The soul tablet was shattered.
Daoist Chongyi had sacrificed himself for the Dao.
In silence, the crowd worked to seal the Blood Lake.
"My condolences, Fellow Daoists."
Acquaintances offered words of comfort to Si Di and Yaojing.
Both were Nascent Soul cultivators; though grief weighed heavily upon their hearts, they did not lose their composure, merely nodding in silence.
Moved by Daoist Chongyi's sacrifice, the others promised that when the time came, they would personally travel to the Taiyi Dan Sect to pay their respects and see Daoist Chongyi off on his final journey.
"The Daoist has ascended from this world, yet we must still struggle in the mortal dust," Demon Monarch Tongyou lamented before continuing, "Sin Abyss remains a grave menace. Though we failed to seize the jade skeleton this time, we first slew Old Demon Ye's avatar and then severely wounded Old Ghost Tianzheng. These are glorious achievements—and mark the perfect moment to counterattack. I shall head to Tianxing Plateau immediately to confer with Fellow Daoist Zhenyi."
As he spoke, Demon Monarch Tongyou looked primarily at Qin Sang and Qingjun.
Qin Sang exchanged a glance with Qingjun, then nodded. "We share the same thought!"
The chaos across the Beichen Realm had dragged on for far too long. Such turmoil hindered the development of their sects and left little peace for quiet cultivation.
Demon Monarch Tongyou was overjoyed, repeatedly praising their resolve. "If you fellow Daoists have no urgent matters, make your arrangements as quickly as possible and rush to rendezvous. A decisive battle is at hand. It would be best to accomplish our goal in a single stroke and thoroughly extinguish Sin Abyss's arrogance!"
The crowd voiced their agreement.
Once sealed, the Blood Lake remained calm and stable; the monsters showed no sign of battering against the restriction.
"For now, there is no need to worry about monsters breaking out of the Blood Lake, but we cannot afford to drop our guard. From now on, each major sect should dispatch disciples into the valley to stand watch in rotation, just to be safe. What do you all think?"
Someone proposed this, and no one objected. The protocol was quickly finalized. Since the surviving Golden Core cultivators were all true disciples of the various sects, two were immediately chosen and ordered to remain on guard.
Demon Monarch Tongyou departed first, heading straight for Tianxing Plateau.
The rest dispersed, returning to their respective sects to prepare for war.
Dongyang Bo traveled alongside Demon Monarch Tongyou.
Seeing this, Qin Sang knew that another opportunity to plot against Dongyang Bo would be hard to come by in the near future, so he stopped expending effort on it—though he naturally kept his guard up.
Upon parting, the other Nascent Soul cultivators made a deliberate point of bidding farewell to Qin Sang and Qingjun, and Qin Sang responded to each in turn.
Bing Han and Xiang Qing lingered at the rear.
"Fellow Daoist Leng has always been unfathomable, which comes as no surprise to me, but I never expected Fellow Daoist Qin to be so formidable as well! Your disguise was truly brilliant, Fellow Daoist. When Brother Xiang and I spent several days with you at Shengang Peak back then, neither of us detected the slightest flaw."
Bing Han's beautiful eyes flickered with playful reproach. "I recall you saying that you would come visit the Xuling Sect as a guest. I have waited eagerly for so long, yet you never showed up at my doorstep. Surely that wasn't just a jest?"
Qin Sang said hurriedly, "How could I dare deceive you with empty words? I was preoccupied with refining the spiritual fire and could not find the time. Once the war is over, I will certainly pay a visit."
Refining the charred wood to nurture Yunyouzi's true spirit, as well as crafting a magic treasure capable of collecting the Nanming Primordial Fire, both required superb artifact refinement skills.
Working in isolation behind closed doors would achieve little. Qin Sang had coveted the Xuling Sect's artifact-refining techniques for a long time and needed to think carefully about how to trade for them with Bing Han.
Bing Han nodded in satisfaction. "Then I shall prepare the finest nectar and jade brew, awaiting your honored arrival."
Xiang Qing then stepped forward to exchange pleasantries before departing alongside Bing Han.
Watching them leave, Qin Sang transmitted his voice to Qingjun, "Senior Sister, how much do you know about Bing Han and Xiang Qing?"
"The Xuling Sect reaped benefits second only to the Taiyi Dan Sect during the Three Domains War. Bing Han understands full well the wisdom of concealing one's wealth; she keeps a low profile and maneuvers adroitly among all sides, drawing little attention to herself. However, that woman is far from simple. She seems to be plotting something in secret, and her words just now carried undertones as well. Both you and Xiang Qing are adept in fire-controlling divine abilities—perhaps that is why she goes out of her way to cultivate ties with you."
Qingjun had observed from the sidelines and saw through it clearly.
Qin Sang was not worried about Bing Han harboring ulterior motives. Only when the other party wanted something would a trade be possible.
At this time, Jingyu suggested going back to check on her old cave dwelling.
Qin Sang persuaded Jingyu to go with them to the Yuanshen Sect first. The Yuanshen Sect was very safe, and she could refine the corpse flower blood amber there to seek a breakthrough.
Qingjun said, "I was just looking for a place to meditate and adjust my breath. You two go ahead; I will find a cave dwelling nearby and wait for your return."
Jingyu and her son set off.
Qin Sang stayed behind to stand guard for Qingjun.
Outside the cave dwelling, Qin Sang paced back and forth, glancing toward the entrance from time to time with a slight frown.
He did not know whether Qingjun had depleted herself too severely during the battle against Old Demon Ye or if her injuries were simply too grave to suppress any longer, compelling her to enter seclusion and adjust her breath before even leaving Wuya Valley.
The situation earlier had been far too chaotic for him to notice anything amiss with her.
Thinking back carefully, ever since leaving the blood pool, the mysterious aura about Qingjun seemed to have faded somewhat.
This sensation was subtle and elusive, difficult to describe in words, and Qin Sang could not be sure if it was merely an illusion.
*Could it be that the severe damage to the Azure Luan caused a backlash against her?*
Qin Sang had once witnessed the Azure Luan puppet being destroyed with his own eyes. Back then, disguised as Granny Jing, Qingjun had summoned another without breaking a sweat, leading him to believe that harm to the Azure Luan had little impact on her.
However, the Azure Luan puppet's current strength rivaled a metamorphosed demon beast. Senior Sister must have poured immense effort into refining it, perhaps even using some secret art, so it could not be compared to the puppet of the past.
*Like father, like daughter—cut from the exact same cloth,* Qin Sang thought, recalling how Senior Qingzhu had similarly pushed through while mortally wounded.
Before long, Jingyu and Fat Chicken returned.
Qin Sang had already undone the restrictions on Fat Chicken, and mother and son seemed to have endless things to talk about.
After waiting another four hours, Qingjun emerged from seclusion. Catching Qin Sang's gaze, she knew what he was worried about and said, "I am fine, but the Azure Luan is heavily damaged and cannot be summoned to fight in the near future. I can only rely on the Five Directions Pagoda."
...
The two humans and two demons flew straight out of Wuya Valley and returned to the Yuanshen Sect.
Bai was still in seclusion, and there was no telling when he would fully comprehend the bone hex and the Corpse Soul Pearl to advance to corpse king.
Qin Sang did not disturb him.
Selecting a cave dwelling to settle Jingyu and her son, Qin Sang returned to his own.
On their way back, Qin Sang had consulted Qingjun about the Dao of puppetry and gained a great deal.
Qingjun taught him several secret arts for placing restrictions on puppets.
She also shared everything she knew regarding the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace and the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, though she noted that her information might not be entirely accurate and left him to judge for himself.
The Nascent Soul talisman puppet possessed combat power rivaling a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, but the successive ancestral masters of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace had never managed to tame it, forced to keep it suppressed within their sect.
Qingjun advised Qin Sang not to hold overly high expectations for the puppet.
Her attainments in puppetry were not necessarily superior to those of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace's ancestral masters, so finding a way to tame the puppet would likely prove exceedingly difficult; she could only do her best.
The best possible outcome, she feared, would be just like the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace: keeping it at the sect as a mountain-guarding puppet.
However, after discovering a far more extraordinary function of the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, Qin Sang's attention had long moved beyond the puppet itself.
When examining the talisman puppet and attempting to sense the soul phantom within it, he had made a delightful discovery: he could actually experience a trace of the state of mind left behind by that cultivator in the soul phantom.
Among the ancestral masters of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace, there had been no lack of mid Nascent Soul experts.
Did the talisman puppet contain soul phantoms of mid Nascent Soul cultivators within it?
Chapter 1273