Gateway of Immortality
Chapter 407: Let Me Teach You a Lesson

Chapter 407: Let Me Teach You a Lesson

Rumble!

A terrifying collision shook the entire cave dwelling. The aftershock nearly caused Qin Sang to lose his footing.

Dazzling silver light filled the cave dwelling, reducing his vision to a blinding white haze in which nothing could be discerned.

When the glare dimmed somewhat, the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells vanished without warning.

The Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions was scattered into disarray, with several banners lying haphazardly on the ground. Fortunately, they had not become the target of the lightning orb, and as Qin Sang sensed the situation turning dire, he had retracted his primary soul in time to narrowly escape disaster.

However, his astra did not fare as well. The banner fell to the ground, its spiritual radiance dimmed, and it no longer exuded its former might.

The banner’s surface curled, revealing a faint crack.

The fat chicken broke free. Its body charred black, and its feathers singed into patchy bald spots, transforming it into a bald, black chicken, yet it remained remarkably plump, especially with its meaty wings and chubby little belly that still looked delectably fat.

Although its appearance was pitiful, its injuries were not severe; it was still able to flap its meaty wings, and its two plump legs continued to kick at the air.

The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells had failed to injure it, while the astra had been struck and flung away by the lightning orb, causing the demonic flames to disperse.

However, the fat chicken grew extremely furious. Once its shock subsided, it opened its mouth to cry out—even though its beak had been burned to baldness and blackened, rendering its cry hoarse and unpleasant.

But no sooner had its cry begun than it abruptly stifled, as if swallowed back into its belly.

A mass of black miasma descended upon it, causing its meaty wings to stiffen, and with a loud bang it crashed to the ground, bouncing once.

Racing against time, Qin Sang spared no effort—even if it meant destroying this top-grade artifact—to draw out all the poisonous miasma from the Sky Poison Veil, all for the sake of gaining even the slightest bit of time.

He was startled by the terrifying power unleashed by the lightning orb, and upon noticing the crack on his astra, he felt both fear and deep concern for its condition.

Even though he had resorted to using his astra, it had barely held on.

Without its power, he would never have had the chance to ambush the fat chicken.

Amid these chaotic thoughts, Qin Sang’s movements flowed like a stream. He threw out a poisonous miasma to ambush the fat chicken while a Jiao manifested on his body, his figure streaking like lightning as he charged toward the jade pool.

When his foot touched the pool, Qin Sang silently congratulated himself that the lightning orb would not attack on its own.

Then he leaped into the water pool, reached his hand into the spiritual spring, and seized the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood.

The moment his palm touched the spiritual wood, a surge of blood-red light emanated from it as though it were alive, creeping along his arm and spreading over his body. Qin Sang shuddered violently, instantly felt an indescribable chill, corrupt, bloody intent assault his spirit, only to be dispelled by the Jade Buddha.

Truly, it proved wondrous, befitting one of the Ten Divine Woods.

Without time to inspect further, he tossed the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood into his Mustard Seed Pouch, and a huge weight lifted from his heart as he felt elated. Just as he was about to retreat, he glanced upward and discovered a stone door behind the Jade Pool.

It turned out that there was indeed a secret chamber—a hidden world within.

A thought stirred within Qin Sang. He was puzzled earlier: the cave dwelling contained only a Lightning-Devouring Falcon egg, a piece of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood, and an unidentified spiritual herb—items of high value that hardly justified the intense conflict between the two Spiritual Infant cultivators.

Is the real treasure inside the secret chamber?

Although that thought flashed through his mind, he was not blinded by the allure of treasure. Securing the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood was already an enormous stroke of luck; he spared no effort or resource in obtaining it.

With the Sky Poison Veil destroyed by Qin Sang, the poisonous miasma was left unrestrained and could no longer confine the fat chicken for long.

Once the fat chicken awoke, its insatiable greed would undoubtedly lead to a most miserable end.

Qin Sang withdrew his gaze, resolutely turned around, and activated the Nine-Dragon Heavenly Chariot Talisman, darting swiftly toward the cave entrance.

As he passed by the fat chicken, he waved his hand to collect the scattered artifacts and astra, hurriedly inspected the condition of his astra, and sighed inwardly.

He was not mistaken—the banner of his astra indeed bore a crack!

The only consolation was that the damage was not severe; the power of the lightning orb was not as fearsome as he had imagined, capable of utterly destroying the astra.

It was merely that Qin Sang’s strength was too weak; in his hands, the astra was like a pearl cast into darkness, its inherent power suppressed by his limitations. Its essence suffered directly from the impact of the lightning, resulting in its unfortunate damage.

Had he been a Core Formation cultivator, he could have simply absorbed the astra into his Qihai and nurtured it with Pill Fire for a time, allowing it to fully recover.

Unfortunately, Qin Sang’s cultivation was only at the middle stage of the Foundation Building Realm—far short of the Core Formation Realm. Unable to repair the astra himself or seek help from any Core Formation cultivators, he had no choice but to set it aside.

Fortunately, he possessed two Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions; since these astra could not be used simultaneously, the loss of one left the other intact, and his overall strength remained uncompromised.

In short, sacrificing a top-grade artifact and incurring damage to his astra in exchange for an Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood was, in Qin Sang’s view, well worth it—a tremendous bargain

Thinking of the bright future promised by the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood and the ebony sword, Qin Sang’s melancholy vanished, and his mood brightened considerably.

The cave entrance lay right before him, and Qin Sang heard an angry cry from behind—the fat chicken was shouting furiously. A wicked amusement stirred within him, and feeling mischievous, he turned and shouted, "Little fat chicken! Little plump chicken! Let me, your grandfather, teach you a lesson—this world is perilous, and one must always have astra by one’s side; astra is truly indispensable! Haha..."

It was uncertain how the age of a demonic beast was calculated.

The fat chicken had just hatched from its egg and was considered a youngster; he was already over seventy, old enough to be the fat chicken's grandfather.

The fat chicken seemed to have truly understood, for its cry grew even sharper. Then a strong gust of wind swept in from behind.

Qin Sang laughed uproariously as he dashed out of the cave, plunging into the chill wind.

When he looked back, as expected, he found that the fat chicken’s innate bloodline talent was to control lightning. Although its cultivation was high, it still feared the dreadful chill of the Malevolent Frost Wind, which could assault its primordial spirit.

Inside the cave dwelling, it had relied on an underground fire vein to block the invading cold, allowing it to remain safe.

At the cave entrance, the fat chicken dared not step beyond its bounds. It flapped its meaty wings and hopped about, its only pair of white eyes filled with fury as it cried incessantly.

Qin Sang knew that the fat chicken was surely cursing him; after all, he could not understand the language of birds, and its curses were directed only at itself.

Once he had burst into the depths of the cave, the smile on Qin Sang’s face vanished immediately, replaced by a look of solemnity.

Although he had obtained the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood, it was not yet time to rejoice—only by escaping from this place unscathed could he safely celebrate.

He did not know how the battle among the Spiritual Infant cultivators was faring, and he hoped that no major upheaval would occur.

Qin Sang gripped the Crimson Core tightly and ascended rapidly.

Soon he arrived at the fissure through which he had entered; now the fissure was larger than before. He raced back along it and successfully returned to an icy cave within the iceberg, where he held his breath, cautiously peered out, and gazed toward the distant sky.

The see of wind roiled.

The battle among the three mighty experts had not yet ended; Qin Sang could see neither the figure of the Wuji Sect's leader nor that of the Lightning-Devouring Falcon. All he saw with his naked eyes were streaks of sword light like roaming dragons and clashes of thunderbolts.

A man in black still sat cross-legged, and dozens of identical black tortoise hells had manifested around him. They were arranged in an enigmatic pattern, forming a mysterious grand array.

There was a small gap in the array, with a few tortoise shells missing.

Once all eighty-one shells were assembled, the array would be complete!