Chapter 668: Chapter 668

Seeing that Qin Sang had made up his mind, Ran Luo no longer pressed the matter, though her attitude became noticeably warmer. Evidently, just like in the Small Cold Domain, skilled artifact refiners and alchemists were rare in Canglang Sea as well.

"A month from now, Daoist Master, please be at Pingbo Port on time. Do not miss the appointed hour. Also, there are a few matters I must clarify. First, you are not yet an official guest of the merchant guild, so we will need to collect a portion of spirit stones from you. These spirit stones are solely to ensure your safety along the journey. Once we reach Witch God Mountain, the teleportation fees will be borne by you alone..."

These reminders from Ran Luo were only to be expected.

Qin Sang agreed to everything without objection. After arranging to meet Ran Luo in a month, he inquired with the Qiongyu Merchant Guild as well, but they too had no Soul-Guiding Grass or similar items, so he took his leave.

There was still ample time, and Qin Sang was in no rush to depart. He visited several more merchant guilds in succession but still could not obtain what he needed.

At dawn the next day, Qin Sang left the city, retrieved the black coffin that held Du Han, and flew southward at top speed toward the Black Gold Mountain Range.

The geomantic map he carried had detailed annotations on the sects near Black Gold Mountain. To avoid detection, Qin Sang took a detour and spent nine days before finally arriving at the mountain range.

From a distance, he saw a massive shadow sprawled across the horizon, resembling a great ancient beast made of black gold.

To the local witch race, Black Gold Mountain was synonymous with evil and danger. It was said that evil cultivators hid there, and even native immortal cultivators dared not venture in unless they had formidable cultivation.

According to the geomantic map, the general location of the canyon lay not deep within the Black Gold Mountains. Still, Qin Sang cautiously released the flying yaksha.

Two of them entered the mountains quietly. They crossed peaks and ridges until they finally neared the canyon.

Before even sensing the presence of Earth Malevolent Qi, Qin Sang already encountered a familiar sight—withered vegetation, no trace of birds or beasts. The deeper he went, the worse it became, until the land turned into a barren waste. The ground was stained an eerie black by some unknown force, filled with a heavy deathly aura.

It was almost identical to the environment around Sunken Cave.

Joy flickered across Qin Sang’s face. He ordered the flying yaksha to accelerate, and sure enough, before long, tendrils of black qi rose ahead, and the air grew increasingly cold and sinister.

Just then, Qin Sang suddenly paused. He had sensed the presence of living beings up ahead. Their auras were weak, the strongest no more than at the Foundation Building Realm.

After a moment's thought, Qin Sang ordered the flying yaksha to conceal the black coffin and suppress its aura. He himself crept forward and discovered a cave dwelling near the canyon's edge. Inside were three cultivators, likely disciples from a local sect, stationed here to monitor changes in the malevolent qi within the canyon.

Warning barriers had also been set up around the area, but they posed little challenge to Qin Sang.

He merely wanted to use the malevolent qi to refine corpses and had no intention of interacting with the local forces. Taking the flying yaksha with him, he slipped past the barriers undetected. The three in the cave were still immersed in cultivation, completely unaware that someone had already infiltrated the canyon right under their noses.

The canyon was not large, and the amount of Earth Malevolent Qi here was far less than what had been in Sunken Cave, but it was still sufficient for refining corpses.

Finding a protruding boulder, Qin Sang looked down at the thick, churning malevolent qi beneath his feet, curious as to how this malevolent qi had formed and what might be hidden below.

Even with his current level of cultivation, he did not dare to recklessly enter the Earth Malevolent Qi.

He set up protective spiritual arrays around the area, then opened the black coffin and dragged out Du Han. He also summoned Du Xian from the corpse puppet pouch.

He intended to apply the corpse refinement restrictions of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art on Du Han first. If that failed, he would use Du Han’s Golden Core and Du Xian’s body to forge a new flying yaksha.

Du Han had already been stripped of his cultivation and was powerless to resist, completely at Qin Sang’s mercy.

Staring at Du Han, Qin Sang sank into thought, remaining still for quite some time.

Though he had delved into corpse refinement for years and developed his own insights, he was still far from capable of creating a technique from scratch.

Only those with extraordinary talent could invent their own techniques and supernatural abilities.

At best, he could make slight modifications based on the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art. The chances of success were slim, but he had to at least give it a try.

Qin Sang carefully reviewed the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art in his mind, then stopped hesitating. He activated his true essence and struck Du Han with the first corpse refinement barrier.

It went smoothly at first, but as the barriers began to take shape and attempted to invade Du Han’s body, Qin Sang was met with unprecedented resistance.

Suddenly, Du Han’s true essence erupted violently. Before Qin Sang could react, the barrier was torn apart, and Du Han woke from the pain, trembling.

Qin Sang ignored Du Han’s venomous glare.

He tried several more times, but in the end, had no choice but to accept the truth: the living corpse restrictions in the first half of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art simply could not be applied to a Core Formation cultivator.

Still unwilling to give up, Qin Sang took out a Heavenly Corpse Talisman. As Du Han’s eyes filled with terror, he pressed it into his upper dantian, attempting to test whether the talisman could seal the primordial spirit of a Core Formation cultivator.

Just as the Heavenly Corpse Talisman touched Du Han’s primordial spirit, before Qin Sang could complete the barrier, the talisman suddenly exploded.

Du Han, bound and completely defenseless, let out a miserable scream as the blast struck his primordial spirit directly. His aura rapidly dissipated and his soul was on the verge of shattering. Death was imminent.

Qin Sang’s expression shifted slightly. He moved swiftly, seizing the final moments to perform the Soul Search Technique on the fragments of Du Han’s soul. In just a dozen breaths, Du Han perished completely.

"Without the second half of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, it seems my path in corpse refinement ends here."

Qin Sang let out a bitter laugh. Holding Du Han’s Golden Core, he murmured, "Other corpse refinement techniques take far too much time. I must prioritize my own cultivation and stop wasting effort on this. Besides, raising a life-bound insect gu will soon demand more of my focus. What needs to be abandoned must be abandoned."

He could have used corpse refinement techniques from other sects to convert Du Han’s body into a corpse puppet, but the resulting strength would have been too weak. And given Du Han’s ties to the Black Witch Palace, it posed an unnecessary risk of exposure. It was not worth the risk.

Qin Sang kicked Du Han’s corpse into the abyss. In the blink of an eye, it was swallowed by the Earth Malevolent Qi, perfectly erasing all traces.

Then, he skillfully began turning Du Xian into a living corpse.

Du Han’s Golden Core.

If nothing went wrong, he would soon have another flying yaksha.

Having once refined himself into a flying yaksha, Qin Sang was intimately familiar with the technique. Still, he dared not be careless. He only had one Heavenly Corpse Talisman left and could not afford to squander it.

The spiritual array concealed all fluctuations within the gorge. The three cultivators in the cave dwelling above remained utterly unaware of what was happening below.

Three days later, two shadowy figures stood at Qin Sang’s sides.

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The two flying yakshas punched each other at the same time.

Yu Hua merely trembled slightly, while Du Xian was sent flying several zhang before he barely managed to steady himself.

"Though newly refined, it’s clear Du Xian’s strength is considerably lower than Yu Hua’s. Still, he should be sufficient for battle."

Qin Sang spoke softly, then stored both flying yakshas back into the corpse puppet pouch to slowly nourish and temper them.