However, because Ren Qing used the Disaster-Dispelling Method to conceal the aura of the strange objects, the actions of the Buddhist qi seemed more like an instinct performed intentionally or unintentionally.
Most likely the Buddhist qi was focusing most of its attention on guarding against the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Otherwise, inside the giant corpse Buddha it would not be possible for only the batteries to store Buddhist qi while the rest of the places had not even the slightest trace of Buddhist qi.
Ren Qing hurriedly used the Rebirth Technique, using the technique to strip away his own vitality. His entire body immediately displayed characteristics similar to a corpse.
The flesh became shriveled, large numbers of wrinkles appeared on the skin, and the heart even stopped beating.
The Buddhist qi hovered above his head. Immediately afterward Ren Qing felt the giant corpse Buddha faintly produce rejection, wanting to expel the existence that appeared to be a corpse.
Ren Qing could not help frowning.
He knew that the giant corpse Buddha had already begun heading toward the Undying Forbidden Zone. If he separated from the giant corpse Buddha now, he might be targeted by the Heavenly Demon aura.
The only fortunate thing for Ren Qing was that he did not pose a threat to the Buddhist qi and was likely treated as a foreign object mistakenly swallowed by the giant corpse Buddha.
Dense flesh tentacles emerged from the ground, directly wrapping around his legs and pulling him toward the outside of the giant corpse Buddha without any resistance.
After hesitating for a few breaths, a Buddhist Dream Flower appeared at the center of his brows.
Faint Buddhist qi enveloped his body, combined with the corpse-like characteristics of his body, and he tried his best to move himself closer to the nature of a "corpse Buddha".
The rejection from the giant corpse Buddha immediately slowed.
Ren Qing sat cross-legged deep within the Buddha Forest. His consciousness arrived within the stomach world and took out all the remaining Buddha skin and Buddha bones.
Fortunately, after Daodao Dao advanced to the Spirit Division stage, the difference in time flow inside and outside had already reached more than three times, giving him sufficient time to refine magical artifacts.
Ren Qing cooperated with the ghost shadow, and soon refined the Buddha skin and Buddha bones into a robe.
To better match the Buddhist sect, he deliberately refined it into the style of a kasaya, except that because the materials were human skin and human bones, it appeared extremely strange.
The faint red kasaya looked at first glance like piled flesh, while white bones formed skulls as decorations.
Ren Qing brought the Corpse Buddha Kasaya to the outside world and directly draped it over his body, allowing the half of his thighs already trapped within the flesh to break free from the restraint.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. Opening his eyes, he discovered that tens of thousands of monks had gathered in the Buddha Forest.
The monks shouted the Buddha's name and poured blood at Ren Qing's feet, apparently for some kind of sacrificial purpose.
Ren Qing's mouth twitched, afraid of breaking the balance of the Buddha Within Buddha.
He forced himself to say, "I know that all living beings suffer, but one must not delay the offering to the Buddha statues because of personal desire."
Only then did the frenzied monks calm down and leave the Buddha Forest one after another, continuing to go to the altar to sacrifice themselves in order to nourish the Buddha statues.
Ren Qing's appearance ignited the devotion in their hearts. Even their sense of hunger was suppressed.
"Better to hide in other parts of the giant corpse Buddha. We'll talk again after reaching the Undying Forbidden Zone."
Just as Ren Qing prepared to stand up and leave the stomach, his gaze could not help turning toward the tens of thousands of monks.
He placed his hand on the ground. No-Thought tremblingly came to his palm. The last vitality gradually dissipated, but his body began to be reborn.
The information stream surged.
[Age: five days]
[Lifespan: fifty-seven years and thirty-eight days]
Ren Qing licked his lips. Although the lifespan of the monks was only several decades like normal people, they could reincarnate endlessly.
In theory they could also be harvested like leeks...
If it were another Earth Immortal, Ren Qing definitely would not dare produce even the slightest distracting thought, but after all it was Buddhist qi that had lost the contemporary host, and its intelligence only considered benefits and losses.
"No, no."
Ren Qing again touched the Buddha statue.
Indestructible Golden Body
Condensed from the Maitreya Scripture, capable of containing Buddhist qi. Consuming it will cause the body to mutate into an Indestructible Golden Body.
Ren Qing thought the information stream would only show content like this, but he discovered that even the information of the Buddhist qi itself was revealed.
[Age: ???]
[Lifespan: ???]
[Technique: Maitreya Scripture (eight hundred thirty-five Buddhas)]
The Maitreya Scripture was created by Maitreya Bodhisattva. Cultivation requires obtaining recognition from Buddhist qi. After mastering it one can temporarily obtain the ten lifetimes of wisdom of a Buddha Son. A Buddha Son can reincarnate for ten lifetimes.
Ren Qing froze for several breaths.
Then he reacted. In fact the Buddhist qi itself was the true body of Maitreya Bodhisattva.
Whenever a Buddha Son mastered the Maitreya Scripture, it was equivalent to reincarnating with the help of the Buddha Son.
However, intelligence did not exist. Ren Qing could already see this from Heaven Above Heaven. Its actions relied entirely on instinct.
From this it could be seen how difficult it was for Song Zongwu to escape the restraints of Sitting-Deer Arhat. His body and soul were probably already partially occupied by the Buddhist qi.
Ren Qing stepped out of the range of the Buddha Forest. There was not the slightest trace of Buddhist qi in the surrounding air, causing the thoughts in his heart to intensify.
The many monks looked at Ren Qing with reverence. Even if they were knocked over by the wind he stirred up, they did not hold any blame.
Ren Qing placed No-Thought in the city, then casually took out some ordinary dry rations and several thousand jin of clean water packed in bags.
In the current stomach world with abundant supplies, the coarse-tasting dry rations could only be used to feed strange beasts. No one would eat them.
But when the mountain-like pile of dry rations appeared in the Buddha Within Buddha, it immediately caused a disturbance.
Large numbers of monks who were near death from hunger came before the dry rations, rubbing their eyes in disbelief as if it were an illusion before death.
Without Ren Qing's permission, they did not dare to eat the dry rations.
Ren Qing recalled a passage of scripture he once heard in Jingzhou and could not help speaking:
"You bhikshus, when receiving food and drink, treat it as taking medicine."
The meaning was that all things rely on food, and all living beings treat food as the foremost necessity.
Only then did the monks begin to eat. As the dry rations mixed with clear water entered their stomachs, some color returned to their pale faces.
Ren Qing originally thought that after enduring hunger for years they would gorge uncontrollably and eventually be stuffed to death by the dry rations.
But unexpectedly the monks were extremely restrained, completely different from those possessed by evil thoughts.
Ren Qing no longer paid attention to the Buddha Within Buddha. The dry rations were enough for them to eat for three or four months, and since they were baked rice cakes they could be stored for at least half a year.
He began wandering around the stomach, constantly thinking about the gains and losses involved.
Although the behavior of the Buddhist qi could be traced, he was still inside the giant corpse Buddha. Rashly targeting the monks might cause changes.
Even if the Buddhist qi had no intelligence, as long as Ren Qing damaged its interests it would certainly eliminate him as a troublemaker.
He felt a headache secretly. Lifespan was within easy reach not far away, yet for safety he had to refrain from touching it.
Just as Ren Qing planned to find a secluded corner, he suddenly felt the stomach shake violently. A large amount of Buddhist qi surged out from the Buddha Forest.
He had not yet understood the situation. Why would the Buddhist qi suddenly riot?
Boom boom boom...
Ren Qing instinctively looked toward the outer flesh wall of the stomach. The sound of flesh being corroded actually came from inside it, mixed with strange shrieks.
The more he listened, the more it sounded like the bleating of a goat. He quickly retreated several meters.
A fist-sized hole appeared in the flesh wall. Heavenly Demon aura eroded the flesh like a parasite attached to bone, causing the hole to expand rapidly.
In only a few breaths the hole reached several meters under the effect of the Heavenly Demon aura, and deformed monsters took the opportunity to attempt to drill into the stomach of the giant corpse Buddha.
The monsters' appearance clearly showed the characteristics of black goats.
Buddhist qi surged toward the gap in the flesh wall, causing the black goats to emit miserable screams and melt like butter encountering high temperature.
The relationship between Buddhist qi and Heavenly Demon aura was like natural enemies.
The Heavenly Demon aura attacking the giant corpse Buddha was probably simply because it wanted to destroy it, carrying a feeling of irreconcilable hostility.
The total amount of Buddhist qi far exceeded the Heavenly Demon aura and easily blocked the black goats.
However, the giant corpse Buddha after all was not the contemporary Maitreya Bodhisattva. Using it to contain Buddhist qi was already barely sufficient, otherwise the flesh would not have shown a collapsing trend along the road.
The wound recovered extremely slowly. Through the hole Ren Qing could see the outside world.
Plants, trees, mountains, and rocks had all undergone flesh-transformation. Black goats were bred from bulging lumps everywhere and continuously rushed toward the giant corpse Buddha.
As long as they passed through this region filled with Heavenly Demon aura, they should become safe.
Even if the other parts of the giant corpse Buddha turned into minced flesh it did not matter, but the stomach, which stored the Indestructible Golden Bodies, could not be damaged.
The tens of thousands of monks in the Buddha Within Buddha held their heads.
The Buddhist qi issued an order to block the hole with their bodies. Even Ren Qing received the information transmitted by the Buddhist qi.
The monks rushed toward the flesh wall without hesitation.
Ren Qing took out a Reincarnation Remaining Soul from the stomach world and dropped it onto the breach, causing the flesh to recover at a visible speed.
Naturally the Buddhist qi did not obstruct his assistance.
Ren Qing's expression became subtle. He continued using Reincarnation Remaining Souls on the flesh wall, intentionally mixing in materials that strengthened the body.
Then he gradually pushed his luck.
Using the method of inscribing Moon Patterns, he refined the weak parts of the flesh wall into flesh magical artifacts.
Ren Qing knew that as long as he did not attempt to refine the giant corpse Buddha and recognize it as master, the Buddhist qi would not attack him, an existence with the same origin aura.
Because all of his actions were beneficial to the Buddhist qi.
After Moon Patterns covered a large region of the flesh wall, the Buddhist qi actually took the initiative to acknowledge the artifactization of this portion. The black-red patterns turned pale gold.
The giant corpse Buddha passed through the region with the densest Heavenly Demon aura without danger.
The monks returned to the Buddha Within Buddha, and the Buddhist qi returned to the Indestructible Golden Bodies.
Even though Ren Qing could not see the condition of the giant corpse Buddha, he estimated that only the stomach remained intact, while most of the rest of the flesh had been eroded.
The journey to the Undying Forbidden Zone was not as simple as imagined.
The Buddhist qi was indeed powerful, but this body of the giant corpse Buddha could hardly display its strength and even made the Buddhist qi extremely conspicuous.
Ren Qing looked around. The stomach seemed empty, but as the body of at least something close to an Earth Immortal, resources were everywhere.
If Ren Qing brought several thousand cultivators of the Restraint Officers' Hall into the stomach and used Dream Flowers in batches to help conceal their aura, it felt that completely refining the stomach into a flesh magical artifact would not be difficult.
Perhaps even starting from the stomach and spreading toward the five viscera, six bowels, four limbs, and body...
Of course, what made Ren Qing covetous was not the pile of rotten flesh in the stomach, but the giant corpse Buddha itself. That was top-tier material for magical artifacts.
It would be perfect for use as a subsidiary small world.
As for recognizing it as master, he should be able to find a way to bypass the restrictions of the Buddhist qi.