The Wuji Sect Master pointed his sword skyward. The spirit sword transformed into a streak of cyan rainbow and shot into the sky. High above, it flashed as an endless suction welled up from it, completely draining the surrounding baleful wind and carving out a massive void.
Immediately afterward, the spirit sword vanished into thin air, leaving only a drone that echoed between heaven and earth, faintly showing signs of suppressing the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind.
Was this his most powerful strike?
Qin Sang tilted his head back and shifted his gaze, but could only see pure emptiness where the void was. He was entirely unable to locate the spirit sword's true form, not knowing in which direction it was thrusting.
At the same time the Wuji Sect Master struck with his sword, the other black-robed man moved as well.
With one hand flattened into a palm, he gathered vast spiritual power and slammed it fiercely into the black tortoise shell.
With a shudder of the black tortoise phantom, dense black light suddenly welled up from the shell within, instantly flooding the entire phantom. At that moment, the black tortoise seemed to come alive, just like a true ferocious beast.
A deep roar, by no means inferior to the hum of the sword, resonated across the wilderness as the black tortoise raised its head.
Its giant eyes crimson, the black tortoise glared furiously at the thunder-devouring falcon.
Its entire body was jet-black, especially its shell, which looked like a slab of black iron. Its massive body appeared exceedingly clumsy, yet was in fact unusually agile. With a flicker of its form, it crossed the void in an instant and materialized beside the thunder-devouring falcon, opening its bloody maw to bite down on the falcon's right wing with razor-sharp fangs.
"Screech!"
The thunder-devouring falcon cried out. The feathers on its long neck gleamed with silver light as lightning flowed between them, ultimately converging toward its wings.
Its wings were dyed silver, turning into a pair of colossal lightning wings.
Facing the black tortoise's sudden assault, the thunder-devouring falcon showed no sign of weakness. Far from dodging, it flapped its wings fiercely toward the black tortoise.
*Crack!*
As the giant wings swept out, they merged with the thunderstorm, like two whips of lightning lashing squarely onto the black tortoise.
The black tortoise wailed as its movement halted, the thunderstorm erupting within its body.
Taking advantage of the opening, the thunder-devouring falcon rose, gaping its beak to spit out a massive pillar of lightning, the silver light on its body abruptly dimming.
For some reason, the lightning pillar hurtled toward an empty patch of space in front of it.
The droning abruptly ceased, only for the lightning pillar to transform into a square thunder cage, trapping a spirit sword within.
It was none other than the Wuji Sect Master's sword!
His sword technique seen through by the thunder-devouring falcon, the Wuji Sect Master had no choice but to manipulate the spirit sword, ramming against the thunder cage.
The thunder-devouring falcon's ferocity surged; it had actually blocked the attacks of two Nascent Soul cultivators at once.
Right then, before the thunder-devouring falcon even paused, divine light flashed in its eyes as it abruptly locked onto the space below. Then, with a mighty flap of its wings, it transformed into a streak of lightning and shot away.
*Bang!*
A figure had sneaked there at some unknown moment—it was actually the black-robed man.
He had crept forward silently, only to be seen through by the falcon's thunder eyes, which used a lightning dash to ram him out of hiding.
The black-robed man was sent flying back in disarray, but the thunder-devouring falcon remained relentless, wheeling in a flash of lightning to pursue him.
The black-robed man had not expected the thunder-devouring falcon to be this fierce. Caught off guard for a moment, he fell into peril and retreated swiftly.
Seeing that the situation had turned dire, the Wuji Sect Master disregarded his own spirit sword and rushed to the black-robed man's aid.
Only by joining forces did the two manage to hold off the thunder-devouring falcon, both forced back by the beast.
The thunder-devouring falcon shrieked at the two, issuing a warning.
Having nearly been injured by the falcon, the black-robed man was furious. He muttered something to the Wuji Sect Master, then suddenly sat cross-legged in midair.
The black tortoise shell hung high above. As the black-robed man shifted his hand seals, it split from one into two, two into four...
Even Qin Sang could tell that the black-robed man was preparing some powerful technique, and the thunder-devouring falcon certainly sensed the danger as well.
It flapped its wings at once, unleashing a frenzied thunderstorm.
Leaping forward to shield the black-robed man, the Wuji Sect Master recalled his spirit sword and swiped a hand across it to unfold a sword array, holding off the thunderstorm while the black-robed man sat motionless, entirely focused.
For a time, the roles of offense and defense reversed. Displaying one technique after another, the Wuji Sect Master firmly fended off the thunder-devouring falcon.
The battle took place in the distant sky. With the baleful wind and ice obscuring his vision, Qin Sang could only catch a glimpse of the full spectacle.
The black-robed man drew Qin Sang's attention. Seeing the black tortoise shell continuously transforming before the man, Qin Sang knew he had to be preparing a complex and powerful technique that would take time to complete.
They did not seem ready to give up!
Seeing this, Qin Sang felt a stir in his heart. The thought that had just been snuffed out flared up once more.
Opportunity knocks but once. Seeing that a real chance had arrived, Qin Sang moved immediately.
He restrained his aura with all his might and skimmed slightly downward along the ice mountain, doing his best to tread where spiritual energy was most chaotic and concealing himself behind the pillars of the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind.
He used the wind pillars as cover to avoid being noticed by the Nascent Souls.
The deep pit was at the foot of the mountain. The farther down Qin Sang went, the closer he drew to the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind.
With the jade Buddha guarding his origin soul, it remained safe and unharmed, but his physical body began to feel the cold. Soon, bone-chilling frost invaded his entire body, nearly freezing him stiff.
At this point, he had only just reached the edge of the deep pit.
The power of the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind was simply terrifying. Had it not been for the jade Buddha, he never could have reached this place; his origin soul would have been frozen to death by the chill it radiated.
Even if the most horrific chill was harmless to him, the freezing gale stirred by the baleful wind already exceeded the crimson pellet's protective capacity.
Standing at the edge of the pit, Qin Sang felt the meridians throughout his body stagnate. Squinting, he leaned over to look down, only to see a boundless expanse of white.
The thunder-devouring falcon's lair might be even deeper, or there might be nothing down there at all, and his guess had been wrong.
Qin Sang gripped the crimson pellet tightly in the palm of his right hand, which was almost losing sensation.
Without the crimson pellet, he would have had to retreat in the face of such danger. If he went down, even if he went unnoticed by the two men and one demon, he would quickly be frozen into a block of ice and perish within.
This crimson pellet gave him a sliver of hope.
Qin Sang channeled a wisp of spiritual power onto the crimson pellet. As long as he ignited the power of the crimson pellet's demon fire, he could rely on the fire's protection to barely shelter his fleshly body until it burned out.
However, due to the crimson pellet's special nature, once the demon fire was ignited, it could no longer be stopped. Once the demon fire burned itself out, the crimson pellet would be completely destroyed.
Destroying this rare treasure might yield nothing in return, wasting it for nothing.
Time did not allow Qin Sang to dwell on it. The battle was unpredictable. With hardly any hesitation, he decided to channel his spiritual power and trigger the demon fire within the crimson pellet.
The chaotic demon fire erupted in full. The scene he had witnessed before played out once more: the crimson pellet melted, flowing flames coursing over its surface like a layer of glaze.
Qin Sang did his utmost to contain the aura of the demon fire, but the Mystic Frost Baleful Wind stood right ahead—any aura that surged into it would be easily snuffed out by the baleful wind.
Holding the crimson pellet, Qin Sang's hands grew scalding hot, yet his body gradually felt warmth. The demon fire was indeed effective!
Yet as the demon fire burned, the crimson pellet melted away layer by layer, growing smaller and smaller.
The time the crimson pellet could last was limited.
With no time to lose, Qin Sang immediately stepped forward and plummeted downward, hugging the ice wall.
At the same time, he activated the Ten Directions Yanluo Array he had stowed away earlier once more. The ghost banners circled around him, one hand clutching the crimson pellet while the other gripped his magic treasure tightly.
Chapter 402