Chapter 1247: Blood Soul

The basin was far from calm; mist waves gathered and dispersed unpredictably, changing endlessly. However, these were all normal phenomena. Even if anything unusual occurred, it was hidden beneath the blood mist and ancient restrictions.

Fatty Chicken awaited Qin Sang's decision. It knew very well that its current cultivation was utterly insufficient, and if it went down alone, it wouldn't get far before losing its life.

Qin Sang looked at the sea of blood, then glanced at the note. He pondered for a moment, then took Fatty Chicken into the basin. His chosen direction aligned with the note, but he didn't follow the marked route exactly, instead maintaining some distance.

After entering, the feeling was similar to being in the Blood River before, except there were no blood shadows.

“So cold!”

Surrounded by malevolent energy, Fatty Chicken couldn't help but shiver. The deeper they went, the colder and more sinister it became, even more so than the Blood River, and it could even affect an intruder's consciousness.

By the time they reached the bottom of the basin, Fatty Chicken was barely holding on. Only after Qin Sang shielded it with his true essence did it feel better, and it watched the boundless blood mist around them with lingering fear.

“The ancient restrictions here aren't too troublesome,” Qin Sang said. “But if we go deeper, I'll find it hard to look after you properly. Once inside, you'll return to the Coaxial Ring. Every so often, I'll find a safe place and release you to activate the Thunder Bead for sensing.”

Fatty Chicken needed to use its innate divine ability to activate the thunder power in its bloodline, which would then trigger the Thunder Bead and allow it to establish a connection with its mother. This divine ability was unique to the Thunder-Swallowing Falcon. As long as its mother wasn't trapped within a grotto-heaven, ordinary ancient restrictions couldn't sever the connection between them. Thus, the Thunder Bead had to be used by Fatty Chicken itself; Qin Sang could not activate it. Although this approach was troublesome, there was no other way.

Qin Sang surveyed his surroundings. Amidst the blood mist, rocks lay scattered everywhere, a scene of utter desolation. This place was as desolate as the bottom of the Blood River; not a blade of grass grew. The ground resembled a torn chessboard, crisscrossed with ravines, from which blood mist continuously rose, emitting malevolent energy. It was truly a miracle that it had endured to this day without being utterly destroyed. This place must once have had incredibly powerful seals, now shattered to pieces. The remnants of the ancient restrictions, having endured countless ages, still remained, making it exceptionally dangerous.

Fatty Chicken cowered behind Qin Sang, looking at the surrounding scenery, and couldn't help but shrink its head back.

“It’s too terrifying!”

Qin Sang shifted his gaze, glancing at the route Qing Jun and the others had chosen, then stepped forward. The Ebony Sword flew out from between his brows, hovering upside down above his head. The Eighteen Demonic Banners were hidden in Qin Sang's sleeves, lightning flashing on their wings, ready for action.

After walking for some distance, the Ebony Sword suddenly glowed and slashed out a sword curtain. Then, Qin Sang hastily retreated with Fatty Chicken.

‘Whoosh!’

No sooner had they retreated than a sinister wind blew out of nowhere, turning the stones where they had just stood into dust. The after-effects were blocked by the sword curtain. Similar situations occurred multiple times. Qin Sang moved through the gaps in the ancient restrictions, dealing with various unexpected incidents, managing to avoid any major danger.

Unconsciously, they had already walked for several hours. Except for necessary breathing adjustments, Qin Sang barely stopped. The basin was vast, and with dangers lurking everywhere, they had to slow down. Judging by the distance, they still had some way to go to reach the center of the basin. After walking for so long, they hadn't seen a single person. By now, cultivators from both realms had been inside for quite some time. He wondered if they had encountered anything, but Qin Sang hadn't sensed any activity. The Thunder Bead also hadn't given any feedback.

Just then, Qin Sang seemed to sense something, suddenly stopping and turning his gaze sharply to his left. Fatty Chicken followed his gaze, only seeing thick blood mist, completely perplexed.

“Get in!”

Hearing Qin Sang's soft command, Fatty Chicken quickly put away the Thunder Bead and hid inside the Coaxial Ring. The next moment, an incredibly sharp, ear-piercing shriek rang out. The sound was like demonic music pouring into his brain, causing Qin Sang to frown deeply.

Immediately after, a dense crimson light flashed in the depths of the blood mist, and a blood-red figure, looking as if it had just crawled out of a pool of blood, floated in mid-air and ferociously lunged forward. Its piercing shriek was filled with malevolence, revealing it to be a bloodthirsty demonic creature.

“It’s not a blood shadow; it’s actually humanoid,” Qin Sang mused. “Could it be a blood soul born from the blood mist?” This blood soul was the only living thing he had encountered since entering. He had expected it to be like the blood shadows in the Blood River, but it was unexpectedly humanoid.

‘Whoosh!’

Qin Sang only felt a flash of blood-red light before his eyes; the blood soul was already upon him. Startled, he immediately wielded his sword and struck.

‘Swish!’

The Ebony Sword struck the blood figure directly, cleaving it in two from top to bottom. Unexpectedly, after a single strike, the two halves of the blood soul began to writhe. Both astonishingly grew new bodies, transforming into two blood figures!

“An undying body?”

Qin Sang retracted his spirit sword, then sharply flicked his sleeve. A ball of demonic fire flew out from it, expanding and contracting to form a fiery net that enveloped the two blood souls. He hadn't expected that even this wouldn't kill the blood souls. They shrieked and struggled frantically, causing the demonic fire to ripple intensely. Qin Sang quickly sent out two more balls of demonic fire.

Just as the blood souls were about to be incinerated, Qin Sang considered holding back his power to examine them. However, his Heavenly Eye Butterfly suddenly gave a warning: over a dozen more blood souls were being attracted. Qin Sang made a decisive move and incinerated the blood souls. Nothing remained after the blood souls died.

His figure flickered continuously as he moved away from the area. The blood souls were extremely fast and pursued relentlessly. It was difficult to shake them off in such a place, so Qin Sang had no choice but to kill them as he moved, until all the blood souls were eradicated.

After eliminating the blood souls, Qin Sang looked in the direction they had appeared, a hesitant expression on his face. “It seems like blood souls only appear in that one specific area. If I were to get surrounded, I’d be in a difficult situation. That’s precisely the route Senior Sister and the others chose. Could something have happened to them?”

He considered going to investigate. However, if even Qing Jun and Ghost Pass Demon Lord couldn't handle it, going alone would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den.

The basin was more dangerous than he had imagined, and Qin Sang felt a renewed sense of vigilance. Later, he occasionally encountered isolated blood souls, but they were not a cause for concern.

After pressing on for a while longer, Qin Sang had just killed a blood soul when he suddenly heard someone speak.

“May I ask which fellow Daoist has arrived?”

Qin Sang secretly activated the Eighteen Demonic Banners. The voice he heard was ethereal, making it impossible to determine its direction; the other party must have used some method. He secretly activated his Heavenly Eye divine ability, but still couldn't locate where the person was hiding. However, besides Senior Sister and her group, the only other cultivators here were from Sin Abyss. This voice sounded somewhat familiar.

“Is that Fellow Daoist Si?” Qin Sang asked, testing the waters.

“Oh? Fellow Daoist Mingyue!” The other party exclaimed softly, their tone filled with surprise. Then, the blood mist in the distance churned, and a figure flew through the air. It was Si Di, his partner of many years at Threefold Pass.

“We waited for you for a long time, but you didn't arrive,” Si Di said. “We thought you had run into trouble.”

From Si Di's tone, he seemed to have entered with Qing Jun and the others, but Qin Sang didn't know why he was now alone.

Qin Sang shook his head and said, “I shouldn’t have been much later than you all. However, traveling alone here is quite troublesome, so I fell behind. Fellow Daoist, why are you here alone?”