Chapter 769: Devilish Flames

The speed Qin Sang erupted with left the ferocious beasts completely in the dust.

Very soon, the entire pack had been shaken off without a trace, including the leader, which lost sight of Qin Sang and could only wander the valley in frustration, letting out unwilling roars.

Even after losing the beasts, Qin Sang didn’t dare slow down. He continued fleeing while watching his rear. Only when he could no longer sense any movement behind him did he find a concealed crack in the rock to hide in.

Though he had only heard the roar earlier, the sheer force of it from such a distance had caused his qi and blood to churn. That beast’s strength, even if not equal to a Transformation Realm demonic beast, would easily overpower the young man he had just killed.

The depths of the valley were indeed dangerous. Who knew how many such beasts were hidden within?

Crouching in the rock crevice, Qin Sang remained alert and listened to the surroundings before lowering his gaze to check on the fat silkworm’s condition.

After releasing two threads of seven-colored light, the silkworm was thoroughly drained and looked drowsy and sluggish.

Yet even so, it stared at Qin Sang with anticipation, eager to devour the Purple Crystal.

"I’ll let you eat it once we leave Seven-Kill Hall. For now, take this instead."

Qin Sang took out a demonic core from a poisonous beast to let the silkworm absorb and recover.

Back in the regions of Bear Mountain and Redleaf Island, the silkworm had fallen into a deep sleep after consuming the Thousand-Hand Spider Fruit and when the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had absorbed lightning. One time it was to metamorphose, the other to mutate.

Qin Sang didn’t dare feed it the Purple Crystal here. If it fell asleep on the spot, he might not live to regret it.

This journey into the Purple Mist End had truly revealed the silkworm’s potential. It was far beyond what he had anticipated.

It might prove even more useful later, so he decided it was best to wait until they had left Seven-Kill Hall and returned to a safe place before feeding it the crystal and observing the results.

The silkworm hugged the demonic core and gave Qin Sang a sideways glare.

Seeing that disdainful look, Qin Sang’s eye twitched.

That’s a demonic core! And this thing treated it like mere rations.

He really wanted to give it a good smack, but considering their surroundings, he decided to hold back.

After devouring the demonic core, the silkworm’s energy began to recover. Qin Sang continued listening for danger, and after confirming that the beast leader hadn’t caught up, he cautiously stepped out.

His escape had taken him more or less back to the spot where he had first descended.

Qin Sang returned to his original path and resumed the search for the spiritual fire. This time, he moved with greater caution, fearing he might run into a searching beast. He stopped every few steps and remained ready to flee at any moment.

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells in his hand trembled more and more violently, its excitement growing. Clearly, the unknown spiritual fire was growing closer.

Soon, Qin Sang realized he had once again arrived at the base of a cliff. He wasn’t sure if it was the same cliff where the ferocious beasts had been roosting earlier.

The terrain within the rift was extremely complex.

And the direction the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells pointed to seemed to follow alongside the cliff.

Staying close to the cliff wall, Qin Sang advanced while remaining wary of beasts from either side or from above. The path twisted and turned, but fortunately, everything proceeded smoothly.

"Hmm?"

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Qin Sang suddenly stopped.

He had found a spot where two cliff faces converged. At their intersection lay a narrow, hidden canyon. Purple Mist still shrouded the area ahead, making it impossible to see clearly.

"There’s such a peculiar geographical formation in the rift? This place is perfect for nesting... Could the spiritual fire be hidden inside an ancient hall or sealed within some ancient barrier, guarded by ferocious beasts?"

Qin Sang grew wary. The thought raised a silent alarm in his mind. He stared ahead for a while but heard nothing.

Since he was already here, he might as well press on.

Taking a steadying breath, Qin Sang grasped the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions in his palm and slowly stepped into the canyon.

The canyon wasn’t wide and narrowed further as he walked.

After advancing for a short distance, Qin Sang suddenly paused, his eyes flashing with shock. Then, without hesitation, he accelerated and rushed forward at top speed.

Between the two cliff walls, a mass of black flame floated within the canyon, blocking the path ahead.

Qin Sang stood still, gazing up at the flame.

"Devilish Flames of Nine Hells! It’s actually the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells! So Seven-Kill Hall has them too! No wonder..."

He muttered to himself. His expression shifted from shock to sudden realization, then to overwhelming joy.

No wonder the behavior of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells had been so different from what he had experienced on Cold Flame Island. The spiritual fire here was clearly of the same origin as his own devilish flames. Their aura was exactly the same.

This was not just a superficial fragment of power, like the trace he wielded through the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions. This was the true origin of the devilish flames.

In the past, Founder Kuiyin had encountered the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells in Ziwei Palace and, after exhausting all his efforts, refined it into a devilish banner and subdued it, becoming a force to be reckoned with across the Small Cold Domain.

When Qin Sang learned of this secret, he envied it deeply.

Later, neither Founder Kuiyin nor his sect’s descendants ever managed to find another such flame again, even after extensive searching in Ziwei Palace and the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. Without the flame, the sect's guardian astra remained damaged and could no longer be repaired.

Who would have thought that today, within Seven-Kill Hall, he would encounter it?

And the flame before him was even larger than the one subdued by Founder Kuiyin!

Now, standing before it and sensing the power of the true flame, Qin Sang finally understood why Founder Kuiyin had been so obsessed with it.

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells burned silently.

Qin Sang widened his eyes and focused his senses on the flame's power.

Before, he had only learned of it through soul-searching Yi Tianye and had never felt its true might for himself.

Though the surface appeared calm, the energy beneath was as volatile as molten lava.

Qin Sang had no doubt that if the flame’s full power were unleashed, he would be instantly reduced to ash.

He couldn’t help but compare it with the Spiritual Infant grandmasters he had seen before and felt that even the red-haired grandmaster and Daoist Zhenyi—both peak middle-stage Spiritual Infant cultivators—could not hope to match it.

These two were just a step away from the late stage, yet the power of these devilish flames still eclipsed them.

Founder Kuiyin had only been able to draw out a portion of the flame’s strength using the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions, yet that alone had made him one of the top experts of the Small Cold Domain.

"What a terrifying force. Can I really subdue it?"

Qin Sang took a deep breath, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.

He forced himself to calm down. With a flip of his palm, a black iron column appeared in his hand.

This black iron column had been taken from Daoist Jiupao after killing him years ago. It was one of Kuiyin Sect’s most prized treasures. The pole of the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions had been forged by refining another black iron column of the same kind.

Had Kuiyin Sect ever found another Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, they would have long forged a new Yan Luo Banner and restored the array.

After Daoist Jiupao had been gravely wounded, he had attempted to refine this rod into his life-bound astra.

When Qin Sang obtained it, he studied it for a long time and found it impossible to refine in that way. Founder Kuiyin had only cleverly circumvented the rod’s original barrier instead of destroying it. Qin Sang had since stored the item away.

He never expected he would one day see the true Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

"With a flame this large, even if I refine the entire black iron column into Yan Luo Banners, it’ll be more than enough. I could probably make fifteen or sixteen of them..."

Qin Sang ran his fingers along the rod, calculating carefully.

His eyes lit up. "Doesn’t this mean I might be able to forge a banner array stronger than the original Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions?"

The original array, with all ten banners deployed, could clash head-on with a top-grade astra.

If he succeeded in forging more banners and devising a matching array, it would reliably match the might of a top-grade astra!