Steward Bai nodded and handed Qin Sang a jade slip. "Fellow Daoist asked me to gather information on prominent figures who appeared in the nearby region over the past two hundred years. That wasn't difficult. I asked friends from all over for help and gathered quite a lot a few days ago. Are you looking for someone, Fellow Daoist? If you could provide a few more distinctive traits, it might make things easier."
Qin Sang took the jade slip and examined it. Densely recorded within were many names. Though the Western Frontier was barren, it did not lack talents; over the past two hundred years, many powerful figures had emerged, their deeds widely renowned.
The jade slip recorded their combat exploits.
Hearing Steward Bai's words, Qin Sang lifted his eyelids and said, "There is no need for Steward Bai to trouble yourself. I simply feel my cultivation has stagnated and do not wish to work blindly behind closed doors in my cave abode. I decided to travel abroad, so I am inquiring about some information beforehand to avoid being careless and offending rivals I shouldn't provoke."
This time, Qin Sang did not name names to look for Qingzhu.
He now realized that the location of the ancient teleportation array was hidden extremely deep.
Back then, when Senior Qingzhu came to the Western Frontier, perhaps he had also concealed his identity just like Qin Sang, keeping a low profile while searching for the ancient teleportation array. If he failed to find it in the end, he surely left the Western Frontier quietly and returned to the human domain.
Staying on the Witch God Continent was no long-term solution.
He had asked Steward Bai to gather information on prominent figures with a sliver of hope that he might uncover some clues from their deeds.
Steward Bai chuckled. "Fellow Daoist worries too much. These powerhouses only dominated the Western Frontier for a time. Once they achieved success in cultivation, unless they held deep ties to their sects or believed their immortal paths were hopeless, most wouldn't choose to languish away in the Western Frontier. They either traveled beyond the Western Frontier or even outside the Witch God Continent, or went to the Storm Demon Sea to hunt demons."
Qin Sang's eyes flashed, and he asked, "I heard that to go to the Storm Demon Sea, one must go to Witch God Mountain and take a teleportation formation to leave?"
Steward Bai nodded. "The Storm Demon Sea lies beyond the waters of the Canglang Sea. No one knows where the Storm Demon Sea is located within the boundless storms. One can only reach the few small islands held by the two races in the demon sea via teleportation formations. I am not sure about the human formations, but the Witch Clan's are all on Witch God Mountain, jointly administered by the major sects. The Witch God Mountain referred to here is our clan's sacred mountain. As long as you pay enough spirit stones, anyone, regardless of cultivation stage, identity, or even if they are human, can take it."
With that, Steward Bai gave Qin Sang a look. "Could it be that Fellow Daoist was urged by someone to hunt demons in the Storm Demon Sea? Take my advice: the Storm Demon Sea is exceedingly dangerous, teeming with countless demon beasts. Even with our two races joining forces, we can only occupy a few islands to barely gain a foothold, and they are frequently overrun by beast tides. Whether humans hunt demons or demons hunt humans in the Storm Demon Sea is anyone's guess. Countless Core Formation masters have perished in the Storm Demon Sea, to say nothing of Foundation Establishment cultivators like us. If Fellow Daoist needs Blood Bone Pills, you can just buy them with spirit stones; there's no need to take such risks in a place like that."
Qin Sang chuckled. "Is Fellow Daoist trying to persuade me to buy Blood Bone Pills from you?"
The Witch Clan possessed profound research into the art of controlling insects and had concocted many spirit pills capable of helping spirit insects grow or even metamorphose. Among them, the most renowned was known as the Blood Bone Pill.
Blood Bone Pills were refined from the essence blood and bones of demon beasts. Feeding them to a natal insect gu increased the probability of its metamorphosis; the higher the rank of the demon beast, the better the pill's effects.
It was said that top-grade Blood Bone Pills were even refined by incorporating demon cores whose spiritual nature remained intact!
To the Witch Clan, the role of a Blood Bone Pill was similar to Foundation Establishment Pills or auxiliary Core Formation spiritual items that cultivators of the Lesser Cold Domain were familiar with.
Although the waters of the Canglang Sea were poor in resources, due to the existence of the Storm Demon Sea, the sheer number of demon beasts was beyond what cultivators in the Lesser Cold Domain could imagine.
Demon beasts were their cultivation resources.
The Witch Clan had carved out a new path and created the Blood Bone Pill.
However, good as the Blood Bone Pill's effects were, one could not feed too many to an insect gu.
Natal insect gu were also known as blood gu. They were nurtured with essence blood; the more essence blood a natal insect gu consumed, the more it was influenced by malevolent fiendish qi, making its temperament increasingly vicious and violent, and prone to turning against its master.
Blood Bone Pills were refined from demon bones, demon blood, and even demon cores, bearing even greater fiendish ferocity. When an insect gu consumed Blood Bone Pills, its temperament was easily tainted, drastically increasing the chance of it turning on its master—to the point where even the innate talents of the Witch Clan could not suppress it.
When Qin Sang first learned of the Blood Bone Pill's existence, he had thought he could use them to push his natal insect gu straight into its third metamorphosis.
Only after making further inquiries did he discover that even he could not feed Blood Bone Pills to his insect gu without restraint.
While he had no fear of backlash himself, once the natal insect gu was controlled by fiendish qi, it would become utterly frenzied, lose its sanity entirely, and might even explode and die.
Such a natal insect gu would be of no help to its master whatsoever.
Steward Bai nodded unconcernedly, leaned in, and said conspiratorially, "As long as Fellow Daoist has enough spirit stones, I can even procure top-grade Blood Bone Pills for you. It's just that the price..."
Steward Bai paused slightly and gave Qin Sang a knowing look.
Qin Sang understood implicitly.
He had searched far and wide in the Lesser Cold Domain for demon cores to refine the Flying Yaksha, so he naturally knew the value of such cores.
While the Canglang Sea had more demon beasts than the Lesser Cold Domain, hunting Demon Core stage great demons was just as difficult. The price of demon cores remained stubbornly high, so the price of top-grade Blood Bone Pills could well be imagined.
Qin Sang put away the jade slip and made perfunctory conversation with Steward Bai, his mind already dwelling on when to set out for the Storm Demon Sea.
Ever since cultivating the Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter, Qin Sang had been destined to have slaughter as his constant companion. Others feared the Storm Demon Sea like a tiger, but to comprehend the killing talisman, he had to go.
After forming his core, Qin Sang had idled away several months in the Western Frontier searching for the ancient teleportation array and a natal insect gu, making zero progress in his cultivation precisely because he lacked the tempering of slaughter.
A trip to the Storm Demon Sea was imperative.
'I hope Cui Xuanzi and the others can give me a pleasant surprise,' Qin Sang thought to himself.
Before leaving, he had arranged for Cui Xuanzi and the others to organize the cultivators under their command to comb the entire thousand-li radius of the Bear Mountain region to help him search.
Naturally, acutely aware of the ancient teleportation array's importance, he had not mentioned it to anyone, only telling them to search for a secret realm.
If even this failed to locate the ancient teleportation array, Qin Sang could only set the matter aside for the time being and prioritize his own cultivation, waiting until his strength grew before looking for other ways.
However, Qin Sang knew very little about Witch God Mountain and was considering whether to head directly to the Storm Demon Sea from Witch God Mountain, or first visit the human domain to experience the local customs before departing.
He had heard that in the Storm Demon Sea, human and Witch Clan cultivators had to join hands to maintain a foothold; under the pressure of demon beasts, they had no choice but to set aside their prejudices and cooperate in earnest.
With this thought, Qin Sang stowed the jade slip away.
None of the figures recorded within matched Senior Qingzhu.
"Regarding the spirit insects I asked about, how much have you uncovered, Fellow Daoist?"
Steward Bai shook his head. "After you left, Fellow Daoist, I looked closely and realized that every spirit insect on the list you gave me possesses extraordinarily high potential. You certainly have great ambitions! However, these spirit insects are exceedingly rare and difficult to capture; they are seldom seen in the Western Frontier..."
Chapter 649