Chapter 1506: Yellow Weasel

The environment ahead made Qin Sang frown.

Even before entering, standing on the mountain and observing the deep valley from a distance, Qin Sang had a dangerous premonition.

The fluctuations from the Yang Soul Crystal were growing stronger, but it was unclear whether General Gui was fighting someone or had encountered danger within the deep valley. From the outside, there were no signs of magic treasures or divine abilities, making it impossible to judge.

Qin Sang wouldn't flinch from facing this group of demons and monsters alone, nor from venturing into the unfamiliar sea of clouds. However, now both unfavorable situations were occurring simultaneously. Anything unexpected could happen. Qin Sang considered whether to wait for Tong Lingyu and the others to arrive before entering the deep valley together.

While pondering, Qin Sang's gaze shifted to the depths of the sea of clouds. The shimmering treasure light pulsed too rapidly, causing ripples in the cloud sea. It seemed the treasure was close to emerging and could appear at any moment. It was highly probable that figures like Hunmo were doing something inside to create this luminous anomaly. This place didn't appear to be like the Alchemy Pavilion, where one could only look but not touch.

With demons and monsters gathered here, it was likely the most central area of the entire stele space. By the time they entered, the other creatures would have already gained the advantage. Thinking this, Qin Sang told Liuli to stay behind, then concealed himself and went forward alone.

The jade steps descended straight down. As Qin Sang walked on them, he noticed that the ancient prohibitions on the surrounding mountain walls were much sparser, not as dangerous as before. Although it was called a deep valley below, it was actually very vast, resembling a large clearing between two mountains. This was likely why the demons and monsters hadn't set up any obstacles. While a single jade staircase could potentially be sealed by a formation, sealing such a large area would consume too much time and energy, and it might not even stop the Xuantian Palace cultivators, making it not worth the effort.

Qin Sang simply stepped off the jade steps and slowly climbed down the rock face, carefully observing the surroundings. He found no hidden dangers but did discover traces of a fight.

*Whoosh!* Qin Sang, still invisible, landed before a scree field.

Among the scattered rocks, a scorched area was clearly visible, along with three gullies several zhang deep that cut across the grassy ground, exposing the yellow earth beneath. The marks were black. Only upon closer inspection did he notice that they weren't from burning; the rocks seemed to have been corroded by an unknown force, turning into black powder at a light touch. The three gullies were neatly arranged, with very sharp front and back ends, indicating they were gouged out by a sharp claw. A broken feather lay at the edge.

"A demonic cultivator and a demon king fought here," Qin Sang concluded. "It wasn't intense; they merely exchanged one move before hastily disengaging, or perhaps they continued fighting as they rushed into the sea of clouds..." There were other marks nearby, but no trace of Elder Hunmo. At the very least, it indicated discord among the demons and monsters.

Qin Sang sent a signal, waiting for Liuli to catch up. Liuli knew fewer demonic cultivators from the Boundless Sea than Qin Sang, and she couldn't identify who had left these marks either. The two of them passed through the scree field and soon approached the deep valley.

A faint breeze blew out from the deep valley. The clouds and mist seemed to be confined by some force, forming a wall of clouds. As the thin mist touched their skin, they felt a subtle coolness. From the outside, the deep valley, though desolate, appeared calm and peaceful. Qin Sang and Liuli discussed a few words, then stepped into the deep valley, one after the other.

*Whoosh!* The moment they stepped into the deep valley, thick mist surged towards them.

However, the visibility inside wasn't as restricted as they had anticipated. Qin Sang covertly stayed on guard, quickly scanning his surroundings, then his eyes slightly narrowed. The instant he and Liuli entered, a mass of gray light surged forward, followed by a creaking sound from the ground. The gray light was extremely dense but dispersed in an instant. Not far ahead, an iron sword, its blade driven into the ground, had appeared. The iron sword was a full person's height. It bore no inscriptions, appearing to be an ordinary greatsword, its surface rusty and bearing the marks of time.

Around the iron sword stood four statues. They depicted four demonic beasts Qin Sang and Liuli had never seen before, their heads facing the iron sword as if guarding some sacred object. Their expressions were more like ferocious beasts, their eyes extremely malevolent. Qin Sang could sense a strong aura of malevolence emanating from the statues; they were definitely not benign creatures! Upon closer inspection, he realized that the statues of the fierce beasts were not made of wood or stone, but of some kind of bone. The stark white bones further intensified this unsettling feeling. Sensing the intruders' presence, the heads of the four fierce beasts simultaneously turned, staring at them, their eyes filled with murderous intent, on the verge of awakening.

A sudden change occurred. Qin Sang inwardly cursed, and with a thought, the Golden Sinking Sword shot out rapidly. The surroundings immediately darkened. Qin Sang directly activated the Seven Souls Killing Formation, enveloping himself and Liuli. Liuli also held her Phoenix-shaped treasure sword, deep blue light accumulating in her eyes. Seeing the unfavorable situation, she was ready to immediately unleash her Ice Soul Divine Light to assist Qin Sang. Although they hadn't cooperated many times, they worked quite well together.

*Whoosh!* Just as the sword formation completed, a gray shadow lunged forward. Its speed was astonishing, even surpassing Qin Sang's Thunder Escape, and it instantly charged into the formation. It was the fierce beast closest to them, a creature with four hooves and antlers, resembling a deer. What Qin Sang felt was not demonic qi, but rather murderous intent.

*Swish!* Inside the sword formation, sword threads moved in unison, forming a dense web of swords in the dim space, strangling the fierce beast from all directions. The beast opened its mouth, letting out a silent roar, and the sharp antler on its head suddenly lit up, then shot out a ball of white light. When the sword threads touched the white light, they melted away like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun. The fierce beast completely ignored its surroundings and forcefully charged towards Qin Sang and Liuli. Simultaneously, three more gray shadows charged in one after another. All four fierce beasts had been alerted. The other three beasts had different divine abilities and varied in speed from the first one. One resembled a python; a sweep of its long tail produced a blue light, no less powerful than the white light. Another had a turtle shell on its back, making it extremely tough. The last one resembled a Qilin, enveloped in blazing flames.

Under attack by the four fierce beasts, the situation appeared extremely dangerous, but Qin Sang felt relieved after a brief probing. The fierce beasts' strength was within acceptable limits, and they lacked intelligence. He transmitted his findings to Liuli, then flicked his finger at the Golden Sinking Sword, activating the Seven Souls Killing Formation to its maximum power.

Liuli kept her Ice Soul Divine Light concealed, then tossed her hand. Her Phoenix-shaped treasure sword flashed and vanished, moving like a meteor, and stabbed directly towards the first fierce beast's glabella. The fierce beast's eyes only registered the intruders; it instinctively sought to kill enemies and would only meet danger head-on. White light gathered on its antler, shooting out a thick pillar of light that collided with the incoming sword light. *Crack!* The white light and sword light collided, scattering streams of light. The Phoenix-shaped treasure sword reappeared, trembling slightly, impeded by the white light.

Just then, the sword threads above the fierce beast rapidly condensed, transforming in a blink of an eye into a gray sharp blade. It positioned itself directly above the beast's nape and lightly chopped downwards. *Swish!* The fierce beast had no time to condense white light again; its head was severed at the shoulders and fell to the ground, its body still maintaining its forward momentum. The next moment, the fierce beast's head and body vanished into thin air. In front of the iron sword, a new statue appeared, crouching there, showing no intention of rising to attack again.

"So they possess undying bodies; no wonder Hunmo and the others didn't destroy the statues. Fortunately, they don't attack continuously..." Qin Sang suddenly realized, and was about to join Liuli in dispatching the other three fierce beasts, when he abruptly sensed something. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he quickly transmitted a message to Liuli. At the same time, the sword formation's configuration drastically changed, gathering the remaining three fierce beasts together.

Liuli paused, the deep blue glow in her eyes suddenly intensified, and the Ice Soul Divine Light silently swept out. *Click, click, click...* The divine light enveloped all three fierce beasts simultaneously. Their bodies were instantly covered in a layer of crystalline ice armor, freezing them in place.

As Liuli restrained the three fierce beasts, Qin Sang suddenly retracted the sword formation. With Phoenix Wings spread wide on his back, he transformed into a bolt of lightning, crossing the iron sword and charging into the depths of the mist in an instant. *Bang!* A flash of yellow light appeared, followed by a muffled thud. Two figures met and immediately separated. Qin Sang reappeared, looking at the yellow weasel in front of him, and exclaimed in surprise, "Huangmei?"

Just now, while he and Liuli were dealing with the fierce beasts, the Sky Eye Butterfly detected something unusual in the depths of the mist. Qin Sang didn't hesitate to act, intercepting the demon in time. However, to his surprise, the peeping figure was none other than Demon King Huangmei. Demon King Huangmei's cultivation ranked among the foremost in the entire demon realm. It wasn't a subordinate of Great Sage Tianpeng; it had merely temporarily gathered forces at Tianpeng Mountain for the purpose of plundering human territories. Matters of vigilance wouldn't normally require its personal attention.

Demon King Huangmei's original form was a yellow weasel, small in stature with rat-like features. Its tail was twice as long as its body, and its fur was entirely yellow. This, however, was not its true body. Demon King Huangmei was born with a wisp of primordial yellow qi, which it continuously refined during its cultivation. This yellow weasel was a manifestation of that qi. It had left the weasel behind simply to secretly observe the number and strength of later arrivals. Unexpectedly, Qin Sang was so sharp that he detected it with just a glance and blocked its path. Qin Sang scrutinized the weasel, noticing its oddness; it didn't seem to be Demon King Huangmei itself. Nevertheless, having finally encountered a lone weasel, he couldn't let it escape; he had to capture it.

After being inside for so long, Qin Sang was still utterly confused. How had Hunmo and Tianpeng opened the stele space? And how many treasures had they already plundered?

The weasel's eyes darted about, and it turned its head, trying to escape from the side. Simultaneously, the weasel found its surroundings abruptly plunged into gloom. It had just witnessed Qin Sang's sword formation and knew the power of the Seven Souls Killing Formation. Its eyes widened in terror, and it let out a shriek, its fur bristling. *Whoosh!* The next moment, the weasel's figure vanished into thin air, escaping the sword formation's range like a bolt of yellow lightning.

"Not slow, indeed!" Qin Sang snorted, then brought his fingers down, still unhurriedly deploying the sword formation. In the direction the weasel fled, a phantom figure silently appeared—it was his external incarnation. The external incarnation, expressionless and prepared, raised both palms. Cold air condensed before it, forming an icy Eight Trigrams Mirror. The mirror suddenly flared brightly, perfectly blocking the weasel. *Bang!* An explosive sound echoed. The Eight Trigrams Mirror shattered instantly, but the weasel was sent tumbling back in a disheveled state. Before the weasel could clearly see the incarnation's figure, it felt as though it had crashed into a solid wall. Stunned, it tried to escape again, but had already fallen into the sword formation. After successfully striking, the external incarnation didn't stay to further assist the main body. Instead, it turned back to help Liuli slay the fierce beasts.

Inside the sword formation, the weasel restlessly darted about.

"Answer a few questions for me, and I can spare your life," Qin Sang said. Soul-searching Nascent Soul cultivators and transformed demon kings was extremely difficult; most of the time, only fragmented pieces of information could be obtained. This was also why Qin Sang had sealed Hall Master Yin's nascent soul instead of immediately performing a soul search.

"Squeak, squeak..." The weasel bared its teeth and claws, responding with a shriek.

Qin Sang scoffed coldly, then pointed at the Golden Sinking Sword. Sensing the terrifying power of the sword formation, the weasel tilted its head back and let out a piercing shriek. Then, its figure flickered, splitting into countless phantom images that scattered in all directions. *Puff! Puff!* These phantom images were immediately sliced to pieces by the sword threads. Simultaneously, the Nine Nether Demonic Flames silently approached the weasel. *Swish!* With both the sword formation and demonic flames unleashed, under the dual assault, the weasel's expression indeed became sluggish. It was then that Qin Sang finally understood what was wrong with the weasel.

"It's not its true body, nor does it seem to be an incarnation. Strange!" The demon race had complex bloodlines, with a wide array of innate divine abilities, each unique. The weasel, manifested from primordial yellow qi, was convincing enough in both aura and form to be mistaken for the real thing. *Splat!* The weasel offered no resistance; its body was instantly shredded, turning into a wisp of yellow smoke that vanished. Qin Sang's brows furrowed. He felt it shouldn't be so simple; the weasel's disappearance was too swift and complete, which was abnormal. His divine sense quickly swept through the sword formation and surroundings, but found no anomalies. Then, a cold smile suddenly appeared on his face.

The sword formation retracted, and the Golden Sinking Sword shot out, its blade spinning rapidly. It pointed in one direction, and a brilliant sword light erupted, vanishing in an instant.

Far from the battlefield, the ground was uneven, littered with scattered rocks. In an inconspicuous crack in the earth, a fine strand of hair lay silently. Suddenly, it transformed into a faint wisp of yellow smoke, subtly drifting out of the crack, attempting to escape far away. A sword light descended from the sky like a bolt of lightning, pinning it firmly to the ground! *Puff!* The yellow smoke completely dispersed.

A moment later, Qin Sang's figure appeared above. He looked down for a moment, then reached out and recalled the Golden Sinking Sword. The weasel's substitution technique was indeed profound, but it couldn't deceive the Sky Eye Butterfly. Killing the weasel would alert Demon King Huangmei inside, but Qin Sang couldn't let it escape back into the wild. Demon King Huangmei's placement of the weasel next to the iron sword was cunning, making it difficult for latecomers to bypass. Fortunately, the weasel had been eliminated and couldn't relay any information back, so Demon King Huangmei likely still didn't know how many people had entered.

At this point, Liuli and the incarnation had also slain the other three fierce beasts and caught up.

In the depths of the mist, as the yellow smoke dispersed, Demon King Huangmei's originally sallow face turned pale. Its body swayed, and it took a deep breath, turning to look behind it, its face contorted with murderous intent. Its unusual state caught Great Sage Tianpeng's attention.

"My primordial yellow qi has been dispersed by someone!" Demon King Huangmei gritted its teeth. This severe injury would require at least several decades of arduous cultivation to recover.

Great Sage Tianpeng's expression was solemn. "The Iron Sword Beast Formation, despite being worn down by time, still holds some power. Its sudden appearance would typically throw anyone into a panic. You hid your primordial yellow qi quite far and even set up an additional contingency, yet it didn't even have a chance to retreat? It seems Yin Changsheng and Tong Lingyu have finally arrived!"