Spirit Talisman

In an instant, attacker and defender switched places. Amidst the dense purple mist, two figures chased in rapid succession. Within the purple mist, losing track of the youth for even an instant could mean losing him entirely. Disregarding the drain on his true essence, Qin Sang continuously spurred the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, clinging doggedly to his quarry. Though Qin Sang's true essence depleted swiftly, the youth's drained faster still. The virulent poison coursing through the youth's body was proving troublesome now. It brought not only excruciating agony, but also made his true essence sluggish. Clinging like maggots on rotting bone, it crept toward his internal organs, proving exceedingly difficult to purge. Failing to eliminate Qin Sang in one fell swoop had plunged him into an utterly passive predicament. Qin Sang pressed him relentlessly, forcing him to fight as he retreated. They were still a vast distance away from the exit of the Purple Mist Deathland. Qin Sang and the two-headed hou mounted assault after furious assault in turns, denying the youth any chance to catch his breath. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire and the ebony sword alternated strikes, and before long, a sword wound opened on the youth's flesh. Soon, wound after wound followed. Drenched in blood, the youth's rhythm fell into disarray. The power of the toxic mist was simply terrifying. The moment his jade bracelet was destroyed, he had realized that if he could not kill Qin Sang, being worn down like this would lead to certain defeat and death. Events were proving him right! Qin Sang was an anomaly among Core Formation stage cultivators. His evasion technique was unmatched by anyone the youth had ever seen below the Nascent Soul stage. There was simply no way he could shake off Qin Sang's pursuit. Regrettably, he had failed. Even unexpectedly detonating his magic treasure had achieved nothing. …… A sharp, brief scream came to an abrupt halt. As the turbulence gradually subsided, Qin Sang slowly stepped out from the purple mist, looking coldly down at the corpse on the ground. With the bitter lesson of the battle on Douyan Island fresh in mind, Qin Sang dared not hold back against any foe. Finding no opportunity to take him alive, he had simply pressed forward in one vigorous effort to finish the youth off. At the very end, the youth had tried to self-detonate his golden core, but the Nine Nether Demonic Fire incinerated his origin soul before he could succeed. Regrettably, his golden core had already fractured, rendered into useless scrap. Qin Sang flashed to the youth's side, retrieved his belongings, and flicked a burst of flame with a wave of his hand, burning the corpse to ash without leaving a trace. The greatest harvest was naturally that golden ring magic treasure. Qin Sang extended his spiritual sense into it, erasing the youth's imprint. Unsurprisingly, the golden ring indeed possessed the power of confinement. Named the Jinyao Lock, it was a magic treasure forged from a peculiar metal that could shrink or expand at will and carried a strange binding force. Not only could it affect enemy magic treasures, but catching an opponent off guard, it could even directly imprison the person. Only a magic treasure like the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, reliant on the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, could not only stand fearless before the Jinyao Lock but even suppress it. Common magic treasures would find themselves severely constrained when confronting it. "*Cough, cough...*" Qin Sang's body swayed, and he hurriedly sat down cross-legged on the ground. Earlier, when the grey sword detonated, he had taken a heavy impact as well. He had been suppressing his injuries all this time, and now they finally erupted. Surveying his surroundings, Qin Sang realized he was already near the canyon. Pursuing his foe all the way here, he had fortunately encountered neither vicious beasts nor other cultivators barring his path. He commanded the two-headed hou to stand guard while he boldly regulated his breathing to recover. Before long, Qin Sang's breath steadied. Ending his circulation, he rose to his feet, glanced at the Jinyao Lock, and drew it into his dantian to nourish, eager to bring it under his mastery as soon as possible. A medium-grade magic treasure offered tremendous assistance. Had the Gold Glow Armor been intact, this battle would not have been fought with such hardship. Next, Qin Sang opened the youth's mustard seed bag, only to find that the pills, talismans, and similar consumables had long been depleted before his death. Qin Sang was most curious about his identity, yet after rummaging through all his belongings, he found nothing indicating the youth's sect or lineage. There were several jade slips, but they all contained cultivation methods and Daoist arts with no stated origin. *He didn't deny it back then, so he undoubtedly belonged to the Western Nether Alliance, though there's no telling which merchant chamber. Still, since he dared act against the lord of the Eastern Pole Alliance, perhaps he was a confidant of his alliance lord, just like Xiang Yi. But who knows what his objective was in following us here...* Qin Sang flipped his hand and retrieved a spirit talisman. This spirit talisman was quite peculiar. Inscribed upon it were intricate patterns Qin Sang could not decipher, extraordinarily complex. When he tried infusing true essence into it, the talisman gave no reaction whatsoever. It did not seem to be due to an insufficiency in his true essence, but rather that a specific condition was required to activate it. *What is this? It's the only thing I can't make heads or tails of. Could it have something to do with the ancient divine platform?* Filled with curiosity, Qin Sang turned the talisman over and inspected it, but could discern nothing. In the end, he had to put it away to study later. "This journey has truly been full of unforeseen twists," Qin Sang muttered with a wry smile. Then, recalling the scene from earlier during their clash, he hurriedly summoned the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner once more. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire surged out, yet this time, no resonance appeared. *Probably because of the distance. That means the purple mist has nothing to do with the mysterious spiritual fire.* Qin Sang mused. Without stowing the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, he carried the magic treasure and retraced his steps. He wanted to test what effect that spirit talisman might have on the ancient divine platform. But when he returned to where the ancient divine platform had stood, he froze in disbelief—the ancient divine platform had vanished at some point! The ground had closed up seamlessly. Aside from the marks left by his battle with the youth, there was no trace that the ancient divine platform had ever existed. *The ancient divine platform clearly rose from underground. Xiang Yi must have tampered with something in the three stone halls to awaken it. I can't even breach the ancient restrictions outside the stone halls on my own, let alone awaken the platform.* Qin Sang walked over to where the ancient divine platform had disappeared to make one final attempt. He drew out the spirit talisman and tried repeatedly, but it produced no reaction. He knew he had missed his window of opportunity. *So the youth was eager to detonate his magic treasure not only to kill me, but likely because of the ancient divine platform as well. Once the platform closed, his mission failed too.* Qin Sang possessed too little information and could only guess. Ultimately, Qin Sang gave up. He tossed the spirit talisman into his Qianjun Ring, resolved to put the matter out of his mind. He had no desire to get embroiled in the overt and covert power struggles between the two alliance lords. Had there been immediate benefits to reap, it might have been worth a gamble, but now that he could not even open the ancient divine platform, there was no point dwelling on it. It was somewhat regrettable. He had originally harbored great hopes for the platform, which was why he had resolved to eliminate the youth at any cost. Whenever a wondrous altar dating back to antiquity yielded a treasure, it was bound to be an extraordinary prize. Having expended the Blood Filth Divine Light, the only spoil worth mentioning seemed to be the Jinyao Lock. Whether he had come out ahead or behind was genuinely hard to say. Qin Sang shook his head, clearing his stray thoughts, and summoned the Nine Nether Demonic Fire once more. The resonance appeared again, pointing unmistakably toward the depths of the purple mist. Qin Sang hesitated briefly. Calculating the time, he found he still had plenty to spare, so he decided to make the trip right away. He mounted the two-headed hou and ordered it forward while concentrating on subduing the Jinyao Lock to master the magic treasure as quickly as possible. Before long, they arrived before the third stone hall. Qin Sang tested it, confirmed it was impossible for one person to break the ancient restriction alone, and continued forward. After journeying onward for some distance over gentle, even terrain, the two-headed hou suddenly halted, letting out a low growl to alert Qin Sang. Qin Sang hopped to the ground, took several strides forward, and stood at the edge of a canyon.