Turning to the very end of the complete Nether Scripture, Qin Sang found the incantations that the fat stall owner had claimed were painstakingly curated.
There were the Mind-Clearing Incantation, the Qi-Watching Technique, the Object Manipulation Technique, the Dust-Repelling Incantation, Secret Voice Transmission, the Breath-Concealing Technique, the Wind-Walking Art, the Sky-Riding Technique...
The so-called Qi-Watching Technique was like opening a heavenly third eye between one's brows. Once activated, it allowed a cultivator not only to discern another's general cultivation level, but also to evaluate the grade of magic tools, observe the spiritual aura of mountains and rivers, and see through illusions. Its uses were endless.
More than a dozen incantations in a row were auxiliary techniques similar to the Qi-Watching Technique.
Qin Sang skimmed through them until his gaze settled on the final five: Water-Congealing Barrier, the Cloud Escape Technique, Phantom Shift, River-Locking Mist, and Boundless Frost.
The Water-Congealing Barrier shared its name with the talisman he had traded away. According to the book, once mastered, this incantation allowed a cultivator to channel spiritual power to form a layer of water barrier around themselves, offering defensive protection. At high mastery, it could condense into a shield of water that moved with one's thoughts, becoming far more durable.
The Cloud Escape Technique was an escape art belonging to the five elements.
As for the last three, their names sounded quite intimidating, but in reality they were much of a muchness. Qin Sang strongly suspected that the fat vendor had renamed them on his own just to drive up the price.
Once mastered, Phantom Shift used spiritual power to condense an avatar nearly indistinguishable from the true body, appearing just like a living person. However, it had no real combat abilities and served only to confuse an opponent.
River-Locking Mist conjured a dense fog that enveloped the enemy to blind their vision; at profound mastery, it could even block spiritual sense.
Boundless Frost was actually an incantation for condensing mysterious ice. If a cultivator's spiritual power were vast enough, they might truly freeze ten thousand li. With good timing, one could directly trap an enemy inside the ice, and then... run for dear life.
Qin Sang studied the pages back and forth for quite some time before the realization suddenly dawned on him. Every single one of these five incantations was meant for fleeing or self-preservation! No wonder it had felt odd to him—not one of them was an offensive attack.
Only Boundless Frost seemed to hold some room for adaptation in his eyes. There was no need to strictly use it to freeze and trap an enemy; condensing it into ice spikes or ice blades would kill just as well.
Qin Sang was left speechlessly amused. Just how timid was that fat vendor to have collected spells entirely dedicated to running away?
Still, Qin Sang could not fault the vendor's choice. As the saying went, what was too rigid was easily broken.
Cultivators were different from mortals. A mortal's prime lasted only a few decades; if they wanted to achieve anything, they had to be sharp and relentless, giving their all lest they squander their youth, for once they grew old and died, all came to naught. Furthermore, mortals believed that a gentleman's vengeance was not too late even after ten years. For a cultivator, that saying became: a gentleman's vengeance was not too late even after a hundred years.
Qin Sang had learned through his inquiries that above the Qi Refinement stage and the Foundation Establishment stage lay the Golden Core—also called the Core Formation stage—and above that were the old eccentrics of the Nascent Soul stage.
Even Qi Refinement cultivators could enjoy a lifespan of over a hundred years, and living past two hundred and fifty was no great feat for someone at Foundation Establishment. As for the Golden Core Masters and Nascent Soul Ancestors, their longevity was staggering. Legends in his past life told of Peng Zu living for eight hundred years, but in this world, a Nascent Soul cultivator truly could attain such a span.
With life so long, why fight to the bitter end against an opponent one could not defeat? At worst, one could simply flee, conceal their identity, and cultivate diligently in seclusion. Once their realm surpassed their foe's, they could return to settle the score.
The fat vendor's philosophy of survival resonated deeply with Qin Sang. In the world of cultivation, as long as one stayed alive, anything was possible.
Having browsed through the spells, Qin Sang turned his attention back to the foundational incantations at the beginning, like the Qi-Watching Technique. Cultivating incantations was not something achieved overnight. Beginners inevitably fumbled; only through diligent practice and familiarity could one unleash their full power.
Foundational incantations were not difficult to cast. Their incantation formulas were brief, consisting of merely a few lines. After a few attempts, Qin Sang was barely able to pull them off. Naturally, the first one he chose to practice was the Object Manipulation Technique. As soon as he grasped it, he took out the seven-colored brocade pouch.
*Clatter!*
The room was instantly cluttered with miscellaneous items. Qin Sang felt a prick of embarrassment; his casting was still clumsy, and he had dumped out everything from the pouch all at once.
He had already examined the items inside countless times. Immediately grabbing the spirit stones, he felt the abundant, pure spiritual power flowing within them, unable to put them down.
Spirit stones played a monumental role in the cultivation world. Not only did they serve as currency, but they could also be absorbed directly, arranged into spirit-gathering arrays to aid cultivation, or used to rapidly replenish spent spiritual power during battle. And these were merely low-grade spirit stones; higher grades were even more potent.
Carefully stowing the spirit stones away, Qin Sang glanced around. The gold and silver might still prove useful later, so he put those aside as well. As for the rest of the sundries, Qin Sang touched and examined each one. Confirming there was nothing extraordinary about them, he kicked them aside, finally retrieving the three books that had been weighing on his mind.
As expected, the Xuanyin Volume, like the Nether Scripture, was also a foundational cultivation method, but of the earth attribute. It required an earth spiritual root to practice.
A cultivator only needed to practice one foundational method; practicing more was useless. Only when someone hit an insurmountable bottleneck for too long or lacked follow-up methods would they choose to switch.
The Xuanyin Volume also came with its own incantations, such as the Earth Escape Technique and the Mysterious Earth Shield. Qin Sang was unsure whether he could practice them, given that the Nether Scripture and the Xuanyin Volume belonged to different elements.
After a cursory flip through the manual, Qin Sang set down the Xuanyin Volume and picked up the Song family genealogy.
The genealogy stated its purpose plainly from the start, introducing the origin of the Song family ancestor on the very first page. As Qin Sang read through it, surprise crept onto his face, and he hurriedly turned the pages. The Song family line had not been prolific. From the first ancestor through more than ten generations, only two direct descendants remained in the end: one named Song Hua, and the other Song Ying.
Song Hua was a man and Song Ying a woman. The one who had perished alongside the black-robed fiend by the bank of the Chenshui River was presumably Song Hua.
Across the entire genealogy, few had earned the privilege of having their life stories recorded. Without exception, all of them had been cultivators, and all had died during the Qi Refinement stage. Most had gone missing or suffered untimely ends; those who lived out their natural lifespan to die peacefully were few and far between.
The entire Song family genealogy was an epitome of the cultivation realm, making Qin Sang truly feel its brutality.
Qin Sang was amazed that a single clan had produced so many descendants gifted with spiritual roots, but he also read each person's life account with meticulous care. He needed to verify one crucial fact: whether any descendant had ever retrieved the Sword Intent decree from the Song family ancestor's tomb.
The Song family ancestor had possessed an extraordinary background. According to the genealogy, he had once cultivated in a sect known as Shaohua Mountain, an exceptionally powerful righteous sect. The ancestor had originally been an unremarkable disciple there, reaching the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refinement stage. Lacking sufficient talent, however, he had failed to break through to Foundation Establishment.
Ultimately disheartened, he had departed the sect to raise a family in the cultivation market at the foot of the mountain. Yet because he had once rendered great service during his time at Shaohua Mountain, the sect bestowed upon him a Sword Intent decree upon his departure. It was promised that if any of his descendants possessed superior aptitude, they could present the decree and enter Shaohua Mountain directly to cultivate.
Such a Sword Intent decree was a reward granted by Shaohua Mountain to disciples who rendered distinguished service; its preciousness was evident.
After raising his family, the Song family ancestor had taken the Sword Intent decree into his tomb, leaving a stern warning for future generations: only when an exceptionally gifted descendant emerged with real hope of breaking through to Foundation Establishment could the decree be retrieved from the tomb to enter Shaohua Mountain and revitalize the Song clan.
Chapter 57