Between the flood dragon spirit souls, it was best if there was not too great a disparity in strength; otherwise, the weaker spirit souls would be unable to bear the secret talisman's pressure and burst to death.
With each additional flood dragon spirit soul, a cultivator driving the secret talisman would gain an extra measure of flight speed.
Daoist Xuan Yu had only gathered six flood dragon spirit souls, but they were all great demons at the peak of the Demon Spirit stage—equivalent to cultivators at the False Core stage—which was why the secret talisman's flight speed had been astonishing.
Now only a single flood dragon spirit soul remained in the secret talisman. If the talisman had not been ruined, then once this flood dragon spirit soul recovered, Qin Sang would be able to drive it at speeds rivaling a late Foundation Establishment cultivator!
What a pity!
Qin Sang let out a rueful sigh. Just as he was about to withdraw his spiritual sense, he suddenly sensed cries of pleading transmitting from the flood dragon spirit soul.
A moment later, a look of pleasant surprise emerged on his face.
The other half of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman had actually not been destroyed yet! The other half of this flood dragon spirit soul's body was inside that half of the secret talisman, struggling bitterly against being consumed by the magma.
The flood dragon spirit soul could sense the other half of its body. If he went into the lava to retrieve it, all he would need was to nurture it for a period of time, and he would obtain an intact Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman!
Qin Sang was immediately tempted. Yet looking down at the endlessly surging river of lava, his expression showed some hesitation.
The other half of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman was drifting with the lava, and by now it had already drifted very far. Before long, even if the spirit soul's power did not run out, it would lose the connection due to the excessive distance.
The magma was formidable, concealing hidden perils.
Moreover, he could not be certain whether he could find the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman before exhausting his spiritual power.
If he delayed too long, unexpected changes might also occur at the volcanic crater.
After hesitating for a moment, Qin Sang made up his mind. Holding the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman in one hand, he channeled spiritual power to shield his body and leaped down into the lava river.
Before departing, Qin Sang had circulated his spiritual power to sweep up waves of magma, washing every corner of the entire space several times over, using the molten rock to scour away every trace of aura and physical presence.
...
A rumbling roar echoed in his ears, and wherever he looked, tumbling lava filled his vision.
The lava river was magnificent and vast. Innumerable branches crisscrossed, forming an exceptionally intricate "water network" of magma, and within it lay "lakes" even more expansive than the subterranean magma cavern back there.
Without the flood dragon spirit soul guiding the way, it would have been impossible for Qin Sang to find the other half of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman in such complicated terrain.
After leaving the volcanic crater, the circular restriction had fully restored itself. Qin Sang flew forward skimming atop the lava, with the restriction directly overhead.
The lava rushed as violently as Jiudie Gorge on the Wuling River, churning and surging. The space left for him was exceedingly narrow, forcing him to stay constantly on guard to dodge the towering waves.
Under the searing heat and the occasional wave that engulfed him, Qin Sang's spiritual power was depleting rapidly. The other half of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman had not stopped and was still drifting with the current, so he could only patiently pursue it, slowly closing the distance.
Fortunately, no fire spirit beasts existed within the lava, which confirmed Qin Sang's earlier speculation that the birth of the fire spirit beasts was connected to the totem barrier.
With one hand holding the talisman to sense the direction, he held Old Man Dique's mustard seed bag in the other, putting all his effort into cracking the restriction on it.
Qin Sang had several bottles of spirit pills that restored spiritual power, but he did not know whether they would be enough. If he could open Old Man Dique's mustard seed bag, he certainly would not have to worry about depleting his pills.
It was precisely because Old Man Dique had forced Qin Sang to control the power of the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound to break restrictions while ascending the mountain that Qin Sang had become deeply familiar with the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound, and had gained considerable insight into the art of restrictions.
Otherwise, it might have taken a very long time before he could hope to break the restriction on the mustard seed bag.
It had to be said that this was a tremendous irony.
Swallowing three Azure Spirit Pills to restore his spiritual power, Qin Sang narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze onto a specific spot on the mustard seed bag. Spiritual power abruptly surged in his palm, coalescing into a flying needle that stabbed fiercely inward.
*Buzz!*
A ripple flared across the mustard seed bag, accompanied by a drone like a buzzing bee.
Immediately after, the sound abruptly turned deafening, and an extraordinarily powerful sonic wave shot out from the restriction without warning.
Qin Sang had long prepared for this. His figure flashed rapidly, easily dodging the sonic wave.
*Splash!*
The sonic wave plunged into the lava river, blasting open a "splash" several dozen zhang across. The sheer power released by the sonic wave gave Qin Sang a secret fright.
Having unleashed this sonic wave, the restriction was essentially spent. Qin Sang pressed his advantage, giving the restriction no chance to recover, and finally broke it open.
Once the restriction's fluctuations dissipated, Qin Sang could not wait to probe his spiritual sense inside. He quickly found several bottles of spirit pills similar to Azure Spirit Pills, clutched them in his hand, and only then began to search through the contents with patient care.
Miscellaneous mundane items held little interest for Qin Sang. There were numerous healing pills of all sorts; Qin Sang had known this would be the case, so he was not surprised.
Not a single magic tool or talisman remained. Qin Sang guessed that before dying, Old Man Dique had hurled them all out to withstand the Tiangang Saber Talisman; otherwise, it would never have been swept so clean.
What disappointed Qin Sang was that there were only around ten thousand low-grade spirit stones inside the mustard seed bag.
For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this would indeed count as a substantial fortune, but Old Man Dique was a renowned Golden Core cultivator; such wealth could only be described as shabby.
However, Qin Sang soon discovered that there were actually many precious spiritual materials in the mustard seed bag.
Profound Yin Cold Iron, Tri-colored Nether Lotus, Wind-Thunder Source Crystal...
There were also three types that Qin Sang did not recognize.
The value of every single spiritual material was in no way inferior to a Qianyang crystal. They were all precious treasures used for crafting magic treasures, rarely seen in the world.
Had Old Man Dique been preparing to forge a magic treasure?
Qin Sang shifted his gaze and noticed that placed alongside these spiritual materials was a bracelet-sized, white circular metallic ring. The ring showed no spiritual light and was full of notches. Mysterious patterns seemed to mark its surface, but because it was so heavily worn and damaged, they were no longer legible.
Still, the metallic ring was not broken through, at least.
With a thought, Qin Sang retrieved the metallic ring and held it in his hand, yet found himself unable to use it. He thought to himself that it was indeed a magic treasure.
He wondered whether Old Man Dique had intended to repair this treasure or forge a new one.
His spiritual sense returned to the mustard seed bag. Only one area remained, where several jade slips and a black piece of iron lay. The jade bottle containing the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold was placed here as well, resting right next to one of the jade slips.
Perhaps these are my greatest harvest, Qin Sang thought to himself. He took out that jade slip and began reading it.
Before long, Qin Sang opened his eyes, a thoughtful look on his face.
The contents of this jade slip were actually the cultivation insights of a Golden Core cultivator from the Yuling Sect, and it even included many inheritances unique to the Yuling Sect!
No wonder Old Man Dique was proficient in the Dao of beast taming and raised strange insects; this knowledge had all been obtained from the jade slip.
In other words, Old Man Dique had previously killed a Golden Core cultivator from the Yuling Sect, yet had still dared to stay at Xuanlu Pass, and then had gone on to launch a sneak attack on Daoist Xuan Yu—he was truly audaciously bold.
From this jade slip, Qin Sang learned the name of the metallic ring: the Primordial Concentric Rings.
"Concentric," just as the name implied, meant that the Primordial Concentric Rings were a pair of Yin-Yang paired rings. They were the magic treasure of that Yuling Sect Golden Core cultivator, but now only the Yin Ring remained, and it was severely damaged.
Chapter 264