Avoiding the red foxes, Qin Sang walked some distance to the right, where he saw that the illusory formation ahead was damaged and torn, and sensed an ultimate edge of sharpness. The further forward he went, the denser the sword qi became.
This place was still some distance from the sword mark.
Sword qi crisscrossed through the void as baneful winds howled, resembling a domain of swords in every right. It was perilous to the extreme; he could advance no further. Qin Sang did not doubt for an instant that if he carelessly stumbled into this sword domain, he would lose his life in the blink of an eye.
He observed the sword qi. After testing it and seeing that it did not deliberately target anything outside the illusory formation, a plan formed in his mind. Sweeping his gaze over his surroundings, his Qianjun Ring flashed with light, and he produced a triangular blue pennant.
Qin Sang had learned the methods for refining many magic tools and magic treasures from the ancient texts of the Xuling Sect. While some of these treasures were not of high quality, their uses were rather specialized. Picking out those that might prove useful, Qin Sang had refined several for himself, and this blue pennant was one of them.
The blue pennant was merely palm-sized.
Qin Sang tossed the blue pennant into the air and cast several hand seals in rapid succession. An ethereal ripple of water spread out, and the blue pennant vanished into thin air.
In the next instant, a ripple suddenly appeared in the void, and a water qilin leapt out, treading atop waves. With its imposing horns and majestic stance, it looked exceptionally formidable.
The water qilin was azure throughout, composed entirely of water.
Fierce light glinted in its eyes as it uttered low growls, appearing exceedingly ferocious. In truth, it possessed no sentience of its own, being an illusory beast manifested by the blue pennant.
The beast's strength was not great, but it held one distinct advantage: so long as its water qi was not exhausted, it could reform at will, making it ideal for luring beasts and insects of low intelligence.
Having summoned the water qilin, Qin Sang glanced toward the dense forest and pulled back.
"Roar!"
Exuding an awe-inspiring presence, the water qilin paced back and forth on its four hooves, roaring toward the heavens from time to time.
Qin Sang waited for a moment, surprised to find that there was no movement at all within the dense forest. With a quick turn of thought, he understood why: the illusory formation was damaged, and the range of the red foxes' perception was similarly restricted.
After a thought, he retraced his steps a short distance, summoned the ebony sword, and slashed an arc of sword qi toward the dense forest.
Rumble!
Several towering ancient trees were cut clean through at their trunks and collapsed with a deafening crash.
With such a commotion, the red foxes could not possibly fail to react.
Just as this thought crossed Qin Sang's mind, several red streaks suddenly appeared in his field of vision, shooting out from the dense forest in the blink of an eye, swift as shooting stars!
What speed!
Qin Sang was secretly startled. Even with his cultivation, he could not clearly see the figures of the red foxes; they were faster than his Thunder Escape technique!
If his true body were discovered by the red foxes, there would be no chance of escape whatsoever.
What was even more startling was that after these red foxes were disturbed, they emitted shrill shrieks, immediately followed by rustling sounds sweeping across the entire dense forest.
One red shadow after another bolted out from deep within the forest.
These seemingly adorable red foxes had turned immensely ferocious at this moment, radiating an overwhelming murderous aura.
"Fortunately, I was careful enough. Otherwise, I would have already been torn to shreds by these little creatures."
Feeling deeply relieved, Qin Sang hurriedly looked toward the water qilin's position.
As the red foxes rushed out of the forest, provoked by the water qilin, their eyes flooded with crimson light. Plunging into madness, they pounced forward amidst piercing screeches.
Just as these red foxes were about to reach the water qilin...
The sword qi floating in the void seemed to be provoked by something. Light blazed forth abruptly, accompanied by a droning hum, and an astonishing sword intent erupted.
Qin Sang's mind trembled under the sword intent. Before he could even see clearly what had happened, he saw the red foxes sliced cleanly in two. They tumbled to the ground and dissolved into mist. Yet the foxes behind continued to charge forward relentlessly, only to be wiped out entirely in one fell swoop.
He clearly felt a strange power begin to brew deep within the dense forest after the red foxes died.
Sure enough, these red foxes were inexhaustible. The illusory formation could spawn new ones at any moment; this brief window in between was his opportunity.
The sword qi had detonated, and the physical blue pennant was also destroyed here.
Qin Sang emerged from his hiding spot, transformed into a bolt of lightning, and surged into the dense forest, speeding past the ancient trees.
Surrounded by swirling mist, he dared not look too closely. Driving his Thunder Escape technique to its fullest, he burst out of the dense forest in a single breath. At the very moment he exited, the corner of his eye caught a red silhouette just coalescing into form.
"Phew!"
Qin Sang slowly exhaled a breath. His heart had been in his throat just now, but fortunately, he had succeeded.
The red foxes frolicked in groups once more, and the dense forest returned to tranquil silence.
Landing on the ground, Qin Sang glanced back once before turning his eyes to the stone palace ahead. The Nanming Primordial Fire lay within that stone palace.
The sword mark cut straight through the stone palace. Now the area affected by the sword qi had expanded, but fortunately it had not completely destroyed the stone palace; the door from before was still there.
Just then, Qin Sang sensed a wave of aggrieved thoughts from the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.
"It's finally back to normal."
Qin Sang comforted the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, summoned his Nascent Soul talisman puppet once more, and walked toward the stone palace.
As he stepped into the stone palace, a wave of blistering heat hit him head-on.
"This aura..."
Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. It was the Nanming Primordial Fire!
The Nanming Primordial Fire had been sealed deep within the secret passage. Previously, one had to open the passage before its aura could be detected, yet now its influence reached outside the tunnel.
'The immortal realm is reviving, and the Nanming Primordial Fire has been affected as well. I hope nothing unexpected has happened.'
Praying inwardly, Qin Sang quickened his pace toward the entrance of the secret passage and triggered the restriction on the floor tiles.
The secret passage opened.
Boom!
An astonishing aura of demon fire, pent up within the passage, finally broke free of its restraints and poured out violently.
Alert, Qin Sang dodged to the side just in time to see a flaming dragon surge out, grazing past him before rushing straight out of the hall and bursting apart in midair.
Once this force dissipated, Qin Sang looked down into the secret passage.
"If it is merely an eruption of the demon fire, it shouldn't hinder subduing it. In any case, I must go down and take a look..."
Pondering briefly, he ordered the Nascent Soul talisman puppet to lead the way and absorb any impact for him, while summoning the eighteen demonic banners to clad his entire body in demonic fire armor.
Layers of protection, coupled with his formidable physical body.
Qin Sang felt somewhat more secure. Having prepared the magic treasures he had refined specifically to subdue the demon fire, he stepped into the secret passage.
The aura of the Nanming Primordial Fire seeped out ceaselessly, though fortunately it had not yet exceeded the limits of his cultivation. Even so, Qin Sang felt the unbearable, blistering heat; sweat poured from him like rain, and his true essence depleted at a rapid pace.
Finally, Qin Sang reached the end of the secret passage and saw the true body of the Nanming Primordial Fire, his heart sinking at the sight.
What had originally been merely a ball of flame had now swelled into a massive fireball—not an illusion manifested by the demon fire's aura, but an eruption of its true body!
Qin Sang edged forward with great caution, staring intently at the demon fire's true body.
When Yunyouzi had cast himself into the Nanming Primordial Fire to be reborn through the flames, he had made a new discovery: the Nanming Primordial Fire was kept inside a stone chamber resembling an alchemy chamber, which contained residual ancient restrictions capable of restraining it.
Looking closely, one could see slender golden threads crawling all over the stone walls, giving off strange ripples of energy that exerted a degree of suppression over the Nanming Primordial Fire.
The demon fire had erupted and was currently clashing with the ancient restrictions!
However, what drew Qin Sang's gaze most was neither of these, but an intensely vibrant point of crimson light deep within the core of the demon fire.
A feather!
Chapter 1335