Chapter 867: Star Fiend

The young man named Fang plunged headfirst into the forest, breaking a large number of ancient trees.

A muffled groan echoed from among the broken branches and tangled weeds. The young man named Fang stumbled to his feet, covered in broken leaves and dry grass, looking quite disheveled. He shook his head, still appearing dizzy and disoriented.

A moment later, he suddenly startled awake. Raising his hand, he saw that the life-preserving spirit talisman gifted by his master was shattered, its power completely depleted.

He had long known that the incoming party meant trouble. Realizing something was wrong, he had fled beforehand, yet he was still affected. Only thanks to the spirit talisman bestowed by his master had he managed to save his life.

"Is this the secret Daoist art of the Landou Sect, the Thunder Manipulation Technique?"

The young man named Fang muttered to himself, a look of horror on his face, as he looked down at the center of the battlefield.

Lightning permeated the air.

The situation on the battlefield was unclear to the naked eye, but the young man named Fang knew in his heart that the five cultivators he had bribed were likely doomed.

He couldn't help but feel immensely fortunate. It was a good thing he had been cautious enough not to rashly lead people to forcibly enter the opponent's cave dwelling. Instead, he had recruited a few cannon fodder; otherwise, it would be his junior brothers now lying dead on the ground.

As the young man named Fang was about to retreat, his body inexplicably swayed, and another wave of dizziness washed over him.

"What is this?"

The young man named Fang was startled. He hurriedly looked within his body and was surprised to find a strange, unprecedented energy had appeared inside him. It was extremely cold, sinister, and chaotic, resembling a type of baleful qi he had never encountered before.

This power invaded his Zifu (Purple Palace) and attacked his primordial spirit, causing his primordial spirit to become unstable and nearly making him lose control of the True Essence within his body.

"Did it appear with the lightning, infiltrating my body without my knowledge? What kind of power is this! The Thunder Manipulation Technique is truly the strongest Daoist art I've ever witnessed, yet the Landou Sect has kept it under wraps, listed as a forbidden art! And the Dou Niu Peak lineage that cultivates the Thunder Manipulation Technique was even expelled, becoming outcasts of the Landou Sect and removed from its rolls..."

He quickly sat down cross-legged to expel this dark power when he suddenly heard his fourth junior brother's furious cry of surprise.

"Golden Brilliance Armor! You killed our junior brother!"

The young man named Fang's expression froze. He suddenly recalled the tragedy decades ago when his master's most beloved junior brother lost his life in the demon sea. The killer remained at large to this day, and he, as the senior disciple, had been mercilessly punished by his master for failing to protect his junior brother, suffering greatly.

He had searched high and low for the culprit, only to find them appear before him without any effort.

The killer was actually among these five people!

He had originally intended for them to be cannon fodder, but unexpectedly, he had uncovered the murderer of his junior brother. This was truly an unexpected bonus.

It was likely that the person had survived precisely because of the protection of the Golden Brilliance Armor. This treasure had been gifted to his junior brother by their master, and the young man named Fang was well aware of the Golden Brilliance Armor's power.

"He killed our junior brother, and he's wearing our junior brother's inner armor..."

The young man named Fang's eyes gleamed with murderous intent, but he was plagued by the baleful qi, making him unable to move for the moment.

Ma Debao vibrated the Heavenly Chasm Five Abyssal Whip, like a sea shrimp, jumping backward with each surge of power. But this good fortune didn't last; just like the young man named Fang, he suddenly fell into a dizzy spell without warning.

"Ah!"

He clutched his head with one hand, his body rigid, his True Essence in disarray, and the Heavenly Chasm Five Abyssal Whip shook wildly. He nearly lost his grip on it.

When he discovered the presence of that unknown power, he hastily tried to expel it, but by then, Kui Long had already killed the other three and was pursuing him.

His face was filled with terror. But due to the impact of that power, his protective True Essence dissipated, he couldn't control his magic treasure, and was unable to mount an effective resistance. The Heavenly Chasm Five Abyssal Whip was sent flying by a flick of Kui Long's tail, and then he was engulfed by a lightning ball spat out by Kui Long, losing his life.

After Qin Sang fled the deserted island, he also felt an abnormality within his body.

Upon internal inspection, his Heavenly Eye Butterfly seemed drunk, fluttering erratically in his Qi Sea.

He was secretly surprised, wondering why the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had become like this.

Was there poison in the lightning?

His spiritual sense swept through, and he discovered the anomaly, yet he surprisingly felt a sense of familiarity.

"Star Baleful Qi?"

Qin Sang recognized the essence of this energy. It was surprisingly similar to the Star Baleful Qi he attracted while cultivating the 'Heavenly Demon Refinement Technique', also dark and chaotic.

The Heavenly Eye Butterfly had become this way precisely because of the influence of this power.

However, during cultivation, the attracted Star Baleful Qi would always be blocked by the Jade Buddha and then slowly refined out of his body by Qin Sang. It should not have been able to remain. This Star Baleful Qi might have entered along with the lightning.

The Heavenly Eye Butterfly had swallowed the lightning, and swallowed the Star Baleful Qi along with it.

The extremely Yang and unyielding power of lightning, and the dark and chaotic Star Baleful Qi—why would two such completely opposite forces merge together?

Time did not allow Qin Sang to ponder further. He hastily helped the Heavenly Eye Butterfly expel the Star Baleful Qi.

Qin Sang had extensive experience dealing with Star Baleful Qi. Moreover, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had only swallowed a small portion of the lightning, so the impact was not significant. He easily helped the Heavenly Eye Butterfly stabilize its primordial spirit.

Then he heard an angry shout from ahead.

Qin Sang focused his gaze and saw turbulent waters ahead. A black-robed figure holding a strange flag emerged from the water, walking on the waves, glaring at him with angry eyes.

At the same time, Qin Sang spotted other figures in different directions. All were black-robed individuals dressed similarly, holding strange flags of the same shape, and their aura was connected.

"Golden Brilliance Armor? Junior brother?"

Qin Sang suddenly recalled this past event.

During the time of the Witch Rebellion, he had been tracked and ambushed by the Witch Tribe in the demon sea. After killing his attackers, he immediately fled. Later, Ran Luo had mentioned that his opponents had a considerable background, being personal disciples of the Black Snake Mountain Ancestor of the Witch Tribe.

Elder Zou and Ran Luo used the power of the merchant alliance to cover for him, which prevented further trouble.

He had not expected them to meet in the inner sea, and that his identity would be exposed because of the Golden Brilliance Armor.

"They are Black Snake Mountain disciples, all from the Witch Tribe!"

Qin Sang's gaze sharpened.

This place was the heartland of the human race. Most Witch Tribe cultivators were active in the southeastern seas near the Witch God Continent. Why would they appear here?

Judging by their flag formations and their prepared appearance, it was impossible that they were just passing by.

Qin Sang realized that there must be something wrong with one of his companions on this demon hunt. Most likely, it was the organizer, the young man named Fang.

This person was either a Witch Tribe spy, or a Witch Tribe member himself!

In the cultivation world, there were countless rare treasures. It was not surprising that there existed treasures capable of concealing identity and deceiving the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's perception.

Coupled with the mysterious group capable of performing strange lightning spells, Qin Sang suddenly felt the shadow of a huge conspiracy engulfing him, and countless mysteries emerged in his mind.

The black-robed figure blocked his path, sent a sound transmission to his fellow disciples, then changed direction and waved the strange flag to attack Qin Sang.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Qin Sang hastily put aside his distracting thoughts. At the same time, his figure did not stop in the slightest. After a series of blinks, he rapidly charged towards the black-robed figure blocking his path.

It was then that he finally saw the full appearance of those strange flags.

On the dark-textured flag surface, the primordial spirits of several demonic beasts seemed to be sealed. The demonic beast primordial spirits were unruly, exceptionally violent and bloodthirsty. The magic treasure itself carried a strong aura of malevolent qi, indicating it was not benevolent.

The eighty-one Beast King Banners were clearly a unified set. Their power was certainly no less than that of the Heavenly Cold Gale Array.

Qin Sang knew full well that if he were trapped, he would only be able to wait for death.