Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 967: Blood Seal

"Ninth Aunt!" Fairy Caiyi waved her hand, her voice sweet and eager. "Is there a supreme treasure inside?"

The Nine Phoenix King wore a smile, clearly satisfied with her harvest. "This place was originally an herb garden, not a store of astras. The garden was once vast, though now in ruins. Even so, I found several spiritual herbs within that will aid in healing my wounds. Once refined, my injuries should fully recover..."

The demons were quietly astonished. They had not realized the Nine Phoenix King had suffered such grievous wounds that even after all this time, she had not healed.

The Nine Phoenix King descended before them. Her appearance was immaculate, no different from when she had gone in.

"I have already searched. There is no other treasure here. Time is precious. We must now turn to our true task." She stepped out through the moon gate.

With a sweep of her jade seal, she led the demons away. Moments later, the barrier on the wall rippled, a flash of light restored it, and the moon gate vanished.

***

At the entrance to Celestial Blossom Lake, the demons crossed the wooden bridge. The Nine Phoenix King flew atop a peak, gazing into the distance, surveying the terrain of Seven-Kill Hall.

Even from here, a few landmarks stood out: the Sky Tower, the celestial platform, and in the deepest part, the mysterious inner hall shrouded by a celestial barrier.

"Lingzhuzi and the grand witch priest are there!" Fairy Caiyi pointed toward the Sky Tower. "When we entered Celestial Blossom Lake, they had not yet left Seven-Kill Hall. Now, with everything still calm inside, they should still be within the Sky Tower. Last time, the Devil Lord fought the grand witch priest over a treasure, and the battle nearly turned the Seven-Kill Hall upside down..."

The Nine Phoenix King’s gaze sharpened like lightning. She stared at the Sky Tower for a long moment before saying coldly, "It is not yet time to face the two races' Spiritual Infant cultivators. Guard me."

With that, she descended to an open clearing and sat cross-legged. The demons, though puzzled, quietly spread out to guard the area. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

She raised her hand, laying several barriers around herself, then produced a glass bead the size of a baby’s fist. Lifting her palm, the bead floated before her as her fingers wove rapidly, striking one seal after another into it.

The bead trembled, humming with light. The barriers blocked its abnormal fluctuations from escaping. Then came a startling scene. The Nine Phoenix King parted her lips and spat a mouthful of blood and essence onto the bead.

At once, the blood and essence were absorbed. Runes inside the bead whirled wildly, dazzling the eyes, threatening to pull one’s mind into its depths if stared at too long.

Out of the corner of his eye, Qin Sang noticed a subtle connection between the bead’s qi and the Nine Phoenix King herself. Though not a life-bound astra, it was certainly something she had nurtured for many years to forge such a bond.

After a while, the bead’s shaking subsided, but its interior had transformed. Within now floated a drop of golden liquid. It was seemingly her blood and essence condensed into form, yet shining gold instead of red.

The Nine Phoenix King’s aura weakened sharply. She quickly swallowed a pill, her expression grave as she fixed her gaze on the bead. Then, with a flick of her finger, she sent a streak of light into it. A sharp clang rang out. The bead suddenly shot forth as a streak of golden radiance.

The demons, caught off guard, turned pale and prepared to intercept, but she raised a hand to stop them. Her lips moved in an incantation, and the bead froze mid-air before falling neatly into her grasp. The bead still struggled.

She closed her eyes, sensing it carefully. A smile crept across her lips as she suddenly turned toward the distance. "Follow me!"

She took off in a streak of light, slowing her pace so the demons could keep up. They crossed mountains and ridges until they came before a cliff face.

In her hand, the bead quivered violently, drawn by something within the rock wall. The wall was damp, covered in moss and wild grass, with several ancient pine trees forcing their way out of cracks, growing stubbornly against the odds.

"Ninth Aunt, what are you looking for?" Fairy Caiyi asked.

"Caiyi, you two attack there with full strength." She did not answer directly, only swept her gaze across the stone wall and pointed.

Fairy Caiyi and Gu Heng stepped forward, flew to the spot, and grunted. Fairy Caiyi’s body gleamed with rainbow light, manifesting a seven-colored phoenix shadow. Gu Heng’s bones cracked as sharp dragon horns sprouted from his head.

They exchanged a look, then struck together with full force. Ordinary rock would have shattered instantly, yet this cliff remained intact. Only the moss and weeds were swept away, scattering to dust. The wall’s true form emerged, faintly glowing, its body unscathed.

In a flash, the Nine Phoenix King appeared before it. With a graceful palm pressed against the surface, she commanded, "Open!"

The wall shuddered. A hole appeared out of thin air. Moments later, they stood in an empty cavern, all of them bewildered.

The Nine Phoenix King held the bead tightly, standing before one wall, head tilted as she gazed at the bare stone in silence.

Fairy Caiyi stood beside her, sensing something as well, yet uncertain. She hesitated, wanting to speak.

"Do you feel a familiarity with this barrier?" the Nine Phoenix King asked her. "This is a blood seal, unique to our Phoenix Clan."

She continued, "The senior who left it was far stronger than I. Were it not weakened by time and once forcibly breached, even with secret techniques, I could not have sensed it."

"A blood seal of the Phoenix Clan!" Fairy Caiyi exclaimed in shock. "Could this be the cave dwelling of one of our ancestors?"

The Nine Phoenix King nodded. "It is possible. And surely not the only one. Seven-Kill Hall must hold other ancestral estates left by demon cultivators. Some may have been spirit beasts tamed by cultivators, others fellow disciples of the same sect, belonging to the same power."

"Demon cultivators and human cultivators from the same sect?" Fairy Caiyi and the others struggled to imagine it. The demon race and immortal cultivators of the two seas had always been bitter enemies.

The Nine Phoenix King said coolly, "What is strange about that? The ancient cultivation world was far from peaceful. Demon cultivators and human cultivators were not always foes."

Suddenly, Fairy Caiyi’s eyes lit up. "Ninth Aunt! Then Seven-Kill Hall is not as the humans claim, a human sacred ground. It is also a sacred ground of our demon race?"

The Nine Phoenix King gave a soft hum. "Though that is true, with the human and witch races flourishing in Canglang Sea while the demon race wanes, we can only live beneath their shadow, struggling to survive. We lack the strength to claim Seven-Kill Hall. Countless treasures of our demon ancestors have fallen into the hands of cultivators. If we could reclaim them, perhaps one of us might seize the chance to reach the Divine Transformation Realm."

The demons were moved to silent sorrow. Yet reality was cruel. Seven-Kill Hall lay in Canglang Sea, not in the Demonic Sea. Even to slip inside had taken them immense effort. Launching a large-scale invasion was impossible. They had no power to contend with the cultivators.