When Ren Qing woke up again, he only felt intense soreness all over his body, and he didn't even have the strength to lift his eyelids.
He lay flat on his back, gasping heavily, his chest and abdomen rising and falling continuously.
He didn't know how much time passed, but Ren Qing barely managed to open his eyes, only to find that it was pitch black around him.
Upon seeing this, his pupils constricted.
After advancing to Twin Nightmare Ghosts, no matter how dark the environment, Ren Qing should still be able to see in the dark.
He couldn't help but feel anxious. The Restraint Officers' Hall indeed didn't pursue the speed of magical upgrades, since talents varied.
As long as one could bear the side effects of the mutation, any cultivator could rely on resources to quickly advance to the Ghost Envoy realm.
However, three transformations would require painstaking effort.
But the degree of mutation Ren Qing had displayed through the Divine Leg Sutra was different.
His body was already leaning towards the Supernatural Remnant, no longer quite human.
Ren Qing quickly calmed down.
At least, before he fainted, he had seen Song Zongwu, who had always been kind to him.
So there shouldn't be no way out. Once certain conditions were met, he should be able to return to the real world.
However, he then realized the most crucial issue, this place, for some reason, completely prevented him from using magic.
Moreover, with Ren Qing's lifespan depleted, his physique was now even weaker than that of an ordinary person.
He searched the palm of his right hand, and his abnormal mouth had already closed.
Let alone Prison Within the Abdomen.
It was known that there were many Supernatural Remnants inside, remnants that he had swallowed after killing the Apostle.
Thankfully, the Divine Leg Sutra's Supernatural Remnants were in place, so no issues should arise.
But this meant that Ren Qing couldn't replenish his lifespan.
The Restraint Officers' Hall could hold him temporarily, ten days or half a month would be fine, but what if it was years?
He might die from his depleted lifespan.
Ren Qing helplessly sat cross-legged, then tried to summon the information flow.
Unexpectedly, the information flow was not affected here, which gave him a little comfort. It seemed that the heavens had not entirely closed off his path.
[Ren Qing]
[Age: 18]
[Lifespan: March 17th]
[Techniques: Taotie Method (Prison Within the Abdomen), The Blindless Method (Twin Nightmare Ghosts), Divine Leg Sutra (Marching Calamity Wolf), Human Skin Book (Leather Refiner), Bone Armor Technique (Spine Bearer), Immortal in the Mirror (Mirror-Faced)]
[Dao births Dao (Dao Officer)]
Three months...
His lifespan was even shorter than Ren Qing had imagined, not even enough to last until the end of the year.
He sighed as he looked at his age. It seemed he had passed his birthday during his coma, and he wondered what his mother in Bazi Village would think.
The only good news was that the Way of the Dao had already been promoted to "Dao Master," likely absorbing the Dao resonance left behind by the Immortal Lord after his death.
He tried to enter the Wuwei Daoist Altar, but perhaps his body was too weak. As soon as his consciousness made contact, his blood and energy seemed to be pulling away.
Ren Qing had to give up. His palm touched the ground, but there was no information flow.
Could it be that he wasn't in the Restraint Officers' Hall?
He lay on the ground, his mind racing, and closed his eyes, falling asleep again.
When he woke up once more, Ren Qing's strength had recovered slightly, at least enough to stand up and feel his way along.
He moved in one direction, stopping to rest every few steps. His physical condition was similar to when he had just transmigrated.
Eventually, Ren Qing felt a solid wall.
He pressed his ear against the wall and tapped it with his finger.
A crisp sound echoed, not unlike ordinary brick walls, nothing like the flesh-like walls of Avici Hell.
Ren Qing suddenly thought of a possibility and couldn't help but inhale sharply.
His memories before losing consciousness were limited. Aside from Song Zongwu, he hadn't noticed the presence of the Blind Daoist.
"Could it be that the Blind Daoist killed the two Yin Runner Restraint Officers and now I'm trapped in a Supernatural Remnant-created forbidden zone?"
Ren Qing quickly shook his head. Two Yin Runner-level cultivators shouldn't have been unable to handle even the injured Blind Daoist.
It was important to note that the Blind Daoist's Heavenly Dao Egg had not yet hatched.
He would have to find an opportunity to save himself. It would be too frustrating to die from a depleted lifespan.
Ren Qing continued to feel his way along the wall for a long time, eventually finding a cold iron door, indicating a path to the outside.
He knocked hard on it, and a muffled sound echoed in the room.
"Is anyone there? Where is this place?"
"Hey!"
Ren Qing shouted several times, exhausting the little remaining strength he had, and had to sit down and rest.
At that moment, a man's hoarse and low voice came from outside: "Uh..."
Ren Qing felt as though he had grasped a lifeline and quickly asked, "Senior, who are you?"
The man was silent for a long time before answering, "This is the stomach within the stomach. If you don't want to die, don't speak. Just wait patiently."
"And the little man in the bottle will come."
"Be sure not to speak again..."
"What little man in the bottle?!!"
"Is this not the Restraint Officers' Hall? Why can't we speak?"
Ren Qing pressed his ear to the door.
But the man no longer responded.
Ren Qing immediately understood why he shouldn't speak.
Heavy footsteps echoed along the hallway outside, gradually drawing closer.
Ren Qing had seen his fair share of dangers, but for some reason, his heart began to race faster, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
After a few breaths.
Boom!!!
A heavy object slammed against the iron door with a deafening noise.
But it wasn't the room where Ren Qing was; it came from the direction of the man on the opposite side.
The heavy object slammed several times, and then the area fell completely silent. The footsteps, however, grew nearer to Ren Qing's door, quickly approaching.
Ren Qing could hear labored breathing, which indicated the presence of some unknown creature, filling him with confusion.
What on earth is this place?!!
Not only did it block all magic, but speaking also attracted strange creatures.
Boom!!!
The creature slammed against the iron door where Ren Qing was, and his eyes narrowed.
Boom!!!
Boom!!!
The iron door began to deform, and a faint light leaked from the cracks.
Without hesitation, Ren Qing stepped forward and peered through the gap, just half a meter away.
His brows furrowed tightly.
He saw a giant three-legged toad repeatedly slamming against the iron door.
Although the three-legged toad had hollow eyes, its skin was covered with blinking eyeballs.
Ren Qing quickly realized.
Toads of this nature couldn't see stationary objects. Any noise would attract them, and it was likely because of this.
But what was this creature? Was it a Nether Feather-like entity?
Ren Qing leaned in closer and saw that, at the moment of the toad's collision, the tongue in its mouth bore a human face.
The face looked somewhat familiar.
He quickly remembered, it was the face of the Corpse Dog Soul.
According to what Song Zongwu had said, when the Ksitigarbha was summoned by the Summoning Spirits Art, it had three souls: the Corpse Dog Soul, the Non-Poison, and the Foul Lung Spirit.
The Corpse Dog Soul and Foul Lung Spirit wandered within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The three-legged toad was obviously anchored at a fixed spot, implying that it was the sealed Non-Poison.
Ren Qing let out a breath of relief.
At least he was still within the Restraint Officers' Hall.
The Non-Poison slammed a few more times, and the iron door had become extremely warped. When no more sound came from inside, the toad turned and left.
The iron door began to slowly heal.
Ren Qing peered through the gap again, seeing only the dark corridor and the dense rows of iron doors on either side.
The iron door across from him was also heavily damaged, and the room inside was shrouded in darkness. However, he could faintly discern a large figure within.
Definitely a non-human existence.
It seemed that the stomach within the stomach was where mutated and uncontrolled Restraint Officers were held.
Ren Qing felt the protruding canine teeth on his mouth. Truthfully, he didn't show many signs of mutation on his exterior, so he shouldn't need to stay here for too long.
However, his lifespan remained an issue. He had to find a way to open the abnormal mouth.
There were resources inside Prison Within the Abdomen that he had just replenished at the Ghost Market.
He could make those eyeballs last for several months if used sparingly.
He looked at the cracks in the iron door as they slowly healed, hoping to use this opportunity to perform magic, but it still had no effect.
Ren Qing focused his mind.
He closed his eyes and tried to communicate with the soul in the Niwan Palace, and he truly felt a response.
His heart leapt with joy.
Just as Ren Qing was about to send a split soul into the Wuwei Daoist Altar, the iron door suddenly returned to its original state, and the room fell into darkness again.
His connection to the soul vanished.
Ren Qing thought to himself.
The split soul could indeed bring physical objects into the Wuwei Daoist Altar, but only those in direct contact.
As Prison Within the Abdomen was a magical organ formed inside his body, it should be usable as a transit point for transporting the eyeballs.
Ren Qing had a feeling that after the Dao of the Way advanced to Dao Master, he might be able to obtain the objects inside without needing the split soul to return to the body.
The only problem was that he needed to briefly break the iron door. Right now, it seemed the only way was to use sound to attract the Non-Poison again.
Ren Qing also hoped that, inside the stomach within the stomach, there might be a Jailer-like figure.
There should be many Restraint Officers imprisoned in the stomach within the stomach. They must have been here for a long time, so food would inevitably need to be provided.