Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang chose to flee westward.

To the east lay Endless Valley, where a beast tide had recently broken out, forcing all cultivators training within to evacuate.

To the south was Qingyang Market. There was no telling whether any powerful cultivators were secretly hiding there.

Qin Sang had no intention of shaking off Wu Youdao only to be targeted by someone else and end up as someone else's spoils of war.

The western territory under the Demonic Qingyang Sect's control spanned a vast region, but the spiritual power there was extremely thin. It was inhabited entirely by mortals, with no sects established by cultivators.

At most, there were a few lower-level cultivators sent down by the sects to oversee mundane affairs, but none of them were strong.

In this cat-and-mouse pursuit, Wu Youdao chased while Qin Sang fled. They had flown past countless mountains and rivers, long since departing the bounds of the Demonic Qingyang Sect.

The two clashed several times along the way.

Wu Youdao's life-bound astra was indeed extraordinary. The Demonic Qingyang Fire it spewed from the gourd was not only highly refined but also far more potent than ordinary Demonic Qingyang Fire.

Its form shifted at will. At times morphing into sabers, spears, and halberds, at other times unfurling into a vast sea of flames. It was frighteningly versatile.

By comparison, the ebony sword's abilities were far too simplistic. Qin Sang had to push his limits, deploying every sword art he knew to barely hold his ground against Wu Youdao.

Qin Sang gripped the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions, silently racing against time to refine the astra.

Only by relying on this banner could he contend with Wu Youdao's Fire Gourd.

Qin Sang had not chosen to use the Nine-Dragon Heavenly Chariot Talisman, as the speed it offered was limited and insufficient to shake off Wu Youdao.

He still vividly recalled the secret art he had used earlier to suddenly accelerate.

Although that secret art could not be sustained for long, it granted an explosive burst of speed.

Qin Sang understood clearly, unless he properly fought and revealed his true strength to make Wu Youdao back down, relying solely on the Nine-Dragon Heavenly Chariot Talisman wouldn't make him retreat.

It was better to reserve the talisman as a trump card and devote himself entirely to refining the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions.

Qin Sang had obtained the banners long ago and had already used them to slay several foes, so he was very familiar with them. His refining progress was swift.

In the past, he had used the banners by leveraging the power of the primary souls of the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions, knowing how it worked without understanding why.

One could say he had known nothing about the true nature of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions or the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells within.

He had no idea what was truly sealed inside the banners, nor why. When activated, it did not summon countless wandering souls, but instead released a strange flame.

What was the connection between the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells and the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions?

As he refined them further, the banners' mysterious veil gradually began to lift.

In Qin Sang's opinion, the artifact-grade version of the banner required deceiving others into becoming its primary soul, and it had to absorb the power of countless souls before it could mature.

As for the astra-grade version, it was likely even more sinister.

Not only was it the treasured legacy of the Kuiyin Sect, it was also the renowned astra of Founder Kuiyin, whose fearsome reputation had once shaken the Small Cold Domain. It was said that when ten banners formed an array, they could rival even top-grade astras in battle!

Qin Sang had always assumed this was an exceptionally wicked astra, one that had devoured uncountable souls.

But as he gradually gained control of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions, he began to realize he had been mistaken.

The banners were not the hellish inferno he had imagined. There were no countless souls wailing within, no cries of torment; only one thing: the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells.

Those flames resembled a slumbering black dragon, coiled quietly within the banner's internal space.

The deeper Qin Sang refined it, the more certain he became that this astra was less a weapon and more a container, a vessel sealing the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells. The banner itself held no combat power; all its might came from the flames it contained.

Yet Qin Sang was not disappointed. After all, once he gained control of the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells, he realized that the flames he had previously wielded were merely a portion of its full power.

The true Demonic Flames of Nine Hells were no weaker than the Demonic Qingyang Fire in Wu Youdao's Fire Gourd.

In fact, for reasons he could not yet explain, Qin Sang had a faint, inexplicable feeling that the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells might even surpass the Ancestral Sacred Flame atop Divine Gale Peak in their peculiar qualities.

He could already tell that the Ancestral Sacred Flame and the Demonic Qingyang Fire were closely linked. The former's origin, even if not artificially created, must have some deep connection to the Demonic Qingyang Sect's founder.

Despite having read numerous texts, Qin Sang still had no clue about the origins of the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells.

Such a strange flame could not possibly have been man-made. He had no idea what method Founder Kuiyin had used to subdue it and render it so docile—docile enough to be wielded by the master of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions.

They flew over a wide river.

Up ahead stretched a vast plain, and faintly in the distance, a city came into view.

The noise from their high-speed flight startled the mortals below.

The city walls were crowded with soldiers, staring up in terror at the two streaking figures in the sky.

When immortals fight, mortals suffer[1].

At last, Qin Sang completed the refinement of the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions. The banner rose on its own and hovered before his chest, its surface rippling with black flames that surged restlessly, on the verge of erupting.

Glancing around, Qin Sang changed course, veering away from the city and heading toward the desolate mountains.

Wu Youdao seized the opportunity. A flash of azure light erupted from the Fire Gourd, and a stream of flame shot forth, transforming into a long arrow as thick as an arm, aimed directly at the center of Qin Sang's back.

This time, Qin Sang had no intention of fleeing. If he ran any farther, the true essence of his corpse core would be depleted.

With a thought, he recalled the ebony sword, then pointed a finger at the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions. Instantly, a surge of black flame erupted from the banner.

Boom!

Two streams of fire clashed mid-air.

After the explosion, blue and black flames scattered wildly. The shockwave blasted a massive boulder on the nearby mountaintop into dust.

"The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells?"

Wu Youdao's pupils contracted. He immediately recognized the origin of the flames and shouted, "The Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions? Are you a survivor of the Kuiyin Sect?"

Qin Sang cackled strangely and replied, "Daoist Wu, open your eyes. The dead ghosts of the Kuiyin Sect have long turned to dust. I have no interest in being linked to that cursed sect."

But inwardly, Qin Sang sighed. It was just as he expected. He couldn't fool Wu Youdao.

They were both from demonic sects, after all. It was only natural that Wu Youdao would recognize the Kuiyin Sect's famed astra.

In this battle, Qin Sang had already exposed both his ebony sword and the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions. There was no need to worry for now, but it meant he could no longer switch astras at will, nor could he remain in seclusion within a cave dwelling indefinitely.

Concealing his identity forever would be nearly impossible. The Demonic Qingyang Sect would eventually trace this back to him.

Still, for the sake of escaping this crisis, Qin Sang could no longer afford to hold back.

In Wu Youdao's eyes, he was now a genuine Core Formation cultivator.

Even if his identity were later exposed, it wouldn't be a big deal.

After all, he had only stolen a sliver of Divine Qingyang Gale and casually killed a single Foundation Building disciple.

Qin Sang knew Wen Yanjie's background well.

Would the sect really pursue a Core Formation cultivator with ties to one of the Eight Major Sects over such a petty grudge?

"Daoist Wu, how many times must I say it? I needed Celestial Gale Qi, and had no choice but to infiltrate and steal a small piece of your sect's Gale Jade. I didn't touch anything else, and certainly dared not covet the treasures of your forbidden grounds. Why must you be so relentless in chasing me down?"

Qin Sang shouted loudly while continuing to drive the power of the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions.

1. This is a Chinese saying. ☜