Chapter 1709: After the Fright

Reaching full mastery in only seventy years was beyond Qin Sang's expectations.

Inside the cultivation dwelling.

Qin Sang's breathing was steady as he slowly concluded his cultivation.

He looked down at the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Formation beneath him.

Though the formation hadn't reached its limit, the cracks on the formation plate had more than doubled since he acquired it. The ethereal figures of the Four Saints inscribed upon it were also torn by dense cracks, making their true forms indistinguishable.

If it were to revert to its original appearance, becoming the Four Saints statues again, he wondered if it would shatter on the spot.

Having experienced the powerful effects of the Four Saints Spirit Gathering Formation, Qin Sang intended to thoroughly understand this formation and re-forge a spirit-gathering array, but unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory.

Perhaps because Qin Sang's cultivation level wasn't high enough, he forcefully memorized all the runes and details of the spirit-gathering array, intending to continue comprehending them in the future.

A subtle light shimmered.

The Celestial Eye Butterfly flew out of his dantian, dancing around Qin Sang.

Feeling the Celestial Eye Butterfly's filial affection, Qin Sang's expression softened. His rapid progress also benefited the Celestial Eye Butterfly, which constantly strived to keep pace with its master.

The spiritual herbs prepared for the Celestial Eye Butterfly had been exhausted. This outing of his avatar was precisely to find more spiritual herbs, hoping to quickly push the Celestial Eye Butterfly to the peak of its Fourth Transformation's late stage.

His cultivation was complete; there was no further progress to be made.

Qin Sang's next goals were very clear: aside from refining the Taiji Immortal Platform and the Ice-Fire Token, and preparing the Tribulation Transcending Formation, most of his focus would be on cultivation matters.

Firstly, he would seek the so-called 'Heaven-Human Resonance' himself.

Heaven-Human Resonance was profound and mysterious. Qin Sang had scoured many ancient texts in the Boundless Immortal Sect and had also consulted Liu Li about the Hidden Moon Nunnery's treasured collections, but there was little content related to the Soul Transformation stage.

Of course, no matter how many texts there were, they couldn't compare to those of renowned sects, which had generations of inheritance, cultivating the same techniques, and could transmit some experiences orally or through direct guidance.

For instance, at the Ambrosia Zen Temple, at this stage, one could directly consult Saint Huiguang to avoid going astray, saving an immeasurable amount of effort.

Qin Sang had considered asking Saint Huiguang for guidance, using his avatar to subtly sound out Grandmaster Xingji.

To his surprise, the Ambrosia Zen Temple seemed not to exclude him, an outsider.

Instead, Qin Sang had his own reservations. Firstly, he worried that the other party might propose harsh conditions, binding him even after achieving Soul Transformation and preventing his freedom. Secondly, he was not a Buddhist practitioner; their paths differed, and their experience might not apply to him and could even be misleading.

If Saint Huiguang harbored ill intentions, it would be even more terrifying!

A single 'unintentional' remark could create a cognitive barrier for Qin Sang.

Even among fellow disciples, such exchanges were merely hints.

Therefore, Qin Sang decided to try it himself first.

According to the strange-faced man, having five spiritual roots would make it easier for him to seek Heaven-Human Resonance than for others.

Secondly, he would search for spiritual herbs for the Celestial Eye Butterfly, helping it break through, which would then in turn benefit him, its master.

Breaking through himself or helping his life-bound spiritual insect break through—either of these two paths would suffice.

The auxiliary ingredients for the Azure Frost Pill had already been partially collected by the Nether Moon Guards and his avatar, but there was still no news of the three main ingredients. He certainly didn't have a second portion of Azure Luan's essence blood to feed the Celestial Eye Butterfly.

It seemed that helping the Celestial Eye Butterfly break through was more difficult than Qin Sang breaking through himself.

Thirdly, he would resume cultivating the 'Heavenly Demon Refinement Technique'. His essence, qi, and spirit were already perfected, replicating the path he took to form his Nascent Soul; now only his physical body remained.

With clear goals, he should have proceeded step by step, gradually improving himself.

It was precisely at this moment that the Formless Demonic Seal underwent an unexpected change.

Others cultivating the 'Formless Demonic Seal' had to carefully calculate the frequency of nourishing their obsessions to match the timing of their own breakthroughs and the completion of their obsessions.

Qin Sang, on the other hand, was utterly unrestrained; whenever he had leisure, he would 'nourish' it repeatedly.

At this point, this secret technique had not yet reached its peak, but it was not far off.

Having already reached the threshold of the Soul Transformation stage, Qin Sang, on a whim, tried to circulate the secret technique to sense the embryonic demonic seal, wanting to see if it truly had the effect of breaking through a bottleneck.

Unexpectedly, the result he obtained astonished him beyond belief!

The secret technique had not yet fully matured, and the demonic seal was still in its embryonic form, without completing the most crucial step of 'condensation'; yet Qin Sang felt a stirring, and a strange sensation from the ethereal realm.

Upon careful sensing, it seemed as if an ineffable aura was connected to him through the demonic seal. Every time he touched upon it, the true essence within Qin Sang's body would pulsate joyfully.

Qin Sang's mind returned to himself, his expression somewhat stunned.

If his perception wasn't mistaken, this demonic seal he had condensed using external demons not only had the same bottleneck-breaking effect but its power seemed to far exceed the effects described by Senior Sister Qing Jun!

“This…”

Qin Sang felt as if he had stumbled upon an unexpected windfall!

According to the information he had obtained previously, except for certain special circumstances, cultivators attempting to reach Soul Transformation could generally take two paths.

One was to first sort out oneself, reflecting the heavens and earth externally, seeking breakthrough from within; Heavenly Spiritual Root geniuses mostly chose this path. The 'Formless Demonic Seal', nourished by obsession, with its 'condensation', 'shattering', and 'bottle-neck breaking' steps, were all internal transformations and thus should belong to this category.

The second was to first pursue Heaven-Human Resonance and then reflect upon oneself.

Qin Sang was clearly more suited for the second path and had planned accordingly, primarily pursuing Heaven-Human Resonance while using the Formless Demonic Seal as an auxiliary for breakthrough.

Unexpectedly, the 'Formless Demonic Seal' introduced a variable.

“If the effect of the Formless Demonic Seal far exceeds expectations,” he murmured, “could my five spiritual roots aptitude allow me to successfully take the first path instead? Or even both paths simultaneously? In that case, the chances of success would probably…”

Qin Sang muttered to himself, finding it hard to believe.

Even with his composure, he still couldn't calm his tumultuous thoughts.

Looking back, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul—each stage was harder than the last. When had anything ever gone smoothly for him?

The most difficult stage in this world, Soul Transformation, had trapped and killed countless heroes over the years. Even True Lord Purple Lightning, the leader of the Daoist sect, had fallen before this stage, yet he had actually obtained such a great opportunity.

It was like a dream!

Having experienced too many trials and tribulations, Qin Sang quickly suppressed his distracting thoughts and pondered the reason for the change in the 'Formless Demonic Seal'.

Senior Sister Qing Jun had no reason to deceive him, and according to the records within the secret technique itself, the demonic seal's power had limits and couldn't possibly be this strong.

“Did this change occur because I used an external demon to replace an internal one?” he wondered. “Is the demonic will of an extraterrestrial demon so much stronger than an inner demon? Or is it…?”

Qin Sang was deep in thought when a flash of insight crossed his mind. He recalled the unexpected incident during the ritual. “Could the origin of the demonic will, the rank of that extraterrestrial demon, also affect the demonic seal's power? That demonic will was swift and powerful…”

If that was the reason, it was somewhat horrifying.

The 'Heavenly Demon Reflection Scripture' had only drawn in a wisp of demonic will, not even a mere thought-clone of an extraterrestrial demon. An extraterrestrial demon merely at the Void Refinement stage probably wouldn't have such a significant effect.

“Could it be that I stumbled upon an extremely rare chance and made contact with a powerful extraterrestrial demon?” he wondered. “What kind of being did I actually summon?”

Was this misfortune or luck?

Qin Sang couldn't help but feel a chill of fear.

If not for the protection of the jade Buddha, he might have already perished on the ritual altar.

Fortunately, he hadn't been overconfident and had promptly terminated the ritual, cutting off the connection.

Though the jade Buddha was powerful, it could only protect his nascent soul and block attacks on his divine sense. Extraterrestrial demons wouldn't only have the means to incite inner demons, just as spirit cultivators wouldn't solely use spiritual sense to attack an opponent's soul, but also possess various strange and unpredictable divine abilities.

If that extraterrestrial demon was at the Integration stage or an even more terrifying existence, it would have countless ways to make Qin Sang wish he were dead!

Qin Sang sat upright, lost in thought for a long time.

The demonic seal had not yet fully matured; it was too early to rejoice now.

Yet, Qin Sang couldn't help but envision the future.

If the demonic seal's power truly was that formidable, he wouldn't even need to pursue the perfection of essence, qi, and spirit. He could entirely rely on the demonic seal, the Spirit Rhinoceros Immortal Fruit, and his life-bound spiritual insect to assist in breaking through the bottleneck.

This would greatly save time.

The 'Heavenly Demon Refinement Technique' had stagnated for many years, only equivalent to the early stage of transformation. To improve it, who knew how long it would take, perhaps comparable to the time consumed by 'Fire Seed Golden Lotus'.

If he could directly break through, undergoing the Three Calamities tribulation and receiving the infusion of vital energy, and since the 'Heavenly Demon Refinement Technique' was lagging by a major realm, cultivating his physical body after reaching Soul Transformation would undoubtedly yield twice the results with half the effort.

Qin Sang had experienced this situation during the Golden Core stage, when he cultivated the first two layers of the 'Heavenly Demon Refinement Technique' in a very short time.

If his physical body wasn't strong enough, he might be unstable during the Three Calamities tribulation, and there was also the worry that the lightning tribulation might mutate again.

But Qin Sang had the Boundless Immortal Sect's Tribulation Transcending Formation, which would weaken the power of the Three Calamities tribulation. With his powerful divine sense, as well as Soul Transformation-level divine abilities like the Southern Bright Vermilion Fire and Nine Nether Demonic Flames, he should have some confidence.

The time saved would not be meaningless.

All sorts of rumors indicated one thing: the path to ascension in Gui Xu was not peaceful.

Legend had it that Soul Transformation cultivators, even after breaking through, still needed to cultivate for a long time until they could make no further progress before daring to set foot in Gui Xu. Even then, many still perished there.

Now, fierce beasts had escaped their lairs and were roaming freely. All signs indicated changes in Gui Xu, so achieving Soul Transformation earlier would give Qin Sang ample time to prepare for ascension.

Otherwise, to painstakingly cultivate to Soul Transformation only to die on the path to ascension—how tragic that would be!

Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Qin Sang, though not yet fully decided, made changes to his cultivation plan.

Henceforth, Qin Sang's main body continued his secluded cultivation.

Although he resumed body refinement, he only occasionally brought out the stone platform to cultivate.

More time was spent perceiving the heavens and earth, seeking the state of 'heaven and human unity', using the Spirit-Feeding Art to help the Celestial Eye Butterfly, and closely monitoring the changes in the Formless Demonic Seal.

“Heaven and earth, Five Elements…”

Qin Sang extended his right arm, opening his palm. His gaze was vacant, his expression somewhat lost.

Heaven-Human Resonance sounded easy, but how to achieve true interaction with the heavens and earth, to merge with them, was something Qin Sang had never experienced before, and he could only explore it bit by bit.

Qin Sang reflected on his own situation and prepared to start with the Five Elements spiritual energy.

He possessed five spiritual roots, and all five types of spiritual energy were compatible with him. During cultivation, he would simultaneously draw in all five types of spiritual energy, which was incredibly complex, requiring him to dedicate energy to sort them out. Moreover, with the mixed Five Elements, the difficulty of refining impurities was immense, unlike the purity of a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

It was precisely by following this affinity that Qin Sang released his thoughts and actively merged with the Five Elements spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

In the ethereal realm, his thoughts seemed to merge in too. As the spiritual energy circulated, his thoughts extended infinitely far, touching all things, drifting far beyond his comprehension.

Before long, Qin Sang suddenly felt an alarm and abruptly reined in his thoughts.

Only then did he realize that in such a short time, his divine sense was almost depleted.

Qin Sang was surprised, only then understanding how much this method consumed his divine sense. One must know that his divine sense was already at the Soul Transformation level; other cultivators at the same stage, if they hadn't refined their divine sense, would have supported it for an even shorter time.

“Qi Refinement to Soul Transformation, Soul Transformation…” he mused. “It seems spirit cultivators gain an advantage at this stage! My prior cultivation of 'Fire Seed Golden Lotus' seems to have been the right choice, albeit unintentional…”

Qin Sang pondered silently, then quickly composed himself and sat in meditation.

His main body remained in Luye, not venturing out, devoting himself entirely to cultivation.

In stark contrast to his main body, his avatar was busy traveling. His footprints were spread across the Southern Border, Central Plains, Northern Wilderness, and Western Desert—everywhere except the Eastern Sea.

Sometimes he led the Nether Moon Guards, sometimes he traveled alone, and he didn't mind inviting helpers.

Perhaps it was due to his meritorious deed of offering treasures to slay demons, or because Saint Huiguang and the Ambrosia Zen Temple held him in high regard, or perhaps a combination of both; when his avatar sought assistance, even if they had only met a few times before, others readily offered help.

A good reputation brought numerous intangible benefits.

It proved that having a righteous reputation brought him many conveniences. Unless necessary, Qin Sang didn't want to jeopardize it himself.

To obtain treasures, his avatar exhausted all means to seek opportunities for exchange.

As Daoist Master Qingfeng, his avatar had a wide network of connections and was himself a top master in the world. Moreover, Qin Sang was not in a hurry to improve his avatar's cultivation, not even minding some damage to its vital energy.

When the owners of treasures encountered difficulties, he could always think of various ways to resolve them, thereby impressing the other party.

It was rumored in the cultivation world that no one had ever seen such a Grand Cultivator frequently appearing before others, so approachable, gentle, respectful, and humble, and most parties to a transaction readily accepted.

What they didn't know was that if the other party was too unyielding and the treasure was something he absolutely had to obtain, his avatar wouldn't mind creating problems for them first, then stepping forward to help solve them.

Through such methods, his avatar's reputation in the cultivation world grew increasingly prominent.

Conversely, his main body, having disappeared for many years, and with the cultivation world stirred up by the Three Sect Alliance, was mentioned less frequently.

More than twenty years later.

Luye had flown to the edge of the Northern Wilderness at some unknown time and had stayed in the northern part of Zhaoyao Province for several days.

It was midnight.

The night sky rippled slightly.

A phantom image flashed and disappeared.

At the entrance of Luye, a figure appeared before the stone tablet; it was the avatar.

The avatar paused, looking up. He saw his main body standing on the mountaintop, gazing at the mountains shrouded in night outside the secret realm.

Their eyes met. The main body nodded, opened the grand formation, and let the avatar in.

Just now, he had released his perception and found no abnormalities outside; no one was tracking the avatar.

With a whoosh!

As the avatar entered, Luye immediately activated, drifting northwards.

Qin Sang swept down from the mountaintop, perceiving through their shared thoughts the avatar's experiences over the years. Seeing the avatar's unstable aura, he acknowledged its hard work.

“You are me, and I am you. What is there to talk about hardship?”

The avatar took a wooden gourd from his waist and handed it to the main body, his tone, however, tinged with weariness.

A good reputation was not easily earned.

To successfully complete transactions, the avatar spared no effort, whether by venturing into dangerous places, helping others heal, or assisting them in cultivating secret techniques. He had damaged his own vital energy several times, requiring long periods of quiet cultivation to recover, sometimes over a hundred years, sometimes several decades.

The second nascent soul escaped back to the main body to be nurtured by a secret technique. Then Qin Sang vacated his dwelling, allowing the avatar to return and meditate in seclusion.

Opening the wooden gourd, its contents were still dazzlingly abundant, even though the avatar had sent some items earlier.

All the spiritual materials for the Taiji Immortal Platform and the Ice-Fire Token had been collected!

Qin Sang's face lit up with joy, and without hesitation, he immediately put away all the spiritual materials, sorting them into categories. He went to the specially prepared artifact refining room and began refining the tribulation-transcending formation.

Time flowed on.

Another ten years passed.