Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang cast a deep glance at the swirling vortex of wind and clouds before turning to leave.

He had not gone far when he suddenly sensed something unusual within his body. Not daring to delay any longer, he quickly found a secluded spot nearby and sat down cross-legged.

Earlier, he had been forced to borrow the power of the Ancestral Sacred Flame to trap those two cultivators, temporarily interrupting his process of channeling the malevolent and gale qi into his core. It had been an extremely risky move, but Qin Sang had no other choice.

Sure enough, from the start of the battle until now, in just three breaths' time, he had nearly lost control. He could feel that his Golden Core was approaching its limit.

Fortunately, this was a Golden Core that had retained its spiritual essence; otherwise, it might not have held out until now.

The two trapped within the vortex could not easily escape. Even if other Demonic Qingyang Sect cultivators came up the mountain to investigate, they would be powerless to save them, forced to watch helplessly.

Likely, the two would have to hold on until the sect's Golden Core masters returned. Whether they could endure that long remained uncertain.

As for Qin Sang, he needed to seize this precious window to complete the final step!

He absorbed the remaining fragments of the Divine Qingyang Gale into his body, then channeled the gale qi into his Qihai. At this point, his Qihai was a hollow void. The residual Earth Malevolent Qi within was not much, about equal to the gale qi he had just gathered, but it was enough.

Encasing the two forces with his spiritual power, he smashed them into his Golden Core!

At the same time, he mustered the last trace of his spiritual power to activate the ebony sword. Sword qi surged forth, shrouding the Golden Core from above.

Boom!

The three forces collided, with the Golden Core as their battlefield, clashing violently together.

Qin Sang's Qihai trembled fiercely. A sweet taste rose in his throat, but he forcibly suppressed the pain, hastily completing the final incantation. Then he used his inner vision to watch the changes within his Qihai with bated breath.

Within the hollow Qihai, only a single Golden Core floated midair, spinning rapidly. Qin Sang watched as the last patch of the core's surface was slowly devoured by intertwining black mist and azure light until it finally vanished.

What remained was a strange pill, colored half black and half green!

Is it complete?

Qin Sang's heart wavered between doubt and hope. According to the secret method for refining a flying yaksha, once charging the core succeeded, it would mean the creature was successfully refined.

But he hesitated. He could not yet be certain whether he had succeeded or failed.

He also did not know what to call this Golden Core that now resided within him.

A malevolent core?

A malevolent gale core?

Or, as described in the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, simply a corpse core?

For now, he decided to call it a corpse core.

The good news was that after the corpse core had formed, it had not released a surge of rampaging malevolent qi into his meridians like a typical flying yaksha would. Although that kind of rampage could temper the body, it also brought catastrophic destruction, leading to irreversible corpse transformation.

Instead, the corpse core lay quietly within Qin Sang's Qihai, without the slightest stir. If anything, its eerie stillness felt even more unsettling.

After some thought, Qin Sang cautiously extended his spiritual consciousness to probe the corpse core.

Unexpectedly, the moment his spiritual consciousness brushed against it, the corpse core began trembling violently.

Qin Sang's expression changed drastically. Yet he could do nothing. The corpse core was entirely beyond his control.

Anxiously observing, he saw the two distinct colors on the corpse core begin to blend together, rapidly fusing until it became a pure azure-black pill.

At that moment, Qin Sang suddenly sensed a faint, inexplicable connection between himself and the corpse core. Meanwhile, the corpse core gradually settled down.

As his mind stirred, a strange power surged from the corpse core. Although Qin Sang could not yet fully command it, the force was gentle and did not threaten him.

In immortal cultivation, once a cultivator formed a Golden Core, whether they were a righteous cultivator, a demonic cultivator, or someone from an unorthodox path, their inner power would undergo a fundamental metamorphosis. It would no longer be pure spiritual power but would evolve into what was universally called true essence.

Following convention, Qin Sang decided to refer to the energy released by the corpse core as true essence as well. However, he quickly discovered that this true essence was bizarre. It contained traces of malevolent qi, gale qi, and even corpse qi derived from the secret arts all fused into one.

Wu Shang's vision of merging gale qi and malevolent qi had truly come to fruition!

The previously ferocious Earth Malevolent Qi and Celestial Gale Qi had counterbalanced and fused together. Instead of rampaging uncontrollably as with a flying yaksha, they had achieved a strange stability.

Carefully, Qin Sang guided a thread of this true essence into his meridians, following the circulation method detailed in theHeavenly Yin Corpse Art.

He remained on edge the entire time, fearing that the true essence might suddenly turn violent and destroy his body. Yet after completing a full cycle through his meridians, the true essence remained calm and obedient.

Seeing this, Qin Sang felt a great weight lift from his heart. He sank his mind into the corpse core, savoring the sensation. It was simply irresistible.

Although he still could not fully control the corpse core, needing time to familiarize himself with it to achieve true unity between man and core, he could already faintly sense the tremendous power it contained that was far greater than his previous cultivation.

This was not a simple enhancement. It was a true transformation.

A breakthrough!

"Haha..."

Qin Sang grinned broadly, feeling a wave of exhilaration sweep through him as he sprang to his feet.

This was not the place to slowly familiarize himself with the corpse core. The Demonic Qingyang Sect's Golden Core cultivator had already been gone for two hours. Now, with the sudden anomaly erupting from Divine Gale Peak, that cultivator would surely rush back even faster.

Having only just formed his corpse core, Qin Sang dared not clash with a true Core Formation cultivator. His top priority was to leave the Demonic Qingyang Sect as quickly as possible and find a secluded place to properly familiarize himself with the corpse core.

With this thought, Qin Sang turned and darted down the mountain. Passing by the swirling vortex of clouds and wind, he glanced at it once without slowing, then continued straight downhill.

Reaching the mountain's base, Qin Sang sensed a number of cultivators gathered outside. Their qi signatures made it clear they had been drawn here by the anomaly at Divine Gale Peak. Although Qin Sang had yet to fully master the corpse core, he could already use the true essence it produced to mask his own presence.

There were no true experts among the gathered cultivators, so Qin Sang had little concern about being exposed.

Effortlessly moving through the shadows, he slipped away from Divine Gale Peak without a trace, never once looking back. He sped directly toward the Demonic Qingyang Sect's main gate, calculating how best to take advantage of the situation and break free from the sect's territory.

The interior of the Demonic Qingyang Sect was virtually deserted. Most of the few experts left behind had been lured away by the chaos at Divine Gale Peak. Qin Sang judged that escaping would not be too difficult.

But once he escaped, he would need to flee far and fast, without lingering anywhere near the sect. As he hurried along, he used his spiritual consciousness to connect with the corpse core, seizing every moment to familiarize himself with its power and hoping to gain greater control over the true essence it produced.

To his astonishment, he found that his rate of acclimation far exceeded that of Yu Hua. In Yu Hua's case, it had taken two full days to achieve unity between man and core, fully mastering the corpse core's power.

Is it because I am actively and consciously familiarizing myself with it, whereas Yu Hua had been separated by a layer of soul imprint? Or is it because true essence, being gentler than malevolent qi, is inherently easier to control?

Qin Sang could not be sure. For now, he simply left the question aside.

At this time, the Demonic Qingyang Sect's internal defenses were extremely lax. Qin Sang easily evaded a patrol of inner sect disciples, swiftly making his way to the outer sect. There, he unleashed his movement art and raced toward the main gate.

Traversing hills and ridges, he finally reached the gate.

But as he came to a sudden halt, Qin Sang's expression darkened. His gaze locked onto the mountains ahead, now shrouded by a thick sea of clouds.

The Demonic Qingyang Sect had sealed its mountain gate!

If the gate had remained open, Qin Sang could have crept close and burst through unexpectedly and no one would have been able to stop him.

But now, with the protective array active, charging through would be sheer suicide.

Even a true Core Formation cultivator could not break through the grand array without suffering grievous consequences, let alone someone like him!