Chapter 1324: Verification of Learned Knowledge

Rain on Bluestone

“Greetings, Martial Uncle.”

Tan Yien entered and paid his respects.

Qin Sang told him to rise. “I asked you to discreetly investigate Mu Yifeng’s whereabouts. Have you found anything?”

Qin Sang had always remembered Mu Yifeng’s kindness.

Upon returning to the Minor Cold Domain, Qin Sang wanted to meet him, but Mu Yifeng had been cultivating diligently in Shaohua Mountain, leaving no opportunity. Later, after publicly falling out with Lord Dongyang,

to avoid implicating Mu Yifeng, it became even less possible to openly seek him out.

Tan Yien replied, “Reporting, Martial Uncle. I gathered some rogue cultivators for confidential discussions and deliberately made contact with Shaohua Mountain disciples. I’ve found some information about Mu Yifeng. He is an ascetic cultivator, rarely appearing in public, and has been in seclusion in a cave dwelling at the foot of Jingyue Peak. In recent years, he hasn't even stepped out of Jingyue Peak.

Few Shaohua Mountain disciples even know of his existence.”

“Jingyue Peak?”

Qin Sang’s eyes flickered.

If he remembered correctly,

Jingyue Peak used to be Chenyan’s cultivation ground!

When he first joined Shaohua Mountain,

Zhuang Yan had taken him on a tour of Shaohua Mountain, specifically highlighting this peak. Back then, Jingyue Peak was a forbidden area, and disciples of the sect were not allowed near it.

Chenyan had a prominent background, and after that incident, she didn't completely sever ties with Lord Dongyang.

She had a mysterious master trapped in the Ziwei Palace, who might return at any time.

Shaohua Mountain was vast and had no shortage of cave dwellings. A shrewd person like Lord Dongyang wouldn't allow other disciples to cultivate on Jingyue Peak unless Chenyan had granted permission.

“Could it be that Lord Dongyang didn’t vent his anger on Mu Yifeng back then because Chenyan was secretly protecting him?”

Qin Sang mused inwardly.

The true circumstances,

only the people involved would likely know.

After a moment of thought,

Qin Sang instructed, “Have your people continue to monitor the various market towns outside Shaohua Mountain,

waiting for Mu Yifeng to emerge from seclusion. Other than that, make no unnecessary moves,

to avoid arousing suspicion from Shaohua Mountain.”

Over the past ten years,

Lord Dongyang had lived a secluded life,

and had not made any moves against Qin Sang or Qingyang Temple.

By taking the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet and disrupting Lord Dongyang’s plans, Qin Sang had vented his frustration. Later, with his senior sister’s guidance, his resentment had dissipated.

However, things were not as tranquil as they seemed.

Precisely because of this, after emerging from seclusion, Qin Sang deliberately exposed a weakness, creating an opportunity for Lord Dongyang.

If Lord Dongyang could remain docile, and both sides lived in peace, that would also be acceptable.

“As you command, Martial Uncle!”

Tan Yien did not question the reason, simply following the order.

Next, Qin Sang gave a few more instructions, then dismissed him.

Three days later.

Qin Sang left Wanye Mountain and returned to Yuanxu.

He was to take over from True Master Canghong, guarding the immortal gate of the Sin God Palace for three years.

The spiritual energy here was abundant, which wouldn't hinder his cultivation. Additionally, Qin Sang needed a few years to consolidate his artifact refining skills and then prepare to craft a magic treasure to subdue the Southern Brightness Departing Fire.

The Fog Sea.

As soon as Qin Sang entered,

he was noticed by True Master Canghong.

True Master Canghong flew to meet him, cupping his hands in greeting,

“The rest will be up to you, Fellow Daoist Qin.”

Qin Sang took the jade tablet for controlling the spiritual array and asked, “Have there been any unusual movements from the immortal gate recently?”

“None found. Old Devil Ye has been quiet, as expected. He is also waiting for the Ziwei Palace to emerge. However, Fellow Daoist Qin, you should not let your guard down,” True Master Canghong said, shaking his head slightly as a reminder.

Qin Sang nodded thoughtfully. Then he recalled something else, “How are those fellow Daoists who took the Withering Essence Pill now?”

“Their essence, energy, and spirit have all weakened; none were spared! Old Freak Feng and the others tried everything, but could only slow down the rate of decline. Even more terrifying, one fellow Daoist vaguely felt that their heavenly tribulation might descend prematurely!”

True Master Canghong shook his head, saying with lingering fear, “If that’s true, it would be best to keep such a pill locked away!”

“Heavenly tribulation early?”

Qin Sang was secretly alarmed.

Such a price was more dreadful than the three decays of essence, energy, and spirit. Old Devil Ye’s scheme was truly malicious.

After seeing off True Master Canghong, Qin Sang entered the Seven Waters Illusory Array, mastering every change of the spiritual array. The other fellow Daoists stationed there came out to greet Qin Sang. After getting acquainted, they each found a place to cultivate, not disturbing each other.

Qin Sang went to the core of the Seven Waters Illusory Array.

Any change in the immortal gate would be immediately detected, and cultivating here meant no worries about being spied upon.

To be safe, Qin Sang set up an isolation restriction, then summoned the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet.

The Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet had now been subdued by Qin Sang and had recovered its previous strength. With the protection of the jade Buddha, he wasn’t afraid of the puppet’s backlash and could control it freely, making it an excellent helper.

Of course, what Qin Sang valued most was actually the soul shadow within the puppet.

He skillfully merged his spiritual consciousness into the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet’s body to comprehend the soul shadow. The entire process consumed a great deal of his mental energy, and when he felt a trace of exhaustion, Qin Sang put away the puppet, cultivating and contemplating what he had just gained.

Next, he took out the demon banner and refined the “Nine Nether Demonic Flame” until he was exhausted.

After completing these tasks, he reviewed the Void Spirit Sect’s ancient texts to comprehend artifact refining techniques.

His schedule was packed with tasks.

For ten years, Qin Sang spent every day like this, never relaxing even slightly. His most significant improvement was in artifact refining. He had learned many precious secret arts in the Void Spirit Sect, which were of great help.

Another two years passed in Yuanxu in the blink of an eye, and Old Devil Ye still made no unusual moves.

On this day, Qin Sang summoned the Golden Sunken Sword.

For a long time to come, the Golden Sunken Sword would replace the Ebony Sword as the spiritual sword he used for his swordsmanship.

According to Qin Sang’s plan, he would start with the Golden Sunken Sword to verify his progress in the path of artifact refining, then craft a magic treasure to subdue the Southern Brightness Departing Fire, and finally smelt the scorched wood.

He also took out several precious spiritual items at the same time.

These were all wood-attribute treasures.

There weren’t many, only a handful of types.

This was because Qin Sang had used most of his battle merits to exchange for fire-attribute spiritual items.

However, if he could successfully re-refine these spiritual items along with the Golden Sunken Wood, it should elevate the Golden Sunken Wood to the level of a high-grade magic treasure, which would suffice for now.

As for top-grade magic treasures, they were not so easily refined. Not to mention the lack of sufficient spiritual items, even if he gathered them all, Qin Sang wasn’t confident in his ability to craft one.

“Root Transformation Stone, Sky Azure Silver…”

Qin Sang’s gaze swept over each spiritual item. Then, he formed a hand seal, his eyes slightly closed, and performed a secret art he had learned from the Void Spirit Sect to analyze them.

Through generations of accumulation, the Void Spirit Sect had preserved dozens of secret arts related to this step alone, each designed for spiritual items with different characteristics.

How could a rogue cultivator, who explored alone, invent such techniques unless they were a prodigy?

Previously, Qin Sang would have had to expend immense effort at this stage; now, it was much easier.

Upon completing this step, Qin Sang performed a new secret art and summoned the Nine Nether Demonic Flame.

Using the power of the demonic flame, he refined away impurities from each spiritual item, simultaneously melting the Golden Sunken Sword into a sword embryo.

As there was no help from the power of earth fire, Qin Sang had to endure the demonic flame’s astonishing consumption. Midway, he frequently took out and consumed pills to restore his true essence.

Qin Sang solidly completed each step of the refining process. When he encountered difficulties, he would stop to ponder, making improvements and gaining greatly.

Finally, he watched with his own eyes as the Golden Sunken Sword was reborn in his hands, completing its transformation!