As Qin Sang channeled his energy, the divine rune on his left arm gradually faded.
The rune's power was fully activated.
In the end, only a crescent blood moon remained on the back of Qin Sang's left hand.
Qin Sang stared at the blood moon, focusing his senses.
Gradually, the blood moon's luster receded until only an imprint in the shape of a crescent blood moon was left, that peculiar aura sealed deep within it.
"No response..." Qin Sang murmured.
The lack of feedback from the blood moon meant that the Deity Transformation skeleton was not nearby.
Qin Sang could not gauge the exact sensing range of the imprint, and the Ghost Mother's explanation had been quite vague, so he could only take things one step at a time.
Leaving the imprint on his hand caused no ill effects.
Qin Sang shook his hand, put it out of his mind, and glanced up at the cliff top. With a shift of thought, his Second Nascent Soul flew out from his crown, summoning his external incarnation.
He intended to have the incarnation go ahead to scout the terrain in the heart of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect.
The incarnation summoned the Snow-Treading Divine Saber, poised to depart.
Remembering something, Qin Sang flicked the Qianjun Ring, which flashed as a crocodile bone wrapped in a blood-colored glove flew out.
It was none other than the Blood Crocodile Bone Hand Qin Sang had refined earlier.
The crocodile bone possessed extraordinary power and had to be controlled through the blood glove. Giving it to the incarnation would provide him with an extra method of defense in case of trouble.
Before this, the incarnation had already refined the Blood Crocodile Bone Hand. Taking the blood glove, he slipped it onto his hand, put away the crocodile bone, and slipped into the shadows, making his way toward the depths of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect.
Qin Sang watched the external incarnation vanish into the mountain forests, then stepped out from his hiding place.
By now, Zhu Wudao and the others had already broken through the crimson mist and ascended to the cliff top, using the crystal stele to summon the phantom of the ancient hall.
From the foot of the cliff, one could see the limpid glow suffusing the summit.
Without lingering, Qin Sang climbed along the stone path Zhu Wudao and his companions had cleared.
The path wound its way upward.
Qin Sang maintained a moderate pace, ordering the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to keep a close watch on the anomalies atop the cliff.
Through the Heavenly Eye, he saw faint, fleeting spatial ripples flash within the pavilion where Daoist Zilei and Yue Lingtian were concealed. The two finally stepped out of the stone pavilion, only to halt again just before reaching the summit.
Sensing something, Daoist Zilei's expression shifted, and he abruptly glanced down the mountain.
Reacting with remarkable speed, Qin Sang darted to the edge of the stone path, using the lingering restrictions to conceal himself.
Yue Lingtian noticed Daoist Zilei's reaction and sent a voice transmission to inquire.
Daoist Zilei said thoughtfully, "Counting Junior Brother, only four people have reached the cliff top."
"A motley crew!" Yue Lingtian scoffed. "Some come to the Immortal Palace in search of fortune, while others covet the relics of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect; they aren't even of one mind. The Tiantong Hall teleportation array is located within the ancient hall, so the outcome is already decided. No matter how many petty scoundrels there are, they won't stir up any trouble!"
The Cloud-Carving Dragon blocking the path into the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had both pros and cons. Although Hua Chenzi had failed to enter in time, most of the sect's remnants had likewise been kept outside.
With him, Daoist Zilei, and Daoist Hegao joining hands, who would dare stand in their way?
Daoist Zilei gave a slight nod. He too felt that even if someone were hiding below, it would not alter the overall situation. Unwilling to invite unnecessary complications, he withdrew his gaze.
***
At the cliff top.
The statuette in Zhu Wudao's sleeve grew scalding hot.
Acting as if nothing were amiss, he raised his hand and pressed it against the door of the ancient hall.
The hall door was sealed by restrictions, but because the structure was damaged, numerous flaws had appeared within them. Divine light shone in Zhu Wudao's eyes as he concentrated on deducing their pattern.
The Master of Qiling Cave and the other two also stepped up to the door, dividing the task of unraveling the restrictions.
Before long, Zhu Wudao formed an incantation seal with one hand and struck out forcefully, planting a golden handprint squarely in the center of the hall doors.
Though not a word was spoken, the Master of Qiling Cave and the other two coordinated with flawless tacit understanding.
The Master of Qiling Cave summoned a treasure shaped like a wooden thorn, pinching it between two fingers and channeling true essence into it. The thorn shot forth a black thread that pierced straight into the core of the restriction—clearly a specialized treasure for breaking wardings.
The Sword-Bearer relied on his proven mastery.
Using sword forms to execute saber techniques, he abandoned his earlier sweeping, aggressive style; instead, his saber light became subtle and winding, wedging silently into the restriction and displaying exquisite saber skill.
Mo Xingdao could not help but glance sideways at him. He likewise summoned a small silver bell, holding it in his hand and gently shaking it.
No chimes were heard, but tangible ripples rippled forth, drifting toward the hall door.
With all four channeling their divine abilities together, the door's restriction was finally spent. The hall doors shuddered violently, bursting with dazzling, limpid radiance before swiftly dimming.
*Creak!*
Zhu Wudao pushed the doors open with force, revealing the scene inside.
To their surprise, wide as the hall was, its furnishings were plain to the point of crude.
Majestic, yet utterly desolate!
Within the hall stood only four jade pillars carved with dragons, phoenixes, and an assortment of immortal fowl and divine beasts. Exquisitely crafted, they seemed imbued with the very spirit of divine beasts, as though capable of stepping down from the jade pillars at any moment.
This was by no means the handiwork of ordinary men.
The jade pillars held aloft the great hall.
Apart from them, a mass of cyan light hovered in the center of the four pillars.
Inside the cyan light lay a teleportation array!
Two prayer mats were placed along the edges of the array, likely meant for the cultivators who once guarded it, now long empty.
At the sight of the teleportation array, the eyes of all four men lit up. Forgetting to question why the place was so sparse, their gazes were firmly captured by the array.
The Master of Qiling Cave hesitated for a moment, lingering outside the entrance to observe Zhu Wudao's actions.
"There should be no traps inside the ancient hall..." Zhu Wudao said as he darted in, sweeping straight before the teleportation array without meeting any resistance.
Only up close did they realize how truly marvelous this teleportation array was.
Suspended in midair, it drew upon the earth-qi, its restrictions immensely intricate. It was in no way inferior to those rare ancient teleportation arrays—a masterpiece virtually impossible for contemporary cultivators to recreate.
This array could pierce through the immortal restrictions outside the Immortal Palace, leading directly from the Southern Frontier into its interior.
Even now, though the Daoist and Buddhist factions controlled the Immortal Palace, they remained unable to achieve this.
Zhu Wudao and the others looked on in awe, wondering whether the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had relocated an ancient teleportation array here after thoroughly deciphering and modifying it.
Even so, the difficulty of such a feat was unimaginable.
With the teleportation array before them, the Immortal Palace lay only a single step away.
Yet the expressions of the four grew all the more solemn.
Zhu Wudao circled the teleportation array twice, then nodded beneath their eager gazes. "Heaven smiles upon us; the teleportation array is completely intact!"
Hearing this, the Master of Qiling Cave and the other two breathed a collective sigh of relief. While they could discern a few clues themselves, they dared not be certain until Zhu Wudao confirmed it in person.
Even now, Zhu Wudao showed no intention of driving the others away to monopolize the Immortal Palace.
The three tacitly allowed Zhu Wudao to fly above the array.
Zhu Wudao executed a flurry of incantation seals. After a bout of exertion, the teleportation array slowly began to rotate. Drawn by the pull of its qi, the already damaged hall started to shake, stoking fears that it might collapse altogether.
At that moment, streaks of light jumped out from Zhu Wudao's pouch, all of them top-grade spirit stones.
The South Sea was not excessively vast, nor was the distance between the Southern Frontier and the Immortal Palace terribly great. Yet for safety's sake, Zhu Wudao used exclusively top-grade spirit stones.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...*
The spirit stones slotted into the array's apertures.
In an instant, the teleportation array shook, and a thick shaft of cyan light suddenly erupted, nearly bursting through the hall.
While the Master of Qiling Cave and Mo Xingdao were still looking on, the Sword-Bearer suddenly leaped into the air above the teleportation array, confronting Zhu Wudao face-to-face.
Simultaneously, two streaks of light landed before the doors of the ancient hall.
Daoist Zilei and Yue Lingtian had finally revealed themselves!
"Bajing Belvedere!"
Hearing the sound of breaking air and turning to see Daoist Zilei, the Master of Qiling Cave and Mo Xingdao both paled. They darted swiftly to the other side of the array, exchanged a glance, and then turned together toward the Sword-Bearer.
His true identity was now plain for all to see!
The Sword-Bearer stared at Zhu Wudao, no longer concealing himself. The bones in his body popped and cracked as his frame swiftly leaned out, and his features transformed completely.
Amid shimmering light, the Sword-Bearer transformed into an austere, gaunt Daoist—none other than Daoist Hegao!
"Master Zhu, I trust you have been well," Daoist Hegao greeted.
Zhu Wudao was the Master of the Mount Quyang lineage of Tianhao Tower, a renowned figure in Zhongzhou. Daoist Hegao had crossed paths with him several times and was reasonably well-acquainted with him.
Before Zhu Wudao exposed himself, no one would have imagined that he was a remnant of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect!
*Thump! Thump!*
Footsteps echoed through the great hall.
Daoist Zilei walked in at a leisurely pace, invoking no divine abilities or magic treasures; his gaze was fixed upon the teleportation array.
Yet both the Master of Qiling Cave and Mo Xingdao held their breath, their expressions dead serious.
Three Grand Cultivators from Bajing Belvedere and Mount Taiyue had arrived together, two of whom were sect-leader-level figures.
Facing this crisis, Zhu Wudao remained unflustered. He narrowed his eyes and broke into an easy smile. "No wonder everything went so smoothly, and I managed to unseal the sect's ruins before even deploying all my hidden cards. I kept sensing a presence lurking in the shadows, faint and elusive, and assumed it was another branch of Wuxiang descendants. It turns out to be you! What, are two immortal palaces and your Daoist heritage not enough to satisfy the Belvedere Lord's appetite, that you must set your sights on the ruins of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect as well?"
His tone grew increasingly relaxed as he glanced behind Daoist Zilei. "Where is the old bald donkey?"
Even as he spoke, the phenomena surrounding the teleportation array intensified.
Buffeted by the surge, the ancient hall began to shake violently once more.
A dense cyan glow spilled out of the hall.
At the entrance, another silhouette was illuminated by the array's radiance—it was Qin Sang, who had rushed over the moment he sensed the spatial disturbance.
Above the sheer precipice, seven Grand Cultivators were finally gathered in one place!
Everyone was taken aback.
They had expected the newcomer to be Su Zinan or one of the others who had departed earlier, not an unfamiliar face—and one who seemed unaffiliated with Daoist Zilei.
"Seize him!"
Without looking back, Daoist Zilei shifted his gaze squarely onto Zhu Wudao.
Daoist Hegao had long been itching to strike, held back only by his senior brother's presence. Receiving the order, he immediately unleashed his natal magic treasure, the Jade Smoke Torrent.
Light of a thousand illusions shimmered.
The wisp of smoke transformed in a flash into a surging torrent, a bolt of white silk shooting straight toward Zhu Wudao's face.
"Do the rest of you still intend to stand by and watch? Do you think Bajing Belvedere will share the fortunes of the Immortal Palace with you?" Zhu Wudao barked fiercely the moment Daoist Zilei gave his command.
These words were meant not only for the Master of Qiling Cave and Mo Xingdao, but also for the newly arrived Qin Sang. Anyone who was not an ally of the Daoist sect could be put to use!
*Swish!*
Daoist Zilei moved like lightning, pouncing straight toward the teleportation array.
Mid-flight, he raised his right hand, curved his five fingers slightly, and unleashed a haze of purple light. A deafening roar of thunder echoed through the hall as five streaks of purple lightning shot forth, thick as thunder pythons, streaking across the sky alongside the white torrent.
In truth, capturing Zhu Wudao was secondary; seizing the initiative was his real aim.
Yue Lingtian was no slower. Stamping heavily on the ground, he caused profound yellow earth-qi to seep from the floor, forming an intricate formation diagram beneath the teleportation array.
*Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!*
Over a dozen pillars of profound yellow light shot upward.
Thick and heavy, the pillars encircled the teleportation array like a cage, intent on sealing it within.
From Zhu Wudao activating the teleportation array, to the appearances of Daoist Zilei, Yue Lingtian, and Qin Sang, to Daoist Zilei's strike—everything had transpired in the span of a single breath.
Yet everyone present had cultivated for centuries; sudden though the upheaval was, it did not impair their judgment.
Fierce as the trio's attacks were, the counterattacks from the Master of Qiling Cave and the others were no less formidable.
Whether Zhu Wudao lived or died was none of their concern, but his words rang true.
Ever since Bajing Belvedere and Ganlu Zen Monastery seized the Immortal Palace, none had ever heard of them sharing their fortune with outsiders. Their overbearing conduct was renowned throughout the realm, and today would surely be no exception.
Even Qin Sang made his move.
Slipping inside the hall, he darted to one side as the Jinchen Sword broke through the air. The sword light, faster than a shooting star, vanished abruptly mid-flight to spawn a sword array. It deliberately bypassed Daoist Zilei and Yue Lingtian, aiming straight for the teleportation array.
It was no secret that Bajing Belvedere and Ganlu Zen Monastery monopolized the Immortal Palace; the two great sects had other means of entering, but the others had only this single teleportation array!
Ignorant of the true underlying details, Qin Sang and his peers assumed Daoist Zilei wished to eliminate future troubles by simply destroying the teleportation array, cutting off any chance of their reaching the Immortal Palace.
Protecting the array was unquestionably the top priority!
"Fellow Daoists, why must we resort to violence? We might as well sit down and talk," Qin Sang called out with earnest composure.
Within the void, sword threads surged and crashed downward like a deluge.
At that exact moment, the profound yellow light driven by Yue Lingtian erupted.
*Boom!*
The profound yellow light had barely surged halfway when it suddenly dimmed, enveloped by the sword array.
In an instant, the light pillars encountered massive resistance, their surfaces becoming mottled and riddled with gaps as the sword array forcibly suppressed them.
In their very first encounter, Qin Sang and Yue Lingtian had traded blows from afar.
Yue Lingtian's expression shifted slightly. Flipping his hand, he summoned a three-legged round cauldron that spun around and slammed directly into the sword array.
Needless to say, the Master of Qiling Cave and Mo Xingdao followed suit.
The Master of Qiling Cave never let his red flower treasure stray far; with a mere thought, it streaked like a rainbow above the teleportation array. Its blossoms inverted into a canopy, unleashing a tempest of spiritual power that swept aside every force attempting to draw near the array.
Mo Xingdao secretly pinched an incantation, hesitated briefly, then shifted to another hand seal. His throat swelled, and he spewed forth a plume of white profound qi.
This breath of qi was astonishingly sharp, swift as a sword ray, boldly striking head-on against Daoist Zilei's purple lightning.
Even as they attacked, everyone surged toward the teleportation array in unison.
In an instant, flashes of light burst within the ancient hall, clashing and intertwining in utter chaos.
Zhu Wudao stood at the heart of the storm, his every move swaying the balance.
At this critical juncture, the ease vanished from Zhu Wudao's face. With the Jade Smoke Torrent mere inches away, he neither dodged nor retreated. Straightening his posture, golden light erupted from him in a dazzling blaze.
The golden light encircled his body, replete with boundless talismans.
The rays bent and reformed as the talismans rearranged themselves. After a dizzying display of transmutation, Zhu Wudao was clad in a suit of golden battle armor!
The armor's luster flowed across his entire frame—not an illusion, but an actual physical object.
From its appearance alone, none could doubt its resilience.
Still feeling it insufficient, Zhu Wudao shouted like spring thunder, preparing to unleash further divine abilities or treasures.
The battle for the array was on the verge of erupting.
At that very moment, having absorbed the spiritual power of the spirit stones, the teleportation array's spatial ripples grew intensely pronounced, its light blazing to the utmost pinnacle.
Then, abruptly, it extinguished!
Chapter 1622