Chapter 1339: Blood-Red Altar

Qin Sang flew out of the inner hall and saw the demonic cave they had entered through. The earth was ripped apart, and the demonic cave was not spared. A massive gash had appeared at its entrance, into which countless loose rocks tumbled.

The demonic cave seemed like a bottomless pit; it swallowed so much debris with no sign of filling up. However, its interior was far from calm, with space being extremely unstable. Qin Sang suspected that the tremors from the anomaly in the Purple Palace's inner hall were traveling along the demonic cave to the Sinful God's Palace. If this continued, not only would the demonic cave be destroyed, but the Sinful God's Palace might also follow the outer hall's fate.

The anomaly's affected area was too vast. Fortunately, the Purple Palace had more than one exit. Even if the demonic cave was destroyed, they could still leave through the outer hall, preventing them from being trapped and dying here.

Qin Sang landed on the ground. Standing there, he could already feel the unique chill of the ghostly mist. The mist around him was thin, but it grew denser further ahead. An endless stream of ghostly mist was continuously spreading outwards. It was hard to imagine how much ghostly mist had accumulated in the Immortal Tomb before its eruption; the affected area was surprisingly vast.

There were also countless wraiths and ghostly creatures within the Immortal Tomb. For some unknown reason, these wraiths and ghostly creatures generally didn't leave the Immortal Tomb's confines. Even powerful entities like Corpse Kings and Ghost Kings would only attack when living beings intruded upon the tomb. Other Corpse Kings and Ghost Kings didn't possess the Heavenly Corpse Talisman. They appeared and disappeared mysteriously, and no one knew how many had been nurtured over countless years. At this very moment, wraiths and ghostly creatures, along with the ghostly mist, were surging out of the Immortal Tomb.

Ghostly wails rose and fell, chilling winds blew, and tens of thousands of ghosts roamed freely, making one's scalp tingle. The outer hall had become a chaotic ghost domain.

This should be the location where they sent out the signal, as the talisman sword had stopped pointing here. He had arrived late; no other figures were visible around him. Qin Sang didn't know what had happened earlier, and the talisman sword had lost its connection. For a moment, he couldn't determine his senior sister's location, so he dared not act rashly. He gazed intently into the depths of the thick ghostly mist.

Apart from the Immortal Tomb, the outer hall also contained several forbidden areas, all now covered by the ghostly mist. The only distinguishing sight was a mass of bloody light deep within the ghostly mist, which Qin Sang could faintly see even from his current position. Due to the distance and the mist's obstruction, the outline of the bloody light was not large.

"That should be..." Qin Sang remembered that after exiting the Immortal Tomb, one would immediately see a huge altar. The altar was enormous, shaped like a massive pyramid. Around it floated crimson, malevolent bloody aura, which was integrated with countless terrifying ancient restrictions. It was clearly not something to trifle with.

Even Nascent Soul cultivators, when venturing into the Heavenly Mountain of the inner hall, were unwilling to disturb it. Consequently, the bloody altar had stood in the outer hall for so many years, and few had ever entertained thoughts of meddling with it. The concentrated, undispelled bloody aura around the bloody altar was a vivid, dripping red. However, in Qin Sang's memory, it hadn't been so dazzling before, unable to be concealed even by the ghostly mist.

"Could they have all gone there?" Qin Sang mused inwardly. With nothing visible but the ghostly mist, Qin Sang could only guess. Qing Jun, Jing Yu, and Bai were all missing, most likely trapped in the ghostly mist. Regardless, he couldn't stand idly by; he had to go in and investigate.

The three of them were not weak and possessed life-saving abilities. With so many Nascent Soul cultivators working together, it was impossible for them all to have been killed by Old Devil Ye. Besides, the ghostly mist was Bai's home ground. In the ghostly mist, it was unlikely anyone could stop Bai. Bai would be in his element in the ghostly mist; even if he couldn't defeat Old Devil Ye, he would certainly be able to escape.

Qin Sang surmised that the situation inside had most likely reached a stalemate. Old Devil Ye's motives were intriguing. First, he released a demon from the Sinful God's Palace, and now he was at the bloody altar. Could it be that the Purple Palace also sealed a demon? Qin Sang recalled that the Nine Nether Demonic Flames were obtained in the Purple Palace, so it was indeed possible! A single demon already made Qin Sang feel as if he faced a formidable enemy. If there were two demons, it was hard to imagine what the cultivation world of the Northern Star Realm would become. There would be no need to struggle; Qin Sang would not hesitate to retreat to the sanctuary.

Just then, Qin Sang made another discovery. Within the ghostly mist, faint lights flickered in several spots, disappearing almost instantly. As expected, these were likely cultivators using magical artifacts in battle. These battlegrounds were not in one place; they were separated.

"No wonder there was no sound. A spirit formation was prepared earlier, to be activated by the combined power of the Nascent Soul cultivators against Old Devil Ye. It seems my senior sister and the others were forced to separate before they could set up the formation and are now fighting individually. Old Devil Ye's side only has two people; I really don't know how he managed that..." Qin Sang's gaze swept back and forth, pinpointing the locations of these battlegrounds.

The light from the magical artifacts was too faint, appearing and disappearing, making it impossible to distinguish who was using them. Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and fully activated his Heavenly Eye ability, but he couldn't find the Five Directions Pagoda.

"I can't determine Qing Jun's location. I'll have to choose the closest one, find out what happened, and then make a decision. Once I enter, Bai should contact me..." Thinking these thoughts, Qin Sang no longer hesitated. He activated his Ebony Sword and charged into the ghostly mist.

The Eighteen Demonic Banners were hidden in his sleeve. The demonic banners consumed too much energy; Qin Sang couldn't sustain them for long, so he needed to use his resources wisely.

*Whoosh!* Qin Sang transformed into a sword light and sped through the ghostly mist. Any foolish wraiths or ghostly creatures that crossed his path were instantly sliced into fragments by his precious sword.

He quickly arrived near the first forbidden area. The ground here was riddled with countless holes of various sizes, interconnected internally and extremely complex. In the past, if cultivators passing through here didn't conceal their aura, they would disturb strange, snake-like creatures living in the holes, which would then swarm out to attack intruders. Now, these creatures had all disappeared, and the area was filled with wraiths and ghostly creatures.

Qin Sang was lucky; he didn't encounter any Ghost King-level creatures. As he passed through the forbidden areas, he could see more clearly; the bloody light emanating from the crimson altar grew increasingly bright. Just as he was nearing his destination, Qin Sang suddenly retracted his sword and stopped. He frowned, scrutinizing the ghostly mist ahead. There were no strange fluctuations, but through his Heavenly Eye ability, Qin Sang noticed that the flow of the ghostly mist here seemed abnormal. After watching for a while, he couldn't make sense of it.

Time was pressing, leaving no room for deep thought. He waved his hand, sending out a Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet to scout ahead. Once it confirmed there was no danger, he too flashed forward. Upon entering this area, Qin Sang found his vision even more restricted, and his divine sense was suppressed. Others, without the Heavenly Eye ability, would likely only be able to see a few yards around them, which explained why they hadn't been able to rendezvous.

Finally, Qin Sang found his target. Several Nascent Soul cultivators were fighting together, besieged by something, and leading them was Daoist True One! Just as Qin Sang charged in, two figures hovered on either side above the altar: Old Devil Ye and Jade Bone.

"Another ignorant fellow has entered! Haha, his swordsmanship seems decent, and he even has a Nascent Soul puppet..." Ghostly flames flickered in Jade Bone's eye sockets. His tone was calm, tinged with a hint of disdain.