Leaving Nine Precepts Island, Qin Sang made a detour to the Ghost Mother's cave dwelling.
Tan Hao was deep in quiet cultivation.
Qin Sang walked over to the spot where the roots of the Myriad Spirit Fruit tree were being nurtured. Sending out his divine sense to inspect them carefully, he could clearly feel their vitality.
There was a high probability that the Myriad Spirit Fruit tree could be revived, though heaven only knew how long it would take to grow and bear fruit.
Qin Sang carefully dug up the tree roots and used restrictions to keep their spiritual energy from leaking, intending to take them back to the Beichen Realm.
Under no circumstances could the mountain gate in the Beichen Realm be abandoned.
If Qingyang Temple ever found itself unable to gain a foothold in the North Sea, they would at least have a path of retreat.
Just as Qin Sang finished digging up the roots, a door creaked open, and Tan Hao walked out.
Qin Sang looked him up and down, then cupped his hands with a smile. "Congratulations, Brother Tan!"
The aura within Tan Hao's body was remarkably steady, like the water of a deep pool without a single ripple.
Yet Qin Sang could tell that an undercurrent surged within him, gathering a distinct momentum.
When full, it would overflow—and that would be the moment to make an attempt on the Nascent Soul stage!
It likely would not take much longer.
Tan Hao smiled. "I never expected it to go so smoothly, either. The effect of the Morning Bell and Evening Drum was even better than anticipated. Otherwise, I would probably have needed to cultivate in seclusion for at least another decade or two!"
"That is a secret of the Jinghai Sect, and Brother Tan's good fortune..."
Qin Sang spoke of the origins and secrets of the Jinghai Sect.
Tan Hao looked astonished. "Brother Qin, have I missed many major events during these days?"
Intent solely on his closed-door cultivation, he had paid no heed to worldly affairs and had no idea that the Boundless Sea had been turned upside down, entirely unaware of what Qin Sang had done.
Qin Sang gave a slight shake of his head and chuckled. "No matter is more important than your breakthrough, Brother Tan. I will personally guard you through it. During this time, I intend to find a base for Qingyang Temple. When the time comes, you father and son can be reunited."
"Hong'er... Yi'en..."
Thinking of his closest kin, Tan Hao was lost in a daze.
Reviving Tan Jie had been his obsession in the past, leading him to neglect much and endure painful separation from his own flesh and blood.
Now Tan Jie was dead, and Shi Hong had aged prematurely. Fortunately, Tan Yi'en had crossed paths with Qin Sang.
He still had one kin remaining in this world.
"Brother Qin plans to move Qingyang Temple over?"
After spacing out for a while, Tan Hao finally grasped the crux of the matter.
"Brother Tan doesn't know yet, but the Boundless Sea is no longer the Boundless Sea of old..."
Qin Sang gave a brief explanation.
Tan Hao's mouth fell open in disbelief. He had only been in seclusion for a little over ten years, yet the world outside was already beyond recognition, as if a whole lifetime had passed!
Even though Qin Sang spoke with casual understatement, Tan Hao could still tell that he had played a major role in this upheaval.
Having been shocked time and again by this junior brother of the same sect, Tan Hao had grown numb to it and readily accepted the fact.
Taking a deep breath, Tan Hao hesitated for a moment before asking, "Brother Qin, if I am fortunate enough to succeed in breaking through, could I ask for a place to settle within Qingyang Temple?"
Delighted, Qin Sang feigned reproach. "Brother Tan, why act so distant? You and I were fellow disciples long ago, and the Demonic Flame lineage of Qingyang Temple consists of disciples who were deceived by Daoist Jiupao. Strictly speaking, you are their elder. Besides, Yi'en now oversees all the affairs of Qingyang Temple. These ties run so deep that even if you wanted to sever them, you couldn't!"
Tan Hao nodded. "Back then, my ability to achieve Foundation Establishment was all thanks to the pills gifted by you and Senior Yunyouzi. Without that, how could I have reached where I am today? Once we return, I must pay my respects to the senior at Qingyang Temple."
Qin Sang fell silent for a moment before speaking of his plans to search for the ancient route and make his way to Zhongzhou.
Tan Hao let out a long sigh. "Brother Qin's ambitions span far and wide. Alas, I cannot follow in your footsteps. I have received your kindness multiple times, only to part ways before I could ever repay it. The skies are high and the waters vast; I can only wish you success on the Great Dao in the days to come! Rest assured, after you leave, I will take good care of Qingyang Temple for you."
"With Brother Tan's word, my heart is at ease!"
Qin Sang smiled and nodded.
Bidding farewell to Tan Hao, Qin Sang set out to search far and wide according to his original plan.
Stopping and starting along the way, none of the islands he passed proved entirely satisfactory.
It was not because the islands already had owners.
Qin Sang had made no effort to conceal his whereabouts. Whenever he visited fellow cultivators along his route, they all received him with great courtesy.
Various factions came and went on this stage, among them secluded sects, broadening Qin Sang's horizons considerably.
Most of the islands were newly claimed by these groups, so yielding one cost them very little, and they were more than happy to form good ties with Qin Sang and Xuantian Palace.
A formidable individual was not terrifying in himself; what was terrifying was the backing of the North Sea's foremost great sect behind him!
To a certain extent, Qin Sang and Xuantian Palace mutually benefited each other.
Unfortunately, Qin Sang's standards were too high. These islands either lacked sufficient spiritual energy, were too remote, or had too few neighboring islands, lacking depth.
In the end, Qin Sang settled on one of the four islands he had initially selected: Huangtian Island.
Huangtian Island lay in the southeastern Boundless Sea, maintaining a certain distance from Xuantian Palace. It had originally been the mountain gate of the Boundless Sea's demonic sect, the Huangtian Sect. With three Nascent Soul cultivators in its ranks, the sect had held a pivotal position in the Boundless Sea.
Unfortunately for the Huangtian Sect, their luck had been atrocious. Two of their Nascent Soul experts had been suppressed beneath the Linglong Treasure Pagoda.
When the incident occurred, the third expert guarding the sect happened to be away. Upon receiving the news, he had panicked and hurried back, only to vanish en route.
The Huangtian Sect had always acted willfully and viciously, making countless enemies. No one knew which faction had struck him down, nor did anyone care.
By the time Qin Sang arrived at Huangtian Island, the Huangtian Sect was leaderless. The tree had fallen and the monkeys had scattered; outsiders had swept in, carving up the sect, and the turmoil on Huangtian Island had yet to subside.
Qin Sang appeared and brought the situation under control. After friendly negotiations, the various factions left laden with spoils, and Qin Sang took possession of Huangtian Island.
Around Huangtian Island lay over a thousand large and small islets, offering ample room for Qingyang Temple's development. Qin Sang renamed the region the Cuiming Archipelago and renamed Huangtian Island itself Qingyang Island.
He intended to control only a portion of the core islands, leaving other cultivators free to practice in the surrounding waters.
"Senior, this will be a new beginning!"
Qin Sang erected a jade stele inscribed with the character "Qin" on Qingyang Island. Tapping it gently, he summoned the Wandering Sword and spoke in a soft voice.
Next, he laid down a formation obtained from Tianshan, then threw himself into crafting formation tools and establishing the island-protecting grand formation!
By the time the spiritual formation was complete, the agreed-upon date with Tan Hao drew near.
Sealing Qingyang Island, Qin Sang returned to the Ghost Mother's cave dwelling. After waiting another two months, Tan Hao finally began his assault on the bottleneck!
To help him face the heavenly tribulation, Qin Sang brought Tan Hao back to Qingyang Island.
Tan Hao remained alone on the island and activated the grand formation, while Qin Sang stood guard outside.
At first came the anxious waiting.
Before long, Qin Sang sensed the aura of the heavenly tribulation, signaling that Tan Hao had successfully coalesced his Nascent Soul!
The heavenly tribulation followed closely behind. Over Qingyang Island, the weather shifted abruptly as dark clouds rolled in and lightning began to brew.
Qin Sang looked up at the tribulation clouds. Seeing that Tan Hao's tribulation was proceeding rather smoothly, he nodded inwardly.
Just then, Qin Sang's eyes narrowed sharply. He took out an object—the Yang Puppet Crystal handed to him by Dongyang Bo before his death.
The puppet crystal flickered faintly. Though the fluctuation was slight, the resonance was unmistakable!
Seeing this, Qin Sang glanced back at Qingyang Island, waved his hand to cast out the python banner and the captured snow python, and ordered the beast to stand guard over Tan Hao.
His own figure flickered in a succession of lightning-fast flashes, arriving in the blink of an eye in the airspace above an outer island of the Cuiming Archipelago.
This island was among the top three in size within the Cuiming Archipelago, home to countless mortals who had previously been reared as blood food by the Huangtian Sect.
With a clear target in mind, Qin Sang headed straight for one of the cities, his gaze firmly locking onto a young man before the city gates.
At the same moment, the youth looked up, meeting Qin Sang's eyes.
The next instant, his body abruptly burst apart, flesh and blood flying in all directions. Mutilated remains carpeted the ground in an instant, collateral damage claiming the lives of countless bystanders nearby.
A foul-smelling mass of gore surged toward Qin Sang, nauseating to behold.
From the scattered flesh shot a black beam of light, streaking away in another direction.
Inside the black glow was a palm-sized figure. It was clearly not a Nascent Soul; its facial features bore a striking resemblance to General Gui.
In truth, this was none other than the puppet possessed by General Gui.
Back beneath the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, seeing no hope of escape, General Gui had been forced to unleash a life-saving divine ability, burning his own body to merge his divine soul with the puppet.
He had obtained a puppet crystal from Dongyang Bo through a mix of coercion and trade, greatly boosting the puppet's abilities after refining it.
By exploiting its nature as an inanimate object, he had pulled the wool over everyone's eyes and slipped away.
Yet this divine ability was a double-edged sword: once fused, he could never separate from the puppet again. Furthermore, his temperament would be corrupted by the puppet, making his emotions increasingly difficult to control as time passed, and making further advancement in his cultivation nearly impossible.
General Gui harbored bone-deep hatred toward Qin Sang, the chief culprit, and had secretly allied with the demons who had escaped the Sacred Ground, hoping to forge a vengeful coalition.
Unfortunately, those demons had not suffered such devastating losses as he had; though they agreed verbally, none genuinely wished to provoke Qin Sang again.
Naturally, had General Gui truly found an opening, they would not have declined.
Sensing the halfheartedness of the other demons, General Gui grew secretly furious. Not long ago, learning that Qin Sang had appeared in the Boundless Sea, the flames of vengeance drove him to track his trail here.
He still remembered how Qin Sang had seen through the puppet's trace before the Linglong Pagoda, so he had carefully maintained his distance, controlling low-level cultivators to spy from afar in hopes of discovering what Qin Sang was scheming.
Just now, when Tan Hao faced his tribulation, General Gui had sensed the tribulation lightning. Unable to contain himself, he sealed his own aura, hid the puppet body inside a low-level cultivator, and attempted to draw closer.
So long as he did not strike, the puppet was an inanimate object and would surely not be exposed. Yet to his shock, Qin Sang had locked onto him before he could even get near Qingyang Island.
At this moment, General Gui finally realized that Qin Sang's ability to see through his whereabouts had nothing to do with keen spiritual senses, but stemmed from another cause entirely. Yet it was already too late, leaving him both terrified and enraged.
Qin Sang gave a cold snort. He had not deliberately hidden his tracks precisely to draw the snake from its hole, never expecting to catch such a big fish.
Xuantian Palace had focused its attention on the demons, so not only had Old Man Hunmo's divine soul slipped out, but General Gui had managed to escape as well.
Judging by his state, something was clearly amiss; he was plainly possessing a puppet.
In mid-flight, the puppet swelled dramatically, transforming into the size of an adult in the blink of an eye.
Its facial features were expressive and lifelike, its flesh indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person. It was difficult to imagine that this was actually a puppet.
Confronted by his bitter enemy, fury blazed in General Gui's eyes, impossible to suppress, yet tinged with terror and regret.
*Whoosh!*
The puppet's escape technique was truly extraordinary, tearing through the void like a shooting star.
Though warped by hatred, he had not lost all reason. He had prepared contingency measures at his hiding place; as long as he reached it, there was hope of shaking Qin Sang off.
Seeing his goal in sight, intense delight surfaced in General Gui's eyes.
At that very moment, a cold snort echoed beside his ear.
*"Heng! Ha!"*
General Gui felt his primordial soul struck by a massive sledgehammer. Agonizing pain surged through him, his body violently shuddering, his face twisted in torment.
It was none other than the Soul Absorbing True Words cast by Qin Sang.
Ever since acquiring this secret art, he had studied it constantly. Thanks to the Soul-Nurturing Wood, his mastery over divine soul secret arts progressed far faster than ordinary cultivators, allowing him to grasp the technique in short order.
Having cultivated it for only a brief period, Qin Sang could not yet modify the secret art as Yin Changsheng had, dutifully chanting the Heng-Ha incantations instead, which always felt somewhat strange to perform.
Qin Sang had calculated that General Gui, possessing a puppet and lacking physical flesh to ground him, would be vulnerable to the Soul Absorbing True Words. Sure enough, the strike proved effective.
General Gui was formidable in his own right; with a violent shudder, he suppressed the agony and focused entirely on fleeing for his life.
Yet for Qin Sang, that brief instant was more than enough.
A bolt of lightning overtook General Gui, barring his path ahead.
Showing no mercy, a crimson flash erupted before Qin Sang as he directly summoned the Sun God Tree.
Frightened out of his wits, General Gui spun around to flee, only to find his retreat cut off by Qin Sang's avatar.
The Sun God Tree was merely a feint, of course.
Harboring the intention to capture General Gui alive, Qin Sang unleashed the Jinchen Sword, bringing down the sword array to envelop him from above!
*Boom!*
General Gui clashed head-on with the avatar.
His treasures had been buried alongside his physical body within the stele space, and after escaping, he had not dared to act openly. Even now, he lacked a handy magical treasure, forced to rely purely on the puppet's innate abilities.
The puppet's flesh was harder than metal. As a heavy fist swung out, runes flared, taking the form of a bloodthirsty ghostly visage brimming with terrifying killing intent.
Refusing to be outdone, the avatar shifted through seal gestures, unleashing divine abilities in succession to firmly block General Gui's path of retreat.
Failing to break through the blockade in a single blow, General Gui sought to strike again, only for his vision to darken as he fell into the sword array.
Once trapped within the sword array, dealing with him became much simpler.
Qin Sang snapped his sleeve, summoning demonic fire and subtly blending it into the sword array.
The sword array trapped and assaulted him, while the avatar attacked from all sides.
Before long, Qin Sang had left series after series of sword wounds and frost marks across the puppet's body. Though none struck a vital point, General Gui's aura visibly began to decline.
General Gui roared repeatedly, yet his efforts grew feeble, strong in appearance but depleted within.
Qin Sang had originally planned to wear General Gui down just as he had Hall Master Yin, waiting until the time was ripe to strike with full force and capture him alive.
Unexpectedly, a sneer crossed General Gui's face. His eyes abruptly turned gray, yet the aura within him surged violently, wild and ferocious.
Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. Unleashing both the Soul Absorbing True Words and the demonic fire, he forcibly interrupted the puppet's self-destruction, yet failed to prevent General Gui from taking his own life.
In his final moments, General Gui glared fixedly at Qin Sang with towering hatred, as if declaring that Qin Sang would never pry the whereabouts of the other demons from his lips.
Frowning slightly, Qin Sang drew the puppet into his grasp and found it to be highly peculiar. It followed an entirely different path from his senior sister's puppet, somewhat akin to a lifebound magical treasure.
With General Gui dead, even if it fell into the hands of an outsider, it could not be controlled.
Qin Sang searched the surroundings for a while and found no other demons. Under the terrified gazes of countless onlookers, he returned to Qingyang Island and turned the puppet over and over, inspecting it closely.
He had considered settling for the next best thing and extracting the Yin Puppet Crystal from within the puppet, but discovered that the crystal had completely fused with the puppet itself. After studying it for a long time without making any headway, he could only set it aside alongside the Yang Puppet Crystal for now.
Just then, a figure flew out from Qingyang Island—it was Tan Hao, having successfully crossed his tribulation!
Chapter 1517