Not all souls retained lingering awareness. In the soul-refining demonic tools Qin Sang had scavenged from the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode back then, the spirits' awareness had been erased long ago.
Only the ghost banners seized from the remnants of the Kuiyin Sect, which held fresh victims whose souls had been drawn out recently, were likely to hold a lingering spark of sentience.
In the end, Qin Sang released those souls whose spiritual nature had not yet been extinguished, and drew out all the pure soul qi from the ghost banners, spinning it into thread to repair his magic treasures.
Three Ten Directions Yanluo Banner magic treasures stood erect in the void, forming a banner formation that turned slowly before Qin Sang.
In the center of the magic treasures, black demonic fire gathered into a roiling sphere.
With three banners forming a formation, the power of the Nine Nether demonic fire didn't merely multiply; the claim that it rivaled a middle-grade magic treasure was by no means an exaggeration.
Yet it demanded far more of the cultivator as well!
Though they came from the same banner set and were intimately linked—requiring no division of focus to command—they were still three magic treasures wielded simultaneously, imposing a heavy burden on a cultivator.
When unleashing the Nine Nether demonic fire against an enemy, true essence was drained at a terrifying rate, and the strain on spiritual sense was immense.
Qin Sang had the corpse core to supply supplementary power, allowing his true essence to hold out a bit longer.
Even so, with his modest cultivation and his spiritual sense still lacking strength, it remained an arduous ordeal.
Qin Sang attempted to activate the banner formation. The Nine Nether demonic fire transformed into a flame dragon that roared forth from the banners. Suddenly, with a sharp pop, the dragon collapsed, and the demonic fire scattered everywhere, coating the entire cave dwelling.
The banners shook, their cloth rippling violently.
Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly, and he hastily reeled in the Nine Nether demonic fire.
"Several attempts, and every one failed. I'll need to practice diligently from now on so I can master this banner formation as soon as possible. After all, this will be my trump card for a very long time to come," Qin Sang muttered to himself.
He then stored two of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners into the Qianjun Ring, and retrieved the corpse of this cave dwelling's original master—the dark-winged eagle.
This had been a great demon of the middle Demon Spirit stage, clothed in iron feathers, still exuding a wild, untamed aura even in death.
The carcasses of demon beasts could be used to refine magic tools.
To Qin Sang, the eagle's cultivation had been too low; even if he refined it into a magic tool, he would have little use for it. He intended to use this demon corpse to craft Essence-Devouring Awls instead.
The Essence-Devouring Awl was something Shopkeeper Wu had passed down to him years ago in Wenyue Cultivation Market. It was a single-use magic tool of miraculous potency in the early Foundation Establishment stage, though its effectiveness waned as one's cultivation rose.
Qin Sang had rarely refined them since.
With this dark-winged eagle carcass at hand, proper refining technique ought to yield two Essence-Devouring Awls.
Qin Sang had kept one Ten Directions Yanluo Banner out, partly to test whether the Nine Nether demonic fire could be employed in artifact refining, and partly because once the Essence-Devouring Awls were made, he could give them to Yagu for self-defense.
That, of course, was assuming Yagu possessed spiritual roots and could cultivate.
Two Essence-Devouring Awls would be sufficient to keep Yagu safe prior to Foundation Establishment, serving as Qin Sang's repayment for saving his life.
The Nine Nether demonic fire emerged from the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, drifting before Qin Sang. Under his control, it morphed continually—sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing—before finally coalescing into a sphere.
Qin Sang's eyes half-closed as he sensed the aura of the flames, attempting to control the demonic fire with artifact-refining techniques.
The Nine Nether demonic fire was an extraordinary flame rarely seen in this world. If it could be applied to artifact refining, it would be far more efficient than core fire and yield a higher success rate—an advantage no ordinary artisan possessed.
With the Flying Yaksha guarding the entrance, Qin Sang could work without restraint, devoting his full concentration to attuning himself to the Nine Nether demonic fire.
Unnoticed, an entire night slipped by.
At dawn, Qin Sang suddenly opened his eyes. His gaze landed on the demon corpse beside him. With a flick of his hand, true essence condensed into a claw that snatched the corpse and plunged it into the Nine Nether demonic fire.
A ripple passed through the flames before they gradually smoothed out.
Qin Sang stared intently at the corpse within the demonic fire, a hint of nervousness on his face. Then, he watched the iron feathers on the dark-winged eagle melt one by one, seeming to be incinerated cleanly away by the Nine Nether demonic fire, until only two droplets of molten iron, pitch-black as ink, remained behind.
Extremely violent demon qi churned within the molten iron, yet the Nine Nether demonic fire kept it firmly locked inside.
Qin Sang relaxed, and a smile touched the corners of his lips. The formation of these two droplets of molten iron proved his hypothesis sound: he could indeed harness the power of the Nine Nether demonic fire for artifact refining.
Without further hesitation, Qin Sang moved boldly to refine the rest of the corpse.
Before long, the massive carcass was completely consumed by the demonic fire. In its place in the flames floated two palm-sized black horns shaped like the beak of the dark-winged eagle.
A slender needle was set into the tip of each horn, crafted from the venomous fangs of a black flood dragon and laden with potent dragon venom.
Qin Sang had slain that black flood dragon in Wuya Valley and preserved the body, never quite deciding what to refine from it.
It had been a black flood dragon at the peak of the Demon Spirit stage—an exceedingly rare find in the Lesser Cold Domain and a prized spiritual material for artifact refinement, yet apparently far less extraordinary here in the Canglang Ocean.
It was said that in the Storm Demon Sea, great demons of the Demon Core stage were frequently spotted, while Demon Spirit stage beasts were beyond count.
Qin Sang was already contemplating a journey to the Storm Sea once this busy stretch concluded. If he could gather the flood dragon souls needed for the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, his ability to preserve his life would take another great leap forward.
The Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman was one of the Four Great Secret Talismans of the Taishang Qingjing Palace. Once all the flood dragon souls were assembled, its escape speed was astounding, making it a coveted treasure that Core Formation cultivators dreamed of.
Unfortunately, demon beasts were scarce in the Lesser Cold Domain, and Daoist Xuan Yu had failed in his lifetime to assemble all nine flood dragon souls.
With the Essence-Devouring Awls finished, Qin Sang gathered the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner and other belongings, recalled the Flying Yaksha into the corpse puppet pouch, and left the cave dwelling, flying in the direction of Qianhu Stockade.
"Swift!"
Out in the desolate wilderness.
The hum of a sword rolled like thunder, shaking the hills.
Immediately afterward, two streak-like beams of light raced out from the distance, chasing each other through the sky.
After a moment, one of the beams vanished abruptly, while the other halted in midair, revealing its true form: an exquisitely shaped flying sword.
A figure materialized out of thin air, drawing the flying sword into his palm.
Qin Sang looked down at the ebony sword, reflecting on the process of sword light differentiation just now.
After forming his core, his Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter had broken through to the fifth level, allowing him to execute the divine ability of sword light differentiation.
Sword light differentiation was a divine ability far more profound than the sword qi thunderous roar, as well as a realm of the sword Dao that countless sword cultivators yearned for.
Once sword light differentiation was mastered, the split sword shadow was virtually indistinguishable from the real thing and could inherit a portion of the spirit sword's power, catching opponents off guard.
Qin Sang had read records in ancient tomes mentioning that some sword cultivators who mastered sword light differentiation could split into multiple sword shadows, and the most formidable could even use their sword intent to create momentum, laying down powerful sword formations with sword light alone.
A single sword forming a formation, daring to claim mastery over ten thousand foes!
Only that truly deserved the title of sword cultivator.
However, the divine ability granted by the cultivation method could only split off a single sword light; unless Qin Sang gained insights of his own, reaching such a lofty realm would remain out of reach.
Qin Sang surmised that in the original technique, as one's cultivation rose, more sword lights could be differentiated. For now, it was still unclear whether the modified technique Senior Qingzhu had created would enhance the sword light differentiation ability.
What he needed to do now was become proficient in employing sword light differentiation.
Chapter 629