Land of Filth

Qin Sang and Lu Boyuan stood together, and through Lu Boyuan's introduction, Qin Sang made the acquaintance of several unfamiliar desert cultivators. Qingjun stood to one side, intently observing the whirlpool in the sea of mist, lost in thought. Five days passed in the blink of an eye. No newcomers arrived after that. Qin Sang inadvertently glanced toward the Xiaohan Realm cultivators not far away. They would be cooperating with Demon Monarch Tongyou and the demon race to explore another forbidden ground. As his gaze swept past Dongyang Bo, Dongyang Bo noticed and looked up, meeting Qin Sang's eyes. As though discerning what Qin Sang was thinking, the corners of Dongyang Bo's mouth curved slightly in an amused smile. Qin Sang's gaze turned cold, and he withdrew his eyes. For the past twenty years, Dongyang Bo had behaved himself, appearing to have forgotten that Qin Sang had snatched his Nascent Soul talisman puppet and gravely injured him. Perhaps Dongyang Bo was wary of Qin Sang's strength and feared implicating Shaohua Mountain, choosing to swallow his anger and give up on making trouble. Qin Sang, however, did not care about Dongyang Bo's thoughts. Dongyang Bo posed no threat to him. If Dongyang Bo dared to make a move, Bai and the subdued Nascent Soul talisman puppet would certainly give him a tremendous surprise. Qin Sang was pondering another matter. Judging by earlier news and the words Dongyang Bo had spoken back then, Chen Yan's previous attempt to rescue her master had likely ended in failure. Long ago, when Qin Sang had sold himself into servitude for Foundation Establishment, Chen Yan's true goal had been to rescue her master at any cost—a testament to how deep the bond between master and disciple ran. Given Chen Yan's character, she would never give up so long as there remained even a one-in-ten-thousand chance. Yet ever since she left, she had not appeared even when Ziwei Palace emerged the previous time. Now that the immortal gate was about to open again, there was still no sign of Chen Yan. Chen Yan was a favored child of heaven possessing a heavenly spiritual root. She had already been a Nascent Soul cultivator two hundred years ago, and her cultivation today was bound to be vastly superior to what it had been. Even if she had not broken through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, inviting a few helpers ought not to be difficult, right? Had she given up on saving her master, or had something happened to her? *** Sin God Palace. Stale, decayed, and deadly silent. A ghostly glimmer lit up in the darkness, illuminating a seated figure beside the ancient sealing restriction. This person was like an ancient bronze bell, having sat withered here for an unknown number of years, utterly motionless, blending into the darkness. Sensing ripples from the ancient sealing restriction, Old Demon Ye woke from his meditative trance and slowly opened his eyes. For more than twenty years, he had not moved half a step, and his injuries had long since healed. He glanced around himself. The core crystals of the Nether Crystal Pagoda floated about him, constantly rotating in a slow orbit. The Nascent Souls had vanished. Looking closely, one would discover a miniature figure imprisoned within each crystal sphere—the Nascent Souls of the various cultivators, including Old Man Tianzheng! Thin chains wrapped around their bodies, binding their limbs and necks. Their faces were no longer twisted with malice; instead, they were completely dull and lifeless, their eyes vacant, having clearly lost their senses of self. Trapped within the crystal spheres, they showed no trace of struggle. Old Demon Ye's gaze shifted, finally settling on the crystal sphere at the very center. Old Man Tianzheng's Nascent Soul was imprisoned within it. Old Demon Ye looked deeply at him, opened his mouth, and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. Driven by his divine sense, it formed an exceptionally intricate blood soul curse out of thin air, which vanished into Old Man Tianzheng's glabella in a flash. An expression of extreme agony surfaced on Old Man Tianzheng's face. Having fought Old Demon Ye for years, his strength was entirely exhausted, leaving him with little power to resist. The last glimmer of clarity in his mind was swallowed by the blood soul curse, plunging him into profound despair as he fell completely under Old Demon Ye's control. A plume of ghost mist suddenly materialized within the crystal sphere, transforming into countless ghostly apparitions. Baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, they pounced on Old Man Tianzheng, ultimately turning into chains that bound him securely. Seeing this, Old Demon Ye breathed a long sigh of relief. He had not expected the old bastard to be so difficult to deal with. The other Nascent Souls had collapsed quickly, allowing Old Demon Ye to take advantage of them and refine them into the crystal spheres. Only Old Man Tianzheng, still unhealed from his severe injuries, had struggled stubbornly against despair with an unshakable mindset that offered no flaws. Coupled with the fact that Old Demon Ye was also injured, the matter had dragged on until now. "Ziwei Palace is about to emerge! Let me out quickly! Otherwise it will be too late!" A shrill scream echoed from beneath the seal. Old Demon Ye cast a flat glance downward. The devil was desperate to escape and threw a fit like this every few years; Old Demon Ye naturally would not believe it. His figure flickered as he darted outside the forbidden ground. Looking into the depths of Sin God Palace, he saw the phenomenon in the distant sky, and a flash of pleasant surprise and eagerness crossed his eyes. The hour had arrived! "Throw the jade bone down! Hurry!" The devil shrieked, even more impatient than Old Demon Ye. The jade bone had been kept at the edge of the ancient restriction by Old Demon Ye all this time. With hope of release within reach, being able only to watch but not touch for twenty years had been an agonizing torment. This time, Old Demon Ye hesitated no longer. He seized the jade bone and flung it into the seal. Ghostly light flared brightly, finally revealing the full layout of the seal. The place was unusually vast, surrounded by a swamp. The swamp was filled with mire, reeking of foul, impure substances. A flagstone pathway wound through the swamp, its end leading to four stone pillars. Each pillar rose several tens of zhang high, occupying one of the four cardinal directions. Immensely magnificent, their bases were plunged deep into the swamp, together forming the seal. At that moment, the mud pit between the pillars churned, revealing a narrow opening. The devil's voice had come from within it. Old Demon Ye's figure flickered, splitting into four silhouettes that flew toward the four stone pillars. He had remained on the pathway before, not daring to touch the swamp. These foul substances carried a corrosive power, subjecting the devil trapped within to inhuman torture at every moment. *Bang!* The four silhouettes formed an exceptionally intricate hand seal, pressing their palms simultaneously against the stone pillars. The seal shuddered. *Gurgle, gurgle...* The jade bone fell into the swamp and instantly sank. A burst of wild laughter erupted from the depths. Suddenly, waves of mud surged skyward, accompanied by a nauseating stench that made one retch. From the midst of the violently churning mud, a gray shadow surged forth. Inside the gray shadow was a human skull. The instant the skull appeared, the seal reacted violently. Though countless years had passed, the ripples emanating from the stone pillars still carried astonishing might. Old Demon Ye's expression shifted slightly. Gritting his teeth, he executed hand seals to shake the seal. The sealing power surged toward the gray shadow, whipping savagely at the skull like barbed lashes. *Smack! Smack! Smack!* The devil wailed repeatedly as the skull charged frantically toward the jade bone, fractures spidering across it until it seemed on the verge of bursting apart. At the very instant the skull disintegrated, a soul shadow shot out, barely managing to plunge into the jade bone. The sealing power immediately gave chase, growing even more ferocious and terrifying. *Rip!* The brocade skin covering the jade bone was torn apart on the spot, shredded into tatters. A barrage of explosive cracks rang from the jade bone. It was exceptionally sturdy, but if it did not break free quickly, it would follow in the skull's footsteps. Ghostly radiance washed over its entire frame, and countless bizarre talismans flickered into sight across the jade bone as an immense aura suddenly erupted. Two clumps of soul fire ignited in the hollow eye sockets, dancing violently. Occupied by the ghostly shadow, the jade bone let out a shrill howl and soared into the sky!