Fire Upheaval!

The higher one climbed toward the summit, the fewer people there were. Qin Sang could see that the distribution on Divine Astral Peak was determined entirely by cultivation base. Closer to the peak, the ambient qi grew increasingly chaotic; only those with sufficient strength could withstand the pressure. The benefit, however, was that one could absorb purer astral qi and cultivate much faster. Whether this turbulent qi had anything to do with the Ancestral Holy Fire atop the peak, Qin Sang could not tell. Slipping silently past a Qingyang Demonic Sect cultivator, Qin Sang finally spotted a piece of Qingyang astral essence resembling jade, embedded right in the center of a giant boulder. The boulder looked like a millstone set on its side, with the piece of astral essence lodged squarely in the middle. Qin Sang glanced left and right, crept close to the boulder, and reached out to touch it. A wave of icy chill radiated from the Qingyang astral essence. After a careful inspection, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the astral qi inside was extraordinarily pure, requiring no refining whatsoever. Even though he did not cultivate Qingyang Demonic Fire, he could absorb it directly. With that confirmed, Qin Sang was completely relieved. Continuing his ascent toward the summit, he searched back and forth until he finally discovered an exceptionally well-hidden piece of Qingyang astral essence within a crevice between the rocks. *Right here!* This piece of Qingyang astral essence was not particularly large, about the size of an infant's fist. Based on what Qin Sang had learned about astral essence over the past few days, this was more than enough for his needs! Qin Sang exhaled slowly. He withdrew the Shaoyin Magnetic Bottles from his robes, set them before him, and sensed the Qingyang astral essence once more to make certain. Then, uncorking all the magnetic bottles at once, he absorbed every wisp of earth fiend qi inside into his body, before directly crushing the empty bottles to destroy any trace of them. Once the astral-fiend core clash began, he could not afford to be distracted. He had no choice but to forcefully gather the fiend qi into his sea of qi. He could keep it stabilized for a short period, and as the earth fiend qi was consumed, doing so would only grow easier. "I must succeed!" Qin Sang braced himself, easing his nervous and eager emotions, and swiftly cleared his mind until it became as calm as still water. He sat cross-legged before the Qingyang astral essence, holding his hands suspended over it, maintaining the posture without moving a muscle. A moment later, a flash of cyan light burst from the Qingyang astral essence, and a sliver of cyan brilliance detached itself. It hovered at Qin Sang's fingertips before slipping out of sight. Inside Qin Sang's body, the astral qi surged through his meridians, about to enter his sea of qi. This stream of Qingyang Divine Astral Qi was several times larger than the one Shi Ying had gathered. Qin Sang held his breath, willing the ebony sword into his dantian to carefully steady his sea of qi, and then drew forth a roughly equal amount of earth fiend qi, waiting for its arrival! *Sizzle!* The instant the two energies sensed each other, they predictably fell into violent turbulence. Qin Sang had anticipated this moment. He immediately drove the earth fiend qi toward the golden core, guided the Qingyang Divine Astral Qi along with it, and then poured his spiritual power forward with all his might, wrapping tightly around both streams to soothe and contain them. *Boom!* The first impact ended in failure, sending roaring waves through his sea of qi that took quite a while to settle. Yet Qin Sang only grew more confident. Chuckling, he made another attempt without hesitation! Repeated failures could not shake his resolve in the slightest. Time passed slowly. After an untold number of attempts, Qin Sang's expression suddenly shifted. An inconspicuous speck of light had surfaced on the golden core. Within that tiny speck, intertwined gleams of cyan and black glowed faintly. The astral-fiend core clash had finally succeeded! A flash of joy crossed Qin Sang's face, but his gaze soon turned grave. His suspicion had proven true—the astral-fiend core clash was indeed different from clashing with earth fiend qi alone. It rendered the golden core extremely unstable, threatening collapse at any moment. Once begun, it had to be carried through without pause! Qin Sang dared not hesitate. He hurriedly drew in another wisp of astral qi, channeled it into his sea of qi, and continued assailing the golden core. Casting the secret art upon his own body was vastly different from practicing on someone else. Qin Sang could keenly and swiftly detect every minute change, adjusting accordingly. Not only was the astral-fiend core clash proceeding faster than before, but the corpse refining secret art also progressed smoothly throughout. Naturally, that smooth progress was largely thanks to the ebony sword standing by at all times. High on Divine Astral Peak, the Ancestral Holy Fire danced wildly. The disciples of the Qingyang Demonic Sect remained completely oblivious that an outsider was plundering their sect's precious treasure. Time drifted by. Before long, one and a half shichen had slipped away. The piece of Qingyang astral essence before Qin Sang had visibly shrunk by a significant margin, and the secret art was approaching its final stage. Yet Qin Sang was unaware that as this piece of Qingyang astral essence shrank, subtle changes were unfolding at the summit of Divine Astral Peak! The Ancestral Holy Fire on the mountain had grown even more violent than before. Affected by the holy fire, the weather over Divine Astral Peak shifted abruptly, unleashing ferocious cracks of thunder! The sudden upheaval on Divine Astral Peak was astounding in scale, instantly alerting the Qingyang Demonic Sect's experts. "Didn't the Sect Master adjust the formation of the astral jade to suppress the Ancestral Holy Fire? Why has there been a sudden change? Or has someone defied the Sect Master's orders, excessively absorbing from the astral jade and disrupting the array?" Cave dwellings opened one after another. Two figures radiating powerful auras emerged before Divine Astral Peak—both possessing late Foundation Establishment cultivation. They dismissed the other disciples and looked up toward the summit with grave expressions. "Only a few fellow disciples possess the ability to draw from the astral jade. Now that Martial Uncle Wu has taken Senior Brother Li and the others to Wuya Valley for the rescue, who could possibly remain on the mountain?" One of them frowned and said, "Fortunately, the Ancestral Holy Fire has not yet broken out of control, so rectifying this should not be difficult. First, send the other disciples down the mountain. Whether this is man-made or a shift in the formation, we will know once we go up and take a look." The other looked thoroughly irritated. "I had just caught a flash of inspiration, teetering on the edge of comprehension, only to be interrupted! Now I can't recall a thing. Once I find out who is behind this, I will make them pay!" Qin Sang was still entirely unaware of the commotion outside. How could he have known that the stability of the Ancestral Holy Fire was linked to the astral jade on Divine Astral Peak? That was a secret known only to the higher echelons of the Qingyang Demonic Sect, something impossible to discover through casual inquiry. Even if he had known, he could not simply relocate. By now, the golden core in his sea of qi had transformed dramatically. It had turned into two starkly distinct halves of cyan and black, with the original divine radiance of the golden core reduced to a minuscule speck. Once that final speck was overtaken, the astral-fiend core clash would be complete! As another burst of astral and fiend qi successfully crashed into the core, Qin Sang was about to draw in more Qingyang Divine Astral Qi when an angry roar suddenly rose from below: "Stop!" Qin Sang froze, glancing over to see two figures racing toward him through the cyan mist. He was on the verge of success—why had someone suddenly ascended the mountain and pinpointed his location so easily? Qin Sang's heart jumped, and he snapped his head upward. Only then did he realize with a shock that, at some point, a swirling vortex of wind and clouds had formed directly above him. The vortex hung low, lightning coursing through its depths. Within it, a thread of fire, slender as a strand of hair, reached down from high above and drifted slowly downward, radiating a terrifying, heart-stopping power! This was... The Ancestral Holy Fire! Qin Sang's expression shifted drastically as he realized he must have overlooked something vital. At this moment, driving the astral-fiend core clash had taken an enormous toll on him, leaving his body utterly depleted!