Chapter 627: Chapter 627

After storing away the three jade slips, Qin Sang turned his focus inward.

Within his dantian, a five-colored Golden Core hovered at the center, slowly revolving.

The Golden Core radiated the beauty of the Great Dao. It was entrancing and indescribable in words.

Beside it, the sealed bluish-black corpse core appeared far more lackluster in comparison.

However, at present, the gap in strength between the Golden Core and the corpse core was minimal. In fact, the corpse core might even surpass it slightly. One was formed by gathering all of Qin Sang’s essence and spiritual brilliance, while the other was refined from another’s Golden Core and infused with the Earth Malevolent Qi and the Celestial Gale Qi.

Only once Qin Sang reached the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm would the difference between them truly become apparent.

Unexpectedly, his Golden Core bore a dominant shade of verdant wood, and his true essence had shifted accordingly. At the moment of core formation, the spiritual qi that surged into him had replaced his original power with a wood-based spiritual force.

The Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment, by its nature, was not aligned with any specific element.

Qin Sang had laid his foundation with the water-based Netherworld Scripture, and later practiced the Sutra of the Profound Jade Cauldron and Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment, maintaining a water-based cultivation throughout. This had never affected his progress.

Yet now, after forming his core, this transformation had occurred on its own.

It must have been due to the ebony sword.

Back when he first began practicing Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment and had to choose a spiritual sword, he could only select one of the five elemental materials—metal, wood, water, fire, or earth. At the time, he possessed only the sword embryo of the ebony sword, so naturally he chose wood.

As a result, after Core Formation, his cultivation method had adjusted itself due to the ebony sword.

This realization made it clear that the life-bound spiritual sword played a more pivotal role in Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment and the cultivator’s future than Qin Sang had initially imagined.

He couldn’t help but wonder what the complete version of Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment would look like at higher realms.

The thought stirred a yearning within him. Yet he had no clue where to find the complete method, and could only follow the path paved by Senior Qingzhu, taking it one step at a time.

If he ever reached the Spiritual Infant Realm, perhaps then he could revisit the matter.

If only Senior Qingzhu were still alive, he might already have created his own cultivation method for use beyond the Spiritual Infant Realm.

Qin Sang offered a silent prayer for Senior Qingzhu, then shifted his gaze away from the Golden Core and looked elsewhere.

At present, the state of his Qihai could only be described as chaotic!

Besides the Golden Core and corpse core, there was a cluster of gray qi and several fragmented golden runes!

During his Core Formation, Qin Sang had already sensed Cui Xuanzi approaching. He had delayed going out because he was examining these two phenomena.

Those rune fragments were the remnants of the seal Dongyang Bo had placed on him.

Just as Qin Sang had hoped, the seal had been broken during the spiritual qi infusion. Yet it hadn’t been entirely dispelled. Some fragments still lingered within his dantian.

His excitement at successfully forming a core had been dulled slightly by the stubborn persistence of the seal.

So this was the means of a Spiritual Infant grandmaster. Just a casually applied seal was still this troublesome?

When Qin Sang tried channeling true essence through the Golden Core, he noticed a barely perceptible delay caused by the lingering seal fragments. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t affect him much.

But in a life-or-death clash with a powerful foe, even the slightest delay in casting spells or activating astras could allow the enemy to seize the upper hand.

Qin Sang attempted to break the fragments himself but found them exceedingly tough despite being shattered. With his current strength, brute force wasn’t an option. He estimated he’d need to reach the late stage of the Core Formation Realm before he could remove them.

If the complete seal had remained intact, even a Spiritual Infant cultivator might have struggled to deal with it!

Had it not been for the Jade Buddha protecting his primordial spirit and allowing him to retain some combat strength, even if Chenyan had rescued him from Dongyang Bo, she wouldn’t have been able to remove the seal in time, and he would’ve had no means to escape on his own.

Qin Sang had to admit that Dongyang Bo’s methods were meticulous and airtight. He had calculated everything except for the Jade Buddha.

After trying countless methods to no avail, Qin Sang had no choice but to temporarily set the matter aside.

The influence of the seal fragments was not negligible, but it wasn’t severe either, at least not while he remained in the early stage of the Core Formation Realm.

Cultivation required one completed cosmic orbit after another, and haste would only hinder progress. The slight stagnation in his true essence caused by the seal fragments wouldn’t be a significant obstacle.

This realization eased most of the anxiety weighing on his heart.

As for the impact during combat, it could be compensated for by using the External Core.

The Golden Core was the most critical possession of any Core Formation cultivator. Generally, one would never dare let it leave the body. If attacked by an enemy, at best, the core might be damaged; at worst, one’s cultivation would plummet.

But the External Core had far fewer such constraints. If faced with true danger, Qin Sang could simply remove the External Core from his Qihai, thereby avoiding the limitations imposed by the seal fragments altogether.

The only issue was that Qin Sang still didn’t know how to further enhance the External Core.

Once his cultivation broke through to the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm, the External Core would become increasingly insufficient. It was only useful at the early stage.

So the hidden danger of the seal fragments would need to be resolved sooner or later.

Seeking someone else's help to break the seal would require lowering his defenses and opening up his Qihai, essentially handing over his life. That was something Qin Sang would never consider.

After careful thought, he came up with only two possible solutions to resolve the issue before reaching the late stage of the Core Formation Realm.

One, to delve into the path of spirit talismans and seek a method of breaking it.

Or two, to undergo another spiritual qi infusion!

Qin Sang only knew how to use talismans. He had no foundation in the path of spirit talismans whatsoever, nor did he possess any orthodox transmission on the subject. If he wanted to pursue it, he’d first have to acquire a genuine inheritance and start from scratch.

The difficulty would be enormous.

Both artifact refinement and talisman crafting demanded vast resources.

He had already decided to continue down the path of artifact refinement. Taking on spirit talismans as well would stretch him thin. Qin Sang didn’t believe he had the time or energy for both. Official source ıs novel_fіre.net

Although his cultivation speed had improved thanks to his cultivation art, he couldn’t afford to act recklessly.

His cultivation was, and always would be, the foundation of everything. Qin Sang wouldn’t allow himself to put the cart before the horse.

The insect-taming technique, however, was a different story. He possessed the true inheritance of Yuling Sect, and now happened to be in the lands of the witch race, who were renowned for their mastery of this art. With a divine herb like Crimson Fire Gilded Gold in his hands, this path would be far easier than talisman crafting.

If he could learn from the witch race and refine his own life-bound insect gu...

When the insect completed its third metamorphosis and triggered the descent of spiritual qi, he could draw it into his Qihai and use the force to wipe out the seal fragments in one stroke.

Of course, the spiritual qi summoned during the insect’s metamorphosis did not recognize Qin Sang. The impact on his Qihai might injure him. But with careful control, the danger would not be significant.

Choosing the path of the life-bound insect gu meant abandoning the life-bound astra. The two were mutually exclusive.

However, Qin Sang was different from others. For him, this decision wasn’t difficult at all.

He already had the ebony sword.

He could have both a life-bound astra and a life-bound insect gu!

After weighing it all, Qin Sang’s mind was made up. He decided to go meet Cui Xuanzi.

Now that he had obtained the witch race’s method for cultivating a life-bound insect gu, Qin Sang realized he was fully capable of learning it. The many advantages only further strengthened his resolve.

The seal fragments were nothing more than a minor nuisance.

What truly worried Qin Sang was that mass of gray qi.

He was certain that before Dongyang Bo had placed the seal on him, his Qihai had been perfectly normal.

This gray qi had only appeared after his Qihai was sealed and he lost control of it. It wasn’t until he broke through and dispelled the talisman that he discovered its presence.