"A Perfected was secretly trailing that little wench—very likely a Capital Altar Master..."
The bei demon spoke the unvarnished truth, a look of hatred flashing across its eyes as it ground its teeth.
The brocade snake wore a remarkably human sneer. If celestial officials of the Daoist Court were so easy to kill, it would not have needed to lie dormant for so long and use an intermediary.
"Since you failed, what did you come back for?" The snake's eyes were icy, its tone flat and devoid of emotion.
The bei demon's expression soured. "This king ran around on your behalf, fellow Daoist, and only then ran into this disaster. Not only did I lose my register altar and wolf general, but had it not been for my divine ability to pull the wool over their eyes, you wouldn't even be seeing me today... Are you truly going to be this heartless?"
The brocade snake scoffed noncommittally. Its body began turning ethereal, intending to disperse right then and there.
The bei demon panicked. "Though my cultivation has been greatly damaged, it won't be difficult to train it back. But with my ritual altar seized, I have no choice but to beg you to impart the Dharma to me! As long as you can grant me asylum, I am willing to revere you as king and obey your every command at your feet, allowing you to drive me as you please!"
Hearing this, the brocade snake ceased fading. It gazed intently at the bei demon for a long moment, then said coolly, "Six hundred li northwest of this mountain, there is a cave dwelling in a deep ravine."
Without waiting for the bei demon's reply, the snake transformed into a splash of water and fell into the pool. No matter how the bei demon called out, there was no further sound.
The bei demon straightened, its eyes rolling about. It did not know what grand schemes that celestial master had, or whether it should obediently do as the snake demon said.
After waiting for a short while and receiving no orders, it departed dejectedly.
Trudging over mountains and ridges, it found the deep ravine the snake demon had mentioned. The cave dwelling was cramped, but it served as a temporary shelter. Leaping inside, the bei demon settled down to cultivate obediently and await orders.
***
At this moment, two treasures lay before Qin Sang: the Grade Seven Jade Spirit Bamboo and the Dao Manifestation Tree.
Recovering his true essence would likely hinge on a talismanic register. But acquiring a high-grade register was not something that could be achieved overnight; it would be better to first find a way to enhance his strength.
Qin Sang naturally thought of a secret art—the *Postcelestial Wooden Figurine Stele*, which he had obtained from the strange-faced man.
The Grade Seven Jade Spirit Bamboo had been acquired in a trade with the Azure Fox Saint King, originally intended as the spirit medium for cultivating the *Postcelestial Wooden Figurine Stele*.
Now that his external incarnation had perished while averting disaster for his true body, he actually had a far better option.
Qin Sang would not consider refashioning an incarnation for the time being. Back then, he had relied on the foundation of the Nascent Soul talisman puppet that Shangyuan Qingjing Palace had refined for many years to effortlessly craft an external incarnation at the Nascent Soul level. Now that the Dao Manifestation Tree had reverted to its spirit wood form, that power had dissipated.
Cultivation was difficult in this realm, and refashioning an incarnation would inevitably require an immense amount of trouble.
After weighing his options, Qin Sang put away the Grade Seven Jade Spirit Bamboo and kept the Dao Manifestation Tree, reviewing the profound mysteries of the *Postcelestial Wooden Figurine Stele* in his mind.
This technique required spirit wood as a medium to cultivate an incomparably formidable spirit wood body.
As for its power, the strange-faced man had demonstrated it to the fullest before him during the battle at the Non-Phase Immortal Sect.
Back then, so long as the strange-faced man stood upon the earth, he could draw upon the surrounding wood-spirit qi. The mountain forests and vegetation were all his limitless sources of power, and Qin Sang had been forced to set the woods ablaze to restrain him.
Yet cultivating this technique was no easy feat.
To draw in external power so brazenly would impose a tremendous burden on the cultivator if their physical body was not robust enough.
In severe cases, one's body could even explode, resulting in death.
To be safe, although Qin Sang had previously prepared the Grade Seven Jade Spirit Bamboo as his spirit medium, he had intended to wait until his *Heavenly Demon Refining Form* reached the late fourth layer before attempting cultivation. He had not anticipated so many unforeseen twists and turns along the way.
The strange-faced man was not a body cultivator, but the cultivation method he practiced was a premier Wood-attribute art, the *Wood Emperor Records*, which was ideally suited for this secret art and allowed him to direct the absorbed wood-spirit qi through his cultivation method. Even so, he had only dared to practice it after breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage.
In the past, whenever Qin Sang had spare time, he would take out this secret technique to ponder it, and he already knew it like the back of his hand.
The first step was not directed outward, but inward: one had to first temper the apertures of one's physical body and maintain them in a particular state.
Then, one had to open spirit apertures within the chosen spirit wood medium that corresponded one-to-one and aligned perfectly with the cultivator. Only by merging the spirit wood into oneself in this manner could one forge a spirit wood body.
After carefully contemplating this technique, Qin Sang understood why the strange-faced man had repeatedly targeted his external incarnation.
The man's top-tier Wood-attribute cultivation method naturally made him exceptionally perceptive to the aura of spirit wood, but that was only part of the reason.
That unique state had another purpose: it helped the practitioner find the most compatible spirit medium, causing an uncanny resonance the moment one was encountered.
The strange-faced man had already intended to condense a spirit wood body and had begun cultivating the *Postcelestial Wooden Figurine Stele*. Thus, when he encountered the external incarnation, a resonance was triggered—yet he had never realized that what he sensed was the true body of the incarnation itself.
In fact, at least within the Storm Realm, it would be difficult to find a medium more suitable than the Dao Manifestation Tree.
Otherwise, after obtaining this secret art, Qin Sang would not have hesitated between using it and keeping the external incarnation.
The Dao Manifestation Tree was a naturally born spirit embryo. A soul could use it to be reborn without any loss of cultivation, and an immature Dao Manifestation Tree could be refined into a Nascent Soul talisman puppet or an external incarnation; its inner mysteries were boundless.
Once an external incarnation was successfully formed, meridians and apertures would emerge within it, making it no different from an ordinary human.
When the second nascent soul dissipated, the Dao Manifestation Tree reverted to its spirit wood form, its apertures and meridians disappearing without a trace as though all marks had vanished completely—which was another of its marvelous properties.
From this, it was evident that opening apertures in the Dao Manifestation Tree would be far easier than in other spirit woods, second only to those legendary natural curiosities born with divine apertures.
He already had the spirit medium.
Qin Sang could temper his own apertures and open the spirit apertures in the Dao Manifestation Tree at the same time.
He cultivated patiently here, having the Heavenly Eye Butterfly slowly search for the snake demon's cave dwelling.
While Qin Sang cultivated, the bei demon spent its days in anxiety.
As the saying went, heavenly will was unpredictable. The more Qin Sang did nothing, the more unsettled the bei demon felt.
Upon a boulder beside the deep ravine, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly perched silently, waiting for three full days and nights without discovering anything amiss in the vicinity, which demonstrated how cautious the snake demon was.
Then, flapping its wings, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly took flight, dancing gracefully through the air. It left behind charming silhouettes across the mountains, though it had concealed itself with its divine ability, leaving no one to admire its grace.
Across the rugged ridges and towering peaks, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly left its mark everywhere, gradually expanding the scope of its search outward.
After wandering like this for several months and crossing thousands of peaks and valleys, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly finally returned to Qin Sang's side.
"Nine suspect dwellings?"
Sensing the thoughts transmitted back by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang pondered quietly.
The butterfly had ultimately found nine locations that bore faint, obscure auras, suspected to be the snake demon's cave dwellings.
Unsure of what measures the snake demon possessed and wary of alerting it, the butterfly had not rashly entered the suspicious abodes, making it impossible to determine from the outside which one was real.
It was even possible that all nine were decoys.
The snake demon had left the bei demon hanging all this time, and there was no telling how long it would take to show itself.
After weighing the matter, Qin Sang decided to wait no longer and strike directly.
Since demon registers existed in this world, they certainly did not belong exclusively to this one snake demon, so there was no need to waste time languishing here.
Even if he failed this time and let the target escape, he could still probe what capabilities a demon cultivator with a demon register possessed, and then seek out other targets.
If he inadvertently drew a formidable demon cultivator, he could simply retreat back to the Daoist Court.
With this thought, Qin Sang ventured out alongside the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, penetrating a certain distance into the wilderness to conduct a thorough search. Finally settling on a plan, he flew unhurriedly toward one of the suspected dwellings.
Along the way, he held spirit stones in his grip, gradually replenishing his true essence.
Like the bei demon's abode, this suspected dwelling was hidden beneath the waters of a ravine between two mountains.
Concealing his aura, Qin Sang landed quietly on the eastern peak. After observing for a moment, he sent a mental command to the Heavenly Eye Butterfly.
The butterfly flapped its wings and flew into the distance.
In truth, he had two other helpers by his side: the Fire Jade Centipede and Su Zinan's demonic soul inside the Three Corpses God-Perishing Banner.
The external incarnation had not managed to release the demonic banner in time, so the treasure had been preserved.
However, the Fire Jade Centipede knew nothing of concealment and was not adept at combat, while the demonic soul could not stray too far from him. This time, only the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could assist him.
Watching the butterfly fly away, Qin Sang counted the time in his head. With a flip of his palm, the Sun God Tree materialized in his hand, and his figure blurred, appearing in the airspace above the ravine.
Looking down, Qin Sang directed his mind, and three divine birds immediately took flight. Like arrows loosed from a bowstring, they plunged into the ravine.
*Hiss...*
The moment the divine birds entered the water, a towering cloud of steam billowed up, and the entire ravine was instantly scorched dry by the Nanming Primordial Fire.
Immediately afterward, a deafening boom erupted from the depths of the vapor. In an instant, crimson flames soared to the skies, and the peaks on either side violently shook. One of them seemed to have its foundation severed, tilting outward.
Rocks flew, and mountain fiends recoiled in terror.
There were indeed countless spirits, ghosts, and monsters in this world. Plumes of demonic qi and strange mists rose from the surrounding mountains, blanketing the sky as creatures fled in panic.
This was the first time the Sun God Birds had displayed their might in this realm—an earth-shattering debut!
How could the protective measures the snake demon arranged in this suspected dwelling hope to block three Sun God Birds?
The cave entrance and the boulders at the bottom of the ravine were wiped out in an instant by the Nanming Primordial Fire.
Had Qin Sang not intended to capture the demon alive, thereby reining in the power of the flames and shifting its trajectory, a single strike would have leveled the cave dwelling to the ground.
Inside the cave dwelling,
a brocade snake with a human head and serpentine body had its lower half coiled, deep in cultivation.
Surprisingly, the furnishings inside were quite lavish and exquisite: red candles, burning incense, and light gauze curtains. Beneath the snake demon was a fragrant couch draped in silk; anyone unaware would have thought this the boudoir of an aristocratic young lady.
The snake demon's appearance was also remarkably handsome, though its features were overly soft and effeminate, making its gender difficult to discern.
Disaster fell from the heavens!
The entrance was breached on the spot, and an intense surge of fiery power rushed inside, reducing the gauze drapes and tables to ash in a flash.
Only then was the snake demon startled awake. Opening its eyes, it was met with an unbelievable sight: the stone door of its cave dwelling had vanished, and a wave of crimson flames was rolling toward it, exuding a cataclysmic aura that filled its gaze with sheer horror.
Moreover, within the other eight cave dwellings, there was likewise a snake demon in each—identical in appearance, with the furnishings inside being largely the same.
At that moment, all eight snake demons opened their eyes in unison, their expressions matching this one's precisely.
Terror written across its face, seven-colored demonic light abruptly erupted from the snake demon's body, its skin taking on a crystalline sheen as though carved from jade.
Yet before its next thought could even take shape, two resonant sounds—a hum and a roar—rang out by its ears. Its entire body froze stiff, its eyes completely blank.
In the next instant, Qin Sang appeared beside the snake demon and reached out to seize it, only to feel a bizarre softness to the touch.
Taking a closer look, it was actually a layer of snake skin. Inside the shed skin, a strand of power stirred restlessly, seeking to return somewhere.
Unfortunately for the demon, Qin Sang had struck faster. The moment the Sun God Birds breached the cave, he had cast the Soul-Extracting True Word to stun his quarry.
Even with his divine sense restricted, it was not something the snake demon could withstand. In the span of a breath, it had been subdued by Qin Sang.
Having failed to find the true body, Qin Sang's expression remained unchanged. An idea struck him immediately: he would use this strand of power to track down the snake demon.
This power was undoubtedly split from the snake demon's body, maintaining an obscure link with it.
However, just as he was about to trace it, the connection vanished. The snake demon had clearly realized something was wrong and adopted a lizard's tactic of shedding its tail.
"Decisive enough!"
Qin Sang smiled faintly. In that fleeting instant, he had already sensed the general direction. How could he let it escape?
Looking up toward the southwest, lightning flashed across Qin Sang's back as a pair of wings instantly manifested. Following a world-shaking crack of thunder, Qin Sang vanished, leaving behind only a streak of lightning.
*Boom!*
The thunder echoed through the boundless mountains, and countless spirits, demons, and ghosts looked on in dread.
A bolt of lightning tore through the horizon.
Directly ahead of the shooting lightning, the snake demon abruptly turned its head.
In the next instant, the same scene played out again. Seven-colored demonic light flared brilliantly, a strand of power vanished into thin air, and a shed snake skin crumpled limply to the ground.
Qin Sang was too late to stop it, but he had already captured one complete snake skin. He could roughly discern the marvel of the snake demon's divine ability and approximate the direction in which this seven-colored light had returned.
"Let's see how many times you can shift..."
With a casual flick of his hand, Qin Sang unleashed a bolt of heavenly lightning that incinerated the snake skin on the ground. Pivoting his escape light, he tore through the air in another direction.
High in the sky, lightning zig-zagged; wherever it passed, spirits prostrated and ghosts fled.
Qin Sang soon caught sight of the next target, which again reduced into a snake skin before his eyes.
This time, however, he failed to sense where the demonic light had returned. A moment's thought revealed the truth: the snake demon must have realized the danger and decisively dispersed this strand of light rather than recalling it.
Qin Sang could see that these snake skins were not simply meant to deceive the eyes. The demonic light within was separated from the true body; every time one dissipated, its cultivation took a hit.
And indeed, that was the case.
This was a divine ability unique to the snake demon. By refining its own shed skins, it could divide itself into strands of demonic light, each fusing with a skin to possess an aura indistinguishable from its true self.
Furthermore, it could maintain this divided state while cultivating. In times of peril, it could recall all the demonic light to any single shed skin to reconstitute its true body.
Even if some strands were unable to escape in time, it could decisively abandon them. As long as a single strand managed to flee, it could slowly recover afterward.
By now, it had accumulated nine shed skins and arranged nine decoy dwellings, believing itself to be entirely safe.
Recognizing the subtleties of this divine ability, Qin Sang thought that he might end up empty-handed today. Just as he was about to pick a random direction to pursue, his expression suddenly shifted. A smile surfaced, and he flew north.
Before long, he arrived at a mountain valley. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly flew up to greet him. On the ground lay a charred python, no longer resembling a brocade snake in the slightest.
When probing the nine suspect dwellings earlier, Qin Sang had noticed that one was exceptionally well hidden. Had it not been for the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's divine eyes, it would have been easily overlooked. Suspecting that this was where the snake demon had taken the greatest pains to conceal itself, he had instructed the butterfly to watch over it in advance.
The snake demon had thought it had lured the enemy away and hurried to recall its remaining light to this spot to make its escape. But the moment its true body manifested, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly struck it unconscious with lightning.
Sweeping up the demon snake, Qin Sang flew continuously toward the Daoist Court without slowing his escape light, remembering to pick up the bei demon along the way.
Returning to the territory of the Daoist Court in one breath, Qin Sang examined his condition and sighed inwardly. He had to find a way to settle his primordial qi as soon as possible; otherwise, the restrictions imposed on him were simply too great.
Chapter 1752