Qin Sang had yet to witness his senior sister fight with his own eyes.
Even before his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul realm, she had struck him as deeply mysterious.
Her strength was beyond doubt. Otherwise, self-proclaimed righteous figures like Patriarch Chifa would never have compromised so easily after discovering that Qingjun had usurped the Yuanshen Sect and seized another's foundation.
Yet what surprised Qin Sang was that even after he advanced to the Nascent Soul realm and stood on equal footing with her, his senior sister remained an enigma he could not fathom.
In recent years, this aura of mystery had only grown stronger, like a secluded pool of deep, unfathomable water.
Among all the Nascent Soul cultivators in the Beichen Realm Qin Sang had encountered, only Old Demon Ye had ever given him a similar sensation.
Reflecting on it, Qin Sang traced the origin back to before his journey to the Abyss Ruins, when he had gone to ask her for the damaged demonic banner.
At the time, Qingjun had imparted to him the vicious art known as the Lifeless Demonic Seal, admitting that it had troubled her for many years and that she had only recently resolved the hidden perils brought on by cultivating it. Her current state was likely tied to that breakthrough.
Having cast off those shackles, her cultivation was bound to advance by leaps and bounds.
*Could Senior Sister's cultivation already rival the likes of Demon Monarch Tongyou?*
Qin Sang was startled by his own speculation.
Daoist Zhenyi, Demon Monarch Tongyou, and the others—which among them had not undergone centuries of bitter cultivation to attain their present standing?
To reach the Nascent Soul realm, barring an anomaly like himself, every cultivator possessed exceptional talent. Even Qin Sang had only bolstered his innate aptitude through unique cultivation arts.
Even if Qingjun possessed a heavenly spiritual root, achieving such profound heights in so short a time would still mark her as an extraordinary, peerless figure.
Still, these were merely Qin Sang's conjectures. Perhaps his senior sister practiced a peculiar cultivation method that offered unique means of concealment. Since it touched upon her personal secrets, it was not his place to pry.
The group comprised four people: Demon Monarch Tongyou, Qingjun, Qin Sang, and Jingyu.
Qin Sang and Jingyu were both demons; Jingyu had to lead the way, while Qin Sang's strength was obvious to all. Once the two volunteered to go, the rest had no reason to object.
With the plan decided, the group acted at once.
Demon Monarch Tongyou and Qingjun passed their jade talismans to Si and Di. Demonic fire blazed fiercely around Xiang Qing; the spiritual fire under his command was slightly different from before, carrying a harsher, more domineering edge after absorbing the Ancestral Holy Fire.
With Xiang Qing presiding over the formation and the others lending their full support with their respective arts, the grand array swayed slightly before steadying itself, changing very little from its previous state.
The ruse could not last long, but holding out until the infiltration team slipped inside would suffice.
With the talismans changing hands, the cultivators abruptly shifted tactics, driving the Inverted Nine Palaces Array backward as if abandoning their assault.
Jiang Chenzi and the others, who were operating the Banner Gate Grand Array, grew puzzled upon noticing the retreat.
"Huh? Could they have realized they can't break through and decided to withdraw?" another flag-bearing Nascent Soul cultivator asked in surprise.
Beside him, someone snorted coldly. "How could it be that simple? Old Demon Tongyou is full of cunning tricks. Seeing no hope of breaking through, he likely doesn't want to waste his strength for nothing. He's probably planning to set a trap outside to wait at his ease for our exhausted return, then ambush us when we come out."
"If that ancient cultivator still has the strength to resist and fights us to mutual destruction, they really might succeed. What a pity, what a pity..." The flag-bearer chuckled eerily.
Jiang Chenzi's brow furrowed tightly.
The Inverted Nine Palaces Array manifested the Nine Palaces in infinite permutations, completely obscuring the movements of those inside. Unable to guess their opponents' intentions for the moment, they could only wait and see.
They made no move to stop the retreat.
The overarching task took priority. Unsure of the ancient cultivator's condition, they also wished to conserve their strength against unexpected turns; guarding the entrance to the blood pool was enough.
"Fellow Daoists, do not let down your guard, lest Old Demon Tongyou pull a feint!" Jiang Chenzi warned loudly.
Sure enough, it was just as Jiang Chenzi had anticipated!
Having pulled back a short distance, the Inverted Nine Palaces Array suddenly unleashed two beams of Yin-Yang light that transformed into sharp swords and thrust forward viciously. At the same time, the array surged forward rather than retreating, its speed a fraction faster than before.
"Stop them!"
Jiang Chenzi remained unruffled. Working together, the cultivators drove the three banner gates forward, forming a solid barrier before the Inverted Nine Palaces Array.
Meanwhile, Qin Sang's party of four had already quietly slipped away from the Inverted Nine Palaces Array, concealing their auras and melting back into the blood mist.
At the center of the formation, a sphere of black light coalesced and dissipated intermittently. It was the illusion of the central Black Pagoda, drawing upon the power of the Black Pagoda array to reform itself.
However, with the two grand arrays clashing at the blood pool entrance, the aftershocks repeatedly disrupted the illusion, preventing it from taking solid form. This provided the perfect opportunity.
Knowing time was of the essence, the four immediately moved out, circling to another direction and plunging into the illusion to search for flaws in the ancient restriction.
The blood pool was vast. Even though the illusion had been disrupted, searching through it for a gap in the ancient restriction to slip through still required considerable effort.
Fortunately, with Jingyu leading the way and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly assisting, the four searched around and eventually found a fissure.
The four came to a halt.
Dense blood mist surrounded them.
Ahead lay a corridor built of black stone. It had originally connected to the Black Pagoda, but with the pagoda destroyed, it had become a dead end. As shockwaves from the clashing arrays continually rippled outward, disturbing the illusions, cracks spiderwebbed across the corridor. On the verge of collapse, it was already revealing its illusory nature.
Without much effort, they located the true ancient restriction: an invisible barrier.
As expected, damage marred the barrier, but the fissure was far too narrow, and formidable ancient restrictive power still surged through the gap.
"Forcing our way through isn't viable. Even if we managed to break in, the commotion would alert Old Demon Ye inside," Qin Sang said, shaking his head after inspecting it.
Undeterred, the group immediately shifted directions to look for another flaw.
After checking three different locations, they finally discovered a suitable spot behind the Black Pagoda. The ancient restriction here was fragile; if the four of them joined forces for a concentrated strike, they should be able to tear open a gap just large enough for one person to squeeze through.
Finding a better option was unlikely, so the four resolved to act here.
Demon Monarch Tongyou once again summoned the Yin Thunder Gourd he had used earlier.
Qingjun brought out a black dark iron pagoda inscribed with the three large characters "Five Directions Pagoda"—the supreme ancestral treasure of the Yuanshen Sect.
After killing Leng Yuntian, the Five Directions Pagoda had fallen into her hands.
Qin Sang could not resist taking a few extra glances. Back then, he had watched Leng Yuntian wield this treasure while braving the immortal array of the Ziwei Palace. Having fallen into a trap, the Five Directions Pagoda had been tainted by the Blood Impurity Divine Light before it could display its full might.
As the ancestral legacy of the Yuanshen Sect, the Five Directions Pagoda stood among the pinnacle of top-tier magic treasures. Qin Sang wondered how it would compare to the eighteen demonic banners.
In terms of pure destructive power, Qin Sang doubted the Five Directions Pagoda could rival the eighteen demonic banners.
The might demonstrated by the eighteen demonic banners had, in truth, already transcended the realm of ordinary magic treasures.
Qin Sang said nothing, summoning his demonic banners and standing ready.
Jingyu stood beside him and spat out the Thunder Prayer Beads, the only treasure in her possession. In her hands, the beads revealed their true magnificence—Fat Chicken had only been able to bring out less than half of their potential.
What Qin Sang had to do was create the best possible conditions for Jingyu to seize the Corpse Flower Blood Amber!
Chapter 1260