However, before undoing the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, he needed to accomplish a few things with the aid of the corpse core's power, lest the core shatter and leave him unable to do so later.
Qin Sang and Yunyouzi had agreed on a meeting place far from the Qingyang Demonic Sect once the matter was settled. To avoid affecting the secret art, Qin Sang had set aside two extra days, so there was no need to rush.
He retrieved four items and laid them out before him: the Yin Ring of the Primordial Concentric Rings, two damaged Ten Directions Yanluo Banners, and the iron thumb ring obtained from Daoist Jiupao.
Picking up the Primordial Concentric Ring, he infused it with true essence.
The white metallic ring was full of nicks. In the past, whenever Qin Sang probed it with spiritual power, it had been like a stone sinking into the sea, eliciting no reaction whatsoever.
This time was distinctly different.
The moment his true essence entered, a faint white glow lit up on the Primordial Concentric Ring. Then, beneath Qin Sang's expectant gaze, it began to tremble slightly.
Yet no matter how much more true essence Qin Sang poured in, no other change occurred.
After a while, Qin Sang gave up.
"It seems it must be repaired, and the Yang Ring must be forged before it can be used. No wonder Old Man Dique couldn't use it back then. Who knows when I'll be able to gather both Everlasting Camphor and Tiandu rock."
Qin Sang shook his head, returned the Primordial Concentric Ring to his mustard seed bag, and picked up the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners.
Two Ten Directions Yanluo Banners.
One had been damaged by the fat chick in the thunder-devouring falcon's cavern while stealing the Boundless Blood Mulberry.
The other had been damaged in Daoist Jiupao's hands when it was tainted by the Blood Filth Divine Light, heavily damaging its spirituality, and subsequently broken in later battle.
Neither banner was severely damaged, and Qin Sang had originally assumed he could restore them by nurturing them with his corpse core for a period of time, but he now realized it was not that simple.
Half an hour later, Qin Sang withdrew his true essence and brought the two Ten Directions Yanluo Banners before his eyes to inspect them closely.
Yet the cracks on the banners remained, showing not the slightest sign of mending.
"How can this be..."
The damaged portions of both Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were on the cloth.
Qin Sang brushed his fingers across the fabric. The pale cloth hung down in a long strip, smooth as silk to the touch and radiating waves of icy chill. Even after studying it for a long time, he could not identify the material.
Reason dictated that this shouldn't happen; once a magic treasure was forged, it formed an integrated whole, and nurturing it with a golden core ought to be enough to repair it.
Although Qin Sang's corpse core was peculiar, it was by no means inferior to the core of any other Core Formation cultivator, so the corpse core was likely not at fault.
Puzzled, Qin Sang muttered, "Could it be that I need to find spiritual materials of the same kind to repair the damage? That would be rather troublesome..."
He had no idea how the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner had been crafted in the first place, unless he could find Patriarch Kuiyin's original refining method and then track down the spiritual materials.
The Kuiyin Sect was already wiped out, and the three Core Formation cultivators most likely to know the crafting method of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner were all dead.
Qin Sang pondered for a moment, set aside the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners, and shifted his gaze to the iron thumb ring beside him.
The dark iron thumb ring was mottled with rust, devoid of any strange fluctuations. Tossed into a pile of scrap iron, no one would spare it a second glance.
Only when held in hand did one realize with surprise just how heavy this small thumb ring was.
Qin Sang still remembered what he discovered when he first attempted to open the iron thumb ring: it seemed to contain a space similar to a mustard seed bag, likely a magic tool Daoist Jiupao used for storing treasures.
There was a restriction left by Daoist Jiupao inside the iron thumb ring. Previously, Qin Sang lacked the ability to breach it, but now he could perhaps give it a try.
Inside might be what he was looking for.
"I wonder what surprises await inside..."
A contemplative expression crossed Qin Sang's face.
The restriction Daoist Jiupao had left inside the iron thumb ring relied primarily on spiritual sense. Since Qin Sang's spiritual sense had not grown, he could not break it by brute force; he needed a strategy to break through it with the help of true essence.
Fortunately, Daoist Jiupao was dead, leaving the restriction masterless, so it would not be overly difficult.
Gripping the iron ring in one hand, Qin Sang flashed out of the cavern into an open area outside. Channeling a wisp of spiritual sense, he probed into the iron thumb ring.
In the next instant, the iron ring flashed brilliantly as an exceptionally sharp blade ray slashed toward Qin Sang swift as lightning.
Qin Sang was prepared. Tapping his feet, he left behind a trail of afterimages.
His strength was nothing like before. Even without the ebony sword, he could dodge effortlessly, leading the blade ray on a wild chase like walking a dog.
At the same time, true essence surged from Qin Sang's palm and probed into the iron thumb ring alongside his spiritual sense. Repeating this several times, he grasped the patterns of the restriction. Finally, channeling his corpse core with full force, he found the restriction's weak point and shattered it.
*Boom!*
Inside the iron thumb ring, the restriction shattered, and a space dozens of times larger than a mustard seed bag appeared before Qin Sang's inner vision.
Qin Sang sent a thread of spiritual sense to observe cautiously. Finding nothing amiss, he inspected it more boldly. To his disappointment, this iron thumb ring was likely just a simple storage magic tool—apart from having vastly more space than a mustard seed bag, there was little difference.
However, carrying it was far more convenient and inconspicuous than a mustard seed bag.
Worn on a finger, retrieving and stowing items was also much quicker and easier.
Evidently, Daoist Jiupao had also used it as a storage magic tool, for it was filled with all sorts of miscellaneous items.
Returning to the cave abode, Qin Sang emptied out the contents. To ensure nothing akin to the iron thumb ring was overlooked, he scrutinized even the mundane sundries thoroughly.
There were quite a few jade slips, books, and records.
Among them was a jade slip recording a cultivation technique titled *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome*, handed down by Patriarch Kuiyin as the foundational technique of the Kuiyin Sect.
When Qin Sang killed Silver Flame and the others, he had obtained the first two portions of the *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome*, corresponding to Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment.
The jade slip in Daoist Jiupao's possession recorded the complete *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome* cultivation technique in four tiers, allowing cultivation up to the late Nascent Soul stage.
Seeing that it was the *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome*, Qin Sang immediately studied it with rapt attention.
The jade slip was densely packed with Daoist Jiupao's annotations and insights.
The *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome* was a demonic technique that cultivated with the aid of yin baleful qi, which explained why the Kuiyin Sect had been established atop the Yin Baleful Abyss. As long as there was an abundant supply of yin baleful qi, cultivating this technique allowed for rapid progress.
However, because yin baleful qi was an external force, an extra obstacle would arise at major bottlenecks, making breakthroughs harder than for cultivators practicing orthodox techniques.
Reading up to this point, Qin Sang instantly ruled out the *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome* in his mind. Even if he did not possess the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter*, he would never switch to cultivating this technique.
As for the divine abilities and spells attached to the technique, almost all required yin baleful qi to execute. There were very few Qin Sang could learn, and none were of much use.
Qin Sang skimmed through the first two tiers and found the life magic treasures of the *Ancient Yin Baleful Tome* in the third tier.
To his surprise, the technique provided refining methods for two life magic treasures that best matched it: one called the Yin Xuan Pagoda, and the other called the Yin Thunder Bead.
Naturally, each cultivator could choose only one of them.
Yet neither of them was a banner.
Chapter 537