Reunion

Qin Sang darted out of the cave, and before he had traveled far, dozens of cloud beasts swooped down toward him. Their shrill, piercing shrieks echoed everywhere, assaulting his eardrums incessantly like a demonic drone that left him intensely irritable. The beasts beat their wings furiously, stirring up waves of spiritual energy that crashed into the ground like a violent storm. Though they had not yet laid eyes on Qin Sang, the proximity allowed them to sense the aura of a living creature clearly enough to drive them into a frenzy, determined to tear up the ground three feet deep just to drag him out. A sky-obscuring spiritual power tempest hemmed Qin Sang in from all sides. The sky rained spiritual energy in torrents, descending into absolute chaos. Right then, a beam of blood-colored sword light shot abruptly from the ground. Glaring and scarlet, it flickered several times before surging straight into the clouds, thrusting into the midst of the cloud beast flock in the blink of an eye. *Whoosh!* The spirit sword’s sword qi swelled dramatically by dozens of zhang. It then wavered, splitting off a new arc of blood-red sword qi, which immediately divided once more. In a mere instant, the spirit sword had produced thirty-two streams of sword qi. Spreading through the air, they formed a circular sword formation that rotated slowly around the ebony sword itself. Over the years, Qin Sang had practiced diligently without letting his cultivation of the sword arts lag. He was already capable of conjuring thirty-two sword qi, reaching an attainment no less impressive than Wu Yuesheng’s of years past. Moreover, he had already gained insight into how to split it into sixty-four sword qi. He was merely held back by his cultivation realm and could not yet execute it smoothly. He believed that once his cultivation advanced slightly further, mastering the sword formation would come naturally. “Kill!” Hidden amidst the rubble, Qin Sang directed the ebony sword from afar. As soon as the sword formation took shape, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes, and he barked an order. *Boom!* The ebony sword shuddered, and sword qi erupted violently. With the sword at its center, a lake of blood emerged, the swirling sword qi resembling waves splashing from its surface. A chilling, razor-sharp killing intent filled the air! The sword formation transformed into a blood-colored millstone, spinning rapidly as if seeking to grind every foe trapped within to dust. The cloud beasts caught in the formation were entirely pulverized. Only two, with strength comparable to the Foundation Establishment stage, survived; thrown back by the sword formation and badly wounded, they let out enraged shrieks. Though Qin Sang had temporarily extricated himself from danger, the commotion was simply too massive. It disturbed even more cloud beasts aloft, and hundreds upon thousands immediately swarmed down in dense flocks from the high heavens. Just then, a dark shadow burst out from the rubble, charging fearlessly into the cloud beasts. It struck one of the weaker beasts away with a single fist before veering sharply, fleeing toward the distance. This act was nothing short of an open provocation. The cloud beasts instantly flew into a wild fury. The dark, sprawling flock wheeled around in an instant and overtook the shadow, swallowing it whole in a terrifying spectacle. By this time, Qin Sang had seized the chance to flee a considerable distance in another direction. The shadow was merely a zombie he had tossed out as a scapegoat. Most of the corpse puppets he refined were destroyed in this manner. Still, a single zombie could only divert a limited number of cloud beasts, buying him only a sliver of time. With the sea of cloud beasts in the sky stretching boundlessly, Qin Sang had not yet escaped its reach before another flock detected his trail, forcing him to repeat the trick. After sacrificing three zombies in succession, Qin Sang finally burst through the mountain range and caught sight of the plains ahead. At the same time, he was nearing the outer edge of the cloud beast sea. Yet reaching this point only darkened Qin Sang’s expression. The perimeter of the cloud beast sea was composed entirely of beasts at the Foundation Establishment level, and there might even be Core Formation stage cloud beasts lurking high above. At the far reaches of his vision, the beasts swarmed in a dark, suffocating mass. Every move these creatures made caused violent ripples in the world’s spiritual energy. Seeing so many powerful beasts gathered together made Qin Sang’s scalp tingle. *This celestial phenomenon is clearly no small matter!* Qin Sang inwardly sighed. Over all these years, he had gained a deep understanding of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. The more terrible the celestial phenomenon, the more active the formidable cloud beasts became. Often, one could gauge the severity of an impending phenomenon by their behavior before deciding whether to seek shelter. Under such circumstances, lingering in the wilderness was out of the question. He had to break away and find a shelter as quickly as possible. Qin Sang knew all the shelters around the Tianjing Secret Realm well. A sturdy one was not far away, certain to withstand the erosion of the celestial phenomenon—provided he could shake off the pursuing cloud beasts first. *Looks like I'll have to sacrifice another baleful corpse.* A pang of reluctance flickered in Qin Sang’s eyes. He only had three left; losing one meant losing a substantial part of his combat strength. Still, compared to his life, what was a mere baleful corpse? Just as Qin Sang made up his mind to summon a baleful corpse as bait, an unusual commotion caught his ear. Stirred, he paused his movements. While continuing to drive the ebony sword to dispatch approaching cloud beasts, he turned his gaze toward the west. The sea of cloud beasts in the western sky had descended into chaos at some point. A massive sphere formed from countless cloud beasts was slowly flying in his direction. Amidst the screeches and furious roars of the beasts, one could faintly hear the clashing of magic tools and the fluctuations of spiritual power. *Someone else is trapped by the cloud beasts?* Qin Sang’s eyes flickered. Just as he wondered whether he might invite this person to cooperate and spare himself a baleful corpse, a loud shout rang out from within the sphere: “Fellow Daoist ahead! The cloud beasts here are numerous. Would you be willing to join forces with this old Daoist to escape this peril?” Hearing the man's voice, Qin Sang let out a soft murmur of surprise, looking caught off guard. In the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, two people joining hands to weather a sudden attack from cloud beasts or a celestial phenomenon was commonplace. Whether they would turn on each other was a matter to worry about only after the danger had passed. That the person invited Qin Sang to join forces was perfectly natural. What surprised Qin Sang was that the voice sounded remarkably familiar. “Senior Yunyouzi, is that you?” Qin Sang called back loudly. The figure within the sphere went quiet for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter. “Brother Qin, fate truly binds us! I never imagined that after our long parting, we would meet again in such a place! This is hardly the setting for catching up, however. Why don't we shake off these cloud beasts first, then find a place to speak at leisure?” “Very well!” Qin Sang agreed immediately. Crossing paths with Yunyouzi in this vast wilderness was indeed unexpected. Half a year ago, Yunyouzi had traveled west, claiming he was searching for a way to resolve his hidden affliction. Had it taken him until now to return? Had he succeeded? With these thoughts in mind, Qin Sang changed direction, pointing his sword westward as he swiftly closed the distance toward Yunyouzi. Along the way, his hand slipped quietly toward his mustard seed bag, secretly palming the Profound Yin Thunder. The two Essence-Devouring Awls he had asked Shopkeeper Wu to craft before his departure had both been expended, but this Profound Yin Thunder had lasted until now. It was not that Qin Sang harbored malice toward others, but one could never be too cautious.