Chapter 1158: Visiting in Person

This is the Fire Control Secret Art.

Elder Demon Mu used this art to subdue the Winter Nether Cold Flame.

After Qin Sang acquired it, he hastily refined a wisp of Nine Nether Demonic Flame, but soon discovered that his cultivation was insufficient to continue practicing this secret art.

According to the description within the secret art, during cultivation, the refined flame seed will undergo transformations akin to a real lotus: from a seed, to blooming, and finally forming into a lotus. This is how the art got its name.

Upon achieving mastery of the secret art, there are further profound transformations. However, the art does not explicitly detail these, stating only that they depend on the practitioner's fortune and destiny.

For Qin Sang, these were still distant prospects.

Simultaneously with breakthroughs, the practitioner's spiritual sense would also greatly improve. This was the most valuable aspect of this secret method.

Back then, Elder Demon Mu had not even completed the first stage; his flame seed was still in the lotus seed form, yet his spiritual sense was already comparable to that of a Grand Cultivator.

Qin Sang had only managed to refine the rudimentary form of a lotus seed, barely qualifying as having started. He could not yet feel this effect.

“The Nine Nether Demonic Flame within the demon banners is more than enough to help me break through the first stage. The demonic flame is certainly sufficient; it just depends on whether I can control it. Although the eighteen demon banners are precious, the secret art enhances oneself, so even if all the banners are rendered useless, it would still be worth it.”

Qin Sang was very clear on the trade-offs involved.

Besides, after refining the demonic flame, it could also be used in combat.

He picked up a demon banner, infused it with his true essence, and activated the Nine Nether Demonic Flame within the banner.

Before long, he suddenly stopped cultivating, his brows furrowed as he stared at the demonic flame drawn from the banner.

Resuming cultivation of the secret art, the outcome was somewhat beyond Qin Sang's expectations.

His cultivation had greatly increased, and his spiritual sense was far beyond what it was during the Core Formation stage. Moreover, his primordial spirit had been continuously nourished by the Soul Nurturing Wood for decades, leading to a steady refinement of his spiritual sense, which was already showing some results.

However, when he resumed cultivation, he still felt immense difficulty. Forcibly refining the demonic flame nearly caused the flame seed to go out of control, resulting in a backlash from the demonic flame.

Upon this occurrence, Qin Sang immediately understood.

The reason was not him, but the Nine Nether Demonic Flame itself!

It was highly probable that the Nine Nether Demonic Flame's rank was too high, exceeding the scope of what his current realm could subdue. Even at the early Nascent Soul stage, he was still unable to control this flame. His previous success in forcibly refining the rudimentary flame seed could largely be attributed to the Jade Buddha, as the demonic flame's true form was sealed within the demon banners, only revealing a fraction of its power.

The Southern Bright Lihuo would also be no less powerful than the Nine Nether Demonic Flame.

Qin Sang pondered for a long time.

Currently, there were only two methods.

The first was to increase his cultivation.

Strengthening his spiritual sense might also be useful. However, the Soul Nurturing Wood worked gradually, and secret arts for cultivating spiritual sense were even rarer, with their returns often not matching the effort expended.

The second was to find another slightly weaker spiritual flame, similar to the Winter Nether Cold Flame, just like Elder Demon Mu did. He would first complete the first stage of the secret art with this weaker flame. Once the flame seed was sufficiently stable and powerful, he could then forcibly refine the demonic flame.

Neither of these methods was simple.

One of his purposes for cultivating was to control more demon banners and rapidly enhance his combat abilities.

If it were that easy to make a breakthrough, why would it be so troublesome?

As for spiritual flames, their power could not be too strong nor too weak.

To Qin Sang's knowledge, two places in the Minor Cold Domain were famous for their spiritual flames.

These were the Ancestral Sacred Flame of the Green Sun Demonic Sect and the Earth Fire nurtured within the Mountain-within-a-Mountain of the Ethereal Spirit Sect.

Both of these spiritual flames were already claimed.

The Mountain-within-a-Mountain was the foundation upon which the Ethereal Spirit Sect was established.

This mountain floated in the center of an underground fiery vein, neither touching the sky nor the earth, constantly scorched by the subterranean heat. Over time, the mountain's rocks transformed, giving birth to a peculiar Earth Fire whose power far surpassed ordinary Earth Fire.

However, Qin Sang had heard that the Mountain-within-a-Mountain and the Earth Fire were in fact one entity, meaning the Earth Fire could not be subdued separately.

And the Ethereal Spirit Sect would not agree.

“The Ancestral Sacred Flame…”

Qin Sang recalled his experience of infiltrating the Green Sun Demonic Sect to steal the Green Sun Divine Gang.

He remembered vividly the phantom formed by the Ancestral Sacred Flame at the peak of Divine Gang Peak, which resembled a frenzied fire god dancing wildly, leaving a deep impression on Qin Sang.

It was said that the Ancestral Sacred Flame was left by the Green Sun Demonic Sect's patriarch, similar in origin to the Winter Nether Cold Flame—both were spiritual flames cultivated by Nascent Soul patriarchs.

However, the Ancestral Sacred Flame was sealed at the peak of Divine Gang Peak and had absorbed an unknown amount of Green Sun Divine Gang over the years. It could no longer be considered the original spiritual flame of the Green Sun Demonic Sect's patriarch.

The aura it displayed back then was no weaker than that of the Winter Nether Cold Flame.

When the Green Sun Demonic Sect was in decline, they once threatened to detonate the Ancestral Sacred Flame to force back Nascent Soul cultivators who coveted their sect.

“Back then, the Ancestral Sacred Flame was on the verge of going out of control, causing the Green Sun Demonic Sect members to be constantly on edge when absorbing the Green Sun Divine Gang. I could absorb and refine the power overflowing from the Ancestral Sacred Flame from outside the seal.”

Qin Sang's eyes flickered. “I wonder if this new sect master has a way to resolve the hidden danger of the Ancestral Sacred Flame… If the Green Sun Demonic Sect hadn't produced a Nascent Soul cultivator, I could simply go to them now and make a request, and they likely wouldn't refuse.”

After some thought, Qin Sang temporarily suppressed the idea of visiting them.

He didn't know much about this new sect master.

The Green Sun Demonic Sect followed the demonic path; they were not on the same side, so a rash visit would not be ideal.

He decided to first thoroughly investigate the Green Sun Demonic Sect's situation. If they still hadn't resolved the Ancestral Sacred Flame's problem, he wouldn't mind lending them a hand.

“During this period of calm, I might as well travel through the demonic cultivation territories and check on the Demonic Flame Sect and Aunt Mei. Additionally, I should visit the Yuanzhao Sect to retrieve the remaining banner poles…”

Qin Sang made his plans but was not in a hurry to set off.

He thought of the transparent lotus seed that aided cultivation and wondered if he had previously overlooked something.

Qin Sang summoned his flame seed and, following the steps of the secret art, merged the demonic flame into the transparent lotus seed. The process was very smooth; the lotus seed disappeared, and the flame seed re-formed.

Next, he continued to refine the demonic flame, finding the situation only slightly better than before, and nothing more. Even cultivating to his limit, he would not be able to control fifteen demon banners.

Given this, Qin Sang gave up, no longer wishing to waste time.

He focused his energy on cultivation, spending half his time on internal refinement and the other half on body tempering, with both cultivation methods steadily improving.

A month later, Qin Sang left Bai at the Yuan Shen Sect and departed alone.

Passing through the Great Sui, Qin Sang met with Li Yufu and his two companions. After giving them some guidance, he continued north, preparing to visit the Yuanzhao Sect!

He had already found out the details.

Back then, the sect master of the Boundless Sect betrayed the Minor Cold Domain, almost causing the annihilation of both domains. After leaving the Ziwei Palace, the anger of the various powerful figures was immense, and they unceremoniously divided the Boundless Sect.

The Boundless Sect was immediately annihilated, and sects affiliated with it were more or less implicated.

The Yuanzhao Sect was one of them.

Fortunately, they had not participated in the conspiracy. The Yuanzhao Sect paid a price to overcome this calamity and narrowly avoided annihilation.

Over the years, the Yuanzhao Sect had somewhat recovered its vitality, but it was still not as strong as it was when Qin Sang was undercover there.

Currently, the Yuanzhao Sect's main gate was located at the former site of the Kuiyin Sect.

This time, Qin Sang was revisiting an old haunt.