Chapter 660: Chapter 660

Qin Sang swiftly formed a series of hand seals, sealing Du Han’s cultivation completely.

Although this had been a carefully laid ambush with thorough preparation, Qin Sang hadn’t expected to capture Du Han so easily.

After all, Du Han had been in the Core Formation Realm for years and came from a prestigious sect. He had surely possessed a few hidden trump cards.

Qin Sang’s original plan had been to kill Du Han and seize a brief window to perform soul-searching before the man’s soul dissipated, hoping to extract at least a portion of the information he most desired.

After that, he would begin his journey into exile.

But now, with Du Han captured alive, Qin Sang wouldn’t have to immediately bear the pressure from Black Witch Palace. This gave him ample time to make preparations at his own pace.

He tossed Du Han aside and began carefully sweeping the battlefield, erasing all traces. For anything that couldn’t be covered up, he simply destroyed it outright.

While clearing the area, Qin Sang discovered Du Han’s Blackwater Mirror deep within the forest.

Of Du Han’s two astras, the bone claw had been destroyed, while the Blackwater Mirror was only damaged.

This astra had been tainted by the Blood Defilement Divine Light, greatly weakening its supernatural power. It had dropped from the sky, but as an astra, it had not been destroyed at the origin like ordinary artifacts would have been.

After erasing Du Han’s traces, Qin Sang planned to store the mirror in his dantian and carefully nurture it for a time to restore it.

However, since this astra had been a reward from Black Witch Palace, Qin Sang wasn’t certain whether it had any hidden mechanisms. Not daring to use it recklessly, he stored it in the Thousand-Jin Ring for now. He would only consider claiming it after leaving Xijiang, or even the Witch God Continent entirely.

The Blackwater Mirror was indeed powerful, among the best of the low-grade astras.

Unfortunately, Du Han had been caught off guard by the sudden ambush. Before he could unleash the mirror’s full power, Qin Sang had struck first and crippled him.

If this had been a fair fight, there was no way Qin Sang could have won so easily.

Although this matter involved the Black Witch Palace, Canglang Sea was vast. Once Qin Sang reached the human cultivator territories, he could use the astra discreetly without too much worry.

After cleaning up and confirming there were no loose ends, Qin Sang carried Du Han into the depths of the mountains to a hidden cave dwelling.

He flung Du Han to the ground.

Du Han slowly regained consciousness. Even in captivity, he retained a Core Formation cultivator’s imposing presence. He glared coldly at Qin Sang. "I’ve roamed the Demonic Sea for years. Never thought I’d fall at the hands of some petty sneak in my own territory. Victory or defeat, such is fate. Just get it over with, kill me if you must.”

With that, Du Han closed his eyes and refused to speak another word, clearly wishing for a swift death.

But Qin Sang had his methods to make him talk.

Since Du Han’s soul would scatter after a soul search, and Qin Sang didn’t want to kill him just yet, he cast the Spirit Seizing Spell instead.

Oddly, the spell’s duration on Du Han was far shorter than it had been on Foundation Building cultivators. Fortunately, Qin Sang had anticipated this and immediately asked a few of the most critical questions. Otherwise, he would have been forced to soul-search.

As expected, Black Witch Palace indeed possessed a method akin to a Soul Lamp. If Du Han were to die, they would sense it immediately. So Qin Sang would have to wait until he had left Xijiang and found a secure retreat before killing him.

The first half of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art only allowed for turning Foundation Building cultivators into living corpses using barriers. Qin Sang dared not risk using it on Du Han and could not store him in the Corpse Puppet Pouch. Instead, he retrieved a black coffin from the Thousand-Jin Ring, stuffed Du Han inside, and slung it over his back.

To conceal it further, he laid down multiple layers of barriers on the coffin, blocking any probing. He even used a ribbon-like artifact to create a surface-level disguise.

With the black coffin on his back, Qin Sang fed the Sky-Eyed Butterfly once, then took out the fat silkworm. Seeing no sign of it breaking its cocoon, he returned it to the insect basket.

Next, he summoned the Mute Girl, checked her condition briefly, and then left the cave dwelling without delay, heading straight toward Thousand-Household Village.

He was preparing to leave Xijiang, but before he did, he had to take the old witch doctor from Thousand-Household Village with him.

There were far too many people in the Bear Mountain region, including those from Thunderclap Village and Hundred Flower Palace, who had seen Qin Sang’s face. It was impossible to erase every trace.

From Du Han, he had learned that Black Witch Palace had only one Spiritual Infant grandmaster, comparable in strength to the Eight Major Sects of the Small Cold Domain. Though unchallenged in Xijiang, they were insignificant when compared to the vast Canglang Sea, especially the territories of the human race.

Qin Sang had already resolved to leave the Witch God Continent. Once gone, he no longer feared Black Witch Palace. Even if his identity were exposed, he doubted they would go to great lengths over a mere early-stage Core Formation disciple.

As for others who had seen him, once he escaped Black Witch Palace’s sphere of influence, they would have no way of tracking him. He wasn’t worried.

The witch doctor of Thousand-Household Village, however, was a different story. Aside from the Mute Girl, he was the only one who had seen Qin Sang with a severed left arm, enveloped in corpse qi.

The implications of that incident were too great. Qin Sang could not afford to be careless.

When Qin Sang had just interrogated Du Han with the Spirit Seizing Spell, he had naturally focused on the questions he cared about most.

Only then did he discover that the secrets behind this matter were far more complicated and shocking than he had imagined.

Even as he flew through the air, Qin Sang couldn’t help but shiver. He felt as though countless mysteries had suddenly wrapped around him, as if he had been drawn into a terrifying vortex.

To speak of this matter, one had to begin with the Seven-Kill Hall.

As it turned out, the Seven-Kill Hall was a hidden realm discovered by human cultivators, located within a storm at the outer edge of the Canglang Sea. Starting from the Witch God Continent, even someone like Du Han, who was in the Core Formation Realm, would need over half a year to reach it.

After the discovery of the Seven-Kill Hall, some human cultivators had ventured inside to explore it and had returned with substantial gains.

Unfortunately, the Seven-Kill Hall was not always open. It could not be entered at will. The rıghtful source is novel⸺fire.net

Only when it manifested in the world could one gain entry.

Each time it appeared, many human cultivators would risk the dangers of the storm to charge into the Seven-Kill Hall.

Upon hearing about this, Qin Sang immediately felt a sense of familiarity. He quickly pressed Du Han to recount the past appearances of the Seven-Kill Hall. To his shock, the timing of its recent manifestations precisely matched the occurrences of Ziwei Palace.

If Seven-Kill Hall and Ziwei Palace were two entirely unrelated hidden realms, such a coincidence would be absolutely impossible.

Even the last shred of hope in Qin Sang’s heart vanished. It was highly likely that he had been transported from Ziwei Palace directly into Seven-Kill Hall. The mysterious corpse that had fallen from the sky and vanished inside Seven-Kill Hall was, in fact, him.

However, there were key differences between Seven-Kill Hall and Ziwei Palace.

Ziwei Palace lay hidden deep within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, and only when a Spirit Tide arrived and the celestial palace surfaced on its own could one break through the array and enter.

In contrast, over many years of exploration in Canglang Sea, human cultivators had discovered that the protective celestial array surrounding Seven-Kill Hall would enter a period of weakness every few decades.

At such times, one could lay down an array outside Seven-Kill Hall. Even if it had not yet manifested, it was still possible to forcibly break through the celestial array and send people inside.

During these periods, aside from the ones responsible for breaking the array, other cultivators were also allowed to enter and search for treasure. However, they would need to pay a large sum of spirit stones to compensate those who had set up the array.

Although the hidden realm had been discovered by human cultivators, witch cultivators of the witch race could also enter, so long as they were willing to pay enough spirit stones.

There was just one condition: Any witch cultivator entering Seven-Kill Hall must not have a cultivation higher than the Core Formation Realm.