The ancient devil’s split soul was not to be underestimated either. When Fairy Nangui moved the Devil-Suppressing Stele away, the Devil Lord immediately found himself under tremendous pressure.

Even with the Nine-Life Black Tortoise rushing in to assist him, the fight remained perilous. The other side was in even greater danger.

Four great cultivators surrounded and attacked Devil Qingzhu, yet their situation was only slightly better than before. They managed to avoid being defeated one by one, but Devil Qingzhu controlled true devilish qi that pressed upon them like a mountain, forcing them into a steady retreat. In just moments, their defeat seemed inevitable.

At that critical instant, an unexpected and joyous scene unfolded. Qingzhu’s willpower remained steadfast. Even when facing such a terrifying opponent, he refused to abandon hope.

His true self was hidden within the fragments of the spiritual sword, and for a moment, the devilish soul that had seized his body could not fully suppress him.

This body originally belonged to Qingzhu. No matter how great the difference in power, as long as Qingzhu resisted with all his strength, he could still disrupt the devilish soul’s movements.

Devil Qingzhu’s aura began to waver. Though the fluctuation was faint, in a moment like this, it was enough to serve as a fatal opening, which Lingzhuzi and the others immediately seized upon.

The situation improved slightly. The elder’s expression turned grave. Fully aware of how dire things had become, he raced against time to refine the Heavenly Phoenix Feather.

Qin Sang held a lotus seed in one hand and the ghostly seal that Su Nu had given him in the other, shrinking back toward the rear.

Before the battle began, the elder had erected a protective screen around the young man and woman to shield them from the battle.

Qin Sang had benefited from that as well. Yet with the fight so violent, whether the screen could truly withstand the backlash remained uncertain.

The boy and girl were tense and worried for their two grandmasters. When they noticed Qin Sang’s movements, they glanced at him but were too anxious to care.

They were curious about how he had appeared here, but now was clearly not the time to ask.

Qin Sang pressed himself against the edge of the spatial barrier and opened his left hand, revealing the ghostly seal.

After seeing that the body possessed by the ancient devil’s split soul was actually Su Nu’s, Qin Sang recalled the ghostly seal she had entrusted to him.

Su Nu had suspected that the Dongji Alliance harbored ill intentions toward her and feared being used as a vessel for possession, so she had given the ghostly seal to Qin Sang as protection. Yet she could never have imagined that the one coveting her body would be such a terrifying ancient devil.

Can such a small ghostly seal truly make any difference? With the attitude of a desperate gamble, Qin Sang followed Su Nu’s instructions and activated the ghostly seal.

But the situation shifted too rapidly. Before he could complete the secret technique, the Heavenly Phoenix Feather had already changed hands, and the great battle had erupted. Both battlefronts were teetering on the edge of collapse.

Qin Sang’s lips moved slightly. As the secret technique neared completion, a shocking sight appeared. The ghostly seal suddenly released a wisp of black qi that transformed into a human shape, its face almost identical to Su Nu’s!

"Su Nu" wore an expression of agony, her features twisted, letting out a silent scream.

"Uhh..." Qin Sang was stunned, but before he could study it further, his entire body tensed. He felt a gaze lock onto him and looked up in alarm, only to see the Devil Lord staring directly at him.

At the exact moment Qin Sang activated the ghostly seal, faint ghostly patterns appeared across the face of the ancient devil’s split soul, emanating an aura that did not belong to it.

Compared to the ancient devil’s immense presence, the ghostly pattern’s aura was pitifully weak, utterly insignificant.

Yet the moment the Devil Lord saw those ghostly patterns, his eyes gleamed sharply as he instantly located their source: the ghostly seal in Qin Sang’s hand. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Give it to me!" A commanding shout rang in Qin Sang’s ears. His body froze, and before he could react, his hand suddenly felt light. The ghostly seal had already been pulled into the Devil Lord’s grasp.

"Hmm? A soul seed? Or a slave seal? How interesting!" The Devil Lord laughed heartily as though he had found a precious treasure.

Whoosh! Golden light flared from his palm as he poured the Divine Lunar Ghostlight into the ghostly seal in a furious stream.

The ancient devil’s split soul faltered slightly, about to shatter the ghostly patterns.

But with the Devil Lord’s action, the seemingly fragile ghostly patterns suddenly flared with immense ghost qi, resisting the power of the ancient devil’s split soul. The patterns quickly spread, covering half of Su Nu’s face and rapidly creeping across her body.

The face that once belonged to Su Nu was now divided in two. One half was shrouded in sinister ghostly patterns, eerie and cold. The other half was engulfed in raging devilish flames, bloodthirsty and mad.

"If what the Devil Lord said is true, that it is a soul seed or a slave seal, then could it be that Su Nu, in order to resist the soul that tried to seize her body, willingly refined herself into a soul slave? Then, combining her strength with that of her master, she could devour her enemy instead?" Qin Sang began to grasp Su Nu’s intention and was utterly stunned by her madness.

To fight against a possession, she had turned herself into a soul slave, willingly giving up the ghostly seal to find a master. The idea was insane.

Qin Sang was the one she had chosen as her master. Even if she succeeded, she would become someone else’s slave. Yet, unlike being possessed, she would still live. And in the immortal cultivation world, as long as one lived, there was still hope!

Had her opponent been a mere lingering remnant soul rather than a terrifying ancient devil, Su Nu’s plan might actually have succeeded.

"Could it be that when the ancient devil devoured Su Nu, he was affected by her ghostly patterns? Or perhaps a wisp of Su Nu’s soul hid within them, and after the ancient devil’s split soul broke his seal and fought several fierce battles, he simply hadn’t checked the body? Who could have imagined that someone so insignificant, someone the ancient devil could completely disregard, would have set such a trap..." Qin Sang murmured to himself, inwardly marveling at his fortune.

He had never imagined Su Nu’s arrangement would play such a pivotal role now. He thought silently. If I manage to get out of this alive, I’ll really have to thank her.

Though he did not know what state Su Nu was in now.

The eerie sight left not only Qin Sang astonished but also stunned the ancient devil’s split soul himself, who had never anticipated such a turn.

The Devil Lord, who had refined the Divine Lunar Ghostlight and was a master of ghostly arts, now wielded the ghostly seal with terrifying proficiency. With it in his possession, the ancient devil’s split soul could no longer shatter the ghostly patterns so easily.

Qin Sang looked toward the ghostly seal enveloped by the Divine Lunar Ghostlight. Its form had completely transformed, surrounded by countless wailing spirits, nothing like it had been before. And within the ghost markings, the strange power continued to grow stronger.

The ancient devil’s split soul suppressed it with all his strength, yet could only compress the ghostly patterns onto his cheek. Even when reduced to a single black dot, they could not be completely erased.

On both battlefields, unexpected turns had occurred. Both hosts of possession were resisting in their own ways.

Since the ghostly patterns were under the Devil Lord’s control, he naturally would not let this rare opportunity slip away. Using the Divine Lunar Ghostlight, he began deciphering and reinforcing the ghostly seal.

The ancient devil’s split soul was furious. His gaze locked onto the ghostly seal in the Devil Lord’s hand as he charged forward madly.

The Devil Lord exchanged a glance with the Nine-Life Black Tortoise. Borrowing the strength of the tortoise shell, they desperately shielded the ghostly seal while contending with the ancient devil’s split soul.

The situation, which had been on the brink of collapse, was now barely stabilized. However, such balance would not last long.

But it was enough to buy the elder time to complete the secret technique and refine the Heavenly Phoenix Feather.

After quietly sweeping his gaze across both battlefields, the elder wasted no time and drew his hand backward, slicing across the blood-red crystalline wall.

The Heavenly Phoenix Feather ignited on its own. Compared to before, the fire this time was much weaker, its momentum far inferior to when the Jiao King had activated it using the Phoenix Clan’s secret technique.

Fortunately, it was already enough! The wall began to melt under the burn of the phoenix flame.

The Heavenly Phoenix Feather shimmered between reality and illusion, piercing open a narrow crack upon the blood-red wall. The phoenix flame wrapped around the elder as he took a firm step forward.