Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang summoned water-based spiritual power, condensing it into an ice coffin to seal the two bodies locked in each other’s embrace, intending to find a suitable burial site after they left. He also gathered up Liu Shan's body.

Out of their group of eight, five were already dead. He had no idea what had become of Yu Dayue and Li Zai. According to Qingting, the forbidden ground of the Heavenly Corpse Sect's branch lay behind this hall. Regardless of which cave tunnel one entered from, they would ultimately converge here, but neither Yu Dayue nor Li Zai had shown up.

The Liu Brothers hadn’t told the full truth. The two had not cultivated the same art but were able to perform a combined attack, unleashing power comparable to that of a Foundation Building cultivator. They accomplished this through a secret art called the Divine Art of Two Forces.

This secret art was incredibly unique, and its origin seemed anything but simple.

However, there was one thing they hadn’t lied about—the Divine Art of Two Forces indeed required two people with aligned hearts and minds to practice together, making it useless to Qin Sang, so he simply put it away.

What intrigued Qin Sang the most, though, was the talisman astra. Printed on the durable, snow-white talisman paper was a delicate jade ruyi radiating a faint, pure light, almost as though it would break free from the paper, exuding a strong spiritual essence.

Although he’d encountered talisman astras before, this was the first time Qin Sang actually owned one. Such a thin sheet of talisman paper could retain a tenth of an astra’s power—a marvel in itself.

The youth in combat attire he met in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Ground had also possessed a talisman astra in the shape of a crescent blade. However, that youth, being only at the Qi Refining Realm, lacked the method for fully activating its power and could only tap into a portion of it.

Senior Sister Qingting, however, was a Foundation Building cultivator and could wield the full power of a talisman astra. When she activated the talisman astra to attack the malevolent corpse, Qin Sang was astounded by the display.

Even the finest top-grade artifacts paled compared to a talisman astra. Sadly, Senior Sister Qingting had been ambushed by the malevolent corpse, sustaining severe injuries, and the situation became irreversible.

Moreover, activating a talisman astra required a specific ritual to refine it, infusing it with large amounts of spiritual power, which was extremely draining.

After examining the talisman astra briefly, Qin Sang carefully put it away and moved to the massive black iron door. Following Senior Sister Qingting’s instructions, he began dismantling the barrier on the door.

Previously, he had always relied on brute force to break barriers, but using her method, he could dismantle the barrier without damaging its core, allowing him to re-seal the black iron door from the inside to keep out the malevolent yin qi.

He transformed the Five-Elemental Breaking Sword into sword light, gently probing the black iron door. Each touch was light, with little force. Before long, he had broken through the barrier without any effort.

Qin Sang marveled at Senior Sister Qingting's expertise in barriers. Ensuring there was no danger behind the door, he gathered his spiritual power into his palm and pushed it open.

Creak…

The black iron door slowly opened, revealing not another stone passage as he had expected, but a vast, empty cavern. As soon as the door was open, dense spiritual power surged out, invigorating Qin Sang.

This cavern was the core restricted area of the Heavenly Corpse Sect’s branch!

Just as he was about to step forward, a sudden muffled sound came from behind him.

Qin Sang paused, turning to see one of the stone doors in the row at the front of the hall now covered in cracks before it shattered, and a shadow slipped out.

His expression shifted slightly, his thoughts racing. He didn’t choose to hide his presence as he quickly recognized the shadow as Yu Dayue and not a malevolent corpse. The battle marks in the hall wouldn’t escape Yu Dayue’s notice, so hiding was unnecessary.

Besides, he had already briefly scanned the area beyond the black iron door, which, like the rest of the place, was in ruins and had clearly been looted. It seemed unlikely that any treasures remained.

"Oh, Junior Brother Qin?"

Yu Dayue rushed into the hall and was immediately on alert upon seeing someone standing there. He quickly activated his artifacts, assuming a defensive stance. Then, realizing it was Qin Sang, he was taken aback.

"Greetings, Senior Brother," Qin Sang called out as he glanced behind Yu Dayue, seeing no sign of Li Zai, suggesting he had also come alone.

Yu Dayue breathed a sigh of relief, putting away his protective artifacts and saying with lingering fear, "I didn’t encounter a single person along the way; I thought everyone was... Thankfully! Thankfully! Junior Brother Qin, you moved quite quickly. Did you run into any malevolent corpses? These evil corpses are terrifyingly powerful..."

As Yu Dayue spoke, he glanced around the hall and suddenly noticed the malevolent corpse on the ground, its head pierced by a spiritual sword. His words trailed off, and his expression turned to shock as he instinctively swallowed.

"Uh… Did you kill this malevolent corpse, Junior Brother Qin?"

Seeing Yu Dayue’s doubtful expression, Qin Sang replied calmly, "Senior Brother Yu, you overestimate me. The credit for defeating the malevolent corpse goes mainly to Senior Sister Qingting. Without her, I might have already fallen to the corpse myself."

Hearing this, Yu Dayue brightened, looking around anxiously. "Senior Sister Qingting is here too? Where is she?"

Qin Sang's expression grew solemn as he said in a low voice, "Senior Sister Qingting has passed away."

"What did you say?"

Yu Dayue’s face changed drastically as he turned sharply to glare at Qin Sang, his aura surging with intensity.

Under the pressure of Yu Dayue’s forceful aura and the wary look in his eyes, Qin Sang remained unfazed. He took out an ice coffin from his Mustard Seed Pouch and recounted the events in detail, showing him the bodies of the Liu Brothers as well.

The fatal wounds on Qingting were clearly caused by a malevolent corpse, and as she had embraced Senior Brother Jiang in her final moments, her expression was peaceful, showing no hint of resentment from betrayal. This left Yu Dayue no room for disbelief.

Yu Dayue let out a long sigh, his face filled with bitterness as he said, "Separated, the Liu Brothers couldn’t use their combined attack method. I’d already anticipated that. But to think that Senior Sister Qingting, the strongest among us, would die at the hands of a malevolent corpse… I wonder how Junior Brother Wu and the other two are faring…"

Qin Sang replied, "Although these malevolent corpses are strange, they are still lifeless beings. Senior Brother Wu and the others certainly have life-saving measures, so there’s no need for excessive worry. Before her ascension, Senior Sister Qingting informed me that there’s definitely an array device in the restricted area ahead that can control the barrier here. We might as well open the barrier and patiently wait for our companions…"

He knew full well that Hermit Baiyun and Wu Yuesheng were unlikely to appear, leaving only the question of whether Li Zai had managed to escape. But if he was to play his role, he had to commit fully.

Their greatest threat now was the Earth Malevolent Qi, and Yu Dayue knew this, though he was a bit shaken by Qingting’s death. Qin Sang’s reminder snapped him back to his senses, and he nodded repeatedly, "Junior Brother Qin is right. Let’s quickly open the barrier to block out the Earth Malevolent Qi. Have you tried already? Is the array device easy to control?"

Qin Sang pushed the iron door open forcefully, shaking his head. "I had just broken the barrier on the door when you arrived, Senior Brother. I haven’t yet had a chance to look inside."

Yu Dayue peered past the iron door, seeing a vast ruin beyond. He said nothing further and followed Qin Sang inside.

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