The external incarnation stood before Qin Sang.
Qin Sang had not deliberately altered its appearance. It was essentially an enlarged version of the Dao Manifestation Tree, with regular features and not the slightest resemblance to his true body.
Previously, because of the divine soul imprint within the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, Qin Sang had felt a sensation akin to a blood bond with it. Now, the connection was even more intimate—it felt like an extension of his own body, inseparable and whole.
Qin Sang closed his eyes to experience the feeling for a moment.
Opening his eyes, he looked up and down at the external incarnation.
The incarnation had only just been formed and was not yet ready to face enemies in combat. It required continued refinement until it had fully and harmoniously integrated the power of the Ice Soul Astral Qi and perfected its foundation. Only then would it reach full completion.
This process could take years or even decades, with the duration depending on the origin and strength of the external incarnation's vessel. However, as the Dao Manifestation Tree was far superior to ordinary spirit bodies, it likely would not take quite so long.
Nevertheless, due to the lingering soul phantoms, Qin Sang still had to help the second nascent soul assimilate them. Until it reached full completion, it could not be relied upon in battle.
Qin Sang waited patiently for a month, but as expected, there was no noticeable progress.
On this day, Qin Sang drew the external incarnation back into his corpse puppet pouch and decided it was time to leave. Pinching his fingers to calculate the time, he realized that without noticing, he had spent nearly a year in the subterranean yin vein.
During this entire period, he had not returned to the Snow Listening Tower once.
Nor had Shixue sent any further messages.
He wondered how they had ultimately handled things after Liuli's breakthrough had failed back then.
Looking around, Qin Sang carefully erased all traces of refining the external incarnation. With a series of flashes, he flew out of the cavern and caught sight of the long-lost daylight.
It was midday, and the sky was clear for ten thousand miles.
The shining sunlight brought a touch of warmth.
Qin Sang piloted his streak of light, drifting forward at a leisurely pace, and returned to his cave dwelling at the Snow Listening Tower.
In the Snow Listening Tower, only Shixue and Liuli knew of his presence, so ordinarily no one came to disturb him.
Qin Sang quietly cultivated in his cave dwelling for a period of time, sweeping away all the fatigue and damage sustained from refining the external incarnation.
Waking from his meditative trance, a contemplative look surfaced on his face.
His main objectives in coming to the Snow Listening Tower were largely accomplished: he had obtained the status of guest elder, finished crafting his external incarnation, and nine years remained before the sacred ground would open.
When the time came, he would certainly need to return early to coordinate with Tong Lingyu and the Snow Listening Tower to secure the opportunity to observe the ceremony at the sacred ground.
During these intervening years, however, there was no need to remain cooped up at the Snow Listening Tower the entire time.
Immediately after breaking through to the middle Nascent Soul stage, he had eagerly traversed the storm belt to journey across the North Sea, his true purpose being to seek out the Killing Sword fragments and the subsequent cultivation arts.
Unexpectedly, right after arriving in the North Sea, he had been pursued by demon kings, followed by a succession of unforeseen events that led him by chance and circumstance from the Crescent Moon Realm to the Sun Concealing Realm, ultimately becoming a guest elder of the Snow Listening Tower.
Though he seemed to have traversed the entirety of the North Sea, his travels had been hurried, leaving him no opportunity to search thoroughly.
Now that trivial matters were mostly settled, he could focus on his travels.
Qin Sang's initial plan was to depart from the Snow Listening Tower, head north into the Demon Realm, pass through the Demon Realm and the Star Sand Islands, make a wide circuit back to the Crescent Moon Realm, and pay a visit to Valley Master Mu of the Hundred Flowers Valley along the way.
From there, he would cut through the Crescent Moon Realm from north to south, enter the Boundless Sea via its southern reaches, and circle back to the Sun Concealing Realm—traversing roughly every domain of the North Sea.
Throughout the journey, his primary goal would be searching for Killing Sword fragments while avoiding entanglement in other conflicts as much as possible. There was plenty of time.
With this in mind, Qin Sang took a brief moment to rest and prepare, then stimulated the imprint on his elder medallion to contact Shixue, intending to bid her farewell.
Before long.
A streak of icy light touched down before his cave dwelling. Seeing that the grand formation had been deactivated, Shixue stepped inside.
Seeing Qin Sang again, an odd look flickered in her eyes, at a loss for how to evaluate both her junior sister and this man.
Ever since that day's incident, her junior sister had remained in seclusion within the Floating Snow Tower and had not emerged to this day, while this man had vanished without a trace, not showing his face for all this time.
Both acted as if nothing had ever happened, showing extraordinary composure—as if she were the only one worrying herself sick.
"Is Fairy Liuli still in seclusion?"
Qin Sang cupped his hands in greeting and asked.
Shixue nodded. "Without my junior sister's permission, even I dare not enter and disturb her."
Qin Sang knew in his heart that Liuli was likely resisting the brand of the evil art, though he did not know what method she was using or how effective it was.
After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Please convey to Fairy Liuli on my behalf that if there is anywhere I can be of assistance, I am willing to offer what meager help lies within my power."
He himself had once traded away his dignity to achieve Foundation Establishment, but that did not stop him from admiring those who held steadfastly to their own principles.
This path was bound to be even more arduous and fraught with thorns.
Yet Liuli was resolute.
Moreover, he needed his status as a guest elder of the Snow Listening Tower to qualify for observing the ceremony at the sacred ground. Helping Liuli, expanding the Snow Listening Tower's strength, and elevating its standing within Xuantian Palace was effectively helping himself as well.
Liuli's brand was connected to him, but Qin Sang had little clue how to resolve it. In his view, the cultivation world held countless divine abilities and esoteric arts; there was no absolute necessity to resort to dual cultivation to eliminate the hidden danger.
*At least you have a conscience!*
Shixue cast a glance at Qin Sang, her gaze softening slightly, and offered her thanks.
Then, changing the subject, Qin Sang inquired about the friction between Xuantian Palace and the demons.
Listening to Shixue's explanation, Qin Sang gained a clear understanding of the situation. The battleground between the two races lay in the sea area between the Demon Realm and the Sun Concealing Realm, and had not yet spread to the mainland of either realm.
However, the hostilities were growing increasingly fierce. Ambitious and aggressive, Great Sage Tianpeng seemed to have sensed the abnormal state of the Palace Master of Xuantian Palace and was pressing forward step by step.
The other Great Sage of the demons, Great Sage Jiutou, had not shown himself, but was undoubtedly offering support from the shadows.
Grand Elder Tong Lingyu was pinned down by Great Sage Tianpeng, and each branch of Xuantian Palace had dispatched Nascent Soul cultivators into the battlefield.
Among Xuantian Palace's four branches, the palace master hailed from Xuantian, and the grand elder from Zixia Pavilion. Yet the strongest branch in terms of overall combat power was Tianshan. The Tianshan cultivators were brimming with belligerence, constantly clamoring for a decisive battle against the demons to fight to the death.
This was precisely what the Snow Listening Tower did not wish to see.
Once warfare spread to the mainland of the Sun Concealing Realm, the Snow Listening Tower, situated in the northern territory of the realm, would bear the brunt of the assault.
Ranking last in strength among the four branches, the Snow Listening Tower had the weakest voice. Its disciples were sidelined and marginalized by the Tianshan branch, repeatedly assigned to the most perilous missions. Shixue was at her wit's end over this and planned to go to the front lines herself to stabilize the situation.
After a brief silence, Qin Sang asked, "Has Xuantian Palace planted any spies within the demon race?"
Shixue gave him a wary look, though she deemed it impossible for Qin Sang to collude with the demons. "Yes, but very few, and none can access important secrets. In a clash between our two races, it is almost impossible to bribe transformation-stage demon kings. We can only send spirit beasts that were raised in Xuantian Palace from an early age to blend into the Demon Realm."
This was largely what Qin Sang had anticipated.
He immediately said, "I plan to travel into the Demon Realm. If I uncover any intelligence, I can transmit it back through your spies to earn some merit."
Shixue understood what Qin Sang was thinking. "If you are willing to join the battlefield and help Xuantian Palace repel the demon race, we might be able to grant you direct entry into the sacred ground."
"From the Grand Elder's tone, the more strength I display, the more wary Xuantian Palace will become of me. Moreover, the demon race still has another Great Sage watching from the sidelines; my intervention would merely stoke the demons' ferocity without changing the overall outcome. When two great races clash, a decisive victor cannot be determined in a few short years. By the time the demons retreat, the sacred ground will have long since closed."
Qin Sang saw the situation clearly and had no desire to rashly embroil himself in another realm's warfare.
He intended to suppress his cultivation to the early stage. That way, when coming into contact with other demon kings, it would be easy to explain his origins: he could simply claim that his spiritual intellect had remained dormant and muddled until recently, and that he had only just achieved transformation.
On the other hand, a middle Transformation-stage demon king was too conspicuous to simply appear out of nowhere; fabricating a plausible background for one would be far more difficult.
Qin Sang's divine sense had already reached the Transformation stage and was nothing like when he had first arrived at the North Sea. So long as he did not face the two demon sages directly or encounter a demon with an extraordinary innate divine ability, even middle Transformation-stage demon kings would fail to see through his true cultivation.
"The demons are on high alert right now; if they spot a human, they will surely swarm to attack. How do you intend to move about in the Demon Realm?" Shixue grew increasingly curious about Qin Sang.
Qin Sang smiled without answering, then suddenly thought of something. "How much do you know about the Demon Realm? Has the demon race mastered the legendary route to the Beichen Realm?"
Shixue was clearly aware of the Beichen Realm's existence as well. "Are you worried they might summon reinforcements from the Beichen Realm? Even if the demon race doesn't know the route, the two demon Great Sages certainly possess the ability to traverse the storm belt."
Little did she know that Qin Sang was not worried about Xuantian Palace, but rather the Beichen Realm.
Previously, he had never imagined that the Demon Realm's strength would be so formidable, possessing two Great Sages.
Qin Sang suspected that King Feather of Heavenly Demon Hill had long been in contact with the two Great Sages. Perhaps during one of the entries into the Ziwei Palace, a Great Sage had even followed along in disguise. Otherwise, when the human race set aside their grudges to form the Beichen Alliance in the Beichen Realm, Heavenly Demon Hill should have been thrown into panic and turmoil.
Fortunately, the Demon Realm was held in check by major powers like Xuantian Palace, and humans held an absolute advantage in the Beichen Realm. King Feather likely also harbored reservations toward the two Great Sages; otherwise, the northern realm would have long fallen under the dominion of the demons.
***
Ten days later.
Qin Sang departed from the Snow Listening Tower and journeyed north alone.
Shortly after leaving the Sun Concealing Realm, Qin Sang activated the Heavenly Demon Transformation and manifested his phoenix wings.
The human and demon races had arrayed their armies across the sea, with Great Sage Tianpeng personally overseeing the front. To steer clear of the Great Sage, Qin Sang decided to first head east, skirting around the conflict zone.
Bypassing the battlefield, he continued hurtling northward.
A few hundred li out, almost no human cultivators were to be seen; the farther north he went, the more thoroughly it became demon territory.
On many of the islands, obvious traces of humans remained: some had cities built by mortals, while others had cave dwellings left by human cultivators. Now, however, all had turned into paradises for demon beasts.
These traces were not from the distant past.
According to what he had gathered, before the emergence of the two Great Sages, the demon race had been in dire straits, forced to huddle within the Demon Realm or hide in the deep sea. Rarely had they dared to roam the waters beyond the Demon Realm, and even within the Demon Realm itself, they had to remain wary of human cultivators infiltrating in secret to hunt them.
This was how the blood feud between humans and demons in the North Sea had accumulated over time.
In those days, human traces were everywhere outside the Demon Realm.
Only when the two Great Sages became pillars of support and the demon race united as one did the tides turn. Great Sage Jiutou was of an aloof disposition and rarely appeared, so the demons, who had long harbored a pent-up fury, rallied beneath Great Sage Tianpeng's banner, directing their first assault against the Star Sand Islands.
By now, humanity in the Star Sand Islands was practically crippled, and Great Sage Tianpeng had turned his gaze toward the Sun Concealing Realm.
Fortunately, Xuantian Palace had anticipated Great Sage Tianpeng's ambitions and evacuated overseas humans back to the continent ahead of time. While the losses were not catastrophic, oversights were unavoidable, and tragedies still occurred from time to time.
Passing island after island, Qin Sang frequently saw human skeletons in the ruined cities. Virtually no survivors remained; those humans who failed to evacuate in time had all been devoured by demon beasts.
The situation here differed from that of the Demon Sea.
The humans who ventured into the Demon Sea were all cultivators or the descendants of cultivators, who retained some ability to flee in the face of beast tides. Here, however, the dead were almost entirely mortals.
Qin Sang flew faster and faster. As traces left by humanity grew increasingly scarce, the heavy gloom weighing upon his heart eased slightly.
Not until he reached the northeast of the Demon Realm did Qin Sang pivot his streak of light and turn west, drawing closer to the Demon Realm. Keeping a low profile, he detoured toward the northern edge of the realm.
The sea here was vast and empty, with islands scattered sparsely across the waters, all densely forested and teeming with vitality.
Demon beasts had often roamed the vicinity in the past, slaughtering one another amidst towering surges of blood and demonic qi, but of late it had grown considerably quieter.
At that moment, a black shark cleaved through the waves, exuding thick demonic qi. Any lesser demons it encountered along the way trembled in terror, fleeing helter-skelter.
Straddling the black shark's back sat a figure.
The figure had a broad face and a wide mouth, an ugly countenance, but stood nine feet tall and exceedingly burly. Upon his head grew two antlers even larger than his skull, giving him a top-heavy appearance.
This was clearly a deer demon at the Transformation stage.
The black shark beneath him was also a formidable demon in the Demon Core stage, yet before the Deer Demon King, it was exceedingly docile.
The Deer Demon King had his eyes closed, seemingly deep in slumber.
Right then, the Deer Demon King suddenly jolted awake, brilliant light flashing in his eyes. Pressing a hand down onto the black shark's head, he glared furiously toward the distant sea. "Who's there? Get out here!"
Held down forcefully, the black shark whimpered, blood leaking from its eyes, but it dared not voice its rage.
Under the Deer Demon King's piercing glare, a cloud of water vapor rose from that part of the sea, revealing a hazy figure. With phoenix wings sprouting from his back and pure demonic qi radiating from him, this newcomer was also a demon king.
The Deer Demon King's expression relaxed slightly, though he immediately furrowed his brows. "May I ask which fellow Daoist stands before me? Lurking in the shadows—what is the meaning of this stealth?"
"My name is Yuan Zhu. I was merely passing by and did not expect to be noticed by you."
The figure amidst the vapor stood motionless in the distance, appearing equally wary of the Deer Demon King, ready to take flight at any moment.
"Yuan Zhu?"
The Deer Demon King searched his memory, not recalling any such demon king under Great Sage Tianpeng. "How have I never heard of you? Which clan are you descended from? Are you following Great Sage Jiutou?"
The other hesitated for quite a while before replying, "I follow no one. I have always cultivated alone. Who are you?"
This demon was, of course, Qin Sang in disguise.
Humankind knew very little about the Demon Realm; even Xuantian Palace could not provide Qin Sang with accurate details.
In his search for Killing Sword fragments, Qin Sang could not afford to overlook the demons' secret realms and the cave dwellings of demon kings—including the two Great Sages. Fortunately, the sword spirit had a vast sensing range, so he would not need to risk infiltrating them directly.
In addition, Qin Sang intended to pay a visit to a few "old friends" when he was preparing to leave the Demon Realm.
Guided by the rumors spread by Master Feng, Tong Lingyu had tracked down Bi Fang's cave dwelling.
Unexpectedly, Bi Fang was exceptionally vigilant, and with seventy to eighty percent of his strength recovered, he fled through a secret passage the moment he sensed danger. Though Tong Lingyu noticed in time, Bi Fang ultimately slipped away; she captured only the cunning fox, interrogating the truth out of him and confirming that the sacred relic was indeed not in their hands.
As for the frog-fish, his cave dwelling was exceedingly well concealed, and Tong Lingyu had not even caught a glimpse of his shadow.
To accomplish all this, Qin Sang required a detailed map of the Demon Realm.
Obtaining one directly from a demon king was the fastest way.
Most of the demon factions had already been brought under Great Sage Tianpeng's sway. Qin Sang could not be sure whether the deer demon was Tianpeng's subordinate; the unexplained disappearance of a demon king under his command would surely raise Tianpeng's vigilance.
Before doing anything else, directly capturing or slaying a demon king would invite trouble too easily. Thus, Qin Sang chose to reveal himself and maneuver around the Deer Demon King.
Chapter 1468