The Poison King!
Qin Sang recognized the voice. It sounded shrill and wavering, forcibly transmitted through a secret vocal technique that was being buffeted by the fiend-winds and array restrictions.
The Poison King was determined to follow, but Qin Sang's Thunder Escape was exceptionally fast, and the Daoist nun moving within her barrier was no slower. The Poison King had nearly lost their trail.
He possessed an escape technique capable of converting miasma into wind, but it was ill-suited for gaining momentum within the fiend-winds. Traveling with great difficulty, he hurriedly sent a vocal transmission ahead.
His voice arrived before his person. Qin Sang's thoughts raced as he replied in a deep voice, "What does Fellow Daoist mean by this?"
The strikes in his hands remained ferocious, not halting for a moment. Yet under his deliberate control, his pressure on the Daoist nun eased slightly, opening a gap so he could fight while moving.
Whatever the Poison King's intentions, Qin Sang had no desire to wait around for him to catch up.
"Fellow Daoist, by slaying the traitor of our sect, you have eliminated a grave thorn in my side. When we met before the mountain, I neglected to thank you. That was remiss of me." Distorted by the fiend-winds, the vocal transmission sounded unnatural, making it impossible to discern the Poison King's tone or tell whether his gratitude was sincere.
*The cat is out of the bag!*
Qin Sang's heart sank. Before reaching the Five Elements Divine Restriction, the Poison King had asked him about the scar-faced man's whereabouts without showing the slightest abnormality. Why had he now sought him out so directly? Where had something gone awry?
Their only encounter since then had been when Master Huaiyin was ambushed. The Poison King had arrived a step too late, so he should not have noticed any clues.
Qin Sang was confident he had left no traces either. Still, if the Poison King had managed to track the scar-faced man all this way, he undoubtedly possessed some unknown method to lock onto him.
Qin Sang did not believe for a second that the Poison King was truly offering thanks. He was almost certainly after the scar-faced man's relics. This sudden twist was entirely beyond Qin Sang's expectations.
He was quite intrigued by the Gu King and had originally planned to consult Ghost Mother on how to tame the creature once he returned to his mountain. If taming it proved impossible, he could comfortably feed it to the poison bead or trade it away.
He had not expected to be exposed so quickly. Judging by the Poison King's relentless pursuit of the scar-faced man—going so far as to join forces with an outer-realm holy monk to chase him down—it was obvious that Myriad Poison Mountain was determined to reclaim the Gu King at all costs. There was no room for compromise.
Yet handing the Gu King over now was not something Qin Sang was willing to do.
"Fellow Daoist speaks too heavily. I already harbored a mortal vendetta against that scoundrel; this had nothing to do with your esteemed sect. There is no need for your gratitude, much less any generous reward." Qin Sang chuckled, not bothering to deny it, nor was there any point in doing so.
The Poison King seemed momentarily choked up by Qin Sang's words before pausing and replying, "To be frank with you, our sect had long made preparations. Any fellow daoist capable of slaying that traitor will be lavishly rewarded... This King will never let down any comrade..." His tone grew unconsciously heavier on the final words.
The Poison King's mood was somber, having sensed Qin Sang's attitude. When they first met, this man had deliberately feigned ignorance upon being questioned face-to-face, and now he was speaking in evasive circles. His intentions were plain to see.
What worried the Poison King most was how relaxed this man seemed. By all rights, aside from Myriad Poison Mountain, which had cultivated the Gu King's spirit seed, and the traitor who had hatched and raised it, no one else could tame it.
In the hands of anyone else, the Gu King was like a chicken rib—useless to keep and painful to discard. Even if one could temporarily suppress it, they could never stifle its feral savagery.
Far from becoming an asset, it required constant vigilance against a deadly backlash. Yet in the short span of their three encounters, Qin Sang's aura had shown no sign of disturbance whatsoever. It was only by using a secret technique that the Poison King had detected it; had the traitor not remained missing, he would never have suspected Qin Sang.
How long had it been since he seized the Gu King, yet he was already able to manage this? What did that signify?
If this man refused to relinquish the Gu King, or worse, actually tamed it, it would inevitably stir up another storm.
Yet this man was even harder to deal with than that traitor!
Qin Sang caught the hidden meaning behind the Poison King's words: he would never let down a comrade—but what if they could not become comrades?
Feigning ignorance, he laughed hollowly. "We can discuss this matter later. Once we leave the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, should I find the leisure, I will certainly pay a visit to your doors."
Seeing Qin Sang continuously deflect the subject, the Poison King finally lost his patience and cut straight to the chase: "Fellow Daoist, having slain that traitor, you must have seen a Gu insect shaped like a jade beetle. That Gu insect is a supreme treasure of our sect, stolen by that traitor when he betrayed us. It is useless to outsiders. Could you perhaps...?"
"Halt! Where do you think you're going!"
Before the Poison King could lay out the pros and cons or offer inducements, Qin Sang suddenly barked a ferocious shout. A great thunderclap followed immediately afterward, swiftly fading into the distance.
The Poison King cursed inwardly, hastily urging his miasma winds to give chase. As he pursued, he vaguely sensed the commotion raging ahead, deepening his wariness of Qin Sang.
Qin Sang was splitting his attention. Throughout his exchanges with the Poison King, he had never ceased attacking the Daoist nun, his Heavenly Eye Butterfly constantly watching the boundary restriction above.
As anticipated, having suffered successive blows from the Sun God Tree and the Fourfold Tengshe Seal, the Daoist nun's injuries were steadily compounding. Though he had not yet driven her out of the barrier, Qin Sang was confident that capturing or killing her was only a matter of time.
He had forcibly cut off the Poison King because he did not want to commit to a stance right now, leaving room for maneuver. For now, it seemed he could take down the Daoist nun by his own strength without needing an ally.
However, in the forthcoming contest over the Wordless Jade Wall, his rivals would all be powerhouses from elite factions. Facing them alone, if he found a use for the Poison King later, he could make other plans.
The Poison King pursued relentlessly, calling out several more times, but received no further response. Soon after, he felt the fiend-winds ahead violently shudder, followed by a deafening roar. The ferocious shockwaves completely drowned out the noise of Qin Sang's battle with the Daoist nun.
The Poison King had just swept past a refined hermitage, catching a glimpse of its structure swaying and its restrictions churning with turbulence. He forced his way through wave after wave of impact to reach the source of the disturbance.
Seeing the scene before him, the Poison King snorted coldly. A spiritual array here had been deliberately detonated, producing an enormous commotion—evidently Qin Sang's calculated move to mask his aura.
The Poison King paused briefly on the spot, then darted outward. Just as he prepared to cast his senses wide, he noticed an anomalous aura deep within the fiend-winds to his left. His expression shifted, and he tore through the air in pursuit.
Further ahead, Qin Sang deliberately slowed his offensive for a moment. Through the mental connection with his incarnation, he learned that the Poison King had indeed fallen for the trick, drawn away by the decoy the incarnation had created.
It had taken three encounters for the Poison King to confirm the Gu King was in his possession, which proved that the Poison King's secret tracking technique was subject to severe limitations.
*Just as I expected.*
The Daoist nun's condition was deteriorating by the second, and there was no longer any need for the incarnation's aid here. His true self concentrating on capturing her was the priority.
Otherwise, if the Poison King barged in, new complications would arise, and Qin Sang had no intention of sharing the spoils.
The incarnation had a spirit treasure for protection and could at least tie down the Poison King for a time. The complex terrain of the mountain and the ubiquitous array restrictions were advantageous to the incarnation.
Should an unexpected crisis arise, his true self could rush over at any moment. Knowing this scheme would not deceive the Poison King for long, Qin Sang accelerated his assault, unleashing divine abilities and treasures in rapid succession.
***
Before the battle at the medicine garden began...
Having lost the protection of their body-protecting talismans, Old Demon Fan and Zhu Wudao were in circumstances scarcely better than Qin Sang's group. Their senses were severely restricted by the pervasive fiend-winds, and their path was repeatedly blocked by array restrictions.
Catching the extraordinary fragrance of spirit herbs, both looked downward. They occupied the highest elevation and had already bypassed the medicine garden; to seek the fragrance's source, they would have to turn back.
With powerful enemies hot on their heels, returning now would be walking straight into a trap, sacrificing the greater goal for petty gain. Without speaking, both withdrew their gazes and continued ascending the mountain. The array restrictions in various spots gave them constant trouble; despite being top-tier powerhouses, they occasionally had to avoid the brunt of their fury.
As they flew along, another spiritual array ahead—eroded by the fiend-winds—erupted.
Azure light abruptly shot into the heavens. Sensing their auras, it condensed into an azure blade of light that cleaved toward them across the void.
Without hesitation, the two vaulted to opposite sides.
*Swish!*
The azure blade flashed between them as though cleaving open the void itself. Just as it was about to carve a trench into the ground, it suddenly ground to a halt, resolving back into pure azure radiance.
Ripples of azure light drifted slowly across the void. Confirming there was no longer any danger, Old Demon Fan stepped through the glow.
"Junior Brother Zhu..."
His voice stopped short, his face turning an ugly shade of iron-gray.
In that single instant, Zhu Wudao had vanished!
Separated only by that curtain of azure light, he had failed to sense a thing.
At that moment, having shaken off Old Demon Fan, Zhu Wudao was traversing a dense forest.
His pace did not appear swift, yet each stride carried him over a hundred zhang forward. His passage stirred not the slightest ripple; even as the fiend-winds swept over him, they encountered no resistance whatsoever. Zhu Wudao moved as though he did not exist—a clear sign of an extraordinarily profound escape technique.
Gone was the labored struggle he had displayed before Old Demon Fan; he moved with effortless grace and lightning speed. A closer look revealed a faint crimson glow clinging to him like a blood-red cloak. Though it could not ward off all the fiend-winds, it suppressed his aura to the absolute minimum, rendering it virtually undetectable.
Looking at the route he took, his objective was unmistakable: the summit of Dishou Mountain!
Without making a sound, Zhu Wudao crossed the mountain forest and entered a verdant meadow. His movements were distinctly urgent; whatever obstacle lay ahead, he cleared it in a single step.
As he walked, Zhu Wudao raised an arm and reached into his sleeve, retrieving a divine idol. It had lain in his sleeve for a long time, originally intended for rescuing the Holy Sovereign before the path to the Immortal Palace was severed.
Now, the idol was displaying a miraculous change. From between its tightly shut eyelids, two streaks of bloody tears trickled down, and the blood-red cloak around Zhu Wudao was cast by the light of those very tears.
The blood sacrifice outside was likely still underway, but Zhu Wudao knew these two streaks of blood-tears were not drawn from that sacrifice's power.
"To think you're still alive." Zhu Wudao chuckled softly as he stared at the idol.
"Shut your mouth! Put it back!"
The bloody tears on the idol's face abruptly darkened in hue, while an overbearing psychic will surged through the idol into Zhu Wudao's body, prompting him to snap his mouth shut and hastily tuck the idol back into his sleeve.
Zhu Wudao took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings, recalling his earlier experiences. When their plot to rescue the Holy Sovereign ran into unexpected trouble, he had been forced to alter his plans and look out for himself.
It was easy to foresee that once he left the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, he would be relentlessly hunted by the entire cultivation world, with nowhere left to stand.
Consequently, Zhu Wudao had begun plotting for the fortunes atop Dishou Mountain. The Wordless Jade Wall was merely a pretext; according to his knowledge, the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had once placed the Five Elements Crown—famed as the foremost spirit treasure of Zhongzhou—on Dishou Mountain to help cultivators afflicted by demonic taint suppress the demonic will within. His true objective was that very treasure.
Unexpectedly, the moment he entered Dishou Mountain, an uninvited guest had contacted him through the divine idol.
Zhu Wudao knew this entity's origins: it was the archdemon who had spearheaded the ancient Demonic Calamity, subsequently suppressed by the Wuxiang Immortal Sect and sealed within Dishou Mountain.
Though worlds apart from the Holy Sovereign, this demon had remarkably endured under the seal for so long without having its true nature obliterated, surviving all the way to the present day.
First, the idol had been prepared by Zhu Wudao to rescue the Holy Sovereign and was inherently a demonic creation; second, the seal had long gone unattended. Thus, the demon had been able to reach through the seal and establish a link with the idol.
"Just what kind of adversary could make the exalted Demon Son so timid and cautious?" Zhu Wudao dared not act recklessly, yet he did not sever the mental link.
"Humph!"
A furious snort echoed directly within Zhu Wudao's brain palace, jolting his origin soul with a burst of pain.
At the same time, fragments of information were forcibly transmitted, flooding into his mind all at once. The delivery was so violent that had his cultivation been slightly weaker, his true nature would have been instantly shattered, reducing him to a mindless fool.
Zhu Wudao furrowed his brow. Sensing the frenzy in the other party's will and the fury suppressed like boiling magma beneath the surface, he cast aside any thought of jesting, not daring to provoke the entity further.
Focusing his senses on these fragmented memories, Zhu Wudao "heard" broken, intermittent voices and pieced together the crucial truth.
"An artifact spirit?!" Zhu Wudao's expression changed drastically, an exclamation nearly escaping his lips.
"Not an artifact spirit! It is a demonic spirit born from this King tainting its spiritual nature! Without passing the molding of the spirit, how can it be called an artifact spirit!" The Demon Son's thoughts shifted as he spat in reply.
"A demonic spirit..."
Zhu Wudao was somewhat bewildered; this was already beyond his realm of comprehension. Only after patiently sorting through the information did he understand what had transpired.
As it turned out, Dishou Mountain had been sealed back then for two reasons: first, sect experts afflicted with demonic taint had sealed themselves here; second, the Demon Son was imprisoned within the mountain.
Regarding this, the Demon Son's thoughts carried no small amount of smug pride:
"A mere remnant realm, where the strongest were nothing more than a few Deity Transformation juniors—yet they presumed to slay this seat! They had no choice but to rely on a seal to slowly grind down this seat's true nature!"
The source of power for the seal was none other than the foremost spirit treasure of Zhongzhou—the Five Elements Crown!
To that end, Dishou Mountain had laid out the Five Elements Divine Restriction, interlinking it with the mountain's original grand protective array to draw upon the spirit treasure's power to the maximum degree. With the five elements generating one another in an endless, cyclical loop, they had erected an impenetrable seal.
The experts of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had sealed themselves within the mountain for two purposes: to grind away the demonic will within themselves, and to sustain and perfect the seal that suppressed the Demon Son.
Who could have foreseen that shortly after the seal was completed, sudden internal treachery would erupt within the Wuxiang Immortal Sect? The seal had instead become a cage, and the Demon Son had played a part in that catastrophe.
Sensing an anomaly in the outside world, he had battered the seal with frenzied desperation, tangling the minds of the experts overseeing it. As a result, they had remained blind to the external crisis and failed to turn the tide, ultimately sinking into Tenglong Cliff alongside the Wuxiang Immortal Sect.
Following that calamity, with no one left to awaken the experts on the mountain, they had gradually perished in meditation while sealed. The seal, left untended, had operated on its own, which was the only reason the Demon Son had survived to this day.
Fortunately, the Five Elements Divine Restriction regenerated perpetually, leaving no loopholes for the Demon Son to exploit, and he had remained trapped. Yet he was exceptionally formidable; through endless contemplation, he had devised a method to demonic-taint the spirit treasure itself.
The foremost spirit treasure of Zhongzhou was true to its reputation. Though it had not yet advanced to the stage of molding an artifact spirit, its innate spiritual nature was potent enough to host the demonic taint.
Thus, over hundreds or perhaps thousands of years, the Demon Son had actually succeeded: the Five Elements Crown had gradually begun transforming into a demonic weapon.
Reading to this point, Zhu Wudao grew even more puzzled. "If that is so, why did...?"
"A little over three hundred years ago..." The Demon Son paused abruptly and snorted coldly, his will fraught with venomous resentment. "Because I had been sealed for ages, worn down by the restrictions, I grew weaker by the day. An error occurred midway through, interrupting the tainting process. By the time I sought to resume, I discovered that the Five Elements Crown had spontaneously birthed a spiritual consciousness—breeding a monstrosity that resembles an artifact spirit yet is not one! Far from seeking to save its master, it now aims to devour this seat and mold its own spirit!"
Chapter 1668