Qin Sang found nothing out of the ordinary near the Yuanshen Sect.
He had half-expected Dongyang Bo to leave behind some traps or arrangements in the vicinity, so discovering that he had overthought things left him feeling somewhat disappointed.
"Brother Bai, the spiritual energy inside the Yuanshen Sect is abundant, and it is far safer here than anywhere else. You should cultivate in seclusion here from now on. If you need anything, just issue orders to the Yuanshen Sect disciples in my name."
Qin Sang entered Leng Yuntian's former cave dwelling and set aside a quiet chamber for Bai.
Bai nodded. "I only need to concentrate on refining the Corpse Soul Pearl, so I won't be needing anything else."
"Then I shall await your good news, Brother Bai!"
Qin Sang watched as Bai walked into the cave dwelling.
There was no telling how many years Bai's seclusion would take, but fortunately, Qin Sang was no longer the man he once was and did not strictly lack such an assistant.
Just then, something suddenly crossed Qin Sang's mind, and he hastily called out, "Brother Bai, when breaking through to corpse king, you must be extremely careful when facing your tribulation! If you sense the opportunity for a breakthrough, you had best inform me in advance so I can protect you while you advance."
Qin Sang gave the reminder in a grave voice.
Both he and Yunyouzi had suffered anomalies during their heavenly tribulations.
Bai's circumstances differed from both of theirs, yet shared certain similarities. There was no telling whether his heavenly tribulation would also undergo some unforeseen change.
***
Inside the sealed cave dwelling.
Qin Sang sat cross-legged, still feeling a lingering dread as he looked back on the process of forming his Nascent Soul and undergoing the tribulation.
Forming the soul itself had gone relatively well.
He had made so many preparations that while the process was somewhat slow, it had progressed rather smoothly; only the step of shattering the core had been fraught with extreme peril.
His true essence had reversed course, nearly tearing his sea of qi and meridians apart in a raging tempest of chaotic energy, causing unbearable agony throughout his entire body. Fortunately, Qin Sang had long grown accustomed to such pain. Through sheer willpower and single-minded focus, he had stabilized his cultivation and condensed his Nascent Soul!
The heavenly tribulation that immediately followed had truly taught Qin Sang the meaning of heaven's inscrutable might.
Even with his strength, it had been an ordeal of immense difficulty—and that was with the inner demon tribulation bypassed entirely. Anyone else would likely have been reduced to flying ash.
"Nascent Soul emergence!"
Unable to contain his eagerness, Qin Sang channeled his energy, and a flash of spiritual light erupted from the crown of his head.
His Nascent Soul left his physical body.
In size, the Nascent Soul was even smaller than the shrunk-down Heavenly Eye Butterfly, tiny and delicate. It bore the exact same appearance as Qin Sang, its eyes vivid and alert. Levitating in the air before him, it gazed upon his physical body with a face full of smiles.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly emerged as well, appearing even more excited than the Nascent Soul as it fluttered and danced around it.
Delighted, the Nascent Soul began to frolic with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.
Next, the Nascent Soul opened its small mouth, releasing a slender streak of flowing light that revealed the blade of the ebony sword.
Filled with playful zest, the Nascent Soul directed the ebony sword to dart about everywhere while the Heavenly Eye Butterfly pursued it from behind. For a time, dazzling rays of light flashed within the quiet chamber, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.
After a while, a hint of weariness showed on the Nascent Soul's face. It recalled the spiritual sword and returned to Qin Sang's physical body.
The next instant, Qin Sang opened his eyes, the excitement in them impossible to conceal, accompanied by a host of novel sensations and realizations.
Though he could project his consciousness onto it and have his Nascent Soul emerge after shattering the core, controlling the Nascent Soul still felt somewhat strenuous and unrefined.
He would likely have to wait until his cultivation stabilized and his Nascent Soul was firmly consolidated before he could operate it with fluid ease. Only then would he be able to smoothly perform the nascent soul teleportation.
Even so, Qin Sang was overjoyed.
The Nascent Soul was like a newborn babe, pure and unblemished. Comprehending the Great Dao in this state was far easier than it had ever been before.
"Combined with the enhancement of the killing talisman, my cultivation speed is already exceptionally fast. Still, I cannot afford to be careless. Every minor bottleneck in the future will have to be crossed relying on my own abilities. Those hurdles will likely be no easier for me than the ones before; otherwise, great cultivators would not be so rare..."
Qin Sang let out a self-deprecating laugh. Thinking about the late Nascent Soul stage right now was truly premature.
What he needed to do now was cultivate step by step.
At that thought, Qin Sang suddenly summoned the killing sword fragment. Gazing at the shard, his expression shifted with fluctuating thoughts.
The instant he had formed his Nascent Soul, a faint, unfamiliar consciousness had suddenly transmitted from within the killing sword fragment. Because it had happened at a critical juncture, Qin Sang had nearly overlooked it.
Without a doubt, this consciousness had come from none other than the killing sword fragment's sword spirit.
The message instructed him to continue seeking the other killing sword fragments.
Whenever he came near another fragment, the sword spirit would give him a warning.
Qin Sang had attempted to test the shard countless times before, but the sword spirit had never shown any reaction. Presumably, his cultivation had been too low in the past; only at the moment his Nascent Soul formed had the violent spiritual fluctuations awakened the sword spirit enough to transmit a message.
However, that fleeting consciousness had faded in a flash, and the sword spirit had fallen back into slumber.
After a moment's hesitation, Qin Sang probed into the fragment with his divine sense. Yet after an exhaustive search, it was still like dropping a stone into the ocean, yielding no response.
From this, it was clear that the sword spirit remained extremely frail, unable to stay awake for extended periods.
A look of hesitation flickered in Qin Sang's eyes.
Qingzhu's earlier warning still rang in his ears—how the sword spirit had taken control of his body while he was unconscious. It was impossible for Qin Sang not to harbor suspicions.
There was no way to determine whether the sword spirit was benevolent or malevolent.
Still, he had sensed no hostility in that faint consciousness.
For a killing sword to birth a sword spirit proved it was an extraordinary treasure of supreme caliber; the temptation was simply too great. More importantly, every killing sword fragment could be paired with a remnant portion of the cultivation technique.
He had never expected the sword spirit to bring such a monumental surprise.
Though reaching the Soul Formation stage remained a distant prospect, preparing the cultivation technique well in advance was certainly wise.
"The Ziwei Palace, the Hall of Seven Kills... I wonder if there are other fragments surviving within them. In the future, I might even need to leave the Beichen Realm to explore the other three realms,"
Qin Sang mused.
Because of the sword spirit's transmission, his future plans would have to be restructured.
He could not stay sequestered in the Xiaohan Realm forever; he would have to scour the world for the killing sword fragments. Once the Qingyang Temple was established, he would need to find a dependable person as soon as possible to watch over both the temple and the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea.
He only hoped Li Yufu would not let him down.
As for the sword spirit turning against him, Qin Sang felt there was no need to worry for now.
By the time the sword spirit truly awoke, his cultivation would surely be vastly superior to what it was today, and he might well possess the means to subdue it by then. Moreover, it was entirely possible that the sword spirit had already acknowledged him as its master.
After pondering for a while, Qin Sang put away the killing sword fragment and looked at the Heavenly Eye Butterfly resting on his shoulder.
During the tribulation, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had helped him resist the lightning strikes while slowly devouring the scattered threads of tribulation lightning. For now, however, it showed no noticeable changes.
"How can I help the Heavenly Eye Butterfly continue to grow and truly master the ability to devour tribulation lightning?"
Qin Sang found himself in a dilemma, having no clue how to foster the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's further development. He wondered if the Yuling Sect held any treasured ancient records on the subject, hoping to find an opportunity to examine them for reference.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly nuzzled affectionately against Qin Sang for a moment before slipping back into his sea of qi.
Next, Qin Sang began sorting through the tasks he needed to address after attaining the Nascent Soul stage.
First and foremost was cultivating the eighth layer of the Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter.
During this cultivation, he would need to project the killing talisman from the ebony sword onto the seven sword souls, gradually fusing those sword souls with his seven po-souls.
Throughout this process, the state of the ebony sword would not interfere with his cultivation.
Qin Sang therefore retrieved the other half of the Soul-Nurturing Wood, deciding to refine it as soon as possible to upgrade the ebony sword.
Chapter 1156