“Fellow Daoist Yunqiong, until we meet again!”
Qin Sang cupped his hands to Yunqiong in farewell.
Above his head now floated a five-colored auspicious cloud. Without requiring his conscious control, the cloud followed him automatically. With a single thought from Qin Sang, it could transform into a cloud veil to shield his body or scatter a drizzle of needle-like rain to attack enemies—all without consuming any of his own spiritual power.
However, once the power within the auspicious cloud was exhausted, it would dissipate; it was not a permanent boon.
“Until we meet again!”
Yunqiong Sanren’s aura had visibly weakened. Splitting off the power of the Five-Colored Glaze had taken a tremendous toll on her, requiring a period of meditation to recover.
She returned the salute and hurriedly sat cross-legged to circulate her cultivation art, preparing to leave the immortal abode once her strength returned.
Qin Sang walked to the edge of the stone platform and gazed at the deceptively calm mist. His expression was solemn, without the slightest hint of ease.
After arriving on the stone platform, both he and Yunqiong Sanren had taken great care to conceal their auras to avoid alerting the fire spirit beasts lurking within the mist. As a result, he had no idea what kind of fire spirit beast guarded this trial, nor what abilities it possessed.
Qin Sang’s figure gradually faded before vanishing into thin air. If he could slip through this trial relying entirely on escape arts, that would naturally be ideal, but Qin Sang knew in his heart that things would never be so simple.
Moving silently along the iron chain, Qin Sang had just stepped into the mist when he saw a red cloud formed of fire spirit beasts streak past him. Halting where he stood, he focused his gaze. These fire spirit beasts had a bizarre appearance, resembling monkeys that had grown wings.
With their pointy chins, sunken cheeks, and two stiff, outstretched wings, they looked exceedingly hideous.
Several thousand fire monkeys were chattering and screeching noisily. Their cries sounded like ordinary monkeys, unlike the shrill calls of the firebirds that could batter one’s origin soul, which meant they must possess other abilities.
Their behavior was also just like real monkeys—frolicking, scuffling, and creating a chaotic mess.
Yet the moment the red cloud flew past Qin Sang, the raucous clamor came to an abrupt halt. All the fire monkeys suddenly stopped playing and snapped their gazes in unison toward the spot where Qin Sang was concealed. A strange golden gleam shone in the eyes of every winged monkey, and within their unblinking stares, a savage malevolence began to surface.
*Not good!*
Qin Sang’s heart sank.
In the previous trial, the firebirds had used their cries to force intruders to deploy spiritual power or spiritual sense to protect themselves; someone like Qin Sang, who could withstand the shockwaves, could use escape arts to evade the birds’ perception.
It seemed these winged monkeys’ eyes could see straight through concealment arts. No one could hide under their gaze.
*Whoosh!*
A sinister wind suddenly whipped up.
Six ghostly banners swelled against the wind, instantly laying down a grand array around Qin Sang.
After entering the mist and slipping out of Yunqiong Sanren’s line of sight, Qin Sang had already quietly brought out the ghostly banners, preparing the Ten Directions Yanluo Array. Now that the fire spirit beasts had discovered him, he naturally dared not hold back.
The instant the Ten Directions Yanluo Array took shape, the winged monkeys erupted in frenzied screeches. Their faces twisted grotesquely, becoming even more hideous, their shrieks brimming with endless ferocity and fury.
Driven into a frenzy, the winged monkeys had only a single thought: tear the trespasser in their territory to shreds!
*Whoosh!*
Raging flames abruptly flared across the winged monkeys, turning them into a sea of fire. As their fury escalated, the flames gathering in their palms condensed into weapons resembling fiery staves.
Then, amid ear-piercing shrieks, every single winged monkey pounced toward Qin Sang at once, their staff shadows dense as a forest!
*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…*
A barrage of crisp impacts struck like pelting rain against the veil of clouds.
The swarm of winged monkeys engulfed Qin Sang. The power of the Five-Colored Glaze was triggered, absorbing the onslaught on his behalf, but it began to shake violently—like a cloud caught in a hurricane, torn out of shape by the chaotic forces battering it from every direction.
Fortunately, black mist billowed fiercely from the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners at that very moment. Innumerable refined souls swarmed out from the ghostly banners, outnumbering even the winged monkeys. The space around Qin Sang turned into a slaughterhouse where refined souls and winged monkeys clashed.
*Such terrifying physical strength!*
Qin Sang was chilled to the core. Had he not reinforced it in time, the Five-Colored Glaze would have nearly been shattered by these winged monkeys. While the firebirds had attacked the origin soul with soundwaves, these winged monkeys embodied brute physical force; one could only face them head-on!
Fortunately, despite their massive numbers, the Ten Directions Yanluo Array possessed even more evil ghosts, easily cutting the monkey swarm apart to destroy them one by one.
Yet Qin Sang soon discovered that, upon realizing they were no match for the refined souls, the winged monkeys began to fuse together. Several winged monkeys merged into one, multiplying in size several times over and causing their strength to surge exponentially. Their agility remained completely unhindered; raging with ferocious momentum, a single sweep of their long staves scattered the encroaching refined souls.
There seemed to be no limit to their fusion. In the blink of an eye, one giant monkey devoured over a hundred of its kin, growing larger than Qin Sang himself!
Deep within the mist, violent tremors arose. Clearly, more and more winged monkeys were being drawn toward the battle.
If all these winged monkeys merged into a single colossal beast, just how terrifying would its power be?
At the thought, a shudder ran through Qin Sang. He could not linger here, and he definitely could not allow them to keep fusing indefinitely!
Daring not hesitate any longer, sword light flashed between his brows. The ebony sword whistled forth. Working in tandem with the Ten Directions Yanluo Array, it instantly slaughtered most of the winged monkeys before him, clearing an open path.
Qin Sang pushed his movement technique to its limit, keeping the Five-Colored Glaze wrapped around him for protection while using the Ten Directions Yanluo Array to slay as many winged monkeys as possible as he sped forward.
At the same time, his mind did not relax in the slightest. Spreading his spiritual sense, he maneuvered the ebony sword like a darting fish, prioritizing any winged monkey that had fused with dozens of its kin to nip the danger in the bud.
More and more winged monkeys poured out of the mist, but thanks to his sound strategy, Qin Sang still managed to hold his own with relative ease.
Even so, as time passed, the monkeys merged faster and faster, proving too quick for the ebony sword to eliminate entirely.
Several giant, towering winged monkeys had already formed hot on his heels. Every swing of their staves conjured a flaming hurricane, unleashing tremendous force that secretly appalled Qin Sang, forcing him to dodge left and right.
Consequently, he could no longer follow the iron chain directly. He could only try his best to maintain a forward direction, taking things one step at a time.
To make matters worse, Qin Sang suddenly encountered another crimson cloud up ahead. Faced with the siege of countless winged monkeys, the figure within that red cloud seemed to handle the battle far more effortlessly than he did.
Evidently, the other party noticed Qin Sang as well. That crimson cloud paused briefly, then began moving toward him without a word.
The distance was still great, and with the monkey swarms surrounding them, it was impossible to see who the other person was.
Such a posture set off alarm bells in Qin Sang’s mind.
His eyes flickered. After a brief hesitation, he suddenly pointed toward the Ten Directions Yanluo Array.
The six main souls locked in battle roared toward the heavens, devouring every refined soul within the array. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into six burly, terrifying evil ghosts, pouncing with savage fury upon the giant monkeys behind him.
Once the giant monkeys were torn to shreds by the evil ghosts, Qin Sang’s situation stabilized.
The crimson cloud paused where it stood, seemingly hesitating. A moment later, it began moving in the opposite direction, putting a wide distance between itself and Qin Sang before vanishing deep into the mist.
Qin Sang gave a cold sneer and looked away.
Chapter 237