Wu Yuesheng

*Crack! Crack!* Slash after slash landed swiftly on the baleful corpse's body. The fiend qi could not keep up with the damage, drastically slowing the rate at which its wounds regenerated. Although the baleful corpse possessed impressive physical defense and the cuts were not particularly deep, as its strength waned while Qin Sang's surged, it would inevitably meet the grim fate of being slain. The baleful corpse attempted to fight back, but Qin Sang naturally gave it no room to struggle. Instantly channeling the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword with all his might, he brought several successive sword beams down on the exact same spot. After some time, he finally managed to slay the baleful corpse. *Thud!* The baleful corpse collapsed to the ground, and the earth fiend qi enshrouding it dispersed with a rumble, releasing a foul, nauseating stench. Frowning slightly, Qin Sang darted far away. To his astonishment, the baleful corpse's massive frame withered away at a visible speed, ultimately turning into the corpse of a middle-aged cultivator. The man had a thin build, with a dark, greenish-black hue clouding his face, though his features remained clearly distinguishable. Yet this state lasted only a brief moment before rotting away completely, leaving behind nothing more than a puddle of black ash. Qin Sang waved his sleeve to disperse the ashes. Seeing nothing among them, he flashed over to the heavy darksteel doors and extended his spiritual sense to examine the restriction upon them. The restriction on the heavy darksteel doors was somewhat trickier than the one on the previous stone doors, but deciphering it was not terribly difficult. He quickly found the restriction's weakness and struck repeatedly with the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword at the black cloud beneath the painted ancient corpse's feet. *Bang!* The black cloud shattered. The heavy darksteel doors shuddered violently as a blast of black qi burst outward with a poof. With a tooth-grinding screech, the heavy darksteel door where the black cloud had been slowly opened a crack. Qin Sang mobilized his spiritual power, shoving it open just wide enough for a person to squeeze through, and swept inside in a flash. Behind the great hall lay another fork in the path, splitting into five stone tunnels. There were far fewer passages than before, and they noticeably sloped downward. If the terrain ahead continued like this, the spiderweb of karst tunnels would eventually converge at a single point. By now, Qin Sang was almost certain that this subterranean cavern was the mountain gate of some demonic sect proficient in corpse refining. Whether because they had provoked a formidable foe or for some other reason, not only had their disciples all been slaughtered, but their sect grounds had also been sealed off with restrictions, causing them to vanish entirely from the cultivation world. The place where all the stone passages finally converged had to be the demonic sect's core sanctuary! After crossing the heavy darksteel doors, Qin Sang clearly sensed that the spiritual power here was several degrees richer than outside. These stone passages were also much more orderly, meticulously polished by hand. Along both sides of each passage, stone chambers appeared at regular intervals; their entrances stood wide open, and most were completely empty. Similar chambers had lined the previous tunnels as well. Having spotted skeletons in a few of them, Qin Sang guessed they were likely the cave abodes where demonic sect disciples had cultivated. It was evident that the deeper one went into the karst cavern, the richer the spiritual power grew, and the higher the quality of the cave abodes became. The disciples permitted to cultivate here held a higher status than those in the outer perimeter. If he proceeded further inward, would those be the cave abodes of Foundation Establishment disciples? Qin Sang did not linger behind the heavy darksteel doors for long. After a casual glance, he activated his Cloudfall Wings without hesitation to meld into the shadows, while forming a hand seal to conceal his aura, and dashed into one of the stone passages. Not far in, however, Qin Sang did something unexpected. He suddenly turned to stare back toward the heavy darksteel doors. After pondering for a moment, he actually crept back a certain distance. As he neared the heavy darksteel doors, he slipped into one of the stone chambers and hid in ambush. The stone passage was dark and deathly quiet, devoid of the slightest sound. Qin Sang seemed to turn into a statue, standing motionless by the chamber entrance, his gaze fixed unblinkingly on the intersection as if the imminent threat of the earth fiend qi behind him did not exist. A hundred breaths passed like this, and the stone passage remained as barren and silent as ever. Even this short span felt excruciatingly long. The suspicion on Qin Sang's face deepened, and a sliver of doubt crept into his heart. *Could my senses have been mistaken?* he wondered. Just then, a faint exclamation of surprise echoed from the dim intersection. Extremely soft though it was, it struck Qin Sang's ears like a clap of thunder. Qin Sang's expression hardened. Pushing his Cloudfall Wings and concealment to their limits, he narrowed his eyes and peered toward the source of the sound. The space behind the heavy darksteel doors rippled and distorted, and after a moment, the outline of a figure emerged. At the sight of him, Qin Sang's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam. Wu Yuesheng! Earlier in the hall, just as Qin Sang had been trying to probe the baleful corpse's capabilities to better prepare for what lay ahead, he had abruptly felt a subtle fluctuation, as though someone had slipped inside. Though it had vanished in an instant, he had still managed to catch it. Casting the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword with full force required channeling the surrounding environmental spiritual qi. Combined with his formidable spiritual sense, this made him keenly perceptive of even the slightest ripple in his vicinity. Showing no outward reaction, Qin Sang had altered his plan on the spot, deliberately retrieving his blood saber to engage the baleful corpse in melee combat so he would have a justifiable excuse to deploy the Heavenly Star Tear for protection. Then, while trading blows with the monster, he had discreetly probed his surroundings. Yet he had discovered nothing; everything in the hall had appeared normal, making the earlier disturbance seem like a trick of the senses. Yet inside these bizarre subterranean caverns and tunnels, Qin Sang could not afford to dismiss it as an illusion. He was in the light; the enemy was in the dark. Not knowing whether the lurking presence was human or ghost, weak or strong, Qin Sang had not dared to alert them prematurely. He had kept his guard up while pretending everything was ordinary as he opened the heavy darksteel doors, which led to this subsequent maneuver. Qin Sang had not been certain if this would flush the other party out. He did it purely for self-preservation. If the other person never showed themselves again and they simply went their separate ways, he would have been fine with that as well. Now, seeing that the figure in the shadows was actually Wu Yuesheng, Qin Sang was not particularly surprised. Back before the yin wind barrier, he had already noticed that Wu Yuesheng possessed a unique aura-concealment technique. What put Qin Sang on high alert was why Wu Yuesheng, upon spotting him, had chosen not to join forces, but rather to lurk in the dark and spy on him. With the earth fiend qi hanging like a sword over their necks from behind and baleful corpses blocking the path ahead, peril loomed on every side. Joining forces to weather this crisis should have been the optimal choice. Even if he wanted to use the opportunity to gauge Qin Sang's strength, he should have shown himself while Qin Sang was breaking the restriction on the heavy darksteel doors after slaying the baleful corpse. Wu Yuesheng had broken through to Foundation Establishment earlier than he had and was ostensibly stronger; it was impossible that he was afraid of Qin Sang. Thoughts racing like lightning, Qin Sang quietly observed Wu Yuesheng. Wu Yuesheng stood at the fork, gazing at the five branching paths before him with a faintly surprised expression, murmuring, "Junior Brother Qin truly is cautious. Not a trace of aura lingers on any of the five paths. I wonder which one he took?" After a moment of contemplation, Wu Yuesheng shook his head and casually picked a passage. Just as he lifted his foot to enter, something seemed to occur to him. He abruptly pointed a finger into empty air; a fireball materialized out of nothing, swelling at an astonishing speed before detonating violently once it reached its limit. Wisps and tendrils of flame danced like sprites, instantly drifting outward in all directions with astounding speed, filling the surrounding space in a flash. Qin Sang had been vigilant all along. The instant Wu Yuesheng made his move, Qin Sang retreated sharply, narrowly evading detection by the searching flames. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Wu Yuesheng gave a self-mocking chuckle and vanished down that stone passage.