Qin Sang was thoroughly astonished.
The orders he and Xie Ying had received were starkly different.
The Seven-Leaf Epiphyllum Xie Ying had mentioned was an important auxiliary ingredient for the Kanli Golden Pill. Qin Sang had only learned of this from Qi Yuanshou himself, and Xie Ying and the others likely had no idea of the reason behind it.
Considering the importance of the Kanli Golden Pill, having such an order was hardly surprising.
It seemed he truly held some weight in Qi Yuanshou's heart, and he had firmly secured this backer.
Qin Sang felt fortunate that he had seized the opportunity to align himself with Qi Yuanshou. Otherwise, he never could have remained outside in peace all these years, and might have ended up like Xie Ying—cast aside somewhere to serve as cannon fodder.
Of course, the bond between him and Qi Yuanshou was exceedingly fragile. To Qi Yuanshou, he was by no means indispensable; he was merely convenient to use, so Qi Yuanshou had given him a casual lift.
No matter how hard Qin Sang racked his brains, he could not think of anything he could offer Qi Yuanshou.
The only things of value in his possession were those few magic treasures, but there was no way he could give those to Qi Yuanshou.
Seeing Xie Ying still complaining bitterly, Qin Sang's expression tightened slightly. He said in a deep voice, "The sect is not entirely unreasonable. As circumstances change, countermeasures naturally shift with them. When you received your orders, the situation was not yet so dire—what is there to find strange? Martial Uncle Qi possesses a benevolent heart and prioritizes the sect's disciples. How could he disregard a disciple's life for mere spiritual herbs? In the future, do not utter such pointless grievances, lest trouble come from a slip of the tongue!"
Xie Ying's expression froze. Shedding his aggrieved look, he bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. Junior Brother has taken it to heart."
Qin Sang gave a slight nod. Looking around at the deep lake water, he said, "Junior Brother Xie, there is no need to inform the other disciples of Martial Uncle Qi's secret order for the time being. Starting from now, arrange the disciples to maintain a day-and-night watch without pause, so that if anything goes awry, we can adapt to circumstances."
With Qi Yuanshou's secret order in mind, Xie Ying finally felt reassured and breathed a sigh of relief. Without any need for Qin Sang to prompt him, he set about diligently executing the instructions.
Qin Sang was glad for the leisure and took over Xie Ying's cave abode.
The spiritual energy within the cave abode was decent enough, barely sufficient for his cultivation.
After breaking through to late Foundation Establishment, Qin Sang had frequently operated in Tianyou City and Qingyang City to investigate the remnants of the Kuiyin Sect. Through that extensive practical experience, his comprehension of the killing talisman had not lagged behind, but he had sorely lacked dedicated time for cultivation.
Being assigned to guard the herb garden gave him the perfect opportunity to cultivate in peace.
However, Qin Sang did not let his guard down entirely. At first, his cultivation was intermittent, and he frequently stopped to secretly observe the movements of Xie Ying and the others.
Only after confirming that everyone was behaving dutifully with no unusual behavior did he finally settle into quiet meditation with peace of mind.
Cold seasons gave way to summers.
In the blink of an eye, two years passed.
Ever since arriving at the herb garden, the times Qin Sang had stepped out of the cave abode could be counted on one hand.
One of those occasions was due to a battle that erupted not far from the herb garden between cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance and the Lesser Cold Domain, raging with extreme ferocity.
Xie Ying had been greatly alarmed and hurriedly roused Qin Sang from his meditation.
Qin Sang had long heard of the cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance, but this was the first time he had witnessed them fighting with his own eyes.
Both sides were formidable, each fielding several Foundation Establishment cultivators, including no shortage of late Foundation Establishment experts. Whether one side had relentlessly pursued the other to this spot or they had crossed paths by chance, a fight to the death had broken out near the herb garden.
Hidden behind the herb garden's restrictions, Qin Sang watched the entire battle with rapt attention.
After all, these people might well be his greatest adversaries in the future. To know oneself and one's enemy was the way to emerge victorious in every battle.
Watching the clash unfold, Qin Sang discovered that the cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance were largely similar to those of his own domain. Their methods of combat were nothing more than incantations, magic tools, talismans, restriction implements, and the like.
It was simply that each person cultivated a different art, resulting in variations in their displayed strength.
They were all the same kind of cultivators, bearing no deep-seated mortal vendettas against one another, yet they fought to the death.
The only thing that caught Qin Sang's eye was a disciple of the Yuling Sect on the Lesser Cold Domain's side who commanded a colorful demon tiger.
This cultivator's cultivation was only at the middle Foundation Establishment stage, yet the demon tiger beneath his stride was on par with him, possessing the formidable strength of the middle Demon Spirit stage.
The demon tiger had fangs like swords and claws like blades; it came and went like lightning and moved like the wind.
Acting as one, the power the man and tiger unleashed greatly astonished Qin Sang. Even when facing a late Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Heaven-Traversing Alliance, this man had the strength to hold his ground.
Cultivating such a potent spirit beast was definitely not something achieved overnight; it must have cost him immense effort.
Seeing the remarkable prowess displayed by the spirit beast, Qin Sang felt deep envy.
This inevitably brought to mind the Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bee hive he had obtained in Wuya Valley, filling his chest with frustration.
After leaving Wuya Valley, Qin Sang had used his spare time to follow the notes left by that Yuling Sect Core Formation senior, purchasing herbs, preparing spiritual medicines, and raising them using the methods for breeding Ghosthead Bees.
He had not expended much effort, merely doing so casually.
It was not until fifteen years later that the Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bee larvae in the hive finally broke from their cocoons, their appearance identical to the Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bees he had encountered back then.
Yet when Qin Sang attempted to subdue these demon bees, the previous scene repeated itself. Though merely larvae, they possessed fiery tempers and detonated themselves one after another without the slightest hesitation.
They refused to yield at all!
Qin Sang had been left dumbfounded, cursing inwardly.
After repeated failed attempts, Qin Sang understood: the intelligence of these Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bees was abnormally chaotic, and there was simply no possibility of subduing them.
Qin Sang had completely abandoned the thought of taming them.
Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bees did have their merits; their combat strength was a notch higher than that of ordinary Ghosthead Bees.
Though he had not spent much effort, he had raised them for so long after all, and Qin Sang could not bear to discard them entirely. He could only keep them inside his spirit beast bag and raise them slowly.
Without a way to subdue the Blood-Winged Ghosthead Bees for the time being, continuing to nurture them held no value. Otherwise, far from being usable against enemies, a single lapse in vigilance could cause them to turn on their master.
For this reason, Qin Sang had not wasted any Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold on them.
He did not possess much Scarlet Fire Flowing Gold in the first place, and planned to wait until he found a suitable exotic insect before carefully nurturing it.
That fierce battle lasted a full two hours. Even though this area lay closer to the Lesser Cold Domain, the Heaven-Traversing Alliance held a slight upper hand. While the Lesser Cold Domain cultivators were not in immediate mortal peril, they could only maintain a defensive stance, unable even to spare someone to break away and deliver a message.
Seeing the battle drag on without end while slowly shifting ever closer to the herb garden, Qin Sang knew the danger.
Once the battlefield moved directly over the herb garden, they were very likely to be caught in the crossfire, exposing the garden.
Qin Sang could no longer stand by idly. After conferring with Xie Ying, he had them quietly prepare the herb garden's restrictions, while he slipped away a certain distance from the herb garden, pretending to be a passerby flying in on his sword from afar.
The streak of sword light hurtling through the air immediately caught the attention of both fighting factions.
Qin Sang's late Foundation Establishment cultivation was laid bare as well.
By this point, everyone had been fighting for a long time and was physically and mentally exhausted. The sudden arrival of an expert would shatter the balance, and judging by the direction Qin Sang was approaching from, he was very likely a cultivator from the Lesser Cold Domain.
The cultivators of the Heaven-Traversing Alliance halted their attacks one after another, made a split-second decision, and turned to flee.
Chapter 426