Chapter 771: Ancient Cultivator Relic

Qin Sang waved his hand, recalling the Flying Yaksha. He then conjured his Ghost Banner, drawing forth a surge of Nine Nether Demonic Flames, which enveloped him, forming a black fiery shield.

He took two steps forward, and the fiery shield around him trembled slightly.

At that moment, Qin Sang sensed the demonic flame's aura. It was incredibly violent and terrifying, yet as it touched his shield, it immediately became gentle.

The core of the Nine Nether Demonic Flames showed no signs of agitation.

The fiery shield vibrated, and the aura was blocked outside. Although it could easily breach the shield, it did not. Despite its extraordinary origin, the demonic flame was ultimately inanimate. Upon encountering the elemental fire, it displayed a sense of affinity. As long as it wasn't provoked, it wouldn't actively attack Qin Sang.

Even under the protection of the fiery shield, the impact on his primordial spirit was inevitable. However, with the Jade Buddha protecting him, this effect on Qin Sang was minimal.

"It's indeed feasible..."

Qin Sang's face lit up with joy. He placed the fat silkworm back into its insect basket.

As he approached the Nine Nether Demonic Flames, the purple mist vanished. No matter how strong the purple mist was, it wasn't on the same level as the Nine Nether Demonic Flames and was firmly blocked. The fat silkworm, having maintained the poison-warding armor for so long, could finally rest; it eagerly fell asleep upon returning to its basket.

Qin Sang turned sideways, pressing himself against the cliff face, and cautiously moved forward, inch by inch. Before him lay the black demonic flames. He widened his eyes, his heart extremely tense, not daring to breathe, fearing any unexpected turn of events. At this moment, if anyone were to disturb the Nine Nether Demonic Flames, even slightly, he wouldn't even have a chance to escape, instantly turning to ash.

The space occupied by the Nine Nether Demonic Flames wasn't large, yet Qin Sang felt the passage was incredibly long, his back drenched in cold sweat.

Finally, Qin Sang successfully passed through the demonic flame's blockade. His mind suddenly relaxed, and he gasped for breath, casting a lingering glance at the flames before scrutinizing the space before him.

Grayish-white ghostly mist drifted everywhere. There was no wind here, yet it was bone-chillingly cold, much like the environment of the Immortal Tombs. He wondered how large this space was. How many spectral entities lurked within?

Qin Sang pondered for a moment. He wasn't in a hurry to move away from the Nine Nether Demonic Flame's aura, in case he needed to retreat quickly if anything changed. He stood still and released the Flying Yaksha, sending it in to investigate. The Flying Yaksha's corpse aura surged, silently blending into the ghostly mist. Qin Sang's eyes were slightly closed as he controlled the Flying Yaksha, guiding it deeper into the ghostly mist through the soul imprint within its body.

Nine Nether Demonic Flames, ancient teleportation arrays, and similar emergence times... With all these coincidences combined, Qin Sang would not believe anyone who claimed there was no connection between the Seven Kill Hall and the Ziwei Palace. If this place was similar to the Immortal Tombs, it wouldn't be surprising.

The Flying Yaksha traversed a distance within the ghostly mist but found no tombs or gravestones. Qin Sang murmured to himself, "It doesn't seem to be an ancient graveyard! No Immortal Tombs here!" His expression immediately relaxed somewhat. The Immortal Tombs in Ziwei Palace were a place even Marquis Dongyang and Chen Yan feared, harboring Ghost Kings with strength comparable to Nascent Soul Grandmasters. If this place also contained Immortal Tombs, Qin Sang would have to reconsider.

What was even stranger was that after exploring for so long, the Flying Yaksha hadn't encountered a single spectral entity.

"Huh?" Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly.

The Flying Yaksha also stopped, its neck twisting, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light as it stared at the ground to its left. A piece of bronze, resembling a corner of armor, was exposed from the ground. The bronze was heavily corroded, mostly buried underground, and appeared to be a battle armor belonging to an ancient cultivator.

The Flying Yaksha glanced left and right, then immediately approached the armor. It extended its ghostly hand and lightly touched it. Unexpectedly, the seemingly incredibly durable armor, when touched by the Flying Yaksha, shed a piece which instantly turned to dust. Over the countless ages, it had been eroded by time and had completely decayed.

"The battle armor is decayed? Are there still lingering souls? If not, how did this ghostly land come to be?" Qin Sang murmured, his eyes reflecting a hint of sadness. This battle armor was clearly no ordinary item; its former wielder must have been an extremely powerful ancient cultivator. Now, the armor lay buried deep underground, its power gone, and the ancient cultivator was nowhere to be found, not even their remains.

Even such a powerful ancient cultivator couldn't achieve immortality, perishing unknown in this extremely secluded canyon. Can cultivators of this age truly step onto the path of immortality and shine with the sun and moon?

The Flying Yaksha continued forward and saw a broken sword, which also crumbled to dust upon touch. Then, a skeleton appeared in its view. It was unclear if this skeleton had been severed at the waist while alive or damaged after death; only its upper body remained.

Qin Sang's spirit lifted. He had finally seen something unusual and immediately ordered the Flying Yaksha to investigate. The Flying Yaksha approached silently, its eyeballs rolling as it scrutinized the skeleton. It paused slightly, then bent down to touch it with its hand.

Just then, a pale light flashed across the skeleton, followed by a ghostly shadow that darted out, screaming as it lunged at the Flying Yaksha. Abruptly struck by the ghostly wail, the Flying Yaksha merely flickered its gaze, its figure wavering as it instantly retreated several yards. The spectral entity was mindless and relentlessly pursued, its wails filled with extreme hatred. It was a vengeful spirit, intent only on tearing the Flying Yaksha apart.

*Whoosh!* A ghostly hand appeared without warning, plunged directly into the spectral entity's body, and gently twisted, causing corpse aura to surge wildly. The spectral entity suddenly froze, letting out a horrific shriek as it was torn to shreds by the ghostly claw.

"It looks terrifying, but its strength isn't great, probably similar to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. In the Immortal Tombs, many cultivators died, and the more cultivators died, the more primordial spirits were devoured, making the spectral entities more terrifying, eventually nurturing Ghost Kings. No cultivators have entered this place before, so there likely won't be very strong spectral entities..." Qin Sang sensed the vengeful spirit's strength and made his analysis.

The Flying Yaksha's figure flickered, returning to the skeleton. When it touched the skeleton again, no vengeful spirits appeared.

Qin Sang, emboldened, instructed the Flying Yaksha to accelerate its exploration. The further it went, the more weapons and armor were scattered on the ground – swords, spears, and halberds of all kinds. Not a single piece was preserved; even those that looked intact crumbled to dust with a light touch. More and more skeletons were also found. In some areas, eerie white bones even piled up into massive heaps, making one's scalp tingle. It was likely once a battlefield.

Qin Sang instructed the Flying Yaksha to select isolated skeletons for further testing. About a quarter of them had vengeful spirits attached, all of similar strength, with no exceptionally powerful malevolent spirits. The Flying Yaksha even disturbed a small bone pile, from which more than a dozen vengeful spirits flew out, all of comparable strength. All the vengeful spirits had completely lost their sentience, possessing only endless hatred and murderous intent in their instincts.

"If all the spectral entities here are similar to this vengeful spirit, then it will be easy. However, these are not enough..." Qin Sang murmured, ordering the Flying Yaksha to bypass the skeletons and head straight for the deepest part of the space to see how vast it truly was and how many skeletons were buried there.