Chapter 1704: Fierce Shadow

The Mortal World

Inside the Dantian, the Celestial Eye Butterfly wrapped itself in its wings, emitting a faint glow that resembled a cocoon of light, remaining perfectly still. Qin Sang had cleared out items such as the Earth Slaying Sword and the Poison Pearl. Only his Nascent Soul and the Celestial Eye Butterfly remained within his Dantian. The Nascent Soul spread its arms, and slender threads of light extended from its fingertips, merging into the luminous glow.

Qin Sang's consciousness was connected to the Celestial Eye Butterfly, allowing him to perceive the thoughts of his bonded Gu. At the same time, he multitasked, forming various hand seals from the *Panhu True Scripture*. To Qin Sang, the witchcraft and incantations within the *Panhu True Scripture* were extremely peculiar. Although he had studied them numerous times before, he still felt some resistance when performing them now. This was normal, as the scripture was not from the human lineage. Just as the Ghost Mother had warned, Qin Sang lacked the witch clan's bloodline, and as his cultivation improved, he needed to be wary of the Gu worm backlashing.

However, the Celestial Eye Butterfly showed no signs of turning on its master. Sensing unprecedented changes in its master, and with their connection sometimes blurring and sometimes clarifying, the Celestial Eye Butterfly conveyed feelings of unease. Qin Sang perceived no distractions in this emotion, only closeness and attachment. Continuously reassuring the Celestial Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang accelerated his spellcasting. Rerefining his bonded Gu using the *Panhu True Scripture* was fraught with dangers, but due to the Celestial Eye Butterfly's complete reliance on him, everything remained under Qin Sang's control.

Silence filled the cave abode. Qin Sang sat in quiet meditation for an unknown period. Like the Celestial Eye Butterfly, his body began to emit a brilliant glow, which then automatically converged into his Dantian. At this moment, he seemed to be embracing a sphere of light, within which his aura and the Celestial Eye Butterfly's aura intertwined. Countless phenomena evolved inside this sphere: sometimes ancient mountains, sometimes seas turning into mulberry fields, all exuding an ancient aura. Amidst these various phenomena, only one butterfly silhouette remained constant. It flew ceaselessly, traversing thousands of mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas, without fatigue or knowing its destination.

Initially, the butterfly silhouette was very blurry. As a rumbling sound echoed within Qin Sang's body, his blood surged like thunder. Threads of blood extended into the illusion, making contact with the butterfly silhouette. The silhouette became increasingly clear, identical in form to the Celestial Eye Butterfly, as if it had condensed into a true physical entity. As the butterfly silhouette materialized, Qin Sang's throat trembled, and he emitted a deep, strange sound from his mouth. The illusion suddenly dissipated, leaving only the butterfly silhouette, which fluttered its wings and flew into Qin Sang's Dantian.

Inside the Dantian, the butterfly silhouette flew directly towards the Celestial Eye Butterfly. The two spirit butterflies were identical in appearance, perfectly overlapping and merging into one. The Celestial Eye Butterfly, now coalesced into a ball, trembled briefly before quickly calming down, its aura stabilizing as it entered slumber.

Qin Sang's eyes were tightly closed as he focused his thoughts on his Dantian, sensing the changes between himself and the Celestial Eye Butterfly. It was indeed a true legacy of the Witch Gate passed down by the Ghost Mother, with immediate and remarkable effects. The sense of bloodline fusion between him and the Celestial Eye Butterfly became clearer, and he intuitively felt their connection growing much tighter, making them inseparable. This benefit was foreseeable: in the future, if the Celestial Eye Butterfly encountered problems or bottlenecks in its cultivation, he would be able to merge his consciousness with it, providing assistance in finding opportunities, rather than being confused and helpless as before. As his cultivation deepened, if he encountered elixirs beneficial to the Celestial Eye Butterfly, he would also have intuitive foresight, no longer needing to spend time testing each one individually. These were not even the greatest benefits. In the future, if the Celestial Eye Butterfly's cultivation lagged behind his, he could fully utilize techniques like blood refinement and secret medicines from the scripture to rapidly increase the Celestial Eye Butterfly's cultivation.

"This is truly a bonded Gu!" Qin Sang sighed with emotion, having wasted too much time before acquiring the true method. The Celestial Eye Butterfly slept within the Dantian, adapting to the new changes.

Qin Sang did not awaken the Celestial Eye Butterfly. He awoke from his meditative state, a contemplative expression on his face, and glancing at the Poison Pearl floating before him, he suddenly remembered the Gu King. The Gu King had been restricted by the Ghost Mother's spell and was sleeping in the spirit beast pouch. Following the Ghost Mother's guidance, Qin Sang re-sacrificed the Poison Pearl. Although he had previously focused on cultivating the *Fire Seed Golden Lotus* and hadn't given much thought to this, over the decades, his unconscious guidance had led the Poison Pearl to transform on its own, yielding considerable results.

"After these years of nurturing, the most troublesome foundation is almost stable, and my injuries will now heal at an accelerating pace. I will simultaneously heal my wounds, refine the Poison Pearl, and devour the Gu King! Oh, and I also need to study the methods for refining the Taiji Immortal Platform and the Ice Fire Command." Qin Sang pondered his next tasks. His current cultivation speed was already very fast. It was conceivable that once his avatar delivered the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Array, his cultivation would rapidly ascend, bringing him face-to-face with the Spirit Transformation bottleneck. Unfortunately, both the Divine Insight Immortal Fruit and the Lifeless Demonic Seal, which were related to his breakthrough, required waiting for the right moment. He also didn't know when the ferocious beast would appear, so he couldn't rush. Before that, Qin Sang decided to take care of all miscellaneous matters.

Next, Qin Sang took out the legacy obtained by Elder Yanshan from the snowfield tomb and began to meticulously study it. The difficulty with the Ice Fire Command lay in the large quantity and high value of materials required. As long as he grasped the characteristics of the Cold Ice Plate and the Fire Rhinoceros Pendant, its refining difficulty was actually less than that of the Taiji Immortal Platform. After reviewing the refining method for the Taiji Immortal Platform, Qin Sang sighed, rubbed his temples, set it aside, and took out the artifact refining legacy of the Wood Phase lineage.

Time flew by. Another three years passed. In these three years, Qin Sang had roughly skimmed through the Wood Phase legacy a few times. His skill in artifact refining hadn't improved much, but he had completed the refinement of the Poison Pearl.

*Whoosh!*

The sleeping Gu King was summoned forth. Qin Sang looked at his right hand, where a pearl the size of a longan rotated at his fingertips. It was the newly refined Poison Pearl, soft to the touch and not yet a true physical entity. With a thought, the Poison Pearl suddenly shone, and a seven-colored glow emanated from it, shooting into the void in front of Qin Sang. Although it appeared only slightly more solidified than before, it was fundamentally different from the previous detoxification aura. This glow could not only transform into a detoxification armor to resist external poisons but also convert into poisonous light! Detoxification and poisoning, controlled at will. The poison within the Poison Pearl was likely formed from the Fat Silkworm's years of devouring and transforming various poisonous substances. If Qin Sang had nurtured it properly, and the Fat Silkworm had comprehended poisonous light, it could have become a powerful aid much earlier. Fortunately, it had finally met a capable master.

After a brief attempt, Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the Gu King, tossing the Poison Pearl towards it. The Pearl hovered above the Gu King, continuously emitting seven-colored light that enveloped the Gu King. A subtle force seemed to pull the Gu King slowly towards the Poison Pearl. Before long, the glow dissipated, and the Poison Pearl flew back to Qin Sang, slowly rotating. Inside, the Jade Armored Worm was clearly visible, as if sealed within, never waking throughout the process.

A sword light shot from Qin Sang's glabella, and the Roaming Cloud Sword hung inverted above the Poison Pearl. He used his old trick, employing pure sword intent for suppression. At the same time, dense, seven-colored threads of light emerged within the Poison Pearl, tentatively drifting towards the Gu King. However, they did not directly touch the Gu King's body but first merged into the divine pattern seals on it. The divine pattern seals left by the Ghost Mother specifically exploited the Gu King's weaknesses and also indicated the direction for Qin Sang. Gradually, the divine patterns on the Gu King turned seven-colored. Although Qin Sang's movements were gentle, the Gu King seemed to sense a threat and nearly awakened several times. Fortunately, with the suppression from the Roaming Cloud Sword, the process went smoothly enough.

"It's done!" Qin Sang's eyes flickered, and he drew the Poison Pearl into his palm. Inside the Poison Pearl, the Gu King was bound as if by ropes, enveloped by a large net of seven-colored threads, layered one upon another. All the threads were connected to the nodes of the divine patterns. The Gu King's aura had not significantly weakened yet, as Qin Sang intended to 'boil the frog slowly.' The seven-colored threads were the Poison Pearl's tentacles, slowly drawing the Gu King's power while it slept. This process was bound to be very long. Before the Gu King fell into weakness, there was still a possibility of unexpected events, requiring the constant vigilance of the Roaming Cloud Sword. He retracted the Poison Pearl and the spirit sword back into his body. Qin Sang no longer paid close attention.

Not long after, Qin Sang took a few more elixirs, and his injuries finally healed. He then immediately dedicated himself to cultivation. To date, no ferocious beast had appeared. For Qin Sang, this was certainly good news. Previously, he had planned for his avatar to quietly escape while the Spirit Transformation cultivators of both races hunted the beast, not intending to involve his main body. Now that his main body's injuries were healed, he could also take action. While cultivating, he would occasionally take out true legacies like the Wood Phase heritage to review and study. There was still no news from the outside world.

During a break from cultivation, Qin Sang again thought of the *Fire Seed Golden Lotus*. After his spiritual consciousness breakthrough, further immediate improvement was difficult, so it was better to temper his physical body instead. Therefore, Qin Sang did not plan to continue cultivating this technique before breaking through to Spirit Transformation. However, the necessary preparations still had to be made. Qin Sang summoned the Fire Lotus and the Sun God Tree and attempted to refine the Southern Bright Lihuo. Unexpectedly, after multiple attempts, all failed. The Fire Lotus couldn't shake the Southern Bright Lihuo in the slightest! This presented a dilemma. To what realm did the *Fire Seed Golden Lotus* need to be cultivated to affect the Southern Bright Lihuo? But without refining the Southern Bright Lihuo, how could the Fire Lotus be improved? With Qin Sang's current cultivation, the improvement from ordinary spiritual fires was negligible. Since even the Fiery Rhinoceros Island of the Void-Phase Immortal Sect didn't have it, it would be even harder to find a satisfactory spiritual fire elsewhere. He could only hope for it after ascending to the Great Thousand World in the future.

"It's a pity the Immortal Palace ascended; the Seven Kills Palace in the Canglang Sea is likely gone too... Hmm?" Qin Sang recalled past events and suddenly remembered something. Back then, when he was trapped in the Seven Kills Palace and mistaken for a demon by the Nine-Phoenix King, he personally witnessed the Nine-Phoenix King taking out a damaged long feather to break through the immortal restriction and enter the inner hall. The feather moved like a streaking meteor, seemingly containing spiritual fire, just like the Vermillion Bird's True Feather. There was also a Heaven Phoenix Feather. The Heaven Phoenix Feather had been taken by the Flood Dragon King into Yitian Peak. The Flood Dragon King tried to use this feather to escape but was killed, and the Heaven Phoenix Feather fell into the hands of an elder from the Four Saints Palace. However, the damaged long feather had not reappeared; it should still be with the Nine-Phoenix King. He wondered what became of the Nine-Phoenix King and the other demons, and if the damaged feather still existed. Qin Sang tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, contemplating this matter. Since he didn't know whether the damaged feather or the Vermillion Bird's True Feather was of higher grade, he was unsure if the Fire Lotus could refine it. This matter wasn't urgent for now. Dismissing distracting thoughts, Qin Sang once again immersed himself in cultivation.

Spring passed and autumn arrived. Time silently flowed by in cultivation. In this manner, nearly twenty more years passed peacefully. Qin Sang would occasionally emerge from seclusion to check on the development of the Green Goat Temple. However, with the Underworld Moon Guards assisting in its management, Qin Sang didn't need to put much effort into it. The Northern Wilderness remained as usual, but there seemed to be undercurrents stirring among the various sects in Central Continent. This didn't concern Qin Sang much, so he didn't pay close attention.

His avatar had remained at Ganlu Monastery, making friends with several eminent monks and forming good relationships. Perhaps seeing that Huiguang Revered held him in high regard, the avatar's inquiries were met with open sharing of knowledge. The avatar either visited the Scripture Depository to read ancient texts, studied the alchemy path, or befriended various masters, living quite leisurely. Of course, he didn't neglect his duties. Several elixirs required by the Celestial Eye Butterfly had already been refined. The main material for the Taiji Immortal Platform had been obtained from the Azure Fox Holy King, and the less valuable auxiliary materials were easy to acquire and had already been gathered. Some of the spiritual materials needed for the Ice Fire Command had also been collected, and he had general targets for the remaining ones, planning to trade for them later. As far as he knew, the ferocious beast had not yet appeared, and the Azure Fox Holy King had remained at Ganlu Monastery. Curiously, Mo Xingdao had also not left. Like Qin Sang, he occupied a high-grade cave abode in the back mountains and had been cultivating in seclusion. It seemed this foremost rogue cultivator of the Northern Wilderness intended to sincerely devote himself to Buddhism. The avatar had only met Mo Xingdao once, exchanging a few words before parting ways quickly.

One day, the avatar was in the Scripture Depository, reviewing Buddhist texts, focusing on sections related to body tempering, when he suddenly sensed chaotic spiritual energy fluctuations from the monastery gates. He closed his scroll and walked out of the depository, seeing monks hurrying to and fro within the temple. Buddhist revered ones, rarely seen on ordinary days, were now appearing one after another. The avatar stopped a monk to inquire and learned that Abbot Xingji had summoned them. Immediately after, he saw flashes of light from the direction of Small Square Inch Mountain, and quickly guessed what was happening. Without hesitation, he hurried to the Great Arhat Hall and indeed found Huiguang Revered and the Azure Fox Holy King both present. Abbot Xingji was bowing and reporting something to them. Mo Xingdao also stood below them, his eyes cast down, lost in thought, though it was unclear where he had placed his puppet. Seeing the avatar enter, the familiar Buddhist revered ones greeted him. The two Spirit Transformation cultivators also noticed him. The Azure Fox Holy King merely glanced over, while Huiguang Revered nodded with a smile. The avatar returned each greeting, then quickly walked to Mo Xingdao's side and directly asked, "Fellow Daoist Mo, has the ferocious beast appeared?"

Mo Xingdao affirmed, "Yes. A warning came from the storm belt. Fellow Daoists patrolling in the southeast discovered an anomaly: a ferocious beast is breaking through the waves and moving north from that direction. Judging by its trajectory, it should pass Central Continent by a narrow margin. The fellow Daoists outside have already taken action, preparing to use bait to gradually guide the beast towards the north of Central Continent..." The avatar nodded upon hearing this. He had long known of the two Spirit Transformation cultivators' plan: setting up traps in the northern and southern directions while they themselves remained in Central Continent. Both races would combine their efforts, dispatching forces to set up defenses and bait in the storm belt. Based on where the beast appeared, they would decide whether to lure it south or north. The north was the most convenient because the Buddhist sect controlled an ancient teleportation array at the edge of the Western Desert that led directly to the Northern Sea. There was already a definite plan, and now was the time to gather experts from all sides for the beast hunt.

The avatar hastily returned to his cave abode, sent a message to his main body, retrieved some items, and upon emerging again, saw a dark shadow appear above Ganlu Monastery—it was a flying boat. Led by the two Spirit Transformation cultivators, the Buddhist masters filed into the flying boat. Seeing the avatar board the flying boat, a flicker of surprise crossed the Azure Fox Holy King's eyes. The avatar did not take the opportunity to leave; he still needed to see the ferocious beast with his own eyes before he could feel at ease.

Inside Luye, upon receiving the news, the main body emerged from his cave abode, glanced north, then vanished from Luye. Reaching an uninhabited area, he transformed into lightning and sped through the air.