Cloud Tool

Several spirit pills slid down his throat. As expected, his sea of qi did not change in the slightest. Qin Sang shook his head inwardly, abandoning any lingering illusions. Putting aside his scattered thoughts, he took out the square silk handkerchief from his mustard seed bag. The handkerchief was only the size of a palm, square with four distinct corners. Its weave was coarse, as though woven from some kind of tree bark, lacking any exquisite patterns, and appeared to be a very ordinary magic tool. Strangely, a faint grayish-white aura constantly drifted over it, giving it a somewhat eerie, sinister air. This kind of item—resembling a magic tool yet not quite one—was unique to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, known as a cloud tool. As the name implied, cloud tools were refined from the spirit-infused fiendish items found on cloud beasts. Regarding the origin of cloud beasts, the widely accepted explanation was that deep within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield lay countless corpses of mighty ancient immortals, still undecayed to this day. Even after death, their will to fight lingered on, evolving over countless years into an existence akin to baleful energy. This baleful energy took form, producing a bizarre kind of creature within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. When the baleful energy materialized, a cloud beast spirit essence was born, which would latch onto external objects. It might be an ordinary stone or a blade of common grass, or perhaps a spirit herb, spirit wood, or ore. There were even wild beasts and demonic beasts originally native to the Ancient Immortal Battlefield whose entire races had been tainted by cloud beast spirit essences, evolving over generation upon generation through endless years into grotesque varieties of cloud beasts. Once attached by a cloud beast's spirit essence, these objects transformed into cloud beasts. When immortal cultivators slew a cloud beast, they could obtain the item tainted by the cloud beast's spirit essence, which was called a spirit-infused fiendish item. Because baleful energy was extremely violent and unstable, when a cloud beast was slain, there was a high likelihood that the spirit essence would dissipate and destroy the spirit-infused fiendish item along with it. Thus, hunting a cloud beast did not guarantee obtaining a spirit-infused fiendish item every time. Over countless years, cultivators had devised ways to utilize these spirit-infused fiendish items. One method was refining them into cloud tools. When a cultivator entering the Ancient Immortal Battlefield activated a cloud tool, it emitted the aura of a cloud beast's spirit essence, deceiving the senses of cloud beasts and leading them to mistake the cultivator for one of their own kind. This was especially true when celestial phenomena struck. If a cultivator failed to find a shelter, they would have to unleash their full power to resist the erosion of the phenomenon. Without a cloud tool to mask their aura, the fluctuations of their spiritual power would act like a guiding beacon, endlessly drawing nearby cloud beasts toward them. Even if they managed to withstand the celestial phenomenon, they would still find it difficult to escape the doom of being surrounded and slaughtered by cloud beasts. Naturally, cloud tools were not omnipotent. First, the effect had a range limit. If one got too close to a cloud beast, it would still see through the deception. Second, if one had the misfortune of encountering an exceptionally powerful cloud beast, a cloud tool would be incapable of fooling its senses; in such a case, one could only curse their bad luck. Third, precisely because a cloud beast's spirit essence was unstable, a refined cloud tool could not be used indefinitely and was easily damaged, bearing some resemblance to baleful artifacts like the Chilong Sword and Cloudfall Wings. Qin Sang suspected that Old Demon Yi had drawn inspiration from the methods used to craft cloud tools, combining them with the formidable strength of a Golden Core cultivator to forge baleful artifacts. This silk handkerchief was just an ordinary cloud tool. Since Qin Sang planned to venture into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield in person, he naturally needed to prepare a cloud tool for self-defense. However, as he had to return within a month and would not delve too far, buying any random piece was sufficient. *** A month later, a streak of escape light shot through the air several yards above the ground, bursting out from the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. The piercing shriek of a sword whistle drew the attention of the crowd on the ground, leaving people astonished that someone actually dared to fly in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. The escape light descended before Xuanlu Pass, revealing Qin Sang's figure. It was best not to fly in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, as bone-eroding, marrow-melting astral winds raged at high altitudes, and flying presented too large a target. If surrounded by cloud beasts, the danger was extreme. Qin Sang had only dared to take the risk because he had nearly run out of time and was already close to Xuanlu Pass. Covered in dust from travel, he ignored the strange looks from those around him and hurried into Xuanlu Pass. Tomorrow marked the end of the agreed one-month deadline. Over the past month, Qin Sang had ventured as deep into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield as he could, nearly failing to return in time. What he had seen and experienced over this month had solidified one conviction in his mind: he could not be a rogue cultivator! He was different from the others. Others did not need to remain in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield continuously to cultivate; once they reaped satisfactory gains, they could return to Xuanlu Pass. Qin Sang, however, had to find a cave dwelling for cultivation. According to Qin Sang's observations, the distribution of cloud beasts in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield roughly followed a pattern: the deeper one went into the battlefield, the more common powerful cloud beasts became. Comprehending the killing talisman also had requirements for one's opponents. If an opponent was too weak, it would fail to provide the necessary tempering, yielding negligible results. To gain sufficient tempering without encroaching on his cultivation time, the outer region was best; at the very least, he needed to establish his cave dwelling at the border where the frontier region met the outer region. At this location, the safest options were towns or cultivation markets built within secret realm relic abodes. There were indeed cave dwellings available for rent within them, but the prices were without exception shockingly steep, giving Qin Sang pause. Carving out a cave dwelling in the wilderness was entirely out of the question. Cloud beasts were also drawn to spiritual energy, and places rich in spiritual energy had long been occupied by large hordes of cloud beasts. Even if one could pull teeth from a tiger's mouth and seize such a place, using a formation to seal off the spiritual energy, it would still be exposed whenever a celestial phenomenon struck. Without powerful defensive restrictions to rely upon, it would be impossible to hold. Returning to his cave dwelling to rest briefly, Qin Sang went to the hall to seek out Yuyangzi. Yuyangzi walked out at a brisk pace and asked with a smile, "Not having seen Junior Brother Qin for so long, I thought you were unwilling to be bound and intended to venture out into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield on your own! What does Junior Brother Qin plan to do? Will you be joining the Xuanlu Guard or the Shadow Guard?" Qin Sang returned the cave dwelling's jade talisman to Yuyangzi and asked in turn, "Senior Brother Yuyangzi, I heard our sect has secret realm relic abodes in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield that require disciples to garrison them. Might there still be any vacancies?" Yuyangzi was slightly startled and hesitated for a moment. "Is Junior Brother Qin merely asking on a whim, or are you truly set on taking up this post?" Qin Sang said in a serious voice, "If there is an opportunity, I would like to try." "Well..." Yuyangzi looked left and right. "Junior Brother Qin, let us speak inside." The two stepped into the hall. As they walked, Yuyangzi sent a cautious voice transmission: "Junior Brother Qin has just arrived, so you may not yet have a deep understanding of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. The Ancient Immortal Battlefield is volatile and unpredictable. The secret realms that have been opened and brought under our sect's control are few in number, and each one is a sect secret with stringent requirements for the disciples stationed there. Furthermore, those stationed there can share in the benefits produced within the secret realms. By now, it has essentially become a convention that those garrisoning a secret realm are appointed personally by our martial uncles. If Junior Brother Qin wishes to take up such an assignment, you would need an edict from your own master, or you would need to ask an acquainted Golden Core Master for help..." Hearing this, Qin Sang gave a bitter inward smile. Where would he get a master? It was only because Yuyangzi had stayed at Xuanlu Pass all along that he did not know Qin Sang's true background. "Senior Brother, I do not seek to share in the secret realm's benefits. I only desire a shelter where I can obtain a cave dwelling rich in spiritual power that is suitable for cultivation. Is there any way to make an exception?"