The Gap

Snake King looked left and right, then pointed toward two distant mountain peaks and traced a circle in the air. "The battlefield will be restricted to the open ground between those two mountains. Whoever flies beyond the boundary will be deemed defeated." Neither Qin Sang nor Qianji Demon King objected. With the rules established, Snake King flickered away to a mountain peak on the perimeter of the battlefield to watch. Qin Sang and Qianji Demon King flew into the arena. Between the two mountains lay an expanse of open land resembling a tournament stage. They stood at opposite ends of the field, gazing at each other across the distance. As the auras of beings at the absolute pinnacle of the cultivation world rolled outward, the terrifying pressure struck terror into the birds and beasts of the surrounding mountains, sending them fleeing in panic. The ebony sword had not yet taken shape. Qin Sang could only choose another spirit sword in its stead. By now, he had already unleashed the Heavenly Demon Transformation, his other hand quietly forming an incantation gesture, ready at any moment to summon the demonic banner. Since his opponent had come prepared, he naturally had to go all out. Qianji Demon King's eyes were like a serpent's, slit-pupiled and coldly glinting. Without any extra expression, just his direct, unblinking glare was enough to send wave after wave of chills through anyone's heart. *Whoosh!* With a slight thought, Qin Sang flicked his sleeve, and a beam of sword radiance flew from his fingertip. The spirit sword circled and danced around Qin Sang, emitting piercing screeches of sword resonance. A bright, glaring perimeter surrounded Qin Sang as countless true and illusory beams of sword light intertwined. For a moment, Qin Sang's figure was entirely masked by the sword light, making it difficult for the naked eye to discern his location. Facing a true Nascent Soul–level opponent for the first time, he acted with extreme caution, choosing not to attack first but rather to react to whatever came, testing the waters to gauge his opponent's capabilities. Qianji Demon King had long known that Qin Sang was skilled in swordsmanship, so seeing this caused him no surprise whatsoever. He cast a cold glance at Qin Sang. Suddenly, a layer of black qi spread across his face, and opening his mouth wide, he exhaled plumes of thick black mist. The mist was exceptionally dense, and the moment it emerged, it expanded rapidly in all directions. Rather than surging directly toward Qin Sang, the black mist first billowed outward into the surroundings, then converged, quickly enveloping the entire battlefield within it. In an instant, the battlefield turned pitch-black, dark enough that one could not see one's hand before one's face. Where Qin Sang stood, the black mist closed in, surrounding him as well. At the same time, Qin Sang caught the faint scent of a sweet fragrance. His expression shifted slightly, and vigilance flared in his heart. Without hesitation, he sealed his mouth and nose and circulated his true essence to keep the black mist from touching him. He tried to dispel the mist, but it replenished itself in an endless stream. Qianji Demon King was a serpent demon; this black mist was very likely a divine ability he had cultivated for many years, harboring potent poison whose virulence could not be underestimated. If only the fat silkworm were awake. No matter how fierce the mist's poison was, it would hardly rival the three great venomous lands in the Hall of Seven Kills. Protected by the Poison-Warding Armor, he would have had no need to worry at all. After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, Qin Sang had tried many times to communicate with Yagu and the fat silkworm. He had received no response. Yagu's "sleep" was even deeper than before. In the past, with the fat silkworm serving as an anchor, Qin Sang could still sense the fluctuations of Yagu's soul. Now that the anchor had also fallen into a slumber, Yagu's body was a void of dead silence. Fortunately, he possessed the Soul-Nurturing Wood; otherwise, he truly did not know whether Yagu would have held on. Though he worried for her, there was nothing he could do for the moment. There was no telling how long it would take Bai to refine the Corpse Soul Pearl, so for now, he could only start from the clue concerning Tan Hao and investigate the Heavenly Corpse Sect. *Sizzle...* Sure enough, the black mist began to corrode the spirit armor covering his body. Qin Sang nodded inward. This degree of wear was still acceptable and would not pose too great a burden in the short term. Although the black mist obstructed his physical vision, it could not block the Heavenly Eye divine ability. Qin Sang looked around and discovered that the entire area of the battlefield was cloaked in the black mist. He thought to himself that Qianji Demon King had clearly come prepared, and restricting the boundaries of the battlefield had also been part of their calculations. Going to such great lengths could not merely be to wear down this bit of his true essence; the black mist likely possessed other, yet unknown uses. Just as this thought flashed through his mind, Qin Sang's expression tautened as he noticed Qianji Demon King moving. A figure was silently closing in on him. Within the black mist, Qianji Demon King concealed himself remarkably well, failing to stir even the slightest disturbance. Unfortunately, beneath the Heavenly Eye divine ability, such stealth was doomed to fail. *Clang!* The ringing of the sword rang out loud and clear as a sword beam abruptly slashed deep into the black mist. The black mist roiled, and a dark shadow darted back. At this point, Qianji Demon King was still some distance from Qin Sang. Seeing that his stealth had been exposed, a ferocious glint flashed across his face. He let out a low roar, his speed suddenly surging as he swooped in like a roc spreading its wings. The speed Qianji Demon King displayed now caught Qin Sang somewhat by surprise. *Swish!* Qin Sang's figure flickered and vanished from where he stood. Lightning flashed through the black mist. Qin Sang's initial instinct was to unleash Thunder Escape to evade the brunt of the assault. Immediately after, his suspicion was confirmed as he sensed something amiss. Flying through the black mist seemed to impose a certain restriction, leaving him with an inexplicable feeling of sluggishness. Qianji Demon King, on the other hand, was several times more nimble than before. The instant Qin Sang moved, Qianji Demon King deduced his trajectory and gave chase in hot pursuit. At the same time, the black mist around Qin Sang seemed to come alive, twisting into indefinable shapes that entangled him. Although they were quickly shattered, they still achieved a noticeable restraining effect. Amid the rolling black mist, the two engaged in a rapid pursuit. In terms of raw movement techniques, Qianji Demon King was actually inferior to Qin Sang. Yet inside the black mist, he was like a fish in water, astonishingly agile. The battlefield was only so large, preventing Qin Sang from pushing his Thunder Escape to its limit. Compounded by the hindrance of the black mist, this ebb and flow left him unable to shake off Qianji Demon King. Qin Sang knew that dragging things out like this worked to his disadvantage and was precisely what Qianji Demon King wished to see. Realizing this, Qin Sang came to a sudden halt, spun around to face the relentlessly pursuing demon king, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. Instead of maneuvering his spirit sword to defend, he lunged straight back at his opponent. Qin Sang arrived like a flash of lightning, meeting him with a heavy punch! The phantom fist grew rapidly in Qianji Demon King's vision, carrying the momentum of thunder as it drove straight for his face. Qianji Demon King's expression shifted slightly before curling into a sneer. Reaching out with his right hand, he drew the surrounding black mist into an unbroken convergence toward his arm. In the blink of an eye, his arm seemed to transform into a black serpent. With a few bizarre twists, it clamped down on Qin Sang's fist. *Boom!* The sound was not overwhelmingly loud, but the collision was utterly stripped of finesse. The two figures separated the instant they touched, each knocked back several dozen paces. Qin Sang flexed his fist, feeling an insidious, soft force seep into his body, sending a numb prickling from his fingers all the way to his shoulder. He quietly mobilized his true essence to dissolve it. He had gained no advantage from the clash; if anything, he had suffered a minor setback. A demon king's physical body was truly formidable. What was more, Qianji Demon King was deeply versed in unarmed combat techniques. By contrast, throughout his cultivation journey, Qin Sang had always relied on swordsmanship and magic treasures to confront enemies, rarely ever engaging in pure close-quarters physical brawls. In a single clash, the disparity became glaringly apparent. Qianji Demon King shook his arm, looking at Qin Sang with a trace of mockery at the corner of his mouth. He had already discerned that Qin Sang's martial technique was mediocre at best. "Condense!" Qianji Demon King barked a low command. The demonic mist converged upon him once more, solidifying into black armor over his body. Crossing his arms, he closed the distance on Qin Sang in a flash. In that split second, Qin Sang saw only two serpent phantoms harboring countless variations!