Chapter 1579: Ullambana Festival

The journey was uneventful.

Qin Sang returned directly to Zhuozhou from the Northern Barrens, heading first to Bounian Mountain.

The sky was clear and boundless.

Qin Sang stood on the mountaintop, the only way into Bounian Mountain, where the 'White Cloud Waterfall' stele was erected.

Looking up, the sky was completely cloudless.

Qin Sang flew upward for a distance, but the magnificent cloud waterfall was nowhere to be seen.

He released his divine sense but could not detect any fluctuations from Bounian Mountain's protective array; even the 'White Cloud Waterfall' stele itself was gone.

He had originally intended to ask Situ Yu about the origins of Old Man Yanshan, but now he couldn't even find the mountain gate. Bounian Mountain's protective array was no ordinary feat, and it was unwise to force his way in.

Bounian Mountain's sealing off was no joke; it had truly secluded itself from the world.

It was not appropriate to disturb them rashly.

Qin Sang secretly shook his head and transformed into a rainbow, flying away.

He returned to the Pure Void Illusion.

Qin Sang and his avatar sat cross-legged, facing each other. He took out the spoils from his journey: two pills, an ice disk, and several relics from Consort Yue.

The woman's mustard seed pouch had survived.

To make the deception more convincing and prevent Su Zinan from obtaining the mustard seed pouch and seeing through her scheme, Consort Yue had only prepared some essential pills and items for her soul-transplanted self. The treasures bestowed by Su Zinan mostly remained on her person.

After all, she was the beloved consort of a God Transformation Realm foster son.

Despite this woman destroying so many treasures in the ice cavern battle, her mustard seed pouch still contained two formidable magic artifacts.

The most valuable item was undoubtedly the silver bracelet that could split apart. Qin Sang had confiscated it after Consort Yue's 'death'. It could restrict an opponent's magic artifacts and was considered an unusual artifact, potentially having extraordinary effects.

Qin Sang planned to keep it for himself.

The two items in the mustard seed pouch were less powerful; he would bestow them upon the Xie family and Lou Tai Temple.

Once his true form had time, he would re-refine them, so there would be no fear of Lu Ye recognizing them.

In addition, the mustard seed pouch contained many spirit stones and various pills, which was a considerable windfall for Qin Sang. This was enough to cover his daily expenses, saving him the trouble of preparing them himself.

After all, the Xie family and Lou Tai Temple were not yet capable of providing for Qin Sang.

He sorted and stored them.

Qin Sang then looked at the relics of the Water Phase Lord: the two snow-white pills.

On the way, both his true form and avatar had carefully examined them. His avatar tried activating various ice-element divine abilities but could only determine that the pills were not for increasing cultivation.

The last item was the ice disk.

The ice disk was slightly larger than Qin Sang's palm, divided into an inner and outer layer. A current of energy continuously flowed within the inner layer, confined to it and not overflowing.

Qin Sang was unsure if this was cold malevolent energy. After removing it from the spiritual array, no more cold malevolent energy was released, and holding it only produced a slight coolness.

Mystical artifacts often appear unassuming.

Qin Sang stared at the ice disk for a long time, noticing that the circulating energy changed without pattern, sometimes forming magnificent mountains and rivers, and other times crystallizing into ice palaces.

In between, there were various meaningless scenes, appearing erratically.

Each transformation lasted less than a breath, changing endlessly.

The ice palaces were grand and imposing. Just from the scenes depicted on the disk, Qin Sang could feel a breathtaking beauty, wondering if such places truly existed in the world.

These scenes had no clear meaning. Qin Sang thought for a moment, then handed the ice disk to his avatar, instructing him to refine it using the methods for magic artifacts.

An hour later.

Qin Sang frowned.

The ice disk was not a magic artifact and could not be refined by cultivators, nor was it a spiritual treasure. Otherwise, even if he didn't understand the Treasure Communication Art, he would have sensed the spiritual treasure's unique fluctuations.

The good news was that the avatar successfully drew out the cold malevolent energy within the ice disk, making cultivation possible.

“The cold malevolent energy in the ice disk is extremely dense, more than enough to support the avatar in cultivating the Ice Soul Divine Light!” Qin Sang mused, then his expression suddenly shifted. “Wait a minute…”

A flash of insight struck him, and he approached it from the perspective of array formations, indeed finding something. “It's similar to an array tool, but it cannot form an array itself; instead, it's used in conjunction with a special spiritual array, appearing to be an array core treasure… The power of this array must be truly astonishing!”

He couldn't be certain; perhaps it was just one of the ice disk's functions.

Like the pills, it came down to the same problem: to know their true purpose, he first needed to obtain the inheritance of the Boundless Immortal Sect.

For now, it could only serve as a supplementary cultivation treasure.

The avatar put away the ice disk, preparing to first cultivate the Ice Soul Divine Light and gradually familiarize himself with the ice disk. Once the Ice Soul Divine Light reached mastery, he would continue researching its other functions and attempt to use this treasure for cultivation!

This time, the avatar would also enter a long period of seclusion.

The true form ceded the cave abode to the avatar, reversing their previous arrangement of one inside and one outside.

The cave abode's restrictions were sealed.

The true form briefly adjusted his breathing, not rushing to cultivate. He quietly left Pushan, flying southeast, stopping just before the border of Zhuozhou to enter a large market called Yanshui Market.

Yanshui Market was under Bounian Mountain's jurisdiction and was one of Zhuozhou's largest markets. It was unknown how Bounian Mountain would manage Yanshui Market after its seclusion, but no changes were apparent for now.

In the Nineteen States of Misty Rain, where sects governed the world, there were few markets or cities that truly catered only to cultivators. Those were generally small, secluded trading posts for localized transactions.

In large cities, both cultivators and mortals existed, but there was a clear distinction between immortals and mortals, and mortals generally dared not disturb immortal masters.

Flying was prohibited within the market.

Having recently offended Lu Ye, Qin Sang, to avoid trouble, used a secret disguise art. With a few flashes, he entered the heart of the market and quickly found his target—the Six States Hall branch.

This was the Six States Hall's largest branch in Zhuozhou.

As Qin Sang approached the entrance of the Six States Hall, he saw three Core Formation cultivators emerge together. The ground floor hall was teeming with people, with even Qi Condensation cultivators being a rare sight.

The three Core Formation cultivators—two men and one woman—appeared to have had a fruitful visit, all wearing smiles.

As Qin Sang walked towards them, one of the men glanced at him, noting the person's ethereal aura but also a sense of unfamiliarity, feeling a subtle strangeness.

As they brushed past each other, the man suddenly had an idea. He secretly activated a spiritual eye divine ability, and a faint electric gleam flashed in his left pupil.

He prided himself on this divine ability being extremely discreet, having used it multiple times to spy on others without fail.

Unexpectedly, just as the electric gleam appeared, the man suddenly felt a piercing pain in his left eye. His body trembled, and he let out a miserable groan, clutching his left eye.

“What's wrong?”

His companions were startled, seeing blood seeping from between his fingers. They were shocked and angered. “You…”

“Go!”

The man, enduring the intense pain, pushed his companions away. He himself dared not move, unable to suppress the fear in his heart, his voice trembling. “This junior was rude; I deserve death for my offense!”

The other party paid him no mind and walked into the Six States Hall without looking back.

“Thank you, senior, for sparing my life!”

The man, as if granted a great pardon, hurriedly pulled his companions away.

After sprinting a long distance, the man removed his hand.

His companions were horrified to see his left eye a bloody mess, and the divine ability he had painstakingly cultivated was crippled. They wondered if he could ever re-cultivate it, yet they had no idea when the man had been attacked. “Could that person just now have been…”

The man, grateful to be alive, said bitterly, “Even when I used this divine ability to spy on the Sect Master of Star-Plucking Sect back then, I wasn't discovered… Thankfully, this senior was magnanimous. It's already a blessing to have kept my life; I nearly dragged you all down.”

The three exchanged a few quiet words, not daring to remain in the market, and quickly left.

Meanwhile.

Qin Sang, having lightly punished the offending individual, paid him no further attention and entered the Six States Hall.

The chief manager of this Six States Hall branch was surprisingly a Nascent Soul cultivator. Having witnessed the scene outside, he hastily descended, personally greeted Qin Sang, and invited him into a quiet room.

Qin Sang waved his hand, stopping the tea service, and took out a token. “This is my token, fellow Daoist, please take a look.”

The chief manager took it, apologized briefly, verified it with a secret art, bowed deeply, and returned it to Qin Sang. “The token is genuine. I am Jiang Mu, pleased to meet Fellow Daoist Qin.”

Qin Sang returned the bow, addressing him as Fellow Daoist Jiang. “In recent years, has anyone presented a token looking for me?”

“Please wait, Fellow Daoist.”

Jiang Mu personally went to check and returned after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Receiving a negative reply, Qin Sang sighed inwardly.

A century ago, Liuli journeyed west, seeking to cultivate Buddhist teachings. Since then, there had been no news of her; he didn't know where she was or if she had made any progress.

He collected his thoughts and stated his purpose.

Qin Sang wished to purchase information from Six States Hall regarding various major powers in Central Plains, not limited to the current era, nor to the Nineteen States of Misty Rain, and without time restrictions; the older the information, the better.

Although surprised, Jiang Mu didn't find it strange. He surmised that Qin Sang might have found a secret realm or an artifact of unknown origin and, being clueless, wanted to investigate from this angle.

He had seen such situations many times.

However, doing so was like searching for a needle in a haystack; only a very few lucky individuals managed to find clues.

As long as there were spirit stones, everything was negotiable.

The two reached an agreement. Qin Sang took out a bag of spirit stones, and Jiang Mu immediately ordered records to be brought in, allowing Qin Sang to peruse them at his leisure in the quiet room.

Qin Sang set up several isolating restrictions. He first turned to the records of the Eight Scenery Temple and Ganlu Zen Monastery, counting names and checking all renowned experts above the Nascent Soul stage.

It was no secret that the God Transformation cultivators of both sects often displayed their divine power publicly, aweing all directions.

The founder of Ganlu Zen Monastery, Master Liaosu, was a Buddhist saint!

The other, Huang Xi, was a God Transformation True Monarch, the founder of Eight Scenery Temple!

Moreover, both were from the same era, with their breakthroughs to the God Transformation stage occurring within two hundred years of each other.

“Both are God Transformation cultivators!”

Qin Sang's expression was solemn.

He could be certain that the two individuals vehemently cursed in the Water Phase Lord's will were precisely the founders of these two sects.

The Boundless Immortal Sect's decline, and the rise of Eight Scenery Temple and Ganlu Zen Monastery—what truly happened back then?

The Water Phase Lord's resentment was immense, and Qin Sang couldn't help but suspect that they were the masterminds behind the Boundless Immortal Sect's downfall. He hastily flipped through the records, scanning jade slips one by one, finally finding information on the Boundless Immortal Sect.

Strangely, for such a large power, the content in the records was exceedingly simple. No matter how much he looked, he couldn't find any useful information. There wasn't even a record of the Boundless Immortal Sect's mountain gate location, clearly indicating it had been deliberately erased.

“Eight Scenery Temple and Ganlu Zen Monastery truly sought to annihilate them…”

Qin Sang murmured to himself.

The situation was unclear, involving two top Buddhist and Daoist sects, implying hidden dangers. He could not investigate openly.

“A super immortal sect wouldn't have only one inheritance. As the saying goes, 'a centipede dies but never falls stiff,' the Water Phase Lord's inheritance has already appeared, so can other inheritances be far behind? The continuous emergence of God Transformation cultivators in both Buddhist and Daoist sects could deter them, but now that rumors of God Transformation cultivators going missing are rampant, the Southern Barbarian Gu God Sect and Northern Barrens Demonic Sect are stirring. Shouldn't the descendants of the Boundless Immortal Sect also emerge after lying dormant for so long?”

Qin Sang lightly tapped the jade slip with his finger.

His heavenly tribulation was approaching; he might as well wait a bit longer, and all sorts of evildoers would emerge.

With a plan in mind, Qin Sang reviewed all the other records, committing them to memory, then asked the waiting manager to remove the records and invite Jiang Mu back.

“I have one more matter to trouble your esteemed hall with. I request your hall's assistance in collecting treasures that can enhance divine sense, be it spiritual pills and elixirs, secret arts, or magic artifacts.”

This was Qin Sang's primary objective.

After breaking through to the late stage, Qin Sang found refining demonic flames much easier than before.

Qin Sang had believed at the time that if this momentum continued, and he kept refining demonic flames, his divine sense would greatly advance, and he would have a good chance of reaching a level comparable to God Transformation cultivators.

However, after three years of arduous cultivation following his breakthrough, Qin Sang realized he might have underestimated the situation.

Currently, the speed of refining demonic flames was still encouraging, but there was also a hidden concern.

He cultivated the 'Fire Seed Golden Lotus' to strengthen his divine sense by refining demonic flames, and he was still far from breaking through to the third layer of the secret art—where the fire lotus transforms into a lotus platform.

But this didn't mean there were no bottlenecks.

As time passed, the more demonic flames the fire lotus absorbed, the higher the demands placed on him, exceeding the rate of his divine sense improvement. In the future, there would likely be a limit where his divine sense and the fire lotus reached a certain equilibrium.

He also had to thank the Soul-Nourishing Wood, which had subtly brought him immense benefits; otherwise, cultivating 'Fire Seed Golden Lotus' would certainly not have been so smooth.

Continuing to forcibly refine demonic flames, the outcome—whether breakthrough or loss of control—was unpredictable.

Based on Qin Sang's experience, the likelihood of success was negligible.

He either needed a significant breakthrough in cultivation or had to find another way to achieve a breakthrough in his divine sense.

Of course, with the Cloud Wandering Sword integrated into the Soul-Nourishing Wood, its soul light constantly nourished his primordial spirit, so he would eventually be able to refine the demonic flames, but it would take a very long time.

The impending chaos in Central Plains was also an opportunity.

He still wanted to further enhance his strength, not only to protect himself during the chaos but also to gain something.

Qin Sang wanted to use external resources, which was why he approached Six States Hall.

This was a major business deal!

Jiang Mu, beaming, immediately took out a jade slip and presented Six States Hall's treasured collection. “Fellow Daoist Qin, please take a look. Not long ago, our hall received a Boundless Flower, which can be refined into a Boundless Pill. It has significant effects even for Nascent Soul cultivators like us. I can make the decision to include the pill recipe for Fellow Daoist Qin. Furthermore, this 'Turtle Guidance Art' is an unparalleled method for cultivating divine sense, created by a renowned Nascent Soul cultivator from an Eastern Sea Immortal Mountain, and later came into the possession of Miemeng Island, refined by several generations of cultivators…”

Qin Sang looked through each item, but ultimately shook his head.

The Boundless Flower was merely one of the main ingredients for the Boundless Pill. Who knew when he would gather all the ingredients for the recipe, not to mention its effect wasn't particularly good.

As for the 'Turtle Guidance Art,' he had already obtained secret arts of that caliber in Xuanyuan Palace. By the time he encountered a bottleneck, it likely wouldn't be of much use.

From a single glimpse, one can infer the whole.

Seeing Qin Sang's high demands, Jiang Mu's joyful expression faded. He secretly scrutinized Qin Sang, his estimation of him rising a notch.

He put away the jade slip, pondered for a moment, and said, “Fellow Daoist Qin, are you aware of the Ullambana Festival?”

“The Buddhist Ullambana Festival? I heard it's held only once every thousand years,” Qin Sang said, having heard of it.

“Not a thousand years; it's actually every five hundred years.”

Jiang Mu explained, “The Buddhist school has the Ullambana Festival, and the Daoist school has the Zhongyuan Dharma Assembly. They are, in fact, the same event. It's just that the two schools take turns hosting it, with different names, making it the foremost grand event in the Central Plains.”