Chapter 624: Chapter 624

Xijiang was simply too barren. The spiritual qi was thin and lacking, unsuited for long-term cultivation. Even the local Core Formation cultivators had to venture far from home.

Qin Sang had no desire to remain trapped in a place . It would only hinder his cultivation in the long run.

Beyond Xijiang lay a vast and open world.

If he could not find the ancient teleportation array, he would have no choice but to set aside the matter for now. He would first leave Xijiang and seek a more suitable land for cultivation, improve his strength, and then return to find a solution.

Lately, Qin Sang had been wondering whether Senior Qingzhu had experienced a similar fate.

During the teleportation, Qin Sang had nearly been torn apart by the ancient teleportation array. He only survived by sacrificing an arm and exhausting his spiritual consciousness. If not for the seal suppressing his spiritual power, the result might have been far better.

Back then, Qingzhu had been at least a late-stage Core Formation expert. He was surely strong enough not to perish mid-teleportation. Yet, though his great vengeance remained unavenged, he never returned to the Small Cold Domain.

Has something unexpected happened?

Or has Qingzhu, too, failed to locate an ancient teleportation array?

A sudden sense of unease stirred within Qin Sang.

"Has there ever been a powerful cultivator named Qingzhu in Xijiang?" Qin Sang asked abruptly.

Cui Xuanzi lowered his head and thought for a moment before shaking it. "Though Xijiang is poor and mostly wild, there have still been a few notable figures over the years. But I’ve never heard of anyone named Qingzhu." Follow current novels on NoveI-Fire.ɴet

Qin Sang said, "Think carefully. Perhaps he didn’t go by that name. He was devoted to the Sword Dao, skilled in sword control techniques, and was at least a late-stage Core Formation expert, possibly even at the Spiritual Infant Realm. Not just recent decades; look back over the past two hundred years. Has there been anyone who matches that description?"

Cui Xuanzi chuckled. "Senior, if such a person had appeared in Xijiang, they would’ve shaken the entire region! Local cultivators here tend to leave as soon as they reach the Core Formation Realm. Why would someone so powerful choose to stay? Even those who come to hunt insects don’t remain for long. If you’re trying to find this person, I can ask around while gathering intelligence. Perhaps something will turn up."

Cui Xuanzi was curious about Qin Sang’s goal.

Is the man he seeks, like my own senior uncle, a missing senior of his sect who has vanished after departing?

So my guess has been right. This man’s sect even has a Spiritual Infant grandmaster. His origins are far from ordinary.

"Very well. Just look into whether Xijiang has ever had a Spiritual Infant sword cultivator."

Qin Sang nodded, then added, "Besides that, spread word that I’m buying Soul-Guiding Grass and Perpetual Camphor at a high price. Also, keep an eye out for any sightings of the Fire-Repelling Finch."

Perpetual Camphor usually lay buried deep underground and was difficult to find.

But if one discovered the accompanying demonic beast, the Fire-Repelling Finch, they could use it to locate the camphor.

The Primordial Unity Ring required only Perpetual Camphor to be completed. If he found it, Qin Sang would gain another astra. This was currently the fastest way for him to boost his strength.

Moreover, the ring had unique properties and would prove useful when venturing deep into the wilds in search of ancient teleportation arrays.

As for Soul-Guiding Grass, the more the better. With it, he could refine additional flying yakshas and dominate early-stage Core Formation cultivators with ease.

"Fire-Repelling Finch, Perpetual Camphor, Soul-Guiding Grass..."

Cui Xuanzi’s face darkened. He grumbled inwardly that Qin Sang’s demands were endless. It felt like he was treating the Five-Insect Sect like a slave. Still, the tasks were all about gathering information, and there was no need to risk their lives.

"I’ve never even heard of these. Please explain in detail, Senior."

These three were rare materials, so it was no surprise Cui Xuanzi hadn’t encountered them. Qin Sang took out a jade slip and imprinted detailed illustrations of the items within.

"Do the job well, and I won’t treat your sect unfairly."

With that, Qin Sang displayed two top-grade artifacts and several bottles of spirit pills before Cui Xuanzi’s eyes, then put them away and tossed the jade slip to him.

The Black-Winged Eagle’s cave dwelling had now been sealed by Qin Sang with a spiritual array, serving as a temporary residence. It was tolerable for the time being, though he would certainly have to relocate later. However, with the spiritual qi in Xijiang so sparse, it wouldn’t be easy to find a truly satisfactory place.

Qin Sang sat cross-legged on a meditation mat, three jade slips in hand, examining each one carefully.

These jade slips contained: the Five-Insect Sect’s true transmission of insect-taming techniques, a geomantic map, and the Witch Insect Register, which recorded the habitats of certain spiritual insects.

All this information had been accumulated by the Five-Insect Sect over many years.

Cui Xuanzi had already been dismissed, returning to gather more intelligence.

Qin Sang was eager to understand exactly where he had landed, and so he examined the geomantic map first.

The map created by the Five-Insect Sect was most detailed around the Bear Mountain region and the surrounding areas. It included brief descriptions of the major powers within Xijiang. But beyond Xijiang, the information became exceedingly vague.

Especially outside the Witch God Continent, there was a complete blank.

According to the annotations, the Witch God Continent could be broadly divided into three regions: Xijiang, Nanjiang, and Witch God Mountain.

Both Xijiang and Nanjiang were considered wilderness. Xijiang was the most barren; it was so desolate that even strong cultivators avoided it. Nanjiang was slightly better, with more and stronger factions, but it was also the most chaotic, plagued by endless warfare.

Xijiang was a land of treacherous mountains and deadly rivers. Very few areas were suitable for the witch race to survive, usually scattered and sparse like the Bear Mountain region. There, mortals and immortal cultivators lived together in loosely protected settlements.

These habitable regions were separated by vast stretches of wilderness, some so distant they were effectively cut off from one another.

Within the wilderness lay countless dangers. Mortals who entered were as good as dead. Even Foundation Building cultivators had to remain constantly on guard.

Only after seeing this geomantic map did Qin Sang gain a clear understanding of the Witch God Continent’s vast scale. He couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer expanse of this oceanic domain.

The sea where the Witch God Continent resided had once been called the Witch God Sea by the witch race. But after the human race rose to power, they renamed it Canglang Sea. The witch race resented this change deeply, but could do nothing about it.

Xijiang alone was larger than the entire Small Cold Domain.

Excluding the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, the Small Cold Domain was a narrow, east–west strip of land, while Xijiang sat on the western edge of the Witch God Continent, shaped more like a semicircle.

Nanjiang, shaped similarly to the Small Cold Domain, was even larger than Xijiang.

Witch God Mountain referred to a single peak, revered as the ancestral home of the witch race and considered a sacred land. It symbolized the most fertile and prosperous area of the Witch God Continent. Compared to it, both Xijiang and Nanjiang were considered remote and undeveloped.

The strongest powers of the witch race were gathered around Witch God Mountain.

Rumors said there was a late-stage Spiritual Infant cultivator among the witch race, but the Five-Insect Sect, lacking access to major news, had no idea which faction that cultivator belonged to.

The Witch God Continent was merely one island—albeit the largest—in the entire Canglang Sea. The witch race controlled the continent and the surrounding waters, which lay in the southeastern corner of the sea.

The Stormy Demonic Sea, however, did not fall within the boundaries of Canglang Sea.

It was said Canglang Sea was not boundless. At its edges, it was surrounded by terrifying storms, which were blocked by a strange barrier formed from some ancient barrier. In the fiercest places, even Spiritual Infant cultivators dared not enter.

To this day, no one knew how that barrier had formed or who had created it.

Despite the storms crashing against it constantly, the barrier remained uncannily solid.

Upon reading this, Qin Sang’s gaze sharpened. He suddenly recalled the spirit tides within the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, and the mysterious barrier between that battlefield and the Small Cold Domain.

They sounded strikingly similar. Could there be some hidden connection between them?