Ascension

Inside the ice cavern. The soul-binding restriction Qin Sang cast failed to take effect. After severing a fragment of her soul, Lady Yue had caused her Nascent Soul to wither from within, making it impossible to stop. *How strange!* Qin Sang frowned. He had originally intended to capture the enchantress's remnant Nascent Soul alive. Intuition told him things were not so simple; it was very likely that she was not truly dead. She had schemed so meticulously and done so much specifically to free herself from the Dark Moon Seal. If she died right here, what had been the point of all her efforts? Yet she had died just like that, bent on seeking death. What the eyes saw might not be the truth. *Severing her soul?* A possibility crossed Qin Sang's mind. Unless the enchantress had prepared long in advance, secretly orchestrated everything, sent away a severed portion of her soul, and intended to seize another body to be reborn. She would have had only one chance to slip past his senses: the exact instant the cold flames shattered the Dark Moon Seal, using the shockwave of that impact to mask the fluctuations of her soul fragment. Doing so was unimaginably perilous, a gamble with nine deaths to a single life. One slight misstep, and the severed soul would be obliterated alongside the rest, resulting in total annihilation. Qin Sang did not know how domineering the Dark Moon Seal was. Lady Yue had been driven to this out of sheer desperation; facing eternal damnation, she could only gamble on a sliver of hope. He spread his spiritual sense. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly also cast its divine ability to sweep through the ice cavern. His clash with Lady Yue had lasted only a brief moment. Three pillars of blue light still stood within the cavern; the central one was the thickest, while the two outer ones were positioned very close together, continuing to spew torrents of radiance. Within the perceptions of both Qin Sang and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, there was no trace of the enchantress's soul fragment. Old Man Yanshan had also vanished! The ice cavern was vast, but it could not hide a living person—unless there was some secret here he had not yet uncovered. *“Wuxiang Immortal Sect, Lord of the Water Aspect...”* Qin Sang recalled the information the enchantress had left behind before her death. He had heard of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. It was said that this sect had once flourished immensely before suddenly disappearing without a trace from the cultivation world. When such a massive sect disintegrated, many of its inheritances would inevitably have drifted into the outside world to sprout new sects and powers. Strangely, information about this sect in the cultivation world was exceedingly scarce—far too clean, completely inconsistent with its former fame, almost as if it had been deliberately purged. The Lord of the Water Aspect would have been a master of the Dao of Water, of which the Dao of Cold Ice was a branch. No wonder this peculiar cold crystal existed here. If Old Man Yanshan was indeed the successor to the Water Aspect, all his actions made sense. The snow fox and the array within an array here were the keys to opening the tomb. What that man valued was not the cold crystal, but the relics of the Lord of the Water Aspect! Lady Yue had used her final moments to tell him all this, but certainly not out of goodwill. Su Zinan was likely the adopted son of that Deity Transformation cultivator. Having fought tooth and nail to break free from the Dark Moon Seal, the enchantress had to harbor bone-deep hatred for Su Zinan. First, she told Qin Sang that the Deity Transformation cultivator was absent and that Su Zinan had not yet finished refining his treasure, so there was no need to fear Luye. Then, she revealed that the tomb of the Lord of the Water Aspect lay here, harboring a grand inheritance—clearly intending to entice Qin Sang into staying. When Su Zinan came to vie for the treasure later, a fierce battle would break out between them. If Qin Sang could slay Su Zinan here, it would be equivalent to avenging her. Even if Su Zinan prevailed, it would saddle him with a formidable enemy. The enchantress was deeply scheming, so Qin Sang naturally pondered her intentions with care. *Could that fellow outside be Su Zinan?* Qin Sang muttered inwardly. Though both were cultivators, a grim old man with a face full of wrinkles compared to an enchanting, bewitching beauty presented quite a contrast. He had to admit that his interest was piqued. The cold crystal was of great use to his incarnation's cultivation, and the relics of the Lord of the Water Aspect would surely not be inferior to the crystal. It was entirely possible for his incarnation to attain a great opportunity here. Furthermore, a pinnacle sect like the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, which had once dominated an entire era, was precisely what Qin Sang was looking for. Qin Sang had long planned to make contact with Bajing Guan and Ganlu Zen Monastery after his true body underwent the heavenly tribulation. Whatever secrets existed in the cultivation world could never have been hidden from the Wuxiang Immortal Sect of that era. Just like the Four Sages Palace in the Canglang Ocean and the Xuantian Palace in the North Sea, the greatest secret realms were all held in their hands. Qin Sang hoped to find clues regarding the two Immortal Palaces through the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. Chaos reigned inside the ice cavern. The tidal light raged violently. The incarnation's senses were far less acute than those of his true body, and even with the aid of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, he could not discern any clues for the moment. How much strength Old Man Yanshan had concealed remained an unknown. If what the enchantress said was true, that man possessed a tremendous background and had to be guarded against. With a shift of thought, Qin Sang's incarnation withdrew from the ice cavern to regroup with his true body. *** Outside the ice cavern. When the killing array erupted, Qin Sang's true body and Old Wu had both been alarmed in the midst of their battle. *A killing array hidden within an array!* *The incarnation is in danger!* Paying no heed to Old Wu, Qin Sang blurred into motion, flashing across the distance to reinforce his incarnation in the cavern. Old Wu gained a moment to catch his breath, but he had no desire to leave just like that. For one, if he left, Lady Yue would certainly die, making it difficult to give an account to the young master. For another, the disturbance in the cavern clearly signaled that an array restriction had been triggered, presenting a prime opportunity to seize the treasure. Old Wu had assumed all along that this was a two-on-two fight. Qin Sang's demonic fire was powerful, indeed. Yet both of them possessed late Nascent Soul cultivation, and Old Wu believed he still had divine abilities he had not yet deployed. Even if he could not defeat Qin Sang, he would not lose so easily. Old Wu merged man and weapon, plunging into the ice storm as a streak of bloody light. Unexpectedly, Qin Sang had only flashed a short distance before coming to an abrupt halt. The incarnation was uninjured and needed no support! The moment Qin Sang confirmed this, he immediately commanded his demonic fire to gather momentum anew, hurtling it mercilessly toward Old Wu. Catching sight of the ferocious demonic fire and sensing the danger, Old Wu grew secretly enraged. He uttered an odd, sharp syllable akin to "Duo!"—a type of incantation seal. The moment the sound rang out, Old Wu's vitality boiled over. Wisps of bloody qi seeped from his pores, coalescing into a mist of blood. The blood mist enveloped Old Wu, forming a bloody silhouette slightly larger than himself. The silhouette possessed distinct facial features closely resembling Old Wu, but everything, including its eyes, was blood-red and deeply eerie. When the blood silhouette fixed its gaze on Qin Sang, Qin Sang felt as though an evil ghost were glaring at him, an intensely uncomfortable sensation. *This person's blood dao divine abilities are truly formidable!* The thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind, yet he showed no hesitation and held nothing back! "Delusion-Shattering Demonic Dagger-Axe!" Old Wu roared. The blood silhouette mirrored Old Wu's expression and formed the exact same hand seals. At this moment, it was as if he and the blood silhouette were joining forces to wield the Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe! The Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe rose slowly, as though weighed down by a thousand jun. In truth, that was an illusion. The weapon appeared sluggish but was exceptionally swift. Pointed squarely at the demonic fire, dripping crimson and radiating suffocating malice, it exuded a thirst for fresh blood—a demonic artifact rare in this world! This time, there were no myriad silhouettes. The Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe merely struck twice, leaving two intersecting arcs of bloody light in the void. With blood-soaked malice soaring to the heavens and a terrifying momentum capable of tearing everything before it to shreds, it slammed in a flash onto the head of the demonic fire dragon! *Boom!* The demonic fire dragon crumbled segment by segment, yet more demonic fire continued to sweep up from behind. The Blood-Drinking Demonic Dagger-Axe and the demonic fire clashed furiously. Yet Old Wu did not look upward. Instead, he fixed a frigid glare on Qin Sang behind the flames. With an imperceptible twitch of his shoulders, the blood silhouette dissolved into nothingness, preparing to launch a sneak attack. Right at that moment. Another sudden change occurred within the ice cavern. Qin Sang's incarnation had been forced to deploy the Fourfold Tengshe Seal, overcoming many of Lady Yue's treasures in rapid succession. With his keen spiritual senses, Old Wu faintly perceived an extraordinarily potent aura erupting from the ice cavern. An ominous feeling arose in his heart, followed by a drastic change in his expression. He had crafted that talisman plate with his own hands and bestowed it upon Lady Yue as her ultimate means of self-defense. For even the talisman plate to be destroyed meant Lady Yue was almost certainly doomed! Old Wu realized with a jolt that the situation was far more complicated than he had imagined. Saving Lady Yue was now an impossibility, and remaining here was no longer a wise choice! As the thought of retreat arose, Old Wu moved to pull back, only for a sudden sense of danger to strike his spiritual perception, sending chills down his spine in utter astonishment. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a speck of crimson starlight. Hidden within the demonic fire were three tiny birds formed of flame, vivid and lifelike. After his breakthrough, Qin Sang had gained a degree of control over the Sun God Birds, allowing him to barely compress their fluctuations and exert rudimentary direction over them. Unlike before, when unleashing them offered no turning back and they could only be used like thunderous bombs. Using the turbulence of the demonic fire, he had cloaked the Sun God Birds in a layer of camouflage, which had indeed deceived Old Wu's senses. He had initially intended to wait until his incarnation arrived to strike together, which would have given him a high chance of capturing the man. Seeing Old Wu about to flee, he had no choice but to unleash them now. *Whoosh!* No longer concealing themselves, the Sun God Birds spread their wings and soared high. They appeared lively and adorable, virtually indistinguishable from real birds except for their inability to chirp. Yet in Old Wu's eyes, they were terrifying harbingers of death flying straight toward him, making his hair stand on end. Leaving behind three crimson trails, the Sun God Birds suddenly converged mid-flight, fusing into one. Flames flared in all directions, forming a crimson fireball that contained wildly violent, terrifying energy! Old Wu was horrified. The crimson light before his eyes grew increasingly blinding. In his desperation, Old Wu had no other recourse. The blood silhouette that had detached from his body abruptly reformed before him, interposing itself between him and the fireball. Coalescing at incredible speed, the silhouette grew remarkably solid—it could no longer be called a mere shadow, but a veritable copy of Old Wu, entirely crimson and composed purely of blood. *Boom!* The Sun God Bird struck the blood silhouette head-on. In an instant, torrents of flame blasted outward in all directions. At the center of the blaze, the blood silhouette shrank into a crimson pinpoint of light before being completely obliterated. Two seas of fire appeared within the ice storm: one of black Nine Nether Demonic Fire, and the other of crimson Nanming Primordial Fire. The difference was that Qin Sang could not control the Nanming Primordial Fire once it detonated, leaving the flames to scatter at will. Old Wu flew backward, watching helplessly as the Sun God Bird engulfed his blood silhouette. A look of deep heartache flashed across his eyes, and his face turned deathly pale; his true body had evidently suffered from the backlash. At this point, his will to fight had evaporated entirely. He hurriedly retrieved a jade disc from his holding bag. This, too, was a talisman plate. However, the talismans inscribed upon it were far more intricate than those on Lady Yue's, and the types of runes were entirely different. *Crack!* The talisman plate shattered directly. Countless talisman silhouettes shot forth like falling stars, dissolving into the ice storm in an instant to create hazy, shifting figures. Within every block of ice, a spirit talisman was embedded. In the blink of an eye, the ice storm transformed into a boundless sea of talismans. Qin Sang chased after him for a short distance before sensing that something was amiss. Uttering a soft exclamation of surprise, he halted and looked around, discovering that up and down were inverted in total chaos—it was as though he had stepped into a maze. Without the Heavenly Eye Butterfly by his side, he could only rely purely on his divine consciousness to perceive his surroundings. By the time Qin Sang located the flaw and broke out of the talisman plate's area of effect, Old Wu had long since fled without a trace. His external incarnation caught up just then, but it was already too late. Qin Sang narrowed his eyes. After a moment of thought, he decided against pursuing Old Wu, choosing instead to reunite with his incarnation and return to the ice cavern. The tidal light was gradually subsiding. True body and incarnation stood side by side. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly fluttered over to the true body's shoulder, nuzzling against him affectionately. Qin Sang half-closed his eyes and spared no effort, releasing his divine consciousness in concert with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to sweep through every corner of the ice cavern. Finally, he discovered a clue! The true body formed seals with both hands, sending stream after stream of incantations flying out to land beside the original position of the ice pillar, forming a white ring of light. After the ice cavern had been devastated, this area looked no different from any other spot to the naked eye. A sharp glint erupted in the incarnation's eyes. The Tengshe dove forward, crashing headfirst into the center of the ring of light. With a muffled boom, the ice cavern shook violently. Under the tremendous force of the Tengshe's impact, a fissure cracked open across the ground. Light from ancient restrictions flickered along both sides of the fissure, leading toward an unknown destination. As expected, a mystery lay concealed beneath! *** Luye. While several women were playing, a shrill howl suddenly echoed from within the bamboo grove. The sound wave swept through, setting the bamboo grove rustling loudly. The women trembled in fear, having no idea why the young master was enraged. The medicinal broth churned as if boiling. Su Zinan and three faceless human heads emerged. A pale hand rose from the liquid, a shattered piece of blood jade resting in its palm. Su Zinan wore a dark expression, his eyes flickering with thought. After pondering for a moment, he flicked his fingers to shoot out several streaks of flowing light, then slowly sank back down. Before long, the defeated Old Wu returned. Standing by the edge of the medicinal pool, he looked down at the calm liquid. "Lady Yue is dead." The three faceless heads rose, facing Old Wu. Su Zinan was nowhere to be seen, but his voice could be heard clearly. His tone was flat, devoid of joy or anger. Old Wu nodded. "This old servant is incompetent. I await the young master's punishment." Su Zinan said indifferently, "Just a woman. If she's dead, so be it. Old Wu, your breath is unstable and your injuries are not light; it is enough that you returned. Is that successor of the Water Aspect exceptionally powerful, or does he possess many treasures?" Old Wu hesitated for a moment before replying, "I did not see the successor of the Water Aspect. Lady Yue died at his hands; the protective talisman plate I gave her was shattered directly. It was at least a pseudo-spirit treasure, or a grand divine ability rarely seen in this world." Su Zinan uttered a soft sound of surprise. "There was another?" "That person is suspected to be a successor of the Fire Aspect, likely having broken through to the late stage not long ago. However, his sword arts are extraordinary, and he is a master of fire control, able to command two spiritual fires with diametrically opposed properties. Both were spiritual fires this old servant has never heard of, utterly terrifying..." Recalling the Nanming Primordial Fire, Old Wu still felt a lingering dread. "Heh, the successors of the Fire and Water Aspects appearing together, both bearing great treasures... I wonder how Bajing Guan and Ganlu Zen Monastery will react once they find out. The cultivation world is growing more and more interesting..." Su Zinan chuckled softly. "Old Wu, if I end my secluded cultivation now and join forces with you, what are our chances of capturing the two of them?" Old Wu hesitated slightly. "Young Master, your Three Corpses God-Perishing Banner..." "Almost finished!" Su Zinan interrupted him, his voice suddenly sounding from directly behind Old Wu. A chill shot through Old Wu's heart. Without looking back, he lunged forward. Suddenly, countless threads shot out from the ground. Every single thread was translucent, appearing as if refined from dragon sinews, instantly forming a massive net that trapped Old Wu beneath it. At the same time, the three faceless human heads in the medicinal pool lunged straight into the net. "You are old, unable to best even a newly advanced cultivator. Since you don't have many years left to live anyway, why not put your remaining warmth to use and help this young master one last time?" A strange glint appeared in Su Zinan's eyes. Then, he let out an "Oh," looking as though he had just realized something. "I forgot to tell you... Foster Father has ascended!"