Shelters

Edge of the Sky. The place where Master Tianyue had planted his sword. Standing before the sword and gazing out at the Storm Belt, Qin Sang said to Tan Hao beside him, "The demon race has lost many of its powerhouses, so they probably won't dare stir up trouble outside the Demon Realm anytime soon. Find an island nearby to stabilize your cultivation, and I'll go inside first to look for a shelter." After successfully breaking through, Tan Hao had only rested briefly to regulate his breathing before eagerly following Qin Sang here. They had detoured north of the Crescent Moon Realm, traveling along the Star Sand Islands to reach the Edge of the Sky. Throughout the journey, they had not encountered a single patrol of demon soldiers—a stark contrast to how things had been when Qin Sang came here last time. Along the way, Qin Sang had visited several fellow daoists he had known previously under his true identity and was warmly received. The cultivators of the Star Sand Islands, who had suffered heavily under the oppression of the demon race, were especially grateful to him. "Even now, I still find it hard to believe. We were separated for only a few short years, yet Brother Qin accomplished something so monumental..." Tan Hao shook his head with a wry smile. When he first learned the truth, the shock to his mind had been indescribable. He had stood stunned for a long time, all the excitement and pride of his breakthrough vanishing without a trace. Qin Sang smiled, summoned the Ten Directions Earth-Cleaving Divine Shuttle, transformed into a streak of azure light, and plunged into the Storm Belt. This treasure was truly extraordinary; Qin Sang's true essence was consumed far more slowly than last time. Sitting cross-legged inside the divine shuttle, his body remained as steady as a boulder no matter how violently the storm raged outside. Had he possessed this shuttle last time, he would not have fallen into the dire straits of being pursued for ten thousand li by the Bi Fang. Guided by the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros horn, Qin Sang steered the shuttle through the storm, taking turns with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to observe their surroundings. Reasonably speaking, the first shelter after leaving the Edge of the Sky should not have been difficult to find. Unexpectedly, despite the aid of so many treasures and having browsed through the ancient records preserved by Xuantian Palace, Qin Sang searched for a long time without finding anything. Qin Sang suspected that this shelter might have been deliberately destroyed or sealed by Master Tianyue. However, Master Tianyue's intention had been to protect the Beichen Realm and prevent the powerful cultivators of the North Sea from invading en masse; he should not have severed his homeland's path to the outside world. And so, Qin Sang brought Tan Hao and returned to the Beichen Realm. Rather than rushing back to Qingyang Temple, he visited Lu Boyuan to gather information, cross-referencing records from both domains. Then he resumed his deep search. After countless trips back and forth, relying on the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros horn and the divine shuttle, he finally made a discovery! He did not know how many shelters had originally existed along the ancient path; Qin Sang had only managed to find one. It was a stone palace floating upon the sea. Built from massive stones, the palace looked rugged and heavy, yet it drifted as lightly as a feather, rising and falling with the waves. Furthermore, it was not fixed in a single unchanging spot, but drifted randomly within a radius of a hundred li. Bound by an unknown power, the stone palace never exceeded this range; upon reaching the perimeter, it was as if it hit an invisible wall and bounced back. With the stone palace to rest and recover in, Tan Hao would be able to travel between the two regions in the future. However, bringing disciples along would still be very difficult, and even with late Core Formation disciples, safety could not be guaranteed. Inside the stone palace. The interior was completely bare, with four pillars at the corners serving as the only support. The stone palace had no walls, offering an unobstructed view of the outside. Monstrous waves surged continuously, crashing against the stone palace from all directions. The terrifying momentum of the gales and huge waves seemed capable of tearing everything in the world to shreds. Though the stone palace swayed in the tempest, it was remarkably sturdy. An invisible barrier blocked both impact and clamor, leaving the interior exceptionally serene. The monotonous storm truly offered nothing to see. Qin Sang and Tan Hao rested in the stone palace. After conferring, they decided to search for a while longer. For Qin Sang, it was not a waste of time. As Qin Sang grew more adept at searching for shelters, he attempted to split his focus, cultivating the Fire Seed Golden Lotus to refine demonic fire while steering the shuttle. This was also something he planned to do on his journey to Zhongzhou. The worldly spiritual energy in the Storm Belt was chaotic, making cultivation impossible while traveling, but fortunately, refining demonic fire was unaffected by the external environment. If he could refine all the demonic fire in the demonic banner, he would not only master a formidable divine ability entirely his own, but his divine sense would surely increase substantially as well. Having adjusted their condition, Qin Sang and Tan Hao flew out of the stone palace once more, embarking on a long search. In the dim Storm Belt, above the churning sea, a speck of azure light darted and maneuvered like a swimming fish, appearing and disappearing intermittently. Suddenly, the azure light came to a halt. Three figures flashed out from it—Qin Sang, Tan Hao, and the incarnation. It had been the incarnation piloting the divine shuttle just now. Qin Sang looked down, his gaze sweeping over the waters below and locking onto a section of the sea. Whoosh! A grey hurricane had just swept past, leaving a bottomless ravine in the ocean. The walls of water on either side closed inward, the towering waves exerting terrifying pressure. Just then, Qin Sang suddenly dove downward, plunging between the walls of water. At some point, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had landed on his shoulder. Spreading its wings, it aimed its heavenly eye deep into the ravine, detecting an anomaly invisible to anyone else. Boom! A sword ray shot forth like lightning. The sword ray, which should have pierced straight through the ravine, was abruptly stopped halfway. A flash of crimson light erupted toward the sky like a volcanic eruption, swallowing the sword light. Tan Hao's face filled with deep surprise; only when the crimson light erupted did he realize there was actually a shelter here. "What a well-hidden ancient restriction!" Dodging another hurricane, Qin Sang let out a soft breath and sighed in wonder. Had it not been for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, he certainly would have overlooked this place. Two days later. Qin Sang and Tan Hao breached the ancient restriction and entered, discovering that this was a submerged island. Its outer edges had already been completely eroded away, leaving only the core area sheltered by the ancient restriction. Qin Sang looked around and nodded to himself. With this stone palace and submerged island, Tan Hao could manage to ferry Core Formation disciples back and forth, preventing the two branches of Qingyang Temple from becoming too severed from one another. By now, four full years had passed since he first entered the Storm Belt. There were less than three years left before Liuli's tribulation. There was no time to search for a third shelter, and he had to speed up what remained to be done. Qin Sang drew up a sea chart and handed it to Tan Hao. The two of them then left the Storm Belt, crossed the desert and the Celestial Alliance, and headed straight for the Small Cold Realm. Though so much had happened in the North Sea, Qin Sang had actually only been away for about twenty years. For immortal cultivators, this could be considered brief. However, many major events had occurred in the Beichen Realm recently. The most shocking was none other than Daoist Canghong perishing in the Abyss Ruins. As time passed, the Abyss Ruins had grown increasingly unstable without the Sin God Palace, its perils mounting day by day. Daoist Canghong had entered the Abyss Ruins repeatedly, and though he had escaped danger several times, he had ultimately failed to evade this catastrophe. Demon Monarch Tongyou had also been in seclusion for many years with no word from him; rumors claimed he might be in a life-or-death seclusion, prepared to succeed or die trying. The figures who had once stirred the winds and clouds of the previous generation in the Beichen Realm had either ascended or withered away, consigned to history. Qingyang Temple. Before the Sword Qi Precipice. The newly inducted disciples, their faces young and tender, looked with reverent eyes at the characters Qin Sang had carved with his sword qi. Tan Yi'en set aside his senior status to explain them in person.