Avici Hell was incomparably silent.
Ren Qing and the Restraint Officers entered one after another. At a glance, it could be said to be desolate and devoid of people, with several towns shrouded in mist.
The altar had already fully taken shape, its exterior resembling a giant boulder, its surface carved with densely packed strange patterns.
What puzzled Ren Qing was why there was a groove in the center of the altar.
In addition, eight Restraint Officers stood upon the altar, clearly having been waiting for quite some time.
Song Zongwu conversed with the leading Restraint Officer about the details of the task.
According to the plan, while summoning the soul, Song Zongwu would be transporting it to Nether Feather, and the three souls, Corpse Dog Soul and the others, would also be escorted there in turn.
Li Tiangang would be suppressing the Black Goat, so before other Yin Runner realm cultivators could arrive, Ghost Envoy realm Restraint Officers would be responsible for handling the false souls.
Why such haste? Most likely for fear of affecting the towns of Xiangxiang.
Song Zongwu introduced Ren Qing to the other party.
This Restraint Officer had already undergone three eerie transformations; his name was Li Bai, and he had mastered the Earth-Absorbing Technique, with all his flesh and blood turned to stone.
Li Bai said with a smile, "Young and promising, young and promising..."
Ren Qing could clearly feel that Li Bai harbored some hostility, most likely because the command authority of the mission involved many different aspects.
He paid it no mind, instead focusing his attention on observing Avici Hell.
He soon noticed that from the prison area at the other end of the Knotted Rope Cave came continuous commotion, the source was likely the Corpse Dog Soul, which was undergoing quite a disturbance.
The Non-Poison should be faring no better, though the Stomach within the Stomach was comparatively hidden.
As for the Foul Lung Spirit, no one yet knew where in Avici Hell it was; it would continually roam, and whomever saw it would be overcome with uncontrollable rage until they killed the Foul Lung Spirit completely.
The disturbance of the three souls was certainly related to the Black Goat's arrival in Avici Hell; as the number of false souls increased, the level of chaos would likewise rise.
Li Bai's expression became surprised as he realized that apart from a few Restraint Officers, everyone else had deliberately kept some distance from Ren Qing.
He had no idea that they were frightened by the ghost wolf Ren Qing had transformed into through aberration.
Even though quite some time had passed since eating, the traces of aberration on Ren Qing's body still had not faded.
Sparse wolf fur grew on Ren Qing's skin, and his mouth protruded with fangs, if not for his relatively clear mind, one would have thought it was a sign that his aberration was about to spiral out of control.
Song Zongwu did not step onto the altar, as if he had other plans.
He looked around and then said, "Rest for half a day; what comes next will be the critical moment of Ksitigarbha's soul summoning."
Ren Qing unhesitatingly sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to inspect his internal condition.
The aberration from the ghost wolf was still slowly fading; under normal circumstances, it should not be used again in the short term, but the current situation was fraught with danger.
What Ren Qing could do was ensure the safety of his main soul; even if the aberration of his body could not be removed, he could try cultivating the Snake Molting Method.
He, as if no one else were present, communicated with the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed.
Ren Qing then fed all the Black Goat's remnant soul into the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed, with the goal of letting the artifact transform as soon as possible.
Li Bai glanced at Ren Qing intentionally or otherwise, his brows involuntarily knitting.
He saw that Ren Qing's eyes had a glimmer of spiritual light, but in the blink of an eye it disappeared, as if it were some kind of technique he had never seen before.
Jiang Feng and the others, however, were long used to this, and quickly took the time to rest and recover.
Ren Qing's face showed joy, during the process of digesting the Black Goat's remnant soul, the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed suddenly underwent change.
What had originally been a rather indistinct glow now transformed into an ink-like eye, floating in the Niwan Palace.
With a thought, Ren Qing applied the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed to himself.
A fissure opened in his forehead, and suddenly a pitch-black eye emerged, somewhat resembling the Black Goat's, but without that terrifying aura.
Ren Qing could not help but tremble all over, the split soul in the Niwan Palace had actually grown black hair all over its body, gradually approaching the Black Goat's form.
Seeing this, he hurriedly terminated the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed.
Li Bai had been watching Ren Qing all along and was suddenly dazed for a few breaths.
When he came back to his senses, he had not perceived anything unusual, but his forehead was damp with sweat.
Li Bai realized he had still underestimated the other party, and his earlier disdain vanished instantly.
Song Zongwu noticed as well, but out of trust in Ren Qing, and having detected no Heavenly Demon aura, he did not dwell on it.
He simply assumed it was a variant branch of the Blindless Method.
Yan Feng even felt that Ren Qing, even when fighting the flayed sheep-men, seemed to have not used his full strength.
The Heavenly Demon Dream Seed transformed into a robe, wrapping around Ren Qing's main soul, and a sense of security arose unbidden.
Such a boost to combat ability in the midst of battle was indeed good news.
After its transformation, the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed had already revealed part of its power as an artifact.
First, when attached to the brow and transformed into a third eye, all abilities of Twin Nightmare Ghosts would be indirectly influenced by Heavenly Demon aura.
For example, the split soul would exhibit features of the Black Goat.
It could even drag opponents into endless nightmares in dreams, from which escape would be extremely difficult.
Not to mention that the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed could directly act upon the opponent's soul, merely releasing some of its Heavenly Demon aura would be enough to cause serious trouble.
However, the methods of the Heavenly Demon Dream Seed were too sinister and further involved the Supreme Heavenly Demon; even Ren Qing dared not use it as a routine technique.
If discovered by the Restraint Officers' Hall, it would be tantamount to confirming that he cultivated the Beast Pen Method.
Ren Qing turned his gaze to the other two Dream Seeds.
The Firewood Dream Seed was on the verge of transformation, but lagged because he had not thrown the flayed sheep-man's corpse into the Flesh Furnace.
Ren Qing's main consideration was that if he encountered extremely concentrated Heavenly Demon aura, he would need it to help stoke the flames.
The Heavenly Dao Dream Seed had no extra resources but was the most stable, as the Yellow Spring Immortal Bone was constantly nourishing the artifact.
Ren Qing then opened his eyes.
The atmosphere on the altar grew ever more tense.
In the Restraint Officers' Hall, there were not many Restraint Officers who had undergone three eerie transformations, mainly because of the risks of advancement, most died while breaking through bottlenecks.
Now, with two Yin Runner realm cultivators, plus the thrice-transformed Li Bai and what seemed to be thrice-transformed Ren Qing, the danger level of the mission was clear.
On the surface, Song Zongwu had fully recovered, and the internal injuries to his organs were no longer visible; with each breath his vital energy and blood seemed extremely vigorous.
He said gravely, "No matter what soul is summoned, do not panic, control it immediately."
The Restraint Officers quickly assented.
"Begin, Li Bai."
Li Bai gave a slight nod, and then came the sound of stone shattering, his body continuously grew taller, soon reaching five meters.
But like this, the size of the altar became cramped in comparison.
"Drink!"
He placed his hands on the altar's surface, and with a roar from his mouth, the entire altar underwent a dramatic change.
Its area expanded continuously and also rose upward; in moments it had reached several dozen meters in height.
Ren Qing was puzzled, even so, it would not be possible to isolate the false souls; could it be to prevent them from escaping and affecting the towns?
Song Zongwu opened the book that Li Tiangang had transformed into.
He did not immediately turn to the page of the Black Goat, but first took out a sheet of paper inserted within, and tore it in half.
Dust drifted from the paper, needing no control from the Restraint Officers, and gradually floated toward the junction of the stomach wall and the ribs.
Ren Qing was stunned for a moment.
This was clearly the bone ash he had encountered in the Corpse Burners' Hall, so the Restraint Officers' Hall had been collecting this stuff to use here.
The bone ash mixed with blood dripped onto the stomach wall, causing the wound to writhe.
Although it could not heal the injury pierced by the ribs, the originally blackened flesh of Avici Hell grew much brighter in color.
The blood vessels covering the stomach wall actively began to transport blood.
The mound in the northeast corner exploded, revealing part of the Stomach within the Stomach, the Non-Poison began to riot, and it was unclear whether Huang Ziwan was safe.
One could faintly hear gossip from the prison area; it was the Corpse Dog Soul speaking: "Take out part of your own brain, mix it with night-bright flower and bitter fishy grass, and drip it into your eyes to cure night blindness..."
The Foul Lung Spirit was not to be outdone, it had actually been sealed beneath the ghost market, and now broke through the earth, revealing its true form.
It was a skinless blind snake, ramming its head into the ground, but soon ambushing Restraint Officers went to deal with it.
Ren Qing immediately realized: the bone ash had been mixed with other materials for the purpose of keeping Ksitigarbha's body in a living state, so that false souls could better merge into it.
Without hesitation, Song Zongwu once again turned the pages of the book, this time lifting the seal of the Black Goat.
A monster seven or eight meters tall appeared in the center of the altar, its aura even pressing down upon Song Zongwu, though its expression was one of utter madness.
"Maa—"
The Black Goat let out an ear-splitting cry, shattering the surrounding blood mist, which reverberated throughout Avici Hell.
The book reverted to Li Tiangang, but he was noticeably thinner all over, clearly, the technique was not without cost.
The Black Goat staggered and half-knelt, its soul becoming unstable, and in its flesh countless goat faces shifted and changed.
It continually spat black, viscous blood, covering the ground with it.
The Restraint Officers covered their ears, their heads feeling fit to split under the stimulation of the Heavenly Demon aura.
Fortunately, with skull artifacts and the fact that the Black Goat was already heavily injured, they could just barely withstand the erosion of the Heavenly Demon aura without losing control.
Song Zongwu struck the Black Goat with a heavy punch, forcing it down into the groove.
He then leaped from the altar, leaving the situation to Li Tiangang.
Li Tiangang took a deep breath and said, "I will handle the strange infant, you need only focus on the soul summoning; soon other Yin Runner realms will arrive."
He used a Nether Feather to contact the other Yin Runner realms, signaling them to send the three Corpse Dog Souls to Nether Feather, and Avici Hell immediately shook violently.
Li Tiangang's entire body of flesh and blood transformed into sheets of paper, sticking to the Black Goat's body.
The altar trembled slightly.
Song Zongwu bore the altar on his back and headed toward Nether Feather.
Only then did Ren Qing realize that the suppression by two Yin Runner realms was meant to confine the false souls to the narrow altar surface.
The Black Goat's gestation of false souls should have signs, it would not be completely undetectable.
No, Ren Qing had encountered the Non-Poison; that big toad could do nothing to the little man in the bottle, not to mention the Water Gourd was at its side.
The soil at the mouth of the Stomach within the Stomach churned, but the Non-Poison did not show signs of defeat in the short term.
And only as the number of false souls increased would they become more and more difficult to deal with.
Ren Qing looked around, could it be that the Black Goat had, without anyone noticing, already summoned some of the false souls...
As he felt the altar moving, suddenly a Restraint Officer opened his mouth and vomited a mass of filth, his face twisting as he looked at the person beside him.
With an inexplicable expression, he whispered a few words into the other's ear, then his flesh swelled for no reason, and black fluid seeped from his facial features.