Gateway of Immortality

The Five-Elemental Breaking Sword was a spell designed specifically to dismantle barriers.

Since Gu Tiannan was only in the Qi Refining Realm, his collection of spiritual materials was limited. As a result, the Five-Elemental Spiritual Swords he crafted to complement the spell were of subpar quality, making Qin Sang use them less frequently over time.

Later, after mastering the spell, Qin Sang managed to gather additional spiritual materials and had the Five-Elemental Spiritual Swords reforged by an expert. The newly refined swords were of a significantly higher caliber than before.

Now, he had found the key to breaking the barrier.

The five swords advanced in unison, transforming into streaks of rainbow light as they pierced into the barrier.

Immediately, the barrier radiated waves of spiritual brilliance, rippling like flowing water and casting multicolored hues across the chamber.

Qin Sang put aside all thoughts of Yu Hua, focusing entirely on the barrier before him. He dared not miss a single change in its structure. He had to precisely control the Five-Elemental Breaking Sword, leveraging the power of the five elements to break through the intricate and layered barriers one by one to succeed.

Even so, it still took him a full thirty breaths to finally open the barrier.

Fortunately, Yu Hua had yet to restrain the flying yaksha completely.

Although there was no direct battle involved in breaking the barrier, the mental strain was no less exhausting than the previous fierce fight. One mistake could trigger a backlash from the barrier, rendering all his efforts in vain.

Physically and mentally drained, Qin Sang wiped the sweat from his forehead. His face was unnaturally pale as he turned to glance behind him.

Outside, the battle raged on. Yu Hua, entangled with the yaksha, was finding it difficult to focus on breaking the barrier. This barrier should be able to buy Qin Sang some more time.

With these thoughts in mind, Qin Sang stepped forward, staring into the impenetrable darkness ahead.

The path was unknown. He had no idea what lay ahead.

Wandering Man had been extremely secretive about this place. He had once warned that the road beyond was incredibly perilous—so dangerous that even Wandering Man himself was unsure of survival. That was why he had urged Qin Sang to leave directly, lest he become entangled in it.

However, Qin Sang had already lost too much—his silver knife talisman astra, Black Dragon Stone, Spirit-Binding Rope, and even his living corpse had been destroyed. He was now utterly drained and faced near-certain doom. He could no longer afford to heed Wandering Man's warnings.

Even if the path ahead meant a near-death ordeal, it was still better than staying in his current predicament.

Chaos provided the best chance of seizing a sliver of survival chance amidst the impossible.

Determined, Qin Sang summoned his ebony sword for protection and stepped into the darkness.

The next moment, the world spun violently around him.

The sensation was all too familiar.

A thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind. There's a teleportation array in the darkness. As his vision cleared, he found himself in another vast, empty ice hall.

Unlike the one outside, this hall bore distinct traces of artificial excavation.

The rectangular hall appeared to have been carved open using a treasured sword, its edges precise and rigid.

Behind him was still pitch-black, while the ice wall in front of him shimmered with an unusual glow. With a single glance, Qin Sang could tell that these restrictions were meant to reinforce the ice wall, seemingly designed to prevent intrusion from outside.

Swiftly scanning the environment, Qin Sang was surprised by how eerily quiet it was. There was no immediate danger as he had anticipated. His figure flickered as he moved swiftly to the ice wall.

The ice wall was somewhat translucent, allowing him to barely make out the scenery beyond.

Outside the ice wall, fierce winds stirred up endless snow and ice, battering against the barrier relentlessly. His vision was filled with a blinding white expanse.

Apart from the raging blizzard, there seemed to be no immediate threats. No ancient beasts were in sight.

Contemplating his next move, Qin Sang refrained from breaking the ice wall’s barrier. Instead, he sat cross-legged against it, summoning the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions and retrieving an item from his Mustard Seed Pouch.

It was the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions, an astra he had obtained from Sun De!

Yu Hua was not the only one who possessed an astra—so did he!

Fixing his gaze on the massive banner, Qin Sang sent his spiritual consciousness probing into it, but as expected, the astra remained completely unresponsive.

"It seems like I need to set up an array first."

Muttering to himself, Qin Sang checked his internal state. His injuries had improved slightly, so he waved his hand, activating the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions, setting up the array before him.

"Come out!"

With a low command, Qin Sang stirred the yin energy, causing ten primary souls to emerge from the ghostly banner.

Yet even now, he still could not sense any link between the primary souls and the astra.

Does it require blood and essence...?

Qin Sang recalled every detail he had observed back at the dark pool. He knew that demonic sects possessed numerous blood-refinement techniques. However, he was unsure whether simply offering blood and essence would suffice or if a secret art was also required.

If a secret art was necessary, then he had no choice but to abandon his plan of using the astra and instead focus on breaking the barrier and escaping.

Success or failure—this was the decisive moment!

A strand of spiritual power transformed into a small blade, slicing open Qin Sang’s fingertip.

A few drops of blood and essence were forced out, dividing into ten droplets that flew toward the ten primary souls.

Sensing Qin Sang’s blood and essence, the primary souls reacted like ravenous fledglings, eagerly opening their mouths and lunging forward to swallow the droplets.

With the naked eye, Qin Sang could clearly see his blood and essence flowing into the primary souls, their bodies gradually enveloped in a faint crimson glow.

He attempted to activate the astra, but it remained unresponsive.

It's still not enough!

Qin Sang pondered for a moment.

Back in the pool, Yu Hua’s primary souls had been nearly saturated with blood strands, their crimson glow several times more intense before they could barely support the astra.

Clenching his jaw, Qin Sang steeled himself. Ignoring his own weakened state, he forced out a significant portion of his blood and essence, feeding it to the primary souls.

Roar! Roar!

The primary souls let out excited howls as the blood strands rapidly spread throughout their entire bodies. The crimson glow intensified further.

Qin Sang’s already unnaturally pale complexion turned almost translucent, but instead of despair, his face lit up with overwhelming joy.

He finally felt a response from the astra!

This method works!

Ecstatic, Qin Sang glanced down at the astra, then abruptly waved his hand, hurling it forward. At the same time, he forcefully restrained the excited primary souls, compelling them to unite their strength and support the astra together.

Boom!

A terrifying aura erupted from the astra, sending shivers through the air!

The ten primary souls struggled under its immense pressure, their voices strained as they roared in effort, but they succeeded in holding it aloft.

Qin Sang hastily stuffed a handful of spiritual pills into his mouth before sinking his focus into the astra.

To his surprise, the astra’s interior was not filled with the billions of trapped souls he had imagined. Instead, it was an endless expanse of Demonic Flames of Nine Hells, blotting out the sky, stretching into infinity. There was nothing else in sight.

Is my cultivation level too low to perceive the full scope of the astra?

The thought crossed Qin Sang’s mind, but time was short, and he had no time to investigate further. It was enough that he could control the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells!

As his spiritual consciousness linked with the astra, Qin Sang willed it into action. A swirling vortex instantly appeared on the banner, from which the flames billowed forth. The flames gathered into a concentrated stream, coiling around Qin Sang in a menacing spiral.

The flames were unimaginably deadly. Qin Sang had no doubt that, without the astra’s restraint, he would be reduced to ashes in an instant.

Yet, at this moment, the flames obeyed him completely, moving as he commanded.

At the same time, he realized the astra’s insatiable hunger for spiritual power—a bottomless abyss that ceaselessly devoured his spiritual power. Fortunately, his injuries had recovered somewhat, and he had taken several spiritual pills in advance, allowing him to barely sustain its consumption.

However, this was not necessarily a disadvantage.