The Heavenly Peak was sealed off by a protective grand array. Standing at the edge of the formation, one could distinctly sense palpitation-inducing ripples emanating from ahead. Even a Core Formation stage cultivator like Old Man Dique dared not intrude recklessly.
Fortunately, within the protective grand array, a mountain path existed that offered passage.
The path wound narrow and treacherous into the depths of the mist. The scenery along the way shifted continuously, crossing wild grasses, dense forests, and chasm rifts, alongside shrines, thatched cottages, and stone halls...
Every location gleamed with the light of restrictions, numbering no fewer than several dozen across their various forms.
Evidently, negotiating the restrictions along the mountain path to safely reach the summit was no simple feat.
At this moment, Qin Sang and the other two had concealed their figures, standing on the mountain path. Ahead lay the entrance to the protective grand array, where the trail entered a forest, vanished into its depths, and then reemerged far beyond it.
The trees within the forest were all dead and unnaturally withered, devoid of a single leaf. Their twisted silhouettes looked from afar like deceased monstrosities, while their shadows on the ground resembled countless ghosts baring fangs and brandishing claws.
This was a dead forest!
The dead forest was packed with dense restrictions, stacked layer upon layer until they numbed the scalp. Their murky glow was like a man-eating maw, waiting for intruders to walk straight into the trap.
At first glance, the withered trees in the dead forest seemed utterly disordered, but upon closer inspection, one would find that every tree and every branch followed a peculiar pattern in harmony with the restrictions.
"You go first!"
Old Man Dique pointed at Qin Sang and produced the conch-shaped magic treasure, handing it to him.
"Take this old man's Tianyin Conch inside. It contains the spiritual power and marks I left behind, and I will assist you in breaking the restrictions. However, I have other matters to attend to and cannot divide my attention entirely. Therefore, when unraveling the restrictions, you must give it your all. Do not constantly count on this old man stepping in to help you. Otherwise, should danger arise, I may not be able to save you..."
Qin Sang took the Tianyin Conch and probed it with his spiritual sense.
Although his mustard seed bag held a magic treasure in the form of a Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, this was the first time Qin Sang was actually using one. The power contained within the magic treasure left him awed and profoundly envious.
Who knew when he would be able to command such formidable power himself!
Just like in the underground cavern, he could manipulate the Tianyin Conch at will and control the power of the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound Old Man Dique had left inside, yet he was merely a conduit directing it. Furthermore, with the restrictions blocking the way, if a truly perilous situation arose, Old Man Dique would find it difficult to intervene in time.
The only one he could truly rely on was himself.
Old Man Dique sat cross-legged before the restriction and gestured that Qin Sang could enter.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Sang tightened his grip on the Tianyin Conch and stepped into the restriction. Immediately, everything in his field of vision vanished—the path, the Heavenly Peak, Old Man Dique, Ren Hong...
He stood within the ghostly dead forest, unable to see outside, while those outside could not see him either.
Outside the restriction, Old Man Dique fixed his sharp, piercing gaze upon the dead forest, his expression solemn.
Ren Hong could not see what was happening inside the restriction and was left waiting idly to one side, though a palpable worry surfaced in his eyes. After all, the next restriction would very likely fall to him to break.
Qin Sang stood frozen in place, his gaze sweeping inch by inch across the surrounding withered trees.
This dead forest was seamlessly integrated with the restriction here, completely airtight and utterly deathly quiet. There was no path within the dead forest—or perhaps the path was concealed. He would have to force his way into the restriction to figure out how to break it.
After a moment's hesitation, Qin Sang patted his corpse puppet pouch, and a baleful corpse flew out.
In any case, his identity was already exposed, and Old Man Dique knew his background thoroughly. He had already made up his mind to flee elsewhere the moment an opportunity presented itself, so there was no need to hide his corpse refinement methods.
Right now, the most critical thing was to keep his life within the restriction.
"A refined corpse..."
Outside, Old Man Dique looked somewhat surprised, but he merely chuckled darkly and made no move to interfere.
Observing every detail within the dead forest and the shifting patterns of the layered restrictions, checking back and forth several times, Qin Sang finally locked his gaze onto the space between two withered trees.
The restrictions in the dead forest were remarkably intricate, and their power was readily imaginable. Fortunately, having obtained Senior Sister Qingting's notes on restrictions and studied them previously, he was not completely in the dark or entirely helpless.
However, the restrictions here were far beyond what his cultivation could fathom. To truly decipher every shift in the restriction, he had to test them directly.
Qin Sang stared at the two withered trees, deciding to make this spot his breakthrough point.
"Go!"
Qin Sang ordered the baleful corpse forward, but he quickly followed right behind it.
The power of the restriction was immense; here, the baleful corpse was as fragile as a mortal. Once the restriction was triggered, if the distance was too great, Qin Sang would not be able to save it in time.
Relying solely on the baleful corpse to break the restriction was impossible; no matter how many baleful corpses he had, they could not sustain such attrition. Qin Sang merely had it scout ahead to buy himself a sliver of time.
Step by step, he walked up to the gap between the trees, took a deep look at the fluctuating glow of the restriction, and suddenly darted inside.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
In an instant, the two withered trees shook without warning. Like living creatures swaying their bodies, their crooked, ugly branches snapped taut, tips aligning straight toward Qin Sang. Then, like a dense hail of arrows, they shot forward with piercing shrieks, blotting out the sky.
In fact, it was not just these two trees—the surrounding withered trees all came alive, dancing wildly in an instant frenzy like a horde of fiends.
Qin Sang had anticipated this to some degree. Just as he was about to counter, the Tianyin Conch in his hand violently shuddered. A crisp shell-note rang out, followed by Old Man Dique's cold snort. A mass of Thousand Illusions Divine Sound surged from the conch and instantly sank into the trunk of the withered tree on Qin Sang's right.
The tree's branches paused momentarily, but otherwise seemed unchanged as they continued lunging toward Qin Sang with bared claws.
Qin Sang clearly saw a flash of azure light vanish on the withered trunk, sealed by the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound.
*Another spiritual talisman...*
Qin Sang had a sudden realization. No wonder Old Man Dique was so cautious, treating this like confronting a mortal foe, and had sent him to scout the way.
Daoist Xuan Yu had definitely left behind more than just that one talisman, and perhaps other hidden traps as well. Old Man Dique had to pour all his efforts into searching them out without the slightest oversight.
If even a single talisman were missed and Daoist Xuan Yu alerted, it would mean all previous efforts were wasted.
Could he seize the chance to warn Daoist Xuan Yu, then slip away amid their clash?
Qin Sang immediately discarded the thought.
Setting aside whether Daoist Xuan Yu would fight Old Man Dique to the death, Xuan Yu was far away at the summit, perhaps already inside the ancient cultivator's cave dwelling. The closest person was Old Man Dique, who would crush Qin Sang first.
The stray thoughts in his mind were suppressed in an instant, nor did Old Man Dique's movement distract Qin Sang.
He remained intently focused on the branches, his gaze like lightning, instantly grasping every shift. With a single thought, the Tianyin Conch flared with brilliant light, enveloping both him and the baleful corpse. Almost simultaneously, they flickered into motion, leaving behind trailing afterimages.
The withered branches were like an evil ghost's hair, extraordinarily agile. The moment Qin Sang moved, they coiled forward in pursuit, ripping his afterimages to shreds.
Chapter 253