Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 771: Relic of an Ancient Cultivator

Qin Sang waved his hand and put the flying yaksha away, then summoned the ghostly banners and drew out a strand of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, letting it cover his body and form a black fire shield. He guarded himself further with his spiritual consciousness.

He stepped forward two paces. The fire shield flickered slightly.

Qin Sang could feel the aura of the devilish flame. The aura was violent and terrifying, but as soon as it touched his fire shield, it immediately softened.

There was no sign of any agitation from the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

Though the shield trembled faintly and the aura was blocked outside, the flame could easily pierce through it if it wished, yet it did not.

Despite its extraordinary origin, the flame was ultimately lifeless. When encountering a flame of the same origin, it naturally showed affinity. As long as it was not provoked, it would not attack Qin Sang on its own.

Even so, the impact on his primordial spirit was unavoidable. Thankfully, with the protection of the Jade Buddha, the influence was negligible and posed no threat to his soul or spiritual consciousness.

"As expected, it works..."

Qin Sang's face lit up with joy, and he withdrew the fat silkworm.

Upon approaching the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, the Purple Mist vanished entirely.

No matter how powerful the Purple Mist was, it was on a completely different level compared to the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells and had been completely pushed back. The silkworm, which had maintained the Poison-Warding Armor for so long, could finally rest. It eagerly fell into slumber the moment it returned to the insect basket.

Qin Sang turned sideways, pressed close to the cliff wall, and inched forward with great caution.

Black devilish flames loomed just ahead.

He widened his eyes and held his breath, extremely tense, not daring to make a sound for fear of anything going wrong.

If anyone disturbed the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells even slightly, he would have no chance to flee and would be reduced to ashes on the spot.

Though the flames occupied only a small space, the distance felt endlessly long. Cold sweat soaked through his back.

At last, Qin Sang passed through the wall of flames. He exhaled deeply in relief, breathing heavily, and cast a wary glance at the flames before focusing his attention on the space ahead.

Pale gray ghostly mist drifted in all directions. There was no wind, yet the air was deathly cold. The environment felt strikingly similar to that of the Immortal Tomb.

How vast is this space?

How many ghostly creatures lay hidden within it.

Qin Sang stood still, unwilling to leave the aura range of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells just yet. Should anything happen, he would need to retreat quickly. Remaining in place, he released the flying yaksha and sent it into the mist to scout.

Corpse qi surged from the yaksha as it silently merged into the mist.

Qin Sang lowered his eyes, using the soul imprint within the yaksha to guide it deeper into the mist.

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, the ancient teleportation array, the timing of their appearance...

With all these coincidences stacked together, if someone claimed Seven-Kill Hall had nothing to do with Ziwei Palace, Qin Sang would never believe it.

If this place truly resembled the Immortal Tomb, it would come as no surprise.

The flying yaksha traveled a short distance through the mist but saw no tombs, no gravestones, or anything resembling a burial site.

Qin Sang muttered to himself, "Seems like it’s not an ancient graveyard! No Immortal Tomb here!"

His expression relaxed slightly.

The Immortal Tomb in Ziwei Palace was a place even Dongyang Bo and Chenyan treated with caution. There had been a ghost king within, strong enough to rival a Spiritual Infant grandmaster. If such a tomb existed here, Qin Sang would have had serious second thoughts.

What was even stranger was that, despite being inside for quite a while, the yaksha had yet to encounter a single ghostly creature.

"Hmm?"

Qin Sang’s expression shifted.

The yaksha stopped moving. It twisted its neck, its eyes flickering with eerie light as it stared at a spot on the ground to the left.

From the earth, a piece of bronze protruded. It looked like the corner of a suit of armor.

The bronze was heavily corroded with rust. Most of it remained buried underground, but it was clearly the remnant of an ancient cultivator’s battle armor.

The flying yaksha looked around, then approached the armor.

It extended its ghostly hand and lightly touched it.

Unexpectedly, what appeared to be sturdy armor crumbled at the touch. A single plate fell off and turned to dust instantly. The endless passage of time had worn it away completely.

"So the armor has rotted... Is there still a lingering soul? If not, then how was this ghostly land formed?" Qin Sang murmured to himself, his gaze faintly sorrowful.

It was clear at a glance that the armor was no common artifact. Its original owner must have been a formidable cultivator in ancient times. Now the armor lay buried beneath the earth, its power long gone. The cultivator had vanished without a trace, not even a corpse left behind.

Even such a powerful ancient cultivator had failed to achieve immortality, perishing in this remote, hidden valley, forgotten by the world.

Can today’s cultivators really achieve the Dao of Immortality and shine as bright as the sun and moon?

The yaksha continued onward and soon spotted a broken sword. It too crumbled into ash at a single touch.

Then, a white skeleton appeared within its field of vision.

The white skeleton had only its upper half remaining. It was unclear whether it had been cleaved in two while still alive or damaged after death.

Qin Sang's mind stirred. He had finally spotted something unusual. He immediately ordered the yaksha to investigate.

The yaksha silently approached, its eyes rotating as it examined the bones.

It paused briefly, then bent down and reached out to touch them.

Just then, a flash of pale light flickered across the skeleton. In the next moment, a ghostly shadow burst forth, shrieking as it lunged at the yaksha.

Caught off guard by the sudden wail, the yaksha merely flickered its gaze and swiftly retreated several zhang in a single movement.

The ghost had no sense of reason. It pursued relentlessly, its cries filled with extreme hatred. This was a vengeful spirit, consumed by the desire to tear the yaksha apart.

Swish!

A ghostly hand appeared without warning, thrusting straight into the ghost's body. With a gentle twist, corpse qi surged violently.

The ghost froze, let out a chilling scream, and was torn apart by the claw on the spot.

"It looked frightening, but its strength wasn’t high. It seems like its cultivation was decent when it was alive. In the Immortal Tomb, many cultivators died one after another. The more primordial spirits they devoured, the stronger the ghostly creatures became, eventually giving rise to ghost kings. No cultivators have ever entered this place before, so it’s unlikely that any powerful ghosts dwell here..."

Qin Sang sensed the spirit’s strength and made his assessment.

The flying yaksha flashed and returned to the skeleton.

It touched the bones again, but no more spirits emerged.

Qin Sang, emboldened, instructed the yaksha to quicken its pace in exploring the area.

The deeper it went, the more remnants of weapons and armor littered the ground—sabers, spears, swords, halberds—everything imaginable. None had survived the passage of time. Even those that appeared intact crumbled to dust with the slightest touch.

There were more and more skeletons as well.

In some places, heaps of stark white bones had piled into massive mounds, sending chills down one’s spine. This may have once been a battlefield.

Qin Sang directed the yaksha to test isolated skeletons. A small portion of them had vengeful spirits attached, but their strength was similar. None of them were especially powerful evil spirits.

At one point, the flying yaksha disturbed a small bone mound, causing over a dozen vengeful spirits to rise. All of them displayed the same level of power.

Each of these spirits had completely lost their sentience, driven only by boundless hatred and the instinct to kill.

"If all the ghosts here are like that spirit, then this will be manageable but this still isn’t enough..." Qin Sang muttered.

He ordered the yaksha to avoid the skeletons and head straight toward the deepest part of the space, to see just how vast this place was and how many bones were buried within.