Ren Qing could sense his body gradually transforming toward a Corpse Fiend, while at the same time the eerie objects were overturning rivers and seas within his body, causing the pain to double.
The Corpse Core was even frantically absorbing the nearby yin qi, causing violent winds to arise out of nowhere within the cave.
Fortunately, Melting Furnace was located in a remote area, and the zombies were busy dealing with the external crisis, so they simply did not notice the abnormal phenomenon appearing.
Ren Qing slowed the absorption of yin qi as much as possible, allowing his body to have a process of adaptation.
Moreover, if it attracted the attention of the Yang God realm zombie, it would very likely cause Ghost Shadow and the other party to engage in a protracted battle.
However, this also caused Ren Qing's advancement speed to become abnormally slow.
The yin qi within Corpse City experienced slight fluctuations, and the attention of the zombies indeed was not on Ren Qing, but all focused on the outside world.
Corpse Crab had swallowed several White Bone Mountain hills, yet it still continuously stuffed skeletons into its mouth, as if its appetite would never cease.
What terrified Tian Fang and the other zombies the most was that Corpse Crab's range of movement was directly above Corpse City.
It seemed somewhat conscious. After digesting the massive amount of white bone corpses, it began excavating downward again, its target aimed directly at Corpse City.
The zombies could hear the movements overhead becoming increasingly loud, along with fragments of white bone falling down.
If this continued, even if Corpse City was not dug out by Corpse Crab, it would still be completely buried by the collapsing cave tunnels, sinking into boundless darkness.
Although zombies did not require food, that did not mean they could survive forever.
The soil of Dead Man's Forbidden Zone was mixed with dense yin qi. If zombies lacked the protection of coffins, they would quickly be corroded completely by the yin qi.
Chaos thus appeared within Corpse City as well.
The zombies began fighting over newly refined coffins, even coming to blows over them. For a time, sounds of slaughter filled the entire city.
Tian Fang had no choice but to seek help from Immortal's Dream.
The Cishi people were willing to help, but unfortunately the highest cultivation among them, Tang Sheng, was only at Ghost Envoy realm, truly lacking the ability.
Most of the other cultivators were naturally cold-hearted.
Unless Tian Fang understood flexibility and had them provide supplies through mutual benefit.
Otherwise, what did the destruction of Corpse City have to do with me?
Meanwhile, Lu Liang carried the Blood Crystals he had earned during this period and rushed into Great Dream Technique Pavilion, attempting to find a technique that relied on the soul to survive.
The chaos in Corpse City naturally attracted the attention of Restraint Officers' Hall.
However, even though most cultivators knew Ren Qing was likewise within Corpse City, not the slightest ripple arose in them, stemming from confidence in Ren Qing's strength.
In their view, even if the zombies of Corpse City were annihilated, they would still not be able to harm a single hair on Ren Qing's head.
Only Li Tiangang paid a bit more attention to the direction of Corpse City, and secretly indicated for Xiao San'er to help Tian Fang refine coffin magical artifacts.
Xiao San'er naturally had no objections to this. After all, the current gigantic Corpse Buddha only required routine maintenance and did not consume too much effort.
He simply released a task within Dream City, gathering thousands of coffin magical artifacts within half a day.
When Xiao San'er handed the coffins over to Tian Fang, only then did he discover that most zombies possessed basic proficiency in artifact refinement. Several hundred years had allowed them to build highly skilled foundations.
Xiao San'er knew this was an opportunity. If zombies could successfully join Restraint Officers' Hall in the future, it might very well create a large number of artifact refiners.
Thus, aside from the coffins, he also specially delivered several large magical artifacts used for protection.
Tian Fang felt incomparably grateful in his heart. Despite being over a thousand years older than Xiao San'er, he still addressed him as Senior Zhou again and again.
It instead made Xiao San'er somewhat embarrassed.
Tian Fang hurried to leave Dream City. After asking Xiao San'er for his specific residence, he hastily returned to Corpse City carrying the coffins.
The number of coffins was already sufficient to imprison every zombie, barely halting the chaos.
And it also pushed Tian Fang's prestige to its peak, such that even some elderly zombies could not compare.
Lu Liang did not hesitate and immediately chose to support Tian Fang. Even though he wished to stand equally against him in his heart, at this juncture of life and death, he had to take the greater situation of Corpse City into consideration.
They began arranging the protective magical artifacts, and the dilapidated city walls also needed repairs.
To prevent Corpse City from collapsing apart, Tian Fang deliberately borrowed the banner of Corpse Immortal, continuously emphasizing that immortals would come guide them to ascension.
When people were in crisis, it was extremely easy for them to develop faith, not to mention Tian Fang and Lu Liang had indeed seen Ren Qing's existence.
In merely three days, they completed repairs that had not been completed in decades.
Of course, this mainly relied on purchasing resources from Dream City. Otherwise, merely gathering the materials to manufacture bricks would have required no small amount of effort.
The sounds coming from overhead grew increasingly louder, and cracks already covered every part of the rock walls.
Bone fragments fell like rain, covering every part of the city with a thick layer of dust.
The zombies dug the grave mound at the center of Corpse City into a deep pit. Coffin after coffin was neatly arranged underground, after which zombies climbed into them.
The coffins possessed the effect of concealing aura. Combined with the zombies voluntarily entering dormancy, presumably Corpse Crab would find it difficult to detect abnormalities.
As long as they held out until Corpse Crab departed, the zombies would climb out from the coffins.
As the zombies were successively sealed away, the coffins stacked layer upon layer. Soon over ten thousand zombies were hidden within, and not many zombies remained.
Tian Fang turned to Lu Liang and said, "You all go in first. I'll be the last..."
"But..."
Lu Liang frowned, wanting to say something, yet Tian Fang interrupted him and said, "Someone has to be responsible for covering the soil layer back up."
The zombies looked at Tian Fang with complicated gazes. For a moment, silence filled the air.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Tian Fang hurriedly urged, "Hurry up. There's not much time left. Once Corpse River arrives, I'll go outside the city to lure it away."
"Old Tian, take care."
Lu Liang let out a long sigh, then lay down inside the coffin.
The remaining zombies subsequently bid farewell to Tian Fang. Their choice to use the final batch of coffins already involved sacrifice, because if the cave collapsed, the coffins on the surface would definitely be more dangerous.
After only Tian Fang remained in Corpse City, he could not help revealing a bitter expression.
He had finally come into contact with a cultivation method leading directly to the Great Dao, yet now he had to die. How could Tian Fang possibly feel reconciled in his heart?
But Tian Fang did not regret it. It was fitting for him to be the one to lure away Corpse Crab.
Pseudo-zombies lacked intelligence and would inevitably ruin things through overcleverness. As for White Zombies, they might very well harbor wishful luck, thereby causing unexpected changes.
Tian Fang placed the magical artifacts gifted by Xiao San'er beside the coffins, then used rock soil exchanged from Great Dream Pavilion to bury the coffins several meters deep.
Rock soil was a material capable of helping conceal aura.
Although among materials of the same type it was not especially good, it possessed the highest cost-performance ratio. Otherwise, the zombies simply could not afford it.
After Tian Fang finished handling the coffins, just as he was about to head outside the city to await Corpse Crab's arrival, he suddenly realized something, and his expression became extremely annoyed.
Because there were too many matters in Corpse City, he had not returned to Melting Furnace for a long time.
Without realizing it, he had forgotten there was still a White Zombie lacking intelligence there who had not been sealed away. Tian Fang could not help fiercely slapping himself.
He set off toward Melting Furnace, but the ground suddenly began shaking.
Large chunks of bone started falling from overhead, smashing pit after pit into Corpse City's walls. The rock wall looked on the verge of being completely broken through.
Two choices appeared before Tian Fang.
Either head to Melting Furnace, or head outside the city.
But what left him utterly helpless was that at this moment, no matter where he went, it already seemed too late. Corpse Crab's aura was gradually drawing near.
A tremendous sound rang out.
The rock wall was excavated into an enormous opening. Corpse Crab extended its head inward, and dense corpse qi filled every inch of the cave.
Under Tian Fang's dumbstruck gaze, the giant claw seized toward Corpse City without the slightest hesitation, its target clearly being this place.
Tian Fang did not know what exactly was attracting Corpse Crab. He attempted to activate yin qi to resist, but beneath the terrifying aura he could not move.
The giant claw heavily struck the city wall. Even though the wall had been reinforced, it could not withstand a single blow from Corpse Crab and immediately collapsed into ruins.
Tian Fei watched as Corpse Crab recklessly destroyed Corpse City, yet completely ignored him, indicating this action was not to satisfy hunger.
He stumbled into the corridor leading toward Melting Furnace, weakly leaning against the wall.
If Corpse Crab continued without stopping, it would very likely cause the underground coffins to shatter. In that case, Tian Fei would instead become the survivor.
At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a heartbeat.
The coldness within the city was instantly swept away completely.
It seemed something underground was about to burst from the earth, located precisely at the western city gate, causing the entirety of Corpse City to shake violently.
Moments later, a lizard head over ten meters large burst from underground, followed closely by limbs and tail.
The lizard's scales were covered in injuries, some originating from Corpse Crab's attacks, while the rest were mostly traces left by decay.
Human facial features could be seen on its head, though the expression appeared incomparably twisted.
Tian Fei was somewhat unable to believe it. Who could have imagined that Corpse City actually sat upon the back of a giant beast? Perhaps Corpse Crab's target was precisely the Corpse Lizard?
However, once Corpse Lizard emitted a familiar corpse qi, he immediately reacted.
"Corpse Refinement Method?"
And it was the Corpse Refinement Method that had not been perfected by the immortal. Why would this giant beast possess it?
Corpse Lizard agilely crawled along the surface of the rock wall. Seizing the gap between swings of the giant claw, it shattered through the cave's restraints and arrived outside.
Tian Fei was thrown badly, with cracks appearing in many bones throughout his body.
And the battle between Corpse Lizard and Corpse Crab had only just begun. Neither side yielded in the slightest. They tangled together, causing the ground to continuously collapse.
Corpse Lizard's methods were more varied, continuously spewing corrosive corpse poison from its mouth.
But unfortunately, Corpse Crab's outer shell was sturdy, so Corpse Lizard could only circle around searching for opportunities.
Only then did Tian Fang notice that Corpse Lizard seemed to constantly be muttering to itself, the contents apparently being details of Corpse Refinement Method.
However, compared to the two versions he knew, there were slight differences.
Tian Fang thought of the immortal's words when speaking with him in the past, mentioning a Hairy Zombie from thousands of years ago who sought the flaws in Corpse Refinement Method.
"No way..."
The giant claw smashed into Corpse Lizard's back. Scales flew everywhere, revealing clearly layered flesh beneath.
Most of the flesh was dark red, though mixed among it were black-gray meridians, resembling plant roots spreading underground.
Tian Fang immediately noticed that the meridians likely originated from zombies.
This showed that the Hairy Zombie forcibly buried back then had not died, but instead formed an alternative symbiotic system with Corpse City itself.
Through this, it had broken through the limitations of Hairy Zombie.
Even though the other party no longer possessed human form, it still used Melting Furnace to suppress the flesh collapse of zombies, and even protected the lives of the remaining Hairy Zombies.
However, facing the even stronger Corpse Crab, Corpse Lizard steadily retreated in defeat.
Even though Corpse Lizard succeeded in sneak attacks several times, at most it tore apart some unimportant tentacles.
It was already nearly impossible for Corpse Lizard to flee again. Its four limbs were covered in injuries of varying severity.
The protective magical artifacts within the city emitted sounds of being unable to bear the burden. Merely the aftershocks already showed signs that Xiao San'er's magical artifacts were about to be destroyed.
It likely would not take long before all ten thousand zombies were reduced to minced flesh.
Tian Fang could only place his hopes on the immortal from dreams.
Although he knew what he had encountered was merely a dream, and he had only met the immortal once, he still attempted to seize that slim opportunity.
Unfortunately, Corpse Lizard was repeatedly struck by the giant claws, causing Tian Fang to lose control of his balance.
He smashed into the wall until blood covered his head and face. The bones throughout his body had long since shattered, and the yin qi he had painstakingly condensed gradually dispersed.
Tian Fang could not focus his attention to enter dreams. He wanted to absorb yin qi to stabilize his injuries, only to discover that for some unknown reason the surrounding yin qi had been completely drained away.
He used his arms to shield vital areas, trying his best not to let his injuries worsen further.
At the brink of death, Tian Fang saw double images in everything due to his bloodshot eyes. Staggering unsteadily, he arrived at Melting Furnace.
He no longer harbored hopes of surviving, only wishing to die beside the warm furnace.
However, Tian Fang was attracted by a figure covered in black fur not far away. His mind seemed to have been mashed into paste, completely blank.
"Corpse Fiend..."
Unable to understand the situation, he stared fixedly at Corpse Fiend.
The black fur gradually withdrew back into Corpse Fiend's body, revealing a face that indeed belonged to the zombie he considered entirely lacking intelligence.
Tian Fang opened his mouth wide as yin qi surged into the body like tangible substance.
Once the black fur completely sank into the skin, Ren Qing opened his eyes. No trace of dullness could any longer be seen within them; instead, they were incomparably profound.
"Tian Fang, it has been a long time."
Tian Fang was stunned for several breaths, then recognized Ren Qing's identity from the voice.
"Imm... Immortal Venerable?!"
Who could have imagined that the mindless zombie doing rough labor beside Melting Furnace was actually the immortal who transmitted techniques within dreams.
Ren Qing injected a strand of death intent into Tian Fang's body, and his injuries healed completely in the blink of an eye.
He then displayed The World Is Like a Dream, now already No-Birth Immortal, though the target was used upon himself. Countless disease types spread throughout his flesh.
At the same time, Demonization also acted upon him.
Under Tian Fang's gaze, Ren Qing transformed into a mass of illusory black smoke, then instantly solidified once more.
He wore a black gauze daoist robe. His body appeared semi-transparent, accompanied by distorted light and shadow, allowing the multicolored disease types within him to be seen.
Ren Qing stepped forward, passing through the cave and arriving a thousand meters above.
Corpse Crab subconsciously raised its head. The sky covered in dark clouds had already transformed into a brilliant river of stars.
Immediately afterward, streak after streak of multicolored meteors descended. They were transformed from Ren Qing's bacterial soul, quickly landing within ten li.
With No-Birth Immortal's The World Is Like a Dream, disease types and dreams had already become inseparable.
Within a short period of time, the nearby area became shrouded in distorted light and shadow, wildly growing fungi, dreamlike smoke and dust...
"It's dark."
The ability Covering Heaven and Sun was unleashed. Light vanished, instead making the dreamscape appear even more bizarre.
Within the wounds torn open by Corpse Lizard on Corpse Crab's body, fungi had already drilled inside, causing irreversible mutations to appear in its body.
It wanted to search for Ren Qing's traces, but Corpse Crab did not even possess a soul, so how could it possibly discover the Demonized Demon merged into dreams.
Corpse Crab could only watch helplessly as multicolored disease trees grew within its twisted flesh, while its remaining consciousness was dragged into nightmares and devoured..
Ultimately becoming nourishment.