By now, in the midst of pursuit and flight, they had already burst out of the cultivation market and arrived on the outskirts of the city.
The two mid Core Formation cultivators were captured in quick succession, leaving only Vice Envoy Zuo. Driven to despair, he attempted to detonate his golden core, but Qin Sang naturally gave him no such opening, taking some effort to take the man alive.
In a mountain forest outside the city, Vice Envoy Zuo and his companions lay sprawled on the ground, their cultivation sealed.
Qin Sang turned around and swept his gaze across the area behind them.
A ripple of movement stirred through the distant woods as several figures scattered like startled birds, dispersing in all directions.
These people had trailed behind hoping for a chance to scavenge some spoils, never expecting Vice Envoy Zuo's party to suffer an overwhelming defeat and be captured alive without suspense.
Meanwhile, the opposing side appeared completely unscathed.
"What was that bead?"
Bai looked toward Qin Sang with a solemn expression, as though sensing an ill omen.
"We'll know once we interrogate them!"
Qin Sang said coldly. Unwilling to waste time, he hauled one of the captives over and cast the Soul Searching Technique directly.
The two mid Core Formation cultivators died amid agonized shrieks.
Having failed to extract the information he wanted, Qin Sang reached out and dragged Vice Envoy Zuo over. Vice Envoy Zuo glared furiously at Qin Sang, but with both his divine sense and physical body immobilized, he was utterly powerless to resist.
Before long, the soul search was complete.
After performing the Soul Searching Technique three times in succession, Qin Sang's face had grown slightly pale. He slowly exhaled a breath.
"Let's leave here first!"
Qin Sang incinerated the corpses, erased their traces, and recalled his incarnation and the two-headed hou.
The master of the Dayu Isle market had never shown his face. Qin Sang and his group had caused a massive scene in the market, and there was no telling what the master might think of it; this was no place to linger.
Once they flew clear of Dayu Isle, Qin Sang turned to look at Fei You.
"Crisis followed crisis just now, and I haven't had the chance to properly thank you, Daoist Fei, for risking your life to bring word. The road ahead is fraught with uncertainty, and Pindao cannot drag you down any further, so let us part ways here. The merchant guild possesses vast influence, and I do not know when I will be able to avenge this grudge. Having been implicated on my account, I fear you will have to conceal your name and identity from now on. As for the two Daoist Wangs, please remind them under no circumstances to reveal who they are..."
Fei You looked visibly relieved and cupped his hands. "Rest assured, Senior. The world is vast. We only need to find a secluded spot to hide and cultivate quietly for several decades; we have nothing to fear from them finding us."
Qin Sang nodded and handed Fei You a mustard seed bag. "I noticed you were using a magic tool earlier. You must have reached the Core Formation stage not long ago and haven't had time to forge a magic treasure, right? Pick two magic treasures from inside as a token of my gratitude."
He could tell that the demon fiend Qi inside Fei You was exceptionally dense. Evidently, Fei You had consumed several Fiend Demon Pills to barely scrape through and force his breakthrough to the Core Formation stage.
His future prospects were bleak at best.
Perhaps the elderly couple had been genuinely grateful to Qin Sang, but Fei You might not have been purely altruistic.
Even so, Fei You had risked his life to deliver the warning. Even if he sought some reward, he was well entitled to it, and Qin Sang was not one to be stingy.
Inside the mustard seed bag were the spoils Qin Sang had gathered from slain foes over the years, along with the belongings of those they had just killed and what Bai had ransacked from the storeroom.
Two magic treasures were enough to transform Fei You's destiny.
"How could I possibly accept..."
Fei You moved to decline, but Qin Sang raised a hand to stop him.
Fei You was nearly dazzled by the array of treasures inside. Swallowing hard, he forced down the surging excitement in his heart, screaming inwardly that his gamble had truly paid off.
To form his core, he had exhausted nearly all his savings, only to discover afterward how excruciatingly difficult it was to craft even a single magic treasure. Even after joining the Qiongyu Guild, he had been relegated to obscurity, with no telling when he could ever fulfill his ambition.
Fei You knew the situation was urgent and Qin Sang could not afford to let him browse at leisure, so he relied on instinct to pick a sword and a shield.
Two magic treasures, perfectly matched for offense and defense.
"Good eye, Fellow Daoist. Both of these treasures are top-quality. With further refinement, they have a chance to advance to mid-grade magic treasures. However, they once belonged to others. While Pindao has no concerns about that, it would be best for you to exercise caution when using them."
Qin Sang took back the mustard seed bag, offered a word of caution, and cupped his hands toward Fei You. "Daoist Fei, until we meet again!"
"May the Daoist turn misfortune into fortune and soon wipe out your enemies!" Fei You said with heartfelt sincerity.
Qin Sang nodded. His figure flickered repeatedly before vanishing into the boundless ocean.
Fei You watched Qin Sang disappear into the distance, cast a wary glance around himself, and, unable to hold back the joy spreading across his face, quickly stowed away the magic treasures and quietly slipped away.
***
Elsewhere, Bai was following alongside Qin Sang.
Qin Sang gave a soft sigh and said, "You guessed right. The guild's wanted order against me is indeed tied to a Nascent Soul cultivator, who promised a hefty reward for any word of my whereabouts. But Vice Envoy Zuo knew little and wasn't privy to that Nascent Soul's identity. Still, I think I know who our enemy is. That jade bead was delivered to Vice Envoy Zuo by the guild. The blue flame that formed after it exploded—not only have I seen it before, I even obtained a wisp of it. It's called the Dongming cold flame, a spiritual fire unique to Master Dongming. After Master Dongming passed away, the spiritual fire was left behind in his cave dwelling and seized by a demonic cultivator named Old Devil Mou. Rumor has it that he is also at the mid Nascent Soul stage..."
"Mid Nascent Soul stage, and possesses a secret art to collect spiritual fires!" Bai's expression shifted. "Are you saying...?"
Qin Sang nodded, his voice bitter. "Very likely him! We thought about it the wrong way—his target might not have been the ancient treasure within the demonic restriction, but rather the demonic fire, or perhaps both!"
"Since you've obtained the Dongming cold flame before, you should know its capabilities, right?" Bai asked, sizing Qin Sang up with furrowed brows.
Qin Sang shook his head. "The aura of this fire stems from the same source as the Dongming cold flame, but the sensation it gives me is completely different from the original cold flame. When the fire bead exploded, the power and fluctuation it unleashed were unlike anything I've ever encountered. None of my defenses worked against it; it penetrated my body effortlessly and vanished without a trace..."
Before his words had fully faded, Qin Sang's expression abruptly changed. He halted in midair and snapped his arms up.
Blue threads had appeared on his arms without his realizing it, interlacing and weaving into countless bizarre runes.
The runes were densely packed, spreading across the surface of his skin until they covered his entire body.
At the same time, that strange fluctuation resurfaced, seemingly resonating with something far away.
Before long, the fluctuation subsided, and the runes gradually faded, disappearing once more just as they had before.
This time, Qin Sang sensed it much more clearly: fused within these runes was a wisp of the Dongming cold flame's power!
Earlier, he had awakened the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and instructed it to keep watching his physical body, finally uncovering this clue.
These runes, infused with the Dongming cold flame, were concealed within his flesh and meridians, blending seamlessly into his flesh and blood.
Witnessing this, Qin Sang and Bai exchanged a glance, their expressions turning exceptionally solemn.
"This power..." Bai pondered for a moment. "In my hazy memories, I seem to have seen something similar. It should be some kind of curse technique. This power is exceedingly bizarre; ordinary methods are useless against it. Since these runes are fused with the Dongming cold flame, calling it a fire curse would be more fitting..."
"A fire curse?" Qin Sang frowned; this was the first he had heard of it.
Bai's voice turned heavy as he said to Qin Sang, "The only one who can resonate with the fire curse is the person who cast it. And... the closer the distance, the clearer that resonance becomes!"
Chapter 984