Not long after, Ren Qing developed the illusion that the wraith body's lifespan was about to be exhausted.
That was because the strength of the secondary soul was approaching the level of the Ghost Envoy Realm, thus triggering Zhun's technique. With just a thought, he could return to the main body.
But he still forcibly suppressed it, then stepped deeper inward.
The disturbance caused by Ren Qing was immense, but the Half-Corpse Realm wraiths couldn't do anything to him, he had entirely become the overlord of this region.
Just as he was preparing to continue hunting, he suddenly noticed a hovering wraith approaching from mid-air.
The wraith was composed of a head, similar to that mutated five-senses cultivator earlier, and the other party was staring at Ren Qing with a vicious expression.
The head wraith had clearly come prepared. Being able to track Ren Qing's location was likely related to that strange behavior on Zhun's back.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. This person must have made a spur-of-the-moment decision, mainly because they realized they were in the same eye-orb region of Ksitigarbha.
Their locations must not have been far apart.
That person had at least two techniques, both of which had reached the Half-Corpse Realm, which was likely where their confidence to kill came from.
The head wraith let out a weird laugh, speeding up further, causing fresh red blood to flow from its facial features, and its body to swell even more.
Unfortunately, it had chosen the wrong target.
Ren Qing's face was full of indifference. He directly bound the head wraith with the spine, and as the force steadily increased, he summoned the information stream.
[Liu Yang]
[Technique: Five Sense Officer]
[Created by an unnamed Taoist officer, cultivating this method gradually depletes the body's blood and qi, and only by consuming human flesh and blood can it be alleviated, but the five senses will become increasingly sensitive.]
Liu Yang realized he had hit an iron wall, and could only struggle desperately. He still shouted defiantly: "You can't kill me..."
"I'm very curious... why would you think to come after me?"
"I didn't..."
Before Liu Yang could finish speaking, the spine tightened with more force. His body immediately became overwhelmed, seemingly about to disintegrate.
He gasped and explained: "My technique allows me to transplant other cultivators' sensory organs onto myself... I really didn't intend to kill you..."
Ren Qing crushed Liu Yang's bones and tendons, then casually tossed him aside, though the latter still retained a sliver of life.
"If I die, Zhun will definitely notice something's wrong."
"Oh."
Bang!
Ren Qing didn't hesitate at all and stomped Liu Yang into a pile of bloody mush, then continued slaughtering the surrounding wraiths, even though the gains were now minimal.
According to his speculation, he had to forcibly trigger the mutation of The Taotie Method.
At this time, Zhun was resting somewhere in the nether Feather.
He suddenly sensed that Liu Yang's soul was dissipating more slowly than normal, it didn't seem like a death caused by wraiths.
Zhun recalled that Ren Qing's location was not far from Liu Yang's, and his expression revealed some surprise.
"Forget it... what's it got to do with me."
He directly tossed Liu Yang's corpse away and closed his eyes in thought.
"Ren Qing's hunted wraiths are just about enough. Zhou Mei's slightly fewer, but the two of them will return to their bodies at any moment."
"Zhang Mu barely passes. Only Lin Cheng seems like he won't make it in time."
After saying this, Zhun flew toward the blood-flesh plains of the eye region.
Ren Qing had no intention of stopping whatsoever, in fact, he grew more frenzied. Mirror-Faced transformed the surroundings into a sea of fire.
The newly born wraiths were all slaughtered one after another.
The secondary soul had long since reached its limit for absorbing Soul Aura, and its own lifespan was burning to the extreme, at most, a few dozen more minutes remained.
He knew the time was ripe, and quickly connected with The Taotie Method.
The already-massive demon wolf began to transform further, its body rapidly growing to around twenty meters in size, and its mouth splitting to the neck, dividing its head in two.
A terrifying aura spread outward.
This was the power of the Ghost Envoy Realm. Different from the Half-Corpse Realm, those wraiths didn't dare to resist, they simply lay prostrate on the ground, powerless.
Ren Qing used The Taotie Method to devour wraiths, but since the wraiths were a part of the Nether Crow domain, a power originating from the Yang God Realm faintly resisted him.
It seemed that trying to take advantage of Ksitigarbha wasn't realistic.
But then Ren Qing did something unexpected.
He directly bit down on his own spine, and in the instant before his lifespan extinguished, he absorbed the entire spine into the Prison Within the Abdomen.
Ren Qing had no intention of accelerating death. He immediately collapsed to the ground, motionless.
Zhun used a technique to extract his secondary soul, along with the spine, and return it to the main body.
Before Zhun could notice, Ren Qing locked the spine inside his Prison Within the Abdomen. It thrashed within like a living creature.
Prison Within the Abdomen revealed its domineering side, flesh enveloped the spine and began to digest it.
Ren Qing nodded in satisfaction.
Prison Within the Abdomen could originally consume flesh to slightly enhance the physical body, but since this spine shared the same origin, it caused the Dragon-Snake Spine to evolve.
It had saved him at least ten years of nurturing his life-bound weapon.
Ren Qing's secondary soul paused briefly, then returned to the main body.
With the help of Soul Aura, his vision broadened significantly, and he looked toward the brain tree, vaguely spotting a figure.
Next to the giant tree that looked like a brain, a towering figure, dozens of meters tall, stood there.
Its body was made of black-gray dust, which constantly dispersed and re-formed around it.
The tremors from the brain tree were caused by this dust frantically flooding in.
Ren Qing knew the figure was likely a Restraint Officer, but he was completely in the dark regarding the Restraint Officers' Hall's plans, he could only be sure it was related to Ksitigarbha.
The figure turned to glance at Zhun, then returned its attention to the brain tree.
Ren Qing returned to his body, gasping for air like someone who had nearly drowned. The two souls merged together.
The Blindless Method was intimately tied to soul strength. He felt his mind becoming incomparably clear, and the Double Pupils showed signs of splitting into a third layer.
The Dragon-Snake Spine on his back was also faintly heating up, but that was due to the spine inside the Prison Within the Abdomen.
Zhun spoke: "The Soul Aura acquired in the nether Feather will mostly dissipate. Ascending now is the only way not to waste it."
He didn't blame Liu Yang's death, perhaps he'd already forgotten.
"Many thanks, Senior Zhun."
Ren Qing felt the Soul Aura was fading even faster than he had imagined, probably because he had already reached the Ghost Envoy Realm.
He immediately sat cross-legged and began visualizing The Blindless Method, once more falling into boundless darkness.
But in front of Ren Qing's eyes, a massive Double Pupil was staring back.
The Blindless Method had officially begun its ascension.
Even though his soul had already been refined to the utmost, he still felt an uncontrollable sensation, proving how dangerous the Ghost Envoy Realm breakthrough was.
Ren Qing could only strive to maintain balance, waiting for the technique to evolve into Twin Nightmare Ghosts.
The inner demon tribulation appeared without warning, crazed whispers ringing in his ears, trying to erode and destroy his will.
Fortunately, the Ghost Envoy Realm's The Taotie Method suppressed his inner heart, keeping the tribulation within tolerable limits.
He didn't know how much time passed.
Ren Qing opened his eyes.
The original ∞-shaped pupils had become three overlapping concentric circles, appearing mysterious and profound.
He instinctively touched his brow and discovered that the changes brought by The Blindless Method's ascension to the Ghost Envoy Realm weren't limited to his eyes.
Inside his skull, on the brain behind the glabella, a Double Pupiled eyeball had grown.
This was the Twin Nightmare Ghosts.