"Putting on airs."
Could it be that beings like the Cocoon People and Zhe People were not creations, but had instead come from behind the gate?
Then why were there also large numbers of similar beings gathered outside Dead Man's Forbidden Zone? Ren Qing always felt that Daoist Lingxiao was deliberately misleading him.
Ren Qing was amused instead of angered. He had plenty of methods to skin someone alive and tear out their bones, so why was this Daoist Lingxiao so certain he would submit?
He suppressed his distracting thoughts and took out Peach Wine to fill Daoist Lingxiao's cup, though he secretly sprinkled a handful of flesh-distortion disease seeds into the liquor, invisible to the naked eye.
Daoist Lingxiao seemed very pleased and raised the cup for a sip.
The unique mellow fragrance of Peach Wine bloomed on his tongue. Since it had been drawn from the Wine Sea, it carried a salty dampness mixed with sea salt.
"So, fellow daoist, have you thought it through? The immortal gate isn't something one person can pry into alone."
Ren Qing sidestepped the issue and asked, "What exactly happened two hundred years ago that caused the immortal gate to become something no one dares approach?"
"You'll understand once you near the immortal gate."
Daoist Lingxiao could not quite figure Ren Qing out and wanted to use this as leverage. No matter how many times Ren Qing questioned him, he refused to loosen his tongue in the slightest.
Ren Qing could not help sighing before speaking with a dark gaze, "Daoist, you should know there are spells that search souls and seize spirits, right?"
Daoist Lingxiao looked as though he had already grasped Ren Qing completely and shook his head as he explained, "Pill Dao Method is no ordinary technique. It was created by..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt all the flesh in his body become scorching hot, as though his internal organs were about to ignite.
Daoist Lingxiao did not panic. He merely said grimly, "If you rashly head to the immortal gate, there is only death waiting for you."
Ren Qing asked with a half-smile, "Daoist, if you truly had sincerity, why not come in your real body? Why borrow a Dao Soldier puppet instead?"
From beginning to end, Daoist Lingxiao had only been a Dao Soldier formed from memories, which was why he had acted so recklessly, allowing Ren Qing to lay down hidden measures at will.
His soul was extremely chaotic. Trying to obtain useful clues from it was like fishing for a needle in the ocean.
While Ren Qing used various methods on him, Daoist Lingxiao had likewise been probing him.
It seemed this old ox-nosed priest was still coveting the giant corpse Buddha, truly treating the Restraint Officers' Hall like soft persimmons to squeeze.
Now that the two had torn away all pretenses, Daoist Lingxiao stopped wasting words and his aura began boiling violently.
Yet before he could mobilize the true essence within his body, he felt his flesh slip beyond his control as bizarre and indescribable distortions erupted.
His ribs bulged outward as malformed and useless limbs grew from them. His forehead became covered in densely packed eyeballs, twisting his vision beyond recognition. His internal organs writhed faintly as though granted independent life...
He staggered back several steps and noticed that something seemed hidden in the shadows at the corner of the Mud Pellet Palace.
Ghost Shadow fused together with Dragon Spine as a massive shadow dragon head lunged toward Daoist Lingxiao. Only by protecting himself with true essence did he barely block the attack.
Ren Qing stood beside the central brain within the Mud Pellet Palace, watching Daoist Lingxiao appear incomparably miserable under the assault of the shadow dragon.
Daoist Lingxiao shouted venomously, "You know nothing about the immortal gate, nothing about what lies behind it."
"Why refuse? At most, you sacrifice some of your subordinates. Then we can have tens of thousands of Dao Soldiers explore the immortal gate for us..."
"You're noisy. When did I ever say I planned to enter the immortal gate?"
A mocking smile appeared at the corner of Ren Qing's mouth.
The immortal gate within Dead Man's Forbidden Zone was almost certainly the strange gate of the Disaster Elimination Method. He carried it with him at all times, so why would he go far away searching for it?
What Ren Qing wanted was the Dead Man Sutra, not some opportunity for immortality and ascension.
To him, eternal life itself was immortality.
Seeing that Ren Qing remained completely unmoved, Daoist Lingxiao realized his judgment had been mistaken and an inexplicable fear rose within him.
He could vaguely sense that this seemingly ordinary man opposite him actually possessed unimaginable obsession and madness.
Daoist Lingxiao's body swelled larger and larger as numerous fleshy tumors grew out, drawing nutrients from his flesh and bones.
Bang bang bang...
The giant corpse Buddha began striding forward. Whether it was merely Daoist Lingxiao's illusion or not, its direction was precisely toward his true body.
Cold sweat soaked his entire body as he realized that if he did nothing, he would likely die here today at the other party's hands.
Under the stimulation of the Pill Poison Method, Daoist Lingxiao's flesh gradually collapsed.
A faint medicinal fragrance spread out, causing even Ren Qing to unconsciously step forward half a pace while Ghost Shadow instantly fell into a feeding urge.
The primary function of Pill Dao Method was not Scatter Beans Into Soldiers, but controlling pill poison.
The drawback, however, was enormous. It was easy for cultivators to suffer backlash, and Pill Dao Sect had experienced more than one incident of disciples devouring each other.
Daoist Lingxiao casually tossed chunks of flesh to the shadow dragon. After eagerly swallowing them, large quantities of chaotic memories immediately flooded into its consciousness.
He was clearly becoming desperate. Ren Qing had not moved even half a step, yet merely standing there exerted invisible pressure.
The shadow dragon's movements suddenly froze as it repeatedly smashed its head against the flesh walls of the dantian.
A cold smile appeared on Ren Qing's face. The shadow dragon was formed from Ghost Shadow, Heavenly Dao Insect, and Dragon Spine. Though its intelligence was not low, it possessed no soul whatsoever.
No matter how many memories were forcefully poured into it, the shadow dragon would quickly forget them all.
As long as Ren Qing himself did not touch the pill poison, it would be fine. Thus, he directly used the Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth.
The shadows within the Mud Pellet Palace wriggled before several enormous pitch-black beasts lunged out from within, surrounding Daoist Lingxiao.
The Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth could manifest things from the stomach world upon Ren Qing's body.
Ever since the stomach world reached Yang Spirit realm, the Method of Modeling Heaven and Earth had been further perfected. Even Ghost Shadow could now serve as a medium for the divine ability.
Everyone should go give it a try.
The beasts were transformed from various jailers. Though they only possessed Ghost Envoy realm perfection strength, they were more than enough to stall for time.
Ren Qing had already locked onto Daoist Lingxiao's true body using Blood Chaser. He controlled the giant corpse Buddha to stride rapidly forward, intending to uproot the problem completely.
Daoist Lingxiao became increasingly irritated as he was entangled by the beasts and his expression twisted further and further.
"Die die die..."
The medicinal fragrance grew denser. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared across his entire body as crystalline flesh seeped out from within.
A muffled explosion rang out as Daoist Lingxiao exploded into minced flesh. Mixed within were the memories of hundreds upon thousands of people, all surging toward Ren Qing.
Seeing this, Ren Qing became certain that the Pill Poison Method acquired memories by devouring the souls of mortals or cultivators.
After hesitating for several breaths, he decided to accept Daoist Lingxiao's memories. There was a chance he might uncover the secrets from two hundred years ago.
Of course, Ren Qing had no intention of using his main soul to resist the pill poison. The Mud Pellet Palace contained plenty of various bacterial souls.
The remnant consciousness left behind by Daoist Lingxiao seemed somewhat incredulous. He did not know whether Ren Qing was simply arrogant, but Ren Qing had not prepared even the slightest countermeasure.
Yet due to his fear of Ren Qing, he skipped past him and instead chose the giant brain.
Before his consciousness sank into darkness, Daoist Lingxiao saw the astonishment on Ren Qing's face and suddenly felt a trace of pleasure.
The giant corpse Buddha's footsteps paused.
The instant the brain came into contact with the pill poison, it turned entirely ash-black while the blood vessels on its surface continuously swelled and burst.
"I was just worrying about a container for storing memories."
The main brain of the giant corpse Buddha possessed a relatively weak soul. Combined with the erosion of the cerebral palsy disease seed, it naturally could not be affected by the pill poison.
Ghost Shadow beneath Ren Qing's feet cleanly severed the entire brain and tossed it into the stomach world for sealing, allowing it to digest the memories within.
The secondary brain immediately replaced the main brain in controlling the giant corpse Buddha's body as it continued striding forward.
Then, under stimulation from the bladder's Rebirth Technique, the main brain began regenerating, though it would still require some time before fully recovering.
Moments later, Ren Qing arrived at the location of Daoist Lingxiao's true body.
Daoist Lingxiao had completely transformed into an indescribable flesh plant. Its branches were pieced together from arms and legs, while human heads hung from them.
Driven by the Pill Dao Method, the flesh plant's area continuously shrank inward. At the center was a seed over ten meters wide, showing that Daoist Lingxiao had already prepared to flee.
But he had never expected that aside from Ren Qing himself, there was not a single complete soul to be found anywhere inside or outside the giant corpse Buddha.
The branches combined together to form Daoist Lingxiao's face as the aura of Yang Spirit realm burst forth without concealment, causing the earth to tremble.
In Ren Qing's eyes, the cultivation Daoist Lingxiao displayed was at least equivalent to No-Birth Immortal, and it was accompanied by bizarre and unfathomable pill poison.
He confirmed that Daoist Lingxiao's consciousness remained intact and still wanted to squeeze out a few more lines of information.
"Only the Pill Dao is supreme."
Daoist Lingxiao roared as the vegetation wrapped itself toward the giant corpse Buddha.
Even now, he remained obsessed with the giant corpse Buddha. The vegetation desperately burrowed into flesh and bone while releasing strange medicinal properties.
He clearly wanted to refine the giant corpse Buddha into a Dao Soldier.
"I want to enter the immortal gate, I want to attain immortality and enlightenment, this vessel is mine too..."
Daoist Lingxiao's voice became increasingly frenzied, occasionally shifting into Fire Dragonzi's or Xuanchengzi's voice. His soul had already been eroded by pill poison.
Yet he still clung to unrealistic fantasies.
Ren Qing shook his head helplessly and signaled the artifact spirit to unleash the giant corpse Buddha at full power.
The flesh covered by the Flesh-Increasing Disease Type corresponded to the Vajra Body Restraint Officer Method. Its skin instantly turned bronze as bone spikes erupted from its spine, quickly forming bone armor that covered its entire body.
The oily liver spat out fire dragons that effortlessly burned through the roots of the vegetation.
A single punch slammed downward, caving the ground inward by over ten meters as all vegetation within range turned to ash.
Though the giant corpse Buddha had not reached Earth Immortal level, it at least possessed Heavenly Aberration realm strength. With a mere lift of its hand, Nether Yuan dissolved huge swathes of vegetation.
Its arm plunged into its lungs and drew out a flesh greatsword hundreds of meters long.
"How can this be, how can this be, you mere..."
Daoist Lingxiao became incoherent. Countless struggling human faces emerged across his exterior like vengeful spirits demanding lives.
Those vengeful spirits represented the memories of others within Daoist Lingxiao beginning to seize control in reverse.
The sound of teeth chewing rang out.
Daoist Lingxiao tried desperately to suppress the backlash of the pill poison, but it was clearly useless. After all, it contained the memories of tens of thousands of people.
"Don't kill me. If I hadn't devoured your souls, Pill Dao Sect could never have escaped extermination. I would have let all of you live again."
Though there was only Daoist Lingxiao's soul present, Ren Qing had the illusion that tens of thousands of souls were mixed within it, all collapsing toward destruction.
"Don't kill me. Only if I attain immortality and enlightenment can I rebuild the sect."
Just as the giant corpse Buddha raised the flesh flying sword, explosions erupted all across Daoist Lingxiao's body as flesh splattered everywhere.
Under Ren Qing's gaze, this daoist who had devoured every disciple in his entire sect ultimately perished beneath an immeasurable mass of chaotic memories.
Only a golden core remained, stirring the strange objects within Ren Qing.
The surface of the golden core had already cracked open, revealing a brain-like interior that emitted an enticingly rich medicinal fragrance.
Ren Qing stored the golden core within the stomach world and used vitality to halt its collapse.
With both the golden core and the main brain, he should be able to uncover what exactly happened two hundred years ago.