Bang! Qin Sang did his utmost to dodge, yet the radiant light still struck him.

He was hurled through the air like a rag doll. Agonizing pain tore across his back as flesh split open and blood streamed out, the air filling with the faint scent of scorched meat.

Gritting his teeth, he bounced back up before even touching the ground and fled again without pause.

This was not the first time Qin Sang had been hunted by a Spiritual-Infant-level expert. Just like when he had once faced Devil Qingzhu, he had no power to fight back.

Rumble! As soon as Qin Sang sprang up, a streak of blazing light struck down, blasting a deep crater into the earth.

The Nine Phoenix Monarch gazed coldly at the struggling Qin Sang, advancing with unhurried grace, step by step driving him toward the edge of Spirit-Suppressing Domain.

Qin Sang knew perfectly well that he must not let her succeed. Once he left Spirit-Suppressing Domain, he would face the encirclement of all the demon kings outside. Each one of them was strong enough to toy with him at will. That would be true despair.

What should I do?! His mind raced desperately for a plan.

Bai was also racking his brains. Without the shelter of gray qi, he could not act independently of Qin Sang. With the star turban already used, Bai no longer had any powerful means left.

The followers of the Devil Lord and Lingzhuzi were nowhere to be seen. Even such a commotion did not alarm them; perhaps they were on the opposite side of Yitian Peak.

Old Devil Mou must have deliberately taken a path that avoided them, only to stumble into an even greater danger. Now there was no chance of luring disaster elsewhere.

It seemed like their only hope was to drag things out as long as possible, betting that the Nine Phoenix Monarch’s long feather could not sustain its might indefinitely.

"The poison lake!" Qin Sang suddenly remembered. Ning Wuhui had once mentioned that the reason Dark Valley was so toxic lay in the existence of several so-called poison lakes.

Those lakes contained water so poisonous that even Spiritual Infant grandmasters paled at their name. They were the very source of the valley’s poison.

Within them, spiritual consciousness could not leave the body. According to Ning Wuhui, the lakes were interconnected through a maze of underwater channels. If Qin Sang could just stay out of the Nine Phoenix Monarch’s sight long enough, he might find a way to escape.

Crack! A giant rock shattered.

Qin Sang darted sideways, narrowly avoiding another devastating strike. The Nine Phoenix Monarch’s attacks were too ferocious. Feeling the terrifying force behind them, cold sweat broke out across Qin Sang’s back.

While fleeing, he searched frantically for any opportunity, repeatedly feinting toward Yitian Peak, forcing the Nine Phoenix Monarch to divide her focus and activate the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather again and again.

After fleeing a long distance, he suddenly caught a glint from the corner of his eye, a crystalline reflection deep within a forest. His heart leapt with joy. It was a lake!

The inner hall was a desolate place. Since entering, he had never once seen a body of water. This could only be a poison lake!

"Now’s my chance!" Qin Sang’s eyes lit up.

But then hesitation flickered in them. The toxins of Dark Valley were said to rival those in the core of Purple Mist End.

If the airborne poisons are already that dreadful, how strong will it be within the source itself? Can the silkworm withstand it?

Yet at this point, he was nearly cornered. There was no other choice. Pretending to flee blindly, he rushed straight toward the poison lake.

He swallowed all the Snow Toad Pills that Ning Wuhui had given him in one gulp, activated every poison-warding treasure he possessed, and ordered the fat silkworm to form a Poison-Warding Armor around him before plunging toward the lake.

Seeing his movement, the Nine Phoenix Monarch arched a brow. Qin Sang was already too close to the lake, it was too late to use the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather to intercept him.

Layer upon layer of protection shimmered around him as Qin Sang reached the lake’s edge. He shut his eyes tight and dove straight in.

Crack! The moment he entered the poison lake, his poison-warding jade pendant shattered instantly.

Qin Sang’s heart lurched. He hastily gathered his poison-warding energies, fusing them with the silkworm’s Poison-Warding Armor to resist the poisonous water as he sank rapidly.

While descending, he kept a close watch on the silkworm’s condition. One by one, the poison-warding treasures on his body exploded.

The silkworm crawled out from beneath his inner armor, perching on his shoulder, body taut and arched high, breathing out multicolored halos to strengthen the Poison-Warding Armor. Its breathing was labored, it was clearly struggling.

Fortunately, it still seemed able to endure. Qin Sang let out a small sigh of relief.

Above the poison lake, the Nine Phoenix Monarch arrived in a flash, glaring at its dark depths.

She did not know the lake’s origin, but instinct warned her of danger. She knew it must be related to Dark Valley’s deadly miasma. She was not skilled at resisting poison and had relied on the Jiao King’s protection before.

Even Spiritual Infant cultivators dared not remain long within such a place. How long could a mere Core Formation cultivator possibly survive?

The Nine Phoenix Monarch snorted coldly, wrapped herself in a fiery layer of protection, and leapt into the lake after him.

Sizzle! The moment she entered, the poisonous water boiled, and her protective layer began to burn violently.

The Nine Phoenix Monarch frowned. The toxins here were far stronger than she had imagined. She had to catch him quickly.

The poison lake was deep and shadowy. Qin Sang’s face was tense with urgency. He did not know how much longer the fat silkworm could last, and that madwoman was still right on his tail.

At last, he saw the bottom of the lake, where a massive dark river flowed. Ahead was pure darkness; he could not tell where it led.

He dove into the current, and the Nine Phoenix Monarch followed without hesitation. Not long after entering, something strange happened.

As Qin Sang watched the silkworm’s condition, about to take out restorative treasures to replenish its strength, he suddenly felt his entire body tighten.

He had fallen into a tremendous undercurrent, swept helplessly into the depths of the dark river.

When he tried to stabilize himself with his true essence, he realized with horror that this was no mere current but an enormous, mysterious suction force. With his cultivation, he could not break free!

Qin Sang’s heart sank. This is bad.

The poison lake had always been calm. Why had such a strange suction appeared?

Qin Sang struggled frantically, but it was useless. The pull was too strong, binding him like invisible chains and dragging him violently forward.

Behind him, the Nine Phoenix Monarch was also caught in the current created by the suction.

At first, she paid it no mind. But when she realized that even she could not break free, her expression finally changed.

No one knew where this dark river led, or how deep it went. The eerie suction sent a chill racing through her heart.

Worse still, if she failed to resist the overwhelming poison while trapped in the current, she would dissolve into pus, leaving not even bones behind, buried together with Qin Sang in this place.

She wanted to capture him and seize his treasure, not die with him. Acting decisively, the Nine Phoenix Monarch channeled all her strength into the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather.

The feather flared brilliantly, its power erupting. She finally tore free from the suction’s grasp.

Not daring to linger even for a moment, she fought her way upward against the current and burst out of the poison lake. To her astonishment, she found that nearly half of the lake’s water had vanished in a short span of time, and it was still rapidly receding.

When she reached the shore, the lake had already dried up. The bizarre scene left the Nine Phoenix Monarch baffled. She could not tell whether this was some natural change of the poison lake or something else entirely.

She looked down at the bottom of the dried lake, her brows drawing together. Qin Sang had been pulled down, leaving him no chance of survival. Yet she had wasted the power of the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather for nothing.

Meanwhile, the suction grew even stronger.

Without a treasure like the True Heavenly Phoenix Feather, Qin Sang and Bai struggled desperately but to no avail. The current dragged them helplessly through twisting waterways toward an unknown place.

They slammed into rocks and stone walls again and again, but thanks to Qin Sang’s powerful body, he managed to endure.

The real danger, however, was that the silkworm’s breaths of multi-colored halos were beginning to slow. It could no longer maintain the Poison-Warding Armor!