Chapter 1365: Ghost Mother

The disciples efficiently managed these matters without needing instructions from Qin Sang.

Seeing Qin Sang in seemingly good spirits, Bai Hanqiu's anxious heart settled.

Successfully breaking through to the Mid-Nascent Soul stage after only thirty-odd years of secluded cultivation was indeed cause for joy. Within the Nascent Soul stage, each minor realm presented a significant hurdle. Qin Sang had initially estimated that this cultivation period would last at least several decades, perhaps even a century, and reaching the bottleneck would already be a good outcome. Unexpectedly, the cultivation process was extraordinarily smooth. The soul shadow within the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet had been a great help.

Qin Sang took only eighteen years to refine two Corpse Flower Blood Ambers, followed by five years of tranquil meditation to push his cultivation to the peak of the Early Nascent Soul stage. He then began consolidating his cultivation and attempting to break through the bottleneck. In merely twelve years, Qin Sang experienced an epiphany and successfully broke through!

At the moment of breakthrough, even Qin Sang felt a sense of disbelief. Counting from the day he formed his Nascent Soul, it had been less than eighty years in total! The cultivation world never lacked geniuses, but according to various legends, breaking through to the Mid-Nascent Soul stage within one 'calamity' (i.e., within three hundred years of forming a Nascent Soul) was already considered an extraordinary achievement. Yet, he had accomplished it within a century!

Of course, Qin Sang did not let this success go to his head. Qin Sang knew very well that he was by no means a genius. Such astonishing achievements were entirely due to the Corpse Flower Blood Ambers and the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet. The Corpse Flower Blood Ambers were depleted, and the Nascent Soul Talisman Puppet could no longer provide significant assistance. This kind of rapid cultivation advancement was not replicable; from now on, he would have to proceed step by step on his own. The Late Nascent Soul stage remained a distant goal for him!

"Uncle-Master!" Just then, Tan Yien and the white cat finally caught up. Out of breath, Tan Yien cautiously approached and asked, "Uncle-Master, have you perhaps broken through to the Mid-Nascent Soul stage...?"

Qin Sang smiled and nodded slightly.

"Congratulations, Uncle-Master, on advancing further on the Great Dao!" Tan Yien exclaimed with delighted surprise.

The disciples proposed holding another grand ceremony, believing that Qin Sang's prestige would then shake the entire Beichen Alliance, making him unmatched. However, Qin Sang declined.

After learning about the current state of the sect, Qin Sang offered a few words of encouragement to his disciples before leaving Qingyang Temple alone and heading south.

Several months had passed since Aunt Mei sent back her message. During this time, Li Yuyao had personally gone there, but neither of them had sent back any new information, leaving Qin Sang unsure if they had encountered danger. Tan Hao was not only an old friend of Qin Sang's but also crucial to Dumb Aunt's potential awakening, so Qin Sang certainly had to go himself. However, the location where Tan Hao's trace was found was extremely unusual: a small island at the southern tip of the Beichen Alliance. Further south lay the Storm Zone. Passing through this Storm Zone would allow one to leave the Beichen Realm and reach the Three Northern Sea Realms!

He flew swiftly. Qin Sang traveled almost without pause, not stopping to visit friends along the way. He passed through the vast Yunwang Marsh, soared over the Tianxing Plateau, and sped across the immense desert. The Beichen Great Desert was so vast that all other territories combined could not compare to its size. Qin Sang's journey was almost equivalent to traversing the entire Beichen Realm!

Upon reaching the southern end of the Beichen Great Desert, the oases became denser and the population more prosperous the closer he got to the sea. This area had once been a primary target for the Sinful Abyss's invasions, but decades later, the scars had long since faded, replaced by a scene of thriving prosperity. The desert region presented a landscape distinct from other territories. Qin Sang had no mind to observe the exotic customs and sceneries; he headed straight for the sea.

The sea surface was calm. Earlier, Qin Sang had found a cultivator market and gathered some information. This area was still far from the Storm Zone, so the hurricanes originating there barely affected the nearby waters, and there were no ferocious demonic beasts. Furthermore, unlike the Canglang Sea, islands in this region were sparse, concentrated near the coast, and mostly had thin spiritual energy. Especially near the Storm Zone, not a single island was visible. This was precisely why the native inhabitants of the islands were predominantly mortals, who did not need to support cultivators to help resist storms and demonic beasts.

The island Aunt Mei had discovered was very remote, located almost at the southeastern tip of the archipelago. Qin Sang did not conceal his escape light and sped towards the southeast. He encountered no one blocking his path along the way.

It wasn't long before Qin Sang arrived near the island. To be safe, he didn't land directly. Instead, he found a reef and activated Qingyang Temple's communication artifact.

Soon. Two figures flew in from a distance: Aunt Mei and Li Yuyao.

"Greetings, Senior Uncle!"

"Greetings, Master!"

Seeing Qin Sang, both showed delight and stepped forward to bow.

Qin Sang examined their cultivation levels and nodded with satisfaction. "Excellent! It seems you haven't been idle during this time. Aunt Mei, is that the island you mentioned?"

At the edge of his vision, the faint silhouette of a small island shimmered in the water. With Qin Sang's eyesight, he could discern some features from afar. The island looked very ordinary. There was no city, only a single village inhabited by mortals. A large, lush forest covered nearly ninety percent of the island's area. However, the spiritual energy was extremely thin, so cultivators would likely not choose such a place to establish a cave dwelling, unless there was an illusion array on the island that even the Heavenly Eye Butterfly couldn't see through.

"Reporting to Master, this is the place!" Aunt Mei recounted everything in detail: "While traveling through the desert, I received news of a senior's cave dwelling. I tracked it all the way to this sea area and stumbled upon it unexpectedly when passing by the village on this island..."

Li Yuyao continued, "My junior sister and I dared not act rashly, so we observed from nearby. For several months, no cultivators have entered or left the island."

After hearing their accounts, Qin Sang pondered for a moment before taking the two of them and flying towards the island.

The village housed over a thousand families. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys. Qin Sang and the two others cast an invisibility spell to avoid disturbing the mortals.

Aunt Mei led Qin Sang towards the courtyard deepest within the village, which was said to be the ancestral hall.

"This is it..." Aunt Mei whispered, looked around cautiously, then slipped inside.

Inside the ancestral hall, ancestral tablets were enshrined, and incense burned continuously. In the very center of the tablets was an exquisite wooden carving of a person. While the craftsmanship was not as skilled as Senior Sister Qingjun's, it was meticulously detailed, showing the carver's extreme reverence for the subject. The face was clearly discernible. It was Tan Hao!

Qin Sang paused, gazing at the wooden carving. The wooden carving's position seemed very special; there was a clear space around it among the other spirit tablets. Only a tablet for 'Ghost Mother' was placed before it, but the carving itself bore no inscriptions, making it impossible to determine his identity. If not for the fact that no one in the village shared the surname Tan, Qin Sang might have thought Tan Hao had established a lineage here.

Aunt Mei continued, "After discovering this carving, I found the eldest patriarch and covertly used a hypnotism spell to learn the story. Over a hundred years ago, a demonic beast caused havoc in the sea, and the mortals on the island were almost devoured. At that critical moment, the person depicted in the carving suddenly appeared and saved the entire village. He was certainly a cultivator, though his cultivation level was hard to determine. The survivors, grateful for his kindness, worshipped him as a second parent. However, this person did not leave his name; after slaying the demonic beast, he vanished into thin air, claiming he was acting under the orders of the Ghost Mother!"