Soul Light

Several days later. Qin Sang's eyelids trembled gently as he slowly opened his eyes, awakening from meditation. Then, with a shift of his thought, a flash of sword-light burst forth from between his brows. The ebony sword had completed its transformation. Its might was far greater than before, advancing to the rank of a high-grade magic treasure! This was because Qin Sang had used only a portion of the Soul-Nurturing Wood in order to engrave killing talismans and raise his cultivation as soon as possible. Outwardly, the ebony sword looked little different, but as its master, Qin Sang could clearly feel its elevation. Sword shadows flickered; flowing lights danced. Qin Sang drove the spirit sword, executing all manner of sword techniques entirely at will, without the slightest sense of sluggishness. Then, he recalled the ebony sword, letting it hover before him. Gazing at the spirit sword, Qin Sang took on a contemplative expression. After refining the Boundless Blood Mulberry last time, he had gained the divine ability of the Foul Blood Divine Light, which had rendered him stellar service. He wondered what good news the Soul-Nurturing Wood would bring him. Qin Sang pondered. The Foul Blood Divine Light was not unique to the ebony sword; any magic treasure refined from Boundless Blood Mulberry would gain a similar ability, for it was an inherent divine ability of the divine wood itself. The Soul-Nurturing Wood, on the other hand, seemed only capable of nourishing the soul and possessed no such divine ability; he had never seen any relevant records in ancient texts before. After all, even in the ancient cultivation world, the Ten Great Divine Woods were rare, priceless treasures. Originally, the spirit wood had emitted an uncontrollable blue soul light. His eyes flashed, and peering closely at the blade, he discovered that a faint soul light also coated the ebony sword. It imparted a gentleness to the spirit sword, masking its sharpness so that it hardly resembled an instrument of slaughter. "Could it be..." With a stir of his heart, Qin Sang recalled the ebony sword into his origin soul and carefully experienced it. Before long, Qin Sang detected an anomaly. Now, his origin soul and life spirit sword felt harmoniously blended as water and milk. That layer of soul light was gentle and warm as water, seeming capable of soothing all wounds. What surprised Qin Sang even more was that, though his cultivation realm remained unchanged, his divine consciousness had undergone a subtle change. "The Soul-Nurturing Wood truly can strengthen divine consciousness! No, wait..." Qin Sang concentrated and perceived it for a long while before finally discovering where the change originated. "Nourished by the soul light, my origin soul seems more solid. My divine consciousness is as if tempered, far more condensed and refined than before, rather than simply having its power increased..." Although this change was faint and would yield no immediate dramatic effect, it had only been a short time. Over the long run, accumulating imperceptibly, it would undoubtedly become a force to be reckoned with. Confirming this, Qin Sang set aside his doubts and smiled with joy. "Body refinement, true essence, divine consciousness—can I be considered a cultivator of all three: essence, qi, and spirit?" As he continued to examine it, another insight came to him. "If I had had a life spirit sword refined from Soul-Nurturing Wood at the very start of cultivating the *Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter*, the pain I had to endure would have been far less, and I could have practiced it even without the jade Buddha." Discovering another benefit of the Soul-Nurturing Wood, Qin Sang mused with a sigh, "I wonder how those predecessors resolved the hidden flaws of this cultivation method. Surely they weren't handed a piece of Soul-Nurturing Wood each?" Fondling it admiringly, he remained in his cave dwelling for an entire day before emerging from seclusion. Bai's cave dwelling was right next door. Upon entering the city, Bai had taken the spirit herbs and gone into seclusion; in all likelihood, he would not emerge anytime soon. Thereafter, Qin Sang stayed in the city. The shop was merely a front and only opened occasionally. Qin Sang had two objectives: to investigate the Tiandao Sect, and to advance his own cultivation. Without realizing it, three years slipped by. Inside the cave dwelling. Qin Sang sat cross-legged, the last Dominant Blood Fruit resting by his hand. Over these three years, he had never once interrupted his cultivation. With the ebony sword advancing to a high-grade magic treasure, it bore the killing talismans effortlessly. Aided by decades of prior accumulation, he broke through with surging momentum, engraving killing talismans at an astonishing pace while his cultivation climbed rapidly. Qin Sang had a premonition that breaking through was just around the corner; within the next few years, he should be able to break through to the late Core Formation stage. He intended to pay a formal visit to the Tiandao Sect only after both his cultivation and physical body broke through, elevating his overall strength to the next level. Originally, Qin Sang had planned to locate the sword cultivator surnamed Ning and contact him in secret. The Tiandao Sect had quite a few Core Formation stage disciples, but inquiring about them was not difficult. He had deliberately befriended several fellow Daoists, yet after a round of inquiries, he discovered that none of those disciples bore the surname Ning. The person was either deeply hidden or was not at the Core Formation stage at all, but rather a Nascent Soul Patriarch. For the sake of the ancient teleportation formation, he had to meet him no matter what. If he could never find the person in secret, his only choice would be to pay a direct visit to the sect. This could not help but make Qin Sang somewhat uneasy. Although he felt Senior Qingzhu had no reason to harm him, he believed that being cautious would never be wrong. Once both had broken through, his escape arts alone would be comparable to a Nascent Soul Patriarch's. Should an unexpected turn occur, he would stand a chance to get away. Having thought this through, Qin Sang focused his energy entirely on his cultivation. Along with the advancement of his cultivation, his physical body also reaped benefits. The medicinal power of the previous Dominant Blood Fruit had been thoroughly absorbed. Qin Sang prepared to refine this final Dominant Blood Fruit to strike at the late third layer of the *Heavenly Demon Form Refining*. Qin Sang calmed his mind and entered deep meditation, forgetting both body and soul as he regulated his condition. Dressed in thin robes, his seemingly slight frame concealed astonishing power. This was a physical body comparable to a demon beast; Qin Sang himself was like a humanoid beast of prey. His blood flowed heavy as mercury, and his vital essence flourished to the peak. Suddenly, Qin Sang's flesh and blood tightened all over, and his bones let out a series of sharp cracking sounds. Reaching into the jade box, he drew the Dominant Blood Fruit into his grasp and popped it into his mouth without hesitation. Entering his stomach, the spirit herb transformed into a torrent of heat, its violent medicinal power detonating instantaneously. Having taken the Dominant Blood Fruit twice before, Qin Sang showed no panic. Steadying himself and enduring the acute agony, he refined the spirit herb and underwent the cleansing of sinews and scouring of marrow. His flesh trembled, and a crimson hue spread across his entire skin as if blood were oozing through his pores. Sweat poured from Qin Sang in streams, yet he remained seated firmly, exerting all his strength to refine the medicinal power. Time slipped slowly by. The ground around Qin Sang was soaked with sweat. A glazed sheen coated his skin; the effects of cleansing sinews and scouring marrow were still present, though not as pronounced as in lower cultivation realms. Before long, Qin Sang's state gradually stabilized, and the crimson flush on his skin faded away. He had not broken through immediately upon taking the Dominant Blood Fruit as the two-headed hou had, but Qin Sang had a premonition that as long as he refined a portion of the medicinal potency, breaking through would follow naturally like water flowing to form a channel. During this period, Qin Sang no longer distracted himself with other matters, focusing entirely on drawing upon the astral energy of the heavenly circuit to temper his body. Two months later. A sea region outside the Tiandao Sect. A figure flashed into view and hovered in the air for a moment. Seeing no one around, a flash of green light erupted from his body, and an extraordinarily magnificent pair of phoenix wings suddenly manifested behind him. This person was none other than Qin Sang, who, after two months of bitter cultivation, had successfully broken through to the late third layer of the *Heavenly Demon Form Refining*. Qin Sang examined the wings at his back. From their initial illusory form, they had grown a bit more solid with each breakthrough, resembling true phoenix wings more and more.