Crimson Flames and Flowing Fire

Elsewhere, Qin Sang and his companions were caught in a similar predicament. *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Scorching, bizarre gales blew unceasingly toward them. Apart from these strange winds, nothing else could be seen in any direction—above, below, or all around. There were no reference points whatsoever to determine where they were. At first glance, the strange winds did not appear particularly remarkable. Only upon direct contact did one realize how terrifying they truly were. Within the gale flowed not only blazing crimson heat, but also an unidentified golden substance resembling liquid gold. Ordinary defensive measures were practically useless against it. Qin Sang and the others had tried several protective secret techniques. All sorts of spiritual light erupted from the four cultivators, yet the moment their barriers met the golden substance, they proved as fragile as paper, pierced straight through in an instant. Yet whenever they attempted to collect the golden substance to examine it, every method failed; it vanished into thin air right before their eyes time and time again. None of the four present had ever heard of something so bizarre. Fortunately, this golden substance was not limitless. It did not accompany every gust of strange wind, appearing only with periodic intervals in between. That left them with far more room to maneuver. "It ignores true essence... Such a thing exists in this world?!" Cultivator Qi exclaimed in shock. If someone could master and control this golden substance, would they not be unstoppable? Every dharma cultivator would be countered by it—and in the present cultivation world, almost everyone was a dharma cultivator. "This substance might not be something that physically exists!" Valley Master Mu stared fixedly at a silver shield in his hand. The silver shield was one of his defensive magic treasures. Just moments ago, it had expanded into a thirty-foot-tall greatshield to block a blast of the strange wind for them. Several pools of liquid gold still clung to its surface. Just as Valley Master Mu was about to do something, a flash of golden light flared, and the familiar sight repeated itself: the liquid gold vanished without a trace. Taking a deep breath, Valley Master Mu said, "In all likelihood, this is an external manifestation of the formation's power. It exceeds our realm of cultivation, which is why it seems so bizarre to us." Qin Sang had remained silent all along, but upon hearing this, he nodded quietly. He felt the same way. Even if such a miraculous treasure truly existed in this world, if the Jinghai Sect had obtained it, they would hardly have used it to lay down a formation. If they had forged it into magic treasures, giving one to every member, wouldn't the Jinghai Sect have been entirely invincible under heaven? The cultivators of the North Sea would have been completely at their mercy. The most probable explanation was that this formation—or the one who laid it—had possessed a realm of cultivation far too high, surpassing the boundaries of their understanding. *This is the grand guardian formation of the Jinghai Sect, not an ancient remnant formation like the ones in the Ziwei Palace. Not only is the formation of extraordinary origin, but the person who laid it was at least a great cultivator. Surely it couldn't have been... Why was such a power, such a mighty expert, completely unknown in the North Sea?* The thought suddenly surfaced in Qin Sang's mind, striking him as strange. Thinking back over all the legends and bizarre tales he had heard in the North Sea, he had never heard of any Buddhist powerhouse at the Soul Formation stage. At that moment, Valley Master Mu spoke again. "The strange winds bearing the liquid gold only appear at regular intervals. That corroborates our guess; the grand formation likely requires time to brew them." "Even so, this bodes ill for us," Cultivator Wang sighed. "If it were only the liquid gold, it would be manageable. But those strange winds are infused with crimson flames and flowing fire, possessing terrifying power. Coupled with the golden substance, the flames can strike unimpeded directly against our magic treasures. None of our natal magic treasures are defensive types. The highest-grade defensive treasure among us happens to be my high-grade Thousand-Pattern Armor. If we are trapped here too long, I fear our treasures will suffer damage." The Thousand-Pattern Armor was the turtle-shell treasure Cultivator Wang had produced earlier. Defensive treasures renowned for sheer hardness were rare to begin with. Generally, the highest-grade treasure a cultivator possessed was their natal magic treasure, as it was the easiest to nurture and upgrade. Among the four of them, Valley Master Mu cultivated a natal insect gu. His snake spear was versatile in offense and defense, but the snake armor it manifested was ineffective against the liquid gold, and his silver shield was inferior in quality to Cultivator Wang's Thousand-Pattern Armor. Cultivator Qi and Cultivator Wang were both merely in the Early Nascent Soul stage. Their natal magic treasures had not even reached top-grade yet; had Cultivator Wang not unexpectedly obtained the Thousand-Pattern Armor, their situation would have been even more awkward. As for Qin Sang, the treasures he relied upon most could not be put to good use here either. *If only the Nine-Life Black Tortoise shell were still usable,* Qin Sang thought to himself. With the quality of that shell, he would have had nothing to worry about. But in recent years, his efforts had been devoted entirely to refining the Sun God Tree and the Jinchen Sword; right now, he only had a few defensive magic treasures he had casually refined to maintain appearances. A mid-grade bronze mirror hovered before his chest. Several dents pitted its surface, left behind by the recent impacts. "To us, the presence of the crimson flame aura is a double-edged sword," Qin Sang chimed in, channeling his true essence to smooth out the bronze mirror's dents. "The Jinghai Sect's grand guardian formation is formidable indeed. Were it not for the impact of the crimson flames altering the formation's flow and likely causing cracks to appear, allowing the scent of the Myriad Spirit Fruit to escape, the Fire Jade Centipede probably wouldn't have sensed the fruit so easily." "Indeed! Every drawback brings an advantage!" Valley Master Mu nodded heavily, agreeing with Qin Sang's assessment. "Moreover, we have been inside for so long without the formation's layout changing in the slightest. That proves it is an unmanned formation. Breaking it won't be difficult; it will simply require some time. Daoist Priest, can the Fire Jade Centipede still sense the Myriad Spirit Fruit now?" Qin Sang awakened the Fire Jade Centipede. After a moment, Qin Sang nodded slightly. "The various auras inside the formation are all tangled together. It can only determine a rough direction." Saying so, Qin Sang pointed to the left. The other three looked over. The scene there looked no different from any other direction. "To us, every direction is the same. Rather than searching aimlessly for a flaw in the grand formation, we might as well head there!" Valley Master Mu made a decisive call. Qin Sang and the others raised no objections. They immediately adjusted course, flying toward the boundless expanse to their left. As they flew, gusts of strange wind struck in succession. Having already gained experience in dealing with them, they passed through without real danger. Qin Sang did not neglect to watch Valley Master Mu's every move. He suspected that the Jinghai Sect and the Witch Clan were inextricably linked, and that Valley Master Mu knew far more about the sect than he had let on, harboring many secrets. Under the current circumstances, with other Nascent Soul cultivators liable to arrive at any moment, the sensible course was to claim the Jinghai Sect's treasures as swiftly as possible; if Valley Master Mu knew anything that could aid in breaking the formation, now was the time to bring it forward. Yet the result left Qin Sang somewhat puzzled. Valley Master Mu truly appeared to know nothing about this grand guardian formation. *Could the founding ancestor of Hundred Flowers Valley have acquired the Witch Clan's heritage from elsewhere, having nothing to do with the Jinghai Sect after all? Is this truly just a coincidence?* Qin Sang could not help but question his earlier judgment. Nevertheless, it was unwise to jump to conclusions before entering the Jinghai Sect proper. Qin Sang made up his mind that once he secured the Myriad Spirit Fruit, he would trail Valley Master Mu in secret. While Qin Sang's thoughts wandered, the formation's momentum finally began to shift. As time passed, the frequency and ferocity of the strange winds steadily grew, mounting greater and greater pressure upon them. Before they knew it, they had flown through this vast expanse for a full four hours, yet they still had not reached the end!