Gateway of Immortality

The bronze spike moved with exceptional agility. After missing its mark, it instantly turned and continued its relentless pursuit of Qin Sang.

Wu Youdao, meanwhile, had somehow employed a secret art, drastically boosting his speed and quickly closing the distance between them.

Just then, a flying boat in the distance noticed the disturbance and immediately altered its course, accelerating as it moved to cut off Qin Sang's escape.

Wu Youdao's eyes lit up. He suddenly shouted toward the flying boat, "Activate the Azure Flame Banner Array!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the flying boat halted abruptly right in front of the location where Qin Sang had buried his treasure.

Then, nearly twenty figures shot out from the boat. All of them were Foundation Building cultivators; the weakest among them was at the early stage of the Foundation Building Realm, while some, such as the cultivator surnamed Li, were formidable experts in the Fake Core Realm.

Suspended mid-air after leaving the flying boat, three of them, including the one surnamed Li, took out triangular azure flags from their Mustard Seed Pouches.

These triangular flags looked identical to the ones Qin Sang had seen on Divine Gale Peak!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The trio simultaneously waved their hands and raised the flags into the air.

The three azure banners whirled upward, fixing themselves in the void in a triangular array that aligned with the positions of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

Immediately after, the rest of the cultivators began channeling their Demonic Qingyang Fire without reservation, continuously sending it surging toward the array.

As the Demonic Qingyang Fire poured in, the azure banners grew increasingly radiant. A blazing azure fireball gradually condensed at their center, radiating a violent and oppressive aura.

Seeing this, a deep sense of foreboding surged in Qin Sang's heart.

Although only a few among the twenty were genuine experts, and none of them posed any threat to him individually. In fact, he could easily defeat them even if they attacked together. These three banners were clearly far from ordinary. If they managed to complete this so-called Azure Flame Banner Array, the resulting power would be a huge problem.

Once the array was activated, Qin Sang would be caught between enemies in front and behind, trapped and on the defensive.

The only solution was to destroy the array before it fully formed.

But at that moment, Wu Youdao was relentlessly hounding him with the bronze spike, giving him no opportunity to break away. Worse still, Wu Youdao was already within striking range. Escaping now would be even harder.

The bronze spike pressed its advantage, lunging forth once again.

This time, Qin Sang no longer tried to dodge. He guided the ebony sword with his spiritual thought and directly clashed with the bronze spike.

Bang!

The two astras collided for the first time, sending tremors through both weapons.

The Demonic Qingyang Fire on the bronze spike flickered dimly, and several of its golden rings shattered and ceased regenerating, though they had been rapidly repairing moments ago.

The ebony sword, too, dimmed erratically.

But then, an eerie crimson glow suddenly welled up from the center of the ebony sword. Within a heartbeat, it transformed into a blood-hued sword.

Upon seeing this, an ominous feeling rose in Wu Youdao's chest. He reacted swiftly, attempting to withdraw the bronze spike but he was a fraction too late.

Whoosh!

With a flick of the ebony sword, the Blood Defilement Divine Light struck the bronze spike head-on.

In an instant, the demonic fire on the bronze spike was extinguished. The golden rings, which had stopped repairing, now seemed mottled and rusted. The astra's spiritual essence had suffered a severe blow!

The Blood Defilement Divine Light had once again proven devastatingly effective.

As long as an opponent was unaware of this supernatural ability contained within the ebony sword, it was almost guaranteed to succeed.

Qin Sang had refrained from using it earlier only because he wasn't sure if the bronze spike was Wu Youdao's life-bound astra.

Although Wu Youdao had only recently reached the Core Formation Realm, the Demonic Qingyang Sect possessed deep foundations. There was a good chance he had more than one astra.

Qin Sang had hoped to cripple Wu Youdao's life-bound astra, thereby significantly weakening him and increasing his own chances of escape. But now, there was no time left to delay.

The bronze spike tumbled back into Wu Youdao's hand, damaged and faltering.

"Blood Defilement Divine Light!"

Seeing the ruined state of his astra, Wu Youdao's shock turned to fury. He had never expected to encounter someone wielding an astra forged from one of the Ten Divine Woods.

The bronze spike was now likely unusable for a long time and would require extended nurturing to recover. Wu Youdao's hatred for Qin Sang only deepened.

He glared coldly at the ebony sword, knowing that this kind of supernatural ability couldn't be used again so soon. Without hesitation, he flipped his palm and struck his dantian.

Whoosh!

A lustrous green gourd shot out from Wu Youdao's dantian. It had originally been no larger than a thumb, but once outside, it rapidly expanded until it was just large enough to be held aloft with one hand.

The gourd hovered above Wu Youdao's head, spinning once before pointing its mouth directly at Qin Sang.

Through the opening, one could see a blazing realm of fire within the gourd's belly, where the purest Demonic Qingyang Fire was surging. It was on the verge of erupting.

"So the bronze spike really wasn't his life-bound astra!"

Qin Sang sighed inwardly when he saw this, realizing he could no longer afford to remain entangled with Wu Youdao. Suddenly, he opened his right hand and revealed an object in his palm, raising it as if about to throw.

A wisp of qi was instantly triggered.

"Xutian Thunder!"

Wu Youdao, in the middle of activating the Fire Gourd, caught a glimpse of it and his expression changed drastically.

Xutian Thunder was exceedingly rare, but Core Formation experts like him, even if they hadn't seen one with their own eyes, at least knew what it looked like and understood all too well how terrifying its power was.

If he were struck by it, he might not live to see the next day.

Startled and alarmed, Wu Youdao immediately halted and veered off course, dodging at top speed.

But he hadn't expected it to be a bluff.

Qin Sang knew perfectly well that Xutian Thunder had a limited range. Trying to kill an opponent in such an open area with it would be nothing but a pipe dream, so he had never truly intended to throw it.

Very few people had ever witnessed Xutian Thunder firsthand. Wu Youdao certainly wouldn't dare to gamble on whether Qin Sang had activated a real one.

And indeed, Qin Sang had judged correctly.

The moment Wu Youdao retreated, Qin Sang leapt onto his sword and shot forward at full speed. His sword light flashed like lightning, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared before the Foundation Building cultivators.

Only then did Wu Youdao realize he'd been duped. Overcome with regret, he had no chance to stop Qin Sang in time.

The cultivator surnamed Li, calm even under pressure, shouted, "Scatter!"

The others immediately darted away, seemingly in disarray, but in truth maintaining subtle coordination. The three azure flags remained where they were, untouched.

The fireball within the array suddenly swelled, then transformed into a stream of fire that surged straight toward Qin Sang.

Some of the Demonic Qingyang Fire released by the Foundation Building cultivators had undergone a metamorphosis within the banner array. Though the resulting stream of fire appeared slender, it was astonishingly pure. Qin Sang did not dare to take it lightly.

Yet after a brief moment of thought, he made a startling move: he didn't dodge at all. His speed did not decrease in the slightest. Instead, he channeled his true essence and chose to confront the fire stream head-on.

The Demonic Qingyang Fire was infamous for its tenacity. Once it latched onto a target's spiritual power or true essence, it clung like a parasitic curse and was nearly impossible to shake off.

Anyone else, knowing how fearsome the Demonic Qingyang Fire was, would never have dared to do such a thing.

Seeing Qin Sang's brazen charge, the cultivators of the Demonic Qingyang Sect sneered in contempt.

But in the next instant, their jaws nearly dropped.

Boom!

Qin Sang forcibly tore through the fire stream, his figure merely flickering for a moment.

The surging flames, which should have instantly clung to his true essence and ignited with unbearable pain, instead fizzled out one by one as if they had lost their fuel.