Chapter 1234: Purgatory
Chapter 1234: Purgatory
Holding the jade pendant, Gong Liangyu seemed to regain some confidence, and his expression eased slightly.
With one hand gripping the figurine and the other clutching the jade pendant, Gong Liangyu leapt directly into Blood Lake.
***
The instant he came into contact with the blood-colored water, Qin Sang felt a sinister force invade his entire body, seeping into every crevice. That eerie chill penetrated his mind and even slipped into the gaps between his bones.
Qin Sang rarely reacted this way, yet he shivered involuntarily, his expression shifting slightly.
He recalled how he had used the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells to resist poisonous mist when he had fought the Demon King Qianji. He attempted the same method, activating the devilish flames to form a suit of fiery armor around his body.
To his surprise, the chill was extraordinarily strange and could penetrate the devilish flames.
Qin Sang then transformed the armor into the Ancestral Sacred Flame, yet it still could not block the cold.
Only after he withdrew the spiritual flames and instead circulated his true essence to form armor did he feel some relief. Fortunately, the consumption of true essence was not too great, and as a Spiritual Infant cultivator, it did not affect him much.
Splash, splash... His entire field of vision was drenched in blood-red. The surrounding bloody water flowed continuously, its sound echoing endlessly, with no indication of where it led.
Qin Sang could sense that the sinister force originated from a peculiar power within the water, carrying him toward an unknown destination. He glanced around, then his body suddenly plunged downward. A moment later, he felt a release as he finally broke free from the constraints of the water.
Beneath it lay an unknown space filled with blood mist.
While observing carefully, Qin Sang descended cautiously. Before long, he landed upon solid ground.
The sinister force still lingered, permeating the entire space through the blood mist.
Qin Sang did not dare withdraw his protective armor. With a flick of his sleeve, three devilish banners flew out and circled him continuously as a defensive measure. At the same time, he summoned the Golden Sinking Sword.
As the sect master of Shaohua Mountain, Dongyang Bo must have studied the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment. Qin Sang had practiced this art, and Dongyang Bo was aware of it.
If he used the ebony sword and sword array in front of Dongyang Bo, even without having seen the second part of the art, Dongyang Bo would certainly recognize something and deduce Qin Sang’s identity.
Therefore, Qin Sang intended to use sword arts as little as possible. He planned to rely primarily on the devilish banners and flames, avoiding the use of the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array whenever possible. The eighteen devilish banners were sufficient to handle most dangers.
As Qin Sang summoned his astra, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly also awakened.
It preferred to rest on Qin Sang’s shoulder, brushing his cheek gently with its soft wings and staying close to its master. The Sky-Eyed Butterfly possessed the ability to protect itself, so even outside, there was no need to worry about its safety, and Qin Sang let it be.
With the Sky-Eyed Butterfly keeping watch, its vision pierced through the blood mist, allowing it to see farther.
After some testing, Qin Sang confirmed that the blood mist only slightly obstructed vision and had little effect on spiritual consciousness. As long as he resisted the sinister erosion, it posed no real threat.
However, according to the information they had gathered, the interior of Blood Lake resembled a purgatory. One should not recklessly extend spiritual consciousness too far, lest one accidentally trigger hidden mechanisms and invite danger.
Those records had been vague, and Qin Sang did not know what lurked here. Still, being cautious was always wise. He restrained his spiritual consciousness within three zhang.
With the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, he did not need to rely on spiritual consciousness, so it did not affect him much.
Activating the Sky Eyes, Qin Sang finally understood why this place had been called purgatory.
He stood upon a barren stretch of rock. Not far ahead rose a mountain.
It was also a stone mountain, devoid of even a trace of soil, let alone vegetation or life. The entire mountain was blood-red, whether stained by the ever-present mist or naturally so.
The sight upon the mountain was terrifying. Lightning flashed continuously, and yin wind howled without end. Even the lightning was blood-red.
Above the mountain, blood lightning surged like countless crimson serpents. Thousands upon thousands of bolts struck relentlessly, never ceasing, as if determined to shatter everything around the mountain.
Rumble... The thunder roared deafeningly, shaking the mind.
This blood-red lightning was certainly no ordinary force, and Qin Sang had no intention of testing its power.
The mountain endured constant bombardment day and night, tempered by countless strikes over the years, yet it remained completely intact. Either its material was extraordinary, or it was protected by a powerful barrier.
Each bolt of blood-red lightning that struck the mountain blossomed into a crimson lightning flower, scattering streaks of blood-colored light in all directions, yet it could not shake the mountain in the slightest.
The yin wind was just as formidable, swirling endlessly around the mountain. When it collided with the lightning, it sometimes even dispersed the strikes, revealing its terrifying strength.
The mountain endured, but the human body could not.
Recalling his previous speculations about Abyssal Ruin, Qin Sang thought that if someone were imprisoned here, subjected to endless lightning strikes and bone-eroding yin wind, the torment would rival that of the hell of sawing.[1]
Even the most heinous criminals would find such punishment excessive. And yet, mountains like this were considered ordinary within this place. No wonder the predecessors who had entered Blood Lake had regarded it with fear, calling it purgatory.
Suddenly, the Primordial Unity Ring on Qin Sang’s wrist flashed, and the fat chicken jumped out.
"Do you sense anything?" Qin Sang asked.
The fat chicken did not answer. He opened his beak and spat out a treasured orb, then expelled several breaths of essence and qi. The orb rose slowly and hovered three cun above his head.
The orb flickered rhythmically, as if breathing, its glow cascading downward and helping him resist the sinister force.
After a moment, disappointment flashed in his eyes. "If my mother were nearby, we would be able to sense each other’s location using the Lightning Thought Orb through bloodline resonance... but there is no response."
After Qin Sang confirmed the range, he reassured him, "Do not worry. The interior of Blood Lake is vast. Even the outer regions will take time to explore. And even in the outskirts, formations like that wind-and-lightning mountain are not rare. Given your mother’s strength, she could have just fallen into one of these formations and been trapped."
Qin Sang pointed toward the mountain ahead and spoke calmly. He had already approached the mountain but did not dare draw closer.
The wind and lightning extended beyond the mountain itself, enveloping the surrounding space. Anyone passing nearby would be affected by the residual force.
Qin Sang suspected that if he rashly entered, he would face more than just the wind and lightning. The barrier on the mountain remained hidden and unpredictable.
Looking at the mountain, Qin Sang felt a deep unease. Reason told him it would be best to avoid this place entirely.
The fat chicken was delighted but also somewhat worried. "I’m afraid this might delay your important matters."
"It doesn't matter. I stand alone and am not fully trusted. Arriving later may not be a bad thing. Before that, we should locate the places marked on the map and determine our bearings," Qin Sang said calmly.
He had no intention of acting as a vanguard and directly confronting Old Devil Ye. Instead, he intended to act according to the situation. Moreover, he wanted to circle around Blood Lake to see whether the Killing Sword’s sword spirit would react.
As he spoke, Qin Sang took out a piece of beast hide, upon which simple lines had been drawn. It was the map copied by Devil Lord Tongyou, left behind by a predecessor who had once entered Blood Lake. Whether it had changed over the years was unknown.
Unfortunately, the wind-and-lightning mountain before him was not marked on the map.
Qin Sang instructed the fat chicken to follow behind him. Just as he was about to circle around the mountain, dozens of blood lightning bolts suddenly changed direction without any warning and struck toward him!
1. The hell of sawing the eighteenth level of hell according to Chinese mythology. ☜