Chapter 1456: Heartless Man (4k, Two in One)

The Mortal Realm

"I will deal with him. All decisions will be made after the Grand Elder returns."

Elder Lan mused for a moment, then added a few explanations.

"That person had several opportunities to kill Shi Xue but didn't. He likely figured out why we were intercepting him to capture him alive and clarify the origin of the sacred object.

"Although he was eventually scared away by Old Demon Hunmo, he clearly held back, indicating he doesn't want to forge a deadly feud with Xuantian Palace unless absolutely necessary. At least he's not like those of the demonic path, who act without scruples.

"His cultivation is only at the Nascent Soul mid-stage. As long as he understands that the seal cannot be opened and that holding it does him more harm than good, he might initiate contact with us; it would just be a transaction.

"Unless absolutely necessary, there's no need to cooperate with Old Demon Hunmo and provoke such a top-tier expert. Not only might we be used by Old Demon Hunmo against his enemies, but we'd also be inviting a wolf into our house.

"Of course, we could feign alliance with Old Demon Hunmo to bluff and pressure that person, but we must prevent Old Demon Hunmo from taking over. The balance is difficult to strike, and this matter is too significant; the Grand Elder must make the decision.

"This involves the sacred object, so we must not overreach and botch it."

Observing the battle between Old Demon Hunmo and Qin Sang, Elder Lan saw there was no room for full intervention. He quickly clarified the situation in his mind, considering various possible developments and weighing the pros and cons.

Primarily, it was Qin Sang's words before he left. On the surface, they were a warning, but Elder Lan detected a deeper meaning.

Elder Mei nodded, agreeing with Elder Lan's ideas.

Previously, the whereabouts of the sacred object were unknown. Their biggest concern was the traitor succeeding, which is why they risked cooperating with Old Demon Hunmo.

Now that it was confirmed the sacred object wasn't on the traitor, nor had it fallen into the Nine-Headed Great Sage's hands, they didn't need to worry about the seal being broken or the sacred object being lost in the short term. They could plan their next moves at their leisure.

They remained vigilant towards Old Demon Hunmo.

Their cooperation before the Ten Thousand Demons Assembly was already very risky. During the recent battle, Old Demon Hunmo had been lurking nearby, hidden and unmoving, clearly harboring ulterior motives.

Elder Mei glanced back, sent a signal, and summoned all Nascent Soul cultivators and members of the Law Enforcement Hall.

Elder Lan chose his words carefully. He composed himself, took a few steps forward, and went to meet Old Demon Hunmo.

As night fell.

On the calm sea, an uninhabited desolate island stood silently.

A somewhat ethereal figure suddenly appeared on the coast. It looked around, then flashed into the jungle, moving through the forest without disturbing any insects or beasts.

Silently, the figure stopped before an ancient tree so thick it would take dozens of people to embrace it. It waved its hand, sending multiple spirit flags, which disappeared into the ground, taking the ancient tree and the figure with them as they vanished into thin air.

"Phew..."

Qin Sang entered the tree hollow, sat down cross-legged, and let out a long breath.

After shaking off Old Demon Hunmo, Qin Sang didn't go to Dan鼎 Mountain but changed direction. He flew for a while longer and found this inconspicuous desolate island.

"I'll make a trip later. Immortal Yin Quan should not have withdrawn yet; I'll ask them to stay one more day."

Qin Sang murmured.

Immediately, Qin Sang recalled the end of the recent chase and battle, and couldn't help but chuckle. "I didn't expect Old Demon Hunmo to be scared away by the Great Sage Roc in the end," he mused. "To use the Thunder Escape technique, I needed to rely on the Heavenly Demon Transformation. It's impossible to concentrate on concealing my demonic aura while flying at full speed, so the Great Sage Roc might have been attracted by it. As I expected, the more chaotic the situation, the more advantageous it is for me. But this is too chaotic. Indeed, plans can't keep up with changes..."

Qin Sang rubbed his temples with a headache. He closed his eyes, recalling the course and details of the chaotic battle.

According to the original plan, testing whether Xuantian Palace could sense the mysterious ice casket and the range of that sensing would have been enough to achieve his objective.

He unexpectedly discovered that the cultivators sent by Xuantian Palace weren't strong enough. Only then did Qin Sang conceive the idea of capturing the green-robed woman, but unexpectedly, this led to a series of unforeseen developments.

"No! Old Demon Hunmo and Xuantian Palace's behavior doesn't suggest they have a deadly feud."

Qin Sang suddenly opened his eyes, which gleamed with an uncertain light.

If, as rumored, several Nascent Soul cultivators were massacred by Old Demon Hunmo, Xuantian Palace, no matter how broad-minded, shouldn't react like this upon seeing him.

Furthermore, Xuantian Palace's Nascent Soul cultivators were clearly occupying different positions, surrounding Demon Island. Such high-profile actions and dispersed forces plainly indicated they were seeking death.

Qin Sang flipped his palm, taking out the mysterious ice casket and holding it.

Just because he couldn't open the seal didn't mean the traitor couldn't.

Staring at it for a long time, Qin Sang pondered deeply. He muttered to himself in a low voice, "Xuantian Palace is worried the seal will be broken, so they're collaborating with Old Demon Hunmo to set a trap, pushing the Ten Thousand Demons Assembly forward to draw out the traitor? But how can they ensure Old Demon Hunmo doesn't become greedy?"

Tap, tap, tap...

Qin Sang lightly tapped the ice casket with his finger. "Unless there's an expert Old Demon Hunmo fears—either the Xuantian Palace Master personally arrived, or there's another mysterious expert hidden away. For some reason, that person never appeared."

He believed this was the most reasonable explanation.

Otherwise, if Old Demon Hunmo harbored ill intentions, these cultivators would have difficulty restraining him.

"Xuantian Palace has very deep foundations," he thought. "Besides the Palace Master, there are other experts unknown to the outside world. My plans and choices weren't the problem; the flawed intelligence was the root cause. It led to me being forced to confront Old Demon Hunmo directly, fight him with demonic fire, and lead him into the Maze Array, thus exposing my identity."

Qin Sang sighed, but felt no fear.

This battle forced Old Demon Hunmo to reveal his 'Shape-Shifting and Shadow-Swapping' divine ability. This was no small gain, as it would prevent him from being caught off guard and suffering greater losses if he encountered Old Demon Hunmo using this ability in the future.

The current problem was the extent of Xuantian Palace's cooperation with Old Demon Hunmo, and whether they might continue to collaborate in pursuing him.

Images flashed through Qin Sang's mind.

Those were the expressions of alarm and vigilance on the faces of Xuantian Palace members when Old Demon Hunmo appeared. They weren't feigned.

"They're just harboring their own intentions!"

Qin Sang chuckled softly and looked at the mysterious ice casket with a relaxed expression.

Then, he opened his other palm. In his palm was the ice bead that Chen Yan had secretly given him.

In that situation, Chen Yan had actually initiated communication with him. She proposed meeting him alone and gave him an ice bead, whose effect was surprisingly to temporarily suppress the fluctuations of the mysterious ice casket.

He placed the ice bead and the mysterious ice casket together.

Qin Sang hesitated, suspecting that when he withdrew, Chen Yan might not have been entirely helpless and might have deliberately held back. Of course, if he had insisted on capturing the green-robed woman, Chen Yan would certainly have intervened.

He couldn't fathom Chen Yan's intentions. He didn't believe their past entanglements could lead Chen Yan to do something like this.

"Could she also be an insider, coveting the treasures within the mysterious ice casket?"

Qin Sang considered this possibility and felt a little pity for Xuantian Palace.

On second thought, before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, Chen Yan had always cultivated in Shaohua Mountain. She only returned to Xuantian Palace after forming her Nascent Soul, so he guessed she didn't have much affection for her sect.

He just wondered what conditions she could offer.

Qin Sang thought about it. Regardless of Chen Yan's purpose, he decided to wait and see. It would also be good to find out what was sealed inside through her.

He circulated his true essence to envelop the ice bead. After carefully sensing it and confirming there were no issues,

he then set up several layers of isolation restrictions around him before activating the power within the ice bead.

The ice bead melted, turning into a wisp of white mist.

The next moment, Qin Sang felt an extremely cold aura release. In an instant, the true essence that touched the ice bead seemed to freeze, surprising him greatly.

He cautiously drew out a wisp of the extremely cold aura and brought it near the mysterious ice casket.

Finally, Qin Sang confirmed that this aura would not cause any abnormal changes to the seal. Only then did he proceed with the next steps.

Whoosh!

The white mist enveloped the mysterious ice casket, and strands of its aura permeated the seal.

Throughout this process, Qin Sang continuously observed the mysterious ice casket.

The white mist emitted a special fluctuation. Under its influence, the seal underwent changes Qin Sang had never seen before; there was a sensation of the seal gradually solidifying.

This was something Qin Sang had failed to achieve with countless methods.

Eventually, the white mist on the surface of the mysterious ice casket disappeared. The casket itself showed no significant changes.

Qin Sang focused his senses. With the impact of the white mist, he vaguely perceived the unique aspect of the seal. He confirmed that the ice bead could suppress the seal, but he couldn't replicate this peculiar treasure, nor did he understand its method.

The suppression was not complete. If someone from Xuantian Palace came outside the tree hollow, they could still sense the mysterious ice casket; however, the range was limited, so the impact would be minimal.

Furthermore, the seal was constantly resisting. Once the ice bead's power was depleted, it would recover.

Holding it in his hand, he examined it for a long time.

Qin Sang put the mysterious ice casket back into his Thousand-Catty Ring. He took out spirit pills and spirit stones, then meditated to recover.

Before long, Qin Sang flew out of the desolate island. He identified a direction and soared through the air.

To the southwest of Demon Island lay an archipelago.

Dozens of islands, large and small, were scattered across this sea area.

The spirit qi around the archipelago was scarce, so only mortals lived there. Mortals occupied several of the larger islands, and there were quite a few cities, making it somewhat prosperous.

Qin Sang quietly appeared above a city. Holding a Dan鼎 token, he observed for a moment, then quietly slipped into the city and arrived in front of a shop.

As soon as he landed, the large door silently opened, and Immortal Yin Quan's voice called out, "Fellow Daoist Qin, please come in!"

Qin Sang paused, then stepped inside.

"This is also your association's property?" Qin Sang asked, "Your backup plan isn't on this island, is it?"

Qin Sang looked around and then at Immortal Yin Quan, who had come out to greet him.

"Our Dan鼎 Association has a weak foundation in the Boundless Sea, so it's not convenient to act overtly," Immortal Yin Quan explained. "Mortals are easy to hide and sometimes more useful than cultivators. Our real arrangements aren't here, to avoid harming innocent people. We haven't received a warning from Fellow Daoist Qin, so when the agreed time arrived, this humble Daoist brought our people back."

As he spoke, Immortal Yin Quan glanced at Qin Sang. "Fellow Daoist Qin, you didn't run into any trouble, did you?"

Qin Sang calmly retorted, "Immortal, you seem to have a hidden meaning in your words?"

Seeing that Qin Sang's aura was complete and he was unharmed, Immortal Yin Quan nodded secretly and said frankly, "Just now, I received news that a mysterious expert, who somehow offended Old Demon Hunmo, was pursued for a great distance but managed to escape. This humble Daoist was just wondering if that mysterious expert might be Fellow Daoist Qin. Fellow Daoist Luan and the others haven't left yet and wish to meet Fellow Daoist Qin. This humble Daoist felt that if it were truly Fellow Daoist Qin, you might not want to see outsiders right now, so I settled them elsewhere."

"Even with this humble Daoist's greatest abilities, I wouldn't dare provoke that old demon," Qin Sang said, shaking his head with a chuckle. "Immortal, if you find out the identity of that expert later, don't forget to introduce him to this humble Daoist."

Immortal Yin Quan glanced at him and chuckled, "Indeed, this humble Daoist was overthinking it."

Qin Sang didn't care if he believed him or not, and said no more. He took out a jade slip recording ancient formulas.

"This..."

Immortal Yin Quan looked at Qin Sang in surprise, seeing a reward far exceeding what was agreed upon.

Qin Sang said, "I still have one transaction unfinished and would like to ask the Immortal to stay one more day. As per our previous agreement, the remaining ancient formulas will be the payment for this time. If the Immortal and Fellow Daoist Luan need to intervene, there will be further generous rewards! The Immortal can rest assured, the one I'm trading with is not Old Demon Hunmo."

Immortal Yin Quan hesitated for a moment, then took the jade slip. "Very well," he said. "This humble Daoist was just about to play a night of chess with Fellow Daoist Luan, and wasn't quite satisfied yet."

Qin Sang hadn't expected Immortal Yin Quan to already suspect him, yet agree so readily.

Was the sect master of Dan鼎 Mountain nearby?

Or perhaps they were confident enough in their own arrangements.

After exchanging a few words with Immortal Yin Quan, Qin Sang took his leave.

To the southeast of Demon Island lay an island not controlled by Old Demon Hunmo, home to a large city of cultivators.

Chen Yan sat cross-legged in a quiet room. Her eyes were closed, still as a statue.

The quiet room was filled with cold mist. Yet, her face was flushed, and her eyelids trembled, as if she were enduring some pain. It was a while before she gradually returned to normal.

Just then, the quiet room's restriction was triggered. Chen Yan awoke from her meditation and saw her senior sister walk in.

Shi Xue saw Chen Yan's questioning gaze, knowing her junior sister was usually taciturn. She huffed, "The elders have decided not to split our forces for now, to avoid repeating past mistakes. We'll play along with Old Demon Hunmo for now and make a decision after the Grand Elder returns. They said that fellow always held back against me, leaving room for negotiation, but I didn't feel it at all! My Winter Charm, my two protective treasures... Am I supposed to thank him for this?"

The more Shi Xue spoke, the angrier she became, her eyebrows bristling.

Chen Yan was silent for a moment, then said, "The sect will compensate us."

"I hope the Grand Elder can help me vent this anger!"

Shi Xue lowered her head, knowing she couldn't avenge herself. She sighed powerlessly.

She lifted her eyes, looking at Chen Yan. She hesitated for a moment, then closed the quiet room and sealed it with a sound-insulating restriction. "Junior sister," she asked, "is there anything you want to tell me?"

Chen Yan stiffened.

Shi Xue stared into her eyes and said seriously, "Junior sister, you can hide it from others, but not from me. Your Ice Spirit Divine Light is about to reach mastery; it couldn't have collapsed so easily!"

Seeing Chen Yan remain silent, Shi Xue suddenly raised her voice. "I know you cultivate the Ice Spirit Divine Light to seal your emotions, sever romantic ties, and stabilize your Dao Heart!" she exclaimed. "Only when the Dao Heart experiences violent fluctuations, shaking its foundation, will the Ice Spirit Divine Light collapse! Before I saw you, junior sister, I always thought that romantic love was merely a shackles that short-sighted, unenlightened fools placed upon themselves, and I never imagined that even Nascent Soul cultivators could be ensnared by it!"

"He... is he that heartless man?"

Shi Xue looked at Chen Yan with a pained expression. Thinking of that hateful figure, she gritted her teeth as new and old grievances surged into her mind.