Heaven's Will Cannot Be Defied

The abrupt appearance of the tombstone and the inscription upon it made Qin Sang's figure stiffen in utter shock. "Tan Hao?" One of Qin Sang's purposes in coming to the North Sea was to search for Tan Hao and the mysterious Ghost Mother. Following Master Feng, he had traveled across half of the Crescent Moon Realm without turning up a single lead. He had originally planned to conduct a thorough search across the Boundless Ocean once the Pure Sea Sect matter concluded. The Boundless Ocean was the most complex and chaotic region among the various territories of the North Sea; doing anything there was much easier, without the worry of drawing hostility from the entire mainland. An entity of mysterious origins like the Ghost Mother was most likely to appear there. He never expected to stumble upon Tan Hao's trail under circumstances like these. "The ones who harvested those spirit herbs were Tan Hao and the Ghost Mother. In that case, the anomaly that drew Fellow Daoist Qi here was likely caused when they entered. Could the Ghost Mother be a Buddhist powerhouse?" Qin Sang surveyed his surroundings, walked toward the hillock, and came to a stop before the tombstone. The characters carved into the stone bore a palpable sorrow. 'Ever since we parted ways at Yinshan Pass, Tan Hao has run himself ragged trying to bring Tan Jie back to life, day in and day out for a hundred years. Given the depth of their brotherhood, Tan Hao would never give up as long as there was even a sliver of hope. He succeeded in finding and rescuing the mysterious figure behind the Heavenly Corpse Sect, yet he erected a tombstone for Tan Jie right here. Even the Ghost Mother couldn't revive Tan Jie...' Qin Sang stared at the tombstone, his heart growing heavy. From the Canglang Ocean to the Xiaohan Realm, then the Sin Abyss, and tracing the trail all the way to the North Sea... Yagu's condition had been gradually improving, and Qin Sang had thought finding the Ghost Mother would be the opportunity for Yagu to awaken. Seeing Tan Jie's tomb, however, Qin Sang realized things might not be so simple. He gave a faint sigh. Since Tan Jie's tomb was here, Tan Hao was unlikely to have gone far. 'Could they have made the Pure Sea Sect their cave abode?' Qin Sang muttered inwardly. He put away the demonic fire and the Jinchen Sword, but remained wary of the Ghost Mother, keeping the demonic banner concealed within his sleeve, ready to strike at a moment's notice. His gaze shifted past the hillock toward the rock cliff. After gazing at it for a moment, he noticed an abnormality. What appeared to be an ordinary rock wall concealed an inner restriction, hiding another world within. Right then, ripples suddenly stirred across the rock wall, accompanied by a clacking sound. Qin Sang's heart jumped, and he stopped in his tracks. The scene on the rock wall shifted abruptly, revealing a cave that had clearly been hollowed out by human hands. A stone door was pushed open from within, and a figure emerged. It was none other than Tan Hao! 'Late Core Formation stage... No! Peak Core Formation stage, just a step away from forming a Nascent Soul.' Qin Sang saw through Tan Hao's current realm. Given his age, he had quite a fair chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. The true essence within Tan Hao's body showed clear signs of instability, seemingly caused by forcibly interrupting the cultivation of some secret art, though fortunately not severe. The stone door swung open. Tan Hao pushed it aside and stepped out, not having summoned any magic treasure. With practiced ease, he pinched an incantation gesture, divine light flickering in his eyes as he looked toward the depths of the purple mist to survey the situation—only to catch sight of the unfamiliar figure standing before Tan Jie's tomb. He froze in horror. Qin Sang had deliberately concealed his aura, so Tan Hao hadn't noticed the presence of an extra person in the slightest. In an instant, Tan Hao's hairs stood on end. Stricken with terror, he summoned his life-bound magic treasure without hesitation. But when his eyes fell upon the person's face, a rush of familiarity welled up in his heart, freezing him where he stood. "You are... Qin..." Tan Hao's voice trembled, his face filled with disbelief. They had been separated for far too long. Had he not constantly cherished the deep gratitude he felt toward Qin Sang for the kindness shown to him and his brother, Tan Hao would never have recognized Qin Sang at a single glance. Tan Hao still could not believe Qin Sang was standing here before him. After parting at Yinshan Pass, he had traveled far and wide and taken part in the Three Realms War, never receiving any further news about Qin Sang. However difficult it was to accept, he knew that Qin Sang had most likely fallen. An old friend he thought long separated by life and death had suddenly appeared before his eyes—and in the most impossible of places, no less. It was like a dream. "Brother Tan, I hope you have been well since we parted." Qin Sang wore a complex expression. It truly had been too long—nearly three hundred years. For a moment, the two stood looking at each other in silence. Qin Sang covertly observed Tan Hao's cave abode and found it quite rudimentary; it seemed only Tan Hao stayed here, with no sign of where the Ghost Mother was cultivating. Tan Hao took a deep breath, suppressing the tumultuous thoughts churning within him. He took a long look at Qin Sang and chuckled. "Brother Qin, you must have moved a step ahead of me once again, haven't you?" When he was startled awake inside his cave, he had already scanned the area and hadn't sensed Qin Sang's aura at all. Had Qin Sang not shown himself openly, he would probably still be kept in the dark. In Tan Hao's eyes, Qin Sang was shrouded in mystery; he could not discern his cultivation realm at all. There was only one explanation: Qin Sang's cultivation far surpassed his own. Tan Hao recalled their reunion back at Yinshan Pass, where the situation had been much the same. It was only thanks to the Foundation Establishment Pill Qin Sang gave him that he had managed to achieve Foundation Establishment. Over the years, he had encountered one serendipitous opportunity after another to attain his current cultivation, and barring any unforeseen accidents, he ought to have been able to break through to the Nascent Soul stage before turning four hundred. He never expected that he would still fall behind Qin Sang. He remembered that Junior Brother Qin seemed to have had four spiritual roots, or perhaps five... "Just good fortune," Qin Sang nodded slightly, saying no more about himself. He cast his eyes down at the tombstone and said in a subdued voice, "Brother Tan Jie, he..." "Heaven's will cannot be defied!" Tan Hao shook his head bitterly, a heavy sense of helplessness ringing in his voice. Qin Sang could understand the despair of searching tirelessly for hundreds of years, only for the end result to vanish like an illusion. The cultivation world was just that cruel. With Tan Hao's disposition, he needed no outside comfort. Qin Sang remained silent for a moment before speaking. "A hundred years ago, I visited Yinshan Pass hoping to find you. I met Yi'en and learned about your situation from him." "Yi'en? How is he doing now?" Tan Hao's eyes lit up, and he asked impatiently. "Don't worry, Yi'en is doing very well. He has already formed his core. I founded a sect, and he handles mundane affairs on my behalf," Qin Sang briefly recounted Tan Yi'en's situation. As if a great weight had been lifted, Tan Hao breathed a sigh of relief and murmured, "That's good, that's good..." He had sacrificed far too much for his brother, including his own flesh and blood, and harbored deep guilt toward Tan Yi'en. Qin Sang chose his words carefully. "Yi'en has been looking for you all this time. We tracked down several of your close friends and learned that you uncovered information about the Heavenly Corpse Sect and slipped into the Sin Abyss. Following the trail, I went to investigate, eventually finding the Heavenly Corpse Sect's head altar as well as the water dungeon in the Abyss Ruins." Pausing briefly, Qin Sang looked at Tan Hao. Tan Hao sighed. "I gave you both so much trouble." Then, without concealing anything, he recounted his experiences in the Sin Abyss, which matched the clues Qin Sang had gathered. Tan Hao had heard the summons of a mysterious figure at a Heavenly Corpse Sect branch altar, which guided him to the head altar. In exchange for reviving Tan Jie, he freed the mysterious figure trapped in the water dungeon, after which that figure brought him to the North Sea. That person was none other than the Ghost Mother! "Senior Ghost Mother was trapped in the water dungeon, gravely wounded and exceedingly weak. Barely suppressing her injuries, she recovered a fraction of her strength and taught me a combined-attack secret art. Together, we powered a protective magic treasure and crossed the storm belt. Only after retrieving a treasure she had left behind in the North Sea was Senior Ghost Mother able to heal her injuries and fully restore her strength," Tan Hao explained. "A treasure left behind from before?" Qin Sang caught the anomaly. "Was that senior trapped in the water dungeon after blundering in by mistake?"