Sword Nurturing Art

Back then, Qin Sang had planted the Primordial Demon Embryo to condense an incarnation and dispatched him to the Landou Sect to gather intelligence. Through a strange twist of fate, he had been acknowledged by the sect's Yin-Yang branch and taught the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art*. The legacy obtained by the Landou Sect back then had only consisted of the first layer, which was later completed by an extraordinarily brilliant predecessor, Daoist Yin-Yang, establishing their branch of succession. This cultivation method condensed a Yin-Yang Armor right at the start of one's cultivation and produced Yin-Yang Qi, making it exceptionally profound. Qin Sang had once been quite tempted, even considering making it a backup method for the *Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter*. But upon discovering that the method was incomplete and that the true legacy of that lineage was difficult to obtain, he had abandoned the idea. Even so, he had already mastered the first layer of the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art*, condensing a Yin-Yang Armor that he used to conceal the Buddha's light of the jade Buddha in his origin soul. Over the years, the Yin-Yang Armor had served little purpose. Qin Sang had lacked the energy to study the art further, so it had sat shelved ever since, almost forgotten. Unexpectedly, it had throbbed just now. The treasure within the jade cage seemed to have some connection to this very technique! Qin Sang was inwardly astonished as his gaze locked onto that orb of light. The jade cage was carved from spirit jade; his Heavenly Eye could not see the treasure within. Extending his divine sense into the Cloud Pool would trigger a counterattack from an unseen force. If he wanted to know what treasure was sealed inside, his only option was to find a way to fish out the jade cage. He had not wasted much time on the lower levels of the jade pavilion. Time was not pressing. He was also curious as to what treasure could be tied to the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art*. Though he had only cultivated the first layer, Qin Sang believed this art had an extraordinary origin and was undoubtedly a grand legacy! He turned around, eyes fixed on the drifting jade cage, his body moving along the surrounding corridor to maintain the closest possible distance to it. At the same time, guided by Qin Sang, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly pushed its ocular power to the limit, inspecting the pool carefully as Qin Sang pondered the safest way to fish out the treasure. Back when the Wuxiang Immortal Sect suffered the catastrophe that destroyed the sect, the immortal pavilion had remained undamaged. Even if he unleashed the Sun God Tree, he could not blow up the Cloud Pool; brute force was clearly out of the question. A single misstep causing an unpredictable shift in the Cloud Pool would bring even greater trouble. "The qi of every treasure in the pool is tied to the Cloud Pool as a unified whole; pulling a single thread moves everything. To fish a treasure from the pool, one can only rely on finesse. Human strength has its limits, and doing this alone is arduous. If I summoned my incarnation or had a few more helpers, it would be considerably easier..." The enemies of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect back then might not have matched him in formations and restrictions. They had likely worked in concert to fish for treasures, yet even so, they had failed to empty the Cloud Pool. Qin Sang ceased staring fixatedly at the jade cage. Gazing down at the entire Cloud Pool, he began silently deducing the mechanics. Before long, a stream of light flew out of his dantian. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly drifted out, gently flapping its wings as it circled the Cloud Pool. Qin Sang stood motionless, strange light flashing repeatedly in his eyes, as the immortal pavilion fell silent once more. No one knew how much time passed. Qin Sang exhaled softly. After a moment of contemplation, a fire lotus appeared between his brows. Next, the demonic fire within his demonic banners was summoned by Qin Sang. Guided by the fire lotus, it gathered above his head into a sea of flames. With a shift of Qin Sang's thought, the sea of flames split into four. The tongues of fire converged toward the centers of the four flame clusters, gradually coalescing into four fiery figures. The fire figures had no facial features or sentience—they were merely rough human shapes, yet each was sealed with a wisp of Qin Sang's aura while he sealed off his own. *Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!* The four fire figures flew toward the four corners of the Cloud Pool. Qin Sang stood in the middle of a corridor, overseeing the entire situation. For a time, silence descended upon the immortal pavilion once more. Qin Sang calmly watched the jade cage dart around the Cloud Pool. Finally, the jade cage drifted near the center of the Cloud Pool. Qin Sang's expression shifted, and pressing a hand toward the Cloud Pool, he unleashed the seal formula he had long prepared. At the same time, as if receiving an order, the four fire figures raised their arms in unison toward the jade cage. Eight fire serpents shot out from their bodies in rapid succession. *Swish, swish, swish...* As the fire serpents struck the Cloud Pool, they immediately provoked a fierce counterattack. Thunder roared as cloud thunder burst from all four corners of the Cloud Pool. The fire serpents neither dodged nor evaded, clashing head-on with the cloud thunder. Amidst explosive booms, the fire serpents proved no match for the cloud thunder and broke apart one after another. However, the serpents moved in pairs. While the leading serpents held off the cloud thunder, the second wave followed close behind, slipping through the cordon of cloud thunder amidst the chaos to make contact with the mists of the Cloud Pool. The mists were not real; they were manifestations of the Cloud Pool's restrictions. The power of demonic fire and the Cloud Pool's restrictions clashed at close quarters. Now was the critical juncture. Even as the restrictions mounted their counterattack, the treasures in the pool were turning ethereal, on the verge of fading away as they had before. He had to fish out the jade cage before the treasure vanished! The Heavenly Eye Butterfly hovered midair, taking in every detail within the Cloud Pool and funneling it into Qin Sang's mind. He had to divide his mind four ways to control the four fire figures, reacting to changes across all four directions. Qin Sang deduced the shifts in the restrictions with all his might. Even with his high cultivation, he felt immense pressure; his brows furrowed tightly and he held his breath, not daring to let his attention waver for an instant. The fire figures misled the Cloud Pool's restrictions. Treating the fire figures as enemies, the restrictions poured violent cloud thunder toward the four corners. Fearless of destruction, the fire figures not only refused to retreat, but boldly launched their own counteroffensives. Inside the Cloud Pool, the confrontation with the restrictions also made headway. Amidst the mists, four fire serpents divided into myriad strands and knitted together at some unnoticed moment, forming a hollow net of fire that rapidly tightened inward. This could not stop the treasures in the Cloud Pool from vanishing, but it bogged down the pool's restrictions, slowing the rate at which the jade cage was fading. By now, Qin Sang was no longer dividing his focus into four. He split off another thread of his mind to lock onto the jade cage, racing against time to analyze the shifting restrictions surrounding it! In this instant, he finally struck! With a resounding sword ring, his spirit sword emerged once more! Sword light like a rainbow pierced straight into the Cloud Pool. At the same time, Qin Sang drew his focus back to his purple palace. With a sway of his body, the surrounding light flickered between dark and bright as he summoned the Yin-Yang Armor from within his purple palace. *Whoosh!* The Yin-Yang Armor reverted to its essence of Yin-Yang Qi, then transformed into a great yin-yang hand that reached toward the jade cage along the trail carved by the sword light. Every obstacle was cleaved apart by the Jinchen Sword, but this also caused the jade cage to rapidly fade away. Suddenly, the jade cage trembled. An inexplicable resistance surfaced from within it, preventing the cage from vanishing in time. That momentary hesitation was all it took for the great yin-yang hand to seize it firmly! Delight flashed across Qin Sang's face. As expected, the Yin-Yang Armor had provoked a reaction from the treasure inside the cage. The Cloud Pool's restrictions counterattacked frantically, but it was already too late. The great yin-yang hand retreated at once. Shielded by the Jinchen Sword and the demonic fire, which threw the Cloud Pool into utter turmoil, he smoothly brought the jade cage back! Having secured the treasure, Qin Sang immediately withdrew to the lower floor. Only when the Cloud Pool's restrictions calmed did he ascend to the immortal pavilion once more. By now, the jade cage was in his hands. Just as expected, the jade cage's function was quite simple: to isolate and seal the fluctuations of the treasure inside. The broken swords and blades had lost their power, so they had no need for such a cage. After some inspection, Qin Sang figured out how to open it. Sinking his divine sense into the jade cage, he heard a sharp crack, and the cage split open, allowing a cluster of grayish-white light to tumble out. Within the grayish-white light was an unhewn piece of jade! The crude jade was roughly oval in shape, with a coarse, mottled surface resembling an unpeeled crust of stone, bearing none of the smoothness or warmth typical of fine jade. From within the crude jade, ripples of grayish-white halos pulsed incessantly. The halos expanded outward, gradually dimming until they vanished. Shined upon by these halos, Qin Sang felt no discomfort. Instead, he sensed a familiar fluctuation that shared the same origin as his Yin-Yang Armor—there was definitely a close connection. He re-condensed the Yin-Yang Qi and channeled the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art*. As soon as it drew near, the crude jade's light brightened noticeably and its fluctuations grew intense, but nothing more happened. When he withdrew the Yin-Yang Qi, the jade returned to normal. Several attempts yielded the same result. Even when Qin Sang used the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art* to activate the crude jade, it brought forth no new power. "Could this be... because my realm in this technique is too low?" Knowing the art was incomplete, Qin Sang had set it aside and never plotted to steal the portion Daoist Yin-Yang had comprehended. "This object implicitly aligns with the Dao of Yin and Yang, yet possesses no other miraculous traits. For the Wuxiang Immortal Sect to place it in the Cloud Pool, its origin must be extraordinary—most likely, it came from the Immortal Palace." Qin Sang thought of the Landou Sect. A fragment of the technique had ended up in the Canglang Ocean, while a treasure tied to it appeared here in Zhongzhou. Most likely, this connection was born of the Immortal Palaces in both regions. It was a pity he did not know where the Canglang Ocean lay. Otherwise, he could have paid them a visit; perhaps the Landou Sect could discern something. Unable to make sense of it for the moment, Qin Sang put the unhewn jade into his Qianjun Ring. "The Canglang Ocean... Tiantong and Tianxiang should have ascended along with Ziwei Palace, so the Hall of Seven Kills is probably gone as well?" This thought crossed Qin Sang's mind unbidden. The ascension of Ziwei Palace actually concealed an alternative path of ascension. The power of the ancient teleportation array within the Immortal Palace was beyond ordinary fathoming; perhaps it could have breached the world boundary. If the Hall of Seven Kills remained, one could use the ancient teleportation array in its Immortal Palace to teleport to Ziwei Palace, thereby achieving the goal of leaving this realm! However, Qin Sang felt the hopes were slim—it was far less viable than the Ascension Platform or the Guixu of the Eastern Sea. With the Tiantong and Tianxiang Halls having ascended, the hope for this path was practically nonexistent now. Shaking his head slightly, Qin Sang cast aside his stray thoughts, stepped onto the jade stairs, and climbed to the summit of the Langhuan Jade Pavilion! This place was even simpler than the level below. Four pillars supported the pavilion's ceiling, but beyond that, there were no furnishings whatsoever. The smooth floor held only a single prayer mat. Nor was the prayer mat woven from any rare spiritual material. The only noteworthy feature was the pavilion's domed ceiling. The passageway below had merely resembled a starry sky, but this dome depicted a genuine night sky, shimmering with brilliant starlight. Qin Sang paused briefly, walked up to the prayer mat, examined it for a moment, and sat down cross-legged. *Whoosh!* The moment he settled in, the starry sky on the dome blazed with brilliance, gathering into a pillar of light that poured down onto Qin Sang. Sensing no threat, Qin Sang remained seated without moving. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly on his shoulder took flight, fluttering around Qin Sang to keep watch over their surroundings and prevent anyone from approaching the jade pavilion. At this moment, Qin Sang had the illusion of plunging into a sea of stars. In reality, a wisp of his mind had been drawn into an unknown space, where orbs of light floated about. Some of these orbs shone brightly, but most were dim. There were not actually that many orbs of light; they merely hovered and circled around his mind, creating an illusion. Qin Sang subconsciously drew closer to one of the shining orbs. As soon as his mind touched it, a flow of information washed through his thoughts. *Fragmentary Scroll of the Nameless Pill Formula*! It was actually a remnant scroll on alchemy. While the Water Phase Hall's legacy had left his incarnation dizzy and overwhelmed, this remnant scroll was a true heavenly script. He could recognize the ancient characters, but strung together, Qin Sang could make no sense of them. Moreover, the contents of the scroll were disjointed; committing them to memory by force would demand considerable mental effort. "The bright orbs all store fragments of various classical texts!" Far from disappointed, Qin Sang was delighted—he had finally found the right place. The Langhuan Jade Pavilion truly lived up to its name as a treasure vault: the lower floor housed ancient treasures of unknown provenance, while the upper floor held classical texts. This was a place where the high-level cultivators of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect meditated on the Dao. Though they were remnant texts, each had an extraordinary pedigree; understanding even a fraction of them could benefit a cultivator for life. "Is the Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter here?" Qin Sang rarely felt nervous anymore, but now was an exception. Langhuan Jade Pavilion was his only hope besides the sword spirit. Whether he could obtain this cultivation method would dictate the future of his Daoist path. Without delay, Qin Sang withdrew his mind from the pill formula and immediately touched other light orbs, searching tirelessly. *Fragmentary Scroll of Soaring Void Heavenly Guidance*. *Nameless Cultivation Method*. *Refinement Method of the Spirit Treasure Sky-Imprisoning Seal (Fragmentary)*. ... Orb after orb flashed past in a whirlwind tour. The vast majority were marked "Nameless" or "Fragmentary," confirming Qin Sang's suspicions. In truth, there were not that many fragmentary texts worthy of being placed in the Langhuan Jade Pavilion; most of the light orbs held no content at all. Qin Sang soon scanned through more than half without finding what he sought, and his nerves tightened despite himself. He swept over another orb. "A fragmentary divine ability, not a cultivation method!" Catching sight of the name, disappointment crossed Qin Sang's face. He skipped its contents and let his mind touch the next orb. When he saw the title that appeared within, he held his breath instinctively. *Nameless Sword Nurturing Art*! A sword nurturing art! The *Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter*! A jolt ran through Qin Sang's heart. He hastily delved into the orb to examine its contents, and with a single glance, his tense nerves completely uncoiled. It truly was the *Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter*! After searching painstakingly for so many years, it was finally in his hands all at once—and with such ease that Qin Sang found it almost surreal. He only hoped it was the portion for the Deity Transformation stage. Steadying himself, Qin Sang continued browsing the method's contents. A cursory sweep revealed: "Layer eleven! Excellent!" "Layer twelve..." "That's all?" Qin Sang froze. Hurriedly reading through the text in detail, he realized he had worried over nothing. Of the first ten layers of the *Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter*, the first layer served as the foundation of the entire art. Starting from the Foundation Establishment stage, each minor realm corresponded to a single layer of the cultivation method. The technique had originally been split into two parts, each containing five layers. After Deity Transformation, however, it no longer followed this pattern. The eleventh layer corresponded to the entirety of the Deity Transformation stage, while the twelfth layer astonishingly corresponded to the Void Refining stage! At the very least, this was a cultivation method that pointed straight toward the Grand Dao of Void Refining! Back then, when the Wuxiang Immortal Sect obtained the method, they lacked the portions prior to the Nascent Soul stage, making it exceedingly difficult to comprehend. Moreover, the technique was blatantly unorthodox, nurturing a sword with the origin soul itself—none had dared to attempt it. Yet because these two portions touched upon such profound realms, they were placed in the Langhuan Jade Pavilion, positioned near the back among the most vital spots. With the method in hand, Qin Sang was in no hurry to comprehend it—nor was his realm high enough yet. He continued browsing the other orbs of light to see if there were higher tiers of the *Yin-Yang Heavenly Dipper Secret Art*. Regrettably, by the end, Qin Sang found another remnant scroll pointing straight to the Void Refining realm, but none belonging to that particular art.