Secluded Cultivation

Having succeeded in their goal, the two immediately moved far away from the corpse king's lair. They made their way smoothly out of the Immortal Graves, crossed Corpse Vulture Mountain, and arrived at the palace complex at the entrance of Ziwei Palace. Near the entrance, Qin Sang found a secluded courtyard and quietly waited for the immortal array to grind to a halt. Before long, a succession of whistling whooshes echoed from deep within the palaces. Startled, Qin Sang leaned out to look back, only to discover with surprise that a large group of cultivators was traveling together. These cultivators made no attempt to conceal their auras, and among them were several Nascent Soul Patriarchs! *These Nascent Soul Patriarchs are actually traveling together inside Ziwei Palace?* Surprised, Qin Sang recalled the standoff outside the Demon Cave and realized that an unforeseen shift had likely occurred in the cultivation world. The cultivators headed straight for the entrance of Ziwei Palace. Fortunately, the expanse of palaces was vast, and Qin Sang stayed low in his corner, unconcerned about running into past enemies. He carefully drew back, reined in his aura, and waited in silence. Afterward, other cultivators trickled in, gathering in scattered groups. At last, the ripples across the sea of clouds of the immortal array showed signs of waning until the sea froze still. The entire Ziwei Palace began to shudder, about to sink back into the depths of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. In an instant, streaks of escape light shot into the sky. Qin Sang was not one to lag behind. He stimulated his magic treasure to shield himself and plunged into the sea of clouds. The dangers he had encountered when entering Ziwei Palace were still vivid in his mind. Leaving, however, was far safer. Qin Sang passed smoothly through the immortal array and finally returned to the familiar Ancient Immortal Battlefield! The spiritual tide had not completely receded yet, leaving the Ancient Immortal Battlefield in complete chaos. Ziwei Palace was situated deep within the battlefield, its peril no less severe than the storm belt surrounding the two great sea realms. Qin Sang landed on the ground, his feet sinking into the desert sand. He glanced back at the swirling storm vortex, unwilling to interact with anyone here, and promptly took his leave. Before flying out of Ziwei Palace, he had already brought out the Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros Horn. Even in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, this treasure could still guide his way, leaving him with no fear of becoming lost. No one paid any mind to Qin Sang departing on his own. With the spiritual tide no longer as fierce as before, Qin Sang dodged and shifted, flying smoothly out of the desert. Soon after, spatial rifts began appearing in the void, unsettling to behold. Qin Sang awakened the Heavenly Eye Butterfly and, using its Heavenly Eye divine ability, sped off toward Seven Heroes Pass. Traveling alone through the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, he altered his pace as needed, frequently detouring to evade danger. After two days of this, he finally noticed the spatial rifts thinning out, and the fury of the spiritual tide was waning day by day. Just then, he unexpectedly discovered an anomaly emerging deep within the mountains ahead—flickering seven-colored light that closely resembled the omen of an emerging secret realm. The Nascent Soul Patriarchs were undoubtedly much faster than him, but because he had deliberately taken circuitous paths, no one should have discovered this strange sight before him. Qin Sang crossed mountains and ridges, arriving at a barren, rocky mountain. The strange light was seeping out from the rock fissures inside the mountain. Qin Sang investigated briefly, and sure enough, this cluster of wondrous light was the manifestation of a secret realm restriction. Triggered by the spiritual tide, a flaw had opened, exposing it to the world. However, rather than a secret realm, it was more like an immortal's cave dwelling, heavy with the stench of decay. After an investigation turned up no treasures, Qin Sang cast an incantation to clean up the cave dwelling, repaired the restrictions to conceal the anomaly, and decided to enter secluded cultivation here for a time. Ever since entering the Hall of Seven Kills, he had faced unending turmoil and weathered multiple crises without a single moment of respite. He needed to thoroughly sort through everything he had experienced. Furthermore, various signs indicated that major upheaval had struck the cultivation world here. He had to consider carefully what to do and how to proceed once he returned. Bai slipped out of the corpse puppet bag. Qin Sang asked, "Have you figured out anything about the corpse soul pearl?" With a flip of his hand, a round pearl appeared in Bai's palm—the corpse king's corpse soul pearl. After Qin Sang had helped Bai severely wound the corpse king, Bai had attempted to subdue the creature to no avail, ultimately leaving him no choice but to slay it and take its corpse soul pearl. The corpse soul pearl was formed after a refined corpse achieved the corpse king realm and its soul fused into the corpse core, undergoing a final transformation—analogous to a cultivator's condensed Nascent Soul. Its surface gleamed in a dark, alluring green-black, with subtle runes surfacing from time to time—restrictions Bai had placed upon it. Inside the pearl, condensed corpse qi drifted like churning clouds. Occasionally, a grotesque, hideous face formed within, straining to break free as it silently roared at the two of them. Corpse soul pearls were exceedingly rare in the world. Neither Qin Sang nor Bai knew how to refine such a pearl. Bai gently shook his head and said with hesitation, "The Heavenly Corpse Talisman actually fused into the corpse soul pearl along with its soul. I don't dare act rashly; I'm afraid this isn't something that can be accomplished overnight. However, if I can refine this corpse soul pearl, even if I cannot decipher the mysteries of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, I should still have a chance to break through to the corpse king realm..." Qin Sang was pleased to hear this. "Then it wasn't all for nothing! Once we return and you achieve the corpse king realm, we can join hands to search for the Heavenly Corpse Sect ruins. We're bound to uncover something." Bai chose a stone chamber to cultivate in seclusion. Qin Sang sealed the restrictions, and the cave dwelling plunged into complete silence. Inside the cave dwelling, Qin Sang extended his divine sense into the Qianjun Ring, examining his spoils one by one. The Nine-Life Black Tortoise shell was temporarily lent to Bai as a shield. Qin Sang felt that simply refining the shell into a purely defensive treasure would be a waste of a divine gift. Because the shell contained profoundly pure power of profound water, an idea had begun to form in his mind. He would need to wait until he achieved Nascent Soul and studied the craft of artifact refining further to determine whether it was feasible. Four items appeared before him: the translucent lotus seed, the Killing Sword fragment, and two jade slips. The Killing Sword fragment was unchanged from two days ago, and there was no telling how long it would take for the sword spirit to awaken. Qin Sang inspected it briefly and put it away. Next, his gaze fell upon the translucent lotus seed. The lotus seed contained *Fire Seeds of the Golden Lotus*. Qin Sang's decision to enter secluded cultivation here was largely due to this treasure. He had hastily condensed the fire seed without taking the time to carefully contemplate *Fire Seeds of the Golden Lotus* or rely on the lotus seed, and he worried whether this might have left any hidden dangers. Picking up the translucent lotus seed, Qin Sang channeled his divine sense, contemplating the secret technique while simultaneously erasing Old Devil Mou's imprint. Time lost all meaning inside the cave dwelling. A full two months passed. Qin Sang awoke from his meditative state. After staring at the lotus seed for a moment, he did not absorb it into his body, but instead placed it back into the Qianjun Ring. During this time, he had comprehended *Fire Seeds of the Golden Lotus* and thoroughly examined the lotus seed. In the end, he confirmed that the lotus seed truly served only two purposes: first, to record the secret technique, and second, to serve as an aid at the start of cultivation to prevent the cultivator from consuming themselves in flames. Beyond that, it had no other use. He could now sense that once he condensed the fire lotus seed to a certain level after some more time, he would reach his limit; refining any more Nine Nether Demonic Fire into his body would be unsustainable. Neither the jade Buddha nor the lotus seed could help him with this; it was simply a matter of his own cultivation being insufficient. Evidently, *Fire Seeds of the Golden Lotus* was not meant for cultivators in the Core Formation stage. To progress any further, one had to reach the Nascent Soul stage first. At its current level, the fire lotus seed lacked sufficient power, and its boost to divine sense was negligible. For now, *Fire Seeds of the Golden Lotus* could only serve as an auxiliary secret technique for commanding the demonic banners.