Qin Sang waved his hand to stow the Flying Yaksha away, then summoned his ghost banner and drew out a wisp of Nine Nether Demonic Fire to cover himself, forming a black shroud of fire.
He took two steps forward; the fiery shroud around him swayed faintly.
At that moment, Qin Sang sensed the aura of the demonic fire. It was extraordinarily violent and terrifying, but the instant it touched his fiery shroud, it softened at once.
The main body of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire showed not the slightest sign of erupting into turmoil.
The shroud trembled, keeping the aura at bay; although the demonic fire could easily breach the shroud, it made no move to do so.
Uncommon though its origins were, the demonic fire was, after all, an inanimate object. Encountering fire sharing its source, it displayed a sense of affinity; as long as he did not provoke it, it would not take the initiative to attack Qin Sang.
Even under the protection of the fiery shroud, the impact on his origin soul was unavoidable. Yet with the jade Buddha guarding his body, the effect on Qin Sang was negligible.
"It really works..."
Delighted, Qin Sang placed the fat silkworm back into the insect basket.
As he drew near the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, the purple mist vanished.
No matter how potent the purple mist was, it was not on the same level as the Nine Nether Demonic Fire and was firmly blocked out. Having maintained the poison-warding armor for so long, the fat silkworm could finally rest; once back in the basket, it fell into a deep slumber without delay.
Qin Sang turned sideways and pressed against the sheer cliff, inching forward with utmost caution.
Before his eyes burned the black demonic fire.
His eyes were wide, his heart strung tight. He scarcely dared to breathe, dreading any mishap.
At a moment like this, if someone were to disturb the Nine Nether Demonic Fire—even causing the slightest ripple—he would not even have a chance to flee and would be reduced to ash in an instant.
The space occupied by the Nine Nether Demonic Fire was not vast, but to Qin Sang, the crossing felt interminable, his back soaked with cold sweat.
At last, Qin Sang successfully bypassed the blockade of the demonic fire. His mind relaxed all at once, and he panted heavily. With lingering fear, he glanced back at the demonic fire before narrowing his eyes to examine the space ahead.
Ash-white ghost mist drifted everywhere. There was no wind here, yet a bone-chilling cold gripped the air; the environment bore a striking resemblance to the Immortal Tomb.
How large was this space?
How many ghostly beings lurked within?
Qin Sang pondered for a moment and did not rush to step away from the aura of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire; should any mishap occur, he could escape in time. Standing where he was, he released the Flying Yaksha to scout ahead.
Corpse qi surged around the Flying Yaksha as it silently melded into the ghost mist.
Qin Sang half-closed his eyes, directing the Flying Yaksha through the soul imprint within it to delve deeper into the ghost mist.
The Nine Nether Demonic Fire, an ancient teleportation array, appearing at the same time...
With all these coincidences piled together, Qin Sang would not believe anyone who claimed there was no connection between the Hall of Seven Kills and Ziwei Palace.
If this place was similar to the Immortal Tomb, it would come as no surprise.
The Flying Yaksha walked a fair distance through the ghost mist without encountering any burial mounds or tombstones.
Qin Sang murmured to himself, "It seems this isn't an ancient graveyard! There are no immortal tombs!"
His expression relaxed somewhat.
The Immortal Tomb of Ziwei Palace was a place dreaded by even Dongyang Bo and Chenyan, harboring ghost kings whose strength rivaled that of Nascent Soul Patriarchs. Had there been an immortal tomb here, Qin Sang would have hesitated.
What was even stranger was that after venturing in for so long, the Flying Yaksha had not encountered a single ghost.
"Huh?"
Qin Sang's expression shifted.
The Flying Yaksha also froze. Its neck twisted, eyes flickering with an eerie light as it stared at the ground to its left.
A piece of bronze poked out from the earth, resembling a corner of an armor suit.
The bronze was mottled with rust, most of it buried deep underground; it was likely the battle armor of an ancient cultivator.
The Flying Yaksha glanced left and right, then walked toward the armor.
It reached out a ghostly hand and touched it lightly.
To its surprise, the armor that appeared utterly solid dropped a plate at the Yaksha's touch, instantly crumbling into dust. Over endless ages, eroded by time, it had completely decayed.
"The armor has decayed? Could remnant souls still linger? If there are no remnant souls, how did this ghostly realm form?"
Qin Sang whispered, a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
One glance at the battle armor showed it was no ordinary item. The person who wore it back then must have been an extraordinarily powerful ancient cultivator. Now, the armor lay buried deep underground, its power drained away, while that ancient cultivator had vanished without a trace—not even their bones remained.
If even such a mighty ancient cultivator could not achieve immortality and had perished undiscovered in this hidden gorge, could the immortal cultivators of today truly set foot upon the immortal path and shine as eternal as the sun and moon?
The Flying Yaksha continued onward and spotted a broken sword. It, too, shattered at a touch, turning into smoke and dust.
Then, a skeleton entered its field of view.
It was unclear whether this skeleton had been cleaved in two at the waist while alive or damaged after death; only its upper torso remained.
Qin Sang's spirits rose. He had finally found something out of the ordinary, and he immediately ordered the Flying Yaksha to approach and investigate.
The Flying Yaksha drew near silently, its eyeballs rolling as it scrutinized the white bones.
Pausing briefly, it bent down and reached out to touch the skeleton.
Right at that moment, a pale white light flashed across the bones. Immediately after, an illusory shadow rushed out and, amidst shrill shrieks, lunged at the Flying Yaksha.
Subjected to the sudden shock of ghostly shrieks, the Flying Yaksha merely blinked. Its figure blurred as it recoiled several zhang in an instant.
The ghost possessed no intellect. Relentless and full of extreme hatred in its cries, it was a vengeful spirit bent only on tearing the Flying Yaksha to shreds.
*Swish!*
A ghostly hand appeared without warning, stabbing straight into the ghost's body. With a gentle twist, corpse qi surged violently.
The ghost froze abruptly, let out a miserable shriek, and was torn apart on the spot by the ghostly claws.
"It looks terrifying, but its strength isn't great—probably comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Many cultivators died in the Immortal Tomb; the more cultivators who perished, the more origin souls they devoured, and the more terrifying the ghosts' strength grew until ghost kings were nurtured. No cultivators have entered this place before, so there likely aren't any particularly powerful ghosts..."
Gauging the vengeful spirit's strength, Qin Sang analyzed the situation.
The Flying Yaksha flickered back before the skeleton.
Touching the bones again, no more vengeful spirits appeared.
Growing bolder, Qin Sang had the Flying Yaksha quicken its exploration pace.
The farther it went, the more weapons and armor littered the ground—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, every kind imaginable. Not a single one had survived intact to this day; even those appearing pristine crumbled to fine powder at a gentle touch.
There were also more and more skeletons.
Ghastly white bones had even piled up into massive mounds in certain spots, making one's scalp tingle. It might once have been a battlefield.
Qin Sang had the Flying Yaksha pick isolated skeletons to continue testing. Nearly half of the skeletons harbored attached vengeful spirits, all of similar caliber, with none being remarkably formidable evil ghosts.
When the Flying Yaksha disturbed a small bone mound, a dozen or so vengeful spirits flew out, all possessing similar strength.
Every vengeful spirit had completely lost its intellect, their instincts driven solely by endless malice and murderous intent.
"If the ghosts here are all roughly on par with this vengeful spirit, things will be much easier. But these alone aren't enough..."
Qin Sang murmured to himself, ordering the Flying Yaksha to bypass the skeletons and head straight toward the deepest part of the space to see just how vast it was and how many skeletons lay buried within.
Chapter 771