Qin Sang channeled his spiritual power with all his might, yet he could no longer ascend. It was clear that an inexplicable force was preventing participants in the trial from leaving through the upper exit.

Stopping here, he observed that the dense mist showed no signs of thinning. Qin Sang’s attempt had only been a test to verify his suspicions. Once confirmed, he began a slow descent, glancing at the chain without stopping as he continued deeper.

There was no resistance during the descent. Qin Sang weaved through clusters of Firebirds, silently estimating that the number of these creatures in this space must be staggering.

Breaking through the mist and descending a certain distance, Qin Sang suddenly halted. Below him, another iron chain came into view.

As expected!

Qin Sang thought to himself. It seemed that all the trial participants were confined within this space. With enough people, they might eventually encounter one another. However, finding others was not Qin Sang’s goal. After a brief pause, he resumed his rapid descent.

The crimson line grew brighter as he went, to the point where it was becoming dazzling.

As he descended further, Qin Sang spotted chain after chain—there were dozens of them. He couldn’t be sure how far he had descended, but the lava river in his view became increasingly vivid and expansive.

He soon discovered that this space was not boundless. Sheer cliffs existed on both sides, confirming that the trial area was, in fact, a vast canyon.

The canyon, however, was so wide that its walls were invisible from above, creating the illusion of endless space. The further down he went, the more the canyon narrowed, until at its base lay the surging lava river.

This lava river was extraordinarily wide and far from tranquil. The molten lava surged like a raging river, sending massive crimson waves crashing in all directions.

Contrary to what Qin Sang had imagined, this was not the source of the lava. The lava flowed out from the ancient immortal’s ruins and continued into an unknown world beyond.

"Huh?"

When Qin Sang reached the upper edge of the lava river and could see its entirety, he suddenly felt resistance. He seemed to have struck an invisible barrier, preventing him from descending further.

Frowning slightly, Qin Sang peered downward and surveyed the space below. Numerous densely packed runes formed intricate circular barriers that overlapped, stretching deep into the lava river. Their endpoint was nowhere in sight.

Waves like these were common along the river. One particularly large wave surged toward him. Although the barrier blocked the lava itself, they couldn’t stop the pure fire-elemental spiritual power it carried. The fiery energy burst through the barrier with a ferocity that rivaled the lava's momentum.

After exhausting its strength, the fire-elemental spiritual power dissipated above the barriers, forming clusters of fiery vitality. These fused into the mist, and over countless cycles, might eventually transform into new Firebirds.

It was evident that what Qin Sang could see was only a fraction of the entire barrier.

The scale of the barrier left by the master of the ancient immortal ruins was unimaginable. To encompass an entire lava river with such a barrier demonstrated unfathomable power.

Although the barrier was dim and riddled with cracks after tens of thousands of years, they remained solid, far beyond Qin Sang’s ability to break.

After some unsuccessful attempts, Qin Sang found himself surrounded by Firebirds, drawn by the fluctuations of spiritual power. Using his concealment technique, he escaped their encirclement and darted toward the edge of the barrier, arriving at the stone wall.

The stone wall curved inward from top to bottom. It was rugged and uneven, dotted with jagged rocks.

Climbing the stone wall, Qin Sang scanned his surroundings. After a moment, his eyes lit up as he darted toward a crevice in the rock. Reaching into the gap, he pulled out a small piece of ashen-white material.

It was a fragment of a skull!

Unlike the Firebirds, which left no remains after perishing, this bone fragment was clearly human.

The discovery boosted Qin Sang’s confidence. He immediately focused on searching. However, after some time, he stopped, frowning slightly.

The treasures on the stone wall were far fewer than he had expected. Despite searching diligently, all he found was the single bone fragment. This suggested that most of the trial’s failed participants had either been torn apart by Firebirds or destroyed by the fire-elemental energy bursting from the barriers.

After pondering briefly, Qin Sang extended his spiritual consciousness to its maximum range, sweeping across a large area in an instant. As soon as his consciousness emerged, it alarmed clusters of Firebirds. Qin Sang’s figure was quickly engulfed by them.

When the number of Firebirds reached a certain threshold, Qin Sang began to sense danger. Retracting his spiritual consciousness, he concealed himself again. Once the Firebirds dispersed, he released his spiritual consciousness once more.

Using this method greatly improved his efficiency. Starting from the beginning of the stone wall, Qin Sang systematically searched along its surface.

After thirty minutes, Qin Sang halted and stood atop a rock, gazing intently at the mist ahead. At this point, he could no longer proceed further. A gentle force pushed him back, and he realized that this was the endpoint of the first trial. To move forward, he needed to follow the iron chain to find the exit.

His progress had been slow due to his divided attention searching the stone walls. If he had focused solely on flying, he could have completed the trial within ten minutes.

Qin Sang then moved to the opposite stone wall and searched along the path he had come from.

Once he had finished examining both walls, he ascended into the air and landed near a stone platform. From his Mustard Seed Pouch, over forty beams of light shot out and arranged themselves before him.

Within the glowing lights were a variety of artifacts, most of which clearly bore the sinister characteristics of demonic cultivation.

This was the entirety of Qin Sang’s haul. Initially, he had assumed he would come away empty-handed, but finding such a number of artifacts turned out to be an unexpected boon. Additionally, he had acquired three Mustard Seed Pouches.

Qin Sang first examined the Mustard Seed Pouches and was disappointed to discover that the spiritual essence of the items inside—such as spiritual herbs and pills—had dissipated due to the lack of protective barriers. They were now unusable.

Apart from a small amount of spirit stones, the artifacts within were similarly degraded, offering little utility.

Turning his attention to the artifacts before him, Qin Sang swept his hand across them, discarding the majority. Most were damaged, having lost their power over time, and were now nothing more than worthless scraps.

Nine intact artifacts remained. Their grades varied, but they were still functional. Qin Sang picked them up one by one for closer inspection, and suddenly, his face lit up with delight as he seized three specific items: a black gourd, a pale banner, and a bone flute.

All three were demonic artifacts used for soul refinement!

The banner was the weakest among them. After a brief glance, Qin Sang fed it to his Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions, allowing it to be absorbed.

The other two items, however, were far harder to evaluate based solely on their grade. The black gourd could trap opponents inside and use its soul refinement properties to slaughter them, reducing them to blood and essence. Meanwhile, the bone flute emitted a ghostly wail that could disrupt an opponent’s mind and will.

Both demonic artifacts contained an astonishing number of refined souls, indicating they had been meticulously forged by a skilled demonic cultivator.

Though these two artifacts had exceptional uses and considerable power, Qin Sang didn’t hesitate for long. He ultimately decided to have the Yan Luo Banner devour them as well.