The strength of a Flying Yaksha could only be considered a pseudo golden core.
Yet at the very least, this was not the worst outcome. Even possessing power on par with a Flying Yaksha far exceeded that of other False Core stage cultivators, which would be of immense help in his search for spiritual items for Core Formation.
Qin Sang did not deliberate for long before making up his mind.
He recalled the ebony sword into his origin soul and connected his mind to the killing talisman etched upon its blade, feeling the familiar sensation return.
Just as Qin Sang was about to circulate his cultivation method to absorb spiritual power, a sudden thought struck him. He tried to use his method to mobilize the true essence within his sea of qi, only to find that neither recognized the other.
The *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* could only cultivate by drawing upon the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
The true essence itself remained completely indifferent.
If the *Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter* could cultivate using true essence, he might have been able to take control of the corpse core, refine it into his own golden core, and undergo a metamorphosis.
Reality ruthlessly shattered his intention.
"Wishful thinking!"
Qin Sang gave a self-deprecating laugh. "In the future, I'll just treat this corpse core as an external core."
Absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth was far too slow, and this place was hardly rich in spiritual qi to begin with.
Delays bred danger.
Qin Sang swiftly laid down a simple Spirit Gathering Array around himself, clasped a middle-grade spirit stone in each hand, and rapidly drew spiritual qi into his body.
By this point, the spiritual power within him had long been worn away to nothing during the astral-fiend core clash. Later, after forming the corpse core, he could only wield the power of true essence. His sea of qi could be said to hold not a single wisp of spiritual power, completely drained dry.
Abundant spiritual qi surged into his meridians, following a familiar route. After circulating for one heavenly circuit, it gathered and poured into his sea of qi.
"Hm?"
To his astonishment, Qin Sang discovered that his sea of qi was not entirely devoid of spiritual power after all.
The moment the new spiritual power entered the sea of qi, amid the turbulent waves of true essence, an extraordinarily faint, almost undetectable strand of spiritual power quietly poked its head out and swam forward.
It was so minuscule, hidden as it was within the true essence, that it was no wonder he had felt nothing before.
Even now, as it actively revealed itself, it felt almost nonexistent, barely perceptible.
Strangely, from this strand of spiritual power, Qin Sang sensed an intense hunger and thirst—an experience he had never encountered before.
It was like a beast cub that had starved and thirsted for who knew how many years, emaciated to skin and bone, finally seeing water and food; gripped by urgency and delight, it began gulping down huge mouthfuls.
Under Qin Sang's astonished gaze, this wisp of spiritual power ravenously devoured the incoming spiritual power.
Compared to the newly arrived spiritual power, this tiny wisp was utterly insignificant, existing on entirely different scales. Yet to Qin Sang, it truly felt as if the new spiritual power was being swallowed whole.
A spectacle akin to a snake swallowing a whale unfolded right before his eyes.
Qin Sang continuously drew spiritual power from the two middle-grade spirit stones. A steady stream poured into his sea of qi, only to be completely devoured by that single wisp of spiritual power.
Like a seed taking root and sprouting after receiving nourishment, it began to grow on its own.
Qin Sang did not stop it. He waited patiently, finally watching it gradually expand until he could clearly perceive it.
When he tried to mobilize this wisp of spiritual power...
A dead silence fell over the cave.
In the next instant, Qin Sang shot up from the ground, his eyes wide as saucers, staring fixedly at his dantian. He looked as though he had witnessed something utterly beyond imagination, thoroughly shocked, his face plastered with disbelief.
After standing dazed for a while, Qin Sang suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, and hurriedly sat down cross-legged. Calming his mind, he entered meditation to carefully sense this wisp of spiritual power once more.
It lacked any of its former ephemeral, drifting feel.
Immensely heavy!
Incredibly condensed!
Extraordinarily thick, just like liquid lead and mercury!
No wonder it had only grown this much after devouring so much external spiritual power.
Qin Sang could hardly believe it. Only after verifying it countless times did he dare trust that his spiritual power had truly transformed into this!
If he remembered correctly the experiences and records left behind by the predecessors on Pagoda Peak of Shaohua Mountain, such a phenomenon was the exact omen of impending Core Formation!
Furthermore, their spiritual power had not even reached this level of condensation before they successfully formed their cores.
According to their descriptions, most had not even achieved half of what he had, yet their chances of forming a core were already quite high. Even those with denser spiritual power could not compare to him, and they had basically been assured of steady Core Formation!
Why had this happened? What had caused his spiritual power to change?
Amid his wild joy, Qin Sang could not help pondering the cause.
Qin Sang was certain that before infiltrating the Qingyang Demonic Sect, there had not been the slightest sign of this. At that time, spiritual power had still filled his sea of qi, standing on equal footing with the earth fiend qi.
There was only one possibility: the astral-fiend core clash!
Qin Sang recalled carefully. On Divine Astral Peak, in order to prevent the earth fiend qi and Qiantian astral qi from colliding prematurely so they could charge toward the golden core side by side, he had been forced to wrap them in his spiritual power.
Throughout that process, his spiritual power had constantly endured the impact and grinding of both forces.
At the time, Qin Sang had been solely focused on ensuring the success of the astral-fiend core clash, with no time to pay attention to any changes in his spiritual power. Moreover, after his spiritual power was exhausted, only this tiny wisp remained from the temper, making it impossible to detect.
Later, his sea of qi was usurped by the true essence of the corpse core, completely suppressing this thread of spiritual power.
"Yin and yang... yin and yang..."
A bolt of lightning flashed across Qin Sang's mind.
That was it!
The Kanli Golden Pill was named after Kan and Li; though a single pill, it contained two medicinal properties: yin and yang.
The iris flower and snow spirit lotus were prime examples of yin-yang spirit herbs, growing from joined roots, one thriving in ice and snow, the other in magma, with extremely harsh environmental requirements.
Other spiritual items, including the Xuanzhen Pill, all possessed the powers of both yin and yang as far as Qin Sang knew.
As the saying went, lone yin cannot give birth, and lone yang cannot grow.
The path of the golden core was precisely the path of mutual harmony between yin and yang.
Earth fiend qi was the utmost yin fiend qi under heaven, while Qiantian astral qi was the utmost yang astral qi. Pitted against one another, one yin and one yang, they were the very pinnacles of yin and yang in the world!
Could it be that they also aided in Core Formation?
Congealing Fiend and Refining Astral Qi!
Wu Shang's stroke of genius actually bore fruit here!
Qin Sang did not know whether anyone in the ancient cultivation world had discovered that congealing fiend and refining astral qi could assist in Core Formation, as he had read very few ancient texts, and the vast majority were fragmented and incomplete.
Yet at least among the records of recent practitioners he had seen, and among the many fellow daoists he had encountered in the Luandao Waters, not a single soul knew of this.
The reasons were not hard to imagine.
First, these two wondrous substances were simply too rare.
Earth fiend qi was at least found upon the earth; with a patient search, it was not difficult to find or obtain.
Qiantian astral qi, however, resided high above the nine heavens, separated by a belt of astral winds that even Nascent Soul experts dared not trespass. As mere False Core cultivators, who among them would dare ascend into the nine heavens to harvest astral qi?
They could only wait for astral qi to plummet from the sky and transform into astral essence.
Yet looking across the vast expanse of the Lesser Cold Domain, astral jade existed in only two places: one in the cave dwelling of the domain's foremost expert, and the other occupied by an ancient demonic sect.
Forget attempting it—they could not even get close to Qiantian astral qi.
Chapter 540