After a cautious inspection, Qin Sang plunged swiftly into the deep sea.
The source of the pillar of light lay on the seabed. It was far from calm down here; the fury of the storm penetrated into the deep, churning with undercurrents that posed just as much danger as the sea's surface.
Qin Sang barely steadied himself and peered toward the source.
The strange light was blinding.
With the help of his Heavenly Eye divine ability, Qin Sang looked past the glare and saw a colossal curtain of light. Behind the curtain lay a desolate expanse and several ancient halls.
He scanned the scenery beyond the curtain and found it lifeless and utterly devoid of vitality.
Everything was visible at a glance, presenting no apparent danger on the surface.
The curtain itself was the true form of the ancient restriction.
To his surprise, Qin Sang discovered that this great curtain was incomplete, missing a fractured corner as though the ancient restriction had once been breached by brute force.
Seeing this, Qin Sang immediately darted up before the curtain.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly fully activated its natal divine ability.
Although Qin Sang had never encountered an ancient restriction of this kind before, with the help of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, he gradually analyzed the power within it and eventually found a way to unravel it.
Using the previously shattered corner, Qin Sang had considerable confidence in forcing his way through.
He did not act in haste. After waiting a short while to confirm there were no hidden dangers lurking behind the curtain, he set about breaking the restriction.
*Whoosh...*
Six demonic banners formed a formation, and the Nine Nether Demonic Fire coalesced into a fiery spear that thrust fiercely toward the fractured corner of the ancient restriction.
*Boom!*
The curtain remained immovable.
Even the pillar of light only rippled slightly.
Yet an anomaly appeared where the fire spear struck.
Cracks had already existed there, and the fire spear struck one of them with pinpoint accuracy. Instantly, radiant light burst forth from that section of the curtain, giving rise to continuous anomalous phenomena.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly extended its wings straight out. A pair of lifelike heavenly eyes manifested upon its wings, staring intently at the curtain.
Gauging the exact moment, Qin Sang's hand seals shifted in rapid succession, sending out one restriction after another in a fluid stream that sank into the curtain.
His initial attempts all ended in failure.
After refining his approach time and again, Qin Sang finally succeeded.
The glow along the crack in the curtain's corner suddenly dimmed. In a flash, Qin Sang slipped through the fissure and entered the space behind the curtain.
The area inside was not particularly large.
Qin Sang summoned his spirit sword and demonic banners for protection. After swiftly circling the perimeter, he arrived before the ancient halls and discovered that the restrictions here bore traces of having been unraveled as well.
"Empty!" Bai's voice suddenly rang out.
Delight showed on Qin Sang's face. "Fellow Daoist, have you recovered?"
*Whoosh!*
Bai emerged from the corpse puppet bag and nodded. "By tomorrow, I should barely be able to unravel the fire curse."
He surveyed their surroundings. "I never expected you would manage to find this secret realm! However, these restrictions seem to have been breached by someone else; this place was visited long ago..."
"The human and Witch races have produced countless venerable seniors of profound cultivation. Naturally, plenty of predecessors have ventured into the Storm Belt to explore, so it is only normal that someone came here before us. As long as this place is safe enough to shelter us for a while, I will be content. From the moment my flight began until now, my physical and mental energy have been pushed nearly to exhaustion. I've been holding on through sheer willpower alone," Qin Sang said with deep emotion, his tone unable to conceal his profound fatigue.
"I haven't had the chance to properly thank you! Had it not been for your help, Fellow Daoist, my bones would have long turned to dust."
With utter sincerity, Qin Sang bowed to Bai in gratitude.
Bai gave Qin Sang a long look. "To find a slim chance of survival in a desperate trap and escape the clutches of a powerful Nascent Soul enemy—most of the credit belongs to you! Anyone else would have simply waited for death, even with me around."
After a brief discussion, the two each chose a hall and secluded themselves to focus on regulating their breath.
Qin Sang wanted nothing more than to throw caution to the wind and sleep deeply, but the time had not yet come.
He sat cross-legged and entered meditation, oblivious to both body and spirit.
A few hours later, having regained a portion of his energy, Qin Sang stepped out of the hall and looked up at the great curtain overhead.
The anomalous phenomenon produced by the ancient restriction was simply too conspicuous.
Qin Sang flew up close to the curtain. After studying it for a long time, he finally found a way to conceal the pillar of light and did his best to reinforce the damaged section of the barrier.
By the time he finished, Bai had already been waiting for a while.
Inside the hall, Qin Sang summoned his demonic fire.
Having learned the demonic fire curse seal technique from Bai, he joined forces with him to unravel the fire curse.
Bai targeted Qin Sang's limbs, while Qin Sang dealt with the portions of the fire curse that had penetrated deep into his internal organs and purple palace.
Perhaps Old Devil Mou had given up, for the fire curse showed no strange movements throughout the process.
Although the unravelling progressed slowly, it went smoothly.
During a brief intermission, Qin Sang pondered for a long time before suddenly saying to Bai, "What if we leave behind a final strand of the fire curse to locate Old Devil Mou in reverse, or even lure him here?"
Bai froze upon hearing this. "You can't possibly be thinking..."
Qin Sang hesitated for a moment, then said, "I suspect Old Devil Mou might still be looking for me."
"I really did underestimate you. Calling you recklessly bold wouldn't be an exaggeration!" Bai shook his head repeatedly. "If Old Devil Mou were merely an early Nascent Soul cultivator, with that formidable lightning technique of yours, you might have had a ten percent chance. But how could a cunning old fox like him easily put himself in harm's way? If he dares linger in the Storm Belt, he must possess trump cards capable of preserving his life or even turning the tables. Even if we rest and recover to our peak, we could hardly gain any advantage against him."
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist, I was merely entertaining the thought..." Qin Sang sighed.
He naturally understood this truth.
The disparity in their strength was simply too vast; schemes and trickery would be useless.
"However..." Bai's tone suddenly shifted, his expression thoughtful. "Your words did remind me of something. Curse arts are inherently a double-edged sword. I could try tampering with the fire curse and leave behind a fire curse seed. In the future, once your strength surpasses his, hunting down Old Devil Mou in reverse isn't entirely impossible."
Pausing slightly, Bai looked at Qin Sang. "If the Dongming Cold Flame is truly as powerful as you say, once he subdues it, Old Devil Mou's strength will likely surpass others of his realm, placing him second only to late Nascent Soul great cultivators. Seeking revenge will be extraordinarily difficult... If you feel the chances are too slim, you might as well sever the thought entirely to keep it from becoming an inner demon."
Qin Sang fell silent.
Even if Old Devil Mou made no further progress, who knew how many years it would take for Qin Sang to break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage? By then, he might have already left the Canglang Ocean.
If Old Devil Mou were to leap straight to the level of a great cultivator, revenge would be pushed even further out of reach.
Being pursued all the way by Old Devil Mou had cost Qin Sang dearly.
His top-grade spirit stones were nearly exhausted, and his medicinal pills were mostly depleted.
Beyond that, his external incarnation had self-detonated and his two-headed hou had been set free—equivalent to severing his own arms, dealing a severe blow to his strength.
Refining a new external incarnation in the future would take at least several decades. As for capturing another demon beast, its spirituality and strength would certainly pale in comparison to the two-headed hou.
What pained Qin Sang the most was the Three Light Jade Liquid: he had used three whole drops!
Swallowing this bitter grievance was truly difficult, yet he had no choice but to endure it.
He would retract his claws and bide his time!
Qin Sang exhaled slowly and said resolutely, "I must trouble you to leave behind the seed of the fire curse, Fellow Daoist! Throughout my journey, I have weathered many ups and downs; this is not the first time I've faced such an ordeal. It won't give rise to an inner demon so easily."
"Very well!" Bai said in a deep voice. "Condensing the seed of the fire curse so that Old Devil Mou cannot detect it when you encounter him—I will need to think this through carefully."
Chapter 994