Even as the shout rang out, a bolt of lightning streaked forward like a shooting star overtaking the moon. Its speed actually surpassed Marquis Li's, cutting him off before he could escape the jungle domain.
This was the true art of lightning escape; Qin Sang had finally mobilized his true essence, drawing upon the Qingluan lightning within the phoenix wings.
Correspondingly, Qin Sang's true essence was depleting at an alarming rate. If he had possessed only the reserves of a late Nascent Soul cultivator, he likely could not have kept it up for long.
However, Qin Sang had already taken the Dingzhen Pill.
The moment he had decided to fight Marquis Li, Qin Sang had secretly retrieved a Dingzhen Pill and held it in his mouth, prepared to refine it at any moment.
The battle moments ago had given him immense confidence. Seeing Marquis Li attempt to flee, he swallowed the pill without hesitation.
As the medicinal power entered his body, his qi sea was awakened from its dormancy.
An endless stream of medicinal efficacy transformed into pure true essence, swiftly filling his qi sea. Qin Sang's aura surged upward, rapidly restoring his strength.
Moreover, this true essence was unaffected by the external environment, showing no sign of disorder. Stable and solid, it circulated with total ease.
This long-lost sensation was intoxicating. Qin Sang could not help but sigh with emotion, feeling an even greater urgency to seek promotion of his talisman register.
After all, he was fundamentally a spell cultivator; the *Essence Cultivation and Sword Nurturing Chapter* was his true foundation!
That was why Qin Sang had swallowed the Dingzhen Pill without hesitation.
The golden light assailing the Jushan Sub-parish altar was indeed a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. A lone demon marquis was rarely encountered, and places brimming with Wood Spirit Qi were even harder to find.
Once the golden light receded, these demon marquises would likely band together again.
How the situation would unfold next remained unclear. Now that he had seen an opening, he naturally had to grasp it with all his might.
Marquis Li had been trying to wear him down, but wasn't Qin Sang doing the exact same thing?
It was just that Marquis Li was more alert and decisive than expected. Qin Sang had initially intended to feign an inability to withstand the backlash of Wood Spirit Qi, gradually showing weakness before mounting a final counterattack.
The longer the battle was dragged out, the more advantageous it would be for Qin Sang.
He hadn't anticipated that Marquis Li would unleash his lethal trump card halfway through, and upon sensing something was amiss, decisively abandon his quarry. That had come as a slight surprise to Qin Sang.
The battle's progress had not been as flawless as Qin Sang envisioned, but nothing in this world was ever perfect. Facing a dignified mid Deity Transformation demon marquis, Qin Sang never expected to outscheme him to death from start to finish.
In the end, victory still depended on sheer strength!
Marquis Li only felt his vision blur before Qin Sang barred his way, swinging both arms like heavy hammers as his fists smashed down with savage force.
At this moment, Qin Sang was bursting with vigor and vitality, his aura towering like a rainbow. There was not the slightest trace of a shaken foundation.
If Marquis Li had harbored any doubts before, he was now entirely certain: this was an outright conspiracy. His enemy had been feigning weakness all along, luring him into a trap step by step.
In his haste, Marquis Li raised both claws to block, simultaneously sensing another aura erupting from Qin Sang's body.
"Dual cultivation of spell and body!" Marquis Li exclaimed in shock.
He had all along regarded Qin Sang as a cultivator of the Dragon Tiger Altar, or perhaps a demon cultivator who had submitted to the Daoist Court.
Aside from the Soldiers and Horses Altar, Dongxuan Real Persons rarely summoned their talisman altars in combat unless casting talisman incantations that exceeded their own cultivation.
Those of the Dragon Tiger Altar were even more extreme, their entire cultivation anchored in the physical body, leaving no need to summon an altar.
There were indeed practitioners in this realm who pursued dual cultivation of spell and body, but most did so only after hitting a bottleneck and failing to make progress for a long time, seeking inspiration through body refinement. Those who truly cultivated both were exceedingly rare.
The Daoist path of talismans pointed straight toward the Great Dao—profound beyond measure and vast as a sea of smoke. One might spend an entire lifetime without grasping even the surface, so who would dare divide their focus?
Sensing fluctuations of true essence from Qin Sang that were not in the least inferior to his body refinement cultivation, Marquis Li felt a sinking dread.
*Bang!*
Fist clashed with claw.
Marquis Li was uninjured and used the recoil to fly backward, immediately pivoting to change direction, intent only on fleeing this jungle domain.
With his discernment, Marquis Li knew clearly that Qin Sang's Spirit Wood Body only possessed such mighty power within this jungle domain. Once outside, his strength would surely suffer a drastic drop.
Alas, Marquis Li's premonition came true.
The moment Marquis Li moved, the light between heaven and earth abruptly dimmed. The world plunged into darkness as stars rose one after another.
Starlight blazed in brilliance as a host of stars hung high, shining down.
Marquis Li felt as though he had been pulled into the depths of a starry expanse. The bright starlight washing over him felt like beams of sword radiance, bone-chillingly cold.
"A sword array!"
Recognizing at a glance that the stars were sword stars manifested from sword intent, Marquis Li's expression changed drastically.
At this moment, his resonance with Heaven and Earth seemed to have been severed by the sword array.
Ordinary formations could rarely trap a Deity Transformation cultivator precisely because such cultivators had achieved initial resonance between heaven and man; as long as the slightest flaw existed in a formation, it could easily be detected by them.
Yet the *Seven Mansions Division Sword Array* was a true transmission of the Jinxiang Lineage of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect—and might even have originated from the Immortal Palace. It was by no means an ordinary sword array.
Over these years, although Qin Sang had been unable to cultivate, that had not prevented him from comprehending the sword array. Now unleashed, its power was far beyond what it once was.
With seven sword souls presiding over the seven mansions, bolstered by the pseudo-spirit treasure Grey Oriole Sword, even if Qin Sang's cultivation level fell short of Marquis Li's, it was not something the latter could easily break.
Perhaps Marquis Li possessed divine abilities to break formations, but Qin Sang would give him no opportunity to execute them.
The sword array manifested.
Sword intent sealed Heaven and Earth.
In the next instant, Qin Sang's true body had closed in. Without brandishing any Dharma treasures, the wind of his fists boomed like thunder.
He still fought like a body cultivator, except now it was Qin Sang taking the offensive.
*Bang!*
Forced to engage, Marquis Li was now the one driven backward repeatedly. His eyes darted about, taking in each sword star in an attempt to discern a flaw in the Seven Mansions Division Sword Array.
Lotus Seal!
Demon-Subduing Seal!
Wheel-Turning Seal!
...
Buddhist seals unfolded in rapid succession. Relying on the razor-sharp instincts of the Vajra Great Freedom Seal, Qin Sang unleashed a torrential barrage of attacks upon Marquis Li.
Facing an onslaught of this caliber, Marquis Li dared not be careless and was forced to meet it head-on. Fortunately, the sword array had not actively attacked, appearing only meant to keep him trapped here.
Marquis Li slashed both claws repeatedly, leaving trails of afterimages in the void. In an instant, a sky full of claw shadows engulfed Qin Sang.
*Boom!*
The claw shadows shattered all at once.
Qin Sang charged straight through, rampaging heedlessly, showing not the slightest fear of being injured by Marquis Li.
*Rip!*
The sharp claws carved wounds across Qin Sang's body, tearing through his bark-like skin. But Qin Sang paid them no mind at all. An inexhaustible flow of Wood Spirit Qi replenished him; unless a blow was fatal, it had almost no effect on him.
The Spirit Wood Body arched abruptly as Qin Sang raised both fists and slammed them inward, violently sandwiching Marquis Li between them.
Marquis Li's body was smaller than Qin Sang's fist; had those fists collided, he would likely have been pulverized into meat paste.
*Thud!*
A muffled thud suddenly rang out from Qin Sang's body as the bone spike silently pressed against his abdomen.
Refusing to resign himself to defeat, Marquis Li had unleashed the bone spike once more, its timing and angle chosen with exquisite cunning.
Alas, the outcome was unchanged. No matter how concealed or insidious the bone spike was, its trajectory could not escape the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's gaze. Qin Sang needed only to shift the true treasure fragment according to the butterfly's intent to deflect it.
*Bang!*
His twin fists slammed together, hitting empty air.
Without pausing for a heartbeat, Qin Sang strode forward with meteoric momentum, carrying the force of uprooting mountains and overturning peaks. Countless ancient trees snapped as he crashed through them, his eyes locked solely on Marquis Li.
Ever since attaining the Dongxuan Dharma rank, when had Marquis Li ever been reduced to such a wretched state? Fury flared in his heart. Abruptly throwing his head back, he let out a piercing screech, abandoning all retreat.
Seeing this, Qin Sang was delighted rather than alarmed. Straightening his posture, he pressed forward without flinching.
In an instant, man and beast tangled in a ferocious melee.
This battle was even more intense than before, the starlight pouring from the heavens focusing entirely upon the battlefield.
The surrounding trees had long been ripped to shreds by the chaotic, overwhelming forces as the two engaged in the purest form of slaughter.
Qin Sang seemed never to have left his spot; in the void, badger phantoms and fist shadows flickered at blinding speeds, clinging together like body and shadow, appearing everywhere at once.
It was impossible to tell which was real and which was illusory.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*...
The sounds of collision pelted like raindrops.
In a brief span, Qin Sang endured countless claw swipes and attacks from the bone spike.
That was still not all.
Marquis Li summoned the Xun Earth Demon Thunder once more. Spheres of thunder rained down incessantly, detonating against Qin Sang. Thick lightning enveloped them, continuously blasting Qin Sang.
Qin Sang withstood every single strike, caring nothing for his own consumption. With an endless supply of Wood Spirit Qi here, he could sustain the Vajra Heavenly Armor Seal at all times.
Lethal strikes were deflected by the true treasure fragment, and other attacks, even if they damaged the Spirit Wood Body, healed in the blink of an eye.
Marquis Li's sense of foreboding grew stronger and stronger.
Refined over countless years, the bone spike served not only as a hidden weapon, but possessed formidable and bizarre powers. Yet the prerequisite was injuring the opponent; unable to pierce the true treasure fragment, everything was in vain.
What shocked Marquis Li even more was that no matter how much Wood Spirit Qi Qin Sang absorbed into his body, there was still no sign of his qi and blood falling into disorder.
His foundation was extraordinarily solid, as if he had truly merged into one with this jungle and would never weaken. This completely defied Marquis Li's understanding—it made no sense at all!
If this continued, he would be the first to run out of strength!
Marquis Li could never have imagined that one day he would be ground to exhaustion by a cultivator whose cultivation was beneath his own.
*Boom!*
Whether due to a lapse in concentration or not, Marquis Li took a direct punch, his body batted away like a ball.
Circulating his lightning escape, Qin Sang pursued in hot pursuit.
Unexpectedly, Marquis Li sank into the earth and vanished.
The Seven Mansions Division Sword Array was not suspended purely in midair, for Qin Sang too needed to stand upon the earth, which had inadvertently given Marquis Li an opening for earth escape. Yet Qin Sang was not in the least surprised; his body abruptly vanished as well.
Here, the ancient trees had tangled roots, and sword intent penetrated the soil. How could an earth escape escape his perception?
The next moment, an ancient tree in the distance withered away with a resounding crash. The ground abruptly exploded, sending severed roots and soil flying as a petite badger phantom leaped out.
Qin Sang burst out of the earth almost simultaneously, carrying a massive boulder and two towering trees on his shoulders. With a jerk of his shoulders, he flung the debris aside and pounced forward, continuing his savage onslaught against the badger silhouette with ferocious intensity.
Unexpectedly, more than one badger shadow flew from the underground.
The surrounding ground caved in to form over a dozen massive pits all at once, a badger shadow leaping from each.
None of these badger figures were illusions; all were real, their auras indistinguishable from Marquis Li's true body as they scrambled frantically toward the sky.
Qin Sang did not even bother shifting his gaze, not sparing those other badger shadows a glance. He glared fixedly at the Lifeng Badger before him, certain this was Marquis Li's true form.
Marquis Li tried twice more, only to find that the divine ability he had painstakingly cultivated was entirely useless, unable to confuse Qin Sang's judgment in the slightest.
Both shocked and enraged, he ceased these futile tricks and attempted to break the array while he still had strength left.
Unfortunately, with Qin Sang constantly harassing him, his efforts to break the array went anything but smoothly.
Dividing his mind between two tasks, Qin Sang ran his true essence and vitality in tandem, relentlessly pummeling Marquis Li. Even whenever Marquis Li used a divine ability and made headway, Qin Sang would instantly shift the array's layout. Marquis Li could only seek a way out by analyzing the array's patterns, which would inevitably take a long time.
After probing repeatedly to no avail, Marquis Li suddenly let out an ear-piercing hiss, his eyes abruptly turning crimson.
Next, Qin Sang witnessed an astonishing sight: Marquis Li's fur transformed into a blood-red color, his claws dripping with vivid crimson. With his bloody fur thrashing wildly, his aura surged into extreme frenzy.
At this moment, Qin Sang felt as if he were facing a great demon of late Deity Transformation, and his heart tightened.
*Whoosh!*
The blood badger appeared right in front of Qin Sang.
Only then did the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's warning arrive.
*Slash!*
A bloody claw swept out, carving a scarlet claw mark across the void.
Before the claw even struck him, Qin Sang sensed a bizarre ripple emanating from that claw mark.
Immediately afterward, the qi and blood within his body began to churn restlessly.
For a body cultivator, unsettled qi and blood carried grave consequences; Qin Sang could already feel a sluggish hindrance in executing the Seven Master Buddha Seals.
At the same time, he felt a stinging pain, as though the blood claw could injure a foe through layers of defense.
Startled, Qin Sang dimmed his spiritual light as layers of demonic fire surged forth, instantly forming a shroud of flames that enveloped his whole body.
Ever since completely refining the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, Qin Sang had been able to drive this flame using only his divine consciousness without consuming true essence.
However, because he was refining the Qilin Origin Seed, he did not dare mobilize his divine consciousness casually, which limited his use of the demonic fire.
Even so, if he channeled the demonic fire into the Mani Pearl to power the astral fire barrier, it would primarily expend true essence, drastically reducing the strain on his divine consciousness.
As long as he retracted the Mani Pearl before reaching the limit of his divine consciousness, there would be no repercussions.
With flames shielding his body and severing inside from outside, things indeed improved, and his body returned to normal.
*Puff!*
The blood claw plunged into the demonic fire.
At this moment, the Vajra Heavenly Armor Seal, the Integration-Disintegration Divine Light, and the astral fire barrier operated simultaneously, while the Wind Returning Armor stood on guard, in addition to the all-important Spirit Wood Body. Qin Sang truly could not imagine what kind of opponent could possibly harm him!
Marquis Li's eyes went round with disbelief; Qin Sang had actually concealed yet another defensive treasure.
*Puff! Puff! Puff!*
The blood claws slashed again and again.
The flames danced.
Wrapped in fire, Qin Sang remained completely unscathed, absorbing every single strike Marquis Li threw at him.
Realizing he could not injure Qin Sang in the slightest, one could imagine Marquis Li's state of mind. As things stood, only one path remained to him—flee!
*Whoosh!*
Marquis Li transformed into a streak of bloody light, darting toward the sea of stars.
Shrouded in demonic fire, Qin Sang turned into a bolt of lightning, clinging tightly to Marquis Li without granting him the slightest opening.
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
...
The man and beast battled from one end of the starry sea to the other, puncturing it who knew how many times, as Marquis Li's aura steadily waned.
High in the sky, the sword stars trembled frequently, the sea of stars unable to maintain stability.
Gradually, both noticed something unusual: the tremors seemed to originate from the outside.
There appeared to be the auras of other people outside, and they were fighting!
Someone had fought their way nearby!
Marquis Li, who had already fallen into despair, was ecstatic. Casting caution to the wind, he surged outward like mad.
Qin Sang shot him a cold glance, then abruptly turned into a streak of lightning that flashed right in front of Marquis Li. A glint of killing intent flashed in his eyes as a blood-red needle as fine as a strand of hair thrust straight toward Marquis Li.
The Heaven-Severing Soul-Shaking Divine Needle!
*Whew!*
The divine needle struck true upon a wound on Marquis Li's body, its terrifying poison detonating instantly.
Formidable as Marquis Li's physical body was, a layer of ashen gray clouded his eyes, and his body stiffened for a brief moment.
*Slash!*
The starlight converged, and sword light descended from the heavens.
Qin Sang clamped one hand onto Marquis Li's head and seized his body with the other. Crossing his hands, he twisted with all his might.
*Crack!*
Bones shattered.
Sword light pierced through Qin Sang's fingers.
All life was extinguished!
Chapter 1792