After a brief moment of daze, Li Yaoyang did not hesitate and transformed himself into tens of thousands of Gu insects, fleeing toward the outside from every direction.
Behind him, the burning heat grew more terrifying, blazing light exploding outward.
The Gu insects crackled and snapped; at once came an unpleasant scorched stench, and faintly a low sigh could be heard.
"Dao births Dao, Wuwei Dao..."
Even Li Yaoyang, who had achieved the Yin Runner Realm, was powerless before the blaze.
When Song Zongwu arrived, he saw only a ground full of charred insect corpses; nothing else abnormal was found, and he couldn't help but frown.
A Buddha Eye grew once again between his brows; after surveying all around, he could only shake his head.
Throughout Qingxu Temple, aside from the Restraint Officers, there wasn't a single human figure to be found, it was utterly impossible to tell why such a situation had appeared.
Song Zongwu intended to continue searching for clues, but through the wall he noticed Zun rushing in panic into Avici Hell, with Li Tiangang close behind.
"Amitābha, could it be that the Heavenly Abomination Realm corpse retains consciousness?"
He pressed his palms together, immediately took out the Restraint Officer token, and traversed toward Avici Hell.
Inside Avici Hell was utter chaos; everywhere the fungal trees had undergone eerie aberration, their branches sprouting human arms and legs.
The ground too had fleshy tissues forming twisted, hideous human features.
And the prime culprit was precisely the Black Goat standing in midair; from its body emanated an extremely dense Heavenly Demon aura, making one's hair stand on end.
The Great Dream True Person stood not far from the Black Goat, distorted light and shadow swirling around him.
The Black Goat had clearly lost its intelligence, and being cut off from the outside world made it even more restless, frantically attempting to break free.
It turned and crashed toward the fleshy wall of Avici Hell, moving faster than the naked eye could see.
But how could the Great Dream True Person allow the Black Goat its wish, he directly transformed the space within a kilometer into light and shadow, traversing through it in an instant.
The two collided head-on, and the entire Avici Hell shook.
After separating, they soon clashed again; their figures chased one another, though their methods were the most primitive, it left onlookers' eyes overwhelmed.
The Restraint Officers then scrambled to flee from Avici Hell, the Heavenly Demon aura was simply too intense.
Even with prompt reactions, more than a dozen reserves suffered uncontrollable aberrations, growing black hair over their bodies.
Even dying that way, their corpses turned into half-human, half-goat monsters, standing up to wander amid the Heavenly Demon aura, seeking flesh to devour.
Yet the reason Li Tiangang and the others had rushed back was not the rampant Heavenly Demon aura, but rather that Heavenly Dao Worm.
A third of the Heavenly Dao Worm's body had already vanished; another gaping rupture covered its abdomen, from which viscera and blood continuously poured out.
Previously, the Black Goat had crawled forth from within, nearly tearing the Heavenly Dao Worm completely apart.
But even so, with the Heavenly Dao Worm's Yang God Realm cultivation, it still had not died, struggling to crawl upon the ground.
Because of the Heavenly Demon aura, its wounds could not heal; debris of Wuwei Daoist Altar mixed with entrails kept flowing out.
Faintly several black beetles could still be seen, clearly Li Yaoyang had not died, and was gnawing flesh to restore himself.
The Heavenly Dao Worm's horrid face fixed its gaze toward Yellow Sand City.
It instinctively craved the flesh of those cultivating fabricated techniques, and its gravely wounded body still needed to devour living beings to recover.
Li Tiangang rushed toward Yellow Sand City, intending first to seal all the Gobi people within.
Zun landed not far away; the feathers of his body turned into countless Nether Crows, exploding around the Heavenly Dao Worm to delay it.
Moments later, Song Zongwu and the others arrived to face this dying giant beast.
Song Zongwu took a deep breath; his muscles swelled, bones clashing within, his complete Yin Runner Realm cultivation revealed without doubt.
Frowning, he glanced around; his four arms became after-images as he struck at the Heavenly Dao Worm.
His fists hit the Heavenly Dao Worm's body, breaking open only fine wounds, if not for its corrosion by the Heavenly Demon aura, it would likely have healed in an instant.
Such was the chasm between Yang God Realm and Yin Runner Realm, even gravely wounded, the former could not be easily erased.
Fortunately, Avici Hell was the Restraint Officers' domain, and the Heavenly Dao Worm's mind was incomplete, they naturally held great advantage.
The Great Dream True Person, relying on his earlier preparations, gradually gained the upper hand against the Black Goat, though the nearby surroundings were left in ruin.
Song Zongwu was somewhat worried; after all, Ren Qing and Bai Bai had yet to return, and he did not know whether anything had gone awry.
He forcibly pressed down distracting thoughts; the speed of his four-armed blows turned into blurs, causing the Heavenly Dao Worm to crawl ever more slowly.
At this time, after devouring large amounts of flesh, Li Yaoyang had finally re-formed his body, though inevitably showing uncontrollable aberrant traces.
Once his consciousness cleared, he shouted with a grave tone: "Old Song, inside Qingxu Temple... that person is still alive!!!"
Song Zongwu's pupils dilated; while raising an arm to block an attack, he asked: "Who is it?"
Fear appeared in Li Yaoyang's eyes; after a few breaths of pause he said: "It's-"
Bang!!
Before the words left his mouth, a figure suddenly dropped into the fungal forest, breaking a dozen fungal trees before finally stopping.
It was the Lady Bai from the outside world, only now she was covered in blood.
Lady Bai's consciousness was already blurred; the flying sword in her hand was missing a segment, the scabbard nowhere to be seen.
Song Zongwu's six eyes widened in shock, clearly no trace of a soul had been found inside Qingxu Temple, so how could there appear an unknown presence?
...
Meanwhile, the outside Qingxu Temple was utterly silent; only the whistling of wind and sand could be heard.
Ren Qing still maintained the giant sand-man form over thirty meters tall, yet he stood blankly in place, not daring to move.
Moments ago, Lady Bai had still wanted to use her flying sword to devour parts of the Meat and Wine Taoist's corpse, to see whether it could advance her spell.
Then a blaze swept past, she only felt the ribs of her chest and abdomen entirely break, spitting blood as she was sent flying.
If not for her life-bound artifact protecting her vital points, Lady Bai might already have perished.
With what consciousness remained, Lady Bai activated the Restraint Officer token, yet whether she lived or died was unknown.
Ren Qing's face stiffened at this sight.
Though he could at any time go to Avici Hell, instinct told him that something seemed to be secretly watching him.
The strength shown by the other party was at least on par with the Yang God Realm, and since all its attention was fixed on him, it had ignored the others.
Ren Qing walked slowly to the bone-gate Demonic Embryo Artifact and tentatively activated the artifact.
At that moment, Qingxu Temple's temperature grew even hotter; the wind formed into a tornado, and a familiar smell of smoke and fire spread out.
Within Ren Qing's Flesh-Furnace of Blood and Fire, the Fuel King opened his eyes and abruptly stood; in his gaze burned blazing flames.
"Dao births Dao... Wuwei Dao..."
"Dao births Dao... Wuwei Dao..."
Two identical voices sounded, one inside, one outside, echoing each other.
In the air above Qingxu Temple, large masses of kindling fire appeared, then grew two or three meters tall; from within walked out a staggering old man.
Ren Qing instinctively once again called forth the information stream of the Meat and Wine Taoist.
[Technique: Wine God Technique, Food-Consuming Immortal Technique (remnant)]
In the technique column there indeed appeared the incomplete Food-Consuming Immortal Technique, indicating that the Meat and Wine Taoist's Flesh-Furnace of Blood and Fire had not been entirely destroyed.
Heavenly Daozi looked at Ren Qing with a smile; from time to time a trace of madness flickered in his eyes.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes.
So that's it...
The Meat and Wine Taoist's corpse had never regained consciousness.
Qingxu Temple was precisely Heavenly Daozi's contingency; he had turned a portion of his own soul into the Fuel King to handle his main soul that had become Heavenly Demon.
Thinking of it, only Heavenly Daozi could, relying merely on memory, refine several hundred or even a thousand Tombstone Furnaces related to his disciples.
Ren Qing suddenly realized that even if the Restraint Officers had not come to handle Qingxu Temple's troubles, the Supreme Heavenly Demon might not have caused too great a calamity.
That Yang God Realm Heavenly Dao Worm was connected precisely to the corpse's head, clearly intended to be refined into a Tombstone Furnace to seal the Supreme Heavenly Demon breaking free.
And the hundreds of Heavenly Daozi bodies within the lungs were likely prepared for himself as well.
Heavenly Daozi spoke slowly with a strange tone: "Huang Qi... has come home..."
Then he pointed northward; his eyes grew increasingly vacant, his body even beginning to crumble, though soon it restored again.
Heavenly Daozi alternated between lucidity and madness; at times came chilling laughter, his eyeballs rolling without order.
"Senior, you've mistaken me..."
Ren Qing felt a chill along his spine; without hesitation he reverted to human form and retreated beside the bone gate.
As Fuel King, Heavenly Daozi could borrow part of the Meat and Wine Taoist's power before death, hence his cultivation rivaled the Yang God Realm.
"Huang Qi, I remember at every Mao hour of the Hall of Nonaction, purple light came from the east, illuminating the whole mountain in gold and violet.
"At Wei hour the Fire Refining Palace gave rise to clouds, great waves of heat sweeping by..."
Heavenly Daozi spoke like an elder nearing death, his words filled with worldly nostalgia, yet as he went on, something grew wrong.
"I refined my disciples' corpses into artifacts to block the blood moon, but it was still useless, more and more people turned into Rabbit-Toads, only..."
Heavenly Daozi's face twisted; he shouted hysterically: "Only by using my own flesh can the blood moon be stopped, only by worshiping the Supreme Heavenly Demon..."
Ren Qing found escape through the Restraint Officer token too slow; he slightly bent his legs, gathered strength, and charged toward the bone gate.
Heavenly Daozi became a searing wave of fire, a massive human face surging toward Ren Qing.
Even though Ren Qing reacted in time, half his body still suffered burns; even the Scapegoat Skin had no effect.
After refining so many Supernatural Remnants, it was the first time he himself had been burned by kindling fire, the pain grew fiercer, the corners of his mouth revealing a bitter smile.
Fortunately, the Ghost Substitute ability diverted most of the burns onto the Ghost Shadow.
Heavenly Daozi crashed heavily against the bone gate; the kindling fire burned to its utmost, even the Demonic Embryo Artifact refined from Ksitigarbha ribs beginning to melt.
"Huang Qi, hurry back to Jingzhou, beneath the blood moon there's no time!!"
The explosion was deafening; the Meat and Wine Taoist's head was mostly destroyed, and both bone gate and kindling fire vanished without a trace.
...
After a long time, Song Zongwu and the others again came to Qingxu Temple; covered in wounds, they forced themselves to search for several days, yet never saw Ren Qing.
They did not know where Ren Qing was, but the ghost market of Avici Hell still remained.