Gateway of Immortality

Chapter 1349: A Change at the Altar

The devilish flames were about to be seized. Yet not the slightest hint of panic could be seen on Qin Sang’s face.

The jade skeleton froze, sensing that something was wrong. He might have overlooked something!

Around the Soul-Gathering Funnel, soul qi surged and churned, forming an enormous funnel-shaped black cloud in mid-air. It released an endless stream of strange fluctuations that had an obvious effect on the devilish flames.

Even the eighteen devilish banners were powerless to compete with it.

Qin Sang could only watch as the devilish flames broke free from the devilish banners and flew toward the Soul-Gathering Funnel faster and faster. The final result would be that it came under the Soul-Gathering Funnel’s control and changed hands completely!

At that critical moment, a tiny flame suddenly leapt out from the center of the devilish flames.

This flame was also a devilish flame. It had blended in perfectly. If it had not appeared on its own, even the jade skeleton would not have sensed anything unusual about it. Unlike the other devilish flames, which had been drawn toward the Soul-Gathering Funnel, this flame looked weak, yet it was exceptionally stable. It showed no signs of being affected by the Soul-Gathering Funnel at all.

The flame slowly rose, and a fire lotus seed emerged from within it!

The Fire Seed Golden Lotus! From the very beginning, Qin Sang had secretly hidden the fire lotus seed inside the devilish flames, deliberately concealing its fluctuations and deceiving the jade skeleton’s senses.

What formed the fire lotus seed was precisely the devilish flame Qin Sang had refined.

Whoosh! The fire lotus seed scattered in all directions and transformed into a blanket of fire, covering the devilish flames and cutting off the Soul-Gathering Funnel’s influence over them.

Qin Sang’s control over the devilish flames returned in an instant. With a thought, the devilish flames immediately stopped their momentum, then suddenly dropped a large distance, pulling away from the Soul-Gathering Funnel.

Qin Sang did not dare delay. His hand seals changed repeatedly as he fought with all his strength against the Soul-Gathering Funnel for control.

When he saw the fire lotus seed, the jade skeleton’s expression changed at once. He could clearly sense that the fire lotus seed and Qin Sang’s aura were exactly alike, their connection extremely close.

Just now, he had spoken to Old Devil Ye with absolute certainty, insisting that an early-stage Spiritual Infant cultivator could not possibly refine devilish flame.

He had never expected to be proven wrong so quickly.

The Fire Seed Golden Lotus refined devilish flame in a way that was already extremely close to a life-bound devilish flame. It bore Qin Sang’s deep imprint. Even if a descendant of the Nine Hells lineage came in person, they would not be able to take away his fire lotus seed.

The jade skeleton flew into a shameful rage and let out an angry roar.

The Soul-Gathering Funnel shook violently. The fluctuations that drew in the devilish flames stirred the soul qi, turning it into black streams that shot down wildly, charging straight at the devilish flames' main body.

Qin Sang’s expression shifted slightly. He immediately dispersed the fire blanket, and the fire lotus seed merged into the devilish flames' main body.

Puff! Puff! The black streams pierced into the fireball. The devilish flames were about to fly toward the Soul-Gathering Funnel again.

Qin Sang naturally would not let him succeed. He activated the Fire Seed Golden Lotus and pulled back with all his strength. The two sides began a tug-of-war.

In truth, the jade skeleton was also using the Soul-Gathering Funnel to control it indirectly, which was no different from the devilish banners.

The difficulty of wrestling the devilish flames from Qin Sang was far greater than seizing an ownerless devilish flames.

Although what Qin Sang had refined was only a portion of it, the devilish flames shared the same origin. Through the fire lotus seed, Qin Sang had a certain degree of control over the devilish flames. This was completely different from indirect control through the devilish banners. It was a qualitative change!

With the jade skeleton’s former cultivation, he naturally could have done it.

Unfortunately, he had only just broken free from the seal. His current cultivation had not reached a point where the gap between him and Qin Sang was as vast as heaven and earth.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The jade skeleton and Qin Sang chased and fled, gradually pulling away from the others.

Zhenyi and the others watched Qin Sang and the jade skeleton fight over the devilish flames while swiftly rushing over to support Qin Sang.

Those who attacked were all Spiritual Infant grandmasters, the most powerful beings in Beichen Realm. Every strike possessed extraordinary might.

After years of war, they had also gained considerable insight into combined assault methods and were not a disorganized mob. Under the siege of so many Spiritual Infant cultivators, even a late-stage Spiritual Infant great cultivator could only retreat and avoid their edge.

The jade skeleton could not easily face everyone head-on. Unfortunately, it was also difficult for their attacks to get close to him.

Without the jade skeleton visibly using any secret technique, his figure flickered in and out of existence, dodging every astra and Dao Technique. Not the slightest injury could be seen anywhere on his body.

The jade skeleton ignored everyone else and stared coldly at Qin Sang. The soul fire inside his eye sockets radiated a chilling cold.

"You deserve to die! Today, I shall grant your wish!"

His plan to seize the devilish flame had failed.

If they kept fighting for it, the jade skeleton would surely be the one to win, but he had no patience to play such petty tricks with Qin Sang. He decisively abandoned the Soul-Gathering Funnel.

He would kill Qin Sang and seize the flame!

Why hasn’t Bai made a move yet? I wonder if the time I bought was enough... At a time like this, Qin Sang’s mind was actually still turning over other thoughts.

He had already done his best. Unfortunately, the jade skeleton was impatient. Otherwise, if they had continued dragging things out, he could have delayed him a little longer. ree

Qin Sang narrowed his eyes, his expression taut. He stood motionless where he was, and his palm shifted slightly as he prepared to unleash the Devil-Binding Chain in his hand. The jade skeleton was closing in at extreme speed. He could not endure any longer.

Just then, a sudden change occurred! A deafening boom rang out in the distance, shaking heaven and earth. The ground trembled several times, then the shaking grew more and more violent.

The source seemed to be the blood-colored altar. Deep within the ghostly mist, a mass of azure light could be clearly seen.

The jade skeleton suddenly stopped right in front of Qin Sang.

Crack! His head jerked around violently toward the rear. The jade skeleton stared fixedly in the direction of the blood-colored altar, and a terrifying roar squeezed out from his throat. The soul fire in his eye sockets surged wildly, almost bursting out from within them.

"You are seeking death!" His voice was like thunder.

His fury towered to the heavens.

The next moment, the jade skeleton actually gave up on chasing down Qin Sang. He even ignored the devilish flames, turning into a streak of purple light that tore through the air and vanished in an instant.

Zhenyi and the others flew to Qin Sang’s side and looked at the empty ghostly mist, staring at one another in bewilderment.

From the jade skeleton’s appearance to his disappearance, he had been like a ghost, coming and going without a trace.

"So that was the devilish monster sealed in Sin Abyss, wasn’t it? After Old Devil Ye released him, he took possession of the jade skeleton. He had been sealed for countless years and still has such terrifying strength. What realm must he have been in back then?" a Spiritual Infant cultivator murmured, still shaken as he recalled the scene just now.

Even Qin Sang, as powerful as he was, had used one secret treasure after another and still could not withstand a single exchange against the jade skeleton. If they had been the ones targeted, they would probably already be corpses.

"Daoist Qin, are you injured?" Zhenyi asked with concern. Seeing that Qin Sang’s aura was merely hurried and his injuries were not severe, he turned his gaze toward the eighteen devilish banners. "What connection do the devilish flames have with the jade skeleton?"

"There should be some history between them." Qin Sang nodded lightly but did not explain in detail. He recalled the devilish banners and inspected them. After confirming that they were not damaged, he sealed the devilish flames. "We will know once we go and take a look!"

As he spoke, Qin Sang unleashed his evasion technique with all his strength and sped toward the blood-colored altar. His eyes were fixed on the mass of azure light above the altar, his gaze flickering as he tightened his grip on the Devil-Binding Chain in his hand.

Zhenyi and Perfected Canghong quickly followed. As they looked at Qin Sang’s back, a hint of suspicion flashed in their eyes. They always felt that Qin Sang was acting strangely, as if he knew something.

The others hesitated briefly, then hurried after them.

The jade skeleton’s reaction did not look like an act. It seemed that he had run into some kind of trouble.

Not only had he abandoned Qin Sang and the devilish flame, he had even disregarded the evil array. The surrounding blood clouds dispersed, and the attacks of the souls and ghostly creatures were no longer as frenzied as before.

The pressure on everyone greatly lessened. They successfully broke out of the encirclement and headed straight for the blood-colored altar!