Jiang Ying

The void warped slightly as an elderly man in black robes gradually solidified from illusion into reality. Before he could fully manifest, ripples abruptly surged through the yin poison miasma, and a blood-red beam of sword light whistled out with a sharp hiss. The sword qi cleaved through the poison miasma with ease, dazzling and splendid to behold. The miasma, potent enough to harm cultivators and corrode magic tools, did not mar this spirit sword in the slightest. Crimson as fresh blood, the sword qi carried a terrifying killing intent that struck straight at the soul, seizing the mind and draining the spirit! The burly man and the scholar were stricken with terror, only a single thought remaining in their minds: *Run!* "Fall back, quickly!" The newly arrived black-robed elder's face twisted in horror, and he cried out in alarm. The burly man and the scholar had heard their elder brother's warning, and their own hearts urged them to flee. Their eyes had deceived them—this person was no fat sheep, but a man-eating tiger! Alas, the gulf between them and Qin Sang was far too vast. The killing intent radiating from the ebony sword crushed their mental defenses like dry weeds before a gale, leaving them without the slightest power to resist. Though panic screamed through their minds, their bodies refused to obey. A moment later, they felt a chilling cold in their chests as the spirit sword ran them through. *Thud! Thud!* Two corpses crashed to the ground, kicking up puffs of dust. It all happened far too fast. The black-robed elder had only just stepped from the void when he saw his two brothers effortlessly slain, leaving him no time to save them. Having lost its masters, the yin poison miasma fluctuated violently and was on the verge of scattering. But then a sudden suction force arose at its center, and a figure wearing an evil ghost mask appeared, drawing all the miasma into his palm. This person was none other than Qin Sang, and he no longer concealed his true cultivation—Foundation Establishment stage! *Whoosh!* As Qin Sang revealed himself, several beams of black light shot from his sides, landing around the black-robed elder in the blink of an eye. Using the cover of the yin poison miasma earlier, he had already prepared the Ten Directions Yanluo Array. Ghost banners fluttered, reeking of chilling demonic energy. Seeing the array's terrifying momentum, the elder's pupils shrank violently. In a strained voice, he said, "My two subordinates were blind fools to offend Fellow Daoist, and their deaths were well deserved. Fortunately, you suffered no harm. This old man offers his apologies as well. Why don't we shake hands and make peace? I swear on my life never to set foot in Changyang Cultivation Market again, and neither of us will cross the other from now on. What do you say?" Qin Sang said indifferently, "Why utter such naive words, Fellow Daoist? If you surrender, open your mind, and let me plant a restriction in you, I might consider sparing your life." Since he had already deployed the Ten Directions Yanluo Array, Qin Sang had no intention of letting him escape. The elder flared with rage. "Arrogant vermin! Do you truly think you have this old man at your mercy?" Planting a restriction in his mind meant placing his life and death entirely in the other party's hands, leaving him meat on the chopping block. How could the elder agree? With a furious roar, a dazzling blade light cleaved through the demonic energy. Amid deafening thunderclaps, the blade light unleashed countless bolts of supreme yang lightning that danced wildly like silver serpents. ... "Capturing a Foundation Establishment cultivator alive really isn't easy." Qin Sang sighed with feeling. He had intended to use the Yin soul silk to slowly grind down the elder's origin soul and wait for a chance to take him alive, but the man had quickly caught on to his plan. In the end, rather than be captured, he had chosen to go down fighting, unleashing a suicidal secret technique. Sensing the technique's terrifying might, Qin Sang had dared not be careless. He struck with full force immediately, slaying the elder with his ebony sword. Fortunately, the corpse was mostly intact and could still be refined into a baleful corpse. Sweeping up the three corpses with spiritual power and stowing their mustard seed bags, Qin Sang surveyed the surroundings vigilantly, then rode his sword light and tore through the air. Foundation Establishment corpses could be refined into baleful corpses, while Qi Refinement ones could be made into zombies. Both served as handy corpse puppets. For Qin Sang, their greatest use right now was baiting cloud beasts so he would not have to risk going in person and getting swarmed if something went wrong. The baleful corpse Baiyun Shanren had refined had been destroyed more than a decade ago. At that time, Qin Sang had inadvertently blundered into a horde of cloud beasts and could not escape in time; he had to abandon the baleful corpse to cover his rear, which resulted in it being torn to shreds by the beasts. After that, Qin Sang conceived the idea of going fishing. By using the Spirit Concealment Art to mask his cultivation, it was very difficult for anyone to see through his true realm unless their cultivation was far higher than his or they possessed a specialized secret technique. Hiding his cultivation, he would emerge every year or six months, selling large quantities of fire elemental stones across various cultivation markets and pretending to carelessly leak his trail to lure greedy cultivators into taking the bait. Since those people dared to prey on Qin Sang for free profit, he turned the tables and did the same to them. By now, he was thoroughly versed in the routine. The scoundrels who engaged in such business were exceedingly cautious, so Qin Sang did not succeed every time. If the thieves he lured proved too formidable, he would either use the Cloudfall Wings to slip away invisible or clash once with all his might to make them retreat. As a result, both the Cloudfall Wings and the Heavenly Star Tear had shattered several years ago. Fortunately, as he grew familiar with the habits of the cloud beasts later on, the loss of corpse puppets decreased, leaving him enough to sustain his needs. Regrettably, Qin Sang had yet to capture a single Foundation Establishment cultivator alive to this day. He had caught a few Qi Refinement thieves, but they could not be refined into living corpses, as living corpses strictly required a Foundation Establishment cultivation. ... Tianjing Secret Realm. "Uncle-Master Qin!" The two guards stationed at the entrance opened the secret realm. Seeing Qin Sang walk in, they immediately bowed warmly and looked at him with eager anticipation. Qin Sang smiled, nodded, and fetched two bottles of spirit wine purchased from the Taiyi Elixir Pavilion from his mustard seed bag, tossing them over. "Qinghong wine! Thank you, Uncle-Master Qin!" Seeing the spirit wine, their eyes lit up at once. They could hardly wait to uncork the bottles and took deep, hearty swigs, intoxicated looks washing over their faces. An enticing aroma of wine struck the nose. This Qinghong wine was one of the finest spirit wines produced by the Taiyi Elixir Pavilion. Brewed from several kinds of spirit fruit, it not only tasted extraordinary, but also granted a slight, spontaneous boost to one's spiritual power after consumption. Qinghong wine came at no small price. As Qi Refinement cultivators, the realm guards could never bear to spend the spirit stones on it. To Qin Sang, however, it was hardly a burden. Every time he visited a cultivation market, he would bring back a batch to share with them and build goodwill. Whenever Qin Sang needed hands for trivial chores, they were always eager to help. "Take it easy. One bottle per person, not a drop more." Qin Sang tossed them another mustard seed bag and chided with a laugh, "These are for the others. If you two drunkards dare embezzle them, watch me skin you alive!" The two opened the mustard seed bag and counted, finding two bottles more than the total number of guards. Their grins widened even further, and they said flatteringly, "Rest assured, Uncle-Master Qin! Juniors will see it handled properly!" Qin Sang pointed at them and gave a helpless smile. Just as he was about to fly back to his immortal's cave, he suddenly remembered something, turned back, and asked, "Where is Jiang Ying right now?" The two exchanged glances, unsure why Qin Sang would suddenly ask about Jiang Ying, but they were sensible enough not to pry. "Reporting to Uncle-Master Qin, Senior Sister Jiang is in her immortal's cave. She said she would be in seclusion for a while, perhaps having had some enlightenment in her cultivation. If Uncle-Master Qin has urgent business, you can go straight to Senior Sister Jiang's cave to look for her." "I'll wait until she comes out of seclusion." Qin Sang nodded, stepping onto his sword light and flying toward his own immortal's cave.