Chapter 495: Iron Finger Ring

Taking out a jade box, Qin Sang carefully sealed the Golden Core of Daoist Jiupao inside. A look of joy involuntarily appeared on his face, and he let out a long sigh of relief. Despite the many twists and turns of this journey, his most important objective had been achieved.

After putting away the Golden Core, Qin Sang reached for the iron ring. He was secretly surprised; the ring was unexpectedly heavy, truly extraordinary. Qin Sang examined the ring carefully. He found no inscriptions anywhere on its surface, and the rust was almost entirely on the inside, forming a continuous layer. He didn't know how this rust had formed, and despite several attempts, he couldn't remove it even by channeling spiritual power into a blade. When he used his divine sense, it glided effortlessly over the iron ring each time, revealing no anomalies. It seemed to be nothing more than a genuine dark iron ring.

Could he have been mistaken? Did this ring hold special significance for Daoist Jiupao? Qin Sang's brow furrowed. He still couldn't believe Daoist Jiupao would carry an ordinary ring while fleeing for his life. Suddenly, an idea struck Qin Sang. He turned the ring over, gazed at the rust inside, and extended his divine sense to carefully probe the corroded surface. He was extremely thorough, leaving no corner unexamined.

A moment later, Qin Sang's expression shifted. His divine sense seemed to touch a certain node, and with a *boom*, it entered a chaotic space. Unexpectedly, before Qin Sang could even perceive what kind of place this was, a dazzling divine light suddenly illuminated the space. The light itself was a blade, striking towards Qin Sang's divine sense at an astonishing speed. In an instant, the blade's aura was upon him.

Qin Sang reacted swiftly, pulling his divine sense back in haste. To his surprise, the blade's aura shot out from the iron ring itself, following the trajectory of his divine sense, and swiftly struck towards him! The slender blade aura, though delicate, possessed extreme sharpness, nearly causing Qin Sang to break out in a cold sweat.

A peal of thunder. Qin Sang instinctively dropped the iron ring and transformed into sword light, executing the Sword Qi Thunder Sound technique. He instantly teleported several *zhang* away, finally escaping the blade's aura. He looked at the iron ring with a complex expression. The blade's aura clearly belonged to Daoist Jiupao. It was a divine sense restriction he had left within the iron ring, and even though he was dead, the restriction remained. Anyone other than Daoist Jiupao who triggered the restriction on the iron ring would immediately be pursued by the blade's aura.

Picking up the iron ring again, Qin Sang was now prepared. After several attempts, he found that the power of the restriction within the iron ring was not so formidable that it was impossible to break. After all, it was ownerless now that Daoist Jiupao was dead; one didn't necessarily have to be stronger than him to break it. However, Qin Sang certainly couldn't do it right now.

Unable to open the restriction, Qin Sang couldn't determine the iron ring's function, but the chaotic space felt very familiar to him, somewhat resembling a mustard seed pouch. Could the iron ring also be a storage item? Qin Sang pondered. If the iron ring were a powerful magic treasure, Daoist Jiupao would surely have used it against him already. This made the possibility very likely. In that case... Daoist Jiupao's entire fortune must be inside the iron ring!

Qin Sang's eyes lit up. Ji Wu's mustard seed pouch had been destroyed in the final explosion, and he had assumed Daoist Jiupao's mustard seed pouch had also been lost. He hadn't expected another valuable discovery. Aside from the treasures inside, the iron ring itself was far more discreet than a mustard seed pouch. Too bad he couldn't open it! Qin Sang felt great regret. Given the strength of the restriction within the iron ring, he estimated he would have to wait until he broke through to the Golden Core stage to open it, and this was not something he could ask others for help with.

However, Qin Sang suspected Daoist Jiupao probably didn't have many good items left. He had been a fugitive, constantly pursued by the Yuanzhao Sect, for many years. It was only after the Yuanzhao Sect relaxed its vigilance that he could barely survive, and that had only been for a few years in total. Moreover, Daoist Jiupao himself dared not show his face, only able to instruct his subordinates to act on his behalf. Of his four Demonic Flame Envoys, Silver Flame, who was loyal to him, had been killed by Qin Sang early on, leaving only Ji Wu. During this period, Daoist Jiupao had been hiding in the shadows, not only healing his injuries but also repairing the Ten Directions Yama Banner. No matter how vast his fortune, it couldn't withstand such expenditure. Daoist Jiupao's performance in this battle also confirmed this point: he only brought out one Ten Directions Yama Banner to hold the line from start to finish.

Remembering the Ten Directions Yama Banner, Qin Sang put away the iron ring, stood up, and scanned his surroundings. He found Daoist Jiupao's Ten Directions Yama Banner amidst the mud and sand. From then on, three of the five Ten Directions Yama Banners passed down by Old Ancestor Kuiyin were in Qin Sang's hands. All three Golden Core cultivators of the Kuiyin Sect were gone, and the late-stage Foundation Establishment experts among the survivors had also fallen to Qin Sang. It could be said that the legacy of Old Ancestor Kuiyin, a demonic overlord of his generation, was completely severed!

The flag surface of this Ten Directions Yama Banner had been torn open by the Flying Yaksha, but its core was not endangered, so repairing it wouldn't be difficult. However, just like Yu Hua's banner, it would only be possible for Qin Sang to repair it after he formed his Golden Core.

Finally, Qin Sang, dragging his weary body, approached the mountain wall and carefully extracted the Flying Yaksha. Its limbs were twisted, it had countless wounds, and pale bone fragments were visible everywhere. The most severe damage was to its dantian area; its Qi Sea was almost destroyed, and the Corpse Core was covered in cracks. Fortunately, the Flying Yaksha's Corpse Core had not been completely shattered, leaving a possibility of salvage. Witnessing the Flying Yaksha's wretched state, Qin Sang sighed softly, then felt a degree of relief, considering this was already the best possible outcome. Refining a Flying Yaksha was too difficult; Qin Sang had little confidence he could succeed again if he had to start over.

The Flying Yaksha could still recover, but it would require time. As for the damaged Corpse Core, Qin Sang couldn't help with that; the Flying Yaksha would have to nourish it itself. If left in the Corpse Puppet Pouch, this process could be extremely lengthy. It would likely need to be placed deep within a subterranean abyss, continuously absorbing earthly evil qi, to recover at the fastest pace. Qin Sang examined it thoroughly, healed its superficial wounds, and then stored it in the Corpse Puppet Pouch. The Corpse Puppet Pouch was now empty, containing only two mid-stage Foundation Establishment malevolent corpses. This battle had nearly exhausted Qin Sang's resources.

The moon was high in the sky.

Cold Mountain City.

The gates of the Ji Family Ancestral Shrine were tightly shut, with only Ji Sheng, the Ji family patriarch, inside. The forbidden area had returned to peace, but everyone remained uneasy and dared not inspect it. With fear gripping their hearts, Ji Sheng had ordered them all back to their rooms for quiet cultivation, while he stayed alone in the ancestral shrine.

The ancestral shrine was tranquil, and the candlelight flickered softly. Ji Sheng sat rigidly, his clouded eyes fixed on the ancestral spirit tablets, lost in thought. Suddenly, a gust of wind arose from nowhere. The candlelight flickered, casting shadows. Ji Sheng abruptly turned his head, horrified to discover a refined corpse standing behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. Beside the corpse, characters formed by spiritual power floated in the air.

"I am an old acquaintance of Ji Wu from his lifetime, and he once helped me. This corpse possesses Foundation Establishment cultivation and is left as a gift to the Ji family, capable of ensuring their stability for several generations."

As soon as Ji Sheng finished reading, the characters twisted and vanished into thin air. Ji Sheng's eyes widened. He shot up, darting out of the shrine's entrance. Outside, moonlight bathed the courtyard. The sky was full of stars. There was not a single soul in sight.

"My son..." Facing the forbidden area, Ji Sheng fell to his knees with a *thud*. A single tear blurred his vision, falling to dampen the stone steps.