This item was a damaged ancient treasure. There was no telling what grade it had possessed when whole, but now it could only be used to conceal one's aura.
Back then, the youth surnamed Fang had used the Red Yuan Gauze to come and go freely throughout the human domain.
Upon hearing Qin Sang explain the gauze's function, delight lit up Bai's face. "Splendid! With this treasure's help, our plan should be foolproof. Fellow Daoist, let us begin..."
Qin Sang nodded.
The cavern floor was made of material similar to the canyon's stone walls, gleaming with a metallic sheen and extraordinarily hard.
According to Bai, this was all due to the presence of the demonic restriction.
The demonic restriction permeated the entire Ghostland, blanketing it completely to seal away the dead souls and suppress this realm for eternity.
It was only because of the altar that Bai had been able to slumber within this cavern.
Anywhere else, had Bai dared approach the demonic restriction, he would have suffered its immediate backlash. Earlier, when peering out at the Nascent Soul cultivator at the canyon's mouth, he had been forced to stay far behind.
Bai led Qin Sang to the perimeter of the altar. After briefing him on the key points to unraveling the demonic restriction, Bai sat cross-legged in the center of the altar, preparing to channel its power and lend assistance when Qin Sang collected the demonic fire.
He clutched his hands tightly, unable to conceal the tension in his eyes.
Qin Sang paced around the altar several times. After pondering for a while, he settled into a cross-legged position beside it and retrieved a demonic banner from the Qianjun Ring.
With eyes half-closed, he recalled Patriarch Kuiyin's artifact-refining technique.
In truth, reaching this stage could hardly be called artifact refinement anymore; rather, it was the collection of Nine Nether Demonic Fire, utilizing the original restrictions of the dark iron pillar and the power of the refined soul silk to seal it away.
Throughout this process, he would not only have to suppress the resistance of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, but now also withstand the demonic restriction's backlash.
Harvesting the fire where it manifested its true form at the canyon entrance might have been far easier, but first, the Nascent Soul cultivator was watching from outside, and second, doing so would not weaken the demonic restriction.
Fortunately, Bai could draw upon the altar's power to help him counter the demonic restriction at critical moments.
After a long contemplation, Qin Sang ran through the entire process in his mind several times. Certain that nothing had been overlooked, he opened his eyes and nodded to Bai. "Let us begin!"
Bai took a deep breath. With a grave expression, he surveyed the eight spirit pillars atop the altar.
It was unknown what materials had been used to forge these pillars. Weathered by the ages, they had faded into unassuming, ash-gray stone.
Bai's lips moved slightly as he recited the incantation carved deep into his soul, unsealing the altar that had slumbered for countless years.
Gripping the demonic banner in one hand, Qin Sang prepared to cast his secret technique and collect the demonic fire at any second, his eyes glued to Bai's movements. Bai's chanting grew faster and faster, yet the altar remained entirely motionless.
Suddenly, the altar gave a violent shudder, shaking the entire cavern along with it.
In the next instant, a series of cracking sounds issued from a spirit pillar on the altar's edge.
Qin Sang shifted his gaze and looked over.
A faint glimmer lit up inside the pillar, illuminating it thoroughly from the inside out. The pillar transformed drastically, appearing to shed a layer of stone crust to reveal an interior carved like fine jade.
Startlingly, under the illumination of that faint light, countless cobweb-like fissures were exposed, crisscrossing throughout the entire pillar.
Seeing this, Qin Sang felt his heart tighten. Seeing that Bai seemed to have paused his chanting, Qin Sang hurriedly asked, "Were those cracks already present in the spirit pillar?"
The demonic restriction's power had waned, but it seemed the altar was not in great shape either.
Qin Sang could not help worrying that the spirit pillar might shatter halfway through and cause their efforts to fall short. If that happened, he really would be trapped in this Ghostland for decades.
Bai's expression grew solemn as well. He turned and stared at the pillar for a long while before speaking: "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. The fissures are a result of the altar's power decaying under the demonic restriction's corrosion. However, I must have personally forged this item during my life, so it is not as fragile as it appears. Moreover, the demonic restriction's power is nowhere near what it once was. The pillar will be more than sufficient to hold out until we breach the demonic restriction and deliver the dead souls to salvation."
Qin Sang's expression relaxed. "If so, then my mind is at ease. I have prepared my secret technique. Fellow Daoist, strike at the demonic restriction directly and force the demonic fire to reveal itself."
"Understood!"
Bai nodded and pointed a finger toward that spirit pillar. His fingers moved in a blur like spinning wheels, sending ray after ray of spiritual light sinking into it.
Then, amid a heart-stopping creak, the pillar suddenly erupted with a brilliant burst of light, illuminating every nook and cranny of the stone chamber. Where the pillar joined the altar, countless profoundly intricate runes materialized.
Shrouded in the light, Qin Sang felt a deep sense of serenity well up from within the moment he saw the runes. Yet his mind remained crystal clear—whether owing to the jade Buddha or because the altar's power did not target the living, he could not tell.
Just as the runes took shape, an abrupt change occurred.
A strange light flashed across the ground, followed by dense networks of black tracery rising to the surface like a vast black web that enveloped the altar within its reach.
From these black lines, Qin Sang sensed a familiar aura—the Nine Nether Demonic Fire!
The instant the black tracery appeared, the spirit pillar's light dimmed sharply. The runes spun around and were forced back onto the altar, causing the pillar's glow to grow weaker still.
"Break!"
Bai's eyes snapped wide, and with a fierce shout, he pressed a hand downward. Runes on the altar instantly erupted, coalescing into a sphere of spiritual light that crashed violently against a patch of the black web directly in front of Qin Sang.
*Boom!*
After a violent tremor, Qin Sang relied on the divine ability of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to witness the changes unfolding there.
The black web rose from the ground to reveal its true form, where countless sinister runes writhed, wrapping around and gnawing at the altar's spiritual light. Sensing Bai's presence, they surged frantically toward the altar.
Bai's expression changed. He hurriedly mobilized the altar's power to ward off the encroaching runes, casting an expectant look toward Qin Sang.
Qin Sang was staring intently at the point where the black web had erupted.
Forced out by the altar, the power of the demonic restriction was laid bare; what carried those restriction runes was none other than streams of Nine Nether Demonic Fire. The demonic fire and the runes should have formed a seamless whole, but because a flaw had appeared, an opportunity had opened up.
Seeing the opportunity, Qin Sang did not hesitate and immediately swept the demonic banner toward it.
The banner drifted close to the demonic fire, shimmering with black light. A suction force abruptly sprang forth, pulling out a strand of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. Simultaneously, Qin Sang performed his secret technique, driving the magic treasure to seal the flame.
An astonishing scene played out: despite its ferocious momentum, once trapped within the banner's black light, the demonic fire struggled violently yet proved entirely unable to break free.
Gradually, the wisp of fire calmed down completely, flashing once before sinking into the demonic banner and vanishing.
At the same time, the sinister runes shattered, and the black web's overbearing aura began to dwindle.
Overjoyed at the sight, Bai urged repeatedly, "Hurry, Fellow Daoist, harvest the demonic fire! Once we succeed, we must move to the other locations immediately. We must destroy those critical restrictions before the demonic restriction can restore itself!"
Knowing time was of the essence, Qin Sang dared not hesitate. Sparing no expense of true essence to quicken his pace, he sealed wisps of Nine Nether Demonic Fire into the banner one after another.
Under Bai's nervous gaze, a brand-new demonic banner was forged to completion!
Beckoning the demonic banner into his palm, Qin Sang could not help but smile.
Patriarch Kuiyin would never have imagined that the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, which he had expended immense effort to create, would be reborn in his own hands—and destined to shine with unprecedented brilliance!
Chapter 942