"Thank you for saving my life, Senior. I am deeply grateful."
The female Daoist slowly came to. Still very weak, she struggled to rise, supported by Yun Wei, and bowed with great difficulty.
Still, the alien force had been driven out, and her own cultivation was not weak; her breathing soon steadied, and after taking a few pills she gradually recovered.
Wanting to learn more about Lugou Mountain, Qin Sang did not enter meditation at once and asked a number of questions.
Both of them were thoroughly deferential, and questions that were awkward to answer they could only mumble around.
Seeing their difficulty, Qin Sang did not press further.
He learned that Lugou Mountain's sect gate lay in Zhongmao Diocese, under the jurisdiction of the Tianshu Court.
Unlike other Daoist sects, Lugou Mountain revered the rare Plague Division Heavenly God. Its disciples began handling plague-poison talismans from the very start of their entry into the path, and across the whole Daoist world none surpassed Lugou Mountain in this discipline.
Lugou Mountain's current sect master was styled Qingdan Yuanjun. The style came from the battle that made her name: no one knew what technique or talisman she had used, but in an instant water mist spread and the void seemed to ripple like water.
When the mist dispersed, her enemies were dead, yet their faces were ruddy and their bodies unmarked, as if they were still alive.
Disciples of the Daoist sects could likewise receive a Dao Court Dharma Summons.
Yun Wei's earlier contest with Qin Sang over the Dharma Summons had in fact been tied to Qingdan Yuanjun.
He knew his master wished to befriend the pill-dao grandmaster Master Lingxu, but having no prior ties with him, a sudden visit would have been presumptuous. He happened to see this Dharma Summons, so he wanted to obtain Master Lingxu's token, present it to his master, and then approach Master Lingxu smoothly. Unfortunately, he was no match for Qin Sang.
As he talked with the two, Qin Sang observed the Poison Pearl within him.
After devouring the alien force, the pearl showed no change.
The alien force had merged with the Bloodthirsty Miasma Spirit's poison inside the pearl, yet its peculiar fluctuation had not vanished. It had not been assimilated by the Bloodthirsty Miasma Spirit's poison, and the amount of alien force was minuscule — meaning its rank was at least no lower than that poison.
Qin Sang pondered for a while, then asked, "Where were you when the alien force attacked you?"
Yun Wei and the female Daoist exchanged a look, hesitant. Only after a moment did he say, "I would not dare deceive you, Senior — we truly do not know the exact location. Our master brought us deep into the altar. We formed an array to protect ourselves, but even straining every effort we could barely keep our lives, and we dared not divide our attention; we were simply carried along by our master. That alien force appeared abruptly as well. Our master said the eruption of the golden light had stirred some strange place; it lasted but an instant, and its origin is unknown..."
For some reason of his own, Yun Wei said a little more.
Here his expression dimmed: he and his junior sister had not been the only ones brought to this place; other fellow disciples had come as well.
Qingdan Yuanjun had brought her true disciples into this danger so that they could maintain a special formation.
Unfortunately the change came too suddenly, and the others, caught wholly unprepared, could not withstand the alien force and died on the spot. Only the two of them remained.
Lugou Mountain had suffered a devastating loss this time!
Precisely for that reason, when she learned that demons were stirring up trouble behind the scenes, Qingdan Yuanjun flew into a rage and at once accepted Real Person Wan's invitation, meaning to take revenge with her own hands.
Qin Sang nodded slightly, thoughtful.
The Jushan Diocesan Altar could be called the most wondrous place in the world. Countless divine powers unleashed by mighty ones of ancient times had remained into the present age, transformed into strange illusions that endured — the likes of which Qin Sang had never seen in his life.
Extraordinary sights beyond all reason were everywhere here, endlessly defying settled understanding; it was hardly strange that a fierce poison should have evolved in such a place.
Qin Sang tried to comprehend something from the alien force's fluctuation, but found no clue.
Thanks to the Poison Pearl given him by the fat silkworm, Qin Sang had gained the ability to purge and to control poison, but he was hardly a master of the poison way, nor did he intend to devote himself to studying it. Asking him to analyze the alien force was asking a great deal.
Even Qingdan Yuanjun, so skilled in the poison way, had failed to shield her disciples when the alien force struck — proof of how treacherous it was.
He was genuinely interested in this alien force. Letting the Poison Pearl devour more of it would strengthen both his use of poison and the power of the Heaven-Severing Soul-Shaking Divine Needle.
As he pondered, time slowly passed.
Qin Sang kept a thread of his mind fixed on the outside the whole time. After waiting another full two hours, he finally saw an anomaly!
Beyond the gray curtain, deep in the altar, a blinding rosy light suddenly erupted. Qin Sang shot to his feet, expecting it to shake the entire altar as the earlier golden light had.
Unaware of what was happening outside, Yun Wei and the female Daoist watched Qin Sang anxiously.
After a few breaths the rosy light faded and nothing else happened, but Qin Sang's expression remained grave.
The rosy light had most likely been raised by the two sides' great battle. To make such a commotion deep in the altar, the fighting must have been extremely fierce.
He needed to make some preparations of his own.
Qin Sang glanced at the two and took the Imperial Bell True Talisman in his hand.
He had already checked: there was no wood spirit qi nearby. Without the Dingzhen Pill and the Spirit Wood Body, his strength was greatly reduced.
Fortunately he had saved the Imperial Bell True Talisman through the earlier battle, so even a sudden upheaval would let him retreat unharmed.
The anticipated situation did not come to pass.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn down, Qin Sang saw familiar streaks of flight light coming from afar, some bright, some dim — Real Person Zhang and the others.
Five came in all.
Real Person Zhang, Real Person Youhuang, and Real Person Guyun were all there, but Real Person Zhijian was nowhere to be seen.
The other two were strangers, a man and a woman.
The man wore white robes, with a feather fan and a scholar's kerchief, but his aura was somewhat disordered, which spoiled his elegance.
The woman was slender and delicately lovely, yet her face was utterly cold, killing intent written between her brows, undisguised.
Certain there were no pursuers behind them, Qin Sang hurriedly opened the talisman array and welcomed the real persons inside.
"This woman must be Qingdan Yuanjun..."
Qin Sang's gaze swept over the woman, then turned to Real Person Zhang. Frowning, he asked, "Where is Real Person Zhijian?"
He had noticed that Real Person Youhuang and Real Person Guyun, like the stranger, were breathing rapidly, their reserves massively drained.
Real Person Guyun's face was even tinged pale; he had already been wounded, and upon entering the stone pavilion he had no time for greetings, at once sitting cross-legged to regulate his breathing.
Only Real Person Zhang, though also in poor shape, wore a look of some pleasure, as though he had gained some benefit.
Real Person Zhang said easily, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. Real Person Zhijian is unharmed; he is covering our rear..."
By then Qingdan Yuanjun had finished examining her disciples' wounds and learned from Yun Wei that it was Qin Sang who had acted. Her expression eased, the killing air fading from her pretty face, and she came before Qin Sang and bowed. "I am Qingdan. Thank you, Real Person Qingfeng, for healing my disciple."
"A trifling effort. You exaggerate, Yuanjun."
Qin Sang cupped his hands, calm.
Seeing this, Qingdan Yuanjun dispensed with formalities and introduced the man to Qin Sang. His style was Boxian Shanren, a friend of Qingdan Yuanjun.
The two exchanged courtesies.
Just as they were speaking, a sword light arrived as a rainbow. Qin Sang quickly opened the talisman array and welcomed Real Person Zhijian into the stone pavilion.
With that, everyone had gathered except the two Dao Court immortal officers and Mo Xingdao.
"How did it go?" Real Person Zhang asked with concern.
Real Person Zhijian nodded. "No need to wait any longer. Let us withdraw to the Golden Hall now and rendezvous with the Dao Court people there."
At these words, everyone's expression relaxed.
Qin Sang kept strictly to his place and asked nothing about how the battle had gone or how it had ended, merely watching from the sidelines.
After a brief adjustment, they all flew out of the gray curtain together. Real Person Zhijian and Real Person Zhang took the front and the rear, the wounded were shielded in the middle, and they headed for the altar's outer region.
The farther out they went, the more relaxed everyone became.
Yun Wei and his junior sister followed closely behind Qingdan Yuanjun. Seeing the situation easing, Real Person Yun Wei employed a secret art to communicate quietly with his master.
Qingdan Yuanjun glanced at Qin Sang, a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
She had assumed Qin Sang had used the sheer force of his cultivation to drive the stubborn alien force out of her disciple's body. Only now did she learn that he had in fact used a secret art of the poison way to dissolve it invisibly.
Glancing at Qin Sang again, she pondered inwardly. When they were nearly at the Nine-Bend Star River and she had confirmed there was no danger, she sent him a voice transmission. "Forgive my presumption, but when you healed my disciple, did you discern anything peculiar about that alien force?"
Qin Sang had expected the question. He considered, then said, "There was too little of the alien force. I only know that my method of purging poison had a certain effect; it should be a fierce poison, yet there is something strange about it that I cannot see through, nor can I guess its origin."
Qingdan Yuanjun hesitated a moment, then said, "Might I ask you to instruct me in this method of purging poison? I am willing to trade other treasures, and will do my utmost to meet whatever you require."
Had it been earlier, Qin Sang could have demanded that Qingdan Yuanjun teach him Lugou Mountain's inherited talismanic register.
Qin Sang shook his head slightly and refused. "This method is vital to me; I must apply it myself, and it cannot be passed on. Do not take offense, Yuanjun."
Seeing Qin Sang's firm attitude, leaving no room at all, Qingdan Yuanjun showed her disappointment and sank into thought.
Soon the Nine-Bend Star River appeared ahead.
Confirming nothing was amiss, they crossed the river at once and returned smoothly to the Golden Hall.
The Golden Hall looked as it had before, utterly calm.
Real Person Zhang cast a spirit talisman into the sky, and then they flew slowly toward the Golden Hall's exit, glancing back now and then.
Even when they neared the exit, the Dao Court immortal officers were still nowhere in sight. Recalling Hongyuzi's warning, none dared leave on their own, so they could only find a place near the exit to wait.
Another half day passed.
Not far from where they were hiding, a figure appeared.
Seeing who it was, Real Person Zhang let out a breath. "I was beginning to think something had happened to you, Venerable."
The newcomer was Venerable Zhenru. After returning to the Golden Hall he had found a hidden place to treat his wounds, and upon receiving Real Person Zhang's message he had come to join them.
No sooner had Venerable Zhenru appeared and exchanged a few words with them than the Nine-Bend Star River suddenly stirred into waves.
All eyes turned, and they saw a crimson gleam burst through the star river, moving with incredible speed, never pausing, racing toward the Golden Hall's exit.
The crimson gleam was a mass of raging fire. Fierce flames wrapped a treasure chariot of the utmost splendor, drawn by a fire beast shaped like a fire rhinoceros, its aura astonishing.
Wherever it passed, even the void seemed burned away with it.
The flames were like gauze, sealing off the inside from the outside. They could see Real Person Wan riding at the front of the chariot, controlling it himself.
There were a few more indistinct figures inside the chariot, presumably Dao Court immortal officers, but no demons were to be seen.
The firelight made no attempt at concealment, heading straight for the Golden Hall's entrance.
When the chariot drew near, Qin Sang and the others showed themselves as well, but the chariot did not slow. Real Person Wan's shout came from it: "Follow behind!"
They followed close behind the chariot, plunging into the auspicious clouds, and soon reached their edge; a little farther on and they would leave the Jushan Diocesan Altar.
Their flight speed was extreme. They burst out of the auspicious clouds, crossed the plain in between, and in a blink were above the mountain range where they had once hidden.
Just then, all of them felt an inexplicable dread.
Including the officers inside the treasure chariot, everyone turned as one toward the east, faces filled with horror.
It was noon, the sky bright.
Yet on the distant horizon a dense darkness was spreading swiftly across the eastern sky.
"Rumble!"
"Crack!"
...
As the darkness spread, thunder crashed and lightning flashed between heaven and earth, fierce winds howled, the world itself shook, and myriad rays of rosy light appeared.
Countless strange phenomena flashed one after another; points of colored light were born and burst apart like spirit flowers ceaselessly blooming.
The world's qi was being battered by a terrifying force, chaotic power surging wildly.
At last they saw it.
Deep within the darkness loomed a vast outline.
It was a Peng bird, entirely black, its jet feathers seeming to devour light.
It flew toward them, and its spread wings brought the darkness, rolling on to blot out the sky and the sun.
Every one of them was shaken to the core and turned pale with shock.
Qin Sang's face changed as well.
"A Dharma Form!"
From the black demon Peng he sensed a familiar aura — the aura of a Dharma Form!
This was not the demon beast's true body but a Dharma Form, and though this Dharma Form was extraordinarily solid, comparable to the real thing.
Both the black demon Peng's aura and the celestial phenomena it raised were proof enough that this demon was a great demon of the Void Refining stage!
"So a Dharma Form is the divine power of a great demon of the Void Refining stage..."
Realization dawned in Qin Sang. No wonder the demon marquises he had met before had no Dharma Forms; no wonder the Azure Luan's Dharma Form could withstand the suppression of Li Hou's heavenly might.
Hongyuzi had guessed right — a demon king truly was blocking the way!
The darkness spread too quickly; in an instant it claimed half the sky, and the black demon Peng seemed to hold up the heavens, looking down on ants.
Within the darkness were two piercing gazes, like sharp swords stabbing through their hearts.
"Fall back!" Real Person Zhang cried in alarm, wanting to retreat into the altar, but demon marquises burst out of the auspicious clouds and watched them with cold sneers.
Suddenly a cold snort exploded in their minds, and a terrifying pressure descended with it. Then they saw a tide of spirit qi surging toward them even faster than the black demon Peng, with the momentum to destroy everything.
The treasure chariot, however, hovered motionless.
Just then a fierce wind sprang up around them; dark clouds instantly filled the air and wild thunder burst forth.
The qi here seemed drawn by something, madly converging overhead until it condensed into a human figure.
The figure wore Daoist robes and a Daoist crown, with white beard and white brows, standing amid wind and thunder, gazing calmly at the black demon Peng.
"It's the legendary Dharma Body! A Great Real Person!"
Real Person Guyun exclaimed, staring at the old Daoist, his face full of shock and yearning.
Qin Sang could not help being moved either. This was a Dharma Body condensed purely from the true essence of heaven and earth, while the Great Real Person's true body was somewhere unknown.
"Old monster, bullying the young — have you no shame?" the Great Real Person laughed heartily.
Two golden beams shot from the black demon Peng's eyes like sharp arrows; the crowd saw only two golden rainbows.
The Great Real Person smiled faintly and pointed into the void.
"Whoosh!"
The sky faintly showed ten thousand stars, and a river of the heavens fell from above, joining the silver way overhead, blocking the tide of spirit qi, sweeping away the golden beams, and erasing a mountain.
The black demon Peng snorted coldly, its wings beating; it swept up the demon marquises, and the darkness slowly withdrew toward the horizon.
"You go on ahead."
The Great Real Person left those words, his figure dispersing; the qi returned to heaven and earth, and the celestial phenomena faded with it.
For a long while, none of them could recover from the shock.
The land here rose in peaks and valleys, limiting their view, but they could still see a hundred li — yet they could see no anomaly at all.
This meant the true bodies of the Great Real Person and the black demon Peng were at least several hundred li away from them, the two crossing blows across that distance with Dharma Form and Dharma Body.
Only then did Qin Sang realize he had been thinking too simply. When a Void Refining cultivator moved, celestial phenomena inevitably arose, with wind and thunder following — but not seeing those phenomena did not mean they were safe.
Chapter 1797