Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 989: Breaking Free

The blazing sun hung high above. A streak of evasion light cut through the sky, as if chasing the rising dawn.

Crack! A crisp shattering sound came from Qin Sang’s palm.

He lowered his head to see that the high-grade spirit stone in his hand had split apart, its spiritual power fully drained.

He tossed away the fragments, took out a bottle of spirit pills, and was about to swallow one when a sudden restlessness surged through his true essence. His expression changed slightly as he hurried to suppress the fluctuations. This meant that the impurities in his true essence had reached a critical point.

"It’s time to take the Jade Liquid of Three Radiances..." Qin Sang muttered, pulling out a jade vial.

He could not afford to wait until the impurities grew to the point of destabilizing his true essence. Taking the Jade Liquid of Three Radiances midway would allow him to refine part of those impurities and prolong his endurance.

Once the spiritual liquid entered his body, abundant and pure spiritual qi instantly filled his Qihai, while the remaining potent medicinal energy settled deep within. Qin Sang’s spirit lifted, and much of his exhaustion faded.

Time passed. Twilight came, then the moonlight.

Since being afflicted by the Fire Curse, Qin Sang had been fleeing for nearly two full days. Two days without sleep or rest.

He flew without pause, while Bai kept trying different methods to seal or dissolve the Fire Curse. At the same time, he had to maintain the net of devilish flames to mask its fluctuations and prevent Old Devil Mou from discovering them.

Both were exhausted, their consumption immense. Then suddenly, Qin Sang groaned softly, his face turning deathly pale.

His figure wavered violently, his flight staggered, and his evasion light plummeted downward before rising again unsteadily. He swayed above the waves, almost losing control and crashing into the sea.

Bai was startled and looked up in alarm. Sensing Bai’s gaze, Qin Sang shook his head, signaling that he was fine, but spoke grimly. "My sword soul shattered."

Qin Sang’s eyes fixed on the distant direction where his incarnation had fled. The shattering of the sword soul meant that his incarnation had already been caught by Old Devil Mou and had self-destructed.

A splitting headache struck him. The sword soul was akin to a fragment of his own soul; its destruction sent piercing pain through his primordial spirit. Qin Sang quickly took out the spirit pill he had prepared to nourish his primordial spirit and swallowed it, his face regaining some color.

"He’s been caught already... It's much faster than expected," Bai said gravely. Halfway through his sentence, his expression suddenly changed, and he shouted in anger, rapidly forming hand seals that shot toward Qin Sang.

At the same moment, Qin Sang too sensed the anomaly. The Fire Curse flared again.

This time, it erupted far more violently than before. Countless runes surfaced across his body, glowing bright blue, enveloping him in blue flames.

The net of devilish flames manifested at once, but before Bai could finish his seals, the Fire Curse burst forth with a surge of immense energy.

Bang! The Fire Curse’s fluctuations shattered the net of devilish flames. Qin Sang’s heart sank.

*** 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

In another stretch of sea, Old Devil Mou appeared beside a cloud of blood mist, his expression as dark as the depths of the ocean.

The blood mist had been sealed in mid-air, frozen in place like a massive chunk of crimson amber. It was what remained after the incarnation’s self-destruction.

After approaching the site, Old Devil Mou had immediately sensed something was wrong. He darted forward, but it was already too late. The incarnation had detonated itself before he could close in. By the time Old Devil Mou arrived, only the fading blood mist remained. Both the flesh and primordial spirit were utterly annihilated.

He searched through the blood mist again and again with his spiritual consciousness, yet found not even the faintest trace of a remnant soul, let alone the treasure he sought.

Still, everything about the explosion felt strange. The lingering Fire Curse power was pitifully weak.

Cunning and experienced, Old Devil Mou instantly realized something. His prey was far craftier than he had imagined. He tried activating the Fire Curse again as before but sensed nothing.

His gaze darkened. Suddenly, he tossed the cold flame into the air, then formed a series of complex hand seals at astonishing speed, channeling all his spiritual consciousness into the Dongming Cold Flame.

At the same time, his face turned pale. He spat out a mouthful of blood and essence, which merged into the flame.

Whoosh! The cold flame roared to life.

In an instant, a pillar of fire surged skyward, composed entirely of condensed Fire Curse symbols. Each rune shimmered with intense power, radiating waves of force.

Old Devil Mou closed his eyes and sensed carefully. After a moment, his eyes snapped open. He turned sharply toward the southeast, a savage grin spreading across his face. "I had planned to give you a swift death..."

The taste of triumph turning to humiliation was bitter beyond comparison. He had thought his victory certain, yet his prey had tricked him. Fury boiled within him, boundless and searing. Still, questions plagued his mind.

This curse technique was an ancient secret technique he had obtained by chance in Seven-Kill Hall. After improving it and fusing it with the Dongming Cold Flame, its power and range had far surpassed the original.

In the entire Canglang Sea cultivation world, he had never heard of anyone else who understood such curse techniques.

And yet a mere Core Formation cultivator not only recognized the danger of the curse and fled at once but even managed to conceal its fluctuations and mislead his perception.

Even with his own strength, the chase had started to wear on him. His true essence was heavily depleted, forcing him to replenish it with spirit stones and pills.

The prey, however, remained vigorous and unbroken. Old Devil Mou’s curiosity toward his prey only deepened.

To reach such a level at the Core Formation Realm... If this man were allowed to grow further, he might one day become a legend of the cultivation world. Old Devil Mou thought.

"What a pity..." Old Devil Mou sneered. Casting an unknown secret technique, his figure blurred into a streak of blood that tore through the sky, his speed soaring to new heights.

***

After the net of devilish flames was shattered, Bai tried several more times, but all ended in failure.

"I think I’ve started to grasp something. Give me a bit more time, and I should be able to seal the Fire Curse!" He hesitated for a moment before adding, "But such a seal would only be temporary."

"What do you mean by that?" Qin Sang asked quickly.

"In this period of trial, I’ve formed a vague idea that might work. I can try fusing my soul power with the Fire Curse seal and use them together to create a barrier. However, once the seal is complete, I’ll have to maintain it with all my strength. The moment my soul power is exhausted, the seal will collapse." Bai sighed as he spoke.

Qin Sang understood what he meant. Without a divine herb like the Jade Liquid of Three Radiances to restore his soul, the duration of the seal would be limited. The time Bai could win for him would not be enough to reach the storm belt.

Just then, the Primordial Unity Ring on Qin Sang’s wrist began to tremble. A thought stirred in his mind. He looked down and released the Two-Headed Hou.

Roar... The Two-Headed Hou growled softly at him.

Qin Sang was taken aback. "You’re willing to act as bait to lure Old Devil Mou away, but in exchange, you want me to remove the bindings on you and give you a Tyrant Blood Fruit?"

The Two-Headed Hou twitched its ears, its vertical pupils locking onto Qin Sang’s gaze, then nodded slightly.

Having lived alongside it for so long, Qin Sang understood the beast’s proud temperament well.

It had always desired freedom from the control of the Primordial Unity Ring, yearning to regain its independence. Even the temptation of the Tyrant Blood Fruit had failed to sway it. It had even chosen to abandon its breakthrough to the late stage of the Demonic Core Realm because of that.

He had never expected the Two-Headed Hou to take the initiative to offer itself as bait.

"This is Canglang Sea, a realm ruled by immortal cultivators. Are you sure about this?" Qin Sang asked gravely.