Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 821: Mingmen

With each injury she suffered, the woman’s strength visibly waned. Her most powerful technique was useless against Qin Sang, and she no longer sought to kill him. Now, when faced with his attacks, she only focused on evading.

Yet whenever Qin Sang tried to shake her off, she would burn her soul body and pursue relentlessly. She clung to him like a leech, making him unbearably irritable.

It was clear that she was not some muddle-headed resentful spirit.

She was sharp, keenly aware of Qin Sang’s intentions, and her grasp of the situation was precise.

Still, Qin Sang had not come away empty-handed. Throughout their clash, he had been observing her closely. He refused to believe that a Core Formation Realm soul body could possess an indestructible body. He must have overlooked something.

As her strength diminished, anomalies finally began to surface.

The Sky-Eyed Butterfly opened its Sky Eyes and discovered that, at the instant her soul body was shattered, an unusual fluctuation would stir within it.

At first, even when the Sky-Eyed Butterfly strained to focus, it could only glimpse a faint, almost imperceptible light flowing through her form, gone in a blink and making one wonder if it had been an illusion.

As her power faded further, she could no longer hide it completely.

Whoosh! The ebony sword pierced her chest again.

Qin Sang had ordered the Sky-Eyed Butterfly to keep her locked in sight, and at last it caught the essence of that faint light.

To his surprise, within the glow lay a tiny, transparent crystal, invisible to the naked eye. Whenever she was wounded, it would emit light.

It never stayed still and was always moving through her body.

"What is this? Never heard of anything like it. Let’s call it a soul crystal for now..."

Feigning calm, Qin Sang speculated in silence. His knowledge of the ghost path was far from shallow, yet this was the first time he had seen such a strange soul body. No wonder it was a Spiritual Infant cultivator's refined soul.

Instinct told him that this soul crystal was vital to her, most likely her Mingmen[1].

But breaking it would be no simple matter. It hid constantly, shifting at all times, revealing itself only when she was grievously injured. She would no doubt guard it with her life.

Qin Sang’s mind raced, and a plan was taking shape. Once he realized she could burn her soul body to give chase, he abandoned all thoughts of fleeing.

She had to die, and quickly.

With every passing breath, his situation grew more dangerous.

Just then, the woman seemed to hear something. Her figure paused slightly, and she turned her head toward the nearby sea surface.

At the same time, Qin Sang also heard the sound of an approaching evasion light.

Looking toward it, he spotted a black speck above the waves, a cultivator riding his sword straight toward the battlefield of Spiritual Infant cultivators, clearly drawn by the disturbance.

Earlier, when strange lights had repeatedly appeared over Liangqiu Island, they had indeed resembled signs of a rare treasure’s emergence. It was no surprise that someone would be tempted.

When Qin Sang had left the island, he had already noticed that cultivators on nearby islands were getting restless.

Such people, lured by the thought of treasure, would come even after a battle of shocking scale had erupted, hoping to fish in troubled waters.

The woman gave a strange laugh, vanished on the spot, and for the first time abandoned her entanglement with Qin Sang, rushing at the newcomer at full speed.

Qin Sang’s expression changed. Not good. He tried to intercept her, but it was already too late. Moments later came a scream, and the evasion light was snuffed out.

When Qin Sang arrived, he found the cultivator’s body rapidly shriveling, terror still frozen on his face. All the blood, flesh, and vitality had been devoured, leaving only a dried corpse.

For wealth, men die; for food, birds perish.

The woman leapt from the corpse, licking the corners of her mouth. A look of intoxication spread across her face, and her soul body was visibly more solid.

"She can devour blood to restore herself."

Qin Sang’s expression turned grim.

There were many cultivators around Quheng Island. If this dragged on, more would be drawn here. Once she found enough blood, all his efforts would be wasted.

"You wretched creature, you deserve to die!" he cursed and struck like lightning, holding nothing back.

The woman changed tactics, refusing to clash head-on, instead engaging in hit-and-run. The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells roared with terrifying might, yet again and again failed to strike her, leaving Qin Sang helpless.

He could neither kill her nor shake her off.

Her laughter rang out, brazen and mocking. In her eyes was a strange gleam, as though already savoring the taste of Qin Sang’s blood.

Boom!

Once again, the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells missed. This time, however, at the instant they passed each other, the flames suddenly exploded.

She cried out in pain and retreated swiftly, but immediately sword light surged in from beneath her, stabbing upward. She did not panic, her figure flickering rapidly. Seeing she could not avoid them all, she twisted sharply, dodging several beams and taking only one strike.

Her soul body was damaged, but as they circled each other, the wound began to mend.

Through the Sky-Eyed Butterfly’s vision, Qin Sang saw the glow well up within her, flowing to the wound, and the soul crystal’s track revealed itself across her chest.

Now!

Qin Sang had been waiting for this moment. In his heart, he shouted, “Go!”

Whoosh!

A speck of blue light emerged from his dantian, tracing a flawless and graceful arc.

It was the star turban.

Ever since obtaining this rare treasure, it had been condensing true essence within his dantian, already reaching its peak power, yet it had never tasted blood.

The star turban could only be used once. It was a treasure capable of deciding the outcome of a battle.

Qin Sang would only unleash it when certain it could serve its purpose.

This time, the roles were reversed. Qin Sang was the one wielding the treasure, and the target was the woman.

The blue light released by the star turban reached her in an instant. The smile on her face vanished, replaced by terror. It was not only the overwhelming power of the star turban that horrified her, but also the fact that its target was her most vital soul crystal.

"Ahhh..." A despairing scream tore from her throat.

In that instant, pale light burst from her soul body, surging toward the soul crystal and forming a screen that wrapped around it layer upon layer.

The star turban struck.

Boom!

The pale light and the blue light collided, canceling each other out, yet in the end the blue light prevailed.

The screen shattered, and the soul crystal was laid bare before the star turban.

She lowered her head to look at her chest, her face filled with disbelief. Before her very eyes, the star turban shattered her soul crystal. The light in her eyes completely faded.

The star turban passed through her chest, revealing its true form.

This time, her soul body could no longer recover. From her chest, cracks rapidly spread through her entire body before it broke apart and scattered into the night wind.

Qin Sang flashed forward, sweeping a vast area with the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells. Once he confirmed she was truly dead and could not possibly return, leaving nothing behind, he finally let out a breath of relief.

She was not the most dangerous opponent he had faced, yet she was by far the most troublesome. Only by unleashing all his astras and relying on the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had he been able to completely destroy her.

Now, Qin Sang felt utterly drained, but it was not the time to rest.

He recalled his astras and looked toward the distance.

There, a thick yellow pillar of light still shone in the night sky without change for a long while, a sign that the occupation had likely stabilized. This meant the Spiritual Infant grandmaster behind Luo Daotong was most likely in serious trouble.

Once those people succeeded, their next target would be him. It was fortunate he had managed to kill the woman.

Qin Sang dared not linger. Swallowing a few spirit pills, he fled at full speed.

1. an acupoint between the kidneys considered to be the root of the body's physiological functions and life activities. Also known as Life Gate ☜