Ren Qing's pupils constricted slightly after hearing that. The amount of information hidden in the old Daoist's words was enormous, leaving him unable to process it for a moment.
Had the other party been trapped in Dead Man's Forbidden Zone for too long and gone insane, or... was Lingxiao Daoist really as he claimed?
Impossible. Lingxiao Daoist's memories were clearly hidden inside the Natal Golden Core.
With the profundity of the Pill Poison Method, trying to isolate Lingxiao Daoist's memories from that tangled mess and alter them individually would be far too difficult.
Even after Lingxiao Daoist's death, Ren Qing had spent a great deal of time sorting them out.
If the person behind the scenes wanted to alter Lingxiao Daoist's memories without leaving any traces, their cultivation would at least have to be above the Heavenly Aberration realm.
Ren Qing's gaze swept across the surroundings. Then why hadn't they altered the Daoist and Buddhist cultivators outside the gate as well?
And from the old Daoist's words, they had stationed themselves outside the Immortal Gate more to prevent whatever was inside from coming out, rather than to attain immortality through it.
More than ten cultivators flew toward Ren Qing, all of them carrying unconcealed wariness in their expressions.
"Layman Molting Shell, you must have mistaken him. There's no way Lingxiao entered the Immortal Gate."
The speaker was a lion-headed monk named Zong Qing. The whitening whiskers around his mouth made it obvious he was already advanced in age.
"Impossible, I couldn't have seen wrong. Unless he isn't Lingxiao at all..."
Layman Molting Shell kept rambling on, while Elder Monk Zong Qing shook his head as if wanting to explain something. But suddenly, faint Buddhist aura seeped out from his body.
Fine fur sprouted all over Elder Monk Zong Qing's body as he instantly transformed into a lion-man, the Buddhist aura leaving his body becoming thick enough to seem tangible.
The Buddhist aura immediately transformed into the shape of lions and tigers, pouncing viciously toward Ren Qing.
The silent insect-human Daoist also hesitated not at all. The Chilling True Essence cultivated from the Insect Nest Method carried an icy coldness that could freeze everything.
The air tore with shrill sounds as the ground was instantly covered by thick frost.
The distant Yang God realm cultivators also attacked without hesitation. The momentum they unleashed was immense, causing buildings to collapse into ruins.
Ren Qing looked up. One cultivator spat out a blazing sun from his mouth, another manipulated mountains and rocks, while half-real, half-illusory waves surged over.
Dark clouds, mountain rocks, blazing suns, waves...
Only then did Layman Molting Shell react. Elder Monk Zong Qing's words had clearly been meant to lull the enemy.
Back then, dozens of people had gone together into the Immortal Gate. They had personally watched the group enter it, and not one had returned over the past century.
So... Lingxiao Daoist absolutely could not be the original person.
Poison mist spewed from his mouth and instantly engulfed Ren Qing, sizzling noisily.
From Layman Molting Shell making contact with Ren Qing to the group siege beginning had taken only a few breaths.
This showed that the town probably encountered creatures heading toward the Immortal Gate on a regular basis, likely the zombies transformed from cocoon-men and hibernators, as well as all sorts of gigantic beasts.
Fortunately, while they were united against outsiders, they still remained wary of one another, causing them to subconsciously hold back somewhat.
Especially the Daoists intentionally lingering in the rear. They resembled hyenas, with necklaces made from human heads hanging around their necks, greedily staring at the exposed flesh of the cultivators before them.
They were obviously craving flesh and blood, nearly unable to restrain themselves anymore.
Inside this resource-starved Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, cultivators could barely survive through cultivating techniques. But if they wanted to satisfy their appetites, they could only use the townspeople as food.
The reason only three factions remained was because all the other cultivators had already been eaten to extinction.
From the corners of the temples and Daoist halls within the town, one could see plenty of leftover flesh and blood being slowly dried into preserved meat.
Boom!!!
The blazing sun thrown by the Daoist smashed directly into Ren Qing's body. The light scattered outward before instantly retracting, twisting the very air itself.
Next came mountain-like boulders crashing down onto the same spot, followed immediately by surging waves. Various techniques struck Ren Qing almost simultaneously.
Dust spread everywhere, making Lingxiao Daoist's figure appear and disappear within the haze.
None of them continued attacking. Each stood dozens of meters apart, eyes locked on hostile cultivators nearby, the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense.
In their view, Lingxiao Daoist could not possibly still be alive.
The most important thing now was replenishing the technique aura they had expended. Without resources, they could only rely on flesh and blood.
The hyena cultivator grinned wide, saliva dripping from his fangs as his body twitched restlessly.
"Layman Molting Shell, disperse the dust."
Elder Monk Zong Qing ignored the other cultivators who looked ready to explode into conflict at any moment. He turned toward Layman Molting Shell and spoke solemnly.
Layman Molting Shell nodded. Compared to the others who understood nothing, he had a more direct sense of Ren Qing's existence.
When his identity was exposed, Lingxiao Daoist had shown only mild surprise, not the slightest nervousness despite facing a siege.
And then there was that giant he had brought. Though its exterior was rotten and decayed, it still stood over a thousand meters tall. Had it been a Heavenly Aberration realm being in life?
Everywhere one looked, things felt strange.
Layman Molting Shell summoned fierce winds, and the dust immediately dissipated.
Ren Qing still stood where he was. Externally his eyes remained shut, but in truth he was silently using Ghost Shadow to make contact with the cultivators and inspect their information.
Judging from the techniques they cultivated, they perfectly matched Lingxiao Daoist's memories.
Ren Qing also glanced at the Information Stream of the leading Yang God realm cultivator.
[Layman Molting Shell]
[Age: 853]
[Lifespan: None]
[Technique: Molting Method (White Bone Molting Realm)]
[Molting Method]
[Created by Ancestor Molting Birth. To cultivate this method, one must plant a bitterwood seed three cun into the brain-heart. Once the bitterwood sprouts and extracts the internal organs, replacing them with its roots and stems, the cultivation is complete.]
[Age: 672]
[Lifespan: None]
[Technique: Laughing Buddha Forgetfulness Sutra (Great Enlightenment Realm)]
[Laughing Buddha Forgetfulness Sutra]
[Created by Laughing Lion Arhat. To cultivate this method, Laughing Lion Arhat must leave a spark of Buddhist light within the cultivator's dantian, which is then nurtured with one's own flesh and blood before the cultivation can succeed.]
The insect-human Daoist was named "Daoist Taihan," and the technique he cultivated truly was the same Insect Nest Method as Daoist Yuhua's.
The Insect Nest had definitely participated in matters related to Dead Man's Forbidden Zone, though Daoist Yuhua himself knew nothing about it.
Ren Qing discovered that although their techniques all possessed bizarre flaws, advancing to the Yang God realm was far easier for them than with the Restraint Officer methods.
Layman Molting Shell widened his eyes and shouted in disbelief, "Lingxiao, no, who exactly... exactly are you?!!"
All the cultivators stared fixedly at Ren Qing. Through his slightly tattered Daoist robes, they could tell he had forcibly endured the bombardment of multiple techniques head-on.
Ren Qing shook his head. Originally, he had intended to quietly leave after obtaining Dead Man's Sutra. Now it seemed unavoidable that he would become entangled.
Still, he had nothing to fear, to the point where he could not even be bothered to conceal himself with techniques.
After all, Dead Man's Forbidden Zone was completely sealed off, and the various factions here had no contact with the outside world, so there was little to worry about.
Ren Qing continued maintaining Lingxiao Daoist's appearance. As long as he did not expose himself, it did not matter whose identity he displayed externally.
Lowering his voice, he asked, "How long have you all been here?"
No one replied. The cultivators no longer dared hold back and instead desperately accumulated technique aura within themselves, waiting for Ren Qing to expose a flaw before attacking.
"How long have you all been here?"
Ren Qing repeated the question in the language of the Insect Nest, causing Daoist Taihan to frown and glance sideways.
Yet still, nobody answered. Crackling sounds filled the air as the aura of more than ten Yang God realm cultivators pulverized all the surrounding bones into powder.
Ren Qing sized up the group, then locked his gaze onto the hyena cultivator standing at the outskirts.
Too many factions were tied to the Immortal Gate. Though these people resembled abandoned pawns, Ren Qing did not want to invite unnecessary trouble because of them.
And if he really had to establish dominance, judging from everyone's body language, the hyena cultivator was clearly the least liked person in town.
The hyena cultivator also seemed to sense Ren Qing's hostility and burst into unrestrained laughter.
None of them believed Ren Qing could kill him right under the noses of over a dozen Yang God realm cultivators. Unless he was a Heavenly Aberration realm existence...
Ren Qing stepped forward, causing all the cultivators to tense up like frightened birds.
Just as battle seemed moments away, an enormous shadow suddenly covered the sky overhead, accompanied by a foul stench rushing straight into their noses.
Boom!!!
A purple-red poisonous liquid palm slammed downward violently. Shockwaves spread like rippling water, and not a single cultivator managed to react in time.
The hyena cultivator who had just been laughing moments ago had already been reduced to minced meat.
Even though the minced flesh tried to reform itself, the poison's corrosiveness was terrifying. Within moments, it melted into steaming pus.
Layman Molting Shell turned around in shock, only to see the rotten giant extending its right arm. Poisonous liquid grew like branches, forming a massive hand that crushed the hyena cultivator to death.
The giant hand had brushed past them by mere inches, the threat of death hanging heavily over their heads.
After the Giant Corpse Buddha's Black Arm Method advanced to the Yin Difference realm "Hundred-Armed Poison Tree," it could already unleash over forty percent of the Earth Immortal corpse's power. Killing Yang God realm cultivators was like striking defenseless prey.
The cultivators looked as if they were facing a great enemy. The hand above their heads carried overwhelming intimidation.
Ren Qing repeated once more in the language of the Insect Nest, "How long have you all been here?"
The other cultivators all looked toward Daoist Taihan, who tremblingly answered, "Replying to the Immortal Guest, two hundred thirty-six years and eleven months."
After calculating briefly, Ren Qing found it matched perfectly with the timeline from Lingxiao Daoist's memories.
Using the disease seed, he sensed the truthfulness in Daoist Taihan's words before asking again, "How many cultivators entered together back then?"
"Uh... around thirty or forty people."
"And who led them?"
"Zong Wu of Lion Buddha Temple."
Ren Qing continued questioning him, mixing in some seemingly unrelated questions along the way. In the end, he discovered that compared to Lingxiao Daoist, their impressions of the Immortal Gate differed only slightly.
Lingxiao Daoist believed one could attain immortality beyond the gate, while they were purely guarding the Immortal Gate.
Ren Qing also learned that Daoist Taihan's term "Immortal Guest" referred to the Heavenly Aberration realm.
It originated from the saying, "Guests of the Heavenly Gate from all directions shall sooner or later join the ranks of immortals." After all, Immortal Guests were beings about to ascend among immortals, with the Heavenly Aberration realm only one step away from Earth Immortal.
Aside from the Buddhist sects, the Daoist factions all knew of the Heavenly Aberration realm, proving there must be some connection to the Restraint Officer methods.
After carefully confirming the situation, Ren Qing leapt upward and landed atop the Giant Corpse Buddha's head.
He no longer paid attention to the cultivators and instead guided the Giant Corpse Buddha toward the edge of town, near the territory of the Insect Nest Daoists.
Ren Qing had Ghost Shadow stand guard while he began copying down the Dead Man's Sutra engraved upon the surface of the Immortal Gate.
A rough guess had already begun forming in his mind, though he still needed to physically touch the Immortal Gate and verify it through the Information Stream. For now, he planned to observe things for a few days first.