Revealed at Last

He wove between iridescent glows and crimson flames. Every so often, another strike would manifest. The weapons conjured by the spirit formation varied widely. There were monk staffs and alms bowls, as well as golden swords and golden sabres. Though these weapons bore an imposing ferocity, they shared the exact same flaw: as long as Qin Sang dodged in time, he could evade them with ease. The journey proved fraught with neither shock nor peril. Guided by the Fire Jade Centipede, Qin Sang pressed forward at top speed. Throughout the process, he never lowered his guard. Aided by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, he dedicated his full attention to analyzing the spirit formation. Having thoroughly studied the classics of the Yuanshen Sect, he possessed a solid understanding of formations and restrictions. Although this was a Buddhist formation, certain fundamental principles were universal. However, trapped within the array, he could see only the tip of the iceberg and lacked any view of its complete layout. Unable to devise a means of breaking it in short order, he could only move along with its flow. As time passed, his comprehension of the spirit formation deepened—and once he understood enough, the moment to break it would arrive! As he flew, Qin Sang found himself admiring the sheer brilliance of the formation all the more. Setting aside the immortal restrictions he could not decipher in places like Ziwei Palace and the Hall of Seven Kills, this spirit formation was the most intricate and grandiose he had ever encountered. The formation master's mastery of the craft exceeded imagination. He had flown without pause for several hours, yet the end remained nowhere in sight. Adding the time spent in the first layer of the formation, more than half a day had elapsed since they entered the Pure Sea Sect. The physical area enveloped by the formation could never be so vast. The only explanation was that its creator had employed an ingenious spatial technique—fitting a great temple inside a snail shell—to trap any intruder within an isolated domain. For Buddhism to possess such a supreme master, it was a mystery why they had remained so obscure. Along the way, there was not the slightest sign of Valley Master Mu, Old Man Hunmo, or the others. Qin Sang cast the matter from his mind. Right then, he noticed that the frequency of the attacks was quickening. Bracing his spirits, he increased his speed rather than slowing down. *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Before he had flown much farther, Qin Sang halted abruptly, his pupils contracting. Blocking his path ahead stood a colossal Buddhist statue. Unlike the Thousand Buddha Wall, here stood only a single great Buddha towering between heaven and earth. It possessed twenty-four heads and eighteen arms, its hands grasping golden swords, parasols, monk staffs, lotuses, alms bowls, and various other Buddhist treasures. The attacks Qin Sang had weathered along the way had all originated from this statue. Even the statue had not been spared; tainted by the crimson fire, its entire body gleamed with an intermingled crimson and gold. The weapons held in the eighteen Buddhist hands were condensed from the power of the spirit formation. Golden light coalesced before Qin Sang, solidifying into tangible shapes before hurtling toward him in assault. As Qin Sang closed in, the statue's eyes flared with vajra wrath. Qin Sang's heart tightened, and he darted sideways in an instant. *Whoosh! Whoosh!* Two weapons tore free from the Buddhist hands and flew at him in tandem. Fortunately, Qin Sang was vigilant; otherwise, he might well have been injured. The onslaught grew increasingly relentless, each strike more ferocious than the last. Qin Sang countered with composure, his gaze never leaving the statue. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He swept his sleeve to deploy his demonic banner, and the phoenix wings on his back flapped fiercely, transforming him into a streak of azure light that darted before the statue like lightning. *Boom!* A fire dragon struck the statue squarely between its brows. *Clang!* A deafening crash rang out. The statue's movements froze abruptly, and fractures radiated outward from between its brows. In the blink of an eye, the entire statue collapsed, revealing a swirling crimson-gold vortex. Before the crimson fire could erupt into chaos, Qin Sang plunged straight through without hesitation. *Whoosh!* Passing from one side to the other, the surroundings transformed once more. Taking in the starkly different landscape around him, Qin Sang realized he had entered yet a third cycle of variations. Wearily rubbing his brow, he thought, *If this continues, who knows how many days it will take to uncover a flaw in the formation? If this drags on any longer and draws even more Nascent Soul cultivators, things will only descend into greater chaos.* With a quiet inward sigh, Qin Sang regulated his breath, summoned the Fire Jade Centipede to reorient his course, and set off once again. And so it went. Time trickled past. Qin Sang charged through the spirit formation, witnessing all manner of Buddhist methods. His understanding of the Buddhist path deepened steadily—whether that counted as a blessing in disguise, he could not say. Before he knew it, nearly five days had elapsed. Over these days, Qin Sang had been run ragged by the formation's myriad permutations, though he rarely faced genuine mortal danger. Had it not been for the pressure exerted by Old Man Hunmo and his companion, the four of them could have dismantled the formation at their leisure; it would merely have cost more time. Day and night held no meaning within the array. At present, Qin Sang stood upon a road paved with golden bricks. The brick road was suspended in the void, stretching off to parts unknown. He sat cross-legged in meditation. The Nascent Soul talisman puppet stood guard at his side, ready to repel any attack that might manifest at any moment. Qin Sang had just ingested a few doses of medicinal pills and was refining their potency. After an indeterminate time, Qin Sang opened his eyes. Refreshed, his aura restored to its peak, a glimmer of confidence flashed across his gaze. Through five days of tireless probing, he had finally grasped the vast majority of the formation's governing principles—enough to break it. Moreover, he was now very close to its core. Glancing down at the golden-brick road, Qin Sang rose and flew forward for a stretch. He pulled to a sudden halt upon finding a node of the formation, then repeated his earlier trick by unleashing the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. The demonic fire hovered before him. Without pause, Qin Sang retrieved a set of formation implements from his Qianjun Ring. These were items he had crafted before departing the Yuanshen Sect. Though their might was only passably fair, they served well as auxiliary tools. His hand seals shifted in rapid succession, arranging the formation implements in a circle around him. Pausing for a split second, he looked down at the golden bricks and thrust both hands fiercely downward. *Rumble...* The implements trembled, and a xuanhuang light coalesced into a stone spear that stabbed violently downward. *Boom!* Golden radiance burst in all directions. The road shattered upon impact. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire followed close behind, plunging down with immense fury. In an instant, an intense crimson-gold radiance erupted as the demonic banners billowed. Narrowing his eyes against the blinding chaos, Qin Sang sensed the spiritual power of the formation descending into utter turmoil. Mighty shockwaves surged in from all sides as the array mounted its counterattack. His expression unchanged, he plummeted straight down. …… It was a purplish-red space. The sky was filled with drifting fire. The drifting flames were purple, a sign that the crimson fire aura had concentrated to the absolute extreme. Streaks of purple fire swam through the void like scaly dragons, exuding terrifying tremors. Higher up, the flames grew denser still, blotting out the sky completely. Below lay bare, barren ground. The expanse was not particularly vast—smaller even than Hundred Flowers Valley. Only two mountain ranges crisscrossed here, converging at the highest peak in their center. Traces of riverbeds wound through the mountains, yet all were parched dry. A pillar of fire erupted from the summit of the highest peak, continuously pouring out crimson fire aura that merged into and fueled the purple drifting flames above. Scattered across the land below, specks of golden light could be discerned. Golden roofs crested the mountaintops. Buddhist pagodas shimmered with a golden glow. …… Having finally broken free of the spirit formation, Qin Sang carefully steered clear of the drifting flames around him and looked down upon the wondrous sight below. "Is this the Pure Sea Sect?" Qin Sang murmured to himself. He surveyed his surroundings, but not a single soul was in sight. A dead silence reigned over the Pure Sea Sect, its Buddhist disciples long since vanished without a trace. Nor did he see Old Man Hunmo, Valley Master Mu, or the others. By all appearances, he was the first to arrive.