Ye Qin maintained the speed of a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, streaking low over the sea surface. Only when he realized the Ghost Lord had veered off to chase cultivators heading in a different direction did Ye Qin finally exhale.

He hadn't been so unlucky as to be the Ghost Lord's first target; escaping then would have been a serious headache. He flew over the sea for about half an hour before sensing a sudden, intense surge of ghostly energy behind him, closing rapidly in his direction.

Frowning, he immediately accelerated, fleeing at the swift pace of an early Nascent Soul cultivator. Only another half an hour of breathing room!

That distance wasn't truly safe; a peak Nascent Soul cultivator could still hunt down an early Nascent Soul cultivator if they pressed the pursuit. Ye Qin buried his head and flew straight ahead on his sword.

He wasn't sure how long he’d traveled when he suddenly detected an extremely volatile surge of magical energy thousands of miles ahead. He paused briefly, then a look of immense joy flashed across his face.

He immediately banked his flying sword, turning sharply toward the source of that energy, and sped onward. Soon, Ye Qin saw the distant sea churned by fierce battle—a dense mass of cultivators and hordes of demonic beasts locked in combat, an outright Immortal-Demon battlefield.

High in the sky, hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators, arrayed in formations, were fiercely engaging an equally vast legion of Demon Cultivators. Blinding streaks of flying swords and elemental spells erupted in explosions of kaleidoscopic light.

On the sea surface, numerous Golden Core cultivators clashed violently with fierce avian monsters and monstrous sea beasts. The ocean had already been stained a deep crimson, dotted with the shattered, floating corpses of demonic creatures.

Across thousands of miles of sea, the cultivators of the East Sea and the Demon Race were locked in a brutal melee. The combined magical power of thousands, even tens of thousands, of cultivators on this battlefield, entangled with the even more numerous demonic energies of the Demon Cultivators and beasts, made discerning any specific aura incredibly difficult.

Battles of this scale had erupted frequently in the Blood Sea in recent years. Seeing this, Ye Qin was overjoyed beyond measure.

He urged his flying sword onward, vanishing in a flash, and plunged directly into the heart of the fray. The combatants were too deeply engaged in their bloody struggle to pay him any mind for the moment.

Ye Qin zipped rapidly through the dense crowd of cultivators, moving across the battlefield. Occasionally, he would strike casually when he encountered high-level demonic beasts fighting cultivators.

In a very short time, he annihilated dozens of high-level beasts, significantly easing the pressure on many Golden Core cultivators. Weaving throughout the combat, his aura blended seamlessly with the myriad other energies, making him nearly impossible to track.

Ye Qin’s presence effectively confused the Ghost Lord’s attempts at tracking. After a brief period, he retracted his magical aura and quietly withdrew from the battlefield.

The East Sea cultivators favored deploying battle zones near Immortal Cities, meaning any area where a massive battle erupted would certainly house an Immortal City within a hundred-mile radius. Ye Qin located an Immortal City on a giant island in the nearby sea region.

The city’s protective barrier was already activated, enveloping the entire settlement. “Black Sand City!” Ye Qin appeared outside the city walls and felt a flicker of surprise upon reading the large characters carved into the city’s stone ramparts.

It turned out this was Black Sand Immortal City, under the command of the Southeast Sect Master of the Heavenly Dao Alliance. The group of Golden Core cultivators he’d previously encountered were reinforcements heading here.

Black Sand City was being guarded by a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, accompanied by a line of over twenty high-stage Golden Core cultivators, meticulously vetting every approaching cultivator. The defense was stringent, and numerous cultivators also manned the city battlements.

In total, an Immortal City like this boasted a massive concentration of Nascent Soul cultivators and tens of thousands of Golden Core cultivators. Currently, most of the city’s forces were deployed to the front lines of the Immortal-Demon war.

Only the city guard contingent remained inside. Furthermore, only a few cultivators—those who had depleted their magical artifacts, talismans, or pure energy, or those severely wounded—would retreat from the battlefield back into the city for brief recovery.

“Who goes there? During the Immortal-Demon War surrounding Black Sand City, no one is permitted to abandon the battlefield and return to the city without authorization!

Returning without valid reason will be treated as desertion in the face of the enemy, and this applies even to Nascent Soul cultivators! Do you possess an official recall order from the Sect Master?” The leader of the guards, a stern-faced elder at the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm, shouted sternly.

“Ye Qin, Guest Elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, here to ascertain the situation at Black Sand City!” Ye Qin calmly produced a Guest Elder token of the Heavenly Dao Alliance and stated his purpose. “Ah, Elder Ye!

We respectfully invite you to enter the city!” The mid-stage Nascent Soul elder was startled. He hadn't expected that Ye Qin, with his early Nascent Soul cultivation, would already hold the title of Guest Elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

His expression immediately softened. He bowed slightly, waved his hand, and ordered the cultivators behind him to open the gates and grant passage.

Guest Elders of the Heavenly Dao Alliance wielded immense authority, immune to the direct commands of any of the Alliance’s Five Sect Masters. Guest Elders were few, often supplying crucial strategic resources like Nascent Soul Pills, meaning no Sect Master dared offend them.

Consequently, Guest Elders were not required to engage directly on the front lines, and no one would dare question it. Moreover, Guest Elders were responsible for tallying battle results and compiling the Golden Core Beast Slaying List and the Nascent Soul Beast Slaying List—two critical functions for managing the war effort.

Under the respectful gaze of the many Golden Core guards, Ye Qin passed through the opened passage and entered the city. Once inside the Immortal City and clear of immediate danger, Ye Qin finally relaxed completely.

He no longer had to worry about the Ghost Lord tracking him down. Black Sand City offered absolute security; even a full-scale assault by the Demon Race could not breach it.

If the Ghost Lord had pursued him this far, at most it would be left howling outside the city walls, unable to threaten him. Ghost Cultivators were strictly forbidden from entering Immortal Cities.

However, a sense of urgency began to stir in Ye Qin’s heart. He was currently a second-layer early Nascent Soul cultivator, but he was still too weak.

Against stronger Nascent Soul cultivators, he was simply outmatched. Especially after visiting the Demon Realm, his perspective had broadened immensely.

Demon Sages were practically gods in their power, sweeping across formations of shapeshifted demon cultivators with unmatched ferocity. Ye Qin rented a private courtyard within Black Sand City.

Without delay, he immediately entered secluded cultivation. He retrieved several Vermilion Fruits from his storage pouch, consumed them, and channeled his energy to forcibly advance his cultivation.

Digesting one Vermilion Fruit, transforming its potent vital energy into energy for his primordial spirit, required two to three days. To prevent his cultivation from advancing too rapidly and risking qi deviation, he had to rest for over ten days before consuming the second fruit.

After just over ten days of seclusion, Ye Qin broke through to the third layer of the Nascent Soul realm. Approximately a month later, Ye Qin absorbed the vast torrent of vital energy from the Vermilion Fruits, breaking through the third layer of the Nascent Soul stage and forcibly cultivating to the fourth layer.

Although the Sitting in Oblivion Scripture Ye Qin practiced was excellent for stabilizing his cultivation and greatly reducing the risk of qi deviation, this violent surge was still enough to cause incessant illusions, fits of irritability, and raging fury—all ominous precursors. “I can’t push any further.

I must spend some time stabilizing this realm before consuming another Vermilion Fruit. Otherwise, pushing any harder might genuinely lead to qi deviation.” Having entered the mid-stage Nascent Soul, Ye Qin finally halted his frantic pace.

His rate of cultivation was simply terrifying—an unprecedented feat in the cultivation world of the East Sea. An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator might require two to three hundred years, or even longer, to achieve the advancements he made in just one month.

Ye Qin understood perfectly what his actions implied. If this speed were ever revealed, it would surely send shockwaves throughout the entire East Sea cultivation sphere.

Any cultivator with a modicum of sense would immediately connect this breakthrough to the Vermilion Fruit. Only the legendary Vermilion Fruit could possess such unimaginable potency, allowing an early Nascent Soul cultivator to leap forward so aggressively.

Once the news of the "Vermilion Fruit's appearance" spread, the East Sea, the Blood Sea, and the Demon Sea would be plunged into unpredictable and bloody upheaval. Demon Cultivators, upon consuming the fruit, could likewise see their demonic power surge dramatically.

“In the East Sea cultivation world, which Nascent Soul cultivator wouldn't covet a Vermilion Fruit? The five Sect Masters of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, the five overlords of the Heavenly Demon Alliance, and the leaders of all major and minor immortal cultivation factions—surely none would remain unmoved.” “With just one Vermilion Fruit, one could ascend to the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage, saving hundreds of years of arduous practice, making the breakthrough to the Soul Transformation stage entirely achievable.

Which Soul Transformation expert could resist such temptation?!” Ye Qin muttered to himself, shaking his head with a wry smile. From the moment he consumed the Vermilion Fruit and his cultivation skyrocketed, he had anticipated that becoming the target of universal enmity was inevitable.

Experts like the Saint Emperor and Old Monster Henshan were already at the peak of late Nascent Soul and cared little for the fruit, but that didn't mean other East Sea Nascent Soul cultivators felt the same. Innumerable Nascent Soul cultivators across the East Sea would fix their gaze upon him, hoping to acquire the fruit.

Even if he publicly declared that he only possessed one Vermilion Fruit and had already used it, it would be useless. The multitude of Nascent Soul cultivators would still press him: where did he obtain the fruit?

If he claimed to have gathered it in the Demon Realm, would the other Nascent Soul cultivators believe him? Most likely not.

How could an early Nascent Soul cultivator possibly enter the Demon Realm alive, collect a Vermilion Fruit, and then manage to leave alive? Any explanation he offered would sound weak and hollow against the intense skepticism of countless cultivators.

“It seems the opponents I must deal with, besides the Ghost Lord, might also include the myriad Nascent Soul cultivators of the East Sea... I must drastically increase my combat strength before the outside world learns of the Vermilion Fruit’s existence; otherwise, the consequences will be dire!” Ye Qin rapidly shifted his focus to improving his fighting capability.

Now that he possessed the Vermilion Fruit, reaching the peak of the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul stage was merely a matter of a few months. However, his actual combat power was clearly lagging behind the explosive rate of his cultivation increase.

The powerful offensive means currently at his disposal included the Blood Devouring Ancient Vine Seed, a single early Nascent Soul level Skeleton Demon, a small-divine-ability-grade Silver Shark Flying Blade, and a tenth-tier Great Wing Warship. This strength was sufficient to easily defeat early Nascent Soul cultivators, but against a formidable cultivator like the Ghost Lord, he was only capable of fleeing, unable even to mount a counterattack.

“I have few effective means available right now, except for the Eight Trigram Sword Formation from the Violet Sword Art! Forging these eight small-divine-ability-grade artifacts will drastically boost my combat power in the shortest possible time!” Ye Qin pondered for a moment.

Being a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator now, forging these eight small-divine-ability-grade flying swords would allow him to absolutely dominate an opponent of the same mid-stage Nascent Soul level. He would even stand a chance of victory against an average late-stage Nascent Soul expert.

But to use the Eight Trigram Sword Formation against the Ghost Lord... Ye Qin considered it, then shook his head helplessly, still feeling inadequate.

The strength of the Desolate Spirit Ghost Lord was unfathomable, clearly not comparable to ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Its Nether Flame was a thirteenth-tier ghost fire, a technique belonging to the Soul Transformation stage.

Even eight small-divine-ability flying swords might not be enough to deal with the Ghost Lord.