After some contemplation, Qin Sang had conceived an idea.
Could he use both his golden core and his corpse core to drive two magic treasures at the same time?
If so, when engaged in battle using one magic treasure, he could wait for the opportune moment and unleash the other by surprise, inevitably throwing his opponent into flustered disarray and leaving them unable to respond.
Thinking this through, Qin Sang had begun a long series of trials.
Driving two magic treasures at the exact same moment was not simply a matter of multitasking; it was also a severe test of a cultivator's spiritual sense and true essence.
There was an abundance of true essence available within the corpse core, but the difficulty lay in how Qin Sang could unseal it and allow the two streams of true essence to coexist harmoniously inside his body without clashing or descending into chaos while driving magic treasures.
At first, Qin Sang was completely at a loss.
Once he unsealed the corpse core, any attempt to channel both types of true essence simultaneously turned his dantian and meridians into a battlefield. In the most severe instance, it had nearly inflicted grievous injury upon his dantian.
Qin Sang did not give up. He attempted all manner of methods, and after an exceptionally long and arduous experimental process, he actually managed to find an opening and glimpse a glimmer of dawn.
He discovered that to mobilize both forms of true essence at once, one's spiritual sense had to be strong enough; the greatest limitation at present likely lay within his spiritual sense.
Although his cultivation of the Origin Soul Sword-Nurturing Chapter gave Qin Sang a spiritual sense superior to ordinary cultivators of the same realm, it was still not enough.
Moreover, spiritual sense affected not only true essence; driving two magic treasures placed an even higher demand on it.
Feverish with excitement, Qin Sang invested even more effort, setting aside a portion of his cultivation time to sift through the various secret arts for tempering spiritual sense that he had acquired over the years. He tried them one by one, though regrettably, none of them were sufficiently profound, and the results were mediocre.
Even so, with the passage of time, he finally achieved the ability to have both streams of true essence coexist within his body!
Although he could not fuse the two diametrically opposed forms of true essence, this alone was enough to thrill him. He immediately began trying to divide his focus and drive two magic treasures.
As of today, his efforts had borne some fruit.
Just now, while driving the ebony sword to besiege the two-headed hou, Qin Sang had already prepared the Ten Directions Yanluo Array.
For now, he still could not wield two magic treasures simultaneously in direct combat, but while using the ebony sword, he could quietly lay out the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners and unleash them in an instant.
Previously, doing so required a period of preparation, which risked giving his opponent an opening to exploit.
Relying precisely on this capability, Qin Sang had waited patiently for this opportunity. The moment he drove the two-headed hou to the desperate brink of detonating its demon core, he immediately unleashed the demonic banners, sending the Nine Nether Demonic Fire lunging toward the azure mist and the demon core in a flash.
Sensing the aura of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, a profound dread welled up within the two-headed hou.
For something already resolved to die to feel such dread, what awaited it had to be a fate far more horrific.
It wanted to detonate its demon core now, but alas, it was already too late. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire easily pierced through the azure mist and assailed the demon core, causing its luster to dim drastically.
Its most vital demon core struck directly by the demonic fire, the two-headed hou shrieked in agony. Seizing the opening, the blue shark and the Flying Yaksha pounced from left and right in a ruthless, merciless assault.
Shrieks and agonized howls echoed amidst the wind and waves.
When the wind and waves finally subsided, the two-headed hou was pinned to the water's surface, its nape gripped tightly by the Flying Yaksha, its body covered in wounds. It still had a breath left in it, having been spared from death, yet it remained obstinately defiant. Its two heads raised stubbornly, glaring daggers at Qin Sang as if longing to swallow its foe alive.
With a flash, Qin Sang appeared before the two-headed hou.
At that moment, the water rippled, and the blue shark swam over to Qin Sang's feet, looking up at him uneasily.
Qin Sang glanced at the blue shark and patted his dantian. A crisp ringing chime resonated, after which the Yang Ring around the blue shark's neck trembled gently, slipped off on its own, and flew back into Qin Sang's palm.
The blue shark shook its head, only then realizing that the shackles upon it were gone.
It found it hard to believe: the fetter it thought it would bear for the rest of its life had actually been unlocked so easily?
The blue shark plunged deep into the water, surfacing far away in another stretch of sea. Seeing that Qin Sang had no intention of pursuing it and was merely watching with a calm expression, it finally believed that Qin Sang had truly set it free.
The blue shark gave Qin Sang a long, deep look, let out a prolonged cry, and swam away with only its sharp dorsal fin exposed, growing smaller and smaller until it vanished past the horizon.
Qin Sang watched the blue shark depart.
The reason he spared its life was twofold: first, the blue shark had served him diligently and conscientiously for all these years; second, his gains over the years had been bountiful, so having one more or one fewer demon core made little difference.
The two-headed hou possessed no small amount of intelligence. Seeing this scene, how could it fail to understand the function of the Primordial Concentric Rings? It struggled violently, but having long reached the end of its tether, it was easily held down by the Flying Yaksha.
Qin Sang looked around. The surrounding area was remarkably tranquil, with no sign of great demons roaming about, yet he was still uneasy.
From last night until now, he had pursued the two-headed hou for so long and fought a fierce battle here; there was no telling if it had alerted some great demon.
Not daring to linger any longer, Qin Sang ordered the Flying Yaksha to hoist the two-headed hou, and they hurriedly departed. Finding a calm stretch of sea far in the distance, he finally stopped to tame the two-headed hou.
With a wave of Qin Sang's hand, the Yang Ring flew above the two-headed hou's heads, hovering motionless.
At the same time, Qin Sang sat cross-legged midair, chanting incantations under his breath. The Yang Ring trembled, and ring shadows flew out one after another, descending onto the two-headed hou.
The two-headed hou's thrashing suddenly ceased, its body rigid and motionless.
However, the true contest had only just begun.
His eyes closed, Qin Sang channeled the magic treasure with all his might. As more and more ring shadows penetrated the two-headed hou's body, the resistance of its spirit became increasingly ferocious, leaving Qin Sang unable to let his guard down for even an instant.
The silent battle waged on between them, fierce flames blazing within the two-headed hou's slitted pupils.
As time ticked by, minute by minute, the vicious glare in its eyes began to soften, showing occasional signs of losing focus.
*If I hadn't deliberately cultivated my spiritual sense beforehand, I truly might not have been able to suppress this beast!*
Qin Sang thought to himself. Opening his eyes to see the bewildered look on the two-headed hou's faces, he smiled faintly and uttered a soft command: "Fall!"
The Yang Ring shuddered and dropped without warning onto the two-headed hou's neck.
In that instant, the two-headed hou's final vestige of resistance vanished without a trace, leaving it prone and motionless upon the sea.
With a wave of his hand, Qin Sang recalled the Flying Yaksha into the corpse puppet pouch. Gliding before the two-headed hou, he found that it had overtaxed its speed, suffered grievous wounds, and sustained the shock from the Primordial Concentric Rings, causing it to fall unconscious.
After inspecting its injuries, Qin Sang retrieved a spirit pill and fed it into the beast's mouth. Then, with a thought, a cloud of white light surged from the Yang Ring.
The next moment, the two-headed hou vanished, replaced by a slender bracelet around Qin Sang's wrist.
The two-headed hou was severely injured, but fortunately, Qin Sang had plenty of unused pills left; with a period of quiet recuperation, it would fully recover.
From now on, he had a mid Demon Core stage mount!
Even with Qin Sang's exceptional composure, he could not help letting slip a smile. Shaking his wrist, he spurred his escaping light, picked a direction, and sped away.
Chapter 717