Chapter 578: Latercomer

The Mortal World

Qin Sang, relentless, ordered the Flying Yaksha to close in and pummel the Ferocious Tiger.

Yun Youzi didn't watch the battle, his gaze scanning their surroundings. In front of them lay a dry riverbed filled with numerous smooth, water-worn pebbles. On the opposite bank stood a fractured peak, its collapsed stones having filled nearly half the riverbed. Behind the mountain was endless darkness.

Yun Youzi reminded Qin Sang not to let the Flying Yaksha go beyond the riverbed's boundaries, even if the Ferocious Tiger escaped to the opposite bank. Qin Sang dutifully obeyed.

Soon after, Yun Youzi's eyes suddenly lit up. He fixed his gaze on a pebble in the river with a green spot, raised his palm, formed a hand seal, and sent it forth. At this moment, the Ferocious Tiger's roars grew even more frenzied. It wildly charged and crashed as if mad, its target clearly Yun Youzi. Qin Sang realized Yun Youzi must have found the key. He gazed at the pebble, and after a while, he too finally noticed some clues.

"Pffft!"

The hand seal landed on the green-spotted pebble, exploding with a burst of green light. The Ferocious Tiger, which had been fighting the Flying Yaksha, suddenly froze, let out a whimper, and vanished without a trace. The world around them shattered once more. More accurately, this time, only the world on their side of the riverbed shattered. The subtle, almost imperceptible pressure they had felt also vanished.

Seizing the opportunity, they leaped across the riverbank. Looking back, they saw the original riverbank still behind them.

"This is actually the real ancient medicine garden," Yun Youzi explained. "It's just that the ancient restrictions of the ancient medicine garden are now very chaotic and omnipresent. You'll encounter a layer of ancient restriction every few steps, sealing off a section of space. We can only see two layers of ancient restricted space at most, so we need to follow a route and break through them layer by layer."

Yun Youzi continued, "If we didn't have the Flying Yaksha, we would have to start breaking the restrictions from the edge, dodging the Ferocious Tiger's pursuit, gradually weakening its strength by breaking restrictions, and slowly searching for the core. But now, we can directly find the very core of the restriction and break it, achieving twice the result with half the effort."

The Flying Yaksha was a living corpse, more agile than ordinary refined corpses. Qin Sang didn't need to expend too much mental energy controlling it. He wanted to distract himself to help Yun Youzi, but found the ancient restrictions very complex. His mastery in the art of restrictions wasn't high enough, so he couldn't help for the time being. However, Qin Sang didn't give up. Following Yun Youzi, he pondered on his own, integrating his previously accumulated knowledge, and progressed rapidly.

"Whoosh...whoosh..."

They walked from the riverbank to halfway up the mountain and stopped. The mountain had collapsed from this point. Their gaze crossed the fractured peak, revealing the next layer of ancient restricted space. On the other side of the mountain, to the left was a sheer cliff, dropping straight down, with a few dry vines hanging that made one wonder if they would snap if pulled. Below, it was pitch black; nothing could be seen. To the right, however, was a mountain ridge. It was obvious that these two areas were sealed by different ancient restrictions, requiring them to make a choice. The forks in the road ahead would surely increase. Without knowing the correct path and wandering aimlessly, they wouldn't find the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit even by the time the Ziwei Palace closed.

Qin Sang and Yun Youzi walked to the top of the cliff. The Flying Yaksha suddenly swung a fist; its punch unleashed a loud blast, blasting ripples through the space and revealing a very weak barrier of light. This punch blasted a large hole directly into the barrier. Before the large hole closed, they jumped in one after another, falling down the cliff.

This layer of ancient restriction was very easy to break. Not only was there no Ferocious Tiger pursuing them, but they didn't even need to find its core; brute force easily broke it. This indicated that this layer of ancient restriction was very fragile; perhaps in a few hundred years, it would disappear, and the surrounding spaces would connect. Similar situations were not uncommon. The restrictions in the ancient medicine garden were not uniform; each ancient restriction varied in strength and size. Powerful ancient restrictions left even Nascent Soul cultivators helpless. Fortunately, on this path to collect the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit, apart from a few difficult challenges, the restrictions' power was still within the Flying Yaksha's tolerable range. Otherwise, even Demon Core stage demon cultivators wouldn't have been able to collect the herbs. As for those difficult challenges, they served as tests and trials for them.

The moment they entered the cliff, a powerful suction force suddenly emerged from its bottom. Next, a chilling wind assailed them from above. With both forces combined, Qin Sang and the others rapidly plummeted. The shadows at the bottom of the cliff resembled a gaping maw, waiting for prey to fall into its trap. Qin Sang and Yun Youzi exchanged glances, both letting out a low cry as spiritual power surged within them, resisting the chilling wind and suction.

The next moment, from the darkness at the cliff's bottom, countless bone claws suddenly emerged. The stark white bone claws formed a forest of bones, clawing and scratching relentlessly, as if countless living skeletons were rapidly climbing upward from underground. Accompanied by ghost-like wailing wind from above, it chilled one to the bone.

Without Yun Youzi needing to urge him, Qin Sang forcibly broke free from the suction and flew upward against it. He also ordered the Flying Yaksha to descend actively, and as it was about to approach the bone claws, its cadaveric aura suddenly erupted. The cadaveric aura formed a colossal circular wave, sweeping outward. A series of crisp cracking sounds ensued, and all the bone claws shattered. Countless shattered bone fragments flew everywhere, filling their vision with a vast whiteness. But the bone claws were endless. As one batch was cleared, a new one immediately emerged, still rushing rapidly upward. The Flying Yaksha couldn't kill them all, and the space above was visibly shrinking.

At this moment, Yun Youzi suddenly moved. He opened his palm, and as the Flawless Orb gently spun, a white light suddenly shot downward, transforming into a flying sword. It skimmed through the gaps between the bone claws and pierced deep into the bone forest. They heard a shriek that didn't sound human. The suction and chilling wind suddenly vanished. At the same moment, all the bone claws also disappeared without a trace; the recent scene felt like a dream.

At this point, they finally saw the bottom of the cliff. Nestled at the base of the cliff wall was a semicircular cold pool, which surprisingly still contained water. The cold pool was deep and emitted wafts of chilling mist. They could have seen it earlier, but their vision was obscured by the bone claws. Now that the restriction was broken, they knew this was where the next layer of restriction lay.

"This secluded pool has no end," Yun Youzi said softly as he landed beside it. "Once, a Nascent Soul cultivator ventured in to explore, not minding the wasted time, and unearthed a Heavenly Cold Grass from within!"

Heavenly Cold Grass, whose value far surpassed the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit, could also refine the true essence of Nascent Soul cultivators. Qin Sang couldn't help but envy that Nascent Soul cultivator's luck.

The restriction near the cold pool wasn't powerful either. Yun Youzi quickly found its core and had the Flying Yaksha break it. Unexpectedly, just as the Flying Yaksha was about to unleash its punch, Yun Youzi's expression suddenly changed. He abruptly waved his hand to stop Qin Sang, looked up, staring at the top of the cliff, and said in a deep voice, "Someone has followed us! They're taking the same path as us!"

Qin Sang was startled by the news. "So fast?" Those who entered by the same path were likely demon cultivators from Heavenly Demon Mound. They never expected that after just entering the ancient medicine garden and walking only a few steps, they would already run into someone.