Chapter 1193: Jinhen Mountain
Chapter 1193: Jinhen Mountain
Qin Sang had long been familiar with Che Yutao. Back when he had been in Shaohua Mountain, Che Yutao had already been a Golden Core cultivator.
Many years earlier, Che Yutao had reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm. It was said that among Shaohua Mountain’s generation of cultivators, he had possessed the greatest hope of advancing to the Spiritual Infant Realm.
Qiu Mubai had been the disciple most valued by Dongyang Bo, and he had already broken through to the late stage of the Golden Core Realm.
Mu Yifeng, by contrast, remained only at the middle stage. Yet aside from Mu Yifeng, the others were all exceptionally talented.
Dongyang Bo had clearly been protecting his gifted disciples, hoping that one of them might advance to the Spiritual Infant realm and continue the Dao Lineage, lest they fall on the battlefield.
That matched Qingzhu’s evaluation of him quite well.
Once Qin Sang confirmed that Mu Yifeng was safe, he felt relieved and no longer needed to rush to meet him.
As a disciple of Shaohua Mountain, Mu Yifeng would surely not lack medicinal pill support. At most, Qin Sang could give him a few protective treasures and share some of his own insights from forming the Spiritual Infant Realm, offering him an additional reference.
As for cultivation arts and secret techniques, most of what Qin Sang practiced followed obscure paths and relied entirely on the Jade Buddha. Others simply could not cultivate them.
***
Inside the tall building, Qin Sang had been meditating in seclusion for many days. At last, the seventh sword soul showed signs of merging into his primordial spirit!
Another three days passed without any disturbances.
Suddenly, Qin Sang’s eyes snapped open. His gaze flashed like lightning, and faint sword shadows seemed to flicker within his pupils.
He then pointed a finger into the empty air before him.
Whoosh! The Golden Sinking Sword shot forth and abruptly halted in the center of the quiet chamber.
Blinding golden light flooded the entire room. Then it suddenly dimmed, and the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array silently manifested.
In an instant, the chamber became dim and unfathomable.
Previously, whenever Qin Sang had deployed a sword array, each strand of sword light had shone brightly and clearly.
But inside the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array, every sword shadow appeared strangely illusory, flickering between presence and absence. Even the outline of the sword array was difficult to discern, yet the entire array felt dark, profound, and mysterious.
In future battles, it will not be so easy for opponents to find a flaw. Qin Sang thought with a slight nod.
But the surprises did not end there.
He changed the sword seal, and the sword array immediately produced endless variations, growing even more mysterious. As each beam of sword light slashed outward, it carried a strange aura he had never encountered before.
After sensing it briefly, Qin Sang’s eyes shone with excitement. "No wonder it is called the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array! It can actually injure an opponent’s primordial spirit. Once I attain sufficient mastery of this array, I might even use the power of the sword array to trap an enemy’s Spiritual Infant as well. The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells can also muddle an opponent’s consciousness, but the devilish flames are not truly mine. I have never completely subdued or controlled them. Using them through the devilish banners inevitably limits their effectiveness. They work well against low-level cultivators, but against determined Spiritual Infant cultivators their effect is minimal."
Spiritual Infant cultivators were extremely difficult to kill. Even if they were defeated, at worst their Spiritual Infants could escape the body and flee.
Only when the difference in strength was overwhelming would they lose even the chance for their Spiritual Infants to escape.
Because of this, when Spiritual Infant cultivators lacked the confidence to keep an opponent’s Spiritual Infant from escaping, they usually avoided creating a mortal enemy. Disputes were more often resolved through wagers, exchanges, or similar methods.
"Mhmm! Although the Seven-Yin-Soul Killing Array is formidable, displaying its full power will require me to continue improving in the Sword Dao. It also depends on my cultivation level and the grade of my spiritual swords." Qin Sang carefully sensed the array and its many transformations, hoping to master it as soon as possible.
After a while, he withdrew the sword array and summoned the ebony sword.
The ebony sword had been nourished within his primordial spirit all this time, devouring the Soul-Nourishing Wood.
The devouring had not yet finished, and the spiritual sword still remained in its embryonic form.
Just as he was about to examine how much longer the process would take, he suddenly felt the barrier of the chamber being touched. Sweeping his spiritual consciousness outward, he discovered that the fat chicken and Tan Yi’en had returned.
"I thought Sin Abyss captured you two!" Qin Sang snorted as he pushed open the door and looked at them.
Those two had gone out to search for someone, yet they had been gone for so long and only now returned.
The fat chicken grinned mischievously and hurried forward to claim credit. "Master, when Sin Abyss first launched its attack, we nearly got caught up in it. Fortunately, I was quick-witted. Seeing the situation turn bad, I immediately took this brat and hid. Otherwise we might never have seen you again! Along the way, I even heard about your glorious feat of slaying a Spiritual Infant cultivator in battle. Your martial arts are unmatched beneath heaven, Master. You will surely unify the Small Cold Domain! No, unify the entire Beichen Realm and the demon race as well!"
Qin Sang ignored the fat chicken’s rambling and looked instead at Tan Yi’en.
Tan Yi’en behaved far more properly. "Senior Uncle, I actually found two of my father’s old acquaintances quite quickly. However, the information we obtained from them pointed to another person. After discussing it with the senior here, we decided not to disturb you yet. We planned to locate that person first and confirm the information before returning to report to you."
Qin Sang felt quite satisfied upon hearing this. Tan Yi'en was clever enough and handled matters efficiently.
"That person is also a Golden Core senior surnamed Tong. Senior Tong is not a cultivator from the Two-Domain Alliance. He came from a desert oasis. After his home was attacked by Sin Abyss, he was forced to lead his relatives and friends to Tianxing Alliance. After quite a few twists and turns, we finally met him in person. From him we learned some news related to my father. However, we cannot judge whether it is true or false. Senior Tong also wishes to report to you personally. He is currently waiting outside the great array..." Tan Yi’en explained.
Qin Sang nodded. He already understood the man’s intentions. "This matter is no secret. Go bring him in. Tell him that as long as the information is valuable, I will not be stingy with rewards."
"Yes!" Tan Yi’en withdrew and soon returned, leading in a middle-aged cultivator dressed in Daoist hat and robes.
"I, Tong Jinshan, pay respects to you!" Facing a renowned great demon, Tong Jinshan could not help feeling somewhat fearful. Fortunately, he was also a Golden Core cultivator and did not behave too poorly.
"What relationship do you have with Tan Hao? Do you know where he went?" Qin Sang wasted no time and went straight to the point.
"My home was destroyed by Sin Abyss, and I hate them to the bone. On the battlefield I once fought side by side with Daoist Tan against the enemy, sharing life and death. Daoist Tan was a man of great loyalty and righteousness, and I once received his help."
Tong Jinshan hesitated slightly and glanced at Tan Yi’en beside him. "If someone else were asking about Daoist Tan, I would never reveal this easily. But since it is Yi’en searching for his father, I believe you would not intend him harm. Moreover, Daoist Tan ventured deep into Sin Abyss and never returned. He has been missing for a hundred years. I too have been very worried..."
"So he really went to Sin Abyss!" Qin Sang’s gaze sharpened.
Tong Jinshan continued without holding anything back. "We once joined forces to kill a Golden Core cultivator from Sin Abyss. That man was a corpse-refinement evil cultivator. However, his refined corpse was quite unusual. His strongest flying yaksha did not contain yin qi, but Earth Malevolent Qi instead. For some reason, when Daoist Tan saw that man, it was as if he had encountered a mortal enemy. He even offered up his entire fortune to hire us to assist him. He insisted that we must capture that man. Unfortunately, the man was extremely powerful and had the flying yaksha assisting him. The battlefield was chaotic, and he nearly escaped, so we had no choice but to kill him. Later, from the other captives we learned that the man had been a rogue cultivator who had previously been active near Jinhen Mountain, a major sect of Sin Abyss..."