He resealed the other two leaves of the soul-attracting grass.
Next, Qin Sang separated a stream of spiritual power to wrap around the leaf before him, simultaneously activating the secret art. Streams of spiritual power surged like rushing rivers, converging before him to form countless mysterious runes. The radiant glow of spiritual power illuminated the cave dwelling, setting it aglow.
Eventually, these runes merged into one. At the very center of the spiritual power, a faint, dim spark suddenly flickered into view.
Looking closely, it was actually a tiny flame.
The flame gradually swelled, growing into a fist-sized blaze that burned fiercely. The surrounding runes seemed to transform into a furnace, fueled by Qin Sang's spiritual power.
The flame remained pitch-black, burning right in front of him. Yet far from feeling scorching heat, he sensed a chilling, yin cold radiating outward.
This was yin fire conjured through the secret art, specially used to craft Heavenly Corpse Talismans.
Maintaining the yin fire consumed spiritual power rapidly, but Qin Sang had already attained the middle Foundation Establishment stage, so the strain was manageable; he had no need to worry about his spiritual power running dry midway through the refinement.
He looked at the yin fire, then glanced at the leaf of soul-attracting grass. After a moment of contemplation, he did not rush to cast it in. Instead, he concentrated on manipulating the yin fire.
Under Qin Sang's control, the spherical fire began to shift, stretching out at times and compressing at others.
At first, the transformations were slow. Qin Sang furrowed his brow, finding it somewhat strenuous. Gradually, however, the changes grew swifter, taking the vivid shapes of birds and beasts. Qin Sang's expression relaxed with each passing moment.
"Go!"
With a flick of his hand, Qin Sang guided the soul-attracting grass into the yin fire.
The yin fire swelled abruptly, completely engulfing the leaf. Wisps of tiny flames began to scorch the soul-attracting grass.
In the blink of an eye, two hours slipped by. The soul-attracting grass still rested quietly within the yin fire; aside from its luster dimming slightly, nothing else appeared to have changed.
There was not the slightest impatience on Qin Sang's face.
At this moment, his eyes were tightly shut as he sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, entirely focused on the flame before him, his mind completely unburdened by outside distractions.
As time passed, the first crack finally appeared upon the soul-attracting grass. Soon, more cracks spread across it in dense patterns, looking as if the slightest touch would shatter it into dust.
In fact, it needed no external touch; the soul-attracting grass crumbled on its own.
More precisely, it melted, turning into a pool of black spiritual liquid.
The soul-attracting grass had finally been refined by the yin fire!
Qin Sang let out a quiet breath of relief, yet he dared not let down his guard. Refining the soul-attracting grass was merely the beginning; next, he had to temper away its impurities and preserve only its purest essence!
Under the scorching of the yin fire, the volume of the spiritual liquid shrank steadily. What had originally been the size of an infant's fist dwindled until only a single drop remained, its color deepening until it was as dark as ink.
From start to finish, this process took three full days before it was finally complete!
All the impurities within the soul-attracting grass had been purged, yet its intrinsic patterns remained intact. This was the key to crafting the Heavenly Corpse Talisman later on. This step demanded an extraordinary amount from the refiner—not only ample patience, but also exceptionally precise control. A single lapse would cause all previous efforts to go to waste.
Retracting the yin fire, Qin Sang opened his eyes and gazed at the droplet of spiritual liquid. His eyes held traces of fatigue, but even more excitement. He had not expected to succeed on his first try with the most difficult step of crafting the Heavenly Corpse Talisman.
After taking a brief rest until his sea of qi had somewhat recovered, Qin Sang continued the refinement without pause.
The droplet of spiritual liquid hovered before him. His expression solemn, Qin Sang cast aside all stray thoughts and raised both hands to form various hand seals. His fingers danced with increasing speed, leaving dazzling afterimages in the air.
Following the shifts in his hand seals, countless profound runes came into being and were instantly driven into the spiritual liquid.
The spiritual liquid seemed to come alive, writhing constantly. The black hue began to fade, turning lighter and lighter, while its shape grew increasingly regular...
At last, a rectangular Heavenly Corpse Talisman was on the verge of taking form!
However, it was not yet over.
Without interrupting his movements, Qin Sang split his focus, cleaving a wisp of his soul from his origin soul. He swiftly condensed it into a soul imprint and embedded it into the Heavenly Corpse Talisman.
It was done!
Qin Sang let out a long breath. His face was slightly pale, and more than half of the spiritual power in his sea of qi had been consumed, proving just how difficult refining a Heavenly Corpse Talisman truly was.
The Heavenly Corpse Talisman was no longer black, but rather a translucent gray.
Thin as a sheet of paper, it resembled gray jade and was only the size of a thumb. It radiated a profound aura, its mysterious luminescence flowing in rhythmic patterns like a river of stars in the night sky, drifting in and out of sight, utterly mesmerizing.
Cradling the weightless Heavenly Corpse Talisman in his palm, Qin Sang inspected it closely.
From the outside, the talisman looked so beautiful, yet who would have thought it was an item of supreme yin and wickedness meant for refining living corpses?
Such a stark contrast made Qin Sang marvel in quiet bemusement.
Rather than rushing to refine the living corpse, Qin Sang retrieved a jade box and sealed away this first Heavenly Corpse Talisman, intending to strike while the iron was hot and continue refining.
"Doesn't seem all that hard..." Qin Sang murmured to himself, trying to ease the tension.
Yet before his self-satisfaction could linger, reality dealt him a harsh lesson: the second Heavenly Corpse Talisman failed.
Naturally, the failure was not due to complacency or carelessness on his part.
Failure was simply normal. Crafting a Heavenly Corpse Talisman was extraordinarily difficult; being able to succeed on the first attempt could only be attributed to good fortune.
Qin Sang understood this well, so he felt no discouragement. Waving his hand to destroy the remnants of the soul-attracting grass, he reflected on the lessons from his failure and proceeded to refine the third talisman.
Three days later, another Heavenly Corpse Talisman was completed!
Crafting two Heavenly Corpse Talismans from a single soul-attracting grass left Qin Sang thoroughly satisfied. After these three refinement attempts, he possessed ample experience and was confident his success rate would be even higher in the future.
Just refining the Heavenly Corpse Talismans had taken eight full days.
Calculating the time, Yunyouzi was likely due to arrive soon. Qin Sang did not continue, instead retrieving the prepared base for the living corpse from his corpse puppet pouch.
According to the manual, living corpses differed greatly from baleful corpses, and requiring a Heavenly Corpse Talisman was only one of those differences.
Because a living corpse's sea of qi was intact and had not withered, building the foundation with the five elements required a far greater quantity of Five Elements yin materials and earth fiend qi.
The exact amount varied with the specific circumstances, but it would be at least several times that needed for refining a baleful corpse.
Though Five Elements yin materials were expensive, they were not difficult to purchase, and Qin Sang had prepared an abundant supply.
However, he had very little earth fiend qi remaining.
Earth fiend qi was among the most yin substances in the world. Foundation Establishment cultivators feared it like a tiger, and it was rarely used in tool refinement unless for exceedingly rare, specialized magic tools passed down from antiquity.
Over the years, Qin Sang had encountered several yin lands in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield that harbored yin baleful qi, yet none resembled Dichen Cave on Shaohua Mountain.
Consequently, his supply of earth fiend qi had steadily depleted without any replenishment. Moreover, refining baleful corpses did not succeed every time, making some waste inevitable; only three bottles remained.
Taking out the three Shaoyin Magnetic Bottles, Qin Sang thought to himself:
*If this earth fiend qi isn't enough, it might be time to make a trip back to Shaohua Mountain.*
Chapter 339