Chapter 477: Trial

Even his confidante only became known after he had betrayed his sect and completed his revenge.

Qin Sang gazed at the crystal, sensing its connection to the stone pillar and the stone platform.

There was no mistake; the crystal was the 'key'! Without it, this door couldn't be opened, and he couldn't enter Zhantian Peak!

Qin Sang's eyes flashed. He darted off the platform, approaching the hall's exit, but abruptly stopped, his expression grave, not daring to take another step. Outside the hall, a spatial rift stretched across the space above.

There was only one spatial rift, but this entire void was chaotic. Within the dim aura, subtle, unstable fluctuations seemed to ripple. His cultivation was restricted to the Qi Refinement stage, so he didn't dare to trespass.

Recalling Granny Jing's warning, Qin Sang slowly retreated. His mood gradually calmed down, and once he understood, he couldn't help but chuckle self-mockingly.

He really didn't need to overthink it. Whatever relationship Granny Jing had with Senior Qingzhu, it had nothing to do with him.

He only needed to know that the closer Granny Jing was to Senior Qingzhu, the more credible her information would be, which was good for him. Since Granny Jing wasn't willing to bring it up herself, it was best not to pry. If he accidentally touched upon a taboo of hers, he might inadvertently worsen his standing with her.

Having figured this out, Qin Sang no longer dwelled on it. He glanced at the crystal, silently calculating the time, then turned his gaze to the handsome young man.

Qin Sang removed the handsome young man's mustard seed pouch, opened it, and took out everything inside. Immediately, the hall shimmered with dazzling treasures, almost blinding Qin Sang.

The spirit stones alone definitely exceeded ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Qin Sang didn't count them precisely, just collected them all, and pushed aside other miscellaneous items of little value. What remained were spirit pills, magic artifacts, talisman treasures, and two sets of extremely powerful forbidden spell tools.

The handsome young man had already used one talisman treasure, yet there were still two more in the mustard seed pouch. Both were peculiar, possibly inherited from the Yuanzhen Sect. Qin Sang didn't dare to keep them and planned to destroy them after entering Zhantian Peak. The same applied to the magic artifacts.

Qin Sang intended to heed Granny Jing's words: he wouldn't keep any of them, good or bad. The best few items had already been destroyed in the great battle, and the remaining ones weren't top-tier. With his Ebony Sword and Ten-Directions Yama Banner, even the best magic artifacts would hardly catch his eye.

He dared not take these two sets of forbidden spell tools either; they must have been meticulously crafted by high-level cultivators of the Yuanzhen Sect. If it were an ordinary Yuanzhen Sect disciple, he might have kept them. But considering the handsome young man's identity, and the involvement of two Yuanzhen Sect elders, the matter was too significant. One could not be too careful.

All these items combined weren't even worth a single Void Sky Thunder. Qin Sang didn't feel too bad about it.

Qin Sang pushed them aside, placing them with the 'junk', then shifted his gaze to the jade bottles, examining them carefully.

To his disappointment, none of the jade bottles contained spirit pills that could aid in Core Formation. It made sense. The handsome young man was already at the False Core stage himself. If he had such spirit pills, he would have surely used them first; how could he have left them for others to benefit from?

Fortunately, several jade bottles contained spirit pills for strengthening foundations and cultivating vitality. One bottle's efficacy was no less than that of Li Dragon Pills, likely leftovers from the handsome young man. To have so many leftovers—he truly was well-connected!

These spirit pills could help him reach the False Core stage faster. Qin Sang delightedly took them out and transferred them to new jade bottles. As for the other spirit pills, most were for healing and recovery. Qin Sang unceremoniously consumed them.

Besides these, what Qin Sang valued most was a jade slip titled 'Incomplete Record of Tai Xuan Formations'. It contained several spiritual formations, which Qin Sang, upon a cursory glance, found quite intricate. The content was profoundly deep, not something one could comprehend overnight. Qin Sang could only commit it to memory for now, without fully digesting it.

After organizing everything, Qin Sang calmly surveyed the handsome young man. This was the second False Core stage master he had captured alive, after Yu Hua.

In his opinion, among all the spoils, the handsome young man's value was no less than that of the Void Sky Thunder. Refining living corpses was difficult, with a low success rate. Qin Sang couldn't guarantee that he would succeed in refining Yu Hua on his first attempt.

Although he couldn't take the handsome young man outside, he was perfectly suited for practice.

The handsome young man had not yet regained consciousness. Qin Sang took out a Heavenly Corpse Talisman. After some effort, he sent it into the handsome young man's nascent soul space, suppressing his nascent soul, but then he paused.

Here, his cultivation was restricted to the Qi Refinement stage, limiting his abilities, which would significantly affect the refinement of a living corpse.

Qin Sang stood on the stone platform, quietly waiting.

Finally, a quarter of an hour passed. Qin Sang activated the crystal according to the method Granny Jing had taught him.

The door on the stone platform slowly opened, revealing a familiar chaotic scene. Without hesitation, Qin Sang grabbed the handsome young man and leaped through the door. Another dizzying spin ensued, but soon he felt the solid ground beneath his feet once more.

Qin Sang secretly sighed in relief. He hastily opened his eyes and found the square completely transformed. The fragments of the stone pillars had long since turned to dust, and the massive stone blocks surrounding them had almost all fractured into several pieces, covered in cracks. Fortunately, the stone blocks hadn't completely disintegrated, and the square could still faintly discern its original form.

This void had long since stabilized. The darkness that seemed ready to devour everything had vanished without a trace; everything in the space was normal. What a powerful grand formation!

Qin Sang secretly marveled. To be able to suppress even spatial fragmentation, how powerful must it have been when fully intact?

Without further delay, after a brief look around and confirming nothing was amiss, Qin Sang immediately set about refining the corpse.

He had long prepared ample Five-Element Yin materials, and there was still plenty of Earth Fiend Qi remaining in the Lesser Yin Magnetic Bottle. He laid the handsome young man flat on the ground. Qin Sang then made a series of gestures over the young man's body. After completing a full set of restrictions, he grasped a piece of Azure Nether Gold...

Time slowly passed. Qin Sang stared intently at the handsome young man, his eyes unblinking, meticulously completing each step and observing his changes.

It wasn't his first time refining a living corpse, so his technique was already very proficient. However, he soon discovered that there was indeed a significant difference between the False Core stage and the late Foundation Establishment stage.

'Boom!' A muffled thud suddenly came from the handsome young man's dantian, then it exploded with a roar. Violent Earth Fiend Qi erupted, and the handsome young man's flesh and blood tore apart at that instant. He didn't even utter a groan before meeting his demise, leaving no corpse behind.

The Earth Fiend Qi continued to blast in all directions. Qin Sang dodged with unusual agility, his expression somewhat grim. As expected, this refinement had indeed failed.

However, Qin Sang hadn't expected failure to come so swiftly. He had only managed to fuse one strand of Earth Fiend Qi into the handsome young man before a fierce conflict arose while fusing the second. He tried his best to remedy the situation, but it was futile, ultimately leading to the explosion.

Qin Sang recalled the entire process and felt that the biggest reason for failure was his insufficient cultivation. If he were at the False Core stage now, his control would definitely be different, and he could have suppressed this conflict.