"Greetings, Martial Uncle."
Tan Yi'en entered the room and bowed in salute.
Qin Sang bade him rise. "I had you investigate Mu Yifeng's whereabouts in secret. Did you uncover anything?"
Qin Sang had always kept Mu Yifeng's past friendship close to his heart.
Upon returning to the Xiaohan Realm, Qin Sang had hoped to see him, but Mu Yifeng had been engaged in ascetic cultivation at Shaohua Mountain all along, leaving no opportunity. Later, having openly fallen out with Dongyang Bo, Qin Sang could not possibly seek Mu Yifeng out in public, lest he drag his old friend into harm's way.
Tan Yi'en replied, "Reporting to Martial Uncle: this junior recruited several rogue cultivators as secret informants to deliberately make contact with Shaohua Mountain disciples, and they uncovered some news regarding Mu Yifeng. He is an ascetic cultivator who rarely shows his face, remaining in secluded cultivation inside a cave dwelling at the foot of Jingyue Peak. In recent years, he has never taken a single step beyond Jingyue Peak, and very few Shaohua Mountain disciples even know of him."
"Jingyue Peak?"
Qin Sang's eyes flickered.
If he remembered correctly, Jingyue Peak was once Chen Yan's dao sanctuary!
When he had first joined Shaohua Mountain, Zhuang Yan had taken him on a tour of the mountain range and made a special point of introducing that peak. Back then, Jingyue Peak had been a forbidden area, strictly off-limits to sect disciples.
Chen Yan possessed an extraordinary background. Even after that incident occurred, she had not severed ties completely with Dongyang Bo.
She had a mysterious master trapped in the Ziwei Palace, who might return at any time.
Shaohua Mountain was vast, with no shortage of cave dwellings. Astute as Dongyang Bo was, he would never have permitted another disciple to cultivate on Jingyue Peak unless Chen Yan had granted her consent.
*Could it be that Dongyang Bo never took his anger out on Mu Yifeng because Chen Yan was secretly shielding him?*
Qin Sang mused in silence.
The true inside story was likely known only to the parties involved.
After a moment's thought, Qin Sang said, "Continue to have people watch the major market towns outside Shaohua Mountain and wait for Mu Yifeng to emerge from seclusion. Beyond that, do not take any extraneous action, lest it arouse Shaohua Mountain's suspicion."
For the past ten years, Dongyang Bo had lived in secluded simplicity, making no moves against Qin Sang or Qingyang Temple.
By taking the Nascent Soul talisman puppet and ruining Dongyang Bo's schemes, Qin Sang had already vented his pent-up grievance. Later, with his senior sister's guidance and comfort, the lingering resentment in his heart had dissipated.
Yet the tree desires calm while the wind refuses to cease.
It was precisely for this reason that when Bai emerged from seclusion, Qin Sang had intentionally exposed a flaw, creating an opening for Dongyang Bo.
If Dongyang Bo could truly remain peaceful, allowing both sides to coexist without conflict, that too was acceptable.
"This disciple obeys your command!"
Tan Yi'en asked no questions and simply complied.
After that, Qin Sang gave a few more instructions before dismissing him.
Three days later.
Qin Sang departed Ten Thousand Nights Mountain and returned to the Abyss Ruins.
He was to relieve Daoist Canghong and guard the Sin God Palace's immortal gate for three years.
The spiritual energy here was rich and would not hinder his cultivation. Furthermore, Qin Sang happened to need several years to settle and digest his artifact refinement techniques before preparing to forge the magic treasure needed to subdue the Nanming Primordial Fire.
The sea of mist.
The moment Qin Sang arrived, Daoist Canghong sensed his presence.
Daoist Canghong flew over to meet him, cupping his hands. "The duty hereafter will be in your hands, Fellow Daoist Qin."
Qin Sang accepted the jade talisman used to control the spiritual formation and asked, "Has there been any unusual movement at the immortal gate in recent years?"
"None observed. Old Demon Ye has remained completely dormant. As expected, he too is waiting for the Ziwei Palace to appear. Even so, do not let your guard down, Fellow Daoist Qin," Daoist Canghong cautioned with a slight shake of his head.
Qin Sang nodded in thought, then recalled another matter. "How are those fellow daoists who took the Core-Withering Pill faring now?"
"Their essence, energy, and spirit are declining—not a single one was spared! Old Monster Feng and the others tried every means, but could only slow the rate of decay. Even more terrifying, one fellow daoist vaguely senses that their heavenly tribulation might arrive early!"
Daoist Canghong shook his head, lingering fear evident in his tone. "If that is true, such pills are best shelved forever!"
"Their heavenly tribulation might arrive early?"
Qin Sang was secretly appalled.
Such a price was even more dreadful than the Three Decays of Essence, Energy, and Spirit. Old Demon Ye's scheme was truly venomous.
After seeing Daoist Canghong off, Qin Sang entered the Seven Waters Heaven-Befuddling Formation to familiarize himself with every shift of the spiritual formation. The other fellow daoists stationed there came out one after another to greet Qin Sang. Once they had acquainted themselves, each retreated to their own spots to cultivate, disturbing no one.
Qin Sang arrived at the core of the Seven Waters Heaven-Befuddling Formation.
Should any change occur at the immortal gate, he would detect it immediately, and cultivating here spared him any worry of prying eyes.
To be safe, Qin Sang laid down an isolation barrier, then summoned the Nascent Soul talisman puppet.
By now, Qin Sang had fully subdued the Nascent Soul talisman puppet and restored it to its former strength. Protected by the jade Buddha, he did not fear the puppet's backlash and could manipulate it at will, making it an exceptional assistant.
Naturally, what Qin Sang valued most were the soul shadows within the puppet.
Practiced and proficient, he merged his mind into the Nascent Soul talisman puppet to comprehend the soul shadows. The entire process consumed a massive amount of mental energy. When he felt the slight onset of fatigue, Qin Sang put the puppet away, meditating to absorb and contemplate what he had just gleaned.
Next, he retrieved his demonic banner and refined the Nine Nether Demonic Fire until his strength was spent.
Having completed all this, he reviewed the classics of the Xuling Sect to contemplate artifact refinement arts.
One task followed another in a packed schedule.
Over the past ten years, Qin Sang had spent every single day this way, never relaxing in the slightest. The most pronounced improvement lay in his artifact refinement; the numerous precious secret arts he had learned at the Xuling Sect had proved of tremendous help.
In the blink of an eye, another two years passed within the Abyss Ruins, and Old Demon Ye still showed no signs of movement.
On this day, Qin Sang summoned the Jinchen Sword.
For a long time to come, the Jinchen Sword would take the place of the Ebony Sword as the spiritual sword with which he executed his sword arts.
According to Qin Sang's plan, he would start with the Jinchen Sword to verify his progress in the dao of artifact refinement, then forge the magic treasure to subdue the Nanming Primordial Fire, and finally melt down the charred wood.
At the same time, he retrieved several precious spiritual items.
These were all wood-attribute treasures.
There were not many, only a select few.
This was because Qin Sang had used the majority of his battle merits to exchange for fire-attribute spiritual items.
Even so, if he could smoothly reforge these items together with the Sinkgold Wood, it should elevate the sword to the rank of a high-grade magic treasure, which would suffice for the time being.
As for a supreme-grade magic treasure, it was not so easily forged. Not only did he lack sufficient spiritual items, but even if he gathered them all, Qin Sang had no confidence in succeeding.
"Root-Transforming Stone, Sky Azure Silver..."
Qin Sang's gaze swept across the spiritual items one by one. He then formed an incantation seal and half-closed his eyes, executing a secret art learned from the Xuling Sect to analyze them.
Accumulated across generations, the Xuling Sect preserved dozens of secret arts dedicated to this step alone, each designed to handle spiritual items of different properties.
Unless one were a heaven-sent genius, how could a lone rogue cultivator fumbling in the dark ever have the capability to create such techniques independently?
In the past, Qin Sang would have had to expend immense effort on this step, but now it was far easier.
Having completed this step, Qin Sang executed a new secret art and summoned the Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
With the demonic fire's power, he purged the impurities from the spiritual materials one by one, while simultaneously melting the Jinchen Sword down into a sword embryo.
Lacking the aid of earth fire, Qin Sang could only bear the astonishing consumption required by the demonic fire. Along the way, he frequently took pills to restore his true essence.
Qin Sang executed every step of the refinement with solid precision. Whenever he encountered a difficulty, he paused to reflect and make improvements, reaping tremendous insights.
In the end, he watched with his own eyes as the Jinchen Sword gained new life and underwent its complete transformation in his hands!
Chapter 1324