Chapter 1745: 天地逆乱

The Mortal Realm

Rumble…

The spiritual energy in the forest suddenly surged towards a mountain, only to abruptly disperse moments later. The violent spiritual fluctuations created a powerful gale, instantly snapping trees and vegetation and sending withered leaves flying everywhere.

The weather phenomena at sea were ever-changing, and the spirits on the island were already accustomed to them. However, sensing the immense pressure surging within the wind, they all trembled with fear.

Besides demonic beasts and birds, many plants and trees in the forest had also transformed into spirits. The cultivation of these plant and tree spirits was not very high; most hadn't yet gained the ability to move their physical bodies. They could only retreat their true consciousness into their original forms, trembling with fear.

A few scattered ancient trees and spiritual herbs extended their roots like countless legs, scurrying frantically through the forest. Others transformed into a ball of green light, shooting outwards, faintly revealing a vibrant green spiritual herb wrapped within the light.

However, after the celestial phenomenon, the mountain remained silent for a long time.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Qin Sang seemed to have returned to normal, sitting cross-legged, but his brows were tightly furrowed. His foundation was injured, and his wounds had not yet healed. That sudden surge just now almost caused all his previous efforts to be in vain.

“This spiritual energy seems to be different from that of the Storm Realm…”

Qin Sang lowered his head slightly, gazing at a wisp of light spiritual energy in his palm. He referred to the previous minor realm as the Storm Realm. The world's elemental energy here was exceptionally dense, far surpassing that of the Storm Realm, yet it felt somewhat peculiar upon sensing it. He had actually noticed this upon first entering this realm, but at the time, he was severely injured and eager to escape, assuming it was due to his injuries, so he didn't give it much thought.

At this moment, he took out a demonic core and a section of demonic bone with his other hand, relics from hunting the Thunder Tortoise in the Storm Belt. After a quick check, he indeed sensed that chaotic elemental energy. It was as if the Thunder Tortoise originated from this realm, cultivating by absorbing this world's elemental energy, and over time, it too had been affected.

His eyes flickered. He had previously thought the Thunder Tortoise was affected by the Heavenly Dao's demonic sounds, but now it seemed it wasn't that simple! For a moment, he felt hesitant, uncertain whether he had truly left the Storm Realm, or if he had instead fallen into the Gui Xu (Return to Ruins). From the outside, Gui Xu appeared utterly chaotic and extremely dangerous, making such tranquility impossible. However, cultivators from the Storm Realm knew very little about Gui Xu, and no one knew which realms its depths connected to.

Recalling the various ancient texts he had read, even before the Heavenly Dao's demonic sounds appeared, the ferocious beasts of Gui Xu were already violent and cruel, incapable of normal communication. Qin Sang couldn't help but wonder if it was also due to cultivating in this chaotic energy, which then affected their Nascent Souls, leading to drastic changes in their dispositions.

Upon thinking this, his expression subtly darkened. With the Jade Buddha, he wasn't worried about his nature being influenced by external factors, but who knew what other effects long-term absorption of this chaotic energy might have? At least, Qin Sang had just confirmed that directly absorbing this chaotic energy into the body would affect even his originally stable True Essence, disturbing his Qi Sea and, in severe cases, even shaking his Dao foundation.

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Sang released his divine sense. The forest gradually returned to normal. A tree spirit scurried to the edge of the jungle and stopped. Green light faintly flickered on its trunk, gathering towards its crown. Then, its branches began to sway, embracing the ball of green light like an eye, watching its rear.

Just then, a transparent large hand materialized out of thin air above the tree spirit, seizing it. The ground trembled slightly as the tree spirit was pulled up by its roots, vanishing instantly.

An ancient tree now stood before the cave dwelling. A ball of green light floated before Qin Sang; it was the spirit of the tree. The tree spirit had not yet fully developed its intelligence, remaining ignorant and unaware. Facing Qin Sang, it instinctively felt fear, and the green light trembled ceaselessly.

Although Qin Sang still possessed Imperial Dew, he didn't want to waste it on such a minor spirit. He extended a wisp of his divine sense, invading the green light. A moment later, Qin Sang retracted his divine sense, sighing inwardly. As expected, according to the cultivation standards of the Storm Realm, this tree spirit's cultivation had only recently entered the Demon Spirit Stage, equivalent to a human Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In the Storm Realm, even spirits of this kind that hadn't fully developed intelligence possessed a respectable level of sentience. However, this tree spirit's sentience was significantly lower than normal, and its nature carried a hint of ferocity and irritability. No wonder he felt an ominous atmosphere in the forest as soon as he arrived on the island; it didn't feel like a benevolent place. Normally, plant and tree spirits born in the wilderness, who had not consumed blood and flesh, were mostly simple in nature. However, this island, though seemingly peaceful, would periodically erupt into a brutal struggle. This was due to that hint of ferocity; once murderous intent arose, it would incite their savage nature, sweeping all the spirits on the island into the conflict.

He then captured a recently born flower spirit, whose disposition was noticeably gentler than the tree spirit's, but that hint of ferocity was also deeply ingrained.

“Are all living beings in this realm unable to avoid the fate of becoming ferocious beasts?”

Qin Sang remained silent inwardly, then entered meditation once more. He meticulously sorted and refined the world's elemental energy, separating the Five Elements spiritual energy. He found it possible, but it took several times longer than in the Storm Realm. If he were to cultivate in this realm, he wondered how many years it would take to break through to the Soul Transformation stage. Even so, Qin Sang patiently continued to slowly refine it into his body.

Currently, there was no better method, so he could only endure for now. He would wait until he recovered his strength, then go out to find fellow cultivators in this realm to see how they cultivated.

“This realm can't possibly be full of only demons and ghosts, can it?” Qin Sang muttered inwardly that he had plenty of time, and there were no powerful demonic beasts lurking near the island. If he used the pills and spirit stones in his Qianjun Ring, his recovery speed would naturally be faster, but he hadn't brought many spirit stones. In the Storm Realm, he was the foremost person of his generation, not needing to rely on spirit stones for combat. He rarely used spirit stones, so he had left most of them in his sect. Activating the reception platform had also consumed his only supreme-grade spirit stone. If other places in this realm were also like this, it could be inferred that spirit stones formed in this chaotic elemental energy were likely not normal spirit stones either. The remaining pills and spirit stones were probably his only reliance for future conflicts and could not be used lightly.

Inside the cave dwelling, time passed unheeded.

Qin Sang's injuries and cultivation slowly recovered. Within a few days, he suddenly exited meditation, abruptly stood up, and looked down at himself, his expression uncertain. During these days, he had painstakingly sorted and refined the elemental energy into his body. He hadn't noticed anything at first, but today he suddenly felt that his True Essence was showing signs of chaos again. The signs were still very faint, and his method was clearly effective, but it couldn't completely eradicate the problem. The spiritual energy he thought he had refined to purity seemed to hide a subtle chaotic spiritual essence that he couldn't detect, which was invading his body. Moreover, the manifestation after the signs appeared made Qin Sang increasingly uneasy. The signs of chaos did not entirely originate from within his body. His True Essence was actually being stirred by the chaotic energy from outside, and he lost the complete sense of control he once had over himself.

At this point, his True Essence had only recovered to roughly the early Core Formation stage. Qin Sang pondered for a moment, then managed to isolate his internal and external Qi mechanisms. The situation immediately improved, but his mood did not. He had a few conjectures in his mind.

Qin Sang sat down cross-legged again, this time no longer wasting time. He consumed a bottle of pills and held an upper-grade spirit stone in each hand, rapidly resuming his recovery. After a few weeks, he had recovered to the Nascent Soul stage. His True Essence was stable, but now he had to use his divine sense to stabilize it, locking his Qi mechanisms and isolating internal and external influences to prevent himself from being affected by the chaotic energy.

By this point, Qin Sang had largely figured out the reason. Cultivators could not exist in isolation from heaven and earth. On the contrary, the higher their cultivation, the more they pursued the communion between heaven and man. Internal and external Qi mechanisms were not completely isolated; they constantly interacted, making it unavoidable to be influenced by the outside world. Even True Essence obtained from refining pills and spirit stones would, over time, be stirred and invaded by the chaotic forces between heaven and earth. His divine sense was powerful, allowing him to suppress it unconsciously. And since he had only recently entered this realm, the influence he experienced was still shallow; his impaired cultivation did not require him to consciously use his divine sense. However, as his cultivation gradually recovered and the connection between internal and external Qi mechanisms deepened, he would have to maintain it constantly. Moreover, he still needed to allocate a portion of his divine sense to suppress the Qilin Origin Seed. Extrapolating from this, it seemed his limit would probably be recovering to the late Nascent Soul stage.

But this was no long-term solution. Not only would his divine sense be tied down and restricted, but how would he cultivate in the future? Was he to completely abandon the path of Qi refining first? Perhaps if he refined the Qilin Origin Seed and greatly advanced his divine sense, there might be a turning point. However, his fundamental cultivation method was the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Cultivation Chapter'. No matter how strong his physical body and divine sense became, they couldn't help him break through his realm. This could only be a temporary measure.

Qin Sang's eyes slightly opened, his gaze like lightning, seemingly piercing through the cave dwelling to look at the vast expanse beyond the sky. He wondered if there were cultivators in this realm. If so, Qin Sang didn't believe that everyone possessed such powerful divine sense as he did; there must be a solution!

“The current plan is to quickly make contact with cultivators from this realm!”

With a plan in mind, Qin Sang ceased his cultivation, maintaining only the early Nascent Soul stage, and began to ponder other matters. Now, the Qi and blood within his body were gradually stabilizing, posing no significant hindrance to his body refining cultivation.

“What impact would the chaotic heaven and earth have on body refining?” As this thought arose, Qin Sang immediately attempted to cultivate the 'Heavenly Demon Refining Form'. With no Star Platform in hand, Qin Sang could only directly draw upon the power of the stars himself. He stepped out of the cave dwelling and settled on a flat rock in the valley, looking up at the sky.

It happened to be a full moon night. The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the stars were spread out. Bright moonlight poured down, illuminating the mountain as if it were daytime. Staring directly at the bright moon, Qin Sang actually found it slightly dazzling. The stars in this realm looked no different from those in the Storm Realm, but the bright moon was much brighter than in the Storm Realm, and its halo was noticeably larger. The light emitted from within the moon varied in brightness, with the center being the brightest, as if a silver disc were embedded within the moon itself. Qin Sang squinted slightly, vaguely seeing another circle within the full moon, as if two moons were overlapping, jointly illuminating this realm. This was a celestial phenomenon, yet it also indicated the difference between this realm and the Storm Realm.

Gathering his thoughts, Qin Sang performed the Heavenly Demon Transformation divine ability, completely calming the last traces of restless Qi and blood. Then, he silently circulated the 'Heavenly Demon Refining Form'. During the decades he spent traversing the Storm Belt, he had never ceased his body refining cultivation. Combined with the fortunate encounters and treasures he had collected from various regions of the Storm Realm, he was not far from reaching the late stage of the fourth layer. He still had the spiritual liquid plundered from the Dragon Transformation Pool within his body, so he expected his subsequent cultivation to be quite smooth.

As starlight entered his body, the harmful star energy was kept out by the Jade Buddha. The sensation was not much different from when he was in the Storm Realm. But after only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Qin Sang suddenly stopped his cultivation, his expression slightly surprised, then hurriedly resumed circulating his cultivation method.

Three hours later.

Qin Sang exhaled lightly and slowly ceased his cultivation, a strange gleam in his eyes. He muttered inwardly, “I didn't expect that the chaotic heaven and earth would have such a benefit. Could this be considered losing something at dawn but gaining it at dusk?” Just now, during body tempering, Qin Sang discovered that the impact of this chaotic energy on his Qi and blood had an unexpected tempering effect on his physical body, thus greatly increasing his cultivation speed.

“No wonder there are so many spirits. Could this be a demon realm?” Qin Sang glanced at the endless dense forest below the mountain. With the chaotic Qi mechanisms of heaven and earth, demonic cultivation was much easier than in the Storm Belt. Qin Sang secretly speculated that if there were humans in this realm, they likely wouldn't miss such advantageous conditions, and there should be quite a few body cultivators.

The so-called Great Dao pursued by cultivators, at least before the Soul Transformation stage, could be likened to the Heavenly Dao; thus, cultivation should follow the Heavenly Dao. Reckless individuals who wished to defy the heavens should only do so after possessing immense strength. Without understanding the Heavenly Dao, how could one defy it? For body cultivators, this place was ironically a treasure land! However, when Qin Sang thought of the ferocious beasts of Gui Xu, it was unclear whether this was a blessing or a curse. If this hidden concern could not be resolved, the cultivators here, be they human, demon, or ghost, would certainly not be content with possessing great power at the cost of mental confusion.

Thinking of this, Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and the Fiery Jade Centipede again. When the two spiritual insects began cultivating, they also showed some unease. Spiritual insects cultivated divine abilities and wouldn't experience True Essence loss of control like Qin Sang, but absorbing the chaotic energy would definitely have an impact, especially on their sentience. They had not yet fully developed their intelligence; once the ferocious intent took root, the repercussions would be endless, so Qin Sang temporarily dared not let them continue cultivating.

“I originally thought that with the dense elemental energy of this realm, you would have a good chance of breaking through without the Azure Frost Pill, but it seems you'll have to wait a bit longer…” Qin Sang gently comforted the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly slowly flapped its wings, conveying a sense of closeness and no urgency at all.

Qin Sang was like a newborn infant, gradually exploring this world. He discovered the benefits of the chaotic heaven and earth, yet he did not let the chaotic energy temper his body without restraint, because he was unsure if there were any hidden risks. The power of the myriad stars and the Dragon Transformation Pool were sufficient to support his cultivation, and the speed would not be too slow.

Twelve years later.

From the fog-shrouded valley emerged a Daoist. Qin Sang's aura was several times stronger than it had been twelve years ago, a benefit of his physical body's advancement. Due to his eagerness to interact with the outside world, he had relentlessly refined and absorbed the spiritual liquid from the Dragon Transformation Pool over the past twelve years. Combined with the foundations he had accumulated previously in places like the Blazing Gold Sword Cave, he successfully broke through to the late fourth layer of the 'Heavenly Demon Refining Form' in one go!

Gazing beyond the sky, Qin Sang mused inwardly that a late Nascent Soul cultivator would not be considered weak anywhere. His physical body alone was sufficient to handle most situations. Any deficiencies in perception would be aided by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. If there truly was danger, he could forcefully use his True Essence and unleash treasure-based divine abilities. The chaos in his True Essence wouldn't form instantly; he just wouldn't be able to draw direct replenishment from heaven and earth, so he would have to escape before his True Essence ran out.

With a stomp of his foot, Qin Sang flashed into the center of the island. When he reappeared in the air, there was an extra spirit stone in his hand. He had obtained this from the cave of a beast demon, and as expected, the spiritual energy within the spirit stone was also chaotic energy. He had already learned from the island's spirits that there were no grand transformed demons on nearby islands, and they had not ventured further either.

Qin Sang remembered that while drifting at sea earlier, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had alerted him to a distant land. It seemed extremely vast; even if it wasn't a continent, it was far larger than this island. He soared upwards and flew in the direction he remembered.