Only after rushing out of the hills did Qin Sang realize that the talisman array set up by Gong Liangyu remained intact, yet there was no trace of Dongyang Bo. No one knew where he had fled.

Qin Sang swept his gaze around and thought to himself that Dongyang Bo had suffered damage to his blood, essence and astra. It was uncertain whether he would still take part in the conflict with Sin Abyss.

Spreading his wings, Qin Sang flew to a distant peak and observed the cave entrance from afar. His battle with Dongyang Bo had awakened the monster slumbering at the bottom of the blood river.

Qin Sang had no desire for unnecessary conflict, so he had left in haste without even looking at the creature’s appearance. He did not know how strong it was or what its origins might be.

Even before it had fully awakened, Qin Sang had already sensed a hint of danger. It was clearly no benevolent entity.

If the creature lingered at the entrance of the Blood Lake after awakening, there might be further trouble when they tried to leave.

Fixing his gaze on the cave entrance, he saw waves of blood mist surging outward. Soon after, groups of blood shadows rushed out in panic, as if fleeing from something terrifying.

Outside the cave, the blood mist was thin. Without its support, the blood shadows became like headless flies, flying wildly and triggering the surrounding ancient barriers, which reduced them to ashes.

The chaos did not last long. The cave entrance soon returned to silence.

Qin Sang watched for a while. Seeing no further changes, he decided not to concern himself with it and flew far away, finding a concealed location where he placed the talisman puppet on the ground.

The puppet roared wildly. The jade bottle had already cracked open, and it was on the verge of losing control.

With such a rebellious nature, it was no wonder Gong Liangyu had handled it so cautiously.

Qin Sang looked at the puppet, completely at a loss. For now, the only option was to find a way to restrain it first, then study how to subdue it properly after leaving this place.

He sat cross-legged and sent a strand of his spiritual consciousness into the puppet’s body. The moment he did, he was shocked.

"Good heavens, what a mess!" Qin Sang exclaimed.

Inside the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, countless soul shadows stood densely packed. The instant they sensed Qin Sang’s spiritual consciousness, they all turned toward it in unison, sending chills down his spine.

Immediately after, Qin Sang felt something tearing at his primordial spirit. The soul shadows went mad, rushing toward him like a horde of ghosts in the night.

"What kind of puppet is this? It’s definitely an evil puppet!" Qin Sang said.

Even with the Jade Buddha protecting him, Qin Sang felt his scalp go numb.

Such a chaotic puppet... Who knew what kind of evil art Shangyuan Tranquility Palace had used to refine it?

There was no way to sort through it in a short time. Taking advantage of the jade bottle array still suppressing the puppet, Qin Sang rapidly switched through countless barriers. In the end, only by borrowing the power of the devilish flames was he able to forcibly seal it.

Crack! The array finally collapsed. A streak of black light shot into Qin Sang’s palm.

The puppet had been sealed into a palm-sized figure, still extremely restless. Devilish flames coiled around its body, forming tadpole-like black runes that seemed to brand it in place, temporarily sealing it.

"Master, where are we going now?" The fat chicken, released by Qin Sang, looked somewhat anxious.

He had originally been searching for his mother, but Dongyang Bo’s interference had disrupted everything.

Dongyang Bo had tried to kill Gong Liangyu, and Qin Sang had fought Dongyang Bo. Altogether, it had not taken long, though the earlier pursuit had consumed quite some time.

After regulating his breathing, Qin Sang stood up and said, "We’ll quickly sweep through the outer region, then head to meet up with them."

With his identity now exposed, Qin Sang was even more determined to find the Lightning-Devouring Falcon demon king.

First, it might allow him to legitimately invite a demon king for Thousand-Mountain Bamboo Sea, giving the demon race a proper explanation. Second, it would grant him another powerful ally.

From now on, it would not be only about fighting and killing.

Now that both sides had openly stepped into the light, they would certainly act with caution, leaving no opportunity for direct conflict.

Qin Sang’s foundation in the immortal cultivation world was still shallow, unlike Dongyang Bo’s.

Since he intended to establish the Dao Lineage of Qingyang Temple, the future of both sects would inevitably be influenced by the feud between them. Building alliances and forcing the opponent into restraint, proceeding step by step, was the proper path forward.

Taking the fat chicken with him, Qin Sang summoned the ebony sword and traveled using sword evasion, sweeping through the outer region.

The Lightning Thought Orb showed no reaction the entire time.

It seemed that if the Lightning-Devouring Falcon demon king was still alive, she could only be deep within Blood Lake.

The fat chicken grew dejected. Even the outer region was so dangerous. It was hard to imagine what lay in the depths of Blood Lake. No matter how strong his mother was, the chances of survival seemed slim.

***

Qin Sang was traveling through the mountain ranges with the fat chicken.

After flying for some time, Qin Sang stopped atop a peak and looked ahead at a series of mountains rising higher and higher. Over a dozen mountain ranges were arranged in orderly fashion, ascending layer by layer like steps.

"Master, it seems to be over there!" The fat chicken pointed his wing toward the foremost mountain.

The peak of that mountain was unique, as if it had been sliced flat, forming a vast platform.

The place where the Spiritual Infant cultivators had agreed to meet was precisely there!

Qin Sang nodded slightly, somewhat surprised. "There’s no one here. Have they already gone in?"

His figure flickered as he leaped onto the stone platform, and his field of vision suddenly opened up.

Beyond this mountain, there were no more ridges blocking the view. What lay ahead was an immense basin shrouded in blood mist.

Within the basin, the mist surged like waves. Even with the vision of the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, it could not penetrate the blood mist to see what lay beneath.

This place was different from the blood river they had seen earlier. There were no wandering blood shadows, but the blood mist here was filled with ancient barriers, making it far more dangerous.

According to the information they had gathered, the so-called depths of Blood Lake referred to this very basin.

Back then, the seal of Blood Lake had loosened for unknown reasons, and the phantom of an Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood had manifested, revealing Blood Lake’s existence.

Later, several seniors had joined forces to break the seal and enter. Upon reaching this platform, they saw the true body of the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood floating within the blood mist.

One of them had used a great supernatural ability on this platform to fish the divine wood out of the mist.

As for why they later turned against each other, shattered the tree, and what happened afterward, no one knew.

The scattered fragments of the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood were incomplete. Many suspected that some pieces had fallen back into the basin.

Thus, their journey was not solely to disrupt Old Devil Ye’s schemes, but also to search for the divine wood.

Standing here, Qin Sang looked into the distance and noticed a black speck faintly visible within the blood mist at the center of the basin. Upon closer inspection, it resembled the tip of some structure.

"Master, there’s a message left here!" the fat chicken called out loudly from the edge of the platform, having discovered something new.

Qin Sang saw it as well. At the edge of the platform, there was a message formed from condensed true essence, floating above the bloodstone surface, only lightly concealed.

It had been jointly reinforced through special means by Devil Lord Tongyou, Xiang Qing, Daoist Master Chongyi, and Qingjun, making it impossible to forge.

Aside from Dongyang Bo, nearly all the strongest figures of the Small Cold Domain had already arrived.

The message stated that shortly after reaching this place, they had discovered unusual activity deep within the basin. Suspecting that Old Devil Ye was behind it, they had no time to wait for the others and had advanced ahead.

They had marked the direction and would indicate dangers along the way, urging those who came later to follow quickly.

Qin Sang looked around once more but did not see the abnormalities they had mentioned.