Chapter 141: Three Years

When Qin Sang was at Kuaiyin Sect previously, he had experienced the pain of a damaged primordial spirit, but compared to today, it was completely insignificant. The moment he activated the ebony sword and thrust it into his primordial spirit, he promptly fainted.

After an unknown period, Qin Sang awoke. He lay motionless on the ground like a corpse, his hazy eyes glancing at the cave dwelling's dome before gently closing.

After a long wait, once he had recovered some strength, he silently reached for the jade bottle beside him, took out a healing elixir, swallowed it, and carefully circulated his cultivation technique to heal and restore his primordial spirit.

A few days later, his primordial spirit's injuries improved, and he continued this process.

Three years passed in this manner.

For three years, apart from making a monthly trip to Huilong Temple to check for any sect summons – lest he miss a task assigned by the sect and incur punishment – and then visiting the capital of Guyuan Kingdom to devour a few steamers of large meat buns to satisfy his cravings, Qin Sang remained secluded in his cave dwelling, dedicating himself to cultivating the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter'.

Diligence paid off. After one year of cultivating the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter', this technique, which he had once considered impossible to master, showed significant progress.

The ebony sword began to show signs of merging with his primordial spirit.

The spiritual sword was merging with his primordial spirit.

The next stage was Qin Sang's struggle against the sword qi's erosion of his spirit. He constantly endured the agony of the sword qi devouring his primordial spirit, taking a full two years to adapt and successfully enter meditation in this state.

The cave dwelling was silent and exceptionally dim.

Only at the spiritual spring did the fully recovered Nine Illusory Sky Orchid shine with beautiful light. The mist above its stamens had also appeared two years prior, constantly transforming into various lifelike illusions, a truly astonishing sight.

"Phew!"

Qin Sang awoke from his meditation, letting out a long breath, a hint of joy on his face.

This was his second successful meditation; the first, five days prior, felt more like an accident.

Although he had adapted to the pain transmitted from his primordial spirit, entering meditation remained challenging. However, Qin Sang diligently followed Daoist Jixin's teachings: staying calm and composed, without impatience. After failures, he would silently recite the 'Scripture of Purity and Tranquility' to stabilize his mind before trying again, and indeed, he succeeded once more.

When he couldn't meditate, he could only sleep to replenish his energy, and it took a long time for him to fall asleep soundly. This had left him quite haggard and wasted much valuable cultivation time, but now he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

Qin Sang pressed his fingertips to his forehead for a moment, a habitual gesture for him now, as the pain from his primordial spirit was more troublesome than the migraines he'd suffered in his previous life.

The method he later devised was to allow himself no idle time. All twelve hours of the day, except for brief periods of sleep and nurturing his primordial spirit with the sword, were filled with various tasks. Most of this time was effectively dedicated to practicing the 'Five Elements Law-Breaking Sword' and the 'Spirit Concealment Art'.

After pressing his forehead for a while, Qin Sang rose from the ground and walked to the spiritual spring. He gazed mesmerized at the Nine Illusory Sky Orchid for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the pool below.

Compared to three years ago, the spring's outlet was noticeably larger, and the water flow much stronger. The entire pool now held nearly half a basin of spring water, and the roots of the Nine Illusory Sky Orchid were once again entwined, teeming with vitality.

Qin Sang didn't know how long it would take for this spiritual spring to fully form, but it seemed it wouldn't be much longer.

Once the spiritual spring was fully formed, he would relocate both the spring and the cave dwelling to a more secluded spiritual vein; only then could he safely keep the Nine Illusory Sky Orchid planted within the cave dwelling indefinitely.

Otherwise, every time he traveled far, he would have to uproot the Nine Illusory Sky Orchid. Even if replanted, it would take a year to resume growth, and its full maturity would be even further off.

It was the end of the month again. Qin Sang sealed his cave dwelling, summoned his Sky Shuttle, and arrived at Huilong Temple.

He had set up a simple illusion array at Huilong Temple, designed only to deter mortals. Since the ancient times of the Tiannan master and apprentice, Huilong Temple had been devoid of human presence, and within a few short years, it had become remarkably dilapidated.

Qin Sang landed in the main hall, his expression subtly shifting as he saw a communication talisman flitting erratically within the restrictive barrier like a headless fly. He reached out and captured it, discovering it wasn't a sect summons but a message from someone named Yu Daiyue.

This person claimed to be a fellow senior disciple and invited Qin Sang to explore an ancient cultivator's ruin in the Cloud Vast Marsh. The message stated that details would be discussed in person and was quite earnest in its tone.

Qin Sang racked his brain but couldn't recall knowing any Foundation Establishment cultivator named Yu Daiyue.

After breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, besides Sect Master Yu, Senior Brother Wen, and Senior Brother Gong, he hadn't interacted with any other Foundation Establishment cultivators. Upon obtaining the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter', he had entered secluded cultivation, not even returning to his sect for three years. He had maintained an extremely low profile, so he wondered how this person had managed to find him.

The Cloud Vast Marsh stretched endlessly, rarely visited by humans.

It was said to contain many undiscovered ancient cultivator ruins, many of which held valuable treasures. There were frequent rumors of people striking it rich, though the veracity of these tales was hard to determine.

Qin Sang was currently at a critical juncture in his cultivation of the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter' and had no interest in exploring ruins. He left a polite refusal, sent the communication talisman back, then descended the mountain to eat a few steamers of meat buns before returning to his cave dwelling.

Two more months passed. Qin Sang could finally completely shake off the influence of the sword qi devouring his spirit, allowing him to enter meditation at will. He could now proceed to the next step: visualizing the killing talisman, drawing the intent of slaughter into his primordial spirit, and refining the spiritual sword!

The first killing talisman in the technique was far less violent than the subsequent four. Moreover, over the past three years, Qin Sang had practiced its visualization countless times, so everything was ready.

His spiritual sense touched the cultivation technique in his mind, and he quickly visualized the first killing talisman of the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Nurturing Chapter'.

Qin Sang's mind entered meditation, and with a 'boom' in his head, only this killing talisman remained.

Each stroke of the killing talisman was formed by the Sword of Slaughter, conveying astonishing killing intent. As Qin Sang observed it stroke by stroke, his mouth went dry, and his mind was greatly shaken, as if he were watching a peerless swordsman slaughtering all living beings with his blade.

Immediately, killing intent filled Qin Sang's chest, as if he had transformed into this swordsman, hostile to the entire world, unable to control himself, wanting only to raise his sharp sword and cleave through everything.

Killing one in ten steps, traveling a thousand li without leaving a trace!

Fortunately, the jade Buddha consistently stabilized his true self, preventing his consciousness from getting lost within the killing talisman.

His primordial spirit visualized and comprehended the path of slaughter.

As time passed, the ebony sword, lodged within his primordial spirit, suddenly began to stir.

Over the past three years, Qin Sang had inscribed countless runes onto the sword. Now, as he began visualizing the killing talisman, these runes and his primordial spirit were to transform into a furnace, using the killing intent to refine the sword!

As the visualization continued, the intent of slaughter invaded his primordial spirit and enveloped the spiritual sword.

Instantly, the runes glowed with dazzling divine light. With a crisp 'crack', a barely visible crack appeared at the tail end of the sword hilt. This spot, not where the main fragment of the magical artifact lay, was the ebony sword's most vulnerable point.

The ebony sword trembled violently, seemingly wailing.

"Ah!"

At that moment, Qin Sang suddenly broke free from his meditation, drenched in sweat, his face etched with deep apprehension. He had been directly forced out of meditation by the intense pain emanating from his primordial spirit.