Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The blood infants were diminutive, their escaping streaks of light as thin as strands of hair.
How could Qin Sang allow them to flee so easily? Without hesitation, he formed a sword seal.
In a flash, the Ebony Sword appeared above the blood infants, rays of sword radiance raining down like a deluge.
Just as the sword array was about to form, the shrieks of the blood infants grew even sharper. Tilted back, they glared fixedly at the Ebony Sword, the blood-red hue in their minuscule eyes deepening to the extreme as a formidable aura erupted from their bodies.
Their auras were linked.
Nor was it merely a connection among themselves.
Throughout the entire Soul Infant Great Array, all the blood infants were bound to one another.
At this moment, Old Demon Ye and Jade Bone had dispatched a portion of the blood infants to control the blood clouds and yin souls, ambushing intruders to prevent them from nearing the Scarlet Altar and ruining their grand scheme.
The other blood infants clustered around the two, working to unseal the altar.
The power of the blood infants' resistance exceeded Qin Sang's estimates.
Beams of bloody light shot from the tops of their skulls, converging in the void.
In the blink of an eye, the Ebony Sword took the brunt of the impact. With a crisp clang, the sword was knocked aside, its sword radiance shattering into pieces, and the sword array dissolved into nothingness.
Yet the sword array was never Qin Sang's true killing stroke.
The Ebony Sword had merely been a feint.
While the blood infants were focused on the sword array, eighteen demonic banners had already slipped quietly out from Qin Sang's sleeves. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire surged forth, roaring out with thunderous momentum!
Demonic fire stirred the heavens, forcing the ghost mist to retreat.
Killing intent vast as an ocean surged like a roaring flame dragon, parting its gaping maw to lunge at one of the blood infants!
Qin Sang knew it was impossible to capture all the blood infants at once, so for safety's sake, he targeted only one.
The sight of the demonic fire drained the color from the blood infants' faces, filling them with absolute dread as sheer terror seeped into their shrill cries.
They retaliated again with bloody light, but rushed as they were, the crimson beams were far thinner than before. Without a moment's pause, the demonic fire crushed through the blood light, sweeping it aside with crushing force!
Locked onto by the demonic fire, the targeted infant shrieked in despair before being engulfed by the flames.
The other blood infants scattered in flight.
Whoosh!
The demonic fire did not pursue them, condensing into a sphere that floated quietly in midair.
Inside, the flames were anything but calm. The blood infant struggled frantically, bashing outward in a frenzy. Linked to the Soul Infant Great Array, it could draw upon the array's power and had not yet lost its fighting strength.
Within the demonic fire, however, its efforts were doomed to fail.
Qin Sang wanted a living specimen, so he held back his killing intent; otherwise, a single sweep of the demonic fire would have reduced it to flying ash.
Whoosh!
Qin Sang recalled the Ebony Sword and inspected its blade. Forged from one of the Ten Great Divine Woods, it bore not a single scratch.
Flying over to the demonic fire, he formed incantation seals, severing the blood infant's connection to the outside world and binding it securely.
Immediately afterward, Daoist Zhenyi and the others flew over one after another.
While Qin Sang had ambushed the blood infant, it had been unable to manipulate the blood clouds and yin souls. With the pressure on them greatly relieved, they had seized the chance to break free, arriving just in time to witness the might of the demonic fire.
The cultivator surnamed Guan had heard rumors of Qin Sang's demonic fire, but seeing it in person for the first time, he could not help looking at it several times. Out of the corner of his eye, he also caught sight of the Nascent Soul talisman puppet standing in attendance behind Qin Sang.
Recalling the myriad tales surrounding Qin Sang, Cultivator Guan sighed inwardly, 'Before long, this man will likely replace Old Demon Ye as the paramount cultivator of the Beichen Realm.'
"Fellow Daoist Yuzhen!"
A tall, thin cultivator suddenly cried out in shock and lunged toward the blood infant.
Qin Sang was about to intervene, but seeing the man's grief-stricken expression, he paused. Remembering that this man hailed from Sin Abyss, Qin Sang vaguely guessed the truth and did not stop him.
He glanced at the blood infant. From its facial features, it had clearly been a female cultivator.
Yuzhen had not been a newly ascended Nascent Soul, yet like Old Monster Feng, she had failed to resist the temptation. But she had not been as fortunate as Old Monster Feng; falling into Old Demon Ye's vicious hands, her Nascent Soul had been gouged out and reduced to this grotesque state—neither human nor ghost.
The tall, thin cultivator's fingers trembled as he reached to touch the blood infant.
Though bound, the blood infant remained vicious, snapping its jaws to bite at him.
"Fellow Daoist, be careful!" Qin Sang warned.
Daoist Zhenyi flew over as well and exchanged a glance with Qin Sang. After examining the blood infant closely, he sighed and shook his head. "She is no longer Fellow Daoist Yuzhen. Old Demon Ye's secret art is far too sinister; nothing can be done. Fellow Daoist, please restrain your grief."
The tall, thin cultivator understood the unspoken meaning.
Having gone to such lengths to capture a blood infant, they naturally needed to analyze the evil array with it.
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, he did not hinder Daoist Zhenyi and Qin Sang. With an expressionless face, he stepped back, sat cross-legged in the void, and closed his eyes, unable to bear looking any longer as he silently recited the Rebirth Mantra.
The others also reined in their joy and quietly cooperated.
Just then, the blood clouds and yin souls surged back with renewed fury.
The escaped blood infants remained restless, stirring up trouble once more. Having learned their lesson, however, they concealed themselves exceptionally well this time, making it difficult even for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to track their traces.
...
"No! That is not the Sacred Flame!"
Jade Bone stared fixedly in Qin Sang's direction, the joy in his tone fading somewhat. "It's merely a demonic fire cultivated by the Nine Nether lineage through comprehending the Sacred Flame! I knew it—how could the Sacred Flame end up here?"
Old Demon Ye's control over the Soul Infant Great Array was inferior to Jade Bone's.
Diverting a portion of his attention, he sensed the surroundings for a moment and detected Qin Sang's presence, guessing that the natal demonic fire Jade Bone spoke of was the very flame wielded by Qin Sang's demonic banners.
'So that is its origin. No wonder it is so remarkably powerful. I heard those demonic banners came from that old ghost Kuiyin; I wonder where that old demon obtained them...'
As the thought crossed Old Demon Ye's mind, Jade Bone continued, "Though it isn't the Sacred Flame, its power is nothing to scoff at. Good! Very good! Once this seat seizes this demonic fire, I won't need to rack my brains looking for other protective measures for now, and I can focus on restoring my strength."
Jade Bone laughed aloud, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation, the soul fires in his eye sockets flickering erratically.
Hearing this, Old Demon Ye frowned deeply.
"You want to snatch his demonic banners? Do you realize my Blood Demon avatar fell by this man's hand? Now he suddenly has a Nascent Soul puppet at his side, and who knows what other tricks he's hiding. Furthermore, he is surrounded by Nascent Soul cultivators—none of them are push-overs. The altar is on the verge of being unsealed, and you have yet to recover. I advise you not to complicate matters and jeopardize our great undertaking..."
Before he could finish, Jade Bone waved his hand dismissively.
"Who said this seat wants to snatch his demonic banners? This seat intends to take the demonic fire directly! Although I am not a descendant of the Nine Nether race and cannot seize it outright, a mere early Nascent Soul could never truly subdue the Nine Nether Demonic Fire—he is merely borrowing the power of the banners to command it indirectly. With a few simple tricks, this seat can make it mine!"
Jade Bone spoke with supreme confidence, completely dismissing Qin Sang.
Turning his gaze toward the yin souls and wraiths, he pondered for a moment, then reached out with his large hand and made a forceful grasping motion.
He dragged out hundreds of yin souls.
Ghostly energy swirled in his palm as the yin souls drifted within, refined into soul qi that merged into the vortex.
Jade Bone tossed it upward. The vortex spun, condensing yin souls on its own, devouring countless numbers of them in the blink of an eye.
Gradually, a palm-sized funnel emerged in the void, completely smooth and pitch-black as ink.
Chapter 1342