If it weren't for the fact that the space inside the Prison Within the Abdomen was so large it might frighten the other wardens, Ren Qing really only needed to make one trip to the stone mountain.
The section of wall where he was stationed was quickly erected. The stones were each about half a meter in size, this made them the most solid and durable.
Since the beasts required Ghost Envoy Realm cultivators to oppose, Ren Qing felt that Li Tiangang's purpose in building the wall was not to block them.
There was likely some deeper meaning.
At present, Ren Qing could not participate in the core matters of the Wardens' Hall, so he could only take things one step at a time.
Before even half a day had passed, a number of fungi the height of a man sprouted up in the center of the open ground.
Judging by the speed at which they were spreading, they would soon cover the entire area.
Ren Qing was slightly puzzled. He really couldn't connect these fungi to the Supreme Heavenly Demon, was it simply to make the terrain more complicated?
Since he had already finished building his section of the wall, he decided to go have a look. At least then he would have a clearer idea in his mind.
Li Tiangang was still leafing through papers, and Song Zongwu was nowhere to be seen.
Ren Qing thought to draw some information out of Jiang Feng, but the latter just spread his hands and said, "Brother Ren, how could secrets of the Wardens' Hall be known to us Ghost Envoy Realm folk?"
Jiang Feng's gaze was somewhat complicated.
He suddenly felt the dangerous mission might turn out much easier. After all, wardens who had undergone their second or third uncanny metamorphoses had all been sent to suppress the Soul of the Corpse Dog and the others.
"Ren Qing, you, "
He had just started to speak when he saw Ren Qing stride straight toward the fungi without hesitation.
Li Tiangang looked up, saw it was Ren Qing, and didn't pay it any mind. Jiang Feng, seeing this, couldn't very well try to stop him and could only stand in place and wait.
In the center of the fungi, spore dust like smoke drifted slowly through the air.
Ren Qing held his breath, and the black shadow covered his whole body to avoid touching any spores.
As he looked at the fungi growing taller and taller, he was inexplicably reminded of the Land God.
Back when they had encircled the Land God at the temple fair, it had swallowed the strange object from the Summer Grass Art, and in the end had turned into a mushroom with a human face.
But if this involved the Summer Grass Art, why not send those temple wardens here instead?
Ren Qing glanced at Li Tiangang, then extended a hand from within the black shadow to touch the fungi.
A flow of information surged into his mind.
[Taisui]
[Formed from the collapse of a cultivator's soul while alive through the Winter Worm Art.]
[Winter Worm Art]
[Created by Daojun Taisui, cultivating this method requires breeding seventy-five types of colorless and formless bacteria within oneself before it can be mastered.]
Ren Qing's expression grew stranger. The Winter Worm and Summer Grass arts clearly came from the same origin; their abilities should both be about controlling bacteria.
So why use this to produce such a mass of fungi at the site of Sanxiang City?
Perhaps...
Ren Qing's brow twitched. It probably wasn't because of the Winter Worm and Summer Grass connection, more likely, the key was the Taisui formed from the collapse of a soul.
"This thing involves an existence above the Yang God Realm..."
Li Tiangang's voice came from right beside him, appearing so suddenly it startled him, and he nearly stumbled into the fungi.
"Senior Li Tiangang, you mean, "
Li Tiangang patiently explained, "It should be from the soul of a Tianwei Realm cultivator. The Wardens' Hall once obtained a little of it."
"The Soul Infant is a major matter. Only this forest of Taisui can conceal its aura."
Ren Qing nodded. No wonder the Wardens' Hall dared to fuse more than thirty soul fragments, because with the forest of Taisui, it wouldn't draw the attention of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
But during the first summoning, the Wardens' Hall had nerves of steel...
If there had been even the slightest slip, Xiangxiang would have been wiped out instantly.
Ren Qing felt much more at ease, and after bidding Li Tiangang farewell he returned to the wall to rest.
He began visualizing the Blindless Method, his mind becoming ever clearer, and all kinds of clues inadvertently linking together, then his body jolted.
If this black, dust-like spore was transformed from a cultivator's soul, then in the Land of the Nether Feathers, what in the world was that giant humanoid figure beside the brain tree...
Come to think of it, the temple wardens who knew the Summer Grass Art should have gone to the brain tree.
Ren Qing suddenly realized that the Wardens' Hall's scheme was definitely not just to resurrect Ksitigarbha King, this time, they were probably aiming to accomplish some one-and-done, grand thing.
He didn't know what to say about it, so he could only use meditation to steady his mind.
While Ren Qing sat cross-legged cultivating, the walls all around were gradually completed; in one day and one night they were entirely finished.
Ren Qing opened his eyes.
The forest of Taisui had already covered the entire open ground. So it turned out the walls weren't to block beasts, they were to contain the gradual spread of the Taisui.
Li Tiangang walked to the wall and pasted sheet after sheet of paper onto it.
The air gradually became dry, and by reducing moisture it was easy to control the fungi, so that the spores could not drift far.
The wardens all looked at one another, apart from Ren Qing, no one knew what was about to happen.
Once the two-day period was up, Jiang Feng used an art to notify the wardens to head to their assigned spots and prepare at any moment for the beasts' attack.
Lin Cheng couldn't help feeling nervous, after all, he was taking part in such a grand operation.
He started to speak but hesitated, and the Ren Qing beside him said, "They're here..."
Lin Cheng asked reflexively, "What's here?"
Ren Qing didn't answer. In a voice only he could hear, he murmured, "The Heavenly Demon has arrived."
Li Tiangang tore the sealing talisman from a Soul Infant. A half-human, half-goat youngling stood in the forest of Taisui.
Just as it was about to flee, Song Zongwu suddenly closed in and struck a palm straight at its face, knocking it to the ground.
Maa...
A bleating, childlike cry rang out.
The wardens all covered their ears, their guts churning with nausea.
In the distant mountains and forest, there seemed to be some movement.
Song Zongwu pried the Soul Infant's mouth open by force, stuffed a blossom of Other Shore Flower into it, and only when it was swallowed entirely did he let go.
Seeing this, Li Tiangang released another Soul Infant, but this time Song Zongwu stayed where he was.
The two Soul Infants approached each other and immediately began biting and tearing. Black blood sprayed everywhere, and in the end the victor devoured the loser's corpse whole.
At this point, the Soul Infant had already taken on the form of a black goat, standing upright on its hooves and extending its tongue to lick the blood from its body.
Maa... Baa...
Flocks of birds fled the mountains in panic. Sounds of movement were drawing closer to the wall.
Song Zongwu flexed his fists and then rained them down on the black goat like a sudden storm, afterward forcing it to swallow another Other Shore Flower.
Li Tiangang continued to release Soul Infants.
By the time the seventh appeared, Song Zongwu had grown noticeably more serious.
Beasts surged out of the forest like a tide, ramming desperately at the wall.
Ren Qing saw that most of them were herbivores, even when their legs were injured from running, they did not slow in the slightest.
As they drew closer to the wall, their appearance began to change.
Long, narrow horns like those of cattle or goats grew from their heads; they looked like one misshapen humanoid goat after another, their eyes even shining with fanaticism.
The wardens froze for a brief moment, then began their counterattack.
Arts shattered the beasts into pieces of flesh. Apart from being slightly tougher in body, they were no match for the Ghost Envoy Realm at all.
But soon, something unbelievable happened.
The goats turned and fled back into the forest.