Chapter 1417: Separation

This was the Tide-Drawing Horseshoe Crab's life-bound supernatural ability. A spiritual insect of the fourth metamorphosis possessed no ordinary powers, and though it was no match for the black bamboo staff, it had served as a buffer and successfully saved Daoist Wang's life.

The Chaotic Devil Elder's strike had missed. A trace of surprise showed on his face, though it did nothing to slow his decisions.

The staff did not pursue her. With only her Spiritual Infant remaining, and having been forced to teleport to escape, her vitality was gravely damaged and she posed no threat.

The staff came on with undiminished ferocity, following its original momentum straight down at Valley Master Mu!

By now Daoist Wang's Spiritual Infant hung weak and precarious, and Daoist Qi was tied up with the Precept-Keeping Sage. The Chaotic Devil Elder spared neither of them a glance and made straight for the two who threatened him most, Qin Sang and Valley Master Mu.

Valley Master Mu's eyes stayed calm. He recalled the Tide-Drawing Horseshoe Crab, closed his hand on empty air to withdraw the Snake Spear, and let the serpent armor shield him against the staff. He was about to thrust the spear at the Chaotic Devil Elder when he saw the elder wearing an uncanny smile aimed directly at him, a smile that made the hair stand up.

A black shadow swayed behind the elder, and a head emerged from behind his skull, craning past his shoulder to stare fixedly at Valley Master Mu.

The head had no substance. It appeared to be a soul, its sockets a blank pallor with no eyeballs at all. To be watched by it was to be marked by something utterly terrifying, and a chill rose in Valley Master Mu.

It was then that he remembered the various rumors surrounding the Chaotic Devil Elder, and alarm surged through him. This is bad.

"Aaahh!" The soul's mouth flew open and released a shriek of piercing, unbearable pitch, like a devilish sound.

The instant it reached him, Valley Master Mu's mind rang hollow. The sound seemed to pour straight into his skull, and a violent pain lanced through his primordial spirit, leaving it strangely sluggish. Horrified, he sealed off his five senses at once.

What the Chaotic Devil Elder did next caught everyone off guard. Rather than pressing his advantage and attacking Valley Master Mu, the elder flicked one gaunt hand and hurled the Chaotic Devil Token at the Thousand Buddha Wall.

The elder's ambush, the crippling of Daoist Wang and the blow to Valley Master Mu's primordial spirit all unfolded with lightning speed.

Qin Sang was enduring the first wave of Buddhist light and crimson flames.

He had two choices.

The first was to ignore what lay behind and press forward, leaving outright. With the Thousand Buddha Wall between them, the Chaotic Devil Elder could not catch him for a time, and his own safety would be assured.

But that would leave Valley Master Mu and the other two in mortal danger. Even at full strength the three of them were no match for the Chaotic Devil Elder and Precept-Keeping Sage, and the elder seemed to understand Pure Sea Sect better than they did.

The second was to turn back and save them.

Qin Sang chose the second almost without hesitation. At the very least, Valley Master Mu could not be allowed to fall here. As for Daoists Qi and Wang, he could only do what he could.

Weighing the two sides, and drawing on past experience, he judged that with several of his supernatural abilities and Valley Master Mu at his side, he could put up a fight against the Chaotic Devil Elder. At minimum, the elder would not cut him down easily.

If the three of them died here, he would be left alone, and running into the Chaotic Devil Elder again would put him in an impossible position. More Spiritual Infant cultivators would arrive later.

Those people would be wary of the Chaotic Devil Elder and owed Qin Sang nothing. His position would only grow harder, and he would likely be driven out of Pure Sea Sect before he obtained anything worth having.

There was another consideration behind turning back. A debt of gratitude owed by Valley Master Mu would leave the man without grounds to refuse when Qin Sang later inquired into Hundred Flowers Valley's origins.

Having weighed it all, Qin Sang drove the Golden Sinking Sword with everything he had and unleashed the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array. The sword array's power surged out in a vast tide, holding back the Buddha light and crimson flames.

The pressure on him eased, and he saw Valley Master Mu take the hit. He was on the verge of exposing his trump card, releasing the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet to save the man, when he saw the Chaotic Devil Token come hurtling in.

Rumble! The token conjured a phantom a hundred zhang tall, its momentum shaking the heavens as it slammed into the Thousand Buddha Wall!

The delicate equilibrium between the Buddha light and the crimson flame qi shattered under the impact, and chaos erupted at once, above all at the fissure where Qin Sang stood.

Crimson and golden light rose in monstrous waves, surging in from both sides and threatening to swallow the gap within a blink. Qin Sang's vision blurred, and a sense of extreme danger seized him.

"No!" He grasped the Chaotic Devil Elder's intent and his heart clenched.

Once Qin Sang had seen through his approach, the Chaotic Devil Elder had adapted on the spot, abandoning his original plan of slaughtering all four here. He understood that if he attacked Valley Master Mu, and Qin Sang broke free, the two would cover each other, and even for him killing the pair would take considerable trouble.

One was the valley master of Hundred Flowers Valley, whose name had carried from Crescent Moon Realm all the way to Boundless Sea. The other was of unknown origin yet had seen through his approach, which proved his ability. Neither was any ordinary middle-stage Spiritual Infant cultivator.

Delay would breed complications. So the Chaotic Devil Elder had chosen to throw the Thousand Buddha Wall into disorder, forcing Qin Sang away first, splitting his opponents apart to destroy them one by one.

Left alone, Valley Master Mu would be far easier to handle. And even if Qin Sang eluded him afterward, a lone man could stir up no real trouble.

Explosions rolled across the wall's surface without pause. Some swastika runes blazed with light while others shattered outright, and the crimson flame qi rampaged across the wall like a torrent of fire. With the balance broken, the surface descended instantly into utter chaos.

In Qin Sang's field of vision only crimson and gold remained. Valley Master Mu and the others outside had vanished from sight. Wave after wave of savage force came on, staggering in strength. To burst out now would see him blasted apart on the spot.

His line of retreat was severed. He had no choice but to abandon the rescue, cross the Thousand Buddha Wall, and put this place behind him.

"A great cultivator indeed. Cunning as they come..." Qin Sang exhaled slowly. He had to admit the Chaotic Devil Elder's plan had succeeded beautifully.

But he was not without the means to strike back!

A cold smile touched the corner of his mouth. Paying no mind to the Buddhist light and crimson flames pouring in, he sent his spiritual consciousness into the Corpse Puppet Pouch at his waist, and the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet sprang out to plant itself before him.

Boom! The first great wave crashed in. The puppet met it fearlessly, the power of the puppet seal surging across its whole body as it shielded Qin Sang without yielding.

Qin Sang glanced at it, then swept his sleeve. The eighteen devilish banners flew out, and the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells took the shape of a fire dragon that seemed to survey the battlefield beyond, straight through the wall.

"Go!" He barked the order.

As the puppet turned aside another wave, the fire dragon roared forth. Its target was not what lay beyond the wall but the wall itself!

Rumble! The devilish flames smashed into the Thousand Buddha Wall, sowing even more chaos. In the instant of the eruption, Qin Sang used the flames to channel a portion of the Buddha light and crimson flames, guiding their momentum and sending them hurtling across the distance at the Chaotic Devil Elder.

By then the fissure was nearly packed full with the force flooding in, and the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet was on the verge of collapse. Knowing this was the limit of what he could accomplish, Qin Sang withdrew the puppet and turned to leave.

Outside the wall, Chaotic Devil Elder had confirmed that Qin Sang could not possibly emerge and was about to attack Valley Master Mu when he sensed something amiss and whipped his head toward the Thousand Buddha Wall.

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