When wielding the Yanli Sword, the sword qi it spurred was a fiery red. Qin Sang compressed it down to about a zhang in length. At first, it appeared somewhat illusory, flickering and surging unpredictably, but under Qin Sang's control, it grew increasingly solid and condensed.
Once the sword qi stabilized, Qin Sang's gaze turned sharp as lightning. After staring intently at the Yanli Sword for a long time, he suddenly let out a low shout: "Split!"
The sword let out a sustained hum as the Yanli Sword shuddered violently. Like clouds caught in a gale, the sword qi churned tempestuously.
A fissure appeared within the sword qi, widening rapidly. Peeling away from the spirit sword, the sword qi turned into a mass of fiery-red qi blazing like a raging fire, and then began dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Qin Sang dared not slacken. Following the requirements of the *Thousand Mechanism Sword Array*, he urged his spiritual sense and spiritual power with all his might, gathering the peeled-off sword qi as hard as he could to prevent it from dispersing.
Once the sword qi had stabilized slightly, he separated a wisp of spiritual sense and sent it into the qi, attempting to condense the sword qi according to the method taught in the sword art.
As Qin Sang condensed it, the mass of sword qi fluctuated violently, compressed one moment and stretched out the next. Gradually, it converged toward the shape of a spirit sword, until finally it could barely maintain a sword form.
Yet this was still far from meeting the requirements of the *Thousand Mechanism Sword Array*. The moment Qin Sang released his suppression, the sword qi would disperse immediately. Only when the sword qi was condensed to the point where it could take the form of a spirit sword and endure indefinitely could it be considered a success.
This was also the greatest hurdle of the *Thousand Mechanism Sword Art*.
Just as Qin Sang attempted to press onward—
*Pfft!*
Without warning, the sword qi suddenly exploded. Streaks of needle-thin sword qi shot out in all directions, threatening to riddle the cave dwelling like a hornet's nest.
Qin Sang's expression darkened slightly. He promptly dissipated the wisp of spiritual sense within the sword qi, then waved his hand to extinguish the stray qi. Frowning in thought, he stood up.
The cave dwelling was too cramped. If he failed to control the sword qi and an eruption caused the dwelling to collapse, damaging the spirit vein, the loss would far outweigh the gain. With this in mind, Qin Sang put away the Yanli Sword, tidied up his sundries, sealed the cave dwelling, and flew toward Xianglong Mountain upon his sword.
Inside Huilong Temple, everything remained as before. Ever since Qin Sang had taken it over, he had shrouded it in clouds and mist, never revealing any divine manifestations before mortals, and the people at the foot of the mountain had gradually grown accustomed to it.
Inside lay a voice transmission talisman sent by Senior Brother Wen, informing him that he had not yet found an object of a dried-up spirit spring. Only then did Qin Sang remember that he had forgotten to tell Senior Brother Wen about this last time. He hurriedly sent a reply and asked a few other questions.
Gu Tiannan and his disciple had used Huilong Temple as their cave dwelling, so the spiritual power here was naturally decent. Moreover, practicing sword arts did not demand overly strict spiritual power.
Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the ground in the courtyard. This time, however, he did not use the Yanli Sword, but summoned the ebony sword directly.
After a full month of nurturing, the ebony sword had long since fused with the golden-thread snow cedar wood. Its sword embryo possessed a touch more purity and verdant green than before. As for whether it could withstand a second killing talisman, Qin Sang still could not be certain. All he could do was collect as much spirit wood as possible to enhance the ebony sword's strength, preventing it from becoming a shortcoming that held back his cultivation.
The ebony sword was his life spirit sword, far easier to command than the Yanli Sword. Qin Sang smoothly reached the earlier step, drawing upon the lessons learned from his prior failure.
...
The sweltering summer heat finally passed, giving way to the harvest season. While working in the fields, the villagers at the foot of Xianglong Mountain never forgot to look up toward the mysterious summit, chatting excitedly and ceaselessly whenever the topic arose.
There, shrouded in mist and clouds that lingered year-round, stood a Daoist temple—rumored to house immortals.
In just a few short years, countless seekers of immortality had flocked there, drawn by the legends.
Some built huts outside the mist and knelt in worship day after day. Though they never received a response, they never gave up, believing only that their devotion to the Dao was not sincere enough and that the immortal master was testing them.
Some risked their lives to plunge into the clouds and mist, wandering dazed and disoriented for days, only to wake up at the foot of the mountain with rumbling stomachs.
Among them were high-ranking officials, wealthy nobles, and martial artists of the jianghu.
As more and more seekers of immortality gathered here, housing prices in the village soared. Gradually, it evolved into a small town, growing ever more prosperous.
The villagers certainly profited. Many saw the opportunity and took up other livelihoods, thriving without relying on farming. Deeply grateful to the immortal on the mountain, they worshipped with even greater sincerity than the seekers of immortality.
Little did they know that there was no immortal in the mountain temple—only a cultivator struggling and striving along the path to immortality.
Qin Sang sat alone in the courtyard, not stirring for two months. From behind, his figure looked incomparably lonely. Oblivious to the happenings at the mountain's base, he was covered in fallen leaves and dust, his mind entirely immersed within the spirit sword.
*Whoosh!*
A streak of blood-red light tore through the air and swiftly returned, hovering side by side with the ebony sword. It turned out to be a small blood-colored sword. Looking closely, one could see a hint of illusory translucence—it was formed entirely of sword qi.
Qin Sang opened his eyes, gazing at the small blood-colored sword with excitement. After a total of three months of arduous cultivation, he had finally mastered this sword art!
However, the power of a single streak of sword qi was extremely weak, and far from sufficient to lay out a sword array.
Qin Sang immediately immersed his mind back into the small blood-colored sword.
Ten days later, the small sword trembled gently and actually split into two. Both streaks of sword qi became exceptionally illusory, struggling to maintain their shapes. Qin Sang's expression tightened as he suppressed them with all his might, finally keeping the sword qi from collapsing.
Before long, the small swords formed by the two streaks of sword qi slowly took shape.
Qin Sang smiled faintly and summoned the ebony sword as well. The three small swords pointed tip to tip toward the center. Once more sword qi split off in the future, they would form a circular disc, just as when Wu Yuesheng had struck.
Cultivated to its peak, the *Thousand Mechanism Sword Array* could split into sixty-four streaks of sword qi to form an array alongside the ebony sword. However, as more sword qi was split, the demands placed upon the cultivator grew increasingly severe.
Qin Sang could clearly feel the resonance and qi-pull between the ebony sword and the sword qi. He only needed to focus on manipulating the ebony sword to command the sword array.
What delighted Qin Sang even more was that when the ebony sword's sword qi formed an array, the killing intent carried upon the qi was amplified as well, exerting a far stronger impact on an enemy's mind.
*Whoosh!*
The sword qi retracted, and the ebony sword flew back into Qin Sang's glabella.
Condensing two streaks of sword qi was enough for now; he could take his time with the rest later. He had already stayed at Huilong Temple for over three months. He wondered how things were in his cave dwelling—could that piece of tree root truly accelerate the maturation of the spirit spring?
Qin Sang rose to his feet. Light flashed across his magical robe, sweeping away the fallen leaves and dust. With a sweep of his gaze, he drew the voice transmission talisman sent back by Senior Brother Wen into his hand. After reading its contents, his expression stirred slightly. After pondering for a moment, he rode his sword straight toward his cave dwelling.
From beginning to end, he had not cast a single glance down the mountain.
Quietly diving to the bottom of the water, he opened the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Formation. Qin Sang walked in with hurried steps. The moment he entered the cave dwelling, an expression of immense delight broke out on his face—the spiritual power in the cave dwelling was fully twice as rich as when he had left!
Qin Sang immediately darted to the side of the pool and looked toward the spirit spring.
Chapter 192