Lifeless Demonic Seal

Qin Sang had tried studying it himself, but had made no headway. Both the restrictions on the magic treasure itself and the runes of the spirit array were unlike anything he had ever seen before. Meanwhile, Bai was entirely focused on refining the Corpse Soul Bead, and there was no telling how long it would take him to advance. He had no time to spare for restoring the Demon Binding Rope. Qingjun took the Demon Binding Rope and the jade slip containing the rubbing of the spirit array. After examining them, she fell silent for a long time, quietly pondering and contemplating the diagram of the spirit array. "In the ancient forbidden grounds of Ziwei Palace, I obtained the remnant volume of an ancient scripture," she said. "Some of the runes inside bear a striking resemblance to this spirit array. I have been studying that ancient scripture all along and have already gained quite a few insights. The runes in this rubbing are clearly legible. Given some time, I might be able to restore the spirit array with it." Qin Sang was delighted to hear this and said without hesitation, "Senior Sister, take it, then. I hope you will be able to comprehend it thoroughly soon." Qin Sang did not care whether the Demon Binding Rope was in his hands or hers. In his possession, it was no different from having nothing at all, and waiting for Bai to advance might take who knew how many years. Furthermore, such a treasure could only be used against ancient demons, making its utility quite narrow. At present, the greatest threat came from the potential ancient demon behind Sin Abyss. Countering ancient demons was a shared goal between him and Senior Sister Qingjun, so it made no difference who wielded it. Besides, her cultivation was higher than his; in her hands, it could be put to far greater use. Moreover, she had just given him the banner poles. The Demon Sealing Stakes shared the same origin as the Demon Binding Rope, but their restrictions were far denser and more complex, clearly of a higher grade than the rope. Once she restored the spirit array for the Demon Binding Rope, he could use it as a reference to research the spirit array meant for the Demon Sealing Stakes. Later on, once Qin Sang refined all of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire and found a way to repair the Demon Sealing Stakes, he would also possess a similar treasure—and an even more powerful one at that. This was truly killing two birds with one stone. "You certainly are generous." Qingjun glanced up, but did not decline. After all, being able to repair the Demon Binding Rope was beneficial to both of them. After a moment's thought, Qingjun produced a jade slip and tossed it to Qin Sang. "You're trading a nearly intact Demon Binding Rope for a few broken banners? Inside this is a secret technique for breaking through bottlenecks, called the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*." Qin Sang hurriedly caught the jade slip. He understood Senior Sister Qingjun's character. As she had said before, she pursued the immortal path and acted purely according to her own heart, viewing all others as mere passing travelers in the mortal world. Such words sounded carefree, but truly living up to them was no easy feat. In dealing with people and affairs, only by settling all karma and keeping a clear conscience could one remain unburdened. How many in the entire cultivation world were truly unburdened? Qin Sang knew he could not achieve such detachment himself. Between the two of them, because of Senior Qingzhu, they were closer than with ordinary acquaintances, but not to the extent of sharing everything without reservation. Furthermore, the contents of the jade slip gave Qin Sang no reason to refuse. Secret techniques capable of aiding in breaking through bottlenecks were exceptionally precious. "A bottleneck-breaking secret technique? Is it useful even for Nascent Soul cultivators?" Qin Sang was pleasantly surprised and was eager to send his divine sense inside to inspect it. Qingjun added, "Don't be in such a rush. Let me warn you first: anyone below the Soul Transformation stage can cultivate the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*, but the seal can only be used once in a lifetime. The hidden dangers of the *Lifeless Demonic Seal* are immense, and it can easily be exploited by others—even for Nascent Soul cultivators. Whoever created this sinister art was practically deranged. Unless forced by absolute necessity, remember never to cultivate it; it is enough to use it merely for reference. In a momentary lapse of judgment, I sought to use the *Lifeless Demonic Seal* to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, only to be plagued by the art's backlash for several centuries, nearly suffering utter destruction. It was only recently that I finally resolved the issue..." Qin Sang's heart chilled. With Senior Sister Qingjun's exceptional talent, it had still taken her centuries to resolve it—one could well imagine how terrible the hidden dangers of this sinister art were. He dared not act rashly. Carefully putting the jade slip away, he listened to Senior Sister Qingjun explain the sinister technique. Afterward, they discussed a few other minor matters. Eager to comprehend the Demon Binding Rope, Qingjun did not stay long before taking her leave. Qin Sang closed the doors of the side hall, took out the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*, and examined it closely. Before long, Qin Sang withdrew his divine sense, lost in thought. Senior Sister Qingjun's earlier words had not been an exaggeration. The hidden dangers of the *Lifeless Demonic Seal* were terrifying, and the cultivation process was downright horrifying; the person who created this sinister art had undoubtedly been a lunatic. The process of cultivating the art was the process of condensing the Lifeless Demonic Seal. Upon attempting a breakthrough, the demonic seal would fully form, at which point the cultivator would shatter it themselves, using the force of the shattered seal to forcibly batter down the bottleneck. What was chilling was that this so-called Lifeless Demonic Seal was actually forged from one's own heart demon! To cultivate the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*, one had to meditate day and night on their obsession, nourishing the heart demon and allowing it to steadily grow. During this process, if one suffered a backlash from the heart demon through the slightest carelessness, their mind and soul would be entirely obliterated! The danger involved went without saying. Anyone who saw this sinister technique would feel a chill run down their spine. Heart demons were among the things cultivators feared most; everyone tried every possible means to prevent heart demons from arising. Yet someone had dared to do the exact opposite—nourishing a heart demon and refining it into a demonic seal! What was even more terrifying was that successfully suppressing the heart demon's backlash was still not enough to form the Lifeless Demonic Seal. If the cultivator wished to successfully condense the Lifeless Demonic Seal, they had to fulfill their obsession. And how could an obsession be so easily fulfilled? If it remained unfulfilled, the heart demon was bound to lose control! Qin Sang finally understood why Senior Sister Qingjun had acted so strangely in the past. Her birth father had vanished, and her birth mother had died in grief and depression. From the very start of her cultivation journey, she had shouldered a blood debt of deep hatred, her sole obsession being revenge. Her talent was extraordinary, and her cultivation had progressed rapidly, but the Nascent Soul stage was not something one could reach simply because one wished to. Desperate, Qingjun had cultivated the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*, feeding her heart demon with her obsession, seeking only to slay Leng Yuntian with her own hands. At that time, Leng Yuntian showed no signs of forming a Nascent Soul. Qingjun had been confident that once she broke through to the late Core Formation stage, she would certainly be able to kill him herself. After that, she would condense the demonic seal, form her Nascent Soul, slay Leng Qian, and annihilate the Yuanshen Sect! Yet the world was unpredictable. She had never expected that Leng Qian, near the end of his lifespan, would spare no cost to help Leng Yuntian form a Nascent Soul before dying. Although Leng Yuntian's path to forming a Nascent Soul had been unorthodox, leaving his strength inferior to an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, he was still not someone a Core Formation cultivator could kill. As a result, Qingjun had been unable to condense the demonic seal for the longest time. What left Qingjun even more flabbergasted was that she ended up breaking through the Nascent Soul bottleneck on her own, without even needing the *Lifeless Demonic Seal*. She had exhausted every means and made countless preparations, yet she still suffered terribly during the heart demon tribulation of the Nascent Soul breakthrough. Even worse, even after surviving the heavenly tribulation, the backlash from the heart demon did not vanish; instead, it grew even more terrifying, nearly causing her mind to collapse. In her frantic desperation, a flash of inspiration struck her: she applied the puppetry arts she excelled at most to her own body, sealing her emotions and desires, turning herself into an unfeeling puppet. Only then was she barely able to suppress the heart demon. While this method resolved the imminent crisis, her cultivation was also sealed. Later, once she grew proficient with it, she could barely unseal a portion of her cultivation, but she could only maintain it for a very brief period before she had to exert all her efforts to suppress the heart demon again. She could only place a splinter of her consciousness into a puppet, adopt the alias Granny Jing, and travel far and wide, searching for a way to enact her revenge or resolve the heart demon. What followed were the events after meeting Qin Sang. In Ziwei Palace, she had slain Leng Yuntian with her own hands, yet because the sinister art's influence ran so deep, she had only completely resolved the hidden danger recently. Qin Sang pulled his thoughts back and looked at the jade slip in his hands. He naturally had no fear of a heart demon's backlash. However... "I don't even have a heart demon!" Qin Sang felt a wave of melancholy.