Vital Gate

As she suffered wound after wound, the woman's strength waned noticeably. Her most potent technique had proven useless against Qin Sang, and she no longer aimed to kill him, resorting solely to dodging his attacks. Yet whenever Qin Sang attempted to shake her off, she chose to burn her soul body and pursue him relentlessly. Clinging to him like a stubborn plaster, she annoyed Qin Sang to no end. Evidently, she was no mindless vengeful spirit. She was intelligent, understood Qin Sang's intentions, and read the situation with pinpoint accuracy. Even so, Qin Sang had not come away empty-handed; while trading blows with the woman, he had been observing her constantly. He refused to believe a soul body at the Core Formation stage could truly possess an indestructible body; there had to be something he had overlooked. With her strength waning, an abnormality finally came to light. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly opened its Heavenly Eye. It noticed that every time the woman's soul body shattered, an unusual ripple appeared within her form. At first, even when straining its vision, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could only catch a glimmer of imperceptible light flowing through her body, gone in a flash, making one wonder if it were merely an illusion. As her strength declined, however, she could no longer conceal it completely. *Whoosh!* The ebony sword pierced straight through her chest once more. Qin Sang ordered the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to keep its gaze locked upon her, finally capturing the true nature of that faint glimmer. To his surprise, he found a tiny transparent crystal nestled within the glow, invisible to the naked eye. Whenever the woman was injured, the crystal emitted light. Moreover, the crystal was constantly drifting across her body. *What is this? I've never heard of such a thing. For now, I'll call it a soul crystal...* Qin Sang maintained a calm facade while guessing secretly. His understanding of the Corpse Ghost Dao was far from shallow, yet this was the first time he had encountered such a peculiar soul body—truly worthy of a refined soul nurtured by a Nascent Soul cultivator. Instinct told him that the soul crystal was of utmost importance to the woman, likely functioning as something akin to a vital gate. Shattering it, however, would be no simple task. The soul crystal remained hidden, drifting at all times, only revealing itself when she suffered severe trauma, and she was bound to be extraordinarily protective of it. Qin Sang's mind raced, gradually forming a plan. The moment he discovered she could burn her soul body, he completely abandoned any thought of fleeing. The woman had to die, and she had to be eliminated as quickly as possible. With every passing breath, his situation grew more perilous. Right then, the woman seemed to hear something. Her figure paused slightly, and she turned her head toward the surrounding sea. At the same time, Qin Sang also caught the sound of an escape light cutting through the air. Looking toward the noise, a black dot appeared on the surface of the sea. A cultivator was flying over on a sword, heading straight in the direction of the Nascent Soul battle—evidently drawn by the strange phenomena. Early on, unusual lights had flashed repeatedly over Liangqiu Island, looking very much like signs of an extraordinary treasure emerging. It was hardly surprising that onlookers would jump to such a conclusion. When Qin Sang departed the island, he had already noticed cultivators on nearby islands growing restless. Lured by the prospect of treasure, these people still came hoping to fish in troubled waters even after an earth-shattering battle had broken out. The woman let out an eerie chuckle and vanished from where she stood, giving up on harassing Qin Sang for the first time as she lunged toward the newcomer at top speed. Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. Cursing inwardly, he moved to intercept her, but it was already too late. Moments later, a bloodcurdling scream rang out, and the beam of escape light instantly snuffed out. By the time Qin Sang arrived, he saw the cultivator's body shriveling rapidly, terror frozen on his face. His flesh, blood, and vital essence had been completely devoured by the woman, reducing him to a desiccated corpse. Men die for wealth as birds die for food; this was true as ever. The woman leapt away from the dried corpse and licked her lips with an enraptured expression, her soul body visibly solidifying by a fraction! *She can restore herself by devouring blood food.* Qin Sang's expression darkened. There were many cultivators around Quheng Island. If this dragged on, more and more people would be drawn in. If she found enough blood food, all his prior efforts would come to naught. "Vile creature, die!" Qin Sang barked an oath and struck like thunder, showing no mercy. The woman altered her strategy, refusing to clash with Qin Sang head-on and instead fighting on the move. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire surged with frightening momentum, yet it repeatedly struck nothing, leaving Qin Sang with no recourse. He could neither kill her nor shake her off. The woman laughed wildly, a sinister glint in her eyes, as though she were already anticipating the delicious blood food that Qin Sang's body would provide. *Boom!* The Nine Nether Demonic Fire missed once again, but this time was different. The moment it brushed past her, it suddenly detonated. Wracked with pain, the woman retreated swiftly, only for a volley of sword light to thrust upward from beneath her. She did not panic; her figure flashed repeatedly, and seeing that she could no longer evade entirely, she twisted her torso violently to dodge most of the sword lights, taking only a single hit. Her soul body sustained damage, but as she maneuvered, her wound began to seal and mend. Within the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's sight, a glow emerged inside her, surging toward the wound, while the soul crystal revealed its shifting path across her chest. *Now!* Qin Sang had been waiting for this exact moment. He shouted fiercely in his heart, *"Go!"* *Swoosh!* A point of blue light emerged from Qin Sang's dantian, tracing an exquisite line through the air. The star conch! Ever since he acquired this exotic treasure, it had been condensing true essence inside his dantian, having long reached its peak power, though it had yet to taste blood. The star conch offered only a single strike, an exotic treasure capable of deciding the outcome of a battle. Only when he was certain it could achieve its purpose would Qin Sang deploy it. The same treasure. Yet Qin Sang's role had reversed; he was now the one wielding it, and his target was the woman. The blue light radiating from the star conch arrived in an instant, appearing right before her. The smile vanished from the woman's face, replaced by pure terror. It was not merely due to the astonishing might displayed by the star conch; what truly horrified her was its target—her all-important soul crystal. *"Aaargh..."* The woman let out a shriek of despair. At that moment, pale light erupted from her soul body, rapidly gathering around the soul crystal to form layer upon layer of protective barriers. The star conch struck. *Boom!* The pale light collided with the blue radiance, grinding against each other until the blue light gained the upper hand. The barrier shattered. The soul crystal was exposed entirely before the star conch. The woman looked down at her chest in utter disbelief, watching helplessly as the star conch smashed her soul crystal to pieces. The luster in her eyes vanished completely. The star conch shot through her chest, revealing its true form. This time, the woman's soul body could no longer recover. Starting from her chest, cracks spread swiftly across her entire form, shattering on the spot and dispersing into the night wind. Qin Sang flashed forward, sweeping the area with the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. Only when he confirmed that the woman was truly dead, incapable of reviving, and had left nothing behind did he breathe a sigh of relief. She was not the most dangerous opponent he had ever faced, but she was certainly the most vexing. Only by deploying all his magic treasures alongside the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had he managed to eliminate her completely. Qin Sang felt utterly drained in mind and body, but now was no time to rest. He put away his treasures and gazed into the distance. A thick yellow pillar of light was blazing into the night sky over there, unchanged for a long while. This indicated that the battle had likely stabilized, and the Nascent Soul expert backing Luo Daotong would in all probability suffer a dire fate. Once those people succeeded, their next target would be him. Fortunately, he had slain the woman. Qin Sang did not dare tarry. Swallowing several spirit pills, he made his escape into the distance.