Yu Daiyue was quite open and forthright, hiding nothing as he explained when he and Senior Sister Qingting had purchased the clue to the ancient cultivator ruins at Tianhen Tower.
"If Junior Brother Qin agrees to join hands with us to break the formation, then after entering the ruins, according to the customary practice of the cultivation world, any treasure you find on your own will belong to you. As for the spoils we discover together, whatever they may be, everyone will divide them according to their value. Senior Sister Qingting and I retain the right of first choice for one item, but no matter what, a share will be allocated to you. Since we are fellow sect members, setting the rules early on will prevent any hard feelings."
Having heard this, Qin Sang pondered in silence.
With both Senior Sister Qingting and Yu Daiyue recruiting helpers within the sect, the ancient cultivator ruins were almost certainly real, and the terms they offered were quite sincere. The two had spent spirit stones to buy the clue and invested time locating the site and gathering allies, so taking priority in selecting a treasure was only fair.
Still, the same issue remained: his strength fell short of theirs, and if danger arose, even self-preservation would be in doubt.
The Ten Directions Yanluo Array was indeed powerful. After he broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage, its might had risen to another level. Before mastering a divine ability, it could be considered his strongest means of repelling enemies.
However, setting up the array required time. Moreover, judging from the strange barrier and formation restrictions on the periphery of the ruins, this site was clearly not simple. Who knew how many unknown dangers lurked inside? If trouble suddenly struck, he might not have the time to deploy it.
Before improving his strength, it was best not to step into peril recklessly. The treasures in an ancient cultivator's ruins were enticing, but one had to stay alive to enjoy them.
In any case, he was not close with Yu Daiyue. Having made up his mind not to go, Qin Sang feigned a moment of deliberation and was just about to politely decline.
Seeming to perceive his thoughts, Yu Daiyue hurriedly spoke up. "There is no need to rush into a decision, Junior Brother Qin. Senior Sister Qingting and I only recently gathered all the spiritual materials, and she is currently in seclusion refining the formation-breaking magic tool, so we won't be setting out anytime soon. Once the magic tool is completed, it will require at least seven Foundation Establishment cultivators to unleash its full power, and I have not yet assembled enough people. You can return and mull it over before giving me an answer."
***
After leaving Yu Daiyue's cave abode, Qin Sang pondered for a while and muttered to himself, "Since there is still time, perhaps I might break through to the second layer of the cultivation technique by then. I can see what that divine ability can actually do before making any decisions."
Quite a few ancient cultivator ruins had emerged in the Yuncang Great Marsh over the years, and what one gained was entirely a matter of luck.
They could be completely empty, or they might hold the relics of ancient cultivators—secret arts, magic treasures, or rare spiritual materials. The temptation was enormous.
As his cultivation reached higher realms, venturing into dangerous lands would be unavoidable, if only to search for spiritual wood to refine the ebony sword.
If his strength truly remained inadequate, he would naturally refuse outright. But if that divine ability proved strong enough, a foray was not out of the question. He would see how things unfolded.
His light streak soared through the air, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at Sect Master Peak.
Qin Sang landed quietly before the Sect Master Hall. He took a brief look around and stepped inside, where a Daoist boy immediately came up to greet him.
"This disciple greets Martial Uncle. Sect Master Martial Uncle has left on sect business and will not return until tomorrow. If Martial Uncle has an urgent matter, you may leave a voice transmission talisman, and I shall hand it to him upon his return."
Qin Sang had not come for the sect master in the first place, so Sect Master Yu's absence saved him some trouble. He said, "Bring over the pending matters accumulated on Sect Master Peak over recent days so I can have a look. Ideally, include reports on sightings of Demon Spirit stage demon beasts, and fetch me a copy of the records on the Ancient Immortal Battlefield as well."
"This disciple obeys!"
The Daoist boy took his order and left, returning shortly with an armful of jade slips.
Qin Sang took them and checked them one by one. Only when reaching the end did he find two reports of early Demon Spirit stage demon beasts, neither of which looked easy to deal with. Both were located deep within the Yuncang Great Marsh; even traveling by sword flight, it would take him over half a month to reach them.
Not to mention that flying heedlessly was out of the question in the Yuncang Great Marsh, nor could he be sure the beasts would still be there.
Early Demon Spirit stage demon beasts yielded excellent materials for artifact refining, and slaying them brought sect rewards. While Foundation Establishment cultivators would not be overly covetous, any easy targets would have long been taken care of on a whim.
Qin Sang memorized the information in the slips, then took out the final jade slip, which contained records of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.
Back at the Kuiyin Sect, he had heard much about the famed Ancient Immortal Battlefield. After arriving at Shaohua Mountain, curiosity had led him to look into it briefly, but never in detail.
Legend had it that this world had once been brimming with boundless spiritual power, natural treasures were ubiquitous, and cultivation was vastly easier than today. Cultivators beyond the Deity Transformation stage were not few, and there were even tales of mighty figures in the Tribulation Transcendence stage ascending to the Immortal Realm—unlike now, where the Nascent Soul stage was the ceiling and the road ahead was severed.
Later, for reasons unknown, the ancient immortals suddenly came to blows in an apocalyptic war.
Myriad legends abounded: some claimed the great immortal sects clashed over orthodoxy; others said the emergence of a peerless treasure triggered the chaos; still others maintained that evil fiends invaded, and the ancient immortals gave their lives to repel the otherworldly demons and protect the living beings of this realm.
Yet without exception, every account used grim expressions like shattered mountains and rivers, collapsing heaven and earth, and total extinction of living beings—a testament to how catastrophic that war had been.
Supposedly, after that battle, the originally boundless world was shattered. As vast spans of time passed, life gradually returned, but countless lineages had been severed, classic texts lost, and spiritual power rendered exceedingly thin—which was why cultivating the Dao had become so arduous today.
Cultivators of the Lesser Cold Domain suspected that the Ancient Immortal Battlefield was one of the ruins left behind by that war.
Deep within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, countless spatial rifts remained to this day. Only an ancient immortals' war could have unleashed such terrifying destructive power, leaving wounds that had failed to heal even after tens of thousands of years.
These spatial rifts were perilous in the extreme. Should a Core Formation cultivator inadvertently be swallowed by one, death was the only outcome. What was even more terrifying was that while some spatial rifts were visible to the naked eye, others were entirely imperceptible—formless, incorporeal, and difficult for even spiritual sense to detect. Even Nascent Soul cultivators had to tread with utmost caution.
Hence, although the Ancient Immortal Battlefield held countless ancient ruins, none dared explore them.
With Qin Sang's strength, he naturally dared not enter the depths of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, but even its outer perimeters were far from peaceful.
Rumor had it that too many ancient immortals had fallen, leaving countless unrotting corpses of mighty figures deep within the battlefield. Residual fighting wills lingered long after their deaths and, over countless years, transmuted into a substance akin to baleful aura. The baleful aura took shape, giving rise to peculiar creatures across the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, which cultivators of the Lesser Cold Domain called cloud beasts.
These cloud beasts possessed no intellect and appeared in myriad bizarre forms. Harbors of boundless hatred toward living beings, they knew only slaughter. Some were formidable enough to rival Core Formation masters, while others were weaker than Qi Refinement novices. Yet they existed in staggering numbers, seemingly endless and impossible to wipe out.
Should they ever break into the Lesser Cold Domain, devastating catastrophe would follow; not only would mortals be driven to extinction, but cultivators would also have nowhere left to stand.
Chapter 143