Mount Jinhen

Qin Sang was quite familiar with Che Yutao. When he was still at Shaohua Mountain, Che Yutao had already been a Core Formation cultivator. Many years ago, Che Yutao had reached the peak of the Core Formation stage and was said to be the cultivator of his generation at Shaohua Mountain with the greatest hope of advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. Qiu Mubai was the disciple Dongyang Bo valued most, and he too had broken through to the late Core Formation stage. Mu Yifeng was only at the mid Core Formation stage. Yet all of them, Mu Yifeng included, were exceptionally gifted. Dongyang Bo was clearly protecting these talented disciples, hoping one of them could advance to the Nascent Soul stage to carry on the sect's lineage, sparing them from perishing on the battlefield. This aligned with Qingzhu's appraisal of him. Having confirmed that Mu Yifeng was safe, Qin Sang was at ease and felt no urgency to meet with him right away. As a disciple of Shaohua Mountain, Mu Yifeng presumably did not lack medicinal pills. At most, Qin Sang would gift him a few protective treasures and a copy of his own insights on forming a Nascent Soul to serve as a reference. As for cultivation arts and secret techniques, most of what Qin Sang practiced was esoteric and entirely reliant on the jade Buddha; anyone else would find them impossible to cultivate. ... Inside the tall building. After Qin Sang had cultivated quietly for many days, the seventh sword soul finally showed signs of merging into his essence soul! Undisturbed by anyone, three more days passed. Qin Sang suddenly opened his eyes wide, his gaze piercing as lightning, sword silhouettes seemingly surfacing within his pupils. Then, he pointed a finger into the void before him. *Swoosh!* The Shenjin Sword shot forth, abruptly halting at the center of the quiet room. Dazzling golden light flooded the entire room, only to suddenly dim as the Seven Po Killing Array silently came into being. In an instant, the quiet room turned dark and obscure. Previously, whenever Qin Sang deployed his sword array, each ray of sword light had been bright and distinct. Now, within the Seven Po Killing Array, all sword silhouettes appeared ethereal, flickering in and out of view. Even the outline of the array was difficult to discern, yet the entire array emanated an obscure, profound, and mysterious aura. *In future battles, it won't be so easy for opponents to look for flaws.* Qin Sang nodded inwardly. Yet the pleasant surprises did not end there. Qin Sang shifted his sword incantation, and the sword array produced endless transformations, growing even more mysterious. As rays of sword light slashed out one after another, an unprecedented, bizarre aura emerged. Sensing it briefly, Qin Sang's eyes shone with splendor. *No wonder it's called the Seven Po Killing Array! It can actually wound an opponent's essence soul. Once I achieve greater mastery over the Seven Po Killing Array, I might have a chance to use the array's might to trap and kill an opponent's Nascent Soul as well. Although the Nine Nether Demonic Fire can also daze an opponent's mind, the fire isn't truly mine; I haven't fully subdued or mastered it yet. Wielding it through the demonic banners inevitably falls short. It works very well against low-rank cultivators, but has little effect against Nascent Soul cultivators with resolute will.* Nascent Soul cultivators were notoriously difficult to kill. Even if defeated, they could at least project their Nascent Soul and flee for their lives, unless the disparity in strength was so vast that they were denied even the chance to eject their Nascent Soul. Therefore, when Nascent Soul cultivators had no certainty of detaining an opponent's Nascent Soul and wished to avoid creating a mortal enemy, they mostly resolved disputes through wagers, exchanges, and similar methods. *Indeed! Although the Seven Po Killing Array is remarkable, displaying its full might still requires me to advance further in the sword dao, not to mention that it depends on my cultivation realm and the rank of my spirit sword.* Qin Sang sensed the Seven Po Killing Array, grasping its various transformations in hopes of mastering it as quickly as possible. After a while, he retrieved the sword array and summoned the ebony sword. The ebony sword had been continually nurtured within his essence soul, devouring the Soul-Nurturing Wood. The devouring was not yet complete, and the spirit sword remained in its sword embryo form. Just as he was about to examine how much longer it would take, he suddenly felt the restrictions of the quiet room being touched. Sweeping his divine sense outward, he found that Fat Chicken and Tan Yi'en had returned. "I thought you two had been captured by the Sin Abyss!" Qin Sang pushed the door open and stepped out. Looking at the man and the demon, he gave a cold snort. These two had gone out to find someone, yet they had been gone for so long and were only returning now. Grinning cheekily, Fat Chicken scurried over to claim credit. "Master, look upon the truth of the matter! When the Sin Abyss first launched its attack, we really were nearly swept into it. Fortunately, I was sharp-witted! Sensing that things were going south, I immediately took young Tan and hid away; otherwise, we might never have seen Master again! On our way back, I heard about Master's glorious feat of slaying a Nascent Soul cultivator in battle! Master's prowess is peerless under heaven! You will surely unite the Xiaohan Realm! No, unite the Beichen Realm, and sweep away the demon race as well!" Qin Sang ignored Fat Chicken's rambling and looked at Tan Yi'en. Tan Yi'en was far better behaved. "Reporting to Martial Uncle, this disciple actually did not take long to locate two of my father's old acquaintances. However, the information gathered from them pointed to another person. After conferring with Senior, this disciple decided not to disturb Martial Uncle first, choosing to wait until we found that person and obtained definite news before reporting back to Martial Uncle." Qin Sang was quite pleased upon hearing this. The junior was clever enough and acted decisively. "That person is also a senior at the Core Formation stage surnamed Tong," Tan Yi'en continued. "Senior Tong is not a cultivator from the two realms, but comes from a desert oasis. After his home was attacked by the Sin Abyss, he was forced to lead his relatives and friends to flee to the Celestial Alliance. Only after numerous twists and turns did we finally meet Senior Tong in person. From him, we learned some news related to my father. However, it is difficult for us to discern truth from falsehood, and Senior Tong also wishes to report to Martial Uncle in person. He is currently waiting outside the grand array..." Qin Sang nodded, having already seen through the man's intentions. "This matter is hardly a secret. Go bring him in. Tell him that as long as the information is valuable, this old man will not be stingy with rewards." "Understood!" Tan Yi'en withdrew, and before long returned leading a middle-aged cultivator wearing a high crown and ceremonial robes. "Junior Tong Jinshan pays his respects to Senior Demon King!" Facing a renowned great demon, Tong Jinshan could not help feeling somewhat apprehensive. Fortunately, as a Core Formation cultivator himself, he did not conduct himself too embarrassingly. "What is your relationship with Tan Hao? Do you know his whereabouts?" Qin Sang wasted no words and cut straight to the point. "Junior's homeland was destroyed by the Sin Abyss, and I harbor a deep hatred toward them. On the battlefield, Fellow Daoist Tan and I joined forces to resist the enemy and shared life and death together. Fellow Daoist Tan's sense of loyalty reaches to the clouds, and Junior once received his help." Tong Jinshan hesitated, glancing at Tan Yi'en beside him. "If anyone else were inquiring about Fellow Daoist Tan, Junior would never reveal it lightly. But since it is Nephew Yi'en seeking his father, surely no harm will come to Fellow Daoist Tan. Furthermore, Fellow Daoist Tan ventured deep into the Sin Abyss, never returned, and has been missing for a hundred years. Junior has also been deeply worried..." "He truly went to the Sin Abyss!" Qin Sang's eyes narrowed slightly. Tong Jinshan continued, "We once joined hands to kill a Core Formation cultivator from the Sin Abyss. That person was an evil corpse dao cultivator, but his refined corpses were quite peculiar. The strongest among them was comparable to a Flying Yaksha, and inside the corpse was earth fiend qi rather than yin qi. For some reason, the moment Fellow Daoist Tan saw him, it was as if he had encountered a mortal enemy. He spared no expense, offering his entire fortune to ask for our aid, insisting that we capture the man alive. Unfortunately, that man was exceptionally powerful and had the Flying Yaksha to assist him. The battlefield was far too chaotic, and he nearly escaped, so we had no choice but to slay him. In the end, from other captives we learned that the man was an itinerant cultivator who previously operated near Mount Jinhen, a major sect of the Sin Abyss..."