Chapter 872: No Result

**Main Content**

In the cave dwelling, Qin Sang meticulously set up multiple restrictions and a defensive spiritual formation before he felt at ease.

He then sat cross-legged in front of his external avatar, pricked his fingertip, and forced out drops of essence blood to perform the Blood Feeding spell. After absorbing the essence blood, the avatar's face flushed, and its aura surged significantly before gradually stabilizing.

Qin Sang opened his eyes, pondered for a moment, and, as before, continuously forced out several more drops of fresh blood, embedding them into the avatar for it to slowly refine. Then, he sealed the cave dwelling and quietly departed.

Several months later, Qin Sang returned to this sea area. He first revisited the thunder island. The island was lush and green; the vegetation was exceptionally vibrant where the Kui Dragon's blood had been spilled, and the traces of the fierce battle were long gone.

Qin Sang appeared before a mountain, scanning the surroundings to recall the events. The Kui Dragon had emerged from the clouds, and upon discovering it was under attack, its pursuers had arrived swiftly to support it, indicating their cave dwelling couldn't be too far away.

Fearing that some Black Serpent Mountain members might still be present, Qin Sang proceeded cautiously. He spent over half a month meticulously exploring almost all the surrounding islands, but to his surprise, he found no traces. Not only were there no cave dwellings, but there wasn't even an island with a spiritual脉.

Undeterred, Qin Sang instructed his Heavenly Eye Butterfly to continuously use its Heavenly Eye ability to conduct a more thorough search, but the result was the same. The mysterious individuals seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

"Did those people come through a teleportation array? Or is their cave dwelling's concealment formation so powerful that even the Heavenly Eye Butterfly was fooled?"

Qin Sang expanded his search radius, even diving beneath the sea to look for hidden underwater islands, but still found nothing. After such a long time, there were no signs of Black Serpent Mountain activity either.

Reluctantly, Qin Sang decided to temporarily give up. He would wait until the demonic sea returned to normal, then hunt Black Serpent Mountain disciples to avenge himself and gather information. With his mind made up, Qin Sang withdrew from this sea area and returned to Landou Island.

At the market, his external avatar was concentrating on cultivation, making rapid progress and already breaking through to the seventh level of the Qi Refining Stage.

"This is even faster than when I cultivated with Soul Pills back then…" Qin Sang shook his head and got busy with his own affairs. Streaks of radiant light landed throughout the cave dwelling, quickly filling it up, leaving the external avatar to cultivate in a corner.

Qin Sang continuously pointed his fingers, guiding these lights to swiftly arrange a large formation. Then, with a flip of his hand, three jade boxes appeared in his palm. He had finally gathered enough high-grade spirit stones to refine the remaining Profound Iron Pillars into banner poles.

Anticipation gleamed in Qin Sang's eyes. With the banner poles refined, all preparations for forging the Ten Directions Yama Banners would be complete. He just needed to wait for the Seven Kills Hall to open, and he would possess a supreme-grade magical treasure. Moreover, his artifact refining skills would experience a leap forward during the process of refining the banner poles.

The Profound Iron Pillars contained extremely intricate restrictions. Even understanding a small portion of them would be enough to make Qin Sang comparable to renowned artifact refining masters.

The three high-grade spirit stones were lined up. With the spiritual formation complete, Qin Sang added an extra layer of isolation restrictions outside. Then, he took out the Profound Iron Pillars and placed them at the center of the formation, subsequently activating a high-grade spirit stone.

During this second refining, Qin Sang was noticeably more skilled than before, utilizing the spirit stones with greater efficiency. Before long, the Profound Iron Pillars began to 'melt.' Qin Sang's expression tightened, and he flicked out a jade bottle from his fingertip, which contained the essence souls of demonic beasts. Thanks to his earlier improvements in artifact refining, Qin Sang proceeded smoothly, and the refining process went very well. One banner pole gradually took shape. Then came the second, the third…

More and more parts were separated, and the main body of the Profound Iron Pillars became smaller and smaller, until finally, only a small mass remained, which was refined into the last banner pole.

"Condense!" Qin Sang shouted softly. A brilliant light swept over the banner pole, finally solidifying into its final form. Beside him, fourteen banner poles were laid out. With the last one, there were exactly fifteen poles!

Qin Sang's face lit up. He reached out to grasp the banner poles, about to inspect them, when he suddenly heard a crisp sound. He looked and saw that the high-grade spirit stone at the center of the spiritual formation had shattered. The spirit stone's spiritual energy had been completely depleted. As he had anticipated, this was the third high-grade spirit stone used up, barely enough to support him in refining the Profound Iron Pillars.

"Fifteen banner poles are complete…" Qin Sang gathered the banner poles and found that their energies were still connected, as if they were one. This was because during the refining process, he had merely cleverly separated the Profound Iron Pillars without damaging the restrictions within them. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but rather that he couldn't. Even Patriarch Kuixin couldn't do it, having pondered for a century, and only because the Profound Iron Pillars were already broken into two sections did he have a sudden flash of inspiration for this ingenious method.

"It's a pity the other Yama Banners are missing; otherwise, if all the banner poles were gathered, it might be possible to restore the Profound Iron Pillars. Such a treasure isn't something ordinary people can refine. Even Patriarch Kuixin couldn't comprehend the restrictions within it, so it's likely an ancient treasure left by an ancient grand cultivator. If the Profound Iron Pillars could be repaired, who knows how powerful they would be. Crafting the Ten Directions Yama Banners now, even as a supreme-grade magical treasure, still feels like overkill…" Qin Sang murmured to himself.

The Kuixin Sect rumored that Patriarch Kuixin failed during his tribulation, destroying five of the banners. But Qin Sang believed that given the extraordinary origin of the Profound Iron Pillars, the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation wouldn't destroy the banner poles; they were simply lost somewhere. The Kuixin Sect had been annihilated for over a century now.

Before he left, the Little Cold Domain, the Heavenly Alliance, and Sin Abyss were on the verge of war. He wondered what state they were in now. Even if he returned to the Little Cold Domain, the hope of gathering all the banner poles was slim.

"Forget it, I shouldn't let my thoughts wander! A supreme-grade magical treasure is already a luxury that cultivators in this world dare not even dream of. Even if it's not a supreme treasure left by an ancient grand cultivator, but merely a legendary spiritual treasure that surpasses magical treasures, it's still incredibly rare. With my current strength, I wouldn't be able to activate it anyway, only stare at it."

Qin Sang reined in his thoughts. After confirming the banner poles were in order, he carefully stored them away. Then, he settled into meditation, assimilating the insights gained from refining the banner poles. The restrictions within the Profound Iron Pillars were mysterious and vast, giving Qin Sang a profound sense of his own insignificance. This kind of enlightenment couldn't be achieved overnight.

The next day at noon, Qin Sang awakened from his meditation, his eyes filled with a mix of excitement and confusion, having only grasped a shallow layer of understanding. He lowered his head and mused for a moment before stepping out of his cave dwelling.

He had rented a shop in the market, putting up a sign for artifact refining, intending to set up a long-term base here. He could simultaneously temper his body with astral energy and refine artifacts, comprehending the Profound Iron Pillar restrictions, while also making connections with local cultivators to inquire about the Landou Sect. His external avatar could also cultivate in peace, ensuring all aspects progressed without delay.

The small shop opened. Qin Sang hired someone to mind the store, while he himself frequently traveled between the shop and his cave dwelling. Thanks to his exquisite artifact refining skills, even without the Nine Nether Demonic Flames, the artifacts he produced were more powerful than others, and his reputation quickly spread.