Gateway of Immortality

The Earth Malevolent Qi surged wildly into the cave.

Qin Sang shuddered, unwilling to delay any longer. He quickly suppressed his injuries and activated his movement art, darting deeper into the cave. Just then, he felt a strange sensation, prompting him to stop and turn to look behind.

He saw that as the Earth Malevolent Qi rushed into the cave, the stone walls suddenly lit up with golden runes. These runes, interconnected by golden threads, flickered in brightness—some shining, others dim—spanning various locations on the walls.

When the Earth Malevolent Qi collided with the golden light of the runes, it was astonishingly halted in its invasion.

Qin Sang's eyes brightened; his guess had been correct. There was indeed a barrier within the cave that isolated the Earth Malevolent Qi. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for anyone to cultivate in such a place.

However, Qin Sang could not revel in his discovery for long.

It was unclear whether the barrier had been left unattended for too long or if its power was simply fading. Facing the increasingly overwhelming Earth Malevolent Qi, the runes held their ground for only a brief moment before quickly dulling, eventually extinguishing.

The Earth Malevolent Qi ruthlessly obliterated the runes within the cave, merely slowing its invasion slightly.

Witnessing this, Qin Sang felt no hope left in his heart. With a resigned sigh, he surged deeper into the cave dwelling, though uncertainty gnawed at him. He feared the end of the cave might be a dead end, and with the Earth Malevolent Qi lingering ominously, he could only proceed step by step.

The cave was not wide, and the unknown entities lurking within made it unwise to use his sword recklessly.

Activating his Falling Cloud Wings, Qin Sang moved stealthily.

This artifact had accompanied him since his time at the Kuiyin Sect, proving invaluable on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, its nature as a malevolent artifact meant it would eventually self-destruct. Thus, Qin Sang sought to minimize its usage, reserving his best tools for crucial moments.

Uncertain of what lay within the cave, he prioritized caution.

Fortunately, the cave was not a dead end. The further he ventured, the more side passages he discovered, branching up, down, left, and right, intersecting and diverging. Qin Sang was secretly astonished; the space inside was far larger than he had imagined.

His figure darted quickly to a fork in the path, all leading deeper into the cave: one path veered left, another ascended, and a third descended.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Sang chose to go down.

The upper part of the underground area lacked an entrance to the cave, likely leading to a dead end. He had attempted to attack the stone wall, but the barrier could not withstand the Earth Malevolent Qi, and it was beyond his ability to shake.

Qin Sang had seized the opportunity first. If anyone else had managed to escape into the cave, they would likely be below. The underground area was too bizarre, and he decided that he needed to find a way to regroup with his companions to handle any potential dangers.

He flashed forward without hindrance, reaching the end of the stone path, only to find the stone door ahead tightly shut, seemingly protected by a barrier.

Seeing this obstacle before him, Qin Sang's expression changed. Although he had encountered stone doors along the way, they had all been wide open. This was the first time he faced such a situation; if the barrier on the stone door was too strong, he could very well become trapped here!

Testing cautiously, he channeled his spiritual power and easily broke the barrier on the stone door. The barrier on the door and that on the wall were not connected.

"Thank goodness!"

Qin Sang silently rejoiced.

At that moment, a rumbling sound came from behind him; the Earth Malevolent Qi pursued relentlessly. Qin Sang dared not hesitate any longer and pushed the stone door with all his might, but suddenly, a fierce wind rushed at him.

"Is there someone inside?"

Qin Sang was both startled and delighted as he leaped back to avoid the ambush.

The assailant moved slowly, allowing Qin Sang to easily evade a significant distance. He saw a shadow lunging at the spot where he had just stood, a blackened hand reaching out and grasping nothing but air, its fingers striking the stone wall nearby.

With a loud sizzle, sparks flew.

The hand appeared withered like wood, its skin covered in steel-like black bristles. The nails were longer than the fingers, sharp as blades, black as ink, and faintly emanated a layer of murky green, clearly toxic.

Grrr...

The shadow turned around, revealing a creature resembling a human but grotesque, resembling an evil spirit with an incredibly ferocious appearance. Its fangs and nails were shrouded in black and green aura, and beneath the dense black fur, its skin glimmered faintly like bronze or iron.

The monster greedily stared at Qin Sang, making strange noises from its throat.

“A zombie?”

A look of surprise crossed Qin Sang’s face. No wonder he hadn’t detected the creature’s aura; it was not a living being but a zombie roused by the life force emanating from him.

Plants, trees, and stones could all transform into monsters; naturally, corpses could too.

Especially in cases where cultivators died unexpectedly, if the body happened to fall in a particularly peculiar terrain, the lingering spiritual power could prevent decay for years. Under the influence of lingering desires, there existed a possibility for a corpse to undergo a transformation.

Within demonic sects, there were practitioners who specialized in the path of corpse refinement, mastering the art of corpse creation, capable of turning the bodies of mortals and even cultivators into corpse puppets to fight on their behalf.

The Secret Technique of Corpse Core, which Qin Sang had acquired from Gu Tiannan, was not a true corpse refinement technique but rather akin to alchemy.

Zombies were the most basic and weakest form of refined corpses, and those that formed naturally mostly belonged to this category.

If by chance a mortal's body were buried in a place rich in yin qi, it would easily turn into a zombie. Some might grow white hair, others black, taking on bizarre forms. The uninformed mortals might think there was a distinction between white zombies and black zombies; in truth, they were merely the most ordinary kind.

The weakest zombies possessed only great strength and a lack of fear of pain, their bodies being sturdy, and they were afraid of objects infused with yang qi. Mortals could still find ways to subdue them.

However, if a corpse were aged over many years or had been refined by an immortal cultivator into a zombie puppet, it would be beyond the means of ordinary mortals to deal with.

The zombie before Qin Sang was of this sort. Its body was exceptionally hard, akin to metal, moving with agility and showing nearly no weaknesses. Moreover, it carried a toxic aura, making it a challenge even for cultivators at the eighth or ninth stage of the Qi Refining Realm; one careless mistake could lead to their downfall at the hands of the zombie.

If a zombie absorbed enough malevolent yin energy, it could metamorphose into a malevolent corpse, which would act with the swiftness of the wind and could manipulate malevolent yin qi, striking fear into even Foundation Building cultivators.

Naturally, such metamorphosis into a malevolent corpse was rare. These beings despised the living and were bloodthirsty, causing great disasters whenever they appeared in the mortal realm.

Some demonic cultivators could attract malevolent yin energy and meticulously refine it to create malevolent corpse puppets.

It was said that among malevolent corpses, there existed flying yaksha[1] that rivaled Golden Core cultivators, skilled in evasion techniques of the five elements, boasting tremendous power and unpredictability.

Very few demonic cultivators had the capability to refine corpse puppets of such caliber, and the difficulty was apparent. Not only did it require the body of a powerful cultivator, but it also consumed many rare spiritual materials, making the process incredibly complex, comparable to refining an astra.

In ancient times, there were tales of heavenly corpses achieving Dao and ascending to the immortal realm, but nowadays, even human cultivators struggle to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm, relegating those tales to mere legend.

Seeing that the creature attempting to ambush him was a zombie, Qin Sang felt a twinge of disappointment. He immediately summoned the Five-Elemental Breaking Sword, severing the creature in half with a single stroke. Then, in a flash, he darted to the side of the now-split zombie.

1. Yaksha, in the mythology of India, a class of generally benevolent but sometimes mischievous, capricious, sexually rapacious, or even murderous nature spirits who are the custodians of treasures that are hidden in the earth and in the roots of trees. ☜

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!