Ren Qing knew that Xu Shiwang had most likely guessed that it was he who killed Nanfeng, so he deliberately guided Qi Yun to Qingfeng Pavilion.
When he could not help but take action, Xu Shiwang immediately confirmed it.
Xu Shiwang killing Qi Yun in advance was also to prevent Ren Qing's strength from being exposed, while incidentally giving him a benefit that could not be refused.
"What's wrong, what's wrong..."
At this moment Xu Fu arrived belatedly. Even though both were head masters of martial instruction halls, his attitude toward Xu Shiwang was clearly much more deferential.
"It's nothing. A'Fu, long time no see, you're still as robust as ever."
The corner of Xu Fu's eye twitched. Clearly he was almost two generations junior to Xu Shiwang, but the question of who would die first was indeed not something that could be deeply examined.
Ren Qing looked toward Xu Sanzhang, who could not help but hesitate.
Mainly because the favor Xu Shiwang was offering was far too great. He had killed his own disciple right in front of him; it was truly hard to refuse.
"Let... Shanlu decide..."
Ren Qing nodded and agreed. Body martial arts were naturally the more the better; the lifespan consumed during future advancement would all belong to the main body anyway.
"Let's go. While we're at it, go see your elder sister."
Xu Shiwang led the way in front. Ren Qing hesitated for a few breaths, then stepped forward to follow.
Xu Fu watched their departing backs and could not help but softly ask, "Sanzhang, Shanlu should still count as part of Qingfeng Pavilion, right?"
Xu Sanzhang truly could not understand Xu Shiwang's intentions and always felt something was inexplicably off.
He was somewhat worried about Ren Qing's safety. A breeze wrapped around his body as he silently headed toward Blackstone Pavilion, in case something unexpected occurred.
After Xu Shiwang left Qingfeng Pavilion, his pace grew faster and faster.
Ren Qing could only try his best not to fall behind. Along the way, many constables were clearing the streets, gathering spirit money and burning it clean.
Xu Shiwang wanted to figure out how Ren Qing had managed to evade the eyes of body martial cultivators and secretly kill Nanfeng, but unfortunately the other party revealed nothing.
Before long, they were already nearing Blackstone Pavilion.
Compared to the dilapidated Qingfeng Pavilion, Blackstone Pavilion occupied several times the area, and was even far more lavish than the government office.
Xu Shiwang could not help but say, "Even among the three cities and two peaks of the Longevity Realm, the scale of Blackstone Pavilion is among the very top."
Ren Qing inwardly disagreed.
Within the Longevity Forbidden Zone, at most it was the size of Xiang Township, and it was ruled by longevity species. The upper limit of any body martial force was fixed.
Could Blackstone Pavilion dare to unify Weian Town? Its end would likely be only death.
Xu Shiwang entered Blackstone Pavilion through a side gate. Any disciples or menials they encountered respectfully greeted him.
At the same time, when Blackstone Pavilion disciples saw Ren Qing, they could not help but feel astonished.
A height of over two meters was rare enough, not to mention muscles like bedrock, his aura even surpassing Xu Shiwang's.
Ren Qing also had to admit that Blackstone Pavilion's cultivation environment was indeed better than Qingfeng Pavilion's.
There were four training grounds alone. Large numbers of martial artists were collectively tempering their bodies, and the hidden body martial cultivators numbered at least over a dozen.
In the end, Xu Shiwang stopped in front of an ordinary-looking house, inside which were clearly hidden branches of a disease tree used to transmit body martial arts.
He looked at Ren Qing and said in a deep voice, "Martial instruction halls should not have sectarian bias, but given the general trend, there's no helping it."
"What happened today was my fault. If Qi Yun hadn't interfered, your body martial art could have broken through to the Half-Corpse realm, so I'll compensate you with one method."
How could Xu Shiwang know that Ren Qing had already reached the Half-Corpse realm? He only needed his lifespan to be in place after Foundation Establishment, and he could directly make a large leap.
He watched Ren Qing's back as he entered the house, his thoughts surging endlessly.
The destruction of Weiwang Town appeared on the surface to have been caused by a mountain fire, but Xu Shiwang had personally gone outside the town to examine the traces back then.
There were clearly deep pits left by various kinds of battles.
In shock, Xu Shiwang realized that it was very possible someone had forcibly killed an immortal, then completely destroyed Weiwang Town.
Who that person was was unknown.
But this unbelievable fact undoubtedly planted a seed deep in Xu Shiwang's heart.
Immortals were not invincible.
And in Ren Qing, he once again confirmed this.
In Xu Shiwang's eyes, Ren Qing's progress was almost visible to the naked eye, and his aura was becoming increasingly restrained.
He had originally wanted to personally instruct him, but Blackstone Pavilion was inevitably entangled with welcoming the immortal, so it was better to let him grow savagely in Qingfeng Pavilion.
When Xu Shiwang came back to his senses, Ren Qing had already exited the house.
Without caring whether the other had gained anything, he turned and left.
Ren Qing obtained as he wished a body martial art related to the giantization disease type, named "Giant Strength Palm Art", which emphasized focusing one's exerted force into a single point.
Giant Strength Palm Art Giant Strength Palm Art is derived from the Six Afflictions Method. It can stimulate the growth of one's own disease type, reaching a barely controllable state.
Giant Strength Palm Art is suitable for body-related disease types. It can increase the growth of physical strength; at great completion, one possesses the power to lift a cauldron.
He could feel the growth speed of the giantization disease type increase significantly, and even felt stabbing pain throughout his body, indicating that his physique was constantly growing taller.
Ren Qing did not rush back to Qingfeng Pavilion. He wandered around the buildings and soon noticed Wang Ling sweeping near the training ground.
"Little brother..."
After seeing Ren Qing, Wang Ling put down the work in her hands.
The surrounding Blackstone Pavilion disciples cast astonished looks. They were truly frightened by Ren Qing, yet also somewhat incredulous.
Several troublemaking disciples could not help but toss aside the stone implements in their hands.
They did not think Ren Qing was as terrifying as he appeared, since they had not seen him before and he was likely just a newcomer.
Ren Qing could not be bothered to pay attention, deliberately stepping back half a step.
Kaka kaka...
Suddenly, faint sounds came from underground, as if some rodent-like creature were scurrying within. The commotion grew more intense.
Ren Qing frowned, grabbed Wang Ling, and retreated several meters in quick succession.
In the eyes of the disciples, this action clearly showed fear, and some even revealed smiles, as if about to step forward to spar.
Bang bang bang...
Cracks spread.
Weian Town was thrown into chaos. Buildings collapsed one after another, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Ren Qing narrowed his eyes. An aura of delirium was spreading. This catastrophe was by no means an accident; it was surely disaster descending from the heavens.
At the very center, a half-meter-tall plant burst through the soil.
The plant grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly surpassing a hundred meters, and vaguely forming a bizarre, indistinct human shape.
Rubble fell like rain. One chunk smashed toward Blackstone Pavilion.
The body martial cultivators immediately chose to dodge, instead exposing the ordinary disciples in the training ground to the falling stone.
Just as they fell into despair, Ren Qing placed his right hand behind him to gather strength.
With a single punch, the shockwave instantly pulverized the stone.
The Blackstone Pavilion disciples sucked in a breath of cold air, staring in shock at Ren Qing's faintly visible figure amid the dust, not knowing what to say.
Ren Qing had no time to care about others. His expression turned extremely grave.
The plant transformed into a gigantic Longevity Immortal statue, faint radiance spreading outward.
All forces were welcoming the arrival of the longevity species, yet the latter clearly had no intention of courtesy before force, directly sacrificing the entire town.
Three figures appeared on the shoulders of the Longevity Immortal statue.
They were almost identical in appearance, all bearing the face of a Longevity Immortal, but the fluctuations on their bodies differed, clearly indicating different true bodies.
"Wicked thing, how dare you!!!"
Xu Shiwang let out an enraged, sorrowful cry. Just during the growth of the Longevity Immortal statue, at least thousands had been killed or injured in Weian Town.
Not to mention the delirium aura emitted by the statue, which was constantly affecting the populace.
He planted his legs into the soil. Immediately afterward, body martial arts were unleashed frantically. His body underwent large-scale woodification, forming a long, narrow wooden hand.
What made Xu Shiwang feel most sorrowful was that several clan elders actually chose to act simultaneously.
"Shiwang, do not offend the immortal..."
Before the wooden hand could touch the Longevity Immortal statue, it broke into several segments. Xu Shiwang's face turned ashen.
The longevity species paid no attention to Xu Shiwang's actions and spoke with a vast, boundless voice: "I am Sword gale Immortal. I have come here to impart the Great Dao of Longevity. Please listen attentively."
The radiance emitted by the Longevity Immortal statue turned seven-colored. All civilians simultaneously fell into delirium, though their condition was relatively mild.
Unlike the aura emitted by the Diseased Beast, the longevity species was clearly deliberately controlling it, in order to subtly turn them into Tree Immortals.
Xu Shiwang spat out several mouthfuls of blood and lay weakly amid the ruins.
Ren Qing settled Wang Ling in a safe wing room, then slowly walked to Xu Shiwang's side. The latter's spirit immediately lifted.
"Shanlu, I still have some strength left. Sending you out of the town won't be a problem."
Ren Qing squatted down and forcibly used the ghost shadow to simulate speech. "Senior Xu Shiwang, do you know of anyone who once shattered the void?"
Xu Shiwang stared at the man before him. "Is that truly the case?"
His speech became disordered. "I seem to have heard a story when I was very young."
"A heaven-abandoned person bearing seven calamities and seven tribulations, a total of fourteen disease types. Legend says it was he who released the imprisoned immortals..."
"He had no name, no surname. He is taboo..."
"Taboo is the Restraint Officer. I understand. Many thanks, senior."
The origin of the patriarch was now clear, yet one point still puzzled Ren Qing.
He clearly could have concealed the Longevity Forbidden Zone, after all that water well was difficult to find.
Yet the patriarch deliberately marked the Yang Spirit realm forbidden zone on the map. It felt as if he were reminding later Restraint Officers that some hidden secret lay here.
Did the Kṣitigarbha that formed Avīci Hell have anything to do with the patriarch?
Ren Qing closed his eyes tightly and once more entered the state of circulating the Netherworld Heavenly Insect Method.
He no longer continued to restrain the aura of Nether Yuan within his body. Such unrestrained behavior instead made the circulation of the Grand Zhou Cycle extremely smooth.
Xu Shiwang's consciousness was already blurred, and he only muttered to himself incessantly.
"Taboo... taboo..."
The civilians of Weian Town wandered the streets like walking corpses. Delirium eroded their reason, attempting to drag them into the abyss.
One could only be grateful that, to ensure survival rates, the longevity species used a method akin to boiling a frog in warm water. Otherwise, mortals would not last even a few breaths.
If normal people had gone mad, then what about madmen?
The several hundred people in the yamen prison burst through their restraints, fervently bathing in the delirium aura.
"Attain the Dao and become immortals!"
"Attain the Dao and become immortals!!"
"Attain the Dao and become immortals!!!"
"You and I are all disciples under the Longevity Immortal. Naturally, we must draw in more foolish mortals to cultivate, until everyone can become immortal!!!!"
The irony was that all the townspeople were trapped within, yet the soldiers recruited by the clan elders as sacrifices had instead gone to the site of rebuilding Weiwang Town and thus escaped disaster.