Chapter 1641: 天玲珑

Martial Arts and Cultivation

The medicine garden was a secondary concern. The grotesque-faced man's belongings were the main prize from this expedition.

After a quick glance, Qin Sang discovered many items that greatly interested him. He took out some pills to restore his True Essence and shared them with his avatar. As he recovered his True Essence, he also retrieved the grotesque-faced man's spatial bag and began examining its contents carefully.

The physical items inside—such as magic treasures, spirit pills, and talismans—were few, almost negligible, and didn't match his cultivation level. For many years, the grotesque-faced man had dedicated himself to cultivating the Gu King, meticulously studying poison arts, and also dealing with the virulent poison within his body. Later, after the Gu King reached maturity, he acquired the Scarlet Profound Ancient Tree and began cultivating the "Post-Heaven Wooden Puppet Stele" technique. He was also preparing to open the Immortal Abode of the Formless Immortal Sect, leaving him no spare energy to attend to other matters.

'Whoosh!'

Qin Sang activated the spatial bag with his spiritual sense, and several streaks of light flew out. He reached out and grabbed one of the wooden boxes. The wooden box opened, revealing a ball of green light. As his spiritual sense swept over it, the refining method for the Heavenly Exquisite Orb appeared in Qin Sang's mind. This secret technique, exclusive to the Wood Aspect Hall, was finally his.

The refining method was very complete, including insights left by successive Hall Masters of the Wood Aspect Hall. Only by seeing it firsthand did he realize that refining the Heavenly Exquisite Orb was not as easy as the grotesque-faced man had claimed. Firstly, the refiner must possess profound mastery in the art of artifact refining, and their own cultivation must not be lower than the late Nascent Soul stage. This treasure aids in reaching the Soul Transformation stage, so its immense value was self-evident.

However, if someone wished to refine the Heavenly Exquisite Orb to trade it, they would still need to weigh the pros and cons, which showed just how difficult it was to refine this treasure. Refining the Heavenly Exquisite Orb was not something that could be accomplished overnight, and all the required spirit materials were rare treasures from the world. Qin Sang, who could be called a master artifact refiner, surprisingly didn't recognize several of the spirit materials.

The other streaks of light contained jade slips, some of which held the artifact refining heritage of the Wood Aspect Hall. During the peak of the Formless Immortal Sect, the Wood Aspect Hall was renowned for its artifact refining. These inheritances would undoubtedly be of great help to Qin Sang; once he could dedicate himself to studying refining techniques, he would surely make rapid progress. This was an unexpected bonus. He hadn't expected that both the alchemy and artifact refining inheritances of the Formless Immortal Sect would fall into his hands.

Combining the information from the jade slips, Qin Sang found records of those unfamiliar spirit materials. Some of them could still be found in the world with patient searching, but for others, he would have to rely on luck. In particular, a spirit item called Moon Laurel Immortal Dew was the rarest. It originated from the Immortal Laurel Secret Realm of the Heavenly Harmony Hall, which could only be entered once every few centuries. The grotesque-faced man hadn't been able to find the Moon Laurel Immortal Dew within the Wood Aspect Hall. Now that the Immortal Hall had ascended, entry to the Immortal Laurel Secret Realm was impossible. Where was he to find it?

The refining method for the Heavenly Exquisite Orb did not contain this information; it had been deliberately removed by the grotesque-faced man, otherwise the Wailing Spirit Cave Master wouldn't have been so optimistic. Of course, there was an exception: a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Formless Immortal Sect had once unexpectedly found an ancient cultivator's abode while wandering the outer reaches of the storm zone, and obtained a small bottle of it. Perhaps more could still be found in this world, within some unknown ancient cultivator's abode.

Qin Sang possessed all five elemental spiritual roots, so the Heavenly Exquisite Orb was useless to him. Nevertheless, seeing this information, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. If he couldn't gather all the spirit materials, the value of this secret technique would be greatly diminished. He had to consider how to maximize its benefits.

The grotesque-faced man had not only concealed this information from the Wailing Spirit Cave Master. Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the last streak of light and gently beckoned. The streak of light flew into his hand, revealing a crystal-clear jade orb. The orb was about the size of a baby's fist, emitting a pure emerald green glow, shimmering brilliantly like a luminous pearl.

The jade orb was indeed the Heavenly Exquisite Orb! However, this Heavenly Exquisite Orb was an unfinished spiritual embryo. Qin Sang focused his gaze, and through the emerald light, he noticed a flaw in the jade. The surface of the jade orb wasn't smooth; it contained countless tiny hollows, so minute that they wouldn't be noticed without careful perception. Within each hollow were inscribed countless restrictions, so intricate that Qin Sang had never seen their like. Few treasures in this world could compare, and this was merely the first layer of the jade orb.

The Heavenly Exquisite Orb could be seen as five jade orbs nested one within another. All five layers of the jade orb were equally intricate. When the Heavenly Exquisite Orb was formed, all five layers of the jade orb had to be fused into one, ensuring that their energies did not conflict but maintained a perfect balance. Upon closer inspection, he also realized that the Heavenly Exquisite Orb was not entirely corporeal, existing between reality and illusion, and capable of merging with any type of life-bound magic treasure.

Back then, the Hall Master of the Wood Aspect Hall had refined this spiritual embryo and placed it in the artifact chamber, nurturing it with the Wood Aspect Hall's unique artifact-refining spirit array. Later, a great battle erupted, the Hall Master perished, and this treasure was left forgotten in the Wood Aspect Hall, gathering dust, its existence unknown to anyone. When the grotesque-faced man saw this treasure, he was overjoyed. Although the spiritual embryo was still far from completion, at least he no longer had to worry about the Moon Laurel Immortal Dew. Not to mention receiving just one; even if he had several, he wouldn't easily hand them over to the Wailing Spirit Cave Master.

Just the artifact refining heritage of the Wood Aspect Hall and the Heavenly Exquisite Orb's spiritual embryo alone were worth the cost of a Blazing Snow Pill, not to mention that Qin Sang had paid almost no price. Qin Sang muttered about his good fortune, carefully stored away the treasures one by one, then activated the spatial bag again, causing three more luminous objects to fly out: a token, a wooden armor, and a remnant tree.

The token was the Wood Aspect Command Medallion. From searching the Wailing Spirit Cave Master's soul, Qin Sang learned that the Five Aspect Command Medallions seemed to play a significant role on Mount Imperial Bestowal. Unsure of the exact reason, Qin Sang temporarily put it away to observe its future effects. The wooden armor had been frozen by the Ice Soul Divine Light. After the grotesque-faced man's demise, it fell into Qin Sang's hands. This treasure was undoubtedly a powerful defensive artifact, but it first needed to have the grotesque-faced man's aura erased and then be meticulously refined before it could be used. So, he set it aside along with the remnant tree.

The remnant tree was the Scarlet Profound Ancient Tree. When the grotesque-faced man self-destructed his spiritual wood body, the spirit tree disintegrated. Its essence remained, and a portion survived, but the spirit tree had also been refined by the grotesque-faced man with secret arts for many years, becoming tainted with his aura. From now on, it could only be used for artifact refining.

Qin Sang was actually more interested in the grotesque-faced man's divine abilities: the spiritual wood body and the poisonous needle. Continuing his search, he finally found a section of withered wood from the spatial bag. The withered wood was less than a foot long, about the thickness of a wrist, and entirely black. It appeared to be a completely rotten piece of decaying wood, with nothing unusual detected by his spiritual sense. Elsewhere, Qin Sang wouldn't have given it a second glance. However, when he used his spiritual sense to search meticulously and touched a barely perceptible speck of light within the core of the decaying wood, he realized there was more to it than met the eye!

Inside the decaying wood were recorded several inheritances of the Wood Aspect Hall, presumably left by its descendants. The inheritances included the grotesque-faced man's fundamental cultivation method, 'Wood Emperor Stratagem,' and its corresponding divine abilities, as well as the 'Post-Heaven Wooden Puppet Stele' technique that Qin Sang had been thinking of! To cultivate these divine abilities, one must find a spiritual wood and refine it into a spiritual wood body. This would grant immense strength, comparable to that of a body cultivator, like the grotesque-faced man. When situated in a jungle rich with wood spiritual energy, one's body would be like a divine stele, rooted in the ground, connecting one's vital energy with all the surrounding trees. Absorbing wood spiritual energy would bring about comprehensive improvements, greatly enhancing both strength and recovery ability.

Qin Sang secretly thought, 'No wonder the grotesque-faced man was so difficult to deal with after his transformation.' The grotesque-faced man had only achieved minor accomplishment in these divine abilities. Upon great accomplishment, there were many more incredible divine abilities, but it was very difficult for a Nascent Soul cultivator to reach the great accomplishment realm. Additionally, the improvements brought by the Post-Heaven Wooden Puppet Stele were also related to the quality of the spiritual wood. After reading, Qin Sang subconsciously glanced at his avatar. Back then, the Dao Manifestation Tree had caused Bai to lose control. What other spirit tree could be of a higher rank than the Dao Manifestation Tree?

However, if he were to refine the Dao Manifestation Tree into a spiritual wood body and integrate it into himself, he would have to restore the Dao Manifestation Tree to its original form and abandon his external avatar. This was a difficult choice. The 'Post-Heaven Wooden Puppet Stele' technique had great potential, enhancing his own body, but his external avatar possessed the ability to die and be reborn in its place, and had already consumed a vast amount of his energy and resources. Refining a spiritual wood body was also no simple matter. His external avatar was about to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage, and its potential might not be inferior to that of a spiritual wood body. Furthermore, the divine ability to die and be reborn was something he could not easily give up. Although Qin Sang possessed late Nascent Soul cultivation, he still dared not claim invincibility.

Sighing inwardly, Qin Sang set aside these troubling thoughts for now, put away the decaying wood, and took out another jade slip. The jade slip contained the 'Gu Sutra' of Myriad Poison Mountain, and it was complete. The latter half of the 'Gu Sutra' did not record the method for cultivating the Gu King, but from the descriptions, it was clear that the Gu King and the 'Gu Sutra' were from the same lineage. The Gu King must have been a core secret of Myriad Poison Mountain. He didn't know how the grotesque-faced man had obtained it, let alone swept away a portion of Myriad Poison Mountain's inheritance. No wonder Myriad Poison Mountain harbored such deep hatred.

Following the 'Gu Sutra' were records of several poisonous divine abilities, and 'Heavenly Extermination Soul-Cleansing Divine Needle' was the strongest among them. This name was derived from the idea that once the poisonous needle was unleashed, it would cleanse all living beings and spirits from heaven and earth. Its ambition was immense, and its power was indeed worthy of its name. Cultivating this divine ability required a virulent poison as a catalyst, but one had to be careful not to rush during its refinement. Otherwise, the poison would invade one's inner organs, and before the poison art was mastered, one would perish. The grotesque-faced man had undoubtedly used the Gu King to cultivate this divine ability.

Qin Sang shifted his gaze from the 'Gu Sutra' to the demonic flames floating within the cave, his expression thoughtful. After the Gu King devoured its master, the sanguine color on its body gradually faded, nearly returning to its original jade-white hue. However, its ferocious nature did not diminish; instead, it showed a tendency to intensify. He didn't know how to subdue the Gu King and had kept it imprisoned within a cage of demonic flames. Even after reading the 'Gu Sutra' and examining the grotesque-faced man's prized possessions, he found no method to subdue the Gu King.

A thought struck him, and Qin Sang understood. Myriad Poison Mountain dared to reveal this information to him, confident that even if he killed the grotesque-faced man, he wouldn't be able to subdue the Gu King and would have no choice but to make a deal with them. The Gu King's poisonous light was extraordinary, and its own rank was extremely high, making its value immeasurable.

"What would Myriad Poison Mountain offer in exchange?" Qin Sang pondered this, but didn't hold much expectation. If possible, he would prefer to subdue the Gu King himself and control this powerful weapon. At the very least, he would wait until he had consulted the Ghost Mother before considering any trade. However, he needed to enter Mount Imperial Bestowal, and this arrangement wasn't a long-term solution.

Qin Sang stared at the Gu King for a while, and a thought flickered in his mind. Since the Fat Silkworm's poison orb could resist the Heavenly Extermination Soul-Cleansing Divine Needle, could he use the poison orb to suppress the Gu King's ferocity? For the duration of his stay at the Formless Immortal Sect, merely making it obedient would suffice. He acted on the thought immediately.

Qin Sang submerged his spiritual consciousness into his Qi Sea and activated the poison orb. From his Dantian, a seven-colored glow erupted, and the poison orb slowly flew out, drifting towards the Gu King. Sensing the aura of the poison orb, the Gu King's wing beats abruptly ceased. It turned its body, its blood-red eyes fixed on the poison orb as if facing a formidable enemy, then emitted a more rapid and piercing hum.

"'Good, it's reacting...'" Qin Sang's eyes lit up. After a brief consideration, he directly sent the poison orb through the demonic flames, making it appear before the Gu King.

'Whoosh!'

Immediately, a beam of poisonous light sprayed forth. Qin Sang ultimately didn't dare to be too complacent. He controlled the poison orb to dodge slightly, allowing only the edge of the poisonous light to graze it. Suddenly, the poison orb transformed into a misty glow, and the poisonous light passed directly through it. Immediately afterward, the poison orb reformed, completely unharmed.

Qin Sang inspected it, then relaxed, and manipulated the poison orb to float towards the Gu King. The Gu King's wings vibrated wildly, continuously spewing poisonous light, but it couldn't hit Qin Sang or destroy the poison orb. Instead, its movement space was gradually compressed by the demonic flames, and the poison orb drew closer. Soon, the poison orb floated above the Gu King's head.

'Whoosh!'

The poison orb transformed into a toxic-warding aura, seemingly about to swallow the Gu King. The next moment, the Gu King was enveloped by the aura, and a faint, illusory outline of the orb could still be seen within the aura's contours. However, after the aura approached the Gu King for a certain distance, it could advance no further. The Gu King spread its wings, its body emitting a faint sanguine glow, forming a protective poisonous light. With a flash, it escaped the aura.

The attempt failed, but Qin Sang's face showed no disappointment. Instead, he looked surprised, as if he had discovered something unexpected. He continued to control the poison orb, employing the same tactic again. He tried dozens of times consecutively, all ending in failure. Yet, the unusual glint in Qin Sang's eyes grew stronger, as he made a startling discovery.

Every time the poison orb enveloped the Gu King, Qin Sang had a feeling that the poison orb's power seemed to intensely desire to devour the Gu King! After so many attempts, Qin Sang was certain that this feeling was not an illusion. He recalled that after the Fat Silkworm underwent its fourth transformation, it could directly devour Gu insects. He had even cultivated some for it to feast upon, and the Gu King's cultivation method was similar to those Gu insects. The poison orb, which had been separated from it, had also inherited the ability to devour!

"If the poison orb devours the Gu King, can it continue to improve?" As Qin Sang considered this possibility, his eyes immediately gleamed with fervor. The poison-warding divine ability might have a narrow scope, but once employed, it could play a remarkable role. Qin Sang had always adhered to the principle that external objects were inferior to one's own body. The poison orb was closely linked to him, essentially a part of himself. If he allowed the poison orb to continuously devour poisonous substances, what kind of transformation would it undergo in the future? The Gu King's intelligence was low, and in terms of potential, it was clearly inferior to the poison orb.

The problem was that the poison orb couldn't suppress the Gu King. How could he make the Gu King willingly allow itself to be devoured? Qin Sang pondered for a long time, recalling various ancient texts and delving into the 'Gu Sutra' again. Even as his True Essence was almost fully recovered and it was time to depart, he still couldn't come up with a solution.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he clapped his hands together. Since controlling it through insect-taming methods was impossible, why not start with its former master? Qin Sang wasn't sure what methods the grotesque-faced man usually employed to suppress the Gu King during its cultivation. However, he knew that the grotesque-faced man's fundamental cultivation method was the 'Wood Emperor Stratagem,' which aligned with the Great Dao of Wood. The Gu King had always been by the grotesque-faced man's side; perhaps it feared this aura.

However, before letting his avatar try, Qin Sang withdrew his consciousness into his Purple Mansion and returned to his original spirit. The Cloud Roaming Sword, which had remained unused since the charred wood true spirit of Yun Youzi was integrated into it, was brought forth for the first time! His glabella flashed. A burst of azure sword light instantly illuminated the entire cave!

"Old friend, it's up to you now..." Filled with emotion and a hint of wistfulness, Qin Sang pointed a finger at the Gu King. Having integrated with the Ten Great Divine Woods, the Cloud Roaming Sword could be considered the ultimate wood-element treasure. Qin Sang was not using the Cloud Roaming Sword to kill the Gu King, so there was no need to worry about damaging the true spirit. Instead, he activated its sword intent, using the ultimate wood-element treasure fused with supreme sword intent to deter the Gu King. If successful, he could draw the poison orb, the Gu King, and the Cloud Roaming Sword back into his body. This state could be maintained until the poison orb completely devoured the Gu King!