The boundless Corrupted Blood Plain, everywhere one could see were blood clots congealed into solid masses.
In such a lifeless region, merely looking at the surface there was no vitality whatsoever, yet in fact there existed a kind of extremely corrosive insect.
When the gigantic corpse Buddha walked within the corrupted blood, its own flesh and blood would be continuously eroded.
Even if its cultivation had been extremely high while alive, it was after all a corpse; after more than half a month the legs were left with only white bones, and the bone matter had turned purple.
Under such circumstances, it inevitably dragged down the speed of the gigantic corpse Buddha.
The Insect Eye had only just fused with a Martial Practitioner realm aberrant fetus. Even if subsequently strengthened with the "White-Eye Disease Seed", it still could not observe the surroundings with fine precision.
The effect of the White-Eye Disease Seed could positively influence the Insect Eye Technique. This was also something Ren Qing only discovered after several attempts.
Restraint Officers' Hall greatly cherished the gigantic corpse Buddha's behavior of walking and stopping intermittently. In this way it gave them sufficient time to recuperate.
Although Li Tiangang and the others did not know that Ren Qing's goal was Dead Man's Sutra, they understood that the Earth Immortal corpse held immense significance for Restraint Officers' Hall.
Xiangxiang had already been destroyed; either live ignobly, or seize the opportunity.
Altogether several thousand cultivators, aside from three to four hundred people remaining to guard the stomach and intestines region, the rest all went to the liver of the gigantic corpse Buddha.
Ren Qing alone was responsible for refining the spine, handing the liver to Li Tiangang to handle.
After the Six Diseases Method advanced to Dead Disease Pestilence Immortal, control over disease seeds was already as effortless as moving one's arm; splitting a portion of attention to complete the mutation of the liver was sufficient.
The one he chose was the Fatty-Liver Disease Seed, representing the illness fatty liver, and beforehand he used the Malformation Disease Seed to guide the liver toward the spell "Heart-Burning Technique".
The literal understanding of the Heart-Burning Method is mutation targeting the heart, but in reality it concerns the liver; within Restraint Officers' Hall few people would touch it.
The reason truly lay in the danger contained within it, it was extremely easy to fall into qi deviation.
[Heart-Burning Method]
[Accidentally cultivated by Wang Yanfang after mistakenly inhaling flames. Cultivation requires seventy percent of the liver to transform into grease; after flames ignite the liver and one does not die, only then can it be completed.]
After mastering the Heart-Burning Method, the liver is like fuel that feeds the flames. Once it loses control, the cultivator will very likely directly turn to ashes.
However the gigantic corpse Buddha was watched over by several thousand cultivators, so such a situation should not occur.
When the many cultivators arrived beside the liver, not only Little San, even Li Tiangang was startled by the mutated organ.
Originally the gigantic corpse Buddha's liver appeared shriveled gray-black on the outside, basically already having lost the functions an internal organ should have.
Now after mutation by the Fatty-Liver Disease Seed, the liver had actually turned amber-like.
The surface layer was wrapped in a thick shell, while inside was semi-solid yellow grease, as if the slightest spark could immediately cause an explosion.
Of course, after all the mutated liver was essentially a spell; moreover after completing artifactization it would receive the protection of Buddha Qi, at which time it would become extremely stable.
Li Tiangang immediately signaled the cultivators to begin refining the liver. Large numbers of cultivators moved through the blood vessels, materials gradually piling into mountains.
An oily smell spread through the stomach and intestines.
Corresponding materials were ground into powder and smeared over the liver's surface, the grease gradually flesh-transforming.
Little San led dozens of artifact refiners, with the assistance of a small number of Ghost Shadows, beginning to inscribe extremely complicated Moon Patterns.
For Restraint Officers' Hall, the liver already required a massive project involving more than a thousand people, while compared with the liver the spine was a hundred times more complex.
The spine connected to the entire skeleton of the gigantic corpse Buddha, filled with numerous nerves; any action might lead to affecting the entire body from a single point.
Ren Qing had to be extremely cautious, not daring to relax even slightly.
Because the gigantic corpse Buddha had been walking for a long time, friction between bone joints produced deafening sounds, accompanied by high temperatures.
In Ren Qing's view, the spine was like the steel machinery of his previous life, constantly releasing kinetic energy.
For the mutation of the spine there was no need to use the Malformation Disease Seed; it was already sufficient to accommodate the reproduction of the Hard-Bone Disease Seed.
Ren Qing did not choose to pseudo-dragonize the Hard-Bone Disease Seed, but instead used the Six Diseases Method to control it little by little, applying the influence of mutation to the spine.
As for the Giantization Disease Type, he planned to transplant it after the Hardening Disease Seed spread throughout all the bones.
Ren Qing's hands did not stop for a moment, allowing the spinal bones to fully absorb ore powder, while the Ghost Shadow traced Moon Patterns, one person performing the work of a thousand.
Under his refinement, this vertebra gradually revealed a metallic luster, and the unique aura of an Aberrant Fetus Artifact spread out.
Bang...
The gigantic corpse Buddha seemed to sense the mutation of its body, its speed becoming increasingly slow.
Ren Qing continued for several days before completing the refinement of this vertebra. However it was only one section, there were still more than thirty vertebrae remaining.
Fortunately the beginning was the hardest part. Once it was completed once, afterwards the Ghost Shadow could perform precise and errorless refinement.
Ren Qing let out a breath, then merely controlled the reproduction of disease seeds, finally able to spare some energy to carry out strange transformation fusion of dream techniques.
He used the Dream Flower on his forehead to inspect the situation on the liver's side, then his brows furrowed.
There was not much problem with the artifactization of the liver. With Ghost Shadow present, Little San and the others at most had slower efficiency when refining.
But Ren Qing suddenly sensed that the other internal organ regions seemed to have produced an anomaly.
Li Tiangang suspiciously swept his gaze around nearby, then could not help loudly shouting: "Wait."
Upon seeing this the cultivators immediately set down their tasks, activating spells and standing vigilantly in place; even breathing seemed silent.
Li Yaoyang suppressed the fear in his heart and asked in a deep voice: "What is it?"
Li Tiangang calmly replied: "Be careful of attacks from strange objects..."
Jiang Feng froze for several breaths, then commanded the lower-realm cultivators to return toward the stomach along the blood vessels, while the remaining cultivators formed groups of two or three.
Li Yaoyang spat out several Gu insects from his mouth, letting them investigate around the internal organs.
But there was no sign of strange objects at all; what entered his eyes were all rotten flesh and blood, and blood vessel abscesses spread throughout.
Just as Li Yaoyang was about to say it was a false alarm, he suddenly noticed the blood vessels wriggling slightly.
Immediately afterward the blood vessels detached from the internal organs like pythons, as if unable to resist the smell emitted by the liver, surging toward them like a tide.
Li Tiangang narrowed his eyes and said: "Little San, continue refining artifacts."
The urgent matter was still to complete the artifactization of the liver, otherwise the mutated organ would continuously emit strange odors, stimulating the blood vessels to come.
The cultivators did not dare unleash spells recklessly and all drew sharp weapons to meet the enemy.
The blood vessels moved extremely fast. Their attack method mainly relied on entanglement; the most troublesome aspect was still their densely terrifying numbers.
Which cultivator of Restraint Officers' Hall had not experienced many battles, facing the blood vessels they were not flustered.
Even several Yin Difference realm cultivators did not rush to act. They more wished to understand what exactly the source of the strange objects was.
Li Yaoyang used a Gu insect to bite a blood vessel to death, then took it over and examined it repeatedly.
He felt that merely touching the strange object with his palm made his own blood vessels show signs of losing control, as if they wanted to break free from the restraint of flesh.
"Ah!"
A middle-aged cultivator let out a scream. The blood vessels under his skin bulged, twisting like living creatures, making those around feel their scalps go numb.
Li Tiangang pulled out a sheet of paper and flung it over, directly sealing the middle-aged cultivator inside.
He turned his head and asked: "Li Yaoyang, did you see the cause?"
Li Yaoyang hesitated slightly and said: "It is very likely parasitic insects hiding within the gigantic corpse Buddha, attracted by the smell."
After hearing this Li Tiangang nodded, then signaled the Yin Difference realm to take action.
Chen Haoyu finally obtained Ren Qing's permission to come to the stomach and intestines and naturally wanted to demonstrate his value, so he transformed his right leg into an elephant foot.
He kicked toward the swarm of insects, the strength controlled just right, causing large quantities of blood vessels to turn into minced flesh.
Miss Bai controlled flying swords to fight the enemy; flashes of cold light left the ground filled with blood vessels cut into two halves, and cultivators with chills down their backs.
The battle continued for several days.
Blood vessels surged endlessly. No matter how Li Yaoyang's Gu insects searched, they could not find where they originated.
Little San engraved Moon Patterns without stopping, and Ghost Shadow likewise did not slacken.
Until the moment when the Moon Patterns on the surface of the liver formed a unified whole, faint Buddha Qi poured into the organ, turning the patterns pale gold.
The solid grease inside the liver completely turned back into flesh and blood, and the artifact aura became even stronger.
Little San exhaled a long breath. According to Ren Qing's explanation, this meant it had gained the recognition of the gigantic corpse Buddha, even if the liver were destroyed by external force, it could recover again.
Cultivators who mastered wind-attribute spells hurriedly summoned violent winds to blow away the smell of grease.
But an unexpected event occurred: the liver clearly no longer emitted odor, yet the blood vessels still surged toward them.
Only then did Li Tiangang realize that the blood vessels' target was not the liver, but Restraint Officers' Hall.
He immediately felt a headache. The strength of the blood vessels was not very strong, only about the Half-Corpse realm, but relying on numbers alone they were already a great problem.
Moreover whether the blood vessels formed naturally was another matter; it might involve something far greater.
Restraint Officers' Hall itself already lacked manpower. If they had to defend against blood vessel attacks, at least several hundred people would need to be stationed in the liver region.
Li Tiangang helplessly shouted: "Construct a defensive line with the liver as the center..."
The cultivators did not hesitate in the slightest, immediately sending part of their number retreating toward the stomach and intestines, planning to transport materials used to build city walls.
"No need."
At this moment, Ren Qing's figure appeared at the center of the battlefield.
Before Li Tiangang could ask, he saw Ghost Shadow wrap more than a thousand cultivators, and then a scene that left them dumbfounded appeared.
The liver actually released intense fluctuations of the Heart-Burning Method. Numerous half-meter holes appeared on the surface, smoke and dust spilling out from them.
Scorching flames burst forth, instantly turning the tide of blood vessels into ashes.
The burning flames were like a tornado, located precisely below the heart, as if placing the heart over a fire to roast, therefore it was called the Heart-Burning Method.
The gigantic corpse Buddha instinctively raised its arm. The palm likewise revealed holes, a sea of fire burning around the body and forming a vacuum zone.
Moments later the flames extinguished. Beside the liver there was not a single blood vessel in sight.
From this it could be seen that the blood vessels were certainly controlled by some kind of existence; otherwise they would not know to judge the situation.
The cultivators looked toward Ren Qing, but he had already returned to the spine.
With the mutated liver present, Ren Qing could communicate and release flames at any time, facilitating Restraint Officers' Hall's exploration of the gigantic corpse Buddha.
He continued completing strange transformation fusion, striving to let the Eyeless Method enter the Yang Spirit realm as soon as possible, while also assisting Ghost Shadow in refining the spine.
Because it needed to adapt to the mutation inside its body, the gigantic corpse Buddha temporarily remained in place.