Borne upon spiritual power, the Xutian Thunder drifted toward Qin Sang.
Qin Sang looked at the Xutian Thunder and resisted the temptation. Rather than reaching out to take it, he looked toward Granny Jing with an inquiring gaze.
"I never intended to drag you into this. Fate is fickle, and it just so happened that they entered..."
Granny Jing spoke with an open, calm expression, her gaze sweeping over the Xutian Thunder. "These are the spoils of your victory. It is only right and natural that it belongs to you. The Xutian Thunder is indeed a fine magic tool. Its power is formidable enough to gravely injure a mid-Core Formation expert, and even a late Core Formation cultivator would have to be exceedingly careful when facing it. Of course, that is assuming you can hit your mark; the blast radius of a Xutian Thunder is not very large..."
Qin Sang glanced down at the stone platform beneath his feet.
The runes upon it were identical to those on the other platform, only reversed. By now, the doorway upon the platform had closed, and the runes had fallen silent once more.
Everything appeared ordinary, but he had no idea whether they could still return.
After a moment's hesitation, Qin Sang said, "If not for Senior's intervention, I would have already been swallowed by the spatial storm Old Man Star-Grasper caused. Furthermore, Senior paid such a heavy price—the divine beast qingluan perished..."
Granny Jing suddenly let out a soft laugh.
It was the first time Qin Sang had ever seen Granny Jing smile. Rather than detracting from her demeanor, it lent her an air of warmth, making her seem less aloof and unapproachable.
Interrupting Qin Sang, Granny Jing reached her right hand forward, palm facing upward.
Spiritual power welled up across her palm like surging waves.
When the tide subsided, a qingluan wood carving was revealed, identical to the previous one.
Accompanied by a phoenix-like cry, the qingluan came alive. It danced gracefully around Granny Jing, chirping affectionately.
Then, gracefully twisting its slender neck, the qingluan spread its wings and landed on Qin Sang's shoulder. It preened its feathers a few times and rubbed its cheek against his face.
Its cyan plumage was dense and soft, like the finest silk brocade.
Qin Sang did not dare move. After the qingluan departed, a soft, cool sensation lingered against his cheek.
Noticing Qin Sang's shocked gaze, Granny Jing smiled and reached out a fair, jade-like finger to tap the qingluan's head. "She likes you very much..." she murmured.
Qin Sang was certain that the qingluan on the other side had definitely been swallowed by the spatial storm.
Yet another identical qingluan had appeared!
"Is it truly a puppet?"
Qin Sang could not help marveling. "Senior, your puppetry technique can pass off as the real thing to such perfection. Junior has never heard of such a feat!"
"It is not that my puppetry technique is so exquisite. I merely had the good fortune to see the true appearance of a qingluan and personally feel its aura, though it was not the true body of the divine beast."
Granny Jing offered this explanation, stroking the qingluan's graceful wings before parting her vermilion lips to murmur, "Go."
Though the qingluan's aura was suppressed to the Mortal Demon stage just like Qin Sang's, its speed remained extraordinarily swift. In the blink of an eye, it sped to the grand hall's exit.
Watching the qingluan disappear, Qin Sang reached out to take the Xutian Thunder, then cupped his hands. "Then Junior shall defer to Senior's kind offer."
"I told you it is your spoils," Granny Jing said with a noncommittal nod. Then her eyes flashed, and she remarked nonchalantly, "That was the Blood Filth Divine Light just now, was it not? Given the properties of the cultivation technique you practice, fusing the Boundless Blood Mulberry into your life spirit sword is sufficient to elevate it to the level of a magic treasure. To be fortunate enough to obtain one of the Ten Great Divine Woods—you truly possess exceptional luck. No wonder you were so reluctant to use your life spirit sword all this time. Were you afraid I would seize your magic treasure?"
As she spoke, Granny Jing revealed a faint smile, seemingly teasing Qin Sang for his timidity.
Qin Sang had prepared himself mentally, yet when Granny Jing mentioned the ebony sword, his mind still grew extremely tense.
However, he had never expected her to say such things.
Qin Sang could not help pressing for answers: "Senior knows of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*?"
Standing with her hands behind her back, Granny Jing looked out of the grand hall. Her gaze grew distant, as if recalling something from the past. After a moment of silence, she said faintly, "Not only am I familiar with the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* preserved in Shaohua Mountain, but I also know it is incomplete. It only has the first five layers, allowing one to cultivate to the early Core Formation stage at most..."
The *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* was a technique treasured by Shaohua Mountain. Although disciples were not forbidden from reading it, those who did not cultivate it knew only superficial details.
From Granny Jing's words, her understanding of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* was actually no less thorough than Qin Sang's. Only someone who had truly cultivated the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* and reached an advanced level could achieve this!
Just what was Granny Jing's identity? Did she have some past connection to Shaohua Mountain, or had she perhaps cultivated the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* herself?
Just as Qin Sang was secretly astonished, Granny Jing's gaze fell upon his face. "Do you want the continuation of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*?"
Steadfast though Qin Sang's mind was, hearing these words sent a violent tremor through his heart.
How could he not want the continuation of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*?
This technique could be said to have remolded him completely, serving as the key that allowed him to see hope along the Great Dao. Qin Sang could not imagine any technique more suited to him, yet unfortunately, it was only a fragment.
Once he cultivated to the fifth layer, the path ahead would be severed. Qin Sang would have only two choices: either forge his own way along the path of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*, creating the subsequent technique himself to stumble onward, or switch to cultivating another technique.
The likelihood of creating a technique himself was slim. Qin Sang had a clear assessment of his own aptitude; the only reason he had been able to cultivate the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*, and do so smoothly, was entirely thanks to the jade Buddha.
Even when comprehending the killing talisman, he had mostly relied on the jade Buddha to steady his mind, shield him from the erosion of killing intent, and follow the technique step by step.
His comprehension of the technique and the killing Dao was far from reaching the level where he could create his own continuation. Walking that path would be far too difficult.
If he switched to another technique, it would be no different from abandoning all previous efforts. Not only would he lose his life spirit sword, but the boost to his cultivation speed provided by the killing talisman would be lost as well.
Unless he could find another similar technique.
To Qin Sang, this choice was a formidable hurdle no less daunting than reaching Core Formation.
It was just that achieving Core Formation consumed too much of his energy; all his thoughts were presently focused on breaking through to Core Formation, leaving him no spare energy to ponder matters further ahead.
"Could Senior possess the latter half of the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*?"
Qin Sang pressed urgently, though disbelief lingered in his heart.
He secretly speculated on Granny Jing's background, quickly recalling the prominent figures in Shaohua Mountain's history to see if anyone matched her.
With Granny Jing's beauty and bearing, she certainly could not have been an unknown figure.
"It is not the latter half, but a continuation," Granny Jing corrected earnestly, looking at Qin Sang. "A continuation created by another person who cultivated the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*."
A self-created technique!
Qin Sang froze upon hearing this.
Throughout Shaohua Mountain's history, quite a few disciples had attempted to cultivate the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*.
Almost all of them had given up at the very beginning. The agony of sword qi gnawing at the soul and killing intent eroding the mind was beyond ordinary imagination; those people certainly could not have created their own technique.
Chapter 473