Cold winds howled. Looking up, there was nothing but endless darkness. The vegetation was coated in fluffy dust, as if it had been scorched by raging flames.
Through the thick black clouds, a dim sun could barely be seen hanging in the sky, indicating that it was not yet night.
Crack crack crack crack...
The sound suddenly rang out, especially jarring within the dead silence.
As the clouds were blown aside slightly, a dark-toned sun was finally revealed, allowing silver-white sunlight to spill across the earth.
A wagon heavily loaded with cargo approached from the distance, heading toward the depths of the darkness.
However, unlike an ordinary wooden wagon, this one was made entirely of flesh and blood, with human skin serving as its curtains.
Calling it a "Blood Cart" would be more appropriate.
The Blood Cart was covered in muscle fibers from top to bottom. As its flesh-and-blood millstone-like wheels rolled forward, the muscles could be seen constantly tensing and relaxing.
The skin curtains were covered in black hair. When the breeze swept over them, the strands gently drifted upward.
Another mountain gust blew through, exposing the Blood Cart's cargo.
The interior was filled with countless severed limbs and chunks of flesh. The blood leaking from them was continuously absorbed by the Blood Cart itself.
The Blood Cart was not unmanned. Sitting cross-legged outside the curtain was a driver.
His age was impossible to determine from his appearance because not a single piece of human skin remained on his body.
He sat there naked and bloody atop the Blood Cart, staring blankly at the reins that were attached to no horse at all, occasionally giving directions.
Such a bizarre scene hardly seemed to belong to the mortal world. It felt more like an endless underworld.
Flies covered in black fur landed on the driver's shoulder. He repeatedly shooed away the carrion-loving insects while muttering irritably to himself.
It was clear that although the driver's body was strange, he possessed no cultivation whatsoever.
The driver muttered angrily, his speech stiff and indistinct, but he could do nothing to the flies and could only let out a long sigh.
The irritation on his face lingered as he reached into the Blood Cart and pulled out a smoking pipe.
The pipe appeared to be crafted from bone. Its surface had been polished clean, strange patterns carved into it, and holes drilled through both ends.
The driver brushed away the dust on the pipe, sprinkled some yellowish-brown powder into one end, then blew several breaths of hot air into the hollow opening.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...
A grating sound rang out, and sparks immediately appeared within the hollow.
Seeing this, the driver quickly stuffed in some unknown dried grass. Wisps of white smoke drifted out, and the flies fled one after another from the fumes.
He brought the pipe to his mouth and took leisurely puffs.
As the smoke entered his lungs, warmth spread from his internal organs throughout his body, accompanied by a faint stinging sensation that filled him with contentment.
Only when the sparks in the pipe died out did the driver reluctantly put it away.
Yet the flies returned to torment him again, circling around his flayed body and seeking to lay eggs within the flesh that resembled an ideal breeding ground.
The driver cursed under his breath, stood up, and checked the road ahead. The destination was already nearby.
Placing his hand on the Blood Cart, he grunted. Veins and blood vessels extended from his body and connected to the cart.
His flesh flowed like liquid before being absorbed by the Blood Cart, causing the wheels to visibly swell in size.
The Blood Cart gradually accelerated, moving across the muddy mountain road as if traversing level ground.
After passing through a withered forest, a wall over a thousand meters tall entered view. The wall was dark red in color, but from such a distance, its details remained impossible to discern.
A moment later, the Blood Cart came to a stop a hundred meters from the wall.
Only at close range could one truly feel the oppressive presence of such a colossal structure. Compared to the wall, the Blood Cart seemed as insignificant as an ant.
The wall was also made of flesh and blood, though it was covered in dense black fur. Faces occasionally surfaced beneath its surface.
The driver parked the Blood Cart and withdrew his arm.
The flesh that had been absorbed into the wheels returned to his body, but he was visibly thinner than before, and exhaustion appeared on his face.
The driver could not help shaking his head before dumping the severed limbs and chunks of flesh from the Blood Cart. Several corpses were mixed among them.
After finishing, he hurriedly drove the Blood Cart away from the wall.
However, the driver seemed to be intentionally scattering white powder along the road, occasionally turning back to ensure the trail remained unbroken.
The Blood Cart soon disappeared from sight.
The black fur covering the wall began writhing once again. Bulges protruded from beneath the surface and slowly extended toward the pile of corpses.
The wind howled like the cries of wandering spirits.
Just as the bulges were about to reach the heap of remains, a muffled sound suddenly came from nearby.
The protrusions reacted like startled birds, hurriedly retreating back into the wall. The black fur returned to stillness, leaving only the buzzing of flies.
An arm emerged from the soil.
Not only was it covered in human skin, but its complexion was a healthy wheat color.
Another arm followed, and then a head emerged as well.
After breaking free from the earth's restraints, Ren Qing used Ghost Shadow to remove the dirt clinging to his body before surveying the surroundings.
"What kind of place is this?"
His expression was somewhat stunned. The wall before him was so shocking that he stood frozen for several breaths.
His nose caught the distinctive scent of a Black Goat.
The air was filled with Heavenly Demon aura that sought to invade him through every possible opening, yet it could not even penetrate the outermost layer of his flesh.
Rather than alarming him, the situation calmed him down.
He first used the Disaster Elimination Method to erase his presence, then put on a Daoist robe.
His forehead wriggled as five eyeball-shaped Dreamflowers sprouted out. While resisting the Heavenly Demon aura, they continuously fed back nourishment to him.
Ren Qing had never expected that the pseudo-dragonized severed arm would accidentally find its way into the Beast Pen. Judging from the situation, however, it was not located in the core region.
According to the records of Wuwei Daoist Temple, the Beast Pen was occupied by the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Heavenly Daozi had apparently traveled through the Beast Pen alongside Chen Changsheng and had obtained the Beast Pen Method there, triggering the beginning of Wuwei Daoist Temple's destruction.
Ren Qing was not nervous in the slightest.
He knew quite a bit about the Supreme Heavenly Demon. Although the Black Goat's strength might exceed the Earth Immortal realm, its thoughts were extraordinarily chaotic.
The Supreme Heavenly Demon was entirely formed from the fusion of countless cultivators. As long as it continued to exist, its strength would endlessly increase.
It resembled a "hive mind" from his previous life.
Most of the Supreme Heavenly Demon's actions were highly purposeful. Its interference in Jingzhou, for example, had been entirely focused on expanding its influence.
And that very fact suggested that even if Ren Qing encountered the Supreme Heavenly Demon, as long as he remained sufficiently cautious, he was unlikely to become entangled in its affairs.
After all, he was not even interesting enough to attract the Supreme Heavenly Demon's attention.
That said, the Beast Pen was located northeast of Jingzhou. By avoiding the battlefield of the Three Immortals, it could provide a shortcut back to Xiangxiang.
After retreating several hundred meters, Ren Qing inspected the condition of his body.
After the pseudo-dragonized severed arm had wandered into the Beast Pen, he had worried about accidental corruption by the Heavenly Demon aura, even though the outer region contained only a thin concentration.
Yet to his surprise, there was not the slightest trace of Heavenly Demon aura within him.
Then again, the instinct of a pseudo-dragonized severed arm was to avoid disasters and seek safety. If it had truly encountered an overwhelming danger, it would likely have fled in the opposite direction long ago.
When Ren Qing created the severed arm, he had intentionally increased its resistance to foreign auras. It seemed the results were quite effective.
The pseudo-dragonized severed arm had chosen this location precisely because the Beast Pen was unusually peaceful.
He stretched his body, then summoned the Information Stream to inspect each of his techniques one by one. He could not help inwardly marveling at the wonders of Death Gives No Birth.
Both his body and soul, including his strange objects, were in their absolute peak condition. There was no difference whatsoever compared to before his suicide, as though everything had merely been a Great Dream.
Even the Human Skin Book's adaptation to the environment remained exactly the same.
His lifespan was still just over four thousand years. In another month or so, he would be able to advance to the Ascension Ladder and attempt to obtain the Ascension Method of "Longevity and Immortality."
No wonder reconstructing a body required over ten years. The effects were right there for all to see.
Of course, Death Gives No Birth was not without weaknesses.
After all, resurrection required the remains of the body. Once that condition was involved, the divine ability's effectiveness was immediately reduced.
If Ren Qing had not bestowed animation upon all things through Dragon Roar Within the Casket, he would have been forced to leave his severed limbs fixed in one location, introducing far too many variables.
Against beings on the level of immortals and Buddhas, tracing Ren Qing's remains would not be difficult.
Dragon Roar Within the Casket at least ensured that the number of severed limbs would never be too small. They could also relocate when danger approached, making them far safer.
Baa baa baa...
At that moment, goat cries came from the wall, causing Ren Qing to turn and look.
After detecting no living human aura, protrusions once more emerged from the wall, eagerly extending toward the pile of severed flesh.
Ren Qing carefully observed their appearance.
They possessed the upper bodies of Black Goats, while their lower halves remained trapped inside the wall, struggling desperately.
[Heavenly Demon Nest]
[Formed by the condensation of the Supreme Heavenly Demon. The outer layer resembles a uterine membrane, while the interior is filled with an enormous quantity of flesh and bones used to nurture living beings.]
Driven by an overwhelming hunger, the half-bodied goats gradually pulled themselves free from the Heavenly Demon Nest. Goat cries immediately rose one after another.
Under Ren Qing's gaze, humanoid creatures with Black Goat appearances were born one by one and immediately pounced upon the severed flesh, feasting voraciously.
Acting as if no one else existed, Ren Qing picked up a piece of flesh and discovered that it seemed to be mixed with some sort of medicinal liquid capable of negatively affecting the consumer's intelligence.
After noticing traces left on the ground, confusion arose in his mind.
Why did it seem as though there were signs of civilization within the Beast Pen?
Moreover, it appeared that a unique set of rules had developed here.
The Black Goats quickly finished eating the flesh and, as expected, became somewhat dazed and muddle-headed.
Following the powder trail left behind by the Blood Cart, they walked down the mountain road toward the distance.
Interest appeared on Ren Qing's face.
The moment his body revived, the flow of time within Stomach World had returned to normal, and his lifespan was steadily approaching five thousand years.
Over the past ten-plus years, the Forbidden Corpse had long since recovered. Only its mutated organs remained somewhat sluggish and required prolonged nourishment and maintenance.
The only pity was that after checking the Mirror World, he found that the true body of Laughing Lion Arhat had vanished. The substitute body had likely encountered some accident.
Still, trying to bite off more than one could chew was unwise. Three Heavenly Aberration cultivators were already enough for the Restraint Officers' Hall to digest.
Now that Ren Qing had returned to the peak of his strength, he naturally intended to break through to the Ascension Ladder as soon as possible. Before that, however, he needed to determine the situation in the surrounding area.
Starting with the civilization of the Beast Pen seemed like a good choice.