Qin Sang swiftly formed one incantation gesture after another, sealing Du Han's cultivation.
Although it had been an ambush planned with every preparation he could muster, Qin Sang had never expected to capture Du Han alive with such ease.
After all, Du Han had reached Core Formation many years ago and hailed from a renowned sect; he was bound to possess trump cards of his own.
Qin Sang's original intention had been to find an opportunity for soul searching right before Du Han perished and his soul scattered, hoping merely to glean whatever information he needed most.
After that, his flight would begin.
Now that he had captured Du Han alive, he would not immediately face pressure from the Li Witch Palace, allowing him to make arrangements with composure.
Tossing Du Han aside, Qin Sang began meticulously scouring the battlefield, erasing traces wherever possible and utterly destroying whatever could not be hidden.
While clearing the area, Qin Sang found Du Han's Black Water Mirror in the woods.
Of Du Han's two magic treasures, the bone claw had been destroyed, while the Black Water Mirror was merely damaged.
Tainted by the Blood Filth Divine Light, this magic treasure had suffered severe damage to its abilities and fallen from the sky. Being a magic treasure, however, its core essence had not been obliterated the way a magic tool's would have been.
Once he erased Du Han's imprint in the future, brought it into his dantian, and carefully nourished it for a time, it would fully recover.
Even so, this magic treasure had been bestowed upon Du Han by the Li Witch Palace. Unsure whether the palace had placed any hidden traps on it, Qin Sang did not dare act rashly. He stowed it away in his Qianjun Ring for now, planning to claim it only after leaving the Western Frontier or even the Witch God Continent entirely.
The Black Water Mirror possessed impressive power, standing among the best of low-grade magic treasures.
Unfortunately, when suddenly ambushed by Qin Sang, Du Han had been unable to unleash its full might in his haste before Qin Sang struck first and disabled it.
In a fair, upright confrontation, Qin Sang certainly would not have won so easily.
Although it was tied to the Li Witch Palace, the Canglang Sea was vast. Once Qin Sang reached the territory of human cultivators, he would not need to worry overly much so long as he used it with caution.
After bustling about for a while and ensuring not a single flaw remained, Qin Sang carried Du Han into the depths of the mountains, arriving at a secluded cave dwelling.
*Thud!*
Qin Sang dumped Du Han onto the ground.
Du Han came around, yet he retained the pride of a Golden Core cultivator. He glared coldly at Qin Sang. "I have roamed the Demon Sea for so many years, yet I never imagined I would stumble right at my own doorstep into the hands of a petty scoundrel like you. The victor is king and the loser a bandit—there is nothing to say. Kill me or flay me as you please!"
With that, Du Han shut his eyes and uttered not another word, seeking only a swift death.
Even if he refused to speak, Qin Sang naturally possessed means to pry his mouth open.
Soul searching would cause Du Han's soul to scatter and perish, and Qin Sang was not yet ready to kill him. Instead, he cast the *Soul-Snatching Incantation* upon him.
When used on Du Han, the duration of the *Soul-Snatching Incantation* proved far shorter than on a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Fortunately, Qin Sang had anticipated this and asked only the most crucial questions; otherwise, he would have been forced to resort to soul searching.
As expected, the Li Witch Palace indeed possessed methods akin to life soul lamps. The moment Du Han died, the palace would detect it at once. Qin Sang would have to wait until he left the Western Frontier and secured an escape route before finishing him off.
The first half of the *Heavenly Yin Corpse Art* only contained restrictions for refining Foundation Establishment cultivators into living corpses. Qin Sang did not dare test it recklessly on Du Han, meaning he could not place him in a corpse puppet pouch. Left with no choice, he retrieved a black coffin from his Qianjun Ring, placed Du Han inside, and strapped it to his back.
Over the exterior of the black coffin, Qin Sang laid down layers of restrictions to block probing and disguised it using a ribbon-like magic tool.
With the black coffin on his back, Qin Sang fed the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, then took out the fat silkworm. Finding no signs of it breaking out of its cocoon yet, he returned it to the insect basket.
Next, he summoned Yagu and checked on her condition.
Without lingering for a single moment, he left the cave dwelling and sped straight toward the Qianhu Stockade.
He intended to leave the Western Frontier now, but before departing, he needed to take the old witch doctor of the Qianhu Stockade with him.
Around the Bear Mountain region, including the Jinglei Stockade and Hundred Flowers Palace, far too many people had seen Qin Sang's face; it was impossible to erase every trace.
From questioning Du Han, he had learned that the Li Witch Palace possessed only a single Nascent Soul Patriarch, holding strength comparable to one of the Eight Righteous Sects in the Small Cold Domain. Near the Western Frontier, they were an undeniable hegemon, but across the entire Canglang Sea—especially in human territory—they were far from significant.
Qin Sang was already preparing to leave the Witch God Continent and had little fear of the Li Witch Palace's threats. Exposing his true appearance hardly mattered; he doubted the palace would raise a massive uproar over an early Core Formation disciple.
As for the others who had seen Qin Sang, once he escaped the Li Witch Palace's sphere of influence, trying to find him would be like searching for a needle in the ocean, so there was nothing to fear.
The old witch doctor of Qianhu Stockade was different. Apart from Yagu, he was the only person who had seen Qin Sang with a severed left arm enveloped in corpse qi!
This matter was of immense consequence, and Qin Sang could not afford to be anything less than cautious.
Earlier, when interrogating Du Han with the *Soul-Snatching Incantation*, Qin Sang had made sure to clarify the question he cared about most.
Only upon asking did he learn that the secrets involved were even more complex and astounding than he had anticipated!
Flying through midair, Qin Sang could not help but shiver, feeling as though countless enigmas had suddenly settled upon him, plunging him into a terrifying vortex.
To speak of this, one had to begin with the Hall of Seven Killings.
As it turned out, the Hall of Seven Killings was a secret realm discovered by human cultivators, situated amid the storms on the outer periphery of the Canglang Sea! Departing from the Witch God Continent, even with Du Han's Core Formation cultivation, it would take more than half a year to arrive.
After the Hall of Seven Killings was discovered, some human cultivators had ventured inside to explore and reaped bountiful rewards.
Unfortunately, the Hall of Seven Killings was not permanently open; one could not go treasure hunting there every day.
One could enter only when the Hall of Seven Killings manifested in the mortal world.
Whenever that happened, many human cultivators would brave the dangers, plunging through the storms to enter the hall.
Hearing this, Qin Sang immediately felt a sense of familiarity. He had hurried Du Han to recount the past dates when the Hall of Seven Killings had appeared. Shockingly, the intervals between its recent openings coincided precisely with those of the Ziwei Palace!
If they were two completely unrelated secret realms, such an uncanny coincidence could never have occurred.
Hearing this, the last shred of wishful thinking in Qin Sang's heart vanished. He had most likely been teleported from the Ziwei Palace to the Hall of Seven Killings, and the ancient corpse that fell from the sky and mysteriously vanished from the hall was him!
However, the Hall of Seven Killings and the Ziwei Palace were not entirely identical.
The Ziwei Palace was hidden deep within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield; only when a spirit tide arrived and the immortal palace manifested on its own could one break through the array to enter.
In the Canglang Sea, through years of exploration, human cultivators had discovered that every few decades, the protective immortal array of the Hall of Seven Killings entered an ebb tide.
At such times, by setting up a grand array on the periphery of the Hall of Seven Killings, even if the hall had not manifested, one could barely breach the immortal array and send people inside.
When that occurred, apart from those who broke the array, other cultivators were also permitted to enter and hunt for treasures, provided they paid a large sum of spirit stones to compensate the array-breakers for the costs of laying the formation.
Though it was a secret realm discovered by human cultivators, Witch Clan cultivators could also enter so long as they were willing to pay enough spirit stones.
There was one condition, however: the cultivation of any Witch Clan cultivator entering the Hall of Seven Killings could not exceed Core Formation.
Chapter 660