Gateway of Immortality

The cave dwellings here, like the rough stone railings outside, were crudely made. Each was sealed only with a stone door, behind which barriers of light flickered faintly.

Shi Ying did not have any friends among her fellow disciples, nor did she bother seeking anyone out for idle chatter. She flew straight into her own cave dwelling.

Inside, it looked nothing like the residence of a young woman. The furnishings were sparse, the layout bare, almost as austere as Qin Sang's former dwelling.

After sealing the cave dwelling, Shi Ying removed the black coffin from her back and gently set it down in a corner. She opened the coffin lid and, upon seeing the refined corpse lying inside, finally allowed herself a satisfied smile. Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed in a duck-like posture, she pulled out her Mustard Seed Pouch.

In her eyes, no treasure could compare to this refined corpse. She merely took a few of the finest artifacts from the collection and spent some time refining them.

As for the rest—the lower-quality items or those whose uses she could not immediately discern—she simply set them aside, lacking the mood to examine them closely.

Afterward, Shi Ying sat cross-legged before the black coffin, linking her spiritual consciousness to the soul imprint, eager to familiarize herself with controlling the refined corpse.

Though she had not personally crafted this corpse refinement, she felt no obstruction while manipulating it. The flow of power came naturally to her, smooth and unhindered.

Opening her eyes slightly, Shi Ying shifted her gaze to the refined corpse's abdomen.

She had not dared believe it before, but after inspecting it several times with her spiritual consciousness, she finally confirmed—there truly was a Golden Core lodged inside its abdomen. She could only imagine how much effort that corpse cultivator had spent gathering all the necessary components for this refined corpse. Only the Celestial Gale Qi was missing.

"Charging the Golden Core with Celestial Gale Qi..."

Shi Ying murmured to herself, her voice tinged with hesitation.

Previously, she had worried that her cultivation was too low to properly control the corpse refinement's full strength. But after familiarizing herself with it, she discovered she could easily command its power without the slightest stiffness.

It merely placed a heavier burden on her own body, but so long as she prepared enough pills and spirit stones that could restore spiritual power, she was confident she could endure it.

This discovery greatly boosted Shi Ying's confidence. She decided to make a preliminary attempt.

Unbeknownst to her, it was Qin Sang who had actively cooperated with her.

Shi Ying had no inkling that her refined corpse actually possessed intelligence, hiding it flawlessly.

A sentient refined corpse willingly submitting to control and allowing a soul imprint to be planted—such a thing was utterly unheard of. Even among those demonic cultivators who specialized in corpse arts, none would dare imagine such a possibility.

Qin Sang had achieved something truly unprecedented.

Shi Ying sat motionless throughout the night, familiarizing herself with the refined corpse's power. By dawn the next day, all her worries had been dispelled. She sealed her cave dwelling once again and flew toward Divine Gale Peak.

Her dwelling was not far from Divine Gale Peak. Very soon, she entered the cyan mist.

...

The cave dwelling fell into silence and darkness.

Without a sound, the lid of the black coffin slowly slid open. Inside, the refined corpse sat up with eerie slowness.

Its pitch-black eyes swiveled slightly, gradually regaining intelligence and clarity. Qin Sang silently severed the connection to Shi Ying's soul imprint, twisted his neck, and began surveying the cave dwelling.

He had successfully infiltrated the sect, but he had not acted according to his original plan—he had not immediately seized control of Shi Ying. Her recent actions had given him a new idea, prompting him to adapt and wait a little longer.

As for why Shi Ying was acting so urgently, Qin Sang easily deduced the reason with a single thought.

Wen Yanjie had already reached the late stage of the Foundation Building Realm; achieving the Fake Core Realm was only a matter of time. If Shi Ying did not act soon, and allowed him to break through, then even with a refined corpse, it would be extremely difficult to kill a true Fake Core Realm cultivator.

Her path to vengeance would be delayed indefinitely.

Unexpectedly, Qin Sang's secret tampering with the corpse refinement art had pressured Shi Ying into rushing her plans which he had not anticipated.

But it was a fortunate development.

Cultivators who trained in the Demonic Qingyang Fire could bring out a trace of Celestial Gale Qi from Divine Gale Peak to aid in their cultivation. Since Shi Ying was willing to help, Qin Sang saw no reason not to take advantage of the opportunity.

Infiltrating Divine Gale Peak directly would have been an extremely risky move. Moreover, Qin Sang was still uncertain whether Wu Shang's secret art would actually work. After all, the so-called "charging the Golden Core with Celestial Gale Qi" was only Wu Shang's conjecture. There were no precedents to guide him.

By allowing Shi Ying to collect Celestial Gale Qi and bring it back to her cave dwelling, Qin Sang could experiment gradually while remaining hidden. If the secret art turned out to be infeasible, he could still retreat safely from the Demonic Qingyang Sect.

Attempting to trespass on Divine Gale Peak carried enormous risks. If the art failed and he were exposed, it would be a disastrous loss.

For now, he could still suppress the corpse qi within his body, so there was no need to rush.

Without touching the ground, Qin Sang floated horizontally across the cave dwelling toward the entrance. As he drifted past the stone bed, his gaze swept over the Mustard Seed Pouch lying on the bedhead.

According to the disciples of the Demonic Qingyang Sect, the vital energy atop Divine Gale Peak was extremely chaotic, and the closer to the summit, the worse it became. Even at the lower levels, disciples of weaker cultivation had to exert great effort merely to protect themselves and dared not linger long on Divine Gale Peak. After absorbing just a trace of Divine Qingyang Gale, they would hastily retreat to their cave dwellings to temper their demonic flames.

Once atop Divine Gale Peak, if an accident occurred, one could do nothing but desperately try to survive and wait for rescue. In such situations, Mustard Seed Pouches and similar belongings could easily be lost or destroyed in the chaos.

Since a Mustard Seed Pouch was practically a cultivator's lifeline, no one dared risk carrying it up the peak. Before entering Divine Gale Peak, all low-level disciples would leave their pouches behind in their cave dwellings.

Fortunately, each disciple's cave dwelling was protected by a unique sect-imposed barrier, so there was no fear of theft.

Qin Sang's gaze swept past the Mustard Seed Pouch. The Qingfu Coin and the Xutian Thunder were still inside, along with a few similar artifacts he had specially refined. Hidden among the other items, they had indeed gone unnoticed by Shi Ying.

Qin Sang did not immediately retrieve these artifacts. Instead, he drifted to the cave dwelling's entrance and pressed his palm lightly against the stone door, sensing the barrier woven into it.

Whoosh!

Faint azure light suddenly surfaced from the door and swiftly gathered at its center.

A moment later, a small flame of cyan hue appeared before Qin Sang. Though tiny, it emanated a force that was not to be underestimated.

This flame was none other than Shi Ying's own Demonic Qingyang Fire, imbued into the barrier. It shared the same origin as the soul imprint planted deep within Qin Sang's primordial spirit, belonging exclusively to Shi Ying.

Qin Sang concentrated and probed carefully, soon discerning the unique traits of the Demonic Qingyang Sect's barriers.

As long as a disciple injected their personally cultivated Demonic Qingyang Fire into the barrier, even fellow sect members who cultivated the same art could not forge it.

If anyone attempted to force their way in, the conflict between the demonic flames would immediately trigger an alarm.

Although Qin Sang had seen through the barrier's structure, he dared not rashly tamper with the flame.

After some thought, Qin Sang came up with a method—he manipulated Shi Ying's soul imprint to interact with the barrier.

Since he maintained a considerable distance, Shi Ying could not sense any movement in her soul imprint. As expected, the Demonic Qingyang Fire mistook Qin Sang for its rightful master and showed no signs of rejection.

Without stepping fully outside, Qin Sang pushed the stone door open just enough to create a small gap and gazed toward the distant Divine Gale Peak.

What a magnificent peak that pierces the heavens!

Qin Sang silently marveled. Of all the mountains he had ever seen, this one's grandeur ranked second only to Zhitian Peak. Even Shaohua Mountain paled in comparison.

It was truly worthy of being called a peerless heavenly peak. No wonder it could draw down Celestial Gale Qi from the heavens above and nurture the Qingyang Gale Essences!

From the foot of the mountain to its soaring summit, Qin Sang carefully examined everything, cross-referencing it against the information he had previously gathered.

Beneath the thick cyan mist that refused to disperse lay the source of the Qingyang Gale Essence. The closer to the summit, the more abundant the Qingyang Gale Essences became, and the purer the Celestial Gale Qi they contained.