An Attempt

Seeing that Qin Sang's mind was made up, Ran Luo did not press the matter, though her demeanor visibly grew warmer. It was clear that in the Canglang Sea, just as in the Lesser Cold Domain, skilled artifact refiners and alchemists were few and far between. "In one month's time, Daoist need only arrive punctually at Pingbo Port; please do not miss the hour. In addition, there are a few points I must explain to you. First, since Daoist is not yet a guest elder of our guild, we must charge a fee in spirit stones. The spirit stones collected are solely to ensure your safety along the journey. Once we arrive at Witch God Mountain, the cost of the teleportation will be borne by Daoist yourself..." These reminders from Ran Luo were only reasonable and proper. Qin Sang agreed to each point and arranged to meet with Ran Luo in one month. He also asked whether the Qiongyu Guild had items such as soul-attracting grass, but they had none, so he took his leave. With plenty of time to spare, Qin Sang was in no hurry to depart. He visited several more merchant guilds in succession, but failed to find the materials he needed at any of them. Early the next morning, Qin Sang left the city, retrieved the black coffin containing Du Han, and sped south toward the Black Gold Mountain Range. The topographical map clearly marked the sects around the Black Gold Mountain Range. Because Qin Sang took detours to bypass them, it took him nine days to arrive at the mountain range. From afar, he saw a colossal black silhouette sprawling across the horizon, resembling an ancient beast of black gold. To the local Witch Clan natives, the Black Gold Mountain Range was synonymous with evil and peril. It was said that evil cultivators lurked within, and even local cultivators dared not rashly venture into the mountains without sufficient cultivation. The map in Qin Sang's hand indicated a rough location; the canyon was not located deep within the Black Gold Mountain Range. Even so, Qin Sang cautiously released the Flying Yaksha. Man and corpse stealthily slipped into the Black Gold Mountain Range, scaling peaks and crossing ridges until they finally arrived near the canyon. Even before locating the earth fiend qi, Qin Sang was greeted by a familiar sight: withered vegetation and no trace of birds or beasts. The farther forward he went, the more desolate it became, until it turned into a completely barren wasteland. The ground was stained an eerie black by some unknown substance, suffused with a lifeless, deathly stillness. It was virtually identical to the area surrounding Dichen Cave. Qin Sang's face lit up with delight. He ordered the Flying Yaksha to pick up speed and dart forward. Sure enough, before long, wisps of black qi could be seen rising ahead, and the air turned increasingly frigid and grim. Right then, Qin Sang paused in his tracks, sensing the aura of living people ahead. None of their auras were strong; the highest was merely at the Foundation Establishment stage. After pondering for a moment, Qin Sang had the Flying Yaksha hide with the black coffin while he concealed his presence and crept closer. He discovered a cave dwelling on the edge of the canyon with only three cultivators inside. They were likely disciples of a nearby cultivation sect, stationed here to monitor the fluctuations of the fiend qi in the canyon. There were early warning restrictions around the canyon as well, but they posed no challenge to Qin Sang. Qin Sang was only here to borrow the fiend qi to refine a corpse and had no desire to interact with local factions, so he guided the Flying Yaksha around the restrictions. The three inside the cave dwelling remained engrossed in their cultivation, utterly oblivious that someone had slipped right under their noses and descended into the depths of the canyon. The canyon was not large, and the quantity of earth fiend qi fell far short of Dichen Cave, but it was sufficient for corpse refining. Finding a protruding rock, Qin Sang looked down at the churning extreme yin fiend qi beneath his feet, wondering how such fiend qi had formed and what lay at the very bottom. Though his cultivation was far greater than in the past, he still dared not recklessly enter the earth fiend qi. Setting up a protective spirit array around him, Qin Sang opened the black coffin, pulled out Du Han, and summoned Du Xian from his corpse puppet pouch. He planned to first test the restrictions from the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art on Du Han. If that proved unviable, he would use Du Han's golden core and Du Xian's physical body to craft a new Flying Yaksha. With his cultivation sealed by Qin Sang, Du Han had no power to resist and was completely at Qin Sang's mercy. Gazing at Du Han, Qin Sang fell into deep thought, remaining still for a long time. He had immersed himself in the corpse dao for years and possessed his own insights into corpse refining, but when it came to creating a corpse refining art of his own, he fell far short. Those capable of creating their own cultivation methods and divine abilities were all extraordinary prodigies of supreme talent. All he could do was grope his way forward and make a few modifications based on the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, nothing more. The hope was slim, but he had to try before he could resign himself. Qin Sang carefully ran through the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art in his mind. Hesitating no longer, he circulated his true essence and struck out the first corpse-refining restriction toward Du Han. At first, all went smoothly, but once these restrictions coalesced into a single whole and began attempting to invade Du Han's body, Qin Sang suddenly felt an unprecedented resistance. Immediately after, the true essence within Du Han's body erupted in violent turmoil. Before Qin Sang could react, the corpse-refining restriction was directly torn to shreds, and Du Han was jolted awake by the excruciating pain. Ignoring Du Han's venomous glare, Qin Sang tried several more times, only to helplessly confirm in the end that the living corpse restrictions from the first half of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art indeed could not be used on a Core Formation stage cultivator. However, Qin Sang had not given up yet. He retrieved another Heavenly Corpse Talisman and, under Du Han's terrified gaze, imprinted it into his purple palace to test whether a Heavenly Corpse Talisman could seal the origin soul of a Core Formation stage cultivator. Unexpectedly, the moment the Heavenly Corpse Talisman made contact with Du Han's origin soul, before Qin Sang could even finish the restriction, the talisman abruptly detonated. With his cultivation suppressed by Qin Sang, Du Han's origin soul was utterly defenseless against the blast of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman. He shrieked in agony, his aura dissipating at terrifying speed, on the verge of dying from a shattered origin soul. Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. Moving swiftly to seize the final moments, he performed the Soul Searching Technique on Du Han's remnant soul. In just over a dozen breaths, Du Han breathed his last. "It seems that without the second half of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, my path in the corpse dao has reached its end." Qin Sang gave a wry smile. Clutching Du Han's golden core, he muttered to himself, "Other corpse dao secret arts take far too much time. I must still prioritize my own cultivation and not waste time on these things. Besides, nurturing a natal insect gu in the future will demand a share of my energy as well. What must be abandoned should be abandoned." Using corpse refining arts from other sects, he could also turn Du Han's body into a refined corpse, but its strength would be far too inferior. Furthermore, with Du Han's ties to Li Witch Palace, doing so carried the risk of exposure—hardly worth the gamble. With a kick, Qin Sang sent Du Han's corpse tumbling into the abyss, where it was swallowed by the earth fiend qi in the blink of an eye, perfectly destroying all evidence of the body. Next, Qin Sang began deftly refining Du Xian into a living corpse. Du Xian's physical body. Du Han's golden core. If nothing went awry, he would have another Flying Yaksha. Because he had once refined himself into a Flying Yaksha, Qin Sang was intimately familiar with this secret technique. Even so, he did not lower his guard; with only a single Heavenly Corpse Talisman left in his possession, he could not afford to be reckless. The spirit array concealed all ripples of movement within the rift valley, leaving the three people in the cave dwelling completely in the dark about what was happening below. Three days later, two dark figures stood beside Qin Sang, one on his left and one on his right. Thud! Both Flying Yakshas threw a punch at the same time, striking each other. Yu Hua merely shuddered slightly, whereas Du Xian was knocked back several fathoms before barely managing to steady himself. "Although he was just refined, it is plainly evident that Du Xian's strength lags quite a bit behind Yu Hua's. Still, he will be sufficient to use in combat." Qin Sang murmured, storing both Flying Yakshas into his corpse puppet pouch so they could be slowly nurtured and tempered.