Earth Fiend Yin Vein

"Fellow Daoist Hong isn't in his cave dwelling, nor did he leave a message for any of his friends. Fellow Daoist Liu and I forced our way inside, only to find it has lacked any signs of life for a long time. Either Fellow Daoist Hong left in a hurry over some urgent matter, or he met with an accident out there." Two rogue cultivators close to Hong Shan had hurried back to Dianyun Mountain, speaking with exhaustion etched across their faces. Both were fraught with worry. They were close friends with Hong Shan. Since the last gathering, neither had seen him again, assuming he had gained some insight and was cultivating in seclusion. Only now, when he failed to appear even at their regular gathering, did they realize he had gone missing. Sun De frowned and looked around, asking, "After the last gathering, did any of you speak with Fellow Daoist Hong?" Everyone shook their heads one after another. Just then, Qin Sang arrived aboard the Sky-Soaring Shuttle. As he brought his light down, Sun De's eyes lit up. He stood up eagerly and asked in rapid succession, "Junior Brother Qin, when you saw Fellow Daoist Hong at Dichen Cave last time, did you hear him say where he was going afterward?" As Qin Sang landed before the crowd, he sensed that the gazes around him were somewhat off, and his brow furrowed slightly. Listening patiently until Sun De finished speaking, Qin Sang immediately understood the crux of the matter. After all, they had only shared drinks once and had no real friendship. Even if they had, murdering others for their treasures was commonplace in the cultivation world. Having done nothing of the sort, Qin Sang was entirely at ease. He said to Sun De, "Fellow Daoist Hong said he wanted to temper a magic tool with yin baleful qi, and I even sent a flying talisman over to confirm it with you, Senior Brother Sun. After you confirmed it, I returned to my cave dwelling to cultivate. During my subsequent patrols of Dichen Cave, I never saw Fellow Daoist Hong again. Has he gone missing?" Sun De said with vexation, "No one has seen Fellow Daoist Hong since then. Could it be..." ... Over a dozen beams of light landed before Dichen Cave. After listening to Qin Sang point out several vital restrictions, the group split up around the fissure Hong Shan had used to enter and began searching Dichen Cave. As Qin Sang frequently patrolled the uppermost layer, they unsurprisingly found no trace of Hong Shan there. The other rogue cultivators had modest cultivation and could not remain in the yin baleful qi for long, so only Qin Sang and Sun De ventured deep into Dichen Cave. Since an incident had occurred on his turf, Qin Sang could not stand aside either. He searched alongside him. Before long, Sun De suddenly pointed toward a fissure and shouted, "Over here!" Qin Sang darted over. Seeing the scene before his eyes, he sighed softly. The fissure was very secluded, its entrance extremely narrow. Beyond the entrance, it gradually widened, and at its broadest section, a flat stone platform jutted out. Several formation flags were planted on the platform, presumably meant to ward off the erosion of yin baleful qi. On the ground in the middle of the formation flags, Hong Shan sat cross-legged, utterly motionless. His entire body was stiff, his face mottled with a dark bluish-black, devoid of even the slightest breath of life. Resting across his hands was a magic tool resembling an ice blade, glinting with specks of cold light, with a wisp of yin baleful qi lingering upon it. Sun De kicked aside a formation flag and walked up to Hong Shan. After examining him, he shook his head. "The yin baleful qi invaded his body; the man has practically turned into a block of ice. I warned Fellow Daoist Hong long ago that using yin baleful qi to refine magic tools is no orthodox path. It's exceptionally dangerous, and the slightest carelessness will rebound upon oneself, yet he paid no heed. Meeting such a disaster now truly warrants a sigh... Junior Brother Qin, gather Fellow Daoist Hong's relics, and I'll bring his remains up so he can be laid to rest in peace." The two flew up supporting Hong Shan's corpse. Hearing the full story, the crowd fell completely silent. Sun De handed Hong Shan's ice-blade magic tool, formation flags, and mustard seed bag to his good friend, saying, "Fellow Daoist Bai, I recall Fellow Daoist Hong still has descendants. These are all of his relics; keep them for his kin. Whenever you lay Fellow Daoist Hong to rest, let me know, and I will certainly come pay my respects." With this grim news, no one was in the mood to gather anymore, and they dispersed in twos and threes. Watching everyone depart, Qin Sang felt somewhat uncertain and turned to ask Sun De, "Senior Brother Sun, should we report this matter to the sect?" Sun De said, "Use your own judgment, Junior Brother Qin. Mentioning it or not doesn't really matter; no one cares anyway. The Senior Brother Wang who guarded Dichen Cave before you went missing suddenly as well. His fate was even worse than Fellow Daoist Hong's—not even his corpse was found, and it was suspected he might have fallen into Dichen Cave. The sect dispatched a martial uncle, who took one look and didn't bother further. Fellow Daoist Hong was merely a rogue cultivator; who would care?" Hearing this, Qin Sang asked in surprise, "That martial uncle didn't enter the depths of Dichen Cave to search?" "How could he possibly find anything?" Sun De shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. "Beneath Dichen Cave lies an Earth Fiend yin vein. The yin baleful qi above is merely a surface phenomenon—yin qi condensed from countless living beings swallowed by the Earth Fiend. Compared to the earth fiend qi itself, the difference is like night and day. It is said that when a Core Formation grandmaster of our sect personally took action, even he dared not delve too deep into the Earth Fiend yin vein and settled for sealing it from the outside with restrictions. That martial uncle dared enter even less. The Earth Fiend yin vein is fathomless and unpredictable; who knows what bizarre horrors lurk within? Junior Brother Qin, you must be careful as well." After Sun De left, Qin Sang grew thoughtful. No wonder even the magic tools on him could not stave off the freezing cold of Dichen Cave. It was said that earth fiend qi was the most yin and baleful energy in the world, and Dichen Cave actually housed an entire Earth Fiend yin vein. With this in mind, Qin Sang did not dare head toward the depths of Dichen Cave either. He stayed obediently on the uppermost layer; at any rate, the yin baleful qi was exceedingly abundant, more than enough for his cultivation. Patrolling the cave, cultivating, and in his occasional leisure time, returning to Shaohua Mountain to listen to martial uncles lecture on the Dao, or attending gatherings on Dianyun Mountain. Cultivating free of distractions made Qin Sang inadvertently recall his time at the Kuiyin Sect. He wondered what circumstances the Tan brothers and Senior Sister Shi Hong were in now—whether they were fleeing alongside the Kuiyin Sect remnants, or had once again been reduced to rogue cultivators. After enduring so much, it was hard for Qin Sang to truly open his heart to others. Even with Sun De, despite attending so many gatherings together, Qin Sang always felt a wall between them. After confirming which sword-control art his technique had been derived from, he had gone to Pagoda Peak to exchange for the authentic sword formula. The art contained exquisite methods of sword nurturing and sword control that could greatly boost one's combat power, and most Shaohua Mountain disciples chose to cultivate it. This sword art had three levels in total. The first level was sword nurturing and sword control. Having comprehended sword qi, Qin Sang was now considered to be at the second level. Many disciples of Shaohua Mountain lacked quality spirit swords capable of withstanding the might of sword qi and were stuck at this step. The third level was transforming sword qi into a rainbow, enabling sword flight, which required breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage to perform at will. The Song family ancestor's comprehension had contained many superfluous touches. Sorting through it from scratch in accordance with the authentic version and weeding out the extraneous to keep the essence, Qin Sang felt his mind's connection with the ebony sword grow a few degrees closer, and a hint of delight surfaced on his face. Once he broke through to the tenth layer, he would no longer need to keep spirit stones ready at all times to absorb spiritual energy; with a mere thought, he could command the spirit sword to slay foes. Only then could one truly be called a sword cultivator!