Fruitless

Inside the cave dwelling. Qin Sang set down layers of restrictions and laid out a defensive spirit formation before feeling at ease. Then, sitting cross-legged before his external incarnation, he slit his fingertip, forced out essence blood, and performed the Blood Nourishing Great Method. After swallowing the essence blood, the external incarnation's face flushed red, and his aura surged noticeably before gradually stabilizing. Qin Sang opened his eyes. After some thought, he forced out a few more drops of fresh blood just as before, drove them into the incarnation's body for him to refine at his own pace, then sealed the cave dwelling and departed quietly. ... Several months later, Qin Sang returned to that stretch of sea. He first went back to the lightning island. The island was lush and green. Where the Kui Dragon's blood had sprayed, the vegetation grew exceptionally lush, and the traces left behind by the great battle had long since been concealed. Qin Sang appeared before a mountain and gazed into the distance, recalling the scene from that day. The Kui Dragon had emerged from the clouds, and upon realizing it was under attack, those people had arrived to assist in short order, indicating their cave dwelling could not be too far away. In case those people from Black Snake Mountain had not left, Qin Sang acted with great caution. Spending over half a month, he visited almost every surrounding island, but to his surprise, he found no traces whatsoever. Not only was there no sign of a cave dwelling, but not a single island possessed a spirit vein. Unwilling to give up, Qin Sang ordered the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to keep its Heavenly Eye open at all times and conducted an even more meticulous search, yet the outcome was the same. Those mysterious people were as if they had appeared out of thin air. "Could they have arrived via a teleportation formation? Or is the concealment formation around their cave dwelling so formidable that it even deceived the Heavenly Eye Butterfly?" Qin Sang expanded his search radius and even dove beneath the sea's surface to look for submerged islands, yet it still yielded nothing. After all this time, there was not the slightest sign of activity from Black Snake Mountain either. Left with no choice, Qin Sang had to temporarily give up. Once the Demon Sea returned to normal in the future, he would hunt down Black Snake Mountain disciples to gather information while seeking revenge. Having made up his mind, Qin Sang withdrew from that stretch of sea and returned to Landou Island. ... In the cultivation market. The external incarnation was cultivating intently. His cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds, already having broken through to the seventh layer of the Qi Refinement stage. "He's progressing even faster than I did back when I cultivated with soul pills..." Qin Sang shook his head. Not intending to idle, he set about his own business. Streaks of colorful light landed all across the cave dwelling, practically filling the space in the blink of an eye and leaving the external incarnation with no choice but to squeeze into a corner to cultivate. Qin Sang tapped his fingers in rapid succession, guiding the lights to swiftly arrange into a grand formation. Then, with a flip of his hand, three jade boxes appeared on his palm. Having gathered enough top-grade spirit stones, he could now refine the remainder of the dark iron pillar into banner poles. Expectation lurked in Qin Sang's eyes. Once the banner poles were forged, all preparations for refining the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner would be complete; all that remained was for the Hall of Seven Kills to open, and he would possess a supreme-grade magic treasure. Furthermore, his artifact-refining attainment would take a tremendous leap forward during the process of forging the banner poles. Exquisite restrictions were hidden within the dark iron pillar. Even if he could fathom only a minuscule portion, it would suffice for Qin Sang to rival renowned artifact-refining grandmasters. Three top-grade spirit stones were laid out in a row. With the spirit formation completed, Qin Sang added an isolating restriction on the outside, retrieved the dark iron pillar, and set it in the center of the formation before tossing in a top-grade spirit stone. For this second refinement, Qin Sang was visibly far more proficient than the first time, utilizing the spirit stones with greater efficiency. Before long, the dark iron pillar began to "melt." Qin Sang's expression tightened, and he flicked out a jade bottle containing a sealed monster beast soul essence. Thanks to his earlier improvements in artifact refinement, Qin Sang handled it with ease. The refinement proceeded exceptionally smoothly, and a banner pole gradually took shape. Then came the second, the third... As more portions were separated off, the main body of the dark iron pillar grew increasingly small, until only a tiny clump remained, which was refined into the final banner pole. "Condense!" Qin Sang uttered a low shout. Radiant light brushed over the banner pole as it finally solidified into shape. Beside him lay fourteen banner poles. Together with this last one, there were exactly fifteen poles! Qin Sang's face lit up with joy. He beckoned them into his hand and was about to inspect them when a crisp crack sounded. Looking down, he saw that the top-grade spirit stone at the center of the spirit formation had shattered. The spiritual power within the stone was exhausted, entirely depleted. Just as he had anticipated, this was the third top-grade spirit stone consumed, having barely sustained the refinement of the dark iron pillar. "Fifteen banner poles completed..." Qin Sang gathered the banner poles together and found that their qi mechanisms remained interconnected, as though they were a single entity. This was because the refinement process had merely cleverly divided the dark iron pillar without damaging the restrictions within. It was not that he did not want to alter them, but that he simply could not. Even Patriarch Kuiyin had been unable to do so; after racking his brains for a century, and only because the dark iron pillar had already been broken in two, had he experienced a flash of inspiration and devised this clever workaround. "What a pity the other Yanluo Banners are nowhere to be found. Otherwise, gathering all the banner poles might have allowed the dark iron pillar to be restored. Such a treasure doesn't look like something an ordinary person could forge. Patriarch Kuiyin couldn't even fathom its internal restrictions, so it is likely an ancient treasure left behind by an ancient mighty figure. If the dark iron pillar could be repaired, who knows how tremendous its might would be. Using it now to refine the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, even though it will be a supreme-grade magic treasure, is still using great material for small purposes..." Qin Sang murmured to himself. Rumors in the Kuiyin Sect held that Patriarch Kuiyin's failure during his tribulation had caused five of the banners to be destroyed. But Qin Sang felt that, given the extraordinary origin of the dark iron pillar, the Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation would not have destroyed the poles; they were simply lost somewhere unknown. By now, the Kuiyin Sect had been destroyed for over a century. Before he left, a great war had been imminent between the Xiaohan Realm's Tianxing Alliance and the Sin Abyss. Heaven knew what had become of it now. Even if he returned to the Xiaohan Realm, the hope of gathering all the banner poles remained slim. "Forget it, no point in letting my thoughts run wild! A supreme-grade magic treasure is already an object beyond what most cultivators in this world could dare dream of. Even if it isn't an ultimate treasure left by an ancient power, but merely one of those legendary spirit treasures above magic treasures, such things are virtually impossible to find in this world. And with my cultivation, I wouldn't have the strength to activate it anyway—I'd only be able to stand by and watch." Qin Sang reined in his thoughts. After verifying the banner poles were flawless, he stored them carefully away, then settled into deep meditation to reflect on the insights gained from refining them. The restrictions within the dark iron pillar were mysterious and vast, evoking an instinctive feeling of insignificance within Qin Sang. Such comprehension could not be achieved overnight. At noon the following day, Qin Sang awoke from meditation, his eyes brimming with a mixture of excitement and puzzlement; he had merely grasped the shallowest surface layer. He pondered for a moment with head bowed, then strode out of the cave dwelling. He leased a shop in the cultivation market and hung up a sign offering artifact refinement, intending to settle here for an extended stay. This way, he could temper his body with astral essence, forge artifacts, and contemplate the restrictions of the dark iron pillar while also making acquaintances among local cultivators to probe into the situation of the Landou Sect. Meanwhile, his external incarnation could cultivate in peace—none of his goals would be neglected. The little shop opened for business. Qin Sang hired someone to mind the shop, while he often shuttled between the storefront and his cave dwelling. Thanks to his superb artifact-refining skills, the magic tools he forged exceeded those of others in power even without relying on Nine Nether demonic fire, and word of his craft quickly spread.