The Scarlet Altar

Qin Sang flew out of the Inner Hall and saw the demonic cave they had passed through when entering. The earth had torn apart, and the demonic cave had not been spared. A massive chasm had ruptured across the entrance, and countless fragments of shattered stone tumbled inside. The demonic cave seemed bottomless; swallowing so much rubble, it showed no sign whatsoever of being filled. Yet within the cave, it was far from calm—space itself was exceptionally unstable. Qin Sang suspected that the tremors caused by the abnormal phenomena in the Ziwei Palace Inner Hall had traveled along the demonic cave to Sin God Palace. If this went on, not only would the demonic cave be destroyed, but Sin God Palace would likely follow in the footsteps of the Outer Hall. The reach of these phenomena was simply too vast. Fortunately, Ziwei Palace had more than one exit. Even if the demonic cave met destruction, they could still leave through the Outer Hall and would not be trapped here to die. Qin Sang touched down upon the ground. Standing here, he could already feel the ghost mist's distinct, sinister chill. The ghost mist around him was thin, but grew denser the farther forward he looked. Even now, an endless stream of ghost mist was rolling outward. It was hard to imagine just how much ghost mist had accumulated within the Immortal Graves beforehand; after erupting, its reach was astonishingly broad. Inside the Immortal Graves, countless yin souls and ghostly fiends lurked. For reasons unknown, these spirits and ghosts rarely strayed beyond the bounds of the Immortal Graves. Even formidable entities on the level of corpse kings and ghost kings would only attack when living beings intruded upon the graves. Other corpse kings and ghost kings possessed no Heavenly Corpse Talismans within them. They came and went without a trace, and no one knew how many had been spawned over countless years. At this moment, these yin souls and ghosts had surged out of the Immortal Graves alongside the ghost mist. Ghostly shrieks rose and fell in waves, icy winds howled, and ten thousand ghosts roamed rampant—a spectacle to make one's scalp tingle. The Outer Hall had become a ghost domain, thoroughly chaotic. This was likely the location where they had sent out their signal, as the talisman sword's guidance ended right here. He had arrived too late; not another figure was in sight. Qin Sang had no idea what had transpired earlier. The talisman sword had lost its resonance, leaving him unable to determine the whereabouts of his senior sister and the others for the time being. Not daring to act rashly, he focused his gaze toward the depths of the ghost mist. The ghost mist hung thick and heavy. Apart from the Immortal Graves, there were several other forbidden grounds in the Outer Hall, all of which were now swallowed by the ghost mist as well. The only distinctive sight lay deep within the ghost mist: a cluster of bloody light that Qin Sang could faintly make out even from where he stood. Due to the distance and the shroud of ghost mist, the silhouette of the bloody light appeared modest. 'That should be the Scarlet Altar.' Qin Sang recalled that after emerging from the Immortal Graves, one would immediately see a scarlet altar. The altar was enormous, shaped like a colossal pyramid. Around it drifted crimson, baleful blood qi, merged with dense, terrifying ancient restrictions. One look made it obvious it was no benign place. Nascent Soul cultivators would sooner brave Tianshan in the Inner Hall than disturb the Scarlet Altar. Thus, despite standing in the Outer Hall for so many years, very few had ever entertained designs upon it. Around the Scarlet Altar, the condensed, lingering slaughter qi was so vivid it seemed ready to drip blood. Yet in Qin Sang's memory, it had never been so glaring before—bright enough that even the ghost mist could not shroud it. 'Could they all have gone there?' Qin Sang mused silently. Aside from the ghost mist, nothing else was visible, leaving him only to guess. Qingjun, Jingyu, and Bai had all vanished, most likely trapped within the ghost mist. In any case, he could not stand idly by; he had to venture inside to investigate. The three of them were far from weak and each possessed life-preserving measures. With so many Nascent Souls joining forces, it was impossible for Old Demon Ye to kill them all. Moreover, the ghost mist was Bai's home turf. Inside it, it was doubtful anyone could keep Bai pinned down. Bai would be like a fish in water; even if he were no match for Old Demon Ye, he could surely escape with his life. Qin Sang suspected that the situation inside was most likely locked in a stalemate. Old Demon Ye's goal was intriguing. First he had freed a fiend from Sin God Palace, and now he had come to the Scarlet Altar. Could Ziwei Palace also hold an ancient fiend sealed away? Qin Sang recalled that he had obtained the Nine Nether Demonic Fire right here in Ziwei Palace—it was truly possible! A single ancient fiend already made Qin Sang feel as if facing a mortal threat. If two fiends joined forces, it was terrifying to imagine what the cultivation world of the Beichen Realm would become. There would be no point in struggling; Qin Sang would retreat into his sanctuary without hesitation. Right at that moment, Qin Sang made a new discovery. Within the ghost mist, faint flickers of light flashed and faded in several spots. Barring any surprises, they were cultivators wielding magic treasures in battle. These battlefields were not together; they were separated from one another. "No wonder there was hardly any commotion. Earlier, they had prepared a spirit array for the Nascent Souls to join forces and drive against Old Demon Ye. From the looks of it, Senior Sister and the others were forced apart before they could deploy the array, and now each is fighting their own battle. Old Demon Ye's side only has two people—I really wonder how he managed this..." Qin Sang swept his gaze back and forth, pinpointing the positions of these battlegrounds. The light of the magic treasures was too faint, flickering in and out of view, making it impossible to tell who was wielding them. Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and pushed the Heavenly Eye divine ability to its full power, but failed to spot the Five Directions Pagoda. "Since I can't confirm Qingjun's location, I can only choose the one closest to me. I'll find out what happened first before making a decision. Once I'm inside, Bai should contact me..." Pondering this, Qin Sang hesitated no longer. Spurring the Ebony Sword, he plunged into the ghost mist. The eighteen demonic banners were hidden inside his sleeve. The demonic banners consumed too much power, and Qin Sang could not sustain them for long; good steel had to be used on the blade's edge. Whoosh! Qin Sang turned into a streak of sword light, speeding through the ghost mist. Any yin soul or ghostly fiend foolish enough to cross his path was instantly slashed to pieces by the flying sword. Soon, he arrived near the first forbidden ground. The ground here was riddled with holes, covered with openings large and small that connected into an extraordinarily complex subterranean network. In the past, when cultivators passed through here, if they failed to conceal their aura, they would disturb a bizarre serpent-like creature dwelling within the holes, which would swarm out to attack the intruders. Now, those creatures were nowhere to be found, and yin souls and ghostly fiends were everywhere. Qin Sang's luck was decent; he encountered no ghosts of the ghost king level. Passing through one forbidden area after another, his vision cleared, and the bloody light radiating from the Scarlet Altar grew increasingly luminous. Seeing that he was not far from his objective, Qin Sang suddenly reined in his sword and halted. Frowning deeply, he examined the ghost mist ahead. There were no strange fluctuations, yet through the Heavenly Eye divine ability, Qin Sang noticed that the flow of the ghost mist here seemed abnormal. He watched for a moment, but could not make sense of it. Time was pressing and gave him no leisure to overthink. Waving his hand, he sent out the Nascent Soul talisman puppet to scout ahead. Once assured there was no danger, he darted forward as well. Upon entering this area, Qin Sang found his vision even more severely restricted, and his divine sense was suppressed as well. Without the Heavenly Eye divine ability, others could likely see no farther than a few zhang around them—no wonder they had been unable to regroup for so long. At last, Qin Sang found his target. Several Nascent Souls were fighting shoulder-to-shoulder, besieged by something, and at their head was none other than Daoist Zhenyi! At the very moment Qin Sang broke in: At the Scarlet Altar. Two figures hovered on opposite sides above the altar—none other than Old Demon Ye and Jade Bone. "Another fool who doesn't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth has barged in! Heh, his swordsmanship seems decent, and he even has a Nascent Soul puppet..." Within Jade Bone's eye sockets, ghost flames flickered. His tone was indifferent, tinged with a trace of disdain.