Qin Sang split off a portion of the Nine Nether Demon Flame to hold back the Flying Yaksha.
At the same time, fearing that Yu Hua might still have the strength to counterattack, Qin Sang drove the remaining demon flame to completely annihilate his Ten Directions Yanluo Array. Only after confirming that Yu Hua was unconscious and utterly powerless to resist did he muster his remaining energy, flit to Yu Hua's side, seal his sea of qi, and lay down restrictions to turn Yu Hua into a living corpse vessel before stowing him into the corpse puppet pouch.
Having lost its target, a look of confusion crossed the Flying Yaksha's face. It vanished on the spot, returning to its lair.
Qin Sang recalled the Five Elements Dharma-Breaking Swords scattered across the floor and aimed them at the barrier.
He chose not to leave the ice hall.
For one, he did not know what abnormal reactions might occur among the school of flying-horned fish-dragons now that their nest had been destroyed, or whether they would leave the deep pool. If he ran into them in the passageway, he would hardly stand a chance of fleeing in his current condition.
Second, he feared Yu Hua might have accomplices waiting outside.
On the contrary, the space behind the barrier was a rare haven of safety—with the Flying Yaksha guarding the door.
The sensible course was to tend to his injuries first and only then think of a way to leave.
After teleporting back into the ice hall, Qin Sang collapsed onto the ground.
Reflecting on the recent ordeal, from stalling the Flying Yaksha for Yunyouzi to encountering and turning the tables on Yu Hua, not that much time had actually passed. Yet not only had his injuries piled upon injuries, but his mind had also been strung taut without a single moment of respite.
Now he wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep slumber and put everything out of mind.
Yet he could not.
Qin Sang pulled himself together and pushed off the ground with his arms to sit up. Suddenly, he let out a sharp hiss of pain. His face contorted, his upper body hunching over like a boiled shrimp as he clutched his dantian, gritting his teeth to endure the agony.
Cold sweat dripped onto the ground, freezing into icy beads in the bitter cold.
That slight movement just now had jarred his sea of qi, piercing it with excruciating pain like twisting knives.
After resting for a while, Qin Sang finally felt somewhat better. Directing his inner vision inward, he saw that his essence blood was depleted, and his sea of qi and meridians were in complete shambles. He could not help but smile wryly.
Since running into Yu Hua, he had repeatedly overdrawn his sea of qi, forcefully refining and absorbing pills into his body, and fed his own essence blood to the ghosts. Though he had found chances in between to consume healing spirit elixirs, it was inevitable that he would inflict severe harm upon himself.
Now, with injury stacked upon injury, the state of his sea of qi and meridians was dreadful beyond measure.
Even with the help of spirit pills, a full recovery was out of the question in the short term; it would require an extended period of slow convalescence.
Qin Sang sighed softly. He retrieved a bottle of spirit pills and swallowed one. As the pill dissolved into a cool, soothing medicinal energy that began circulating through his meridians, his injuries began to mend.
After a brief period of breath regulation, Qin Sang emerged from meditation. He looked toward Yu Hua, condensed a ball of ice-cold water, and splashed it onto Yu Hua's face.
Yu Hua shuddered and woke from his stupor.
"It's you..."
Seeing Qin Sang, Yu Hua's face betrayed his shock. He instantly realized his predicament and tried to struggle, only to find that his entire body was bound, his spiritual power sealed, rendering him no different from a mortal.
To Qin Sang's surprise, Yu Hua quickly regained his composure, earning a measure of grudging admiration.
"It's no wonder Zhao Yan died to you!"
Refusing to show weakness even in defeat, Yu Hua fixed his dark, sullen gaze on Qin Sang. "When you were at the Yuanzhao Sect, your cultivation was only at the Qi Refinement stage, wasn't it? Right after Yi Tiannie planted the Heart-Devouring Insect in you, you were sent to the Yuanzhao Sect. How did you resist the Heart-Devouring Insect gu?"
"You want to know?" Qin Sang asked with a playful look. "Too bad I'm not telling you!"
"You!"
Yu Hua flew into a rage, his face flushing crimson as he ground his teeth. "You didn't kill me because you want me to serve you in the future? I advise you to stop daydreaming!"
Qin Sang sneered. "Rest assured, I will give you a swift end. But first, I have a few questions before sending you on your way."
Before his voice faded, Qin Sang cast the incantation prepared in his palm straight onto Yu Hua.
He had no patience to mince words with Yu Hua.
Moreover, Qin Sang could tell that Yu Hua was already bent on seeking death. Against a scheming old devil like him, torture would accomplish little; instead, it was more likely to yield false information, allowing Yu Hua to drag him down before dying.
As the Soul-Snatching Incantation took effect, Yu Hua's eyes glazed over in dazed confusion. Qin Sang raced against the clock to interrogate him.
Yu Hua's cultivation was far superior to his, so the incantation's duration would be limited. Qin Sang began with the questions he urgently needed answered.
The first question was the method to break the Heart-Devouring Insect gu.
The second question concerned the identity and cultivation of the surviving Golden Core cultivator of the Kuiyin Sect, along with the extent of his injuries and the whereabouts of the Kuiyin Sect remnants.
Just as he was about to ask the third question, Yu Hua's eyelids suddenly rolled back, and his origin soul began to wither away at a terrifying pace.
Qin Sang's brow furrowed deeply. Sending his spiritual sense into Yu Hua's origin soul space, he found that the man's origin soul had grown incredibly dim and hovered on the verge of dispersing.
Was this the result of injuries inflicted by the Nine Nether Demon Flame?
Yu Hua's origin soul was fading fast. Racing against every passing second, Qin Sang drove a Heavenly Corpse Talisman into Yu Hua's origin soul space, merging it into his origin soul.
If he could successfully draw the baleful energy into the body and refine Yu Hua into a living corpse, Qin Sang would gain an exceptionally powerful refined corpse, causing his combat strength to soar.
However, the final step of refining a living corpse was exceedingly difficult.
Qin Sang pondered quietly. His current cultivation was only at the middle Foundation Establishment stage, so the success rate would likely be low. To be safe, it would be best to wait until he broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage before attempting it.
Holding Yu Hua by the collar, Qin Sang stared at his neck. His brow suddenly locked together tightly as an inexplicable urge welled up from the depths of his heart—a craving for essence blood, almost instinctive in nature...
Qin Sang raised his arm to inspect it. The skin showed an unnatural, sickly pallor, devoid of any color, and a faint chill seeped through his body.
All of these symptoms had been described in Wu Shang's letter; they were the consequences brought about by the corpse transformation.
The only difference was that Wu Shang had not possessed the jade Buddha. Manipulated by the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, his urge had been far more intense than Qin Sang's, forcing him to devour cultivators' essence blood continuously merely to hold the corpse transformation at bay.
Qin Sang let out a breath, showing no signs of panic.
The moment the Heavenly Corpse Talisman touched his origin soul, he had known with absolute certainty that so long as he wished, he could use the jade Buddha to purge the talisman from his soul.
Once the Heavenly Corpse Talisman was undone, the corpse transformation should come to a halt.
Even so, Qin Sang was not certain whether, if he used the corpse path to form a corpse core, the degree of corpse transformation would run so deep that reversing it to return to normal would be impossible once he became a Flying Yaksha, even if he dismantled the Heavenly Corpse Talisman afterward.
"Unless forced to the absolute brink, it is better not to choose this path," Qin Sang muttered to himself.
Within his origin soul space, Qin Sang 'saw' the Heart-Devouring Insect gu clinging to the surface of his soul. From Yu Hua's lips, he had already obtained the secret method to undo it.
Yet Qin Sang suddenly had second thoughts about dispelling it.
Paired with the complete venomous gu technique, he could suppress the fluctuations of the Heart-Devouring Insect gu to the absolute minimum.
From Yu Hua, Qin Sang had gleaned a great deal of information.
For instance, the surviving Golden Core cultivator of the Kuiyin Sect was at the early Golden Core stage. He was hiding near Qingyang City, so severely wounded that he had still failed to recover to this day.
Because of this, the remnants of the Kuiyin Sect gathered under his banner had concealed their identities under the name of an organization called 'Demon Flame,' tirelessly searching for healing spirit herbs.
Qin Sang quietly channeled the secret technique to seal the Heart-Devouring Insect gu.
Chapter 395