Chapter 649: Chapter 649

Manager Bai nodded and handed Qin Sang a jade slip. "Daoist, you asked me to gather notable figures from nearby regions over the past two hundred years. This wasn’t difficult. I reached out to some contacts and managed to compile quite a bit of information. Are you looking for someone? If you could provide more details, it might make the search easier."

Qin Sang took the jade slip and examined it. Inside were densely recorded names of people. Despite Xijiang being a barren land, it had still produced no shortage of outstanding individuals. Many powerful figures had emerged in the past two centuries, their reputations widely spread.

The jade slip documented their battle records in detail.

Hearing Manager Bai’s words, Qin Sang lifted his eyelids slightly and said, "There’s no need for Manager Bai to trouble yourself. I simply felt my cultivation had stagnated and didn’t want to remain holed up in my cave dwelling. I decided to travel and gain experience, so I asked around in advance. I’d rather not offend someone I shouldn’t, out of ignorance."

This time, Qin Sang did not directly inquire about Qingzhu by name.

He had come to realize that the location of the ancient teleportation array was deeply hidden.

Back then, Senior Qingzhu had come to Xijiang. He might have concealed his identity just as Qin Sang had, quietly searching for the teleportation array. If he hadn’t found it in the end, he would have silently left Xijiang and returned to human territory.

Remaining in the Witch God Continent was never a long-term solution.

By asking Manager Bai to gather notable figures, Qin Sang had merely held onto a sliver of hope that he might uncover a clue hidden within their stories.

Manager Bai let out a hearty laugh. "You’re overthinking it, Daoist. These individuals were merely dominant in Xijiang for a time. Once their cultivation reached a certain level, unless they had deep ties to their sect or had lost hope of reaching the immortal path, most wouldn’t choose to remain in Xijiang. They’d either travel beyond Xijiang, even beyond the Witch God Continent itself, or head to the Stormy Demonic Sea to hunt demonic beasts."

Qin Sang’s gaze sharpened slightly. "I heard the only way to reach the Stormy Demonic Sea is to go to Witch God Mountain and use a teleportation array?"

Manager Bai nodded. "The Stormy Demonic Sea lies beyond the Canglang Sea region. No one knows exactly where it is within the endless storms. The only way to reach it is by using teleportation arrays to arrive at one of several small islands occupied by the two races. As for the human race’s teleportation arrays, I can’t say. But the witch race’s arrays are all located atop Witch God Mountain and jointly maintained by the major sects. This Witch God Mountain refers to our sacred mountain. So long as you pay enough spirit stones, anyone can use the array regardless of cultivation, status, or even race."

As he spoke, Manager Bai glanced at Qin Sang. "Has someone been encouraging you to go hunt beasts in the Stormy Demonic Sea? Let me offer some advice. That place is unimaginably dangerous, teeming with demonic beasts. Even with both our races combined, we can barely hold a few islands, and those are constantly under siege by beast tides. Whether it’s humans hunting beasts or beasts hunting humans, it’s anyone’s guess in the Stormy Demonic Sea. Countless Core Formation cultivators have perished there, let alone those at the Foundation Building Realm like us. If it’s Blood Bone Pills you’re after, you can just buy them with spirit stones. There’s no need to take that kind of risk."

Qin Sang chuckled. "So what you’re really saying is, I should just buy Blood Bone Pills from you instead, right?"

The witch race had delved deeply into the art of insect taming and developed many spirit pills that could enhance or even trigger metamorphosis in spiritual insects. Among the most renowned was the Blood Bone Pill.

The Blood Bone Pill was refined from the blood and bones of demonic beasts. Feeding it to a life-bound insect gu increased the chance of metamorphosis. The stronger the beast used in its creation, the more potent the pill’s effect.

It was said that top-grade Blood Bone Pills were even refined with demonic cores that retained their intelligence.

For the witch race, the Blood Bone Pill served a role similar to Foundation Building Pills or Core Formation aids for human cultivators in the Small Cold Domain.

While the Canglang Sea region was resource-poor, the Stormy Demonic Sea teemed with demonic beasts beyond imagination.

These beasts were their primary cultivation resources.

Rather than relying on traditional methods, the witch race had blazed their own path and created the Blood Bone Pill.

However, despite its benefits, Blood Bone Pills could not be overused on insect gu.

Life-bound insect gu were also called Blood Gu, raised through feeding them blood and essence. The more they consumed, the more they were affected by malevolent qi. Their temperament would grow fierce and violent, increasing the risk of them turning on their master.

Blood Bone Pills, being refined from beast bones, blood, and even demonic cores, carried even heavier baleful influence. If a gu fed on too many, its personality would be easily altered, increasing the chances of rebellion. Not even the witch race’s talents could fully suppress them.

When Qin Sang first learned of the Blood Bone Pill, he thought he could use it to push his life-bound insect gu to its third metamorphosis.

But after further inquiries, he realized he couldn’t recklessly feed it to his gu.

He wasn’t afraid of backlash himself, but if the insect gu became dominated by baleful force, it would go mad, lose all spiritual awareness, and might even self-destruct.

A life-bound insect gu in that state would be of no use to its master at all.

Manager Bai nodded nonchalantly and leaned in, speaking in a conspiratorial tone. "As long as you have enough spirit stones, I can even get you top-grade Blood Bone Pills. The only thing is the price..."

He paused meaningfully and gave Qin Sang a knowing look.

Qin Sang understood at once.

He had scoured the Small Cold Domain in search of demonic cores to refine his flying yaksha, so he naturally understood the value of such items.

Though the Canglang Sea had far more demonic beasts than the Small Cold Domain, hunting down great beasts in the Demonic Core Realm was no easier. Demonic cores remained highly sought after, and the price of top-grade Blood Bone Pills could be imagined.

Qin Sang tucked away the jade slip and continued exchanging polite words with Manager Bai, though his mind was already pondering when he should set off for the Stormy Demonic Sea.

Ever since cultivating the Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment, Qin Sang had been destined to walk a path where slaughter would always be close at hand. While others feared the Stormy Sea like the plague, he had no choice but to go for the sake of comprehending the killing symbol.

After forming his core, Qin Sang had lingered in Xijiang for months in search of the ancient teleportation array and a suitable life-bound insect gu. Yet his cultivation had made no progress at all, simply because he lacked the tempering that came from true battle.

The Stormy Demonic Sea had become a necessity.

I hope Cui Xuanzi and the others have something surprising for me.

Qin Sang thought silently.

Before leaving, he had instructed Cui Xuanzi and the others to mobilize the immortal cultivators under their command to search the entire Bear Mountain region within a thousand-li radius, helping him in his quest.

Of course, fully aware of the importance of the ancient teleportation array, he had never mentioned it outright. He only told them to search for hidden realms.

If even that failed to yield the array, Qin Sang would have to set the matter aside temporarily and focus on his own cultivation. Once he advanced far enough, he could find another way. Newest update provıded by novel⸺fire.net

However, Qin Sang knew very little about Witch God Mountain. He was still debating whether to go directly from Witch God Mountain to the Stormy Demonic Sea, or to visit human territory first, experience its customs, and then proceed to the sea.

It was said that within the Stormy Demonic Sea, cultivators of both the human and witch races had to work together to survive. Under the constant pressure of the demonic beasts, they were forced to set aside their prejudices and cooperate in earnest.

With that thought, Qin Sang put the jade slip away.

None of the names within it corresponded to Senior Qingzhu.

"How much progress have you made on the spiritual insects I asked for?"

Manager Bai shook his head. "After you left, I took a closer look and realized the insects on your list are all incredibly high-potential types. Clearly, you’re quite ambitious. But these spiritual insects are rare and difficult to capture. Xijiang doesn’t have many of them..."