Gateway of Immortality

Fortunately, the Ancient Immortal Battlefield was sealed off by barriers left behind by ancient powers, preventing the Cloud Beasts from invading the Small Cold Domain.

It was unclear whether the passageways had been intentionally left open or if the barriers had weakened over time, but now some of the ancient barriers were damaged. The cultivators of the Small Cold Domain constructed strongholds at these breach points, effectively trapping the Cloud Beasts within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. They also sent disciples to hunt within the strongholds, preventing the beasts from moving south and wreaking havoc in the ordinary world.

These strongholds served as the gateways to enter and exit the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

The introduction in the jade slip provided more detailed information.

At the edge of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, there were seven major strongholds: Wanyao City, Jiuyong Stronghold, Xuanlu Stronghold, Chungang City, Yinshan Stronghold, Tianyou City, and Qingyang City.

In addition to these, there were also several smaller cities occupied by rogue cultivators or some immortal sects and families. The sizes and types of these strongholds varied greatly.

Among the seven strongholds, three were guarded by the Eight Major Sects: from west to east, they were Jiuyong, Xuanlu, and Chungang. The vast areas behind these strongholds, including the relics discovered within, were naturally under the control of the righteous sects.

However, moving deeper into that area led to a completely unclaimed territory, especially in the regions near the spatial rifts. Both temptation and danger existed there, and over the years, countless Golden Core Realm cultivators had perished within.

To guard these strongholds, eliminate the Cloud Beasts in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, and explore the ruins within, the major sects would often summon their disciples to enter the battlefield, and Shaohua Mountain was no exception.

Regarding this, Sect Leader Yu had already mentioned to Qin Sang that even if he did not take the initiative to guard the strongholds, one day he would be summoned. Generally, each duty would last at least twenty years, regardless of whether the task was completed.

The far western Wanyao City was monopolized by the demon cultivators of Heavenly Demon Hill. Although there was only one stronghold, the area behind it in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield extended into the extreme west, making it difficult for human cultivators to reach. Its size was comparable to the territories controlled by the righteous sects.

Another large city, known as Yinshan Stronghold, was situated between the strongholds controlled by the righteous and the demonic sects. The city lord was formidable, reputed to be a Spiritual Infant Realm grandmaster.

It seemed that both sides had an unspoken understanding and had not extended their influence here, using it as a buffer zone. As a result, Yinshan Stronghold was a chaotic mix of individuals—righteous and demonic cultivators, heretical practitioners, and people from all walks of life.

The two eastern strongholds, Tianyou and Qingyang, naturally fell into the hands of the demonic path, but there was not much information about them in the jade slip.

In the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, the divisions between the righteous and demonic cultivators were clear-cut. They operated around their respective strongholds and seldom dared to cross over. Meanwhile, the Xuanlu Stronghold, jointly guarded by Shaohua Mountain, Taiyi Core Sect, and Shangyuan Tranquility Palace, sat in the middle of the three righteous cities, with Chungang and Yinshan creating a significant distance from the demonic territory.

Because of this, Qin Sang felt emboldened to venture into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

It was worth noting that the surviving Golden Core Realm master from the Kuiyin Sect was hiding within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. The Heart-Devouring Insect on the surface of Qin Sang’s primordial spirit would be detected as soon as he entered the spiritual consciousness range of that Golden Core Realm master.

The Heart-Devouring Insect loomed like a sword over his head, constantly reminding him that the danger had not yet passed. He couldn’t easily stray too far from Xuanlu Stronghold while entering the Ancient Immortal Battlefield.

Additionally, within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, one had to act with extreme caution. If he inadvertently encountered a swarm of Cloud Beasts and became surrounded, even a Foundation Building Realm cultivator would find it nearly impossible to survive.

Qin Sang planned to accumulate more strength before daring to venture into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. For now, he was only here to gather some information.

After carefully reviewing the contents of the jade slip and committing them to memory, he noticed that it was getting late. He took the information on the two Demonic Spirit Realm beasts and summoned the Sky Shuttle to fly out of Shaohua Mountain, heading south.

He was preoccupied with thoughts of the Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid in his cave dwelling. Qin Sang longed to return to his cave for just a glance, so he wasted no time. Only after flying beyond the range controlled by Shaohua Mountain did he descend and ride his sword along the water's surface at high speed.

On the way, he reviewed the information on the two demonic beasts.

One was a snake demon, and the other a white rhinoceros that had become a demon, both hiding deep within the Yuncang Marshlands.

Originally, they were diligently cultivating in their underwater cave dwellings, where Shaohua Mountain could not detect their presence. Unfortunately, these two demons were unwilling to remain isolated.

The information about the snake demon was reported by a senior brother surnamed Wang. He had been dispatched by his sect to handle a trivial matter in the Yuncang Marshlands. On his way back, while flying in the air, he was suddenly ambushed by the snake demon.

Fortunately, Senior Brother Wang was no weakling. Caught off guard, he managed to protect his vital areas and drove the snake demon back, albeit with injuries. However, the demon was elusive and skilled in water evasion techniques. After pursuing it into the water, he soon lost track of it.

Eager to report back to the sect leader, Senior Brother Wang had no choice but to let it go. However, upon returning to the mountain, he grew increasingly frustrated with each passing day. After two failed attempts to capture the demon, he discovered a snake skin on an island, indicating that the demon's cave dwelling was nearby but well-hidden.

Thus, Senior Brother Wang reported the matter to the sect leader, leaving behind a map, stating that anyone among their ranks who had the means to hunt the demon would be generously rewarded.

The white rhinoceros demon was bolder; it attacked a spirit stone mine of Shaohua Mountain.

This spirit stone mine was located on an island, with the veins extending deep beneath the island. Its scale was already small, and the spirit stones were nearly exhausted. Only a few Qi Refining Realm disciples remained to extract any last value while relying on the array barriers left by their sect for protection, which had kept the area stable for a long time.

Recently, out of nowhere, a white rhinoceros demon had appeared and launched a sudden attack on the spirit stone mine.

The white rhinoceros demon was a demon of the Demonic Spirit Realm, while the guardians of the mine were only Qi Refining Realm disciples. Caught off guard by the assault, they panicked and hurriedly activated the large formation to resist the attack.

The white rhinoceros demon could not breach the array, and after failing, it vanished without a trace, allowing the disciples to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The disciples waited for some time, thinking the white rhinoceros demon had left, only for one disciple to be attacked just after departing the spirit stone mine.

These two locations were quite far apart. After weighing his options, Qin Sang adjusted his evasion light[1] and flew toward the spirit stone mine.

First, he thought the information there would be more accurate, and second, the existence of barriers in the spirit stone mine provided both offensive and defensive options.

He still didn't know what it truly meant to hone the Dao of Slaughter—whether it was to comprehend the heart's realm through battle or to be pushed to the brink of death before achieving anything. He believed that relying on the barriers of the spirit stone mine would offer a more secure approach.

With sword-based evasion technique, Qin Sang made steady progress, stopping only briefly to restore his spiritual power. He encountered no obstacles and, after half a month, finally saw the island where the spirit stone mine was located.

This island was much larger than the one where his cave dwelling was situated, featuring a deep, bottomless valley that nearly spanned the entire island from east to west, creating a striking contrast.

At this moment, a layer of golden light enveloped the valley, shimmering faintly. This was the protective array of the spirit stone mine.

He could vaguely make out the figures of cultivators sitting cross-legged beneath the light shield.

1. This is a light used during evasion techniques. ☜