Chapter 541: 凝煞炼罡，拨云见日！

The Flying Yaksha's power could only be considered pseudo-Core Formation stage. However, this was far from the worst outcome. Even with power merely comparable to the Flying Yaksha, it still surpassed other False Core cultivators, which would significantly aid his search for spiritual items needed for Core Formation.

Qin Sang didn't hesitate long before making up his mind.

He recalled the Ebony Sword to his primordial spirit. As his consciousness reconnected with the killing talisman on its blade, a familiar sensation washed over him.

Just as Qin Sang was about to activate his cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy, an idea struck him. He tried to use the technique to draw out the True Essence within his Qi Sea, but discovered a complete incompatibility between the two.

The 'Primordial Spirit Sword Cultivation Chapter' could only be cultivated by drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The True Essence itself remained inert. If the 'Primordial Spirit Sword Cultivation Chapter' could utilize True Essence for cultivation, he might have been able to gain control of the Corpse Core and refine it into his own Core Formation, thus achieving a significant transformation.

His hopes were mercilessly crushed by reality.

"I'm thinking too much!" Qin Sang chuckled self-deprecatingly. "From now on, I'll simply use this Corpse Core as an external dan."

Absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth was too slow, and this location wasn't particularly rich in it. Any delay could lead to unforeseen complications.

Qin Sang quickly set up a simple spirit-gathering array around himself. Then, holding a mid-grade spirit stone in each hand, he rapidly absorbed spiritual energy into his body. At this point, the spiritual energy within him had been completely depleted during the core-forming collision of Gang and Sha. Afterward, with the formation of the Corpse Core and his reliance on True Essence, his Qi Sea was utterly devoid of spiritual energy, having been thoroughly drained.

Abundant spiritual energy surged into his meridians, following familiar pathways. After circulating through one cycle, it converged into his Qi Sea.

"Huh?"

To his surprise, Qin Sang discovered that his Qi Sea wasn't entirely devoid of spiritual energy. The moment new spiritual energy entered his Qi Sea, amidst the surging True Essence, a tiny, almost imperceptible wisp of spiritual energy quietly surfaced and swam out from within.

It was so minuscule, hidden among the True Essence, that it was no wonder he hadn't detected it before. Even now, as it actively revealed itself, it felt imperceptible, almost as if it didn't exist.

Oddly, Qin Sang felt an intense sensation of hunger and thirst emanating from this wisp of spiritual energy—an experience he had never encountered before. It was akin to a skeletal, parched young beast, starved for countless years, finally discovering water and food. With immense urgency and joy, it began to gulp it down.

Under Qin Sang's astonished gaze, this wisp of spiritual energy ravenously devoured the incoming spiritual energy. Compared to the newly arrived spiritual energy, this wisp was incredibly insignificant; the two were on completely different scales. Yet, it felt to Qin Sang as though the fresh spiritual energy was being 'devoured'.

The image of a snake devouring a whale truly manifested before Qin Sang's eyes.

Qin Sang continuously absorbed spiritual energy from the two mid-grade spirit stones. This energy flowed incessantly into his Qi Sea, only to be entirely consumed by that tiny wisp. It was akin to a seed, rooting and sprouting after receiving nourishment, then beginning to grow on its own.

Qin Sang did not stop it; he waited patiently until it gradually grew stronger and became clearly perceptible.

When he attempted to draw upon this wisp of spiritual energy...

Silence filled the cave.

The next moment, Qin Sang abruptly shot to his feet, eyes wide, staring intently at his Dantian. He appeared to have witnessed something utterly beyond imagination, leaving him shocked and incredulous.

After a moment of stunned silence, Qin Sang suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, quickly sat cross-legged, and settled his mind, carefully sensing the wisp of spiritual energy once more.

There was none of the usual ephemeral sensation. Instead, it felt incredibly dense! Incredibly solid! Extraordinarily viscous, like molten lead or mercury!

No wonder it had consumed so much external spiritual energy to grow this little. Qin Sang could barely believe it, repeatedly confirming it countless times before finally accepting that his spiritual energy had truly transformed in this way.

If he recalled correctly, the experiences and records left by the predecessors at Baota Peak of Shaohua Mountain indicated that such a phenomenon was a clear sign of impending Core Formation! Moreover, their spiritual energy hadn't reached this level of solidity, yet they had all successfully formed their cores. According to their descriptions, most cultivators hadn't even reached half of his current solidity, yet their success rate in Core Formation was already high. Even those whose spiritual energy was more solidified couldn't compare to his, but they were generally able to form their cores steadily!

Why had this occurred? What caused his spiritual energy to transform this way?

Amidst his euphoria, Qin Sang couldn't help but ponder the cause.

Qin Sang was certain that before he infiltrated the Azure Sun Demonic Sect, there had been no such signs. At that time, his Qi Sea still contained spiritual energy, which was evenly matched with the Earth Fiend Qi. There was only one possibility: the core-forming collision of Gang and Sha!

Qin Sang recalled carefully: on Divine Gang Peak, to prevent the Earth Fiend Qi and Heaven Gang Qi from colliding prematurely and to allow them to advance simultaneously towards Core Formation, he had no choice but to envelop them with spiritual energy. Throughout this process, his spiritual energy had continuously endured the impact and refinement of both. At the time, Qin Sang was solely focused on ensuring the success of the Gang-Sha Core Formation, with no time to notice any changes in his spiritual energy. Furthermore, after his spiritual energy was exhausted, it was refined down to such a minute wisp that it was impossible to detect. Later, his Qi Sea was completely taken over by the Corpse Core's True Essence, and this wisp of spiritual energy was thoroughly suppressed.

"Yin and Yang... Yin and Yang..." A sudden realization struck Qin Sang. That's it!

The Kan-Li Golden Core, named after 'Kan' and 'Li', was a spiritual core that inherently contained both Yin and Yang medicinal properties. The Iris Flower and Snow Spirit Lotus, emblematic of Yin and Yang spiritual herbs, grew intertwined. One thrived in ice and snow, the other in magma, each with extremely demanding environmental requirements. As far as Qin Sang knew, all other spiritual items, including the Profound True Pill, also possessed both Yin and Yang energies. As the saying goes, "Solitary Yin cannot give birth, and solitary Yang cannot grow." The path of the Golden Core perfectly aligned with the principle of Yin and Yang harmony.

Earth Fiend Qi was the ultimate Yin fiend qi in the world, while Heaven Gang Qi was the ultimate Yang gang qi. These two, being opposing forces of Yin and Yang, were precisely the most extreme Yin and Yang substances in existence!

Could it be that they also had an auxiliary effect on Core Formation?

Condensing Fiend and Refining Gang! Wu Shang's ingenious concept had, unexpectedly, manifested here!

Qin Sang didn't know if anyone in the ancient cultivation world had discovered that condensing fiend and refining gang could aid Core Formation, as he had read very few ancient texts, and most of them were incomplete. However, in all the recent records he had seen, and among the many fellow cultivators he had encountered in the Chaotic Island Waters, not a single person knew about this.

The reason for this was not difficult to fathom. Firstly, these two wondrous materials were exceedingly rare. Earth Fiend Qi, at least, was found on the ground; with patient searching, it was not difficult to locate and relatively easy to acquire. Heaven Gang Qi, however, resided in the nine heavens, separated by a belt of astral winds that even Nascent Soul grand cultivators dared not enter. As False Core cultivators, who among them would dare ascend to the nine heavens to retrieve it? They could only wait for the gang qi to descend from the heavens and transform into gang essence. Furthermore, across the vast Minor Cold Domain, only two locations contained Gang Jade: one in the cave dwelling of the Minor Cold Domain's foremost expert, and the other occupied by an ancient demonic sect. Forget trying to use it; they couldn't even get close to Heaven Gang Qi.