"This is..."
Stepping down the stairs, Ning Wuhui waved a hand.
Qin Sang suddenly felt a strange, yin-cold force rush toward him, chilling him to the marrow. He couldn't help shivering and hastily channeled his true essence to dispel the cold.
With his current cultivation, he rarely encountered something like this.
Rounding a corner of the cliff, a flicker of surprise crossed Qin Sang's eyes.
They were now standing on a wide earthen platform at the edge of the precipice. Before them lay a deep, secluded valley.
The space above was filled with the glowing aurora of immortal restrictions, completely sealing the valley within.
The valley was exceptionally long and narrow, giving the impression that it was not formed by nature. As a sword cultivator, Qin Sang suspected it had been cleaved open by a single sword strike.
That was rather horrifying.
Yitian Peak clearly had an extraordinary background and was likely a sacred ground of ancient cultivators. Who would dare cleave out a valley here?
The valley was bottomless, and thick black mist swirled throughout its entire expanse. The bone-chilling cold he had felt earlier originated from this very mist.
"What kind of aura is this to be so yin-cold?"
Qin Sang was secretly startled.
He realized that if he allowed this aura into his body, it could actually corrode his flesh.
"This place is called Nether Valley," Ning Wuhui said, his gaze fixed on the depths of the chasm.
"Nether Valley? Could this be the legendary Nether Qi...?"
Qin Sang nodded. Nether Qi was recorded in ancient texts as one of the yin-cold energies born of heaven and earth, bearing no connection to the Nether Scripture he had practiced during the Qi Refinement stage.
"Senior Qingzhu's command was for Fellow Daoist to come to Nether Valley?"
"To retrieve something here, and then meet him at another place..."
Ning Wuhui glanced at the stone walls on either side, walked to the edge of the platform, and sat down cross-legged. He set up a protective spiritual formation around himself, and then his external Nascent Soul leapt out from the top of his head, cradling the scarlet-gold spirit sword in its arms.
"Be careful, Fellow Daoist. I sense something unusual in the depths of Nether Valley—there may be ancient restrictions present..." Qin Sang could not resist warning him.
No wonder Senior Qingzhu had wanted Ning Wuhui to form an external Nascent Soul.
Standing here, Qin Sang could perceive that Nether Valley was no benevolent place. It was fraught with peril, and even with his own strength, he would not dare rashly barge inside.
Ning Wuhui's Nascent Soul nodded to Qin Sang and swooped into Nether Valley with a whoosh.
The Nether Qi roiled, and bizarre silhouettes faintly manifested, unnervingly strange and chilling to behold.
Ning Wuhui sat motionless, driving the external Nascent Soul with all his might.
*There might be some treasure inside that can help Senior Qingzhu suppress the demon soul...*
Qin Sang vaguely guessed some of Senior Qingzhu's plan.
If Ning Wuhui could successfully retrieve the treasure, Senior Qingzhu could recover.
The Nether Qi churned endlessly, and even Qin Sang's Heavenly Eye divine ability could not penetrate the scene within. There was no telling what Ning Wuhui would encounter inside, nor what he might manage to retrieve.
Unable to help, Qin Sang could only stand quietly to the side and wait patiently.
Suddenly, Ning Wuhui's physical body shuddered, blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and the spiritual formation beneath him flashed with light.
Qin Sang was alarmed. Seeing no other abnormalities with Ning Wuhui's body, his expression eased slightly, though his heart still leapt into his throat.
Ning Wuhui's success or failure not only concerned Senior Qingzhu, but also dictated whether Qin Sang could return to the Lesser Cold Domain.
Right at that moment, the Nether Qi violently convulsed. Fierce winds swept through the narrow valley, and waves of Nether Qi surged upward, rushing toward the earthen platform where they stood.
Qin Sang darted in front of Ning Wuhui's physical form, pouring all his true essence into holding it off, helping as much as he could.
Rumble...
Muffled, thunderous booms rolled out one after another, deafening to the ears.
The entire valley began to quake, yet the immortal restriction overhead remained utterly motionless.
*If this were at the foot of the mountain, a commotion of this scale would have drawn the Nascent Soul Patriarchs long ago. Fortunately, we are inside the immortal restriction. I wonder if the tremors will affect the area below...*
Qin Sang was secretly shocked, understanding that this disturbance was caused by the external Nascent Soul breaking restrictions.
This chaotic tumult lasted for a full incense stick's time before finally subsiding. Nether Valley gradually returned to tranquility, yet the external Nascent Soul had still not emerged, and Ning Wuhui's body remained unmoving.
Seeing this, Qin Sang could not help but harbor doubts.
Whoosh!
A stir finally came from the depths of Nether Valley. A gust of fierce wind burst out of the Nether Qi, and with a flicker, it dashed above the platform—it was the external Nascent Soul.
There was no telling what it had endured down below.
After the round trip, the external Nascent Soul's aura was severely depleted, far weaker than before.
The scarlet-gold spirit sword hovered around the Nascent Soul, its luster dim and sluggish; even Ning Wuhui's life spirit sword had suffered damage.
"Fellow Daoist, are you—"
Just as Qin Sang opened his mouth to ask, he noticed that the external Nascent Soul was clutching something in its tiny hands.
The external Nascent Soul flew above the physical body's head, placed the object into the body's hands, and then sank back inside.
Ning Wuhui slowly opened his eyes, fatigue undisguised in his gaze, alongside a trace of excitement.
At that moment, Qin Sang saw the full appearance of the object.
To his surprise, it was not some supreme treasure, but an irregular metal shard, like a fragment of something larger. One of its edges gleamed with a cold, razor-sharp light, keen as the edge of a sword.
There was no telling how long it had existed here, yet it bore not the slightest trace of decay.
And upon the shard's surface was an incomplete ancient character.
"This is..."
Qin Sang stared at the ancient character, his heart jolting. "It's actually part of the character 'Kill'!"
"Nether Valley is indeed perilous to cross. Fortunately, I had the external Nascent Soul! I've expended too much energy and need to meditate for a moment to recover my strength. Please wait a bit, Fellow Daoist..."
Ning Wuhui hurriedly took several spirit pills. He was about to put away the shard and refine the medicine when he noticed Qin Sang staring intently at the fragment.
"Do you recognize this object, Fellow Daoist?" Ning Wuhui asked in surprise.
Qin Sang shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "This 'Kill' character looks somewhat familiar. Could you allow me to touch it? I can't tell much from its appearance alone, but I might sense something through direct contact..."
Ning Wuhui agreed readily, though he did not hand it over completely.
Holding the shard between his fingers, Ning Wuhui held it out. Qin Sang reached out, channeled a wisp of true essence, lightly touched it, and immediately pulled his hand back. He frowned in deep thought for a moment, then shook his head in resignation.
"It's not the divine sword I read about in ancient records..."
Suspecting nothing, Ning Wuhui put away the shard and closed his eyes to meditate.
Little did he know that stormy waves had surged within Qin Sang's heart.
Just now, when the external Nascent Soul flew over with the shard, the grey qi hidden deep within his dantian had actually trembled!
After waking up in the Witch God Continent, Qin Sang had discovered the grey qi in his dantian for the first time, and to this day he had never uncovered its true nature.
Later, as his cultivation made breakthrough after breakthrough, the grey qi had remained completely dormant, nor had he been able to expel it from his body.
Qin Sang had been helpless against the grey qi. Seeing that it truly caused him no harm, he had stopped paying attention to it, guessing that some change might occur once he achieved Nascent Soul formation.
This was the very first time the grey qi had shown any reaction, stirred by this shard!
Just now, when Qin Sang attempted to touch the shard, the grey qi had felt an immense attraction, nearly surging out of his dantian to enter the fragment.
Qin Sang had hastily withdrawn his hand before giving anything away.
Chapter 1063