Fusion

Snap! The poison-warding treasures on his body shattered one after another. The subterranean river was like a bottomless pit. Not only did undercurrents surge violently, but the earth itself seemed to tremble. A massive upheaval was about to strike this place! Qin Sang had no time to worry about anything else. Even joining forces with Bai, he had been entirely unable to pull free. In a predicament like this, their only hope lay in the fat silkworm and the Poison-Warding Armor. Bai retreated into the corpse puppet bag to lighten the silkworm's burden, while Qin Sang shielded the fat silkworm against his chest, allowing the suction to fling him blindly against the subterranean rock. The fat silkworm was giving everything it had, straining with every ounce of its strength. Qin Sang channeled the unrefined medicinal power of the Three Lights Jade Liquid into the creature. Yet the Poison-Warding Armor remained on the verge of collapse. Qin Sang understood why. The deeper they plunged into the subterranean river, the more virulent the poison became. It was not merely a matter of rapid consumption—the fat silkworm's natal divine ability had been pushed to its absolute limit, unable to withstand the relentless erosion of such lethal toxicity. After all, the fat silkworm was only in the mid-stage of its third metamorphosis. There was a cap on the power of its divine ability. Furthermore, it was not Qin Sang's bound spirit insect. None of the various Witch Clan secret arts he knew could be applied to it, meaning he could not assist it the way he could with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Overdrawn and exhausted, the fat silkworm let out pitiful whimpers, clearly on the brink of giving out. Right at that moment, Bai's anxious voice suddenly rang out from the corpse puppet bag. "Quick! Bring your little lover out!" Startled by the shout, Qin Sang opened the corpse puppet bag and gathered Yagu into his arms. Yagu's eyes remained tightly closed, like a sleeping beauty, but an agitation faintly radiated from her soul. It was as though she wanted to tell Qin Sang something, yet had no way to speak. The Three Lights Jade Liquid provided vitality to preserve her physical body from decay. Previously, warm jade had been used to nurture her soul. After obtaining a section of Soul-Nurturing Wood from Bai, Qin Sang had placed a Soul-Nurturing Wood plaque on her body, which yielded effects far superior to the warm jade. As time went by, Qin Sang had been able to feel Yagu's condition steadily improving over the years. Though she had yet to awaken, the fat silkworm's intelligence had grown higher than before. Every gesture it made exhibited far more affection and trust toward Qin Sang, almost carrying a sense of filial devotion. A profound, wondrous connection existed between a master and their natal insect gu. To Yagu, the fat silkworm was her anchor to the waking world. Qin Sang suspected that the fat silkworm was very likely influenced by her. Thanks to the Soul-Nurturing Wood, Yagu's consciousness had not sunk into oblivion; instead, it had grown increasingly stable. The moment Yagu appeared, the fat silkworm let out a soft whine, sprang into the air, and landed right between her brows. Qin Sang did not stop it. With a flash of seven-colored radiance, the fat silkworm sank directly into Yagu's body. Without Yagu making any movement at all, a halo of seven-colored light suddenly erupted from within her in the next instant, fusing into the Poison-Warding Armor. The armor, which had been tottering on the brink of ruin, stabilized once more, completely shutting out the lethal poison! The fat silkworm had taken the initiative to acknowledge Yagu as its master. It was said that within the insect gu arts of the Witch Clan, this was the supreme form of bonding, superior even to that of an ordinary natal insect gu. Not only did it foster an exquisite harmony of mind between cultivator and spirit insect, but it also brought unimaginable benefits. Such an opportunity could only be stumbled upon by chance; there was no reliable way to bring it about. Like the human race, the Witch Clan had lost too many ancient secrets. Cultivators of the Witch Clan today no longer understood how to induce a spirit insect to submit voluntarily, nor did they know precisely what boons it might confer. "This..." Qin Sang felt both joy and concern. He was glad because the fusion between Yagu and the fat silkworm was very likely an ability brought about by this voluntary bond, meaning they temporarily did not have to worry about perishing in the poison pool. Yet he was worried because Yagu's cultivation was far too feeble. When she was dragged into his troubles and mortally wounded back then, she had only been in the Qi Refining stage. What toll would this place upon her? Whoosh! Whoosh! Halos of light flashed in an unbroken stream. Immediately after, Qin Sang's expression changed drastically. His grim foreboding was coming to pass. Yagu's face turned deathly pale, drained of all color, while her aura plummeted at a terrifying rate. Her soul became even frailer than before, flickering like a candle in the wind. Yet she stubbornly held on, refusing to yield, overdrafting everything she had alongside the desperate fat silkworm! "Vitality..." Consumed by panic, Qin Sang continuously channeled his remaining medicinal power into Yagu, but it yielded negligible results. He knew far too little about the Witch Clan, unable to even discern what Yagu and the fat silkworm were expending—it might well be something even more fundamental than mere life force. "Soul-Cleansing Liquid!" Bai shouted, reminding him. Qin Sang nodded. The thought had crossed his mind as well. Soul-Cleansing Liquid was not merely an aid for Nascent Soul formation; it could also supply a cultivator with abundant soul power. It might just do the trick. If they lost their lives, nothing else mattered. Now was certainly no time to be stingy. Qin Sang produced a bottle of Soul-Cleansing Liquid and fed it to Yagu. Working in tandem with the vitality of the Three Lights Jade Liquid, the Soul-Cleansing Liquid slowed the rate of Yagu's exhaustion somewhat, but it still could not stop her condition from steadily deteriorating. Bang! Bang! Bang! Smashing repeatedly against the sharp edges of the subterranean rocks, Qin Sang felt agonizing pain racking his entire body. There was no telling how far the undercurrent had dragged them. Qin Sang felt as though he had plunged into a colossal whirlpool, his head spinning with dizziness. Shielding Yagu tightly in his embrace, he suddenly felt the weight lift from his body as they broke free of the toxic water. Then, before he could react, he crashed heavily onto solid ground. *** The Flood Dragon King and the Nine Lives Black Tortoise discovered an ancient True Dragon restriction. The ancient restriction sealed a stone gate. Only after studying it for a considerable time did the Flood Dragon King begin to discern a clue, at which point he started attempting to breach it. Using flood dragon blood as a medium, he inscribed the hereditary restrictions of the flood dragon race onto the stone gate, eliciting a resonance from the ancient True Dragon restriction. However, the resonance was faint, not nearly enough to open the gate. The poison here was exceedingly potent, to the point that the Nine Lives Black Tortoise could no longer endure it alone. They had no choice but to take turns fending off the poison, while the Flood Dragon King passed on his clan's secret arts to the tortoise. The two demons consulted back and forth, altering their strategy multiple times as they analyzed the ancient restriction. At last, the resonance with the ancient Azure Dragon restriction grew stronger and stronger. Hum! The stone gate shuddered, prying open just enough to reveal a sliver of a gap. Overjoyed, the two demons slipped inside. Beyond the stone gate lay an ancient hall. The hall was dark, but that posed no hindrance to the sight of two great demons. Their gazes swept rapidly across the space, finding it completely barren save for a single crystal pillar standing erect at the center. "It really is a dragon corpse!" The two demon kings stared blankly at the crystal. The Nine Lives Black Tortoise let out an involuntary cry, his eyes glinting with greed. Within the crystal pillar lay a white skeleton, its form long and sinuous, encased entirely in the crystal. It was neither python nor flood dragon, but the skeletal remains of a genuine True Dragon! Though its flesh had rotted away and only bones remained, the dragon corpse still radiated immense majesty. Its head was raised high, exuding a heaven-shaking presence! There was no telling how many ages ago this True Dragon had fallen. Standing before the desiccated bones, they could still feel the crushing pressure of a True Dragon, tempting them to fall to their knees in worship. "Hold on!" The Nine Lives Black Tortoise moved to approach, but the Flood Dragon King held him back. "Beware the backlash of the ancient restriction!" Suppressing his excitement, the Flood Dragon King observed with great care, discovering layer upon layer of restrictions cast over the crystal. The dragon corpse was incomplete, marred by multiple fractures, missing claws, and even cracks running across its cranium. "If I am not mistaken, this place ought to be a seal. In the ancient era, the demon race very likely used this dragon corpse as the medium to anchor the sealing restriction..." They inspected it closely, but could not discern what it had been deployed to seal. With the passage of countless ages, the ancient True Dragon restriction had weakened to such an extent, the crystal pillar's luster had dimmed, and the dragon corpse had decayed. Whatever lay trapped beneath the seal was almost certainly dead. Even if something truly were unleashed, they would claim the dragon corpse and depart immediately. Those left to suffer the calamity would only be the human cultivators.