Gateway of Immortality
Chapter 417: Lure

Chapter 417: Lure

Whoosh!

Water waves thundered along the four walls.

Golden light radiated in every direction—like surging torrents of a vast river—directly assaulting the black‐robed man and encircling him on all sides.

His attack had not even extended toward the silver‐gowned man before the mighty array forcefully pushed it back.

The black‐robed man’s figure wavered for a moment as the brilliant golden beams held him in place.

Yet, he showed no trace of fear. He attempted to muster his spiritual power and break through the array.

Meanwhile, the hall’s occupants, sensing imminent trouble, scattered in a chaotic frenzy, while the VIPs in the private rooms on the second and third levels remained as unmoving as mountains. Still, no one dared step forward to aid Mr. Kan in quelling the crisis.

Suppressing his anger, Mr. Kan suddenly bellowed, "Senior, I respect your formidable cultivation, but the rules of this auction are inviolable! If you insist on this course, I will risk my life to shatter this array and deliver an unforgettable lesson—one whose cost, should you kill me, would be more than you could ever bear!"

At his words, the black‐robed man paused and, glancing at the surging golden light, slowly withdrew the spiritual power he had been gathering.

Mr. Kan’s anxious heart finally eased. His tone softened as he bowed slightly toward the black‐robed man and said, "I understand your desire to safeguard your treasure, Senior, but know this: the world is replete with spiritual medicines—there is far more than just the Bloody Primordial Essence. Nowadays, as the Ancient Immortal Battlefield grows ever more perilous and cultivators beyond the passes begin to withdraw from the city, they may return with spiritual medicines even more precious than the Bloody Primordial Essence. Please, remain calm and search patiently; you are sure to obtain what you seek."

The black‐robed man snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Mr. Kan had long abandoned any intention of befriending a man of such a narrow mind and volatile temperament—one who wielded his cultivation recklessly.

It was best that he departed.

"Quickly, escort the senior to the tea room for some rest!" Mr. Kan ordered.

He then saw the black‐robed man off with his aides and, with a relieved sigh, turned his gaze toward the silver‐gowned man, inwardly marveling at his remarkable composure.

Even as the black‐robed man’s attack had nearly crashed into him moments earlier, the silver‐gowned man had remained as steady as a seasoned fisherman at his post—a true display of masterful temperament far superior to his rival’s.

If he could be befriended, he might well prove an invaluable ally in the future.

"Are there any further bids, fellow Daoists?" Mr. Kan inquired.

When no one answered, he presented the Bloody Primordial Essence before the silver‐gowned man and announced loudly, "At fifteen thousand low‐grade spirit stones, the Bloody Primordial Essence is yours, Daoist!"

"Next item..." he continued, and the auction moved on.

...

Setting aside the chaos that had ensued during the bidding, the black‐robed man was soon led from the hall by two beautiful young women into a tea room.

The tea room lay within the bounds of the array, so no one was permitted to leave before the auction’s conclusion.

"Immortal, please enjoy some tea..." a trembling voice from one of the girls offered as they timidly presented fragrant tea.

The black‐robed man snapped, "Piss off!"

"Yes!"

The girls immediately dropped the tea in a flurry and scattered as if fleeing a curse.

Seated calmly, the face hidden beneath his hood was revealed to be none other than Qin Sang!

It was unclear when he had left Qingyang Market and arrived at Tianyou Stronghold, or why he had caused such a commotion at the auction.

His face betrayed not the slightest hint of anger; instead, he appeared exceptionally calm, his eyes deep in contemplation as though pondering some matter of great import.

He had deliberately staged the disturbance at the auction—not because he truly coveted the Bloody Primordial Essence, but because he harbored his own ulterior motive.

His plan depended on having already discerned Mr. Kan’s methods and tempering his actions accordingly; for if his scheme failed, making a mortal enemy of Mr. Kan would have been a disastrous miscalculation.

In the tea room, silence reigned. Qin Sang sat unmoving for a while until, outside, a trembling voice announced, "Senior, the auction has ended..."

Soon after, he was ushered out as if he were a harbinger of doom.

After leaving the auction, Qin Sang vanished into the shadows and slipped away from Tianyou Stronghold. He surveyed the vast, desolate marshlands with a pensive gaze, paused briefly, and then summoned his Nether Cloud.

With full determination, he rode it at breakneck speed straight toward the east—the direction where Qingyang City lay.

Not long after Qin Sang had departed, the eastern horizon gradually brightened, and a middle-aged man exited Tianyou Stronghold.

His features were unremarkable, yet his demeanor was superb; dressed in a simple set of ceremonial robes that made him appear like a scholar. Unfortunately, in the world of immortal cultivators, what mattered was not mere demeanor but the strength of one’s cultivation.

His aura was feeble, suggesting that he had only just broken through to the Foundation Building Realm.

He left Tianyou Stronghold on foot and made his way to the marshes, resorting only to basic movement art to fly—at a pace that was far from impressive.

It was unclear what his intentions were as he aimlessly drifted over the swamp, sometimes looping around in wide circles. After more than half an hour had passed, he finally leaped onto a withered tree.

Glancing back to ensure that no one was following him, he sneered mockingly. "You cowardly rats! I didn’t even bother to hide, and yet none of you dared to follow! Consider yourselves lucky, you old geezers!"

This man was none other than the silver‐gowned fellow who had been targeted by Qin Sang at the auction.

Before he had finished speaking, a surge of demonic qi erupted from him, and in an instant he transformed into a streak of black evasion light, darting off toward the east.

In that moment, his true aura was revealed—astonishingly, he was at the level of the Fake Core Realm!

The evasion light moved with such extraordinary speed that he quickly left the confines of the swamp.

Ahead of him, endless mountains and deep ravines sprawled in barren desolation.

The silver‐gowned man maintained his pace without the slightest hesitation as he plunged into the heart of the mountain range. Soon, a soft exclamation broke out from within the evasion light; with a swift twist, it landed atop a mountain peak.

He looked on in astonishment, turning his gaze toward a gigantic mountain range to the north that resembled a colossal dragon.

From that direction, he could faintly detect an unusual fluctuation—one characteristic of a secret technique known as the Heart-Devouring Insect. This was a memory from a long-forgotten era.

Ever since the collapse of the Kuiyin Sect—when the remaining Heart-Devouring Insects, along with its sect leader, had perished in a self-detonation engineered by the Yuanzhao Sect—that secret technique had been lost.

The Heart-Devouring Insects had long been extinct, and even the few preserved bodies trapped in glaciers were exceedingly rare; the Kuiyin Sect had devoted all its efforts to gathering only a handful, and finding more in the future would prove nearly impossible.

After his sect had fallen, he and his master had become like stray dogs, relentlessly hunted. It was only in the past decade or so—when the Small Cold Domain’s cultivation community had been distracted by the Spirit Tide and the Tianxing Alliance, and when the Yuanzhao Sect had ceased its aggressive posture—that he had finally been able to breathe a sigh of relief and dare to operate openly.

Those who had once been controlled by the Heart-Devouring Insects had long since vanished into hiding.

One appeared here.

The silver‐gowned man fixed his gaze intently. He recalled that this mountain range was marked by a vast spirit vein, beneath which lay several excellent cave dwellings. The fluctuations indicated that someone, motionless and deeply immersed in cultivation, was likely sequestered within one of those caves.

"Last time I was here, I hadn’t encountered him. Could it be that he has just returned from the Ancient Immortal Battlefield? I wonder who he is."

Inwardly, the silver‐gowned man surmised. "The world teems with secret arts. Our founder's poisonous gu, though notoriously difficult to counteract, may have led this man to devise a method to suppress the gu. Otherwise, he wouldn’t act with such brazenness after all this time. Moreover, if the Heart-Devouring Insect had indeed been planted before the sect’s annihilation, then his cultivation must be formidable—perhaps not inferior to mine. Relying solely on the gu might not even suffice to control him..."

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