Return

Qin Sang had not concealed his aura. The white crane could never have imagined encountering an immortal cultivator in a place like this, especially one who clearly bore ill intentions. Its eyes darted around, and it turned on its heel to flee. *Its intelligence is indeed not low.* Qin Sang nodded in satisfaction. A tricolored escape light flashed around him, easily cutting off the white crane's path. The white crane darted left and right, yet was easily blocked by Qin Sang every time. Unable to break through, the crane flew into a rage. It flapped its wings and attacked Qin Sang. Qin Sang threw a punch, meeting the crane's wing head-on. *Bang!* Qin Sang's figure merely trembled, while the white crane was knocked flying backward, its wings quivering violently and its eyes filled with terror. Feeling a surge of fear, the white crane dared not linger in battle any longer. With a tremor of its wings, it unleashed two blade-like rays of light, then turned into a streak of white light and fled in panic. Qin Sang's figure flickered repeatedly, effortlessly dodging the light blades. This time, he was in no hurry to cut off the white crane. Instead, he pursued at an unhurried pace, summoning his ebony sword and casually slashing out a strike now and then. The chase was sheer sport. Even without deploying the sword wheel, merely slashing at whim was enough to keep the crane scrambling to cope. It finally realized that the immortal cultivator before it possessed unfathomable strength and a speed far surpassing its own; escaping from him was entirely out of the question. If Qin Sang wanted it to fly east, it could not fly west. From anger to despair. In the end, after who knew how far the two had flown, the white crane gave up completely. It folded its wings and plunged into the sea with a splash, floating motionless on the surface. It seemed to have surrendered all resistance, leaving itself entirely at Qin Sang's mercy. "Playing dead?" Qin Sang chuckled inwardly and flew to its side, only to find the crane's eyes clamped shut, giving no reaction whatsoever. This struck Qin Sang as rather strange. He summoned the Primordial Concentric Rings, pointing a finger to send them floating above the crane's head. When he had decided to subdue the white crane, he had emptied the Primordial Concentric Rings. Channeling his true essence, Qin Sang caused the magical treasure to blaze with brilliance. Ring after ring of phantom light surged toward the white crane, causing its body to abruptly stiffen under their binding force. With Qin Sang's cultivation, suppressing the white crane was hardly difficult, though a taming process would normally be unavoidable. To his surprise, when he channeled the treasure to subdue it, he encountered not the slightest resistance. The crane had truly resigned itself to fate, relinquishing all resistance and letting Qin Sang do with it as he pleased. It was the first time Qin Sang had met a demon beast that yielded so cleanly. He had originally intended to use the magic treasure to discipline it a bit, but seeing how cooperative it was, he could hardly follow through. The white crane flipped over, rose to its feet, and reached up with a talon to scratch at the ring around its neck, its eyes darting wildly. "Seeing as you have a bit of cleverness, if you follow me from now on, obey my orders, and do your work diligently, you won't suffer much. It's not impossible that I might let you go in the future..." Qin Sang observed the white crane. The fellow had definitely understood; its spiritual wit was no lower than the two-headed hou's. However, the white crane's nature was far too slick. Unlike the two-headed hou, which would work diligently after having a pie painted in the sky, it would need a few good beatings to keep it in line later. "Lead me to any late Demon Core stage great demons nearby," Qin Sang commanded. The white crane, which had been drooping its head in dejection, suddenly perked up upon hearing this command. As though forgetting its own plight, its eyes gleamed, and with a couple of eager squawks, it could hardly wait to fly back. Seeing the crane's excitement, Qin Sang gave it an odd look. *Did I just take in an idiot?* On second thought, he guessed the crane's petty motive: it wanted to take the opportunity to cause trouble for its romantic rival! That demon island was anything but ordinary; Qin Sang suspected a Transformation stage great demon's lair might lie in its depths. He had no wish to fight on that island and provoke a formidable enemy, so he immediately stopped the crane. The white crane was deeply disappointed. A month later. Feeling it was dangerous to linger for too long, Qin Sang decided to leave these waters. With a sorrowful, aggrieved gaze, the crane looked back at every step, letting out mournful cries as if bidding farewell to its various paramours. ... Dignified with the name of tempering oneself, it was in truth more like wandering. Qin Sang drifted across untold tens of thousands of li in the Demon Sea, experiencing diverse lands and customs. Several times he encountered perilous danger, even alerting Transformation stage great demons who laid traps to ambush him. Fortunately, Qin Sang was alert enough to flee far ahead of time. His gains, however, were exceptionally bountiful. Without realizing it, the ten-year pact was drawing near. On a nameless small island. Qin Sang awakened from his meditation and looked inward. Throughout nearly a decade of tempering, because he had never dared linger in any one place, he had had little time for genuine quiet cultivation aside from drawing down astral essence daily without fail to refine his physical body. Nonetheless, his comprehension of the Slaughter Talisman had deepened by another layer, so catching up in cultivation later would be easy. "The agreed time is almost here, and the Hall of Seven Kills is about to emerge. I wonder how Bai is doing. It's time to head back..." Qin Sang calculated the time and muttered softly to himself. In his ten years in the Demon Sea, the wealth he had amassed was astonishing. Any beast worthy of his personal intervention had been at least a Core Formation stage great demon, and their demon cores and carcasses were of immense value. "I can make a major shopping trip on Tianxing Island..." Qin Sang decided to return to the Canglang Ocean. He took out a toxic alga fruit and fed it to the fat silkworm. Then he brought out a spiritual flower petal he had stumbled upon by chance and watched the Heavenly Eye Butterfly nibble on it bite by bite, his gaze gentle. Both spirit bugs were still at the mid-stage of the third transformation. Despite having eaten so many toxic alga fruits, the fat silkworm showed no sign of a breakthrough, while the Heavenly Eye Butterfly was still far from one as well. Neither would break through before entering the Hall of Seven Kills. Having fed his spirit bugs, Qin Sang walked out of the cave dwelling. Seeing no sign of the white crane, he channeled the Primordial Concentric Rings. Before long, a streak of white light flew over from the distant sea—it was the white crane. The white crane swooped down and landed beside Qin Sang. Looking left and right with high spirits, it shook its feathers, sending a few colorful red plumes drifting out. "Where did you run off to this time?" Qin Sang's face darkened, and he snapped, "If you stir up trouble in the future, don't even think of coming to me to clean up your mess!" At the start, the crane had been rather indolent and undisciplined. After being harshly disciplined a few times, it had become fairly handy to use, yet its habit of philandering remained incurable. The white crane shrank its neck, looking meek and submissive. Moments later, a white light flew off the small island. Qin Sang rode the crane across the Demon Sea, returning to Dahuang Island. After an interval of ten years, Dahuang Island and Tianxing Island remained largely unchanged. Qin Sang approached the major commercial guilds and auction houses to sell off the spiritual materials he had no use for, exchanging them for a large quantity of Fiend Demon Pills and other treasures scarce in the Xiaohan Realm. As a dignified immortal cultivator engaging in this sort of arbitrage and speculation, Qin Sang felt not the least bit embarrassed. Still, he did not waste too much time on such matters, knowing when to stop. Whether he could even return was still unknown. While making his massive purchases, Qin Sang also collected treasures useful to himself, preparing for his entry into the Hall of Seven Kills. After busying himself like this for over a month, he finally finished settling these trivial affairs and left Tianxing Island. Once he departed this time, who knew if there would ever be a chance to return? Qin Sang halted and looked back at Tianxing Island, sinking into deep thought. "The Wang sisters, the two-headed hou, Yuan Zhu..." Qin Sang tallied them up and realized that the people and matters worth remembering here were truly few. He had already bid farewell to the Wang sisters and Yuan Zhu, while the two-headed hou's whereabouts remained unknown. He only pitied Yagu. Even if she awakened, it would be difficult for her ever to return to her homeland.