Chapter 944: Turmoil

The grand array broke through the barrier and delivered the spirits, its momentum earth-shaking, yet the phenomenon did not spread far.

After the anomaly began, the cloud mass above the ghostly land brightened slightly and then easily dispelled the visions. The disturbance here had not even reached the Purple Mist End.

The interior of the great rift was affected, but there were no scenes of mountains collapsing, only the ferocious beasts deep within the chasm being startled.

Qin Sang and Bai faintly heard the sound of chanting. Bai let out a long breath.

He stared blankly at the sky. Having finally fulfilled his vow, his eyes nevertheless showed a trace of confusion and melancholy.

My obsession has ended. I will go far away to seek myself and offer sacrifices to you all another day.

Bai said silently in his heart.

The aftershocks swept in, and the two of them were like a lone boat in the wind. Bai gathered the ghostly mist with all his strength and carried them toward the gorge.

Qin Sang sent the Two-Headed Hou back to sleep, unfurled the phoenix wings, and kept himself ready to awaken the external incarnation at any moment. If anything went wrong, he could only abandon the carriage to save the horse and use the incarnation to draw the Spiritual Infant cultivator’s attention.

They had hidden near the gorge mouth to begin with, so they reached it in an instant and faintly heard a roar of shock and anger.

The power of the barrier, the spirit-delivering array, and the ghostly mist mingled together outside the gorge in a scene of utter chaos.

With the supernatural ability of the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, Qin Sang saw the barrier emerging on both cliff faces and beginning to collapse. Chips of stone fell from the walls, which merely trembled without caving in.

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells had been scattered, and the Spiritual Infant expert was being battered by the shock.

Outside the gorge, a mass of bone-white radiance flickered. Within that white light, countless square dominoes[1] took shape as phantoms, each domino seeming to seal an evil spirit that let out hair-raising screams.

"So it was a set of dominoes." Qin Sang’s heart stirred as he recalled what he had glimpsed earlier.

"Go!" Bai urged by voice transmission.

Qin Sang nodded. This was when the aftershocks were strongest.

Sheltered by the domino array, the Spiritual Infant cultivator looked to be unharmed. Unfortunately, spiritual qi were too chaotic, the Sky-Eyes were constrained, and he could not make out the array’s true state.

The barrier’s collapse had started from the center of the ghostly land. Because the power at the gorge's entrance was the weakest and had been deliberately targeted by Bai, it had unraveled the fastest. When the barrier around the entire ghostly land finished collapsing, most of the ghostly mist would have dispersed as well.

By then that Spiritual Infant expert would have found his footing and had strength to spare to hunt them down. Leaving would be too late. So they had to go now, while that Spiritual Infant cultivator had no time to spare.

They exchanged a glance and leapt into the gorge. One unleashed supernatural arts, the other drove an astra. Working in a tight concert, they let the ghostly mist carry them along, and in a blink they were borne out of the gorge.

They did not even dare to breathe loudly. As they skimmed past the domino array, their hearts were in their throats.

Old Devil Mou was pouring all his power into the array, his face exceptionally dark. He had not expected such an upheaval within the ghostly land. A dreadful wave had surged up without warning and scattered the devilish flames he coveted in an instant.

Caught unprepared, Old Devil Mou took a heavy blow and was hurled far back. Fortunately the flames had already been weakened once, and the domino array he had set up early blocked the calamity for him. Otherwise the outcome would have been uncertain.

Watching the devilish fire collapse with his own eyes made his heart bleed. Unlike others, he did not care for the ghostly land’s treasures. The devilish fire had been his goal.

If he could subdue such fire, he not only had great hopes of advancing to the late stage of the Spiritual Infant Realm and becoming a top expert of Canglang Sea, he even had a sliver of a chance to reach the Divine Transformation Realm. That beautiful dream shattered before him, and Old Devil Mou flew into a rage.

Some of the dominoes were developing cracks, yet he had no thought of retreat. He forced the array at any cost to resist the shock, surged upstream against the tide, and rushed to block the gorge.

Even at the most dangerous moment, Old Devil Mou still split off a wisp of spiritual consciousness to probe, lest he miss something. If not for the ancient Red Origin Gauze and Bai’s supernatural ability which controlled the ghostly mist, he might truly have sensed a clue.

Without the devilish fire, only seizing the treasures within could make up for his loss. Before that mysterious man appeared, no one had ever set foot in the ghostly land. Old Devil Mou did not know what barrier the stranger had touched to cause such a commotion, but the man surely had not escaped unscathed.

If the stranger died on the spot, Old Devil Mou would count it as a bargain gained. If the man fled badly wounded, even better. Cutting him off would mean not only taking the ghostly land’s treasures, but also soul-searching him to learn how he had resisted the devilish fire and slipped into the ghostly land. Perhaps the devilish fire could be found again afterward.

Just then, Old Devil Mou noticed the fluctuations starting to abate. Delighted, he spurred the array through the gorge with everything he had, unaware that the main culprit had already fled the moment he took that blow.

Qin Sang and Bai escaped successfully. Seeing they had not been noticed, they both relaxed a fraction, yet did not dare grow careless. Qin Sang awakened the fat silkworm and sped outward at full power.

But before they reached the valley's cliff wall, roars of beasts rose one after another from the depths, like tigers and dragons, drawing ever nearer.

Qin Sang’s heart pounded. "Are there ferocious beasts here at the Spiritual Infant Realm?"

Bai nodded. "Over the years, a few have prowled before the fire. Their auras matched the Spiritual Infant Realm. As for how many, I do not know."

At that, Qin Sang’s face sank. "We must leave at once. I dare say my evasion technique surpasses yours. The Heavenly Corpse Talisman and your soul imprint inside you have not broken. You may still be able to enter the Corpse Puppet Pouch. Would you accept that indignity?"

Top-tier ferocious beasts had been alarmed. If they ran into that Spiritual Infant expert, a great battle might ensue.

Qin Sang had no thought of playing fisherman to profit from others’ fight. He had gained enough already and had no need to risk it. Besides, the Spiritual Infant expert’s cultivation was extraordinarily high; the beasts might not be able to stop him.

Bai had first unsealed the altars, then cloaked the Spiritual Infant cultivator in ghostly mist, expending heavily. He had little strength left, and his evasion technique was far inferior to Qin Sang’s.

Their heart-devil oath required mutual aid until they were safely out of danger. Qin Sang would not break his word, but he could not be dragged down either, so he could only have Bai try to enter the Corpse Puppet Pouch. Once they were safe, he still had many questions to ask Bai.

"I have witnessed your evasion technique, Daoist. With calamity upon us, what does such an indignity matter?" Bai took it lightly. Seeing Qin Sang open the Corpse Puppet Pouch and relax some of the restraints on the refined corpse's primordial spirit, he did not resist.

Perhaps because Bai had only been a wisp of remnant soul, when Qin Sang formed the seal, he actually received him into the Corpse Puppet Pouch.

"It is quiet here. I shall take the chance to adjust my breath and recover. I shall leave it to you, Daoist."

Hearing Bai’s voice transmission, Qin Sang looked at the pouch in surprise, then spread the phoenix wings wide. A Jiao spirit coiled over his body as he simultaneously summoned the ebony sword and unleashed the Sword Qi Thunderclap.

With three top-tier evasion techniques at once, Qin Sang turned into a streak of red, blue, and white evasion light and fled in haste, not daring to go fetch the Purple Crystal at all.

A top-tier ferocious beast’s aura was coming from that direction. The fat silkworm let out a disgruntled hum. Qin Sang had gone back on his word.

1. Fun fact: The earliest mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China. ☜