Old Man Dique had gathered so many spiritual materials precisely to repair the Yin Ring and refine the Yang Ring, but he was still short several spiritual items and had not managed to complete it.
Had Old Man Dique possessed the complete Primordial Concentric Rings today, the outcome might very well have been different.
Qin Sang was currently unable to use magic treasures, nor did he have the ability to gather all the spiritual materials. For the time being, the Primordial Concentric Rings were of little use to him, so he put away the Yin Ring and the spiritual items, intending to study them after reaching Core Formation.
Next, his gaze fell upon that bottle of Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold.
No wonder Old Man Dique had been so excited; the jade slip contained a description of this very item.
The Red Gold Vine absorbed metal spiritual energy and fire qi from the world, and the fruit it bore was a form of unrefined Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold. If handed to an artifact refiner who could smelt the golden outer skin together with the liquid pulp inside into a single whole, true Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold could be obtained.
Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold was a type of refined metal used for artifact refinement, not an elixir.
However, a senior of the Yuling Sect had once obtained an ancient beast-taming manual among an ancient cultivator's relics and discovered that if the Red Gold Vine's fruit was not smelted, but only its liquid pulp extracted and fed to a spirit insect, there was a certain probability of helping the insect achieve a breakthrough!
In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, the Red Gold Vine fruit had only a single use: artifact refinement.
Yet to the cultivators of the Yuling Sect, who excelled in the Dao of beast taming, the fruit of the Red Gold Vine was indisputably a priceless rare treasure.
Rearing exotic insects could be accelerated by nurturing them with spirit medicines to swiftly raise their strength, but the greatest hurdle was that a cultivator could not control an exotic insect's metamorphosis.
They were like human cultivators who simply could not achieve Foundation Establishment no matter what they tried.
The master might have already died of old age while the exotic insect had not even begun its first metamorphosis; this was an undeniably frustrating reality.
Exotic insects possessed bizarre and varied abilities. Once metamorphosed, they were an immense boon. Nurturing a powerful exotic insect could be even more useful than a magic treasure—if someone offered a magic treasure in trade, the owner might not even agree to exchange it.
Although the Red Gold Vine fruit could not guarantee an insect's metamorphosis with absolute certainty, offering cultivators a ray of hope made it profoundly significant. It was precisely for this reason that Old Man Dique valued it so highly.
What a pity.
Qin Sang brought the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold before his eyes, examining it closely while sighing repeatedly in his heart.
For the sake of the Heart-Devouring Insect, Old Man Dique had lain in wait outside the Kuiyin Sect for thirty years, and he had surely gone to great lengths to gather quite a few exotic insects. Unfortunately, in his haste, Qin Sang had failed to snatch Old Man Dique's spirit beast bag, and he did not know whether it had been destroyed by the Tiangang Saber Talisman or had plunged into the magma.
With his own talent, focusing wholeheartedly on cultivation was barely enough; before Core Formation, it would be difficult for him to spare the attention to search for exotic insects.
Falling into his hands, this Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold could truly be called a pearl cast before swine.
The Primordial Concentric Rings, too, required a spirit beast to be used in conjunction.
"It will just depend on whether I have the luck to encounter any exotic insects in the future."
Qin Sang shook his head slightly and stowed away both the Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold and the jade slip. The jade slip contained exceedingly detailed descriptions of various exotic insects, so he did not have to worry about failing to recognize them if he ever encountered one.
He then examined several more jade slips in succession. They all contained cultivation methods passed down within various major sects; evidently, quite a few people had perished at Old Man Dique's hands.
Anything kept by Old Man Dique was top quality, but they were of no use to Qin Sang, so he put them away casually.
When he came to the final jade slip, Qin Sang suddenly let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
Within the jade slip was a secret technique called the Bodily Mutilation Avatar Puppet Secret Technique.
This secret technique could be employed without expending spiritual power or spiritual sense. It required sacrificing one of one's four limbs, transforming it into a puppet akin to an avatar.
This puppet could persist for ten breaths of time. Apart from lacking corresponding strength, its appearance and aura were completely identical to the true body, without the slightest difference.
Moreover, the instant the puppet was formed, any Qi-lock placed on the caster by an opponent would transfer to the puppet, letting the substitute take the blow while the true body slipped away like a cicada casting off its skin.
Qin Sang recalled the severed arm cleaved away by the Tiangang Saber Talisman; Old Man Dique had likely escaped using this very secret technique.
The Bodily Mutilation Avatar Puppet Secret Technique was a wondrous secret technique; if applied properly, it could avert many fatal dangers.
Yet the price of the secret technique was not as simple as merely losing a limb; once severed, it was extraordinarily difficult to regenerate, as evidenced by Old Man Dique's very title. Qin Sang carefully put the jade slip away. Unless forced into utter desperation, he would not use it.
Finally, there was that iron sheet.
Qin Sang took it into his hand and sensed it for a moment, discovering that it was actually a bone sliver, though it was as hard as profound iron. It was also an item akin to a jade slip, inside of which was recorded a demonic cultivation method.
What had been called the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound was actually derived from this art, altered and disguised by Old Man Dique as the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound.
This cultivation method was far from simple: not only did it point straight toward the Great Dao of the Divine Severing stage, but its inheritance was also exceptionally complete, containing over a dozen accompanying incantations, each possessing extraordinary might.
Using it as a foundation would be more than enough to establish an entire sect.
Old Man Dique had likely obtained it from the ruins of some ancient sect; otherwise, it could never have been so complete.
Before reaching the Core Formation stage, it was impossible for Qin Sang to switch to another cultivation method. However, this demonic art excelled in the Dao of demonic sounds and was eerie and unpredictable; it could serve as a backup method after he formed his core.
Qin Sang read through it carefully, including the incantations attached to the method.
Some of these incantations had to be cultivated in conjunction with the method, while others did not; one could use spiritual power to simulate demonic sound energy to employ them, though their power would be somewhat reduced.
One of the incantations was named the Soul-Snatching Incantation. After reading about its effects, Qin Sang immediately decided that he had to cultivate it.
The Soul-Snatching Incantation was not an incantation used for fighting enemies. Instead, it drew upon the power of demonic sound to strike the opponent's mind, allowing one to interrogate them while they were disoriented and in a trance from the shock.
Without even realizing it, the victim would spill all their secrets.
However, this incantation also had its limitations.
First, it required that the subject's strength not be vastly greater than the caster's. Furthermore, the subject had to be restrained beforehand, as casting the incantation required a certain amount of preparation and had to be placed directly on the target's body to take effect.
Moreover, as time passed, the effects of the Soul-Snatching Incantation would gradually diminish until the subject broke free. If the target possessed an exceptionally resolute will, the duration of the Soul-Snatching Incantation's influence might be very brief.
Second, the Soul-Snatching Incantation could only be used on any person once. Once subjected to it, their origin soul would develop defenses against it, making subsequent attempts nearly impossible to succeed.
It was similar to a forbidden art like soul searching, but soul searching was far more vicious: not only did the victim suffer unbearable agony, but after their soul was searched, their origin soul would shatter and perish.
Furthermore, the moment it was cast, the target would detect it; if they were formidable enough, they could detonate their origin soul, inflicting severe backlash upon the caster.
There were also many cultivation methods capable of evading the effects of soul searching.
The Soul-Snatching Incantation, on the other hand, had none of these drawbacks and carried no fear of backlash.
'It must have been because of this incantation that Old Man Dique dared to make a move against Daoist Xuan Yu,' Qin Sang thought to himself.
Old Man Dique had forced Daoist Xuan Yu to burn his Golden Core and ultimately intended to imprison his origin soul; even if he could not obtain the Neijing Origin Talisman, he could still interrogate him to extract the refining method, leaving no fear of returning empty-handed.
Chapter 265