Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 785: Guidance

Among the countless sword marks on the wall, this one was the most inconspicuous, yet also the most unique.

The moment he saw it, a wave of unease surged through Qin Sang’s heart.

He stared fixedly at the sword mark, forcibly suppressing the turbulence within him. Then, without a hint of expression, he turned and glanced at the other cultivators still searching behind him. Seeing that no one had noticed this spot, he pretended to continue his search while keeping his gaze on the sword mark the entire time.

The stone wall was covered in overlapping sword marks. This was just one among many, and it didn’t appear to be freshly made.

But this particular mark was different. It contained a distinct sword will. The moment Qin Sang laid eyes on it, a strange sense of familiarity welled up within him. One of the killing symbols inside the ebony sword began to tremble slightly, as if it had sensed something.

What shocked him even more was that the symbol reacting was not one of the first five from the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment. It was the sixth killing symbol, the one that had yet to fully take form, created by Senior Qingzhu himself.

Only someone who had cultivated that sixth killing symbol would be able to recognize the difference.

Qin Sang was visibly astonished.

Unless Senior Qingzhu had taken on a disciple, then only the two of them in the entire Canglang Sea had cultivated this art.

He had searched for Senior Qingzhu’s whereabouts in vain and had feared the worst. Only now did he realize that Senior Qingzhu had not perished and had even left a sword mark here.

But was it left unintentionally, or did it carry a deeper meaning?

One thing was certain. If Senior Qingzhu was still alive, he would never have given up searching for a way home. Coming to Seven-Kill Hall and the Sky Tower would have been entirely within reason.

He still had old friends in the Small Cold Domain, and enemies with a blood feud.

As for why he had never returned, whether it was because he failed to find the teleportation array or had met with misfortune, no one could say.

This sword mark might be the key to uncovering the truth.

Qin Sang waited until the last person left.

After searching in vain for so long, the others finally gave up.

Everyone had been convinced by the earlier speculation that the grand witch priest had most likely retrieved the treasure from inside the valley, and seeing no more hope, they were unwilling to waste time here any longer.

Qin Sang continued to search without drawing attention to himself but found no second sword mark like the first.

Once he was certain that everyone had gone far, he returned to the stone wall. After a moment of contemplation, he drew the ebony sword and sent out a gentle sword qi aimed directly at the sword mark.

The sword qi was slender and light, drifting toward the mark.

Qin Sang had examined the mark carefully earlier but found no clues. He still didn’t know whether Senior Qingzhu had left it intentionally or if it concealed some kind of secret.

Thinking of the incident at Ziwei Palace, he decided to try slicing it with sword qi.

The sword qi perfectly matched the shape of the sword mark and silently merged with it upon contact.

The mark remained completely unchanged.

Suddenly, the nearby black light rippled, and dozens of black threads shot out in an instant, racing toward Qin Sang at an alarming speed.

These threads were only a tiny portion of the entire black mass, yet they made Qin Sang’s expression change drastically. If he were struck by them, he had no doubt he would be riddled with holes.

Whoosh!

With a flash of light, Qin Sang retreated dozens of zhang in an instant. Seeing the threads finally retract, he let out a breath of relief.

No wonder even the grand witch priest and the Devil Lord had avoided fighting near the boundary of the threads. These threads could detect fluctuations in true essence, and even cultivators outside their perimeter were not safe.

Once the black threads had returned and stabilized again, Qin Sang stepped back to his original position and stared at the unchanged sword mark, falling into deep thought.

He suddenly seemed to recall something, and his eyes lit up.

Closing his eyes slightly, his eyes subtly changed. His aura shifted in an imperceptible way.

He now fully immersed his mind in the art Senior Qingzhu had created.

Though he had practiced this art, he had never followed Senior Qingzhu’s path. His heart remained unshaken by the art, kept steady by the Jade Buddha.

But now he voluntarily allowed himself to sink into the art, resonating with the killing symbol, and released another strand of sword qi.

As he leapt backward to avoid the threads again, Qin Sang stared hard at the sword mark. The moment the sword qi struck it, something truly changed.

A faint flash of light appeared within the sword mark. Then, from within the stone wall, a dim glowing orb slowly emerged and suddenly shot toward Qin Sang with a gentle flick.

"It worked!"

Qin Sang’s face lit up with joy. He reached out and caught the glowing orb in his hand.

Unexpectedly, the glowing orb suddenly dispersed, and Qin Sang’s expression changed. But the next moment, a stream of information surfaced in his mind.

More precisely, it was a guidance.

"It should be a nearby fragment."

Qin Sang confirmed the contents of the message. Senior Qingzhu was directing him to a specific mountain fragment. Beyond that, there was nothing else.

"Did Senior Qingzhu leave this guidance specifically for me, or for his disciple?

"If it was meant for me, then at least fifty years ago, when I fell from the Sky Tower, he was still alive. We both came through the same teleportation array. Upon learning of the ancient corpse that descended from the heavens, he must have connected the dots. Perhaps he was also searching for me.

"Was this his way of trying to tell me something?

"There’s no telling when the sword mark was left. Senior Qingzhu had disguised it extremely well, and even left behind guidance here. Not even the grand witch priest or the Devil Lord discovered it. This couldn’t be achieved by art alone. What cultivation realm had Senior Qingzhu reached when he left the mark?

"If he had already reached the Spiritual Infant Realm, then why did he remain unknown all this time?"

Countless doubts stirred within Qin Sang’s heart, his gaze flickering.

He cast a wary glance around, then with a tap of his foot, shot out of the valley. His eyes swept across the surroundings as he sped off.

Before long, Qin Sang landed atop a mountain fragment.

Looking ahead, he saw another mountain fragment, slightly smaller than the valley.

It was a particularly perilous location. A stone staircase spiraled upward into the mountain, leading to an ancient hall nestled against a cliff face.

Behind the hall was a sheer drop. Aside from that, there was nothing particularly noteworthy.

The ancient hall had no protective barriers and was in severe disrepair. Much of its roof had collapsed. Only a corner clinging to the cliff still had some broken tiles precariously hanging on.

There were no signboards, dragon pillars[1], or any inscriptions bearing names or words.

At a glance, this place seemed no different from other fragments. It didn’t even have ancient protective barriers. If there had ever been a treasure here, it had surely been looted long ago. Yet Senior Qingzhu’s guidance had pointed precisely to this place.

With a flash, Qin Sang concealed himself and silently swept onto the stone stairs. He felt no abnormalities and quickly made his way toward the hall.

The hall was tall. Even through the broken walls and collapsed ruins, it was clear that it had once been magnificent.

Standing before the structure, Qin Sang searched for other sword marks, but found nothing. After a moment of silence, he fixed his gaze on the stone wall behind the hall.

The building had clearly been thoroughly destroyed. The final possibility lay in that stone wall.

Senior Qingzhu wouldn’t have guided him here without reason.

Clang!

With swift movements, Qin Sang laid down a barrier-breaking array in the area. At the same time, the ebony sword shot forward, slicing diagonally at the wall.

As soon as the sword qi touched the stone, it silently dissolved and was absorbed.

The familiar scene made Qin Sang’s eyes brighten with excitement. Without hesitation, he continued activating the ebony sword. One streak of sword qi after another sank into the stone wall, where faint flashes of light began to shimmer.

1. These are ancient pillars with dragon patterns sculpted on it. ☜