Gateway of Immortality

The sudden disturbance was incredibly conspicuous. Though the path ahead remained shrouded in darkness, everyone could sense something was wrong.

It was Qin Sang and his companions' first time entering the Ziwei Palace, so they were clueless as to the situation. They assumed it was some latent variation of the celestial array. It was worrisome, but not enough to incite panic.

However, all the Spiritual Infant cultivators turned pale in unison.

The red-haired grandmaster suddenly flew into a rage, his tiger-like eyes glaring furiously at Daoist Zhenyi.

"Old Bastard, what the hell are you up to!"

Zhenyi looked completely baffled and snapped back with a frown, "Red-Haired Bastard, what are you raving about now?"

The red-haired grandmaster barked coldly, "If you're so eager to die, I'll gladly accompany you outside. But to be playing tricks inside a celestial array, are you insane? I'll destroy the Small Polaris Array right now! Let's see how many of you can still escape without the grand array!"

Zhenyi was berated out of nowhere and could feel anger boiling inside him. He had no idea what had gotten into the red-haired grandmaster, choosing infighting now of all times, instead of dealing with the anomaly together.

Just as both sides descended into suspicion and tension, the dark current up ahead, no longer content to merely block the way, suddenly surged toward them at an alarming speed.

They were still within the celestial array, surrounded on all sides by the terrifying winds of void. Without the protection of the Small Polaris Array, even Spiritual Infant cultivators couldn't guarantee their safety.

Despite their distrust, neither side had truly fallen out.

They attempted to manipulate the Small Polaris Array to retreat and avoid direct confrontation, but to their dismay, the wave of disturbance grew faster and faster. In the blink of an eye, it was upon them.

At last, they could vaguely make out the outlines of several human-like figures emerging from the darkness.

"Who's there?!"

Zhenyi, now ignoring the red-haired grandmaster entirely, shouted ahead in alarm and fury.

Encountering humanoid monsters within a celestial array was an ominous sign.

The red-haired grandmaster cast a suspicious glance at Zhenyi.Is it really not the work of the Tianxing Alliance?

Earlier, Daoist Master Chongyi had secretly informed him that the Wuji Sect's leader had been colluding in secret with the Tianxing Alliance's Daoist Huang Tian. He hadn't thought much of it at the time.

The Small Cold Domain was a fractured land where the various sects operated independently. That the Wuji Sect's leader had personal dealings with the Tianxing Alliance didn't seem out of the ordinary.

Wuji Sect remained in the Small Cold Domain, with countless disciples under its name; relocation was no easy matter. As long as the sect leader wasn't a fool, he would know how to position himself when greater forces came into play.

No friendship could rival the pull of profit.

Even though Daoist Master Chongyi mentioned their secretive behavior seemed suspicious, it should be enough to remain vigilant and investigate once they left Ziwei Palace.

If the Wuji Sect's leader truly had ulterior motives, he couldn't possibly keep them hidden forever.

In the red-haired grandmaster's view, even if Wuji Sect had been bought off, they would never make a move inside the celestial array. Still, the moment this anomaly occurred, the Tianxing Alliance was the first to come to mind.

Countless cultivators from both domains had entered Ziwei Palace through the years—whether it was the two occasions he had personally led, or those conducted by predecessors—never had anything like this happened inside the celestial array.

And yet now, a sudden disruption. How could he not be suspicious?

As the red-haired grandmaster wavered between doubt and speculation...

A burst of ghastly laughter suddenly echoed from the darkness. "Haha... Old Bastard, Red-Haired Bastard, never thought you'd find out that the celestial arrays of the Sin God Palace and Ziwei Palace were connected, did you?"

"Old Demon Ye!"

"Sin Abyss!"

Both the red-haired grandmaster and Daoist Master Zhenyi turned ashen.

From time immemorial, Ziwei Palace within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield and Sin God Palace deep within the Sin Abyss had always emerged simultaneously without exception.

During this period, no matter how fierce the ongoing wars, the major domains would universally call for a truce.

All cultivators understood that the two palaces must be deeply intertwined. There was no other explanation for their synchrony.

Despite countless years of effort and untold sacrifices by generations of cultivators, no one had ever uncovered the true link between Ziwei Palace and Sin God Palace.

In earlier days, when inter-domain relations weren't so strained, or when spearheaded by a powerful late-stage Spiritual Infant cultivator, there had been multiple joint expeditions and cross-explorations.

All had come up empty-handed.

Firstly, not even late-stage Spiritual Infant experts had the means to probe the core secrets of these two divine palaces.

Secondly, everything within—be it the barriers, the treasures discovered, or even the architectural styles—was utterly dissimilar. The difference was like night and day.

Ziwei Palace stood like a sacred gate of the heavens, shrouded in celestial mist—a palace of the immortals fallen to the mortal world.

Sin God Palace, on the other hand, was an unadulterated palace of demons.

Now, the Sin Abyss had not only discovered that the outer celestial arrays of the two divine palaces were connected, but had even managed to open a passage between them, and appeared directly before them!

No matter how hard they tried, the red-haired grandmaster and Daoist Master Zhenyi simply couldn't fathom how Old Demon Ye had uncovered the link between the two celestial arrays. But one thing was certain: they were in serious trouble.

For Old Demon Ye to show up here with his people, his intentions were obvious!

"This is bad!"

The red-haired grandmaster suddenly realized something and cried out in alarm, shouting at Daoist Master Zhenyi, "Be careful of Huang Tian!"

Even before his words finished echoing, and before Daoist Master Zhenyi could react, two dazzling bursts of blood-red light simultaneously erupted from the center of the cultivators' camps—one in the Small Cold Domain's camp, and the other among the Tianxing Alliance's forces.

These two blood lights originated from the yellow-robed Daoist of the Tianxing Alliance—none other than the Spiritual Infant cultivator known by the Dharma name Huang Tian—and the leader of Wuji Sect!

Their positions had been carefully chosen.

Everyone had arranged themselves around the star chart, separated into two main camps.

Daoist Master Zhenyi and the red-haired grandmaster were at the forefront, leading the way.

Huang Tian had been assisting in operating the Small Polaris Array, with the cultivators of the Tianxing Alliance gathered protectively around him, placing him at the center.

The Wuji Sect's leader had positioned himself beside Leng Yuntian, also right in the middle of the Small Cold Domain group.

And in that instant when the blood light erupted...

It wasn't the Spiritual Infant cultivators who first recognized it. It was Qin Sang.

That blood light was far too familiar to him as he had used it countless times before.

Blood Defilement Divine Light!

But unlike anything he had ever produced, these two blasts of Blood Defilement Divine Light were overwhelmingly potent, so dense that they surged into the heavens, blood-red and soul-shaking, completely incomparable to what his ebony sword could unleash.

His ebony sword had only refined a single shard of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood. Its power was limited. But the amount of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood in the hands of those two must be equivalent to at least half a tree!

In that moment, Qin Sang finally understood what Huang Tian and the Wuji Sect's leader had been searching for in the Endless Valley.

They had been hunting for Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood!

Back then, when they fought the Lightning-Devouring Falcon, their true goal had been the shard of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood that he had stolen.

It was said that the Endless Valley had once given rise to a tree of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood. During a fierce battle among Spiritual Infant cultivators of the demonic sects, the tree was shattered, scattering countless fragments throughout the depths of the valley. This tale had long circulated far and wide.

Yet after all these years, no one had ever confirmed the story. Whether anyone had actually found a piece remained unknown.

If Qin Sang hadn't obtained one himself, he too would have dismissed it as mere legend.

The depths of the Endless Valley were riddled with deadly taboos, and even Spiritual Infant cultivators dared not tread lightly. Even with thorough preparation, venturing in was a gamble, and even if one were lucky enough to find a fragment, the risk far outweighed the reward.

Yet these two clearly had some means of protection, giving them the confidence to enter the valley, and they had actually managed to collect so much of it.