Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 798: The Jiao Race

The crystal exploded.

A feather shot out, quivering in mid-air before swiftly disintegrating from the tip as though weathered by time. In the end, it completely dissolved into nothingness.

A sharp sound tore through the air.

A streak of azure light flew swiftly into the cave.

It was a demonic bird.

Any immortal cultivator who saw this scene would have recognized it as a type of demonic beast known as a Jade Pigeon, highly venomous and extremely dangerous. One had to exercise great caution when encountering such a creature.

This particular Jade Pigeon was much smaller than its kind, but it displayed remarkable intelligence. Its cultivation was still far from the Transformation Realm, yet it had clearly been awakened by the Imperial Elixir.

When it saw the feather dissolve, panic flashed in the Jade Pigeon’s eyes. It let out a sharp cry, flapped its wings wildly, and almost crashed into the stone wall. Its shrill voice kept repeating, "Disaster... Disaster..."

The cave within the mountain was vast and connected to the underground.

The Jade Pigeon flew straight down without pause, eventually arriving before a stone gate surrounded by azure light. It panted heavily.

Before it could speak, a deep voice rang out from behind the gate.

"What happened outside to make you panic like this?"

The Jade Pigeon spread its wings and prostrated itself on the ground, answering in a trembling voice, "Reporting to the king, the Soul Feather left behind by the prince has shattered. It may have already fallen..."

There was no ripple in the voice behind the stone gate. "Which prince?"

The Jade Pigeon propped itself up with a wing and pointed toward the upper cave. "The one Your Majesty personally selected. The youngest one that you helped complete its transformation and sent to the human holy land, Seven-Kill Hall. Before leaving, it left behind a Soul Feather..."

A sound came from behind the stone door. "Oh him! I see."

The tone remained calm, without a hint of anger. Then silence followed.

The Jade Pigeon was quietly surprised, caught off guard by the response.

After a moment, the king’s voice spoke again from behind the gate. "Is there anything else?"

The Jade Pigeon quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I was wondering if we should send another prince. I await your command."

"No need."

The king’s voice turned firm. "By sending one prince, we have fulfilled our agreement with the Jiao Race. Entering the human holy land and meeting with misfortune is within expectations.

"Then..."

The Jade Pigeon hesitated before saying, "Should we let the Jiao Race know about the death of the prince?"

The king paused for a while before replying, "Absolutely not! The Jiao King is arrogant and domineering. If it knows about this, it will surely force our race to send another prince."

"In order to infiltrate Canglang Sea, the prince must be below the Transformation Realm. Only then will the humans remain unaware. We used that ancient secret technique, the Bloodburning Technique, to force its transformation. Even though traces of demonic qi remain after transformation, most human cultivators who use pills of our race also carry remnants of demonic qi. Only we can distinguish between the two. That is the only way to fool the humans and sneak into Desolate Island.

"This secret technique comes with a heavy cost. It not only requires the prince to have exceptional talent, but once transformed into human form, its cultivation will be forever halted. It will lose the opportunity to ever break through to the Transformation Realm, and its lifespan will be greatly reduced.

"Moreover, the technique must be personally performed by me. Each time I cast it, my vital energy suffers severe damage, and I must go into seclusion for many years to recover.

"This useless secret technique... Who knows where the Jiao found it?

"They claim that a supreme treasure lies in Seven-Kill Hall of the human holy land, perhaps even an opportunity for Divine Transformation, but they refuse to reveal the source of their information. They simply want to order the other races to do the work for them. Even setting aside whether the news is true, this is not the first time Seven-Kill Hall has opened. There are many experts among the humans. How could they have missed it?

"I only agreed to assist them out of necessity. There is no need to do anything more. Do not let this matter leak. Take another Sea Soul Crystal and Azure Feather and place them back where they were."

The Jade Pigeon bowed deeply. It had been deeply shaken by the secrets it had heard. After receiving the king’s orders, it responded respectfully then flew back the way it had come.

The cave returned to silence.

...

Qin Sang had no idea what was happening within Canglang Sea.

He was fleeing for his life, glancing back every so often, deeply unsettled.

When the cold flame erupted, it happened to be right at the eye of the storm. The surrounding hurricanes were affected by the power of the Dongming Cold Flame, causing the qi of the surroundings to fall into chaos and forming a localized vortex.

Fortunately, Qin Sang reacted swiftly and managed to escape.

"If not for the Flame Orb, I likely wouldn’t have survived this time..."

A bitter smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Although he was eager to understand the true function of the bone flute, this place was no longer safe. He retrieved a jade talisman, confirmed his direction, and flew toward the outer edge of the storm.

After a prolonged chase, he had veered far off course. Only after much hardship did he finally reach the storm’s edge.

Remaining cautious, he waited until he saw the skies outside were calm before emerging.

Before long, Qin Sang arrived near Dongmen Island and was startled to find the entire island in ruins. It had been completely abandoned.

The island’s city had been devastated, with parts of the landmass collapsed and sunken into the sea. It was clear that it had suffered from the aftermath of some terrifying force.

This island, once one of the gateways to Seven-Kill Hall, had now become a wasteland. Qin Sang saw no corpses, which suggested the inhabitants had fled in advance.

A battle between Spiritual Infant grandmasters must have reached here! Qin Sang thought to himself, inwardly alarmed. Remaining vigilant and seeing no signs of danger nearby, he did not dare linger. After a moment of thought, he flew northwest.

The closest island to Dongmen Island was a large one called Leichen Island. There was a cultivator city there, making it the central hub of the surrounding sea region. Qin Sang decided to head to Leichen Island to gather information about the aftermath of the fight between Spiritual Infant cultivators.

His journey went smoothly.

When Leichen Island came into view and everything appeared normal, Qin Sang landed quietly on the island and entered the city to inquire about news.

"You’re asking about the Spiritual Infant grandmasters?" "You’ve come late. The battle between the Spiritual Infants has already ended. They say it raged from Seven-Kill Hall all the way to the edge of the storm. It was unimaginably intense and nearly destroyed Dongmen Island. Everyone here on Leichen Island was in a panic, and we almost evacuated the entire island. Later on, for some unknown reason, the grandmasters from both races suddenly stopped fighting and left on their own." The shopkeeper gave Qin Sang a measured look.

Qin Sang was slightly surprised. He guessed that the Devil Lord and the grand witch priest might have reached some sort of agreement.

"Did those grandmasters leave any message before they departed? Anything about Seven-Kill Hall?"

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "There was a rumor. Supposedly, the next time Seven-Kill Hall opens, it will once again be the witch race’s responsibility to activate it. They say it won’t be too long, but no one gave a clear timeline. Still, I’ve been on this island the whole time, so I can’t say if the rumor is true or not..."

Qin Sang left behind a pouch of spirit stones. The shopkeeper’s face lit up with satisfaction and personally saw him out.

Qin Sang was walking about in his true appearance.

The Qiongyu Merchant Guild had a branch on Leichen Island as well, and it was doing quite well. It was one of the locations most valued by the guild. However, until he eliminated Xiang Yi, Qin Sang would not make contact with the Qiongyu Merchant Guild to avoid exposing his identity.

"So the witch race hasn’t achieved its goal yet. The next attempt might spark an even fiercer conflict... but that has nothing to do with me. The more frequently Seven-Kill Hall opens, the greater my chance of locating the teleportation array. I should just focus on my own matters. I’ll head directly to Tianxing Island..."

Qin Sang made his decision.