At the same time, Qin Sang noticed a probing gaze.
Turning his head, he saw a window. Before it stood a man, who nodded in acknowledgment toward him.
*Late Core Formation stage.*
Qin Sang thought to himself that it was indeed as expected. With the recent changes in the Hall of Seven Kills and the Witch Clan's Grand Shaman having broken the formation, quite a few people had been scared off. Those who dared to take part were all experts.
*The numbers likely won't be very large, but I don't know how many teams the Eastern Pole Alliance plans to divide into. Right now, not only is the mission unknown, but even the leader's identity remains completely dark. To keep so many experts in line, the leader's strength must be at least at the peak of the Core Formation stage. Surely they wouldn't send a Nascent Soul Patriarch? No matter how strong a Core Formation cultivator is, it's hard to get involved in struggles between Nascent Souls.*
Murmuring to himself internally, Qin Sang walked into the wooden building.
As dusk fell, Qin Sang, who was meditating quietly in his room, sensed the restriction on the wooden building being touched. Raising a hand with a beckoning gesture, a tadpole-like streak of cyan light flew inside.
Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. Crushing the cyan light, he rose to his feet, exited the building, and headed toward the innermost wooden lodge, finally meeting the leader of this expedition.
Six people were already seated in the hall, yet Qin Sang's attention was drawn to this man at once.
His cultivation was the highest; even if not at the peak of the Core Formation stage, it wasn't far off.
Wearing a long gown, he appeared to be in his forties, with starry brows and sword-sharp eyes, carrying a dignified air of unspoken authority.
"Daoist Qingfeng."
Upon seeing Qin Sang, the man rose and cupped his hands. "I, Xiang, have awaited you for some time, Daoist. As it happened, business took me out today, so I was unable to welcome you personally. I hope you will not take offense."
"Fellow Daoist Xiang is too polite."
Qin Sang returned the greeting with cupped hands, then glanced curiously at the other five people.
Among the five, one was the very man who had nodded to him earlier that day. Seated beside him was a woman of pleasing countenance; the two appeared quite intimate and were likely Dao companions.
The man was a late Core Formation expert, whereas the woman's cultivation was similar to Qin Sang's, having likely broken through to the mid stage not long ago.
Both husband and wife were amiable, taking the initiative to nod toward Qin Sang.
To their left sat an aloof young man holding a sword, solitary. Sensing Qin Sang's gaze, he merely cast a cold glance at him without any expression.
To the young man's left was a fat man, sitting in his chair with flesh practically spilling over.
He squeezed out a smile, the fat on his face trembling.
Both of these men were at the peak of the mid Core Formation stage. Going by common sense, they were very likely trapped at a bottleneck and had entered the Hall of Seven Kills out of necessity to seek opportunities.
Finally, there was an eccentric whose left face bore a half-mask. The mask seemed fused to the bone of his face, covered in bloodshot veins, with a scarlet left eye that looked extraordinarily sinister. At first glance, one might have mistaken him for an evil ghost.
Compared to him, Qin Sang wearing a cloak was far less strange.
This person's cultivation was also peculiar. On the surface, it was ordinary mid Core Formation stage, but when his sinister eye looked over, Qin Sang felt a faint stinging pain in his eyes.
None of them concealed their cultivation, so Qin Sang easily discerned it, though their strength could not be judged by ordinary standards. Anyone with the nerve to enter the Hall of Seven Kills certainly possessed a trick or two to save their lives.
"Allow me to introduce everyone. This is Daoist Qingfeng of the Qiongyu Guild..."
After the leader introduced them, each learned the others' backgrounds.
Aside from the leader, the other five were just like Qin Sang, hailing from the major merchant guilds of the Eastern Pole Alliance. The man and woman were indeed Dao companions from the same guild, with the man surnamed Liu.
The leader was named Xiang Yi. He did not seem to belong to any merchant guild, his background appearing rather mysterious, and Qin Sang tactfully refrained from probing further.
After exchanging greetings one by one, Qin Sang took a seat in a corner.
"Fellow Daoist Xiang, are the seven of us the only ones going to the Hall of Seven Kills this time?"
The Liu couple seemed quite familiar with Xiang Yi and asked bluntly, "What does the alliance actually want us to do? You've kept your lips sealed all this time, Fellow Daoist. Can you tell us now?"
"There is still one more Daoist friend from the Nine Stars Guild, who will arrive shortly. The eight of us will be enough to handle most dangers. Any more would be too conspicuous and draw unwanted attention, which would only hinder our operation,"
Xiang Yi replied in a calm tone, "As for the merchant alliance's mission, forgive me for not being at liberty to say. Once we enter the Hall of Seven Kills, you will naturally find out. This is an order from the alliance leader, and I dare not act on my own authority."
Upon hearing "Nine Stars Guild," Qin Sang's expression froze slightly as he thought, *It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?*
The others frowned deeply at Xiang Yi's words. The sword-holding young man raised a sword-like brow, looking thoroughly displeased.
The fat man chuckled, his words hiding needles in floss: "Fellow Daoist Xiang, since you cannot disclose the mission's content, we certainly wouldn't dare defy the alliance leader's orders. But surely you can give us a hint regarding its difficulty and the time required? From what I know, the immortal formation outside the Hall of Seven Kills is no small matter. Even if forcibly breached, no matter how strong a spirit formation is, the time it can hold out is limited. We must leave before the immortal formation closes up again. If the mission takes too long and leaves us with no time to hunt for treasures, wouldn't we be spending our own spirit stones just to do labor for the alliance? Why would we bother?"
As he spoke, the fat man looked around. The others nodded in agreement, and Qin Sang chimed in as well.
Xiang Yi took no offense, his expression showing no ripples as he said calmly, "Fellow Daoists, rest assured. I can promise you that this trip will consume at most a quarter of the time, leaving you with ample opportunity. As long as everyone works together to assist me, if all goes smoothly, it will be even faster. As for whether there will be danger along the way, I can only say that ample preparations have been made. Yet the Hall of Seven Kills is unpredictable, and no one can guarantee that nothing unforeseen will occur."
"So long as Fellow Daoist has a plan in mind. I, for one, have absolute faith in your character."
The fat man grinned and pressed no further.
The others could not push to the bottom of the matter either, so they asked a few inconsequential questions and waited for the final person to arrive.
Before long, footsteps sounded from outside.
The elderly gatekeeper called out loudly, "Senior Xiang, Fellow Daoist Cui from the Nine Stars Guild has arrived."
Qin Sang's eyelids twitched. Raising his head to look outside the hall, he saw an emaciated young man with a faintly lecherous glint in his eyes sauntering inside leisurely.
Who else could it be but Cui Ji?
After driving Cui Ji away from Wuyuan Island all those years ago, Qin Sang had never seen him again. The man had actually been sensible enough not to stir up further trouble.
Qin Sang had initially been on guard against covert retaliation, but when nothing ever happened, the matter had simply faded away.
Compared to more than twenty years ago, Cui Ji's aura was noticeably more formidable, yet his cultivation remained stuck in the mid Core Formation stage, roughly on par with the sword-holding young man.
Moreover, Cui Ji's current state seemed somewhat off—he was excessively thin, his skin deathly pale without a trace of blood, very likely the result of cultivation gone awry while practicing some secret technique.
*Is this fellow trapped at a dead-end bottleneck too?*
Qin Sang's gaze turned peculiar.
"Fellow Daoist Cui is here. Please, have a seat," Xiang Yi stood to greet him.
Just as Cui Ji was about to sit down, he suddenly caught sight of Qin Sang, and a memory he wished he could forget surged fiercely into his mind.
The same cloak, and an exceedingly similar aura.
"Evil Daoist! It's you!"
Cui Ji was furious.
Chapter 741