Chapter 1668: Demon Child

Poison King!

Qin Sang recognized the voice. It was sharp and ethereal, forcibly transmitted by a secret technique, distorted by the malevolent wind and array restrictions.

The Poison King had decided to follow, but Qin Sang's Thunder Escape was too fast. Kun Dao, hidden within her barrier, was also moving swiftly, causing the Poison King to nearly lose track. The Poison King was skilled in an escape technique that transformed miasma into wind, but it was difficult to gain leverage in the malevolent wind, making his pursuit strenuous. He hastily sent a sound transmission to hail Qin Sang.

His voice reached Qin Sang before he did.

Qin Sang's thoughts raced, and he replied in a deep voice, "What do you mean by that, fellow Daoist?" His offensive remained fierce, without pause. However, under deliberate control, the intimidating pressure on Kun Dao slightly eased, intentionally creating a gap as he fought and moved. Regardless of the Poison King's intentions, Qin Sang did not want to wait in place for him to approach.

"Fellow Daoist, you killed a traitor of my sect, removing a major threat for me. When we met earlier, I did not thank you, which was rude of me."

Affected by the malevolent wind, the sound transmission was somewhat distorted, making it unclear whether the Poison King's tone was genuine or if he was truly thanking him.

Something was going on! Qin Sang's heart sank.

Before the Five Elements Divine Restriction, the Poison King had asked him about the strange-faced man's whereabouts, showing no abnormality. Now he was specifically looking for him; what had gone wrong in between? Their last interaction was when Master Huaiyin was ambushed; the Poison King had arrived a step late and shouldn't have noticed anything amiss. Qin Sang was confident he hadn't revealed any flaws either. However, since the Poison King could continuously track the strange-faced man, he must have some unknown method to locate him.

Qin Sang did not believe the Poison King was sincerely thanking him; he must be after the strange-faced man's belongings. The situation had changed abruptly, contrary to Qin Sang's expectations. He was quite interested in the Gu King and had originally planned to consult Ghost Mother about taming it after returning to the mountain. If it proved impossible to tame, he could calmly decide whether to let the Poison Pearl devour it or trade it. Unexpectedly, it was exposed so quickly. Considering the Poison King's attitude towards the strange-faced man, relentlessly pursuing him in conjunction with an Outer Realm Holy Monk, it was clear that Myriad Poison Mountain was determined to obtain the Gu King, leaving no room for compromise. However, handing over the Gu King now was not what Qin Sang wanted.

"Fellow Daoist, you overstate it," Qin Sang replied with a hearty laugh, neither denying it nor finding it necessary to do so. "I already have a deep-seated feud with this villain, so it has nothing to do with your esteemed sect. There's no need for you to be so grateful to me, much less give lavish thanks."

The Poison King seemed to choke on Qin Sang's words, pausing before saying, "To be frank, fellow Daoist, my sect has long been prepared: any fellow cultivator who can kill or harm the traitor will receive a generous gift... This King will not disappoint any fellow cultivator..." As he spoke the last sentence, his tone unconsciously grew heavier.

The Poison King's mood was heavy, having sensed Qin Sang's attitude. The first time they met, this person had deliberately concealed things when asked directly, and now he was beating around the bush; it was easy to guess his intentions. What worried the Poison King most was how relaxed this person appeared. Logically speaking, apart from Myriad Poison Mountain, which cultivates the Gu King's spiritual seed, and the traitor who hatched and raised the Gu King, no one else could possibly tame it. In the hands of others, the Gu King was more trouble than it was worth; even if it could be temporarily suppressed, its ferocity couldn't be controlled. Instead of becoming an aid, one would have to constantly guard against the Gu King's backlash.

In a short time, the two sides had encountered each other three times. Qin Sang showed no abnormalities in his aura, and it was only by using secret techniques that the Poison King sensed anything. If the traitor had not consistently been absent, the Poison King would never have suspected Qin Sang. How long had he possessed the Gu King to achieve such a degree? What did this mean? If this person held onto the Gu King and even managed to tame it, it would surely cause another storm. But this person was even harder to deal with than the traitor!

Qin Sang understood the Poison King's implied meaning: he wouldn't disappoint fellow cultivators, but what if one couldn't become a fellow cultivator? He feigned ignorance and chuckled, "Let's discuss this matter later. If I have leisure after leaving the Boundless Immortal Sect, I will certainly pay you a visit."

Seeing Qin Sang constantly beating around the bush, the Poison King finally lost his patience and got straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist, when you killed the traitor, you should have seen a Gu worm in the form of a jade beetle. This Gu worm is a supreme treasure of my sect. The traitor stole it when he betrayed the sect, and it's useless to outsiders. Could you perhaps..."

"Halt! Where do you think you're going!" Qin Sang suddenly shouted before the Poison King could explain the advantages and disadvantages or promise benefits. Then the Poison King heard loud thunderclaps rapidly moving away.

The Poison King cursed inwardly, hurriedly urged his miasmic wind to pursue, and while chasing, faintly sensed the commotion ahead, gaining a deeper understanding of Qin Sang. Qin Sang was multitasking; while negotiating with the Poison King, he never ceased his offensive against Kun Dao, and his Eye of Heaven Butterfly always kept watch on the barrier above. As expected, Kun Dao suffered wound upon wound from the attacks of the Sun God Tree and the Four-Armed Soaring Serpent Seal. Although she had not yet been forced out of the barrier, Qin Sang was confident that capturing and killing her was only a matter of time. He forcibly interrupted the Poison King because he didn't want to immediately state his position, leaving ample room for maneuver.

Now it seemed he could subdue Kun Dao by himself and wouldn't need help. However, later when competing for the Wordless Jade Tablet, his opponents would be powerful experts from top noble families, and he would be alone. If there was any situation where he could use the Poison King, he would make plans then.

The Poison King pursued relentlessly, calling out several times, but received no further response. Soon after, he suddenly felt the malevolent wind violently shake ahead, followed by a deafening roar. The intense fluctuations completely overwhelmed the sounds of Qin Sang and Kun Dao's battle. The Poison King had just swept past a meditation hut, glimpsing it shaking and its restrictions suddenly rippling. He forcefully pushed through waves of impact to reach the source of the anomaly. Seeing the scene here, the Poison King coldly snorted. A spirit array here had been intentionally detonated, creating a huge commotion, clearly a deliberate act by Qin Sang to conceal his aura.

The Poison King paused briefly in place, then flashed out. Just as he was about to release his senses, he suddenly discovered an unusual aura coming from deep within the malevolent wind to his left. His expression shifted slightly, and he tore through the air.

Ahead, Qin Sang had intentionally slowed his offensive for a moment, and through telepathy with his avatar, he learned that the Poison King had indeed fallen for the trick, drawn away by the illusion created by the avatar. It took three encounters for the Poison King to confirm the Gu King was in his possession, indicating that the Poison King's secret technique had limitations. As expected.

Kun Dao's condition was deteriorating, and there was no longer a need for the avatar's help here. The main priority was for the true body to focus on subduing Kun Dao. Otherwise, if the Poison King interfered, new variables would arise, and Qin Sang had no intention of sharing benefits with anyone. The avatar had spiritual treasures protecting it; at worst, it could entangle the Poison King for a while. The mountain's terrain was complex, with arrays and restrictions everywhere, which was actually advantageous for the avatar. Should any unforeseen circumstances arise, the true body could rush over at any time.

Qin Sang knew this scheme wouldn't fool the Poison King for too long, so he accelerated his offensive, unleashing divine abilities and treasures one after another.

***

Before the battle at the medicinal garden.

Old Demon Fan and Zhu Wudao had lost the protection of their body-guarding talismans, making their situation not much better than Qin Sang's group. Their senses were restricted by the omnipresent malevolent wind, and their path was blocked by array restrictions. Smelling the unusual fragrance of spirit herbs, both looked down. Their position was the highest, already past the medicinal garden. If they wanted to find the source of the fragrance, they would have to turn back. With powerful enemies close behind, turning back now would be akin to walking into a trap, losing much for little.

Both simultaneously withdrew their gazes and continued ascending the mountain. The various array restrictions constantly troubled them, and although both were top experts, they sometimes had to avoid direct confrontation. As they were swiftly flying, another spirit array ahead erupted, eroded by the malevolent wind. Suddenly, a green light shot into the sky, and immediately sensed their auras, transforming into a green blade of light that slashed through the air. Both leaped to the sides without hesitation.

*Swish!*

The green blade of light shot between them, as if cleaving the void itself. Just as it was about to carve a gash in the ground, it abruptly paused and reverted to its essence as green light. Ripples of green light slowly spread through the void.

Old Demon Fan confirmed there was no longer any threat, stepped past the green light, and said, "Junior Brother Zhu..." His voice abruptly stopped, and Old Demon Fan's face turned ashen. In that single instant, Zhu Wudao was gone! Through that layer of green light, he had noticed nothing at all.

At this moment, Zhu Wudao had shaken off Old Demon Fan and was moving through a dense forest. His steps weren't fast, yet each stride allowed him to escape over a hundred zhang. There was no ripple where he passed, and the malevolent wind blew through without the slightest hindrance, as if Zhu Wudao didn't exist. This was clearly an extremely profound escape technique. Zhu Wudao moved with ease and lightning speed, entirely unlike his difficult demeanor when with Old Demon Fan. A closer look revealed a faint crimson glow around him, as if he wore a blood-red robe. Although this robe couldn't defend against all the malevolent wind, it could conceal his aura to a minimum, almost to nothing.

Furthermore, Zhu Wudao's route was very clear: the summit of Emperor's Grant Mountain! Silently, Zhu Wudao passed through the mountain forest and entered a patch of verdant grassland. His movements were clearly quite hurried; he stepped over any obstacle in his path. As he moved, Zhu Wudao raised an arm, then reached into his sleeve with the other hand and took out a divine statue. The divine statue had been in his sleeve for a long time, originally intended to rescue the Holy Monarch, but unexpectedly, the path to the immortal palace was cut off.

At this moment, the divine statue manifested its divine power; two lines of blood-red tears flowed from its tightly closed eye slits, and the crimson glow on Zhu Wudao's body originated from the light of these blood tears. The external blood sacrifice should still be ongoing, but Zhu Wudao knew that these two lines of blood tears were not from the power of the blood sacrifice.

"I didn't expect you were still alive." Zhu Wudao stared at the divine statue and chuckled softly.

"Shut up! Put it back!" The color of the blood tears on the divine statue's face suddenly deepened, and at the same time, an overbearing thought impulse surged from the statue into Zhu Wudao's body, making him instinctively close his mouth tightly and stuff the statue back into his sleeve.

Zhu Wudao took a deep breath, looked around, and recalled his previous experiences. The plan to rescue the Holy Monarch had met with an unforeseen setback, forcing him to change his plans and think for himself. It was clear that once he left the Boundless Immortal Sect, he would be hunted by the entire cultivation world, with no place to stand. Therefore, Zhu Wudao began to scheme for the opportunities on Emperor's Grant Mountain. The Wordless Jade Tablet was merely a facade. According to what he knew, the Boundless Immortal Sect had placed the Five Elements Coronet—reputed as the number one spiritual treasure in Middle Province—on Emperor's Grant Mountain in the past, to help cultivators suppress their demonic intent after being tainted by demonic influence. This treasure was his true objective.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered Emperor's Grant Mountain, an uninvited guest contacted him through the divine statue. Zhu Wudao knew the other party's origin: he was a great demon lord who had orchestrated the demonic catastrophe in the past, suppressed by the Boundless Immortal Sect and sealed on Emperor's Grant Mountain. This demon was vastly different from the Holy Monarch, yet unexpectedly, he had managed to endure under the seal for so long, his true nature unblemished, surviving to this day. Firstly, the divine statue was prepared by Zhu Wudao to rescue the Holy Monarch and was inherently a creation of the demonic path. Secondly, the seal had long been unattended, allowing this demon to connect with the divine statue through the seal.

"What kind of opponent is this, to make a grand Demon Prince so cautious?" Zhu Wudao dared not be reckless, but his mental communication did not cease.

"Hmph!" The furious snort directly echoed in Zhu Wudao's mind palace, causing his primordial spirit to tremble and inflicting pain. At the same time, fragments of information were forcibly transmitted, flooding into his mind all at once. This act was too violent; had it been a cultivator with slightly weaker cultivation, their true nature would have been shattered on the spot, turning them into an idiot.

Zhu Wudao frowned, sensing the other party's frenzy within their thoughts, and a rage like surging magma forcibly suppressed. He put away his playful thoughts, daring not to provoke further. Focusing his mind to perceive these fragments, Zhu Wudao 'heard' some intermittent sounds and grasped key information.

"Artifact spirit?" Zhu Wudao's expression drastically changed; he nearly cried out in surprise.

"Not an artifact spirit! It's a demonic spirit born from this King tainting its spirituality! Without passing the spirit-shaping stage, how can it be called an artifact spirit!" The Demon Prince's thought fragments shifted, providing a response.

"Demonic spirit..." Zhu Wudao felt somewhat lost; this had exceeded his scope of understanding. Only after patiently piecing things together did he learn what had happened. It turned out there were two reasons for Emperor's Grant Mountain being sealed in the past: firstly, the sect's experts were tainted by demonic influence and sealed themselves here; secondly, a Demon Prince was sealed within the mountain.

In response, the Demon Prince's thought expressed considerable complacency: "A mere broken realm, with at most a few Nascent Soul juniors as its strongest! To dream of killing this Lord! They could only rely on seals to slowly wear away this Lord's true nature." The source of the seal's power was that number one spiritual treasure of Middle Province—the Five Elements Coronet! To this end, Emperor's Grant Mountain laid down the Five Elements Divine Restriction within the mountain, linking it to the mountain's original protective grand array to maximize the spiritual treasure's power. With the Five Elements mutually generating and endlessly regenerating, an unbreakable seal was established.

The experts of the Boundless Immortal Sect sealed themselves within the mountain for two reasons: firstly, to purge their own demonic intent; secondly, to perfect the seal and suppress the Demon Prince. Unexpectedly, not long after the seal was completed, a sudden change occurred within the Immortal Sect itself, and the seal instead became a restriction. The Demon Prince also contributed to this. He detected an anomaly outside and furiously impacted the seal, distracting the minds of the experts guarding it. This caused them to remain ignorant and unable to turn the tide, sinking into Soaring Dragon Cliff along with the Boundless Immortal Sect.

After this upheaval, none of the experts on the mountain were awakened. They gradually died in their self-sealed states, and the seal lost control, operating on its own, allowing the Demon Prince to survive until now. Fortunately, the Five Elements Divine Restriction regenerated ceaselessly, preventing the Demon Prince from finding a loophole and escaping. But he was also formidable; after much agonizing thought, he actually devised a method to taint a spiritual treasure with demonic influence. The number one spiritual treasure of Middle Province lived up to its reputation. Although it hadn't reached the stage of forming an artifact spirit, its potent spirituality was already sufficient to bear demonic tainting. Thus, after an unknown number of hundreds or thousands of years, the Demon Prince actually succeeded, and the Five Elements Coronet gradually transformed into a demonic artifact.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Wudao became even more confused: "If that's the case, then why..."

"More than three hundred years ago..." The Demon Prince suddenly paused, let out a cold snort, and reluctantly said, "Because I was sealed for many years and constantly weakened by the seal, an error occurred midway, and the demonic tainting was interrupted. When I tried to continue, I discovered that the Five Elements Coronet had spontaneously developed its own spirituality, giving birth to a monstrosity that was neither fully an artifact spirit nor not, and it had no thought of saving its master. Instead, it sought to devour this Lord, plotting to form its own spirit!"