Chapter 986: Cracking Method

In Bai’s vague memory, he had seen similar curses before and might know how to break them. He was trying hard to recall, but he was getting nowhere.

Qin Sang grew restless. Old Demon Mou was rapidly approaching, and they didn't know how much time they had left.

"Are you sure the Fire Curse hasn't infiltrated your primordial spirit..."

Bai finally spoke.

Qin Sang's eyes flickered, and he nodded, saying, "That's right, the Fire Curse has only merged with my physical body."

Bai had once said that once a person was cursed, their primordial spirit and physical body would be invaded simultaneously. If one didn't know how to dispel the curse, it would be extremely difficult to expel it.

The jade talisman shielded Qin Sang once more. Whenever the curse flared up, Qin Sang could sense the Fire Curse runes appearing on the surface of his primordial spirit. The fragile Yin-Yang Armor had little effect, but only the jade Buddha completely blocked the Fire Curse.

But that was the extent of its capability.

Like the Heart-Eating Worm Gu refined by Patriarch Kuiyin back then, the Fire Curse could not invade his primordial spirit in the slightest, but it clung tightly to his primordial spirit, leaving Qin Sang helpless.

"That shouldn't be..."

Bai muttered, a little puzzled. "Didn't you say that the top cultivation methods in today's cultivation world are all incomplete? It's probably because that guy's mastery of curses isn't very high! You're lucky. If the Fire Curse had merged with your primordial spirit, it would be the most troublesome to deal with. With our current strength, it would be almost impossible to resolve. Since that's the case, breaking the Fire Curse isn't impossible. Release your arm; I need to see what kind of curse it is first..."

Bai separated a wisp of his soul, emerged from the Corpse Puppet Bag, and landed on Qin Sang's right arm.

Qin Sang felt a chilling sensation on his arm.

Suddenly, the Fire Curse flared up again.

"He's still some distance from us!" Bai urged. "I'll try to break the Fire Curse. Don't get distracted; use your full power to perform your escape techniques and try to buy as much time as possible. Breaking this curse won't happen overnight, especially since the person who cast it has a cultivation far superior to ours, making it even more difficult."

Bai's voice reminded him.

Qin Sang's expression darkened upon hearing this. After a slight nod, he released the control over his arm. He had previously been distracted, trying to suppress the Fire Curse.

Handing the Fire Curse to Bai, Qin Sang changed his hand seals, and a dragon's shadow encircled him. Immediately, the ebony sword flashed out as well, and the spirit sword circled his body.

A thunderous roar was heard. Qin Sang simultaneously unleashed three top-tier escape techniques. With a flap of his wings, he transformed into a three-colored rainbow light and shot through the air without hesitation.

At the same time, Qin Sang's divine sense entered his Qianjun Ring, and he picked out all the spiritual elixirs that could restore True Essence. This included the remaining Three-Light Jade Liquid and several high-grade spirit stones.

Seeing the Three-Light Jade Liquid, Qin Sang sighed inwardly. He hadn't expected to have just consumed one drop and now might have to consume more to escape with his life.

Consuming pills that restore True Essence or directly absorbing the spiritual energy from spirit stones would accumulate impurities in the body. Taking too much in a short period without enough time to refine the impurities would cause them to accumulate, leading to chaotic True Essence and the collapse of the Qi Sea.

Bai's words made him realize that this would be a protracted battle. His opponent's True Essence was incredibly profound, and he, to maintain these three escape techniques, expended True Essence extremely quickly. He had to continuously rely on external sources for replenishment, with no time at all to meditate and recover. Once it reached that point, only the Three-Light Jade Liquid could save him.

The Spirit Gathering Bowl collected the essence of heaven and earth, transforming it into jade liquid that nourished the origin. The Three-Light Jade Liquid involved the fundamental level; it was the purest power and thus carried no such hidden worries.

The vast ocean stretched boundlessly. Qin Sang set his sight on one direction and dared not pause for a moment. Old Demon Mou, moreover, relentlessly pursued him. He would occasionally activate the Fire Curse to prevent his prey from changing direction.

To his surprise, his prey, by some unknown means, was moving significantly faster than at the beginning. This speed was not typical for a Core Formation cultivator. However, the cultivation gap between them was too vast. No matter how fast his prey was, it could not compare to him. If he couldn't even catch prey that had been hit by the Fire Curse, he might as well just give up entirely.

Old Demon Mou looked straight ahead, his expression filled with extreme confidence.

Time passed gradually. Before he knew it, dusk had arrived. The two, one chasing and one fleeing, had spent an entire day. Qin Sang couldn't calculate how far he had flown; he only knew that no matter what desperate measures he took to escape, the fluctuations from the Fire Curse's flare-ups were still growing stronger with each instance. The distance between them was gradually closing.

Qin Sang now held a high-grade spirit stone in his hand, absorbing its spiritual energy while flying to replenish his True Essence. The spiritual energy within high-grade spirit stones was far purer than that in mid-grade spirit stones, and the hidden risks of direct absorption were much smaller, allowing him to last longer. In this situation, even a single moment was extremely precious.

When he had killed the Black Snake Mountain disciples, he had obtained several high-grade spirit stones. And when he killed Vice Envoy Zuo and others on Dayu Island, he also obtained two from Vice Envoy Zuo. The quantity was sufficient.

With one hand clutching the spirit stone, Qin Sang occasionally looked at his other arm. Bai's soul was focused on analyzing the Fire Curse runes and had remained silent, leaving Qin Sang to wonder what the outcome would be. Qin Sang dared not disturb Bai.

He looked up and gazed forward. Continuing north like this, he was getting closer and closer to the Heavenly Dao Sect. If he could truly escape to the Heavenly Dao Sect, perhaps he could, through Senior Qingzhu's connections, ask that sword cultivator named Ning to shelter him.

Calculating the time, Qin Sang sighed faintly and gave up the illusion. Although the Heavenly Dao Sect wasn't as remote as the Rain Desert region, it would likely take nearly a month to reach it from here, and Old Demon Mou would have caught up long before then.

Just then, Bai's soul appeared on his arm, transparent and ethereal. But what made Qin Sang's heart sink was that Bai's expression showed no hint of relief.

"I remember you said that the Winter Nether Cold Flame greatly feared demonic fire," Bai said. "You once refined it into a fire pearl using demonic fire. Now, draw out a wisp..."

"Alright!" Qin Sang nodded. Because he had to divide some of his mental energy, his escape speed slowed slightly. Qin Sang only summoned a demonic banner so the burden would be lighter.

A ball of Nine Nether Demonic Fire was drawn from the demonic banner. Qin Sang guided the demonic fire towards his arm. Under his control, the demonic fire was as nimble as an extension of his own arm, and Bai could also control it through Qin Sang.

Seeing Bai's actions, Qin Sang felt extremely nervous. Previously, he had tried many times, attempting to use the Nine Nether Demonic Fire to break the Fire Curse. The Fire Curse seemed to have a slight fear of the demonic fire, but Qin Sang couldn't possibly introduce the demonic fire into his own body, which instead forced the Fire Curse to burrow deeper and deeper. And even if Qin Sang enveloped his entire body with the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, it couldn't stop the fluctuations when the Fire Curse flared up.

Bai 'grasped' the wisp of demonic fire and gazed intently at Qin Sang's arm.

A moment later, Bai suddenly cast a series of hand seals towards the demonic fire. Qin Sang's heart tightened at the sight, and he fully suppressed the demonic fire to prevent it from backlashing and leading to failure. With their combined effort, the demonic fire was extremely docile, yielding to the power of the hand seals.

Under Bai's manipulation, the Nine Nether Demonic Fire gradually changed its form. It separated into strands of fiery threads from a single ball of flame, which then twisted and deformed. Finally, the entire ball of demonic fire disappeared, transforming into a tangled mass of fiery lines.