Ghost Mother

There was no need for Qin Sang to issue instructions regarding these matters; the disciples were well capable of arranging everything properly. Seeing that Qin Sang appeared to be in good spirits, Bai Hanqiu's uneasy heart settled. Breaking through to the middle Nascent Soul stage after just over thirty years in seclusion was indeed a cause for celebration. In the Nascent Soul stage, every minor realm was a formidable hurdle. Qin Sang had originally estimated that this seclusion would take anywhere from several decades to a full century, and merely touching the bottleneck would have been quite an achievement. He had never expected the process of cultivation to proceed so extraordinarily smoothly. The soul shadows within the Nascent Soul talisman puppet had been an immense help. Qin Sang took only eighteen years to refine the two blooms of corpse flower blood amber, followed by five years of quiet meditation to push his cultivation to the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage. He then began consolidating his foundation and attempting to break through the bottleneck. In just twelve years, Qin Sang experienced an enlightenment and successfully broke through! At the moment of breakthrough, even Qin Sang felt a sense of disbelief. Counting from the day he formed his Nascent Soul, it had been less than eighty years altogether! The cultivation world never lacked geniuses, but according to all manner of legends, breaking through to the middle Nascent Soul stage within a single tribulation—that is, within three hundred years of forming a Nascent Soul—was already an astounding feat. Yet he had accomplished it in under a century! Of course, Qin Sang did not let it go to his head. Qin Sang knew full well that he could never be considered a genius. Achieving such an astonishing result was entirely thanks to the corpse flower blood amber and the Nascent Soul talisman puppet. With the corpse flower blood amber exhausted and the Nascent Soul talisman puppet unable to provide further assistance, such a sudden leap in cultivation could not be replicated. For the path ahead, he would have to advance step by step on his own. The late Nascent Soul stage was still very far off! "Martial Uncle!" Just then, Tan Yi'en and the White Cat finally caught up, hurrying forward out of breath as Tan Yi'en asked cautiously, "Martial Uncle, have you... have you already broken through to the middle Nascent Soul stage...?" Qin Sang smiled and gave a slight nod. "Congratulations, Martial Uncle, on advancing further along the Great Dao!" Tan Yi'en shouted in pleasant surprise. ... The disciples proposed holding another grand ceremony, during which Qin Sang's might would awe the Beichen Alliance without rival. However, Qin Sang rejected the idea. After getting an understanding of the sect's current situation and offering a few words of encouragement to the disciples, Qin Sang departed Qingyang Temple alone, heading straight south. Several months had already passed since Meigu sent back her report. In the interim, Li Yufu had personally hurried over, but neither had sent back any further news, leaving it uncertain whether they had encountered danger. Tan Hao was not only an old friend of Qin Sang, but also key to whether Yagu could awaken; Qin Sang had to make the journey himself. However, the location where Tan Hao's traces were discovered was peculiar indeed: on a small island at the southern edge of the Beichen Alliance. Continuing southward led straight to the storm belt. Crossing this storm belt would take one out of the Beichen Realm and into the Three Realms of the North Sea! Speeding through the sky, Qin Sang barely paused, nor did he visit any friends along the way. Crossing the Yuncang Great Marsh and soaring across the Tianxing Plateau, he raced over the vast, boundless desert. The Beichen Great Desert was so vast that even all the other regions combined fell far short of its expanse. Qin Sang's journey this time was virtually equivalent to traversing the entire Beichen Realm! Upon reaching the southern reaches of the Beichen Great Desert, the closer to the ocean he flew, the denser the oases became, and human settlements gradually flourished. This place had once been a prime target of Sin Abyss's invasions, but after several decades, the wounds had long healed, presenting a scene of thriving prosperity. The desert realm possessed a character entirely distinct from the other regions. Qin Sang had no desire to take in the foreign scenery and headed straight out to sea. The surface of the sea was calm. Just earlier, Qin Sang had found a cultivator bazaar and gathered some information. This area was still far from the storm belt, so the maritime hurricanes stirred up by the storm belt rarely affected the near-shore waters, and there were no ferocious demon beasts. In addition, unlike the Canglang Ocean, islands here were sparse, concentrated in coastal waters, and the vast majority possessed thin spiritual energy. Particularly near the storm belt, not a single island was in sight. Because of this, the native inhabitants of the islands were mostly mortals, with no need to support cultivators to defend against storms and demon beasts. The island Meigu had discovered was in a very remote location, nearly at the southeastern fringe of the archipelago. Qin Sang did not conceal his escape light as he sped toward the southeast. He encountered no one blocking his path along the way. Before long, Qin Sang arrived near the island. For safety's sake, he did not land directly, but found an offshore reef and activated Qingyang Temple's message-transmitting treasure. Soon, two figures flew over from the distance; they were Meigu and Li Yufu. "Greetings, Martial Uncle!" "Greetings, Master!" Seeing Qin Sang, the two beamed with joy and stepped forward to salute. After inspecting their cultivation, Qin Sang gave a satisfied nod. "Good! It seems you haven't slacked off during this time. Meigu, is that the island you spoke of?" At the edge of his vision, the silhouette of a small island loomed faintly amidst the rippling waves. With Qin Sang's vision, he could make out some of the landscape from afar. The island looked quite ordinary. There was not even a walled city, only a village settlement inhabited entirely by mortals. A dense expanse of forest covered nearly ninety percent of the island, lush and verdant, but its spiritual energy was exceptionally thin. No cultivator would likely choose such a place to establish a cave abode. Unless there was an illusion array on the island that even the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could not see through. "Replying to Master, it is indeed this place!" Meigu recounted everything in detail. "While traveling through the desert, this disciple learned of a senior's cave abode and tracked the clues all the way to this sea. While passing by the village on the island, I discovered it by chance..." Li Yufu added, "Junior Sister and I didn't dare act rashly, so we observed in secret from nearby. Over these past few months, no cultivators have entered or left the island." ... After hearing about their experiences, Qin Sang pondered for a moment, then led the two as they flew toward the island. The village settlement comprised over a thousand households. Cooking smoke curled lazily into the air. Qin Sang and the other two formed hand seals for invisibility to avoid disturbing the mortals. Meigu led Qin Sang toward the courtyard located deepest within the village, which was reportedly their ancestral hall. "It's here..." Meigu said in a low voice, casting a vigilant glance around before slipping inside. Within the ancestral hall, ancestral spirit tablets were enshrined, the incense burning without interruption. In the very center of the tablets stood an exquisite wooden carving of a person. Though the craftsmanship was not even a fraction of Senior Sister Qingjun's, it was meticulous, making it clear that whoever carved it held profound reverence for him. The facial features were clearly discernible. It was Tan Hao! Qin Sang halted in his tracks, gazing intently at the wooden carving. The wooden carving held an unusually prominent place. The area around it was cleared of other spirit tablets, with only a tablet inscribed with 'Ghost Mother' standing before it, yet there were no inscriptions on the wooden carving itself, making it impossible to determine his identity from the carving alone. Were it not for the fact that no one in the village bore the surname Tan, Qin Sang might have thought Tan Hao had settled down here to spread his family line. Meigu continued, "After discovering this wooden carving, I sought out the oldest clan patriarch and secretly cast a hypnotic art to ask about the reason. Over a hundred years ago, a demon caused havoc in the sea, and the mortals on the island were almost devoured. At the critical juncture, the man depicted in this wooden carving suddenly appeared and saved the entire village. It is certain he was a cultivator, though his cultivation level is difficult to gauge. Grateful for his grace, the survivors enshrined him as a second father. However, he left no name. After slaying the demon, he tore through the sky and departed, claiming he served under the Ghost Mother and was acting on her orders!"