Confirmation

Qin Sang turned his head and gave Bai a glance. "Since that person is lying in wait for you, how could you spot him so easily? I knew there was a high likelihood you would come. When I felt the earth shake and the mountains tremble, I came over to keep watch. Not long after you entered, he arrived. He laid down some kind of formation out there, and when setting it up, he inevitably revealed a flaw that I noticed. I cannot see his true form, but no spiritual formation is entirely without flaws. Look carefully at those few spots..." Bai's voice came through via divine sense transmission, offering Qin Sang guidance. Qin Sang was genuinely curious about which Nascent Soul Patriarch had set their sights on him. He urged the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to activate its divine ability, sweeping its gaze back and forth across the canyon. No figure could be seen, yet a wave of unease crept into Qin Sang's heart. "I can stir up the ghost mist to batter against the demonic restriction and force him to show his hand. Every time the earth quakes and mountains shake, it is accompanied by instability in the demonic restriction. It is a normal occurrence, so there is no need to worry about alerting the enemy," Bai offered on his own initiative. "No rush!" After a moment's thought, Qin Sang gave a soft call. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly flew out from his dantian, danced lightly through the air, and settled on his shoulder. The shaking Bai referred to was likely the aftershocks produced each time the immortal formation outside came under attack. The Hall of Seven Kills was sealed by the immortal formation; whenever the formation was unsettled, the interior would inevitably be affected. Seeing the Heavenly Eye Butterfly appear, Bai stared blankly for a moment. This fellow actually concealed a third-transformation spirit insect as well. 'It is no disgrace to lose to him,' Bai thought to himself, the resentment in his heart dissipating by more than half for some unexplainable reason. After summoning the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang ordered his incarnation and the two-headed hou to watch Bai closely. He then slowly closed his eyes, communicating with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly through his mind and directing his divine sense onto its body. This was a secret technique of the Witch Clan used in tandem with a natal insect gu. When master and gu insect combined forces to cast a divine ability, they could temporarily enhance its power. The forbidden secret technique used by the youth surnamed Fang before his death belonged to this category as well, though the art Qin Sang was employing now was far gentler—and, naturally, not as potent as a forbidden technique. Casting such a technique took a severe toll on the master's divine sense, and Qin Sang would not be able to sustain it for long. Perched on Qin Sang's shoulder, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly spread its wings, facing the canyon directly. After several transformations and mutations, the patterns on its wings had become exquisitely gorgeous. The eye-like patterns brimmed with beauty, bearing not the slightest sense of horror. The heavenly eye patterns resembled genuine eyes whose gaze seemed capable of turning. No matter where one stood, one would feel the illusion of being watched by those heavenly eyes. Qin Sang's divine sense merged into the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's body, jointly channeling the Heavenly Eye divine ability. The patterns across its wings lit up one after another, growing ever more pleasing to the eye until it was impossible to look away. Radiant light flowed continuously toward the central heavenly eye, instantly bursting into vibrant brilliance. The butterfly's wings trembled slightly, making one worry whether such a petite and fragile body could hold out without suffering harm. At this moment, the 'eyeball' within the heavenly eye actually shifted, turning into a true eye that stared intently at the canyon beyond the demonic fire. Silently and without a trace, the heavenly eye scanned through the canyon inch by inch. After a moment's contemplation, Qin Sang signaled to Bai, "Thirty percent of your strength!" Without Bai making any visible movement, the ghost mist behind them abruptly pressed downward into the earth. The ground trembled faintly, and the demonic fire drifting at the canyon entrance stirred slightly, leaking a wisp of its demonic power. A faint tremor rippled through the ancient restriction on the stone wall as well, though it quickly returned to normal. At the same time, Qin Sang assisted the Heavenly Eye Butterfly in pushing its divine ability to its absolute limit. In the instant the demonic restriction was unsettled, Qin Sang's expression shifted, turning solemn. At the canyon entrance, on a section of the stone wall where the rock was as hard and dense as iron, ancient restrictions were densely carved. Aside from that, the area looked completely vacant. This was precisely one of the locations Bai had pointed out. Yet the Heavenly Eye Butterfly detected a bizarre fluctuation there. It was extraordinarily faint—resembling the phantom of a square jade plaque that flickered and vanished in an instant. Had Qin Sang not received Bai's reminder, it would have been impossible to notice such a minute anomaly. Rare insects were prized precisely because their innate divine abilities far exceeded those of ordinary spirit insects, possessing the power to bridge gaps across cultivation realms. If the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could break through to the late stage of its third transformation, it could even see through the concealment arts of a Nascent Soul Patriarch. With Qin Sang's assistance, its divine ability had been substantially augmented, rivaling the late stage of the third transformation. If someone truly was lying in wait, only a Nascent Soul Patriarch could conceal themselves so flawlessly—and their cultivation might be even higher than he had anticipated! Qin Sang's heart sank abruptly. An instant later, everything returned to normal. At the canyon entrance, a figure sat cross-legged in the shadows like an old monk in deep meditation. It was none other than Old Demon Mou, who had slipped away unnoticed. He had rushed to the Purple Mist Deathland without stopping, only to discover traces in the canyon indicating that the person he sought had once again crossed the barrier of demonic fire and entered that unknown Ghostland. Old Demon Mou could not help feeling both shocked and delighted. Had he moved just a bit faster, he might have captured the person directly. Now, he could only lie in wait outside. Earlier, Old Demon Mou had been observing the other Nascent Soul cultivators and had noticed none of them acting out of line. This meant the person who crossed the demonic fire to enter the Ghostland was very likely a Core Formation stage cultivator. Unless one of those old monsters had used some means to slip away ahead of time, just as he had. Old Demon Mou felt uncertain. This demonic fire was something even he and the great cultivators of the late Nascent Soul stage feared; since ancient times, no one had ever entered the Ghostland. For a mere Core Formation stage cultivator to achieve such a feat was nothing short of a fairy tale. To be safe, he had laid down a spiritual formation in the canyon, preparing to strike a crushing blow the moment the other party emerged. Sensing the faint tremor in the demonic restriction, Old Demon Mou lifted his eyelids slightly. His gaze swept over the demonic fire and the Ghostland, but he detected nothing out of the ordinary. By this point, Qin Sang and Bai had already retreated deep into the ghost mist. "It seems you found something! You don't need to see his true form before believing my words, do you?" Bai, inhabiting the Flying Yaksha's body, curled his lips upward. In this eerie Ghostland, his smile appeared thoroughly chilling. "That is enough!" Qin Sang looked somewhat distracted, lost in thought. Then, staring into Bai's eyes, he said, "I can be certain that when I entered, there was nothing unusual there. It is clear that you and the vengeful spirits fear the demonic fire greatly, and that the demonic restriction is meant specifically for you! It would be impossible for you to meddle outside the Ghostland; otherwise, you would have left long ago. Doing something unnecessary that alerted that person would only put me in greater danger." A look of satisfaction appeared on Bai's face. "It seems you are a smart man after all. Now, we can discuss our transaction." "Wait!" Qin Sang raised a hand. "That person could not have followed me inside; the problem definitely lies here! You have been trapped in the Ghostland all this time, so this probably isn't the first time you've seen him, is it? What else do you know? What is his cultivation level?" "Indeed, this is not the first time he has appeared. Not long after you left last time, he came once more. As for his strength..." Bai sank into thought, a grave expression coming over his face. "Among the people who have appeared before and were noticed by me, the strongest were no more than the late Nascent Soul stage. He revealed his aura once, and it was only one notch below the late Nascent Soul stage." "Just one notch below late Nascent Soul..." Qin Sang was startled by the revelation. It matched his earlier assessment—the man was at least an expert of the mid Nascent Soul stage!