Chapter 1143: Azure Luan |
He had knocked the demon king’s favored concubine unconscious.
The falcon demon glanced around, then folded his wings together. Threads of lightning surged and converged soundlessly toward the center, gathering in mid-air into a silver-white sphere of lightning.
Within the lightning sphere, countless slender bolts of lightning darted back and forth without pause.
The falcon demon muttered an incantation. Activating an unknown secret technique, the lightning sphere suddenly dropped and pointed toward the ground below.
"So it really is here!" The falcon demon’s eyes lit up with delight, and he said smugly, "I sensed long ago that something nearby was stirring the power of lightning in my bloodline. Who would have thought that Demon King Qianji’s treasure vault was actually hidden inside the favored concubine’s cave dwelling?"
He carefully probed the surroundings, yet found nothing. His spiritual consciousness swept across the area, but he felt no fluctuations, nor any trace of a barrier.
Only by following the lightning sphere’s guidance did he discover an extremely concealed entrance. The floor beneath the jade bed split open soundlessly, revealing a flight of stairs.
"That old demon is truly cunning. He actually used a mortal mechanism!" The falcon demon cursed under his breath and flashed into the underground passage.
The tunnel extended deep underground. It was not dark inside. A row of luminous pearls had been embedded into the walls, illuminating the way. At the end of the passage stood a stone door.
Suddenly, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him. "Daoist, thank you for helping me locate the treasure vault."
In an instant, every feather on the falcon demon’s body bristled. Someone had been lurking behind him, and he had not sensed a thing!
"Who’s there?!" Terrified, he reacted without thinking. Lightning blazed across his entire body and condensed into a bolt as thick as an arm, which shot viciously toward his rear.
He spun sharply and saw a sight that filled him with despair. A masked man stood behind him, a pair of azure wings spread from his back. He had appeared there at some unknown moment.
Facing the lightning strike, the masked man neither dodged nor retreated. He merely raised one hand. True essence surged in his palm as he seized the bolt of lightning tightly in his grasp. His figure only swayed slightly.
In the next instant, a flash of sword light erupted before the falcon demon’s eyes. A terrifying sword force descended.
The falcon demon’s heart trembled. Before he could react, the surrounding space was sealed by a sword array. Sword lights quivered faintly in the void, their tips all pointing straight at him.
Enveloped by the sword array, the falcon demon’s eyes filled with horror.
Though his opponent was not a Transformation Realm great demon, his strength was overwhelming. The falcon demon had no doubt that if he made the slightest move, he would be pierced through by ten thousand swords in the next breath.
"Sword force! You’re a human cultivator?" the falcon demon cried out in shock.
He had heard that the most talented human sword cultivators could comprehend sword force during the Core Formation Realm, and their combat strength was astonishing.
Now that he had witnessed it firsthand, he had no power to resist.
"Do not act rashly, Daoist. Since you helped me find the treasure, I have no intention of taking your life. If I grow nervous and make a mistake, that would be unfortunate." Qin Sang said calmly as he sent out a streak of light that sealed the falcon demon’s cultivation.
The falcon demon burned with shame and anger. The man had returned his earlier words to the favored concubine word for word.
His eyes darted about wildly. At this point, he no longer cared about any treasure. He only wanted to figure out how to escape from this human’s grasp.
The other party claimed he would not take his life, but the falcon demon knew very well that there were countless methods more painful than death.
Qin Sang ignored whatever thoughts were running through the falcon demon’s mind.
He suspected the falcon demon might be the fat chicken but there was no time to question him now.[1]
If he truly was the fat chicken, then he must have been very familiar with the interior of Endless Valley. After clarifying matters, Qin Sang could seek an opportunity to return there in the future and search for the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood.
He wondered how this fellow had ended up here, and where his mother had gone.
Qin Sang remembered that when the fat chicken had just broken from its shell, it had already possessed Demonic Spirit Realm cultivation and had beaten him badly. Now, however, he had captured this falcon with ease.
Qin Sang examined the barrier on the stone door. With the assistance of the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, he identified its weak points. After some effort, he finally broke the barrier and pushed the door open.
"Heh!" When he saw what had been displayed inside the treasure vault, even Qin Sang felt slightly dazzled.
The most precious treasures had certainly been carried by Demon King Qianji himself. The treasure vault mostly contained chest after chest of middle-grade spirit stones.
Behind them stood a row of wooden racks upon which various astras had been placed.
Treasure light shimmered everywhere. Their grades might not have been particularly high. They were likely items Demon King Qianji no longer used but had been unwilling to discard. If Core Formation Realm cultivators obtained them, they would surely treasure them dearly.
Each treasure had been sealed with barriers left by the demon king.
Qin Sang did not allow his mind to be distracted by such wealth. His gaze swept swiftly across the racks until he finally spotted a square stone slab. It matched exactly the description given by Senior Sister Qingjun!
This is it! Joy rose in Qin Sang’s heart. He stepped quickly to the rack and fixed his eyes on the slab.
Seeing that Qin Sang’s target was actually the slab, the Lightning-Devouring Falcon, whose cultivation had been sealed and who stood immobilized at the doorway, was greatly startled. He silently cursed his misfortune.
He could clearly sense that what had attracted him was precisely this slab!
Demon King Qianji had placed several layers of barrier upon the slab, clearly attaching great importance to it. After observing carefully, Qin Sang located the flaws in the barriers. He activated his true essence and cautiously began to break them.
He needed to pour true essence into it in order to trigger the Azure Luan’s phantom within the slab.
Layer by layer, the barriers were dismantled by Qin Sang. At last, the slab’s true form was revealed.
The mysterious slab’s surface was uneven and gray-white in color. It lay quietly upon the wooden rack, with no Azure Luan phantom appearing. It looked no different from an ordinary slab of stone.
Since he had obtained it so easily, Qin Sang decided to take it away at once and leave the Myriad Serpent Abyss first. He would not trigger the Azure Luan phantom here, lest something unexpected occur.
However, the moment his fingers touched the slab, a sudden change erupted! A layer of azure light spread across the slab.
The azure light seemed alive. It coiled around Qin Sang’s fingers and surged rapidly into his body.
Caught completely off guard, Qin Sang’s expression changed drastically.
He had no idea what that azure light was. He had never expected the mysterious slab to react on its own. Qingjun had never mentioned such a possibility.
This is bad! Qin Sang cried out inwardly.
Whether the azure light was beneficial or harmful, he could not allow it to enter his body without knowing its nature.
He reacted swiftly, pulling back his hand at once and frantically circulating his true essence in an attempt to stop the azure light from spreading further into him.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out. The slab shattered! Fragments of stone flew everywhere.
Amid the dust and debris, an Azure Luan phantom spread its wings and soared upward. An unprecedented, world-shaking aura burst forth violently.
The treasury now felt unbearably narrow. The Azure Luan phantom circled slightly, then lowered its head and gazed down at Qin Sang.
It was as though they were facing a true heavenly demon. Their minds trembled violently, and the falcon demon shook uncontrollably.
A long, piercing cry rang out.
In the next instant, the Azure Luan phantom transformed into a streak of azure light and, without hesitation, plunged into Qin Sang’s body.
In a daze, Qin Sang felt as if he had been transported to the primordial wilderness.
He seemed to see a vast and boundless heaven and earth filled with ancient aura. An Azure Luan traversed through thunderclouds, treating the terrifying lightning as though it were nothing at all!
1. The fat chicken is the child of the Lightning-Devouring Falcon. Qin Sang teased it and called it "fat chicken". ☜