However, Qin Sang also understood that doing so was no different from fishing for a needle in the sea. Whether he could find Senior Qingzhu came entirely down to luck, so he could not waste too much energy on it. Right now, the most important thing was to cultivate down-to-earth and steadily.
Suppressing the wandering thoughts in his mind, Qin Sang walked over to the pool. Seeing the clear spring water and the flowers blooming in vibrant beauty, he took out that piece of tree root and set it upon the spring's eye, letting the spirit spring wash over it. As for whether it would work, he had no certainty in his heart either and could only wait quietly for the result.
Even if the root could foster the maturation of the spirit spring, it would not take effect in a day or two. Qin Sang resealed the restrictions over the pool and paid it no further attention.
Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, Qin Sang took out the piece of golden-thread snow cedar wood.
In refining and fusing the golden-thread snow cedar wood with the ebony sword, Qin Sang's help was only required when devouring the spirit wood. In the subsequent melting and refining process, the ebony sword could draw upon the power of his origin soul and killing intent to temper itself autonomously; Qin Sang merely needed to keep it anchored within his origin soul.
The duration of this process depended on Qin Sang's cultivation level and the quality of the spirit wood; as his cultivation rose, the speed would only grow faster.
The higher the quality of the spirit wood, the longer it would take.
Naturally, the power of the spirit sword once formed would also be correspondingly greater.
However, before it took full form, it was best not to use the spirit sword. An unformed spirit sword would suffer a severe reduction in power, and if heavily damaged, it could easily be destroyed. All his painstaking efforts would go down the drain by then, leaving only futile regret.
In the cultivation world, golden-thread snow cedar wood was considered only a low-grade spirit wood, which could be refined in less than a month. Were it one of the legendary Ten Great Divine Woods, even several decades might not suffice, and the process would be far more intricate.
With his trivial matters outside largely settled, Qin Sang did not plan on heading out for some time, so he decided to smelt and refine the golden-thread snow cedar wood first.
A flash of sword light.
Qin Sang summoned the ebony sword, letting it hover before him. At the same time, he lifted the golden-thread snow cedar wood and carefully examined its grain, while his spiritual sense completely enveloped the spirit wood, analyzing the distribution of wood elemental power within it.
This process was extremely tedious and demanded meticulous precision, brooking no error.
Artifact refiners and alchemists were the most adept at such work. The artifact-refining notes Qin Sang had borrowed from Shopkeeper Wu also contained relevant explanations, so getting the hang of it was not difficult, and he quickly grew proficient.
Two hours later, Qin Sang had gained a complete understanding of the golden-thread snow cedar wood. With a thought, the ebony sword quivered slightly and flew above the piece of wood. The sword talisman upon its blade flared brightly, unleashing a burst of sword qi that enveloped the golden-thread snow cedar wood.
Under the control of Qin Sang's spiritual sense, the sword qi transformed into thousands of gossamer strands—some thick, some fine, intricate as a spiderweb—and entered the spirit wood guided by his will.
The sword qi grew increasingly fierce, slicing the golden-thread snow cedar wood directly into countless fragments in the process, yet the wood elemental power on every single fragment remained intact and incomparably pure.
The useless wood shavings were tempered away, drifting down in flakes, while specks of green light emerged in the air like fireflies.
Qin Sang nodded slightly to himself and tapped toward the ebony sword with a finger.
Whoosh!
An immense suction immediately surged from the ebony sword, drawing all the green specks of light into the blade. As the motes merged into it, the slender ebony sword alternately expanded and contracted, its shape shifting restlessly.
Qin Sang immediately channeled spiritual power into the blade and activated the sword talisman, helping the ebony sword subdue and assimilate that wood elemental power.
Before long, the ebony sword gradually stabilized. Pleased, Qin Sang recalled it into his origin soul to nourish it; it would return to its normal state once the golden-thread snow cedar wood was thoroughly refined.
Having finished this, Qin Sang meditated for a while to recover the spiritual sense and spiritual power he had just expended. Then, with a gentle brush against his mustard seed bag, items flew out one after another, arranging themselves neatly before him.
Baiyun Shanren's corpse was sealed inside an ice coffin, his strands of silver hair still retaining a faint luster, looking just as he had right when he died.
Upon his chest was the wound left by the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Sword. Even more gruesome was the color of his flesh: having been struck by poisoned needles before death, the snake venom had permeated his body, suffusing him from head to toe with an eerie dark-green hue.
However, as long as the dantian area remained undamaged and the body was whole, it would not hinder the refining of a baleful corpse.
Inside the slender-necked Shaoyin Magnetic Bottles was earth fiend qi; this being his first time refining a baleful corpse, Qin Sang took out two bottles as a reserve.
Next were the Five Elements yin materials.
The nine-aperture stone, riddled with holes across its surface.
A small piece of shimmering blue nether metal.
The yin spirit water contained within a jade bottle.
A forearm-length piece of moon locust heartwood, pure as bright moonlight, exuding an aura that brought serene calm to the soul.
The last was the ghost eagle feather, the yin fire in the middle of the plumage burning fiercely and giving off a bone-chilling cold.
Then, from the corpse puppet pouch, Qin Sang brought out a clump of grayish-white vapor—the souls of demon beasts he had gathered, fused into a single mass.
With everything needed to refine the baleful corpse ready, Qin Sang did not rush to begin. He calmed his mind, carefully reviewed the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art several times to ensure no detail was overlooked, and then pointed a finger toward the ice coffin.
Bang!
The ice coffin shattered into pieces, and Baiyun Shanren's corpse flew out diagonally, coming to stand upright before Qin Sang.
With a solemn look, Qin Sang spread his spiritual sense to envelop Baiyun Shanren's corpse. One living, one dead, they faced each other as an eerie, dead silence fell over the cave dwelling.
After a long time, Qin Sang abruptly raised both hands. Hand seals shifted, spiritual sense linking with spiritual power, and a peculiar restriction rapidly took shape in his palms before striking toward Baiyun Shanren's left arm.
The restriction sank into the corpse and vanished, while Baiyun Shanren seemed to undergo no change whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Qin Sang's movements grew faster and faster, his fingers shifting at blinding speed into afterimages indistinguishable to the naked eye. Restrictions rapidly took shape in his hands, striking swiftly into various parts of Baiyun Shanren's body.
As time passed and the restrictions multiplied, Baiyun Shanren's corpse finally began to change. The vitality and blood in his body were condensed by the restrictions into insidious corpse qi, making his frame look far more emaciated.
Following that, his facial features slowly became sunken, two fangs gradually grew from his exposed gums, and the nails on his ten fingers lengthened rapidly, sharp as knives.
Throughout this process, Baiyun Shanren began emitting thick corpse qi. Affected by the corpse qi, his fangs and nails took on a dark-green aura of corpse poison.
At the same time, as restriction after restriction sank into his body, Baiyun Shanren's bones and skin altered rapidly, beginning to harden as though being forged into a magic tool.
Although one could still recognize Baiyun Shanren's features, he looked far more like a mummified corpse than a human.
At this point, Baiyun Shanren was slowly transforming into a zombie. If placed in an area dense with yin qi now, it would be able to absorb yin qi on its own; left undisturbed over years and months, it would eventually develop sentience and evolve into a baleful corpse.
Demonic sects possessed corpse-refining methods that could accelerate this process.
However, according to the corpse-refining steps of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, this was only the beginning.
Chapter 188