Gateway of Immortality

Hiding in the shadows, Qin Sang overheard Wu Youdao's command and immediately realized. If he didn't seize this chance to leave the Demonic Qingyang Sect, he might never escape again.

Once he had given his orders, Wu Youdao flew alone toward the inner sect.

Only after Wu Youdao's figure had vanished from sight did Qin Sang move. Slipping from the shadows, he stealthily crept toward the gate.

Things had reached a point where peaceful resolution was no longer possible. He would have to break out by force.

Qin Sang had already prepared for a fierce battle against Wu Youdao. With his current strength, he was confident he could stand his ground in a head-on fight. However, that was only true outside the sect. If he had to face Wu Youdao within the Demonic Qingyang Sect, he had absolutely no chance of winning.

He needed to wait until Wu Youdao entered Divine Gale Peak and began handling the Ancestral Sacred Flame, dividing his attention. Only then would Qin Sang's odds of slipping away improve.

Just as Qin Sang was calculating when and how to strike, he suddenly spotted a flying boat tearing through the skies outside the sect. It was that same pod-shaped vessel from before, and it was flying even faster than it had when it left!

"They're already back?"

Qin Sang hadn't expected the others to return so quickly. Wu Youdao likely hadn't even reached Divine Gale Peak yet, but Qin Sang knew he couldn't afford to wait any longer. He made a swift decision on the spot.

Circulating his true essence, he activated his movement art, suppressing his presence as best he could, racing full speed toward the gate.

At the stone stele, the six guards remained at their posts, startled by the distant, approaching flying boat. They squinted into the sky, awaiting the return of their fellow disciples. Once they arrived, the six would reactivate the grand array and seal off the sect once again, just as Wu Youdao had instructed.

Rumble!

The flying boat thundered through the air, closing the distance with shocking speed. The roar it produced was as loud as rolling thunder.

The eldest among the six cultivators—also the strongest—suddenly sensed something. He jerked his head toward the rear and swiftly swept his gaze over the stone platform below.

The platform connected to the cliff's edge. It was an extremely treacherous place where not even a blade of grass grew.

Down along the mountain's midsection, the terrain leveled out somewhat. Although lush pines and verdant cypresses grew below, the entire slope remained fully visible.

Everything looked normal.

The others, noticing the elder's strange behavior, followed his gaze, but saw nothing unusual. However, seeing the frown tightening between his brows, they grew curious and asked in quick succession, "Senior Brother, what are you looking at?"

The elder scanned the cliffside once more, then shook his head with a doubtful expression. "It may have just been an illusion... I don't know why, but just now I—"

Before he could finish, a sharp gleam suddenly flashed in his eyes. He abruptly threw a punch toward the edge of the platform and shouted, "Come out!"

Whoosh!

The fist shadow shot to the platform's edge, only to be halted mid-air by some invisible barrier. It froze in place for a heartbeat before silently shattering.

"What is that?!"

Only now did the others see a figure with a greenish-blue face and savage fangs appear out of thin air in front of the fist shadow. It was a ghastly sight like a demon from hell, startling them out of their wits.

That monstrous figure had crept so close without them noticing a thing.

Even more shocking, it had come from inside the sect!

Qin Sang was surprised too. With his level of concealment, he shouldn't have been discovered so easily.

Then, he suddenly noticed something strange. The old man who had exposed him seemed to share a subtle connection with the stone stele.

A thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind, and in an instant, he understood. His evasion technique wasn't the problem. The elder was the master of the array and had used the stele to pierce through his stealth.

But this minor hiccup wouldn't shake Qin Sang's resolve.

Since he'd already been exposed, Qin Sang said nothing. Instead, he stomped fiercely against the platform and shot forward like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for the gate.

"Stop him!"

The old man reacted instantly, roaring with authority.

The others hurriedly summoned their artifacts.

Among the five, three drew out identical bronze spikes, each blazing with Demonic Qingyang Fire. The flames and the spikes fused as one, clearly forged for perfect harmony.

But their response was too slow. In the blink of an eye, Qin Sang had arrived. With a single thought, the ebony sword shot out even faster than him, unleashing a terrifying wave of sword qi.

"Astra?!"

Their expressions instantly twisted in shock and disbelief.

Crack!

The ebony sword cleaved straight through a flying sword and carved a deep gouge into one of the bronze spikes. In just an instant, two artifacts were rendered nearly useless.

Its ferocious power turned the cultivators' faces ashen. None of them dared engage the ebony sword head-on, and they scattered in panic.

Their courage had completely collapsed. Qin Sang, having achieved his goal, pressed no further. Escape was the priority. He immediately retrieved his sword and bolted toward the exit.

But just as he was about to pass the stone stele, it suddenly erupted in radiant light.

A dazzling pillar of light shot into the sky, its brilliance and noise so intense it could be seen and heard from miles away. The next moment, Qin Sang's vision blurred. An ethereal barrier appeared before him out of thin air.

His heart sank. Shifting his gaze, he spotted the old man crouched behind the stone stele, hands forming strange seals as he glared coldly at Qin Sang.

"Who are you? Why have you been hiding within my sect?"

Qin Sang sneered silently and ignored him. Gripping the ebony sword tightly, he poured all his strength into a fierce thrust toward the barrier.

If this had been a fully activated grand array, he'd have stood no chance of breaking through.

But it had only been hastily activated by a single man. The array wasn't complete, and its power was far from its full potential. Moreover, Qin Sang was breaking through from within, and the stele was primarily designed to ward off invaders from the outside.

Just then, a piercing whistle rang out from the inner sect. Qin Sang didn't need to look to know Wu Youdao had been alerted.

Crack... Crack...

The light barrier trembled under the assault of the ebony sword, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface.

After just a few more strikes, it looked ready to collapse.

A streak of blazing light shot from the inner sect like a meteor. In a blink, it crossed the outer peaks. At the same time, Wu Youdao's thunderous roar echoed through the mountains, brimming with murderous rage.

"You wretched rat! How dare you trespass into my Qingyang Sect!"

Qin Sang didn't look back, but he could clearly feel Wu Youdao's presence growing rapidly closer. The overwhelming pressure behind him was like a blade pressed to his back.

His heart pounded in urgency. Without sparing anything, he activated his corpse core, pushing his sword strikes to their limit.

At last, the barrier, unable to withstand the onslaught, shattered with a deafening boom.

Qin Sang burst through, finally breaking free of the stele's blockade. He exhaled in relief, wasting no time as he leapt into the air, mounted his sword, and shot away like lightning.

But just then, he suddenly sensed a fierce gust rushing in from behind.

Within that wind was a sharp force, its cutting edge even sharper than the ebony sword.

"Get back here!" Wu Youdao bellowed.

Qin Sang dared not take it lightly. His figure flashed several times, narrowly shifting a few zhang to the side at the last second. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a streak of Demonic Qingyang Fire graze past him.

Wrapped inside the flames was a bronze spike.

But Wu Youdao's bronze spike was no ordinary artifact; it was a low-grade astra. Its surface was wreathed in swirling bands of golden light, and as it spun, it created a strange vortex that seemed to pull at one's mind. Its speed was astonishing.

Qin Sang only glanced at it before turning away, continuing to flee at full speed.

He was now outside the Demonic Qingyang Sect, no longer at risk of being cut off from escape. But he still needed to retrieve the treasures he'd hidden outside before he could feel at ease confronting Wu Youdao and look for a real chance to escape.