Chapter 668: Attempt

The Mortal Realm

Seeing that Qin Sang’s decision was made, Ran Luo didn't press the matter further, but her attitude became noticeably friendlier. It was clear that, just like in the Xiaohan Domain, skilled artifact refiners and alchemists were scarce in the Canglang Sea.

"A month from now, Daoist Priest, please arrive at Pingbo Port on time; do not miss the appointed hour. Additionally, there are a few points I need to clarify for you. Firstly, you are not yet an honorary guest of the merchant guild, so we will need to collect a portion of spirit stones. These collected spirit stones are solely to ensure your safety during the journey. Once you reach Wushen Mountain, the cost of teleportation will be borne by yourself..."

Ran Luo’s reminders were all reasonable.

Qin Sang agreed to each point and arranged to meet Ran Luo in a month. After inquiring with the Qiongyu Merchant Guild and finding no Soul-Guiding Grass or similar items, he bid farewell and departed.

There was still plenty of time, so Qin Sang wasn't in a hurry to leave. He successively visited several other merchant guilds but still couldn't find the items he needed.

The next morning, Qin Sang left the city, retrieved the black coffin containing Du Han, and then sped south all the way towards the Black Gold Mountains.

The geomantic map had detailed markings of the sects near the Black Gold Mountains. To avoid them, it took Qin Sang nine days to finally reach the Black Gold Mountains.

From afar, he saw a huge black shadow sprawling on the horizon, resembling an ancient black-gold beast.

In the eyes of the local Witch Tribe natives, the Black Gold Mountains were synonymous with evil and danger. It was said that rogue cultivators lurked there, and even local cultivators with insufficient cultivation dared not rashly venture into them.

The geomantic map in Qin Sang’s hand marked a general location, and the canyon wasn't deep within the Black Gold Mountains. Nevertheless, Qin Sang cautiously released the Flying Celestial Yaksha.

The man and the corpse quietly infiltrated the Black Gold Mountains, traversing mountains and crossing ridges until they finally arrived near the canyon.

Before finding the Earth Fiend Qi, Qin Sang encountered a familiar sight: withered vegetation, and no trace of birds or beasts. The further he went, the worse it became, eventually turning into a barren wasteland where the ground was stained a strange black by some unknown substance, utterly devoid of life.

It was almost identical to the area around the Earth Sinking Cave.

Qin Sang's expression brightened. He ordered the Flying Celestial Yaksha to speed ahead, and soon enough, he indeed saw wisps of black qi rising ahead, with the air growing increasingly cold and sinister.

Just then, Qin Sang suddenly paused. He sensed the presence of living beings ahead; their auras were not strong, with the strongest being only at the Foundation Establishment stage.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Sang ordered the Flying Celestial Yaksha to hide with the black coffin. Concealing their auras, they stealthily approached and discovered a cave dwelling at the edge of the canyon with only three cultivators inside. They were likely disciples from a nearby cultivation sect, sent to monitor the changes in the fiend qi within the canyon.

There were also warning formations around the canyon, but they posed no difficulty for Qin Sang.

Qin Sang merely intended to refine corpses using the fiend qi and did not wish to interact with the local forces, so he led the Flying Celestial Yaksha to bypass the formations. The three individuals in the cave dwelling were still diligently cultivating, completely unaware that someone had infiltrated the depths of the canyon right under their noses.

The canyon was not large, and the amount of Earth Fiend Qi was far less than in the Earth Sinking Cave, but it was still sufficient for refining corpses.

Finding a protruding rock, Qin Sang looked down at the surging Extreme Yin Fiend Qi below his feet. He was very curious how this fiend qi had formed and what lay at its very bottom.

His cultivation was far greater than before, yet he still dared not rashly enter the Earth Fiend Qi.

He set up defensive spiritual formations around him, then opened the black coffin, pulled out Du Han, and summoned Du Xian from the Corpse Puppet Bag.

He planned to first apply the restrictions of the Heaven Yin Corpse Art on Du Han. If that truly didn't work, he would then use Du Han's Golden Core and Du Xian's physical body to create a new Flying Celestial Yaksha.

Du Han's cultivation had been sealed by Qin Sang, leaving him powerless to resist and at Qin Sang's mercy.

Looking at Du Han, Qin Sang fell into contemplation, remaining still for a long time.

He had delved into the Corpse Dao for many years and had his own insights into corpse refining, but to say he could create his own corpse refining technique was still far from possible.

Those who could create their own cultivation methods and divine abilities were all exceptionally gifted individuals.

He could only make some exploratory modifications based on the Heaven Yin Corpse Art; that was all. Hope was slim, but he had to try to be content.

Qin Sang meticulously reviewed the Heaven Yin Corpse Art in his mind. No longer hesitating, he circulated his True Essence and unleashed the first corpse refining restriction towards Du Han.

Initially, it went smoothly, but when these restrictions integrated and began to attempt to invade Du Han's body, Qin Sang suddenly felt an unprecedented resistance.

Immediately after, the True Essence within Du Han’s body suddenly rioted. Before Qin Sang could react, the corpse refining restrictions were directly torn apart, and Du Han was awakened by intense pain.

Ignoring Du Han's resentful gaze, Qin Sang tried several more times and finally, reluctantly confirmed that the living corpse restrictions from the first half of the Heaven Yin Corpse Art indeed could not be used on cultivators at the Core Formation stage.

However, Qin Sang did not give up. He took out another Heaven Corpse Talisman and, under Du Han's horrified gaze, imprinted it into his Purple Mansion, to test if it could seal a Core Formation cultivator's nascent soul.

Unexpectedly, just as the Heaven Corpse Talisman touched Du Han's nascent soul, and before Qin Sang could complete the restriction, the Heaven Corpse Talisman suddenly burst apart.

Du Han, restrained by Qin Sang, was completely defenseless as his nascent soul was impacted by the Heaven Corpse Talisman's explosion. He immediately let out a pained shriek, and his aura rapidly dissipated, appearing to be on the verge of dying from a shattered nascent soul.

Qin Sang's expression subtly changed. He hastily moved, seizing the last moments to use Soul-Searching Art on Du Han's remaining soul. In just a dozen breaths of time, Du Han was already dead.

"It seems that without the latter half of the Heaven Yin Corpse Art, my path in the Corpse Dao has reached its end."

Qin Sang gave a wry smile, holding Du Han's Golden Core, and muttered to himself, "Other corpse dao secret arts are too time-consuming. I still need to prioritize my own cultivation and not waste time on these. Moreover, cultivating my life-bound insect gu will also require some of my energy later. What should be abandoned must be abandoned."

Using corpse refining techniques from other sects, he could also turn Du Han's corpse into a refined corpse, but its strength would be too weak. Furthermore, it involved the Li Witch Palace, posing a risk of exposure, which made it not worth the risk.

Qin Sang kicked Du Han's corpse into the abyss, where it was instantly engulfed by the Earth Fiend Qi, perfectly destroying all traces.

Qin Sang then skillfully began to refine Du Xian into a living corpse.

Du Xian's physical body.

Du Han's Golden Core.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would have one more Flying Celestial Yaksha.

Because he had once refined himself into a Flying Celestial Yaksha, Qin Sang was extremely familiar with this secret art. However, he did not let his guard down; he only had one Heaven Corpse Talisman left, which he could not afford to squander.

The spiritual formations concealed all fluctuations within the rift valley, and the three individuals in the cave dwelling remained completely unaware of what was happening below.

Three days later, two dark figures appeared, one to Qin Sang's left and one to his right.

'Bang!'

The two Flying Celestial Yakshas simultaneously swung their fists, striking each other.

Yu Hua's body merely trembled slightly, while Du Xian was sent flying several feet back before barely regaining his footing.

"Although it was just refined," Qin Sang murmured, "it's clear that Du Xian's strength has a considerable gap compared to Yu Hua, but it's sufficient for combat."

Qin Sang murmured as he put the two Flying Celestial Yakshas into the Corpse Puppet Bag, allowing them to slowly warm and nourish there.