Ren Qing waited patiently. At the same time, the cave dwelling continued expanding deeper, while most of his attention was placed inside the world in the stomach.
He did not plan to refine a body for the Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon, because flesh puppets could not be refined in a short time.
Moreover, Ren Qing's goal was to steal lifespan through the Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon.
The Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon could already be considered an independent lifeform. The dream seed could also be discarded at any time. No matter how one looked at it, it could not be traced back to Ren Qing.
The opportunity soon arrived.
Dark clouds filled the sky, and fine rain fell rustling down.
On this day, tens of thousands of refugees lined up along the mountain road, heading toward Heaven Above Heaven one after another. The atmosphere appeared extremely oppressive.
At the head of the group was a gaunt old monk. Only with the support of monks beside him could he muster the strength to continue forward.
Nearly eighty to ninety percent of the tens of thousands of refugees were of monastic background. The suffering of their bodies could not conceal the devotion filling their eyes.
Most of the remainder were elderly people, children, women, and the weak, but mixed among them were several thousand mountain bandits, whose murderous aura showed not the slightest trace of goodness.
The bandit leader Black Tiger looked somewhat impatient and quickly came before the leading old monk, his thick right hand directly lifting him up.
"Old monk Kudu, when exactly will we reach Heaven Above Heaven where fine wine and delicacies are everywhere?"
The so-called Heaven Above Heaven was said to be the legendary Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Buddhist scriptures recorded that the beings of the Heavenly Dao resided in Heaven Above Heaven, possessing complete majesty and divine abilities. Their dependent and principal rewards surpassed those of beings in other paths, hence the meaning of superior joy and superior body.
The monks showed anger on their faces and wished to stop Black Tiger's actions, but having not touched food for more than half a month, they had no strength to resist.
They were kicked to the ground by the other bandits and then subjected to a beating of fists and kicks.
Old monk Kudu pressed his palms together, then closed his eyes and said, "We still need to travel half a day. This poor monk can feel the summons from the Buddhist gate..."
"Damn you."
Black Tiger increasingly felt that old monk Kudu was extremely strange and tossed him into a pile of grass with a flick of his hand.
"I'll give you half a day. For every hour you delay, I'll kill one of your disciples."
"Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva, protect us."
Old monk Kudu shakily climbed up, coughing up a mouthful of blood, yet his complexion improved somewhat because of it.
Black Tiger felt hunger in his stomach and his gaze fell upon the women and children within the group.
"Boss, I'm best at slaughtering humans and livestock."
A subordinate bandit rolled his eyes and quickly grabbed a woman and child, placing a rust-covered long blade against their neck.
"Don't, don't, Master Kudu save us!"
The woman and child struggled constantly, but the surrounding civilians in the group were already numb to it, some even wishing to share a portion.
Old monk Kudu helplessly closed his eyes and began chanting scriptures to deliver the souls of the dead.
Including the bandits in the group was also something done out of helplessness.
Although there were many monks, they were all traveling toward Heaven Above Heaven according to the teachings of Buddhist scriptures, abstaining from meat, chanting Buddha's name, and emptying body and mind.
A thousand bandits were enough to slaughter them all.
Old monk Kudu did not allow the monks to risk their lives to save them, because similar situations were common. This world was entirely a sea of suffering.
The Buddha Heart City where he resided was filled with demons and monsters. The dangers encountered when heading north would only grow more terrifying, so the only path was to go to Heaven Above Heaven.
Old monk Kudu covered his head with both hands as waves of disasters he had experienced surged like an overturned river.
Demons and monsters launched riots every fifty years. Corpses piled into mountains, blood dyed lakes red, and spread-out hair formed carpets.
It was as if mortals were being forcibly driven toward Heaven Above Heaven.
Old monk Kudu let out a miserable scream. Then he reached out and dug out his own eyes, and used a wooden stick to pierce through his ears. Only then did he feel somewhat better.
"Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva above, this disciple should not have given rise to evil thoughts."
Old monk Kudu attempted to combat his inner demons through not hearing and not seeing. Even Black Tiger felt a chill run down his spine as he watched, unable to help frowning.
Black Tiger cursed a few times and then casually threw the woman and child aside, loosening his belt as he walked toward a clump of trees not far away.
He was not showing mercy. He had mainly been frightened by old monk Kudu's madness.
Thinking that Heaven Above Heaven should be only half a day's journey away, increasing casualties would not be good. If it angered Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva because of this...
What Black Tiger did not know was that as they gradually approached Heaven Above Heaven, the air they breathed already contained Buddhist qi. Unknowingly, their violent temperaments had begun to change.
He had just begun relieving himself when he suddenly felt that a gaze was watching him from the darkness.
Black Tiger's face became ugly. Subconsciously he grabbed the long blade behind his back and slowly stepped toward the main group.
Ka ka ka ka...
The sound of teeth grinding rang out.
The Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon crawled out of the darkness. The dream seed on its forehead transformed into a Double Eyes, making its appearance even more ferocious.
"Demon... demon... demon..."
Black Tiger muttered to himself. He did not even dare cry out loudly for help, fearing the other bandits would look down on him and cause his status to become unstable.
The Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon turned into an afterimage, rapidly passing through grass and trees.
It directly burrowed into Black Tiger's mouth and quickly disappeared into his stomach, as if merging into flesh and blood, hiding somewhere within the body.
Black Tiger's expression changed from fear to confusion, and finally he returned to the group as if nothing had happened, continuing south with old monk Kudu.
The tens of thousands of refugees crossed the hillside in a vast procession and soon noticed Heaven Above Heaven.
This town that seemed like the residence of immortals and Buddhas was radiating waves of glazed seven-colored light under the illumination of the setting sun.
When they approached within one hundred meters, some mortals' faces twisted. Pain caused bean-sized sweat to appear on their foreheads.
The Buddhist qi of Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva seemed to be selecting suitable materials, simultaneously enveloping the bodies and souls of tens of thousands of people.
"Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva!"
With a desperate howl, death began to spread.
First were the women and children. No matter how devout they were toward Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva, females could not possibly step into Heaven Above Heaven.
Living people instantly turned into minced flesh, blood splattering everywhere.
Next were the bandits whose thoughts were mixed. They likewise could not escape the erosion of Buddhist qi and immediately followed the fate of the women and children.
Instead, under the influence of the Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon, Black Tiger's soul had already lost intelligence, thus escaping the disaster and remaining unharmed.
When the monks saw that even the bandit leader could obtain the qualification to enter Heaven Above Heaven, waves stirred in their hearts, and several hundred more lives turned into a pile of rotten mud.
Old monk Kudu, however, died from exhaustion with his oil lamp dried up, only ten meters outside Heaven Above Heaven.
The mortals who managed to walk alive into the city had already had their cognition twisted by Buddhist qi.
Whether these people could still be saved was unknown. If there was an opportunity, using them to expand the population of Eternal Space Prison would not be bad.
Ren Qing sighed in relief upon seeing this. It seemed the Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon had successfully infiltrated Heaven Above Heaven.
Moreover, unlike Ren Qing who had opportunistically relied on the Primordial Fetal Membrane and the Buddhist dream seed, the Broken Moon Meteor pseudo dragon had endured the "baptism" of Buddhist qi without dying and had entered Heaven Above Heaven openly.
If the first step went smoothly, the chances of stealing lifespan next would naturally increase greatly.
However, what made Ren Qing feel deeply strange was why the Buddhist qi of Great Compassion Maitreya Bodhisattva was not as chaotic as the Buddhist qi of Sitting-Deer Arhat.