A flash of white light. Ye Qin materialized upon an ancient teleportation array, several feet in size.

This Blood Sand Outpost was established deep within the caverns of a sea island cliff face.

Ye Qin glanced around. He saw numerous dwellings constructed from massive timbers, flying the banners of various trade guilds from the East Sea and the Blood Sea. These were clearly shops set up by the major guilds, buying all manner of materials and rare treasures here.

A few cultivators lounged lazily guarding the shops.

And there were a scattering of Golden Core mid- and late-stage cultivators, their expressions hurried, trading materials from sea-caught demonic beasts with the shopkeepers. They occasionally glanced at Ye Qin, their gazes wary and cautious—clearly on high alert regarding any unfamiliar cultivator appearing in the outpost.

The entire small stockade felt exceptionally desolate and silent.

“This Blood Sand Outpost rarely yields spiritual items, nor do many rare demonic beasts appear here. Indeed, few cultivators are willing to come. The population is far smaller than even the Ancient Ship Outpost. No wonder the intelligence gathered by the Purple Sword Palace cultivators stated that once one leaves this Blood Sand Outpost, civilization vanishes, and one might not see a single cultivator for months. That seems to be true,” Ye Qin nodded to himself.

He quickly swept his divine sense across the rudimentary settlement, his brow immediately furrowing.

He detected no trace of any Nascent Soul cultivators.

This was unbelievable; a whole outpost without a single Nascent Soul cultivator guarding it.

Moments later, Huangfu Bing'er and Bai Xiuer also appeared on the array and stepped off.

“Sister Bing’er, is this the perilous and unpredictable Scarlet Sea that cultivators speak of? It looks rather ordinary!” Bai Xiuer looked around with curiosity for a while, but finding no nearby demonic beasts, her initial excitement quickly waned. She dared not disturb Ye Qin, who was concentrating on observing their surroundings, so she found Huangfu Bing’er nearby and spoke softly.

“Where there are high-tier demonic beasts, there will naturally be many treasure hunters and beast hunters. Since this place is sparsely populated, it implies less danger here, with few high-tier demonic beasts appearing. Our goal this time isn't to hunt for treasures or beasts here; having fewer dangers is naturally a good thing,” Huangfu Bing’er replied calmly, surveying the area. “Husband, there are few treasure hunters at this outpost. Where do we go now?” “My understanding of this outpost is limited to the intelligence passed down by the Purple Sword Palace cultivators. The specifics will require gradual investigation. Let’s first visit the shops to purchase several sea charts so we can search for islands at sea,” Ye Qin stated.

“Mm!” Huangfu Bing’er nodded.

Ye Qin approached the nearest wooden shop, spent a thousand low-grade spirit stones, and purchased three scrolls of the most detailed Blood Sand Outpost Sea Charts. After buying them, he turned to a shop assistant and asked curiously, “Why is there no Nascent Soul cultivator guarding this place? If the Demon Race cultivators discovered this hidden teleportation outpost, it could be destroyed in an instant.”

“This place is remote, a desolate spot. Even eighth or ninth-tier high-level demonic beasts are rare, let alone Demon Cultivators. Demon Cultivators occasionally appear in this area, but the Blood Sand Outpost is so large—which Demon Cultivator has the leisure to search for a hidden outpost? Besides, if it’s destroyed, they can just find another place and build a new one. Building a teleportation array doesn't cost much spirit stone.”

The assistant looked vacant and uninterested. “Judging by your appearance, fellow Daoist, you are new here, right? Since you bought three scrolls at once, I’ll tell you some good news. The Heavenly Dao Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Alliance have issued a 'Demon Slaying Edict': Hunt and kill a Demon Cultivator above the tenth tier, deliver the corpse to the Heavenly Dao Alliance or Heavenly Demon Alliance, and receive a Nascent Soul Pill as a heavy reward, along with other various goods. If you truly find a tenth-tier or higher Demon Cultivator and kill it—you’ll have struck it rich! Er, you shouldn’t go die alone; it’s best if a group of late-stage Golden Core cultivators team up for this business; perhaps you might actually succeed.”

“Rewarding a Nascent Soul Pill for killing a tenth-tier Demon Cultivator is certainly tempting. Those late-stage Golden Core cultivators seeking a Nascent Soul Pill will probably be figuring out ways to hunt Demon Cultivators. But the problem is, can a Golden Core cultivator contend with a tenth-tier Demon Cultivator? That’s courting death!” Ye Qin’s eyelid twitched upon hearing this; he was utterly speechless.

He turned and left the shop.

Just then, two middle-aged men, dressed like treasure-hunting cultivators with mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, appeared on the teleportation array and were entering this very shop. They saw Ye Qin exiting and froze, their expressions shifting slightly. They managed a forced smile before entering the shop.

Ye Qin found it slightly odd that these two seemed fearful of him, but he didn't dwell on it. After all, mid-stage Golden Core cultivators showing some reverence towards late-stage Golden Core cultivators was normal in the Cultivation World.

Ye Qin harnessed the Dark Cloud Barrier, bringing Huangfu Bing’er and Bai Xiuer, and flew out of the hidden Blood Sand Outpost into the high sky.

The three of them then realized the outpost was built on a crimson rock island.

This island was surrounded by hundreds of miles of dark-red Blood Sand coastline, which appeared intensely crimson and glaring under the setting sun's afterglow.

Ye Qin held no interest in investigating this desolate little outpost. He did not linger but urged the Dark Cloud Barrier forward, flying toward the distant sea. He needed to find a secluded, safe barren island within the Blood Sand Sea to serve as his location for refining the Spiritual Root Potential Pills and enduring tribulation over the next few decades.

“We are being followed!” Ye Qin’s gaze suddenly turned cold. He slowed the Dark Cloud Barrier’s flight speed, transmitting a sound message to Huangfu Bing’er and the other without changing his expression.

“Who is it?” “Two sneaky cultivators!” Huangfu Bing’er was momentarily stunned. Her divine sense quickly swept backward, and she nodded slightly. Both trackers were at the seventh layer of the Golden Core realm. Their divine sense was significantly stronger than the mid-stage Golden Core cultivators following them. She quickly spotted the pursuit.

“Oh, they are following us?! Are they here to fight us?” Bai Xiuer jumped up, extremely excited, but then realizing her reaction was inappropriate, she suppressed her excitement, simply staring wide-eyed at Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing’er.

“It’s the magical aura of those two we saw back at the Blood Sand Outpost. I was wondering why they looked so afraid when they saw me—it turns out they harbored malicious intent and planned to tail us. I just arrived at the Blood Sand Outpost and haven't offended any local cultivators. They most likely followed us from Linhai City. I wonder which Immortal Palace has designs on me!”

Ye Qin pondered for a moment, a cold smile touching his lips, then fully spurred the Dark Cloud Barrier, turning into a streak of black light, shooting toward the distant sea.

“Not good, Elder Ye has noticed the tail and is trying to shake us off!” The two Wanluo Palace Golden Core cultivators were startled.

They felt two sweeps of divine sense probing them, making them suspect if Ye Qin’s party had detected them. They hesitated on whether to continue the pursuit, but when the Dark Cloud Barrier suddenly accelerated violently toward the distant sea, they instantly panicked.

“What do we do?”

“We already reported this matter to the Young Palace Master. At this stage, if we lose track of Elder Ye, then the Young Palace Master’s efforts monitoring him for over twenty years will be completely wasted. This responsibility will fall entirely on us, and the consequences are too severe to bear.”

“Pursue! We’ll rush forward first and entangle the two. Although we are both mid-stage Golden Core, we can’t match the late-stage cultivation of the Ye pair, but we shouldn’t be instantly defeated in a fight. The Young Palace Master must have received word and will soon lead a large number of Wanluo Palace cultivators here. By then, we will certainly be able to kill the Purple Sword Palace Elder in one go and eliminate this huge potential future threat! The merit gained would not only satisfy the Young Palace Master’s hatred but might also earn us great rewards from the Palace Master and the Elders! At the very least, it would save us decades of hard toil!” “Let’s do it then.”

The two exchanged a look; driven by urgency, they dared to give chase.

One of the men opened his mouth and spat out a stream of magic power into the top-grade flying artifact beneath his feet, the ‘Black Gold Shuttle.’ This shuttle, already excellent for flight, instantly surged, its speed pushed to the maximum, carrying them straight after Ye Qin’s Dark Cloud Barrier flying artifact.

A streak of black light, a streak of gold light, separated by over ten miles, rapidly moving away from the island where the Blood Sand Outpost was located.

“Right here.”

In a short time, Ye Qin flew rapidly over a barren island. Seeing no signs of life around, he suddenly banked the Dark Cloud Barrier in mid-air, simultaneously summoning the Golden Crow Radiance Sword and mercilessly striking at the Black Gold Shuttle pursuing them from behind.

Huangfu Bing’er did not delay either; she unleashed the Ice Soul Cold Light Sword and charged forward.

The Golden Crow Radiance Sword and the Ice Soul Cold Light Sword flashed with a whoosh, whoosh sound, instantly expanding to seventy or eighty feet in size, carrying dazzling golden light and biting cold frost, radiating fierce killing intent as they shot forward.

“Fight to the death with that Ye fellow, kill!”

“As long as we can stall for half an hour, we will earn great merit!” The two Wanluo Palace Golden Core cultivators, seeing the Dark Cloud Barrier suddenly turn back and attack with menacing momentum, revealed fierce, desperate looks.

One of the middle-aged men poured his true essence into the Black Gold Shuttle in a life-risking manner, accelerating it toward Ye Qin and the other. The other Golden Core cultivator waved his hand, striking out with his own earth-element primordial spirit artifact, launching a fierce attack.

In an instant, a massive BANG sounded.

A dazzling golden light fiercely collided with the Black Gold Shuttle, erupting in huge bursts of radiance.

The four primordial spirit artifacts battled fiercely in mid-air.

The two Wanluo Palace Golden Core cultivators were overjoyed to find they had withstood the initial assault from Ye Qin and the other. However, knowing Ye Qin’s great reputation and formidable strength, they sought not victory, but only to delay for a short while, waiting for the Young Palace Master to bring a large force of cultivators.

Ye Qin saw that one flying sword wasn't enough to deal with them, but he had lost patience.

With a wave of his hand, a three-foot-long, almost transparent water-element flying sword shot out silently. Puchi—it instantly pierced the middle-aged man’s protective aura, punched several bloody holes in his chest, and directly crippled his entire cultivation.

The middle-aged man cried out in agony, losing his ability to fly, and plummeted from the air.

The other cultivator controlling the earth-element flying sword was instantly horrified upon seeing this and turned to flee.

How could Huangfu Bing’er allow him to escape? With a flick of her magic formula, the Ice Soul Cold Light Sword burst forth dramatically, transforming into sixteen smaller swords that swarmed the panicked cultivator.

Although an earth-element primordial spirit flying sword possessed strong defensive capabilities, it was utterly defenseless when besieged by sixteen flying swords. The cultivator was instantly annihilated by the myriad ice swords, smashed into large chunks of ice shards. Even the earth-element flying sword was broken piece by piece, shattering into countless flying sword fragments that scattered wildly, the artifact shards covered in frost and cold air. In the blink of an eye, the Dark Cloud Barrier shot toward the middle-aged cultivator who had fallen onto the island.

“Speak, who sent you, and I’ll spare your life!”

Ye Qin retracted his flying sword, stood on the Dark Cloud Barrier, and looked down with an electric gaze at the cultivator lying on the island, asking coldly.