Heyun Pill

The restriction on the fire chamber was disturbed. Qin Sang gathered his thoughts, looked up, and said, "Enter." A young man whose cultivation was only at the ninth layer of the Qi Refinement stage pushed open the door and stepped inside, his expression respectful. "Greetings, Daoist Master." "Ah, it's Zhong Ming." Qin Sang recognized him. He looked the young man up and down, then said warmly, "Not bad at all. Having not seen you for a few years, you've already broken through to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement. Your future is boundless." Zhong Ming hastily demurred, saying he did not deserve such praise. Seeing that Qin Sang was in the mood to chat, he was only too glad to converse with him. Qin Sang was a Foundation Establishment cultivator; a casual word of guidance from him could benefit Zhong Ming immensely. "How is the seed fire in your body?" Qin Sang asked, seemingly in passing. Suspecting nothing, Zhong Ming held out his right hand, and a cluster of Qingyang Demonic Fire flickered to life at his fingertips. "It's fairly stable... for now, there's no danger of it consuming me..." In that instant, Qin Sang released his spiritual sense, quietly detecting the subtle shifts in the cultivation technique within Zhong Ming's body. Most of his information about the Qingyang Demonic Sect had been obtained this way. In Qingyang Market, it was impossible to go around capturing Qingyang Demonic Sect disciples on a large scale. Rather than rushing for quick success, he possessed ample patience to befriend disciples of the Qingyang Demonic Sect, uncovering the intelligence he sought piece by piece. With his status as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a renowned artifact craftsman condescending to make friends with juniors, few could resist. Furthermore, the questions he asked were not detrimental to the Qingyang Demonic Sect, so he had no fear of arousing their suspicion. By now, Qin Sang had acquired a deep understanding of the Qingyang Demonic Fire. Yet after learning the properties of the Qingyang Demonic Fire and the Qingyang astral essence, he increasingly felt that the hope of stealing the Qingyang astral essence was slim. By cultivating the Qingyang Demonic Fire, disciples of the Qingyang Demonic Sect could indeed come into contact with the Qingyang astral essence, but taking it out of the sect was virtually impossible. The Qingyang astral essence was inherently the Qingyang Divine Astral Qi. It was an extraordinary marvel of the world, a form of Qiantian astral qi far more dangerous than earth fiend qi. Cultivators below the Golden Core stage had to tread with utmost trepidation just approaching it; they possessed no ability whatsoever to take it away. Of course, there were other conceivable methods. For example, a Shaoyin Magnetic Bottle could hold earth fiend qi. Through years of investigation, Qin Sang had also discovered two special magic tools capable of sealing Qiantian astral qi. However, they were exceptionally difficult to craft—most of all because their spirit materials were elusive. The primary material was actually a precious spirit material used for crafting magic treasures, making the difficulty of gathering it readily apparent. Even if such a magic tool could be crafted, stealing the Qingyang astral essence would remain extraordinarily difficult. The Qingyang Demonic Sect managed the Qingyang astral essence with extreme rigor. The Qingyang astral essence was situated upon the Divine Astral Peak of the Qingyang Demonic Sect. The peak was a forbidden ground of the sect, laden with layer upon layer of restrictions and guarded closely by an elder. Disciples of the sect were permitted to enter the mountain and borrow the astral qi to strengthen their seed fires, but absolutely no one was allowed to collect the Qingyang astral essence on their own authority—not even Foundation Establishment disciples. The Qingyang Demonic Sect had no Nascent Soul Patriarch; the entire sect possessed a total of four Golden Core Masters, and the one guarding the Divine Astral Peak was one of them. Qin Sang had attempted to reverse the process by refining Qingyang astral qi out of Qingyang Demonic Fire. That, too, proved impossible. Once the Qingyang astral essence was refined and assimilated by the demonic fire, its characteristics as Qiantian astral qi vanished, turning into "fuel" to empower the fire. The process was irreversible. The Qingyang Demonic Fire was truly peculiar. The seed fire of each disciple differed, tailored individually by the Qingyang Demonic Sect. From the start of cultivation, it fused into one with the cultivator, making it impossible for outsiders to seize. Even if someone outside the sect killed a disciple of the Qingyang Demonic Sect and obtained their seed fire, they would have no way to tame it; before long, the seed fire would simply dissipate on its own. The sole loophole was that disciples of the sect could use the demonic fire to temporarily seal a wisp of Qiantian astral qi. The problem was that this wisp was not only minuscule, but it also endured for an exceedingly brief duration. It would dissipate before one could even leave the Qingyang Demonic Sect. ... Zhong Ming produced two items: a mid-grade spirit sword and a small piece of stone. This stone was speckled with patterns resembling stars scattered across a night sky, while the body itself was pure silver-white—exceedingly beautiful. Its name matched its appearance. "Square Star Stone." Qin Sang recognized the origin of the stone at a glance and looked at Zhong Ming in surprise. Square Star Stone was a rare earth-element spirit material. Incorporating it into a magic tool not only significantly enhanced the tool itself, but when activated, it could also release countless starlight beams to dazzle an opponent's vision and conceal the magic tool's form. It was exceptionally practical, particularly in battles between low-ranking cultivators. Square Star Stone was rare, and its price was naturally steep. Unless Zhong Ming had stumbled upon it through sheer luck and serendipity, he would have had to bankrupt himself to purchase even this small piece. Zhong Ming looked nervous. "Daoist Master, please help me see if this spirit sword is compatible with the Square Star Stone, and whether it can be used to upgrade the sword." Zhong Ming's spirit sword had been bought from Qin Sang in the first place. Qin Sang knew the spirit swords he crafted like the back of his hand and answered without hesitation, "Of course it can, though the difficulty is considerable..." As he spoke, Qin Sang noticed the nervous and embarrassed look on Zhong Ming's face. Stirred by a thought, he said, "After upgrading your spirit sword, there will still be some of this Square Star Stone left over. If you have no other use for it, it can serve as my fee." Zhong Ming was overjoyed and hastily agreed. "Thank you, Daoist Master!" ... Qin Sang secluded himself in the fire chamber of Tiange Tower to craft artifacts. Over half a month later, he was interrupted by a voice transmission talisman. Upon reading the message on the talisman, Qin Sang looked delighted. He hurriedly left Tiange Tower and returned to the Sword Pavilion. Inside the small shop, Ning Youwei—now over fifty years old—was personally pouring tea and attending to a young Daoist priest. The Daoist's face was very familiar; it was none other than Mingyue's disciple, Li Yufu! Seeing Qin Sang enter, Li Yufu hurriedly rose and bowed deeply. "This disciple pays respects to Martial Uncle!" "Rise!" Qin Sang dismissed Ning Youwei, supported Li Yufu up with both hands, and appraised him. This was their first meeting since parting at Mount Cuiming. Li Yufu's appearance had not changed much, though he seemed more mature than when they had first met at Mount Cuiming. His cultivation was already at the Foundation Establishment stage! Qin Sang was not in the least surprised by this. Li Yufu possessed excellent innate talent to begin with, and with Yunyouzi's meticulous guidance, it would have been truly bizarre had he failed to achieve Foundation Establishment. "Why do you still call me Martial Uncle? Did Senior Yunyouzi not accept you as his disciple?" Li Yufu scratched the back of his neck. "Great-Grandmaster said that although immortals and mortals walk different paths, the lineage in the mortal realm follows an order and must not be lightly discarded. Back then, Great-Grandmaster personally visited Qingyang Temple to erect monuments and write biographies for Grandmaster and Master, and he lectured on the Dao for a month to establish Qingyang Temple's lineage, upon which Martial Uncle's name is also recorded..." Qin Sang gave a soft grunt of assent. "That works as well. Did you come here on your Great-Grandmaster's instructions?" Li Yufu nodded. Remembering something, he hurriedly retrieved a jade bottle from his mustard seed bag. Inside the jade bottle rested a moon-white spiritual pill, wreathed in curls of immortal mist, extraordinarily wondrous. "Martial Uncle, this is the Heyun Pill that Great-Grandmaster obtained for you, which he had this disciple bring over. Great-Grandmaster, he..." Li Yufu's voice suddenly dropped. He waved his hand to cast a sound-insulating restriction before continuing cautiously, "Great-Grandmaster seems to have uncovered news regarding a rare natural treasure and has gone incognito to verify it in person..."