Chapter 1740: 幼灵

The voice, like a young girl's, was already shrill; her screams could pierce eardrums. If the cabin's barrier hadn't isolated the sounds, and they had escaped for others to hear, people might have suspected Qin Sang of having peculiar habits.

Qin Sang coldly watched the Sun God Tree, suddenly feeling something was off. The screams seemed to gradually turn into crying, with clear sobbing sounds. He looked at the Qilin Source Seed in his hand, then at the Sun God Tree, his expression strange, speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

The Vermilion Bird Spirit was very sad. It never imagined that Qin Sang hadn't refined the Qilin Source Seed into his body at all. But the Vermilion Bird Spirit couldn't understand how Qin Sang had cultivated *Fire Seed Golden Lotus* to such a high level without the aid of the Qilin Source Seed.

This Qilin used a secret technique to set a trap, harming people unknowingly; it was definitely not benevolent. The Qilin passed down *Fire Seed Golden Lotus* with the goal of reviving the Source Seed. It would certainly have left a hidden hand in the secret technique, trying every means to guide cultivators to refine the Qilin Source Seed. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been a futile effort, simply benefiting others for free?

From this, it could be inferred that even if cultivators could get started without the Qilin Source Seed, they would definitely encounter numerous difficulties at certain later stages. Even more viciously, it could lead cultivators astray, bringing about the risk of self-immolation or body explosion. Therefore, although the Qilin aura in the fire lotus Qin Sang cultivated was very faint, the Vermilion Bird Spirit never doubted it, merely thinking the Source Seed had been dormant for too long, its spiritual awareness dim.

It was sick with regret. According to its previous plan, it should have waited a while longer, for the Qilin Source Seed to be deeply rooted and the crisis to be imminent, to better control Qin Sang. At that time, if the fire lotus's aura still hadn't changed, it would definitely have noticed the anomaly and been wary. But unexpectedly, a Heavenly Phoenix True Feather popped up halfway, which was of great benefit to it. It couldn't resist the temptation and appeared early.

Qin Sang had no risk of being possessed, so how could it force Qin Sang to comply and make him obediently serve it? To make matters worse, this person had even tricked it into revealing the method for extracting the Source Seed's vital energy. The more the Vermilion Bird Spirit thought about it, the sadder it became, sobbing and finally wailing uncontrollably, making it impossible to distinguish which divine bird the crying came from.

"Have you cried enough?" Qin Sang listened for a while, then softly rebuked.

"No... uh..." The Vermilion Bird Spirit also seemed to feel ashamed, growing furious from embarrassment, and accused in a delicate voice, "You tricked me out of the secret technique!"

"If you hadn't harbored ill intentions and had instead warned me early about the hidden dangers of this art, helping me overcome them, I would certainly be grateful and respectful towards you. What demands could you have made that I wouldn't have agreed to? How could it have come to this?" Qin Sang snorted coldly, looking at the Sun God Tree with an unkind gaze.

The Vermilion Bird Spirit's voice faltered.

Qin Sang toyed with the Qilin Source Seed in his hand, observing the nine divine birds, and asked blandly, "Do you still want the Qilin Origin?"

"Of course... What do you want?" the Vermilion Bird Spirit asked warily, but its tone couldn't hide its hope.

Perceiving its thoughts, Qin Sang smiled faintly. His question was naturally well-considered. According to the Vermilion Bird Spirit, it had a way to tame the true phoenix fire within the Heavenly Phoenix Feather. If it tamed it first, and then he refined it, it should be easier than directly extracting the true phoenix fire from the feather, which would be greatly beneficial for his cultivation of *Fire Seed Golden Lotus*. Although this art was related to the Qilin, he could cultivate it without the Qilin Source Seed. He felt this art had great potential and, for now, detected no hidden dangers, so he didn't intend to abandon it.

Of course, Qin Sang was also very interested in the Qilin Source Seed. If he could fully extract the vital energy from the Source Seed for his own use, his spiritual soul would greatly increase, and his strength would rise accordingly. In the future, upon entering the Abyss, he would have a few more chances of success. At his cultivation level, it was difficult to achieve major breakthroughs in this realm. When the path to ascension was open, Transformation Stage cultivators, if not burdened by sect juniors, would quietly cultivate for a period before heading East.

The Qilin Source Seed was undoubtedly a fortuitous opportunity. However, seizing this opportunity might not be easy, certainly not as simple as the Vermilion Bird Spirit claimed. Qin Sang wanted to extract the vital energy from the Qilin Source Seed, but also didn't want to cause any accidents that would awaken the Qilin Source Seed within his body, even though he didn't fear possession. With just this secret technique, he wasn't entirely confident. Just in case, he might need the Vermilion Bird Spirit's assistance when necessary.

After several probes, the Vermilion Bird Spirit, in its moment of complacency, revealed a great deal. Qin Sang saw that while the Vermilion Bird Spirit wasn't purely benevolent by nature, it wasn't a malicious or heinous entity either; it was merely a bit naive. Anyone else, in control of his life, would simply take whatever they desired, never allowing him to bargain or offering such generous terms as the Vermilion Bird Spirit did. However, this was just his assessment from their brief exchange; he still needed to ascertain its full background.

"Have you forgotten the oath I just swore?" Qin Sang held the Qilin Source Seed between them, smiling. "Whether I'm possessed or not doesn't affect the oath's validity. I'm not confident in finding the Qilin Origin alone, nor do I want others to know my secret and leak it. Cooperating with you is a viable option. Unfortunately, I am human, and I don't yet know if I can refine the Qilin Origin. If it's incompatible with me, whose could it be then?"

The eyes of the nine divine birds suddenly brightened, their fiery glow shimmering with spirit, "Is that true?"

The Vermilion Bird Spirit wasn't truly foolish. Knowing that there's no such thing as a free lunch, it hesitated and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

Qin Sang closed his fingers, clasping the Qilin Source Seed in his hand, and said in a deep voice, "I wish to extract the Qilin Source Seed's vital energy and refine the true phoenix fire. I fear I might not be able to do it alone, so I hope you can assist me with all your strength."

Upon hearing this, the Vermilion Bird Spirit wished it could incinerate Qin Sang with a single burst of Southern Brightness Divine Fire. Qin Sang was even more excessive than it, demanding its free labor, yet it had no way to deal with Qin Sang.

Qin Sang also understood that 'an emperor doesn't starve his soldiers.' He couldn't keep dangling the elusive Qilin Origin in front of it indefinitely, so he added, "The Qilin Source Seed and Heavenly Phoenix True Feather are originally mine. Considering your merit in revealing the treasure's secrets, as long as you honestly help me, I can consider sharing a portion with you as appropriate." This was similar to the first two conditions it had proposed, but more acceptable than before. Recalling its complacent behavior shortly before, the Vermilion Bird Spirit was filled with shame and indignation.

Qin Sang didn't wait for its agreement, suddenly changing his tone and saying coldly, "I can choose not to pursue your attempt at coercion, and these conditions are no harsher than yours were just now. However, the prerequisite is that you earn my trust. Otherwise, I will certainly find a way to eliminate any hidden dangers around me! Now, tell me about your origin..."

The Vermilion Bird Spirit remained silent for a long time, but finally spoke, revealing its origins. As it narrated, rather than calling it the Vermilion Bird Spirit, 'Vermilion Bird Young Spirit' would be more appropriate.

It turned out that when he acquired the Vermilion Bird True Feather, the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit hadn't been born yet. Instead, it gradually regained its spiritual awareness within the Sun God Tree, near him. The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit couldn't specify exactly when. According to it, it had been able to perceive its surroundings a very long time ago, but it had always been in a daze, unable to understand the meaning of anything it perceived, unaware of the passing of days and nights. At some unknown point, it suddenly realized it seemed to have regained its spiritual awareness. Looking back, its past was hazy and confused, like a dream, both real and illusory, and it just thought it had been a long dream. The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit suspected that its spiritual essence had never been lost, but rather its spiritual awareness had been scattered, only to reawaken now.

Qin Sang recalled the place where he obtained the Vermilion Bird True Feather. It felt like an alchemy fire chamber, leading him to suspect that its master had imprisoned the Vermilion Bird Spirit, forcing it to continuously supply Southern Brightness Divine Fire. The fire chamber had restrictions that could seal the Southern Brightness Divine Fire, and even a piece of green copper fragment could suppress the Vermilion Bird True Feather. The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit had been in a state of confusion there for so many years. Its regaining spiritual awareness after he took it from the Ziwei Palace must be related to the restrictions in the fire chamber.

Qin Sang told the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit to recall its past, but endless years had worn away its memories. It only had a vague recollection of being grabbed by the back of its neck by a hand and thrown somewhere unknown, remaining in a daze ever since. It no longer remembered the appearance of that hand, but a wisp of aura was etched into its memory, which it identified as its great enemy.

"I, this Vermilion Bird, will definitely avenge this!" The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit huffed, its tone carrying a hint of grievance. It knew its enemy was certainly very powerful. Its fourth condition was to have Qin Sang help it seek revenge, but fearing it would scare Qin Sang away, it had initially kept that a secret. Now that both the Qilin Source Seed and Heavenly Phoenix True Feather were gone, it didn't know how many years it would take to get revenge.

Hearing this, Qin Sang almost laughed in exasperation. No wonder it seemed so inexperienced; it had revealed everything about itself in just a few words. He had even called it 'Senior' several times, almost letting a young spirit get the better of him. Fortunately, there was the Jade Buddha; otherwise, this situation would have been truly difficult to resolve. He would have had no choice but to obediently serve the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit, practically becoming its pet.

However, although the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit's mind was still undeveloped, some instincts remained. Upon encountering the Qilin Source Seed and Heavenly Phoenix True Feather, it instinctively knew they were beneficial to it, as if it naturally understood methods of restraint. This was also why the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit believed it had awakened rather than been newly born. To the naked eye, the Vermilion Bird True Feather appeared perfectly intact, each strand of feather clear and smooth. However, that was not the case. Perhaps due to being sealed for too long, constantly having Southern Brightness Divine Fire extracted from it, and continuously being affected by the fire chamber's restrictions, the Vermilion Bird True Feather had been invisibly damaged, becoming unrecognizable. The characteristics of the Southern Brightness Divine Fire had also changed, differing from true Vermilion Bird Divine Fire.

When the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit was reborn, it found that even it couldn't control its own extremely violent true fire. It could only carefully tend to it, repair it, and wait for the true feather to recover. Staying inside the Sun God Tree was more comfortable; it couldn't even condense fire into a physical form outside, only able to vocalize through the Sun Divine Birds. Precisely because of this, controlling the Sun Divine Birds was not an easy task for it, and it had no way to deal with Qin Sang.

For the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit to fully recover, the Vermilion Bird True Feather was crucial, but its self-recovery speed was too slow. It absorbed the Qilin Source Seed's vital energy to strengthen its true spirit, and refined the true phoenix fire to restore the Vermilion Bird True Feather; neither could be foregone. It was a pity that these treasures all belonged to Qin Sang.

The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit stammered, "If you give me more, I can recover faster and help you sooner."

Qin Sang smiled, "Don't be too ambitious for now. Do you know that ascension in this realm is not easy, and the Heavenly Dao has changed?"

"What Heavenly Dao?" The Vermilion Bird Young Spirit asked blankly.

Seeing that it didn't seem to be feigning, Qin Sang informed it of the changes in this realm, observing its reaction.

"This, this, this... When can I get my revenge?" The nine divine birds were dumbfounded, exclaiming repeatedly, unable to articulate anything coherent, yet not forgetting revenge.

Seeing this, Qin Sang couldn't help but feel disappointed. "If you want revenge, you must assist me in improving my strength even more. Only by ascending to the upper realm will there be a possibility for further progress." Now there was another reason to subdue the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit. Although the Vermilion Bird Young Spirit couldn't control the Vermilion Bird True Feather, if it fully assisted him, his manipulation of the Sun Divine Birds would become much easier. With both sides cooperating implicitly, they might even be able to try to manipulate the nine divine birds! It proved that the power of the Sun Divine Birds was not a simple sum. With all divine birds deployed, even if they couldn't level the Abyss, they would surely have few rivals.

This return to the familiar place truly brought abundant rewards! Not only did he acquire the Taiyi Star Chariot, but he also gained this assistance. Once these gains were absorbed, even if he couldn't find an ascension platform, he would have the ability to venture into the Abyss.

The Vermilion Bird Spirit could only rely on Qin Sang now. It was already swayed, and the situation in this realm spurred it to make a quicker decision. Both parties quickly agreed on the terms.

"Do you remember your former name?" Qin Sang's expression softened, and his tone became gentle. Seeing the entirely fiery-red Sun Divine Bird shake its head, he chuckled playfully, "From now on, you'll be called Little Red."

All nine Sun Divine Birds simultaneously craned their necks.

"I am the magnificent Vermilion Bird!" Ultimately, Qin Sang agreed to 'respectfully address' it as 'Vermilion Bird' before it would relent.

Although there was some back-and-forth between the two parties, the actual time spent was not long. Outside the Dharma boat, the wind was calm and waves were still. The Flood Dragon King's personal guards stood on the water, not daring to move rashly, monitoring the Dharma boat. Unfortunately, each of them looked tense, their bodies taut, their aura diminished to less than a tenth. At this moment, the Flood Dragon King was likely already contacting the various clans of the Demon Sea.

"Fellow Daoist, you need not stand idly here. You may depart." Qin Sang transmitted a message. When all clans deliberated together, the Phoenix Clan certainly couldn't be excluded. The Phoenix King hadn't expected Qin Sang to release her so easily. A look of surprise and doubt appeared on her face. She glanced at the avatar, then tentatively flew out of the Dharma boat. Seeing no obstruction, she flashed into the sea, entering the ancestral land of the Flood Dragon clan. It would certainly take some time for them to finish their discussions.

Inside the cabin, Qin Sang temporarily put away the Heavenly Phoenix True Feather. He placed the Sun God Tree before him, holding a transparent lotus seed in his palm, and asked, "How long will it take to seize the Qilin Source Seed's vital energy?"

"Hard to say." The nine Sun Divine Birds shook their heads. "Since you won't let me intervene, I can't say for sure. However, I must warn you: if you extract the vital energy from the Qilin Source Seed yourself, you must constantly use your divine sense to suppress the Qilin True Spirit, preventing its revival. During this period, when fighting others, your divine sense will be restricted, preventing you from using your full power."

Qin Sang nodded slightly. He was mentally prepared for this, but it was fine. In this realm, only fierce beasts could threaten him, and he had no shortage of methods. The so-called influence didn't mean he couldn't use his divine sense at all; it merely meant his perception would be slightly weaker than now, it would be difficult to cast divine sense secret arts, and controlling the fire lotus would be a bit sluggish. His physical body, poison bead, escape techniques, magic treasures, and sword formations, among others, could all still be used. It might consume more true essence, but it would be within acceptable limits.

He had now changed his plan, deciding to return to Central Continent first to arrange the repair of the Taiyi Star Chariot, and then proceed to the North Sea. The journey there was long, and repairing the Taiyi Star Chariot wouldn't be a quick task. This time wouldn't impede his refinement of the Qilin Source Seed. As long as it didn't take an excessively long time, he could afford to wait. If it truly took too long, he could always give the Vermilion Bird a larger share.

He wondered what level he could reach by fully absorbing the vital energy from the Qilin Source Seed. Qin Sang was very much looking forward to this. He tentatively sent out a wisp of his divine sense, enveloping the Qilin Source Seed.