Zun looked at the roc that the ghost ship had transformed into and couldn't help but feel embarrassed; he coughed awkwardly a few times, then immediately spread his wings and flew high.
The roc's speed was not fast, just parallel with Zun, allowing the Restraint Officers to communicate with each other.
Regarding how to handle Qingxu Temple, Ren Qing already had a rough idea, and during the spare moments, he had told the others, but the details still needed to be supplemented.
With the limited information they had, there weren't many directions they could choose from.
The first thing that could be determined was that the Meat and Wine Taoist maintained his vitality through the wine formed from the Ze People, which had resulted in the current situation of Shuize.
Now that the balance was broken, the Meat and Wine Taoist would turn to ash before long, and at that time Shuize would likely cease to exist.
In order to ensure the stability of Shuize, the Restraint Officers' Hall must maintain the corpse's vitality.
Inside the mountain-like corpse, there must be a place that could absorb wine to replace the constantly decaying blood of the Meat and Wine Taoist.
Then a group of Restraint Officers with probing techniques would go deep into the corpse's interior.
The Heavenly Dao Worm also had to be dealt with.
The best way was naturally to directly drag it into Avici Hell; even if the Heavenly Dao Worm was of the Yang God Realm, in the territory of the Restraint Officers, it would be a turtle in a jar.
Dragging the Heavenly Dao Worm into Avici Hell had another advantage: the Supreme Heavenly Demon would find it easier to handle, without being exposed to the outside world.
If the Great Dream True Person and the Supreme Heavenly Demon fought in Shuize, the resulting disturbance could easily attract outside forces.
To be safe, the Yin Runner Realm cultivators unanimously decided to keep the risks to a minimum, otherwise Xiangxiang might very well be exposed.
If it really came to the worst, they could only follow the Great Dream True Person's suggestion and take hundreds of thousands of people into Avici Hell to withdraw from Xiangxiang.
There was also the cultivator behind Qingxu Temple, one they couldn't afford to ignore.
Everyone's faces were grave, but the more they were in such a situation, the more they had to stay calm.
The most urgent task was to first resolve the trouble hanging above their heads, the Heavenly Dao Worm, while the Meat and Wine Taoist could still barely hold on for a while.
Huang Ziwan and the other Restraint Officers were at a loss, but they could clearly sense the oppressive atmosphere and couldn't help but feel fear.
They had no way to interject.
As the Yin Runner Realm cultivators discussed in fragments, they soon approached Qingxu Temple.
Li Tiangang reminded them: "All of you, be careful. When facing the Ze People, don't hold back..."
"We're here!!"
Zun suddenly flapped his wings, causing a large mass of clouds and mist to appear out of thin air. After a few cries, Qingxu Temple became faintly visible.
Ren Qing couldn't help but feel intrigued; in truth, Zun's technique was somewhat interesting, on the surface it only transformed him into a Nether Crow, yet it could shuttle between the real and unreal.
A fine candidate for a Jailer.
Qingxu Palace gradually revealed itself; the Restraint Officers were fully on guard, the fluctuation of techniques growing increasingly intense.
When the clouds and mist completely dispersed, the corpse of the Meat and Wine Taoist was exposed before their eyes, but the situation was beyond expectation. Qingxu Temple was incomparably silent.
The buildings leaned east and west, appearing as ruins and broken walls.
It no longer had the immortal aura it once possessed; the ground was full of deep pits, even exposing parts of the corpse's decayed flesh.
Ren Qing and Zun exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.
It had only been a few days without paying attention to Qingxu Temple, and it had already become so desolate, it felt as though a heaven-shaking battle had taken place.
As Zun flapped his wings, the corpse's putrid stench rushed toward them.
"Ugh..."
Huang Ziwan couldn't help covering his mouth, feeling that the stench almost made him vomit, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.
What shocked him the most was that the toxins in his body were becoming active again, indicating this place was extremely suitable for his cultivation.
The remaining Restraint Officers were no better off, all of them red-faced.
Seeing this, Zun shook his head and said: "There wasn't such a stench before; could it be that the Heavenly Abomination Realm corpse is about to..."
No wonder the Great Dream True Person had so hastily gathered the Yin Runner Realm cultivators, Ren Qing realized that the situation was far worse than imagined.
The behind-the-scenes manipulator's "draining the pond to catch the fish" methods had likely continued for some time already, only fully erupting because of the Restraint Officers' arrival.
Two Dream Seeds sprouted on Ren Qing's forehead.
He looked toward the wound at the back of the Meat and Wine Taoist's head, and sure enough, the Heavenly Dao Worm had become active, even somewhat manic.
For the Restraint Officers' Hall, this was good news, the corpse's decay would weaken the Heavenly Dao Worm, after all it was parasitic on it.
Li Tiangang said gravely: "We don't have much time left; we must gain control of the situation as soon as possible."
He then asked Ren Qing: "Ren Qing, can your pupil technique see anything?"
"The surface of Qingxu Temple shows no movement, and neither Ze People nor Dao Officials are anywhere to be seen."
Ren Qing shook his head.
As the Lord of Absolute Darkness, he had only just entered the Yin Runner Realm's Merging the Yin God stage; to see through a Heavenly Abomination Realm corpse was clearly unrealistic.
"Let me try."
Song Zongwu suddenly spoke.
At these words, all the Restraint Officers looked toward Song Zongwu.
The Listening-to-Truth Method, although also closely tied to the eyes, leaned more toward discerning truth from falsehood and could also bestow certain enhancements to the body.
Song Zongwu released a faint Buddha light, then pressed forcefully between his brows.
On his forehead with six eyes, another eye actually grew, about the size of a fist, pure white without color, appearing infinitely mysterious.
Ren Qing didn't understand the techniques mastered by Song Zongwu, but the words "Buddha Eye" suddenly surfaced in his mind, seeming rather abrupt.
This technique seemed to be borrowing a boundless, infinite power.
It might not even be a Restraint Officer method, but some kind of foreign technique.
The ghost ship emitted a sound of strain, and Song Zongwu became even heavier.
Fortunately, the ghost ship's keel was forged from the ribs of Ksitigarbha and had the cultivation of the Half-Corpse Realm, barely managing to support it.
After observing carefully for a while, Song Zongwu spoke without hesitation: "The living have no breath, the dead have no life. Within the corpse I sense only a single soul, it seems related to a Restraint Officer technique..."
"Wait, it should be Li Yaoyang, right?"
Song Zongwu raised his eyebrows; he had thought Li Yaoyang was long dead, but unexpectedly he was still alive, and his aura was growing stronger.
After retracting the "Buddha Eye," his mouth began continuously chanting Amitabha, seemingly an uncontrollable bodily reflex.
It took a while before Song Zongwu stopped.
Li Tiangang nodded; everyone's karmic fates differed, and he did not intend to question Song Zongwu further.
"However, it shouldn't be Li Yaoyang."
"It is Li Yaoyang..."
Ren Qing interrupted Li Tiangang and recounted the matter of Li Yaoyang.
The Yin Runner Realm cultivators all fell silent, digesting the sudden flood of information.
Ren Qing's heart was full of absurdity, could it be that Qingxu Temple had only Li Yaoyang as the sole living person, and there was no true manipulator behind the scenes at all?
Perhaps the current situation of Qingxu Temple was due to flaws in the corpse itself?
Ren Qing was puzzled, but at least some of the Restraint Officers' concerns were dispelled, allowing them to proceed quickly with the plan for Qingxu Temple.
Once the various tasks were assigned, Zun descended toward the corpse's head.
As soon as Ren Qing set foot in Qingxu Temple, the stench grew even stronger, making him dizzy, his eyes almost tearing from the fumes.
He looked around and noticed that the rate of decay of the corpse was even faster than expected.
Traces of battle were everywhere; it must have been that the Dao Officials had fought the Ze People, erupting in fierce conflict.
Whether it was mutual destruction was hard to tell from the faint clues.
"I'll go ahead."
Song Zongwu was responsible for exploring the corpse; after striking open a wound, he took five Restraint Officers and entered the vascular caverns.
Although Ren Qing wouldn't follow, one of his split souls was guiding Song Zongwu's direction.
The remaining Restraint Officers were responsible for cleaning up the ruins of Qingxu Temple, dispersing the stench with techniques, and clearing several temporary lodgings.
Li Tiangang left Lady Bai to guard the Daoist temple, while Zun was to patrol the air; if there was any discovery, he would use the Nether Crow to communicate.
He said in a deep voice: "Ren Qing, let's go see that Heavenly Dao Worm."
Ren Qing quickly agreed.
However, if they were to transfer the Heavenly Dao Worm into Avici Hell, it would mainly depend on Li Tiangang, there wasn't much Ren Qing could do.
He deliberately touched the ground, and streams of information surged.
[Meat and Wine Taoist]
[Age: Three thousand five hundred seventy-five]
[Lifespan: Exhausted]
[Technique: Wine God Technique（Drinking to Become Immortal）, Food-Consuming Immortal Technique（Incomplete) ]
Sure enough, it was indeed the Meat and Wine Taoist, already truly dead.
The two passed through hair like a forest and soon arrived at the rear mountain.
The monster with a human head and worm body was wedged in the narrow wound, unable to move; its body was covered with widespread decay.
The condition of the Heavenly Dao Worm was clearly dire, the Supreme Heavenly Demon had constantly been meddling, and it was tightly confined in the back mountain.
Its twisted face was full of malice; upon sensing living beings approach, it stretched out its long neck and opened its mouth to the limit.
"Hiss... ha..."
But the Heavenly Dao Worm, once detached from the back of the head, became exceedingly weak.
Ren Qing frowned; he knew the Heavenly Dao Worm's intellect was no less than a human's, so why did this one feel like a beast?
Li Tiangang narrowed his eyes, seemingly having made up his mind: "Ren Qing, go help find the place within the corpse that absorbs the wine. I will bring it into Avici Hell."
Ren Qing's heart jumped. "Senior Li Tiangang, don't act rashly over something even the Great Dream True Person couldn't guarantee."
Even if the Heavenly Dao Worm was extremely weak, it wasn't something a mere Yin Runner Realm could interfere with, if handled poorly, it could backfire.
Li Tiangang said: "Before the Heavenly Dao Worm leaves the body, the corpse must absorb enough wine, otherwise collapse is likely."
Ren Qing furrowed his brow tightly, suddenly having an idea.
He couldn't help but propose: "If we use the Ksitigarbha ribs to refine a demonic-embryo artifact in coordination, it might have miraculous effects."
Li Tiangang thought carefully; the idea indeed had feasibility, even if it failed, it would merely waste some of the Taotie Method's Supernatural Remnant.
After some deliberation, the two quickly finalized their plan.
Li Tiangang guarded beside Ren Qing, able to return to Avici Hell at any time to fetch materials, a Yin Runner Realm cultivator willingly serving as an assistant.
Ren Qing contemplated the type of demonic-embryo artifact while splitting his consciousness to control his divided soul, doing two things at once, something ordinary people could never accomplish.
He considered that since it needed to connect with Avici Hell, refining the demonic-embryo artifact into a gate shape would be most suitable, directly covering the surroundings of the Heavenly Dao Worm.
But the demonic-embryo artifact could at most reach the Half-Corpse Realm; against the Yang God Realm Heavenly Dao Worm, even with Li Tiangang presiding, it was still too strained.
Unless they could make the Heavenly Dao Worm go to Avici Hell of its own accord...
Ren Qing's face lit up; after cultivating imaginary constructed techniques, human flesh and blood would become delicious, wasn't that exactly the Heavenly Dao Worm's food?
"Senior Li Tiangang, help me pass word to Shashanzi of Yellow Sand City; tell him to draw blood from the Daoists who have mastered the Qi Refining Method..."
"The more, the better."