Qin Sang packed up all his belongings to carry with him, including the Fire Jade Centipede.
Only after confirming that there was no residual mark left by anyone else on the Fire Jade Centipede, and after purchasing a new spirit beast bag, did he dare do so. Qin Sang was not sure whether the mark had dissipated with Yin Xingge's death, or if there had never been one in the first place.
He had heard that such rare insects were exceedingly difficult to tame unless nurtured from the egg stage. Under ordinary circumstances, one could only command them through insect-controlling arts. Qin Sang had learned only the most basic insect-controlling art, barely allowing him to drive the Fire Jade Centipede, and he was required to keep it strictly within a certain perimeter around him.
Flying out of the vortex, what immediately met his eyes was an incomparably massive flood dragon chariot!
The chariot's shape was rather peculiar. It looked little different from a mortal carriage—boxy and square, utterly devoid of ornament, and exceptionally crude.
What was strange was that the body and four walls of the chariot were composed of cloud and mist, not solid matter.
Three flood dragons were bound by a wisp of cloud vapor, pulling the chariot from the front. The cloud vapor appeared exceedingly slender and frail, yet it firmly held the three flood dragons in place.
Among them were one white flood dragon and two azure flood dragons. Shaped like serpents, they possessed four claws and scales. Their heads lacked horns, but each bore a bulge, looking as though a single horn might sprout at any moment.
The flood dragons bared their fangs and brandished their claws, eyes glaring with ferocious light and vicious expressions.
Clouds and mist curled faintly about their bodies, as though they were treading upon the vapors.
All three flood dragons gave Qin Sang the same bizarre impression. Looking closely, one could see they were beasts yet not beasts; like the chariot, their figures carried a peculiar illusion. Yet the ferocity upon them and the pressure they exerted were entirely real, comparable to False Core stage experts.
In other words, these vicious flood dragons were very likely at the peak of the Demon Spirit stage—great demons on the verge of forming demon cores and stepping into the Demon Core stage!
Fixed by the chilling gazes of the three flood dragons, everyone trembled with dread, standing quietly beside the chariot with their hands clasped, not daring to make an unbidden move.
To tame even such vicious flood dragons into mounts, and three at once—this was truly the might of a Golden Core Master!
Standing in the crowd, Qin Sang felt boundless envy in his heart.
Once everyone had emerged, Daoist Xuan Yu's voice drifted down from the chariot. "Come up."
Before his words finished echoing, the clouds upon the chariot suddenly rolled forward. Qin Sang only felt a sensation of weightlessness beneath him, and he was already inside the chariot.
In the next moment, the chariot's reins abruptly tightened. The vicious flood dragons roared toward the heavens, their long tails lashing violently. The chariot transformed into a streak of flowing light, sweeping across the horizon at astonishing speed and vanishing at the edge of sight in an instant.
Through the mist, Qin Sang could clearly see the desolate landscape below rushing backward. The speed was so great it seemed unbelievable, yet his body did not feel the slightest jolt.
With a Golden Core Master accompanying them, there was no need to worry about safety. After watching for a while, Qin Sang sat cross-legged to adjust his condition, preparing for the upcoming journey into the secret realm.
After who knew how long, Qin Sang felt a slight tremor beneath him. Waking from his meditation, he opened his eyes.
He saw the chariot dissipate into a wisp of cloud, while the three flood dragons rapidly shrank and faded into the mist. Finally, this wisp of cloud twisted, seeming to take the shape of written characters, before being drawn into the palm of an old man in Daoist robes, vanishing in an instant.
This old man was none other than Daoist Xuan Yu.
Seeing this, Qin Sang wondered secretly: could that flood dragon chariot be a magic treasure?
It was already late at night, the light dim. Qin Sang widened his eyes to survey the surroundings and found a vast plain ahead of them. Scattered across the plain were countless broken stones. Though seemingly in disarray, a closer look revealed an inherent order among them, forming an inconspicuous ring.
In the center of this ring of broken stones, there seemed to be a black hole. All light was absorbed by it, causing the space there to appear somewhat distorted.
Around the black hole, four figures currently hovered, stationed in the four cardinal directions.
One was Qin Sang's familiar Martial Uncle Che, Che Yutao. The other three Qin Sang had never seen, but their auras were all comparable to Che Yutao's, clearly showing they were all Golden Core Masters.
Counting Daoist Xuan Yu, who had just arrived, five Golden Core Masters were gathered here!
At that moment, the four Golden Core Masters suddenly struck at the black hole in unison.
Che Yutao stood directly to the west, holding the Red Dust Gourd as it sprayed out a rainbow beam.
To the north stood a woman in palace attire. She pulled a phoenix jade hairpin from her hair and tapped lightly inward. A phantom phoenix flew forth and plunged straight into the black hole.
To the east was a middle-aged scholar holding up a round precious mirror, shooting out a beam of mirror light.
The most bizarre was the old man standing to the south. Though a Golden Core cultivator, he was actually missing a leg, having left his physical body unrepaired for some unknown reason. Leaning on a crutch, he stood motionless. Only after the other three struck did he suddenly open his mouth, and a visible sound wave rippled outward like waves upon water.
The four attacks landed on the black hole almost simultaneously, only to be completely swallowed by it without a sound.
The four frowned slightly. Their expressions shifted, and they flew backward together.
In the next instant, a burst of dark light suddenly erupted from the black hole. As if enraged by their attacks, the dark light surged forth viciously, engulfing every direction in a flash. Only upon reaching the edge of the stone field was it held back by an inexplicable force, recoiling inward.
Then the dark light and the black hole vanished together. The place now looked like nothing more than an ordinary patch of broken rocks, without the slightest abnormality.
However, at the moment the dark light erupted, one could faintly glimpse an extraordinarily ancient stone tablet within the black hole. Space had distorted around it, making it impossible to determine its size.
Yet the mottled marks left upon the stone tablet by long ages were plainly visible, radiating an aura of antiquity.
The four came to a halt at the edge of the stone field, calmly watching the dark light surge right before their eyes before retreating. Evidently, this was not the first time they had attempted this.
The woman in palace attire said in a deep voice, "Several attempts have all failed. It seems breaking the restriction by force will not work. We can only follow the rules set by the restriction, then send people in to test it one by one."
"Just in time, the old bull-nose brought the people over..."
Red light flashed in Che Yutao's palm, and the red jade gourd rapidly shrank, automatically hanging at his waist. He then turned his head, calling out in teasing banter, "That old bull-nose only knows how to slack off and watch the show! Why haven't you told these juniors to come over?"
Daoist Xuan Yu gave his long sleeve a flick, bringing the crowd down to the edge of the stone field, and snapped crossly, "This old Daoist went to the trouble of making this trip. Even if there's no merit, there's at least the hard work! Yet coming out of your mouth, I've turned into a slacker..."
Che Yutao's gaze swept over the crowd, and he said in a deep voice, "The twenty-seven of you will split into three groups of nine. How you divide yourselves is up to you."
Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances. Under the command of a Golden Core Master, no one dared hesitate, and disciples from the same sects subconsciously gathered together.
Shaohua Mountain had the most people present. Qin Sang, Mu Yifeng, and Yu Daiyue stood together, alongside two other senior sect brothers.
Yunqiong Sanren and one of her fellow sect members, along with two acquaintances, came over. Having worked with Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng before, she persuaded her friends to join their group.
Chapter 226