Fear

A sudden turn in the desperate situation! Liuli stared blankly at Qin Sang. The despair from a moment ago vanished, her gaze firming once more as her lips moved slightly. A flicker of surprise crossed Qin Sang's face. He was just about to speak when Yin Changsheng's furious roar cut him off. "A spirit treasure?!" "Where did you get a spirit treasure?!" Yin Changsheng's shrill shrieks carried through the dissipating storm. "Damn you!" "You deserve to die!" "No! I can't kill you yet!" "I'll refine you into a blood servitor to aid my Deity Transformation!" ... Failing yet again seemed to have driven Yin Changsheng completely mad. He raged incoherently, his voice so shrill and venomous that it struck a chill into the heart. It was hard to imagine this was once a great cultivator who shook the North Sea, the dignified leader of an entire sect. His expression twisted into something monstrous, and thick murderous intent pooled in his eyes. His gaze was like a sword, as if wanting to impale Qin Sang on the spot, only to suddenly dissolve into wild laughter. "Haha... So what if you have a spirit treasure?! Let's see how many times you can use it!" After the fierce battle, Qin Sang's true essence had already been severely depleted. Unleashing that single strike with the Sun God Tree had left him with virtually nothing. His face was pale, his reserves empty—and Yin Changsheng saw right through him. "What else do you have to stop me?!" Yin Changsheng laughed like a maniac. His cultivation far surpassed Qin Sang's, and the Suspended Sword Tower was his life-bound magic treasure; he would not run dry so easily. *Cling, cling, cling...* The suspended swords trembled violently. The chimes rang out once more. They were just as crisp as before, but far more hurried. The energy storm had not yet subsided, and the cavern remained a scene of utter ruin. Thick layers of ice across the walls and floor shattered into dust. Only the Luoyin Blood Pool stayed still, the blood within not showing the faintest ripple. *Swish!* Yin Changsheng struck again. With a furious roar, the Suspended Sword Tower pierced the turbulent storm and unleashed an identical streak of multicolored haze. He repeated the same tactic. Possessing absolute strength, he had no need for fancy variations. Qin Sang's breath was ragged from the immense drain of true essence. His eyes were grave, but his face showed none of the despair Yin Changsheng hoped to see. Right then, Qin Sang brushed his hand over his waist. *Whoosh!* A phantom flashed into being. It was none other than his external incarnation! The incarnation wore a rigid expression, showing no fear whatsoever even before the terrifying Suspended Sword Tower. Its eyes shifted, settling upon the Sun God Tree, and it took the magic treasure from the main body's hand without the slightest hesitation. *Whoosh!* True essence surged, half of it instantly devoured by the Sun God Tree. Three other divine birds spread their wings and took flight. At the same time, around the calyx from which the previous three birds had flown, the boundless aura of the Nanming Primordial Fire coalesced at blinding speed. The solar divine birds were quickly reborn. The familiar spectacle unfolded once more. *Rumble!* The lingering turbulence was swallowed by the new clash, brewing into an even larger and more devastating energy storm. Having weathered such savage blasts time and again, the cavern felt as though it might collapse at any moment. "An external incarnation?!" Yin Changsheng stared in disbelief. It was not unusual for a Nascent Soul cultivator to refine an external incarnation, but he was stunned that Qin Sang possessed one with cultivation equal to the main body. He had practiced such a secret art in the past, yet he had never achieved this level of efficacy, rendering it little more than a chicken rib. Later, when employing secret arts to avert his tribulation, he had to streamline his arts and purge the superfluous, so he discarded it altogether. Had this been Old Man Hunmo, he would already be a prisoner by now. Yin Changsheng never could have imagined that Qin Sang, a mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, would prove more troublesome than a great cultivator, pushing him this far! "A mere incarnation—how many times can it block me?!" Yin Changsheng was beside himself with fury. Deploying his life-bound magic treasure twice without bringing down Qin Sang took a severe toll on him as well. He failed to notice how deeply madness had seeped into his voice. *Cling, cling, cling...* The identical chime echoed through the cavern, even more hurried and... chaotic. *Swish!* The multicolored haze shot forward like a bolt of iridescent lightning, piercing the storm with unabated fury, accompanied by Yin Changsheng's sound—halfway between a roar and a cackle. The three solar divine birds launched into flight once more. *Boom!* The vast white chill was entirely obliterated. All that remained visible in the cavern were dazzling streaks of turbulent, crimson-laced energy sweeping across the space with frightening destructive might. At the heart of the turbulence, two vortex-like centers continuously erupted. Though it successfully repelled the Suspended Sword Tower's attack once more, the external incarnation was utterly spent. Its body trembled, its aura withering at high speed, left with no strength to fight on. Qin Sang's expression shifted drastically, horror written across his face. Without hesitation, he cast aside both the incarnation and Liuli in his arms, abandoning his magic treasure as he mounted his flying sword and bolted upward, seemingly making a desperate final bid to escape. Birds of the same forest scatter when disaster strikes. "Haha..." Yin Changsheng burst into wild laughter. After so many twists and turns, he was finally about to have his way. His mind had swung through such extreme highs and lows that he was ecstatic beyond control; his original voice was almost unrecognizable in the laughter. "Get back down here!" *Whoosh!* The Suspended Sword Tower suddenly materialized overhead, crashing down with immense weight. Facing the tower, the Seven Po Killing Array held for only a breath before collapsing. The Jinchen Sword gave a mournful cry and was sent flying by the colossal force. Left exposed before the tower, Qin Sang had no strength left to fight back. Yet Yin Changsheng's goal was not to kill, but to capture him alive and refine him into a blood servitor. At that very instant, the terror in Qin Sang's eyes vanished, replaced by a sharp gleam. A sudden change occurred! The Sun God Tree lying on the ground suddenly sprang upright. The newly reborn solar divine birds beat their wings and shot directly toward Yin Changsheng's true body. Both Qin Sang and his incarnation were completely spent. It looked as though the magic treasure were defending its master on its own—an eerie sight. What no one realized was that the energy consumed this time was Liuli's true essence! Seeing hope of survival, the resolute Liuli had acted with utter decisiveness. She willingly surrendered her internal imprint, submitting to servitude to become Qin Sang's Mysterious Maiden. Fully under Qin Sang's control, her true essence could now be wielded by him. Of course, this was not true essence Qin Sang had cultivated himself, so he could never have powered ordinary magic treasures with it. However, his method of manipulating the Sun God Tree was inherently crude and forceful, hardly qualifying as true mastery. Channeled through Liuli, it was just enough to unleash the solar divine birds. *Whoosh!* The divine birds moved as swiftly as thunder. Horror seized Yin Changsheng's face. The manic grin had not yet faded, warping his features into something hideous and insane, no different from a fiend's. "How dare you!" Yin Changsheng shrieked, abandoning Qin Sang to frantically recall the Suspended Sword Tower. *Swish!* *Whoosh!* The multicolored haze and the solar divine birds converged on the ice coffin almost at the exact same moment. *Rumble!* A storm of brilliant devastation erupted once more, throwing the cavern into utter chaos. Qin Sang fixed his gaze unwaveringly on the center of the cavern. Right then, an inhuman roar filled with monstrous killing intent tore through the epicenter of the blast, sounding like a demonic cry from the deepest hell. "You all... deserve to die!" Yin Changsheng had not fallen! Yet he had succumbed entirely to demonic madness. Before his roar could fade— *Crack!* A bolt of lightning struck down without warning, lighting up the entire cavern. Unlike ordinary lightning, it carried the solemn majesty of the Heavenly Dao! The Heavenly Eye Butterfly drifted down onto Qin Sang's shoulder, its thin wings folding gently as threads of lightning flickered across them. "Heavenly tribulation!" Yin Changsheng's clamor cut off abruptly, his voice filled with absolute terror, as if he had just laid eyes upon the thing he dreaded most in the world.