Vengeance

Fat Chick circled the ice palace and discovered a teleportation formation. Only then did it realize that Qin Sang had teleported from here the last time, stumbling upon its home and snatching the fragment of the Boundless Blood Mulberry. However, the teleportation formation showed no reaction; the formation on the other side was already ruined. Qin Sang buried Wu Shang's remains within the ice palace, erected a tablet commemorating his deeds, and sealed the palace shut. After leaving the ice palace, Fat Chick wanted to visit its old cave dwelling. The Thunder-Devouring Falcon's dwelling was actually located deep within the inner valley. Boundless Valley was fraught with layers of restrictions and warped space. Qin Sang followed Fat Chick through winding paths for quite a while before finally catching sight of that familiar glacier and the boundless Mystic Frost Baleful Wind, thick and heavy as cloud banks. "Eh?" Passing through the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind, Qin Sang saw the entrance to the Thunder-Devouring Falcon's cave dwelling. Sensing that it now had a master, his expression shifted slightly, and he glanced at Fat Chick. Fat Chick gave a sheepish, simple laugh. "Nothing escapes Master's sharp eyes. The dwelling left behind by my mother was forcibly occupied by a damnable fox not long after she vanished. Back then, I was still young and was chased with nowhere to run, no path to the heavens and no door into the earth. Fortunately, my mother had left me several life-saving treasures, or I would have met a grim end right then. Later, displaced and homeless, I suffered endless hardships and was nearly captured by human cultivators to be flayed, deboned, and refined into magic treasures. If I don't avenge this grudge, the hatred in my heart will never subside!" Recalling its miserable experiences from those days, Fat Chick could not help but grind its beak in fury. Although the Thunder-Devouring Falcon demon king had disappeared, she had left behind an excellent cave dwelling and numerous treasures. Fat Chick could originally have cultivated in peace until reaching the Demon Core stage or even higher before heading out into the world to seek a way to rescue its mother. Unexpectedly, an uninvited guest had seized the dwelling. A proud descendant of a demon king had been reduced to a stray dog. Having narrowly escaped with its life, Fat Chick had hidden away in disgrace and misery. "I dare not trouble you, Master. This humble one will settle this grudge personally!" Fat Chick let out a shrill screech and dove straight down like a bolt of lightning, plunging directly into the ice cavern. Immediately afterward, a sharp, urgent cry rang out from within the dwelling. *Boom!* The icy wind in the cavern scattered at the impact. Arcs of thunder and blue radiance erupted outward in thousands of dazzling rays. Fat Chick wheeled around and shot back out of the ice cavern, closely pursued by a streak of blue escape light. It was a blue fox the size of a bull calf, its aura remarkably on par with Fat Chick's. After all these years of occupying such an exceptional cave dwelling and cultivating day and night, the blue fox had also grown into a great demon of the late Demon Core stage; otherwise, Fat Chick would have returned for revenge long ago. When bitter enemies met, their eyes burned with fury. In the blink of an eye, the two beasts clashed in fierce combat. Qin Sang swept his gaze across them. The blue fox was indeed fierce and formidable, but it still fell short of Fat Chick, who had absorbed the Qingluan's thunderous might and wielded the demon king's prized treasure. Fat Chick's victory was merely a matter of time. Lacking interest, he withdrew his gaze, flew beyond the layer of baleful wind, and surveyed this rarely trodden corner of heaven and earth. Outside the cave dwelling, the two beasts traded hundreds of blows in moments, fighting from the ground into the sky and back down to the earth. For a time, roars shook the heavens. Glaciers cracked and shattered; gales howled. Finally given the chance to vent its pent-up rage, Fat Chick spared no effort, unleashing all its divine abilities. Azure lightning enveloped its body, shooting forth streaks of thunderbolts as though a Qingluan possessed it, radiant with extraordinary majesty. The blue fox gradually found itself struggling to keep up, its eyes darting wildly. It had never imagined that the little demon it had driven away all those years ago would return for revenge, its strength having surpassed its own. Although it had never ingested Emperor Flowing Dew, having lived for so long, it possessed no small amount of intellect. Seeing that the enemy was overpowering and impossible to withstand, the thought of fleeing took root in its mind. *Pfft!* The blue fox spat out a plume of frigid vapor—a breath of spiritual wind refined from years of absorbing the essence of the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind. Fat Chick dared not take it head-on and dodged frantically. Yet unexpectedly, as that plume of chill surged forward, it abruptly congealed into a sharp blade. Its speed skyrocketed, slicing through the void in an instant and slashing toward Fat Chick's chest, poised to pierce clean through and end its life. The blue fox did not even wait to see the outcome; with a flick of its tail, it turned and prepared to flee. "I've been waiting for this trick!" Instead of panicking, Fat Chick laughed, opening its beak wide to release the pearl left behind by the demon king, which drifted out lightly. The pearl appeared frail and thin, yet when the ice blade struck it, not only did it fail to damage the pearl in the slightest, the blade instantly pulverized into fine powder. Fat Chick cackled wildly, snapping its wings together as it dove straight for the blue fox. Thunder flashed over its sharp talons, intent on crushing the fox's skull. The blue fox scrambled to evade, but it was too slow against Fat Chick's unrelenting onslaught. Caught off guard, its protective spiritual glow was shattered by a bolt of lightning that struck a vital point, blasting it from the clouds. It crashed heavily onto the ice, rolling into a battered heap. Grievously wounded, the blue fox had no strength left to flee. Paws raised toward the sky, it whimpered repeatedly to beg the descending Fat Chick for mercy. Remembering all that had happened in the past, blood rushed to Fat Chick's head. How could it allow its sworn enemy to live? Without the slightest mercy, it ripped open the blue fox's belly, dug into its innards with sharp claws, tore out the demon core, and swallowed it in a single gulp. Having successfully exacted its vengeance, Fat Chick cleaned up the cave dwelling that the blue fox had left in disarray, then hurried to rejoin Qin Sang. Qin Sang did not ask about the details. Stowing Fat Chick into the Primordial Concentric Rings, he set off, sweeping toward the Blood Lake. The depths of Boundless Valley were perilous enough to rival the Abyss Ruins, making every step treacherous. Yet Qin Sang could come and go as he pleased even in the Abyss Ruins, so these obstacles naturally posed no challenge to him. Since it was still early before the agreed time, Qin Sang took the opportunity to explore Boundless Valley, gathering several varieties of spirit herbs and spirit fruits, though the sword spirit of the Killing Sword still showed no response. Five days later, Qin Sang found the Blood Lake. "Fellow Daoist Mingyue has arrived." Over a dozen figures stood along the edge of the Blood Lake. The one greeting Qin Sang was Xiang Qing, who had been closest to Boundless Valley and had arrived first. Having joined forces on Divine Astral Peak to subdue the Ancestral Holy Fire, they shared a bit of camaraderie. Beside Xiang Qing stood a demonic cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage. He had been keeping watch over the Blood Lake's seal recently, which had allowed news to be transmitted back in good time. Aside from them, the rest were surprisingly all Core Formation cultivators. "Fellow Daoist Xiang, Fellow Daoist Hong..." Qin Sang returned their greetings. Seeing those Core Formation cultivators standing far to the side and whispering among themselves, he felt somewhat surprised. The seal was by no means the only hurdle of the Blood Lake; even Nascent Soul Patriarchs had to tread with utmost caution inside. The purpose of entering the Blood Lake was to plot against Sin Abyss; these Core Formation cultivators would not only be of no help, but would also become a burden. Xiang Qing glanced at them and remarked flatly, "Just a bunch of desperate daredevils. Somehow, they caught wind of the Blood Lake's emergence and want to fish in troubled waters. Since someone managed to discover the Boundless Blood Mulberry in the Blood Lake back then, perhaps there might be someone blessed by great fortune this time as well. Still, how many of them will make it out alive in the end is hard to say." Qin Sang noticed that these people were mostly disciples from major sects. Being well-informed, they had likely received guidance from sect elders. Although they did not lack cultivation resources, once they encountered a bottleneck, being stranded for a century or more was commonplace. There was no shortage of daring individuals willing to venture into forbidden grounds and secret realms in search of opportunities. Qin Sang had walked the very same path himself. "Is this the Blood Lake? It's smaller than the one in the Abyss Ruins..." Qin Sang walked forward a few steps and sized up the Blood Lake. Sandwiched between two cloud masses formed by ancient restrictions, the Blood Lake revealed only a ribbon-like gap, and they were currently standing at one end of that rift. Eerily enough, the Blood Lake touched neither the sky above nor the earth below. It hung suspended in midair, steadily emanating a pervasive blood-colored aura.