Inside his dantian.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly wrapped itself within its wings, a faint shimmering radiance emanating from them. Resembling a cocoon of light, it remained completely still.
The Earth Slaying Sword, the Poison Pearl, and other items had all been cleared out by Qin Sang, leaving only his Nascent Soul and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly within his dantian.
The Nascent Soul spread its arms, slender threads of light extending from its fingertips to merge into the shimmering radiance.
Qin Sang linked his mind with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, feeling the thoughts of his natal Gu worm while multitasking to form various hand seals from the Panhu True Scripture.
In Qin Sang's view, the witchery arts, mudras, and incantations of the Panhu True Scripture were all exceedingly strange. Though he had deduced and rehearsed them many times before, executing them now still felt somewhat stiff and unwieldy.
This was only natural; after all, this scripture did not belong to the human lineage. Just as Ghost Mother had cautioned, Qin Sang lacked Witch Clan bloodline, so as his realm rose, he had to guard vigilantly against the Gu worm turning against its master.
However, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly showed no sign of rebellion.
Sensing an unprecedented transformation occurring within its master—and with the bond between them fluctuating, now blurred, now clear—the Heavenly Eye Butterfly transmitted a sense of unease.
Yet Qin Sang could detect no foul intent within that emotion, only closeness and attachment.
Continually soothing the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang hastened his casting.
Refining his natal Gu worm anew using the Panhu True Scripture carried all manner of perils, but thanks to the butterfly's unreserved reliance on him, everything remained well within his control.
Silence reigned inside the cave abode.
Qin Sang sat quietly for an unknown length of time, his body radiating a brilliant glow much like the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's. The radiance converged naturally toward his dantian.
At this moment, he seemed to be cradling a sphere of light. Within it, his qi and that of the Heavenly Eye Butterfly intermingled, giving rise to myriad evolving visions—at times vast, rugged mountain ranges, at times shifting seas and mulberry fields, exuding an aura of profound antiquity.
Amid these diverse anomalies, only the silhouette of a butterfly endured throughout, flying ceaselessly across countless peaks and ravines, rivers, lakes, and seas—untiring, with no end in sight.
At first, the butterfly shadow was exceedingly faint.
As rumbling sounds echoed within Qin Sang's body and his qi and blood surged like thunder, fine threads of blood extended into the illusion. Touching the butterfly shadow, they caused it to grow increasingly distinct until its form was identical to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, as though solidifying into a true physical form.
The moment the butterfly shadow condensed, Qin Sang's throat trembled, producing a deep, bizarre sound. The illusions instantly dispersed, leaving only the butterfly shadow. With a flap of its wings, it plunged into Qin Sang's dantian.
Inside the dantian, the butterfly shadow darted straight toward the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.
Identical in form, the two spirit butterflies overlapped seamlessly, merging into one.
The curled-up Heavenly Eye Butterfly trembled briefly before quickly regaining calm. Its aura stabilized as well, slipping into deep slumber.
Eyes shut tight, Qin Sang focused his mind upon his dantian, feeling the subtle changes between himself and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. It was indeed worthy of being a true Witch Clan transmission bestowed by Ghost Mother; the effects were immediate.
The sensation of bloodline blending between him and the Heavenly Eye Butterfly grew clearer. In some unfathomable way, their bond felt tighter than ever, indistinguishable from one another. Such benefits were readily foreseeable: should the butterfly encounter difficulties or bottlenecks in its cultivation later on, he could unite his mind with hers and lend assistance in seeking breakthroughs, rather than being muddled and helpless as before.
As his cultivation deepened and he came across elixirs or miraculous medicines beneficial to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, an intuitive inkling would alert him, sparing him the need to waste time testing them one by one.
Nor was this the greatest benefit. If the Heavenly Eye Butterfly ever lagged behind him in cultivation in the future, he could make full use of the blood-refining arts, secret medicines, and other techniques recorded in the scripture to rapidly elevate its cultivation.
"This is what a true natal Gu worm should be!"
Qin Sang sighed with emotion. Without the orthodox method, he had wasted far too much time before.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly slept inside his dantian, adapting to the newfound changes.
Qin Sang did not wake it. Emerging from meditation, he wore a contemplative expression. Catching sight of the Poison Pearl floating before him, he suddenly remembered the Gu King.
The Gu King had been sealed by Ghost Mother's restrictions and was currently sleeping inside a spirit beast pouch.
Following Ghost Mother's guidance, Qin Sang had been re-refining the Poison Pearl. Although he had focused his efforts on cultivating the Golden Lotus of Fire Seeds and had not paid it much heed, unconsciously guiding the Poison Pearl's self-transformation over the decades had yielded noticeable results.
"After all these years of nurturing, the most troublesome aspect—the Dao foundation—is more or less stabilized, and the recovery of my injuries will only accelerate from here on. While healing, I can refine the Poison Pearl to devour the Gu King! Ah, right, I also need to comprehend the crafting methods for the Taiji Immortal Platform and the Ice Fire Tokens."
Qin Sang pondered his upcoming tasks.
His cultivation speed was already swift. Once his incarnation delivered the Four Sages Spirit Gathering Array, his cultivation would surely soar, bringing him face-to-face with the Deity Transformation bottleneck.
Yet the Lingxi Immortal Fruit and the Non-Birth Demonic Seal needed for the breakthrough both required waiting for the right moment. There was no telling when the fierce beast would appear, so he could not afford to be impatient.
Before that happened, Qin Sang decided to settle all his miscellaneous affairs first.
Next, Qin Sang took out the legacy that Old Man Yanshan had obtained in the snowfield tomb and studied it carefully.
The difficulty with the Ice Fire Tokens lay in the sheer quantity required and their exorbitant cost. As long as one grasped the properties of the Bingyi Divine Plate and the Fire Rhinoceros Pendant, the actual difficulty was lower than that of the Taiji Immortal Platform.
Having finished reading the crafting method for the Taiji Immortal Platform, Qin Sang sighed, rubbed his brow, set it aside, and took out the artifact-crafting legacy of the Wood Phase branch.
Time flew by.
Another three years passed.
Over these three years, Qin Sang read through the Wood Phase legacy in broad strokes several times. While his mastery of artifact crafting had not improved much, he had completed the refining of the Poison Pearl.
Swoosh!
The slumbering Gu King was summoned forth.
Qin Sang looked at his right hand. Rolling between his fingertips was a pearl the size of a longan—the newly refined Poison Pearl. It felt soft to the touch, not yet a truly solid physical body.
With a stir of his mind, the Poison Pearl flared brilliantly, and a ray of seven-colored light burst forth, shooting into the void before Qin Sang. While it appeared only slightly more solidified than before, it was fundamentally distinct from the poison-warding halo.
Not only could this rainbow light turn into a suit of poison-warding armor to fend off external poisons, but it could also transform into poison light!
Warding off poison and inflicting poison—both at his beck and call.
The toxins inside the Poison Pearl were likely formed from the fusion and transformation of the various poisons the fat silkworm had swallowed over the years. Had Qin Sang raised it properly and enabled it to comprehend the poison light, it would have become a great help long ago. Fortunately, it had finally found a renowned teacher.
After testing it briefly, Qin Sang shifted his gaze to the Gu King and tossed the Poison Pearl over. The pearl hovered above the Gu King, gushing streams of seven-colored light that enveloped it.
As though pulled by an invisible force, the Gu King slowly drifted toward the Poison Pearl.
Before long, the multicolored light dissipated, and the Poison Pearl flew before Qin Sang, rotating slowly. One could clearly see the jade beetle inside the pearl, as though sealed within, having never awakened throughout the entire process.
A streak of sword light shot from Qin Sang's glabella, and the Cloud Traversing Sword hovered inverted above the Poison Pearl. Repeating his previous trick, he used pure sword intent to suppress it.
At the same time, dense filaments of seven-colored light emerged inside the Poison Pearl, tentatively drifting toward the Gu King. However, they did not make direct contact with its body, instead merging into the divine rune seal upon it.
The divine rune seal left by Ghost Mother exploited the Gu King's weakness while pointing the way forward for Qin Sang.
Gradually, the divine runes on the Gu King turned into a rainbow hue. Though Qin Sang's movements were extremely gentle, the Gu King seemed to sense danger nonetheless, nearly awakening several times.
Fortunately, with the Cloud Traversing Sword suppressing it, the process went relatively smoothly.
"Success!"
Qin Sang's eyes flashed as he beckoned the Poison Pearl into his palm.
Inside the Poison Pearl, the Gu King was bound hand and foot, cocooned in a massive net formed by the seven-colored filaments layer upon layer, with every filament linked to a node of the divine runes.
The Gu King's aura showed no obvious sign of weakening for the time being, for Qin Sang intended to boil the frog in warm water.
The seven-colored filaments served as the Poison Pearl's tentacles, slowly siphoning its power while the Gu King slept. It was bound to be an exceedingly long process. Before the Gu King grew thoroughly weakened, mishaps could still occur, requiring the constant watch of the Cloud Traversing Sword.
He took the Poison Pearl and spirit sword back into his body.
Qin Sang paid them no further deliberate attention.
Before long, Qin Sang ingested a few more pills, and his injuries finally healed completely. Thereafter, he threw himself into intensive cultivation.
To date, no fierce beast had appeared.
For Qin Sang, this was naturally a good thing.
Previously, he had planned to let his incarnation slip away quietly while the Deity Transformation cultivators of the two races hunted the fierce beast, not intending to deploy his true body. Now that his true body's injuries were healed, he could make a move as well.
While cultivating, he would occasionally take out the Wood Phase legacy and other authentic records to peruse and study.
Still, no news came from the outside world.
In the intervals between cultivation sessions, Qin Sang turned his thoughts to the Golden Lotus of Fire Seeds once more.
Following the breakthrough of his divine consciousness, further improvements would hardly produce immediate results; it would be better to switch to tempering his physical body instead. Thus, before breaking through to Deity Transformation, Qin Sang did not plan to continue cultivating this art.
Even so, necessary preparations still had to be made.
Qin Sang summoned the fire lotus and the Sun God Tree, attempting to refine the Nanming Primordial Fire. To his surprise, after numerous attempts, all ended in failure—the fire lotus could not budge the Nanming Primordial Fire in the slightest!
This created a deadlock.
To what level must the Golden Lotus of Fire Seeds be cultivated to shake the Nanming Primordial Fire? Yet if he could not refine the Nanming Primordial Fire, how could he advance the fire lotus?
Given Qin Sang's current cultivation, ordinary spiritual fire offered negligible improvement.
Even the Formless Immortal Sect's Fire Rhinoceros Island lacked one; finding a satisfactory spiritual fire elsewhere would be even more difficult. He could only pin his hopes on ascending to the Great Thousand World in the future.
"What a pity the immortal palace ascended. The Hall of Seven Kills in the Canglang Ocean is probably gone as well... Hm?"
Reflecting on the past, Qin Sang suddenly recalled something.
Back then, when he was trapped in the Hall of Seven Kills and mistaken for a demon by the Nine Phoenix King, he had witnessed with his own eyes the Nine Phoenix King producing a damaged long plume to breach the immortal restrictions and charge into the Inner Hall. That long plume had swept forth like flowing fire, seeming to harbor spiritual fire just like the Vermilion Bird True Feather.
In addition, there had been another Heavenly Phoenix Plume.
That Heavenly Phoenix Plume had been brought into Yitian Peak by the Flood Dragon King, who attempted to use it to flee before being slain, causing the Heavenly Phoenix Plume to fall into the hands of the elder from the Four Sages Palace.
Yet that damaged long plume had never surfaced again; it ought to still be in the Nine Phoenix King's hands.
Who knew what became of the Nine Phoenix King and the other demons in the end, and whether the damaged plume still existed?
Qin Sang tapped his fingers lightly on his knee as he deliberated. Not knowing how the rank of the damaged plume compared to the Vermilion Bird True Feather, he could not be certain whether the fire lotus could refine it.
Still, there was no hurry regarding this matter.
Putting aside his stray thoughts, Qin Sang immersed himself in cultivation once more.
Spring gave way to autumn.
Time slipped quietly past in the midst of cultivation.
In this manner, nearly twenty peaceful years went by.
Qin Sang would occasionally emerge from seclusion to check on the development of Qingyang Temple. However, with the Dark Moon Guard helping to manage things, there was no need for him to trouble himself over it.
The Northern Barrens remained as it had always been. Across Zhongzhou, undercurrents seemed to stir among the sects, but they had little to do with Qin Sang, so he did not pay them much attention.
His incarnation remained at Ganlu Zen Monastery all along. During this period, he befriended several eminent monks and forged favorable ties. Perhaps seeing that Saint Huiguang held him in high esteem, whenever the incarnation consulted them on questions, they held nothing back.
The incarnation either visited the Sutra Repository to read classics, contemplated the dao of alchemy, or mingled with experts of various paths, leading quite a leisurely life.
Naturally, the tasks he needed to accomplish were not neglected in the least.
He had already concocted several types of pills required by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. The primary materials for the Taiji Immortal Platform had been obtained from the Azure Fox Saint King, while the less costly auxiliary materials were easy to acquire and had all been gathered.
He had also collected a portion of the spirit materials needed for the Ice Fire Tokens, and he had general targets in mind for the rest, planning to trade for them later.
As far as he knew, because the fierce beast had not appeared, the Azure Fox Saint King had stayed at Ganlu Zen Monastery the entire time.
Curiously, Mo Xingdao had not left either. Like him, Mo Xingdao had claimed a top-grade cave abode on the rear mountain and was constantly cultivating in seclusion.
It seemed the number one rogue cultivator of the Northern Barrens truly intended to devote himself to the Buddhist path.
The incarnation had only met Mo Xingdao once, parting ways hastily after a brief exchange.
On this day.
The incarnation was browsing Buddhist classics in the Sutra Repository, paying particular attention to the sections on body tempering, when he suddenly sensed the qi across the mountain gate growing chaotic. Closing his scroll, he walked out of the Sutra Repository and saw monks coming and going in a hurry throughout the monastery.
Buddhist Venerables who were rarely seen on ordinary days now appeared one after another.
The incarnation stopped someone to ask, learning that Abbot Master Xingji had issued a summons. Soon after, seeing shimmering radiance and shifting shadows from the direction of Mount Minor Fangcun, he immediately guessed what was happening.
Without hesitation, he strode to the Mahavira Hall. Sure enough, both Saint Huiguang and the Azure Fox Saint King had appeared, while Master Xingji bowed and reported something to them.
Mo Xingdao also stood below, eyes fixed on his nose and nose on his heart, with no telling where he had placed that puppet.
Seeing the incarnation enter, familiar Buddhist Venerables greeted him.
The two Deity Transformation experts noticed him as well; the Azure Fox Saint King merely cast a glance his way, while Saint Huiguang smiled and nodded to him.
The incarnation returned the courtesies one by one, then walked briskly to Mo Xingdao's side and got straight to the point: "Fellow Daoist Mo, has the fierce beast appeared?"
Mo Xingdao grunted in affirmation: "A warning came from the storm belt. Fellow daoists patrolling the southeast noticed an anomaly: a fierce beast is cleaving through the waves and heading north from that direction. Judging by its trajectory, it will likely brush past Zhongzhou. The fellow daoists outside have already taken action, preparing to use bait to guide the beast step-by-step toward the north of Zhongzhou..."
The incarnation nodded at his words.
He had long known the layout established by the two Deity Transformation masters: traps were laid in both the north and south, while they held the fort in Zhongzhou.
Uniting their forces, the two races dispatched contingents to set up defenses and bait in the storm belt, determining whether to lure the beast south or north based on where it emerged.
The north was the most convenient because the Buddhist sect controlled an ancient teleportation array at the edge of the Western Desert that led directly to the North Sea.
With a concrete plan already in place, now was the time to rally experts from all quarters and set out on the beast hunt.
The incarnation hurried back to his cave abode, transmitted a message to the true body, and collected all the items. When he emerged, he saw a dark shadow floating in the sky above Ganlu Zen Monastery—it was actually a flying boat.
Led by the two Deity Transformation masters of both races, Buddhist experts filed into the flying boat one after another.
Seeing the incarnation board the flying boat, surprise flickered in the Azure Fox Saint King's eyes.
The incarnation did not take this chance to slip away; he needed to see the fierce beast with his own eyes before he could set his mind at rest.
Within Luye.
Having learned of the matter, the true body walked out of his cave abode. He glanced toward the north, flashed out of Luye, and upon reaching a deserted place, transformed into lightning, streaking through the void at full speed.
Chapter 1704