Chapter 960: Xuan Armor Talisman

Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. His figure flickered, and he vanished into the forest.

Unexpectedly, the newcomer's escape light flashed, seemingly having detected Qin Sang's whereabouts, and also flew into the forest.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two figures burst out of the forest, one after another, confronting each other in mid-air.

Qin Sang's face was grim. He secretly summoned his Ebony Sword, staring intently at the figure before him.

The person appeared to be a handsome young man with an ethereal aura. His long hair, tied back with a silk ribbon of unknown material, fell naturally. His pupils were strikingly green, and as his gaze shifted, they appeared unusually demonic.

“Fellow Daoist, you’ve finally arrived. You are rather late; we’ve been waiting for quite a while. Thankfully, it didn’t delay anything important. Otherwise, a little later, and the Great King might have punished you.” The long-haired youth surveyed Qin Sang, his eyes darting before he smiled faintly and spoke.

Qin Sang was startled.

He had detected someone approaching. Assuming it was another cultivation battle he wanted to avoid, he immediately retreated into the forest. However, the youth easily broke through his concealment, forcing him to reveal himself. After confirming there were no pursuers behind the youth, a strong sense of alarm rose in Qin Sang’s heart. He suspected this person might want to kill him for his treasures.

However, he felt no panic.

The youth’s demonstrated cultivation was powerful, at least that of a late-stage Core Formation expert. But as long as the opponent wasn't a Nascent Soul Grand Ancestor, Qin Sang was confident he wouldn't be weaker.

Qin Sang had already activated his Heavenly Demon Transformation divine ability and secretly summoned his Ebony Sword, ready to make the first move. However, he then unexpectedly heard the youth’s words.

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else!” Qin Sang’s eyes narrowed slightly as he replied coldly.

“Impossible,” the youth shook his head repeatedly, stating with full conviction, “Fellow Daoist, the demonic qi around you is not fake! Human cultivators who consume Fiend Demon Pills refined from the bodies of our demon brethren also carry a faint demonic qi. However, there’s a difference between that qi and ours; only our own kind can distinguish it. Even without seeing a token, can’t you tell that the demonic qi on both of us is equally pure?”

“Demon race?”

Upon hearing this, Qin Sang’s heart was greatly shaken, like tumultuous waves, and his body instantly tensed.

The difficulty and required cultivation realm for demons to transform vary among different races, but the earliest they can do so is after breaking through the Transformation stage—which is where the name of this realm comes from. This person looked no different from an ordinary human, yet claimed to be a demon. Could he be a Great Transformation Demon?

Qin Sang stared intently at the youth, his thoughts racing.

The other party should not be a demon beast from the Demon Sea. The teleportation arrays between the two regions are controlled by both races and guarded by Nascent Soul cultivators, making it impossible for Great Transformation Demons to enter their heartland and cause trouble. Although the Canglang Sea is the domain of cultivators, it contains countless demon beasts, especially in the remote Northern Sea Rain Desert, where many demon beasts lie in hiding.

It wasn’t strange for a Great Transformation Demon to appear. Who would have thought a Great Transformation Demon would dare to enter the Seven Kills Hall? Wasn’t he afraid of being discovered and besieged by cultivators from both races?

This person seemed to have mistaken him for a demon beast, likely due to his Heavenly Demon Transformation. When he was in the Demon Sea, Qin Sang had already discovered that after cultivating the ‘Heavenly Demon Refinement’ technique, his demonic qi became increasingly potent, causing even the demon beasts in the beast tide to recognize him as one of their own, significantly reducing their hostility. He never expected the demonic qi from ‘Heavenly Demon Refinement’ to be so pure that it could even deceive a Great Transformation Demon.

Even more alarming to Qin Sang was that he couldn’t feel the slightest pressure of a Great Transformation Demon from this person. By all appearances, he was merely a late-stage Core Formation cultivator. This meant the opponent’s cultivation was even more terrifying than imagined!

What kind of being, then, was the ‘Great King’ he spoke of? Qin Sang was startled by his own thoughts. Were there other top-tier existences hidden within the Seven Kills Hall?

He dared not make the slightest move; if he was exposed, he would meet a tragic end.

Inside the Corpse Puppet Bag, Bai also tensed up completely, not daring to move. His expression was constantly changing, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath, “He’s a jinx! A bringer of ill fortune!” Bai deeply regretted choosing to travel with such a person.

Qin Sang suppressed his unease, carefully chose his words, and asked in a steady voice, “Fellow Daoist, where is your token?”

The youth sighed lightly. “In a foreign land, I understand your caution, Fellow Daoist. You might as well take out your Profound Armor Talisman; one try will tell.” As he spoke, the youth took an object from his waist and displayed it to Qin Sang.

This object was only palm-sized, a tortoise shell token made from a profound tortoise shell. The front had natural patterns, and the back had incised runes. Upon seeing it, Qin Sang felt a sense of familiarity and immediately recalled where he had seen something similar.

There was a similar tortoise shell token in his Thousand Jun Ring! During his first entry into the Seven Kills Hall, guided by the bone flute’s sensing, he had tracked down a hawk-nosed man. After killing him, he obtained not only the bone flute and the star conch, but also this tortoise shell token. At that time, he tried several times but couldn't activate the runes on the tortoise shell token. Sensing its aura, he felt it wasn’t a human artifact, so he put it away as a rare treasure for the time being.

The person before him also had one, which he called a Profound Armor Talisman. Could the hawk-nosed cultivator he killed back then have had some connection to this Great Transformation Demon? Yet, the youth hadn't directly sought revenge for the man; instead, he called Qin Sang ‘Fellow Daoist.’ This strange behavior left Qin Sang bewildered.

While Qin Sang was lost in thought, the youth tapped lightly in the air, quickly drawing several runes and sending them towards the Profound Armor Talisman. The runes vanished into the Profound Armor Talisman. The next moment, the Profound Armor Talisman glowed brightly with green light, and a thumb-sized flood dragon shadow emerged from it, swimming within the talisman.

At the same time, the Profound Armor Talisman in Qin Sang’s Qiankun Ring stirred. He quickly took it out, only to see his own Profound Armor Talisman undergoing the same change. The two small flood dragons had some kind of mutual sensing, attempting to break free from the talismans’ restrictions and fly towards each other.

“So, Fellow Daoist is from the Azure Pigeon race! Fortunately, Fellow Daoist showed mercy; otherwise, though I am a Flood Dragon, I wouldn't dare easily come into contact with the Azure Pigeon’s poison. You also carry a trace of Azure Phoenix aura, so you must have a hint of Azure Phoenix bloodline, right? Fellow Daoist is a rare descendant of the Azure Phoenix. I never expected the Azure Pigeon race would be willing to send you out. When I travel in the Canglang Sea, I call myself Yuan Zhu. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?” To Qin Sang, the flood dragon souls in both Profound Armor Talismans looked identical. Yet, the youth somehow discerned a difference, saying with a faint smile.

“With the Profound Armor Talisman, Fellow Daoist should be at ease now, right?” the youth said with a smile.

Qin Sang stared at the Profound Armor Talisman in his hand, feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Especially hearing the youth claim he was from the Azure Pigeon race, Qin Sang recalled the luminous wings on the hawk-nosed man he killed back then, and the blue poisonous smoke he finally spat out.

After a moment of silence, Qin Sang put away the Profound Armor Talisman, secretly scrutinizing the youth, and said, “So it’s Fellow Daoist Yuan Zhu. I have taken the Daoist name Mingyue. Besides yourself, may I ask which other fellow daoists have arrived?”