Chapter 1644: Lotus Seat

The medicinal garden was a matter for later. The grotesque-faced man's possessions were the main prize from this expedition.

A quick glance revealed many items that greatly interested Qin Sang.

Qin Sang took out some pills to restore his true essence and shared them with his avatar. While recovering his true essence, he retrieved the grotesque-faced man's mustard seed pouch and began examining its contents carefully.

The external items inside—such as magic treasures, spirit elixirs, and spirit talismans—were few, even scarce, and didn't match his cultivation level. For many years, the grotesque-faced man had been single-mindedly focused on cultivating the Gu King, diligently studying poison arts, and also dealing with the virulent toxins within his own body. Later, after the Gu King matured and he acquired the Scarlet Profound Ancient Tree, he began cultivating the 'Post-Heaven Wooden Man Stele' and preparing to open the Unfettered Immortal Sect's ancient dwelling. He had no spare energy to attend to other matters.

Swoosh!

Qin Sang’s spiritual sense activated the mustard seed pouch, and several streaks of light flew out. He reached out and caught one of the wooden boxes.

The wooden box opened, revealing a ball of green light. As his spiritual sense swept over it, the crafting method for the Celestial Exquisite entered Qin Sang's mind. This secret art of the Wood Element Hall, previously passed down only to a select few, was finally in his possession. The crafting method was extremely complete, even including insights left by previous Wood Element Hall masters.

Seeing it firsthand, he realized that crafting the Celestial Exquisite was not as easy as the grotesque-faced man had claimed. The crafter must first possess profound expertise in artifact forging, and their cultivation must be no lower than the late Nascent Soul stage. This treasure aided in reaching the Deity Transformation stage, so its immense value was self-evident.

However, if someone wished to craft a Celestial Exquisite and trade it, they would still need to weigh the gains against the losses, which indicated the extreme difficulty of crafting this treasure. Crafting the Celestial Exquisite was not an overnight task, and all the required spirit materials were rare treasures of the world. Even Qin Sang, who could be considered a master forger, did not recognize several of the spirit materials.

Among the other streaks of light were some jade slips, a portion of which contained the Wood Element Hall's legacy of artifact forging. During the Unfettered Immortal Sect's heyday, the Wood Element Hall was renowned for its artifact forging. These legacies would undoubtedly be of great help to Qin Sang, allowing him to make rapid progress in forging arts whenever he had the leisure to delve into them—a truly unexpected boon. To his surprise, both the pill-refining and artifact-forging legacies of the Unfettered Immortal Sect had fallen into his hands.

Consulting the contents of the jade slips, Qin Sang found records of the unfamiliar spirit materials. Some of them could still be found in the world with patient searching, while others would require sheer luck. Particularly rare was a spiritual object named Moon Laurel Immortal Dew, which originated from the Immortal Laurel Secret Realm of the Heaven Concord Hall and could only be entered once every few centuries. The grotesque-faced man had not managed to find the Moon Laurel Immortal Dew within the Wood Element Hall. Now that the immortal hall had ascended, entry to the Immortal Laurel Secret Realm was impossible. Where could he find it? The crafting method for the Celestial Exquisite did not contain this information; the grotesque-faced man had deliberately omitted it; otherwise, the Weeping Spirit Cave Master would not have been so optimistic.

There was an exception, however: a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Unfettered Immortal Sect had once unexpectedly found a small bottle of it within an ancient cultivator's dwelling while exploring the outer reaches of the storm belt. It might still exist in this realm, perhaps within another unknown ancient cultivator's dwelling. As Qin Sang possessed Five Element spiritual roots, the Celestial Exquisite was useless to him. Yet, seeing all this, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. Without gathering all the spirit materials, the value of this secret art would be greatly diminished. He would need to ponder how to maximize its benefit.

The grotesque-faced man had not only concealed this information from the Weeping Spirit Cave Master.

Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the last streak of light and gently beckoned. The light landed in his hand, revealing a crystal-clear jade sphere. The sphere was the size of a baby's fist, emitting a pure, emerald green glow that shimmered brilliantly like a luminous pearl.

The jade sphere was none other than the Celestial Exquisite itself! However, it was an incomplete spiritual embryo. Qin Sang focused his gaze, and through the emerald light, he discerned flaws in the jade. The surface of the jade sphere was not smooth; it contained countless tiny hollows, so small that they would go unnoticed without careful spiritual perception. Each hollow was intricately engraved with countless restrictions, a level of precision Qin Sang had rarely seen before. Few treasures in this realm could likely compare, and this was merely the first layer of the jade sphere. The Celestial Exquisite could be viewed as five jade spheres nested one within another.

All five layers of the jade spheres were equally intricate. When the Celestial Exquisite was fully formed, the five layers of jade spheres had to be fused into one, with their spiritual energies balanced, preventing any conflicts. Upon closer inspection, he also realized that the Celestial Exquisite was not entirely physical; it existed somewhere between reality and illusion, capable of merging with any type of Natal Magic Treasure.

Years ago, the Wood Element Hall master crafted this spiritual embryo and placed it in the artifact chamber, nurturing it with the hall's unique artifact-forging spirit array. Later, when a great battle erupted, the master perished, leaving this treasure alone in the Wood Element Hall, where the precious orb became obscured by dust, unknown to anyone. When the grotesque-faced man discovered this treasure, he was ecstatic. Though the spiritual embryo was far from completion, at least he no longer needed to worry about the Moon Laurel Immortal Dew. Even if he had obtained several more, let alone just this one, he would not have easily given them to the Weeping Spirit Cave Master.

The Wood Element Hall's forging legacy and the Celestial Exquisite spiritual embryo alone were worth the cost, even if it meant consuming a Fiery Snow Pill. Moreover, Qin Sang had paid almost no price for them. Qin Sang congratulated himself on his luck, carefully put away each treasure, then activated the mustard seed pouch, causing three more luminous objects to fly out.

A token, a wooden armor, and a remnant tree. The token was the Wood Element Token. Through soul-searching the Weeping Spirit Cave Master, he learned that the Five Element Tokens seemed to play a significant role in Emperor's Mountain. Qin Sang, unsure of the exact reason, temporarily put it away to observe its future effects. The wooden armor, encased in Ice Soul Divine Light, had fallen into Qin Sang's hands after the grotesque-faced man's demise. This treasure was undoubtedly a powerful defensive artifact, but it required the grotesque-faced man's aura to be erased and then meticulous refining before it could be used. So, he set it aside along with the remnant tree. The remnant tree was the Scarlet Profound Ancient Tree. The grotesque-faced man had self-destructed his spirit wood body, causing the spirit tree to disintegrate. Its essence remained, and a portion survived. However, the spirit tree had also been refined by the grotesque-faced man for many years using secret arts, imbued with his aura. From now on, it could only be used for forging artifacts.

What truly interested Qin Sang were the grotesque-faced man's divine abilities: the Spirit Wood Body and the poison needles. Continuing his search, he finally pulled out a piece of withered wood from the mustard seed pouch. The withered wood was less than a foot long, about the thickness of a wrist, and entirely black. It appeared to be nothing more than a completely rotten piece of decaying wood, and even his spiritual sense found no abnormalities. Elsewhere, Qin Sang wouldn't have given it a second glance.

But when he meticulously searched it with his spiritual sense and touched an almost imperceptible speck of light within its core, he realized there was more to it than met the eye! The decaying wood contained records of several Wood Element Hall legacies, likely left by its descendants. The legacies included the grotesque-faced man's fundamental cultivation method, 'Wood Emperor's Stratagem,' along with its corresponding divine abilities, as well as the 'Post-Heaven Wooden Man Stele' that Qin Sang had been pondering!

To cultivate these divine abilities, one needed to find a spirit wood and forge a Spirit Wood Body. This would grant immense strength, comparable to body cultivators, just like the grotesque-faced man. If situated in a forest rich with wood spiritual energy, the body would become like a divine stele, rooted in the earth, connecting its aura with all trees and absorbing wood spiritual energy. This would bring comprehensive enhancements, greatly boosting both strength and recovery capabilities. Qin Sang mused, "No wonder the grotesque-faced man was so difficult to deal with after his transformation." Yet, the grotesque-faced man had only achieved minor accomplishment in these divine abilities. Upon great accomplishment, there would be even more incredible divine abilities, though it was very difficult for a Nascent Soul cultivator to reach that stage. Furthermore, the enhancements provided by the 'Post-Heaven Wooden Man Stele' were also related to the quality of the spirit wood used.

After reading, Qin Sang subconsciously glanced at his avatar. Back then, the Dao-Evolving Tree had caused Bai to lose composure. What spirit tree could be of a higher rank than the Dao-Evolving Tree? However, if he were to refine the Dao-Evolving Tree into a Spirit Wood Body and integrate it into himself, he would have to restore the Dao-Evolving Tree to its original form and abandon his external avatar. Such a choice would be difficult to make. The 'Post-Heaven Wooden Man Stele' held great potential, enhancing one's own body, but his external avatar possessed the ability to substitute death for life and had already consumed a vast amount of his energy and resources. Refining a Spirit Wood Body was also not a 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 Spirit Wood Body. Moreover, the great divine ability of 'substituting death for life' was something he could not give up.

Although Qin Sang had late Nascent Soul cultivation, he dared not presumptuously claim invincibility. He sighed inwardly, deciding not to dwell on such troubling matters for now. Qin Sang temporarily put away the decaying wood and took out another jade slip.

The jade slip contained the complete 'Gu Classic' from the Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain. The latter half of the 'Gu Classic' did not record the method for cultivating the Gu King, but from the descriptions, it was clear that the Gu King and the 'Gu Classic' originated from the same lineage. The Gu King must have been a core secret of the Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain. Qin Sang wondered how the grotesque-faced man had acquired it, along with pilfering a portion of the sect's legacy. No wonder the Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain harbored such intense hatred.

The latter part of the 'Gu Classic' detailed several poison-path divine abilities. 'Heavenly Absolute Soul-Cleansing Needle' was the most potent among them. Its name came from the idea that once the poison needle was unleashed, it would sweep away all living beings and spirits between heaven and earth. Its immense power matched its grandiose name. Cultivating this divine ability required a virulent poison as a guide. However, one had to be careful not to rush when refining the poison, or else the toxin would invade the inner organs, and the practitioner would perish before mastering the poison art. The grotesque-faced man had undoubtedly used the Gu King to cultivate this divine ability.

Qin Sang shifted his gaze from the 'Gu Classic' to the demonic flames floating within the cave, a contemplative expression on his face. After the Gu King devoured its master, the crimson color on its body gradually faded, nearly returning to its original jade-white hue. However, its ferocious disposition showed no signs of lessening; instead, it seemed to be growing more intense. He didn't know how to subdue the Gu King and had kept it confined within a cage of demonic flames. After reviewing the 'Gu Classic' and the grotesque-faced man's prized possessions, he still found no method for subduing the Gu King.

A thought suddenly struck Qin Sang, and he understood. The Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain dared to reveal this information to him because they were confident that even if he killed the grotesque-faced man, he wouldn't be able to subdue the Gu King, forcing him to dutifully negotiate a trade with them. The Gu King's poisonous light was extraordinary, and its inherent rank was extremely high, making its value immeasurable. "What would the Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain offer in exchange?" Qin Sang pondered, but without much expectation.

If possible, he preferred to subdue the Gu King himself and wield this formidable weapon. At the very least, he would wait until he had consulted with the Ghost Mother before considering any trade. However, he was about to enter Emperor's Mountain, and this situation couldn't last forever. Qin Sang stared at the Gu King for a moment, and an idea stirred within him.

The Fat Silkworm's poison pearl could counter the 'Heavenly Absolute Soul-Cleansing Needle,' so could it be used to suppress the Gu King's ferocity? For the duration of his stay at the Unfettered Immortal Sect, simply making it obedient would suffice. He decided to act on his thought immediately. Qin Sang immersed his consciousness into his Qi Sea, activating the poison pearl.

From his dantian, a seven-colored glow erupted, and the poison pearl slowly flew out, drifting towards the Gu King. Sensing the poison pearl's aura, the Gu King's buzzing wings abruptly stilled. It turned its body, its blood-red eyes fixed intently on the poison pearl as if facing a great enemy, then emitted a more rapid and piercing hum.

"Good, it reacted..." Qin Sang's eyes lit up. After a brief moment of thought, he directly guided the poison pearl through the demonic flames, bringing it before the Gu King.

Whoosh!

Immediately, a stream of poisonous light shot forth. Ultimately, Qin Sang didn't dare to be overly confident. He controlled the poison pearl to dodge slightly, allowing only the edge of the poisonous light to brush against it. Suddenly, the poison pearl transformed into a misty glow, and the poisonous light passed directly through it. Immediately after, the poison pearl reformed, completely unharmed.

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

Swoosh!

The poison pearl transformed into a dispelling-poison glow, seemingly poised to devour the Gu King. The next moment, the Gu King was enveloped within the glow, and the faint outline of the pearl could still be seen through the misty aura. However, after the glow approached the Gu King by a certain distance, it could advance no further. The Gu King spread its wings, and a faint crimson light emanated from its body, forming a protective poisonous barrier. It then flashed and escaped the glow.

The attempt failed, but Qin Sang's face showed no dejection; instead, he looked surprised, as if he had discovered something unexpected. He continued to control the poison pearl, repeating the same maneuver. He tried dozens of times, but each attempt ended in failure. Yet, the unusual glint in Qin Sang's eyes grew stronger, for he had made an astonishing discovery. Each time the poison pearl enveloped the Gu King, Qin Sang felt that the pearl's power seemed to intensely crave the Gu King, attempting to devour it!

After so many attempts, Qin Sang was certain 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 pearl, having been stripped from it, had also inherited the ability to devour!

"If the poison pearl could devour the Gu King, would it continue to improve?" As Qin Sang considered this possibility, his eyes immediately gleamed with eagerness. While the dispelling-poison divine ability had a somewhat narrow application, once utilized, it could exhibit remarkable effects. Qin Sang had always adhered to the principle that external objects were inferior to one's own capabilities. The poison pearl was intimately connected to him, effectively a part of himself. If the poison pearl continuously devoured 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 pearl. The challenge lay in the poison pearl's inability to 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 thoroughly studying the 'Gu Classic.' Even as his true essence was nearly restored and it was time to move, he still couldn't come up with a clear solution. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he clapped his hands sharply. "Since the path of controlling insects isn't feasible, why not start with its former master?"

Qin Sang didn't know 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's Stratagem,' which aligned with the Great Dao of Wood Element. The Gu King had always been by the grotesque-faced man's side, and perhaps it feared this aura. However, before letting his avatar try, Qin Sang withdrew his consciousness into his Purple Mansion, returning to his primordial spirit.

The Wandering Sword, which had remained unused since the integration of the scorched wood spirit of Yunyouzi, emerged for the first time! His glabella flashed. A dazzling blue-green sword light instantly illuminated the entire cave! "Old friend, it's up to you..." Qin Sang was filled with emotion and a hint of sadness as he pointed a finger at the Gu King. The Wandering Sword, having merged with the Ten Great Divine Woods, could be considered a supreme wood-element treasure. Qin Sang was not using the Wandering Sword to slay the Gu King, so there was no need to worry about damaging its spirit. Instead, he was activating its sword intent, using the purest and most refined wood-element treasure fused with the strongest sword intent to intimidate the Gu King.

If successful, he would retract the poison pearl, the Gu King, and the Wandering Sword back into his body, and this state could be maintained until the poison pearl completely devoured the Gu King!