your own names..."
The hearts of the Heavenly Aberration realms shook violently. The Heavenly Court really was connected to the countless gods and immortals.
Lady White Bone fell silent. She had indeed heard the names of the Heavenly Court's gods and immortals from the memories of some Insect Warriors.
However, Buddhism was too prosperous in the inner world, and almost all traces had been erased.
Wuzhi was covered in wounds and roared like a madman, "You've all heard him! He has the inheritance of the Heavenly Court!!!"
"Kill."
Lady White Bone pulled a bone whip from her mouth and surrounded Wuzhi with the others.
Wuzhi died inside.