Ren Qing could only regret that the amount of Soul Aura he had obtained was too little. Given the strength of the secondary soul, bearing the mutation of the spine was already extremely strained.
The corpses of the wraiths were absorbed by the Flesh Plain, and the ground would occasionally tremble, as if Ksitigarbha was gradually collapsing.
Ren Qing used the Double Pupils to gaze into the distance. Everything nearby was composed of flesh.
Trees were built from white bones, and the leaves were made of human skin, fluttering in the wind with a chilling strangeness.
Countless wraiths were constantly being born and dying.
A millipede over ten meters long slowly crawled past, its body covered in eyes of all sizes, all connected by dense tentacles.
After crawling for a short while, the millipede wraith's lifespan neared its end, and it immediately collapsed to the ground, its corpse absorbed by Ksitigarbha.
Such scenes were not uncommon, showing just how bizarre the ecosystem of the nether Feather truly was.
Wraiths fought and slaughtered one another, instinctively trying to survive a little longer.
But a mayfly is, in the end, still a mayfly.
"So grotesque... is this the process by which a Yang God Realm forbidden zone is gradually formed?!!"
No wonder the Restraint Officers' Hall went to great lengths to prevent Ksitigarbha's death, even resorting to using the Summoning Spirits Art.
However, the Yang God Realm also represented infinite resources. In this world, there were no spiritual veins or herbs, advancement could only rely on resources left behind by predecessors.
That's why the Restraint Officers' Hall had no Yang God Realm cultivators, there simply weren't enough resources.
If the Restraint Officers' Hall could seize control of Ksitigarbha's corpse, those at the Yin Runner Realm might have a chance to ascend to the Yang God Realm. Otherwise, they would be forever trapped at the Yin Runner Realm.
And after death, they would become part of Avici Hell, enduring eternal torment.
Ren Qing steadied his mind.
He casually stabbed a few wraiths to death, and the Double Pupils grew even clearer.
His perspective changed accordingly, he could see the faint souls emerging when wraiths died.
Only a small portion of these souls were absorbed by other wraiths; the majority sank into Ksitigarbha's body.
Boom!!!
The ground began to tremble again. Cracks spread out, and blood sprayed in all directions.
Ren Qing instinctively turned his head. The disturbance came from the direction of the brain tree, very likely the origin of the body's collapse.
The brain tree probably represented Ksitigarbha's core, what Daoism refers to as the Niwan Palace.
A cyclopean giant wraith spotted Ren Qing. The latter stood motionless in place, his fist-sized body appearing harmless like livestock.
Its face wore a vicious grin. As it bent forward, another arm grew from its elbow and lunged toward Ren Qing.
In the cyclops's imagination, Ren Qing should have been utterly defenseless.
But it caught only air.
Ren Qing leapt into the air with the help of the spine, suddenly appearing behind the cyclops and driving the sharp spine through the back of its head.
The cyclops collapsed unwillingly to the ground, its flesh dissolving and soul dissipating.
Ren Qing clearly felt his secondary soul growing more solid, able to continue bearing the mutation of techniques.
But he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he used the opportunity to temper the spine, constantly piercing the wraiths that approached.
Because of Zhun's protection, as long as the wraith body's lifespan neared its end, the soul could return to the main body.
But Ren Qing was somewhat different, the Twin Nightmare Ghosts acted on the soul. His accidental entry into the Disaster-Dispelling Forbidden Zone already revealed the profundity of the technique.
He even felt he could return proactively, without waiting for his lifespan to run out.
Even if the secondary soul was damaged, it was still just a secondary soul. The primary soul remained in the main body, at worst, he would burn lifespan to ascend.
Ren Qing was surrounded and injured by several wraiths. He chose to further strengthen his physical body, followed by the Divine Leg Sutra.
His round, orb-like body began to undergo a dramatic transformation, growing thick silver fur and gradually taking on the form of a wolf beast.
In the blink of an eye, Ren Qing had transformed into a silver, three-meter-tall giant wolf. His eyes were in the form of Double Pupils, and his tail had become a spine.
Numerous bone spurs could be seen on his back, his aura was overwhelming.
The weaker wraiths backed away at the sight but were still casually skewered by the spine.
Ren Qing looked toward the larger wraiths, his eyes brimming with killing intent.
In the area chosen by Zhun, the wraiths were limited to the Half-Corpse Realm. With the power of six techniques upon him, Ren Qing was utterly unstoppable.
Two hours?
For Ren Qing, even half an hour would suffice.
Wraiths would never retreat, with their level of intelligence, killing was pure instinct.
They might avoid disaster, but they would never feel fear.
Ren Qing coiled strength in all four limbs. Under the power of the Divine Leg Sutra, he vanished in a blur, leaving only a half-meter crater in place.
Whoosh!!!
A sharp sound of air splitting rang out.
The spine lashed out quickly, several wraiths froze in place, their flesh sliced into flat cross-sections.
The secondary soul received some nourishment, its strength was already approaching that of the primary soul. Unfortunately, it was only temporary; otherwise, this place would truly be a treasure trove.
Ren Qing continued his slaughter, practically enacting a one-sided massacre, the wraiths offered no resistance whatsoever.
But as he approached the brain tree, the wraiths he encountered grew increasingly powerful, including some at the peak of the Half-Corpse Realm.
Ren Qing began to feel the pressure and immediately activated his third technique: Human Skin Book.
The silver-white fur across his body shed away, replaced by thick skin, with strange skull-like patterns visible on the surface.
His appearance gradually began to resemble that of a wraith.
Just as Ren Qing was adjusting to his new power, a tentacle shot up from the ground.
The tentacle struck viciously at Ren Qing's abdomen, leaving a deep wound visible to the bone, almost damaging his internal organs.
Ren Qing sneered coldly. With the Human Skin Book activated, the moment the wound was transferred, the spine fiercely struck into the ground.
The wraith was killed, and Ren Qing's secondary soul absorbed more nourishment.
The Double Pupils' vision became ever clearer.
At this moment, bolstered by the Soul Aura, even though he had yet to ascend to the Ghost Envoy Realm, the Double Pupils had already begun to display the power of the Twin Nightmare Ghosts.
Ren Qing took the opportunity to observe the brain tree. Its roots were exposed to the air, and its branches twisted together into a gray-black brain.
But he was still too far away to clearly see whether that figure was there.
He stopped thinking about it, for now, with the Human Skin Book active, his lifespan was even shorter, and the spine slashed with reckless abandon.
The surrounding wraiths were instantly doomed, dying indiscriminately by Ren Qing's hand, the ground torn into trenches by the spine.
Ren Qing displayed an utterly terrifying predator's instinct. How could Half-Corpse Realm wraiths possibly pose a threat to a Ghost Envoy Realm cultivator?
To boost efficiency, he didn't skip using the fifth technique: Mirror-Faced.
Ren Qing's entire skeleton turned glass-like, especially the spine, which now seemed capable of reflecting all light.
But of the originally allotted three hours, only half an hour remained, he could die at any moment.
As the slaughter continued, the secondary soul had reached its absolute limit.
Returning to the body now would be enough to ascend to the Ghost Envoy Realm, but Ren Qing couldn't help pushing the secondary soul to the limit of Soul Aura capacity.
If he could obtain that opportunity, he might save at least ten years of time. More importantly, his Bone Armor Technique now had a chance of ascending on its own.
Moreover, Ren Qing truly wanted to know, who exactly was that figure beside the brain tree?