One and the Same

Thoughts churned in Qin Sang's mind. The more he considered the idea, the more viable it seemed. The real issue was how his external incarnation could get selected by Yanmiao Pavilion and blend into their ranks. The mortal body's aptitude was mediocre at best, possessing only four spiritual roots. The person had enjoyed decent luck in life, encountering a fortunate opportunity that allowed him to reach the fifth layer of the Qi Refinement stage at a young age, but he was subsequently trapped at the major bottleneck of the sixth layer until his demise. Even if he had somehow managed to break through later in life, he would never have achieved much. An external incarnation was elevated primarily through blood feeding and secret arts. Because *Planting the Yuan Demonic Embryo* placed no demands on the physical body's aptitude, Qin Sang had chosen this corpse in the first place. With such mediocre aptitude, Yanmiao Pavilion would never take notice of him. His only option was to stand out through cultivation level. The three major bottlenecks of the Qi Refinement stage were three trials every cultivator had to face. If someone could overcome all three bottlenecks despite lacking innate talent, it at least proved they possessed either unwavering determination or profound fortune, suggesting a chance at reaching Foundation Establishment in the future. That alone would serve as sufficient justification for their selection. A person with that kind of temperament, even if they ultimately failed Foundation Establishment, could turn to studying miscellaneous crafts and still achieve respectable results, contributing to the sect rather than being a useless mouth to feed. After all, Yanmiao Pavilion was not a prestigious, prominent sect like the Landou Sect; their recruitment criteria could not be excessively strict, or they would hardly draw any candidates at all. The external incarnation's cultivation had progressed rapidly and was already nearing the peak of the seventh layer of Qi Refinement. Barely a month remained until Yanmiao Pavilion's disciple recruitment ceremony. Breaking through to the ninth layer within a single month would be difficult, requiring Qin Sang to spare no essence blood and give him a forceful push. *If I continue blood feeding, I should be able to force him into the ninth layer within a month, though rushing like this might destabilize his state of mind. Still, at such a low cultivation level, with the sword soul carrying a trace of the jade Buddha's power, there is no chance of a backlash...* Having made up his mind, Qin Sang instructed the shop assistant to purchase demon beast carcasses at high prices. Then he returned to his cave dwelling and sat cross-legged opposite the external incarnation. A month later. Qin Sang ceased the secret art and slowly opened his eyes. A faint pallor brushed his face, but it soon faded, and his complexion returned to normal. At that moment, the external incarnation's aura was somewhat unsteady. In just one short month, his cultivation had astonishingly reached the peak of the eighth layer and was in the midst of a breakthrough. *Boom!* The true essence in the incarnation's sea of qi swelled violently, then abruptly compressed inward before swiftly settling into calm. The cracking of bones echoed from his body as his flesh underwent tempering through the breakthrough. As his aura stabilized, the tempering quickly concluded. His cultivation had now officially broken through to the ninth layer of the Qi Refinement stage. Had other cultivators witnessed such an effortless, smooth breakthrough—and at the major bottleneck of the ninth layer, no less—their eyes would surely have turned red with envy. Qin Sang examined the incarnation's condition. Seeing that nothing was amiss, his expression relaxed slightly. Over the past month, the one who had suffered the most fatigue was not the incarnation, but Qin Sang's true body. He had not only needed to maintain the secret art continuously, but also supply his own essence blood. Fortunately, the results were well worth it. However, using blood feeding to force up cultivation would yield diminishing returns as the gap between the incarnation and the original body narrowed. Once their cultivation levels drew close, there would be only one way left to advance the incarnation quickly: turning into a true demon and devouring the essence and qi of other cultivators. *Planting the Yuan Demonic Embryo* was an evil demonic art from the start. Senior Qingzhu had modified it to make it less sinister, but its core nature remained steeped in blood. Qin Sang calculated the time. *The disciple recruitment ceremony at Yanmiao Pavilion is in six days. It would be best to head over early. While the incarnation stabilizes his cultivation, I should hurry and forge the Essence-Devouring Awls to give him more means of self-defense.* Qin Sang laid down restrictions to cordon off a quiet chamber for the incarnation. He then summoned the Nine Nether demonic fire to refine the demon beast carcasses delivered by the assistant, before retrieving several lustrous, unusual demon bones from his Qianjun Ring. To ensure the incarnation's safety, Qin Sang spared no expense and took out the prized bones he had kept in reserve. These all came from Demon Core stage beasts. Using them to craft Essence-Devouring Awls was somewhat wasteful, but their power would be beyond question. Without resting, he set to work without delay. The demonic fire gathered into a sphere, hovering before Qin Sang. Now, his mastery over the demonic fire and his skill in artifact crafting were worlds apart from before. He watched with an easy expression as the demon bones tumbled within the flames, their impurities burned away until they melted into the purest materials, finally shaping into Essence-Devouring Awls. Drawing on past experience, he layered further underhanded methods onto the awls, such as poisoned needles. After a period of busy work, over a dozen Essence-Devouring Awls lay before Qin Sang. Stowing them in a mustard seed bag, he picked out several magic tools appropriate for the incarnation's apparent status and handed them over for him to attune. Qin Sang studied the incarnation, pondering whether any flaws remained. Late at night, three days later. Qin Sang set off with his external incarnation. The market was a considerable distance from Yanmiao Pavilion, but to Qin Sang, that was nothing. By dawn, they had already entered Mount Landou. Mount Landou was the territory of the Landou Sect, along with a number of minor sects subordinate to them that occupied various parts of the mountain range. Atop a mountain peak. Qin Sang looked out across the endless stretch of rolling ridges, his expressionless external incarnation standing beside him. "We part here. Take this." Qin Sang turned and handed the incarnation a Qingfu child coin. He had decided to separate from him here, letting him travel to Yanmiao Pavilion alone while his true body provided secret protection. The incarnation's face showed no change as he silently took the Qingfu coin. At that moment, Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, his lips moving slightly as though giving instructions. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly fluttered back and forth around his true body, appearing quite reluctant to leave. Only after sensing an aura from the incarnation similar to Qin Sang's did it become less resistant. Its wings flapped, and with a flash, it slipped into the incarnation's sea of qi. *With the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's concealment abilities, it will easily evade the detection methods of outsiders, but he still shouldn't summon it lightly...* Qin Sang's gaze turned solemn. Both were of great significance to him, yet now they had to be separated. The external incarnation nodded to the true body. Tapping his foot, he summoned a bamboo-leaf-shaped magic tool and took to the air, soon vanishing into the morning mist among the mountains. The true body drew a breath, vanished into thin air, and silently followed behind. The light bamboo leaf carried the incarnation through the mountains. He wore an ordinary grey robe cinched with a jade belt, a long sword strapped to his back. The sword was a high-grade magic tool of respectable power, but its true uniqueness lay in the fact that Qin Sang had forged it from a type of profound jade, granting it the ability to turn invisible when activated so it could strike unpredictably in combat. Aside from the sword, the incarnation's other magic tools were utterly ordinary—quite appropriate, and even rather good, for a rogue cultivator. The external incarnation rolled the Qingfu coin between his fingers, tucked it into his mustard seed bag, and looked toward the direction of Yanmiao Pavilion. He murmured to himself, "From this moment on, my name is Zhang Yue." In that instant. His eyes and expression bore an uncanny resemblance to Qin Sang's. After all, they were one and the same.