The Beast Pen was composed entirely of flesh and blood. Deformed plants could be seen everywhere, as though they had been pieced together from bodily organs.
The rising and falling bleats of goats only made the sight even more horrifying.
No matter how bizarre and inexplicable the ecology of the other regions was, there was still a basic food chain.
The Beast Pen, however, was completely different. No one could explain why the Black Goats were born from the flesh-and-blood walls.
Faced with such a strange environment, even though some factions did not understand the true nature of the Black Goats, they still did not dare to trespass into the Beast Pen.
In this world, the Beast Pen was an extremely special existence. It was not a forbidden zone, but its deterrent power far exceeded that of one.
Its territory stretched for thousands of miles, seemingly composed of the parts of some colossal creature. The Supreme Heavenly Demon was merely the breath it exhaled.
However, because of the information revealed by the statue of Daode Heavenly Venerable in the Heavenly Court, dozens of rogue cultivators secretly came to the Beast Pen.
Their purpose in refining Black Goat robes was not the Buddhist Realm.
Instead, they were deeply afraid of the ever-expanding Buddhist Realm. Their living space was being compressed little by little by Dingguang Buddha. What if the Supreme Heavenly Demon eventually affected every cultivator in the world indiscriminately?
The robes refined from Black Goat hides could at least resist the erosion of demonic energy. Even if they had to take some risks, those risks were still bearable.
They had no understanding of the Beast Pen's true circumstances. Under the leadership of Xiangzhu, they searched the outskirts of the Beast Pen for traces of Black Goats.
The result was naturally fruitless. Two of them even had demonic energy enter their bodies, causing cultivation deviation and nearly costing them their lives.
Ren Qing understood the habits of Black Goats very well. Their intelligence was actually not very high, but they shared several million strands of consciousness with the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Before encountering a living creature, a Black Goat would only wander about in a daze.
But once a Black Goat encountered a threat, its consciousness would be taken over by the Supreme Heavenly Demon, revealing combat instincts far beyond those of an ordinary creature.
If they wanted to assassinate a Black Goat, they had to be sufficiently stealthy and kill it in a single strike.
Moreover, Black Goats generally stayed near the flesh-and-blood walls. Thus, trying to encounter a Black Goat on the outskirts of the Beast Pen was even harder than finding a needle in the ocean.
Xiangzhu and the other cultivators searched for Black Goats for more than half a month and obtained only a single hide, yet there were thirty-five cultivators in their group.
If things continued like this, even if they did not encounter any danger to their lives, disputes would likely arise because of an unequal division of the spoils.
Some cultivators were already considering leaving the Beast Pen. After all, Black Goat robes were not necessities.
During the day, the rogue cultivators would enter the Beast Pen. At night, they would retreat to the neighboring mountains to ensure that their bodies and souls would not mutate beyond control.
The campfire crackled.
Yet the atmosphere between them was somewhat silent. Combined with the effects of demonic energy on their bodies and souls, it was obvious that they were already united only in name.
Xiangzhu was not particularly adept at handling all sides either. A trace of killing intent appeared in his eyes, clearly giving rise to the thought of making an example of someone.
If nothing unexpected happened, the rogue cultivators exploring the Heavenly Court would probably fall apart.
Ren Qing had been paying attention to the movements of the rogue cultivators in the Beast Pen. He had been counting on them to venture into the Buddhist Realm, but it seemed their efforts were about to end without accomplishing anything.
He had spent a long time in the Beast Pen and knew exactly where the flesh-and-blood walls were distributed, as well as the weaknesses and habits of the Black Goats.
Since the rogue cultivators could not be relied upon, Ren Qing could only give them a push from behind himself.
Ren Qing began using bacterial souls to drive the Black Goats away, allowing the rogue cultivators to inadvertently discover traces of solitary Black Goats. He also influenced the less advanced rogue cultivators in their dreams, increasing their understanding of Black Goats.
The rogue cultivators did not realize why the difficulties involving the Black Goats had suddenly become so much easier.
After another month of hard work, nearly a hundred stripped hides lay before Xiangzhu. The stench of blood mixed with the rank odor of goats and rushed straight into their noses.
Azure Ox Hermit asked incredulously, "That's it?"
"A hundred Demonic Embryo corpses. That's already beyond our original expectations. Let's leave the Beast Pen as soon as possible. After all, this is the territory of a Heavenly Demon."
Xiangzhu spoke calmly, then stored all the Black Goat hides in his storage artifact.
As a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator of the Dao Gives Birth to One lineage, Xiangzhu naturally left the other rogue cultivators too afraid to object. They exchanged ingratiating smiles with him, afraid of being kicked out.
The rogue cultivators flushed with excitement, their eyes filled with greed that was difficult to suppress, as though a voice were constantly whispering temptations into their ears.
"I heard that there's an Artifact Refiner at Nanxi Black Market who specializes in using obscure materials. Perhaps he can refine Black Goat robes."
At Xiangzhu's suggestion, they immediately packed up their belongings and quietly erased the traces they had left behind, lest others discover them.
In fact, Ren Qing had already arranged for Xiao San'er to wait at Nanxi Black Market. He had even modified the memories of the cultivators there, making them remember Xiao San'er as having been there five years earlier.
Nanxi Black Market was normally hidden on the slopes of mountains where human presence was rare.
Only when it rained would the formation surrounding the black market activate.
Xiao San'er posed as a rogue cultivator who was an Artifact Refiner. He could help them refine Black Goat artifacts while intentionally revealing clues about the Buddhist Realm in subtle ways.
Hundreds of rogue cultivators had been wanted because of the Heavenly Court. Among them, there were bound to be people willing to take risks. The candidates for investigating the Buddhist Realm were now in place.
As far as Ren Qing was concerned, everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
At the same time, the rabbit horde of the Moon-Pounding Medicine Rabbit Immortal had already entered the area covered by the Buddhist Realm. Half of them died almost instantly, yet more continued to pour forth like an inexhaustible spring.
The rabbit horde advanced toward the central region of the Buddhist Realm without haste. That was indeed the location of Jingzhou.
Ren Qing had previously tried several methods, but he simply could not pick the Immortal Position out of the rabbit horde.
The Heavenly Dao rules possessed by an Immortal Position were simply beyond what a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator could handle, so he wisely chose to put the matter aside for the time being.
Ren Qing attached bacterial souls to the Mud Pellet Palaces of some rabbits, observing the rabbit horde as it charged recklessly through the profound and boundless darkness.
The disturbances surrounding the Buddhist Realm continued to intensify, already affecting the order of this world.
Even Ren Qing could not remain completely calm after learning that three Immortal Positions existed within the Buddhist Realm. Fortunately, Matchmaking Immortal had not fallen into it.
The Matchmaking Immortal being transported by the Restraint Officers' Hall was now several hundred miles away from the Dragon Blood Sea Region. At most, it would take half a year to reach a branch of the underground river.
Ren Qing would rather take a detour. That was still better than letting Matchmaking Immortal fall into Dingguang Buddha's hands.
Just when he thought the plan would proceed smoothly, Dingguang Buddha suddenly caused another disturbance. It was still within Ren Qing's expectations.
After expanding several times, the Buddhist Realm finally came into contact with the Beast Pen, producing an enormous disturbance.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
The ground split apart with spiderweb-like cracks. The sea around the Endless Forest surged violently, forming a tsunami dozens of meters high that came crashing over.
After building up for half a day, the tremendous tsunami crashed into the darkness.
Even though the force of the tsunami was something that even a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator could not withstand head-on, the Buddhist Realm did not make the slightest sound, as though everything before had merely been an illusion.
The Buddhist Realm had already encompassed the entire Dragon Blood Sea Region.
Just as Ren Qing had expected, even forty thousand miles beneath the sea, the area was likewise covered in dense darkness. This meant that digging tunnels to reach the center of the Buddhist Realm was definitely impractical.
Fortunately, Matchmaking Immortal had been moved quickly. Otherwise, it too would have been trapped within the Buddhist Realm. Who knew what would happen to Matchmaking Immortal's soulless body under the erosion of demonic energy?
The expanding Buddhist Realm showed no mercy, swallowing all the beasts in its path.
Xiangzhu stared at the Buddhist Realm in astonishment. Its terrifying momentum was simply unlike anything a True Immortal should be capable of, as though it intended to swallow this entire world in a single breath.
The instant the darkness came into contact with the Beast Pen, Dingguang Buddha's murmur sounded once again.
"When Dipankara Buddha was born, everything around him was like lamps, hence the name Dipankara."
"After attaining Buddhahood, he was likewise called Dipankara."
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. Good grief. Dingguang Buddha was already calling himself Dipankara Buddha. Was he really planning to replace the position of the Buddhist sect's Heavenly Dao? And was the Supreme Heavenly Demon involved in this?
Boom, boom, boom...
For the first time, deafening sounds rang out from the silent Buddhist Realm.
Immediately afterward, a gigantic Buddhist face tens of thousands of meters in size emerged. It was Dingguang Buddha, whose expression carried a faint smile, while his eyes appeared utterly hollow.
"Amitabha Buddha."
A long, mournful sigh echoed out, and Dingguang Buddha actually moved toward the Beast Pen.
Only then did Ren Qing discover that after transforming within the Buddhist Realm for several years, Dingguang Buddha's body had completely disappeared. Only a face remained, and beneath the residual flesh were countless tentacles.
At the ends of the tentacles grew Black Goat heads, screaming as though their hearts were being torn apart.
The entire Beast Pen boiled into motion because of Dingguang Buddha. Countless human faces emerged, as though welcoming Dingguang Buddha's arrival.
How could the factions surrounding the Buddhist Realm dare to remain? They fled in the opposite direction in a panic, terrified that they would be reduced to ashes if they were even a moment too slow.
Before a True Immortal, a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator was as laughable as an ant.
Demonic energy slowly seeped out of the Beast Pen. Blood vessels and bulging veins spread throughout the flesh, which began to writhe slightly.
Before long, tens of thousands of goat eyes appeared across the flesh-covered ground. An ordinary mortal would be eroded by demonic energy from merely looking at them.
After Dingguang Buddha left the area of the Buddhist Realm, he disappeared into the depths of the Beast Pen.
Ren Qing transformed dozens of Dreamflowers into Double Pupils and attached them to his skin. Looking toward the Beast Pen, he noticed vast numbers of blood vessels emerging from underground and merging with Dingguang Buddha's cheeks.
It was like a precise surgical procedure, a facial skin transplant.
The fusion proceeded slowly. According to Ren Qing's estimate, it would take at least fifty or sixty years.
With Dingguang Buddha no longer presiding over the Buddhist Realm, Ren Qing's Zhili Technique could clearly sense the bacterial souls within it. The barrier that had previously isolated them was gone, causing his thoughts to stir.
One had to know that Ren Qing could completely use the Moon-Pounding Medicine Rabbit Immortal to locate Taiyin Star Lord and seize all three Immortal Positions in one sweep.
The three Immortal Positions had stirred undercurrents among all the factions. Now was the perfect opportunity to explore the Buddhist Realm.
He did not hesitate for long. This opportunity was extremely rare.
The Restraint Officers' Hall soon issued a large number of missions to venture outside, causing countless cultivators to erupt in excitement. After all, the initial stage of exploring any region offered the greatest rewards, though naturally, it was also the most dangerous.
Ren Qing made no attempt to conceal the objective of the missions. Their target was the precise locations of the Immortal Positions.
Some cultivators remained in the Heavenly Demon Street of Dream City, responsible for raising Black Goats that could be used for skinning. Their operation was practically an assembly line.
Heavenly Demon Street was the former Demon Market, and it was normally used to temper one's state of mind.
Now Ren Qing did not intend to leave behind even the slightest trace of demonic energy. He used it all on the Black Goats to refine more Black Goat robes.
After Xiao San'er made contact with the rogue cultivators, he quickly agreed to refine robes for them.
Refining Black Goat robes was actually not complicated. The main requirement was understanding the contents of the Nourishing Skin Method. Otherwise, there was no way to grasp the technique needed to begin.
Xiao San'er had originally intended to spread the technique for refining Black Goat robes.
But the rogue cultivators who were skilled at artifact refinement quickly figured out how to make the robes. More and more rogue cultivators flooded toward the outskirts of the Beast Pen to try their luck, even though Dingguang Buddha was right above their heads.
The Restraint Officers' Hall was like ants on a hot pan. It had hundreds of thousands of usable cultivators, yet Ren Qing actually felt somewhat stretched thin.
Dingguang Buddha's departure from the Beast Pen heralded the coming of drastic changes, but it also gave Ren Qing an unexpected opportunity.
The first thing Ren Qing did, however, was rescue the Wind Void People from the Buddhist Realm.
The bacterial souls conducted a carpet search of the Bottomless Pit for the Wind Void People. By the time they discovered their traces, the tribe had already lost one-third of its members.
There was nothing Ren Qing could do about it. If Dingguang Buddha had remained in the Buddhist Realm, finding tens of thousands of Wind Void People would have been like finding a needle in the ocean.
They had been hiding in caves within the Bottomless Pit, and all of them had undergone mutations toward demonic transformation.
The bacterial souls had nearly overlooked them at the time. After all, the cave was packed with monsters covered from head to toe in Black Goat fur, and they had even lost most of their intelligence.
The only fortunate thing was that Feng Ye had retained a small amount of reason.
After sensing the aura of the bacterial souls, he immediately began striking his abdomen with his arms. The pores and seven orifices throughout his body were completely clogged with black fur.
The effects of demonic energy on the Wind Void People were almost devastating.
The bodies of the Wind Void People were covered in air vents. They had been born for flight, but the black fur not only blocked their air vents, it was also far heavier than normal.
A tribe with members at the Heavenly Aberration Realm had nearly been trapped to death inside the caves.
The Wind Void People who died or were injured had done so because of accumulated exhaustion and a lack of food. If Ren Qing had arrived a few months later, they might have been reduced to a pile of withered bones.
Ren Qing brought the seriously injured Wind Void People who had yet to recover into the Stomach World and settled them atop the mountains, allowing them to deal with their demonic transformations themselves.
Feng Ye regained consciousness not long afterward, but his body and soul were extraordinarily weak.
Ren Qing had originally hesitated over allowing the Wind Void People to join the Restraint Officers' Hall. But after seeing how thoroughly they had nearly wiped themselves out, he made an exception and allowed them to gradually come into contact with the Restraint Officers' Hall.
At present, the Restraint Officers' Hall still had not produced a Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivator. However, Great Dream Adept was already making intensive preparations for his breakthrough, while Song Zongwu was also approaching the bottleneck of the No-Birth Immortal Realm.
Once the two reached the Heavenly Aberration Realm, they would be able to support Yang Spirit Realm cultivators through their bottlenecks.
The number of Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators would sooner or later continue to increase. This was also why some ancient and powerful factions possessed multiple Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators.
The situation was becoming increasingly tense, yet the various factions still remained on the sidelines.
Ren Qing knew that they were still missing a reason to go mad.
Only attaining immortality and the Dao could make the Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators of the various factions restless enough to participate despite the risk to their lives.
Feng Ye relied on the Fleshly Tathagata to suppress the uncontrolled mutation. His soul communicated with the small Heavenly Court for the first time in a long while, and his consciousness soon descended into it.
His soul was far weaker than it had been before he fell into the Buddhist Realm.
If he had not mastered the Ascension Method of Wind God Boqiang, giving him a foundation far more substantial than that of ordinary cultivators, he might have fallen all the way to the Yang Spirit Realm.
What entered Feng Ye's view was the Southern Heavenly Gate, along with dozens of Immortal and Divine statues not far away. Their awe-inspiring presence swept toward him.
Naturally, the statue of Wind God Boqiang had also been placed there.
If this had been the old Feng Ye, he would certainly have been furious with humiliation. But Ren Qing had already informed him beforehand about the changes that had taken place in the Heavenly Court during this period.
Feng Ye understood that even if the Wind Void People worked without rest for several hundred years, they could never completely clear the ruins of the Heavenly Court. It was indeed necessary to let outside factions intervene in the Heavenly Court.
In any case, none of the items inside the Heavenly Court could be taken outside.
Feng Ye respectfully kowtowed three times to the statue of Wind God Boqiang. He then did not linger, since Ren Qing had given him specific instructions for coming to the Heavenly Court.
Otherwise, he truly would have had no face to meet Wind God Boqiang.
When the Buddhist Realm expanded toward the Bottomless Pit, Feng Ye had actually realized what was happening. However, his moment of hesitation had caused him to fall into danger.
Most of the Wind Void People were still stabilizing their injuries. How could he possibly have the face to come to the Heavenly Court?
Feng Ye's appearance quickly attracted the attention of the rogue cultivators. They could all see that his current condition was extremely poor.
Lady White Bone had always been stationed in the Heavenly Court. With her true body unable to leave the third level of the Underworld, she immediately walked toward Feng Ye after seeing him.
In a sense, Feng Ye represented the legitimate lineage of the Heavenly Court.
Feng Ye certainly knew the secrets of this world. The discoveries they had made in the Heavenly Court might well be nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.
Lady White Bone covered her mouth and said, "Daoist Feng Ye, it has been a long time."
Feng Ye nodded slightly and said indifferently, "I nearly died in the Buddhist Realm. Fortunately, Lord of the North Pole Star intervened and helped me."
A flicker of surprise passed through Lady White Bone's eyes.
Although she could not go to the outside world, she had still learned from Xiangzhu what had happened in Jingzhou, including matters involving the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Faced with an existence above the Earth Immortal Realm, Lord of the North Pole Star had actually managed to escape unscathed. The mere thought of it was astonishing.
"Then why didn't Lord of the North Pole Star come to the Heavenly Court?"
The speaker was a burly Black Bear Daoist. His cultivation was barely at the Yang Spirit Realm, and it was obvious that his status among the rogue cultivators was not high.
Lady White Bone glanced at Black Bear Daoist, and the latter wisely shut his mouth.
"The situation outside is chaotic. True Immortals and Buddhas are appearing one after another. It is already difficult enough for him to be willing to share the Heavenly Court with you..."
Feng Ye answered vaguely. How could he know the specific reason?
Lady White Bone said nothing. She merely watched Feng Ye warily. At the same time, Xiangzhu, having received word of the situation, also arrived at the Heavenly Court.
Feng Ye had never been good with words. He simply did not know how to express himself.
He simply turned and walked toward the Southern Heavenly Gate, arriving before the Wind God Boqiang he worshiped. The rogue cultivators followed closely behind him, their faces filled with confusion.
Feng Ye knelt on one knee and reverently placed both hands against the statue.
According to Ren Qing, as long as one infused an Immortal and Divine statue with the corresponding Ascension Method, it could activate the pathway leading to the Celestial River.
Sure enough, the instant Feng Ye used the Ascension Method, the statue changed its posture.
Wind God Boqiang had originally been standing motionless. It immediately changed into a posture of soaring with outstretched wings, and the aura of wind-based techniques erupted from within the statue.
A vast and boundless Celestial River appeared in midair. The cultivators felt an inexplicable murderous aura.
The Celestial River was still close at hand yet impossibly distant. They could see the corpses of Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals filling it, proving that the fall of the Heavenly Court had certainly involved a prolonged and devastating battle.
What shocked them most was that the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals were clearly divided into two sides.
The larger side consisted of normal-looking Heavenly Soldiers clad in silver-white armor. They held the numerical advantage, but their corpses were all horribly mutilated.
The Heavenly Soldiers made of deformed flesh accounted for only one-third of the total, yet their bodies were more than five times larger. They had an extremely close connection to Daode Heavenly Venerable.
Lady White Bone could not help asking, "What exactly happened to the Three Dao Ancestors?"
"I don't know. But I learned from Lord of the North Pole Star that True Immortals are also divided into the Strange and Turbid types. Turbid Immortals are closer to the Three Dao Ancestors."
"The True Immortals known to us so far should all be Turbid Immortals."
The cultivators looked at one another. Their first reaction was disbelief. After all, Feng Ye's actions in coming to the Heavenly Court did seem somewhat deliberate.
Feng Ye had completed Ren Qing's commission, so his consciousness returned to his body.
The two types of True Immortals, Strange and Turbid, were merely seeds planted in the hearts of the cultivators. As information about attaining immortality and the Dao within the Heavenly Court gradually surfaced, those seeds would eventually take root and sprout.
Even if there were only the slightest chance of attaining immortality, Heavenly Aberration Realm cultivators would still act upon it.
Under the combined interference of Ren Qing and Wuming, more and more factions began investigating the Immortal Positions. As a result, three more Immortal Positions were exposed.
They were Star Lord of Ascending Life, Antarctic Immortal Elder, and Well-Sea Water Deity.
Ren Qing had little impression of Star Lord of Ascending Life, and he knew just as little about Well-Sea Water Deity. Antarctic Immortal Elder, however, had appeared in The Legend of the White Snake.
It was said that his prototype was the Old Man of the God of Longevity, and he often had Deer and Crane Youths serving him.
At this thought, Ren Qing suddenly recalled the various versions of Antarctic Immortal Elder he had seen. The ancient myths of his previous life should all have some connection to one another.
Was Antarctic Immortal Elder perhaps a disciple of the Chan School under Primordial Heavenly Venerable?
There was even a saying that Primordial Heavenly Venerable's eldest disciple was Antarctic Immortal Elder, whose status surpassed that of the Twelve Immortals of Yuxu.
"This Immortal Position is quite extraordinary..."
Ren Qing flipped through the information collected by the cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall.
Apparently, in Canaan Kingdom to the east, a five-meter-tall old man had once appeared atop a city wall. He had an enormous, protruding forehead and white crane-like hair with the youthful appearance of a child.
He looked exactly like the Antarctic Immortal Elder depicted in temples, but he had left Canaan Kingdom in an instant.
No one realized that this world had actually buried a huge number of Immortal Positions. The number of True Immortals and Buddhas should have been several times greater than what they currently knew.
Ren Qing kept a constant watch on the movements of the Moon-Pounding Medicine Rabbit Immortal.
As for the missions to venture into the Buddhist Realm, they were mainly concentrated around the outskirts, focusing on investigating the situation and collecting Corpse Fuel.
"Hmm?"
After the Moon-Pounding Medicine Rabbit Immortal advanced eight thousand miles into the Buddhist Realm, the entire rabbit horde suddenly vanished without a trace. Several million rabbits disappeared into thin air.
The moment before, Ren Qing's bacterial souls were still attached to the bodies of more than a hundred rabbits.
The next moment, the bacterial souls appeared directly in the darkness. No matter how they searched, the rabbit horde had not left behind even the slightest trace.
The Moon-Pounding Medicine Rabbit Immortal instinctively pursued Taiyin Star Lord. The anomaly was very likely related to Taiyin Star Lord. This showed that the situation of the True Immortals within the Buddhist Realm was even more complicated than Ren Qing had imagined.
The Immortal Offices could indeed vaguely sense Taiyin Star Lord. Even with Dingguang Buddha no longer presiding over the Buddhist Realm, the latter's injuries had still not recovered.
Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal was in much the same condition. The two seemed to be in a delicate state.
Ren Qing decided to take advantage of Dingguang Buddha's absence and personally make a trip into the Buddhist Realm.
At the very least, he needed to determine the truth of the three Immortal Positions and see whether he should lure Wuming in and borrow the Corpse Immortal's power to deal with the True Immortals.
In any case, the Buddhist Realm's restrictions on him were now far weaker than before. He could easily use all his techniques, including Heavenly Demon Possession.
With Heavenly Demon Possession, even if Dingguang Buddha returned to the Buddhist Realm, Ren Qing could still use Heavenly Demon Tribulation to escape. He could practically move through the place as though it were flat ground.
Moreover, he still had Death Gives No Birth. Even when facing Ratnasambhava Buddha directly, he could escape smoothly.
He only needed to have his Spirit Division keep watch over the Beast Pen. The strange fusion between Dingguang Buddha and the flesh should, in theory, continue for forty or fifty years.
However, once True Immortals were involved, everything was filled with uncertainty.