Yu Daiyue

Three years of nurturing the spirit, two years of tempering the sword. The ebony sword had transformed drastically. Stripped of its guard and hilt, every impurity within the blade had been slowly refined away by Qin Sang, reducing it to a pure sword embryo. Suspended before Qin Sang, the sword embryo was an emerald green. Slender and elongated, exquisitely shaped and supremely pure, it looked like a piece of green jade, utterly captivating. This piece was the original source of the magic treasure fragment. It had already been tempered by a Core Formation cultivator with core fire, and Qin Sang had spent nearly two years grinding away at it with killing intent through painstaking effort, finally meeting the technique's requirements. The first layer of the technique was not difficult; it merely laid the foundation for cultivating the manual. Once the spirit sword was fully tempered and the killing talisman was inscribed onto its blade, one could truly step onto the path of cultivation. Yet Qin Sang never expected to get stuck at the very last step. Over the past two years, he had familiarized himself with every stroke of the killing talisman. He could visualize it out of thin air without the slightest discrepancy from the manual, yet he simply could not inscribe it onto the blade. He always felt that something was missing. Secluding himself in his cave abode for two full months, Qin Sang made all kinds of attempts, yet made no progress whatsoever. Without a breakthrough in the technique, his cultivation remained stagnant, unable to advance by even an inch. Due to having been plucked and replenished, his current cultivation was actually inferior to when he had first broken through to Foundation Establishment. *Buzz... buzz...* As though sensing Qin Sang's restlessness, the ebony sword trembled faintly, letting out a soft hum as a layer of blood-colored light emanated from its blade. After cultivating the technique, the ebony sword's sword qi had turned an astonishing crimson, vivid as blood and brimming with murderous aura. The ebony sword itself seemed noticeably slimmer than before, but after being tempered by killing intent to discard the dross and retain the essence, both its power and quality were a level higher than before. Sword qi crisscrossed; divine radiance flashed like lightning. The sword qi of the ebony sword was condensed to the extreme. If unleashed completely, the ebony sword would fully take the form of a blood-red flying sword. To the naked eye, one would never tell that the outer layer was composed of illusory sword qi, which not only contained a soul-seizing killing intent, but was also far sharper than before. Upon breaking through to the second layer, the technique also came with a divine ability: Unity of Man and Sword, Shadowless Escape. Because he had been unable to break through to the second layer, Qin Sang could only guess at this divine ability's function. It sounded like a sword evasion technique rather than a lethal strike. The Sky-Soaring Shuttle could be used for long journeys, but its speed was not fast. If he fought a cultivator of the same realm and the battle took an unfavorable turn, it would be difficult to rely on it to shake off his opponent. Once mastered, sword flight was possible, and a sword cultivator's evasion arts were top-notch among all kinds of escape techniques. Over these past five years, Qin Sang had taken advantage of his spare time to cultivate his sword formula to great attainment as well, mastering the sword evasion technique within it, and he hoped it wouldn't clash with the divine ability of the Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter. Right then, Qin Sang suddenly recalled Senior Brother Gong's advice: *This technique demands the most extreme killing intent. Visualizing the killing talisman alone is not enough; you must enter the path of slaughter in the flesh to truly comprehend it.* Qin Sang had a faint flash of understanding. Visualizing out of nothing was no different from waging war on paper; there was always a barrier between theory and reality. Could it be that he had to comprehend the path of slaughter through combat in order to forge a true killing talisman? After weighing his options repeatedly, Qin Sang decided to come out of seclusion and give it a try, but his opponent had to be chosen carefully. If they were too weak and it became a one-sided slaughter, it likely wouldn't achieve much. But if his opponent was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his sea of qi was inferior to others', and having spent the past five years solely nurturing and refining the sword without improving his cultivation, he would have a hard time winning even with a few magic tools. Besides, he couldn't just walk out into the street and challenge whoever he ran into. Thinking up to this point, Qin Sang spent a few days thoroughly reviewing the incantations and spells he had mastered, then sealed his cave abode and returned to Shaohua Mountain for the first time in five years. At Jianmen Pass, the peach blossoms were as vibrant as ever. Several female disciples bowed to him from afar, but Qin Sang did not recognize a single one, wondering if they were newly inducted disciples. Fortunately, Senior Brother Wen was still the manager of Daomen Peak. "Zhuang Yan was spurred on by you." Senior Brother Wen poured Qin Sang a cup of spirit tea. Hearing Qin Sang ask about Zhuang Yan, he smiled and said, "The cave abodes at Dianyun Mountain are quite nice, so I sent him there to tend the herb garden. That lad finally figured things out; his temperament has settled down a lot. For an immortal cultivator, if you can't even reach Foundation Establishment, what good is enjoying yourself for a time? How could that last? He even said himself that he was embarrassed to see you, so for the past few years he's been in seclusion training bitterly, staying out of the public eye. He has a bit of your style from when you were in the Qi Refinement stage." Qin Sang couldn't help but recall his desolate days in Dichen Cave, shaking his head with deep emotion. Little did Wen know, Qin Sang had never slacked off either; he had gritted his teeth and endured five whole years of origin soul agony, all just to fight for that slim chance of attaining the Dao. Hearing the purpose of Qin Sang's visit, Senior Brother Wen pondered. "If Junior Brother Qin wishes to temper yourself in battle, the best place is undoubtedly the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. However, for an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, there are many unpredictable dangers within. It would be best for you to research it thoroughly and prepare more life-saving methods before heading there. If you stay within the sect, your only option is to visit the Sect Master to see if there are any demon-slaying assignments. Deep within the Yuncang Great Marsh hide some early Demon Spirit stage beasts. Their sentience has only just awakened, their wild nature hasn't faded, and they are driven purely by instinct. When they occasionally emerge to stir up trouble, they make suitable targets for you to practice on." Senior Brother Wen's words aligned precisely with Qin Sang's thoughts. He had been considering the same thing: demon beasts didn't possess the strange and varied magic tools of human cultivators, and even if they had innate divine abilities, they were quite rudimentary. Qin Sang sat and drank tea with Senior Brother Wen for a while. The two exchanged insights on cultivation, from which Qin Sang benefited greatly. Just as he was about to rise and take his leave, his expression stirred slightly, and he turned to look out the hall's entrance. *Whoosh!* The whistling sound of rushing air rang out, followed by a streak of escaping light speeding over. A middle-aged cultivator strode into the hall in great haste, looking rather anxious. But upon seeing Qin Sang, his expression immediately relaxed. Pushing aside his teacup, Senior Brother Wen stood up and said with a smile, "Junior Brother Yu never comes around unless he has business. How do you have the leisure to visit my humble place today?" *Surnamed Yu?* Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. When he saw the newcomer, he was also somewhat surprised, for he had met this man before. Back then, seven people in total had passed the Treasure Gourd Illusory Realm. Aside from Qin Sang, Chu Wenjian, He Mu, Senior Brother Gong, and the elderly man surnamed Zhao, there had been two middle-aged cultivators. However, because they had conversed with Sect Master Yu via voice transmission back then, Qin Sang hadn't known their names. The cultivator surnamed Yu standing before him now was one of them. Seeing this man, Qin Sang thought of Yu Daiyue, who had sent him several voice transmission talismans over the past two years. Could it be him? "Senior Brother Wen's words are as sharp as ever." The cultivator surnamed Yu seemed quite familiar with Senior Brother Wen. After making that lighthearted remark, he looked directly at Qin Sang without hesitation and said, "You guessed right; I did come here with another purpose in mind this time. Junior Brother Qin, after several years apart, do you still remember me?"