Chapter 2178: Bi Xia Ancient Palace

Qin Sang looked down into the deep chasm. It was bottomless, shrouded in dense poisonous mist, making visibility hazy. He couldn't see any hint of a grand hall.

The fluctuations from the battle were subtle, hidden by the mist, but they stood out sharply against the surroundings, making them easy to discern.

Whether it was an internal conflict within the Jie Ggou clan or the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace being pierced by divine light, attracting others to contend for opportunities, either scenario presented an excellent chance for them.

They secretly speculated on the identities of the combatants but did not act rashly.

After waiting for some time, the battle did not cease; instead, it intensified. It seemed evenly matched, with neither side able to gain an advantage. Qin Sang decided to investigate further.

During this wait, Qin Sang had roughly understood the mist's toxicity and devised a countermeasure.

He spread his palms, and a wisp of poisonous mist appeared in each. The mist coalesced into two small red snakes, writhing in his hands, confined to that small space and unable to escape.

The two red snakes then hissed, shaking their heads and tails, coiling their bodies into various shapes—some twisted, some forming intricate knots—changing rapidly, instantly transforming into hundreds of patterns.

Each pattern carried a unique spiritual essence, consistent throughout, appearing as peculiar runes to a cultivator.

Finally, Qin Sang brought his palms together, and the two red snakes burst with a pop, dispersing into a large cloud of mist.

Qin Sang was enveloped in the poisonous mist. This cloud looked identical to the mist outside, but Qin Sang had refined it using a secret art, causing a subtle transformation.

The mist then surged, autonomously spreading outwards and condensing into a red protective barrier around Qin Sang.

"This is the Myriad Source Barrier. Fairy, please step inside. It will help us block the outer mist..."

Qin Sang beckoned Liu Li closer.

The Myriad Source Barrier was a high-grade secret art recorded in the *Poison God Codex*, effective against poisons. However, Qin Sang had previously possessed the Poison Pearl, so he hadn't needed it until now.

With knowledge of this secret art, even when encountering an unknown virulent poison, one could refine it into a Myriad Source Barrier as long as they understood its properties, using its own essence to counter it.

It was said that all poisons under heaven originate from different sources, but mastering this art allowed one to absorb the essence of all poisons into a single method.

Poison cultivators must understand all poisons, and even with unfamiliar ones, they could apply their knowledge by analogy, aided by various secret arts. It was rare for them to fail to comprehend even a trace of a poison's properties, making this secret art extremely practical.

The Myriad Source Barrier could not completely block the external mist, but it could resist some of its toxicity, making their passage easier.

Liu Li readily stepped into the barrier and indeed felt much more comfortable. She nodded to Qin Sang, indicating she was ready.

Qin Sang formed a hand seal, and the Myriad Source Barrier trembled gently. They completely merged with the mist before leaping into the deep chasm.

Upon entering the chasm, they immediately felt the mist's toxicity intensify significantly, but protected by the Myriad Source Barrier, they remained composed.

They deliberately slowed their descent, probing downwards. The fluctuations from the battle grew clearer.

They descended an unknown distance, still without seeing the hall, but Qin Sang had pinpointed the battle's location.

After carefully approaching a bit further, Qin Sang activated his Heavenly Eye ability and finally saw the scene within the battleground.

Surprisingly, there was only one person on each side of the battle.

One combatant had a bizarre appearance, with a prominently protruding chest, like a chicken breast, and a long, slender, flexible tail behind them. This perfectly matched the descriptions of a Jie Ggou clan member in ancient records.

The texts also mentioned that Jie Ggou clan members had a pair of short wings. Qin Sang looked at the person's back, and beneath the wide robes, there seemed to be a bulge, making it almost certain that this was a Jie Ggou cultivator.

Numerous serpent shadows writhed behind this person. A closer count revealed nine in total: one was his actual tail, and the other eight were formed from poisonous mist, all connected to the base of his tail.

The nine venomous snakes fanned out behind him, looking fierce and malevolent, glaring menacingly at their opponent.

The other combatant was even more surprising: a pale-faced young man in white robes, with a somewhat delicate demeanor. His artifact was a dark iron cauldron with two handles, only slightly larger than a fist. It rotated continuously around him, with a wisp of white smoke rising from its mouth, encircling the young man and isolating him from the external poisonous mist.

Qin Sang stared at the white-robed young man for a moment, confirming that he was, in fact, a human cultivator!

'Hiss... hiss...'

The serpent shadows behind the Jie Ggou cultivator danced, hissing, and suddenly shot forward.

The poisonous snakes were incredibly fast, their nine shadows intertwining and shifting erratically, instantly multiplying into thousands, forming a dense serpent net where it was impossible to distinguish true from false.

His movements drew Qin Sang's gaze. As the serpent shadows multiplied, Qin Sang sensed another hidden transformation within the mist.

"Are these the restrictions of the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace?"

This thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind. The Jie Ggou clan were indeed the masters of the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace, able to leverage its restrictive powers.

But where were the other Jie Ggou cultivators?

Although the Jie Ggou clan wasn't a prominent race, they certainly wouldn't have only one Void Refinement Second Realm expert. Yet, there was only one person here.

Furthermore, this person's cultivation was merely at the early Void Refinement Second Realm, and the white-robed young man opposite was only a mid-stage Void Refinement cultivator.

The Jie Ggou clan's strength couldn't possibly be this weak. Either the others were injured by the divine light and forced to leave the sacred land, or they had more important matters to attend to and chose not to get entangled with the white-robed young man, leaving just one clan member to block him.

Empowered by the poisonous mist and the ancient palace's restrictions, this Jie Ggou cultivator displayed strength beyond his cultivation level.

Wondering how the white-robed young man would react, Qin Sang looked at him again. Despite being enveloped by the serpent net and scrutinized by thousands of snake heads, he remained remarkably calm.

"Hmph!"

The white-robed young man sneered, "This trick again! If this is all you've got, I suggest you get out of my way and reunite with your clan leader. Perhaps then you can break through these ancient restrictions more quickly."

The Jie Ggou cultivator ignored him. Thousands of snake heads simultaneously opened their mouths, spewing out scarlet poisonous smoke that transformed into grotesque laughing faces, cackling as they lunged at the white-robed young man.

The laughing faces vanished upon contact with the white smoke around the young man, as if they were inherently ethereal. They transformed into an obscure, invisible force that could surprisingly penetrate the white smoke.

The white-robed young man had clearly encountered this before; he showed no panic. He formed a sword-finger gesture and struck a seal towards the cauldron.

'Cling-a-ling...'

The cauldron jingled, and the white smoke from its mouth abruptly ceased. Then, the cauldron transformed into a streak of light, moving at an astonishing speed, almost like a teleportation, and countless images of the cauldron instantly appeared within the white smoke.

Qin Sang clearly saw that almost all the laughing faces conjured from the poisonous mist were sucked into the cauldron. The Jie Ggou cultivator's long-planned attack had failed to achieve its intended effect.

"Even if this person isn't a poison cultivator, their mastery of poison arts must be quite profound..."

Qin Sang asserted this about the white-robed young man in his mind, and secretly channeled his true essence to project the battlefield scene for Liu Li. "Fairy, can you discern this person's origins?"

Liu Li gazed at the white-robed young man, then gently shook her head after a moment. "This person doesn't appear to be a disciple from those major sects."

It wasn't surprising for other human cultivators to gain access to the sacred land, as the Outsider race had connections with both the Xun and Kan Heavenly Regions.

Since he wasn't from those major sects, this person wouldn't be their opponent for now. Otherwise, Qin Sang wouldn't mind finding an opportunity to eliminate a competitor in advance.

For now, it was better to watch them continue to fight, letting the white-robed young man attract the Jie Ggou clan's attention while they seized the chance to sneak in.

Qin Sang looked down below the battleground. Although he still couldn't see the hall, the Jie Ggou cultivator's activation of the restrictive power allowed Qin Sang to pinpoint the hall's location. The problem now was how to pass without alarming the two combatants.

Liu Li pointed upwards. Qin Sang nodded, understanding that she meant to use the power of the divine light.

Before they entered, they had seen divine light emerging around the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace. As the light spread, it would inevitably impact the palace, causing vibrations.

They waited in place, and soon enough, felt a violent tremor. The two fiercely battling combatants seemed oblivious, as the chaotic battlefield, combined with the mist's turbulence and their divine arts, created a scene of utter disarray.

"Go!"

Qin Sang and Liu Li seized the opportunity and immediately moved, skirting the edge of the battle, passing through the residual shockwaves. Moments later, they saw a grand hall blocking their path.

A faint green glow shimmered within the red mist.

This hall's structure was similar to those outside and was also sealed by array restrictions. The restrictive power was clearly much stronger than outside, yet it was severely damaged, riddled with cracks, and half of its roof had collapsed.

Looking through the damaged areas, the hall was empty; its treasures had already been taken.

Despite the array restrictions being full of flaws, Qin Sang and Liu Li still didn't dare to be careless. They cautiously passed through a crack without alerting anyone.

"Fellow Daoist Qin?"

Liu Li looked at Qin Sang with an inquiring gaze.

Qin Sang rubbed his palm, concentrating for a moment to sense, then gently shook his head.

The mark on his palm showed no reaction, indicating no presence of the Thunder Hall. They needed to go deeper.

Bypassing the hall, they found a fractured ground ahead, where the power of the array restrictions formed a chaotic storm.

The ground sloped, as if the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace had crashed down at an angle, with the hall at the "poison stinger" location being at the very bottom.

The power here was too chaotic; quietly passing through would be no easy feat. Even with the aid of his Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang would have to put in considerable effort.

Finally, Qin Sang found a path through the storm. Just as he was about to move, he suddenly frowned and turned to look at the steps on his right.

These were the steps behind the hall. In a crack in the steps, a spiritual ganoderma grass had sprouted at some unknown time. It quickly grew under their very eyes, opening its cap, from which emerged a fingernail-sized miniature person who stood with hands on hips, glaring at them.

"I helped draw the attention of the master here, allowing you two to enter. Are you just going to leave without a word of thanks?"

It was the voice of the white-robed young man.

Qin Sang and Liu Li were both quite surprised, having thought they had hidden themselves well enough.

His expression remained calm. With a faint smile, he said, "I didn't expect fellow Daoist's spiritual perception to be so keen. We simply saw you were in the midst of an intense battle and didn't wish to disturb you."

"Oh?"

The white-robed young man noticed their identities and exclaimed in surprise, "Are both of you human cultivators?"

"Indeed!"

Qin Sang did not deny it, waiting to see what this person's intention was in exposing their presence.

"Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!"

The miniature person clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "I've been struggling as an outsider, completely out of place among the Outsider race, unable to find allies. I never expected to encounter fellow humans here! You two must also be here for the treasures within the Ancient Jade Scorpion Palace, I presume?"

"What treasures are inside this ancient palace?"

Qin Sang's question left the miniature person momentarily stunned.

The miniature person frowned, glaring at Qin Sang, and demanded, "If you don't know what treasures are inside, why are you here?"

"We are naturally here for important matters, but not for treasure hunting. The treasures left by the Jie Ggou clan ancestors for their clansmen may not suit outsiders like us, nor do we have any interest in them. If fellow Daoist is here for treasures, there should be no conflict between us. We certainly won't side with the Jie Ggou clan. Let us simply go our separate ways and not interfere with each other!" Qin Sang stated truthfully.

Hearing this, the miniature person's face registered disbelief. His gaze fell upon the Myriad Source Barrier. "Fellow Daoist appears to be well-versed in poison arts, yet you claim not to be here for treasure. Do you think anyone would believe that?"

"Whether to believe it or not is up to fellow Daoist," Qin Sang said plainly, disinclined to elaborate further. He beckoned Liu Li, preparing to leave.

"Wait!"

The miniature person quickly called out to them, his gaze sweeping over their faces, seemingly trying to discern from Qin Sang's expression whether he was being truthful or deceptive.

It was unclear what he was thinking, but after a brief contemplation, he spoke: "The Jie Ggou clan's treasures may not entice you two, but what if I told you there's a greater opportunity inside?"

Qin Sang and Liu Li exchanged glances, then chuckled softly. "Would fellow Daoist truly tell us about this opportunity? Or even let us have it?"

"I certainly won't give it to you! My goal is to use you two to force the Jie Ggou clan back. After that, it's every person for themselves."

The miniature person was very straightforward. "As you two have seen, I am alone. I couldn't even get past the gatekeeper. The Jie Ggou clan leader inside has higher cultivation and can leverage more of the array restrictions, making him even harder to deal with. I originally had no chance at all, but by allying with you two, there might be some hope."

He paused, then continued, "You two must have noticed the celestial phenomena outside. What are your thoughts on them?"

"We are all newcomers to the sacred land and are unaware of these anomalies," Qin Sang said with interest. "Fellow Daoist seems to know something?"

"I don't know more than you two," the miniature person shook his head, then changed his tone. "However, I once heard a legend among the Outsider race, a prophecy concerning the sacred land."

Having piqued Qin Sang and Liu Li's curiosity, the white-robed young man did not hold back. He continued, "The fellow Daoist who told me about this mentioned it in jest, and he didn't even believe the prophecy himself. It says that the day the sacred land is destroyed will be the beginning of the Outsider race's great prosperity. A great opportunity will descend, and the ancestors' guidance, left within the sacred land, will all be revived at that time. You two think about the phenomena outside—aren't they signs of the sacred land's destruction? If the Jie Ggou clan ancestors truly left guidance, it must be here!"

Qin Sang and Liu Li exchanged glances, both finding the legend somewhat absurd.

If even the sacred land is destroyed, how could the Outsider race experience great prosperity?

"Fellow Daoist, you should first get past the gatekeeper," Qin Sang said calmly, then turned to leave.