Song Zongwu's consciousness had been muddled before, acting entirely on instinct, and he did not expect to be brought to Jingzhou by the relic.
The "卍" character that had appeared on his brow writhed like a living thing, and an aura different from the Restraint Officer method gradually rose.
Song Zongwu looked up at the Blood Moon, pressed his fingers to his brow, and forced the 卍 character back into sealing.
At this moment Song Zongwu felt a weight lifted; the expression that had been close to madness recovered somewhat, at least enough to see thought in his eyes.
The noise in his ears all disappeared.
"Relic... abandoning the self for Its profit..."
"This is an evil path."
While Song Zongwu stood in Spirit Division, things around him rapidly shifted, the new moon overhead turning into a waning moon, yet the blood-red moonlight remained.
By the time he realized Jingzhou had been divided into multiple layers, he had already arrived in the Crescent Moon Layer, standing on a street of ceaseless flow.
Sunlight appeared in the sky; before he knew it the night was about to end.
When the populace saw a six-eyed, four-armed man suddenly appear, they were duly startled, scattering aside for fear of angering him.
Song Zongwu stood at the edge of Qingyan Town, but because irregularities were entrenched, the dampness was noticeably heavy.
Fine drizzle fell inside the city; not far off could be seen a long river several meters across.
There were few demon-cultivators, only a few scattered ones, and their cultivations were not very high.
Their skin was covered with many fishlike scales; gills could be seen at the neck, and a fine membrane even attached to their palms.
The demon-cultivators noticed Song Zongwu and exchanged glances before quickly closing in.
Song Zongwu's appearance differed from ordinary people; it was hard to equate him with Wuwei Monastery, and they all assumed he was an outside aberrant force.
Just as the demon-cultivators intended to approach Song Zongwu, in the crowd he slipped into some alleyway.
A young fishmonger dragged Song Zongwu into a hidden corner, his gaze full of incredulity and his breath growing heavy.
He was also a disciple of Wuwei Monastery, having recently come down the mountain, and because his cultivation was low he hid by the fish market to get by.
He had seen the Earthly Immortal statue in the sect's main hall and, not expecting to meet it in Qingyan Town, had dared to bring him away from the public square.
"U-up Immortal..."
Song Zongwu asked with curiosity, "You have seen me?"
"In the sect's main hall I have seen Your Immortal's statue, I... I..."
Song Zongwu recalled the voice of despair he had heard before, already having some idea, and asked, "Where is your sect?"
The fishmonger pointed toward Wuwei Monastery with his hand and began to prudently explain, "It's still a bit of a distance, you must cross two districts; the route goes through Tu Di territory, it's best..."
He babbled on, while Song Zongwu squatted down, his muscles tensing, a terrifying force brewing inside him.
Bang!
The surrounding walls collapsed, and the ground gave way to a shallow pit.
Song Zongwu leapt up like a meteor, shooting for the sky; clearly he had no intent to walk to Wuwei Monastery.
He could faintly sense Wuwei Monastery in the outskirts, seemingly under threat, so he did not hesitate.
The river's current rolled; the whale aberration seemed to sense the anomaly, its huge body surfacing and spouting vapor toward Song Zongwu.
Song Zongwu wound up his arm and struck the vapor with a mighty punch.
The steam shattered, a rainbow hanging in the void.
He felt surprised; his arm had a slight stinging, indicating that the whale's cultivation was at least not weaker than his own.
After glancing about, Song Zongwu realized similar strange things filled Qingyan Town and immediately did not dare to be casual.
The six eyes on his forehead flashed light; he reined in his aura and leapt into the clouds, disappearing from sight.
The whale aberration issued a long cry, but soon sank back into the water, while many demon-cultivators crawled out of its belly.
Yet compared to the upheaval in the Corpse District, Song Zongwu did not attract much attention, especially since it was deep in the night.
Even if the demon-cultivators noticed, now with Qingyan Town tense they dared not rashly invade another aberration's territory.
Like a storm coming, everything portended the end of calm.
The fighting inside Wuwei Monastery continued; the number of wounded and dead among the sect disciples steadily increased, the smell of blood permeating the air.
After corpses fell, zombies would scramble atop them to devour the flesh; the remaining disciples would get a moment's respite.
Wuliangzi was already near death, his body riddled with wounds of all sizes and the blood that flowed smelling of rot.
Though he struggled bitterly, it felt only like the difference between early death and late death.
Qingsongzi knelt before the statue.
He had clearly just been through life-and-death fighting; his arms trembled with weakness, and a broken zombie lay not far off.
Zombies were more troublesome than expected; unless decapitated, they did not fear death, their internal organs no longer vulnerable.
Their blood carried heavy corpse-toxin, and by devouring flesh they could mend wounds and even regenerate severed limbs.
Qingsongzi caught his breath and, dazed, picked up his battered long sword, preparing to head out to support the disciples beyond the sect.
At that moment, footsteps sounded.
A Golden Core level zombie entered the main hall, looking at Qingsongzi with a mocking expression.
"Long time no see at the sect; I did not expect things to change so greatly."
He turned to eye the newly made Earthly Immortal statue with disdain and said, "Uncle Qingsongzi, you tricked me into joining your path, did you know?"
"I worked three years as a servant in a teahouse on Changning Street, back then I still believed, when danger came there would be the sect."
"And the result? After I died I was exposed to the sun three days straight."
The zombie's tone was full of resentment, partly from his life, partly because the blood-moon light had twisted his soul.
Qingsongzi opened his mouth but did not know how to answer.
Indeed Wuwei Monastery had weakened; it had no choice but to keep recruiting disciples and use fresh blood to barely sustain its size.
Qingsongzi recalled the dream-city he had seen and could not help but say, "It is different now..."
"Different how? You only know to worship immortals; will immortals come to save you?"
The zombie's face twisted and with an arm swept, smashing the Earthly Immortal statue into fragments; dust shrouded the main hall.
"Only demon-cultivators are the right path; Jingzhou does not need the doctrine of non-action..."
Its gaze landed on the Heavenly Daozi statue, and a pitch-black nail clawed toward it.
At that moment, a gust of wind howled outside that even drowned the clashing sounds, as if a heavy object fell straight down.
Boom!
The main hall roof exploded into shards; a heavy object landed where the Earthly Immortal statue had stood, though its form was obscured by dust.
Qingsongzi narrowed his eyes to focus; the four-armed silhouette was faintly visible: "The Earthly Immortal statue had already been smashed to pieces, how can this be?"
A low, deep voice sounded.
"Wuwei Monastery has become so fallen; that is truly improper."
Song Zongwu exhaled and the windows rattled as dust blew outward; the six-eyed, four-armed demonic man revealed himself plainly.
Qingsongzi was stunned into vacuity; his mind became blank.
Like the man who fancied dragons but was frightened to see a real dragon, upon the dragon's appearance his heart filled with fear.
The zombies, angry and ashamed, charged him and cried, "What demon-cultivator dares meddle with Jingzhou? The Rabbit-Toad Immortal is about to descend; Wuwei Monastery must be destroyed!!"
"What nonsense?"
"Rabbit-Toad Immortal?"
Song Zongwu squinted, and with a finger he snapped at a zombie's brow.
Bang!
The zombie's head burst like a watermelon; in Qingsongzi's eyes the once potent demon-cultivator was utterly powerless before Song Zongwu.
Song Zongwu glanced at the fragments of the Earthly Immortal statue and guessed it had been Ren Qing's doing.
Compared with extreme demon-cultivators, Wuwei Monastery was indeed more suitable to cooperate with the Restraint Officers' Hall; their cultivation methods bore resemblance.
"Immortal, save us..."
Song Zongwu strode forward decisively and vanished into the main hall.
Qingsongzi scrambled to the window with all limbs, seeing Song Zongwu moving among the zombies, using a finger like a spear to press their brows.
The zombies stood as if frozen in place by the art.
Song Zongwu did not look back; he went down the mountain path to support Wuliangzi, leaving behind dozens of skulls rising into the sky and bodies collapsing in weakness.
On the mountain road Wuliangzi's expression was dazed; he had bled so much that he teetered at death.
He still worried over the disciples inside the sect gate and clutched the broken wooden sword, shoring himself up, but clearly could no longer harm the enemy.
The wooden sword swung at air.
Wuliangzi muttered "this is bad" and his last breath slackened.
Song Zongwu passed by.
Wuliangzi had thought the zombies would devour him to nothing, but unexpectedly his body was lifted and the zombies exploded into flying meat chunks.
Herbal healing was stuffed into his mouth and his consciousness slowly returned.
The six-eyed, four-armed silhouette made Wuliangzi tremble all over and recall the recorded three hundred sixty-five Earthly Immortals.
"Immortal, the sect leader Wuliangzi greets you."
"Do not speak, close your eyes and cultivate."
Song Zongwu placed Wuliangzi on the empty mountain gate ground, then went to staunch blood and purge toxin from the other disciples to prevent them dying unnaturally.
While he was busy, the sun rose, heralding the coming day.
Song Zongwu secretly considered inquiring into Jingzhou's situation, but felt the ground tremor; the source came from the distant mountains.
Tall mountain vegetation flourished; beasts and birds had human faces, appearing extremely strange, with a vast foxskin spread atop the highest thicket.
Qingsongzi mumbled, "The Corpse District just ended, now Qingqiu?"
Qingqiu Mountain rose at a perceptible speed; the demon-aura intensified.
Song Zongwu's six eyes flashed as he used Divine Listening Technique to observe the mountain's trend, inwardly thinking, "That huge aberration seems to be consciously remolding Jingzhou's environment?"
"Could it be in preparation for the so-called Rabbit-Toad Immortal's descent?"
Song Zongwu found Wuwei Monastery out of place compared to the demon-cultivators; no wonder it had become a target.
Wuliangzi also came to; he realized outer disciples near Qingqiu Mountain must have suffered casualties, feeling bewildered.
He looked toward Song Zongwu, whose brow was furrowed.
Song Zongwu felt that the opportunity to ascend to Yang God lay in Jingzhou.
But since Ren Qing had already placed moves in Wuwei Monastery with long-term intent, Song Zongwu could not simply walk away.
"First tidy up the mountain gate, I will be stationed at Wuwei Monastery."