Chapter 1199: Stone House

This stone wall looked ordinary to the naked eye.

If not for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's warning, Qin Sang alone might have overlooked it entirely. Even if cultivators from the Nanyin Mountain Range had stumbled upon this place, they wouldn't have discovered its secret.

Qin Sang and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly observed it carefully for a long time, finally confirming that the restriction on the stone wall was extremely peculiar, imbued with the aura of divine patterns, and originated from the Witch Clan!

In Canglang Sea, Qin Sang wouldn't have found this strange, as the Witch Clan had been the masters of Canglang Sea before the emergence of the Seven Kill Temple and the rise of the Four Human Sages, who drove the Witch Clan to the Witch God Continent.

However, in the Minor Cold Domain, there was no trace of the Witch Clan, neither in Qin Sang's personal observations nor in any prevalent rumors.

Not even the entire Beichen Realm had similar legends.

Yet, deep within the Heavenly Scar, there was a Witch Clan restriction!

Could this place be connected to the Heavenly Corpse Sect?

Could it be that the Heavenly Corpse Talisman was a secret technique of the Witch Clan, and the method to break it must come from them?

If so, he would truly have returned empty-handed from a treasure mountain!

While in Canglang Sea, Qin Sang had encountered the Witch Clan's corpse-refining methods, which were very similar to the human race's corpse dao techniques but distinctly different from those of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

Unless the Witch Clan's corpse dao inheritance in Canglang Sea had been broken and dispersed, eventually ending up here.

Regardless, encountering a Witch Clan restriction here certainly warranted further investigation.

Qin Sang did not act rashly. Cooperating with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, he jointly activated the Heavenly Eye divine ability, meticulously unraveling the restrictions within the stone wall inch by inch to find a way to break them.

Gradually, Qin Sang began to get some clues.

“The power of the restriction isn't actually very strong, but its creator was ingenious and made it extremely complex, divided into several layers. The outer layer serves not only for concealment but also contains a destructive intent; if forcibly breached, it will immediately self-destruct. The inner layers seem to incorporate illusions, defense, and even teleportation, allowing those inside to escape…”

Qin Sang analyzed patiently, finally looking at the stone wall with some suspicion.

“Why does it feel like it's for defending a cultivation cave? The power of the restriction also isn't as terrifying as the ancient restrictions I've encountered before. Could it be that a cultivator obtained a Witch Clan inheritance and established a cave dwelling here?”

Qin Sang's knowledge of the Witch Clan was superficial, so he couldn't confirm his conjecture, but his intuition told him something was off.

After some thought, he didn't act rashly. Instead, he withdrew from the area, habitually preparing an escape route outside before attempting to trigger the restriction on the stone wall.

It was akin to sending a signal indicating a desire to visit.

He waited patiently for a long time, but several attempts to probe received no response, so he decided not to wait any longer.

On the butterfly's wings, the Heavenly Eye was wide open, a true eye rather than a mere pattern. Its eyes were incredibly deep, with pupils filled with chaos. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly's gaze was almost tangible, carrying faint wisps of lightning aura.

The Heavenly Eye stared intently at the stone wall.

With the Twelve Demonic Banners planted beside him, Qin Sang sat cross-legged before the stone wall. He activated the Golden Sinking Sword, meticulously dismantling the restriction piece by piece, like peeling silk from a cocoon. His movements were extremely subtle and cautious.

This method made the breaking of the restriction very slow, but it prevented any backlash during the process.

The ease with which he could do this was due to two factors: first, Qin Sang's high cultivation level, and second, his previous exposure to Witch Clan divine pattern cultivation methods, giving him some understanding of divine patterns.

Of course, the most crucial factor was the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.

Layer after layer of restrictions were broken, gradually revealing the original appearance of the stone wall.

As expected, it led to a secret realm.

Even after the restriction was completely broken, there was no reaction from within.

Qin Sang waited for a moment, confirmed there was nothing unusual inside the secret realm, left Fat Chicken to guard outside, activated the Twelve Demonic Banners, and flashed inside. He felt a spatial distortion and, in the next instant, appeared on a mountaintop.

“How desolate!”

This was Qin Sang's first impression of the secret realm.

There were no flowers or trees, no pavilions or towers, just an monotonous gray ground stretching to the horizon.

Although it seemed empty, a closer look revealed the ground was covered in a layer of fine dust and debris, as if repeatedly ravaged by storms. Everything had been pulverized; 'ruins' was insufficient to describe its decay.

Qin Sang recalled the disturbance that erupted a century ago. Had this place been impacted by that disturbance, causing its current state?

Or, perhaps, this was its source!

Qin Sang flew through the air towards the depths of the secret realm.

The journey continued through the same desolate scenery. After flying for a while, approaching the secret realm's boundary, Qin Sang finally saw something different: a stone house!

The stone house was built within a pit, surrounded by raised terrain, but it was just as dilapidated as the rest of the area.

Qin Sang's gaze sharpened, and his divine sense swept outwards.

The area around the stone house was silent, with no trace of anyone else.

After a moment's thought, Qin Sang flashed down in front of the stone house, effortlessly broke the restriction on its door, and pushed it open. Upon seeing the interior, he was slightly taken aback.

The stone house was small and easily surveyed.

On the left side of the room, there was a meditation mat and a jade table.

The right side, however, was mostly empty, occupied by a Profound Ice Spirit Array that was still operating. However, the spirit stones within the array were pale, their spiritual energy long exhausted, barely maintaining itself by absorbing ambient spiritual qi.

The owner of the house had clearly been gone for a long time.

Faint wisps of cold air emanated from the Profound Ice Spirit Array.

At the center of the spirit array, the cold air condensed into a long, ice platform, only knee-high.

The ice platform was empty.

Upon seeing the ice platform, Qin Sang immediately recalled something: the crystal coffin he had given Tan Hao to hold Tan Jie's physical body. The platform and coffin were of similar dimensions.

This place seemed custom-made to house a crystal coffin.

“Could the owner of this stone house be Tan Hao?”

Qin Sang was secretly surprised.

The Profound Ice Platform and Profound Ice Spirit Array appeared to be designed to complement the crystal coffin, protecting Tan Jie's physical body.

This greatly surprised Qin Sang.

He had made many conjectures, but none had led him to Tan Hao.

When had Tan Hao learned Witch Clan divine patterns, and to such a high degree of mastery? A divine pattern restriction of this caliber probably couldn't even be set up by the Witch Clan in Canglang Sea.

“Judging by the layout of the stone house, Tan Hao must have lived here for a long time before leaving for reasons unknown...”

Qin Sang deduced this from the information.

But what puzzled Qin Sang was whether the outer Witch Clan restriction had existed beforehand, which Tan Hao had broken through like himself, or if Tan Hao had set it up personally?

What else had he discovered here, and why had he stayed?

Pondering these questions, Qin Sang moved to the meditation mat.

Inside the stone house, apart from the Profound Ice Spirit Array, there were only these miscellaneous items. Tan Hao did not appear to have fled in haste due to an enemy attack, nor had he left behind any useful information.

“After leaving here, where did Tan Hao go? And why would he still arrange a Profound Ice Spirit Array to store the crystal coffin? Did he not find the Heavenly Corpse Sect's inheritance, or perhaps even the Heavenly Corpse Sect had no method to break the Heavenly Corpse Talisman? If so, why didn't he return to the Minor Cold Domain to see Tan Yien, or did something else happen later?”

Numerous questions arose in Qin Sang's mind.

These discoveries cast a shadow over Qin Sang's heart. If even the Heavenly Corpse Sect couldn't break the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, then the only hope of waking Dumb Girl rested solely on Bai. (To be continued)