Chapter 1397: The Black Swamp

At the sight of these threads, Qin Sang's movements paused, and his expression grew graver still. Then he tried teasing at one of the threads. At first there was nothing amiss. Within the cave dwelling, the ice box gave off its glow, casting light across Qin Sang's solemn face.

After a moment, calamity struck without warning. With no sign at all, the ice box suddenly shook, bursting with blinding white light, and an extremely violent surge of power radiated out, following the path of Qin Sang's own force to lash back at him.

The hairs on Qin Sang's body stood on end, and a jolt of dread shot through him. His face changed, and he hastily drew back his hand. The ice box gradually returned to normal.

Qin Sang stared fixedly at it, recalling the mysterious power he had just felt, and then discovered that the seal on the box had actually changed. The new sealing power was utterly different from before. All his efforts had been wasted.

"This is... a double safeguard Mystic Heaven Palace left to keep others from stealing the treasure and cracking the seal?" Qin Sang had a faint guess.

He fell silent for a while, then tried again, with the same result. The sealing power on the ice box was extraordinarily strong, beyond anything Qin Sang had seen before, and this shifting nature made cracking it harder still.

Even if he broke the seal through painstaking effort, there was no telling whether that power would undergo some further change. Mystic Heaven Palace had truly taken great effort. He must not entertain any hope of opening the ice box anytime soon.

"If only Bai were here. He might have a way to deal with these strange and uncanny things." Qin Sang frowned.

Left with no choice, he was about to put the ice box away when a thought suddenly struck him. "Mystic Heaven Palace prizes this treasure so highly. Could there be only this one safeguard?"

After a moment's hesitation, something stirred in his mind. The fire lotus seed flew out from his brow, splitting off a wisp of devilish flames that became a fine, dense net of fire and clung to the surface of the ice box.

The ice box became a fire box. Qin Sang had added a layer of devilish-flame seal over its surface, using the aura of the devilish flames to wall the box off. It was all he could do.

Before I open the ice box, it would be best not to go to Hidden Sun Realm. Qin Sang thought to himself.

He put the box away and took out the Fallen Phoenix Jade and the Golden Sinking Sword instead. By Qin Sang's reckoning, refining the Golden Sinking Sword would require two more spiritual materials of particular properties. The Fallen Phoenix Jade met the requirement, and its quality was higher than the material he had originally envisioned.

If he could not wait, he might attempt the refinement. This time, however, the work meant pushing the Golden Sinking Sword up to the top grade, a trial for both the astra and the artifact refiner.

Should the breakthrough fail, it might instead damage the astra's very body. Out of caution, he decided to wait a while longer.

After that, Qin Sang remained on watch over Shouchen Island.

In the outside world, the human and demon races waged a fierce war. The flames of battle blotted out the sky and even spread to Stardust Archipelago.

Both races suffered grievous losses. Blood dyed the sea red, and countless corpses and severed limbs drifted along the currents, scattered everywhere, the demon race's worst of all.

In the span of mere months, the outcome was decided. Even as the demon race finally collapsed, Bifang had hardly shown his face on the battlefield, confirming Qin Sang and the others' guesses. Though Cunning Fox and the other demons had invited some further helpers, they could not withstand the human race's onslaught. Losing soldiers and officers alike, they fled in disarray back to Demon Realm with the remnants of their forces.

The demonic beasts entrenched between Stardust Archipelago and Crescent Moon Realm were largely cleared out, the sea routes restored and growing more prosperous by the day. Qin Sang also made the acquaintance of several Daoists from Stardust Archipelago.

After the great war ended, Qin Sang attended the victory feast Master Feng held at Wind Sun Mountain. He had taken part in several battles himself. Those demon kings, seeing the tide turn against them, had fled with great speed.

He had not managed to kill a demon king, but he had plundered many treasures from their cave dwellings, adding them to the Thousand-Jin Ring. Once he had the chance, by attending more trading fairs and auctions to gather all the spirit materials he needed, he could enhance the Golden Sinking Sword.

A month later, two streaks of evasion light flew out of Wind Sun Mountain and headed south. They were Qin Sang and Master Feng.

"Thank you for accompanying me on this trip, Daoist Feng," Qin Sang said.

Master Feng laughed. "I should be the one apologizing for keeping you waiting so long. It's thanks to your righteous aid that we drove off Cunning Fox and the rest so quickly. Had it dragged on, and had they invited a great saint of the demon race, there would have been more uncertainty. Besides, I happen to be on my way to visit an old friend in the southern region, and Hundred Flowers Valley lies right along the route."

"I've heard Hundred Flowers Valley keeps a very low profile, that outsiders can't even find the valley's headquarters?" Qin Sang asked.

Qin Sang had not pinned all his hopes on Master Feng alone. Whenever he had time during this period, he had been asking after news of Hundred Flowers Valley. The valley was widely renowned, known even to the cultivators of Stardust Archipelago.

In truth, being the foremost in controlling insects was no great thing, for it was precisely its rarity that let the reputation spread so far. Cultivators who specialized in controlling insects were seldom seen in the immortal cultivation world.

Spiritual insects advanced slowly, and the vast majority of immortal cultivators were unwilling to spend their energies raising them. Most who kept spiritual insects had come upon one with some uncommon supernatural ability by chance and kept it as a tool.

Qin Sang had secretly learned the witch race's life-bound insect gu technique and used his blood and essence to nurture the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, whose cultivation went faster than other spiritual insects, but still rather slow compared to an immortal cultivator.

As for how to break through in the future, he had no clue at all. The witch race's inheritance was, of course, surely more than this, but at the time his cultivation had been insufficient and he could not reach it. A pity there was no going back now.

Master Feng made a sound of agreement. "From what Daoist Mu tells me, it seems to be an ancestral precept of Hundred Flowers Valley. Unless provoked, they never take the initiative to join in the strife of the immortal cultivation world, shutting their doors to tend flowers and raise insects. Many people have heard Hundred Flowers Valley lies near Black Water Bay, but they can't find the sect."

The Daoist Mu he spoke of was the current valley master of the Hundred Flowers Valley.

Black Water Bay lay near the central, eastern coast of Crescent Moon Island. On the land bordering the bay stretched a black swamp that ran nearly the whole length of the island, splitting Crescent Moon Island in two. With the black swamp as the boundary, the two halves were commonly called the southern region and the northern region.

The black swamp gave off a foul stench, its depths exceedingly perilous, and the vast majority of its expanse was unsuited to cultivation. Cultivation sects were scarce here, and by building its headquarters in such a place, Hundred Flowers Valley faced little pressure.

"A sect like that is rare indeed," Qin Sang remarked.

To withdraw from the world and contend with no one was, in the immortal cultivation world, no more than a fine aspiration.

Master Feng thought back a moment. "When Daoist Mu and I chat idly, I've caught a few stray remarks. It seems like the founder of Hundred Flowers Valley came from Boundless Sea alone, traveling ten thousand li to establish a sect in Crescent Moon Realm, without any support at all. Probably it was for this very reason that they had no wish to be drawn into the conflicts of the local cultivators. Fortunately Hundred Flowers Valley has stayed strong throughout, and with the black swamp as a buffer, it has been able to maintain its aloof standing all along."

He paused, then went on. "The reason Hundred Flowers Valley's reputation is so great is that they hold insect control as their fundamental inheritance. In fact, a few other factions are well versed in the insect-controlling technique as a secondary pursuit, such as Star Mountain, Thousand-Desire Alliance, and so on. But I am on no familiar terms with them and can't make introductions for you."

Qin Sang offered his thanks. He had already inquired into all the powers Master Feng mentioned. "Thank you for the reminder, Daoist. That's precisely my intent. After leaving Hundred Flowers Valley, I'll call on each of them in turn."

Master Feng nodded and went on to relate more about Hundred Flowers Valley, most of it rumor and anecdote that touched on no real secrets. Qin Sang committed it all to memory.