Chapter 83

It seems he has been pushed to his limits.

Qin Sang's eyes flickered, and he said in a light tone, "What are you so anxious about? I just want to inspect the goods first. What if your jade slip isn't a map?"

In the end, the young man in the tight-fitting clothes still threw the jade slip to Qin Sang first. After confirming that the jade slip indeed contained a map, Qin Sang agreed to shake hands and make peace.

Both of them simultaneously withdrew their spiritual energy, staring intently at each other as they slowly backed away to prevent the other from breaking the agreement.

When the young man in the tight-fitting clothes was almost out of sight, Qin Sang put away the blackwood sword and rode the wind to flee far away.

The young man in the tight-fitting clothes stared in the direction Qin Sang had left, still full of resentment. Then he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly held the talisman treasure in front of him, only to see several cracks of varying thickness on it.

This was a sign that the talisman treasure's power was almost depleted, and it could only be used once more before it would be completely destroyed.

In this battle, both of his most valuable treasures were severely damaged.

A deep pain appeared in the young man's eyes as he carefully put away the talisman treasure. He cursed in the direction Qin Sang had fled, which somewhat alleviated his frustration. He took a spirit pill and flashed to the edge of the pond, extending his hand to make the water ripple. A green banner floated out from the pond.

After putting away the banner and burning the bait, the young man in the tight-fitting clothes pondered for a moment, then used the green leaf magical tool and disappeared into the ravine.

...

At this point, Qin Sang had already found a secluded spot to heal his injuries.

Both of them had pushed to their limits. His spiritual energy was completely drained, and the overexertion was even more severe than last time. In front of the young man, he was just putting on a show.

However, he estimated that the young man's condition was similar to his own; otherwise, he wouldn't have given in so easily.

It took two hours before Qin Sang emerged from his hiding place. His face was still pale, clearly indicating that complete recovery would not be easy.

Qin Sang took out the map and the jade token.

He couldn't be sure if the map the young man gave him had any tricks, but he couldn't take the risk, so he used the map and the jade token to cross-reference each other. When the fourteen jade tokens were placed together, the mist on them thinned slightly, allowing a vague view of the nearby terrain.

...

In the core area of the Eight Trigram Forbidden Zone.

At this point, five reefs at the edge of the island had already been occupied. Besides the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Yuanzhao Sect, Yu and Luan, and Zhao Yan, there was also a man and a woman.

If Qin Sang saw these two people, he would recognize them immediately. The man was his senior brother who was about to break through to the eighth level, named Ruan Nanfeng.

The woman was an unknown independent cultivator with deep cultivation, not inferior to Ruan Nanfeng.

Clearly, these two were the first to stand out at the Ascension Conference.

The five people each occupied a reef, meditating in silence, with no one speaking.

At this moment, Luan Shan suddenly opened his eyes and shot a stream of spiritual energy into the air, where a light gate appeared.

The fourteen jade tokens appeared first from the light gate.

Luan Shan nodded slightly, "Not bad."

Then a figure followed the jade tokens, flying out from the light gate.

Luan Shan's brows furrowed slightly, and he said indifferently, "Not bad luck."

The person who appeared was Qin Sang. The map given by the young man in the tight-fitting clothes was correct, allowing Qin Sang to easily avoid various dangers. The jade tokens were enough, and he ignored a few independent cultivators he encountered on the way, finding the entrance to the core area without any trouble.

Qin Sang rode the wind, scanning the five people sitting on the reefs at the edge of the island, and flew over to land on a reef. He bowed, "Qin Sang greets the two senior uncles, the two senior brothers, and the senior sister."

Ruan Nanfeng and the woman nodded at Qin Sang.

Zhao Yan, with interest, sized up Qin Sang and introduced him, "Junior brother Qin, this is Senior Uncle Luan Shan, this is Senior Uncle Yu Hua, I am Zhao Yan, you can just call me Senior Brother Zhao."

"Senior Uncle Luan, Senior Uncle Yu, Senior Brother Zhao..."

After Qin Sang bowed to each of them, Senior Uncle Luan said, "The Ascension Conference has not ended yet. Find a reef to meditate, and do not enter the island to cause trouble, or you will be immediately expelled from the forbidden zone. Once twelve people are gathered, we will return to the sect together."

Qin Sang naturally had no objections. He glanced at the mysterious island, followed the instructions, and sat cross-legged on the reef, but did not immediately enter a meditative state. Instead, he lowered his head, his eyes flickering, as if deep in thought.

At this moment, Qin Sang suddenly felt something strange. He lifted his head as if nothing had happened and saw Zhao Yan staring at him with a playful look. He felt a chill and smiled at Zhao Yan without showing any concern, then gathered his thoughts, practiced his cultivation technique, and entered a meditative state.

After an unknown amount of time, Luan Shan opened the light gate again, and two men came out, still being recognized.

After some time, Luan Shan opened the light gate again, and two more people came out.

At this point, everyone knew that the people coming later would arrive faster, and the Ascension Conference was about to end, so they stopped meditating.

Qin Sang noticed that, besides himself and Ruan Nanfeng, another senior brother from the Queyin Sect, Liu Yi, also stood out. He was one of the five people who had broken through to the seventh level of the Qi Refinement stage.

Strangely, since entering the core area, Liu Yi had been deeply troubled, sitting on the reef with a gloomy expression, as if he had encountered some difficult problem.

Liu Yi, restless on the reef, suddenly clenched his fists and raised his head, saying, "Senior Uncles, I have something to report..."

He had only said half of his sentence when Liu Yi's face suddenly twisted in pain, and his voice cut off. A layer of black mist spread across his face, emitting a foul odor. His body tilted and fell into the lake, silent.

The sudden change startled everyone, and they all flew into the air. Yu Hua flashed to the reef where Liu Yi was, pulled out his corpse, and examined it, then said indifferently, "It seems he was infected with some kind of insect poison, which remained dormant until now. Senior Brother Luan, are there still poisonous insects in the forbidden zone?"

When mentioning the insect poison, Yu Hua glanced meaningfully at Qin Sang and Ruan Nanfeng.

Qin Sang felt a chill all over his body, and he saw a deep fear in Ruan Nanfeng's eyes.

Could this Senior Uncle Yu also be a spy for the Queyin Sect? Even Foundation Establishment cultivators have been infiltrated. How many Queyin Sect members are hiding in the Yuanzhao Sect?

He had also considered reporting, but since he was not afraid of the Heart-Eating Insect's threat, he quickly suppressed the thought with reason.

Thinking about it now, Qin Sang felt a wave of fear.

Luan Shan did not notice the subtle interactions among them and said indifferently, "I have only been in charge of the Ascension Conference for a short time. I have heard that there are poisonous swamps inside, so there must be poisonous insects. This person was infected with insect poison and remained unaware, so his death is not to be pitied. Junior Brother Yu, throw the corpse outside to avoid polluting the clean area. We will just replace him with the next person."

Yu Hua clapped his hands and laughed, "No rush, let's leave it as a warning for the disciples to come, to be more cautious, so they don't die without knowing how."

Liu Yi's corpse was left on the reef, and the disciples all kept their distance. After some time, the twelve people were finally gathered.