Ignoring the furious curses behind him, Qin Sang entered the passage and sped outward.
At the same time, he conjured a demonic banner in his palm and summoned the Nine Nether demonic fire.
The Primordial Concentric Rings flew out in a spiraling arc, releasing the two-headed hou.
Black Snake Mountain had certainly left personnel stationed outside the island. Not knowing how many awaited him, Qin Sang dared not let down his guard in the slightest. If he could not dispatch his opponents swiftly, he would find himself besieged.
Though the situation back there was chaotic, he had forcibly slain the black-robed man in broad daylight and snatched the treasure, painting a massive target on his own back.
As long as the cultivators of Black Snake Mountain and Landou Island had any wits about them, both sides would inevitably reach a tacit truce. They would join forces to hunt him down first before fighting over the prize. After all, the treasure belonged to the Landou Sect, and those loose cultivators harbored no enmity toward Black Snake Mountain.
With this in mind, Qin Sang ordered the two-headed hou to ready its newly comprehended green shadow divine ability. The beast uttered a low growl tinged with reluctance; it had not yet fully mastered this technique, and every use left it weakened for a spell.
Under Qin Sang’s stern glare, however, the two-headed hou had no choice but to submit.
The corridor was not long. Although the black smoke generated by the flag formation corroded the mist and runes, the force of the spirit arrays on either side still bore down with astonishing pressure. Fortunately, Qin Sang and the two-headed hou joined forces to surge forward, successfully bursting through the obstruction.
The black smoke did not diminish, yet the pressure around them abruptly vanished.
Immediately after, an elated voice drifted from outside: "Is that you, Second Senior Brother? Did you get the prize?"
The voice was unfamiliar. Qin Sang realized at once that this was the guard left behind by Black Snake Mountain.
Waiting outside was a dwarf—the tenth disciple of Black Snake Mountain. He had been left outside the island to watch over and sustain the flag formation and the passage. Thinking his fellow disciples had succeeded and made their escape, he was naturally overjoyed.
The next instant, the black smoke churned violently, and two figures—one tall, one short—burst forth from within.
The delight on the dwarf’s face instantly froze. "Who are you!"
Qin Sang swept his gaze across the area and found only two people outside, one of whom was Zhao Songqiao. Relieved, he commanded the two-headed hou to strike without the slightest hesitation.
*Roar!*
The two-headed hou crouched slightly forward, its frame shuddering violently as a green silhouette detached from its body.
The dwarf was seized by shock and fury. In his mind, given the strength of Second Senior Brother and the others—bolstered by the Beast King Banners—even if the theft failed, they could not possibly have been wiped out, nor could their passage have fallen into someone else's hands.
He had been focusing on sustaining the flag formation and was entirely unprepared for such a turn of events. Realizing something was terribly wrong, he could only react on pure instinct.
A vortex manifested before the dwarf's chest and abdomen. Faintly visible within, a beetle-shaped insect silhouette prepared to emerge as he retreated frantically.
Yet the dwarf's cultivation was already inferior to the two-headed hou's, leaving him entirely powerless against the beast's strongest divine ability.
Before the Gu worm could even emerge, the green shadow flashed before his horrified eyes.
A gale battered his face as the green shadow descended with unnatural speed.
Plunged into sheer panic, the dwarf found his body frozen, sealed by a bizarre force. His desperate struggles proved utterly futile. With a booming crash, the green shadow slammed into him, tearing his protective spiritual light to shreds like rotten wood.
*Whoosh!*
The green shadow pierced through the dwarf's body, materialized behind him, casually swatted Zhao Songqiao to death, and then slowly dispersed.
A gaping hole appeared in the dwarf's chest. His eyes went vacant, and he tumbled backward.
The two-headed hou lolled its tongue, panting heavily, utterly listless.
"Well done!" Qin Sang praised. While using the divine ability to slay the dwarf smacked of using an ox cleaver to slaughter a chicken, resolving the threat as quickly as possible was paramount in this situation.
The two-headed hou rolled its eyes at him and retreated back into the Primordial Concentric Rings to rest on its own.
Hooking a finger, Qin Sang did not forget to retrieve the dwarf's mustard seed bag. He then glanced around at the surrounding black flags.
With the dwarf dead, the black flags began to wobble, yet the array did not immediately collapse. At the same time, Qin Sang sensed violent fluctuations stirring inside the passage behind him—someone was attempting to force their way out.
Qin Sang cast a cold glance back toward the opening.
Those Black Snake Mountain cultivators had used him as bait; naturally, he would show them no mercy.
He would cut off their retreat!
Qin Sang reached out, shooting true essence toward the black flags to claim them. To his surprise, the black flags shuddered, violently scattering his true essence.
*Ownerless, yet still maintaining the array?*
Qin Sang was somewhat surprised, but soon realized that the inner and outer flag formations were likely linked. Even without a master, the array could operate on its own. One would either need the method to control the black flags to retrieve them or have to wait until the Dongming Island grand formation suppressed the array enough for it to collapse.
Pressed for time, Qin Sang had no leisure to study the formation. He had no choice but to destroy them all!
With a light wave of his hand, the Nine Nether demonic fire surged forth and pounced upon one of the black flags.
Already suppressed by Dongming Island's grand formation, the black flag could not withstand the scorch of the Nine Nether demonic fire. After holding out for only a brief moment, the fabric caught fire and was reduced to ashes.
Destroying the rest proved even easier. As the black flags were ruined one after another, the black smoke thinned considerably. The surrounding white mist pressed inward, squeezing the passage narrower by the second.
Right then, Qin Sang suddenly caught an enraged shriek, followed by the approach of terrifying fluctuations. Startled, he glanced over his shoulder to see a streak of blood qi rocketing toward the area.
Within the blood qi, two blood flood dragons coiled and swam around a figure.
He could not make out the person's features, but Qin Sang could distinctly feel two chillingly cold gazes fixed on him with voracious intent, sending shivers straight down to his core.
"It's him!"
Qin Sang recognized the person within the blood qi as the youth surnamed Fang.
Most terrifying of all were the two blood flood dragons. He did not know what they had transformed from, but their aura was extraordinarily formidable. Reflecting on past events and Fang's background, Qin Sang faintly guessed their origin: they were likely the renowned exotic bug known as blood corpse bugs.
Third-transformation blood corpse bugs—and two of them at that!
Black Snake Mountain's foundation was truly profound.
The youth surnamed Fang had likely relied on these two blood corpse bugs to hold off five Landou Sect Core Formation cultivators for so long.
Behind the blood qi, another streak of light pursued in hot pursuit. From the aura, it was none other than First Seat Lu. As a peak Core Formation expert, he had not only held his ground in the sea of blood but also possessed the strength to counterattack.
However, First Seat Lu was slightly slower than the youth surnamed Fang, who was riding the two dragons, leaving him trailing behind.
Seeing this, Qin Sang inwardly cursed. If even First Seat Lu had taken this long to break free, Qin Sang's fate would be grim indeed if Fang managed to entangle him.
Qin Sang's face darkened. Daring not linger a moment longer, he channeled the Nine Nether demonic fire with all his might, sweeping it ruthlessly toward the remaining black flags, while driving the ebony sword to unleash another cleaving strike at the passage's exit.
He then activated life-saving treasures like the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, never looking back as he vanished into the horizon after a few flickers.
The youth surnamed Fang, riding the twin dragons, flew with comparable speed. Though he did not yet know the full picture, seeing Qin Sang destroy the black flags told him that things had gone awry.
Reaching the exit of the passage, the youth surnamed Fang was just about to pursue Qin Sang when a bloodcurdling scream echoed from within the tunnel—the voice of his junior brother.
Chapter 905