Chapter 684: Chapter 684

Qin Sang stepped out of the cave dwelling and found the five others gathered in the outer hall, speaking in hushed tones.

"Always leave one person on watch outside. Pay close attention to any movement from demonic beasts in the trench. The rest of you should stay inside unless necessary. You chose well. This location is excellent. Even if unrest breaks out in the trench, we can detect it immediately and escape in time..."

Qin Sang laid out detailed instructions. At the same time, he secretly stationed one of his flying yaksha outside as an unseen guard.

The elderly couple exchanged glances. After a moment of thought, they said, "Reporting to Daoist Master, the few of us discussed this just now and believe last night’s disturbance was likely just a coincidence. Even if there truly are royal-blooded demonic beasts as the legends say, they should remain deep within the trench. It’s unlikely they’d appear in such a remote area. In fact, we once hunted a peak Demonic Spirit Realm fish demon nearby, and nothing strange happened afterward."

Qin Sang’s tone sank slightly. "Better safe than sorry. I don’t need to teach you that principle. I paid a hefty price to hire you for one thing: to search for Jiao. I have no intention of losing my life over a single Jiao spirit. Just follow my orders and do your jobs properly. We’ll stay in the cave dwelling and cultivate quietly for a month. Once we’re certain nothing is amiss, we’ll go out and hunt again."

The elderly couple’s hearts tightened. They responded in unison, "Understood."

Qin Sang nodded and was about to return to his cave when he suddenly turned back. "By the way, do any of you have demonic beast inner cores?"

These five had hunted in the Demonic Sea for decades and were far from weak. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had collected some inner cores.

Qin Sang planned to test whether the fat silkworm was only interested in poison cores, or if other types of inner cores would also work.

"Demonic beast inner cores?"

The five glanced at one another. The man in gray gave a flicker of expression and hesitated slightly. Thıs text ıs hosted at noveⅼfire.net

Seeing this, Qin Sang immediately understood their concern and said coldly, "Even if you take the inner cores back, you’d still need to spend a fortune in spirit stones to hire a skilled alchemist to refine them into Malevolent Demonic Pills. I can trade with you directly using top-grade artifacts or finished pills. I don’t have any Malevolent Demonic Pills on hand right now, but I can promise this, if your core is what I’m looking for, I’ll have the merchant guild exchange it for a high-quality pill the moment we return."

As he spoke, Qin Sang flicked his hand and revealed two artifacts in his palm.

One was a bone sword, metallic in sheen and exuding a cold, eerie glow.

The other was a bone spear with a long, slender tip that looked razor-sharp at a glance.

These were weapons Qin Sang had crafted while refining his artifact refinement techniques, each imbued with impressive power. Compared to what he had submitted to the Qiongyu Merchant Guild, these were vastly superior.

Of course, just like the divide between Foundation Building and Core Formation cultivators, there was a vast gap between artifacts and astras. Qin Sang was confident that few could surpass him in artifact refinement, but he still didn’t dare attempt crafting astras just yet.

All five were experienced enough to recognize quality. The moment they saw the weapons, their eyes lit up with obsession.

Inner cores were indeed precious, but such artifacts were even rarer. Just owning one of them would boost their combat power by thirty percent. How could they not be tempted?

"I’ve long heard that Daoist Master’s artifact refinement is second to none on Duyan Island. Today, I’ve finally seen it for myself..." The old man praised repeatedly.

The man in gray stared fixedly at the bone sword. He suddenly stepped forward and took out a jade vial from his Mustard Seed Pouch. "Senior, please take a look at this inner core. Would you trade it for that bone sword?"

Qin Sang accepted the vial. Inside was a water-blue inner core, brimming with pure water-element power—one of the most common types in the Demonic Sea.

Qin Sang turned and went back into his cave, holding the core up to the fat silkworm. The silkworm showed no interest at all, still hugging the Blue Jiao’s inner core tightly.

"Just as I expected. Its talents are poison-based. Only poison cores will do."

Qin Sang returned the core to the gray-robed man and stated plainly that he only needed poison cores.

Disappointment was written all over the man’s face, but he dared not argue. He silently put the inner core away. The others had no poison cores either, so Qin Sang could only give up for now.

After that, everyone settled into quiet cultivation on the island.

During this period, Qin Sang kept a close watch on the fat silkworm. Over the span of a full month, the inner core had only shrunk slightly, yet the silkworm’s cultivation had significantly improved.

Qin Sang estimated that it would take several years to fully absorb this core. After that, it should be able to reach the middle stage of its second metamorphosis.

That was much faster than his own pace of cultivation back in the day.

Fortunately, the trench had remained calm throughout the entire month, with no signs of unrest.

Seeing this, Qin Sang split the group into three and began another search for Jiao in the trench.

He was paired with the man in gray in the center. The elderly couple and the Wang Sisters formed the flanks. They kept close enough to provide backup if needed and began combing through the trench.

The Nine-Dragon Heavenly Chariot Talisman had extremely strict requirements. Even though the group had operated in this region for many years, finding suitable Jiao spirits remained difficult.

After more than three months of searching, they finally managed to slay a Crimson Jiao.

They had encountered danger during that time, but each time Qin Sang successfully resolved the crisis. The others grew increasingly convinced of his strength and gradually realized that he was not a ruthless killer. With their worries gone, they committed fully to serving him.

Of course, that may have also been influenced by the bulging Mustard Seed Pouches at their waists.

During the hunt, whenever they came across other demonic beasts that could be slain, Qin Sang would take action. He only kept the most valuable parts for himself. The rest, which he didn’t care for, were freely given to the others.

Qin Sang ate the meat. They drank the soup.

Across the boundless sea...

Two figures sped silently through the air. They only landed briefly on rocky islands to rest before setting off again. The two kept a small distance between them, remaining alert to their surroundings. They were none other than Qin Sang and the man in gray.

It had been a full month since they had slain the Crimson Jiao, and now they had resumed the long and arduous journey of tracking more Jiao.

As they flew over the sea, Qin Sang suddenly noticed a Sound Transmission Talisman streaking in from a distance. The man in gray caught it, immediately halted in mid-air, and read the message.

He flew over at once and reported, "Senior, the Wang Sisters just sent a message. They’ve discovered traces of Jiao activity on an island. The signs are very fresh, and it looks like there’s quite a number of them in the group."

"Let’s go! We’ll take a look!"

Qin Sang’s spirits lifted. Aimlessly searching for Jiao had become far too dull.

Even the stunning sights of the Demonic Sea no longer held any novelty.

An hour later, Qin Sang and the man in gray landed on an island where the Wang Sisters had been waiting. They immediately came forward to greet him.

"Senior, please look. These are all traces left by the Jiao. They appear to have been made only a few days ago. It seems the Jiao group is migrating. We also found signs of their presence on several nearby islands," the sisters reported.