The Immortal Lord let out a wail.
After his brain was pierced through by the Dragon-Snake Spine, he collapsed weakly to the ground, and the flesh all over his body began showing signs of collapse.
Ren Qing retracted the Dragon-Snake Spine, the shattered brain now in the palm of his hand.
He tossed it to Zeng Lin in the distance. Only by crushing the brain would the Immortal Lord truly die, but it would also mean the Supernatural Remnant would go out of control.
"You..."
Before Zeng Lin could finish her sentence, Ren Qing turned and went toward the dense forest.
Ren Qing's condition wasn't much better than the Immortal Lord's.
Even though the battle lasted only about ten minutes, his mind was already flooded with violence and slaughter.
Even if he wanted to seal away the Divine Leg Sutra Supernatural Remnant, his instincts were resisting.
In this situation, all Ren Qing wanted was to find a place to rest and recover.
Just as he was about to leave,
Liu Bao, who had passed out, regained consciousness. He looked around in confusion, then cursed loudly at the distant mountain god statue.
"That's the statue our mountain folk have worshipped for hundreds of years, and you people from the yamen..."
Liu Bao suddenly sensed something was wrong, a massive shadow loomed behind him. He froze in fear, not daring to move.
"Noisy!!!"
Annoyed, Ren Qing stomped down hard.
There was a loud crash, and Liu Bao turned into a pile of mush.
Ren Qing's eyes glowed red. He ducked into the forest and found a shaded area, sat cross-legged, and began visualizing the Blindless Method, soon becoming immersed in the darkness.
His inner world grew calm.
The Divine Leg Sutra Supernatural Remnant let out an unwilling roar, trying to influence Ren Qing again, but was forcibly sealed inside the Abnormal Stomach within the Prison Within the Abdomen.
The signs of transformation vanished like flowing water.
Ren Qing's body returned to normal, though wolf-like traces remained, canines in his mouth, overly thick body hair, which would take time to gradually fade.
Zeng Lin and Lei Bin exchanged glances and began cleaning up the aftermath.
They wanted to check on the ghost-wolf cultivator, to prevent him from going berserk and harming civilians.
Just then, a fine rain began falling suddenly, covering Heshan in misty gray.
On the mountain path, a figure in a Daoist robe walked slowly forward.
As the mountain breeze blew, it revealed that his head only had half a brain left.
"Dao births Dao, Wuwei Dao..."
From the surface, the Blind Daoist showed no pressure at all, just like an ordinary person with no cultivation.
Ren Qing had just released a soul fragment to serve as a sentry, when he suddenly noticed the Blind Daoist, and immediately broke out in cold sweat.
An intense fear rose up in his heart, rendering him completely unable to move.
Only now did Ren Qing understand: Xiaochenzi's cultivation could not possibly be just Ghost Envoy Realm, but something far beyond, Yin Runner Realm.
Even if Xiaochenzi had been severely injured for some reason, even Double Pupils couldn't detect a single flaw.
He had a gut feeling: even transformed into the ghost wolf, he would not be this man's match. Not even remotely.
Ren Qing struggled to rise and retreat, but with his lifespan drained, his body was weak. On top of that, separating from the Supernatural Remnant meant there would be a recovery period.
It proved that even with the Prison Within the Abdomen, a fully transformed Supernatural Remnant was difficult to control.
This technique could only serve as a trump card. Ren Qing wasn't even sure if he could maintain sanity the next time he used it.
Lei Bin furrowed his brow and held Zeng Lin back.
Seeing the Blind Daoist looking ordinary, he assumed this was support sent from the Restraint Officers' Hall and approached him.
Just as Zeng Lin reacted and tried to speak up, the Blind Daoist had already reached the ridge, and with a casual wave of the hand,
Lei Bin was reduced to smoke and dust.
A Supernatural Remnant formed from the corpse: a twisted mass of arms. But the Blind Daoist grabbed it and casually flung it down the mountain.
Ignoring Zeng Lin, he walked straight toward the sacrificial altar.
His goal: the mound of flesh that had once been the Immortal Lord.
The Immortal Lord, dazed, regained a bit of consciousness and said hopefully, "Master... save me..."
The Blind Daoist ignored him.
His upper body split open to form a massive mouth that devoured the Immortal Lord whole.
Then his back bulged. A maggot could faintly be seen crawling inside, seemingly about to break free.
The Immortal Lord never expected that he himself was Xiaochenzi's food.
He had just yearned to become human again, only to see his body fall into his master's mouth.
But even after consuming the Immortal Lord's corpse, it still wasn't enough for the Heavenly Dao Egg, and the bulge in his back quieted once more.
The Blind Daoist looked around, as if intending to bestow enlightenment, but seemed dissatisfied with Zeng Lin and the others.
A sense of foreboding rose in Ren Qing's heart. Using the digestion of eyeballs, he recovered a bit of strength and forced himself to his feet.
Just as he tried to flee, he felt a sharp presence behind him.
As expected, the Blind Daoist was staring straight at him, clearly recognizing Ren Qing's mastery of Dao births Dao.
Ren Qing, as a Grand Dao Officer, was even higher-ranked than the Immortal Lord.
The Blind Daoist's murmurs echoed across the mountains: "Dao births Dao... Wuwei Dao..."
Hearing this, Ren Qing couldn't help but feel the urge to kneel.
The Blind Daoist appeared instantly before him, his pale arm hovering midair, ready to bestow immortality.
Ren Qing cursed inwardly.
How much awareness did this man still have?
He seemed close to collapse, yet still had time to take disciples?
Shouldn't he be escaping?
The Restraint Officers would be here any moment.
Wait, Ren Qing suddenly realized something crucial: why hadn't the Supernatural Remnant formed a Forbidden Zone after the death of the Immortal Lord?
Unless, if the Restraint Officers had already arrived, then to get their help, he'd need to show that his transformation hadn't affected his soul.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. The Dragon-Snake Spine shot out from his palm and aimed straight for the bulge on the Blind Daoist's back.
Of course the attack wouldn't work.
But it did draw the Blind Daoist's attention. Just as he moved toward Ren Qing again, a vast radiance enveloped Heshan.
Everything in Heshan Town seemed to freeze, becoming a painted page.
The page turned, the town vanished, the mountain disappeared, leaving only flat land behind.
Even a half-dead earthworm could still be seen twitching.
The Blind Daoist stood stunned.
Li Tiangang appeared nearby, holding the page he'd pulled from his head, depicting the entirety of Heshan.
"Didn't expect it to be a Heavenly Dao Worm, something only recorded in legends..."
Li Tiangang thought for a moment, then calmly greeted:
"Fellow Daoist, are you conscious?"
The Blind Daoist seemed to sense the threat Li Tiangang posed. In an instant, he teleported several dozen meters and swung his arm.
Li Tiangang didn't dodge. Muttering like a lunatic, he jotted something down in his palm.
At that moment, a figure dropped from the sky like a meteor behind him.
Six eyes, four arms.
Song Zongwu no longer cared about civilians nearby, his aura peaked, and howling wind roared.
"Right Eye Three, Speed."
"Left Eye Two, Strength."
"Left Eye One, Perception."
Song Zongwu's leg muscles bulged, leaving a crater beneath him. He appeared in front of Li Tiangang to block the attack.
Then punched.
BOOM!!!
His fist slammed into the Blind Daoist's face. All six arms became afterimages. Only a flurry of impacts could be heard.
The Blind Daoist was beaten up and down the mountain. The terrain now looked like the moon, pitted with craters.
But as long as the Heavenly Dao Egg wasn't harmed, the Blind Daoist's body rapidly regenerated.
Li Tiangang murmured, "Records say the last time a Heavenly Dao Worm invaded Xiangxiang was a hundred and fifty years ago... This thing's even more wicked than eastern ghosts..."
Then he said, "Song Zongwu, take him to the Restraint Officers' Hall..."
"Mm."
Song Zongwu agreed, but didn't stop punching, probably venting frustration after seeing Ren Qing's state.
Li Tiangang took out another page and spread it before him.
A gate hundreds of meters wide appeared, swallowing the Blind Daoist, this was the entrance to Avici Hell.
Once inside, the Restraint Officers' Hall would hand him to Sun for containment, likely in Nether Feather.
Song Zongwu withdrew his Four-Eyed Vision, his expression shifting uncertainly.
"Li Tiangang, what do you think about Ren Qing's condition?"
Li Tiangang nodded slightly.
"The transformation is extremely severe. That wolf form, his Supernatural Remnant has practically overtaken his body and soul."
"Normally, such extreme contamination would make reverting impossible. But somehow, Ren Qing managed."
Song Zongwu looked slightly relieved, at least Ren Qing wasn't completely lost.
Li Tiangang continued: "Some rogue cultivators seek power this way, burning out all potential."
"If Tu Di hadn't tried using that Demon Seed Sutra herb to mitigate the transformation, he might not have perished."
Song Zongwu understood what Li Tiangang meant and sighed.
Transformation was a double-edged sword. It granted power far beyond one's level, but dragged you down into an endless abyss.
If someone like Lin Cheng was passively transformed, resisting it mentally, that could be managed.
The worst was those who willingly discarded their humanity, embracing the Supernatural Remnant.
That's why the Restraint Officers' Hall remained so secretive about transformation.
Li Tiangang suddenly asked, "By the way, did you let him learn the Taotie Method?"
Controlling a Supernatural Remnant was only possible through the Taotie Method's Secondary Stomach path, a Kṣitigarbha-level potential.
"No," Song Zongwu shook his head.
Even he was beginning to doubt everything. He had only passed down the Taotie Method to give Ren Qing better odds of survival.
Who would've thought Ren Qing would figure out how to imprison Supernatural Remnants?
Li Tiangang waved his hand. "Then let's temporarily confine Ren Qing in Stomach Within a Stomach and observe for now."
He unrolled the page again. Heshan Town reappeared at its original location.
"Stomach Within a Stomach..."
Song Zongwu's gaze was deep. He picked up the dazed Ren Qing, and knocked him out.