Late Core Formation Stage

After testing the changes in his physical body over an uninhabited stretch of sea, Qin Sang returned to his cave dwelling and resumed cultivating. Winters passed and summers came. It had already been eight full years since Qin Sang arrived at the Tiandao Sect's market city. By his reckoning, less than a year remained until his scheduled meeting with Yuan Zhu. Aside from occasionally venturing out to discuss the Dao with fellow cultivators, Qin Sang spent nearly all his time in bitter cultivation within his cave dwelling. Thanks to the foundation he had laid down before, he only needed to pour his full efforts into engraving killing talismans and tempering his true essence for his cultivation to advance steadily. Now, the first killing talisman created by Senior Qingzhu was on the verge of completion. Qin Sang had already been in seclusion for several months. Directing his inner vision inward, he confirmed that there was nothing amiss within his body. The killing talisman upon the spirit sword's blade was also exceedingly stable. Qin Sang took a deep breath, sank his mind into his purple palace, and carved the final stroke onto the ebony sword! ... A month later. Qin Sang emerged from seclusion and walked briskly out of the city. He then took to the air in an escape light, flying all the way until he reached another deserted stretch of sea. His aura flared, revealing that he was unmistakably at the late Core Formation stage! Back before he first entered the Hall of Seven Kills, Qin Sang had already reached the mid Core Formation stage; only now had he broken through once more. "It feels wonderful to have no bottlenecks." Qin Sang smiled and summoned the ebony sword. Because he had focused on advancing his cultivation, he had not continued melting the Soul-Nurturing Wood into the sword, leaving it at the level of a high-grade magic treasure. Once all his affairs were settled and he found a secure cave dwelling, he could continue enhancing the ebony sword. With the remaining Soul-Nurturing Wood, upgrading it to the quality of a top-grade magic treasure would not be difficult. Yet as far as Qin Sang knew, if one wished to advance the ebony sword into a spirit treasure, relying solely on spiritual materials was impossible. He had befriended a few fellow cultivators skilled in artifact refining, and while discussing the Dao with them, he had learned some esoteric secrets. The key to a spirit treasure lay in the word "spirit"! It was not an artifact spirit, but spirituality. A treasure that could nurture an artifact spirit was a supreme treasure even in ancient times. And before an artifact spirit could be birthed, awakening a spark of spirituality within the magic treasure was an indispensable step. Yet no one knew how to bestow spirituality upon a magic treasure—not even those artifact refiners. A refiner surnamed Guo seemed to recall something and said, "It is said that because an immortal cultivator's natal magic treasure is cultivated hand-in-hand with their very life, birthing spirituality is slightly easier than for ordinary magic treasures. That is also one of the advantages of a natal magic treasure..." The crowd had debated animatedly without reaching any clear conclusion. One person chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Given our cultivation, we can't even guarantee success when refining low-grade magic treasures, so let us not aim too high. Spirit treasures are far beyond us, and I haven't heard of a spirit treasure appearing anywhere. In the entire cultivation world of today, there might not even be a single one..." "Fellow Daoist speaks far too definitively!" another person objected. "I suspect that a top sect with an ancient heritage like the Tiandao Sect must keep spirit treasures in its collection. Setting aside treasures obtained from secret realms like the Hall of Seven Kills, late Nascent Soul great cultivators should be able to temper their natal magic treasures to the level of top-grade magic treasures. And going by what Daoist Guo said about natal magic treasures birthing spirituality more easily, it's impossible that across all generations of great cultivators, not a single one possessed a spirit treasure." Turning expectantly toward a white-haired elder beside him, he added, "Daoist Priest Wu hails from the Tiandao Sect and surely knows many closely guarded secrets. Could you reveal a thing or two?" The white-haired elder was indeed a cultivator of the Tiandao Sect. It was thanks to him that everyone was able to gather here. To their surprise, the elder gave a wry smile. "This poor Daoist was relegated to an assignment in the market city—how many secrets could I possibly know? My understanding of spirit treasures is no greater than yours. However, I do share our fellow daoist's suspicion. It is simply because our cultivation is too low that we cannot touch that level..." Cultivator Guo gave a wry chuckle and cut in, "I only said that birthing spirituality is easier for natal magic treasures than for ordinary ones, not that birthing spirituality is easy in itself... Fellow Daoists, just consider the gap between a top-grade magic tool and a magic treasure. The difference in materials and power between a top-grade magic treasure and a spirit treasure must be just as vast as the divide between heaven and earth." Listening to their discussion from the side, Qin Sang had fallen into thought. The Eighteen Demon Banners were unique; a single banner was only equivalent in quality to a low-grade magic treasure, and their power derived from demonic fire, so the chance of them birthing spirituality was minuscule. He could only place his hopes on the ebony sword. With the Soul-Nurturing Wood melted into the sword, there was no need to worry about the quality of the blade's material. He simply did not know what needed to be done to birth spirituality within it and advance it into a spirit treasure. However, two top-grade magic treasures would be enough to make him invincible once he formed his Nascent Soul. There would still be plenty of time ahead; there was no need to rush. Recalling this, Qin Sang subconsciously ran his finger across the spirit sword. It felt smooth and warm. "Sword Wheel!" Qin Sang murmured in a low voice, and the Sword Wheel manifested once more. Previously, his energy had been devoted entirely to his cultivation, so he hadn't properly comprehended the sword dao. Once he thoroughly grasped what he had perceived on the Sword Path, the Sword Wheel would surely take on an entirely different demeanor. After testing the might of the Sword Wheel, Qin Sang recalled the ebony sword, summoned the talisman, and activated the divine ability of the Heavenly Demon Transformation. What mattered most was still escape techniques. At the late Core Formation stage, he could unleash the full power of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman. *Heavenly Demon Form Refining* had also long since advanced. Sword-light wrapped around his body, intertwining inextricably with the silhouette of a flood dragon. Qin Sang glanced down, and then his phoenix wings flapped violently. His figure vanished abruptly. The next moment, accompanied by the rumble of thunder, a bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air. *Rumble...* Thunder roared. Spurred by a sudden burst of excitement, Qin Sang flew without pause. Only after quite a while, when his exhilaration subsided, did he rein in his escape light. By now, he was already far away from the previous stretch of sea. Qin Sang slowly exhaled a breath, furrowing his brows as he recalled the sensation from just now. In terms of flight speed alone, he had far surpassed what he was capable of ten years ago when he was hunted by Old Devil Mou. Among Core Formation cultivators, it would likely be difficult to find anyone whose escape techniques could match his. Plenty of people excelled at a single escape technique, but someone like him who possessed three top-tier escape techniques was an absolute rarity. Encountering cultivators of the same rank, he could toy with them as he pleased. Yet compared to Nascent Soul cultivators, Qin Sang found it hard to draw a definitive conclusion; after all, there was an entire major realm separating them. Having tested his treasures and divine abilities one by one, Qin Sang returned to his cave dwelling to stabilize his cultivation. Before long, he would have to go to the Storm Belt to keep his appointment with Yuan Zhu. Before that, Qin Sang decided to pay a visit to the Tiandao Sect. Over these years, not only had he interacted with Core Formation disciples of the Tiandao Sect, but he had also gathered many names of the Tiandao Sect's Nascent Soul Patriarchs. Some of these Nascent Soul Patriarchs handled external affairs, while others were deeply mysterious, living in seclusion to cultivate bitterly. Among those he had been able to inquire about, none matched a sword cultivator surnamed Ning. Several months later, Qin Sang emerged from seclusion and triggered the ward around Bai's cave dwelling. This time, Bai would not be going with him. The entrance to the cave dwelling opened, and Qin Sang stepped inside. He found that corpse qi still clung to Bai, but his expression was far more lifelike than that of a Flying Yaksha. While Qin Sang occasionally went out, Bai had been in continuous seclusion, attempting all sorts of methods. Finally, the origin vitality within Bai's body had steadily stabilized. Qin Sang looked him over and said, "Fellow Daoist seems to be in good shape. You shouldn't have to worry about corpse qi encroaching for the time being, right?" Bai nodded, yet without much joy. "This is still not enough. With only the strength of the Core Formation stage, it is difficult to accomplish anything in the cultivation world. Regrettably, I still don't dare rush to break through to Corpse King."