Starting Over

High in the sky, the fire gourd and the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner rose and fell amidst a sea of flames, fading in and out of view. Every time the magic treasures clashed, countless streams of fire shot out in all directions, crashing into the mountain forests below like falling meteors, leaving shocking craters in the earth. Demonic fire scorched the heavens. The mountains trembled. This scene resembled an apocalyptic disaster, striking terror into the beasts and living creatures of the wild mountains. Qin Sang fought back with fire as his gaze swept rapidly across the terrain, searching for an advantageous position. Just then, Qin Sang noticed a sparrow-sized azure bird flying in from the distant horizon. Though unremarkable in appearance, it moved with astonishing speed, heading straight for Wu Youdao. Qin Sang's thoughts stirred. He took the initiative to rein in the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, slackening his offensive and allowing the azure bird to fly up to Wu Youdao. Pfft! Wu Youdao reached out and grabbed it. The azure bird burst into fire, returning to its fundamental essence. Clutching the stream of fire, Wu Youdao focused his senses. After waiting a moment, Qin Sang shouted repeatedly, "Well, Fellow Daoist Wu? This old man didn't lie to you, did he? I only took the Qiantian astral qi and never touched your sect's forbidden grounds!" Wu Youdao looked up at Qin Sang, his eyes flickering. Qin Sang was delighted to see this, but kept his voice low and grim: "If you continue to press me so relentlessly, Fellow Daoist, this old man will have no choice but to detonate this Xutian Thunder. I trust you are capable of evading the blast right now, but once you and I are depleted to a certain point and both gravely injured, how confident will you be then?" Then, he added earnestly, "This matter was my fault to begin with. It would only make a laughingstock of me if word got out, so I will never breathe a single word of this to outsiders." "If there is a next time, I, Wu Youdao, will certainly take your life!" Wu Youdao issued a cold warning, then waved his sleeve to recall the fire gourd. A cluster of flames sprang up beneath his feet, and he took off into the distance. "Thank you for your accommodation, Fellow Daoist!" Qin Sang cupped his hands toward him from afar. He did not dare linger either. As soon as Wu Youdao vanished beyond the horizon, Qin Sang immediately put away the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner and fled at full speed into the depths of the mountain range. Remaining vigilant of his surroundings along the way, he only searched for a secluded cavern and slipped inside once he was certain no one was following him. ... "Phew!" Having laid down restrictions to seal the cavern, Qin Sang slumped to the ground and let out a long breath of turbid air. Though this battle had not quite reached the point of life and death, in Qin Sang's eyes, it had been more nerve-wracking than any battle he had ever fought, leaving him walking on eggshells with his heart in his throat. After all, this was the first time he had truly faced a cultivator at the Core Formation stage. Whether in channeling true essence or driving a magic treasure, he was still very unpracticed. Even though he had gradually grown more adept during the fight, smoothing out his execution, there was still a considerable gap between him and Wu Youdao. Fortunately, he had no fear of the Qingyang Demonic Fire, whereas Wu Youdao had to stay constantly on guard, not daring to let the Nine Nether Demonic Fire near his body. With this give-and-take, Qin Sang had avoided a swift defeat. Presumably, Wu Youdao had also recognized this, which had led him to believe he stood a chance of taking Qin Sang down. Without the threat of the Xutian Thunder, it truly would have been hard to say how things ended. Having finally escaped danger, Qin Sang rested briefly before immediately crossing his legs to inspect himself with inner vision. "The recovery speed of this true essence is truly slow!" Qin Sang checked the corpse core and smiled wryly to himself. By his calculations, once the true essence in the corpse core was completely drained, it would take nearly half a day to recover. This meant that in every battle going forward, he would have to budget his strength with meticulous care. Qin Sang let the corpse core recover on its own and began to thoroughly inspect his body. Silence reigned within the cavern. Qin Sang sat motionless for an entire day and night. By the evening of the second day, he withdrew his spiritual sense from within his body. With a grave expression, he lowered his head and sank into deep thought. Over this full day, he had finally sorted out his current situation. First of all, his strength was undeniably on par with a genuine Core Formation cultivator. Second, and most concerning to Qin Sang, was whether he could cultivate techniques. The answer was no. Under the dual constraints of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman and the restrictions, his true essence could only flow along a fixed route. Qin Sang had tried countless times, but just as before he formed the corpse core, it could not be budged. This meant that he could never cultivate any technique again in the future, and there would never be the slightest improvement in his strength. Now Qin Sang faced a dilemma, and as the corpse transformation deepened, time was running out for him to deliberate. Should he let his physical body transform into a corpse and walk the corpse Dao? Or should he unseal the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, gambling on whether he could keep the corpse core? Without agonizing for too long, Qin Sang decided on the second path. Once he became a corpse, Qin Sang had no idea how to proceed in the future. Even among the sects devoted to the corpse Dao, one only heard of cultivators refining corpses, never of someone turning themselves into a corpse. Back then, even someone as brilliantly talented as Wu Shang had failed to find a technique capable of breaking the limitations of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art. After the corpse transformation, the physical body would be strengthened, but the origin soul would not change at all. This meant Qin Sang's lifespan would likely remain identical to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator—only two hundred and fifty years, rather than five hundred. During those two hundred and fifty years, Qin Sang would not only have to search for secret corpse Dao arts suited for him to cultivate, but also rely on his poor innate talent to cultivate toward the next realm. Furthermore, with the Heavenly Corpse Talisman still present, could those secret corpse Dao arts truly enable him to break through the shackles and advance? Qin Sang had no confidence in that whatsoever. ... Should he possess Core Formation strength and live leisurely for a hundred-odd years? Or should he forsake this seductive power and continue pursuing the Great Dao? In the cultivation world of the Lesser Cold Domain, Core Formation cultivators were figures above men, revered by thousands and able to take whatever they pleased. Yet to Qin Sang, all of that was nothing more than an ephemeral illusion. Once a hundred years passed, he could not escape becoming a handful of yellow earth—what meaning would there be in that? ... He was soon going to become a true refined corpse, a process that could not be reversed. If he could not find a secret corpse Dao art, he would have no choice but to abandon his physical body and take possession of another to start over. Possession was not without a cost. After possessing a body, one's lifespan would not increase. Moreover, because the physical body and the origin soul would not match, the chances of breaking through in the future would be extraordinarily slim unless he obtained the mythical divine medicine that harmonized spirit and flesh. The Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter had allowed Qin Sang to see hope in pursuing the Great Dao. Even if he lacked the subsequent techniques before, he now had a lead on Senior Qingzhu's self-created technique; unless pushed to the absolute brink, Qin Sang did not want to give that up. Of course, Qin Sang had not made this decision without basis. He could clearly sense that the corpse core was exceptionally well-attuned to him, and this attunement was not purely formed by external causes. The connection between them was not merely brought about by the Heavenly Corpse Talisman and the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, but also the result of the fusion of his spiritual sense, qi, and blood during the corpse core's refinement. The clearest evidence of this was during the astral-fiend core clash, when his spiritual power, wrapped in the heavenly astral and earthly fiend energies, had poured into the golden core together. After careful consideration, Qin Sang estimated that he had at least a thirty percent chance of keeping the corpse core after unsealing the Heavenly Corpse Talisman! If the corpse core could continue to serve him, that would naturally be ideal. He would return to orthodox cultivation and could still cultivate the Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter. Even if the corpse core could not become a true golden core, it could serve as an external core, allowing him to tap into power rivaling a Core Formation cultivator at any time. In the future, exploring hidden realms and searching for spirit herbs to aid his Core Formation would undoubtedly be far more convenient. And if he failed... Qin Sang pressed his lips tightly together. Even if the core shattered, so what? At worst, he would start over from the beginning!