Flying Flesh and Blood

Working together, the two of them quickly dispatched the humanoid cloud beast. Qin Sang retrieved his ebony sword and asked in return, "Is Fellow Daoist Yunqiong willing to leave?" Leaving the Great Rift Valley required everyone's concerted effort to operate the astrolabe. If Yunqiong Sanren was unwilling to depart, he would not be able to leave on his own either. "Junior Brother Qin guessed correctly..." Mu Yifeng said with a helpless look, "Fellow Daoist Yunqiong insists that we must go inside to search for him no matter what. We cannot simply abandon Yin Xingge like this, or we won't be able to account for ourselves upon returning to Xuanlu Pass. Even so, she wants to see what Junior Brother Qin thinks." Qin Sang watched Mu Yifeng impassively. He mused that this was likely not Yunqiong Sanren's desire alone; the two of them had probably already reached an understanding. Mu Yifeng had kept his eye on the Qianyang crystal all along. While Yunqiong Sanren might genuinely wish to save him, Mu Yifeng's purpose was almost certainly not to rescue Yin Xingge. If anything, he would be far more pleased to find Yin Xingge's corpse. Qin Sang neither immediately agreed nor refused, shifting the topic instead. "Was the humanoid cloud beast Senior Brother Mu encountered also formed by a cloud beast spirit soul possessing the corpse of a demonic cultivator?" "Indeed!" Mu Yifeng nodded. "Junior Brother Qin, there is no need to find it strange. The situation in the Lesser Cold Domain shifts unpredictably, and over the years, the Seven Heroes Passes have changed hands multiple times. Whenever the demonic sects held sway, Xuanlu Pass fell into their hands repeatedly. You can tell from the massive cavern outside that this place was originally a vein of Qianyang quartz, excavated by artificial means. Later, when the Qianyang quartz was nearly mined out and no longer worth expending resources on, it was abandoned. When the demonic cultivators occupied Xuanlu Pass in the past, they certainly would not have overlooked such a treasured land. Encountering demonic cultivators here is entirely normal." As they spoke, Yunqiong Sanren and the others caught up, urging them anxiously, "The power of the astrolabe has already begun to show signs of instability and won't hold out much longer. We must find Senior Brother Yin as soon as possible." Mu Yifeng said to Qin Sang, "Junior Brother Qin, if the eight of us pour our full strength into driving the astrolabe and constrain its power to a small area around us, as long as we remain cautious enough, we should be able to fool cloud beasts comparable to the Core Formation stage for a brief period. Going in to take a look shouldn't pose much of an issue. Fellow Daoist Yunqiong is a reasonable person as well; she won't force the matter if she sees it cannot be done. Besides, counting this one, Fellow Daoist Yunqiong and I have already slain four of them, and their strength was roughly identical. There might not necessarily be any formidable humanoid cloud beasts inside. More likely, there are simply too many of them, and Senior Brother Yin was entangled..." Qin Sang hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. It was not that he had been persuaded by Mu Yifeng, but rather that he harbored his own selfish motives. For one, he had the baleful corpse stealthily scouting ahead; if any danger arose, he would detect it immediately. The baleful corpse was not a living corpse; it could be refined from any Foundation Establishment cultivator's body. On the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, cultivators' corpses were hardly rare, so even if it were truly destroyed, he would not grieve too much over it. Second, he wanted to see whether he could collect more soul-refining demonic tools to enhance the power of his Ten Directions Yanluo Banners as quickly as possible. With the matter settled, the group acted without delay. Qin Sang divided his attention between driving the astrolabe and quietly directing the baleful corpse to lead the way. The baleful corpse possessed no aura of a living being. Concealed within the demonic energy, the cloud beasts paid it no heed as long as it did not attack proactively. They swiftly swept into the depths of the passage, encountering three humanoid cloud beasts along the way in rapid succession. None of them were particularly strong, and working together, the three cultivators obliterated them with thunderous force. To Qin Sang's disappointment, only one of the humanoid cloud beasts carried a magic tool, and it was not a soul-refining demonic tool. The deeper they went, the more humanoid cloud beasts they encountered. Qin Sang and the others dared not act rashly anymore, doing their best to avoid the creatures as they crept forward silently. "Just ahead..." By now, they had nearly reached the location indicated by the jade talisman when a chaotic clamor suddenly drifted from ahead, sounding as though someone was locked in fierce combat within the passage. "Senior Brother Yin is still alive!" Yunqiong Sanren exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng exchanged a glance, their expressions turning exceptionally grave. What reached their ears were only the ghostly shrieks of cloud beasts; from beginning to end, they had not heard a single sound from Yin Xingge. Yin Xingge's Cloud Thunder Golden Net wielded the power of lightning. Driven with full force, it would inevitably produce unmistakable claps of thunder, yet right now, not the slightest sound of thunder could be heard. Yunqiong Sanren was no fool. Seeing the expressions on Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng's faces, she quickly came to her senses, her countenance growing increasingly solemn. "I'll go take a look!" Unable to hold back, Mu Yifeng prepared to conceal himself and slip inside, only for Qin Sang to grab hold of him. "We don't know what the situation is inside. Don't be reckless, Senior Brother Mu. Let us test it first with the Sound Mimicry technique..." Qin Sang channeled his spiritual power and pinched an incantation seal. Mu Yifeng had no choice but to suppress his impatience and wait for Qin Sang to cast the spell. This happened to be an intersection of several passages. Qin Sang sent the incantation into one of the tunnels, and a moment later, Qin Sang's voice echoed from within. "Fellow Daoist Yin?" "Fellow Daoist Yin?" ... The voice was not loud, yet it startled the cloud beasts ahead. A sudden commotion erupted as they scrambled out of the passage one after another. Pouring their full strength into driving the astrolabe, the group hid inside another tunnel. They watched the humanoid cloud beasts swarm toward the direction of the voice. Upon seeing what those humanoid cloud beasts looked like, everyone's faces fell, and they sucked in a cold breath of air! ... While holding Mu Yifeng back and executing the Sound Mimicry technique, Qin Sang had split his attention, maneuvering the baleful corpse to carefully skirt around the cloud beasts and stealthily slip inside. Perceiving the horrifying scene within through the baleful corpse, Qin Sang could not help but be secretly shaken. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and shattered bones littered the ground. Those humanoid cloud beasts were covered in dripping blood across their hands and mouths, eagerly tearing into and devouring pieces of fresh, raw flesh. Whose flesh and blood that belonged to required little imagination. Yin Xingge had been completely torn apart, flesh and bone together, making it impossible to distinguish one part from another. Yet the strength of these humanoid cloud beasts had not reached a terrifying degree. Could it be that someone else had killed Yin Xingge? The baleful corpse crept quietly toward the depths of the passage, where it discovered a bottomless chasm carved into the rock. Demonic energy surged out continuously from within, accompanied by bizarre, guttural roars, as though some horrific demon lurked deep within the fissure. Seeing this, Qin Sang was even more hesitant to expose the baleful corpse. Just as he was about to have it quietly retreat, he spotted a spirit beast bag lying right beside the crevice. While the humanoid cloud beasts fought frenziedly over the flesh and blood, the spirit beast bag lay neglected in the corner. Stirred by an idea, Qin Sang commanded the baleful corpse to pick up the bag, then had it conduct a careful search around the fissure. ... The humanoid cloud beasts were all drenched in crimson blood. Witnessing this scene, the cultivators concealed beneath the astrolabe turned pale. Although they had not yet seen Yin Xingge's corpse, everyone knew in their hearts that Yin Xingge had almost certainly met with disaster. "Alive, I must see the person; dead, I must see the corpse!" Mu Yifeng swept his gaze over the group and said in a heavy voice, "Wait here. I will sneak inside to take a look." *Just as I thought,* Qin Sang mused inwardly. Mu Yifeng was still coveting the Qianyang crystal. He spoke up, "Senior Brother Mu, I will go with you and provide backup from behind."