Leap

Qin Sang cast a deep glance at the vortex of wind and clouds, turned around, and walked away. He had not traveled far before he suddenly sensed an abnormality within his body. Not daring to delay any longer, he found a secluded spot nearby and sat down cross-legged on the ground. Just moments ago, he had been forced to borrow the power of the Ancestral Holy Fire to trap those two cultivators, which had left him with no choice but to temporarily interrupt the astral-fiend core clash. It was an extremely reckless move, yet Qin Sang had been backed into a corner and had no alternative. Sure enough, from the start of the battle until now, mere three breaths of time had elapsed, yet he was already on the verge of losing control. He could feel that the golden core was also nearing its absolute limit. Fortunately, it was a golden core that had not lost its spirituality; otherwise, it likely would not have held out until now. Those two were trapped within the storm vortex. Even if other Qingyang Demonic Sect cultivators came up the mountain to investigate, they would lack the power to rescue them and could only watch in futile anxiety. They would probably have to wait for the Qingyang Demonic Sect's Core Formation cultivator to return to the mountain; it remained to be seen whether those two could hold out until then. Qin Sang had to seize this window of time to complete the final step! He drew every last fragment of the Qingyang Divine Astral Qi from his hands into his body, then spurred the astral qi to surge into his sea of qi. At this moment, his sea of qi was nearly empty. The remaining earth fiend qi was scarce, roughly equal in measure to this surge of astral qi, but it was enough. Wrapping them in spiritual power, he slammed them against the golden core! At the same time, Qin Sang exhausted his very last shred of spiritual power to drive the ebony sword. Sword qi erupted intensely, descending over the golden core like a shroud. *Boom!* The three forces converged, taking the golden core as their battlefield as they violently collided. A tremendous tremor rocked Qin Sang's sea of qi, and a coppery sweetness rose in his throat. Gritting his teeth through the agonizing pain, he swiftly completed the final incantation hand seal, then turned his inner vision toward his sea of qi, tensely watching the transformations within the golden core. His sea of qi was an empty expanse, save for a single golden core suspended in midair, spinning rapidly. The very last patch on the core was eroded away by black qi and cyan light, finally vanishing without a trace. The golden core transformed into a bizarre, mottled cyan-and-black pellet! *Did it succeed?* Qin Sang was filled with doubt and uncertainty. According to the secret method for refining a Flying Yaksha, once the core clash was successfully completed, one could declare the Flying Yaksha refined. Yet Qin Sang hesitated, unable to determine whether it was a success or a failure. He did not even know what to call this golden core inside his body. A fiend core? An astral-fiend core? Or should he follow the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art and call it a corpse core? For now, he would refer to it as a corpse core. The good news was that after the corpse core was formed, it did not unleash billowing fiend qi to brutally rampage through his meridians like a Flying Yaksha would. While such an influx could temper the flesh, it would also wreak wanton destruction, triggering an irreversible corpse transformation. However, right now the corpse core sat quietly within Qin Sang's sea of qi without the slightest stir, which struck him as all the more eerie! After a moment's thought, Qin Sang attempted to stir his spiritual sense and gingerly touched the corpse core. Unexpectedly, the moment his spiritual sense made contact, the corpse core shuddered violently. Qin Sang's face fell, yet he was powerless to act, for the corpse core was completely outside his control. He anxiously observed the corpse core and discovered that the two starkly distinct colors upon its surface were beginning to blend into one another. Soon, they assimilated each other, finally turning into a uniform cyan-black corpse core! At that moment, Qin Sang felt a sudden stirring in his heart. An inexplicable connection had formed between him and the corpse core, while the corpse core itself was rapidly calming down! With a single thought from Qin Sang, a bizarre power welled up from the corpse core. He could not yet control it at will, but fortunately, this power was extraordinarily gentle. Once a cultivator succeeded in Core Formation—be they demonic cultivators, wicked cultivators, orthodox cultivators, or practitioners of heterodox paths—the power nurtured within their bodies underwent a metamorphosis. It was no longer pure spiritual power, but was collectively known as true essence. Qin Sang tentatively termed the power released by the corpse core as true essence as well, yet he found this true essence profoundly strange. It contained fiend qi, astral qi, and even the corpse qi brought by the secret art, all blended into one. Wu Shang's concept of using astral qi to counter the fiend qi had actually become reality! The originally wildly violent earth fiend qi and Qiantian astral qi, having restrained and fused with one another, had bizarrely settled down. They did not rampantly tear through his body as they would in a Flying Yaksha. He cautiously guided this true essence into his meridians, circulating it according to the secret method of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art. Qin Sang was on edge, terrified that the true essence might suddenly turn berserk and ravage his physical body. Yet after completing a full heavenly circuit, the true essence remained completely docile. Seeing this, a great weight lifted from Qin Sang's heart. He sank his mind into the corpse core and savored it closely, practically unable to tear himself away. He could not yet fully master the corpse core. He still needed to familiarize himself with it before he could achieve the unity of person and core and wield it at will. Even so, Qin Sang could already faintly sense that the corpse core harbored an incomparably formidable power, far outstripping his previous cultivation. This was no mere increase in strength; it was a qualitative transformation! A leap! "Haha..." Qin Sang grinned broadly, feeling an immense sense of relief and exhilaration, and stood up abruptly. This was no place to familiarize himself with the corpse core. The Qingyang Demonic Sect's Core Formation cultivator had already been away for two two-hour periods. Now that an upheaval had occurred on Divine Astral Peak, he would surely return all the faster. Qin Sang had only just formed his corpse core and did not dare engage in battle with a genuine Core Formation expert. Leaving the Qingyang Demonic Sect as quickly as possible and finding a secluded place to familiarize himself with the corpse core was his top priority. With this thought, Qin Sang turned and sped down the mountain. As he passed the vortex of wind and clouds, he gave it a single glance before paying it no further heed, heading straight down. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Qin Sang detected the auras of many cultivators outside. Clearly, they had all been drawn here by the anomaly on Divine Astral Peak. Though Qin Sang had not fully mastered the corpse core, he was more than capable of using the true essence to mask his aura. There were no high-level experts among these cultivators, so Qin Sang was not worried about being discovered. Without wasting the slightest effort, he slipped away from Divine Astral Peak. Without looking back, Qin Sang sped straight toward the mountain gate of the Qingyang Demonic Sect, calculating in his mind how to catch them off guard and break out of the mountain. The Qingyang Demonic Sect was hollowed out from within, and the few remaining experts guarding the place had been drawn away by the commotion on Divine Astral Peak. Qin Sang believed escaping would not be too difficult. Even so, he had to flee as quickly as possible once he broke out and could not linger anywhere near the Qingyang Demonic Sect. As he ran, Qin Sang maintained a connection to the corpse core with his spiritual sense, racing against the clock to familiarize himself with its power so that he could wield more true essence. To his astonishment, he found that his progress in familiarizing himself with the corpse core was far faster than Yu Hua's had been. Back then, it had taken Yu Hua a full two days to achieve the unity of person and core and thoroughly master the corpse core. Was it because he was actively familiarizing himself with the corpse core directly, whereas Yu Hua had been separated by a soul imprint, making his own speed faster? Or was it because true essence was gentler than fiend qi, making it easier to control? Qin Sang could not tell, and since he could not determine the reason right away, he did not dwell on it. By now, the vigilance within the inner sect of the Qingyang Demonic Sect had also grown exceedingly lax. Qin Sang evaded a patrol of disciples, easily reached the outer sect, unleashed his movement technique, and sped swiftly toward the mountain gate. Crossing over ridges and peaks, he finally arrived before the mountain gate. Suddenly, Qin Sang pulled up short, his gaze darkening as he stared at the peaks shrouded in a sea of clouds. The Qingyang Demonic Sect had actually sealed the mountain gate! Had the mountain gate not been sealed, he could have crept up to it and charged out by surprise; no one would have been able to stop him. Now, however, he absolutely dared not barge through recklessly. Even a genuine Core Formation expert who dared to force their way through the grand formation would never make it out unscathed!