Chapter 241: Centipede Leads the Way

Yu Daiyue opened his mouth, as if to offer more persuasion.

At that moment, a black vortex suddenly appeared on the stone stele. A figure emerged from it—a middle-aged Daoist priest with a topknot. His Daoist robe had only a few wrinkles, and his aura was slightly disheveled.

He appeared very relaxed, suggesting that the trial within the ancient abode hadn't caused him much trouble.

Upon seeing two people standing before the stone stele, the middle-aged Daoist priest momentarily froze. His eyes immediately became alert, and his presence shifted. However, once he recognized Qin Sang and Yu Daiyue, he relaxed again, smiling as he cupped his hands in greeting.

“Ah, it’s the two junior brothers from Shaohua Mountain. My greetings.”

“Greetings, Senior Brother Wen!”

Qin Sang and Yu Daiyue returned the salute. This individual was a disciple of the Shangyuan Pure Palace. Given the good relations between Shaohua Mountain and the Shangyuan Pure Palace, they had already exchanged greetings outside the Heavenly Crystal Secret Realm and were casual acquaintances.

He was a cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage, making him one of the strongest individuals to enter the ancient abode this time. It was no wonder he passed the trial with such ease.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the middle-aged Daoist priest chose a direction and departed on his own.

He did not head directly west, indicating a common understanding that that area was the territory of several Core Formation cultivators.

Distracted by the middle-aged Daoist and seeing Qin Sang’s firm resolve, Yu Daiyue ceased his persuasion. He simply chose a random direction and flew off.

After watching Yu Daiyue’s figure vanish into the dense forest, Qin Sang took out his Jade Ruyi Talisman-Treasure, a pensive expression on his face.

Since arriving at the Heavenly Crystal Secret Realm, he had already been forced to use the talisman-treasure once to escape danger. Now, after using it again, the cracks on its surface had deepened further.

During the recent trial, when besieged by humanoid phantoms, Qin Sang noticed Yu Daiyue made no move. He had no choice but to activate his Jade Ruyi Talisman-Treasure. Its power was undeniable; it transformed into countless Jade Ruyi shadows, instantly clearing a large area of humanoid phantoms and carving out a path to safety.

Qin Sang was certain that Yu Daiyue possessed trump cards, but he had kept them hidden and unused.

However, Qin Sang also understood that Yu Daiyue concealing his trump cards didn’t necessarily stem from malice.

From Yu Daiyue’s perspective, such a reaction was entirely normal.

During the second trial, Yu Daiyue emerged covered in wounds and looking disheveled, having even been forced to sacrifice an arm to preserve his life. In stark contrast, Qin Sang had no injuries whatsoever, making the disparity immediately apparent.

Even if Qin Sang had claimed to self-detonate a top-grade magical artifact as an explanation, it would be impossible to verify and difficult to believe.

To Yu Daiyue, Qin Sang was likely enveloped in an aura of mystery. His true strength surely didn’t align with his apparent cultivation base, and until some of Qin Sang’s trump cards were revealed, Yu Daiyue wouldn’t feel secure.

In the cultivation world, cooperation was never based on mere camaraderie between fellow disciples.

For this very reason, Qin Sang anticipated Yu Daiyue’s thoughts and didn’t hesitate. He simply activated the Jade Ruyi Talisman-Treasure, knowing that his true trump card wasn’t this particular item anyway.

Any further delay would likely make Yu Daiyue even more convinced that Qin Sang harbored ill intentions, and he would rather risk everything than grant Qin Sang an opportunity.

Nobody was a fool.

Qin Sang reached out, touching the cracks on the talisman-treasure with a silent sigh. He then put it into his mustard seed bag, found a spot near the stone stele, set up a protective restriction, and began to absorb spiritual energy.

Before long, Qin Sang’s strength was fully restored. He stood up and ascended to a tree canopy to survey the surroundings.

After glancing in the direction Yu Daiyue had vanished, Qin Sang turned his gaze away. Yu Daiyue’s actual path was certainly not that way; using him to scout was out of the question.

The more powerful senior disciples had entered the ancient cultivator’s abode much earlier. Qin Sang carefully scanned the area but found no traces of combat.

He wondered if the deeper parts of the ancient cultivator’s abode were equally safe.

After observing for a long time and discerning nothing, Qin Sang pushed off a tree trunk, arbitrarily chose a direction, and flew northward on his sword.

He initially traveled by sword, but upon reaching the edge of the mountain range, he put away his spiritual sword and proceeded stealthily.

Both the mountain and the area below were marked by withered vegetation and an eerie silence.

On the mountainside stood an old, seven-story wooden building. It was exceptionally dilapidated, its exterior covered in withered yellow vines. The doors and windows were long gone, leaving gaping black holes through which the vines had crept, suggesting an equally chaotic scene inside.

Qin Sang’s figure appeared before the wooden building. He knew well that there was probably nothing left inside, but entering to investigate the situation wouldn’t hurt.

A cold wind howled towards the wooden building, carrying icy blades that easily cleared a path, incidentally severing all the vines clinging to its exterior at their roots.

The wooden building appeared completely refreshed.

Qin Sang ascended the steps, reaching the entrance of the wooden building. He meticulously examined it inch by inch and, as expected, found several traces of ancient formation arrays that had been destroyed by brute force.

“Just as I thought!”

Qin Sang mused that this wooden building, once protected by a formation, must have been completely plundered by the Demonic Sect.

Inside the first floor, withered vines and yellow leaves lay everywhere, covered in dust. Under the wall directly opposite the entrance, seven wooden stakes remained relatively intact.

Surprisingly, one of the stakes still had a circular light barrier.

Qin Sang was somewhat surprised that any intact restrictions remained. These seven wooden stakes should have originally held treasures, but they had long since been taken, and even inside the light barrier, there was nothing.

He approached and assessed the strength of the restriction, realizing that dismantling it would require considerable effort.

From the first floor up to the seventh, the number of wooden stakes steadily decreased until only one remained on the top floor, indicating that the treasures once placed there must have been incredibly valuable.

However, without exception, they were all empty; nothing had been left behind.

“What a bunch of bandits,” Qin Sang muttered.

Qin Sang muttered a curse under his breath, then leaped out the window and flew directly northward.

He didn’t stop at any similar wooden buildings he encountered along the way. He had just discovered a fresh footprint on the seventh floor of the wooden building, confirming that this direction had already been traversed. Rushing as quickly as possible into the depths of the ancient abode was the only way to gain an advantage.

The ancient abode’s space was larger than he had imagined. Qin Sang flew for a long time without reaching its boundaries. He consecutively searched several ruins, all to no avail. Finally, he discovered the remains of what seemed to be a medicine garden; its protective array was almost entirely intact, yet inside, it was overgrown with weeds, and all the spiritual herbs had long been harvested.

As he walked out of the medicine garden, Qin Sang shook his head and sighed. Standing outside, he let out a long sigh, having lost most of his hope for this ancient cultivator’s abode.

After a brief contemplation, Qin Sang’s palm swept over his spirit beast pouch, and the Fire Jade Centipede appeared in his palm.

He replaced the Ganyang Quartz with Fire Elemental Stones.

Despite feeding it for over twenty years, the Fire Jade Centipede showed no change, remaining the same size as two decades prior. Qin Sang had also been unable to make the Fire Jade Centipede acknowledge him as its master.

Releasing its spiritual energy, the Fire Jade Centipede probed left and right, seemingly discovering nothing, and began to crawl aimlessly.