The harsh environment of the marshlands did not affect the speed of the giant Rabbit-Toad at all, after all, its nature was essentially that of a flesh-and-blood artifact.
The giant Rabbit-Toad ran across the desert dunes as if walking on flat ground. In just a short while, it had already arrived beside Yellow Sand City in the Gobi.
It appeared clumsy, yet its movements were agile as it stood on the city wall, its massive body directly blocking the scorching sunlight overhead.
"Ka ka ka ka..."
The giant Rabbit-Toad emitted strange noises from its mouth, with crystalline saliva flowing out.
Minutes later, several house doors in Yellow Sand City opened, and over ten middle-aged Daoists dressed in luxurious attire stepped out.
They were all official Daoists of Yellow Sand City, but they had not joined Restraint Officers' Hall, unwilling to be bound, preferring to enjoy wealth and glory alone.
When Restraint Officers' Hall gradually evacuated Yellow Sand City, these Daoists chose to resist and even tried to prevent the people from leaving.
If they followed Restraint Officers' Hall to the unfamiliar Xiangxiang, the power of the Daoists would be greatly reduced, naturally making them unwilling to agree.
But they clearly miscalculated. Restraint Officers' Hall did not need to consider the opinions of mortals; they had every means to make mortals comply willingly.
When the Daoists realized the situation was unfavorable, they were abandoned in Yellow Sand City by Restraint Officers' Hall.
They could only hope that no subsequent disasters would occur, and that the Gobi people would return to Yellow Sand City, regaining the lost authority.
However, when the Daoists saw a giant Rabbit-Toad half a body taller than the Gobi people, all that remained in their hearts was regret and despair.
"How is this possible..."
"There really are demons in the world..."
"Immortals, where are the immortals?!!"
The giant Rabbit-Toad extended its arms. To it, the Daoists were as tiny as ants, yet it still accurately grabbed them and stuffed them into its mouth.
The sound of chewing rang out.
The Daoists hiding in Yellow Sand City held their breath, even wishing they could bury themselves in the sand and gravel, just hoping to survive.
But the giant Rabbit-Toad could easily find them; no one could escape death and dissolution.
Before long, Yellow Sand City fell silent, leaving only a few wind-tossed, flickering lanterns in the corners.
The giant Rabbit-Toad was still not satisfied and sniffed the air again.
Then it turned its gaze toward the reckless sandstorm, tilting its head; its blood-red eyes revealed a greedy appetite.
Bang!!!
The giant Rabbit-Toad leapt skillfully, its feet landing at various points in the town, yet without damaging the buildings, disappearing into the sandstorm in the blink of an eye.
Wuwei City had just exited the sandstorm, roughly halfway through crossing the marshlands, and would reach Xiangxiang within half a day at most.
Ren Qing's unease grew stronger, even instinctively thinking of the Guimen of Disaster-Relieving Method, said to have absolute closure behind its gate.
Great Dream True Person's body shimmered and twisted, speaking in a low tone: "Abhī Hell has lost contact."
"Impossible, right?"
Song Zongwu hurriedly closed his eyes to sense the existence of Abhī Hell. The result confirmed what Great Dream True Person said: not a trace of it could be seen.
Fortunately, Ghost Market had already been moved into Ren Qing's Eternal Space Prison.
They could only wait for the Restraint Officers inside Abhī Hell to contact the outside world. With the survival abilities of the jar's head and the tiny figure in the bottle, there would be little danger.
Ren Qing frowned and asked, "What exactly is Abhī Hell?"
"Well, Abhī Hell is not a physical entity. Its appearance is like smoke and mist. Although it can move, its speed is extremely slow."
"Like smoke and mist..."
Ren Qing could not help but fall into thought.
The stomach-world had originally been the digestive system. Since Abhī Hell appears smoky, perhaps the Beast Pen Method turned Ksitigarbha's body to ashes, leaving the digestive system unexpectedly preserved.
While they discussed how to locate Abhī Hell, a huge figure suddenly appeared in the distant sandstorm, without anyone noticing when it arrived.
"That Rabbit-Toad?"
The giant Rabbit-Toad directly broke through the sandstorm, lightly rushing toward Wuwei City, its expression full of abnormal greed.
Song Zongwu's face darkened. Almost instinctively, he activated his divine powers and had his Six-Armed Asura empower the flesh and bones.
Ren Qing muttered curses, immediately casting spells in preparation for combat.
The dragon spine in his vertebrae merged with himself, gradually transforming from human form into a coiled dragon, simultaneously letting the ghostly shadow possess him without hesitation.
The coiled dragon's scales turned pitch black, and twisted, chaotic black mist emanated from its body.
Great Dream True Person disappeared, his light and shadow spreading throughout the city.
Li Tiangang was stunned for a few breaths, then hurriedly organized the cultivators to set up defenses; the aura of the Heavenly Aberration realm made his voice tremble.
The giant Rabbit-Toad caught up with Wuwei City in just a few steps, the terrifying demonic qi assaulting its front.
Wuwei City's four stone hands were entangled by sand-and-gravel demonic beasts. No matter how hard they struggled, the speed was inevitably affected.
Dense spells shot out from the White Bone Glazed Canopy overhead.
Roar!!!!
The spells hit the giant Rabbit-Toad without causing any ripple, instead provoking its ferocity. Its elongated arms reached toward the city walls.
"Li Tiangang, let them deal with the newly spawned demonic beasts!!"
Ren Qing quickly reminded Li Tiangang, then used his consciousness to communicate with the White Bone Glazed Canopy, shifting its position from above to below.
Great Dream True Person's phantom enveloped Wuwei City, dreamlike light and shadow spreading.
Ren Qing seized the opportunity to use Mirror Immortal in combination; the illusion caused the giant Rabbit-Toad to misjudge Wuwei City's position.
Bang!!
The giant Rabbit-Toad's arm struck the edge of Wuwei City.
The wall cracked, and demonic qi seeped in, but Li Tiangang's divine power "Embracing Books Hundred Cities" redirected it out.
Then sand-and-gravel demonic beasts transformed into birds, swarming through the gap.
Song Zongwu swung his six arms; even the wind from his fists turned the beasts back into sand, preventing large-scale formation.
The giant Rabbit-Toad, angry and humiliated, deliberately retreated a few meters to prepare for a strike.
Ren Qing knew its methods were relatively simple, but such an extremely strong body could not resist at all.
He immediately transformed from real to virtual; the dragon head drilled through the wall, opening its mouth in front of Wuwei City and spitting out something, then quickly retracting its head.
The ghost ship landed heavily on the dunes, another Ghost Envoy realm aberrant fetus artifact, attempting to confront Wuwei City.
Ren Qing ignored the ghost ship's intentions, binding it with over ten ropes.
The Sand Man's bow revived; the ship's body changed from wood to sand and gravel, sinking into the desert sand, moving like a dragon swimming in water.
With the ghost ship towing Wuwei City, the giant Rabbit-Toad's pounce missed again.
It opened its mouth, its toad-like tongue shot out like an arrow, hitting the city wall's center, and tore away over half the wall when retracted.
Wuwei City gained a new gap, and one stone hand was injured, now relying entirely on the ghost ship to maintain high speed.
"Ha..."
Song Zongwu's six-arm muscles tensed; using his palms as blades, he struck down.
The moment he swung, his arms dislocated, pores oozing blood, showing he had concentrated his peak power.
The tongue split in two. The giant Rabbit-Toad felt pain, but in a blink, its demonic qi healed the tongue.
Ren Qing knew the ghost ship could only maintain this for half a breath; it would be caught eventually.
He continuously released lightning to interfere with the giant Rabbit-Toad, then shouted to Great Dream True Person: "Contact Xiangxiang, evacuate immediately!!!"
Great Dream True Person did not reply. After a long silence, he said: "Cannot contact..."
First Abhī Hell, then Xiangxiang. Although Jingzhou's disaster had not yet spread, why were such unexpected situations occurring?
Song Zongwu said in a deep voice: "No matter what, let's return first."
"Mm."
Ren Qing looked at the giant Rabbit-Toad and said coldly: "It wants to eat flesh? Then let it eat its fill."
He opened his mouth, spitting the stored flesh and blood from the Eternal Space Prison out of the city, mixed with numerous beasts for extra supply.
Sure enough, the giant Rabbit-Toad no longer chased Wuwei City, greedily guarding the meat mountain and eating; its abdomen swollen as if in the tenth month of pregnancy.
Ren Qing had gone all-in; the living beings in the Eternal Space Prison suffered losses, barely enough to sustain thousands of cultivators.
Wuwei City ran faster, the damaged areas tangled in demonic qi and could not heal, leaving only walking after leaving the marshlands.
They saw the fortress's location reduced to a scorched deep pit, leaving everyone momentarily despairing.
Wuwei City continued toward Heshan Town; villages along the way were the same—no houses, no people.
Finally arriving at Heshan Town, Wuwei City slowly stopped.
Ren Qing actively released the city's defenses; walls no longer surrounded it. Thousands of people stood atop, looking toward Heshan Town.
There was no town; even the mountains had disappeared.
Roar!!!
Most terrifyingly, the giant Rabbit-Toad had relentlessly followed to Xiangxiang, its abdomen several times larger, yet still agile.
It gestured wildly, clearly very satisfied with Xiangxiang's environment.
The giant Rabbit-Toad cut its belly with its arm, taking out a blood-red stone ball about a hundred meters in size, like a miniature Blood Moon.
The small Blood Moon flew autonomously into the sky, emitting dense demonic qi.
Everywhere it passed, birds, beasts, and even many mouths began to speak indistinct human words.
Ren Qing bitterly said: "Let's go. If we don't leave Xiangxiang now, there will be no chance..."
The giant Rabbit-Toad was likely preparing a backup for the Blood Moon. The small Blood Moon would modify Xiangxiang with demonic qi, allowing the Blood Moon to continuously acquire demonic qi.
Before Ren Qing finished speaking, the giant Rabbit-Toad had already noticed Wuwei City's aura, hastening with its weakened body.
Its speed increased, expression turning fearful.
Countless vines emerged from the ground, flesh growing, forming an arm covered with stubborn diseases, directly pinching the small Blood Moon in midair.
At the same time, outside the Longevity Restricted Zone,
the Tree Seedling in the well swelled violently, in a short time reaching over a thousand meters, until flesh and blood covered it, forming a bizarre humanoid shape.
Its body was covered with marks left by stubborn diseases, constantly repairing and breaking again.
"Ugh..."
A faint, long sigh.
Ren Qing ignored Song Zongwu and others' urging, staring at the humanoid, a thought of disbelief forming in his mind.
Night had arrived, and his consciousness descended onto the sub-soul in the Longevity Restricted Zone. The town beside the giant tree had multiplied in size several times.
As the person in the well appeared, the Jingzhou direction simultaneously erupted in chaos.