The deer demon king was dead. Two other demon kings were severely injured, while the rest bore various wounds. Crossing the swamp had come at a heavy cost.

At the edge of the swamp rose another vast mountain range. Standing at the foot of the mountain, they looked up. The peak appeared bare and rocky like the others before, but this one was shrouded in clouds and mist. The Jiao King felt an oppressive heaviness settle in his chest, as if forewarning an ominous event.

To reach the dragon’s corpse, they would still have to cross the mountains. After some thought, he turned and said, "Nine Phoenix, guard me. Have the others recover as quickly as possible. Brother Hei and I will see if there’s a path around this range."

The Jiao King and the burly armored demon moved along the base of the mountain. The range was extraordinarily vast, its peaks stretching endlessly into the distance.

After circling several mountains, they finally discovered a cliff where a narrow, shadowed trail wound between two ridges, leading to the opposite side.

After a brief discussion, the two demons entered the passage one after another, treading carefully. Despite a few close calls, they safely emerged on the other side.

To their surprise, the space here was unusually stable. The spatial rifts were sparse, and the celestial barrier above could be seen clearly. It was as though the two sides of the mountain existed in separate realms.

Below lay a rocky plain, barren and lifeless, covered only in pale gray mist drifting through the air. Compared to the gloomy swamp behind them, this place was almost bright.

Beyond a few small hills, no taller peaks obstructed their view. The land was open and vast.

"This place is..." The Jiao King began to speak but suddenly froze. Without warning, a faint layer of black qi spread across his face. In an instant, his complexion darkened to pitch black.

"Crap! It’s poison!" The Jiao King exclaimed, swiftly forming a seal and pressing his palm to his chest. He used an unknown secret technique, causing golden light to burst from his palm, forming a small golden Jiao that burrowed into his body.

Golden light spread rapidly through his limbs and torso. He opened his mouth and spat out a puff of black qi, but before his eyes, it vanished into nothing.

The burly demon, warned in time, realized the poison had invaded his body as well and hurried to use his own secret technique to neutralize it.

"Colorless, odorless, and extremely poisonous!" The Jiao King’s expression grew grim. "This place is the Dark Valley!"

***

At the trial realm...

After Venerable Ye and the others had long departed, Qin Sang returned to the stone peak where the Hundred-Treasure Pavilion stood.

The treasures had already been divided. As soon as he stepped into the pavilion, he was transported to the inner hall, before a sheer cliff wall.

Qin Sang immediately concealed his presence and aura. After carefully surveying his surroundings to ensure no one else was nearby, he drew from the Thousand-Jin Ring a detailed geomantic map.

The map was given to him by Ning Wuhui, far more complete than the rough sketches Qin Sang had made himself.

"There it is..." Comparing the terrain, Qin Sang located his current position and flickered away in the direction he and Ning Wuhui had agreed upon.

He had delayed quite some time fulfilling his promise to Su Nu, and he did not know how long Ning Wuhui had been waiting.

This part of the inner hall, near the entrance, was relatively safe. The ferocious beasts had been cleared, and the most dangerous ancient barriers had long been broken by their predecessors. As Qin Sang traveled, he silently observed the surroundings of the inner hall.

"This place is even worse than Ziwei Palace." That was his verdict on Seven-Kill Hall.

In Ziwei Palace, aside from a few hidden areas like the heavenly mountain, even Core Formation Realm cultivators could explore freely. Seven-Kill Hall, however, was clearly far more perilous.

Moreover, Ziwei Palace teemed with vegetation and life, while Seven-Kill Hall exuded only lifeless silence.

He looked up toward the celestial barrier above. Its radiant glow veiled everything from sight.

If the ancient teleportation array was truly within the inner hall, how had he fallen through the Sky Tower’s summit, passed through the celestial barrier, and been transported elsewhere? Was it the doing of Senior Qingzhu, or something else entirely?

"Does the ancient teleportation array lie within the celestial barrier itself?" Qin Sang muttered silently.

He crossed several peaks, occasionally spotting flashes of barrier light atop mountains where cultivators were attempting to break barriers and search for treasures.

Before long, he arrived at the rear slope of one of the mountains. The meeting point he and Ning Wuhui had chosen was a secluded stone pavilion hidden within a mountain hollow.

The pavilion was ancient, its weathered stone pillars marked by the passage of countless years. It took him no effort to find it, but Ning Wuhui was nowhere to be seen.

Qin Sang entered swiftly and checked the surroundings. There were no signs or markings left behind. He and Ning Wuhui had agreed beforehand that if either encountered danger and had to leave, they would leave a mark to notify the other.

"Ning Wuhui still isn’t here?" Qin Sang frowned in surprise.

He had already been delayed long enough. For Ning Wuhui to arrive even later was unexpected.

"Is he trapped inside the trial realm?" The thought of the Thousand-Mountain Array came to Qin Sang’s mind, and unease stirred in his heart.

Given Ning Wuhui’s strength, he should have been capable of contending for the Soul-Cleansing Liquid. At the very least, he should have been among the first to reach the Hundred-Treasure Pavilion.

Yet Ning Wuhui had not participated in the battle for the Soul-Cleansing Liquid and had still not emerged from the trial realm.

If he was unfamiliar with illusion arrays and had been caught within the Thousand-Mountain Array, that would be troubling indeed.

Though anxiety gnawed at him, Qin Sang reminded himself that the trial realm contained not only treasures and astras but also many rare spiritual herbs that could not be found in the outside world. Perhaps Ning Wuhui had stayed behind for another purpose.

"Forget it. I’ve overextended myself, and my true essence hasn’t fully recovered. I’ll rest and wait for him here."

With Ning Wuhui absent, there was nothing more Qin Sang could do. He calmed his thoughts, set up an isolation barrier around the pavilion, and sat cross-legged, holding a spirit stone as he began to meditate and restore his strength.

Qin Sang’s true essence was soon replenished, and his condition restored to its peak. He opened his eyes. Seeing that Ning Wuhui had still not arrived, he took out the Soul-Cleansing Liquid from the Thousand-Jin Ring.

Activating his spiritual consciousness, Qin Sang carefully examined the medicinal energy within the Soul-Cleansing Liquid. His primordial spirit felt a deep, soothing comfort, as if nourished by an abundant flow of soul power contained within.

It was no exaggeration to say that consuming the Soul-Cleansing Liquid could greatly strengthen one’s spiritual consciousness.

"Soul-Cleansing Liquid, Nine-Illusion Heavenly Orchid, and the life-bound insect gu..." Qin Sang began to imagine his path forward.

Even if he could never return to the Small Cold Domain, forming a Spiritual Infant was no longer out of reach. By his estimation, there should be no major obstacles left between him and that realm.

It was time to start considering how to overcome the Spiritual Infant tribulation. However, upon further thought, Qin Sang realized that his own tribulation would likely be easier than that of others.

The Spiritual Infant tribulation consisted of three calamities including that of lightning, and the final heart-devil tribulation. Among them, the most terrifying was not the three calamities, but the heart devils.

When a cultivator neared the end of their life’s essence, facing the invisible and formless heart-devil tribulation left them utterly defenseless. Countless cultivators throughout history had failed at this stage, their souls scattered into nothingness.

But Qin Sang was protected by the Jade Buddha. He did not need to fear the heart-devil tribulation.

Moreover, with two top-grade astras in his possession, even the three calamities held little threat for him. All he would need were a few auxiliary spiritual arrays and medicines, along with several refined tools specifically designed for the tribulation.

The Spiritual Infant tribulation, which struck terror into countless immortal cultivators, did not worry Qin Sang much at all.

So long as he could reach the peak of the Core Formation Realm and shatter the bottleneck, the path to the Spiritual Infant Realm would be wide open.

Just as his thoughts drifted to the future, he suddenly sensed a ripple in the air. His expression shifted slightly. Storing away the Soul-Cleansing Liquid, he removed the barrier and stepped out of the stone pavilion.

"Daoist Ning!" Qin Sang said.

The newcomer was none other than Ning Wuhui.

"My apologies, Daoist Qin. I came late and made you wait," Ning Wuhui said, landing before the pavilion with a courteous bow and a faintly apologetic smile.

A glimmer of surprise flashed across Qin Sang’s eyes. Something about Ning Wuhui felt different from before but he could not discern what it was.