Chapter 1291: Qin Old Demon

Rain on Bluestone

Mysterious Lusterstone is a precious spiritual material used for refining magical artifacts. Its extraction is extremely difficult; mishandling can easily cause the ore's spiritual power to dissipate, rendering it useless. Therefore, only Core Formation cultivators, or at least Foundation Establishment cultivators, can carefully extract it using special techniques.

Deep within the mine, in a secluded chamber, a person was meditating. This individual had a goatee and was shorter than average, yet wore a voluminous black robe. Their aura was incredibly subtle, almost imperceptible.

This was Hu Mazi, the Nascent Soul cultivator from Sin Abyss guarding the mine. He had an unsightly appearance, with a pockmarked face full of scars, resembling smallpox marks. Fellow cultivators who were close to him called him 'Hu Mazi'.

Hu Mazi was once quite dashing. During an exploration of a secret realm in the Abyss Ruins, he encountered an accident and was poisoned by a strange toxin. He narrowly saved his life, but found that the residual poison had infiltrated his bone marrow, disfiguring him greatly. After several failed attempts with secret techniques to restore his appearance, Hu Mazi had resigned himself to his fate and stopped wasting effort.

Suddenly, a piercing shriek echoed from outside the chamber, startling Hu Mazi awake. Panicked shouts then came from above: "It's bad! Enemies are invading! Everyone, be careful!"

Hu Mazi's expression darkened. After a moment of thought, he darted out of the secluded chamber. He was well aware of the current situation and had anticipated that the Alliance of Two Domains would send people to seize these spiritual mines, but he hadn't expected them to arrive so soon.

Years of continuous mining had created a large rift valley above the Mysterious Lusterstone mine. The defensive barrier of the great rift valley had already been activated. Hu Mazi's figure flickered repeatedly, appearing in the rift valley. He looked up at the barrier and noticed it was shaking violently; the defenses were already precarious, even though the enemies had just begun their assault.

"Four Nascent Soul cultivators!" Seeing the four figures, Hu Mazi was startled. He then realized that one of the four was so conspicuous that it was impossible to ignore. This person's figure was indistinct, surrounded by raging demonic flames of terrifying power, treating the defensive barrier as if it were nonexistent.

Hu Mazi suddenly recalled someone, hastily activating his spiritual eyes. When he finally saw the person's appearance, his face drastically changed, and he gasped in alarm, "Old Demon Qin!" Immediately after, Hu Mazi unexpectedly activated an escape technique, fleeing into the depths of the mine without a word. The surrounding cultivators, who were awaiting Hu Mazi's orders, were dumbfounded by this sight.

Hearing Hu Mazi's horrified cry, Qin Sang's face instantly darkened. After the Battle of Twin Mirror Mountain, the moniker 'Old Demon Qin' had spread like wildfire, first among the low-level cultivators of Sin Abyss, and now it was almost universally known.

"Boom!" Qin Sang and Jingyu combined their efforts to break through the defensive barrier. Ignoring the low-level cultivators fleeing in panic, they activated their lightning escape techniques, transforming into two streaks of lightning and pursuing Hu Mazi.

Hu Mazi sensed the rapidly approaching aura behind him and was terrified. Knowing he had nowhere to run, he paused, turning to face his attackers. Qin Sang and Jingyu maintained their speed, splitting left and right in perfect coordination, jointly lunging at Hu Mazi.

Hu Mazi, being only an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, was no match for Qin Sang, let alone both of them. To avoid any complications, Qin Sang immediately summoned his Eighteen Demonic Banners. Jingyu, on the other hand, used a treasure she had recently acquired: a lightning fork, which perfectly suited her divine abilities.

"Whoosh!""Crack!"Demonic flames roared, and wild thunder erupted. Hu Mazi gasped, summoning an ancient black cauldron to hover above his head, but in the next moment, he was engulfed by demonic flames and lightning, quickly falling silent.

"Hmm?" Qin Sang felt something was off. Hu Mazi had died too easily. When he retracted the demonic flames, he found nothing inside; Hu Mazi seemed to have been annihilated into dust, leaving only an ancient cauldron suspended there, all alone. Qin Sang and Jingyu exchanged glances. Just as they were about to examine the cauldron, it suddenly exploded!

Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from the mine, deep underground, there was a narrow, dark chamber. Inside, there was only an ominous altar. Suddenly, a faint light flashed on it, and a figure appeared, materializing from ethereal to solid — it was Hu Mazi.

Hu Mazi stumbled upon appearing but quickly regained his footing, though his face was somewhat pale.

"Fortunately, I had made preparations early on. I never expected Old Demon Qin to come in person," he muttered. "Those demonic flames are incredibly potent; the rumors weren't exaggerated in the slightest. Had I been a moment slower, I would have been injured. I had originally thought that even if I couldn't win, I could at least use the Profound Fiend Pearl hidden inside the ancient cauldron to ambush one of them. But I doubt such a trick could harm Old Demon Qin, so it's better for me to leave now. As for the others, they'll have to fend for themselves!"

Hu Mazi, still feeling a lingering fear, darted his eyes around before swiftly leaving the dark chamber. Shortly after, Qin Sang and Jingyu tracked their way to this hidden chamber, but Hu Mazi was nowhere to be found.

"These old scoundrels are all slippery as eels," Qin Sang said with resignation.

Jingyu chuckled softly, "Those who aren't cunning enough would have perished long ago; how else could they have survived until now? Duke Dongyang, especially, is extremely cautious. He never travels alone and always has other Nascent Soul cultivators by his side, leaving no weakness to exploit. What are your plans, fellow Daoist? My cultivation has almost stabilized, and in a while, I'll return to my cave dwelling to enter secluded cultivation and refine the Corpse Flower Blood Amber."

"If you sense an opportunity for a breakthrough, fellow Daoist, by all means, return to the mountain for secluded cultivation. Surviving the tribulation is paramount," Qin Sang waved his hand. "Duke Dongyang is no longer a major concern. Unless there are astonishing benefits, the fellow Daoists of the Alliance of Two Domains are unlikely to be incited by him. I only need to guard against Duke Dongyang colluding with external enemies and using others to achieve his ends. If he truly brings about his own destruction, I wouldn't mind personally seeing him off."

Jingyu nodded, "It's good that you are prepared, fellow Daoist."

Subsequently, the four cultivators split up, occupying all the spiritual mines in the area. Sin Abyss had no time to destroy them. The process was exceptionally smooth; Sin Abyss seemed too preoccupied to attend to these locations.

Elder Ji remained behind to guard the mines. Other cultivators tasked with taking over the mines were currently en route. Qin Sang and the other two returned. Of course, their trip was not in vain; the previous output, which Sin Abyss hadn't had time to transport, was tacitly divided among the four of them.

Having successfully completed their mission, the three encountered a small-scale battle on their way back: over a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, led by two Core Formation cultivators, were engaged in fierce combat.

Cang Qing raised a hand, and a thumb-sized black awl shot out from his sleeve, instantly appearing before the glabella of a Sin Abyss Core Formation cultivator. Only then did that person notice the three figures in the air. Struck with terror, he frantically tried to flee, but it was too late; the awl pierced his glabella, killing him instantly.

The cultivators of the Alliance of Two Domains rejoiced at this sight, quickly slaying the remaining enemies and flying up to salute the three. Upon inquiry, they learned that the two armies had encountered each other up ahead, and a major battle had just erupted. Sin Abyss was well-prepared, while the Alliance of Two Domains had been forced into a hasty engagement, resulting in a bitter struggle.

The three immediately set off to provide reinforcements. Ahead, battle raged across the sky, with constant shouts of killing. After flying for a short distance, Qin Sang's gaze swept over the battlefield, observing the situation. Inadvertently, he spotted a familiar figure, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.