The shepherds traveled across the vast plains, the terrain gradually giving way to layers of rolling hills.
The temperature also shifted from the depths of winter to the blazing heat of Minor Heat. In many regions of this world, the concept of four distinct seasons simply did not exist.
The journey remained relatively peaceful. Although Buddha Corpses occasionally appeared in the distance, they never approached the shepherds so long as the caravan stayed on its prescribed route.
The shepherds feared the Buddha Corpses, yet revered them at the same time. They would even leave food offerings in open areas.
From their conversations, Ren Qing learned that the Buddha Corpses were actually called Buddha Demons. Supposedly, they were manifestations of All-Beings Buddha's stray thoughts, representing the Buddha's darker side.
Ren Qing inwardly scoffed.
Back then, the Great Compassion Buddha Qi had intended to use Buddha Corpses as replacement bodies, creating them in massive quantities without caring that the monks worshipped them as true Buddhas.
Unlike the Esoteric Buddhist Sect, which toyed with mortal lives yet still insisted on calling them Buddha Demons, as though hanging up a false signboard to justify their actions.
It was hypocrisy, plain and simple. Clearly, Nameless Ascetic was no saint.
Ren Qing could not help but wonder how people like Nameless Ascetic had repeatedly come into contact with the Heavenly Dao.
When he advanced the Ascension Ladder, he had witnessed the process by which Restraint Officer Arts were born. Their creators had all been on the brink of death before chance allowed them a glimpse of the Heavenly Dao.
Three techniques could perhaps be explained away as extraordinary talent.
But Nameless Ascetic had created at least five techniques.
And if the Ten Spiritual Bodies were counted as well, that meant more than ten techniques in total.
No matter how one looked at it, that was unbelievable.
From Song Zongwu's descriptions, Nameless Ascetic showed no signs of mutation in either body or soul. It was impossible to imagine him having faced the Heavenly Dao directly.
Or perhaps beneath that perfectly normal exterior lay a completely insane heart.
Ren Qing's thoughts drifted as he rode the husky, which had not been outside for quite some time, while secretly observing the shepherds' bodies and souls.
The husky was unusually subdued.
Its cultivation had stalled at Ghost Envoy Realm Perfection, and no one knew how much more accumulation it needed before breaking through to the Yin Difference Realm.
Being in the dangerous grasslands naturally left it feeling uneasy.
Back in the Stomach World, the husky and Tian A threw their weight around freely. Even the Jailers avoided provoking the pair for fear of being scolded by Ren Qing.
Tian A was currently in secluded cultivation within Dream City.
Given his congenital frailty, if he did not work harder, he would die within a few years.
If Tian A became serious about cultivation after breaking through Ghost Envoy Realm, Ren Qing planned to formally integrate him into the Restraint Officers' Hall.
Ren Qing had assigned Chen Haoyu to help Tian A with his breakthrough, leaving the husky conveniently free to serve as transportation.
Closing his eyes, Ren Qing surveyed the Stomach World.
The Demon-kind tribes were exceptionally lively.
Jailers were busy dividing up the tens of thousands of newly acquired Demon-kind.
This was mainly because the Fine-Wool Sheep had already transformed into half-human, half-sheep beings.
Back in Jingzhou, Ren Qing had absorbed an enormous quantity of demon qi and stored it within dreamscape artifacts, eventually using it as part of Dream City's foundation.
The Fine-Wool Sheep regained human form through the demon qi's property that "all things may become demons."
With Ren Qing's crude methods, applying demon qi to ordinary beasts usually failed, and the few surviving Demon-kind possessed little intelligence.
But since the Fine-Wool Sheep had originally been human, the demonization process incurred almost no losses.
The entire flock of tens of thousands had become sheep demons.
The greatest beneficiary was naturally the Demon Vein.
Compared to the other affiliated factions, the Demon Vein possessed no overwhelming advantages. Their techniques were simply more extreme, enriching the Restraint Officers' Hall's overall capabilities.
Now, with tens of thousands of sheep demons added to their ranks, their numbers ranked second only to the Soldier Vein, greatly boosting their strength.
Unfortunately, the sheep demons were somewhat dull-witted, and many still lacked certain internal organs.
At minimum, they would need several years to repair these deficiencies before they could cultivate Restraint Officer Arts.
According to Ren Qing's plans, the sheep demons could cultivate Muyi's Jianmu Technique, transforming their wool into vegetation and helping the Restraint Officers' Hall farm its fields.
"ALL-BEINGS BUDDHA!!!"
The shepherds' collective shout interrupted Ren Qing's thoughts.
The caravan gradually slowed, causing the husky to shake its head nervously.
The old shepherd exclaimed excitedly,
"Buddha, we're almost at Three Bodhis."
In the distance stood a sparse grove of banyan trees.
No buildings were visible.
Only the rustling of leaves in the wind produced strange, whispering sounds.
Ren Qing opened his eyes and stared toward the forest.
The divination sign on his upper palate remained "Auspicious with Hidden Danger," though several more cracks had appeared.
Nothing seemed particularly special about the grove.
At most, there was a partially obscured statue standing in the center, barely over two meters tall.
It was difficult to associate such a place with the Three Bodhis mentioned by All-Beings Buddha.
Ren Qing stored the husky inside the Stomach World to prevent it from panicking and causing trouble.
The shepherds likewise dismounted.
Their expressions became dazed.
They fanatically chanted "All-Beings Buddha" before drawing blades across their horses' throats, sending warm blood spraying into the air.
Amid the horses' agonized cries, they dismembered flesh and bone alike.
Judging by their actions, they intended to build an altar for All-Beings Buddha from the horses' skeletons.
Ren Qing became even more convinced that universal cultivation was necessary.
In a world where immortals and Buddhas devoured humans, those without strength could only become pieces on a board.
The old shepherd dipped his finger into horse blood and painted several streaks across his forehead and cheeks.
"Buddha, Three Bodhis lies ahead."
Staggering, he offered a respectful bow.
After receiving Ren Qing's nod, he walked ahead while continuously reciting praises to All-Beings Buddha.
Ren Qing glanced back.
From the growing altar of flesh and blood came the cries of infants.
Before long, over a hundred Fine-Wool Sheep lambs were born.
They knelt before the altar and licked at the blood flowing from the horse carcasses.
All-Beings Buddha's methods strongly resembled orthodox Buddhism.
Yet the fact that living beings were birthed through an altar lent everything an indescribably sinister air.
Narrowing his eyes, Ren Qing followed the old shepherd into the grove.
The forest was deathly silent.
No birds, no beasts, not even insects remained.
Only dense vegetation concealed the countless bones buried beneath the soil.
At the same time, the Buddhist Sect Dreamflower on Ren Qing's forehead stirred.
That meant hidden Buddha Qi existed here.
The place was far more complicated than it appeared.
The old shepherd stopped about a hundred meters from the statue.
Nothing remained in his expression except devotion.
Like a pilgrim approaching a holy site, he repeatedly kowtowed.
The statue before him was evidently the so-called Three Bodhis.
The Three Bodhis statue was grotesque beyond description.
It appeared to have been assembled from multiple human bodies, possessing three heads and ten outstretched arms.
The heads resembled peeled bananas, exposing black-gray stone brains beneath.
Ren Qing noticed that one of the heads indeed looked remarkably similar to Song Zongwu.
However, its face was filled with an eerie, inexplicable piety.
He chose not to question the old shepherd.
The man's soul had already left his body.
This was likely All-Beings Buddha's deliberate attempt to probe him.
Secretly gathering his techniques, Ren Qing slowly searched for a path leading closer to Three Bodhis.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the artifact refiners, the Forbidden Corpse had already undergone basic artifactization.
As long as sufficient yin qi was supplied, it could transform into a zombie body.
Whenever Ren Qing wished, he could extract a complete Yin Difference Realm Corpse Core from the Land of White Bones within the Stomach World.
Using the Corpse Core together with the Forbidden Corpse, he could forcibly imitate the aura of the Dead Man's Sutra.
Of course, even without integrating a Corpse Core, the Forbidden Corpse had effectively gained an additional corpse-transformation ability.
Given the Corpse Immortal's level of intelligence, Ren Qing was at least eighty percent confident he could summon it.
When the time came, escaping through Walk Among Mortals should not be difficult.
With so many trump cards in hand, Ren Qing naturally possessed ample confidence.
He circled around Three Bodhis once before discovering that the statue was surrounded by trees.
Only a single withered ancient tree contained a hollow leading directly toward the statue.
Without hesitation, Ren Qing entered the hollow.
Boundless darkness enveloped him.
He could sense a strange Buddha Qi filling the passage.
It felt similar to All-Beings Buddha's aura and likely originated from one of the Ten Spiritual Bodies.
Ren Qing immediately summoned the Information Stream.
---
[Void Buddha]
[Age: 976]
[Lifespan: 6,833 years]
[Technique: Void Body]
[Created by Nameless Ascetic. A thousand remnant souls are crushed together into a single soul mass and forcibly infused into a cultivator's body.
If the cultivator survives after both body and soul become void-like, the technique is successfully cultivated.]
---
Ren Qing inwardly remarked:
"Another Yang Spirit Realm cultivator."
"The Esoteric Buddhist Sect has existed for at most a thousand years, yet its accumulated foundation is astonishing. There may very well be Heavenly Aberration Realm existences among them."
He did not know whether Song Zongwu's body and soul remained intact after becoming entangled with the Esoteric Buddhist Sect.
He only hoped that Song Zongwu had retained his sanity.
At worst, he could always be converted into a zombie.
Despite the hollow being less than half a meter deep, it took Ren Qing several minutes before he finally saw light ahead.
At the same time, thunderous chanting echoed from beyond.
Pretending to chant along, he stepped out of the hollow and entered the world beyond.
Dense Buddha Qi rushed toward him.
Yet unlike the Buddha-level Buddha Qi he knew, it lacked solidity.
Instead, it felt hollow and carried a faint stench of decay.
Ren Qing instinctively looked upward.
The Three Bodhis statue had grown over ten thousand times larger—
No.
More accurately, he himself had shrunk by over ten thousand times.
His body was now no larger than an ant.
Pebbles had become boulders several meters tall.
Vines resembled colossal serpents stretching toward the heavens.
Three Bodhis itself rivaled the Forbidden Corpse in size.
Its surface no longer appeared stone-like.
Instead, it resembled the corpse of a giant that had died only recently.
Countless monks moved across its body.
The flayed heads occasionally dripped golden blood.
In order to bathe in that Buddha blood, monks frequently fought one another.
"Void Body is probably similar to a Buddha Kingdom in the Palm—a self-contained world. That's why the Esoteric Buddhist Sect established its headquarters inside this remote forest."
After observing briefly, Ren Qing looked away.
Nameless Ascetic had definitely visited the Restraint Officers' Hall centuries ago.
The Esoteric Buddhist Sect's Three Bodhis bore striking similarities to the Restraint Officers' Hall's Avici Hell.
Another scheme laid out over centuries...
Thinking about it carefully, the Buddhist Fruitions of this world were merely wedding garments for others.
Immortal Seats had long since been occupied by true immortals.
The path to becoming immortal or Buddha was nearly impossible.
In this era where both roads had been severed, countless old monsters were undoubtedly plotting ways to transcend.
Ren Qing's Zhili Technique, which pointed directly toward Earth Immortalhood, was incomparably precious.
If exposed, it would likely drive countless factions into madness.
Taking a deep breath, he headed toward Three Bodhis.
He quickly approached the statue.
At its base sat over ten thousand monks in meditation.
Many were already on the verge of death.
Skin and bones remained, their origins clearly traceable to various Buddhist sects from the outside world.
Among them were even several monks from Lion Buddha Temple.
Hundreds of monks were climbing Three Bodhis itself.
The farther they ascended from the ground, the more severe their mutations became.
They gradually lost their human forms altogether.
What a boundless hell.