Black God Halberd

Behind the water curtain was a narrow stone chamber. The waterfall thundered outside, yet the cave within was quiet and dry.

The entire space had actually been forcibly carved out from the depths of the solid mountain rock.

Su Qingyang's expression shifted as his gaze swept over the rough marks on the stone walls.

"These marks..."

"The person who carved out this cave abode likely used fewer than ten breaths to shatter the rock with internal force and hollow out this place."

"To split mountains and crack stones with a flick of the fingers, they must have been a Martial Dao Grandmaster."

Even an ordinary Innate Warrior with abundant internal force would need most of an hour to carve through a mountain.

Only a Grandmaster who had reached the Transcendent Realm, with Transcendent Realm True Qi fused into their body, could shatter mountains with a flick and carve out a stone chamber in an instant.

"There's a stone door ahead." Liu Qingni looked around, her gaze quickly settling on the stone door before them as she spoke up.

Su Qingyang looked over, narrowing his eyes slightly.

The stone door was covered in densely packed runes, though they had become rather blurred, clearly weathered by countless years.

Moreover, the stone door stood slightly ajar, revealing a narrow crack through which an eerie red glow faintly seeped.

Su Qingyang stepped forward and pushed open the heavy stone door with one hand.

What came into view made even his pupils contract slightly...

Snow...

It was like a snowfall...

Blackish-red strands drifted through the air of the stone chamber like a blizzard, while the ground was blanketed in a thick layer of ominous blackish-red powder.

Upon the stone platform in the chamber sat a skeleton. Its flesh had long since rotted into ash, leaving only bones that faintly gleamed with the luster of white jade.

At a glance, it resembled the holy remains of some sacred being.

But through the golden eyes of Su Qingyang, a Blood Refining Grandmaster—

He saw countless fine blackish-red hairs growing from the skeleton's eye sockets, earholes, gaps between its teeth, and every tiny crack in its bones, trailing across the ground.

They writhed and twisted without wind, like countless venomous worms and maggots ceaselessly squirming.

They densely wrapped around the entire white-jade skeleton.

"What is it?"

Seeing Su Qingyang freeze in place after opening the stone door, Liu Qingni felt unease rise in her heart and immediately called out.

At the same time, she peered through the crack in the door. All she could see was a set of dry bones, lustrous and white as jade, seated upon the stone platform.

There was not the slightest sign of danger!

Instead, it seemed to carry a trace of tranquil holiness.

A stone table sat beside the skeleton on the platform, with an old-looking book placed atop it.

Other than that, there was nothing else unusual. Nothing appeared strange.

Su Qingyang came back to himself and glanced at Liu Qingni with a grave expression. "Step back. Stay away from the stone door. Don't come near it."

Liu Qingni froze at his words. Seeing that Su Qingyang was not joking, she immediately retreated.

When she looked again at the stone chamber, her eyes were filled with the wariness one would hold toward snakes and scorpions.

Su Qingyang turned back to face the eerie blackish-red hairs.

The source of the demonic Red Hair on Bai Wei's body had likely come from this place.

Bai Wei must have relied on his Peak Acquired Realm cultivation to venture deep into Spirit Peak Mountain alone in search of treasure.

Though he had not found this secret chamber behind the waterfall, wisps of foul hair must have occasionally escaped through the cracks in the stone chamber and accidentally contaminated him.

In truth, as early as when those routed soldiers had entered the mountain and taken refuge there—

Su Qingyang had already noticed the unusual disturbance within the mountain and had originally intended to wipe them all out directly.

But when he had caught sight from afar of the strand of bright red hair growing from Bai Wei's forehead that day, he had temporarily suppressed his killing intent and deliberately remained still.

He wanted to observe. He wanted to see what sort of mutation would emerge once those foul hairs completely consumed a human body.

Unfortunately...

Su Qingyang halted his thoughts. His blood and Qi surged, and the pure yang blood Qi hidden deep within his flesh seemed like a blazing sun concealed inside him. His powerful body radiated endless light and heat.

Su Qingyang took a single step forward, stepping onto the thick layer of blackish-red strands. Blood Flame immediately erupted in blazing waves.

Boundless vitality was stirred, and Su Qingyang's eyes instantly turned pure gold.

With every step he took, Blood Flame spread from beneath his feet throughout the stone chamber.

Before long, the entire chamber was filled with Blood Flame, and the temperature rose by dozens of degrees out of thin air.

Even Liu Qingni, standing far outside, felt scorching heat all over her body. Her mouth went dry, and she did not dare look at the blood-Qi flames again.

It was as though one more glance would burn even her will to ashes.

At last, Su Qingyang reached the stone platform. His gaze settled upon the ominous blackish-red hairs. Blood Flame burned over them, but they showed no reaction at all, like dead objects.

"No life... It's like a curse."

Su Qingyang's thoughts raced as he sensed the movements of the burning Blood Flame, not daring to let down his guard in the slightest.

When facing something so strange, beyond ordinary understanding, even a Grandmaster had to proceed with utmost caution lest he capsize in a gutter.

After a long while!

The blood-Qi flames burned away every last ominous strand in the stone chamber, leaving only the white-jade skeleton twisting amid the Blood Flame.

Su Qingyang flicked his finger. Terrifying blood Qi surged forth, directly smashing the skeleton to pieces before reducing it to ash in the Blood Flame.

It appeared to have been a false alarm.

But he could not afford to be careless.

Only now did the stone chamber stand empty, looking exceptionally clean and tranquil.

Su Qingyang walked forward. His blood Qi receded, and the Blood Flame gradually dispersed.

Yet amid the ashes, a speck of spiritual light flickered!

"What is that?" Su Qingyang looked over and reached out. The speck of light flew into his hand.

What appeared before him was an ancient ring, white as jade. It had not been damaged even by the high heat of the Blood Flame, and it was clearly no ordinary item.

Su Qingyang's thoughts raced as a thread of blood Qi entered the jade ring.

"It's a storage ring. It can be activated with the power of blood Qi. Such a method... truly does not seem to come from a Martial Dao practitioner."

The instant his blood Qi entered, he felt a faint, intangible connection form between himself and the white-jade ring.

With a thought, the space within the ring clearly appeared in his mind—

The interior was as large as a room and contained quite a few white-jade porcelain bottles. With another thought, he took out one of the porcelain bottles.

It was empty, with only a faint medicinal fragrance remaining inside. It had likely once been used to store pills.

Suddenly, delight flashed across Su Qingyang's face as he retrieved something from the storage ring.

A pitch-black battle halberd appeared in his hand.

It was a double-crescent halberd, shaped like a fangtian halberd. It measured eighteen feet long and weighed no less than a hundred thousand jin. Ancient patterns covered its surface, and it exuded an astonishing aura of slaughter that made one's scalp tingle.

"What a divine weapon!" Su Qingyang praised sincerely, deeply pleased in his heart.

He casually swung it several times. Wherever the halberd swept, the mountain rock on either side was torn apart, the broken cuts smooth as mirrors. Its destructive power was clear to see.

Not bad!

This battle halberd alone had made the trip worthwhile, not to mention the storage ring and the superior Scarlet Blood Grass he had picked earlier.

The harvest was abundant!

"Does it have a name... No. Then from this day onward, you shall be called the Black God Halberd!" Su Qingyang examined the heavy halberd, then returned it to the white-jade ring.

A crudely carved stone table stood against one side of the chamber. Its workmanship was simple, as though it had been casually hewn from the rock.

An old-looking book lay atop the stone table.

"Could this be a Martial Dao manual?" Su Qingyang reached out, grabbed it, and opened it.

This book was not a manual. It merely recorded a few scattered words left behind by the deceased during his lifetime.

[As a Martial Dao Grandmaster, I have reached the end of my path. I cannot see the road ahead. I refuse to accept this. I will venture into the forbidden land once...]

[I failed. By luck, I escaped with my life. What I saw made my scalp crawl. I do not know whether it was a fortuitous opportunity or a calamity that would utterly destroy me...]

[It seems something has entangled me. How absurd. I, a dignified Martial Dao Grandmaster, cannot even break free of this entanglement...]

[I am growing weaker and weaker. I cannot hold on much longer. Every time I close my eyes to rest, some foreign thing tugs at my soul, seeking to drag me back to that forbidden land...]

[Something has set its sights on me.]

[So that is how it is. The world is like a circle. The larger the circle, the more things one sees, and the more likely others are to glimpse you.]

[I should not have gone. I should never have rashly gone there, but I refuse to accept it. I refuse to remain forever trapped in the Grandmaster Realm... I, Lin Muqian, am Hundred Rivers Sect's youngest Martial Dao Grandmaster. How could I? How could I accept this...]

Su Qingyang's expression shifted. "Hundred Rivers Sect... Lin Muqian..."

He looked around the stone chamber, and the full sequence of events had already taken shape in his mind.

This place must have been the burial site Lin Muqian had personally carved after realizing that he was cursed and had little lifespan remaining. The dry skeleton on the stone platform, covered in foul hairs, was the remains of this Hundred Rivers Sect Grandmaster.

A peerless Grandmaster of his generation had ultimately met such a hasty end. It was impossible not to sigh over it.

And the superior Scarlet Blood Grass growing from the stone wall now made perfect sense as well.

A Martial Dao Grandmaster's blood Qi was unimaginably vigorous. After his death, the blood Qi had seeped into the rock over the years, nurturing this heavenly treasure that replenished blood Qi.

The hunter who had died suddenly in the street, the remnant soul of Lin Muqian that had appeared, Bai Wei whose body had mutated after being parasitized by the curse...

Cause and effect linked together one by one in his mind.

Only one mystery remained unresolved.

Who had first disturbed Lin Muqian's remnant soul, which had lain dormant for years and was nearly dispersed, thereby triggering this succession of eerie calamities in the mountain?!

But it no longer mattered.

The source had already been eradicated. This small mystery was insignificant and could stir up no further waves.

Su Qingyang called to Liu Qingni and left the stone chamber. When they reached the entrance of Water Curtain Cave, he turned and glanced back at the secret chamber...

After a moment's thought, he decided it was better to be safe than sorry and leave no future trouble behind!

He clenched one hand into a fist and threw a punch!

A crimson pillar of Qi directly destroyed Lin Muqian's burial place. The mountain rock trembled like a small earthquake, and the entire peak rumbled thunderously.

"It took him ten breaths to carve out a cave abode... A little weak. Of course, he may have been too frail at the time."

Su Qingyang thought that for a cave abode of this scale, he only needed to release his blood Qi to shatter the mountain rock and carve it out within a single breath.