Chapter 1351: Ye Qiudao (I)
Chapter 1351: Ye Qiudao (I)
The Devil-Binding Chain had the form of a black iron chain. The jade skeleton’s entire body was wrapped in the Devil-Binding Chain, bound hand and foot.
The Devil-Binding Chain tightened more and more. Those bolts of lightning seemed tiny, but they could pierce through the purple light around the jade skeleton and restrain him.
Qin Sang watched the jade skeleton calmly, not sparing his true essence in the slightest.
What happened next, however, greatly exceeded his expectations.
Perhaps the array diagram they had comprehended on their own could not activate the full power of the Devil-Binding Chain, or perhaps the records in the ancient texts had been exaggerated. The jade skeleton did not lose all power to resist once he was trapped by the Devil-Binding Chain, as they had expected.
"Hmph!"
After a brief moment of disarray, the jade skeleton clenched his fists, and purple light erupted all over him. Between the Devil-Binding Chain and the jade skeleton, there was a layer of armor formed from purple light.
After being struck by the purple light, the Devil-Binding Chain reached a certain point and could no longer continue tightening.
Clatter! The Devil-Binding Chain released a series of grating sounds that made one’s teeth ache. Every iron link had been stretched taut and shook violently, making one unable to help worrying that it would snap in the very next moment.
The jade skeleton suddenly raised his head. His expression was savage as he stared coldly at Qin Sang. A bloodthirsty, ferocious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he opened his bloody maw, roaring toward the sky.
The sound was shrill, like a peerless devilish sound. Everyone who heard it felt dizzy and swollen-headed.
Qin Sang only felt a tightness in his chest, and the true essence inside his body actually showed signs of stagnating, secretly shocking him.
Amid the devilish howl, purple light as dense as substance erupted from the jade skeleton’s body. In an instant, it flowed through every corner of his body, shining with a strange radiance.
The jade skeleton’s brocade skin was like a work of art! This purple light was different from before.
Qin Sang and Qingjun could clearly sense that the jade skeleton’s power of resistance had increased greatly. It seemed as if he had used some extraordinary secret technique, and his strength had become even more terrifying than before.
At the same time, the restriction imposed on the jade skeleton by the spiritual array arranged with the Elemental Star Stones had also weakened.
Thud! The next moment, the jade skeleton shot out both hands like lightning and grabbed the main body of the Devil-Binding Chain. His movements were so fast that neither Qin Sang nor Qingjun could react in time.
Above, Bai stood between Old Devil Ye and the jade skeleton. Although Old Devil Ye did not seem to intend to attack for the time being, he still had to be guarded against.
Qin Sang and Qingjun had joined forces, using both the spiritual array and the Devil-Binding Chain, yet they still could not overwhelm the jade skeleton. A trace of surprise flashed deep in Bai’s eyes, but there was no urgency in his expression.
Old Devil Ye’s gaze was deep, and his face was as calm as still water. He seemed like an outsider, coldly watching from the side.
After Qin Sang appeared, Old Devil Ye’s gaze was drawn to the Devil-Binding Chain. When he saw that even the Devil-Binding Chain was about to be snapped by the jade skeleton, Old Devil Ye’s eyes flickered slightly, and he gave Bai a deep look.
Bai’s heart tightened. Corpse qi gathered in his palm, and he was ready to strike at any moment.
Crack, crack... The jade skeleton gripped the Devil-Binding Chain tightly and pulled it hard to both sides, trying to forcibly tear it apart.
The main body of the Devil-Binding Chain was submerged by purple light and turned into a purple chain.
As its controller, Qin Sang could clearly sense how terrifying the jade skeleton’s strength was. The Devil-Binding Chain might be destroyed in the jade skeleton’s hands!
His expression changed drastically. He used all his strength to stop the jade skeleton from destroying the Devil-Binding Chain.
Suddenly, a cold snort exploded beside Qin Sang’s ear, and an extremely tyrannical impact surged over through the Devil-Binding Chain. Qin Sang gave a muffled groan, staggered back, and his face flushed red.
Qingjun suddenly broke away from the Elemental Star Stones grand array and flew high into the air.
She removed the disguise on her body, revealing her peerlessly beautiful figure and face.
Around the blood-colored altar, one figure after another flashed into view.
Because the jade skeleton had fallen into danger and Old Devil Ye had held back, no one was controlling the evil array, and its power had greatly diminished. The cultivators who had been trapped in the ghostly mist finally broke through the blockade and rushed over.
Daoist Master Zhenyi and Canghong were one step slower than Qin Sang. The cultivator surnamed Guan and the others fell even farther behind, their speeds varying. Figures also appeared from other directions.
There were two groups with the largest numbers. Dongyang Bo and Devil Lord Tongyou led a group of Spiritual Infant cultivators.
On the other side, Jingyu and the Snake King were together. Most of those beside them were demon cultivators, though there were also human cultivators such as Bing Han and the Yinshan Stronghold's city lord.
Nearly all the Spiritual Infant cultivators who had entered the ghostly mist had arrived. They raised their heads and stared blankly at Qingjun.
A red dress, eternal and unchanged. Her sleeves fluttered, radiant like fire. She was like a phoenix, spreading its wings and soaring high!
This heart-shaking scene was deeply imprinted in everyone’s hearts, lingering for a long time and impossible to erase.
Qingjun looked at the jade skeleton. Her expression was still as calm as ever, just like when she had once said to Qin Sang that everyone was merely a passerby in her life.
When he met Qingjun’s bright eyes, the jade skeleton was slightly stunned. For some unknown reason, an unprecedented sense of crisis actually arose in his heart.
Qingjun flew directly in front of the jade skeleton. Her fair wrist lifted slightly, and her fingers moved lightly, carrying a unique rhythm and beauty.
Qin Sang, who was nearby, was also stunned. He could not figure out Qingjun’s intention.
In order to better control the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, Qin Sang had once asked Qingjun for guidance in the Dao of puppets. Qingjun had not hidden anything from him. She had even taken out that ancient book on puppet seals and personally instructed him.
He could guess that Qingjun was most likely using a puppet seal secret technique, but no matter how he looked, he could not tell which puppet seal it was.
Every puppet seal in the ancient book had a different effect, but none of them matched Qingjun’s current actions, nor could they be used in a situation like this.
Could it be a new puppet seal? It feels even more complex than any puppet seal recorded in the ancient book. Wait! This is... Deep shock flashed through Qin Sang’s eyes.
He saw that the instant Qingjun completed the puppet seal, a faint wisp of gray qi suddenly surged out from deep within the marrow of a toe on the jade skeleton’s left foot.
The gray qi seemed extremely weak amid the purple light, but it was exceptionally tenacious. It had grown inside the jade skeleton’s bones, and it spread through his entire body at an astonishing speed.
The jade skeleton lowered his head and glanced down. His expression changed drastically, and the purple light around his body surged madly toward the gray qi.
Unexpectedly, the gray qi was like a disease clinging to the bone. It was hidden deep within his marrow and had long since fused with this skeleton, becoming inseparable from it. No matter how tyrannical the purple light was, it could not expel the gray qi.
Qin Sang had no time to remain shocked. He activated the Devil-Binding Chain at all costs, suppressing the jade skeleton.
Qingjun’s eyelids trembled slightly. She exchanged a look with Qin Sang and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Very quickly, every bone in the jade skeleton’s body was covered with gray qi. The gray qi shifted and gradually revealed the outline of a puppet seal.
Countless thoughts flashed through Qin Sang’s mind. He vaguely guessed part of the reason, and the surprise in his eyes grew stronger and stronger.
There was no doubt that the gray qi was the manifestation of a puppet seal, and it had been planted deep within the jade skeleton long ago, refining him into a puppet!
With Qingjun’s current cultivation, no matter how profound the secret technique was, it should have been impossible for her to plant a puppet seal inside the jade skeleton without the devilish monster noticing.
She could not have done it even to an ordinary Spiritual Infant cultivator. Unless Qingjun had acted long ago!
After thinking it over, Qin Sang realized that Qingjun’s only chance to come into contact with the jade skeleton had been during the battle at the blood pool, in her final struggle against Old Devil Ye.
The Azure Luan had already grabbed the jade skeleton. On the surface, it seemed to have been sent flying by Old Devil Ye, but in reality, Qingjun had deceived everyone and secretly transferred the puppet seal into the jade skeleton’s body!
Qin Sang suddenly understood. No wonder, after leaving Blood Lake, he had always felt as if something was missing from Qingjun, though he could not explain why.
She had not seemed severely injured, yet she took a very long time to recover. During that period, she had not even been able to use the Azure Luan puppet against enemies.
As it turned out, Qingjun had already sent the puppet seal inside the Azure Luan into the jade skeleton at that time, silently and unknowingly refining him into a puppet!
This was precisely the truth. At that time, it was not that Qingjun had lacked the strength to fight Old Devil Ye.
However, first, it would have required a battle to the death. Second, she might not have been able to seize the prize from Old Devil Ye.
The jade skeleton’s consciousness had already vanished, so even if she obtained a skeleton, it would not have been of much use.
Qingjun judged the situation and decided to beat him at his own game. She used the puppet seal to control the jade skeleton, feigned defeat, and allowed Old Devil Ye to seize it.
In this way, if Old Devil Ye did anything with the jade skeleton, she could use it to spy on Sin Abyss’s true secrets, and might even catch Sin Abyss completely off guard.
However, the situation had not developed entirely as she had anticipated. Old Devil Ye had schemed against everyone, betrayed Sin Abyss, and fled into Sin God Palace.
After Qingjun received the news, she left Yu City overnight and circled around the entrance of Sin God Palace several times. Unable to sense any fluctuation from the jade skeleton’s puppet seal, she could only return in frustration.
Earlier, when she had voluntarily stayed behind in Sin God Palace, she had actually been using a secret technique to sense the puppet seal. She had also been the first to discover Old Devil Ye’s traces.
All of Qin Sang’s previous doubts about his senior sister had now connected together.
After figuring this out, an even greater question arose in Qin Sang’s mind. He stared fixedly at the gray qi inside the jade skeleton’s body, unable to understand it no matter how he thought. What kind of puppet seal is this? It was one thing for it to evade Old Devil Ye’s senses, but before the devilish monster occupied the jade skeleton’s body and revived, he actually did not notice it either!
What he did not know was that this was a heart devil puppet seal!
Qingjun had practiced the Lifeless Devilish Seal and had been troubled by heart devils for many years.
With her astonishing talent, not long after she killed Leng Yuntian and advanced to the Spiritual Infant Realm, she had thought of a way to slay her heart devils and remove the hidden danger.
However, she felt that since these heart devils had troubled her for so long, simply cutting them away would have been too much of a waste. Could there not be some secret method that could make use of heart devils?
She had never lacked courage. She allowed the heart devils to coexist with her and turned her attention to the art of puppet seals. After painstaking contemplation for a hundred years, she actually created her own secret technique, refining the heart devils that made everyone turn pale at their mention into a unique heart devil puppet seal!
A heart devil puppet seal. It was shocking and unprecedented! If word of it spread, who in the immortal cultivation world would not be astonished?
This kind of puppet seal inherited the formless and intangible traits of heart devils. Hidden inside the jade skeleton’s body, it had not only left Old Devil Ye completely unaware, but after the devilish monster occupied the jade skeleton, he had also detected nothing unusual at all.
Of course. This was also related to the fact that the devilish monster had only recently escaped confinement and had not yet recovered his strength.
If the devilish monster had been at his peak, or if Old Devil Ye had not been so deeply wary of the devilish monster and had released him twenty years ago, the heart devil puppet seal would probably have been discovered long ago.
It was a strange convergence of circumstances. Who could have imagined that Qingjun’s sudden stroke of inspiration would play such a crucial role at this moment?
"You treated all living beings as pieces on a board, so I used you as a piece!" Qingjun gave a cold snort, and the heart devil puppet seal appeared in the world.
The jade skeleton devilish monster sensed that something was wrong and madly activated the purple light to suppress it.
Unfortunately, before the devilish monster seized the body, the heart devil puppet seal had already fused into the jade skeleton’s brocade skin. It could be said that the devilish monster had walked straight into the net. How could the puppet seal be expelled so easily?
Without the Devil-Binding Chain, even if Qingjun activated the heart devil puppet seal, it likely would have been very difficult for her to control the devilish monster. With the two working together, panic finally appeared on the jade skeleton’s face!
Through the brocade skin, one could clearly see the gray qi growing denser and denser, transforming into a mysterious puppet seal. Its fluctuations were almost imperceptible as it branded itself onto every bone.
No matter how the purple light struck it, it could not erase the puppet seal. To make matters worse, the jade skeleton could not spare his attention to resist the Devil-Binding Chain.
The Devil-Binding Chain and the array diagram had completed their fusion. Every iron chain was dark and glossy, tightly binding the jade skeleton. Black lightning stabbed deep into his body, suppressing the purple light, coordinating from inside and outside with the heart devil puppet seal.
Even so, the jade skeleton had not lost the power to resist, and he struggled madly.
The heart devil puppet seal, purple light, and Devil-Binding Chain. Three kinds of power collided inside his body, releasing fluctuations that made one’s heart tremble.