Chapter 1489: Deceptive General (4k)

Mortal Realm

Lake Taotie was situated between two mountains.

Its surface was long and narrow.

The rock walls on both sides of the lakebed were clearly visible, rough and uneven, with strange, craggy rocks jutting out.

The lake water was clear, yet it was impossibly deep.

The bottom of the lake was pitch black, like a gaping maw capable of devouring everything.

Indeed, the seemingly tranquil lakebed not only contained numerous ancient restrictions but also harbored a strange, hidden suction. Any foreign object, including cultivators, would completely vanish once caught in this pull.

No one knew where these individuals were dragged.

This was how the lake earned its name, 'Taotie'.

Xuantian Palace had lost many experts in attempts to uncover the secrets hidden within Lake Taotie, but with no significant discoveries, it gradually fell into obscurity.

Qin Sang and Liu Li ascended Floating Mountain and stood by the shore of Lake Taotie.

Liu Li pointed to the bottom of Lake Taotie, explaining the characteristics of the restrictions and the suction to Qin Sang. After quickly formulating a plan, they unhesitatingly leaped into the lake.

Invisible restrictions drifted within the water.

Liu Li chose an extremely winding path, yet her descent was remarkably swift, indicating her deep familiarity with the area.

Qin Sang, using his sword for protection, followed closely behind Liu Li. At this point, he didn't need to intervene at all; Liu Li calmly handled everything by alternately activating her phoenix-shaped treasured sword and another magic treasure.

After descending to an unknown depth, Liu Li suddenly stopped and transmitted a message: "This is it!"

Qin Sang gazed intently. The lakebed was pitch black, and with his naked eye, he could only discern a faint wall of light formed by ancient restrictions to his front left.

However, his spiritual sense told him that right beside this layer of restrictions was a suction force. This force was calm, had no effect on the lake water, yet it conveyed an extremely dangerous sensation to Qin Sang.

This was the most perilous spot.

The ancient restrictions were powerful, but the most troublesome element was the mysterious suction force. Liu Li would need Qin Sang's help to get past it; she could handle all other areas on her own.

Qin Sang's expression was thoughtful. After pondering for a moment, he summoned his external avatar and said, "Let's begin!"

Liu Li glanced at the avatar and gave a slight nod.

The phoenix-shaped treasured sword erupted with sword qi. Liu Li became one with her sword, charging directly towards the ancient restrictions.

Qin Sang's movements were equally swift. The moment Liu Li struck, he immediately activated the Golden Sinking Sword to form a sword formation, using its power to counter the suction.

At the same time, his external avatar raised its hands, and two streams of cold energy transformed into ice dragons, surging towards the direction Liu Li had departed.

'Boom!'

The phoenix-shaped treasured sword pierced the ancient restrictions, and chaotic power erupted at the bottom of the lake, rushing in all directions.

The suction force, right next to the ancient restrictions, was immediately startled, awakening from its slumber like a roused lion, suddenly erupting with an incredibly astonishing aura.

Simultaneously, the Seven Souls Killing Formation descended, and the power of the sword formation directly clashed with the suction force.

Liu Li's eyes flashed with a ghostly blue light, and her Ice Soul Divine Radiance spread into the ancient restrictions. In an instant, a layer of blue mist permeated the wall of light, making it appear as fragile as ice.

'Zing!'

The Golden Sinking Sword's light shone even brighter.

The suction force raged, and the sword formation surprisingly failed to completely seal it off.

At this moment, the divine ability unleashed by the external avatar came into play. The two ice dragons converged behind Liu Li, forming an ice mirror to block the suction.

'Crack!'

The ice mirror quickly filled with cracks, then shattered with a crash, its fragments immediately sucked away, vanishing without a trace.

However, Liu Li had by then successfully broken through the ancient restrictions and teleported to the other side of the light wall. Seeing that Liu Li was safe, Qin Sang immediately withdrew his sword, retreated, and flew out of Lake Taotie with his avatar.

Next, Qin Sang, without delay, hurried towards the Cleansing Pond on the other side of Floating Mountain.

His figure moved through the mountains and forests.

The jungle here was lush, with dense vegetation, but sadly, no insect chirps or beast roars could be heard, and a sense of deathly silence lingered.

During his journey, Qin Sang occasionally discovered spirit herbs. Their grade might not have been particularly high, but many were rare herbs difficult to find in the outside world, truly indicating a treasure trove.

However, Xuantian Palace likely didn't have the energy to collect these herbs right now.

It was just unknown how Yin Changsheng and Tong Lingyu planned to deal with Old Demon Hun and Great Sage Tianpeng.

The people Old Demon Hun brought in were clearly a disorganized mess, each acting independently. Old Demon Hun had gathered them to restrain Xuantian Palace and disrupt the situation, but Xuantian Palace naturally wouldn't fall for it.

However, Old Demon Hun and Great Sage Tianpeng, along with their trusted followers, still formed a very troublesome force.

Whether their goal was to force Xuantian Palace to share the sacred ground or if they had other designs remained unknown.

Yin Changsheng and Tong Lingyu didn't seem anxious. Did they not know there were still secrets hidden in the sacred ground, or were they confident that Old Demon Hun and Great Sage Tianpeng couldn't succeed?

Thoughts rapidly spun in Qin Sang's mind.

Just then, Qin Sang's figure suddenly paused. He looked towards the Cleansing Pond, his brow slightly furrowed.

The Cleansing Pond was located in a valley on Floating Mountain, perpetually shrouded in mist. It was said that no method could peek inside, and those who entered had to abide by its rules.

At the entrance to the valley stood an archway without any inscriptions.

On the several mountains outside the Cleansing Pond, pavilions and ancient halls stood in dense rows. It must have once been very bustling here, but now over ninety percent had collapsed, with ruins and broken walls visible everywhere.

Qin Sang had just seen a strange light flickering at the entrance of the Cleansing Pond. Having been delayed at Lake Taotie for a while, two individuals had actually arrived before him.

One of them was from the demon race. Qin Sang recognized this demon as Yellow-browed Demon King, who was in the mid-stage of form transformation. It was said his true form was a weasel, and his strength was not to be underestimated.

The other person was also a stranger.

This person was fully armored, with their face completely covered, revealing only their eyes.

Given such a unique appearance, his identity was not difficult to guess: another great demon lord from the Boundless Sea — General Gui!

Qin Sang had noticed earlier that Old Demon Hun and Great Sage Tianpeng had clear objectives, heading straight for the depths of the sacred ground. These two, however, weren't with them but had instead detoured to the Cleansing Pond.

As long as one met the requirements of the Cleansing Pond, they could enter directly.

They clearly didn't meet the requirements, but being oblivious, they thought they hadn't found the correct path and were frantically attacking the archway.

Qin Sang didn't want to waste time getting entangled with these two.

Nor was it worth using the Sun God Tree for them.

Just then, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly sent a thought, and Qin Sang's eyes narrowed slightly, having already made up his mind.

"We've been attacking for so long, and the archway hasn't budged. There must be secrets hidden here that we don't know about. That old demon must have concealed a lot..."

Another failed attempt left General Gui helpless against the archway, his tone turning cold.

Yellow-browed Demon King shook his head. "It's not necessarily deliberate concealment. The Cleansing Pond must be the most highly valued place for Xuantian Palace. For Old Demon Hun to even discover that this place has some benefits for Nascent Soul cultivators is already quite rare."

He gazed into the depths of the mist, his long brows twitching, as he fiddled with a wisp of yellow smoke between his fingers, pondering hard for a way to break through.

"It seems we'll have to capture a Xuantian Palace cultivator and question them thoroughly. However, these fellows are timid as mice and rarely wander alone, making them difficult to approach..."

As he spoke, General Gui suddenly turned his head towards the distant mountain forest and let out a strange laugh. "Speak of the devil! Get out here!"

The last half of his sentence became a roar.

General Gui's armor clanked, and four streams of black light flew out from the gaps in his plates, landing in four different directions, transforming into four armored warrior statues several zhang tall.

The four statues simultaneously opened their eyes, looked towards the mountain forest, and shot out eight beams of black light.

'Boom!'

That section of the mountain forest was instantly blasted apart, filled with smoke and dust.

A figure flashed out, revealing Qin Sang.

"You two needn't waste your efforts. You are both fated to be denied; forcing it won't work," Qin Sang said profoundly, showing no fear in the face of the two demon lords.

General Gui sneered, "So it seems you are fated? Then I'll refine you into a puppet, and this General will also be fated!"

General Gui and Yellow-browed Demon King flickered, preparing to converge and surround him.

Qin Sang pointed a finger, summoning the Golden Sinking Sword, feigning an attack. Then he suddenly looked towards the ancient building ruins not far from the valley entrance and loudly shouted, "Fellow Daoist Yue, when will you make your move?!"

Upon being alerted, General Gui and Yellow-browed Demon King finally realized something was amiss there. Someone had approached so closely, and they had been completely unaware.

The two roared in anger and immediately changed the direction of their attacks.

'Rumble!'

The remaining pavilion completely collapsed, and a figure flew out from it, narrowly dodging the attack, looking very disheveled.

It was precisely the cultivator surnamed Yue, who had attended Qin Sang's wedding banquet with Shang Lu.

He glared at Qin Sang with resentment. If Qin Sang hadn't exposed his whereabouts, he would have approached a little further and taken advantage of his opponents' oversight to force his way into the Cleansing Pond.

At the same time, he was somewhat horrified. His concealment ability was a secret transmission of Mount Tian, and yet, despite the two demons being completely unaware, this person had easily seen through it.

Qin Sang smiled faintly and nodded in acknowledgment.

There were probably very few Nascent Soul cultivators who could simultaneously evade both him and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.

"Where is Sect Master Shang?"

Qin Sang asked.

Just now, he and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had searched carefully but found no trace of Shang Lu.

This greatly surprised Qin Sang. Did Shang Lu know he had no hope of surpassing him and simply gave up?

Otherwise, why would this person come alone?

The cultivator surnamed Yue snorted coldly, unwilling to answer, and said icily, "One each! I, Yue, have long heard of Yellow-browed Demon King's poisonous smoke, which slaughtered countless disciples of my Xuantian Palace. I am here to avenge them!"

Once the sacred ground opened, the restrictions of the Cleansing Pond would be activated.

Time was limited; once the opportunity was missed, no one would benefit.

Although he and Qin Sang were competitors, they had no choice but to put aside their displeasure and cooperate.

Without waiting for Qin Sang's response, the cultivator surnamed Yue immediately conjured a python banner and summoned a Mount Tian Snow Python, charging towards Yellow-browed Demon King.

Qin Sang knew nothing about either of these two demon lords, so it didn't matter whom he fought.

Since the cultivator surnamed Yue chose Yellow-browed Demon King, Qin Sang had no choice but to engage General Gui.

"Arrogant!"

General Gui, enraged, laughed instead. The scales on his body opened and closed, and dozens of black lights flew out.

Each black light contained an armored warrior puppet. Upon landing, they formed a strange formation with the four statues, their sharp edge pointed directly at Qin Sang.

"Puppet formation?"

Qin Sang's gaze was strange.

It looked similar in principle to Judge's Corpse Formation. The strength of each individual puppet wasn't strong, but when combined, they could become a single entity, their vital energies connected, causing their power to soar.

Little did he know, after the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's further advancement, this type of method was what he feared least. Even the most subtle changes could not hide under the Heavenly Eye divine ability.

Qin Sang remained calm, swiftly attacking with his sword. Covertly, he activated his spiritual sense, coordinating with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to dismantle the battle formation.

'Whoosh!'

The sword light had just been unleashed.

The puppet battle formation erupted with black light, condensing a fierce, malevolent axe in mid-air, which cleaved towards the sword light with extreme ferocity.

At the same time, the armored warrior puppets stomped in unison, their malevolent aura soaring into the sky.

Qin Sang made the Golden Sinking Sword hover above his head. A strange gleam flashed in his eyes, and instead of retreating, he advanced, deliberately charging into the puppet battle formation.

This action greatly surprised General Gui.

He paused for a moment, growing even more furious. Stomping his foot heavily, the four statues came to life, acting like generals of the battle formation, leading their soldiers to enact a killing formation to crush Qin Sang.

In an instant, the puppet formation underwent a dramatic change.

However, in the eyes of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, everything had a discernible pattern.

Qin Sang strolled through the battle formation at ease, calmly activating the Golden Sinking Sword to unleash streaks of sword light, striking different points with exquisite precision.

The battle formation immediately felt a sense of stagnation.

The reason he could discern the key points of the puppet battle formation so quickly was twofold.

Firstly, it was naturally due to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.

Secondly, Qin Sang had learned a considerable amount about the path of puppetry from Senior Sister Qing Jun. Through constant exposure, while he couldn't claim mastery, his discernment in this field was definitely not poor.

He could clearly feel that in the path of puppetry, General Gui still lagged behind his Senior Sister!

General Gui was greatly alarmed. Before he could make any adjustments, a piercing sword hum echoed within the battle formation, and several puppets shattered in response!

General Gui didn't feel distressed by the loss of these puppets.

However, at this moment, one of the statue puppets was exposed to the sword's edge.

General Gui never imagined that the puppet battle formation would be so easily broken. Although this formation wasn't his strongest divine ability, it was the method by which he gained renown, famously allowing him to form an army by himself.

Yet, in front of this person, it was so vulnerable!

'Crack!'

The Golden Sinking Sword locked onto one of the statue puppets, striking its chest precisely without deviation.

This was precisely the puppet's weak point.

The statue puppet immediately stiffened. Its chest was pierced, forming a hollow from which brilliant white light surged, and the entire puppet began to collapse from that point.

In the blink of an eye, it shattered into pieces!

General Gui flew into a rage, slamming his hand against his forehead. The armor between his brows cracked open, revealing a vertical eye.

Inside the vertical eye, there was no pupil, only a black silhouette.

The vertical pupil cracked open, and the humanoid black figure seemed on the verge of emerging, its features distorted as if in extreme pain.

At that moment, Qin Sang sensed something unusual and subconsciously looked over. A grave expression appeared in his eyes; he actually felt a threat from the black silhouette.

Just then.

Several points of light appeared outside Floating Mountain. Judging by their direction, they were Xuantian Palace cultivators, likely including elders or hall masters.

All four individuals engaged in combat noticed the distant streaks of light.

Though General Gui was seething with anger, he remained calm. His opponent hadn't even used any special techniques, yet he had broken his puppet battle formation with just a few simple sword strikes.

Old Demon Hun and Great Sage Tianpeng were not here, and if Xuantian Palace sent a few more people, they would be in danger.

Using his trump card would gain him nothing beneficial.

"Go!"

General Gui glared furiously at Qin Sang, forcibly pushed the black figure back, and shouted at Yellow-browed Demon King before preparing to leave.

"Leave all the puppets behind!"

Qin Sang had no intention of continuing to entangle with General Gui. He fully activated the *Azure Bamboo Sword Scripture*, turning his sword into a myriad of lights that engulfed the entire puppet battle formation.

"I'll remember you!"

General Gui uttered this harsh threat, retrieving less than half of his puppets.

By the time Qin Sang collected the puppets General Gui had abandoned, intending to take them back for study, he noticed that the cultivator surnamed Yue was remarkably alert and had already entered the Cleansing Pond ahead of him.

Qin Sang turned his head for a quick glance at the distant streaks of light, then no longer hesitated. His figure flickered repeatedly, arriving beneath the archway.

He met the requirements and, as expected, encountered no obstruction.

The moment he stepped through the archway, Qin Sang suddenly felt an invisible pressure descend. All surrounding scenery vanished, leaving only white mist.