News Arrives

With the Five Elements yin materials fully gathered and enough earth fiend qi on hand, only one thing remained lacking—monster beast souls. Naturally born baleful corpses were nurtured in yin qi year after year. The metamorphosis from a zombie into a baleful corpse required a long time, during which spirituality would naturally develop within it. Once it grew even stronger, it would even unlock sapience, just like a human cultivator. A refined corpse, however, was different. Baiyun Shanren had died only recently, and neither the Five Elements yin materials nor the earth fiend qi could bestow spirituality upon a refined corpse. If a baleful corpse lacked spirituality, it was no different from an inanimate object. In a real fight, Qin Sang might not always be able to spare the attention to control the baleful corpse; more often than not, he would have to let it act on instinct. Thus, it was necessary to endow it with spirituality during the refining process. Among the corpse-refining methods was a technique to refine souls and attach spirituality. During refinement, incantations guided living souls, refining them together into the baleful corpse's body, which would bestow spirituality upon the baleful corpse once completed. Naturally, refining a living corpse did not require this step. A human cultivator's origin soul was best as a living soul, though a monster beast's soul could also serve, and there was no strict requirement regarding the beast's strength. When Qin Sang went to Mingqin Island, he had gathered some along the way, but they were still not enough. Leaving Dichen Cave, he ventured deep into the Yuncang Great Marsh. After spending several days collecting enough monster beast souls, Qin Sang was preparing to return to his cave dwelling to enter secluded refinement to refine the corpse. To his surprise, he found a voice transmission talisman at Huilong Temple, and it had been left by Granny Jing. "There is news of the item Fellow Daoist Qin seeks. Come at once upon seeing this!" Seeing the message on the voice transmission talisman, Qin Sang was overjoyed. He had not held out much hope originally; after all, the secret shop's circle was tiny, with only a few people, and most of them were merely Qi Refinement cultivators. On the contrary, it was more likely that Tianhen Tower or Senior Brother Wen would send good news. He had never expected Granny Jing to be the first to give him such a wonderful surprise. With news of a spirit spring object, everything else had to give way. After some deliberation, Qin Sang retrieved the several magic tools hidden in his cave dwelling and took them with him. Granny Jing had been vague on the talisman, leaving it unclear whether the spirit spring object was located in some secret realm or ruins, or if someone who kept it in their collection wanted to sell it. If it was hidden in a secret realm, someone might just be selling the information, and the price would not be too high. Qin Sang intended to buy the information, return to finish refining the baleful corpse to gain an extra helper, and then explore according to the conditions of the secret realm. If someone was offering the physical object directly for sale, that would be hard to say. Although his wealth was decent, it might not satisfy the other party's appetite. After all, spirit spring objects were exceedingly rare, and such transactions were few and far between in the cultivation world. There was no established market price, so everything depended on the negotiations between the two parties. Yet no matter how high the asking price, he had to take it. If all else failed, he would travel far away to avoid the eyes and ears of Shaohua Mountain and dispose of these magic tools. With his mind set, Qin Sang flew at full speed on his sword. When he stepped into Taozhu Xuan, he saw Granny Jing sitting by the shop entrance. A cluster of peach branches lay scattered at her feet, and she held a segment of peach wood in her hand, meticulously carving it with a small knife, her expression remarkably focused. She did not use the slightest wisp of spiritual power, and even the physical strength she exerted was minimal. Relying entirely on technique, the object she carved was as exquisite as a work of art. These peach branches were ordinary wood as well. They looked somewhat similar to the ruby peaches of Jianmen Pass, but upon closer inspection, there were actually noticeable differences. Qin Sang stood to the side, waiting until Granny Jing finished her carving. He bowed slightly and explained, "Greetings, Granny Jing. Please forgive me; I have been running about outside and only saw your voice transmission talisman upon returning to Huilong Temple just now. I rushed over immediately." "Mm." Granny Jing placed the finished piece on the counter, looked up, and spoke unhurriedly, "Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Qin arrived in time, or else they would have headed back tonight. Wait a moment, Fellow Daoist Qin; this old woman will have the sisters return." Sisters? Two women? Qin Sang murmured inwardly. Excusing himself to Granny Jing, he walked toward the back hall of Taozhu Xuan. Taozhu Xuan sold only handicrafts made from peach branches or bamboo. Even though Qin Sang had visited three times, this was the first time he had seen Granny Jing at work, realizing only now that they were all crafted by her own hands. These finished pieces were exceptionally delicate, but expensive. Ordinary people could hardly afford such steep prices just for an ornament, and coupled with the secluded location, business was dreadfully bleak. Qin Sang swept his eyes over the shop; only two items had been sold in all these days. Of course, Granny Jing certainly did not care about that. The back hall of Taozhu Xuan was where the secret shop was located. It was actually an opened-up hall furnished with a few bamboo chairs, rather plain and simple. Qin Sang casually sat down and waited patiently. In less than fifteen minutes, he heard footsteps outside, and Granny Jing walked in with two young women. The two women appeared to be around thirty years old. Their looks were not extraordinary, but certainly attractive enough, and their features bore a resemblance to each other, clearly showing they were closely related sisters. The woman walking in front, slightly taller, was at the eleventh layer of the Qi Refinement stage, while the one behind her was one layer lower. Seeing their cultivation clearly, Qin Sang felt relieved. Two Qi Refinement cultivators probably would not have overly large appetites. It was evident that the two women were very respectful toward Granny Jing. Walking ahead of them, Granny Jing pointed to Qin Sang and said, "This is Fellow Daoist Qin Sang, whom I told you about." Then she said to Qin Sang, "They are the Yue sisters. The one with higher cultivation is the elder sister, Yue Xing, and the other is the younger sister, Yue Rou." Qin Sang cupped his hands with a smile. "Qin Sang greets both fellow daoists." The two women glanced at each other and returned the courtesy. "We would not dare. Yue Xing and Yue Rou pay respects to Senior Qin." Granny Jing coughed lightly. "Fellow Daoist Qin, the sisters' father was once a member of the secret shop as well. There is no need for excessive ceremony. If there is anything you need, speak plainly without beating around the bush. This old woman will stand by as a witness and will not intervene. Whether it succeeds or not will depend on your own discussion." As she spoke, Granny Jing glanced at Qin Sang. Qin Sang felt a quiet jolt of wariness, knowing that Granny Jing was wordlessly warning him. Secret shop members turning on and killing one another was what Granny Jing detested most. The three sat opposite one another while Granny Jing dozed off to the side. Qin Sang went straight to the point. "Fellow daoists, I am looking for a spirit spring object from a dried-up spirit spring—ideally one where the spring dried up on its own, though one damaged by external force could also suffice. Granny Jing sent word saying you two have news of such a treasure?" Hearing Qin Sang's words, the elder sister, Yue Xing, spoke up candidly, "To be frank with Senior Qin, not only do we have news of such an item, but we happen to have one in our hands." He had not expected them to actually have it in their hands, saving him the time and energy of running elsewhere. Qin Sang was delighted inwardly, but keeping his face calm, he asked, "Since you asked Granny to notify me, you must be interested in a trade, yes? May I ask what you require in exchange before you are willing to part with it?" Yue Xing and Yue Rou looked at each other, a trace of hesitation surfacing on their faces. Biting her lip, Yue Xing said, "We want a cave dwelling with a spirit eye."