Chapter 1490: Mimicker

"Choose a magical artifact."

After entering the archway, this thought inexplicably arose in Qin Sang's mind.

He felt a chill and roughly understood the reason.

"This is the restriction Liuli and Shi Xue mentioned."

During the Cleansing Pool trial, he had to select one magical artifact from all his possessions and could only use that one for the entire duration.

The Cleansing Pool's restrictions were unpredictable, with countless limitations that could manifest on various levels, making targeted preparation impossible.

The majority of a spell cultivator's strength lay in their magical artifacts and divine abilities, with their natal artifact being exceptionally important.

Other cultivators would undoubtedly choose their natal artifacts, but everyone had weaknesses. Powerful divine abilities were rare, and even if found, might not be suitable for one's cultivation. Nascent Soul cultivators typically sought to acquire or forge corresponding artifacts to compensate for these shortcomings.

For an ordinary cultivator, facing such a restriction, losing twenty percent of their strength was normal.

It was undeniably harsh.

Qin Sang's eyes flickered as he wondered if the so-called "magical artifact" restriction would also include his natal spirit insects and his external avatar.

"If that's the case, it must be restricting all 'external forces'," Qin Sang mused silently.

He could only choose between the Golden Sinking Sword and the Demon Banners.

If he sealed the Golden Sinking Sword, the Seven Souls Killing Formation couldn't be used. If he sealed the Demon Banners, he could only control the demon fire refined within the fire lotus, which would drastically reduce its power.

After weighing his options, Qin Sang still chose the Demon Banners.

Summoning all the Demon Banners, Qin Sang silently affirmed his choice of this artifact, specifically stating it was all of them, to prevent the restriction from misunderstanding and only allowing him to use one banner.

The banner poles of the Demon Banners originated from the same ancient treasure and sealed the same spiritual fire, so they could be considered a single entity.

Unexpectedly, after waiting for a while, there was no reaction from the surroundings.

Qin Sang frowned slightly. With a thought, he summoned the Golden Sinking Sword from his Thousand Juns Ring.

The moment the sword appeared, the surrounding mist suddenly thickened, and a strange ripple emerged from thin air, rapidly converging towards Qin Sang. Before he could react, a layer of runes covered the Golden Sinking Sword's surface, then vanished in a flash.

At that instant, Qin Sang felt as if the Golden Sinking Sword weighed a thousand juns, sealed by some power.

His connection with the Golden Sinking Sword remained unbroken, but the sword was clearly unusable; otherwise, he wouldn't even know how he died if he tried to use it.

Qin Sang put away the Golden Sinking Sword and then summoned his external avatar.

As expected, his external avatar moved normally and was not restricted.

Qin Sang felt greatly relieved. He activated the demon fire, letting it swirl around him, and began to survey his surroundings.

All he could see was white mist.

The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was not restricted, but its Heavenly Eye divine ability was affected by the mist, narrowing his vision.

Qin Sang found himself on a white jade corridor. The corridor floated in mid-air, only two steps wide, with a bottomless abyss beneath it, making it extremely perilous.

The corridor stretched straight towards the deepest part.

Qin Sang had a premonition that falling off the corridor would lead to an undesirable outcome.

He was alone on the entire corridor; there was nothing else, and no sign of the cultivator surnamed Yue, yet it gave him a sense of oppression.

'Whoosh!'

With the demon fire swirling around him, Qin Sang stepped forward.

His footsteps were silent on the corridor. Despite having no visible support beneath it, the corridor was extremely stable, with no sensation of swaying.

As Qin Sang proceeded, on another corridor, the cultivator surnamed Yue was walking slowly, his face full of vigilance.

He needed to be wary not only of what was ahead but also of what was behind him.

Seeing no one appear behind him for a long time, the cultivator surnamed Yue relaxed and focused on facing the upcoming trial.

Unlike Qin Sang, the cultivator surnamed Yue not only had his python banner closely following him, but also a screen-shaped magical artifact depicting a landscape painting hovering above his head.

A faint white light flickered between his eyebrows, forming the pattern of a stone stele.

This was a secret talisman granted by the Xuan Tian Palace, capable of weakening the suppression of this place. It was an advantage for new entrants like the cultivator surnamed Yue compared to Qin Sang and Shang Lu.

Qin Sang was currently unable to sense the situations of others.

He walked along the corridor, never encountering an opponent, gradually increasing his pace.

Suddenly, a wicked gust of wind assailed him.

The wicked wind appeared without warning, but Qin Sang remained vigilant and reacted swiftly, immediately activating his demon fire to construct a wall of flames in front of him.

'Whoosh!'

The wall of flames successfully blocked the wicked wind.

The moment the wicked wind dispersed, an illusory phantom touched the demon fire, let out a shriek, and fled in panic into the white mist, vanishing from sight.

Qin Sang looked in the direction the phantom had fled but chose not to pursue it.

The skirmish was brief, providing little information. Qin Sang's attention was on the phantom itself; though it could shriek, it didn't seem like a living creature.

He pondered for a moment, then continued forward.

The phantoms frequently harassed him. Qin Sang seized an opportunity to trap one with his demon fire, and the phantom immediately transformed into a cloud of mist, confirming that it was indeed an entity born from the ancient restriction.

After that, he stopped overthinking and used his demon fire to exterminate all the phantoms blocking his path.

The further he advanced, the stronger the phantoms became, but the demon fire's formidable power was sufficient to handle them, requiring no other divine abilities. His external avatar also didn't need to intervene, following closely behind Qin Sang, ready with a defensive divine ability to provide assistance at any moment.

With the Ruyi Pearl restricted, Qin Sang used his external avatar to add an extra layer of protection for himself.

Countless phantoms perished in the demon fire.

Qin Sang finally saw a different scene.

The corridor ended ahead, revealing a wide, circular platform. In the center of the platform stood a stone statue.

All the phantoms had vanished.

Qin Sang stepped onto the platform. The moment his gaze met the statue, it came to life. Its stony eyes slowly turned, fixing on Qin Sang, filled with battle intent!

"Only by challenging this stone statue can one pass."

Qin Sang glanced at the void on the other side of the platform, understood, and without hesitation, immediately made his move.

The demon fire transformed into a fire dragon, poised to charge at the stone statue.

At that moment, Qin Sang's pupils slightly contracted.

He saw ripples in the void around the statue, and then a magical artifact materialized out of thin air—it was a python banner!

That wasn't all.

A faint light shimmered above the statue's head, and a landscape screen appeared.

Outside the Cleansing Pool, Qin Sang had seen the cultivator surnamed Yue use these two magical artifacts.

The statue was actually mimicking the intruders!

'Whoosh!'

The battle intent in the statue's eyes surged. It took a step back, and at the same time, the landscape screen drew upon the void, projecting the landscape from its ink painting into reality. The statue then vanished into the landscape.

The painting enveloped the platform, rapidly spreading towards Qin Sang, aiming to draw him into the artwork and turn him into a mere ink stain within it.

The python banner moved with it, attacking from both sides.

Qin Sang's expression remained calm. He immediately split half of his demon fire to form a flame barrier, targeting the landscape screen, while simultaneously flashing his figure and coiling the other half of the demon fire around him, actively lunging towards the python banner.

The snowy python on the banner roared, and the familiar jade-white profound light appeared before Qin Sang!

He had previously collaborated with Liuli to break the python banner's defenses, so he understood the artifact's patterns perfectly.

If there were three, it would be a different story, but one snowy python was simply not enough.

Qin Sang showed no sign of dodging. He repeatedly pointed his fingers, and the demon fire split into a dozen black arrows, penetrating deep into the jade-white profound light.

'Boom!'

The profound light collapsed on the spot, revealing the python banner's true form.

The demon fire immediately surrounded the python banner. The snowy python was forced out and, amidst its roars, was burned to ashes. The entire process seemed incredibly lifelike.

After the snowy python's demise, the python banner disintegrated on its own.

Qin Sang felt a sense of relief. Since the statue's magical artifacts could be destroyed and wouldn't reappear, dealing with them would be much simpler.

Qin Sang glanced at the ink landscape, which was rapidly covering the entire platform. He first concentrated his demon fire, deliberately allowing the ink landscape to engulf them, then began his counterattack.

Qin Sang's figure vanished, becoming a mere ink stain within the painting.

This peaceful scene didn't last. Intense flames suddenly ignited within the elegant ink, spreading like a prairie fire, instantly engulfing half the landscape.

The stone statue showed no emotion, yet it lacked no combat experience. It hastily tried to retract its artifact's power, but it was too late.

The demon fire forcefully broke through the painting and lunged at the statue's main body.

Before the statue could react, a blast of cold air burst out from the gap torn by the demon fire, freezing it into a block of ice.

Qin Sang and his external avatar walked out side-by-side. Qin Sang pointed at the statue, and the fire dragon crashed into it head-on.

'Crack!'

The statue shattered, and Qin Sang was victorious.

The anomalies on the platform immediately subsided, and a new corridor appeared ahead.

Qin Sang was not in a hurry to advance, instead recalling the recent battle.

"The statue used two magical artifacts, so it seems the cultivator surnamed Yue wasn't restricted."

"The cultivator surnamed Yue couldn't possibly not cultivate Daoist arts, yet the statue only used these two artifacts repeatedly. It's highly probable that the cultivator surnamed Yue didn't deploy them, so the statue couldn't mimic them out of thin air."

"I wonder if others faced the same situation. If the statues mimic the intruders' divine abilities, they would become obstacles for others. Seeing the Demon Banners, they should recognize my identity. Since I'm already in the Cleansing Pool, exposure is harmless."

"However, if I had chosen the Divine Solar Tree, wouldn't this competition have ended already?"

In reality, Qin Sang was overthinking.

The Cleansing Pool was not merely a test of strength. To prevent anyone from sweeping through the entire trial with a single magical artifact, another restriction existed: the Nine Nether Demon Fire had already exceeded the limit.

On another platform.

The cultivator surnamed Yue watched the spiritual flames rapidly dissipate with the statue, his face filled with solemnity.

"This... what powerful spiritual fire! Could it be him?"

He had been cultivating in seclusion on Mount Tian and hadn't heard rumors of Qin Sang, but he could deduce that no other competitors from his sect possessed such an artifact.

The cultivator surnamed Yue's expression kept changing. A sense of crisis arose in his heart, and his pace unconsciously quickened.

He was fortunate because he encountered a statue mimicking Qin Sang on the very first platform. Qin Sang's external avatar had not yet taken action before this.

Others, however, would have to face both Qin Sang and his avatar simultaneously!

As time passed.

Qin Sang encountered two more statues, each wielding magical artifacts and divine abilities completely different from the last, clearly mimicking other competitors.

The stronger the power he displayed, the more likely the statues mimicking him could clear obstacles and eliminate all his competitors. However, Qin Sang vaguely felt that things weren't that simple.

Would the statues mimicking him only deal with others?

In the end, would they become obstacles for him, creating opponents for himself?

With this in mind, throughout the process, Qin Sang only used his demon fire and avatar to deal with the statues, without employing any other means.

After defeating the third statue.

Qin Sang continued forward.

Soon after, another platform appeared at the end of the corridor.

But unlike before, the stone statue on the platform remained still.

The new development caught Qin Sang's attention. "Is this the final trial? Did only three competitors enter, or are there only three stages? Could it be that Shang Lu truly didn't make it in?"

He pondered these questions as he walked a circle around the platform's edge. He suddenly felt something, turned back, and saw that the corridor had completely vanished.

The surroundings were silent, with no indication of what to do.

Qin Sang carefully examined the area. He tried attacking the statue but was blocked by a restriction, so he could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, the statue didn't make him wait long.

'Crack!'

The statue suddenly moved, its eyes slowly opening.

Immediately after, an astonishing scene unfolded: demon banners materialized out of thin air before the statue, identical to those by Qin Sang's side.

'Whoosh!'

The demon banners flapped loudly, and a surge of black spiritual fire gushed out. Its appearance and aura were eighty to ninety percent similar to his demon fire!

Qin Sang's heart sank slightly. It was just as he had expected.

He just didn't know if the statue's spiritual fire was merely for show.

Unexpectedly, the statue's transformations were not yet complete.

Qin Sang watched, dumbfounded, as a python banner appeared next to the statue, a bronze cauldron hovered above its head, and simultaneously, it formed hand seals with both hands, its entire body becoming enveloped in a layer of colorful armor...

An external avatar also appeared behind it!

All the magical artifacts and divine abilities Qin Sang had used, along with the strongest ones from the previous three statues, were displayed on it one by one.

All those qualified to compete in the Cleansing Pool were Xuan Tian Palace geniuses, the best among their generation of cultivators. Everything they learned was a secret transmission of the Xuan Tian Palace; there were no weaklings.

With so many magical artifacts and divine abilities concentrated on one entity, combined with powerful spiritual fire and an external avatar, it was almost impossible to find a weakness.

Qin Sang had never encountered an opponent like this before.

For a moment, he didn't know where to begin.

The statue, however, wouldn't give Qin Sang time to think. Its entire body shimmered with colorful light, and the radiance of magical artifacts and Daoist arts flashed interchangeably, a dazzling sight.

'Clang!'

The bronze cauldron inverted, its opening facing Qin Sang.

The statue swung its arm forcefully, and the ice fan in its hand shot out streaks of cold air, forming an extremely cold hurricane. This hurricane, carrying ice shards sharper than blades, instantly swept across half the platform.

Simultaneously, the statue's external avatar and the python banner attacked from the left and right flanks.

Qin Sang was assailed from three sides, and the situation was perilous.

He remained calm in the face of danger, resorting to his old trick: he ordered his external avatar to block the statue's avatar.

At the same time, he performed the Heart Knot Revolving Altar Seal to break free from the bronze cauldron's restrictive force, and, treading on the Lotus Flower Seal, he found an opening. Like a ghost, he bypassed the extremely cold hurricane and first lunged towards the python banner.

'Whoosh!'

Just as he was about to approach the python banner, the statue's spiritual fire arrived as expected.

Qin Sang had anticipated this and dared not underestimate it. His figure paused slightly, and he immediately activated his demon fire with full power to block it.

'Boom!'

Fiery streaks danced across the sky.

Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. The statue's spiritual fire was slightly weaker than his own, but it was undoubtedly a top-tier divine ability.

The statue was extremely difficult to deal with.

It was almost impossible to find a weakness in it; everyone's divine abilities and magical artifacts were perfectly combined within it.

If he wanted to forcefully kill the statue, it would be impossible within the limited time of the Cleansing Pool.

Qin Sang pondered inwardly.

He realized that the time he had spent waiting earlier must have been for the others to arrive. Without a doubt, his opponent should be the same as theirs.

It seemed the requirement for the final stage was not to defeat the statue, but to see who could last longer!

However, delaying for too long would mean missing the Cleansing Pool.

In that case, he might as well try a different approach, perhaps by 'helping' the statue again to ensure his opponents were defeated as quickly as possible.

A flash of inspiration struck Qin Sang's mind, and he immediately formed a plan.