Chapter 79: Middle-grade Spirit Stone

The Mortal World

After taking two more Water Dew Pills to allow his body to slowly recover, Qin Sang impatiently opened his mustard seed pouch and dumped its contents onto the ground.

On the way here, he had already refined the Soul-Bewildering Mirror and brought it under his control.

The Soul-Bewildering Mirror was not a single mirror as he had initially thought, but a set of eight bronze mirrors stacked together, with one primary and seven auxiliary.

The eight bronze mirrors could form a mirror array, used to trap people. It was exceptionally sturdy, and the mist emitted by the mirror array had a disorienting effect.

However, setting up the mirror array was not easy. It required a certain amount of preparation time, making it even more difficult to use than the Ebony Sword. The mirror array was immobile; once deployed in a location, one had to wait for an opponent to step into it; otherwise, it would be ineffective.

Additionally, the disorienting effect of the mist was not long-lasting. It only had a miraculous effect if one attacked the moment the opponent had just been caught by the mist right after the array was activated.

While inside the mirror array, Qin Sang had not felt disoriented at all. After much thought, he concluded it could only be due to the Jade Buddha.

The power of the Soul-Bewildering Mirror was undeniable. Unfortunately, it was difficult to unleash its full potential in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Zone. He wondered whether Shen Jing's luck was good or bad.

Compared to the Soul-Bewildering Mirror, what delighted Qin Sang most were the Horned Dragon Sword and the Windriding Charm.

With these two magic artifacts alone, had Yang Yuanzang not fallen to him and Shen Jing, securing a spot would have been a certainty for him.

The power of the Horned Dragon Sword went without saying. It was considered a top-tier spiritual sword, far surpassing the Blood Blade and the Azure Wave Sword.

Although Qin Sang's Ebony Sword was sharp, its spiritual energy consumption was very high, requiring prior preparation before use. The Horned Dragon Sword could be used directly against enemies, and its power was comparable.

The Windriding Charm was a high-grade magic artifact, appearing as a wisp of grayish-white wind and smoke, and felt as smooth as silk when held in the palm.

It was Qin Sang's first time encountering such an artifact, and he couldn't help but marvel at it.

Once the Windriding Charm was refined, one could harness the wind to fly off the ground. Its speed was impressive, yet its spiritual energy consumption was low. Although it could only lift one a few yards off the ground, it was still sufficient for traversing mountains and avoiding danger.

For Qi Refinement stage cultivators, it was undoubtedly a rare treasure.

Qin Sang immediately channeled his spiritual sense into the Windriding Charm, easily refining it. He opened his mouth and inhaled the charm, storing it in his sea of qi. With a mere thought, wind would surge beneath his feet.

Fully equipped, Qin Sang felt quite pleased. His only regret was the lack of a useful defensive artifact. Unfortunately, the Gilded Ring had been destroyed in its clash with the Ebony Sword.

Yang Yuanzang's possessions were quite substantial. Besides the Windriding Charm, he also had a few low-grade magic artifacts and some spirit stones. Shen Jing's mustard seed pouch, however, contained only worthless trinkets, including silk, cosmetics, and various jade ornaments.

The only thing that surprised Qin Sang was that Yang Yuanzang's mustard seed pouch contained a mid-grade spirit stone!

In terms of value alone, a mid-grade spirit stone was equivalent to a hundred low-grade spirit stones. However, in actual transactions, there would be some fluctuations, depending on how the parties negotiated.

The spiritual energy contained within mid-grade spirit stones was not only more abundant than that in low-grade spirit stones but also purer. If used for absorption, the refining speed would also be faster.

But for Qin Sang, the mid-grade spirit stone held a more significant meaning.

According to the Song Family Sword Art's explanation of sword dao realms, Qin Sang could now essentially achieve "Spiritual Sense Controlling the Sword" and "Sword Moving with Intent," which was considered an initial glimpse into the path. However, due to his low cultivation level, his flying sword could not move too far from his body.

Once he made further progress in the sword dao, he could reach the realm of generating sword qi, or even "Sword Qi like a Rainbow."

The Song Family Sword Art stated that if one comprehended sword qi and the Ebony Sword was imbued with it, its power would not only double, but its speed would also surge, becoming as swift as lightning. When unleashed, it would be like a white rainbow piercing the sun.

However, similarly, the spiritual energy consumption would also increase severalfold.

For cultivators below the tenth level of the Qi Refinement stage, low-grade spirit stones alone would not be sufficient. They would barely be able to activate sword qi with the aid of mid-grade spirit stones.

Qin Sang had not yet reached that sword dao realm, but he carefully put away the mid-grade spirit stone with a solemn expression.

Originally, Qin Sang had no chance of obtaining mid-grade spirit stones and had planned to focus on improving his cultivation after achieving "Spiritual Sense Controlling the Sword." Now, it was time to put that plan on the agenda.

Acting as a spy within a cultivation sect was inherently dangerous. Qin Sang neither knew nor wanted to know the Queyin Sect's objectives. The only thing he could do was seize an opportunity to escape. If escape was not possible, he would have to do his best to increase his strength to cope with potential dangers.

Thinking this, Qin Sang lowered his gaze and searched. He picked up a thumb-sized jade bottle he had found in Yang Yuanzang's mustard seed pouch. Inside the bottle, a few drops of milky-white liquid, thick as paste, were visible. As he removed the stopper, a refreshing fragrance wafted into his nostrils, and the pain in his body lessened somewhat.

This was likely the Hundred-Year Stone Milk that Yang Yuanzang and Shen Jing had mentioned, possibly discovered in the mountain crocodile's nest.

Although the treasures in the Eight Trigrams Forbidden Zone had supposedly been completely plundered by the Yuanzhao Sect, it was normal for some items to be overlooked. Moreover, the Yuanzhao Sect might not even value this small amount of Hundred-Year Stone Milk.

Yang Yuanzang was already at the peak of the sixth level; refining the stone milk would give him a high chance of breaking through to the seventh level. Qin Sang's Accumulating Qi Pill's effects were still suppressed, and he was far from a breakthrough. Thus, the stone milk held little immediate significance for him, so he put it away along with the mid-grade spirit stone.

Ten jade tokens were laid out in a line before him.

Four from Yang Yuanzang, two from Shen Jing, and four from Qin Sang.

'Within the forbidden zone, there probably aren't many people who have collected more jade tokens than I have,' Qin Sang thought to himself. 'This whole ordeal wasn't in vain after all.'

When the ten jade tokens were brought together, they formed a jade booklet. A layer of mist spontaneously appeared on the translucent jade tokens. Beneath the mist, there seemed to be mountains, rivers, and lakes, but they were obscured by the fog, completely invisible. Only a bright, shimmering arrow was visible, constantly pointing in the same direction, no matter how Qin Sang moved the tokens.

The more jade tokens acquired, the thinner the mist on the jade booklet would become, and the clearer the guidance. With only ten tokens, only an arrow was visible. It provided no information about the terrain ahead or whether the path was passable.

Qin Sang had known this beforehand, so he wasn't surprised. After confirming the direction, he put all the jade tokens and useful items from the ground into his mustard seed pouch. He sensed his internal injuries, deciding they were not serious. Then, with the Horned Dragon Sword on his back, he activated the Windriding Charm and flew out of the cave.

The sensation of riding the wind was indeed exhilarating, but it made him too conspicuous.

The direction indicated by the jade tokens was deep within the great plain. Fortunately, he didn't have to return to the poisonous swamp.

Qin Sang swiftly flew out of the mountain range, entered the plain, descended, and glided through the tall grass.

The great plain offered an expansive view, and the Windriding Charm provided good speed. With three top-tier spiritual artifacts on him, Qin Sang wasn't particularly afraid of any fool who dared to provoke him. Even if he couldn't win a fight, he could still escape.

He had initially thought he might find a few more jade tokens in the vast, open plain. Unexpectedly, after riding the wind for a long time, he encountered no opponents, which was quite strange.

In less than two hours, Qin Sang traversed the great plain. Ahead, countless ravines and rocky cliffs appeared.