Chapter 332: Following

The exchange meeting concluded much faster than an auction, ending in less than an hour.

Everyone left satisfied.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The elderly host made a considerable profit and was all smiles with everyone.

The attendees departed through a hidden passage, emerging not into the stone house they had entered earlier, but rather into a secluded alley—demonstrating the old man's caution.

Once outside, the cultivators silently dispersed, each going their own way.

Despite his show of strength in the black market, Qin Sang was well aware that such tactics wouldn't deter truly formidable experts. He remained highly vigilant to avoid being tailed.

The moonless night cast a veil of darkness.

Even cultivators were not entirely free from the influence of mortal habits—working by day and resting by night. Unless necessary, they rarely moved about at night, preferring to return to their rented stone houses for quiet meditation.

The desolate alley suddenly revealed a large figure—it was the burly man in the mask.

Surprisingly, his actions did not match his imposing physique. He moved cautiously, looking back every few steps with an extremely wary expression, resembling a timid rat.

The alley led directly out of the stone island.

Upon reaching the island’s edge without incident, the burly man immediately activated an evading method and melted into the night, silently leaving the island.

Shortly after his departure, the air at the end of the alley rippled, revealing a vague figure. With a flash of ghostly light, it vanished in pursuit.

However, unbeknownst to him, while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole lay in wait.

Once he was gone, another figure appeared in the same spot—Qin Sang. He gazed at the deep swamp ahead, pondered briefly, and silently departed using the Nether Cloud he had just obtained.

After the passage of three waves of individuals, the alley finally returned to silence.

Earlier, outside the auction house, the sudden sense of familiarity Qin Sang experienced did not initially arouse much suspicion. After all, such feelings were often fleeting.

However, during the recent exchange, the burly man had, in a moment of urgency, inadvertently revealed his true voice—rekindling that sense of familiarity and awakening memories buried deep in Qin Sang's past, memories dating back decades!

Though the voice was not exactly the same as in his recollections—time changes people, after all—it still bore enough resemblance to evoke a sense of recognition.

People grow older and change over time.

However, for cultivators, such changes occurred much slower than they did for ordinary people.

Because of this, while the voice had become rougher and more seasoned, its core tone remained, allowing Qin Sang to recognize it.

Searching through his past memories, Qin Sang suddenly recalled someone he had never expected to encounter again.

Tan Hao!

Back in Youshan Market, Tan Hao had once stood up for him, helping him argue against unscrupulous merchants, allowing Qin Sang to purchase the

Netherworld Scripture

at a low price.

Later, when they both entered the Kuiyin Sect, Tan Hao devoted himself to rigorous cultivation within his cave dwelling and rarely made appearances.

Qin Sang had been closer to Tan Hao’s younger brother, Tan Jie, rather than Tan Hao himself.

Now that Tan Hao had resurfaced in his thoughts, Qin Sang found his current appearance strikingly similar. Tan Hao had always been tall and burly, a stark contrast to his brother. After reaching adulthood, he must have grown even more imposing.

However, Qin Sang was perplexed.

How can it possibly be him?

When the Kuiyin Sect failed in its invasion of the Yuanzhao Sect, the sect disbanded, and its members scattered. Tan Hao and Tan Jie had neither been sent as spies nor selected as sacrifices like Shi Hong.

At the sect's collapse, with no one controlling the Yin Malevolent Abyss, the Yuanzhao Sect likely wouldn't have pursued low-level disciples such as them, leaving them with a chance to escape.

Yet escaping didn't guarantee survival. This was precisely the insidious nature of both the Kuiyin Sect and the Yan Luo Banner.

Having cultivated with the Yan Luo Banner, they were left with only two choices.

One was to persist in their cultivation until they reached the tenth stage of the Qi Refining Realm and be devoured by the Yan Luo Banner, becoming its primary soul. The other was to realize the sinister nature of the Yan Luo Banner in time and abandon their cultivation to start anew.

By the time the Kuiyin Sect fell, Tan Hao was already in his twenties. Given his talent, if he had chosen to start over, his chances of reaching Foundation Building would have been slim to none.

Moreover, even if Tan Hao had realized the hidden dangers of the Yan Luo Banner, it was unlikely he could have given it up so easily. The temptation of cultivating using Soul Pill was not something most people could resist.

Had it not been for Sun De's timely intervention, Qin Sang might never have uncovered the true secrets of the Yan Luo Banner.

Qin Sang had initially believed that Tan Jie, Shi Hong, and others from the past were no longer alive. Discovering someone who resembled Tan Hao filled him with both surprise and a hint of joy.

Since embarking on the path of immortality, Qin Sang had made few friends. Back in the Kuiyin Sect, he had shared a close bond with Tan Jie and Shi Hong, supporting each other through difficult times.

However, despite this unexpected reunion, Qin Sang did not rush to reveal himself.

First, having now joined Shaohua Mountain, he could not afford to expose his past involvement with the Kuiyin Sect. Even if he wished to reconnect with an old friend, he needed to do so under disguise.

Second, after so many years, was Tan Hao still the same person he once knew? Had his temperament changed? Was he still the righteous youth who would draw his sword to fight injustice?

The brutal ambush from a year ago remained fresh in Qin Sang’s memory.

Yu Dayue's drastic transformation had not been his inherent nature but a consequence of being forced by the bottleneck in his cultivation.

The world of immortal cultivation was filled with people like Yu Dayue.

More importantly, Qin Sang had to consider whether Tan Hao was still connected with the members of the Kuiyin Sect who were left.

Tan Hao's unusually high cultivation level aroused Qin Sang's vigilance, prompting him to tail Tan Hao and observe his current situation.

The experiences at the auction and the secret market revealed that Tan Hao’s path of cultivation had not been smooth. It seemed likely that his soul had been injured, and he had spent everything to purchase healing pills—his situation resembling that of Wandering Man.

However, Tan Hao's circumstances were far more dire than Wandering Man’s. He did not have the backing of a sect like Taiyi Core Sect, and even his artifacts were several grades lower.

During the recent competition for the Serenity Pill, in his desperation, the best artifact Tan Hao could produce was merely a high-grade one.

Qin Sang still remembered the righteousness Tan Hao had shown him back in Youshan Market when he had spoken up against unscrupulous merchants. If the opportunity arose, Qin Sang wouldn’t hesitate to lend Tan Hao a helping hand.

Beyond this sentiment, Qin Sang had another motive—if Tan Hao still had ties to the members of the Kuiyin Sect, he could use him as a lead to track them down.

With his cultivation now having reached the middle stage of Foundation Building, and with several powerful artifacts and talisman astras at his disposal, Qin Sang was no longer the inexperienced novice he once was. Unless he encountered a Kuiyin Sect cultivator at the Fake Core Realm, the outcome of a confrontation would be far from certain.

Resolving the threat of the Heart-Devouring Insect as soon as possible would be beneficial.

Additionally, he only possessed six Yan Luo Banners. If he could locate the remaining Kuiyin Sect members, he might be able to gather all ten and complete the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions.

...

While tracking Tan Hao, Qin Sang noticed something unusual. Upon closer observation, he discovered that another person was also tailing Tan Hao from the shadows.

It was the masked man who had competed with Tan Hao for the Serenity Pill.

The masked man’s intentions were now obvious.

Back during the auction, he had abruptly given up on the Serenity Pill without hesitation, and Qin Sang had failed to notice any malicious intent at the time. It turned out the silent dog bites the hardest.

The masked man was carefully trailing Tan Hao, completely unaware that someone else was following him in turn.

Seizing the opportunity, Qin Sang adjusted his strategy and shifted his focus to the masked man instead.

Now, the three of them formed a bizarre procession as they successively left the stone island and entered the chaotic swamp.