After weeping bitterly, Shi Ying wiped away her tears. Just as she was about to put the refined corpse back into the corpse coffin, she suddenly realized something. She opened that person's mustard seed bag and poured out its contents.
She found many strange items inside, completely unaware of their uses. But it was not safe here, and she did not dare carefully examine them out in the open. She stowed everything into her own mustard seed bag first, destroyed the original bag, and found a secluded spot where she dug a pit to bury Qin Sang and the corpse coffin.
Shi Ying channeled her spiritual power to dispel the redness and swelling around her eyes, rushed to Qingyang Market, purchased a new black coffin, and swiftly returned to the hiding spot.
Seeing that the refined corpse remained obediently in place, Shi Ying let out a sigh of relief. She moved the refined corpse into the new coffin and hoisted it onto her back.
She had seen fellow disciples parading around the sect with refined corpses before, and the sect elders never interfered.
***
Before the mountain gate of the Qingyang Demonic Sect.
Whether one was a disciple of the Qingyang Demonic Sect or an esteemed guest, no one was permitted to fly recklessly here; all had to walk up and down on foot out of reverence.
Shi Ying stepped onto the white jade stone steps, pressed a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart, and briskly climbed the mountain.
Along the way, she encountered several fellow disciples, some ascending and others descending. Those who recognized Shi Ying were secretly surprised to see her unexpectedly carrying a black coffin—a stark departure from her usual demeanor—yet none pried into her business.
Soon, the mountain gate of the Qingyang Demonic Sect came into view.
A stele stood at the peak, engraved with the two characters "Qingyang."
On either side stood two squads of young disciples guarding the gate, their gazes sharp and vigilant.
When they saw Shi Ying ascending, the disciples' eyes lit up, and their postures straightened even more. As Shi Ying drew closer, one youth gathered his courage and could not resist calling out, "Senior Sister Shi Ying, you've returned from training?"
Shi Ying turned her head, offered the boy who greeted her a faint smile, and walked straight past.
"Senior Sister Shi Ying smiled at me..."
The youth gazed infatuatedly after Shi Ying's departing figure, only to be kicked hard by his squad leader.
Shi Ying paid no mind to those youths. In truth, she was exceedingly nervous, keeping her expression rigidly composed. Just as she was about to enter the mountain gate, a familiar voice suddenly called out.
"Shi Ying?"
Shi Ying froze. Turning around, she saw an elder in green robes who had appeared behind her at some unknown moment, frowning as he looked at her.
Shi Ying naturally recognized this old man. He was a sect uncle named Yun Yi. After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, he had suffered a catastrophic disaster that left him gravely injured. His cultivation had plummeted, and with no possibility of making any further progress, his path to immortality was shattered. Since then, he had taken on administrative duties within the sect.
Ever since Shi Ying had entered the sect as a child, Yun Yi had looked after her several times. Though his abilities were limited and he could not offer much, Shi Ying remained deeply grateful to him.
"Shi Ying greets Martial Uncle Yun." Shi Ying bowed gracefully, though with the black coffin strapped to her back, the gesture looked somewhat awkward.
Yun Yi's brow furrowed even deeper, and he asked in a low voice, "Why have you bought a refined corpse as well? Are you giving up on the immortal path like your martial brothers, planning to rely on external aids?"
"Disciple..."
Shi Ying parted her lips and finally came up with an excuse. "In response to Martial Uncle Yun, disciple intends to go alone to Wuya Valley for training after some time. That is why I bought a refined corpse for self-defense. I have no intention of treading the corpse path."
Deceiving an elder who had shown her kindness filled Shi Ying with guilt, but for the sake of revenge, she could not afford to care.
Yun Yi's expression softened slightly, and he nodded. "As long as that is the case. If you venture into Wuya Valley alone for training, remember to be cautious and do not penetrate too deep. Moreover, you have already broken through to the twelfth layer of the Qi Refinement stage; Foundation Establishment should be your foremost priority. By no means should you lose yourself in demonic heterodoxy, or regret will come too late! Go on..."
"Yes, disciple understands."
Shi Ying bowed once more and departed with her head lowered.
Little did anyone know that there was someone even more nervous than Shi Ying.
Qin Sang had suppressed his cultivation, so Yun Yi naturally could not detect him. However, Qin Sang could not fathom the depths of the Qingyang Demonic Sect's mountain-protecting grand formation, nor did he know whether it possessed detection methods.
In theory, having refined himself into a refined corpse and carrying Shi Ying's soul imprint within him linked their auras together as though they were one, but whether that would be enough to deceive the formation remained to be seen.
Behind the "Qingyang" stele lay a square stone platform shrouded in rolling clouds and mist below. Flying down from the platform meant truly entering the Qingyang Demonic Sect.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Shi Ying summoned her flying magic tool, flew off the stone platform, and plunged into the sea of clouds.
Soon, she pierced through the sea of clouds.
Verdant mountains, emerald waters, pavilions, towers, cascading waterfalls, flowing springs, a red sun, and soaring cranes—magnificent scenes of an immortal paradise everywhere met Shi Ying's eyes.
She was already more than familiar with this scenery. Sweeping her gaze across, she locked onto the silhouette of a distant mountain and flew straight toward it.
As a former Nascent Soul dao arena, the territory of the Qingyang Demonic Sect was vast and boundless, with interlocking mountain ranges and crisscrossing rivers. The majesty of its landscape was in no way inferior to Shaohua Mountain.
Shi Ying kept her head down and flew forward, crossing several massive mountains in succession before finally reaching the inner sect. The security here was even tighter, with numerous patrolling disciples. They stopped her, and only after she showed her waist token did they let her pass.
Yet no one pried about her refined corpse.
With no anomalies occurring along the way, Qin Sang's tense nerves relaxed. His disguise had succeeded; he had finally infiltrated the Qingyang Demonic Sect!
The inner sect lay at the very heart of the Qingyang Demonic Sect, comprising dozens of peaks of varying sizes and shapes where disciples cultivated.
These peaks encircled and guarded a towering, ten-thousand-zhang colossus.
Compared to this peak, the eight great mountains of the outer sect seemed utterly dwarfed. Flying in midair, Shi Ying could only look up to see it piercing straight into the firmament, with wind and clouds swirling wildly at the summit amid rumbling thunder.
Furious lightning and rushing thunder raged continuously, shaking heaven and earth.
This was the legendary Divine Astral Peak!
Strangely, amidst the wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning at the summit, there gleamed an intense shade of cyan. Even the lightning bolts were dyed the exact same color. Only upon looking closely could one see, deep within the churning clouds atop the lofty peak, a gigantic phantom figure swaying, radiating an exceptionally violent aura.
As though the God of Fire were dancing across the heavens!
"Ancestral Holy Fire..."
Gazing at that phantom of flame, Shi Ying's face filled with deep reverence. What terrifying power that was, something she could never dare hope to attain in her entire life!
Below the swirling clouds and lightning, more than half of Divine Astral Peak was enveloped in a layer of cyan mist, draping over the mountain like a slab of jasper.
Lightning serpents danced wildly, striking the cyan mist, yet they produced only faint ripples upon its surface.
Withdrawing her gaze, Shi Ying turned her attention to a precipitous mountain beside Divine Astral Peak, urging her magic tool toward it.
The peaks surrounding Divine Astral Peak were ranked according to the size and potency of their spirit veins. Among them, the peaks to the east of Divine Astral Peak boasted the finest spirit veins, and the sect's forbidden grounds were located there as well.
Those martial uncles in the Foundation Establishment stage naturally occupied the finest cave dwellings.
Shi Ying had joined the sect many years ago and was among the foremost disciples of the Qi Refinement stage. Therefore, the mountain housing her cave dwelling stood close to Divine Astral Peak, and the spiritual energy within her cave dwelling was quite dense.
The side of this mountain facing Divine Astral Peak seemed to have been sheared off with a single blade from base to summit, forming a sheer, perilous precipice.
Chiseled into the cliff face was a narrow man-made stone path linking several cave dwellings, with rough stone railings running along its edge.
Chapter 518