Chapter 768: Tiger's Den Seize Food

"Hah..." The group of fierce beasts bared their fangs, their purple eyes wide, and their ferocious aura intensified as they growled a warning. They seemed surprised that another demonic beast would contend with them for the purple crystals; even their leader was somewhat stunned and didn't react immediately. After all, in this region, only their own kind dared to consume the purple crystals.

However, when they saw the phantom of the Two-headed Hou charge directly towards the purple crystals, the fierce beasts were enraged. Their leader let out an angry roar, and the entire pack went wild. Their fleshy wings merged into a vast, overwhelming expanse, and streams of purple flames formed a sea of fire, instantly engulfing two phantoms. The Two-headed Hou unleashed a storm attack, then turned and fled, narrowly escaping the purple flames.

Just then, a streak of light shot out from a rock crevice with astonishing speed, reaching the center of the small lake in the blink of an eye. Most of the fierce beasts were chasing the Two-headed Hou, leaving only their leader guarding the center of the lake, waiting to capture the purple crystals. Qin Sang's appearance caught the leader off guard.

It opened its maw and spat out purple flames. But before the purple flames could strike Qin Sang, they were dispersed by the Nine Nether Demonic Flame. The Nine Nether Demonic Flame was certainly far superior to the beast's fire, but due to Qin Sang's limited cultivation, it was already at the end of its strength after dispersing the purple flames, on the verge of extinguishing.

Qin Sang was about to activate the Ten Directions Yama Banner to continue his attack and force the fierce beast leader back. Unexpectedly, upon seeing the Nine Nether Demonic Flame, the leader looked as if it had seen a ghost. A look of terror appeared on its face, its cries distorted, and it instinctively retreated.

Qin Sang was secretly surprised, not having anticipated this situation. The leader was so terrified of the Nine Nether Demonic Flame that its first reaction was to flee. Although he didn't understand why, this turn of events was clearly beneficial to him. In the Purple Mist Forbidden Zone, once fierce beasts went mad, they would fight to the death. Qin Sang had initially expected it would take considerable effort to force the leader back.

Qin Sang naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. He immediately gave up on pursuing the fierce beast leader, flashed past it, and lunged directly towards the vortex in the center of the lake. At that moment, the purple crystal was rising higher and higher within the vortex. Two more cracks appeared on its surface, and it shattered into three pieces, flying up rapidly. Qin Sang appeared above the vortex, his palm surging with true essence, forming a large hand to grasp the closest piece.

The true essence hand withstood the impact of the vortex and successfully grasped the purple crystal. At that moment, Qin Sang's expression suddenly changed. As his true essence touched the purple crystal, a dense purple energy surged from it, entering his true essence. In the blink of an eye, his true essence was completely tainted purple by the crystal. It was also rapidly spreading upwards, following the true essence's connection, directly towards his physical body. "What a potent poison, even more terrifying than the purple mist! It can even contaminate true essence!"

Qin Sang was alarmed. Only then did he understand why the fierce beasts living in the Purple Mist Forbidden Zone feared the purple crystals so much, only daring to swallow a tiny piece at a time. He hadn't expected an incident while collecting the purple crystal. He certainly didn't want such a potent poison to invade his body. For a moment, Qin Sang couldn't think of a good countermeasure. Left with no choice, he had to give up on taming it and sever his connection with that stream of true essence.

Qin Sang frowned, thinking to himself that this was tricky. If he waited for the purple crystal to fly out of the vortex on its own, most of it would dissipate into the purple mist. Among the restrictions he mastered, very few were designed for poisons, let alone such potent ones; ordinary restrictions simply couldn't suppress the purple crystal. The only thing clearly more formidable than the purple crystal was the Nine Nether Demonic Flame. He had previously created several sealing restrictions that could utilize the power of the Nine Nether Demonic Flame when he subdued the Cold Flame, but he wasn't sure if they would work on the purple crystal.

At this moment, a whooshing sound came from behind him. Qin Sang's back tensed as he felt a strong gust of wind approach. The leader had recovered. At the same time, the fierce beasts chasing the Two-headed Hou noticed Qin Sang's actions and, enraged, rushed back. He had little time left.

Without looking back, Qin Sang unleashed a stream of Nine Nether Demonic Flame behind him. As expected, the leader was extremely terrified of the Nine Nether Demonic Flame and dared not collide with it. With a yowl, it twisted its body and quickly dodged.

Qin Sang stared intently at the swirling purple crystal, his eyes flickering. Just as he was about to try again, he suddenly noticed the fat silkworm arch its upper body and spit out extremely concentrated multicolored silk threads towards the purple crystal. "How could I forget about it! The purple crystal was exactly what this fellow wanted to eat. This creature is clever, knowing to offer help." Qin Sang chuckled self-deprecatingly. It wasn't that he had overlooked the fat silkworm's abilities, but because it wasn't his life-bound Gu worm, communication required time, which was clearly not available in this situation.

The light threads quickly landed on the purple crystal, then rapidly entwined around it, soon forming a thin cocoon of multicolored light. Qin Sang's true essence then descended. With the multicolored cocoon's isolation, the potent poison did not spread. Qin Sang reached out, and the light cocoon fell into the jade box in his palm.

This piece of purple crystal was fist-sized, yet it felt weightless in his hand, without any discernible mass. He was very curious about how such purple crystals formed, but unfortunately, the vortex was extremely deep, with no bottom in sight. Qin Sang glanced at the center of the lake, swiftly put the jade box into his Qianjun Ring, and looked at the fat silkworm.

After spitting out the multicolored silk threads, the fat silkworm's aura suddenly weakened. Clearly, these highly concentrated threads consumed more energy than the multicolored aura. But the fat silkworm persevered, continuing to spray threads towards another, larger purple crystal, clearly fighting for its desired meal.

At this moment, the entire fierce beast pack went insane. They watched Qin Sang take away a large piece of purple crystal, stealing what was considered their tribe's greatest treasure. How could they not be furious? Seeing Qin Sang attempt to seize yet another piece of purple crystal, all the fierce beasts descended into a frenzy. Using the Nine Nether Demonic Flame to deter them was no longer an option.

The leader let out an earth-shattering roar that echoed through the ravine. Qin Sang's expression subtly changed. He felt the leader's cry was peculiar, as if it were summoning something. Soon, his suspicion was confirmed. A responding cry rumbled from deep within the ravine like muffled thunder. Hearing this sound, Qin Sang felt a tightness in his chest and his blood boil.

"There's an even stronger leader hidden deep within the ravine!" Qin Sang's face paled as he sensed a disturbance in the ravine's depths, with a massive force approaching rapidly. He didn't dare to hesitate. He quickly retrieved the purple crystal bound by the multicolored silk threads, turned, and with a sweeping sword strike, unleashed vast sword energy that blocked the fierce beast leader's sharp claws and forged an escape path.

The rest of the beast pack had arrived, overwhelming everything. Qin Sang's expression darkened, then he slammed a palm towards the center of the vortex. The last remaining piece of purple crystal was hit and immediately shattered into countless shimmering fragments that burst forth like fireworks, scattering everywhere. As the purple mist swirled, some of the fragments vanished. The fierce beasts, nearly driven mad, saw this sight and their eyes turned red. They changed their target, vying for the crystal fragments. The pressure on Qin Sang immediately lessened by more than half, but there was no relief in his heart. He broke through the encirclement with full force, recalled the Two-headed Hou that was assisting him into the Hunyuan Concentric Ring, and fled with extreme speed.