Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 902: Lightning Cave

They spread out around the pond. One Beast King Banner after another was activated, releasing dazzling golden light. The light was constrained to the space near the pond.

The primordial spirits of demonic beasts leaped from the Beast King Banners and roared in silence. They then shattered and turned into golden threads that merged into the array. The cramped space filled with razor-sharp strands, which finally converged above the pond.

No one noticed the butterfly clinging to a dead Dark Lightning Wood tree beside them, taking everything in. Qin Sang hid not far away as well.

When he saw the Beast King Banners and several faces he had once crossed paths with, he was certain that these people were his old enemies, disciples of Black Snake Mountain.

Black Snake Mountain had gone to great lengths, from hunting the Kui Dragon to disguising themselves as Douniu Peak disciples and infiltrating Dongming Island in separate groups.

Their scheme was no trivial matter. Qin Sang’s eyes grew solemn, his expression pensive.

Chance had presented itself. Though the enemy was strong and numerous, and although he still did not know what treasure Black Snake Mountain sought, he had no intention of retreating. With such an opportunity, he would have wronged himself not to intervene.

Daoist Fang was nowhere in sight, which was good news. That man was the one he dreaded most.

Qin Sang suspected that the sea of blood trapping Abbot Lu and the other five Golden Core cultivators inside the bamboo lodge had been the handiwork of that same Fang. The other Black Snake Mountain cultivators did not possess such strength.

A few riddles were solved in that instant.

One of Douniu Peak’s handed-down arts was precisely that lightning art. No wonder the lightning had carried the power of stellar malevolence. Qin Sang had already set his sights on that art and had planned to demand it from Black Snake Mountain later; now it seemed he could settle both accounts at once.

Of course, if he could also snatch the treasure that Black Snake Mountain coveted, so much the better.

That would not be easy. Their strength was not weak, and they wielded Beast King Banners. To snatch food from a tiger’s jaws, he needed the right moment.

There were other variables as well: Golden Core cultivators from other sects stood at Dongming Island’s entrance, and Abbot Lu and Daoist Fang were both formidable.

Securing the treasure was secondary. Escaping safely afterward was what mattered most.

Qin Sang’s gaze flickered. Meanwhile, the Beast King Banner Array was finally ready.

The golden threads disappeared from sight, condensing into a small golden saber aimed at the whirlpool.

They seemed to strain to force the Beast King Banners into this transformation, but there was no choice if they meant to break the barrier. This layer had very likely been set personally by Sect Leader Lu of Landou Sect.

Fortunately, they had obtained the jade talisman and undone the other layer. Otherwise, even if they could break through with their strength, it would have taken time, and the commotion would already have alerted those outside.

"Beast King Saber, descend!" the black-robed man’s hoarse shout rang out.

The little golden saber quivered, chimed like metal, then shot into the whirlpool.

It moved with startling speed, a streak of gold vanishing into the depths.

After a brief silence, a muffled boom reverberated from the bottom of the pond. The earth lurched violently, and a pillar of interwoven white and gold light erupted upward.

With the sky-piercing pillar came rippling waves laden with chaotic force that swept in all directions. The nearby Dark Lightning Woods turned to powder the instant they were touched.

"Crap! Fall back!" The black-robed man’s face changed. He snatched up his Beast King Banner and leapt back.

These were battle-hardened Core Formation cultivators. Even without his warning, they scattered at once, though many were still caught in the blast.

For a moment, they were in utter disarray. Several Beast King Banners were damaged, and some were shaken and pale, coughing blood.

Even so, they did not lose their formation. Qin Sang found no opening and sighed inwardly.

Thankfully, he had been cautious. Before the golden saber broke the barrier, he had already sent the Sky-Eyed Butterfly away from the pond.

Otherwise, even with its superb stealth, the butterfly would have been exposed if caught in the shockwave.

The most perilous thing was that pillar of light. It shot up several zhang before dispersing like a rain of radiance, and the tremor spread across all of Dongming Island in an instant.

The black-robed man’s expression turned as dark as ink. Without stopping to restore his breath, he flickered back to the pond’s edge and saw that the waves had gouged a huge pit where the water had been.

At the bottom of the pit lay a flight of white stone steps leading straight into the earth. At that sight, his anger flipped to delight. He turned, barked an order, and hurried down.

The others swallowed spirit pills, forced their injuries down, and raised their Beast King Banners once more.

With the keen senses of Core Formation cultivators, those on the island would already have sensed this upheaval and were on their way. They might appear at any moment.

Sure enough, just as they reset the formation, a rush of wind split the air. From the treetops they saw two streaks of evasion light racing toward them on the horizon, with more behind.

The island’s Core Formation cultivators were all being drawn here.

They could only hope their second senior brother moved quickly, or a fierce battle would be unavoidable. They exchanged glances, eyes shadowed with worry.

By then, the black-robed man had already entered the stairway. Time pressed hard. He dared not pause and sped downward at his fastest. Fortunately, there seemed to be no further barriers here, and he passed unimpeded until he reached the depths.

A stone door blocked his way. The door was extraordinarily thick, veined with flickering silver-white light like tiny serpents of lightning. The door was sealed by a barrier, but with enemies closing in, there was no time to break it slowly.

Drawing a deep breath, he swept his gaze over the door, thought for a moment, then flicked his fingers. Strange runes flew from his fingertips and landed on the stone in precise positions governed by a hidden pattern.

When the final rune set, the door blazed with dazzling silver and then, in a blink, the glow vanished. The lightning serpents dissipated. It became an ordinary door.

The black-robed man’s tense expression loosened into wild joy. He pushed, and with a creak, the door swung open easily.

A heartbeat later he cried out, throwing up his true essence to shield his eyes. A grand hall lay beyond.

It was blindingly bright. A mortal would have been struck blind on the spot, for within the light lingered a faint power of lightning.

At the hall’s center, a round stone pit sank into the floor.

In it pooled a thin layer of silver-white liquid that looked placid but exuded a violent aura. It was lightning power refined to the utmost, congealed into a viscous slurry.

At the sight of the lightning slurry pool, shock flashed across the black-robed man’s face.

If that slurry erupted, standing here would mean certain death, his bones reduced to nothing.

Thankfully, myriad runes covered the floor around the pool and the hall’s walls, forming a great array that sealed it. Only a trace of lightning power, thinned by time, leaked out.

Suspended above the pool hovered a strange stone platform.