Gateway of Immortality

The night sky shone as bright as day!

Qin Sang crawled out of a pile of mud, brushing off the tangled branches clinging to him and spitting out the blood and rotten leaves in his mouth. He twisted his head around, staring in shock at the direction of the Yuanzhao Sect.

A brilliant sun hung on the horizon, illuminating Yuanzhao Peak with crystal clarity.

The entire mountain range was bathed in daylight.

Mountains crumbled, and animals fled in panic.

Several furious roars followed, filled with endless rage and despair.

Then, dazzling light engulfed everything, and the earth shook continuously, making it impossible to see anything.

Qin Sang tightly shut his eyes, his heart racing with fear. He had no idea what had happened there, but he could sense the terrifying energy radiating from that golden sun.

As the light gradually dimmed and his vision returned, Qin Sang noticed that the towering Yuanzhao Peak had been cleaved in half, and several surrounding mountains had also mysteriously lost a portion of their height.

This was the destructive power of a Core Formation Realm cultivator. A chill of fear and awe arose in Qin Sang's heart.

His expression subtly changed. Initially, he had planned to find a safe place to observe the situation.

Previously, he hadn't been entirely opposed to the demonic path. He had no direct experience with the righteous and demonic factions clashing in the world of immortal cultivation, and didn't feel any deep-seated revulsion. Especially after hearing that young man in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground reveal the dark secrets behind the ascension conference, Qin Sang realized that even the so-called righteous path wasn't necessarily clean.

He had only ever wanted to save his own life and extend it for as long as possible, which was why he was so determined to leave the Kuiyin Sect.

There was, after all, a difference between the righteous and demonic paths.

The Yuanzhao Sect at least used the ascension conference to lure rogue cultivators into the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground to mask their true intentions, without sending their own disciples to die.

But in the Kuiyin Sect, even if sacrificing disciples' lives was required, Sect Leader Yi probably wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. Just thinking about the countless souls lost in the Yin Malevolent Abyss, which far outnumbered those in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground, sent chills down his spine.

There's a saying, "no cost too high." In the world of immortal cultivation, if a low-level Qi Refining Realm cultivator didn’t have anyone powerful backing them, they could easily become part of that "cost" in times of crisis. And in a demonic sect, they were even more likely to be the "cost."

Either someone like Liang Yan, who was close to Yue Wu and protected from trouble, or someone like Yue Wu himself, a Foundation Building Realm cultivator and a powerful force in his sect, could have a chance at keeping their lives.

But unfortunately, he was just a small pawn struggling to survive day by day.

However, as they say, times change.

After obtaining the mysterious orchid, Qin Sang seemed to have gained another option. If the Kuiyin Sect emerged victorious, no matter how valuable the mysterious orchid was, he wouldn’t dare to keep it for himself, not when a Core Formation Realm cultivator had set their eyes on it.

Even if he fled for an entire day, the Core Formation cultivator could catch him with a flick of a finger. With a sweep of their spiritual consciousness, he would have no place to hide, and the Heart-Devouring Insect attached to his primordial spirit was still there. They could probably track his location through the insect within a certain range. ℟

With Zhao Yan dead and no one to testify against him, Qin Sang could offer the mysterious orchid to the sect leader as a great contribution. Such an extraordinary achievement might make obtaining a Foundation Building Pill no longer a distant dream.

As long as he had a chance to break through to the Foundation Building Realm, it wouldn't matter if he had to follow the demonic path all the way to the end.

But deep down, Qin Sang knew that this choice was no different from asking a tiger for its skin[1]!

However, it seemed that the Yuanzhao Sect was not entirely powerless. After that sun exploded, a deathly silence had fallen over the Yuanzhao Sect’s direction.

The demonic flames, the great array, the ghostly shadows, the cultivators…

All of them had vanished without a trace!

The night sky was eerily still.

Suddenly, a heart-wrenching roar echoed from the distant sky, "Senior Brother!"

A fiery red streak of light shot toward the Yuanzhao Sect with overwhelming momentum, like a meteor rushing across the heavens. In the blink of an eye, it arrived above the Yuanzhao Sect, revealing the figure of a young man dressed in black.

The youth stared in disbelief at the shattered remains of the Yuanzhao Sect, his face filled with immense grief.

At that moment, a thunderous explosion shook the air.

The remaining half of Yuanzhao Peak collapsed with a deafening roar. From the dust and debris, over a dozen disheveled figures flew out. Upon seeing the young man standing in the sky, they cried out in joy, "Senior Uncle! You've finally arrived!"

Only Yu Hua seemed paralyzed with fear, his eyes vacant and lifeless.

But when he met the icy gaze of the youth and took in the devastation of his sect, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head.

Crack!

The sky suddenly split open, revealing a narrow fissure. A wisp of black qi seeped through the crack…

The youth snapped his head up, staring fixedly into the depths of the fissure, his eyes filling with a crazed hatred in an instant.

"Kill!"

…

The fiery red divine sword carried an overwhelming momentum capable of cutting through everything. Meanwhile, a thin strand of black qi frantically fled northward, not daring to pause for even a moment.

Qin Sang watched this scene with a heart full of terror. Is this person who has arrived so suddenly the reinforcement of the Yuanzhao Sect? Is it possible that, even after being besieged and having their array broken, the Yuanzhao Sect has somehow turned the tide and emerged victorious in their moment of despair?Nôv(el)B\\jnn

This was far beyond Qin Sang’s expectations.

The divine sword chased the black qi into the distance, eventually disappearing beyond the horizon.

Qin Sang’s expression fluctuated wildly as he quickly made up his mind. He took out the Four-Clouded Divine Seal and discarded it. Holding the jade box in his hands, he hesitated for a long time, but in the end, he couldn’t suppress the greed that surged in his heart.

A wry smile appeared on Qin Sang’s face as he hurriedly searched through Zhao Yan’s Mustard Seed Pouch, taking out anything useful and leaving behind anything he didn’t recognize.

In the end, he found a familiar-looking bead. Overjoyed, Qin Sang remembered the bead’s terrifying power all too well. Even if he faced a powerful Foundation Building Realm enemy, throwing out this bead would at least leave them scrambling, if not fatally wounded.

Qin Sang gripped the bead tightly and activated the Empty Wind with all his strength. One thought consumed his mind. Escape. The farther, the better.

Suppressing his injuries with spiritual pills, Qin Sang dragged his wounded body through the wind, fleeing westward. After several days, he found a cave, where he discarded Zhao Yan’s Mustard Seed Pouch and then changed direction, heading south.

Whenever his spiritual power was depleted, he would find another cave to recover, then continue running. He survived on wild fruits and spring water, avoiding people at all costs.

He had set his course toward the southwest.

While he had been confined in Huiyang Valley at the Yuanzhao Sect, Qin Sang had wanted to buy a geomantic map[2] of the immortal cultivation world but never had the chance. He had only learned bits and pieces from listening to Yue Wu’s lectures at the Kuiyin Sect and from conversations with fellow disciples, but as Qi Refining Realm cultivators, their knowledge was limited.

Their location was in the far northwestern corner of the continent, in a region known as the Small Cold Domain within the immortal cultivation world. It was said that the continent was vast, its edges encircled by boundless seas, but how far to the east and south it stretched, or how many great sects lay beyond, was something only Spiritual Infant Realm cultivators might know.

Even the western and northern borders, the closest to them, were rarely reached. To the far west of the Small Cold Domain lay the territory of the demon race, while the north was home to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

The Ancient Immortal Battlefield was said to be unimaginably dangerous, but also filled with heaven-defying opportunities, with countless ancient immortal ruins and remains hidden within.

Regarding the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, Yue Wu had been tight-lipped, and the other Qi Refining Realm disciples knew little about it, only passing along rumors they had heard from others.

Within the Small Cold Domain, there were three main forces. The western region was occupied by the demon race, the northeast was controlled by demonic sects, and Qin Sang was now fleeing toward the territory of the righteous sects.

The Kuiyin Sect and Yuanzhao Sect happened to be located at the buffer zone between the righteous and demonic forces within the Small Cold Domain. Both had once been powerful with Spiritual Infant Realm ancestors overseeing them, but had since declined. Yet, even in their weakened state, they still retained a certain degree of fame in the Small Cold Domain.

1. This is a Chinese saying which means "to request others for something against their interests". ☜

2. The Chinese geomantic map is a type of cartographic expression of a landform that portrays a place as geomantically auspicious or inauspicious. ☜