A Gentleman's Revenge Is Never Too Late

When Qin Sang had ordered the Flying Yaksha to scout ahead, he had anticipated various scenarios. If there were a ghost king, admitting inferiority was nothing to be ashamed of; he would simply abandon the Flying Yaksha and flee the area. If the opponent had limited strength, he could swiftly reinforce it with his flying speed. Yet he had never imagined a situation like this. A refined corpse at the Core Formation stage like the Flying Yaksha was something one could only encounter by luck, never seek out. Even a ghost cultivator well-versed in corpse refining would have to expend an untold amount of effort and care to forge a single one. Qin Sang had even intended to study ghost-cultivation techniques in depth to further enhance the Flying Yaksha's strength, yet an unexpected mishap had occurred right here. The Flying Yaksha was heavily injured, its wounds not yet healed and its strength diminished. If the opponent possessed formidable power, the Flying Yaksha wouldn't even have had a chance to resist, and would likely have been subdued the moment it entered the ghostly land. The opponent's actions suggested its strength was not particularly high, or perhaps it merely happened to counter refined corpses. Therefore, Qin Sang was not afraid and dared to pursue it. He suspected that the opponent dragging off the Flying Yaksha and going to such lengths to obscure the soul imprint rather than destroying the corpse meant it likely had designs on this physical vessel. There was an eighty percent chance the opponent was a wandering, solitary ghost. "If my own cultivation hadn't been sufficient, then what was snatched away would have been my own body, wouldn't it?" At this thought, Qin Sang grew even more furious. Soon, he stopped at the spot where the soul imprint's connection had severed. Looking left and right, the surroundings remained completely empty. The opponent was cunning and hadn't left behind the slightest trace. Qin Sang had no choice but to pick a direction and speed ahead, ultimately arriving before a precipice, completely losing the other party's trail. The opponent was not only exceptionally cautious but also adept at concealment; Qin Sang found nothing at all. Without even catching a glimpse of the culprit's face, his capable general had been snatched away. Unwilling to give up just like that, Qin Sang gritted his teeth and began scouring the ghostly land. For a time, dazzling light from his evasion technique darted back and forth through the ghost mist in a sweeping search. Qin Sang turned almost the entire ghostly land upside down, carefully examining even the precipices along the perimeter. After expending so much time, he ultimately found nothing. The Flying Yaksha seemed to have vanished into thin air. No matter how Qin Sang urged the soul imprint, it was like a stone dropped into the ocean, yielding no response. "I can't afford to waste more time here..." Standing at the exit of the ghostly land, Qin Sang stared at the dense ghost mist, feeling helpless. Before he had even obtained the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, he had lost a chief general. Searching through the ghost mist had consumed far too much time; he had to leave this place and hurry toward Heaven Tower. "If only the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had completed its third metamorphosis. Under the Heavenly Eye, none of these demonic specters would have anywhere to hide... If you have the guts, run out through the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. Otherwise, the next time I return, I will drag you out without fail." Qin Sang snorted coldly, only able to comfort himself with the thought that a gentleman's revenge was never too late. Enveloped by the thick ghost mist, he felt deeply powerless. Though he possessed a corpse core, he was not a genuine ghost cultivator after all; within the ghost mist, his spiritual perception remained heavily restricted. The opponent, on the other hand, could come and go freely. With such bizarre evasion techniques, even if the creature tailed right behind him, he would likely fail to detect it. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had fallen into slumber due to its mutation, delaying its transformation so that it hadn't completed the third metamorphosis. Otherwise, Qin Sang could easily have seen through the deception. A violent surge rippled through the ghost mist as a vast swarm of vengeful spirits charged out in a black, seething mass. These were all spirits disturbed during his search. "Scram!" Qin Sang barked coldly, his face expressionless. Fierce winds erupted as rolling true essence turned into an arc of rainbow light, blasting the vengeful spirits back. Qin Sang took a deep look at the ghostly land, wiped away the traces he had left, restrained his true essence, donned a fiery shroud, and darted before the demonic fire. After Qin Sang departed, the vengeful spirits lost their target and gradually settled down. The ghostly land regained its silence once more, the ripples in the ghost mist smoothed over, and the vapor drifted slowly, appearing no different than before. Passing through the demonic fire, he returned to the canyon exit. Qin Sang turned and lingered for a brief moment, then summoned the fat silkworm and quietly departed the area. After leaving the canyon, Qin Sang didn't retrace his steps directly. Instead, he crept back to the small purple crystal lake to see if he could steal another purple crystal and stock up more food for the fat silkworm. Unexpectedly, before he could even get close to the small lake, Qin Sang felt a formidable aura prowling around its perimeter, sending a chill down his spine. Startled, Qin Sang didn't dare draw any closer and carefully backed away. "The fierce beast leader was alarmed and has come to guard it in person. It seems the entire pack has relocated here; the number of fierce beasts around the lake is more than ten times higher than before. Looks like I can't touch the purple crystals for now. There are only these two pieces, so eat sparingly..." Qin Sang glanced at the fat silkworm, only to see it wearing an equally helpless expression. With matters beyond reach, Qin Sang had no choice but to retreat. He returned to the base of the precipice, located his previous landing spot, and climbed back up the way he had come. On his return, Qin Sang passed the site where the ancient divine altar had emerged. The ground there was completely level, with no traces remaining. The chaotic battle at the first stone palace had not yet subsided. Qin Sang chose to take a detour. After reaching the Purple Star Eagle canyon, he traversed it with ease and finally exited the Purple Mist Deathland. Once free of the toxic mist, the fat silkworm retracted its poison-warding armor and immediately scurried into the insect basket, clutching a demon core and falling fast asleep. Throughout this journey, relying entirely on it to fend off the toxic mist had nearly drained it dry. Without the toxic mist, his vision suddenly opened up, and Qin Sang's mood eased somewhat. Of course, this did not mean the outside was safer than the Purple Mist Deathland. Outside, one had to avoid all manner of fierce beasts while also remaining on guard against other immortal cultivators. "Heaven Tower lies to the north. The dense forest is rife with peril, so it's better to head back the way I came and cross the wilderness to Heaven Tower." Having made his decision, Qin Sang determined his bearings and entered the dense forest alongside the two-headed hou, vanishing among the ancient trees. *** Within the canyon. The demonic fire hung suspended in the air, looking as though it would never burn out. An unknown amount of time after Qin Sang departed, A ripple stirred within the toxic mist, followed by the appearance of a human figure walking forward at an unhurried pace. No protective barrier was visible around him, yet he moved through the toxic mist with total freedom. When the toxic mist drifted onto his black robe, it was lightly repelled, unable to penetrate in the least. This was the depths of the Purple Mist Deathland, where the toxic mist was extraordinarily fierce. For this person to be so relaxed, he either possessed a supreme poison-warding treasure or his cultivation was exceptionally profound. The figure gradually stepped out of the toxic mist, revealing his face. He appeared to be in his forties, tall and well-built, but his demeanor clearly did not match his appearance—his true age was far greater. His eyes were deep and somber, inspiring awe and dread. Upon laying eyes on the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, his gaze turned intensely feverish and obsessed. "This time, I refuse to believe this old man cannot subdue you..." He muttered to himself, but midway through his words, his expression changed drastically. With a sway of his body, he vanished from the spot. Concealing his figure, his eyes swept through the canyon, finally fixing firmly on the gap between the demonic fire and the cliff. A moment later, an expression of utter shock appeared on his face. "How can this be!" He roared inwardly in complete disbelief. "Even I cannot withstand the corrosion—how could someone possibly cross the canyon?! No... not only did they go in, they walked back out alive..."