Zhang Qiu's face was iron-blue.
He knew that once things got out of control, it could very likely lead to unforeseen developments.
Hiss hiss hiss～～
He spat crimson, trying to search for the figure of the monstrous infant within the small farmland, but didn't discover a single trace.
However, from the goats that were becoming increasingly human-like, it was evident that the monstrous infant's influence was still continuously spreading.
The Restraint Officers couldn't help but grow restless.
Unfathomable whispers echoed in their ears, and their nerves became highly tense.
Within just a few breaths of Zhang Qiu's hesitation, there were already Restraint Officers who couldn't help but make a move.
In an instant, several goats on the street were turned into severed limbs and fragments.
But the remaining goats were not flustered or panicked; instead, they stared at the Restraint Officers with pitch-black eyes, making one feel a chill down the spine.
The Restraint Officers, seeing this, all began to cast techniques.
In a short moment, no goat survived. The ground was covered in a thick layer of blood and flesh, and an unpleasant stench of blood and rot filled the air.
In the silence, the Restraint Officers looked at each other.
They would rather the monstrous infant suddenly descend, anything was better than this waiting amid the unknown.
Even Ren Qing couldn't help but furrow his brows. Even he hadn't found the source of the Heavenly Demon aura, as if it had arisen from nothing.
The only thing fortunate was that the monstrous infant's Heavenly Demon aura was far inferior to that of Heavenly Daozi, and still within bearable limits.
Ren Qing stepped out of the house, his figure faintly visible under the shroud of moonlight.
He waited quietly, while also pondering how to obtain a portion of the monstrous infant's soul.
The sudden sound of dogs barking rang out.
Zhang Qiu's breathing became rapid at the sight. He subconsciously grabbed the Blood Heart from his chest.
The reason he hesitated was because notifying the Restraint Officers' Hall would affect the blood crystal profit division for the mission. He feared it was just a false alarm.
Very quickly, Zhang Qiu began to regret not notifying the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The invisible fear was too creepy, just like a mortal waiting to be executed.
At that moment, a Restraint Officer let out a miserable scream, painfully kneeling on the ground. His abdomen uncontrollably swelled up.
Through his exposed skin, one could see a baby curled up inside, as if it would crawl out at any moment.
At the movement of Ren Qing's thought, the Ghost Shadow immediately reacted.
the Ghost Shadow flowed through the darkness unnoticed by everyone and then merged into the Restraint Officer's body, helping protect his life.
He could feel that the Restraint Officer's life was directly linked to the monstrous infant's.
He could only rely on the Ghost Shadow to ensure his safety, and wait for the monstrous infant to completely form.
Zhang Qiu's pupils shrank slightly.
He suddenly remembered, a Restraint Officer named Yue Kun who had mastered the Tongxiang Method.
The Tongxiang Method could transform limbs into hoof shapes, indeed somewhat resembling goats.
Zhang Qiu had noticed this detail before, but according to the Restraint Officers' Hall's statement, monstrous infants only descended upon ordinary livestock...
Now, it was too late for regret.
He wanted to use Snake Tongue, but hesitated momentarily, his clothes soaked with sweat.
Taking action now might indeed kill the monstrous infant in advance, but if they accidentally killed a Restraint Officer and caused the birth of a Ghost Envoy-level Supernatural Remnant, it would undoubtedly bring even greater trouble.
Just within a few breaths of Zhang Qiu's daze, gnawing sounds came from within that Restraint Officer's body.
Upon seeing this, Zhang Qiu gritted his teeth and used Snake Tongue to command the Restraint Officers to condense Blood Poison Mist.
The screams grew increasingly intense.
The monstrous infant crawled toward the internal organs, but the Ghost Shadow protected the vital areas, preventing it from getting closer, so it had no choice but to tear open the belly.
For Yue Kun, he had never experienced such a horrifying thing in his life.
After being parasitized by the monstrous infant, he had no strength left to resist. Then, another strange presence had flowed into his body through the skin.
Yue Kun could feel the Ghost Shadow writhing atop his organs, and could faintly sense a crawling, insect-like sensation.
"Just kill me already..."
He lay flat on the ground, his limbs limp. A gash split open on his swollen belly, and immediately a baby goat crawled out.
Zhang Qiu's breathing grew rapid.
Previously, they had faced many monstrous infants, but all were half-human, half-goat in form. This one, however, was a lamb from head to toe.
No, wait, it seemed to have human eyes...
Just as the thought appeared in Zhang Qiu's mind, the lamb's pupils instantly turned pitch black, and its body began to swell at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Black fur covered its entire body, and horns of cattle and goats grew from both sides of its head.
The surrounding air twisted, and a fear that pierced the soul spread gradually. Even Restraint Officers who had weathered many storms couldn't help but feel heavy-hearted.
The flesh and blood covering the ground suddenly came alive under the influence of the Heavenly Demon aura.
The flesh reassembled into flayed goats, and their cries echoed throughout the farmland, making nearby wild dogs flee in panic.
Ren Qing's expression remained calm.
He had truly come into contact with the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
The black goat not far away was already extremely close to the form of the Supreme Heavenly Demon, but it was only an empty shell, after all, its soul was incomplete.
Ren Qing felt that it wouldn't be difficult to deal with. The most important thing was to acquire a portion of its soul.
It seemed he would have to use force...
The black goat's emotionless pupils stared at Yue Kun. The sheer malice caused the latter to tremble all over, unable to muster even a shred of resistance.
It reached out a thick arm and simultaneously opened its gaping bloody mouth.
Inside were rows of sharp fangs, and the surface of the tongue was covered in backward-facing barbs, completely different from ordinary goats, more like a carnivorous wild beast.
Meee...
A strange bleating sound came from the black goat's mouth, making everyone's hair stand on end.
Xu Shilin's eyes turned blood-red. He stared dead at the black goat, hoping to seize the chance to rescue Yue Kun.
He looked up at the Blood Poison Mist still suspended midair.
The mist transformed into droplets and fell from top to bottom.
Xu Shilin's method was a bit rash, but it was to win Yue Kun a chance to escape, so the latter could take the opportunity to get away.
But Yue Kun's entire body was stiff, he wanted to move but couldn't control himself.
The Heavenly Demon aura seeped into the flesh like maggots into bones, but luckily the Ghost Shadow on his organs forcibly blocked it.
Ren Qing hooked a finger.
the Ghost Shadow took control of Yue Kun's shadow and directly dragged his body over a hundred meters away, easily dodging the black goat's attack.
The blood poison water came crashing down.
Boom!!
The many Restraint Officers didn't notice how Yue Kun escaped the attack. They all focused their attention on the black goat.
As the blood poison water touched the black goat, large swaths of flesh were corroded away, revealing pitch-black bones and internal organs.
Seeing this, the Restraint Officers didn't wait for Zhang Qiu to issue any orders, thinking they had found an opportunity, they successively charged toward the monstrous infant.
They transformed into various beast forms. The instincts of wild beasts suppressed the fear in their hearts, and with each stride, the bricks on the ground shattered.
The black goat opened its mouth.
Meee...
The flayed goats instantly turned to minced meat, with specks of blood floating in the air.
The black goat casually extended an arm and pointed. The blood instantly evaporated and disappeared.
The Restraint Officers rushing forward inexplicably lost control and fell to the ground. Then, as if they had fallen into a coma, they remained motionless.
If viewed from the perspective of a soul-clone, one would see a large number of tendrils sprouting from the back of the black goat's head, drawing the souls from the Restraint Officers' bodies.
Though Zhang Qiu didn't know exactly what kind of attack had hit the Restraint Officers, his first reaction was to grab the Blood Heart and prepare to immediately contact the Restraint Officers' Hall.
But suddenly, dozens to hundreds of chains extended from somewhere in the farmland.
Ren Qing controlled the Dragon-Snake Spine to turn incorporeal.
Then he used the Dragon-Snake Spine to bind the souls of the unconscious Restraint Officers and forcibly pulled them back into their bodies.
Zhang Qiu's pupils dilated, he nearly forgot that there was also a stationed Restraint Officer in the western district.
That stationed Restraint Officer seemed to use chains as a spell attack method, but who exactly was this Restraint Officer who had undergone three aberrations...?
The Restraint Officers awoke and immediately fled in a panic.
Ren Qing walked toward the black goat, and at the same time, the Ghost Shadow surged into his body like a swallow returning to its nest, and soon his figure reached over three meters tall.
Zhang Qiu didn't recognize the other party, not even a trace of familiarity in his mind.
Meeeh...
The black goat didn't back down in the slightest and released the Heavenly Demon aura without restraint.
On the surface, Ren Qing showed no reaction, but in reality, the defending soul-clone was being rapidly consumed, evidence of the Heavenly Demon aura's pervasive nature.
He narrowed his eyes.
Now that the black goat was fully formed, it was time to take part of its soul.
"Zhang Qiu, withdraw from the farmland with all Restraint Officers."
"As quickly as possible."
"Understood, sir."
Zhang Qiu immediately used Snake Tongue to pass on the order. Ren Qing's voice felt vaguely familiar to him, as though he'd heard it somewhere before.
The Restraint Officers all backed away from the black goat.
Actually, they were not entirely without chances, in fact, they absolutely had the strength to fight.
But every one of them was extremely wary of soul aberration, afraid it would ruin their cultivation path. This was exactly the tricky part of the Heavenly Demon.
Just as Zhang Qiu stepped out of the farmland, he instinctively looked back.
Whoosh!!!
The Dragon-Snake Spine suddenly lashed out, precisely wrapping around the black goat's horns.
The black goat tried to block, but when its arms touched the Dragon-Snake Spine, the chain turned incorporeal and passed directly through.
Ren Qing forcefully retracted the Dragon-Snake Spine, dragging the black goat toward him.
His right arm slowly gathered strength, the effects of the Ghost Shadow possession brought to the extreme, muscles bulged, bones scraped.
"I can't beat the original, but I can't even beat a fragment of the soul?!!"
Bang!!!
His right arm struck fiercely, landing square on the black goat's head.
The black goat was sent flying, crashing through several walls. The injuries appeared serious, but in fact, were no big deal.
Ren Qing's expression turned somewhat strange, an icy chill spread from his palm, followed the blood vessels, and entered the Niwan Palace soul.
The soul-clone tried to resist the chill, but almost underwent aberration as a result.
The black goat's face was expressionless, not the slightest bit angry, it was as if it had descended into the world just to aberrate all visible living things.
Ren Qing used the Dragon-Snake Spine to rapidly approach the black goat, casting various techniques in succession, collapsing several houses in the process.
But the chill spread from the Dragon-Snake Spine. Frost formed on his skin, and the soul-clone was on the verge of vanishing.
Now Ren Qing understood why some Restraint Officers had been aberrated by monstrous infants.
Clearly, the monstrous infants' displayed strength was no more than that of ordinary strange entities, but the Heavenly Demon aura was like a persistent fly, hard to shake.
Ren Qing inhaled sharply.
Just imagine such an existence, merely approaching living beings would bring disaster. The human body had no defenses.
Even Heavenly Daozi and Ksitigarbha had already become Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Ren Qing felt a slight regret, it seemed he could only give up acquiring the black goat's soul and directly suppress it, then contact the Restraint Officers' Hall.
At this moment, the chill touched the Flesh Furnace, and the flames within suddenly overflowed, filling every inch of flesh.
The Heavenly Demon aura was completely incinerated.
But Ren Qing could clearly feel that the Fuel King's consumption speed had multiplied several times.
He didn't hesitate and exerted strength with both legs.
Meee...
The black goat stuck out its tongue. An eyeball blinked at the tip, the Heavenly Demon aura surged.