Chapter 361: Song Yi

The Earth-Sinking Cave.

The disciple guarding the Earth-Sinking Cave was cultivating in his cave dwelling.

Qin Sang arrived invisibly, found the previous crack, and landed on the stone platform.

He first took out the Lesser Yin Magnetic Bottle, filled it with Earth Fiend Qi, then waved his hand to set up a grand formation to conceal his aura, and summoned the two refined corpses.

Only one final step remained: refining the fiend energy into their bodies, and the process would be complete.

However, this step was also the most difficult, and Qin Sang was uncertain of success.

If the refining failed, and the refined corpses' Qi Seas were destroyed, they could only be turned into zombies as a consolation, which would mean wasting a Sky Corpse Talisman and the corpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It would be better to simply kill them and then turn them into Fiend Corpses.

The method for refining corpses was indeed powerful, but the cost was also immense. Not only were the materials rare and difficult to find, but every step was fraught with uncertainty. It was no wonder that disciples of the Heavenly Corpse Sect couldn't each possess a living corpse.

Qin Sang had already rehearsed the process countless times in his mind. After inspecting the refined corpses, he prepared to begin.

Having two refined corpses provided a certain margin for error.

The cultivation level of the young man in the tight-fitting attire was one level lower than Liang Yan's, so Qin Sang began with him.

He activated his spiritual power, drew in a wisp of Earth Fiend Qi, and after subduing it, injected it into the Fiend Corpse's Qi Sea. This immediately triggered a strong resistance from the spiritual power within the Fiend Corpse.

Three days later, Qin Sang emerged from the Earth-Sinking Cave, his expression somewhat grim.

It was no surprise he was in a bad mood; of the two living corpses, only one had been successfully refined. Fortunately, the successful one was Liang Yan, who was the more powerful of the two.

As for the young man in the tight-fitting attire, his Dantian was completely destroyed during the collision between spiritual power and Earth Fiend Qi. Qin Sang could only turn him into a zombie to be used as cannon fodder.

Liang Yan's Qi Sea also sustained significant damage and nearly failed, but fortunately, it was salvaged.

Qin Sang looked back at the Earth-Sinking Cave. He had left the refined corpse inside, allowing it to bathe in the Earth Fiend Qi to nurture and recover on its own for a period.

Two of the three most important tasks were now complete. The last task was to return to the sect to search for records from the Ziwei Palace, hoping they were recorded within Pagoda Peak.

The remaining tasks were minor. Once the agreed time arrived, he could go to Heaven's End Mountain and rendezvous with Wandering Cloud.

He rode the Netherworld Cloud directly towards Soaring Dragon Mountain in Guyuan Kingdom. Returning Dragon Temple was his public cave dwelling, where others would leave transmission talismans if they needed to find him.

After opening the Returning Dragon Temple's restriction formation, Qin Sang found a significant accumulation of transmission talismans inside. These talismans, of various colors, were trapped within the grand formation, drifting like mayflies and shimmering like scattered stars.

Qin Sang patiently summoned them one by one to examine them.

Among them were routine notifications from his sect, as well as messages from many passing cultivators who, sensing the spiritual formation at Returning Dragon Temple, had left notes hoping to make acquaintances.

There were also notes from some acquaintances, such as Shopkeeper Wu, Senior Brother Wen, and Zhuang Yan.

To Qin Sang's surprise, one of the messages was from Granny Jing, the senior who operated the secret shop in Moon-Asking Market. She was inviting him to assist in a task, promising a generous reward.

Furthermore, this wasn't a task posted by other fellow cultivators in the secret shop, but issued directly under Granny Jing's own name.

Judging by the timing, it was shortly after he had departed for the ancient immortal battlefield, so he naturally couldn't have responded to Granny Jing.

Holding this transmission talisman, Qin Sang pondered to himself.

From their first encounter, Granny Jing had given Qin Sang a sense of unfathomable mystery. After several interactions, this impression had only deepened. Qin Sang particularly appreciated Granny Jing's consistent adherence to the secret shop's rules.

The secret shop had many Foundation Establishment cultivators among its members, making it an excellent channel.

It was never a bad thing to establish a good relationship with Granny Jing.

He hadn't known about this transmission talisman before, but now that he was back, it would be best to go in person and explain, which wouldn't take much time.

Over ninety percent of the transmission talismans were useless. Qin Sang stayed at Returning Dragon Temple for an hour, and after sorting them out, he headed towards Shaohua Mountain.

Moon-Asking Market.

Decades had passed, yet the market had changed little.

Qin Sang walked down the street, heading for Shopkeeper Wu's store. Several of the flying talismans at Returning Dragon Temple had been left by Shopkeeper Wu, especially in recent years, with one left almost every year. The most recent one was from two months ago.

Although the transmission talismans only contained greetings, Qin Sang estimated from the frequency that Shopkeeper Wu might have encountered some trouble.

He was planning to ask Shopkeeper Wu to help him refine a few magic artifacts, so he came directly. If Shopkeeper Wu's situation wasn't too serious, he could consider offering assistance within his capabilities.

The shop was still open at its original location. Qin Sang paused, his gaze sweeping across 'Li Manor' opposite the shop, before stepping inside.

"Please come in, Senior! Are you looking to purchase or refine magic artifacts?"

Inside the shop, Shopkeeper Wu was absent. Only a young man, eighteen or nineteen years old, was present. Seeing Qin Sang enter, he immediately greeted him warmly, offered tea and a seat, and seemed quite lively.

The young man was also a cultivator. Qin Sang's eyes flickered as he recognized the young man's appearance. He took a sip of tea and asked, "Is Fellow Daoist Wu not in the shop?"

The young man exclaimed, "Ah! So Senior knows my master? To answer Senior, my master is in the backyard refining magic artifacts. I will go invite him right away."

"Master?"

Qin Sang watched the young man's retreating back, a playful smile appearing on his lips.

Soon after the young man left, hurried footsteps echoed from the backyard.

Then, Shopkeeper Wu, now with a head full of silver hair, hurried out, with the young man trotting behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Qin! It's been over thirty years. How have you been?" Shopkeeper Wu hastened towards Qin Sang, his expression and voice filled with a hint of excitement.

Qin Sang rose to greet him, cupping his hands in return, "Fellow Daoist Wu, I hope you are well."

Before he had left Shaohua Mountain, Shopkeeper Wu had appeared to be a man in the prime of his life. Now, his raven hair had turned completely white.

Shopkeeper Wu had not succeeded in Foundation Establishment, and the power of time had clearly manifested on him.

"Your grace remains, Fellow Daoist, but I, Wu, am already growing old!" Shopkeeper Wu lamented, almost covering his face, sighing repeatedly.

The two sat opposite each other, engaging in heartfelt conversation.

The young man stood respectfully to the side, quietly observing Qin Sang.

The young man's disposition was still unmasked, his eyes betraying easily noticeable curiosity and anticipation.

After finishing a pot of tea, Qin Sang set down his cup, his gaze falling upon the young man pouring tea. He asked kindly, "What is your name?"

The young man looked at Shopkeeper Wu, who simply smiled without speaking.

"To answer Senior, my name is Song Yi."

"Song Yi..."

Qin Sang nodded slightly, then asked again, "What is your relationship to Song Ying and Song Chengxian?"

The moment he entered the shop and saw the young man, Qin Sang felt that there was something familiar about his eyebrows.

He was refined and handsome, very much resembling the siblings Song Hua and Song Ying.

Song Chengxian was Song Ying's son. After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, Qin Sang had returned to the Song family to fulfill an earlier promise. Although he didn't accept Song Chengxian as a disciple, he left him a Foundation Establishment Pill as a repayment to the Song family.

"To answer Senior, Song Ying is my maternal grandmother, and Song Chengxian is my maternal uncle," Song Yi replied.